I'm so sorry about the wait! see bottom for longer apology.

Jiyong POV

I couldn't believe what I was doing, and if anyone else saw me, I don't think they would have believed it either. Kwon Jiyong, the superstar G-Dragon, on his knees in front of a girl, begging. I'd never begged anyone for anything before in my life. Although, if the panicked look in Nicole's eyes was anything to go by, some earlier practice would not have been remiss.

"Please, Nicki." I kissed her knuckles gently, unable to stop myself in spite of the risk, hoping she felt the pull between us too.

Unfortunately, it seemed to have the opposite effect. Her whole body jerked like an electric current had gone through her. Nicki yanked her hands out of mine and stood up, awkwardly bending around me as she tried to flee the table. "I'm sorry, Jiyong, but I need to go . . . to a place and do a thing . . . with people, bye!" She managed to grab her bag and begn to head out, her gazed fixed firmly on the floor.

I reached out and grabbed her arm, not trying to hurt her, but just enough to slow her down. "Nicki, talk to me. What is freaking you out so bad? No one would kno-OWWWW!!!!!!!!" I screamed as she wrenched my hand off and twisted it into a jointlock. Nicki stared at me, tears pooling in her eyes. 

"Seriously? No one will know? You think no one will notice me hanging around the YG Studio? Or me getting picked up from class by G-Dragon? You are not that stupid."

Aish, This girl! I groaned in frustration. "Is being anonymous really that sacred to you? You went through worse in high school! I need you, Nicki! I need you."

Nicki stopped, glaring at me so hard I'm amazed I didn't burst into flames. "No, you don't. You want me, my stories, and probably , none of which I oppose to in theory or even in practice at some point that isn't now. Here's the issue: I don't want to be wanted, and you don't seem to care that I don't want. I realize that, you know, six years of having literally the entire population of Korea kiss your has skewed your perceptions of relationships, but heres the thing- they require give and take, and while you have plenty of interest in taking, I'm not in a place to give." She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it forwards to hide her face a bit. "You remember what is what like for you after your scandal? Or the plagiarism accusations?" Her voice broke a bit, but she held her head high still.

"Yeah." I paused, trying not to get overwhelmed by the memories of some of my darkest times. "The stares. The whispers that stop the second you come into a room. The sick feeling in the pit of your stomach-"

"-That come from the knowledge that everyone hates you? I lived like that for three years. Years, Ji! And I was happy, I guess, but I was so