As the days slowly slipped into weeks Joon grew closer and closer to Yoon Hee and Soo Jin. When he wasn’t performing or doing something else with the other members of MBLAQ he could be found in the tiny little apartment Soo Jin and her mother shared, but when nighttime fell and the stars came out to twinkle like fairy lights Joon could always be found in the shadowed area behind the curtain of the nightclub, his eyes never straying from the smooth, satiny skin of one very talented, very female dancer. At the moment that was exactly where his eyes were as he watched her hips sway and sashay across the stage, her long, glorious legs seemingly to make her appear as if she glided across the floor.

Yoon Hee knew Joon was watching, she could always feel his eyes on here and it made her skin prickle and heat with awareness. As she danced she let her mind conjure up the sensations of his fingers ghosting over her skin, the way his eyes heated with something that she could only describe as fire, hot and potent and that heat seared her in a way that she had never felt before.

She wasn’t certain where their friendship was heading, but she knew it was moving in a direction that was unfamiliar to her, but for the first time in her life she didn’t feel fear as she moved with him towards the next step in their relationship. Yoon Hee had come to realize that there at been a lonely ache inside her heart for so long, but the ache became nothing but a ghost of a memory whenever Joon was near.

Her bodied shifted, her hips swayed and she cast her eyes over her shoulder to spear Joon with a look that caused his heartbeat to quicken, his pulse to race and his body to feel as if fire was consuming it. He didn’t know what went out in that head of hers when she got those dazed looks, or what went on in her heart, but what he did know was that he was already head over heels in love with her and those secretive little looks she sent him during her sets were quickly becoming the death of him. Joon wondered if she had even an inkling of what she did to him, wondered if she felt the air between them sparking when they were together or if she felt the smothering heat that threatened to melt him every time he was in her presence.

He doubted it. She had made no move or said not a word to indicate that she felt anything at all when she was with him and it was frustrating him. He wanted her to feel the heat, he wanted that heat to melt the ice around her heart and allow him to seek shelter there. The longer he got to know her the more he wanted to be with her.

And then there was Soo Jin. The little girl had wiggled her way into his heart and taken root. Her small, pixie-like stature remind Joon of a child much smaller than her six years, but it made her all the more adorable and it made him want to wrap her in his arms and protect her from the world. She was a child full of smiles and innocence and he wanted her to stay that way.

He still didn’t know the story behind Yoon Hee and Soo Jin’s lives, but he knew it had been difficult. He never pried or pushed Yoon Hee into telling him the truth, but he found that it really didn’t matter. In the weeks that he had known her she had opened up more and more, little by little and let him take an active part in her life. It had taken time, but she had begun to smile and laugh and he could see the shadows of the past fading ever so slowly from her eyes and he was happy that he had been the reason for that.

Joon brought his mind back to the present just as the song rang its final notes and Yoon Hee finished her set to cheers and whistles of the gathered males, to the clap and murmurs of the females. Jealous and coveted stares followed her retreat backstage where he waited for her. She smiled as she approached him and Joon reached out an arm to wrap around her shoulders as they made their way to her dressing room.

He kept his back turned as she slipped out of her costume and into her normal clothes, waited patiently while she wiped her face clean of stage makeup and smiled broadly when she took his hand and led him out of the room and then out of the club. The night air was cold as they walked, taking it slow as they browsed the shop windows on the way back to her apartment.

Joon was happy, happier than he could ever remember being and because of that he had been careless, had forgotten the hat that he usually wore to shield his face from the public eye and it was because of that that the two of them were caught.

“Joon!”

Cheondong waved from a late night shop and then his eyes widened as they ran from Joon’s face to the hand linked in his, then onwards to the woman beside him. Joon stifled the urge to groan aloud as he felt Yoon Hee tense up, her hand tightening around his as Cheondong moved towards them.

“Cheondong!” He gave a nervous chuckle. “You’re out late. When I left earlier you were sound asleep on the couch.”

“Yeah well I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep so I thought I’d go out for a while.”

Joon looked around the area, but spotted no one else. “Where are the others?”

“Mir and G.O are still in the shop. Seung Ho said he’d meet us here in a few and we were going to go over to that little chicken stand near the dorm for a late dinner.” Cheondong eyed the two, their linked hands and then a sudden smile appeared. “You and your friend should join us.”

Yoon Hee stiffened more and Joon opened his mouth the refuse the offer figuring that she probably wanted to get back to Soo Jin, but he snapped it closed when she answered.

“That would be nice. Thank you for inviting me.”

Yoon Hee felt awkward sitting there with the five popular idols as they laughed and joked. The other four had all been nice to her, but she had sensed the curious looks they kept throwing towards her and Joon, who sat beside her and acted as if this was something that was normal. She didn’t feel normal, instead she felt like a bug under a magnify glass and that the others were studying her every time their eyes landed on hers. The only thing keeping her from jumping up and running away was Joon’s comforting hand giving hers a reassuring squeeze every now and again.

When the chicken was nothing but bones and crumbs the others finally, ashamed by the action, let their eyes rest on her without blinking away. She felt the flush of nerves and embarrassment creep over her face. She knew what they were probably thinking as they took in her shabby coat and cheap clothing. Why is Joon with a woman like her?

She had known all along that she wasn’t good enough for Joon, that there were better woman out there that would suit him better than her, but she had stubbornly clung to their friendship. Now under the curious eyes of the others she felt that Joon would probably release his mistake in hanging around her and their friendship was teetering on the edge of ending so when the others began to smile she was taken aback.

“You must be the reason why our Joonie is never around after we finish our daily schedules.”

Seung Ho said it with smile that made the nervous tension in her body ease a little. She gave him a small smile. “He hasn’t been skipping out on anything because of me has he? If so I apologize.”

“No, nothing like that so there’s no need to apologize.”

G.O chuckled and point a finger at Joon. “Yah! First you start disappearing every night and don’t think we don’t know where you’ve been going and what you’ve been doing.” Joon gave him a wide eyed look, but G.O continued before he could interrupt. “But now you disappear early in the evening and didn’t even tell us that you found such a pretty girl.” He turned to Yoon Hee with a smile and a wink. “If you ever get tired of this idiot clinging to you then please feel free to give me a call.”

“Yah!” Joon gave his friend a mock glare before his expression sobered. “You knew about my dancing?”

Seung Ho nodded and shrugged his shoulders in a who care’s sort of way. “Not at first, but did you really think that you’d be able to keep hiding it. We just decided to follow you one night two or three weeks back. However,” he beamed a smile at Yoon Hee who returned his smile with a nervous fidget. “We didn’t know about Yoon Hee until tonight. I figure if we would have stayed at the club longer we would have known, or followed you earlier in the evening, but we didn’t want to risk you finding out that we were tailing you.”

“Sneaky.” Joon shook his head and sighed. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag. You caught me red handed, but if you knew what I was doing why didn’t you mention it before now? As the leader I assumed you’d be pretty upset about me dancing in a club.”

Seung Ho shrugged. “It’s not as if you were careful. We know about you wearing the mask to keep your identity hidden and the media hasn’t found out so we didn’t see a problem with it and decided to just let you have your secrets. Despite what others think we are allowed to have a life outside of MBLAQ. We may be idols, but we’re also normal people who want to do other things in our spare time. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Joon exhaled, the burdened of not telling the others finally lifted from his shoulders. Yoon Hee noticed and she gave him a gentle smile which he returned. He took her hand and held it beneath the rickety side walk table as Mir ordered another round of chicken. Joon felt the rest of the tension in her body ease and was happy when she began to relax and enjoy herself with the others. They all settled into light conversation and included Yoon Hee as if she had been a part of them all along. For that Joon was thankful to his friends because it meant a lot to him and by her smile and the twinkle in her eyes Joon knew that it meant a lot to Yoon Hee too.