[Ah, I re-fall in love with Tabi each time I listen to the song that inspired this.~ THIS IS A CHAPTERED ONESHOT AGAIN I GUESS... lol but it'll be fun writing it. Hope you enjoy this chapter.. it's long awaited I know. C: ]

Chirp, chirp-ch-chirp!

The morning song of a bluejay hummed happily against the windowsill of your bedroom. Bright rays of sunlight that managed to sneak through the half-cracked blinds of the window tiptoed along the edge of the unmade bed, warming the pair of bare feet that peeked out of the thin comforter that blanketed you. They began a slow trip up to drag along your scrunched face, and you whined, physically and verbally rejecting the natural awakening that you were experiencing. 

"Aniiiiiiyo," you yawned, a hand automatically covering your sleep-laden eyes as you tried to settle back under the covers, but it was much too late. You were now up, and unfortunately, you knew it was a matter of minutes before your digital alarm clock would begin blasting the latest dance track from LMFAO. It was the only way you'd get up to turn that annoying music off, thus keeping you awake, and right now you didn't even want to bother with it.

With a determined sigh, you readied yourself for work, eventually finishing your morning routine and managing to make a giant thermos of iced coffee before you left your apartment in a rush. Traffic wasn't so bad this morning, not as bad as a few days ago had been. Once the media, and crazed fangirls of course, had found out Taeyang would be hitting up the building with G-Dragon in the early morning after being away to film their Monster video in Japan, all hell had broken loose. Occasions like this were the norm, but they never failed to amuse you. 

You pulled up to the ever-so-familiar architectural structure of a beauty, missing a few stray tourists as you did, and neatly fit your car into a parking spot. Entering the building, you tugged down on your peach blazer, smoothing out a few stray wrinkles on the thighs of your jeans. Some coworkers acknowledged your sudden inspiration of fashionable taste, and you nodded shyly, tucking a few strands of hair behind your ears with a smile. Several months had passed since your long break from work and just about everyone in your life that existed outside of your apartment, aside from your roommate obviously, and you were now starting to feel happier; apparently you were looking it as well.

It hadn't been easy, moving on.

Anytime a situation had arised where the marketing staff would have to present for YG himself and the five very familiar boys of BigBang had been in the room also, you would force yourself to never even attempt to look in their direction. You had existed apart from them before, and somehow with all the busy-ness of their current schedule, combined with your painful separation from their hyung, you hadn't really made much effort to heal the gap that was slowly distancing your friendship with them. It hadn't been until a few days earlier, with the whole fangirl incident, when you had glimpsed Tae and Jiyong in the hall talking to a few managers that they had exchanged a very warm 'hello, how you been?' with quick hugs that you realized they did indeed still care about and missed you. 

Mentally shaking away a few thoughts, you bowed to your department head on the way through the office. Settling into your desk, you had barely begun to type in a few things when you were called over to a few people near you who were working on a few concert advertisements that would be shown on the YG Life blog, as well as their Facebook and the newly-unveiled YG app.

"______! You're good at this. What do you think about the countries in this format?"

And so went the day, the long hours always flying by faster than you had time to finish your work in, ironically. Pushing in the seat of your neat desk, your eyes absentmindedly traveled to the empty spot where a photo frame had once sat in. Once nestled openly for you and everyone passing by to see, it now lay under other things in an unmarked box, hidden in the back of your closet.

"But you didn't have to cut me off, make out like it never happened and that we were nothing... Now you're just somebody that I used to kno-o-ow!"

Jumping slightly, you raised an eyebrow at the irony of the ringtone at this moment. Biting down on your bottom lip, you gazed down at the ringing phone you held in one of your hands, and took a deep breath, pulling your bag higher on your shoulder and taking care not to drop any of the papers in a folder you were going to have to work on at home. Glancing at the caller ID, you felt a small tug of curiosity winning you over.

동영배

dong youngbae

"Yoebseyo?" You had just aken a few steps onto the elevator, smiling politely at a few random employees awaiting their destination.

"Neh, ______-ah? It's been a while, heh." His quiet voice sounded cheerful and you gave a nod, exiting the elevator when you reached the first floor. "Yeh, it has, Bae. It's nice to see you've been doing okay." You continued with the small talk, and once you reached your car, you felt your stomach grumbling. Lunch sounded amazing right now, as it was--cue a glance at the digital time on the dashboard--now almost three o'clock.

"Mm, _____-ah, have you eaten anything yet?"

You briefly wondered instantly if he had heard your stomach, and you broke into a small laugh. "Yah, you can read minds now?"

He chuckled softly and his voice grew slightly muffled before he continued. "Aniya, but I just figured you may be. I am. How does a quick bulgogi run sound?"

You hesitated for a second. What if the boys tagged along as well? You didn't want to be put in an awkward situation... Or have to face Seunghyun in an awkward environment again.

"It'll just be me and Daesung-ssi," he added hastily, almost as if he knew what you were thinking about. Which he probably did. Youngbae had been the one you were closest to after Seunghyun.

Putting the car in reverse, you agreed to meet them at a secluded barbecue place and navigated out of the parking lot and towards the restaurant.

***

"Aniya! I swear, you know I only acted like that because I'm innocent and quiet!"

"Yah, I'm the innocent one here... you're the one who can't take a haunted house like a man!"

Carefree laughter flowed from behind your hand-covered mouth and Youngbae's glowingly happy features, cutting through his words as you and Youngbae watched Daesung pout like a little boy. The three of you had been having a really relaxed, fun time over a simple barbeque dinner, and you were glad you had come. Reconnecting for the past hour and a half had been something you hadn't known you needed. Yes, the awkward topic of Seunghyun had come and gone, vague questions of interest from you about how he'd been doing, but inside you knew you could have known more if you had made the effort. Regardless, the meal had been warm and inviting; sometimes, it was nice to be in the company of others that you hadn't spent time with in a long time.

A waitress came by asking if you three wanted the check yet, and you took a glance around the table, accidentally locking eyes with Youngbae. Before you could say anything, he interjected. "I'll take care of it," he said with that famous eyesmile of his, subtly handing the woman his card. Daesung nodded in agreement, reaching over to squeeze one of your hands. "Noona, we invited you." Frowning, you interrupted. "But I owe you guys... So much more than you'll know," you mumbled, and Youngbae draped an arm over one of your shoulders, hugging you. "Don't talk like that."

Sighing, you took a glance at the slim watch on your wrist. 

5:43 

"You guys aren't supposed to be anywhere? YG's been keeping you guys pretty busy lately.."

It was odd that they had stuck around for a long time; their schedule as you knew it was supposed to be full of work on practicing on routine and choreographies for their after-Japan Alive tour dates, not to mention the Japanese album that was dropping in only a matter of days. You eyed them with a suspicious stare, eyes narrowing slightly, but they returned your suddenly serious gaze with grins.

"Aniyo~!"

The boys both shook their heads in unison, and as the three of you exited the restaurant and neared the separate vehicles you had arrived in, you had a feeling they were up to something as they simply stood against the driver's side of your car, leaning back on the door. Raising an eyebrow, you crossed your arms over your slim stomach. "What is this?"

It was Daesung that spoke first.

"______-ah, we asked you to meet together because we miss you, all of us do, but now... you have to promise you won't be upset with us." The playful mood in his features was gone, replaced with a genuine look of sympathy, and Youngbae cleared his throat quietly, meeting your eyes almost timidly. Agreeing with Dae, he nodded. "We knew the only way you'd give this a chance was if hyung didn't come with us... but believe me when I say that he needs the one who knows him best more than you know."

You almost felt your heartbeat quicken at just the mention of him again. How did he have this emotional hold on your heart still? It'd been months--no, a whole year--since you'd even felt that way for Seunghyun; but, as the saying goes: You never, ever forget your first love.

Especially when it's a true love.

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A flowing silence,

cold wind blows

And it repeats again,

every night  of all days