“There they are,” Chansung smirked as they approached the XX Club, a favorite hang out for the gang of some troublesome school. Sweeping past the awed bouncers, they strolled through the place as if they owned it. After all, there were many other high schoolers present who were fully aware of whom Seoul High’s gang was. Seohyun knocked aside the opaque glass door and entered without asking. Five gang members stared back at her with shock as her guys filed in behind her, creating a scene seen in movies.

“Jaein High?” Seohyun leaned lazily against the door, acting nonchalant. “I’ve received some troubling reports about your behavior.” She could feel Kikwang’s gaze on her as she spoke and for some reason, his gaze unnerved her.

“Jj-jj-jjang,” the opposing leader stuttered as he rose shakily to his feet. “Anneonghaseyo.”

“I’m giving you a chance to explain to me what the heck is going on. I’ve received news about some bad behavior coming from your school, more specifically your gang,” Seohyun tossed her hair to the side.

“Wh-what we did do? I mean, what did we do?” Another guy spoke up; calmer than his leader, though his cute mess up signaled his acknowledgement of who Seohyun was.

“There have been reports of people getting jumped in your turf in the dark and they accuse you guys,” Seohyun shrugged.

“We don’t jump people,” their maknae blurted out, then covered his mouth with his hands in fear. He hadn’t meant to talk back to Jjang that way.

Seeing his fright, Seohyun smiled a little bit. These guys seemed pretty legit. Something was wrong though. Why were they that scared of her? Their fear and the fear Seohyun usually received from gangs were completely different.

“What’s wrong?” She asked quietly, surprising everyone in the room.

Kikwang watched her carefully.

“What do you mean?” The last gang member looked Seohyun in the eye as the fourth guy questioned her. “Nothing’s wrong. Besides for the fact that we’re being accused, nothing’s wrong.”

“Don't lie,” Kikwang said softly. “You at lying, Junhyung Hyung.”

“You know these guys?” Jay questioned.

“Yeah. I used to go to their school,” Kikwang smiled ruefully. “These guys are too nice to do anything bad, that’s why I tagged along today when I heard y’all were going to pay them a visit.”

“Why would you be framed though?” Woohyun bit down on his lollipop.

“We have our enemies,” the leader shrugged. Seohyun watched his expression closely. They were definitely lying about something. Maybe not lying... but they were hiding something. And she was going to find out what.

“Shoot.” Seohyun glanced at her watch. “I need to go. Tell me what happens, okay? Get the truth out of them. No violence.” She directed her last question toward Taecyeon, her right hand man. “Kikwang, you’re gonna be the bridge in between our two schools, so play your part carefully, okay? Stay safe. You’re gonna be targeted by whoever is framing your old school. And Junho, make sure someone is with Kikwang out on the streets, okay?” With that, she dashed away.

Once outside, she hopped onto her bike and backed up. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red hair duck behind the corner. Puzzled, she wanted to investigate but knew she was about to be late for dinner. After sending a quick text to her friends about the suspicious person, she hurried toward the restaurant.

Nichkhun instantly spotted her the moment she entered and waved her down. She made her way over to his table and sat, her eyes traveling around the expensive restaurant in wonder at its exquisite decorations. “Hey,” she smiled.

“I haven’t seen you in a long time,” Nichkhun leaned over on the table. “How are you?”

“Good. Yonghwa found out who I am.”

“So I heard. How’s he treating you?”

“Like a gentleman. We’re going out,” Seohyun stated matter-of-factly.

“Is that right? Well, congratulations. I’m happy for you; I mean it.” He settled back against the plush seats. “Oh hey, since we’re on the subject of boyfriends and girlfriends, I guess I should be telling you about my girlfriend.”

“Oppa has a girlfriend? Really? She better be a good girl,” Seohyun pursed her lips. “Don’t be dating those bad girls who’ll break your heart because you aren’t gonna be crying on my shoulder. That’s what Woohyun is for.”

“She is. She was the girl I was talking to last time we… were… talking… on the phone…” His voice trailed off as he remembered- too late- that their last phone call hadn’t ended on good terms.

“Oh that girl? The one who thinks I’m your mom?”

“I’M SORRY!” Nichkhun swiftly leaped out of his seat and kneeled beside Seohyun, his hands clasped together. “I WON’T DO IT AGAIN, I PROMISE! It’s just that I apparently look like a player and I wanted to prove them wrong by saying you’re my mom and not some other girl-”

“Some other girl?”

“Oh shoot. I didn’t mean it that way. Seohyun! Don’t be mad at me!” His eyes widened as his bottom lip quivered.

“But seriously Oppa! You’re never there anymore. And you used to be like, my best guy friend.”

“Mianhe, Seohyun. I know- you were my best female friend too and we used to hang out all the time.”

“I depended on you a lot too,” Seohyun muttered quietly. And I might’ve possibly had a tiny crush on you back then too. “And then bam! You get accepted into JYP and the person I depended on the most was gone. And even though I’m super close with the rest of the idiots, you were the only one who knew about my past. But you left me.”

Nichkhun casted his eyes to the floor and studied the pattern on the carpet. “I…”

“Save it Nichkhun. You always have excuses for everything you do. Just save it. I don’t want to hear any more. Is there anything you can do besides for build me up, tear me down, make me cry, apologize, and start the cycle all over again? And this ‘image’ you have as a player- it’s not just an image. It’s you when you’re drunk. Who was it that always helped you out and made excuses for you when you had too much alcohol? Me. Truth be told, I always found you at a club, drunk, with girls. Just a warning, best friend, you shouldn’t drink that much alcohol now that you’re taken. Don’t hurt your girlfriend’s feelings the way you’ve hurt mine.” When Seohyun first walked into the room, she hadn’t meant to gush out that long monologue like that. However after the quick turn in events, her feelings just came crashing out.

“I know,” Nichkhun said softly. “I’ve been a jerk. A huge one. And if we’re talking about truth here, back then… I depended on you a lot as well. You were always there for me. I guess I just got to the point that I expected you to be there whenever I needed you… I’m a bastard, I know. It’s just that loosing you seemed too surreal to me. I’ve hurt you a lot. But uh, if we’re talking about the truth… Promise you won’t hate me or hit me?”

“… What?”

“Well… the truth is that I actually don’t really like my girlfriend,” Nichkhun let it all out in one long breath.

“… What?”

“It’s just that, like I said before, I wanted to change my playboy image and she confessed to me and so yeah…”

“Nichkhun,” Seohyun groaned and smacked her head with her hand. Though this was bad news, she was grateful for it because the old clumsy idiotic Nichkhun was back. And it felt nice to be needed by him again after these long months of being shoved to the side. “You… really…”

“Sorry!” He threw his hands into the air in another begging stance. Sorry Seohyun for being so mean to you. I’ve told you the truth now, well, at least most of it. The biggest truth, my biggest secret, shall remain silent. The real reason for my playboy image and my drunken nights is you. You, Seohyun, are my biggest secret. You, Seohyun, the girl I’m been in love with… I can’t tell you. Not after you just got reunited with Yonghwa. I can’t do that to you because I know that… you have feelings for me too. I don’t want to make you confused. Why is love so darn complicated? I just hope and pray that you and Yonghwa will have a long and happy relationship together while I watch from the sidelines. “Can you help me?” He smiled sheepishly.

“Idiot,” Seohyun sighed, but not unhappily. “It’d be better for you to tell her the truth before it’s too late.”

Nichkhun winced. Dang it Seohyun. What’s up with the whole ‘truth’ issue today? Gah… If only you realize what your words truly mean to me. It would be better for me to tell you the truth about my love for you before it’s too late. But I guess… it’s always been to late for me, huh? You’ve always had Yonghwa- even before I came along. Nichkhun smiled ruefully at his thoughts. “Yeah. I will. Thanks for helping me.”

“No problem,” She grinned back warmly. I’m glad I got to see a glimpse of the old Nichkhun today. “Call me if you ever need help again.”

“You too, aight? Don’t always try to carry things on your back alone.”

Their conversation continued down a light path as their order was being cooked. After it arrived, silence occupied the table. They were both too hungry to talk.

When they finished dinner, their conversation picked up once more. As Nichkhun filled her in on what had been going on in his life, Seohyun couldn’t help but notice a strange tuff of extremely familiar hair sitting at a table nearby. Thankfully this time the hair was brown, not red. She signaled with her eyes for Nichkhun to secretly look in that direction. The moment he spotted the hair, he gave Seohyun a puzzled look.

“It’s Yonghwa,” Seohyun rolled her eyes. “That punk is spying on us.”

“Shall we entertain him?”

Seohyun couldn’t help but giggle at the mischievous spark in her friend’s eyes as nodded her head with a smirk.

Instantly Nichkhun leaned closer to Seohyun as his hand inched suspiciously closer to hers. She burst into random audible giggles, even though Nichkhun was silent and choking back laughter. He pointed to the edge of the room and poked her cheek when her head spun back and the two of them erupted into laughter. To the outsider, it looked as if they were flirting. To them, however, they knew their limits and were beyond amused at the game they were playing.

“Ten, nine, eight,” Seohyun whispered, her eyes glancing at Yonghwa now and then. Just as she said one, there he was- standing at the edge of their table with a shocked expression on his face.

“Crap why did I- Er- Hi!” Yonghwa awkwardly waved as he slapped himself inwardly for giving himself away, especially after seeing the triumphant expressions on Seohyun and Nichkhun’s faces. They were trying to lure him out. “So how long ago did you guys notice me?”

“A while,” Seohyun shrugged. “Anyways, Nichkhun, this is my boyfriend Yonghwa. Yonghwa, this is my best guy friend Nichkhun.” She ignored the tense atmosphere and continued with her introductions.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Nichkhun smiled, his eyes analyzing the guy standing before him. So you’re the one Seohyun fell for all those years ago.

“Same,” Yonghwa politely nodded his head. So you’re the one who managed to capture my girl’s heart while I was… not there.

Seohyun rolled her eyes. “What’s with this awkwardness?” She couldn’t help but feel awkward herself as the tension continued. “Guys…”

“I was just in the area and I remembered how my girlfriend was having dinner with a guy,” Yonghwa shrugged.

“And I was currently having dinner with my best friend,” Nichkhun shot back.

Seohyun stepped back and watched the two men bicker back and forth like children. At long last, she heaved another sigh and interrupted their argument. “Seriously?”

Instantly their heads swerved toward her and she knew they’d forgotten she was there.

“Anyways, it looks like you’re done eating,” Yonghwa pointed out as he pulled Seohyun behind him possessively, “So I’ll be taking her now.”

“Actually,” Nichkhun reached out and took hold of her arm, “I wasn’t done talking with her yet.”

“I’m sure you can call her on the phone,” Yonghwa sneered, “as long as you don’t call her your mother again.”

“I can’t believe she’s dating a brat like you.”

“I can’t believe she’s best friends with a brat like you!”

They ended up in a staring contest as Seohyun shook her head and walked away unnoticed.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

IT'S WINTER BREAK! YAAAAY! (: 

Finally got a chapter in. I hope y'all like it!

I can't reply to any comments today since my mom's been asking me to get off the computer & go sleep & I've been telling her "okay" for a while now...

LOL.

Oh. You know what's super addicting? LoL. League of Legends. Anyone play?

Ashe is the BEST! (: 
I'm a gamer, haha. 

SO ASIAN D: