“Hey everybody. Do you know what tomorrow is? That’s right! Tomorrow is the Halloween Dance! Today’s the last day of ticket sales, so get them before it’s too late! It’ll be the night to remember, so GO, GO, GO!”

                “Back it up, more, more, more, and stop! That’s good!” Yeon Ah pushed open the door of the moving truck and climbed aboard with Mr. Kim and Young Won. “How much do these weigh?”

                “About 10 lbs each. The pole is hollow, so it shouldn’t be that heavy,” he lifted 2 and lowered them down before carrying them off to the opened gym door. Yeon Ah and Young Won followed suit. Within minutes, they unloaded all 15 stands.

                “Thanks so much! We’ll for sure recommend you to our peers and colleagues,” Young Won bowed with Yeon Ah and Mr. Kim bowed back, thanking them for their purchase. “Anyway, let’s go to class.”

                “After you, Sir,” Yeon Ah motioned for him to go ahead. Young Won laughed and linked arms with her, leading her into the school. “Ugh, only one 2 more days of this dance and it’ll finally be over,” she groaned.

                “You have to admit, behind all the stress and headache, it was a fun experience,” Young Won shrugged. Yeon Ah looked at him incredulously. ‘Fun? After 3 whole weeks of pure torture, you still think there was some joy in this work? There HAS to be something wrong with you….’ she thought, looking at him from head to toe. ‘Nothing seems out of the ordinary…’

                “I have to disagree with you on that, Dong Rim. It’s something I don’t want to encounter anymore in the future. Anyway, here’s my class. I’ll see you after school,” she waved at him and entered her classroom. Young Won watched her run into class before heading off to his own.

--

                “Yah! Why didn’t you tell us?!” the Kim Twins snapped at Yeon Ah. They were at their usual spot under the tree.

                “Tell you about what?” Yeon Ah looked up from her lunch, confused.

                “That you and Young Won are a couple!” they screamed in unison.

                “WHAT?! Where’d you hear that from?” Yeon Ah choked on her sandwich.

                “The whole school’s talking about it. People saw you guys holding hands this morning in the hallways,” Hyo Rin stared lasers at her.

                “What? We weren’t holding hands.”

                “That’s not what the picture says!” Hyo Min whipped out her cell phone and showed her the picture students were circulating around the school. Although it was blurry, sure enough, they looked like they were holding hands. Key words, looked like. Yeon Ah suddenly remembered what happened that morning.

                “Ah,” she said in realization.

                “Ah, what?” the twins asked.

                “We weren’t holding hands--”

                “But the picture proves it!”

                “Let me finish! We weren’t holding hands, our arms are just linked in a friendly matter. Nothing more or less. So, don’t overreact.”

                “Well, if you put it that way,” Hyo Min sighed. “However, you’re going to have to convince the whole school that you’re not a couple. Apparently there’s a reward going around for anybody that can break any of your limbs. Fangirls are crazy, huh?” she chuckled at the childish threats , browsing through her phone. The colour disappeared from Yeon Ah’s face. “Uh, you okay?”

                “….No, not really,” she winced. People, girls in particular, were glaring daggers at her. “Do you think they’ll actually attack me?”

                “It’s a possibility. Fangirls are quite aggressive when it comes to their idols,” Hyo Rin looked around at the other girls. “Seems like you need to act quick, Yeon Ah. They have a hungry look in their eyes.” Yeon Ah scrambled up from her spot and threw on her bag. She quickly walked over to the school, avoiding all the death stares that bore into her back. The wind whipped fallen autumn leaves around her. ‘It’s like Mother Nature is angry with me as well. Don’t tell me she’s also a fangirl?’ She scrambled up the stairs, but was suddenly blocked by a group of girls. Not just any group of girls. THE group of girls. The Queenkas.

                “Yah! You! Stay away from our Young Won!” the girl that looked like their leader stepped forward. Yeon Ah took a step down.

                “I’m not affiliated with him in the ways you think I am. Please, don’t hurt me,” she looked around her, searching for any escapes. Although she is usually indifferent about idol scandals, this one in particular, involves her. The only thing she could think of doing is claim innocence and apologize as much as she can.

                “Really now? Then why were you holding hands?!” she took another step forward.

                “We weren’t holding hands. We linked arms as friends. Don’t you guys do that too?” Yeon Ah took another step back, nervously checked behind her shoulder. Another swarm of fangirls were gathering at the bottom of the stairs.

                “Yes, we do that too, but not with the idols!”

                “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It was something I unconsciously did! I’ll never do it again!” she felt her legs shaking in fear. Even though she had bad mouthed them for being crazy fangirls, she was genuinely afraid of what they could do.

                “Oh, you won’t, don’t worry. I’m going to make sure you don’t. How bout we teach her a lesson, girls?” they all started moving in. Yeon Ah stood there, paralyzed. ‘Oh My God. I’m going to die. This is not the way I wanted to leave this world.’ They came closer and closer, cracking their knuckles. Yeon Ah crouched down and closed her eyes, waiting for the first attack.

                “If anybody touches her, I’ll personally bring them to the police station on charges for assault.” Yeon Ah and the crowd of girls looked up at who spoke. L.Joe glared back at them. ‘He doesn’t look happy.’ He walked down towards Yeon Ah and the crowd opened up for him.

                “Are you okay?” he crouched down.

“I’m fine. Just go,” she stood up and looked at him.

                “What are you guys still doing here? SCRAM!” the crowd of girls dispersed and L.Joe reached for her arm. She pulled out of his grasp.

                “Thanks for your help, but now I have 2 targets on my back. I know you’re trying to be nice, but I think that just made it worse,” she groaned and stormed up the steps. He chased after her.

                “So what? If they try to attack you again, I’ll be there to help you out,” he stared right into her eyes. There was a look of sincerity in his eyes. Somehow, it was reassuring to her and it calmed her down.

                “Well, thanks. I’ll see you later.” She took a step, but he held her back.

                “Remember what I said. If they try to do anything, just call out my name.” She glanced at his hand and nodded.

                “Bye.”

                “Bye,” he looked at her walking away. ‘I’m serious when I say I’ll be there for you, Noona. Hopefully you believe me.’

--

                “So, I’ll see you all tomorrow, class!” Yeon Ah stood up and stretched out her sore legs. Checking her watch, she quickly put her instrument away and ran to the gym. Young Won was already there, spacing out the stands. She ran over and threw her bag onto the stage.

                “Hey,” she greeted him, picking up some more stands and moving them to the right spots.

                “Hey. How was your day?” he asked.

                “Eh.”

                “Rough day?”

                “I guess you can call it that.” Young Won eyed her suspiciously. She didn’t dare look at him, afraid that he could see right through her façade. “Okay then. Anyway, here’s all of our supplies and props. Let’s get started.” They began hanging up the fabric walls and decorating each room.

                “I can’t reach this! Help!” Yeon Ah went onto her tippy toes, reaching for the pin at the top of the stand. Young Won laughed from the other side of the maze and came over. He picked her up and she grabbed the pin. Flustered, she straightened her jacket and mumbled thanks.

--

                “Wuahhhhhh! We’re done!” Young Won lay down on the gym floor.

                “Finally….What time is it now?” she pulled out her phone. “Wow, why does everything we do for this dance always end late? It’s already 9:30.”

                “Aish, there’s only tomorrow left, there’s only tomorrow left. At least this turned out well,” he leaned up on his elbows, admiring their work of art. Yeon Ah grunted in agreement and got up. ‘At least it looks like something. But I still hate you, art.’

                “Let’s lock up and go home,” she held out her hand to help him.

                “Thanks,” he took it and she pulled up. They found the janitor who locked the gym doors for them and they headed out to the parking lot. Young Won texted his Manager on the way. “He says he’ll be here in an hour. Jisu and Daniel are still doing their radio program. He also told me to tell you that Daniel will be staying at the dorm tonight.” Yeon Ah was putting her things onto the bike.

                “Okay. I guess I’ll wait with you again. Hey, do you possibly have the sketch boo--”

                “I’m sorry,” Young Won said, hugging her from behind.

                “Y-y-yah, what are you doing? People might see us. And what are you sorry about?” she squirmed under his embrace, but he wouldn’t budge.

                “I know what happened between you and the girls today. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you,” he mumbled into her hair.

                “I-it’s okay. It’s not your fault. They just misunderstood the situation,” she tried to get out of his hold, but he wouldn’t let go.

                “Um, Dong Rim-ah. The paparazzi might get pictures of us.”

                “Not if I do this,” he spun her around and wrapped his jacket around her. Her head was barely visible against his jacket in the night.

                “That’s not what I meant,” she squeaked into his chest. Now she was leaning against her bike. Her hands were sandwiched between their bodies because she had held them up in defence. Young Won rested his chin on the top of her head. She continued struggling, pushing him with all her strength.

                “Stop moving. Can we please stay like this. Just for a little bit…” he rested his head on her shoulder. For the second time that day, she stood paralyzed. His warmth engulfed her and she relaxed in his embrace. His touch sent tingles down her spine. Her heartbeat started to race. ‘Why am I acting this way?’ Yeon Ah was panicking inside. ‘What do I do?!’

                “This might sound weird, but every time I see you, I want to give you a hug. I don’t know why, maybe because of what happened at the mall. I’m sorry,” he tightened his grip.

                “Um, it’s okay?” They stood in complete silence. The minutes slowly passed by and Yeon ah grew tired. The stress and work load finally caught up to her and she drifted off to sleep, unconsciously leaning against Young Won. He smiled and closed his eyes for a nap. The sound of a car horn startled him awake as he saw a pair of headlights coming his way.

                “Hey, Yeonnie, wake up. Manager Hyung is here to pick me up,” he let her out of his jacket. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

                “Mm, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she yawned and started up her bike. Young Won ran to the van and jumped in. He watched as she drove out of the parking lot.

                “Young Won-ah, I saw you hugging her. I don’t know what your relationship is with her, but you should be more careful,” Manager Kim gave him a stern look. “Reporters could have taken your pictures easily. If they did, it’ll cause a lot of problems not only for us, but for her as well. So please, don’t let this happen again.”

                “Neh, hyung.” 

Kyaaa~~~~ I hit 20 chapters~~~~ I think this story is going to be quite long.....>_< It's very slow paced, so I'm sorry to any readers who hate to read useless details that I like to add in ^^;;

Anyway, I kind of liked the ending of this chapter....what girl wouldn't right? *sappysappysappy*

COMMENT REPLIES

@surethingfalling: haha okay, I'll be your unnie too! Although the sibling scenes make me cringe when I write them, I admit they are cute moments LOL

@MinniePancakes: JINJJA?! do you possibly have a link? If you haven't guessed already....I LIKE GREEN.....*who would've guess XP* thank you~~

@winterflowr: haha, thank you! 

@ShyMin: same here! ah, 감사합니다!

@hai_young: haha wasn't it? 

@kmn007: Welcome Back 친구~~~~ ! Uh, I'm not the hugging type....XS as for my B1A4 bias? That's hard cause they're all so cute >_<

I hope this chapter is up to your standards! I'm going to be updating my other fic Just Can't Say No next, so watch out for it!

See you in the next Chapter!

-greenninjapanda GNP-