“Can’t you make Cross-Fire go any faster?”

            “I could Hyun Ae, but I’m not risking crashing with you here.”

            “You worry too much AJ! You’re a great driver.” Hyun Ae said as she snuggled into his back with the side of her face. Her hands were still around his waist, hugging him securely. She could feel the heat of his body on her and wasn’t aware of the blush that ran across his face. He was certainly glad he had a helmet on. AJ let out a mental sigh because it seemed he was always hiding something from her.

            When they finally arrived at Kyung Hee, AJ parked the bike before they stepped off. Once they were off, he pushed the blue sun on the side and it transformed into the same sun on a ring. Most people were too busy to notice that he was driving it, but that didn’t mean he didn’t agree with his father to have it customized this way. Luckily to turn it back on required voice-activation because nobody wanted to get hit by a motorcycle on their lower region or squashed if it had to be tossed in the air.

            “Thanks for dropping me off AJ. So…are you staying on campus today?”

            “I wish I could, but I have to go to work again. You know I’m always here on Thursdays and Fridays though.” AJ replied as he met the gaze of his friend. He mentally cursed himself for looking into her beautiful medium brown eyes because they looked so sad.

            “I really worry about you sometimes. They make you work almost every day for longer than the normal hours. Please make sure you eat and rest well okay?”

            “You know I will Hyun Ae. I’ll call you later today during my break okay?” AJ waited for Hyun Ae to nod and pulled her in for a hug and whispered, “You worry too much as well crazy girl…” Then he grabbed her hand to slip a jump drive into her hand. He gently guided her hand to close into a fist, transformed Cross-Fire again, and took off while waving. Hyun Ae tucked the jump drive into her jean pocket and walked toward the door. Just before opening it, she stopped and gazed at the sky above her. It reminded her of dark video games because of its dark blues, grays, and overbearing black. She had to wonder, was there ever a time when the sky was brighter?

            Hyun Ae attended a couple classes before she had a break. The monochromatic grays of the walls and rounded tables didn’t make her feel better, but it was better than being outside. She took a table in the corner and loaded her laptop. On screen she felt a small smile creep on her face. Her desktop was AJ’s band, Ukiss. She knew that he had been in the band even during their first meeting. They had met in the states and Hyun Ae only pretended to not recognize him because she wanted them to not have the idol and fan relationship. In her mind, they should see each other as regular people. Hyun Ae had decided that until AJ decided to reveal himself, she would go on pretending that she didn’t know.

            Putting the jump drive in, she saw that it was a song he had composed. The title read, Sweety Girl.

Hey you, how did you come into my heart? (my love oh oh)
My heart softly melts, what do I do?
I go crazy when I see you

Love love love – the more I see you
I fall for you more and more
(Uh – uh – uh – uh)

Come on babe want you be my girl
Come on babe say you love me girl
Will you whisper to me as you’re in my arms?
I want to give you anything and everything

Come on babe want you be my girl
Come on babe say you love me girl
Dazzling you (uh uh uh)
My love, you’re my sweety girl

Hey you, what is this feeling?
My fluttering heart (my love oh oh)
I’ve never been this way before
It’s strange, I keep thinking about you

Love love love – the more I see you
I fall for you more and more
(Uh – uh – uh – uh)

Come on babe want you be my girl
Come on babe say you love me girl
Will you whisper to me as you’re in my arms?
I want to give you anything and everything

Come on babe want you be my girl
Come on babe say you love me girl
Dazzling you (uh uh uh)
My love, you’re my sweety girl

You shyly and slightly lean on me
I love you, I love you forever

My breath quickens when I think of you
It gets quicker – be love my heart
You stole my heart

I just can’t sleep at thoughts of you, I dream of you
The more I see you, the more I’m attracted to you, sweet girl
I have fallen into this sweet feeling

Come on babe want you be my girl
Come on babe say you love me girl
Dazzling you (uh uh uh)
My love, you’re my sweety girl

My love, you’re my sweety girl, sweety girl, sweety girl

            She recognized the other member’s voices and felt herself smile. He always did things like this…letting her hear the music before anyone else could. Most of the time he didn’t even mention anything about it and let her be the one to share her view of it. Even before they were friends he was one of her favorite members. Most idols always mentioned that ideal types had to be pretty, polite, cute, and have good smiles, but he was one of few to name intelligence upfront. Also he would say that it came down to his own personal taste no matter what anyone else said. If he liked the girl, it was enough for him.

---       

            AJ had been sitting with s for an hour, waiting for their performance, and all he could think about was Hyun Ae. He wondered if she had listened to their song yet. He also really wanted to call her and ask if she was eating, how class was, and everything in between.

            “AJ, are you okay? You seem out of it today.” Kevin said as he sat down next to his friend.

            “I can’t stop thinking about Hyun Ae...”

            “Oh, you’re friend from college? You know, you’ve talked about her but I’ve never actually seen her.” AJ let out a sigh and showed his background picture that was of him and Hyun Ae lying on the grass together in her virtual reality room.

            “She’s really cute! I’m jealous!” Kevin said with a laugh.

            “We’ve been friends for only a year but it feels like a lifetime. I can’t remember my life without her there.”

            “What are you guys talking about?” AJ and Kevin looked up to see Eli approaching.

            “AJ was showing me what Hyun Ae looks like.” Kevin replied.

            “Really? It’s about time we see her! Let me see.” Eli sat down on the other side of AJ and glanced at the picture before letting out a whistle and saying, “Wow, where did you find a girl like that? She’s pretty.”

            “We went to university together. I haven’t told her that I was an idol because I’ve been afraid she’ll treat me differently.” AJ replied as he gazed at her face.

            “You don’t know unless you try right? Besides, if she does, then she’s not worth it to you. If you want a girl who doesn’t treat you differently then don’t let that stop you from finding what you want. We’re always going to be here for you Bro.” Eli said as he patted AJ on the back reassuringly. Soon after, all the other members came over and were each shown her picture and it seemed like everyone liked her. It was when they had to leave to perform that AJ looked at his phone and said, “Hyun Ae, wish me luck!”

---

            Hyun Ae stepped out of the taxi and finally made it home. She always loved that in the darkness of everything, her parents cream colored hotel with its mansion like style always gave off a romantic glow rather than the bright, blue computer lights.

            “Good evening Miss Kang, how was your day?” the greeter asked her.

            “It was fine.”

            “Your parents said to stop by their suite before dinner, they have something to discuss with you.”

            “Thank you.” Hyun Ae replied before entering. Rather than taking a crowded elevator, she approached the grand marbled stair case that led to the 3^rd floor. It was easier to take all of the stairs to the private escalator they had tucked away in the corner and roped off to keep out the regular guests.

            When Hyun Ae finally reached the last floor, the 50^th, she approached the first room and lightly knocked on the door.

            “Come in.” She heard her father’s voice call out. With a deep breath, Hyun Ae opened the door and walked in. Her parents were sitting at their table with coffee in their hands.

            “What did you want to talk about?” Hyun Ae asked as she took her designated place on the other side of them.

            “Well Sweety,” Her mother said before looking to her father and then back at her, “We wanted to talk about your love life.”

            “My love life?”

            “Hyun Ae, your mother and I think it’s time that you try dating someone. Most girls start dating when they’re around the age of sixteen. We know that you’ve not found someone you like, but we want you to at least meet some guys around school. We’re worried that you are so focused on making us proud and being set in your career that you aren’t thinking of yourself as a person.”

            “I’m fine. Even if I was interested in someone, it’s not like they’ll like me back. There are way prettier girls than me.” Hyun Ae replied as she shifted her eyes down.

            “Hey, Hyun Ae, don’t talk like that. Your father and I mean it when we say that you are a beautiful young lady. Anyone who isn’t taking interest simply hasn’t met you yet.” Hyun Ae’s mother said as she got up and hugged her daughter.

            “Thank you…”

            “Now, we won’t force this on you because we love you so much, but please consider it all right? We’ll let you pick someone since we know you have good judgment, but in return we have to be able to meet them.” Her father said, placing his hand on her head and gazing at her lovingly. Hyun Ae nodded and then was allowed to leave. The talk depressed her so she only had some Cup Ramen for dinner. Just as she finished, her phone rang.

            “Hello?”

            “Hyun Ae, I’m on break finally. How was everything?” AJ said with a slight muffle and Hyun Ae could tell that he was eating.

            “School was fine but my parents made me have a conversation with them today…”

            “Really? What did they want to talk about?”

            “They said that they want me to try dating…” Hyun Ae replied and she could hear AJ choking.

            “T-They s-said t-that?”

            “Apparently I’m not worrying enough about my personal life.”

            “I could agree with them on that reasoning, but…”

            “What?”

            “Well you don’t really talk to anyone except me, so how are you supposed to just start dating?”

            “They said I could look around campus…oh, I listened to the song by the way. You and your friends did a great job! I really liked it.”

            “Did you? Good, I was worried that it would be bad. I sort of wrote it with someone specific in mind…”

            “I never knew you were crushing on someone! Awwwww, that’s cute. I’ll have to meet her sometime.”

            “Sure, I’d love to introduce you. Hey, it looks like I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow at school okay? We can go have some coffee or something since I’ll have class.”

            “That sounds fun. Bye AJ, be careful and rest well.”

            “I will, and you make sure to stay warm. It’s going to be cold tonight.” AJ said before hanging up the phone. Hyun Ae set her phone aside and swapped it out for her notebook and pencil so she could go write.

            As she was preparing to go to her virtual room, she noticed that it seemed to be glitching because it was already preset for some location. When Hyun Ae entered, she was on the streets of Hongdae, but it wasn’t the one she knew of. It was extremely bright outside like her own creations and there were lots of shops, people walking around, and they were much less gloomy than in reality. While walking, she suddenly heard something that pleased her ears. It was music, but it had something living about it.

            Looking ahead, she saw something that almost caused her to fall over in shock. There were three guys who were sitting and having coffee, but they weren’t like the others, they were physically there. She could reach out and touch them if she wanted to. One of them turned and looked her in the eyes and said,

            “Who are you?”

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Hello everyone! I've had a fanfic on here once before, but just couldn't get back into it. I don't know that there are many cyberpunk-like stories here so I wanted to attempt one! So what's going to happen with Hyun Ae? You'll have to wait to find out!