At school the next day Zelo avoided her. Every time she’d catch his eye in the hallway he’d quickly look away and speed up his pace before she could approach him. She finally managed to corner him at break.

“Yah, are you avoiding me Zelo?” She asked as she met him at his locker. He scowled up at her.

“Look Ji, if you don’t feel that way about me we can’t be friends anymore.” He said coldly as he turned back to his textbooks. It was like a punch in the face.

“W-wae?” She stuttered as dropped open and he rolled his eyes. She really didn’t think about anyone but herself.

“I can’t take it anymore Ji Seong. Just being friends isn’t enough for me.” He was about to say sorry and then he realised he had nothing to be sorry about. She could say she liked him too and they’d live happily ever after the end. It was all up to her. She ran a hand through her hair.

“I still don’t know Zelo I-” He shook his head as he slammed his locker shut.

“’I still don’t know’ isn’t good enough Ji. If you really liked me you’d know like that” He clicked his fingers before storming off without so much as a backward glance. She rested her head on the lockers.

For the first time in a long time Ji Seong ate with Dara at lunch. Luckily it was one of the rare days when she didn’t have a club on. They sat in the canteen and Ji Seong did a double take as she saw Zelo a few tables away, sitting on the table with his feet on a chair, surrounded by a large group of girls. She caught a snippet of him rapping and saw the girls swoon and she gritted her teeth.

“Are you okay Ji?” She turned away from the scene to see Dara looking at her anxiously. Her eyes dropped to Ji Seong’s dinner and Ji Seong looked down too to see it ripped to shreds. She gulped as she realised she’d done it.

“N-ne I’m fine Dara” She said, forcing a smile that turned out as a grimace.

“Wow, you’re so good oppa!” She heard an annoying voice and glared at a girl in the year below up to her former friend as she played with her hair. She shook her head disbelievingly – he wasn’t even her oppa! They were the same age! She tightened her grip on her chopsticks as her fist turned white. Fine. They could have him. She didn’t care. She’d made her decision. She pushed her chair back noisily and stormed out, leaving Dara sitting on her own looking slightly scared.

*

When she returned to the dorm that evening she saw Seungri and Taeyang talking in the kitchen. She smiled nervously as she approached them, hugging Seungri and then stopping at Taeyang awkwardly, not sure what to do. He pulled her into a hug and she sighed in relief.

“Jiyong-hyung’s gone back to America for a while.” Seungri said carefully, not wanting to upset Ji Seong by mentioning his band mate but thinking she would want to hear the news. She nodded.

“That’s good.” She said but she was looking at Taeyang. He hadn’t made eye contact with her yet and she wondered if he was annoyed. Seungri seemed to notice the awkward atmosphere.

“Err yeah...I should take a shower...” He muttered as he escaped from the kitchen. Still Taeyang gazed intently at the blank patch of wall.

“Y-Youngbae oppa?” He met her eyes at last and she was thrown a bit by his intense gaze. She bit her lip. “I...err...” She suddenly felt nervous. “I thought about what you said today.” She mumbled as she played with her sleeve, not able to meet his gaze anymore. He raised an eyebrow as he waited for her to go on. “Well...I err...I realised that I...” She blushed as she thought about how she should put it. “I really appreciate what you’ve done for me and umm...” She sighed unable to say it and just wrapped her arms around his neck as she stood on her tip toes and kissed him softly, letting the kiss speak for her. He didn’t kiss her back and after a while she broke away. Had he changed his mind? Had he got fed up of waiting? She glanced at him anxiously but he kept a poker face.

“Are you sure?” He asked softly and she nodded firmly. He studied her face as if trying to read her mind and then took her face in his hands. Slowly he leant down and now he brushed his lips against hers. She leant forwards eager for more but instead he kissed her nose. “About bloody time Ji” He laughed as he held her in his arms.