Yoon Ah stood in front of the studio, in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and carrying her backpack. She forced herself to smile brightly at Young Bae and Ji Yong as they approached. They looked depressed, just like she would expect them to look. They had been really wounded yesterday. She hated seeing them feeling so down. Ji Yong looked like a child whose puppy had been stolen. Young Bae looked like he had just lost a family member.  She was glad that she had convinced YG to let her give them this surprise. They needed this now, more than ever.

She ran to them and stuck an arm through each of theirs. “I have a surprise for you.” She said, with the brightest grin she could muster. They looked at her, skeptically and Yang Bae pulled his arm away from hers quickly.

“I’m not in the mood for surprises.” He said and she popped him in the back of his skull, annoyed. He moved out her reach andcrossed his arms, looking cool, for all the world to see. She knew him too well to believe it though. He was deeply hurt. He was too busy sulking to be productive. Even if he had to go to work today, he’d get nothing done.

JI Yong pulled his hand away, slowly. “I’m not really in the mood for surprises either. Maybe we should just do whatever it is later.” He said gently and she shook her head. Seeing them like this broke her heart and it made her want to cry again. She wouldn’t do it though. It wouldn’t help anyone if they all just kept crying.

 She snatched each of the boys by the hands and smiled. Ji Yong’s was soft, almost like a girl’s. Young Bae’s was slightly more calloused. It was probably from the working out. He never wore gloves when he weight lifted. The bars could make your hands rough. “Come on, you two. You can’t just ignore all my hard work in preparing this present for you. I even got you the day off.” She said and that broke their concentration..

She yanked them and they were pulled off balance. Once she got two steps forward, they were forced to follow her by momentum. She dragged them onto the bus and grinned even brighter. Now, they were stuck. There was no way in the world they could escape her gift. No matter how much they pouted, it would be too hard for them to escape her and the crowd.

When they got to their stop, she dragged them off the bus. Ji Yong started to smile as they walked up the gate, but Young Bae kept trying to pout. “Today, we’re going on a mini vacation. We’ll go to the amusement park first, then the beach, okay? I packed your swim suits.” She said and Ji Yong smiled, softly. Young Bae tried to ignore her, until she said the magic words. “Every girl on the beach and I will be in a bikini.” She said and Young Bae raised an eyebrow, smirking.

“Bikinis, you say?” He asked and she giggled. Yoon Ah dragged both boys by the wrist into the theme park. First, they went on the roller coasters. Even though they terrified her beyond words, with Young Bae and Ji Yong by her side, she managed to survive. They got their faces painted, ran through the haunted house, and ate every fattening thing they could find. After which, they went to the beach.

When they came out of the changing rooms, Yoon Ah thought she would die of embarrassment. She had never worn a bikini before and she felt almost . Coming out of the dressing room, to find the boys waiting for her was traumatizing. Their eyes got wide and their jaws worked silently for a few moments. She covered herself with her arms and frowned. “Is it that bad? I’m gonna go put on the other one.” She said, turning to run into the dressing room.

Ji Yong caught her arm and pulled her up against his body. She found herself out of breath as he looked directly into her eyes. She had never felt such blatant skinship. His body was bare and pressed against hers and they were both so… exposed. “You look beautiful.” He said and she couldn’t find a response so she just looked away. He pulled her chin up and smiled at her. His smile was strange, soft, happy, and something else. Something she had never noticed before. “You should know better than to say silly things like that.”

Young Bae pulled her away from Ji Yong and into his arms. He had hugged her a thousand times, but she had never noticed how big his arms had gotten. She had laid on his chest during movie nights for years, but now, against her chest, it felt different, harder. She could feel each individual plane of his chest. “You’ve never looked so gorgeous, angel.” He said, starring into her eyes. Her body felt like it was b with energy. There was no breath left in her lungs. This was different than a moment ago. She felt like she was burning up from the inside out.

Ji Yong ripped her away from Young Bae and ran toward the ocean with her. “Come on, Young Bae!” Ji Yong called and Yoon Ah had to catch herself, so that she was running behind Ji Yong. More than anything, she was just glad for the moment to compose herself. What had that been? What were those feelings?  Where did they come from? Then, she recognized something out of those looks. They reminded her of how Dong Wook sometimes looked at her when he thought she wouldn’t notice.

Suddenly, she was being tossed into the ocean and was head over heels in the water. When she righted herself, Yoon Ah saw two faces grinning at her. Her two favorite faces in the world. She must have imagined it. She splashed them and began a water fight. After that, it was all grins and laughter again. Everything was as it should be.

They took the late bus home, Yoon Ah with her hair pinned up, so that it dripped as little as possible on her clothes. This bus ride was much more fun than the first one. Their mood had taken a full 180. Boys were so easy. Cheering them up took almost no effort. Their personalities were naturally warm and happy. Yoon Ah watched them and wished it was so easy to cheer herself up.

At the bus stop, Yoon Ah just smiled as they ran off to their homes. The bus that took her home had stopped running three hours ago. The boys didn’t know. She made the choice not to spoil their good mood and hoof it home alone. She walked down the road alone and tried to smile. She had to figure it out before the morning. After a few tries, she gave up and was about to put her headphones on when a car pulled up beside her. “Get in.” A familiar voice said and she looked into the car. Dong Wook was smirking at her from the driver’s seat. “Get in, little song bird.” He said and she kept walking.

“I don’t want to.” She said, keeping her head up high. It was getting dark and cold, her hair was still dripping down her spine. He was riding slowly next to the sidewalk, ignoring the honking of traffic. She would probably catch a cold, if she walked home. That was a small price