I stared completely mesmerized at the beautiful pair of heels that lay on the display shelf, eyeing the colour and design.

“What is it about shoes…,” I murmured to myself as I cocked my head to side, viewing it at a different angle. They’re going to kill my feet one toe at a time, yet knowing that I could only imagine them on my feet as I prance around town. Slowly I started to saunter mindlessly in front the store, a frown on my face, debating whether I should go in or not. Honestly, the minute I step into that store I’d also be inadvertently forking out cash. What’s taking Seung Hyun and Nara so long anyway? How long does it take to buy ice cream? I swear if I end up-

“AH!” I squealed as I felt large arms around me lifting me off the floor. The world spun as I got whirled around and soon my screams turned into huge laughter. I could hear Nara giggling in glee as she saw me in Seung Hyun’s arms.

“Put me down!” I cried, hitting him on the shoulder.

“Alright, alright,” he replied. Seung Hyun put me down and took his ice cream back from Nara with a goofy and satisfied smile on his face. “You just had such a tormented look on your face, like you were in extreme pain. We wanted to cheer you up.”

“Oh, please. You’d find any excuse to scare me,” I huffed, reshuffling the position of my hand bag on my shoulder. Seung Hyun just shrugged and continued taking a bite of his food, before wincing from the sudden cold that hit him and spread over his body.

“Uh,” he moaned.

“Brain freeze!” Nara said, pointing at him.

“Where’s mine?”

“I thought that we could share,” Seung Hyun said. “I have a scoop of macadamia ice cream right here.”

“Yum.” I took a bite from the spoonful that Seung Hyun handed out to me and felt that small little bit of happiness when I tasted the flavours melting in my mouth. That’s how this rare and beautiful day went around, a series of small bits of happiness. Simple stuff like watching movies, eating ice-cream and walks in the sunny park, they were all so easy yet so difficult to do at the same time. 

"So... it's great hanging out with you both and all... but my friends want to meet up with me after school. Can I go?" Nara asked as we strolled on the footpath near the Han river. She walked backwards with a skip in her step, narrowly escaping a bike rider who was ringing his bell.

"Nara, be careful!" I cried out to her.

"Pleaseeeeeee." Seung Hyun and I both looked sideways at each other, waiting for the other to respond. 

"Uh, at what age can I just let her go?" he asked out loud.

"Yeah, I don't know how I feel with you hanging out without parental supervision," I reiterated.

"Oh, come on, I'm twelve now."

"Exactly my point," I argued.

"Where are you going anyway?" Seung Hyun asked.

"Hongdae."

"To do?" I jumped in.

"Eating, walking around."

"You mean exactly what we're doing right now?"

"Yeah... but with different company." Again Seung Hyun and I looked at each other as Nara heaved out a giant sigh in front of us. And suddenly I saw my younger self in her. The girl who always wanted to do something and be somewhere but wasn't allowed to, except I wasn't as lucky as Nara. I wanted my freedom to escape the suffocating place that was home, and I never got it.

"Fine, but we're taking you there. And you're only going to stay on that street, you hear me? Call us when you're done," I told her.

"How long can I stay for?"

"2 hours."

"3."

"What!? 2 hours."

"3!"

"2."

"3!"

"3 it is," Seung Hyun decided.

"Seung Hyun!" I cried. He shrugged and searched around his pants for his phone, ready to call his manager to bring the car round.

"Oppa...have I told you I love you?" Nara said, mesmerized with stars in her eyes. She grabbed onto his arm as we walked out of the riverside park, leaving me to follow behind them and grumble to myself. A fool, a complete fool, that's what he's turned into in front of Nara. He's got absolutely no back bone.

To Seung Hyun's credit and Nara's dismay we got off at Hongdae with her, Seung Hyun somehow being able to cover himself up with a low cap and a scarf. It was a rather quiet side street, but I couldn't help but gaze around for any curious on-lookers. Of all places, why did it have to here that Nara was going? This was the central area for cafes and youth activity. A well-known community park where indie musicians and other artists performed was just a block away, an easy magnet for crowds. My baby sister didn't care, she just sped away shaking her phone in the air to tell us that she didn't forget it and we lost her as she rounded the corner at a S&K store. 

"Stay on this strip!" I yelled out to her. Maybe I really shouldn't be letting her roam around on her own. I crossed my hands over my chest and shook my head.

"She'll meet up with her friends soon," Seung Hyun said, as if he had read my mind.

"Urgh, I feel old," I confessed.

"I don't."

"It's because you're not yelling after a little girl telling her to be careful."

"I'm supposed to be the 'cool' one, remember? The one she runs to when she wants to trash talk about you."

"That's hardly fair."

"It just naturally comes with the personality. Me? I'm super chill and easy going."

"And I'm not?"

"You can be fun, sometimes," he said. I frowned at him, pretty sure that it wasn't a compliment he was giving me. Seung Hyun put his thumb on my forehead, trying to take away the creases that I made then patted my head.

"Hey, let's get moving," Byung Young, Seung Hyun's manager, said. I could tell he was getting a little anxious, unsure of his abilities as the sole protector when a horde of people recognise TOP. "I'll find us somewhere quiet to wait." 

"It might be better if we go to YG," Seung Hyun said. "It's just a three minute drive from here."

"I was thinking about that as well."

"I... can we not go?" I asked them.

"Why?" They both looked at me, puzzled.

"I don't want to start anything. I mean that's where everyone you know is, they're your family, if you bring me there it's going to cause a lot of problems." Seung Hyun took my hand to bring me back inside the van.

"It's because that's where my family is that I'm bringing you there. They don't ask questions, they just accept."

"Accept what?"

"Whatever it is." I don't know why when he said that my steps became a little lighter, and despite my qualms I was somehow convinced that going to YG with them wasn't the horrific an idea. I'm really not sure what I was afraid of, but I could feel my heart beat faster as we approached that symbolic building in the middle of all the residential housing. Something about this place was just so intimidating, even though I knew the people that were in it had no feeling of elitisim. They were just people who enjoyed making music. And he's one of those people, I thought, as I glanced over at Seung Hyun. There's nothing to worry about. The security guard welcomed us as we drove past and Byung Young pulled into a spot near the entrance. It was when he opened the door for us that I heard the smooth engine of a Bentley come closer. It was Ji Yong, I recognised the car he came to pick me up in.

"You guys on a date?" Ji Yong asked, as the window of the car came down. CL was sitting on the passenger seat with her sunglasses and a y smile as she waved. For the first time in my life I was actually starstruck.

"Oh..." I exhaled. I couldn't peel my eyes off her. I'm pretty sure I was the older one, the one who was supposed to keep her cool and make the introductions, but right now I don't think it mattered. 

"You're Shin Ae-ssi right? Can I call you unni?" she asked me. I nodded like a delusional fangirl as Seung Hyun stared back and forth between us.

"Why weren't you like this when you saw us?" Seung Hyun complained. I gave him my best 'Are you kidding me?' face as I shook CL's hand. Sometimes that man could be so clueless.

"It's so nice to meet you," I said.

"Just speak to me comfortably, unni. Call me Chae Rin."

"Okay," I agreed, laughing. "I'll do that." 

"Is oppa showing you around?"

"My sister's in the area with her friends so he thought coming here would a good idea while we waited."

"That's good! I'm glad, I've always wanted to meet you. They always talk about you, so it's nice to finally put a face to the name," she said and then she looked at Seung Hyun. "Oppa if you've finished showing her around take her to Ji Yong's studio. He wants to show you something."

"You made another one?" Seung Hyun asked.

"It's missing something," Ji Yong answered.

"I know, I know. You need my golden touch. It's okay, you don't have to beg." I shook my head but couldn't help chuckling.

"He's gotten weirder hasn't he Shin Ae."

"Nah, he still the same."

AN: They're coming out with new songs soon =). Who else is excited that Big Bang may be coming to their city?