The Next Day 

It was mid morning as Jiyong organized the contents of the kitchen at the small noodle shop he worked at. Though it was fairly cool outside, the heat from the kitchen was making the restaurant rather hot. 

He stood over the stove, preparing Jjamppong as he wiped sweat from his forehead. Hearing the door open, he looked up to see Dara walk in and sit in an empty table. He smiled, bringing the food to the customers, then walked over to her. 

"Jagi, what are you doing here?" 

She stood up to kiss him. "My parents are making a congratulatory dinner for our engagement. Are you free tonight?" 

"Uh." He scratched the back of his head, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry baby, I have to be somewhere tonight. But I'm free any other night." 

She pouted. "Is it really more important than celebrating our engagement?" 

"Nothing is more important than you noona. It's just that I promised my friend that I'd be there." 

She sighed, dropping her shoulders. "Fine." 

He smiled, kissing her. "Thank you baby." 

On the way to Sohee's place Jiyong got a text from Dara.

It said: 'Hope you have fun tonight jagi-ah. Don't worry about the dinner. My parents understand. We can jsut do it some other time.'  

He read over the message about a dozen times, feeling guilty. "I'll make it up to her." He said to himself as he pulled up to Sohee's place. He called her, informing of his arrival, where they exchanged a few words before hanging up.  

It didn't take long for her to appear before him. When he saw her walking towards his car, he got out to greet her, immediately being stunned by her presence. He noticed her black long sleeved mini dress and her red stilettos. Her hair was in loose curls behind down her back and shoulders, illustrating her pretty face that was dressed in dark eye makeup and red lipstick. She looked mysterious, and he liked it. 

"By the look on your face, I'm guessing you like my outfit." She stated, smiling at him. 

He nodded, still scanning her body up and down. 

She giggled, taking note of his outfit. "You look nice tonight oppa. Well you always look good so I suposse I shouldn't be surprised." She smiled, causing him to loose his breath. 

"We should get going." He finally spoke after clearing his throat, opening the car door for her. 

Jiyong's hand laid lightly on the small of Sohee's back as they entered the party, her heels clicking on the solid gold floor. All around were prestigious men and women, dressed in the latest (and most expensive) fashion. Wherever he looked, he saw some of the most attracting looking people he had ever seen. No wonder Sohee was invited to this party. Everyone looked like something out of a rich man's fairytale. Some being friends, important chairmen, musicians, political figures, colleagues, and ex lovers of Heechul. And not to mention the decor. There was gold, cash, and booze all around. 

"Sohee..." Jiyong said timidly. "I don't think I fit in here... with these people." 

She looked around, ignoring the dirty looks some people were giving Jiyong. His suit, though very nice, was a bit out dated, and he was wearing red converse shoes. Most of these people cared too much about appearance, she thought he looked amazing.

"You're right." She finally said. 

He bit his lip, not feeling worthy enough to be seen with her.

"You're not stuck up like the rest of them."  

He smiled, still feeling unsure. 

She giggled, grabbing his arm. "Come on, let's go get something to drink." 

Before he could reply, she was tugging him towards the refreshment table across the room. 

For a good 30 minuets, just the two of them stood and talked about various things. From time to time, someone Sohee knew would walk by and she would introduce them to Jiyong in an attempt to make him fill more comfortable. For the most part, it was working.  

"Sohee. You made it." A familiar, silky smooth voice called out to her. 

Both her and Jiyong turned around to see the one and only Kim Heechul walking towards them in long strides. He was dressed in a pitch black, 100,000 dollar Alexander Amosu suit, large amounts of jewelry dripped around his wrists and neck, nicely shined shoes, and his hair fell perfectly around his face. His very appearance made Jiyong feel insecure. 

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world." She responded with a smile. 

"You look lovely. As usual." He complimented sweetly, looking her up and down. "Why are you standing over here? You should be enjoying the party." He gestured to the crowd with his champagne glass in hand. 

"Well I was just making sure he was comfortable." She motioned to Jiyong. "Heechul oppa, this is Jiyong oppa." 

His eyes shot to Jiyong who had his arm interlocked with hers.  "Ah. I see." He was not impressed. "You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend Sohee." He spat, standing up straight and taking a sip of his Dudognon Heritage Cognac champagne.

She laughed nervously, noticing the protective tone in his voice. "We're not together oppa. Jiyong is just my friend."  

He rose an eyebrow. "Well in that case. May I have this dance?" He held out his hand and as if on cue, Clazziquai's "She Is" began to play. 

Sohee's eyes darted to Jiyong. 

"You don't mind, right?" Heechul said as more of a statement then a question towards Jiyong. His eyes were fierce as his icy glare shot daggers at Jiyong. He obviously wasn't too found of this stranger linking arms with his beloved Sohee. 

"Go ahead." He encouraged half heartily, letting go of her. "I'll wait here for you." 
She gave him a smile but before she could say anything, Heechul shoved his drink in Jiyong's hand and gently yanked Sohee to the dance floor.

 
Jiyong stood and watched as Heechul placed his hand on her back dangerously close to her bottom. He took note of the way he would lean down and whisper in her ear, making her laugh, the way she looked up at him with those pretty eyes, smiling at everything he said. He took note of how close he held her, as if she were to disappear if he allowed any space between them. 
There was an odd feeling brewing  in Jiyong's chest as he watched them dance for 3 songs. He had to continuously restrain himself from cutting in and dragging her away. 
The next song began to play and Heechul showed no intention of letting Sohee go anywhere. 
Just as Jiyong was about to walk over and interrupt their dance, he caught eyes with someone familiar, Yoobin. He smiled as she walked over to him.  

"You look nice." She complimented as she finally reached him. "You came with Sohee I presume?" 

"Yeah." He nodded, taking a sip of his expensive liquor.  

"Well then why are you letting Heechul romance her in the middle of the room?" She questioned. 

He shrugged. "He asked to dance with her and I'm not her boyfriend. It's not like I can stop her from dancing with other men."  

She dragged her eyes from him to the dance floor where Heechul and Sohee were fully engaged in yet another dance. "True. She isn't your girlfriend. But she could be." She smiled as she heard him choke on his drink. 

He cleared his throat, placing his drink down. "I. I uh. I've never thought about that."  

She smiled, amused at how much he was blushing. "Never? You've never thought of holding hands with her? Kissing her? Or even getting her into bed?" 

His eyes widen and his blush deepened as he looked at Yoobin in shock. He had almost forgotten how straight forward she is.  

"I-I. Well um. You see..." He took a deep breath and proceeded to try again. "Honestly, every time I'm with her I get this overwhelming urge to kiss her. Even when we're not together, I can't get the image of her out of my mind." He looked up at her with concern. "What do think this means?" 

She smiled at his cuteness. "Well, it's pretty obvious what's going on."  

"It is?" 

"Yep. You're in love with her."  

Before he could react to her accusation, Sohee was making her way over towards them. 

"Hi unnie." She said cheerfully as she greeted her friend.  

"Hey Sohee." Yoobin responded coolly. "I was just keeping your date company while you abandoned him." She said jokingly before excusing herself and disappearing into the crowd.   

Sohee gave Jiyong an apologetic look. "Sorry oppa. I didn't think Heechul would keep me for so long. It's impossible to say no to him."  

"It's alright." He smiled. "Yoobin is good company." 

"What were you two talking about? Your face is pretty red."  

Suddenly, the memory of his and Yoobin's conversation returned to his mind. "Uh. Nothing important." 

She raised her eyebrows, about to question him, but then remembered what she wanted to tell him. "Never mind that. The firework show is about to start. Will you come watch with me?" She looked at him with those alluring eyes he'd often get hypnotized by. Tonight was no exception. He gladly accepted, letting her take his hand. 

Whenever she would look at him, he'd gladly do whatever she asked. Whenever she'd say his name with that sweet voice of hers, he'd have a hard time standing straight. And that dress she had on did nothing but increase his temptation to touch her. 
 

The night went by in a haze to Jiyong. The only memories that could be recovered were of Sohee's smile, her eyes, her laugh, and her legs. Those legs he often found himself gawking at while she wasn't looking.  

Now it was 2 in the morning. They were in his car, on their way back to Sohee's apartment. They were quiet as the sound of the wind flowed through the car. The silence finally gave Jiyong a chance to think. 

'Im not in love with her.' He thought to himself. It's was the 5th time that night he tried to convince himself. 'It's just a small attraction. Besides, I have Dara noona. I don't love Sohee. I don't love Sohee. I don't-'

"Oppa." She spoke, breaking him out of his thoughts.  

"Yeah?" He responded.  

"Stop the car."  

"Huh?"  

"Just do it."  

Confused, Jiyong pulled over to the side of the road near the beach.  

"Is there something wrong?" He asked with concern.   

She nodded, turning on the radio and turning up the volume. "We never got a chance to dance at the party. Let's dance now." She smiled at him before getting out of the car. He followed suit, following her to the small sandy area by the car. The sound of Cindy Lauper's 'Time after Time' began to play.  

"Omo. I love this song." Sohee stated and Jiyong smiled.  

"Are you just going to stand there and look at me." She teased.  

He laughed nervously, taking her hands and placing them around his neck. His shaking hands fell around her waist, making sure he didn't squeeze her too tight.   

He looked down at her, noticing she was already looking at him.  'Does she know what she does to me when she looks at me like that?' He thought. Without a second thought, her pulled her in closer, getting a whiff of her sweet scent. 
"Sohee I..." He began to say what he had been thinking the whole night. "I... I'm happy I'm here with you." He finally said.  

She smiled. "You are?"  

He nodded. "You make me happy."  

She blushed, not taking her eyes off of him. "You make me happy too." After saying so, she griped his shirt and hid her face in his chest, making him laugh. 
"Omo. So cute."

With one hand on her back and the other running through her hair, he kissed the top of her head.  

'Do I love her?' 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Sohee, Jiyong, and I are back with another chapter ^.^ 

This took me a long time to write OMG. 

Hope you liked. 

Tell me what ya think <3