"Waaahhhh, we're dead now, aren't we?" I cried out in fear.

"We're not dead, stupid."

Feeling as if I was about to have an anxiety attack, the situation Ji Yong and I were put in made me panic. It didn't help that I was a little claustrophobic, so I began to imagine that the enclosed space was getting smaller and smaller… like I was slowly being suffocated.

I began to hyperventilate.

"Then what the hell is going on? Why did we suddenly just stop like that? Are we being attacked by terrorists?"

"Calm down, I think we're just… stuck between floors. This has happened before, it'll start to move again by itself," Ji Yong said calmly.

Not believing him, I fell down onto my knees and buried my head in my hands.

"Ummmmaaa!" I cried out.

Sure enough, the lights indicating what floor we were on was stuck between the number "14" and "13" light. Hasn't there always been that curse about the thirteenth floor in buildings? Whydid they even think of naming a thirteenth floor?

"This building doesn't happen to be haunted, right?" I quivered in fear. "You know… I've heard stories about how elevators suddenly stop because of… those things," I hissed the last part out.

"What things?" Ji Yong looked at me like I was brainless. "It's just a mechanical error. I'm sure someone will notice we're not moving and get help."

He stood up and started waving his arms like crazy at the small camera on the corner of the elevator. Walking up to the elevator control panel, he began to repeatedly press the emergency button that was followed by a loud ringing alarm. After about five seconds, we heard a voice come out from the elevator intercom.

"Is somebody in there?"

"Yeah! We're stuck in the elevator on the east wing complex. Can you check out what's wrong?" Ji Yong answered.

"There seems to have been a sudden power outage. Don't worry sir, we're working on restarting the system. You should be out of there very soon."

"Okay, thanks man." Ji Yong walked back to where I was and sat down next to me.

"You shouldn't be afraid, getting stuck in elevators is a pretty common thing," he shrugged.

"What? Didn't you ever hear about the man who was stuck in an elevator for over 41 hours? I don't want to go through the experience of that!"

"We're not going to be stuck in here for that long, crazy. The guy already said he'll get us out soon."

"How can you stay so calm?"

"How come you're so freaked out?"

I narrowed my eyes at his question. Okay, I'll admit I was behaving in an overly dramatic manner about the situation, but there really has been freak accidents involving elevators!

Seeing that he was being serious about the question, I gave a deep sigh.

"… when I was younger, I went to an amusement park. My brother had dragged me onto a ride that resembled something similar to an elevator. While we were strapped to a seat, the ride was repeatedly brought up and down making me feel as if my stomach was flying into my throat," I shuddered, recalling the memory.

"That actually sounds like fun if that happened now," he joked.

Aggravated that he could play around at a time like this, I slapped him on the arm. He quickly pouted back as a dramatic response.

"Although it was just a ride, I guess that event conditioned a type of fear in me. I still don't really like taking elevators…" I trailed off.

"Well it's kind of hard to get by in life without taking the elevator, don't you think?"

I was starting to feel a little better after talking to him. The nervousness I felt earlier began to subside and I was able to resume my normal breathing.

"I guess it's a good thing you're here. I would've passed out if this happened while I was alone," I hugged my knees to my chest, suddenly feeling embarrassed and shy.

"No problem. Girls pass out at the sight of me even if it doesn't involve elevators," he winked at me. "But... this can be a memorable experience we went through together," he smiled. It was definitely one of those genuine smiles where you couldn't help but return the gesture.

Silence filled the air as we unexpectedly ran out of things to say. Although I looked straight ahead at the cold metal doors, I could sense his gaze on me from my peripheral vision. Feeling awkward and self-conscious, I became anxious once again and softly coughed out.

"Are you cold?" he asked me quietly. If I had not been next to him I don't think I would've even heard it. His tone was worried, and full with care.

I nodded gently.

Without saying anything he began to unzip his jacket and gestured for me to wear it. I was hesitant in accepting it, but before I could even protest he had already placed it around my shoulder. The alluring scent of his cologne from earlier was evident as I pulled the hoodie over my head.

"What time is it now?" I asked. Ji Yong pulled out his phone and looked at the front cover. "11:55," he said and showed me the display. I admired the slick and shiny black device; it was the latest and one of the higher end models that had recently come out. He must be one of those that always keep up with the newest gadgets on the market.

"Five more minutes until tomorrow… " I said wearily.

"Five more minutes left of my birthday," he muttered.

"Why do you sound so miserable?"

"Because… this means after tonight, you might go back to being the stubborn you were before…" he teased.

"Hey! I'm not usually like that… plus you don't know me well enough to call me that!"

"Well, let's get to know each other then," he replied matter-of-factly.

I was surprised at his straightforwardness. I didn't say anything and turned back to staring at the elevator doors. I didn't know why he had the effect of making me feel nervous. I've seen the rude and mean side of him, but tonight I've witnessed a whole new persona of his. The small little gestures at being nice had me all confused with my feelings. Judging from the expectant look on his face, I suspected he was waiting for a response.

He started to sing a very familiar tune by War, probably trying to hint to me at the obvious fact.

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

"Are you implying we should be friends?"

"Well… I ama pretty awesome person…" he tried to win me over with the cliché hand-to-chin pose. When he saw that I wasn't laughing at his joke, his expression turned solemn.

"Look, I know we kind of got on to a bad start in the beginning. Maybe some misunderstandings and hurtful words where said…" He waved his hand in front of my face, gesturing for me to turn my head towards his direction.

"Let's start over." He proceeded to grab my right hand and shook it really hard. "I'm Kwon Ji Yong, leader of Big Bang. You can call me Ji Yong, GD, Kwon Leadah, hottie, or any other synonym… but I prefer the latter. I just turned 22 today. People usually get the wrong idea, but there's a difference between meeting me, reading about me, and knowing me."

His eyes bore into mine. He seemed really excited because he said everything so enthusiastically, while I could only stare back at him blankly.

"Now it's your turn," he signaled towards me.

"I'm Kang Hana and I… work for you," I said dryly.

"Why do you sound like your dog just died? If you're going to be like that you're never going to make it in the real world," he scolded.

I rolled my eyes, but acknowledged what he said and cleared my throat.

"Hi I'm Kang Hana, attending Korea National University of Arts as a photography student. I'm 22 years old …" I pondered for a bit to decide what little tidbit I should add. "Photography is one of my greatest passion and interests. I want to create things that will give inspiration to other people," I concluded.

"Good, now that we're officially acquainted, give me your phone." He patiently waited with his hand out.

Acting obediently without question, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dropped it into his hands. Within a few seconds, he punched some buttons and then I heard his phone ring. Ignoring the call, he flipped my phone shut and then passed it back to me.

After a moment, I felt my phone vibrating in my lap. Looking at the cover to check the caller i.d; I saw "Girl's Desire" flashing back at me. I snorted in disbelief. He actually had the audacity to enter such a name into my address book!

"Psh, since when did you ever become a girl's desire?"

"Since I've gotten multiple marriage proposals after my debut," he answered frankly.

Annoyed with his arrogance, I hit the "ignore" button and put my phone away.

"Whatever."

"You've got my digits and I've got yours… you can't say we're not friends now." He grinned cheekily at me.

I knew he was doing all this to try to bring up the mood, and not have me so freaked out over the ordeal. Although I'm pretty sure only fifteen minutes or so had passed, the reality of it felt like eternity. I silently wished that the torment would soon be over.

My prayers were answered when the lights in the elevator suddenly flickered back on and we started hearing a whirling type of sound coming up from above. We both immediately stood up as the elevator started to move again. Within ten seconds we landed on the first floor. I scurried out of the lift with Ji Yong following after me. I had forgotten about the trash bags, so the poor guy had to carry both of it while leading the way to the dumpster.

Feeling a whole lot better that I was finally back on ground, I knew that I had to thank a certain someone for being there with me. Who knows how I would've reacted if I was by myself? I was only less than three feet behind him when I started to slow down. Hearing the sudden stop of my tracks, Ji Yong turned around with a questionable look on his face.

"I…" My mind started going blank. How hard is it to say thank you? "How I acted back there… don't tell anyone about it," I said embarrassingly. "Thanks for trying to calm me down… and before I forget," I paused for a few seconds. "Happy Birthday," I blurted out.

I looked downwards, suddenly fascinated by the landscape gravel by my feet. Maybe it was the effect of the yellow light from the lamp post outside, but Ji Yong's eyes looked like they were shining brightly as they began to crinkle from his boyish smile.

"I won't," he replied. The big grin pulling at his lips was contagious as I slowly did the same.

"You know what the bad part is?" he asked while slightly chuckling to himself.

"What?" I gave him an oblivious look.

"After this, you still have to ride the elevator back up to the apartment and then again to leave."

Drawing in a sharp breath, I groaned and smacked my forehead with the palm of my hand.

Damnit, why oh why?

"So I'm pretty sure most of the stuff I've brought with me tonight fits on most of you guys. I tried to come up with a lot of things that would match with the concept that YG has been telling me about for your comeback."

Tae Yang and Saori were in a room checking over the clothes that she had brought up earlier that day. Or it was more like she was showing him every piece of clothing, while he was obediently sitting on the edge of his bed and nodding at everything she said.

He couldn't even fully comprehend everything she was saying because he was so nervous from being alone with her in the same room. His room to be exact.

Damn she is really beautiful, he thought.

"Tae Yang? Did you hear what I say?"

Shaking his thoughts, he smiled and nodded.

"Yeah."

'Yeah?' Nice retort, he thought. Here was his chance in being charismatic and he had already failed. After taking some pointers from TOP (still deliberating if that's a good idea) he learned that women were attracted to charisma. Not jerks or nice guys… but charismatic men.

As he was staring at her presence, he observed that she was kind of on the ordinary looking side. She had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and porcelain white skin. Despite such common attributes, there was still something special about her that intrigued him. She appeared to have the poise of a goddess… or something similar to that effect.

Despite only getting to know each other starting that night, he realized that she knew her stuff regarding her job. She had a sweet personality, but was still strict and adamant when it came to her ideas being crafted into the way fashion is worn. He'd always thought that confident women were sexy.

"Oh gosh it's already past midnight! I think I should get going… I still have to take Hana home." Saori began to walk out towards the hallway.

"Err—yeah, of course!" He leaped up off his bed and followed her out.

"I wonder where Hana went?" She questioned while looking around the living room. The apartment was unbelievably quiet, with three of the members still knocked out and sleeping like babies.

"Yeah Ji Yong is missing too…" He scratched his head.

As Saori started to pack up her things, they heard the front door open and saw Ji Yong and I walk in together.

"Where'd you go?" Tae Yang directed the question towards Ji Yong.

"Where were you?" Saori asked at the same time, looking at the both of us suspiciously.

"Umm…. we…" I was caught off guard and nervously looked at Ji Yong for help.

"The trash needed to be thrown out so I showed Hana the way," Ji Yong explained while giving me a wink.

"Our little secret," he whispered into my ear, causing me to blush madly.

"How come it took you so long?" Tae Yang was still wary.

"Oh, well you know… those damn elevators just take forever. We should really consider moving," Ji Yong slickly replied.

Getting the impression that we both had nothing more to say, Saori told me that she was planning on leaving.

She quickly bid her goodbyes to Tae Yang and Ji Yong, who were just standing around and watching us.

"I'll wait for you at the elevator," she said to me and went ahead first.

I hurriedly scrambled around the apartment, gathered my belongings, then clumsily walked back towards the foyer.

"Umm… I guess I'll see you guys later," I quietly said.

Tae Yang gave me a peace sign and then walked back towards his room.

Looking at Ji Yong, he gave me a small smile then lifted his hand to wave goodbye, although it looked more like some gangster pose.

"Good night," I said awkwardly and then quickly slipped out the front door.

I could see Saori leaning against the wall as she was waiting for me by the elevator. She didn't ask me anything more about earlier but only gave that "I know there's something fishy going on" type of smirk. The elevator ride was silent for almost halfway before she finally spoke up.

"Is there something going on between you and Kwon Ji Yong?" she asked in a curious tone of voice.

"No! Why would you say that!" I quickly denied.

"I don't know, you guys just seemed a bit weird after you came back to the apartment."

"No we're not weird. We're perfectly the opposite of weird, which is normal… it was just a quiet trip to the dumpster," I mumbled.

"Okay… but you'll have to come up with something better to explain why you're wearing his jacket then," she smiled and patted me on the shoulder.I choked on my spit and started coughing madly. Saori walked out laughing as we had already reached the ground floor. She left me in the elevator caught with my own words. "Saori wait!" I yelled while stupidly following after her.

As I got into the car, I proceeded to take off the jacket and folded it in my lap. Although Saori was speaking to me, I could hear nothing of it as I quietly looked out into the dark night.

Wait, did something really happen between him and I? So much happened in one night. We're friends now… but why did it seem like he did so many things for me? As I was left with many thoughts, I could still smell the lingering scent of his cologne that remained on me.