A couple weeks later

“Soo Yun ah!” the boys yelled when they walked in. I peeked around the corner from the kitchen and smiled.

“I hope you boys are hungry~!” I sang. They gathered around the island bar, suddenly complaining how hungry they were. I laughed to myself and rolled my eyes. Luckily, I already set the table. I hadn’t learned how to make any Korean food yet, so I had made them the breakfast they made me on White Day. They looked at it skeptically. “Oh, come on. It’s good.” I sat down and started eating mine to encourage them.

“Yah, yours looks better,” Daesung said and started to lean across the table.

I pulled my plate away. “No, this is mine! You have your own! It’s all the same!” I giggled.

“Hers does look better,” Youngbae agreed.

“Yeah, let’s eat hers instead!” Seungri said. Suddenly, they were all advancing on me. I squealed and started throwing left over flour at them all. They stopped and looked at each other.

“Get her!” TOP yelled and they started chasing me around the house, all of us throwing flour and sugar at each other. Laughter filled the place as we ran around like five year olds, chasing each other with threats of flying ingredients. The house was a total wreck, but we didn’t care.

Suddenly the front door opened and we all froze where we were. I’m sure we looked like six deer in headlights.

“Oppas?” one of the four girls in the doorway said. Seungri coughed, sending a cloud of flour out of his mouth. The rest of us laughed and fell in the floor.

“Minzy ah, what are you guys doing here?” Daesung asked, jumping up and brushing himself off. TOP took my hands and helped me up. I bumped into him when he pulled me up too fast and my cheeks turned pink.

One of the other girls put her hand on her hip. “What, we can’t come by to see our friends?” I knew she was kidding, but she came across a little y. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She strutted over to me. “And who might this be?”

“This is Daesungie’s girlfriend, Soo Yun. Soo Yun, this is CL, Minzy, Bom and Dara. 2NE1,” Jiyong introduced.

I bowed and said a formal greeting. CL scoffed. “You guys are a mess.” She gave me a once over. Both of my eyebrows were raised, now. Who did this girl think she was? She was too good to say hello to me?

“Yah, don’t be rude to her,” TOP said when he saw that I was getting a little upset. My heart sank. I looked at Daesung. He was avoiding me, of course. Why didn’t he defend me?

CL looked at TOP. “Sorry, then. A friend of theirs is a friend of mine. So, Daesung is your boyfriend? I didn’t even know he had a girlfriend.” She strutted back to where the other girls were standing.

I glanced at Daesung again. Say something, I begged in my mind.

“Yes ma’am, it’s been official since White Day. Right, Daesungie?” Seungri nudged Daesung, who looked extremely uncomfortable. Why wasn’t he saying anything?

“I’m happy for you, Daesung Oppa,” Minzy said quietly and smiled. I could tell that smile was forced. I looked up at TOP who shrugged, giving me an apologetic look. So they had a thing for each other. Aish, why can’t this just be simple?

TOP nudged the guys and they went over and occupied the girls.

“Don’t worry, Soo Yun ah. Daesung is very faithful in relationships.” TOP smiled at me. I sighed.

I searched for the right words to describe my fears. Fears I hadn’t had in a long time.

“Oppa, we’re going to get lunch. Will you guys be joining us?” Bom asked. I looked at TOP and shook my head, telling him I wanted to stay home. The other boys had changed and fixed their hair so they didn’t have to go out dirty.

“Uh, no I’m going to stay here and help Soo Yun clean up our mess. We’ll see you guys later.” He waved to them and they all started to leave.

Daesung gave me a small apologetic smile and walked out. Not okay.

When I’m angry or hurt, I like to clean so I was happy for the mess we’d made out of the house. I was also happy for TOP’s company. He wasn’t as quiet as I’d thought at first. He did a lot of silly things that made me laugh. We cleaned and talked together for a while. He was very sweet and helpful.

I was walking into the kitchen to carry some dishes in when I slipped on the wet floor. TOP had mopped, and I had no idea! This is going to hurt, I thought, expecting my to hit the ground. I felt somebody’s arms under me and opened my eyes. TOP’s face was close to mine, too close.

“Are you okay, Soo Yun?” he asked in his deep, raspy voice. His face, his scent, and how close he was mesmerized me. I nodded slowly and he set me on my feet. I’d broken the dishes. “I’m sorry I forgot to tell you I mopped,” TOP said, bending to clean up the broken glass off of the floor.

I shook my head to snap out of the trance I was in and bent to help him. “No, it’s okay. I should’ve asked you.” I pushed some of my hair behind my ear and stood up to put the broken glass in the trash.

“Yah, put some shoes on so you don’t cut your feet. I’m going to have to sweep up the rest of the glass. I don’t want you to get hurt.” TOP threw me over his shoulder and I squealed.

“TOP! Put me down! What are you doing?” I laughed even though I was trying to be serious.

I felt him chuckle. “I told you. I don’t want you to cut your feet.” He stopped and I kept hitting his back. I froze when I heard his next word. “Daesung.”

He set me down on the floor and I turned around, facing the rest of the boys.

“Guys! You did an awesome job cleaning the place. I looks great,” Jiyong complimented us. I smiled and thanked him. I looked at Daesung; he was avoiding my gaze again. What was with him today? Ever since those 2NE1 girls walked in, he’d been avoiding me. Obviously, it was the cute Minzy girl. The David incident was happening all over again. I saw it coming. It was just going to be a repeat and I was going to get my heart broken.

“Are you okay?” Seungri whispered to me. I looked at Youngbae, TOP, Daesung and Jiyong talking on the couch.

I shook my head, saying, “It’s going to happen again.”

“Huh?”

I looked at Seungri. He frowned. “I’m going to lose Daesung. He’s made me so happy. I don’t want to lose him. But I know I will. This is why I don’t like getting close to people, Seungri ah. It gives them the power to hurt me. I’m going to get hurt.”

He bit his lip. “Come talk to me.” He led me outside, onto a large balcony that I didn’t even know existed. He shut the door behind us. “I know I seem like a brat sometimes, but it’s because I’m scared too. I have a lot of friends that I care about, but I don’t get too close to them because I don’t want them to hurt me. I act kind and sweet, but really, I am scared. I know how you feel, Soo Yun ah. Really. I’m sorry I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never seen Daesung act like he has today. I’m sure he’s scared too. Just give him some time. Now, I know that isn’t what you want to hear right now, but patience is the best thing when it comes to Daesungie. You’re very special to him, to all of us. We think very highly of you. You’re so sweet and kind and innocent.” He laughed and looked at me with his sweet panda eyes. “Everything will be okay, little sister. I promise.” He opened his arms for a hug and I embraced him.

“Thank you, Seungri. I’m so glad I’m not alone anymore.” We squeezed each other. “But why couldn’t you say this in front of the rest of the boys?” I looked up at him curiously.

He let out a nervous laugh. “We don’t know everything about each other. We do have our private things that we keep to ourselves, on reserve in case somebody needs to know. But only you know, now.” He mussed my hair.

I smiled, happy to have such great friends. I looked out over the city and thought of my Appa. He would have wise words to say right now. I didn’t even notice when Seungri left. Daesung had taken his place. He was looking at me.

“What were you thinking about?” he asked quietly.

I sighed softly. “I was thinking of Appa. I know he would be able to tell me how to fix things if I needed to ask him. I miss him a lot.” Wasn’t I too young to have lost both of my parents?

Daesung reached for me. I took his hand. He pulled me against him and hugged me. “Soo Yun ah.” He said my name softly, sweetly. He had to be an angel.

“Mm?” I breathed.

“I’m sorry about today. I should’ve stuck up for you to CL. I shouldn’t act so weird around Minzy, either. I’m with you.” He squeezed me gently.

“It’s okay, love. Don’t worry about it,” I assured him, gently rubbing his back.

I felt his deep breath. “Soo Yun,” he whispered.

I looked up at him. “Yes?”

“I love you.”