Oh. Wow.

I gulp as I take in Charlotte. She was wearing blue jeans that show off how lean her legs are and a white tank top that just compliments her. I could see a glimpse of her black bra peeking out from the armholes. As I move my eyes to her face, she slowly gives me a smile. I instantly grin back. She’s so beautiful.

She rubs her arm. “Where did Daesung go?”

My smile disappears. Isn’t she happy that I’m here? Well, you did give her the cold shoulder, YoungBae, my mind told me. “He went to find the others to find…” I stop. “Something.” I mumble. Great cover up, YoungBae. She won’t be suspicious of anything.

She takes a seat beside me and the electricity was back. She must have felt it too because she starts to make a move to scoot over a little. Without thinking, I grab her hand and make her still. As I play with her fingers she asks, “Something? What are they trying to find?” I look up to see her giving me a confused look.

I smile at her and lie, “Just something.” I have to keep the plan safe. As much as I’m excited for it, I can’t spill it out. Or else it’ll never happen.

She looks even more confused. “Well, let’s go find the others. Maybe I can help them.” She starts to stand up.

“No!” I pull her back down. Because I pulled too hard, she ends up losing her footing and falls on my lap. Her eyes widen and I do the same. Our faces were so close. Well, not as close as the time in the kitchen, but nevertheless we’re a touch away. We stare at each other in shock. As I stare into her eyes, I see she’s fighting over something. As if she’s having a tug of war in her head. Some strands of hair fall over her eyes and I slowly push them away and tuck them behind her ear. My hand hovers over her ear then—with a sudden urge—I lightly trace my fingertips down her neck.

I rest my hand on her collarbone and rub little circles with my thumb. As I continue to look into her eyes, the sounds from the store all fade. All I can see is her. And most importantly, all I can feel is her. A soft warm breath escapes her lips and hits my cheeks and lips. That was all it took. Just one single breath from her and I snapped. I slide my hand up her neck and move it behind her neck. I tighten my other arm around her waist.

I see her close her eyes, and I follow and slowly close mine. I start to move my face closer to her and in a few seconds I felt her moving closer. Just when I could feel the electricity strengthen on my lips, my freaking phone rings.

Our eyes snap open and meet. Her eyes were big as saucers. My phone continues to ring obnoxiously in my pocket. She blinks a few times and climbs off my lap. She looks at me one more time before she goes into the dressing room. Though, I swear I saw the corners of her lips curl up. My phone continues to ring in my pocket.

“Aishh.” I fish out my phone. I glance at the caller ID. Daesung. What remarkable timing this boy has. I press the green button and place it in my ear. “What now?” I say, irritation clearly in my voice.

“What’s wrong with you, hyung?” Daesung says. Why does he sound amused?

I silently growl. I was about to snap at him and probably tell him everything when Charlotte walks out of the dressing room with the clothes neatly folded in her hands. As I meet her eyes, a pink hue pops up in her cheeks.

“Hyung?” Daesung shouts.

“Aishh!” I pull the phone away from my ear. I place it back and say, “Yah! Why are you shouting?”

“Because I’ve been calling your name and you weren’t responding.” He pauses. “What happened to you, hyung?”

Charlotte sits down beside me, but a little farther than last time. “Who is that?” She asks.

“Daesung.” I whisper to her. Then I tell Daesung, “Nothing. We’re going to pay now.” Before Daesung could get a word in, I hang up. I stand up and look down at Charlotte. “Let’s go. The others are probably waiting for us. Do you know what you’re going to get?”

Charlotte stands and nods as she holds up her clothes.

“Okay, let’s go.” I repeat. I hesitate then grab her hand. Before she can say anything, I pull her towards the register. The employee’s eyes widened when Charlotte and I walked up front. He bowed and said a polite hello. Then I see his eyes slide over to Charlotte. His grin got bigger. He bows to her and says a very happy hello.

I turn to Charlotte and see her give him a smile. She slightly bows and says hello, too. It was then that strings of jealousy came back.

“Charlotte,” I snap her attention back to me. “Why don’t you go to the front of the store? I’ll go pay.”

Charlotte shakes her head and smiles at me. “I want to see how much the clothes cost.” She moves beside me, unfortunately it means she’s closer to the cashier.

“Charlotte, it’s okay…” I got cut off.

“Yeah. For you, I’ll give a discount.” The cashier smiles at Charlotte. Now, isn’t that smile a little too friendly?

Charlotte smiles. But before she can reply, I grab her hand and step in front of her. I force a smile onto my face. “There’s no need for a discount. Just let me pay. Now, please.” He seemed a bit surprised, but takes my money without another word.

He slowly places the clothes into one of the shopping bags and hands it to Charlotte. I force myself to say a “polite” thank you. I slightly tighten my hold on Charlotte’s hand and I pull her along out of the store.

“What was that about?” she asks as she tried to keep up with me. I realized that I’m practically sprinting. I slow down and Charlotte breathes a sigh of relief.

“It’s nothing. Just trying to hurry things up. We don’t have all day to be in the same store.” I explain. I sure hope I don’t sound annoyed as I do feel in the inside. I mean the nerve that guy has. Doesn’t he see that I’m with her?

“Well, I know that, but why…” She stops short.

I look at her. “What?”

She blushes a little and looks down. “Why were you acting like that?”

I pause. Oops. I didn’t know I was that obvious. “That guy was flirting with you too much.” Well, I’m not technically lying.

“So what? Does it matter much? It’s not like I like the guy or something.”

I mentally smile. What a relief. “You don’t like him?”

She smiles. “Of course not.”

I weave my fingers through hers and continue walking. I’m starting to embrace the electricity. The first few times is felt like I was getting shocked. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still as strong, but it’s like a buzz now. I need that feeling all the time now.

“YoungBae-ah!”

I turn my head and see Jiyong with Seungri.

“Where are Daesung and Seunghyun?” Charlotte asks once we reach the two.

“They’re put—“ Jiyong nudged Seungri in the stomach. Seungri coughs. “They’re getting something from the car.

Charlotte raises an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Neh.” Seungri laughs nervously. “Let’s go get something to drink.”

We walk to the food court. Jiyong and Seungri go off and get our drinks while Charlotte and I stay at the table. Since I was still holding her hand and she hasn’t let go, I take advantage of it and move our hands on my lap. I use my other hand and touch our entwined hands. Why do they look as if they fit perfectly with each other? This is killing me so much already.

“Hyung!”

I snap my head back up and see Daesung and Seunghyun hyung walking towards us. Daesung is smiling and waving like a little boy while on the other hand Seunghyun hyung was glaring at our entwined hands under the table. My strings of jealously came back along with the picture of hyung and Charlotte hand in hand. Just then, my possessive side—one that rarely comes out—takes over.

I know Charlotte’s technically not mine yet. But she isn’t hyung’s either. Besides, I saw her first. I think it’s only fair. Aigoo, I sound like a kid.

“Hyung! What did you get?” Daesung says as he eyes the shopping bag.

“I pretty much got the clothes you gave me.” Charlotte replies. I felt her hand squirm in mine. I lightly squeeze her hand.

“Really?” Daesung’s face brightens up. “Let me see.”

“Wait, I haven’t seen it yet.” Charlotte reaches for the bag. She lets go of my hand and I see Seunghyun hyung letting out a sigh of relief. Daesung and Seunghyun hyung sit down in front of us; Seunghyun hyung in front of Charlotte and Daesung in front of me.

It was quiet between us. While Charlotte looks in the shopping bag, the three of us just awkwardly looks around. Then Charlotte softly gasps. The three of us turn our attention to Charlotte. Odd. She’s holding the receipt. Maybe she saw how much it cost. To be honest, it really wasn’t much. We all spend more than that. But then I see her cheeks turn red. So, she’s blushing over a receipt?

“What is it?” Daesung asks as he tries to peer over.

Charlotte pulls the receipt closer towards her. “It’s nothing.”

“Really? Then why are your cheeks so red?” Seunghyun hyung asks as he raises his eyebrow.

Charlotte simply smiles and shakes her head. When she looks back down at the receipt, she blushes again. I lean in and try to look over her shoulder. She sees me closing in on her and she quickly crumples the receipt in her hand.

“Yah!” She exclaims. I smile at her.

“Did you just say that?” Daesung laughs. “You sound Korean when you say that.” Her blush tones down, but it’s still pink.

“Aishh. Shut up, Daesung.” Charlotte sticks her tongue out.

Daesung doubles up in laughter. “You said ‘aish’!”

Charlotte cracks a smile. “I can’t help it. You guys say it a lot. It kind of stuck.”

“Daesung-ah, why are you laughing so much?” Jiyong asks once he and Seungri sit down at the table with us.

While Daesung tells them about Charlotte’s “Korean moment”, I ask her, “Can I see the receipt?”

She shakes her head quickly.

“Why?” I ask in confusion.

“Because it’s all crumpled.” She nervously smiles.

“So, what’s—“

“Oh! Is that drink for me? I’m so thirsty!” She interrupts me and reaches for her drink. I snatch it from her hands.

“Yah! Get your own!” She reaches for the drink.

I hold it as far as I can while she tries to grab it.

“Why won’t you show me the receipt?” I ask her.

She immediately stops. “It’s nothing. I’d like to keep it. It my first receipt in Korea.”

“You’re lying.” I observe. She’s pulling on Jiyong’s jacket sleeves. What is she hiding now?

“What’s up, YoungBae?” Jiyong asks as me as he eyes Charlotte’s drink in my hand.

“Charlotte won’t let me see the receipt. She’s hiding something. Right, Daesung?” I look towards Daesung. Once I wasn’t looking, Charlotte places her hand on my leg and successfully grabs her drink. She’s fast. She happily drinks her soda with a cheerful expression.

“Neh.” Daesung eyes Charlotte. “Can I see the receipt, Charlotte?”

She shakes her head without even leaving her lips from her drink.

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Because what?”

She smiles. “Just because.” She finishes up her drink and stands up. “Well, I’m gonna throw away my drink.” She smiles once more before turning. It was then that I notice a crumpled ball in her hand.

“Yah!” We all say. So, I must not have been the only one to see the paper.
Daesung and I stand up. Charlotte looks over her shoulder and panic fills her eyes. “I’m just throwing it away.” She shakes the empty cup in her hand.

“Then what’s that in your other hand?” Jiyong asks.

“You’re not thinking about throwing it away, are you?” I ask.

“No, of course not.” She smiles. Then she sprints towards the trashcan. Jiyong jumps out of his seat and runs after her. He catches her by her waist. He whispers something in her ear. She shakes her head rapidly. Jiyong then smiles and starts to wrestle for the receipt. Charlotte hugs the receipt close to her chest and Jiyong has his arms wrapped around her, trying to reach for it.

Seunghyun hyung and I both start walking over to them when Jiyong is able to snatch it away from her. Jiyong holds it up in the air as if he found some treasure. The rest of us walk over to the two. Charlotte starts jumping up and down, trying to get the receipt.

“Ani! Ani!” Charlotte jumps. We all look at her. She stops jumping and looks right back at us. Pink hue covers her cheeks again. Daesung and Seungri break the silence with their laughs. Her blush darkens even more. She slaps Seungri’s arm and smacks Daesung’s head. Charlotte was able to get the receipt. As we start to make a move for it, she stuffs it in her pocket.
Her face turns smug as we all freeze. “Now, you guys can’t get it.”

“We will get that soon. You’ll see.” Daesung playfully threatens.

She rolls her eyes. “So, what else are we going to do?”

The receipt was soon forgotten and Jiyong gets her hand. “My turn to shop with you.”

“Why are you guys buying me complete outfits?” She asks.

Daesung gives her an exaggerated wink. “You’ll see.”

This time all of us went together. I guess the others got what they need. I wonder how this plan is going to turn out. The rest of the day, we all shopped and goofed off. I could finally see Charlotte loosening up little by little. I wonder how the individual days are going to be for her.

After three more hours, we decided to go home. It’s only 5 p.m., so the others and I decided to go to the park. After all, that’s where I found Charlotte the second time. We all walked around for a while as we pointed and told Charlotte about the places. She seemed genuinely interested in what we all had to say. The whole time, the others fought for her hand. They were all doing anything to just put their arm around her, link arms, or just plain hold her hand.

I was boiling with jealousy the whole time. I could’ve done it, too. From the past few hours, she started joking around with me, too. But from the times I finally get a chance to hold her, I start picturing about that time in the dressing room when I was so close to feeling her lips on mine. That’s what made me pull back. It’s frustrating.

I check my watch and see it’s already 7 p.m. We were currently playing on the playground. Childish, I know. But it’s times like this when the members and I get to unleash our very childish ways. After 20 minutes, it starts to rain. Man was it pouring. We all stop what we were doing and looked up. Jiyong was about to say something until I hear a very soft musical laugh. Charlotte’s arms were spread out and her head was tilted up.

Daesung suddenly carries her over his shoulder and laughs along with Charlotte. Daesung spins around with Charlotte on his shoulder. Seungri pushes Daesung and the two topple over. Daesung drops Charlotte and she falls to the ground. I quickly run over to her.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She doesn’t answer. All she does is laugh. She sounds so happy. She suddenly pulls me arm and I fall right over her. She smiles under the rain and I couldn’t help but smile back. She pushes me and I roll on the ground next to her.

At 9:34 p.m., we all decide to walk home and hope our clothes would dry. Once we got in our dorm, we all peel our shirts off.

“I can’t believe we stayed outside for so long.” Seungri says in Korean.

“I know. Jiyongie, can you get me a towel?” I ask Jiyong as I see him run to the bathroom. He comes back and tosses all of us one. We all start to dry our bare chests and hair in the living room. Before Jiyong can use his, Charlotte walks up to him and takes his towel. Charlotte! Omo!

We all freeze. “Seriously, before you do this kind of thing, you should warn me.” She laughs as she heads towards the bathroom.

We all stood there frozen in place. How could I forget about Charlotte? I guess I wasn’t the only who forgot, though. Daesung and Seungri drop their towels absentmindedly. All our mouths were wide open. Unbelievable. Charlotte, a girl, just saw all of us, boys, take off our shirts and saw all our bare chests. As much as it’s unbelievable, I didn’t mind at all. And the other’s faces didn’t show any signs of discomfort or as if they’ve been violated. How weird is this?

Charlotte comes back out of the bathroom. She walks into the living room with Jiyong’s towel. She was drying her hair. She walks up to Daesung and Seungri and picks up their towel. She closes their mouths and drapes the towels over their heads. She walks towards Seunghyun hyung and Jiyong and closes their mouths as well. She slowly walks over to me and runs her hand down my cheek and hovers her hand right under my chin. She closes my mouth.

She then walks over to the couch and sits down. “Has anybody ever told you that staring is impolite?” She raises an eyebrow. “I mean I know you’re all famous, but it doesn’t give you the right to stare. No matter how hot or cute you guys look.” She laughs. Daesung was the first one to get over the shock. He shakes his head furiously.

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” He walks over to the couch and sits down beside her.

She giggles. “Because I was shocked in place like you guys are. You all almost gave me a seizure.”

“Yeah? Well, same for us, too.” Seunghyun smirks.

“This is so weird.” I hear her mutter. She smiles at us and stands up. “Why don’t you guys dry up? You’ll get sick if you stay wet. I think I should go home now.”

“No!” We all scream.

“Why are you always screaming that?” She exclaims.

“It’s raining inside. The weather’s really bad.” Seunghyun hyung says. As if to prove his point, a thunderclap echoes.

Charlotte runs towards the window and looks outside. She jumps away from the window when lightning strikes and another clap of thunder echoes. Horror is plain on her face.

“Then how am I going to go home?” She turns to us.

We all smile.