"Don't you like it?"

"No"

"Aww come on. I think it looks nice"

"It looks ugly" Jong In said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "It's too low cut and it's too tight. No way, it's tacky" He said in a huff, shaking his head as he waved her back into the dressing room.

"Dresses are all like this now a days!" Sun Ae said with a smile as she closed the dressing room door and looked at herself in the mirror. The dress had a nice flow and it was by no means too low cut, "Well I need a nice dress so what on earth do you expect me to wear? ...Jong In?"

She sighed and ped the dress. As she let it fall to the ground she heard a loud clatter outside of her dressing room.

"Wear this!" He said, sounding excited as he swiftly threw a mass of cloth over the dressing room door and it fell onto Sun Ae's head.

She slowly held the dress up and stared at it in disbelief. It was long, as in all the way past her feet and it was long sleeved. She bit her lip to keep from laughing as she felt the disgustingly rough material and noticed how it even went all the way up to her neck, ending it a lace collar. It was flowery and just... unbelievable.

Jong In waited patiently for her to try it on, a smug look on his face. If she was going to go to a party and if he couldn't go then there was no reason for her to look so good he assured himself. Granted it was a party her parents were throwing, but it was for family and friends. He was just about to pat himself on the back for the good choice when he heard her laughter from the dressing room. He glared at the door as he waited for it to fade away only to find it didn't stop. She just kept laughing.

"What's wrong with it?!" He asked as he stood up, "It looks modest!"

"Modest?! Hahaha, oh my god Jong In I might as well go wrapped up in black bed sheets!" She said as her voice dissolved into laughter and she stepped out, fully dressed and both dresses in her arms.

He frowned slightly as she walked up to him, all smiles, and handed him the ugliest dress on earth. She honestly didn't even know stores sold anything like this anymore.  

"Put it away, I'm getting the dress I picked" Sun Ae said as she placed a quick kiss on his cheek and went to the cash register.

"Your boyfriend?" The woman behind the register asked as she rung up her dress

"Yeah... he's an idiot sometimes" Sun Ae with a chuckle as she took out her card and handed it over.

"You two look good together" She said with a smile and Sun Ae smiled brightly as she saw him walking over to them with that slight pout on his lips he got when he didn't quite get his way.

"Thank you" Sun Ae said both for the compliment and the service as the woman handed her the bag with a smile. She took the dress and lacing her arm with his they walked out of the store.

Jong In didn't say anything and sulked instead as they walked to the mall exit. She looked around her as they walked freely in the crowd, no one paying any obscene attention to them, no one crowding for autographs, no crazy fans. She could see what she had been missing, there was something satisfying about this and at the same time private she reflected. They stepped out and went to his car. The ride was quiet, but Sun Ae didn't say anything because she knew he wasn't actually mad. He was just waiting for her to cave in and return the dress.

"I'm keeping the dress" She stated as they got out of his car and went up to her apartment.

"Fine" He said with a shrug, closing the door behind him and following to her room.

"....But you can come with me if you want. My parents did say I could bring a friend" She said shaking her head at his childishness as she laid out the beautiful strapless red dress.

"A friend?" Jong In asked, immediately catching on to her words as he went over to the pile of clothes he had in the corner of her room and grabbed a black shirt and some sweatpants, "We've been dating for all this time and I get to be just a friend? I mean, I come here all the time I'm pretty sure I spend more time in this apartment than at my own, but I'm just a friend?"

"You know you're not. It's just that my parents wouldn't take the news of a boyfriend that well" She said awkwardly, making sure to stay away from the reason why.

"It's fine, they're over protective huh?"" He said thoughtfully.

"Something like that, more like really stubborn" She said with a sigh.

~~~~~~

"Your parents let you live in an apartment like that when they've got a huge house?" Jong In said in awe as they pulled up to the large house, cars were already lined up all around and it was by sheer luck that they found parking nearby.

"I told you they were stubborn. They don't want me to do photography so they cut me off until I fell into line" Sun Ae said, proud that despite not having their help she had managed to survive on her own.

Jong in nodded as they stepped out of the car and walked up the walkway to the front doors. He quietly dusted off his shoulder and straightened out as they got closer. He was properly dressed in a black suit, but he somehow felt inadequate. He looked at Sun Ae as they stepped into the over light of the entrance and stared at her for a few seconds, she looked beautiful. Her hair was down and the dainty necklace she wore wasn't too showy, but she still made it look expensive. As the doors were opened he realized that the inadequacy may have come from having to stand next to her.

"Miss Park it's been so long!" An older man said as he opened the doors and let them both in.

"Mr. Kim it's so nice to see you again!" She responded with a gentle smile, "This is my friend Kim Jong In" She said placing a hand on Jong In's arm and introducing him.

"Well for friends you two look very cute together" The man said with a knowing chuckle and after a few more exchanges of greetings he went on his way.

"He used to work with my dad a long time ago, but he alwasy came over for dinners and always brought me presents" Sun Ae whispered as they stepped deeper into the house, soft music could be heard in the distance, "He was like the uncle I never had" She said softly.

Jong In was about to say something in return when they stepped into the main room. The first thing to hit him was that the room was huge. Like much bigger than any normal room any normal person would have in their house. Then there was the people, it was full of people all wearing formal clothes and laughing casually with each other. A few of them were even dancing, and of course it was classical dance.

"Don't tell me I'm secretly dating the daughter of some chaebol family or something" He hissed in the ear.

She laughed and shook her head.

"You're an idiot sometimes! My dad runs his own business, it's big, but not huge. They just like to show off with their house" She whispered with a smile.

The next half hour was spent as they casually moved around and Jong In noticed with mild amusement how Sun Ae seemed to know everybody there. The thing he liked the most thought was that each and every single time she made sure to introduce him.

"I need water. Let's go to the food table, we're less likely to get nagged there" She suggested.

"I thought you weren't going to show up" A familiar voice said from the other end of the table when they finally got there.

Sun Ae and Jong In turned to see Taemin standing there with a smile on his face. Jong In immediately felt a hint of dislike seep into his body. Even though they saw each other often, they hadn't really talked since that day last month. Instead it was all surface conversations, how are you doings, I'm fines, and nothing deeper than that. That was fine with Jong In, since he didn't want him around Sun Ae anyways. But the smile on her face made Jong In's body tense in an uncomfortable way.

"I figured you wouldn't show either" She said and glancing at Jong In she added, "I'm glad you're here though. We can all look busy talking to each other now!" She said giving Jong In an encouraging smile.

The smile faltered when he stayed serious and she wondered what on earth was going on between them. The last time she was even since them both together was that time at dinner and after that there was nothing. She gave Taemin a questioning glance and he answered with a subtle shrug.

"Taemin look what I found! Aren't they beautiful?" A girl said as she went up to his side, three roses in her hand. Sun Ae stared at her in surprise. Who on earth was she?

"Ah, sorry these are my friends, Jong In and Sun Ae, and this is my date, Shin Hye" He said with an easy smile as Sun Ae kept staring at her. Her body tensed up and even though she didn't want to, she could feel her gaze getting colder.

"Nice to meet you" Jong In said, being the first one to break the silence as he smiled, a little bit of relief going through his body.

"Were you out in the garden?" Sun Ae asked suddenly, fixating her eyes on the roses in that girl's hands.

"Huh? Oh, yeah it's really beautiful I—" She began before Sun Ae cut her off.

"My mom is very proud of her roses. No one gets to pick them. You've killed three of her roses. I would suggest getting rid of them before she find us" Sun Ae said coldly, Jong In placed a hand on her arm and squeezed it tightly while Taemin's eyes flickered over to her,

"I d-didn't know" She stuttered at looked at Taemin for help only find him studying Sun Ae very carefully.

"It's fine" He said suddenly, as if realizing it was his turn to speak, "We'll get rid of them now" He said as he grabbed the roses from her and threw them in the trash bin at the end of the table.

"Sun Ae is not as uptight as she seems" Taemin added, giving Sun Ae a warning look.

She fought hard to keep the frown from showing on her face. What the hell was he giving her a warning look for? Her, of all people? She looked at the girl, who stared like a deer caught in headlines and something about her bothered Sun Ae. It seemed like she would just be one of those girls who instantly got on your bad side she told herself. Why did Taemin have to date someone like her? The girl broke her gaze first and slightly turning away from Sun Ae she whispered something in Taemin's ear. Sun Ae raised an eyebrow as the girl grabbed Taemin's hand tightly.

"Ah, we'll be right back" He said suddenly, a mischievous look in his eyes as he pretended to remember something and they walked away.

"Did you see her? Picking my mother's roses like that? She had no right to touch them! It's not like they belong to her" Sun Ae ranted as she turned to Jong In, the next few lines none of which were nice, died in as she noticed Jong In, "What's wrong?"

"Are you... jealous of her?" He asked and she didn't miss the hurt in his voice.

"Why would I be jealous of her?" She asked, genuinely surprised, the thought hadn't crossed her mind. It was just plain dislike she assured herself.

"Because she's dating Taemin" He said directly, getting to the point instantly.

"I'm not. She's just annoying. Don't you ever have those people that you instantly you know, dislike? She's one of them. It has nothing to do with Taemin" She whispered, aware of the people around her.

"What has nothing to do with me?" He asked as he walked back in, that girl still on his arm.

Sun Ae opened to respond when a loud voice interrupted her.

"Honey you made it!" Her mother's voice echoed behind her and Sun Ae cringed, "Sweetie it's been too long! You never come see us anymore!" She gushed.

"That's because my new apartment is too far away. If only I still lived close to home" She said with a roll of her eyes despite that fact that she returned the hug her mother offered her warmly and was happy to see her again, "Anyways, mom this is—" Sun Ae began as she grabbed Jong In's arm only to be cut off by her mother.

"Taemin! How come I haven't seen you in almost as long as that one? I swear you two are gonna worry us to death one of these days" Her mother gushed as she bulldozed over Jong In's introduction.

Sun Ae frowned and tried not to let her behavior get the best of her as her mom very obviously focused her attention on Taemin and chose to ignore the introduction Sun Ae had wanted to make. She looked up at Jong In nervously who had an unreadable look on his face but she could feel from the tension in his arm that he was uncomfortable too. It hadn't helped that he thought she had been jealous of all things too.

Just like that the night went forward with her mother every so often sending cold remarks towards Jong In and Shin Hye and never missing an opportunity to show off just how close Sun Ae and Taemin were. It really went from stories to how she considered him just like a son. Sun Ae could only be thankful she hadn't gotten too specific and said something about the period in which she had dated Taemin. She was feeling exhausted as a new tune came on and the lights dimmed. Music played loudly, but at the same time the tune was gentle as her mother turned to them with a bright smile.

"Let's dance" Sun Ae said quickly to Jong In, cutting off the words her mom was about to say which most definitely included something along the lines of making her dance with Taemin.

Before she had a chance to protest, they were already in the middle and his arms were wrapped around her as they moved silently to the song.

"This is why you didn't want me to come right?" Jong In asked quietly, "Because you were afraid I'd get hurt because your mom is officially Taemin's number one fan?"

"That's a pretty accurate description"

"Has she tried to set you guys up yet?" He asked.

"Yeah, but you know parents..." Sun Ae said quietly, letting the sentence hang in the air, "It really doesn't matter what she wants though. As you can see by the shape of my apartment, I don't take a lot of hat she says into account"

"Can I ask you something?" Jong In said as they naturally moved farther away from the main crowd.

"Sure"

"Can you stop seeing Taemin? Even as friends, can you just stop?"

"...Why?"

"I think he likes you a lot in a not so very friendly way and I don't like it" He confessed.

She stared at Jong In and blinked the surprise away quickly. So that's what was going on between them.

"I won't plain out ignore him because we're just friends. But I promise to avoid him as much as possible" She said with a smile as she leaned forward and gave Jong In a kiss on the lips.

His eyes widened is surprise as he whispered, "People can see us! I thought you didn't want—"

"I don't care to be honest. I was being polite to my mom, but if she's going to ignore you and purposefully hurt your feelings then I don't really care if people see us" Sun Ae grinned, "She should get used to the idea that Taemin and I are never going to happen"

Jong In laughed and leading her back onto the center, he pulled her swiftly into his arms as they swayed from side to side together. She smiled as they turned and her smile froze in place as she spotted Taemin and that girl. They were sitting at another table and he was laughing at something she said and Sun Ae felt a weird and angry stirring inside of her. As the girl reached out and touched Taemin's face she quickly looked away.

She really didn't care what they did she repeated angrily in her head.

Even if it was her house and he should have never brought another girl here, especially one who picked roses when she wasn't even sure if she could. It was only at that sentence that the ridiculousness of it all washed over her. No one got this mad just over picked roses.

.

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Wow I don't know how this chapter came out so long.... I tried to separate it into two different ones but then I was just left with two awkwardly short chapters *sigh*

Thanks for reading! :)