Dara didn’t have a choice but to accept the resented coconut hair do. The concept has been decided for them, and they’d be shooting in two weeks – giving her and Bom more time to shape up. In any case, she couldn’t mope even if she wanted to because she had to attend a dance practice for Taeyang’s title album music video.

“Alright everyone, places.” Shaun Evaristo, YG entertainment’s favorite choreographer, instructed.  The dancers, Dara and Taeyang walked to the center of the rehearsal room and waited for instructions. “Let’s pick up where we last left off huh? Talking about the bridge...” Shaun paused to approach the stereo and grab the remote. “We all know this is the of the song because Taeyang stops talking about the type of girl he likes as if he’s already made his mind. He chooses Dara and suddenly makes all the cheesy promises right? The bridge goes Girl like you gotta make you mine I’mma treat you right baby…  and when that happens, what do guys usually expect?”

“Sorry I’m late.” GD entered the room from the back door. He was dressed up in a black hoody, dark colored jeans and gray converse. He topped his gloomy look by wearing aviator sunglasses and a grim expression. He barely bowed at Shaun who looked at him strangely with furrowed brows.

“Well you’re five days late but who’s counting, right?” Shaun sarcastically remarked, hoping to get a laugh from the tense situation. “Where were we... Ah, right. What do guys expect from girls after they’ve made their love confession? GD?”

“A thank you.” GD whined, his eyes burning imaginary holes through the dark shades towards Dara’s direction. He still hasn’t let go of childishly comparing Dara and Bom’s treatment to him and beloved TOP. Yeah, that’s Kwon leader for you.

“A thank you? What are you, five?” Shaun observed, raising a brow at GD. “Seriously? You give your best love confession and you want a thank you? Don't you want proper reply? Or a kiss, at most?”

“Who says I was confessing? If I needed someone to love I’d get myself a puppy or a goldfish. Girls are selfish, insensitive, and unfaithful. They see the next beloved guy and they forget that you’re producing for them and all... And they don’t even thank you.  Aish!  Who needs girls? I don’t need a girl. Yah! Young Bae! Do you need a girl?” GD furiously explained, turning to his best friend for support over his sudden outburst.

No one could suppress their amusement at GD’s raging monologue. After a few seconds of awkward silence the whole room burst into laughter. Even Taeyang and – the still angry over GD’s choice for her hair style – Dara couldn’t help themselves.

“I’m… sorry… Jiyong.” Taeyang said in between short breaths. It took a while before he could speak with a straight face. “Yeah, I totally don’t need a girl. Let’s just cancel this song, huh?”

-----

Bom looked tiredly at the treadmill. Hwang Ssabu instructed her to run an extra thirty minutes after her excruciating training module – which consisted of a  2 hour cardio program and an hour of muscle toning — with Minzy and CL. The two girls had to go to the salon and get their hair done, leaving Bom alone in the empty gym.

“Aish, I have the worst luck.” Bom said to herself, pushing buttons on the treadmill so she could start.

“You’re still in Busan? Yah, TOP hyung, you seriously don’t remember the girl who asked for your number last week?” Seungri walked into the room, communicating with TOP on the phone. He saw Bom and waved at her. “Ah, wait a minute, I’ll just greet noona.”

Seungri bowed politely and noticed the empty gym. “Oh, noona? You’re alone?”

“Deh.” Bom replied inhibitedly. Although Seungri seemed comfortable with her, Bom has only met the boy a couple of times. The fact that during these couple of times he was either smooching with a YG trainee or flirting with girls didn’t seem to help. She pressed the start button and plugged in her earphones even though her phone has ran out of battery and she couldn’t listen to anything.

Seungri smiled, putting the phone near his ear again. “Oh, TOP hyung, that was Bom noona…. Yeah we’re in the gym… Nah, Jiyong hyung is with Taeyang hyung preparing for the music video… Daesung hyung?  I think he also got some days off. It’s his birthday this Wednesday remember?… Oh? Yeah, it’s just me and her. Why do you ask?.... YAH! Hyung! Do you think that low of me? I don’t just hit on other girls in the gym! Why would I hit on someone half a century older than me? Yah hyung, you’re disgusting….”

“What?!” Bom exclaimed in her thoughts, pumping up the speed of the treadmill. “This little bastard. Do I look like I’m fifty years older than him?! Hitting on me is disgusting?”

“Arrassou arrasou! I promise! Oh I hear a yeoja. is that Victoria beside you? Send my regards! Tell her I miss her cooking!” Seungri hurriedly reminded with a high-pitched voice. From the looks of it, TOP hung up on the conversation. “Aish, this twisted hyung, seriously.”

-----

Flashback

"Sahm-chon!" TOP waved at an old man who was tending a small garden in the front yard. "I'm home." 

"Oh, Tabi, you came." The old man with gray hair acknowledged. He bent down and placed the shovel beside one of the plant boxes, took his wooden cane and walked slowly towards TOP."Your sajangnim informed me you were taking your vacation in Korea." 

"Ah, deh. I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you earlier." TOP bowed apologetically. "You seem in good shape."

"Well the flowers you left here won't grow by themselves, right? Someone had to take care of them!" He said wisely, approaching close enough to make audible faces in front of TOP. "Young ones these days... Don't plant seeds if you can't grow them yourself!"

"You seem to be enjoying it, though." TOP remarked, looking at the blooming flowers which increased in number. "Last time I was here I only planted a few. Now, the front yard looks more like a bloom field than a garden."

"Appa? Who are you talking to?" a female voice called from inside the house. Slowly, she came out. TOP could recognize the beige floral dress from afar. He bought it. She came closer into view, her wavy hair so very familiar in TOP's eyes.

-----

Five days have passed since he arrived in Busan and unlike his previous visits, TOP was feeling uneasy. That afternoon, out of anxiety, TOP went to the living room and rummaged through some old photo books.

“Ehem… Suddenly interested with photo books?” TOP’s uncle gestured, appearing from the side. With his cane, the old man slowly walked towards the sofa.

“Where’s Victoria?” TOP asked, glancing at his uncle.

“In the supermarket, buying groceries.” His uncle replied, moving close enough to recognize the pictures. “Oh, that’s you and Bombom!”

-----

“….And you’re wrong! The reason Jiyong hyung doesn’t give me much lines in our songs is because he has a grudge on me!” Seungri narrated, letting out sighs as he munched on some potato chips he and Bom bought from the cafeteria. They were at the parking lot, huddled strangely near the dumpster in fear of Bom’s foreign language teacher, or any YG staff for that matter, finding out that she was cutting classes. “When we’re at parties, I always get first dibs with the pretty girls. He gets all my sloppy seconds.”

“Aigoo… What kind of creatures are you men?! No wonder a lot of girls are broken and non-commital! You boys just bang ‘em and leave!” Bom said, happily eating corn in between her sentences. Dumpster or not, no one was going to stop her from devouring her favorite food in the whole world.

She and Seungri had gone past the awkward stage after her crazy speech about him that morning (seems like she and GD are the same blood type). The longer they hung out, the more Bom felt that she and Seungri would be able to get along in a cat-dog, sister-brother, platonic type of relationship; the type who would be into mischievous situations together.

“Well if you got mad skills with girls you gotta flaunt them right?” Seungri boasted, flashing a smile and showing some cheese stuck in between his teeth.

“Hul, you don’t ‘got’ mad skills, all you have is cheese chunk in between your teeth.” Bom stated, squirming at the disgusting sight. “Remove that or I’ll punch your face so your teeth can fall off.”

Seungri drank water and spat out a few times until he was sure the cheese was gone. “Scary, corn vacuum noona!”

“Oh, I just remembered, you were talking to TOP a while ago, right?” Bom asked.

Seungri nodded with a distasteful look. “Yeah, I was worried because he went to Busan again. Why? You’re afraid that when he sees you he’s not going to let you off the hook for being the epitome of embarrassment? Or for harassing him when he was just trying to save you’re a$s literally? Ha-ha-ha.”

“YAH! Shut up you lying brat! Don’t feign your concern with me. I just heard you asking him about a yeoja who asked for his number! That’s why you called.” Bom recalled sharply.

“Well partly, true. But how else would I have approached him? With Top and Busan you have to be careful with words.”  Seungri admitted mysteriously. “TOP hyung has been the best out of all my other Bigbang hyungs – no offense intended. He’s kind and loyal, but really sensitive and stupid. I couldn't just bluntly say he doesn’t deserve her. That I just know he’s in the wrong relationship, right? Of course he wouldn’t listen. He’s too blinded with…”

“Wrong relationship? With that Victoria girl you mentioned on the phone?” Bom asked, her memory serving the better of the conversation. Seungri seemed pale at what he just revealed.

“I-I-I think I said too much! Forgive me TOP hyung!” Seungri kneeled and bowed to the sky, as if that were a substitute spectacle for TOP. “Yah! Bom noona! Swear on our newfound friendship that you’ll forget what you just heard!”

“No way! Our newfound friendship can be broken, I wouldn’t care any less! What do you mean wrong relationship?”

“Swear on your career or I’ll tell on you for eating corn and missing language lessons.” Seungri used his trump card, standing up and throwing what’s left of his potato chip wrapper on the dumpster. “Park Bom noona, I’m dead serious. I am begging you, do not mention this to anyone, arrassou? Especially TOP hyung! If he finds out, I don’t know what he’ll do. ”

Seungri’s expression changed. He clearly didn’t want Bom involved in all this. “I don’t expect you to understand, but this is pretty sensitive. X RATED. You get what I mean?”

Bom set her eyes on Seungri, convinced that she wasn’t getting her answers today. “Alright, I promise to pretend we didn’t have this conversation at all. But at least tell me who Victoria is!”

GD was tired of it all. News of his rantings already spread to other dancers and staff. Everyone looked at him weirdly as he ate his late lunch with Taeyang at the cafeteria.

“Kill me now.” GD lowered his hood to his eyes, only making him more noticeable among the crowd. “I’m serious Young Bae I’ll give you a blank check if you promise to kill me now.”

“It isn’t that bad, Jiyong.” Taeyang lied, shushing the staff around them to mind their own business. It was terrible. Even the lunch ladies were gawking at GD looking like they were about to send their grandchildren to rescue him of his bitterness over girls. “Think of it this way. It’s just like your scandal. Today you’re the most horrible person on earth and tomorrow some actress gets plastic surgery and she becomes everyone’s favorite story.”

GD slumped further into the cafeteria table. “Did I mention I had a black card?”

“Tempting.” Taeyang jokingly replied. “Come on we’ve finished choreography, only your part isn’t done.”

“No way, I’m not going back in there.” GD refused, leaning back on the cafeteria chair and crossing his arms. “I’d rather write songs. If you need me I’ll be in the recording room.”

“You write songs now, it’ll all be angsty and spiteful over girls.” Taeyang said wisely, although GD hasn’t filled him up with the details behind his anger outburst. “You’ll scare away our VIP’s.”

-----

“Yeobo, do you really have to go?” Victoria asked, hugging TOP tightly. “You’ve only been here a few days.”

“A-ah… I’m sorry. It’s Daesung’s birthday on Wednesday, and Taeyang’s debut performance on Monday.” TOP stuttered, finding it hard to look at Victoria’s eyes. One look and he knew he’d find himself staying another day. “I want to be there for them.”

“Mmm-hmm… You’re right. I don’t want the Bigbang squad burning down our house until they find you, anyway." Victoria tip-toed and gave a kiss on TOP’s cheek. “Send my regards to your friends.”

“I will.” 

-----

A/N: Got a free day so I was able to write! :) What do you think?

Still developing the characters, but we're getting there. :) 

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