"Is that her?"

"I can't tell. Her hair is in the way."

"It has to be her. This is the same department store the photos were taken in and she's the only one who resembles the girl in the pictures."

Arang's eyebrows knitted at the center of her forehead as she continued folding and arranging the shirts customers had carelessly left behind. She didn't know why but she felt like she was being watched and halted her current activities. Truthfully she had been feeling that way all day. When she scanned the vicinity, she spotted two girls ten or so yards away from where she was located. As soon as she made eye-contact with them they bolted out of there.

"What the hell was that?" She muttered.

"There's no way it can be her. Taehyung's standards are not that low." The first girl snickered as she rolled her eyes.

"But I think she's pretty." The second commented in disagreement.

"Oh please," her friend scoffed as they left the store. "She's probably had a lot of plastic surgery or is exceptionally good with makeup."

As Arang resumed her work, someone suddenly grasped the back of her dress and started to drag her away. "You have some explaining to do, So Arang."

The two of them were near the fitting rooms when the girl was finally released. She spun around and glared at the boy before slapping the back of his head. "If you wanted to talk to me you could have just said so nicely. You didn't have to drag me around like I'm some lifeless doll." She chastised.

Byunghyun was comforting his head before he stopped and continued to frown at his friend. "When did you start dating?" He interrogated.

Arang's jaw dropped to the floor hearing his rather absurd question. "What?" She replied, stupefied.

"Don't play dumb, Arang. I saw the pictures online and immediately recognized you. Since when did you start dating that guy? Do you know what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into getting involved with an idol? His fans are going to shred you to pieces when they find out who you are."

"I am not dating that thing!" Arang blurted angrily.

"Are you really going to keep lying to me?" Byunghyun shook his head and took out his phone. He showed her all of the photographic evidence and sighed. "Like they say a picture is worth a thousand words. And the words in these pictures are screaming that you guys are in a relationship."

"It's a misunderstanding." She declared as she began to massage her temples in annoyance "Do I know that asshole? Sure. Do I wish that I didn't? Hell yeah I do."

Noticing his friend's irked behavior, Byunghyun realized that Arang was indeed telling him the truth. His urge to condemn her for not keeping him in the loop quickly disappeared. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"What gave it away?" She sarcastically answered.

"Then why don't you explain to me what's going on so I can have a better understanding of the situation." The boy pointed out.

After Arang had narrated the entire story to Byunghyun, with the omission of her identity as the famous blogger, he nodded his head and snorted. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It sounded like something out of the television. "Wow, so that Taehyung guy is after you because you refused to help him clear his name as a peeping tom? That's rather petty of him." It wasn't a total lie.

"Tell me about it. Those photos were taken when he came to confront me about the ordeal. It's not my fault he was caught. Why should I help someone as two-faced and conniving as him?" Arang then walked over to a rack of clothes, her friend following her from behind. "His agency even tried to bribe me into pretending that I was dating him so that they could save face."

"And you don't think that's a good idea?" Byunghyun pondered.

"Of course not. It's a horrible idea. And when that didn't work they tried to scare me, saying that my life would become hell if my identity gets out." Arang gagged and rolled her eyes.

Hearing the last part of her statement, Byunghyun stalked up in front of the girl and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "But you have to think about this from a rational standpoint, Arang. This is serious. If I was able to recognize you in a blink of an eye, don't you think that everyone else who knows you will be able to do the same? What will happen if they start talking and your identity does get revealed to the public? If that happens those crazy fans really won't leave you alone. I don't think his agency was trying to scare you. I think they're sincerely trying to protect you as well."

Arang's face contorted into one full of disgust as she shrugged the boy's hands off of her body. "Don't tell me you're agreeing with them." She said, appalled.

"I'm thinking about what's best for you. Maybe you should go back home, think about this again and reconsider their offer. If you pretend to date that guy and go public with the relationship his fans can't get rid of you even if they wanted to. They'd have to accept the fact and you'd be safe." He reasoned.

"You can't guarantee that." She argued. "If his fans are as crazy as you say they are, they will do whatever they want regardless of whether or not the relationship is public or not. Since no one else has confronted me about it I'm sure I'm better off on my own."

"No one else has confronted you about it yet." Byunghyun corrected. "What are you going to do when somebody does? You know people will talk and say anything just to get attention."

"And if it doesn't happen, this will all blow over." Arang stated.

"Stop being so stubborn for once in your life, So Arang. If you fall into a deep pit it's smarter to hold onto the hand reaching out to you then attempt to climb out on your own."

"Do you hear yourself right now, Byunghyun? Even A-list celebrity couples have a hard time handling the pressure coming from their fans when their relationship is revealed to the public. What makes you think that it will be any easier for me?"

"I'm not saying that it will be easier for you but it will be safer for you. At least you will have his agency backing you up."

"Honestly, I don't even—"

"So Arang, what do you think you're doing?" Mrs. Han shouted, surprising both of them. The older woman marched up to the pair and scowled. "I'm paying you to work, not to stand around and flirt with boys." She eyed Byunghyun with distaste and did the same thing to her employee.

Acting rather quickly and thinking on his toes, Byunghyun cleared his throat and spoke up. "I'm actually a customer. I was asking her to help me choose something for my girlfriend since our anniversary is next week. She was about to lead me to the jewelry department, isn't that right?"

"Oh yes. He said he didn't know what to get so I suggested couple rings." Arang added in, playing along. Upon hearing their explanation, Mrs. Han felt foolish. Couple rings brought in a huge profit for the store.

"A-ah really? Then I'm sorry for my behavior." Mrs. Han apologized. It was obvious that she was embarrassed and Arang nearly laughed at her. However, she managed to control herself.

"I think I've changed my mind though. I think it's best if I go looking elsewhere. Have a good day." Byunghyun sent them a small smile and made his leave.

Once he was gone Mrs. Han glowered at Arang. "Why didn't you tell me he was a paying customer?" She seethed.

"You didn't give me the chance to speak." Arang defended.

"Well, next time stop me. Because of you we lost the chance to make a sale. Why do I even bother to keep you around anyways?" Mrs. Han grumbled under her breath before she abandoned the area.

"The real question should be why do I keep taking your crap." Her phone buzzed soon after and she pulled it out of her pocket. It was a message from Byunghyun. She opened it and groaned. He told her to seriously think about the agency's offer and no matter what she decided to do he would support her. Arang didn't feel like answering and just as she was about to put her phone away, it reverberated in her hand again.

It was an unknown number but the contents of the message caused Arang's eyes to slightly widen. 'You stupid skank. It's you, isn't it? You better stay away from him or else.' Next Arang's phone started to ring; it was from the same number. Because she didn't want the culprit to receive any satisfaction from frightening her, she bravely answered.

"I don't know what you think you know but you've got the wrong person. Threaten me again and you'll be dealing with the police." The person on the other line didn't bother to utter a single word but from the shallow breaths Arang could tell there was indeed someone present. However, instead of waiting for a response, she hung up. She then blocked the number.

"There's no way anyone would have been able to get my number," she mumbled, staring at her phone. Shaking off the incident, she put the device away and carried on with her duties. Little did she know how deranged some fans were and the extent they were willing to go to for the people they idolized.

★ ★ ★

"You're finally home." Mrs. So beamed brightly as soon as Arang crossed over the threshold. "How was work?"

By this point in time she had forgotten all about the mysterious number and threatening message and told her mother that nothing new had happened. It was the same old, same old. In the living room she found her brother and two youngest sisters. Younghae and Aesook were playing cards while Eunmi was strapped into her bouncy, a teething toy trapped between her small lips. When they noticed her presence Younghae and Aesook halted what they were doing.

"Hey, noona. Do you want to join in?" Younghae asked.

"Maybe after dinner. I have to shower first." Arang smiled. She bent down and gently pinched her little sister's cheek. "How was your day, Aesook? You didn't eat a lot of candy today, did you?"

"No, I didn't even get to eat one!" Aesook cried out as she held up one finger to emphasize her statement. "Mommy hid all of the candy from me." She whined with a cute pout. "Will you buy me some, unnie?" She whispered.

"Don't you dare, So Arang." Mrs. So hollered from the kitchen. "I brought her to the dentist today and we found out that she has four cavities. If you brushed and flossed like you were told, you could still have some candy every now and then, Aesook. But since you didn't, this is a consequence to your actions."

"Mom is right, kiddo. Maybe in a few weeks, okay?" Arang hummed, ruffling Aesook's hair.

Suddenly Saeyoung came out of her room, her expression stoic and blank. "Unnie, I need to talk to you." She announced in a flat voice when Arang was about to pick Eunmi up. From the way her sister was acting the older girl already knew what their conversation was going to consist of.

As soon as Arang entered the room, she was thwacked with a pillow. "Hey!" She exclaimed, her eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.

"How could you steal V from me!" Saeyoung cried out hysterically. She was prepared to swing her weapon of choice a second time but Arang was able to grab onto the pillow and yank it out of her possession before she was assaulted again. "I can't believe you, unnie! You acted like you couldn't stand him but what's this I'm seeing all over the Internet? You're dating him now? You're really sly, did you know that? All of those horrible things you were saying about him were all lies, weren't they? You just wanted him all for yourself!"

"Are you kidding me right now, So Saeyoung? How dare you yell and hit your older sister over some guy! You don't even know anything! Just look at yourself! Do you have any pride?" Arang fumed. Her chest was heaving up and down in a rather jagged pattern as she threw the pillow on the floor.

"That's what you should be asking yourself!" Saeyoung retorted. "You betrayed me! I can't even stand to look at you right now!"

"You're overreacting like you always are! Nobody stole anybody from you. Do you own Kim Taehyung? Did he say that he was yours?" Arang spat as she waited for an answer. There was none and she placed her hands on her hips. "Exactly. So stop being so childish and apologize to me right now."

Saeyoung glared fiercely at her sister and turned away. "I don't want to! I don't care if he's not mine! If he's not, there's no way in hell I'm letting you have him either!"

The door to the room opened and Mr. and Mrs. So entered. "What are you girls doing? Why are you yelling at each other?" The man of the household queried. The two girls rarely got into fights. His question was, however, ignored.

Arang had had enough of Saeyoung's horrid attitude. Her own body was coursing with fury and without thinking she did the unimaginable in front of everyone. "I'll date whoever I want to date and there's nothing you can do about it! Kim Taehyung is my boyfriend so you better learn to live with it!"