You can sing well and you can smash at ping pong!” Ji Yong exclaimed in shock. He narrowed his eyes and placed his hands on his hips. “What other skills are you hiding from me?”

She giggled. “Are you kidding?” she shot back. “That was just a of luck!”

“You smashed me at least five times! How is that a ‘ of luck’?!”

She shrugged. “Really, I’m not that great of a ping pong player.”

“Oh, you are so modest,” he mocked her, grinning.

She just gave a flirty, sideway glance. “I know right,” she replied, smirking. She laughed. “I’m serious. I’m not that good.” She tried to return the ball he gave her but it ended up flying too high. “See what I mean? I at this game.”

“That’s probably a ploy,” he replied as he served.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a ploy to make me believe that you ,” he explained, “so I’ll bring my guard down and then you kill me.”

She snorted. “Fine, fine, whatever pleases you,” she said. She pretended to be angry.

“Now that’s just trying to use reverse psychology on me. Let me tell you something: it ain’t working, babe,” he said with a grin.

“Well, aren’t you a doubtful one,” she said sarcastically.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

She giggled again and rolled her eyes. “Bah. How long have we been playing, anyway?”

He checked his watch. “Whoa,” he said. “We have been playing for over an hour.” He looked at her. “Wanna take a rest?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

They set the bats down and walked out of the ping pong court and out to the basketball court. Dae Sung, Tae Yang, TOP and Seung Ri were having a friendly scrimmage.

Lia sat down on the bench to watch, wiping her sweat off with a small towel. It had been a good ping pong game.

Ji Yong collapsed on an empty space on her right, a small towel around his neck and two cans of coke in his hands. He passed one to her. “Here you go.”

She accepted the cold drink. “Thanks.” She opened it and took a swig out of it. “Ah, that feels good.”

Ji Yong just watched her. Even in sweat, there was still this glow in her face. She smiled prettily. He watched her as she watched the boys play basketball. There was something inside of him, he wasn’t sure what, but it pulled him to her. It made him wants to pull Lia toward him and kiss her.

Lia caught him looking at her, smiling at him.

He blushed deeply for being caught and looked away. The both of them watched the others play in silence.

After awhile, they came up to them, panting hard from their game.

“Who won?” Lia asked.

“It was a tie. Five to five,” Dae Sung replied, trying to catch his breath from the game. He flopped down on the floor. “Had a good ping pong game?”

“She smashed so many times!” Ji Yong said good-naturedly.

“Really?”

She blushed. “I’m not that good, really.”

Ji Yong looked at her. “Badminton?” he offered, gesturing to the badminton court.

She nodded. “Sure, but I’m not that good.”

“Uh-huh. That’s what you said about ping pong.”

She stood up, laughing. “I admit I’m better at badminton than ping pong,” she confessed, “But if you smashed me at badminton, I swear I’ll whack you on the head with the racquet.”

“All right. We won’t play by points then.” He nodded and they went to the badminton court, grabbing their racquets.

They began to play and Ji Yong wasn’t really surprised that Lia could play well. She was better at badminton than ping pong, but she wasn’t exactly a pro. But she was good enough.

Dae Sung, Seung Ri, Tae Yang and TOP watched them in silence. They were awed. The way they played, it was as though they were dancing together. They moved simultaneously, like a choreographed dance move.

 “She’s good, isn’t she?” TOP spoke up after awhile and Tae Yang nodded.

“Lia has good as well as fast reflexes,” Seung Ri commented.

“I think lideo(leader) is falling in love with her,” Dae Sung said with a smile.

“Does anyone know how old she is?” TOP asked, looking at her. He tried to guess her age. “Fifteen?”

“She looks sixteen,” Dae Sung guessed.

“Do you think she likes hyung?” Seung Ri asked.

They shrugged. They watched them play, each one of them lost in their own train of thoughts.

Seung Ri thought Lia was really cute. The way she smiles, the way she laughs and the way she managed to have a good comeback right up her sleeves — everything about her way cute. He thought she was intelligent and funny. He was starting to have a slight crush on her.

Dae Sung and Tae Yang were both thinking how well Lia played and how good she and Ji Yong would be look as a couple. Their leader seemed to look really happy whenever he looks at her. They could tell.

TOP was thinking in his mind of how close of an age she was to his little sister. They seem so alike in a way, too.

“Ah, let’s rest,” Ji Yong suggested to Lia about half an hour later. “I’m tired.”

“That was a good game though,” she said, grinning as they walked back to the others, who had just finished their second game of basketball.

“Yah, let’s go back home to bathe and then head out for lunch,” Dae Sung suggested. “It’s eleven-thirty already and I’m hungry.”

TOP rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. “You’re always hungry,” he retorted.

“All right, let’s go,” Ji Yong said, picking up his bag.

The others agreed and they all headed out of the stadium back to the car.

“Did you bring extra clothes?” Tae Yang asked Lia, who nodded.

“See you later,” Ji Yong called to the others as he and Lia got into his car.

“Last one there is the rotten egg,” Dae Sung said, jumping into his car to start the engine.

“You’re on.”

The two of them started the car and they both drove out of the building at fast speed.

Lia laughed when Ji Yong poked his tongue out to them as they drove past Dae Sung’s car. “Are you guys always like this?” she asked.

“It’s fun,” he replied with a shrug. “And besides, this way, we’ll get home faster. I think Dae Sung suggested this was because he was hungry and he didn’t want to drop dead on the floor starving.”

She just shook her head. “Well, make sure you don’t get a speeding ticket. You wouldn’t want to get a blemish on your reputation now, do you?”

“Aw, I’m so touched you care so much about me,” Ji Yong said teasingly.

He expected Lia to reply with something witty but when she kept quiet, he turned over to look at her and was surprised to see her blushing. She turned to him and smiled shyly, so he smiled back warmly.

And then, without thinking, he took Lia’s hand into his and held it close, it gently with his thumb.

Lia was surprised at the gesture but she didn’t pull back. He didn’t let go until they reached back to the hostel. He reluctantly let go as they got out. They went up to the apartment and realized they were the last ones to arrive.

TOP was the only one out in the living room. “Ah, the rotten eggs are finally home,” he said, grinning. “What took you so long?”

Lia blushed and Ji Yong just smiled rather awkwardly which made him a little suspicious.

“Have you guys showered yet?” Ji Yong asked, changing the subject.

“Yong Bae Hyung and Maknae are bathing now,” Dae Sung said, coming out of the room, drying his hair with a towel. “What took you?”

But Ji Yong ignored him and turned to Lia. “You can go shower first in my room,” he told her, nodding toward his bedroom door.

She nodded, gathering her towel. “All right.” She looked at him hesitantly. “It’s okay for me to, uh . . .”

“Oh, yeah.” He nodded.

Lia went to his room to bathe, closing the door behind her.

“What happened?” TOP asked his leader the minute he was sure Lia couldn’t hear.

Ji Yong blushed. “Nothing happened,” he replied.

“Do you like her?” Dae Sung asked.

He shrugged. “Well, she’s nice and cute and funny,” he said lamely.

“But she’s young,” TOP said. “How old is she, fourteen?”

“Seventeen.”

“Five years apart,” Dae Sung said, doing the math quickly. He looked at Ji Yong who had turned quiet. “You’re falling for her, aren’t you?”

He nodded once. “There’s just something about her that makes me attracted to her,” he confessed finally. “Well, she’s witty, she seems compassionate and she’s really nice.”

“Plus, she’s cute,” TOP added with a smirk that made Ji Yong blushed.

“I don’t know. Seeing her makes me happy, especially when she smiles.”

“You seem happy too,” Dae Sung joked lightly.

“She doesn’t treat me as a celebrity, you know?” he went on. “She treats me as though I’m not. Like a normal person. I’ve always wanted to find someone like that.”

“So she’s everything you’re looking for?”

He shrugged again. “Well, yeah . . . I guess. But I’m not sure. What am I even saying? I just met her!” He slumped into a seat and buried his face in his hands. “Why am I feeling like this? I get so nervous yet feel so myself when I’m around her!”

“Lideo is in love,” Dae Sung said in a sing-song voice as Seung Ri came up. “Lideo is in love with Lia.”

“Oh, really?” Seung Ri said, sitting down next to Ji Yong. “With Lia?”

“Aaarrgggh,” Ji Yong said in frustration. He shook his head violently. “I don’t know! Don’t talk to me! Ugh!”

The other three laughed at him because they knew he was back to his playful mood.