It’s a no wonder you asked me to wear your hoodie,” was the first thing out of .

“You didn’t suspect anything? Wow, you are so blur,” he observed. He grinned at her and tugged on her hair lightly. “You’d look cuter if you tied your hair in pigtails.”

Lia took his hoodie and covered her head, burying her face in her book. He tickled her and she squealed out loud. “That’s mean!” she whined.

He laughed playfully. “What are you doing after school?” he asked her eagerly. “Wanna hang out with us; show us around the city and all? It’s your turn to show us around the place.”

She thought about it. “I have to go home first,” she said finally.

He shrugged, not seeing a problem in that. “We’ll follow you then,” he replied. “I want to see your house, your room.”

“Ah, crap,” Lia said, remembering the many posters of Big Bang she has up on her wall along with the individual posters of each.

“What’s wrong?” Ji Yong asked worriedly.

She shook her head. “Well, I have stuff up on my wall,” she replied and he nodded, getting it.

He smirked. “Pictures of me?”

Lia went a deep shade of red. “Not just you!” she hastily said. “I’ve got pictures of the others as well.”

Ji Yong just gazed at her intently until she looked away, blushing. He wanted to kiss her, wanted to grab her and pull her close to him. He missed her so much. But he can't do that without people raising suspicion. Then he would have to be apart from Lia due to his reckless behavior. He couldn't afford that.

The bell rang for lunch.

Shervonne, Paige and Rylee came up to her table as the other Big Bang members crowded around there. “You want to hang out with them, right?” Paige guessed.

“Yeah, is that okay with you guys?” she asked.

They nodded. “Oh, sure go ahead.” They grinned and Lia knew the price she has to pay was to tell them everything that happened.

“So lead the way, cute,” Dae Sung said to Lia once Big Bang crowded around her.

“Let’s go.” She gave him a withering look as she led them to the canteen.

“Ah, I miss school food,” he spoke up as they lined up to get their food.

“You miss any kind of food when you’re not eating,” TOP retorted as they got closer and closer.

“Not entirely true,” he said defensively. “I don’t think of food all the time.”

“I don’t believe you,” Seung Ri, Ji Yong, TOP, Tae Yang and Lia scoffed all in perfect unison.

Dae Sung pretended to be hurt and got a whack on the head from Ji Yong.

Once they came out of the cue and had managed to lose all the fans crowding around them, she led them to the back building into the school’s forest where the school’s tree house was built in the middle.

“Let’s eat here,” she suggested, climbing up the ladder.

“Your school is so cool, Lia,” Seung Ri commented as he climbed up. He sat down next to her. “I wish my school was like this. It’s awesome.”

“It’s really nice,” Tae Yang agreed, looking around the place.

Ji Yong sat on Lia’s other side. He broke a piece from his sandwich and fed it to Lia. “Nice?” he asked.

Lia closed her eyes. “Mmm, egg sandwich. The lunch lady hasn’t served that is so long!” She looked beseechingly at him.

He gave her another bite. “I’m taking the rest,” he told her.

As they ate, Big Bang told her of the things that happened after she left and Lia told them about the things she has forgot to tell in the phone calls. After they had eaten, it was almost time for class so they decided to head back. But Ji Yong waited until everyone passed by before taking Lia by the hand and pulling her back.

“Huh?” Lia was confused and surprised as he glanced around to make sure no one was watching before he pulled her close to him for a deep kiss. She closed her eyes and kissed him back.

“I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you in the class,” he breathed, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. “Lia, I’ve missed you.”

She smiled, hugging him. “I missed you too,” she replied. “Honestly, it is why I wear your hoodie to sleep at night.”

He kissed her again and she felt a warm glow in her body. It felt so nice. She was getting a bit dizzy at the scent of him.

They hurried back to her class before she was considered late. He left her alone to let her do her work and went to talk to other people instead. Lia watched him. She watched him as he casually chatted with the guys. She watched how all the other girls flirted with him but he didn’t flirt back. He just smiled politely and gave them straight answers. She smiled, happy with that.

Finally, the last bell sounded and everyone all gathered their things to go home. All the students began the pile out of the classroom, walking out of the building.

Ji Yong was immediately at Lia’s side. “I understand you have two weeks of holiday starting this Friday,” he said.

She nodded, stuffing her stuff inside her bag. “Yeah, I do,” she replied, shrugging. “It’s term break, so . . .”

“Do you have any plans?”

She frowned thoughtfully, thinking about it. The Four Seasons didn’t really plan any major events, so she’s actually quite free. She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I’ll most probably lazing around during the holidays,” she replied.

“Come back with us,” he suggested. “It’ll be great. You can see your parents again and you can also spend more time with us, especially now since we don’t really have much on so we’re free most of the time.”

“But where would I stay?” she asked, not really thinking he was being serious.

“You can stay in the guest room at our dorm,” he suggested, bouncing like an excited puppy out for its first time. “It’d be fun. Everyone won’t mind.”

She looked up to him. Oh. He was serious. Lia wasn’t sure how to respond. “I don’t know, she answered lamely. “I have to check with my parents — my adoptive parents — first. I’m sorry. I really do wish I can come.”

Ji Yong’s face fell with disappointment. “Oh.” It was clear that he wanted her to say yes instead.

Lia placed her hands over his. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I do want to come, but I’m just not sure if I’ll be allowed to.”

Ji Yong looked at her and knew that she was being sincere. “I know. I just thought that if you were there, it’d be great,” he replied, smiling warmly at her but inside he was gutted that she might not be able to go. He silently scolded himself for getting his hopes up.

There was this awkward silence between them. Lia didn’t like it. She opened to ease the tension between them at the same time Seung Ri came over to them. “So, Lia, are you following us?” he asked.

Ji Yong tried his best to hide his frustration but he couldn’t help but think that Seung Ri had deliberately interrupted their conversation as he had noticed that the Maknae had been watching them carefully.

Lia, being the sweet innocent girl she was, didn’t notice anything as she nodded. “More like you guys are following me,” she replied.

TOP came up to them. “Okay, so, once again, lead the way, Mei,” he told her.

She smiled, slipping her hand into her brother’s hands and pulled him. The others followed behind, Ji Yong frowning.

“You okay?” Dae Sung asked him, noticing his silent mood.

He nodded once, still frowning. “Yeah,” he lied. “How long do we have until we go back to Seoul?”

“Ummm . . . two more days?”

His face fell.

“We have other things to do back in Seoul. Otherwise sajangnim will be mad.”

He sighed heavily, looking down at his feet. He kicked the dirt. “Lia doesn’t want to come back,” he mumbled.

Dae Sung shrugged unhelpfully. “Well, you can’t exactly pop up unannounced and tell her that she’s going to Seoul with you.” He paused and turned to look at his leader. Ji Yong has been acting so strange. “Are you in love with Lia?” he blurted out.

Ji Yong looked up, startled. “Wh-what?”

But Dae Sung was having none of it. “Come on,” he urged. “Ever since you met Lia two months she’s all you can talk about, the songs you write are about her, and you hardly ever went out on dates and would reject any hot girl who asked you out. And the excuse you gave them was that you were already in love with someone else,” he explained. He cocked his head toward Lia who was smiling and joking around with TOP and Tae Yang. “So, are you, Ji Yong hyung?”

Ji Yong shrugged. “I don’t know, honestly,” he replied, gazing after her. “During the week I got to know her, I just knew she was different from all the other girls, you know? She’s so innocent.” He frowned deeper. “Maybe it was because she’s only seventeen, but there’s just . . .  something about her that completely blew my mind away. When I’m with her, I feel like myself the best. I can be who I am with her and not be scared that she’ll hate me.

“She brings out the best in me, and when I see her smile — like how she is now — I want that smile to stay on her pretty little face. When we kiss, my whole body is tingling not with the urge but rather with joy and happiness,” he continued. He shook his head, trying to process all of this in. “I do love her.”

Dae Sung grinned. Finally the truth comes out. Everyone always knew that Ji Yong love her and now he finally admits. “You want her to be your girlfriend, don’t you?”

He shrugged. “I want her to be happy. If being my boyfriend makes her happy, it’ll be great. But it’ll also be hard.”

Oh, right.

Suddenly Lia stopped in front of a gang of boys. Ji Yong saw the erted looks on their faces as she passed by and he clenched his fist. But he didn’t need to do anything because Lia gave them the Look and they backed away. One guy, however, just looked bored when she stopped in front of him.

“Tell Sam I’ve got a ride home,” she told him and he nodded. She turned back to Big Bang and smiled brightly at them. “Let’s go.”

Ji Yong put his arms around her, drawing her close to him. “Who were those goons?” he asked, gesturing to the boys at the back.

“My brother’s friends, unfortunately,” she replied. “No wonder he’s like that.”

“I don’t like the way they look at you,” he said protectively. He kissed her forehead and she smiled.

“Me neither,” TOP spoke up, glaring at those monkeys once they got inside the car Big Bang had rented.

Lia sighed. “As long as they don’t anything to me, they are harmless,” she said doubtfully. She sat up in her seat and directed Dae Sung to her house. Once they reached there, they gasped.