And just like that, the tedious Japanese concert tour ended with amazing results in April. Nobody could ever prepare her for how much she was expected to dedicate her life for the girls as their manager, though. Most of her days were spent together with them, traveling back and forth in Korea and Japan, taking care of their schedules, making sure everything is in accordance to their individual engagements, communications, planning and a whole lot more. It was mentally and physically exhausting, she wouldn't deny that, but the amount of respect she had for the girls after watching over them, tripled. She was a direct witness to their professionalism and the passion they poured into their work. Not to mention how kindly they treated her all this time.

But suddenly, without warning, she wasn't okay with any of that. She didn't want any attachment and being with them reminded her of bitter feelings. As much as she wanted to ignore the ugly feelings, there were days when she just couldn't help it.

One night, after another exhausting practice session preparing for their first World Tour in June, the girls decided to take a short break.

'I know you're tired so I'll go get some iced cold water I prepared at the pantry. I don't think the one we have right now will last us for long anyway.' BoA glanced at the water dispenser and shook her head. She called out to the other manager and asked him to get another gallon prepared. 'I'll be back real quick.'

She didn't wait for their verbal acknowledgement and went out of the room in a hurry. It was an excuse, obviously. Seeing how much they were working hard to perfect their craft suffocated her. She was even feeling nauseous just standing there to watch.

Finally getting the chance to get away, she didn't waste time and exited the practice room without a second glance. The pantry wasn't particularly far but she took her time, regardless. She walked slowly towards the fridge and gathered 9 water bottles that she stacked altogether in the empty bag she brought with her.

'Woah, I did not expect this to be this heavy...' She groaned as she tried to sling the straps on her shoulders with great difficulty.

Unaware that another person was together with her, BoA was so surprised when somebody suddenly grabbed one of the straps and skillfully took it off her shoulders. When she looked up, she met those warm brown eyes gazing at her with that added crooked smile.

'Hello little tiger.'

BoA frowned and crossed her arms across her chest. 'And what now, Yundol?' She replied through gritted teeth, yet to him, a sound like a sweet melody.

Yundol was the name she decided to call him when she got tired of being formal with him. She can't do it when he acts so familiar around her. Besides, his name alone makes her dislike him right away so there was really no reason for her to associate with him at any given time or place.

'I keep on telling you, it's Yunho oppa. I'm still older than you by a few months. '

BoA bit her lip, obviously thrown in an even more bad mood. 'You know that I will never use that word. Not on you, not on anybody.' Her tone was suddenly dangerous. Of all days, she was more sensitive than usual. Like there was a brewing storm ready to destroy the calm of the sea. She tried and grabbed the heavy bag from him.

'Woah, you're abnormally feisty today. What's wrong?'

BoA ignored him and tried to go through her chores quietly. But since she was tired, it proved incredibly difficult for her to carry the bag and taking two trips wasn't exactly to her taste, either. Before she could figure out a way to solve her dilemma, Yunho took the bag from her grasp and walked outside the pantry towards the practice room.

'Stop! You don't have to do this. You can get lost now,' she groaned some more as she helplessly tailed Yunho's back, who wasn't budging at all.

For only a short while, their relationship has gotten into this point where they seemed like old friends (stress: the feeling was never mutual).

It was an unnatural thing at the beginning. He was a celebrity and she was no one. But then, Yunho started popping out during the girls practice, saying it was in support for their concert tour. Those little visits that started her never ending nightmare. And it also doesn't help that both his group and the girls have a concert tour around the same time, allowing for more chances of meeting each other at the office.

Whenever he swings around, it was his routine to greet the girls first as their senior and then focus 95% of his time pestering BoA afterwards.

It made her incredibly awkward. How this man suddenly was showering her a lot of his attention when she honestly could