Your Point of View

To be honest you weren't sure whether telling Jiyong that you spent time with Mino today was important... You two don't hold secrets, but you were afraid that if you were to briefly mention this minor detail it will blow out of proportion.

You looked at him and debated with yourself...

Maybe it's best if you do mention it regardless if it's a big deal or not. It's better if he hears it come out of your mouth than someone else.

"What did you do today?" You asked as Jiyong continued to drive looking directly at the road.

"I have been running back and forth with meetings, I was getting ready to run out of there." Jiyong has been telling you about his intention of possibly coming out with a new solo album but he's still in the process of putting everything together before doing so.

"Have you started to work on any new songs," you ask him. He glanced over at you and smiled.

"Of course, I have 2 new songs written already,"

"When will I be able to hear them," you ask, and he just smiles.

"Soon... Maybe."

you glanced over and noticed the small notebook he keeps for his song lyrics sitting there in front of you. Even though you were beyond curious to see what he's been working on, you were going to wait until he showed you the final product.

"How about you? How was your day? Tell me all about it," there was no way you couldn't mention Mino as part of your day... After all, you did spend time with him.

The last thing you wanted was for him to find out about this information from anyone else.

"Well, I was taking advantage today and used my time to shop. However, I couldn't get much shopping done because before I knew it, I suddenly bumped into Jihoon and Mino, and they asked if I wanted to go out and eat with them. I couldn't be rude, so I went out to eat with them, we went to the bar for a little but now here I am," you said as you stretched over to hold his hand.

He glanced over at you and nodded his head.

"Well, I'm glad that there isn't going to be any awkward tension if I take you to more parties," Jiyong says and you just nod your head.

To be honest this wasn't the reaction you were expecting to come out of Jiyong. For some odd reason, you were kind of hoping he would have been bothered at least a little by the idea of Mino and you hanging out...

The only reason you wished he would have shown a little more of a reaction is because you wanted that reassurance that he likes you... But you know what, maybe it's better he doesn't show that he's bothered. He must trust you and that's all that matters.

"Well, you already know my views on parties," you reminded Jiyong and he smiled.

"I'll change your mind eventually,"

"We will see about that," you said smiling and he smiled in return.

Maybe Jiyong being unbothered about the situation is for the best? Did you want a jealous boyfriend again? Look what happened between Mino and you...

After comforting yourself you suddenly felt relieved that this relationship was different. 

-

After being out the whole day, you were finally back at home. As you walked over to your bedroom, you dropped off your keys on your nightstand. As you were about to remove your coat, you stopped and looked over at the collection of vinyl.

It's weird...

Before you even went to that party, these vinyl’s did not affect you. To be honest you had forgotten that vinyl’s were something Mino and you used to share. But after seeing him buy more... The memory of the two of you going shopping for vinyl began to appear in your head. How the two of you would play your favorite album, lay in bed and talk, laugh, and absorb the music that was playing in the background.

You weren't necessarily missing Mino, but the memories the two of you hold were suddenly revisiting your mind. It's inevitable to prevent yourself from being some type of way.

All that's in the past, it doesn't matter anymore. You were in a whole new relationship... At least you think it's a relationship. Jiyong hasn't technically asked you to be his girlfriend officially...

You shook your head and ignored your thoughts.

You looked at yourself in the mirror and touched your cheek. Instead of overthinking like you usually do, you should probably relax, have a self-care day, and mask it... Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.

-

One thing about you is if you miss breakfast, and you remain the rest of the day hungry, you happen to be one of the crankiest people on this planet. If you don't eat you catch yourself getting ready to fight everyone and everything.

Even though you were running late to head to your office, you didn't care. Right now, the only thing you were worried about is making sure you got your morning coffee and some kind of bagel, a sandwich... SOMETHING.

You walked into your favorite coffee shop and luckily since you have become a regular, one of the workers took one look at you and started to prepare your usual order.

At this point, they should just have your picture on the wall.

You felt your phone vibrate. You pull out your phone from your pocket and there you see your assistant already calling.

Should you pick up the phone? Maybe it's something important?

Just as you were about to answer, you don't know what made you look around the cafe but when you did, you took one look to your right, and you spotted a familiar face.

Maybe if you look away you won't get noticed...

Nope...

You were spotted.

It was Jinhwan. You have no problem with him whatsoever. You just didn't know what to expect anytime you encountered him and that was the only thing that had you worried.

As you tried looking away, from the corner of your eye you noticed him approaching you. You decided to completely ignore your phone call and wait till Jinhwan approached you.

As he caught up, you looked over at him and smiled.

“Hey,”

“I knew it was you. I wasn’t sure for a second” Jinhwan says as he caught up and you smiled.

“I thought the same thing when I saw you.” Lies, you knew it was him.

“Well, I’m glad I ran into you. I wanted to ask you something” You were slightly scared of what his question was going to be, but you nodded your head.

“What’s up?”

He looked over at you and smiled.

"Well, I know this is probably weird for me to ask out of the blue especially since we haven't had an opportunity to catch up... But I am having a birthday party tomorrow night in Octagon. I was going to invite Jiyong but now that you're here I was hoping you can let him know and the both of you come along."

You already weren't much of a party person... But you felt bad to decline such an offer.

"Sounds like a good time... I'll let Jiyong know." Jinhwan smiled.

"Perfect. I hope to see the two of you there," you nodded your head and both exchanged goodbye with one another.

It's amazing how the world works... You went from going MIA to everyone in YG after breaking up with Mino and didn't come across a single soul until you started to date someone else from YG again...

Now you see them left and right... And see them anywhere you go.

-

After the day you had, you came straight home and didn't hesitate to get comfortable quick. You grabbed a pair of sweats, a T-shirt, and your slippers. You threw your hair in a bun and sat down on the couch ready to watch a movie until you decided to go to sleep.

Just as you were slowly dozing off the movie you felt your phone vibrate right next to you. As you grabbed a hold of your phone, without looking you answered the phone.

“Hello,” you mumbled into the phone.

“Did I wake you up beautiful?” You hear Jiyong's voice on the other side of the phone.

“No, I was still awake,” you sat up and decided to wake yourself up.

“Babe,” you know he had something to tell you.

“Yes? What’s up?”

“I have to head over to Tokyo for a photo shoot,” well that’s great. You were planning to ask him about Jinhwan's party but now that he can’t seem to make it… what was the point of telling him?

“That’s short notice,” but you weren’t surprised. Jiyong always had events that would occur at the last minute because of his job.

“I know, they told me I have to catch a flight tonight.”

“How long will you be gone?” You asked him and he sighed.

“I think they said a week,” he was going to leave you for a whole week… wonderful.

You weren’t planning on telling Jiyong about Jinhwan's party but for some reason you felt like you were holding a secret back from him. So, although you had no intentions of saying a thing you decided to tell him anyway.

“Oh… I know it’s pointless to tell you now, but this morning I bumped into Jinhwan. He invited both of us down for his birthday party tomorrow night but since you won’t be in town, I’ll just let him know we can’t go,” you said waiting for Jiyong to respond.

To be honest you were expecting him to agree and the conversation to end from there, but you were wrong.

"Why don't you go?" Jiyong encouraged the idea, and you froze.

It's not like Jinhwan was your ex or anything but Jinhwan is friends with Bobby and there is 99.9% that Bobby was going to be at that party. On top of that, you were pretty sure Mino was going to be there as well.

Although you ended the tension with Mino, you still felt like it would be awkward and weird for you to go to an event where you will be in the same room as your ex and someone you had a situationship with.

“Why would I go?" You were curious to hear what Jiyong was going to say.

"Well, why not? Aren't you friends with Jinhwan?" you were still surprised. I was about to comment on your ex being there and Bobby, but you didn’t bother.

To be fair you weren’t even sure that he even knew about Bobby…

“I mean… you know how I feel at parties.”

“Just got for a little. I feel bad I can’t attend but you can go on both of our behaves” You were speechless to see the support you were receiving coming from Jiyong, but you decided what the heck… what could go wrong?

Mino and you have officially cleared the air and then Bobby and you well… That’s a whole other story.

Eventually, you both began to talk about other things until you ended the convo and caught yourself falling asleep. 

-

There you were standing in front of Octagon with a gift in your hands.

After Jinhwan invited you to his party you were hesitant about coming. But what did you have to lose? You are all civilized adults who can come together as one and be around one another without wanting to kill each other...

Plus, everything that happened was in the past. You were fortunate enough to clear the air with Mino but not so much with Bobby.

Who knows if Bobby has any hatred toward you... It appears to be only one way because on your end you didn't hate the guy. What happened and there was not a thing you could do about it.

You took a deep breath and walked in.

Neon lights were flashing left and right from all sorts of directions. The music was loud enough to hear the bass go off. You saw many different faces hoping to spot someone you knew.

Just with your luck the first person you happened to spot was Mino at the bar.

You were hoping to find Jihwan, but it was hard when there were people all around... Maybe you should approach Mino and have him help you find Jinhwan.

You slowly made your way to the bar.

As you approached Mino you noticed that he was in the middle of a conversation with one of his members. You were planning to walk off and look for Jinhwan yourself but as you were getting closer, they both stopped talking.

Mino's back was facing you so the person talking to him could see you approaching. As you were there and close to the two his friends looked at you and then at Mino.

"It appears that you have a guest,"

"Guest?" Mino says extremely confused, he looked over his shoulder and you were awkwardly standing there feeling bad for interfering with the conversation.

"Y/N, hey," he stood up from his seat and smiled as he saw you right in front of him.

"Hey, I hope I'm not interrupting anything," you blurted out and Mino's bandmate Lee Seung-soon shook his head.

"No, not at all! Y/N, right?" He asked and you nodded your head.

This isn't the first time you're meeting Mino's bandmate. When the two of you were exclusive at one point, you met them a few times but never really had much of a conversation with their hectic schedule. It was more like hi and bye and that was about it.

"Yes, I'm surprised you remember," to be honest you were expecting to have to reintroduce yourself to his friends, but it seemed like they remembered exactly who you were.

"Of course! After all, Mino wouldn't shut up about you," after that go blurted out, you glanced over at Mino and noticed his eyes widened at the sudden confession that way.

Mino wouldn't shut up about you? Is this recent or was this when you broke up?

You were becoming slightly curious, but you could see just from Mino's facial expression how uncomfortable he was starting to become. To avoid creating an awkward environment in today's party you just smiled and looked at Lee Seung-soon.

"It's a pleasure to see you again," Mino noticed how you didn't ask any further questions and seemed relieved.

If this was the old you, then you probably would have asked him questions or made remarks to get an answer but that's all in the past. You're with Jiyong and that's all that matters.

"Where is Jiyong?" Mino asks you and you look over at him.

"He had to travel for work, but I am here on behalf of both Jiyong and I... By the way, have you seen Jinhwan? I want to give him his gift," you said as you lifted your gift bag and he looked at the bag and then looked around.

"I did see him, but then he disappeared."

You took one look to your right and there you see Bobby and Jinhwan talking to one another.

"There is the birthday boy, I'll see you around," you told Mino, and he nodded his head and you approached Jinhwan and Bobby.

You watched the two talk to one another as you approached them.

At least as you walked up to them, they stopped talking and immediately noticed your presence.

"Y/N! You made it. Jiyong texted me telling me he wasn't going to make it and I was afraid you were going to bail on me," Jinhwan says smiling from ear to ear and you shook your head.

Even though you were hesitant to come to the party in the first place, you still decided to come because, at the end of the day, Jinhwan was never rude to you in any way. He always managed to make you feel welcome and included.

"I had to make an appearance even if it's for a little. Which by the way before I forget. . . "You lifted your hand and showed him his present in your hands, "Happy birthday."

You handed him his present and he smiled.

"You didn't have to!"

"But I wanted to, it's the least thing I can do after all you invited me here," you said and then looked over at Bobby who had his eyes on you.

"Hey, Bobby,"

"Hey Y/N," for some reason there was still awkward tension between the two of you and you were hoping that this tension would clear up sooner or later.

"Well since it's my birthday, you have no choice but to take a drink with me," Jinhwan says, and you hesitated a bit.

You weren't much of a drinker, if anything you tend to get nice easily, but one drink won't hurt anyone.

"Just one drink,"

Jinhwan nodded and you followed both Jinhwan and Bobby to the bar.

-

What ends up being one drink leads to a few more than you anticipated. After allowing the drinks to help you loosen up and allow you to forget all your problems you were genuinely enjoying yourself.

You ended up meeting new people and before you knew it you happened to make new friends and were out on the dance floor dancing to each song that came out.

"Do you want another drink?" Hyeryeon asks you and you shake your head.

"If I take another drink, who knows what I am capable of doing," you weren't in your five senses, however you were still in a sense aware of what you were doing.

"Aw come on just one drink," Subin insisted but you decline the drink.

"What I need is water,"

You excused yourself from the girls and walked over to the bar hoping to get a cup of water to sober you up.

"Excuse me," you tried to get the bartender's attention, but it was crowded by the bar, and it was hard to get service. Awesome.

"Y/N," You looked to your left and noticed Mino right next to you.

This man has been popping up out of nowhere.

"Mino, how are you enjoying yourself?" You asked him and he shrugged.

"Can't complain, but I am not having as much fun as you are," He commented, and you smiled.

"It's nice to loosen up for a change. Sometimes I feel like I feel too uptight and care about what people think...." you realized you were starting to blab a lot more than you probably should.

"I can tell. Coming back for another drink?" Mino asked and I shook my head.

"Well, more like a drink of water. I better sober up or who knows what I am capable of doing," as you said that Mino's eyebrows arched.

"What do you mean?"

The both of you suddenly started to look at one another and for some reason, you caught yourself looking at his lips. Mino's lips were always soft... Now that he has a lip piercing... you were curious how that must feel when kissing him.

You looked back up to his eyes and shook your head and snapped out of thoughts.

"Ooo Nothing... Just ignore me,"

You were pretty sure Mino caught on to what you meant however instead of questioning you he just smiles.

Ah, he is still cute…

You knew that this was alcohol-speaking. You wouldn’t be thinking this way if you were sober or even if you were with Jiyong.

“Ima head to the bathroom,”

You told Mino and he nodded his head.

You walked over to where the bathroom was and pulled out your phone. Maybe if you hear Jiyong's voice you can ignore this random temptation you have to kiss Mino.

As you approached the bathroom doors, you stepped to the side, leaned against the wall, and began to look through your contacts. Without thinking twice, you clicked on Jiyong's name and began to call him.

The phone began to ring.

One ring…

Another…

And then at last you heard his voice.

“Mmm hello?” He sounded like he just woke up… shit.

“Oh! Were you sleeping?” You blurred out.

“I was, but that’s okay. What’s up?”

You now felt bad for selfishly calling him.

“Oh, nothing… I just missed you and wanted to hear your voice… but it’s okay you should go back to sleep,” you tried to rush the call, but Jiyong stopped you.

“You’re fine, I don’t mind ever being woken up by you.” Jiyong always knew what to say.

“Don’t say that you’re going to make me miss you more,” you pouted, and you can hear him chuckle on the other side of the phone.

“Don’t worry baby, I’ll be back home in no time.”

You felt so much better hearing that.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to sleep, talk to you tomorrow?”

“Of course, I’ll call you when I wake up,” the both of you exchanged byes and you hung up.

Okay… you have Jiyong.

What you two have is exactly what you need.

As you got off the wall you were about to walk away until you noticed someone leaving the bathroom and you saw Bobby.

You two meet again.

“Y/N,”

“Bobby”

You could walk away… cross that you should be walking away but you were feeling bold. You walked up to Bobby and looked at him.

“Can I ask you something?” You told Bobby and he nodded his head.

“Do you hate me?”

Wow, you could have asked him anything and the first question that popped into your head was that? Get A GRIP.

“Why do you ask that?” Bobby even seemed surprised by the sudden question.

“I don’t know. I just feel this unnecessary tension between the two of us every time we are in the same room. I know you and I didn’t leave in the greatest terms … and things happen for a reason, but I just feel like maybe you and I should clear the air.” Right now, was not the time to have a conversation like this but it felt like it…

“I mean I don’t know what you want me to tell you. I tried to talk to you before and you walked away.”

“Maybe I am afraid of hearing what you have to tell me,”

Without thinking twice, you blurted that out and your eyes widened.

“I thought you didn’t care what I had to tell you,” Bobby was suddenly confused by your sudden words.

STOP TALKING, you thought to yourself.

“You know what… you’re right. I should probably go.” you were about to walk away but you suddenly hear Bobby begin to speak again.

"Can I be honest with you,"

You looked at Bobby.

"I would be lying if I were to say I didn't miss having you around. . . I mean I know I screwed up in the past and that's my mistake, but I was hoping we could move past that. I know you are with Jiyong and because of this, I know I will be seeing you around a lot more. I was hoping maybe you and I can be friends. . . What we should have been from the very beginning," you were surprised to hear this come out of Bobby's mouth.

After the incident with both Mino and Bobby, you were upset for some time but eventually, you got over the whole situation when you decided to clean up your act and focus on yourself. Fortunately for you throughout your journey, you met Jiyong and have been good since.

You didn't think about Mino and Bobby since you saw them again but now looking at the scenario you wonder if the universe put all three of you in the same room again to fix the relationship between them and you.

They probably aren't supposed to be in your life romantically but maybe they have another purpose.

"Being friends sound good to me," you told him, and believe it or not Bobby finally smiled at you.

It's been a while since you have seen him grin the way he did.

"Now that we have officially cleared the air, how about we go get a drink for old time take,"

You told yourself you were going to stop drinking for the night but one more drink won't hurt. . . right?

"Let's go,"

-

You had no intentions of drinking anymore but for some reason when Bobby happened to mention getting a drink you couldn't seem to say no. Instead, it sounded like a great idea, and you went with the flow.

The two of you ended up leaving Jinhwan's party without anyone around you being aware and found yourself in a bar nearby instead.

Bobby handed you your drink and you smiled.

"Don't you think Jinhwan will notice that we are gone?" You asked Bobby and he shook his head.

"I highly doubt it, if we are being honest, I overheard some of the boys say that they were on a mission to get Jinhwan drunk... So, if they succeed, he won't even remember what happens tonight,"

Aw, poor Jinhwan. You giggled and got a hold of your drink.

"Shouldn't one of us be sober to make sure we get home safely?" you asked Bobby before taking a sip and he shrugs.

"I mean we should but what's the fun in that?"

Bobby grabbed his drink and he looked at you.

The both of you cheered and then took a sip of your drink.

-

*Bzz Bzz*

You felt the vibration of your phone right by your head. Instead of opening your eyes you stretched out your hand and began to feel around hoping to get a hold of your phone. However, the more you stretched out your hand you felt a body next to you instead.

Jiyong is back?

You opened your eyes, looked up, and automatically realized you weren't home. . .

You looked to your right, and you saw Bobby sound asleep...

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED

-

You lifted your head up quickly, your brow furrowing as you scoffed at him. “Well! I don’t know! You don’t always have to say anything, you can just listen, y’know!”

“Okay, okay,” Bobby chuckled. “My bad. Please continue.”

“Thank you.”

...But after a few moments, you realized you didn’t really have anything else to say.

“That was kind of it,” you shrugged.

Bobby sputtered out a laugh, turning back toward his desk after closing the drawer of his file cabinet. “Well, I can’t say I really got a bad vibe from him, but I can’t say I liked him, either.”

“See?” you pointed out as if his words had just proved your point -- even though they hadn’t.

“I’ll keep an eye out for you,” he nodded. “And the first time I get even the smallest bad vibe, I’ll let you know.”

A satisfied smile curved your lips, and you said, “Thank you.”

“Hey, what are friends for?”

“Sometimes, they’re just for listening,” you teased.

Bobby shook his head gently as he leaned against the corner of his desk. He frowned at you before saying, “And sometimes, they’re for reminding you that the first day of school is next week, and you should probably go get started on lesson planning.”

“Spoilsport,” you retorted, your features forming into a decidedly unhappy expression. Even though he was right.

Not only did you need to start planning your lessons for the first few weeks of classes, you also needed to clean your classroom, go through all of your materials to find out what you needed to re-stock, make copies, and fill out your planner for the year.

With a deep sigh, you pushed yourself out of the chair and trudged to the door of Bobby’s office.

“You... don’t want to help me?” you asked, pausing momentarily in the doorway.

“I would if I could,” he grinned. “Got a whole new group of students coming in, so I gotta prepare for all that.”

“Yeah, I know,” you muttered. “I just don’t want to go back to my room and do anything.”

A smirk tugged at Bobby’s lips, and he tilted his head curiously at you. “Then why don’t you just quit?”

“Because! Once I actually get started, I love it. It’s just the getting started part I have a hard time with.”

Bobby slid off the corner of his desk and hurried over to you, turning you around and pushing you into the hallway. “Go, go, get started,” he chuckled.

“Okay, I’m going!” you relented with a secret grin.

As you headed down the hall toward your classroom, Bobby called out after you, “Hey, if you need any help... don’t ask me! I’m too busy!”

“Yeah, same to you,” you called out, lifting your hand up and waggling your fingers.

Ever since you’d started teaching here a couple of years ago, your relationship with Bobby had been like this. The two of you had become friends pretty quickly, and shortly after establishing your friendship, it had become very apparent that your preferred communication with each other was teasing.

But underneath the teasing, Bobby truly was one of the sweetest guys -- people, in general -- you’d ever known. He was incredibly kind and thoughtful (if not a bit covert about it), and he’d made your first year here so much easier than it could have been.

Back then, he’d helped you out willingly -- he’d volunteered most of the time, actually. He’d shown you the ropes, sent you websites you could use even though he was the guidance counselor and you were a math teacher and he had no interest in math whatsoever, and he’d helped you rearrange the desks in your room about ten times until you’d finally found a layout you were happy with.

On the last day of school, though, Bobby had put his hands on your shoulders, looked into your eyes and said, “You’re on your own now.”

Of course, he still helped when you desperately needed it -- especially if you started crying from too much stress -- but typically, his reply to your pleas was “Can’t, too busy, do it yourself.” And your reply to his reply was what you’d just said: “Yeah, same to you.”

And, honestly, that’s one thing you valued the most about him. He was willing to help, but he was even more willing to let you figure things out on your own, make your own mistakes -- basically just be an independent person. And when you did figure it out on your own, he was always there to celebrate with you.

Most of the time, he was there to celebrate with you... with pizza.

Which is exactly what he arrived with after you’d spent a few hours cleaning out all four of your bookshelves and cabinets.

“Knock knock,” you heard his scratchy but familiar voice call out from your doorway.

You were on the floor, surrounded by papers and old textbooks, and you craned your neck to see him standing just inside your classroom with two boxes of pizza.

Your eyes widened, and you let out a soft gasp of excitement, scrambling to stand up and hurry over to him.

“Pizza?!” you marveled. “But -- what time --”

Your gaze snapped over to the clock above your desk, and you saw it was, indeed, lunchtime. And since today was a planning day with no students to teach, you got to take an hour break to eat.

Imagine that: a whole hour!

Well, today, you didn’t have to imagine it. Today, it was your reality.

Bobby scanned your disastrously messy room and then looked back at you with one of his signature angelic smiles -- made all the more angelic and charming by his ever so slightly crooked front teeth. “I can see you’ve made a lot of progress.”

“Shut up,” you chuckled, holding back a smirk. “I actually have. I’ve cleaned out the two bookshelves and one cabinet, and now I’m just working on the last one.”

“I wasn’t kidding!” he defended, the expression on his face one of total innocence. “I brought you pizza as a reward!”

“Okay, but we are not eating in here,” you declared. Reaching a hand out to Bobby’s shoulder, you turned him around and gently pushed him back into the hallway. “Let’s go eat in the courtyard.”

“Aye aye,” Bobby murmured before turning on his heel and heading toward the courtyard just around the corner. Usually, the modest outside space with three sets of small tables and chairs (which were actually benches) was filled with students during lunch, so you and Bobby frequently took advantage of its emptiness on your planning days.

As the warm sun hit your face when you opened the door, holding it to allow Bobby to walk through with the pizza boxes, you let out a very deep, content sigh. After being cooped up in your room all morning, it felt good to breathe fresh air.

“Why do you sound like you’ve just been in prison for the past two decades?” Bobby laughed as he set your lunch down on the table closest to the door.

“Honestly, why am I friends with you?” you replied. You let the door go, narrowing your eyes and furrowing your brow curiously at him as you approached.

“Because I buy you pizza.”

“...Okay, right,” you relented with a nod. You then slid onto a bench and reached for the pizza box on top, opening it and seeing it was topped with pepperoni. At the same time, Bobby opened the second pizza box and, obviously, saw it was topped with black olives.

The two of you switched boxes without saying anything, and Bobby sat down across from you to start eating.

“How was your morning?” you asked as you lifted a slice from your box and brought it to your mouth -- you were more than ready to gobble at least half of this pizza down.

“So, the district is trying to convert all of our files to the computer so we can keep more files of students who graduate,” Bobby explained in-between bites. “Spent basically the whole morning transferring last year’s seniors and shredding the paper after I finished.”

“Oh, sounds like fun.”

“Mountains of it.”

“What, mountains of work or mountains of fun?”

“Both. Obviously.”

You chuckled softly, smiling to your slice of pizza before shoving about one-third of it into your mouth like the elegant lady you truly were.

Your conversation continued on, moving from work to your plans for the weekend, and as you were pondering on whether or not you should see a movie on Saturday, you heard the courtyard door squeak open.

“How’s everything going?”

Your eyes flew over though you knew from his voice alone that it was your new principal.

Thankfully, Bobby answered for the both of you: “Great, Sir.”

The principal smiled and then raised his eyebrows toward you. “You helping her move things around? You know how women get with furniture -- they love to change things up, make it just right.”

You immediately narrowed your eyes at him, and when Bobby answered, you were more than pleased to hear he sounded a bit uncomfortable. “Uh, no -- no, Sir. I’ve been busy, and she hasn’t asked for help, so --”

“I’ll get a janitor to come by your room,” the principal said to you. “Where are you?”

It took everything in you not to reply with your jaw clenched, the words just barely making it past your angry lips.

“That’s all right,” you assured him, purposely leaving off a ‘Sir.’ “I can handle it.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Bobby added. “Enjoy your lunch.”

The principal nodded, lifting one hand in a wave as he let the door close. Your eyes followed him as he began walking away, and the second he was out of sight, you scoffed with no restraint.

“Are you kidding me?” you seethed. “Did you hear him?! You know how women get with furniture, like what the hell?!”

Bobby shook his head gently, his expression screwed up into one of both disbelief and disgust. “Yeah... that was not okay.”

“So, now you don’t think I’m crazy for getting a bad vibe about him, do you?” you prodded with raised, expectant eyebrows.

“I mean, one off-color comment doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a bad guy,” Bobby shrugged. “It just means he’s a bit older and more --”

“More chauvinistic,” you interrupted.

“I was going to say conservative.”

You simply pursed your lips and stopped yourself from retorting back by stuffing the rest of your pizza slice into your mouth.

“But I’m not saying you were wrong,” Bobby assured you. “It was definitely a questionable thing to say.”

Still, you didn’t feel like saying anything because you knew it was extremely possible for you to get too sassy -- and as much as you already disliked him, you would rather not get into trouble before the school year even officially started. So, you just lifted your eyebrows as a sign that you agreed with him.

“Don’t worry, Y/N, I got your back,” Bobby murmured.

“I know,” you replied, the corners of your lips tugging into a soft smile.

Because you did know. Even if Bobby didn’t fully agree with you that your principal was a disgusting, misogynistic pig, you knew he wasn’t discrediting you, either. And he would absolutely keep an eye and an ear out for any other “questionable” comments.

It was certainly going to be an interesting year... though, hopefully, not in a bad way.

"Do not move." Your mother said, so you remained quiet, staring at your own eyes for hours in the mirror while she arranged your hair in braids and curls, varying between different hairstyles to choose which one fit you the best.

After she decorated your hair, it was time for your ears, so you got up, standing in front of the long mirror in front of you, immobile as the girls passed from side to side alternating between types of dresses and shoes.

Your dress was almost white, like the bows in the hair and the embroidered socks you wore, bringing a soft touch to the well-polished brown shoes you were wearing.

You looked younger, despite being young.

"I look like a doll ..." You whispered to your mother, still looking at yourself in the reflection. She nodded in amazement not noticing the neutral tone of your voice. "Yes, like a pretty doll!"

You waited quietly, not because you were forbidden to speak, but because you felt no desire for comments.

"When are we going?" You whispered again. "Soon." she had replied, ending the vagaries in the dress.

You arrived in a room crowded with different people, low and classical music playing quietly while all those important people had a few drinks and shared the same conversation.

You stopped for a moment, realizing that your arrival had not been so impactful, since they didn't bother much to watch you enter.

You were impressed with so many different people, there were blacks with braided hair and yellow ones with straight black hair, you saw browns with beautiful eyes and whites with pink jaws, they all had different aspects and different ages, all brilliant in your eyes.

You followed the other girls and stayed near the white, rectangular table, full of appetizers that looked delicious but were not touched at all.

You were greeted but a conversation was not held by any of these guests who did not have a single honest smile on their faces.

Your shoulders fallen a little as your admiration faded, what they had to offer to your eyes did not come close to satisfying your brain, so for that reason you remained obedient beside the other maidens, motionless as a doll.

The music was still pleasing to your ears. Music, the only answer you found in that environment, from time to time you held the hem of the dress, tapping the sole of the shoe on the floor according to the rhythm of the song, fortunately not being scolded for that.

That was when all those faces indifferent to one another became the same direction in common, their heads turning in unison towards the entrance to the hall, their fast eyes meeting a single person.

You turned around, curious to find out how great this person could be, the one who had attracted so much attention for the only fact of quietly entering the room.

He was accompanied, even so you knew very well that he was the guy who stole the eyes of the guests, you didn't need to guess, because your eyes never left him.

The atmosphere became heavy, some malicious looks being thrown here and there and other looks of simple cunning slid down the boy's body. If his presence was suspicious to everyone there, what would be the reason for having everyone in his hands simply by being present?

He was not a king, he was not a president, he did not look to be a banker. But it doesn't matter, your doubts were different: What kind of person was he? What do his personality consist of? What do he have to say?

By looking you knew he was asian, but his skin was slightly burnt, golden. His hair was long up to his ears, tousled and reddish in color, a fire that didn't shine, that looked dead. His eyes were small, sharp but unconcerned in relation to the others, he seemed to have a lot of confidence in himself, as he had not been so concerned with the impressions of his clothes. His dress shirt was white and went down to the back of his hands, longer than the size of the dark blazer that wasn’t buttoned, having the same color as his pants, this one seemed to be a few inches larger than his size. He didn't wear a tie, but he did have rings, earrings and a big pair of glasses for his face.

His existence put pressure on others, until the moment everyone was neutral, you could tell, but now they forced themselves to not notice the boy, just like you.

The first thing he did was smile at the man who had greeted him, right after that walking directly to the table, ignoring some gentlemen on the way to reach out and capture an aperitif in his hand, tasting it satisfied.

Was it that easy? You tilted your head, looking at the snacks. Did you just need to get it?

He noticed your frowned expression, just smiling and picking up another then leaving the table.

He walked to the middle of the room, taking a walk, analyzing everything around him.

"tto gat-eun nolae?" He asked aloud, letting you find out what kind of voice he had. But you frowned, confused by his language, you couldn't understand.

His question made some people nervous, maybe some who didn't understand him, like you, thought he was searching for problems, but those over there who spoke the same language the boy just sighed, answering something in a low tone.

"What did he say?" You whispered to the maidens who were shaking their heads also not knowing how to react to the extravagance of the man with the big glasses.

"You people have a good taste of music but everytime I come it's the same thing, nothing never changes."

Your ears cleared when he opened his mouth again, he seemed discouraged by the people around him, sighing when he changed the language so that everyone could calm down.

He returned to the table, taking a glass in his hands, wetting his lips with a short sip.

When he turned around, he was confused that he still had eyes on him, raising his free hand with a face full of cynicism.

"What? Thinking I'm weird? Too full of me? Again?" He smiled, leaving the glass on the table and returning to the center of the room. "Why do they still surprised?" He asked himself, unbuttoning the hem in his wrist.

Then he started to dance, slowly, from side to side. That meeting was supposed to be a friendly meeting, but his act looked like an affront.

You noticed that, but you didn't understand why you saw his dance as an affront, a challenge.

Music was playing, why shouldn't he dance?

When you noticed, he had jumped up on the table, gaining shocked and deep gasps from the hall.

"Why are you so shocked? You're not eating anyway!" He continued walking on the table, staggering and playing. Everyone looked terrified, but nobody wanted to take the first step to get him out of there, and he knew that.

Then he found you again, smiling in surprise. "The bright in your eyes are showing, m'lady"

You closed the smile that until recently you hadn't noticed growing on your face.

"Are you liking the show?"

You let the corner of your mouth put a pleasant smile again, glad to nod to him.

"Pretty much." You commented, he confirmed, bending down to pick up another appetizer and put it in his mouth.

"Good to know..." He came down from the table, coming to you with two glasses in his hands, offering you one which you gladly accepted. "That I'm not going to be bored alone."

“I’m fine,” he announced, though the way he cradled his left arm to his body didn’t quite echo the affirmation as well as his sentence had.

“Fine. Then no, I will not. I will sit here all day if I have to until you let me take you to see a doctor.”

“But I’m hungry!” he whined, looking at the food he had managed to pull out from the refrigerator to make lunch. “Will you really let me suffer like this? I’m supposed to be someone you love!”

You inspected your hand as if it were the most important thing to do right now. “I’m not going to be sympathetic until you go to a doctor. Your arm is clearly injured and you’re just trying to brush it off because you don’t want to miss Hanbin’s show tonight.”

“I told him I would be there to help him out with the music portion.”

“Huh, did you also tell him that once again you left your clothes lying everywhere all over the bedroom floor and tripped over them and smashed your arm on the floor when you fell?” You glared at him momentarily, your expression softening whilst examining at his face. “Thank god you didn’t hurt your face too.”

“Thank goodness for that,” he bit back with a roll of his eyes, looking down at the food before him. His stomach gurgled; he was hungry and annoyed now.

You were being unreasonable. Whenever you were injured, he would fuss over you and make sure you were comfortable. Granted, you had slipped over on his clothes too. And you had warned him one too many times that the next time he left his clothes on the floor and someone fell that you weren’t going to take it gently.

Still, he was in complete agony and he couldn’t believe how at ease you were.

With a deep breath, he glanced in your direction again and realised that wasn’t actually true. You were scrolling on your phone; your eyebrows firmly weaved together with concern. You were chewing your lips and sighing as well, anxiety evident in your eyes.

Bobby knew you were dying to help him then.

Walking over to you, he sat down on the coffee table in front of you. Your eyes barely lifted from your phone to examine his expression. “Will you finally let me take you?”

“What if it’s broken?” he asked and you leaned forward after dropping your phone onto the couch seat. “What if I end up in a cast and-”

“You have me. I’ll help you with everything whilst you rest.”

“Except make me a sandwich right now.”

You smirked. “How about we go to the doctors first, and then when they’ve checked you over, I’ll take you out for lunch?”

Bobby went to object but you reached over to press your index finger to his lips.

“And if you don’t feel like being out, we can go through the drive-thru and bring it home.”

“What about tonight?”

Your hand moved to his uninjured side, patting him on the shoulder gently. “Oh sweetie, you’re not going. And I’ve already told Hanbin this.”

“So I have no other option?” he wondered and you shook your head whilst smiling.

“Did you think I would let you away with anything? I would carry you to the doctors if I physically could right now.”

Bobby chuckled. “Please don’t try that. I’m too injured right now to help you if you got hurt yourself.”

You leaned in and kissed him before grinning. “Finally, you admit it. Let’s get you checked out now, hm?”

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