She gripped her hair in frustration as the beat of the music pounded against the walls of the practice room. Two hours after everyone left, she kept repeating the same moves over and over again and kept messing up. So frustrated was she that she almost threw her phone across the room.

She decided to sit down and take a break.

“Aaah!” she screamed. She hated today. If it wasn’t for him she wouldn’t have had to stay just to get one stupid move. If he wasn’t so damn distracting and infuriating, she could have focused and gotten home sooner. She’d be, right now, in bed, hugging her soft and cuddly Rilakumma plushie, her warm blanket around her. But of course, life seemed to hate her that everyone just had to watch Music Bank that afternoon. She remembered how his eyes twinkled, his flirty smile as that held on to him.

No. No more. She couldn’t do it tonight. She looked at her phone which she held tightly on her hands. Three missed calls, four text messages. Seemed appropriate. But she wasn’t exactly in a forgiving mood. She got up and stuffed her things inside her bag before heading over and turning off the stereo system. She took a good look at the room. Tomorrow, she promised herself, I’ll get it perfectly tomorrow.



Seung Ri walked out of the recording studio, annoyed out of his mind. He wasn’t supposed to be here. If it wasn’t for his leader, he wouldn’t even be here. He’d be out partying it up, drinking his little shots with the hottest girls Seoul had to offer. But, of course, no. His hyung had to order him to look for his girlfriend and give her a gift. Some sorry piece of excuse to cover his flirting today. And if that wasn’t bad enough, looking for her led him to the recording studios where Kush and Se7en hyungs ordered him to do other things which led to this. Now, not only did he have to look for her, he also needed to buy some midnight snacks as the two pored over their heads together for a collaboration.

He sighed then scratched his head furiously. Where the hell was she? He thought as he looked around on his way out of the building. It was then when he heard a voice coming from behind him.

“Yo, Panda. Whats up?” her sultry voice greeted him, making him turn around. He took a good look at her. Yep. His hyung was right. She was definitely pissed. Her expression said it all. He could see the way she was  trying to not frown, her  lips curving from hatred. If it wasn’t her, he’d be poking fun at her right now. But it was Chae Rin and Seung Ri still wanted to see the light of another day.

“Nothing much. Just doing the orders of the Ace.” He said carefully. He saw her fingers twitch.

Ok, Seung Ri. Back off. Back the hell off right now. Every part of him screamed that warning but if he did back off, he’d have to face off a different devil at home. And frankly enough, he didn’t know which was worse.

He was about to cut tail when he heard a sigh. “What is it now? You the messenger again?”

“Yes. Like Apallo. Only more gorgeous. Hmm!” He said and posed, giving her a signature smile and a wink.

She laughed, shaking her head at his foolishness. “It’s Apollo, pabo.” She could always count on him when she was down. Yes, she knew that most of the time, she wanted to strangle the guy. But when all hell was upon her, it was always him who cheered her up – partly because Jiyong always asked him to calm her down before he actually faced her.

They walked out of the building together.

“So where are you heading now, Panda?” she tilted her head towards him, looking up slightly.

Don’t look at me like that. He thought automatically, his breath caught on his throat. “Well, going to the convenience store to buy some midnight snacks for the hyungs. Then, home. Hopefully. Actually, only if you accept this.” He said, before taking out the envelope Jiyong hyung handed to him. “Here. He wanted you to have this.”

She looked at the paper. He could see her struggle inside. Should she give in and give him another chance or should she deny him for once? Reluctantly, she took the paper and opened it, pulling out a pendant and a little note.

She sighed as she held the small object up to her eyes. It was a heart-shaped pendant. Opening it, she found a picture of her on the right side and a picture of him on the left. And upon the note, the words, Forgive me CL-roo? were written on the card.

“Hey.” He said. Looking at her, it made him wonder why she stayed with Jiyong. Jiyong didn’t even do half of the things Seung Ri would have done if he was with her. “Want me to give you a lift? But we’d have to come back here anyway.” He asked her nervously. Rare was it that he acted shy and nice towards her. Most of the time, he just spoke to her to piss her off intentionally.

“What’s the point of taking the car two blocks away? Let’s just walk.” She said before going ahead. She wanted to be… well, she didn’t know exactly what she wanted. She wanted to be alone yet she wanted Seung Ri to tag along. She didn’t know what she wanted… but she knew what she needed.

“Hey, Ri-“

“Oppa.”

“Panda.”

“No! I said oppa.”

She turned to him, annoyed. “Now why should I call you oppa?!” she said, completely stopping on her tracks as she glared at the man. Just when she was about to bare her soul out, his usual annoying self came back.

“Oh, good. You’re back to normal.” He said before laughing out loud and looking at the sky. “Just like the Chae Rin I always knew. Now, what were you trying to tell me, dear dongsaeng?”

She sighed, now annoyed. “Never mind, you stupid panda.”

“Hey, hey! Don’t be so down now. Rant all you want.”

“How did…?”

“How did I know? Because that’s what girls do. Especially when they’re mad at their boyfriends. Seung Ri’s Romantic Book, chapter 1 page five.” He shrugged cooly before saluting to her and giving her another wink.

“Oh God, don’t make me puke, Love Guru. But yeah. You’re right.” She sighed then looked down at her feet. “I.. I’m getting tired. It’s always like this, you know? He does something stupid then he sends you, of all people, and gives me things that would make me forgive him…”

He merely listened. The beating of his heart mixed with her voice filled his ears. “It’s unfair to you. And it’s unfair to me. It makes me think that… he just doesn’t care, you know?”

Oh, he knew alright. He thought the same thing. His hyung had no idea what he was messing with. Seung Ri was sure that Jiyong loved Chae Rin. Really loved her, otherwise he would never have agreed to be their bridge… But he also knew that Jiyong didn’t appreciate her enough. He wanted to tell her what he thought but who was he to voice out his honest opinion? He was just their friend.

He turned towards her and saw her looking at him expectantly. “He does.”

“But?”

“But what?”

“Not enough, right?”

She nailed me. He sighed. “Yes.” There was no point in hiding something that was so obvious.

“He’s breaking me, Ri. Breaking. I feel that with each time he sends you, he cares less and less. I… I don’t think I can deal with this any l-longer.”

It broke his heart to hear her voice crack. This wasn’t the right way on treating a girl. This was wrong. He loved her as his friend and he loved his hyung too, but hurting someone constantly was not the way to go. He wrapped an arm around her and ruffled her hair playfully. Keeping his eye straight ahead, he whispered to her. “Sorry for saying this… But do what you think is right, Chae. Don’t feel. Just think.”