Lia looked at the three of them and did a double take. “Omo, Ned, Mark, Dylan!” she squealed. “What are you guys doing here?” She looked at Big Bang, demanding for a good explanation.

“Lia, what happened to you . . . ?” Mark Wedloe faltered.

Ned Blankenship and Dylan Chiu could only gape at her — or rather her stomach. Is she really pregnant? Wait, is that even really Lia at all???

Dylan was the first person to snap out of it. “Um, Lia, hey,” he said nervously. “Well, let’s put it this way. Apparently President Yang Hyun Suk is my uncle.”

“Your uncle?” Lia repeated. What the heck . . . ? “Mwo?” Her head was spinning and she felt a little dizzy. She was about to faint when Seung Ri caught her with his fast reflexes. He steadied her. “Ohhh . . .”

“Whoa, Lia,” he murmured, leading her to the bench to sit down. He glared at Se7en. “What did she eat?”

Se7en shrugged, his eyes wide with shock. “She had the same thing as me!” he quickly protested.

“It’s not the ramen,” she muttered weakly. “I just got too . . . caught up by Dylan’s news.”

Se7en turned to Ned, Mark and Dylan. “Who are you?” he asked.

“They’re my friends from Melbourne,” Lia answered for them as Seung Ri kissed her on the forehead. She looked at Dylan. “You’re the President’s nephew? But how?”

He shrugged. “My mom is his little sister,” he replied uncomfortably. “I didn’t know him until I met him at her funeral last week. She passed away with leukemia.”

She gasped. “Omo, is that so? I’m so sorry, Dylan,” she said remorsefully and he could tell she was sincere.

He nodded. “It’s okay,” he replied.

Poor Dylan! Now he’s stuck with his dad, and she knew that he never had a smooth father-and-son relationship with him.

“So that’s where he MIA to last week,” Ji Yong mumbled.

No one paid much attention to him as they kept looking back and forth from NMD and Lia. Was it a mere coincidence that the four of them were here?

“Anyway, Dylan’s uncle invited us over for Christmas,” Ned spoke up. “The girls wanted to come but their parents said no.”

Lia smiled. “That’s cool,” she replied, “but it would have been better if the girls came as well. Like old times’ sake.”

Dylan sat down next to her. “Are you really pregnant or is that fats?” he .

“Yah!” She poked him as Big Bang, Se7en and Ned laughed. Mark rolled his eyes. “I’m really pregnant, okay! What sort of question is that?!” She pouted.

“Sorry, sorry.”

NMD knew Big Bang from when they first came down for the school field trip back when Lia never knew her brother was TOP. They all knew she liked Ji Yong and that they used to date. They didn’t know about Seung Ri. Would they think he was the father of the baby?

Mark, who had always been very close to her, glared at Ji Yong. “Are you the one who is responsible for my cousin’s stomach?”

“Mark,” Lia whined. Mark has always been protective over her even though they were only two months apart. He was like the mini version of TOP. It was like no matter where she goes; someone is always going to bug her by being overly protective! Yeesh.

“No, I am responsible,” Seung Ri spoke up and all heads turned to him. “The two of them broke up a long time ago. That’s my baby Lia is carrying.” He pulled Lia closer to him.

“How far are you?” Ned asked her.

“I’m almost seven months,” she replied. She turned thoughtfully to her brother. “Hey, Bingu Oppa, your birthday is coming up.”

He nodded, not taking his eyes off her. He didn’t like the way Mark was addressing his friends like they were bullies. Mark turned to him. “You are her brother,” he said slowly. “So why didn’t you stop her from having with that guy?” He pointed to Seung Ri.

What the hell?

“Mark!” Lia admonished. “It’s not his fault, nor is it Maknae Oppa’s fault! Will you lay off of them? They’re my friends and my family! Why are you so bitter?”

He scowled and walked out of the room. Lia sighed. Some things will never change, will they? Mark will forever always hold a grudge against him for leaving Melbourne to move to South Korea. Luckily Ned and Dylan were more forgiving and understanding.

Seung Ri vaguely remembered Mark. He remembered him slapping Lia at the airport during Lia’s first visit when she was about to go back because of some disagreement she had about spending most of the field trip with Big Bang. He never liked him.

The rest of the day, Lia showed NMD the YG building, introducing them to the staff. She told them all about her adventures with the boys. Dylan told Lia the President had offered him a place to stay with him but he wasn’t sure if he will take up on the offer. Lia wanted him to but she kept quiet. It was Dylan’s decision, so he should decide for himself.

She asked them about the girl friends she had in Melbourne and they told her they were all doing pretty well except that it wasn’t the same without them. The Four Seasons (that was the name of the group because they were all born in each different seasons of the year) wasn’t the same with the fourth person born in the season of winter.

They also told her that when they found out who Dylan’s uncle was, they knew that they would be seeing her but they had wanted to keep it as a surprise, which was why she did not know about it until she saw them a few hours ago.

Lia was touched. She had really missed the boys a lot. They were her great friends and she was glad to see them again.

NMD was happy to see her again but they can’t help but notice that she changed in some ways, including her belly.

She was still shorter than them but she was slightly taller than when they last saw her. Her long, black, brown highlighted hair was now fully black and cut shoulder-length in a cute and choppy style. It made her looked even cuter, which fitted her bubbly personality.

But one thing that really bugged them was that they noticed she seemed a lot happier in Seoul than she had been in Melbourne. They were hurt. Had she forgotten about them? It seemed like they had been replaced with Big Bang too.

Mark stopped sulking enough to actually enjoy being with Lia again. Out of everyone, he had missed her the most. After all, she was his partner in crime in a lot of things.

They were in the practice room, just sitting on the floor and joking and telling each other stories when Dae Sung poked his head in the room with a cheeky smile on his face.

Lia grinned mischievously too. “Lemme guess: another prank on Bingu Oppa?”

He nodded. “I think he left his jeans here somewhere,” he told her, holding up a cup. “I have a cup of ice.”

She giggled, jumping up on her feet with twinkling eyes. “Come, I know where he puts his jeans.” She took the cup of ice from him and went to the bench at the far end of the room. She rummaged through the bags, finally taking her brother’s dark jeans out. The two pranksters rubbed ice all over the legs of the jeans. Once they ran out of ice they quickly put the jeans back in and ran back to NMD, hiding the cup away.

“Whatever happens, just act like you don’t know anything,” Lia told them, smirking.

Moments later, TOP came in and strolled to the bags. He took his jeans out and Lia turned around as he slipped the jeans on.

“Gah!” he cried out from the coldness. He quickly jumped out of his jeans, putting his sweatpants back on. Dae Sung and Lia roared with laughter and he glowered at them. He knew the two of them were behind the joke way before they even laughed.

“You should have seen your face, Oppa,” Lia cracked up, clutching her sides. “Oh, it was pure epicness.”

“I should have taken a picture!” Dae Sung chortled, on fours.

“It’s not funny at all,” TOP snarled as he glared at them. “What can I wear now?”

“Relax. You know that I always pack an extra pair of jeans for you,” she reassured him. She reached for his bag and took out a pair of jeans, tossing it to him. She slapped high-fives with Dae Sung as TOP stormed out of the room. Dae Sung followed after him but not before winking at Lia.

Mark frowned. Dae Sung was like him. He used to be Lia’s pranking partner. Now it’s Dae Sung. He didn’t really like that idea. In fact, he was jealous.

“So, Lia, you must be feeling tired of being the only girl all the time,” Ned spoke up.

She shrugged. “It is a bit tiring, so that’s why I’m grateful whenever the girls of 2NE1 drop by. They’re a real laugh whenever they’re here,” replied, brushing her hair back a bit. She smiled.

Mark shook his head. Did Lia replace all her friends in Melbourne with celebrities here in Korea? That doesn’t seem right.

“Don’t you have any non-famous friends in Korea?” he snapped without thinking.

Lia seemed taken aback. “I have a few non-famous friends,” she replied slowly. “Do you guys remember the café we went to when we came down for the field trip?”

“You mean the café called The Library?” Ned cracked up.

She nodded. “I used to work there as a baker and a waitress,” she explained. “But then my boss told me to go back to work after I give birth.” She grimaced.

Dylan chuckled, knowing she didn’t like it. She must love work a lot. Ned smirked. It was so typical of her to like what she does — especially when it comes to baking!

“Ooh, tough luck,” Mark muttered darkly under his breath but Lia heard him anyway.

She frowned. Why is he being so bitter and rude? She understood he was still mad but he was being incredibly childish.

Dylan and Ned noticed it as well. So they pulled him aside to talk to him about it when Big Bang all came back in to talk to Lia.

“Why are you being so rude to Lia and her friends?” Dylan demanded.

Mark scoffed, folding his arms across his chest with a scowl. “Did you guys forget the main reason why we came here in the first place?” he shot back. “We were supposed to make her come home!”

Dylan shook his head. “Mark, this place — YG and everything — just might be my new home. I don’t want Lia mad at me.”

“Wait Dylan, are you saying you might be living here?” Ned asked him, surprised. “You know, like permanently?”

He nodded. “I don’t like my dad and my uncle seems to really care about me, like my mom. Besides, Lia is happy here. Can’t you guys see that?”

Mark couldn’t accept that fact. “Dylan, you said you wouldn’t be thinking about staying here. And that’s the problem with Lia: she’s too happy here!”

Dylan and Ned sighed. “Grow up, Mark,” they muttered under their breath.

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This is a y chapter. I'm sorry. T.T