When Elli got home from her wonderful dinner with the man of her dreams, she was immediately attacked by Hyeri. The latter jumped on her asking questions about the evening. She was truly a gossip girl… So they were both sitting on the couch in the living room in the middle of the night, talking about Taehyung.

"Did you kiss? Was it just like in a dream? Tell me everything!" Hyeri asked excitedly. 

"No, I didn't even confess…," Elli answered a bit sadly. "But it doesn't matter. It was still the best evening of my life…"

Hyeri pinched her cheeks like a kurdish mother, while making an "aw" sound. Elli was blushing again, causing Hyeri to start calling her Yeonhee. But she didn't mind, as she was too happy to care. 

"So, when is your next date?" Hyeri suddenly asked. 

Elli paused a moment. She didn't know and she had no idea how to… ask him out? Yoongi had organized this, but he couldn't always make such evil plans. Hyeri saw her friend's distress and decided to propose something.

"Well, maybe I could help you this time. After all, I am your female best friend! We know better."

There had always been a little rivalry between Hyeri and Yoongi, being both Elli's best friend. And Hyeri was especially fierce about this competition, even though Elli didn't like seeing them fight. 

"It's getting hot outside, so I'm thinking we could go to the beach. All of us. And stay until night. Then, we'll leave you alone on the beach, and it will be so romantic and you will kiss and—"

"Hyeri, let's not go too fast… I don't think I'm ready to kiss him yet," Elli objected.

Hyeri seemed astonished. She put her hand on her heart like an outraged old white lady.

"Girl, this is the 21st century! Come on just do this, yo!" she advised wisely.

Elli looked down and thought about how it would feel to kiss Taehyung. She had had dreams about it and she wanted it very dearly, but she was still worried—was she experienced enough? Her only previous kiss was when she was 16, with a boy named Shin (she had heard that even he had became famous, so she was truly an idol magnet). And frankly, she didn't like it that much. Maybe they were too young to actually know what they were doing—

"Elli, are you listening to me? I can teach you how to kiss!" Hyeri almost yelled.

The poor girl came back to reality and saw her friend with a suspicious glow in her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" she asked her shyly.

"I know you're not a kiss-specialist. But mama Hyeri sure is! Let me show you how it's done…"

The woman came dangerously closer to Elli, and the latter cringed immediately. She pushed her as gently as she could.

"These lips are reserved for Taehyung!" Elli objected fiercely. 

"But I'm the queen of kisses…," Hyeri said with a pout.

Elli poked her and the two girls then started laughing and talking some more about love. It was a typical girls' night. Elli should have known she shouldn't have gone to bed so late though…

The morning after, Elli woke up in her living room with a sleeping Hyeri on the couch with her. Luckily she wasn't going to be late to the agency, but she hurried up anyway. When she arrived in the room where she practiced dancing, she was surprised to see it was already taken by… BTS. Those boys! But Elli couldn't be angry when she saw Taehyung sensually dancing just a few meters away from her. She stayed in the doorframe, wishing no one would notice her, but Namjoon turned his head and saw her. The music stopped as the leader got distracted and stopped dancing. Suddenly, Elli remembered things were a bit awkward between them because of the evening before… But Taehyung came close to her and Namjoon stayed in the back, probably a bit embarrassed. 

"H-Hey," he greeted her warmly. "I'm sorry we're using your room."

"That's alright, I—"

"Well, well, well, look who's here!" Yoongi said while walking to the pair.

They both looked at him funny. He was kind of interrupting them.

"I hear Hyeri is having a beach party tonight!" Yoongi continued with a fake smile. "Funny I had to hear it from my fellow members. Maybe she "forgot" to tell me…"

Elli sighed. Another war between those two! 

"Of course you're invited too, Yoongi!" she reassured him. "And… you too, Taehyung…"

The latter nervously chuckled, while Yoongi crossed his arms like an angry teenager. 

"I'll be there," Taehyung said to Elli with a soft smile. 

"Perfect," she answered shyly. 

"And me too, if that matters to you!" Yoongi added before going back to the other members.

The two almost-lovers were left alone and the awkward silence began. But it didn't last for long.

"So… he's angry, huh?" Taehyung nervously asked.

"Oh, no, he's just… It's a long story," Elli answered with a chuckle.

They both chuckled and Elli was looking at the floor, feeling her cheeks reddening again. "Yeonhee, get out of my body!" she thought. But Taehyung didn't mind all that blushing. Actually, he found it rather cute. Sometimes, he thought that maybe Elli was shy around him for the same reason he was shy around her… But he couldn't believe it. She probably just thought they didn't have much in common…

"Hey, you Taehyung, we have to go!" Jimin called his friend suddenly.

The poor boy was saddened to leave the loved doorframe, but he didn't have a choice. Elli saw Jimin approaching them, and again, she remembered the awkward things that had happened before. She tried to stop thinking about the J-abs but it wasn't easy. 

"Hey Elli," the boy greeted. "We have to go, sorry. I'll see you at the beach party tonight! And maybe you'll see my chest again," he jokingly added.

The girl laughed nervously. She had just realized, she was going to see the V-chest. "Oh my Cat…," she thought. "Am I ready? Thank God he isn't muscly. I wouldn't have survived that." 

The boys exited the room and Elli said goodbye to each of them, before Namjoon passed in front of her. He looked at her with a worried gaze and stopped for a moment.

"Elli, I know it's weird, but… Please just forget about last night. I was there by accident. I had no idea Seokjin was there. We didn't have—"

"A romantic dinner or something?" Elli caught herself saying. "Sorry, um… It's alright, I won't tell. Promise."

"It wasn't a— ah, anyway, thanks… I… I'll see you tonight."

Then, he left and Elli was left alone. She laughed a bit, because Namjoon could be a really funny daddy.

The evening finally came and again, Elli was nervous. She was at her apartment, trying to choose a swimwear with the help of Hyeri, but the latter was too… extreme.

"Come on, this one looks SO hot! You will be the iest mama of the party!" Hyeri suggested, showing a lacy black bikini.

"Oh no, I can't show that much skin!" objected Elli right away. "I'm not as confident as you…"

Hyeri put her motherly face on and took Elli by the shoulders with a reassuring look. 

"Well you should be. You're a very pretty girl! And Taehyung won't resist you, trust me!"

"Thank you…"

Elli wasn't sure that was true, but her friend's words were reassuring and she had to admit, Hyeri really knew how to seduce someone. So she followed her advice and picked a flaming hot red bikini, paired with a dark summer dress. And she did look really good. Hyeri was kind of proud. 

"Damn, I could kiss you right now!" she exclaimed.

"Hyeri, we talked about that," Elli answered jokingly. 

When the girls arrived on the beach, it was already quite crowded. Even strangers were there. Apparently, the word had been spreading. It was okay though, because everyone knows big parties can make a lot of things happen. Elli and Hyeri looked for the boys for a while, meeting some other people during the process before finally seeing them near a drink stand. Yoongi turned around immediately, with a fake smile.

"Hyeri," he greeted when the girls got closer. "It's so nice to see you."

"Yoongi," Hyeri greeted back. "I didn't know you liked parties. You don't seem like the kind of guy that goes out very often."

Elli could feel the electricity between her two friends, but it wasn't the time to have childish fights over her. Her eyes were on Taehyung, who was having a small talk with some guy. She approached them, leaving her best friends having their cold war and greeted them.

"Hey, Elli!" Taehyung greeted her back.

His eyes seemed to have lightened up when he saw her. The other guy saluted her too, and Elli thought he was quite good-looking as well. And tall…

"This Joonjae. He's an actor," Taehyung introduced. "Joonjae, this is my friend Elli. She's going to be a singer soon!"

Joonjae smiled suspiciously. 

"Your "friend", huh," the man repeated. 

"Y-Yeah?" Taehyung nervously answered.

The girl could sense that there was clearly something behind Joonjae's words. And she felt kind of… happy, that someone had thought that… She blushed a bit again, causing Joonjae to further believe they were that kind of "friends".

"I have a "friend" as well," he added. "Don't worry. I'm not a snitch." 

"Of course, since there is nothing to snitch about," Taehyung said with a nervous laugh.

At this moment, saving them from Joonjae's accusations, Yoongi and Hyeri decided to join the conversation. They were probably tired of insulting each other subtly. 

"Oh, look who's there, my friend Joonjae!" Yoongi exclaimed gladly.

Hyeri had a frozen smile on her face and took the man's arm.

"Oh yes, I know him so well! Sojin sang a duo with Takuya you know," she said.

"Oh yeah? Well Joonjae and I have a really long history, see we met three years ago. I imagine you didn't even know who he was at that time, did you Hyeri?" Yoongi asked.

The two exchanged glares and everyone else were amused by the situation. Taehuyng tried to change the subject but Elli's best friends were too busy fighting over someone they barely knew. Luckily, someone else came to join the conversation. An equally tall man arrived between Taehyung and Hyeri and he seemed very joyful. Elli felt like she knew his face from somewhere, but she couldn't quite remember where…

"Oh, but look who's here, my other good friend, Takuya!" Hyeri exclaimed when she saw him.

Suddenly, Elli recalled. It was Takuya, from CROSS GENE. The group where her first kiss was, Shin! She panicked, as she did not want to see him that night, not with Taehyung around—it would be so awkward. Takuya saw her and smiled even more. 

"Oh my God who's that girl she's so cute!" he exclaimed gleefully. 

Joonjae glared at the poor girl.

"She's Taehyung's "special friend"," he dryly answered.

Taehyung was ready to contradict him, but Takuya was already making an "ah!" sound, and telling them how adorable they were. 

"I know, right?!" Yoongi agreed. "They're really beautiful."

"You're so lucky Taehyung!" Takuya added.

Taehyung and Elli were both pretty flustered. But secretly, they loved it. And no one wanted to make Takuya's smile go away, so they pretended he was right. It was also an excuse for them, actually… The little group was cosy, talking together. After a while, Takuya got thirsty and decided to go get something to drink.

"I'm in the mood for a on the beach!" he said shamelessly. "Joonjae, do you want a on the beach?"

The latter seemed a bit interlocked and Hyeri laughed gracefully like a rich old white lady. She really was trying to be better than Yoongi.

"You're so funny Takuya!" she said blandly. "Get me one as well!"

When he wasn't there anymore, Elli immediately took Hyeri by her arm to talk to her in private. The rest were left without a feminine presence.

"Hyeri, I am dying," she complained dramatically.

"I know, all these men—"

"No, I'm talking about Takuya. He's in CROSS GENE. You know who else is in CROSS GENE?"

"Jesus! The weasel! Shin!"

"Exactly! I need to avoid him at all costs!"

But they didn't have any more time to talk, because the boys joined them (it was probably boring without these wonderful ladies). Taehyung stood very close to Elli, and she told herself it was probably to look like a couple, but really she hoped it was because he wanted to. Yoongi and Hyeri were next to each other, and you could feel the cat and dog atmosphere between them. And Joonjae, he was just kind of there, waiting for some on the beach. Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard, and it was of course the cute Takuya with everyone's drinks. But how could he carry all of that alone? The answer was, he couldn't. So…

"I brought my friend, Shin! I hope you don't mind!" Takuya exclaimed joyfully.

Oh yes, Elli did mind. As soon as the two saw each other, there was a pause in time. The memories of that horrible kiss came back to Elli's mind, and Shin felt embarrassment. Taehyung noticed something was wrong, but he didn't understand what. Of course, Yoongi and Hyeri knew the terrible event that had happened between those two, and both of them looked astonished to see him there. Joonjae, he didn't like Shin either. Maybe because Takuya and Shin were so often shipped together, and they are so close. 

"Um… Hi Elli," the weasel greeted.

"Hello, Shin…," she greeted back without looking at him in the eye.

"Oh my God, you guys know each other?!" Takuya said, shocked. "How?"

Hyeri took a sip of her drink. 

"Jesus," Yoongi sighed. 

"Well, um…" Elli began. "We um…"

"We dated when we were younger," Shin frankly said.

Elli couldn't believe he had just exposed her secret in front of Taehyung. God, she really didn't want to talk about that in front of him. It was so embarrassing. She looked at her best friends with a panicked expression on her face, hoping they would save her from that situation.

"Well that's embarrassing," Joonjae casually commented before taking a sip of his on the beach. 

"Oh, um, you know what? Elli and I need to use the restroom," Hyeri suddenly said.

The woman then pulled Elli by the arm, leading her out of the men's circle. They went far enough so that they wouldn't see them anymore. 

"Jesus…," Elli muttered.

"It's not so bad, Elli, he's just an ex!" Hyeri reassured her. "Taehyung would understand. Or else he's an —"

"I know but it's just so embarrassing!" cut Elli.

"Not at all! Look, I'll talk to him. I'll tell him not to come near you. Okay?" she offered.

Elli nodded and thanked her and Hyeri went to find Shin. So Elli was left alone on the beach, surrounded by tons of people she didn't know. She looked a bit awkward, just standing there, but it was for a good reason. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped of surprise. She even almost screamed. But when she turned around, it was only Joonjae—well, he was kind of scary.

"Elli," the man said in a low voice.

"Joonjae?" Elli asked, scared like a kid.

"We have a common enemy."

Elli didn't understand why he took such a scary expression and voice, but she assumed he was talking about Shin. Intrigued, she asked what he meant.

"You know Takuya is my "friend", like you and Taehyung. Well, Shin is trying to ruin that. I know it. I feel it in my bones. That weasel…"

"Um, okay…"

"I can get rid of him for you. But you have to do one thing for me."

Elli was even more scared. She felt like she was about to make a deal with a hitman. 

"Stay. Away. From him. Understood?" the scary actor asked.

The poor girl was too shy to speak, so she just nodded. Was he going to… hurt Shin? At that moment, she believed he could do anything. After the small discussion, Joonjae went away, after glaring at Elli. It was frightening as hell. Elli didn't really know what she had agreed to, but all she wanted was to spend some time with Taehyung, without that Shin boy around. So she didn't complain. 

Hyeri finally showed up, saying she had dealt with Shin. And that sounded just as threatening as Joonjae's word. Elli didn't know she was also a killer magnet…