*italicized words means the conversation is being spoken in Korean

“So how did you guys meet?” Seungri asked Daesung and Sam.

“Through Grace. They are really good friends.” Daesung told him. Sam nodded along. She was trying to keep her nerves together.   

“Then do you know Brianna too.” he asked Sam.

“Yep she is one of my best friends.” Nodded

“Then you guys are here for Hanbyul’s party too, you guys are all friends?” he asked.

“Yeah you know how much she loves her birthday. Byul would kill me if I didn’t show up.”

“Why is it that Grace and Brianna never introduce me to any of their friends?” Seungri questioned.

“That’s because whenever you see a pretty girl you act like an excited puppy.” Taeyang explained.

“But Hyung you never hesitate to ask me to help you get a girls number.” Seungri commented and Youngbae glared. Sam, Daesung, and Jiyong tried to stifle their laughs but it was no use.

“He’s got you there Youngbae.” Jiyong laughed.

“But seriously how come we have never met you? I mean if you’ve been friends with Grace for...” Seungri asked.

“About 7 years.” Sam answered.

“7 years and we’ve never met you? How is that possible?” Seungri asked

“Because I work a lot.” said Sam. It technically wasn’t a lie. These questions are exactly why she stayed away. There was really no good answer for why she stayed away. It was just the fear of it all. The situation had gotten so far away from her that she didn’t know how to address it. And yes she realized that she was probably making a bigger deal about it than necessary but avoiding the problem had become a habit that in a kinda twisted way she was comfortable with. And a habit that she not quite ready to break just yet.

“So do I, but I still find time to hang out and socialize with people.”

“I don’t really like going out much. Going to parties is not my thing. My best friend Natalie calls me “The Hermit.”

“Natalie as in Natalie Park the model.”Jiyong asked.

“Model, designer, host, and whatever else she is doing this week. I can never really keep track of that girl.” Sam sighed. Nana was a power house. Sam didn’t know how she did it.

“Wait you’re Natalie’s Sammy?” It would make sense as to why Samantha was so familiar to him. He had seen many childhood pictures of them together when he was with Nana. Jiyong remembered how happy Nana would get just talking about her best friend. She always referred to her as the sister she never had. However he never met her. They would make plans to meet up, but something always came up.

“Wait your best friends with Jiyong hyung’s ex." Seungri exclaimed.

Sam was a little shocked that Jiyong remembered his ex even had best friend named Samantha, seeing as how they broke up years ago and the two never met in person. And it wasn’t like Sam could lie and say she wasn’t cause Daesung was sitting right next to her.

“Yep. Good to finally meet you Lover Boy.” Sam said with a smirk. Jiyong sighed then leaned in and whispered.

“She told you...How...How much is it that you know?”

“Oh sweety I know everything.” Sam laughed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Daesung asked.

"Yeah you can't just leave us out of the conversation!" Seungri said eagerly. Jiyong ignored them both.

“Wait you know about th…” Youngbae started.

“Youngbae!” Jiyong yelled.

“What I didn’t even say anything.”

“Hyung you know too?” Seungri asked.

“How do you know she knows, she could be just saying that.” Seungri questioned.

“Seungri you don’t even know what the secret is. How do you know she is lying?” said Daesung.

“I don’t know.”

“No he is right. She could be bluffing.” Jiyong said hopefully.

“Well “she” is right here, so you could just ask her.” Sam said obviously.

"Samantha, I know we just met and that you have known this secret for a while and Dispatch and SportsSeoul hasn't written about it so I'm guessing you haven’t told anyone and I appreciated that. Your silence will no longer go unrewarded. You can have anything. I will give you anything. Clothes, shoes, bags, perfume, a car, a house, anything. For your continued...discretion with this matter." he asked in a tone that was just above a whisper. It wasn’t really pleading but close enough so that he wouldn’t lose what was left of his pride. Sam wanted to laugh, the poor man was obviously desperate.

"Are you trying to buy my silence Mr. Kwon.”

“Essentially yes.”

“Mr Kwon you should know something about me I would never give anyone such high quality intelligence so easily and like you said the fact that nobody heard about it in the 6 years that I have known shows you that I am good at keeping my mouth shut. Your secret is safe with me.” Sam stated.

“I appreciate that.” Jiyong let out a sigh of relief.

“However since you offered I would like something from you.” she might as well get something from this while she could. All the hours of being a good friend and listening to Nana go on and on about him were finally going to pay off.

“Go for the lamborghini!” Seungri whispered loudly.

“What would you like?” he asked quickly. Sam leaned back and thought for a bit, knowing full well that Jiyong was sitting on the edge of his seat. And she loved every second of it.

“Okay.” She started. “I would like one favor from you sometime in the future when we are better acquainted, no questions asked.” A beat went by before anyone reacted.

“Are you serious?” he asked, surprised at her requested.

“Yes.”

“That’s all?”

“Yep.”

“Okay but nothing illegal, dangerous, or something that the tabloids can get.” Jiyong stated.

“Deal.” Sam stuck out her hand so they could seal the deal. Ji accepted and they shook on it.

“Jiyong, I think this the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Sam smirked.

“Seriously you asked for a favor that's it?” Seungri asked shocked.

“I agree with Seungri. Samantha I don’t think you understand. This is a rare opportunity to milk Kwon Jiyong dry.” said Daesung.

“They're kind of right Sam, are you sure this is what you want? What am I even saying. Forget what I said, a favor is a great choice.” Jiyong corrected himself. She smiled.

“Do you know how many people would kill for this opportunity, hell I’ve been trying for years to get something this juicy on him. And you ask for a favor?” Seungri exclaimed.

“Yeah are you sure that you don’t want a designer bag or shoes, or free concert tickets?” Daesung suggested.

“What do you want me to ask for summer house in Italy, a life long supply of Prosecco, and indefinite access to his Black Card. That would seem like extortion and we just met like what... 30 minutes ago. Expensive things are what I’d ask for when I have got a few years of friendship and a boat load of dirt on you. Plus I can buy all that stuff you guys were talking about. You can't really buy a favor. And not that I'm going to go around announcing it, but how many people can really say that GD owes them a favor, not many Im guessing.” Sam asked Jiyong.

“True.” agreed Jiyong.

“You’re a smart lady Samantha.” Youngbae said.

“Thank you, I like to think so.” Sam smiled and the boys laughed.

Sam’s phone buzzed. She had two messages. One from Jason, a friend of her’s and the owner of the club the party was being held at, he was reminding her about a favor that he asked her for. The other was from Grace wondering where Sam had run off to and if she was okay.

“Well gentlemen it's been fun, but i’ve gotta go.” She said as she got up.

“Was that Grace?” Daesung asked.

“Yeah, she and the rest of the girls are asking where I ran off too.”  She said as she quickly sent Grace a text telling her that she would meet them at their table in 5 minutes.

“Wait “girls”?” Seungri asked. She laughed.

“Yes, girls. Anyway I gotta go. It was really nice meeting you guys, and thank you Daesung for the sa…”

“Wait you’re leaving? But I just go here.” Seungri exclaimed. “I didn’t even get to tell you any embarrassing stories about Daesung.” Sam laughed and got up.

“As tempting as that sounds it's almost time for me to get going and I still haven’t seen HanByul.”

“Sam why don’t you tell the other girls to come up here. Plus if Grace knows that i'm back in town and I haven’t called her or seen her she would bite my head off.” Daesung winced at the thought of Grace’s wrath.

“Wait she doesn’t know you’re back? Daesung!” Sam scolded. The rest of the boys watched on. They were also shocked that Daesung had not contacted his best friend.

“What! I’ve been busy.” He argued.

“Too busy too call or text? That’s not what she is gonna think when she sees you here. Come on Dae. Find a better excuse than that she's your best friend.” She scoffed. The guys watched on. It was rare to see Daesung get called on his bs, mostly because he didn’t really have much and nobody ever questioned him.

“Well wouldn't you say now would be a great time to do it. Come on just stay long a little longer and I will personally take you home." Daesung promised.

“Fine, but it’s your funeral! Don’t expect me to save you when she attacks.” she warned as she left to go get the girls.

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

“There she is.” Grace pointed, as Sam walked towards them.

“What?” she asked them.

“Where have you been? We were worried.” Grace said with her hands on her tiny form.

“You weren’t too worried about me when you ran off to go and talk to Tony.” Sam accused.

“Sorry, I should have stayed. But why did you leave?”

“Some creepy guy was hitting on me and then he got all touchy...”

“Are you okay?” Nana asked.

“I'm fine, a knight and shining armor came and saved me.” Sam smirked.

“Really? Was he cute?” Minnie asked.

“Very.”

“Does he have any friends with him? And are they attractive as well” Bri asked.

“Yes he does have friends with him. And they are all attractive” Sam smirked

“Than what are we standing here for? Let's go.” Brianna said as she lead them up the stairs Sam came down from.

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

“Daesung I don’t think i’ve ever seen you get yelled at from anyone other than Grace. You and Samantha must be really close if she is calling you out like that .” Jiyong observed.

“I like her.” Youngbae smiled.

“Me too. She is funny, she has dirt on Hyung and, she is gorgeous what more could you want in a woman. So how close would you say you guys are?” Seungri tried to ask nonchalantly.

“We are pretty close.” Daesung stated. “But not like you’re thinking.”

“So whats going on with you and Grace Noona?” Taeyang asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“Daesung we have been back for almost a full week and you didn’t let her know?” said Youngbae

“I’ve been busy.” Daesung said defensively.

“You’ve been busy with exactly what, Hyung?” asked Seungri.

“We don’t have anything scheduled until tomorrow afternoon so why are are you avoiding her?” Jiyong wanted to know.

“I'm not avoiding anybody.” Daesung said annoyed.

“You guys leave him alone. He obviously doesn’t want to talk about is so leave it alone. Seungri  said defending Daesung.

“Thank you Seungri.” Daesung appreciated the end to interrogation the members were giving him.

“Now about Samantha. You said you were close, but how close are you really?”  Seungri asked again. Daesung rolled his eyes. Seungri wasn’t trying to help him, he was trying to get information about Sam out of him. He needed to get out of the conversation. Luckily for him his “out” just walked through the door.

“Oh Hyung!” Daesung shouted and waved.