Lia was shaking her head furiously. “You never say you’re sorry! Every time we fight, it’s always me who has to apologize first — even when most of the times you started it!” she shouted at him.

“Lia, I’m sorry.” Mark took a step closer to her.

But she pushed him away and he crashed into a water cooler nearby. It made such a loud noise that Big Bang ran out and were shocked to see Lia standing over at Mark, who was just lying stiffly on the floor.

He felt a sharp pain on his arm and Mark realized that he got a cut there. He must have grazed it against the cooler as he fell.

“Lia,” Seung Ri called. But Lia ignored him, turning back to Mark.

“I can’t believe you actually have the nerve to ask my forgiveness,” she spat out at him.

“Lia . . .” Ji Yong tried.

But she shot him a look. “Stay out of this,” she hissed. “Mark, for years I have put up with your nonsense. It’s childish and annoying and I really hate it. Tyler was horrible but you were worse than him!” she shrieked in a shrill voice.

Flinching, he tried to stand up with much difficulty. He felt a bubble of anger stirring up inside of him but he fought it down. “I’m so sorry,” was all he could say.

Lia would have gone off and maybe even hit him more if not for TOP who grabbed her by the arm, clamping shut and said sternly, “That’s enough, Ophelia Choi Jun Mei. Go to the recording room to cool off. Ji Yong, take her there.”

Seung Ri, Dae Sung and Tae Yang rushed to Mark’s aid while Ji Yong led Lia carefully to their recording room. “Shhh,” he told her in a gentle voice. “Stay here, Lia. Don’t go wander off.” His phone rang and he answered the call. “Yeobosaeyo?”

Lia sighed, releasing her grip on her first. She gasped in pain, looking down at her hand to see fingernail marks in her flesh. She didn’t realize she’d been gripping so hard.

“Wae??” she heard Ji Yong suddenly said. She looked up to see a pout on his face. “When do I have . . . bwoh??”

She frowned. Who is he on the phone with and why does he sound so frustrated? Lia did not like the sound of it — it sounds bad. And as soon as he hung up, he gave her a tight smile.

“What’s wrong?”

He shook his head. “I got a call.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh wow, gee, did you really now? I didn’t noticed,” she sarcastically said.

He made a face. “You think it’s funny now, huh?” he said to her. He sat next and patted her on the stomach. “I have to go to Japan. I have to go tonight.”

“Wae?”

He shrugged. “They want me to perform my solo songs there,” Ji Yong explained.

Lia kept quiet. “How long will you be gone for?” she finally asked.

“Two weeks.” He bent down, pulling his beanie over his head. He then looked up and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so sorry. I know you’ve been planning so hard for your brother’s birthday. I don’t want to miss it —”

She hugged him. “I’m okay,” she reassured him quickly. She didn’t want him to feel guilty. “You do what you have to do.”

He smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. “And this is why I love you so much,” he joked, “because you’re so nice and forgiving.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, maybe not so on the forgiving part,” he corrected.

She giggled.

He stood up. “Are you ready to go back?” he asked, holding a hand out to her.

She sighed, nodding. “I won’t go back and yell at him anymore,” she promised, standing up. She sighed again.

“No, you’ll probably hit him,” he muttered and she whacked him on the shoulder. “Yah! That actually hurts!”

“Yah, who told you to be so mean?”

“What the heck — aish, this girl ah,” he said, shaking his head. They walked back to the practice room where everyone was waiting for them. And I mean everyone — including the President.

Ji Yong felt Lia stiffening beside him. He knew it was time for Dylan to tell everyone his decision. He knew Lia was nervous.

He squeezed her on the hand as they went inside the room. He bowed his head at the sight of the President. “Annyeong.”

Lia did the same and they both took a seat at the floor. They didn’t need the President to say anything to know what was happening. They all looked at Dylan.

Dylan took a deep breath. “I’ve decided . . . that I don’t want to stay here just yet,” he said. “Not yet. I want to finish my last year of high school first. So I’ll move in next summer.”

The President nodded. “A place at home for you will always be available,” he told him.

Dylan nodded, refusing to meet Lia’s eyes. He was especially scared of her reaction. She was similar to Mark in some ways. She too can be proud but the difference between them is that she knew when she was wrong. But still, it didn’t stop him from being scared.

“We’ll look forward to you coming back.”

He looked up to see Lia smiling gently at him. He sighed with relieved, remembering that not too long ago, Lia was also put in the same position. He hugged her. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“Anytime,” she replied.

The President cleared his throat, looking at his watch. “Well, we should go. Ji Yong, you should probably go back and start packing now if you want to leave by tonight.” He stood up and left.

Ji Yong sighed. “Lia, you want to go home already?” he asked her.

She nodded. It was reaching afternoon and she was already feeling tired. It must have been from all the drama earlier in the morning. She turned to Mark and hugged him.

That shocked everybody.

She smiled at him. “I don’t want to be mad at anyone anymore,” she explained. She then walked to Ji Yong who took her back home.

The place seemed too quiet as everyone came back home to rest and relax. Ji Yong was in his room packing his bag to go to Japan. Dae Sung and Tae Yang were sleeping. TOP was in his room on the phone with his parents to give them an update on how Lia has been progressing with her pregnancy and everything..

Lia was reading in her bed when Seung Ri came inside, smiling. “Hey, beautiful.” He sat down on the bed next to her, kissing her.

She wrapped her arms around her, kissing him back. “Hey, handsome,” she said into his ear. “How’s my darling?”

“I’m glad I have a day off,” he replied. “So this means I get to spend time with you.”

She smiled, holding his face in her hands. “I was thinking . . .”

“Yes?”

“Well . . .” She hesitated. “Since we will have a family soon, it’s going to be crowded in this apartment, don’t you think so?”

He looked at her. “Are you asking for us to move out of this place?” he asked her.

She nodded once.

He studied her. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this suggestion. It was indirectly asking to get married. He was only twenty-two. And she was seventeen. But he knew that she was waiting for an answer. “Babe, you’re just only seven months pregnant,” he said gently, trying to let her down gently.

But Lia was too smart. “You don’t want it, do you?” she asked him, pulling back a bit. She looked away, hurt. “I’m not asking for us to get married or anything, you know,” she muttered under her breath.

“Lia, don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I love you, you know that. It’s just that it’s all a bit too soon. One day, babe, I promise you, we’ll be married.” He wasn’t lying. He wanted to be married with her. But now it’s just too soon. His career was going fine. And besides, TOP would kill him.

Lia bit her bottom lip as she listened to his reasons. They did seem reasonable. She smiled. He had a point. She kissed him. “I’m sorry for overreacting,” she said to him.

He took her hands into his and entwined their fingers together. He kissed her gently on each tip of her fingers. “Play a song for me on the guitar,” he said.

She blushed, her heart thumping wildly. The way he looked at her made her fall in love with him even more. She gently him on the cheeks and he kissed her sweetly. After a while they pulled back and he sat down next to her on bed, taking out Ji Yong’s guitar (that Lia borrowed without asking again) to strum a few chords.

Lia was gently rubbing her stomach when suddenly she gasped. Seung Ri looked up from where he sat. “Are you okay?” he asked her. He put the guitar down and hurried to her side with a worried look.

She just smiled. She took his hand and put it on her stomach. “Can you feel our baby?” she asked him softly.

Seung Ri felt something jerking from inside of her and gasped as well. “He or she kicked!” he said. He smiled at Lia, who was smiling like a proud mother-to-be.

“Healthy fella, that one,” she noted. “Why don’t you play something?”

Seung Ri nodded, kissing her sweetly on the stomach before taking the guitar back. He played a song for them and Lia closed her eyes, occasionally smiling hugely whenever she felt the baby kicking inside of her. “Our baby likes your voice,” she observed.

Seung Ri smiled and kept playing until the song ended before he came to her again. He kissed her on the lips, putting a hand behind her neck. “I love you.”

La smiled in between their kisses, her heart beating rapidly at the close presence of the boy she loves. Her fingers dug through his hair and she kissed him back.

“Ahem.”

They broke apart, startled, to see Ji Yong smirking, leaning at the doorway. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said casually, “but I’d really like to say goodbye to you lovebirds.”

“Ji Yong Oppa, guess what?” Lia spoke up brightly. “We felt the baby kick!”

“Really?” Ji Yong came toward them. He sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching out to her stomach. “Did you really feel it?”

Seung Ri nodded. “It’s there, hyung,” he replied. “Well, at least it was just now.”

Ji Yong bit his lip, trying to numb down the jealousy he was feeling inside. No matter what happens, he was never going to be able to stop loving Lia. He smiled at them. “Well, I should go catch my plane now.”

Lia hugged him, kissing him gently on the cheek. “Promise me you’ll take care,” she said to him, cupping his face in her hands. “Call me once you reach safely there.”

He sighed. “Yes, mother.”

Seung Ri chortled. “Lia’s already getting ready to be a mother? Oh no.”

Lia ignored the two of them. “Seriously, I won’t be able to rest until I know you’re fine.”

Ji Yong kissed her on the nose. “I promise I’ll call, baby girl,” he replied. He kissed her on the stomach. Then he looked at Seung Ri and patted him on the back. “Take care of her.”

He nodded. “I will. Have a safe trip.”

Ji Yong left the room. As he made his way to the airport, he sighed. Hopefully he’ll find a way to forget about Lia while he was gone. It was impossible, but it was also possible.