#treasurefic

“You tell that to Joonyoung-ssi,” you said as you rolled your eyes. “Oh wait, I mean, Mr Bae;” you corrected as you remembered that your boss’ mum was standing not far from you and Dongyun.

Dongyun chuckled at your action, him wrapping an arm around your shoulder. “Gosh, I was getting used to having you around too,”

“I know. But hey, your semester break is ending soon too, no? You won’t be here either if I stayed any longer you know,”

Dongyun was about to answer you back when he felt someone pinching his forearm, making him yelp.

“Ahhh! Aunt Nari what was that for??” He unwrapped his arm from you and rubbed the spot that got pinched on his other arm.

“Hmph. You had the nerve to put your arm around my girl here when you rejected her countless of times now,” the lady grumbled, making you laugh out loud as your friend gets nagged upon by her.

“Now—I didn’t reject her. I rejected the idea of marrying her and being matchmade with her,” he corrected Aunt Nari.

“Aigoo! Exactly the same! Now, don’t stand too close to Y/n. I’m gonna take good care of her and make sure my future son-in-law wouldn’t have to worry about being jealous of you two,” she nagged as she pushes Dongyun to the side gently.

You scrunched your face at what you heard. “Ew who are you matchmaking me with again this time?”

“Hey! Be nice! It’s that gentleman friend of yours of course! Jaehyuk-ssi will definitely take good care of you, you know.” She beamed happily just by the mention of Jaehyuk. Wow, he must’ve really impressed your Aunt Nari; you thought.

Dongyun burst out laughing as he heard this. “Hah, Aunt Nari is shipping you with another guy aside from Junkyu!”

“H-hey! You don’t have to say it out that loud!”

“Hm? Junkyu? I was talking about Jaehyuk, Dongyun-aa. Did you clean your ears properly this week?” Aunt Nari responded, missing the point of what Dongyun had meant earlier.

“Nooo I was saying—”

“Okay, okay hold it up you both. Let’s not talk about my love life any further, please?” you stopped them before their discussion could escalate. Gosh, why are they so interested in your love life though?? If you had let their conversation gone any further you wouldn’t be surprised they’ll be talking about naming your future kids too. You shuddered from the thought.

 *

YG Building (Treasure’s Practice Room)

Junghwan entered the practice room with his bagpack hanging on one side of his shoulder. He was still in his school uniform too, implying that their manager had just fetched both him and Jeongwoo from school.

“Oh, Junghwan! Where’s Jeongwoo?” Jihoon greeted the maknae when he sees the boy entering the room.

“He’s just stopping by the convenience store downstairs,”

“Huh, he better not get any more ramen cup. He’s had two yesterday.” The leader complained to himself.

“Enough about that, hyung,” Junghwan said as he approaches Jihoon who was sitting on the floor.

It seemed like they were all just chilling in the room. Probably waiting for the rest of their members to arrive before they begin with practice.

The only ones in the room right now were Jihoon, Hyunsuk, Junkyu, Yoshi and Yedam. Including Junghwan that had just arrived of course. The rest were probably hanging out somewhere else in the building.

Junghwan places his bag beside his hyung, sitting beside him right after.

“Hyung, how was the trip at Y/n-noona’s hometown? Did you all have fun??”

“Aigoo, why are you asking me? You should ask Jaehyuk since you guys live in the same dorm,”

“No way. When he arrived last night he immediately entered his room,” Junghwan pouted. “Instead, when I asked about how the trip went, he replied with ‘Later~’,” Junghwan imitated his Jaehyuk’s singsong voice, making Jihoon laugh.

“So yeah, tell meeee,” Junghwan pleaded.

“Alright, alright,” Jihoon said as he laughs. “I can show you pictures I took there,” he picked his phone up from the cold floor, unlocking his phone screen to open up the gallery.

Junghwan scoots over close to his hyung excitedly, ready to see pictures of the places you grew up in, not to mention pictures of you; he hoped. He hadn’t seen you for over a week and he had missed you terribly in that short period of time too.

The both of them focused on Jihoon’s phone with him telling about the places from the pictures. He showed your school, your favorite bakery, the local convenience store where you and Dongyun posed with V signs in front of it, the beautiful fields that you had brought them on tour through.

Hyunsuk, Junkyu, Yoshi and Yedam listened as well to Jihoon’s description of the pictures—even though they weren’t looking at the pictures themselves, they smiled as they listened to him talk.

Junghwan listened attentively; almost like an innocent child listening to a bedtime story as he stares in amazement at the pictures Jihoon showed him. He was amazed by the place you grew up in, the places you liked. In fact, he was amazed how such a small town had produced such a wonderful person like you; his favorite noona.

While he was happy looking at the beautiful sceneries and places that Jihoon had took photos of, he couldn’t help but wonder if his Jihoon-hyung has pictures of you as well.

“Oh and these roses! These are—”

“Hyung,” Junghwan interrupts Jihoon as he was happily talking about the potted plants in his picture now.

“Yeah?” The hyung stopped talking.

“Do you…have pictures of Y/n noona?”

“Of course. There’s one just now, right?” Jihoon said as he swiped back to the picture of you and Dongyun posing in front of the convenience store.

Junghwan shakes his head, “No, no! I can’t see noona clearly in this one. Besides, she’s posing with a dude I don’t know of,” he whined, a little tinge of sulkiness sounding in his voice.

“Easy, here you go,” Jihoon tapped on his phone to zoom on the picture, your face now more visible on the screen.

“Hyuuunngggg you know what I mean!” Junghwan was at the point of groaning in frustration at this point.

Jihoon laughed at the maknae’s reaction, along with the rest of the members in the room. “Sorry, sorry. I was just kidding.” He ruffled the kid’s hair.

“I don’t think I have any other pictures of her though to be honest. It’s just this one.”

“Oh…”

“Oh wait—” Jihoon said as he remembered something. He remembered taking a group photo with you last night before departing back to the city.

“There’s one we took before we left last night. Aunt Nari helped took the photo,” he swiped to the most recent photo in his camera roll, showing the young boy beside him the picture of him, Junkyu, you, Jaehyuk, Dongyun and Hyunsuk posing in front of their black van.

“Aww Y/n-noona looks so small beside you guys!” Junghwan smiled as he looks at the photo. But then, slowly, his smile fades as he zooms in on the picture.

“Hyung…why does noona look like she had been crying? And Hyunsuk-hyung too,” he added as he moved to look at everyone’s faces in the photo.

“Hyung?” Junghwan asked again when he realised everyone in the room going silent.

The maknae looked around the room, trying to read his hyungs’ expressions, noticing how Yedam and Yoshi were as clueless as he is. His Junkyu-hyung looked like he was thinking about something as well—probably curious on what Junghwan meant when he noticed you and Hyunsuk’s post-crying face in the picture.

“Okay Junghwan, let’s just…uh, continue looking at other pictures, okay?” He heard the younger leader beside him say, making him turn to look at him.

Junghwan nods his head slowly, deciding that maybe this wasn’t the time to question his Hyunsuk-hyung’s guilty expression a moment ago, along with his Jihoon-hyung’s awkward response in trying to move on from the subject they were on.

 *

PEWA Groups (after lunchtime)

“Y/n!” Soomin squealed as she sees you enter through the office doors.

You smiled at your team leader, feeling glad to see her after some time. She beckoned you to approach her desk, so you did just that.

“Soomin-unnie, hello,” you greeted her with a smile once you reach her table.

Soomin, instead of responding to your greeting, extended her arm to give you a pinch—making you scream.

“H-hey! Watch it,” you flinched away from her, making her grin at your reaction.

“Good to have you back, Y/n. Also—what’s with not replying my texts??” she was leaning back into her chair, her arms crossed against her chest as she stares at you.

“Uh, thanks for welcoming me back?” you stated sarcastically before continuing, “What? No, I didn’t get your texts,”

“That’s silly. I didn’t text the wrong number, did I?”

“Well…you kinda did,”

“Huh? I don’t get it,”

You shook your head, thinking of it as a hassle to explain to her about your boss giving you a junk phone and confiscating your own phone.

“Look, just come with me to Mr Bae’s office, please?”

Soomin looked at the opened books and files on her table; figuring that she could take a short break away from them. She was growing tired of reading the same chapters anyways.

“Okay sure,” she replied as she got up from her chair.

 *

PEWA Groups (Mr Bae’s Office)

*knock knock*

Joonyoung heard the subtle knocking, recognising the voice on the other side of his office door—obviously being his mother’s favorite student; also someone he’s grown used to looking out for. If he had been in a closer age range with you, the both of you would have hit it off like real siblings—he thought. But of course, there will always be a gap between you two. The both of you were purely connected through work—and only work. Aside from his mother of course. But Joonyoung didn’t mind it at all. He had already treated you like family anyways. He was just happy his mother has a girl companion since the only children she has are him and his brother.

After giving the instruction to enter his office, he sees your small figure showing up from the opening of his office door. And then Soomin appeared behind you.

“Oh? Soomin? I didn’t expect you to be here,” he said.

Soomin smiled apologetically. “I was just accompanying Y/n, uh, since she asked for it,”

He turned to look at you, questioning you with his gaze.

“Yeah, I did. Actually, I brought her here ‘cause I wanted you to explain to her that you confiscated my phone and gave me this stupid junk phone to survive with all the while I was in Haenam,” you huffed, slight dissatisfaction sounding in your voice.

Joonyoung chuckled at your serious expression. “Hmm. That’s true,” he said simply.

Soomin looked at the both of you confusedly. “Erm…so…Mr Bae took your phone away…? Which is why you didn’t reply to my texts…?”

You fold your arms against your chest and nod. “Exactly.”

“Now now, I saved Soomin’s number in that ‘junk’ piece of phone you’re holding right now, didn’t I? Now don’t blame me if you didn’t contact her,”

You bit your bottom lip from his response. Damn. He definitely said some truth.

“O-okay but I didn’t want to use the junk phone. I want my phone,” you frowned.

Your boss lets out a sigh and pulls out the bottom drawer of his desk. He picks up your phone and held it out—expecting you to take it from his hand.

You marched up towards him, grabbing your phone from his hand and then placing your junk phone in return.

Your boss smiled as he keeps the so-called ‘junk’ phone you kept complaining about back into the bottom drawer—not looking at it at all.

“Wha—it won’t switch on!” you panicked as you pressed the power button on your phone several times.

“Well, duh, I never charged it. It was kept in the drawer since the day you left for Haenam.”

You frowned even harder. “With all due respect, Mr Bae, sir, I charged the junk phone even when I didn’t even use it,”

Joonyoung shrugs and ignored your glare towards him. Instead, he turned to Soomin. “Right. So I only confiscated her phone ‘cause I know how much she would be stalking our company’s forum page and she’d probably sneak online to see all the nasty comments being said to her—only to let herself get hurt. Seems like a good idea to take it all away from her and send her away while we clean up our sites, no?”

Soomin nods in agreement, earning a shocked gasp from you to see your team leader siding with your boss’ actions towards you.

“Not gonna lie, that does sound like something Y/n would do,” she chuckled as she glances over at your still-shocked expression.

“No worries there though, we’ve cleaned up the sites and we’ve put up notices not to let any staff speak of that unfair incident that happened. We got you covered, Y/n,” she continued.

This time, you weren’t gaping or frowning at all. Instead you felt moved by your boss’ and team leader’s action. They have been protecting you. They didn’t want you to be affected by what had happened.

Just what did you do to deserve such good people in your life?

“Oh gosh, are you gonna cry about it?” Soomin teased you as she noticed your expression softening now.

You shook your head. “N-no,” you lied as you tried your best to suck your tears back into your pooling eyes. “I just…” you paused. “T-thank you…both of you…”

“No worries, Y/n,” Soomin smiled.

“Yup. I told you before, didn’t I? We’re family.” Your boss said this time.

You nod your head at the both of them, tears still pooling in your eyes.

“Ah, right! Since we’re here—” Soomin said in all of a sudden. “Hey boss is it okay if I steal Y/n away from the office for a while to get some errands done?”

“Sure. She’s your team member. Do what you guys want, as long as it’s not a crime,” he chuckled.

“Thanks!” Soomin beamed at your boss before turning to you. “Come on, Y/n. We need to get some stuff done before work ends,”

“Huh? Oh, s-sure,”

 *

“Noooo! I don’t want to be the third-wheel again!” You whined as Soomin tried to persuade you to leave her car.

“Oh come on Y/n! It’s gonna be a short while! We’re just returning the access cards,”

“Puh-lease. You’re gonna go meet your boyfriend while at that too. As if I don’t know,” you refute, knowing her intentions very well at this point.

Soomin grinned at you. “Hey, it’s not like I get to see him every day, you know. Besides, who knows you could go meet that kpop boyfriend of yours too,”

You felt your cheeks blush from what she said. “W-what? He’s not my boyfriend! We just…like each other that’s all. Besides—” you flipped your hair over your shoulder before continuing, “you can’t lie to me like this. You worked with Bomin-ssi every day for the past month! You did meet him every day before this, remember??”

Soomin rolled her eyes at your argument. “Enough, Y/n, we’re going in now.”

 *

YG Building

“Hi, I have an appointment with Mr. Bomin to return our access cards? Yup, from PEWA,” you heard Soomin inform the receptionist in the lobby.

You were standing a bit further away from her, grumbling to yourself about how underdressed you were if you were to even bump into your celebrity friends today. You were dressed in a dark grey tshirt, black jeans and your hair was tied into a low messy bun. You barely wore any make up too, silently thanking yourself for putting on some lip tint before heading to your office today.

You didn’t expect to be running work errands today, not at all. Instead, you thought that your plan for today was simply getting your phone back from your boss, saying hi to Soomin for a bit, stopping by your usual convenience store for some packed lunch and then heading home and just spending the day there before you get back to work the next day.

But noooo Soomin managed to persuade you to accompany her to YG’s offices.

You let out a sigh as your team leader walks ahead of you, turning back once to gesture you to follow her.

“Let’s go, Y/n. We’re heading up,” she said as you progressed your steps towards her.

The both of you scanned through the entry access point with the access cards you both had used for the past month; probably for the last time too, before returning it to Bomin in a short while.

 *

YG Building (6th Floor / Bomin’s Office)

“Come in,” Bomin answered as he heard the knock on his door.

His eyes lifted from his desk and widens along with his smile when he sees his girlfriend entering the room.

Okay but his smile faded when he saw you entering closely behind her.

“Oh, you’re here too,” he said sarcastically.

Obviously he meant to say that to you.

“Tsk, she has a name, Bomin. It’s Y/n, Y/n, get it?” Soomin nagged at him.

Bomin cursed silently under his breath, remembering how much his girlfriend adores you, to the point that she would even get into arguments with him just to defend you. Fine, he might as well behave himself for a bit just so he wouldn’t upset his girlfriend, he thought.

“Yes, that’s right. So sorry, my mistake. Hello, Y/n,” he responded with a slight sigh.

You could hear the obvious dissatisfaction in his voice to see you here.

“I’m here to return our access cards,” Soomin reminded him as she waved the stack of cards in her hands.

“Right. You can place them on the table,”

Soomin did as she was told and then she stood back to the same position she was seconds ago.

“So uh, you guys wanna get coffee?” Bomin asked, his eyes glued to the screen in front of him now, his nose scrunching a bit as if he just read something he didn’t like.

“Uhh, sure?” Soomin said in an unsure tone. She turned around to look at you, wondering if you were up for coffee with her boyfriend.

“Uhh, you guys go ahead. I uh, I’m just gonna go say hi to my friends—”

“Great!” Bomin’s voice cut you off.

He seemed pleased to not have you tagging onto his time with Soomin lol.

Bomin was already on his feet and checking his pants pocket for his wallet when you heard Soomin asking you if you were really okay with her not accompanying you.

“Nah, I’ll be fine. Enjoy your time with…him,” you smiled.

Soomin smiled happily back at you. She immediately turned to Bomin who was already standing beside her, his arm on her back.

“Okay! I want some ice blended mocha pleaseee. Can we get some of those today?” she said to him.

And for the first time, you saw Bomin’s gentle smile.

“Sure. Anything you want, jagi,” he beamed at his girlfriend, forgetting that you were still there.

“Yay! Let’s go!” Soomin said excitedly, making you giggle at her cute behaviour. This is probably her cute side when she’s around the person she loves, you thought to yourself.

“It won’t be long, okay? Text me if you want to go back later on,” Soomin said to you before she followed Bomin out his office door.

“Sure, I will,” you nod at her.

 *

YG Building (Treasure’s Practice Room)

“Hahahaaha again, again!!!” Doyoung laughs out loud as he records Jeongwoo dancing to this tiktok trending song.

“Okay calm down, hyung. That’s the third time you’ve asked him to do the dance,” Junghwan said to him.

“Yeah, but he just does it so cutely, no?” Doyoung said in between his laughs.

“Okay I’ll do it—but only one more time, okay??” Jeongwoo said as he points out a finger, indicating that it’s his last time doing the dance for the day.

“Okay, okay,” Doyoung nods as he giggles. His thumb was ready to press ‘record’ on his phone now.

Junghwan shakes his head at the both of them, though he was smiling at their antics. He proceeded to take a seat on the cold floor, resting up since both of his leaders had told them practice on their own today. They’re probably tired from their trip to Haenam too, he thought.

But of course, because their leaders have advised them to practice on their own, most of them ended up playing games, watching tiktok and doing their own activities; not that their leaders minded. Everyone probably needed the rest too.

And so, Junghwan was simply sitting cross-legged on the floor, taking in the scene of his hyungs relaxing and goofing around in the practice room—until he saw the practice room doors opening a little.

It seems like most of them were too busy minding their business to realise this so Junghwan sat up straight and wondered who could be entering at a time like this, especially since all of his members are already in the room.

And just as Junghwan was about to panic on his own—imagining that their CEO or any other higher staff were to peek on their practice today, he stopped moving when he saw the familiar face peeking into the room.

“Noona!” Junghwan shouted across the room, startling everyone, including you as you were halfway entering through the door.

Everyone immediately turned to look at the door, and you, as you entered fully now, closing the door behind you and facing them shyly after.

“Y/n! You’re here!” Jaehyuk exclaimed happily.

You nod at him and smiled at everyone, your heart pounding loud because having all 12 of them staring at you like this felt a little nerve-wrecking after not seeing most of them for a whole week.

Footsteps ran across the room, and then a pair of strong arms hugged you tightly, burying your head into his chest.

“Welcome back, I missed you, I missed you so much, Noona!” you heard the voice whispering above your head.

You pat his back gently, despite not being able to see his face right now. “Thank you, Junghwan. I missed you too,” you replied, your voice muffled against his school shirt.

“Aigoo, you’re gonna suffocate her to death if you don’t let go of her soon Junghwan-aa,” Jeongwoo spoke up, genuinely worried for your wellbeing.

Junghwan relaxed his grip around you, his arms now gently resting at your waist as he lets you turn to face the group again.

“I uh, dropped by to say hi since my team leader wanted to return our access cards,” you explained your presence there, with Junghwan still standing closely beside you.

“Ahh, I see.” Jaehyuk answered.

“Hyung, aren’t you gonna go and scream and hug Y/n too?” Haruto nudged Hyunsuk who was sitting beside him.

“Huh? I mean, I got to see her in Haenam already, so…”Hyunsuk replied solemnly. Though he still hasn’t got the strength to really look at you fully right now. 

“Oh.”

“So…you didn’t bring any souvenirs for us then?” Asahi asked in all of a sudden.

You panicked, remembering that you did get them all something but you didn’t think you’d stop by to see them today; hence you not bringing their gifts along with you.

Junghwan sensed you tensing up beside him making him respond for you, “Heyy, noona must be tired out from her trip back, we shouldn’t be asking for gifts from her,”

“N-no! I did get you guys something! I uh, I just didn’t bring it with me. But I’ll let you know when y’all can come over and get it okay?” you explained.

Asahi shrugs at the both of you, “Sure, okay”

“Heh, Junghwan-aa, you haven’t left Y/n’s side at all now. And you’re answering for her questions too. What are you, Y/n’s boyfriend now?” Yedam teased their maknae for his clinginess towards you.

“EYYYYYYY” this earned him loud groans of dissatisfaction from his members, making Yedam laugh at their response.

Junghwan immediately lets go of you, his arms no longer hanging onto your waist now. He tried to explain to his hyungs that ‘it wasn’t like that at all’ but some of them started teasing him harder when they saw his face going red all the while doing so.

You giggled at their teasings, feeling sorry for the maknae as he fought for his ground on his own.

However, you tried to steal a glance over at the guy that you’re in love with and you couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed that he wasn’t paying attention to you at all. Instead, he was busy staring at his phone in his hand.

Did he not realise you coming over? That’s impossible to say, since he’s not wearing any inpods or anything in his ears. Surely he heard you, didn’t he?

And while you were distracted with Junkyu, and most of the members were still busy teasing Junghwan, none of you realised the pair of eyes observing all of you in the room.

Haruto leaned back against the wall behind him, noticing how all of his hyungs that had gone on the trip to Haenam—not joining on the teasings nor were they looking like they were having a good time right now. Instead, they all looked upset about something, though he couldn’t pin on what the issue was.

His eyes looked over at you, noticing that you were looking distracted as well, even though you were smiling.

A soft sigh escaped his breath, wondering what had happened the time you all were in Haenam.

Hyunsuk nods back at his friend before proceeding in his steps—a little faster this time since he was excited to show you the ice cream he picked out for you.

The both of them came upon a couple of fields, Hyunsuk confidently striding on the small pathway between the open fields.

“Hyung, the fields here are huge. It’s still not too late to turn back and not get lost, you know”

Hyunsuk shakes his head, his steps still going forward on the narrow pathway.

“It’s an open field, Jihoon. Surely we can spot them in this area,”

And so, they kept on walking for another 5 minutes before Hyunsuk stopping completely in his steps—catching Jihoon by surprise.

“Whoa don’t stop like that, hyung-aa. I almost dropped my ice cream,”

“See what I told you?? They’re right there!” Hyunsuk ignored the younger member’s complaint and points at you and Junkyu whom were at the open field not far on his right now.

“Aigoo, we’re gonna have to take another turn at the end of the field we’re in to get to their side though,” Jihoon whined.

“It’s okay, they don’t look like they’re leaving yet. We can catch up with them,”

“Are you sure? ‘Cause they don’t look like they’re harvesting anything.” Jihoon points out as he noticed you tugging Junkyu to walk in front of you.

“Okay let’s be quick then! Hurry Jihoon-aa!” Hyunsuk jogged ahead again.

Jihoon sighed out loud for the 10th time probably as he followed his hyung again.

And Jihoon was right though. Hyunsuk was heading towards the end of the path, making his way to cross the small four-way path to get to your side of the field when he noticed you and Junkyu walking away from the potato field now.

Hyunsuk turned around to check up on Jihoon, “You good? Am I walking too fast?”

“You could slow down a bit—OH!” Jihoon suddenly exclaimed.

“What, what?? What happened?”

“N-nothing. Y/n tripped,” he points at the scene he was seeing at the other side of the field.

“What?!” Hyunsuk turned back around to see Junkyu helping you back on your feet, making him breathe a sigh of relief since you didn’t look like you were hurt badly.

He then stopped for a minute as he watched you laughing from afar. A small smile formed on his face. Even from here, he could feel his heart beating fast when he sees you laughing out loud like that. Your smile, your laugh…Hyunsuk loves everything about you. And he couldn’t help but envy Junkyu for being lucky enough to help you out in the field, he thought. Spending time with you has always been fun to him.

“Hyung?” Jihoon’s voice pulled Hyunsuk back to reality. “You okay? You’ve been staring at them for some time now,” Jihoon asked since he was worried if Hyunsuk was hurt in any way from watching you and Junkyu.

“Nahh, I’m good,” he assured his friend. “Maybe I’ll just call out to them from here, no? Seems like a chore to walk all the way to the other side,” Hyunsuk suggested.

“Sure, your call, hyung,”

“Yeah, I think it’s easier this way too,” he chuckled. “Hey, hand me my ice cream over, I’ll just eat it now while we wait for them to come over here,”

Jihoon rummages through the paper bag in his hand, pulling out Hyunsuk’s vanilla lime popsicle shortly after.

“Thanks.” Hyunsuk said as he unwraps the lime ice confection in his hand.

Hyunsuk was about to open his mouth to call out to the both you and Junkyu when he felt the uneasy feeling again in his chest. Something feels off again.

He tilts his head as he watched you looking flustered, your hand covering your mouth after you said something to Junkyu.

“Hyung?” Jihoon calls out to his hyung again, noticing that he had left the ice cream in his hand unwrapped yet untouched.

Jihoon was busy unwrapping his mint sorbet stick as well to notice what Hyunsuk was so focused on.

It was when he had taken a bite from his sorbet stick when he looked up to see what his Hyunsuk-hyung was watching—and it was the part when Junkyu was leaning in close to your face; as if the both of you were about to kiss.

Hyunsuk immediately turns around to look at Jihoon, not wanting to see the heartbreaking scene on the other side.

Jihoon too, locks eyes with his hyung. “H-hyung…”

He watches as his hyung’s hands shake from holding the ice cream in his hand—not because of the coldness, but because he was trying hard not to sob out loud.

“Hyung…”

Hyunsuk dropped the ice cream in his hand, his hand slowly reaching for his chest right after.

“N-no way Jihoon-aa…” Hyunsuk said, his voice barely audible. “Why…it shouldn’t hurt like this…” he added as tears started streaming down his cheeks.

Jihoon swallowed the lump in his throat. His hyung was crying in front of him. He tried to look over at you and Junkyu again, but the both of you were already looking like you were leaving the field.

Jihoon glances over his hyung. Hyunsuk was a sobbing mess, his hand clutching the shirt over his chest.

Jihoon’s eyes started to tear up as he watches his hyung break down in front of him. He tossed his ice cream onto the ground as well, the sorbet landing right beside his hyung’s fallen ice cream on the soiled ground.

“H-hyung…let’s…head back okay?”

 Aunt Nari’s House (present evening)

You were still confused as to why Hyunsuk had left you without saying anything, not to mention the fact that Jihoon was stopping you from going after him.

“Jihoon, move aside, okay? I need to check on him,”

Jihoon shakes his head at you. “I don’t think you should. Why don’t you stay here with Jaehyuk and Junkyu? I’ll go and check on him,” he replied to you, his arm still held out in front of you to stop you from advancing up the stairs.

“What do you mean I shouldn’t?” You shot him a look.

“No, I meant—I think he just needs time on his own right now.” He sighed.

You shake your head in return at him now. “Funny. You told me to stay here while you go check on him and now you’re telling me he needs to be on his own. Like, what is going on here??”

Jaehyuk and Junkyu looked at both you and Jihoon, worry expressions forming on their face. They didn’t like how you and Jihoon were sounding like you were both in a fight right now.

Jihoon stared at your face for a while, not saying anything. How could he? He couldn’t find the words to explain to you on what he and Hyunsuk witnessed today. Wouldn’t they have sound like stalkers if he told you that they had watched your romantic scene with their friend from afar?

“Move, Jihoon.” You said firmly as you push your way through him and proceeded up the stairs.

Jihoon lets out a loud sigh and turns to his friends.

“Let’s just head to the kitchen. Just let them talk it out.”

With that, he heads towards the kitchen, leaving Junkyu and Jaehyuk feeling unsettled with the current situation.

 *

You stood in front of the room Hyunsuk was in, your hand raised towards the doorknob.

You were worried. Of course you were. He wouldn’t look at you. Why? Did something happen to him?

Well if you want to find out, you’re gonna have to ask him about it, right?

And so you pulled down the knob, the door opening slightly now. Thank goodness he didn’t lock the door; you thought.

You pushed the door slowly, only to see Hyunsuk’s back facing you, him sitting on the floor.

You could hear faint sobs coming from him and instantly you felt your heart break a little to hear him sounding that sad.

“H-hey…Hyunsuk…” you called out to him softly.

From his back, you could tell Hyunsuk was surprised to hear your voice. Suddenly he stopped sobbing. Though you could still hear him sniffling.

“Hyunsuk…?” You said his name again this time.

“Go away Y/n,” he said softly.

You paused. What? Hyunsuk is telling you to…go away?

“But—”

“Y/n I can’t face you right now!” His voice raised. He started crying again.

No way. You felt your chest tightening. You couldn’t leave him alone. Even if that’s what he wants you to do.

He’s your friend. Your close friend. Why is he pushing you away?

You clenched your fist, your eyes holding in tears now.

Taking in a deep breath, you marched towards him and pulled him up to face you.

Hyunsuk’s tear-stained face took you by surprise, making your tears fall down your cheeks as well. He looked extremely sad.

“Hey…what happened? Why won’t you talk to me??” you asked him as your voice shakes.

Hyunsuk felt his chest sting in pain as he sees you crying in front of him now. Great. Now you’re the one that’s crying.

Shouldn’t he be the one crying??

Why are you crying as well? It’s not like you’re the one that had your heart broken a while ago.

Hyunsuk pursed his lips as he stops himself from crying.

“You. You can’t just avoid me and go hide yourself crying without letting me know what happened!” you said to him.

“Me??” Hyunsuk blurted out by now. “You’re the one that’s going around toying with me!”

“What?” you looked at him, confused.

Oh shoot. He almost made it obvious that he has feelings for you. Which wasn’t fair to Junkyu. Junkyu had confessed to you. He gave his word to Junkyu. That he would back down once Junkyu has confessed to you.

But how? Just you looking at him right now, tear-stained eyes, curious to know what he meant by what he said, was making it hard for him.

Hyunsuk took a deep breath.

“Well?” you asked him. “What do you mean by toying with you, Hyunsuk?”

I like you. I love you. More than you know.

I liked you first. No, I loved you first—These were what he wanted to scream out loud.

But he couldn’t.

He shook his head and looks down at his feet. Not like this. Not like this.

“I- Nothing. I didn’t mean what I said. I don’t know what got into me, I’m sorry,” he said softly, his eyes still looking away from you.

You exhaled the breath you were holding in. “No. There’s something going on here. And I need you to tell me, Hyunsuk,”

“You wouldn’t understand.” He muttered. He turned around, wanting to leave you again but you grabbed him by his hand.

“Look at me,”

Hyunsuk stopped. He turned around slowly, and by the time his eyes met yours, his heart aches again.

“Good. Now stay with me,” you said.

Your hands were still holding his.

Hyunsuk looked down briefly at your hands that were holding onto him before looking back at your face.

“I’m not letting go.”

Hyunsuk nods at you. He takes a deep breath. His eyes stayed on you, taking in your facial features in front of him now.

“Now…will you tell me what happened?” you asked him softly, and in a gentler manner now.

“Y/n…”

“Please? I can’t bear it when you don’t even look at me. We’re best friends, aren’t we?”

Best friends. Hyunsuk scoffed when he heard this. Of course. That’s how you see him all this while.

“What? what is it?” you asked again when he scoffed.

“Best friends…” he repeats slowly.

“Yes. I love you, Hyunsuk. You’re my best friend. And seeing you cry, hurts me. I care about you—a lot,”

Hyunsuk shakes his head. He pulled his hand away from your hold, making you frown.

Did you say something wrong?

“Hey, Hyunsuk—”

Hyunsuk cupped your cheeks with both his hands, quieting you.

You felt your heart beat fast as you noticed how close his face was to yours now.

Wait. What’s going on now?

“It’s always been you, Y/n. From the start. ‘Til the future. It’s always you.” He whispered to you.

You stayed quiet. You let him inch closer to you.

“From the day I saw you laughing at the restaurant. I just knew. You. I…you…” he continues his whisper, his voice beginning to shake again.

Tears start falling down his cheeks. He was crying all over again. But this time you let him. You wanted to let him pour his heart out. You wanted him to feel better. Even if this confuses you so much since you were still unclear on what he meant when he said ‘it’s always been you’.

You nod softly in response to him.

Hyunsuk sniffles. His eyes were looking down at your lips.

Junkyu kissed you. You both kissed. Don’t you know how betrayed I feel, Y/n?

But of course he didn’t know that you and Junkyu didn’t kiss at the field. The moment was ruined when you laughed in Junkyu’s face.

You felt Hyunsuk stroking your cheek gently with his hands. “Why him though? All these while…it felt right with you,” he added.

You blinked a couple times. Wait…him?

Hold on.

Back it up.

It suddenly hit you.

Choi Hyunsuk of Treasure…likes you?

That can’t be true. That’s ridiculous!

No way, you’re just overthinking things. He must be talking about some other girl.

Oh hell naw you were wrong though.

Hyunsuk did like you. You realised this when he leaned in to press a light peck on your lips.

Hyunsuk let go of your cheeks, his eyes looking away once again.

You lift your hand, your fingers touching your own lips even though you could barely feel the faint touch of his lips on yours seconds ago.

“I’m sorry, Y/n,” he pushed his hair to the back and sighs frustratedly. “I’m so sorry.”

“N-no. Don’t be. I should be the one saying sorry,”

Hyunsuk searched your eyes now. You’re sorry?

“I’m sorry, Hyunsuk. I didn’t know…”

Hyunsuk pulls you close into his arms, embracing you. “Sshh it’s okay. It’s okay. I know…you like someone else.”

You rest your head against his shoulder. “I’m so sorry…” you muttered softly, letting a tear fall down your cheek.

 *

That night, the boys were already getting ready to leave, them all waiting outside Aunt Nari’s house for their manager to pick them up since Jihoon had texted the location and address to their manager earlier.

Junkyu looked around, noticing that you still haven’t come out of the house.

That’s weird, he thought. He hasn’t seen you since you went to talk with his Hyunsuk-hyung in the evening.

Junkyu glanced over Hyunsuk who was staring straight ahead at nothing. Probably deep in his own thoughts.

Junkyu wondered what happened earlier. No one wanted to talk about it and so both him and Jaehyuk were left clueless until now. Not that he minded, but it would be nice to somehow get the idea of what had happened so that they could avoid any sensitive topics, no?

As the four of them stood outside the front porch, Aunt Nari standing by the front door to make sure that she wouldn’t miss out on saying goodbye to your celebrity friends—the tall boy next door showed up at the front gate.

“Hey! Thank god y’all haven’t left!” Dongyun said as he entered through the gate.

The Treasure boys smiled and nod at him.

“Hey, thanks for coming over here—” he paused to look around, “even though clearly we don’t have much here,” he laughed.

Jaehyuk grinned. “Eyyy says who? Haenam has you here! And there’s Y/n too!”

“Heyy you’re funny, I like you!” Dongyun grinned back at Jaehyuk as he held out his arm to ask for a high-five; in which Jaehyuk responded to of course.

“Speaking of Y/n,” Dongyun continued, making all four boys turn their attention to him the moment your name was mentioned.

“Why isn’t she out here with y’all?” he asked.

“Huh, beats me. I haven’t seen her too,” Jihoon responded.

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ll go call her,” Dongyun offered before he leaves them to enter the house.

 *

Aunt Nari’s House (Y/n’s room)

You heard a knock from your door, revealing Dongyun’s head as he peeked inside after you answered to let him in.

“Hey, they’re wondering why you’re not down there,” he said as he closes the door behind him.

You were sitting on the floor, your folded mattress right beside you as you planned on laying it out but then you got distracted with your thoughts instead.

You glanced over your friend whom was standing by the door. “Oh.”

Dongyun tilt his head. “Hey…you good?” he asks after listening to your one-word response.

Your eyes went back to staring at your feet as you hugged your knees close to your chin now.

“Y/n?” Dongyun calls out to you.

After waiting for your response for a minute, he decided to just approach you.

And so, you felt a presence sitting beside you not long after. Still, you remained quiet with your thoughts, your gaze still on your feet.

Dongyun elbowed you gently. “Y/n, what’s got into you?”

“Nothing.”

“Please,” he scoffed. “If it was nothing you wouldn’t be up here and staring at your feet as if you’ve just grew them today,”

His sarcasm earned him a scowl from you as you turned to look at him.

“Finally! Now I want you to focus on me,” he instructed jokingly.

“I don’t want to,” you said solemnly.

“Fine then. Don’t. I’ll just head downstairs and tell all your friends that you hate them,”

“Hey!”

Dongyun laughed at your reaction. “Oh gosh Y/n. Of course I wouldn’t do that. You know me,”

You pursed your lips and nod at him. “What do you want Dongyun?”

“Aw come on. What’s going on in your head right now?”

“I told Junkyu I like him earlier today…”

Dongyun gasped loudly. “You’re kidding!”

“I’m not.”

“And?? What did he say??”

“Well, actually, he kind of confessed first so—”

“SHUT UP GIRLFRIEND!” Dongyun screamed beside you, he punches your arm excitedly.

“Ow! Hey! Chill it with the domestic abuse!” you whined at him as you rubbed your arm.

“Duh! Your crush likes you back! This is FUN!”

“Yeah, it is…nice…” you said softly, your eyes looking away again.

“Hm? Why aren’t you happy?”

“I am! I am…I’m just…” you paused to let out a sigh. “I was truly happy…and then I found out about something else and now…I’m confused. I feel…bad. Guilty.”

Dongyun stared at you. He watches how you start to pick on your fingers. Slowly, he reaches out his hand to grab your hand—stopping you from continuing your bad habit.

You looked down at his hand.

“What happened?”

You blinked a couple times. How do you explain it though? Maybe just skip to the main point of your worries?

“Dongyun-aa…”

“Yes?”

“I like Junkyu, a lot.”

“I know that. You’ve told me about him when you first came home.”

“But oh gosh. Just how…how could I be so foolish? How could I be so mean?”

Dongyun couldn’t fully understand what you were trying to tell him now but he decided to just wait for you to continue.

“Hyunsuk…has been nothing but the sweetest and nicest to me. Right from the start.”

Hyunsuk? Ah. This. Dongyun nods slightly, understanding what this was about now.

“I see. You’re torn between Hyunsuk and Junkyu now, huh?”

“I mean, there’s nothing to be torn about, right? I like Junkyu. And…I do like Hyunsuk but, you know, I might have liked him a lot at one point but I know—as of now, my feelings for Junkyu are stronger.”

Dongyun shakes his head. “You girls are so complicated. Even the way you think is complicated.”

You side-eyed him.

“What? Look at you now!”

“Okay but let’s not generalise all girls to be like me, okay? I might be the only complicated one here. Your girlfriend isn’t complicated, is she?”

“Oh gosh, no! My girlfriend’s nothing like you. She’s perfect,”

You bonked him in the head. “Hey, you didn’t have to insult me like that!”

Dongyun laughs at your scowling expression and pats your head. “Okay, okay sorry ma’am”

You let out a sigh. How did you even get in this kind of situation? And how do you fix it? How do you…get out of it?

“Let me guess. Hyunsuk confessed to you too?” Dongyun wondered aloud, trying to guess what was bothering your mind.

Your eyes widened slightly. You stared at your childhood friend, wondering how he could’ve made such an accurate guess.

“What? Don’t look at me like that. I mean, I don’t know about you but from what I see—it’s not that hard to see how those boys were crushing on you. I told you that this could go down into a huge mess if you take too much time,”

You shook your head at him. “I don’t want to hear your nagging,” you grumbled. “I need you to tell me how to fix this. I…I don’t know what to do. After talking things out with Hyunsuk earlier, I’ve stayed in here, not knowing how to face them all after everything that happened today.”

“Oh Y/n…” Dongyun sighs, feeling sorry for you.

“You could…just act normal? Sure, Junkyu confessed and you told him you like him too, right?”

you nod back at his question.

“And you’ve given closure to Hyunsuk when he confessed to you? Does he know you like Junkyu?”

“I mean, he has the idea that I like someone else among his friends…” you shrug.

“Then it’s all fine. You just have to act normally like before. I’m just saying, if you avoid them like this—it’s just gonna make everything more awkward. And well, you might lose all of them,”

You bit your bottom lip in fear. You don’t want to lose your friends. You love them. If anything, they have made your days brighter ever since you met them.

Dongyun stares at you, as if he could tell what was on your mind. “Now. Let’s head down and see your friends off before they leave, okay?” he suggested as he gets up on his feet.

You took in a deep breath before getting up as well.

“Okay.”

 Haenam (Outside Aunt Nari’s House)

“There you are Y/n! Your friends have all been waiting for you out here!” Your Aunt Nari nagged at the front door’s frame as she saw you and Dongyun heading towards her.

You smile, a glum smile, feeling your guilt triple today after what she said.

And just like she had mentioned, the moment you step foot outside the house—all the four Treasure boys turned around to look at you, stilling your heart for a second—because the way they all looked at you literally made your heart jump.

You walked up slowly towards them, your eyes glancing over every single one of them. Your eyes lasted the longest on Hyunsuk as you noticed his sad smile.

You took a deep breath as you finally stood in front of them.

Dongyun arrived right behind you, smiling at your Treasure friends.

“Y/n,” Junkyu said your name softly, making your eyes immediately looking at him. He had his fresh smile on. The one that would most often melt your heart.

“Hey,” you replied softly.

There was a strange silence for a couple seconds. Almost like the atmosphere was sad. Maybe it was. For you, for Hyunsuk, for the others around you.

“Oh gosh,” you heard Jihoon sigh out loud.

You turned to look at him. He had his smug look on his face as he stares at you.

“Why are you looking so sad, dummy? We’re only going back to the city. Besides, you’re coming back too, right?” He smirked.

You scrunched your nose at him. “I’m not sad about you going away that’s for sure,”

Jaehyuk giggled at your nasty remark towards his hyung. Somehow the solemn vibe had lifted.

Jaehyuk placed his hand on your head, patting it. “You better come back soon, Y/n! Let’s do some cooking together in the dorms!”

You smiled a little. Jaehyuk…is just so nice…They all are…You never want to hurt any of them…

You slowly turned to look at Hyunsuk who had been staring at you as you were interacting with his friends.

He notices your eyes on him now and he hurriedly blinked a couple times, not wanting to be reminded of what happened between you both.

“Y-you…let’s hang sometime yeah?” He said awkwardly.

You smiled wider this time and nods at him. “Yes. Let’s. We still haven’t gone on that Taco Bell date we always talked about, right?”

Hyunsuk grins, feeling glad that you somehow remembered about the little talks you both had some time ago. “Yeah. And our coffee dates too!”

“Sure,” you giggled, feeling relieved that everything felt a little normal now.

“Whoa there, easy there kids. We’re all still here you know,” Jihoon teased.

The rest of you laughed out loud together after what Jihoon said.

“Oh, is that your ride?” Dongyun pointed out amidst the laughter. There was a black tinted van heading towards the house.

“Oh, yeah. Make sure y’all didn’t leave anything behind!” Jihoon reminded the rest of his members.

As the boys started checking on their stuff again, you stole a glance over at Junkyu and lift your hand to give him a tiny wave between the both of you.

Junkyu noticed your gesture, making him pay attention to you. He smiled at you and waved back. His eyes looked around to see if anyone was looking at the both of you before he mouthed the words that made your heart warm all over: “I love you”

You beamed from the compliment. “I’m good at cutting squids and chicken too!” you bragged.

“Wowwww! You’re so cool!” Jaehyuk fanboys.

“Aigoo Jaehyuk, what are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to help the rest inside,” Jihoon pointed out, noticing that the rest of his group members were busy prepping other stuff in the living room except for him.

Jaehyuk pouts at his hyung. “Aww man. I want to stay and watch Y/n work on the fish,”

You smiled a little from his whine.

“Nope, nope. Aunt Nari assigned you to help out the rest. Now go. She let us stay for free now the least we could do is help her out, no?” Jihoon said, in a firm tone.

Jaehyuk sighs. “Okay…I’ll see you later y/n,” he said as he leaves the kitchen.

As soon as Jaehyuk leaves, you place your knife down and turn to look at the taller man beside you.

“You didn’t have to shoo him away, you know. He could’ve stayed a little longer,”

Jihoon shot you a look. “Hey, I just don’t want to disappoint Aunt Nari, okay? Besides--,” he grabbed on another large onion to slice it. “She assigned only the both of us for kitchen duty.”

You looked down at the fish in front of you. You had finished cleaning the first one and you had two more to go. You picked up the fish and placed it into a small basin before picking on another one to work on it.

“I know. I guess it’s because we’re both familiar with cooking and all…” you reply as you slowly dissect the fish in front of you.

Jihoon nods even though you weren’t looking at him now. “Exactly. Also, don’t you think this is a good chance for us to bond?” He smiles now, looking at you.

You narrowed your eyes at him. “You’re being fishy again. What did you do this time?”

“Nothing! I just want to clear the misunderstanding we had earlier—”

“Sure….”

“Oh come on. Well, if we look at the bright side—at least I can assure Junkyu that you don’t snore when you sleep. You drool a little when you sleep but okay that’s acceptable, I guess…”

Jihoon stopped talking when he noticed you glaring at him, your cheeks pink from embarrassment.

“What? I’m just saying—”

“Okay, enough, Jihoon. Just continue chopping and stop talking,” you nagged at him.

“Eyy, you imagined sleeping beside Junkyu when I mentioned about this didn’t you?” he teased you.

“Y-yah, who would have such thoughts??” you blurted out.

“Eyyy, look at you all flustered!” he elbowed you.

You placed the knife in your hand down and turned to him, his silly grin showing on his face.

“Jihoon-aa…”

“Hm? What is it?” He leaned close to your face since your voice was soft in all of a sudden.

“Give me your hand,” you told him.

“Hm? You’re being weird but sure,” he said as he held one hand out to you.

You grabbed his hand and held it in yours, a satisfied smile showing on your face.

“Aigoo y/n, what is this? If you wanted to hold my hand you could have said so,” he chuckled.

You kept your smile on your face as you tiptoed to whisper in his ear, “Have fun smelling like fish guts now,” you let go of his hand and resumed back to your fish.

Jihoon’s face turned to terror when he noticed his hand was wet from your touch. He lifts it up to his nose and surely, it smelled like fish guts. He gagged from the unexpected smell.

You heard Jihoon running over towards the kitchen sink to wash his hands, making you smile to yourself as you work on the second fish now. That ought to keep him quiet for a while, you thought. At least he’ll stop teasing you for now.

But you didn’t know how wrong you were. If it’s one thing you should know—that is to never prank the prankster himself.

So when Jihoon stood beside you back again, in front of the onions he was supposed to chop, you didn’t realise Jihoon had already grabbed the flour bottle from the cabinet above the sink.

“Oh y/n~” he called out to you.

“Yeah?” you turned to look at him, your eyes widening at what he was holding.

 Aunt Nari’s House (Living room)

Jaehyuk enters the living room with a pout on his face.

“Aigoo Jaehyuk-aa, why the long face?” Hyunsuk asks.

“I want to work with y/n too in the kitchen. I rarely spend time with her. And now that I’m here, I don’t get to do anything with her,” he complained.

“Aigooooo. Just leave her to work with Jihoon. They’re both good at cooking anyways. We might as well just help with setting the table and making the drinks,” Hyunsuk said.

“But 3 people setting the table is way too much,”

“Are you sure? ‘Cause Junkyu’s been working on that one seating for the whole time now,” Hyunsuk points at the younger boy standing at the end of the table.

“No, no, that plate’s pattern looked like it’s fit to be in this position. But if I place the spoon here, it looks off,” Junkyu said as he turns the plate in his hand a couple times.

Hyunsuk shakes his head as he watches the boy. “You can just leave it, Kyu-aa. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you know,”

“Hmm okay,” the boy stopped arranging the plate now.

“But hyung, is it really okay to leave them both together? You know, after what happened this morning?” Jaehyuk asks, ignoring Junkyu’s dilemma with the plate arrangements.

“Nah, they’ll be fine. It’s Jihoon,”

“Hm? What happened this morning?” Junkyu asks, since he had fallen asleep back and had missed on the drama that happened in your room.

“Oh right, Junkyu-hyung didn’t know—” Jaehyuk said. He was about open up the story of what happened but then he heard Aunt Nari calling his name from outside the house.

“Jaehyuk-ssi! Are you busy right now?”

“Yes Aunt Nari? No~ I’m not busy,”

“Could you help me and Dongyun load the vegetables into his car? He wants to send it to the bbq restaurant at the end of the lane,”

“Sure Aunt Nari~” he replied. “Okay, bye hyungs, I gotta go help out my future mother-in-law” he said in a playful tune as he leaves them.

Hyunsuk shakes his head again at this younger member this time. He continued wiping the spoons and chopsticks with the clean cloth before arranging it beside the plate Junkyu had placed on the table.

“Hyung, what happened in the morning?” Junkyu asked again, since he hadn’t gotten any response.

“Ah? Oh…it was nothing,” Hyunsuk said, his eyes not looking at his friend. He figured that it was better Junkyu didn’t know about it since he didn’t want Junkyu to think wrongly of Jihoon.

“Okay then,” Junkyu shrugs. He picked up another plate and proceeds to arrange it.

“Hey Junkyu…”

“Yes, hyung?”

“You…are you really going to confess to Y/n?”

Junkyu stops and looks at his hyung, who was staring back at him now.

“Why…are you asking me this?”

“I just—I think if you are going to, you should just do it fast, you know?”

“Why?”

“You never know…if someone else has caught feelings for her, you know?” Hyunsuk said this, as he blinks a couple times.

Junkyu tilts his head and keeps quiet for a while.

Then he looks down at his hands, as if he was thinking of something.

“Have you changed your mind…hyung?” Junkyu asks back.

“W-what?”

“Do you want to confess to her?”

“I…” Hyunsuk shakes his head. “No, this isn’t about me.”

“But I want you to tell me the truth, hyung.” Junkyu said, his face serious now.

Hyunsuk bit his bottom lip. This wasn’t what he wanted to talk about. How did he get himself into this spot?

“I know…it’s not easy to just ‘forget’ your feelings for her, hyung. Which is why, I need to know, if you plan on confessing to her.”

“Junkyu, look…” Hyunsuk took a deep breath. “Okay, maybe I will.”

Junkyu’s eyes widened, not expecting his hyung’s reply.

“—maybe I will, IF you don’t confess fast, Kyu-aa,”

“Wait, what? You still want me to confess first?” Junkyu asked, confused.

“Yeah, I mean. I told you before. I’m letting you pursue y/n. But damn, you’re taking so much time. If you’re taking this much time, we might as well let someone else confess to her first,” he laughed forcefully.

Junkyu shakes his head. “Someone else? What are you saying…are you telling me…someone else here likes y/n?”

Hyunsuk sighs. He shrugs at the younger boy. “I don’t know. I’m not sure. But I know this—if you don’t get your act up fast, I’m just saying…you might really lose her,”

“Hyung, you’re always saying this,” Junkyu chuckles. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you steal her away from me,” he joked.

“I’d be worried, Kyu-aa. Because at this rate, I’m no longer worried about you or Chani being my competition,”

Junkyu looks at his hyung weirdly. It’s like Hyunsuk’s speaking in another language. He could only understand half of what was being said.

Hyunsuk-hyung wants him to confess to you, but then again he’s also thinking of doing the same thing? But then there’s more competition?? Junkyu felt more confused now.

The serious tension between Junkyu and Hyunsuk disappeared when Jaehyuk entered the house with a smile on his face.

“Oh? You’re back.” Hyunsuk said to him.

“Yup! I also told Aunt Nari to rest up at Dongyun’s house with her friend. I told her that we’d surprise her with today’s cooking and that she doesn’t have to worry about us here,” he grinned.

“Wow, you really like this Aunt Nari, huh?” Junkyu giggles at his friend’s behaviour.

“Of course! I want to do my best for my future mother-in-law,” he said cheerfully.

Junkyu and Hyunsuk exchanged glances with one another.

“Oh? You both aren’t done with the plates and spoons yet?” he asks, noticing the table still not being set even when he was gone just now.

“Oh, we were chatting up just now,” Hyunsuk explained.

“Ahh. Well, I’ll help you guys out in a bit. I’m gonna go visit my future wife~” he said in a singsong tune as he leaves for the kitchen.

“What got into him?” Junkyu snickered.

“I wouldn’t laugh if I were you…his jokes have gotten…kinda far…” Hyunsuk said, a worried look forming on his face.

Junkyu’s smile fades when he heard this.

“UWAHHH WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU BOTH??” both Junkyu and Hyunsuk heard Jaehyuk exclaiming, making them run to the kitchen immediately.

 Aunt Nari’s House (Kitchen)

Jaehyuk had wanted to check up on both you and Jihoon’s progress in the kitchen when he was greeted by two beings literally drenched in white powder.

The funny thing was that you and Jihoon were in the midst of your cooking by now and it seems like you both were somehow ignoring the fact that you’re both all sticky and covered with patches of flour.

“UWAHHH WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU BOTH??” Jaehyuk half-screams as soon as he entered the kitchen.

You look up at him and shrugged, turning back to face the stove where you had begun frying your fish.

Not long after, Junkyu and Hyunsuk showed up in the kitchen, surprised to see the both of you just like Jaehyuk did earlier.

“Whoa. What happened here??” Junkyu asks, surprised to see you and Jihoon looking like ghosts.

“And what’s that smell?” Hyunsuk points out, his nose catching a whiff of something fishy.

“It’s the fish.” You said plainly.

“No, no. I’m not referring to the fried fish—”

“Exactly, it’s the fish,” Jihoon interrupts this time.

“Huh…they’re right. It smells like…raw fish…” Jaehyuk points out.

Both you and Jihoon stopped on your cooking and locked eyes with each other—making the both of you grumble at one another.

“Do you guys…wanna go get cleaned up first?” Hyunsuk offers, adding that he could fill in on their part of cooking for the time being.

“No it’s fine, I’ll wash up again after I’m done cooking,” you answered.

“Yeah, same.” Jihoon said as well.

This made you turn to look at him again. The both of glared at each other yet again.

“Okay…what happened you both…” Junkyu asks again, feeling the tension in the room.

Both you and Jihoon took deep breaths, opening your mouths to answer—“He/She started it!”

The both of you gasped. How did you both say it at the same time?

You huffed. “You started with the flour!”

“Yeah but you wiped the fish guts on me!”

“You started it! You wouldn’t stop messing with me!” you complained.

“Hold on!” Hyunsuk stopped the both of you before this ends up into another argument.

“You mean…one of you threw flour, and then the other threw fish guts…? And then you both started attacking one another with flour and fish??” He asks, trying to get a proper explanation from both of the glaring kids in front of him.

Both you and Jihoon nod, frowning.

“Aigoooo what a mess! Aunt Nari’s gonna kill you both if she sees this.” Jaehyuk says as he steps up towards you. His hand starts dusting off the white powder from the top of your head.

Junkyu too, rushed towards his best friend to help clean him up, in case Aunt Nari decided to check on them.

Hyunsuk shakes his head for the nth time today. “Alright, alright just go clean up you both. Let me and the boys continue the cooking.”

“Hey, I’m a boy too,” Jihoon answered.

“Sure, now go,” Hyunsuk shoos the younger boy and you.

And as soon as the both of you left the kitchen, Junkyu and Jaehyuk looked at their hyung nervously.

“Yah, hyung. We rarely cook in the dorms. How can you be sure we won’t mess this up?” Junkyu asks, biting his bottom lip after.

“I mean, they’ve prepped it all, right? How hard can it be?” Their leader shrugs.

 *

And the three boys were definitely lucky. They managed to cook the meals that Jihoon and you have prepped quite well. The fish was kinda charred on one side but that was only because Junkyu had thought that he didn’t need to flip the fish when he fries it. It was only Hyunsuk told him to flip it that they were all stunned by the charred side.

But nevertheless, the other fried fishes were saved by Jaehyuk since he took over after Junkyu panicked seeing the fish he fried turning black on one side. Hyunsuk on the other hand nailed Jihoon’s braised tofu stew even when he literally eyeballed the seasoning for the stew.

Aunt Nari was thoroughly impressed by these Seoul boys. She even had extra servings to show how much she loved their cooking—in which you pouted upon since she rarely does so for the meals you cook. Okay but maybe you needed to spend more time in the kitchen, you thought.

And so—it was a couple hours after lunch when everyone was resting and minding their own business when you heard Aunt Nari calling your name from downstairs.

“Yes?” You called out back from the door of your room.

…

You furrowed your eyebrows. You were sure you heard your Aunt Nari calling your name a few seconds ago.

After counting to 60 in your head, you shrugged and decided to go back to lying down on your mattress.

“Y/n! Why do you never answer when I call your name?” you heard your teacher calling as soon as your head touches your pillow.

You groaned as you got back up.

“Yes Aunt Nari? Is there anything you need?”

…

Again, silence. You sighed and closed your room door behind you.

“Not this again. Every single time I answer it’s like nobody’s there,” you muttered to yourself as you walk down the stairs.

You entered the living room where the Treasure boys were videocalling their other members using Hyunsuk’s phone.

“Junghwan-aa, don’t stay cooped up in your room studying. Go play outside or something. It’s the weekend anyways,” you heard Jihoon nagging towards the youngest member who was on the screen right now.

Junkyu heard your footsteps approaching them, making him turn to look at you. He flashed you a smile, making you smile back at him.

“Calling the members?” You ask him.

“Yeah. They wanted to talk to you but we didn’t want to bother you,”

You took a peek at the screen, making you smile as Junghwan swallowed the nagging Jihoon was giving him.

Junghwan was about to reply to his hyung when he saw your head popping up from behind Junkyu.

“Noona!!!”

“Aigoo Junghwan-aa that’s a bit too loud,” Hyunsuk said as he rubbed his ear from the sudden scream.

“Quick, move aside y’all! Let noona speak!”

“Oh gosh, he’s all excited,” Jaehyuk said with a hint of sarcasm. Though he did as the younger kid told him to, passing his hyung’s phone to you.

You smiled at the boy in the screen, your hand holding onto Hyunsuk’s phone and the other waving at the screen.

“Noona! You don’t reply my chats anymore! Why…have you forgotten about me?” Junghwan whined.

“—or. Why are you in your hometown? Are you staying there permanently now?”

“I—” you wanted to answer but the maknae started shooting more questions, making you unable to speak.

“Did Chani-hyung cause you to be sent back? Should I go and scold him? We haven’t even got to have that lunch date we’ve been talking about, are you trying to ditch me and move on with your life? Noona…why aren’t you answering me…?” His voice slowed down when he noticed you giggling at his questions.

“Silly boy. Of course I haven’t forgotten you. I just…I don’t have my phone with me right now. My boss has it,”

This earned looks from the other boys, as they finally realised why you were unreachable before this.

“I miss you Junghwan-aa, we’ll catch up when I get back okay?”

“Hmm but how long are you gonna stay there?”

“Aigoo, I’ll be back—”

You were interrupted by Aunt Nari calling you from the front terrace of the house.

“Y/n, I’ve been calling for you!” Aunt Nari’s head popped in from the front door.

“Yes?”

“Dongyun’s been waiting for you out here! How dare you make him wait,”

“What?” you asked, blurred. You didn’t have plans with him, did you?

And speak of the devil, Dongyun appeared at the front door as well.

“Hello girlfriend, let’s go harvest some potatoes!” he said cheerfully, his hand holding a small spade.

“Oh, hey you guys—” Dongyun stopped his greeting halfway when he noticed glares from the rest of the people in the room.

“Uhh, why does everyone look so tensed?” he asks instead.

“Maybe they’re judging you for not bringing an extra spade for me,” you answered him, not realising that the boys didn’t like how Dongyun had addressed you as ‘girlfriend’, even if he was joking.

“Ugh, fine. You can take mine. I’ll just dig with my hands,” he retorts sarcastically, earning an eyeroll from you.

“Why? Who’s that?” Junghwan’s voice appeared, reminding everyone that he was still in the video call.

“Oh, that’s Dongyun. I gotta go Junghwannie, I’ll talk to you when I get back okay?” you said as you hand Hyunsuk’s phone back to him.

“Ah, but noona—”

“Oh? Is this another member? Hello! I’m Dongyun!” Dongyun suddenly joined in as he stood beside you, startling the rest of the members in the room.

“Uhh hi…” Junghwan waved his hand awkwardly at the stranger.

“Okay, I gotta go steal y/n from y’all now. Bye!” he said as he grabbed your wrist, dragging you out of the house.

The moment both you and Dongyun were no longer in view, Hyunsuk grumbles to himself, “That’s not fair, dragging y/n out like that,”

Junkyu heard this, making him sigh as well. “I know, right? Y/n was catching up with Junghwan too,”

“Yeah,” they heard Junghwan’s voice agreeing as well.

“Oh, I forgot to end the call.” Hyunsuk said as he raises his phone, the maknae’s face still on the screen.

“Hyung…is that…Y/n’s boyfriend?” Junghwan asks, his voice slow.

“Eyyyyy, don’t be ridiculous!” All four of his hyungs that were in the living room said at the same time.

 *

Haenam (Evening/ Route to potato field)

“Why are you so slow today? Gosh, usually you’d be racing me to the field.” You complained as you watched your childhood friend’s pace remained slow beside you.

“I’m just thinking…”

You stopped in your steps when you realised that he was indeed lost in his own thoughts.

“Hey…you okay?” you ask, your voice softer now.

He shakes his head and smiles at you. “I’m good. It’s you I’m worried about honestly,”

“Pfft me? Please—I’m fine,” you snickered.

Dongyun gives you a look, his eyebrows raised.

“What? For real, I’m all good,”

“Ahuh, sure. You know…you’re gonna stir up trouble if you don’t act up fast, y/n,”

“What are you talking about?” this time your eyebrows furrowed.

Dongyun lets out a sigh. “You know, people always talk about how guys being the ones who were insensitive and clueless when they hurt girls’ feelings. “

Your expression softens. Why is Dongyun talking about guys’ feelings in all of a sudden?

He turns to look at you. “I hate to say this, y/n. But really, you’re being insensitive about us guys too,”

You blinked slowly, trying to process what he was trying to convey.

Dongyun chuckles. He knows how dense you can be when it comes to matters like this—judging since he’s been friends with you for a long time.

You felt his hand resting on your head now.

“Oh gosh y/n. You have to…come clean about your feelings.”

And then you finally understood what he was trying to say.

“Dongyun…you know, just because I like him doesn’t mean he’ll like me back…”

“That’s not how I see it. And from what I’ve seen, I’m advising you, as someone who cares about you deeply—it’s best to come clean soon. You know, before the rest gets hurt,”

“The rest??” okay, Dongyun’s lost you now. You were sure he was talking about you having to confess to Junkyu soon but the rest?? How does this concern the rest?

From your expression, Dongyun could tell you were thinking. He hoped he had somehow got through to you.

His hand suddenly clutched his stomach. “Agh,”

“Oh?” this made you snap out of your thoughts. “Dongyun? You okay?”

“I think I’m having a tummy ache. I think I’ll head to that restaurant’s restroom for a bit,”

“Okay, sure. I’ll come with you,”

“What? No, no! You should head to the field first. I’ll catch up with you, I promise,”

“Really?” you frowned, worried about him.

“Yeah, yeah. Just go. I’ll see you later,” he said as he jogs towards the restaurant the both of you passed by, his hand still clutching his tummy.

You watched as your friend entered the restaurant doors.

You looked down at the small spade he had handed you earlier.

“Oh well, might as well just walk there slowly,” you said to yourself as you sigh, taking in the soft breeze hitting your skin.

“Yup. It’s gonna be for a while, really,” the guy replied. “Here, I’ll leave the front door open for you guys,” he said as he pushed the door open. He then left through the door. “See you guys in a bit!” he waved goodbye at them before going.

Jihoon and Hyunsuk immediately huddled up close to each other. “Yah, don’t you think this guy is kinda suspicious??” Jihoon whispered towards his hyung.

“You feel it too?? Dang, I thought I was the only one that feels that everything around here is fishy.” Hyunsuk answered back.

“Yeah! And he kept mentioning about meeting his friend too. I mean, he could’ve brought us to meet his friend, no?? Why keep us waiting here??”

Hyunsuk lets out a gasp. “What if he’s scheming on kidnapping us?”

“Aigoo, that’s nonsense hyung! If he wanted to kidnap us why would he leave the front door open anyways,” Jaehyuk chuckled at his hyungs’ paranoid behaviour.

“He could be bringing a thug back here, you know,” Jihoon said with a serious expression on his face.

All four of them fell silent for a couple seconds.

Junkyu and Jaehyuk made eye contact with each other before bursting into laughter.

“What thug, hyung? This town’s people seemed so nice,” Junkyu said in between his laughs.

“I know right? Look at them hyungs, they’re being overly paranoid over nothing!” Jaehyuk joined in laughing at the two older members.

“Besides, if you feel like that guy is up to no good, why’d you even agree in coming back here with him, huh?” Junkyu points out towards Hyunsuk.

Hyunsuk folds his arms against his chest. “Hey, it’s not my fault. You all could’ve stopped me from saying ‘yes’ to him too. But you guys didn’t. So we’re all in fault if anything bad happens to us here,”

 *

Haenam (still the same morning)

It was close to 11am when you were finally done with helping out your teacher at her small vegetable farm a mile away from her house.

You helped her carry the basket filled with harvested cabbages whilst you let her carry the lighter vegetables in her basket. Your teacher, whom you have been accustomed to call as Aunt Nari ever since she took you into her care after your sister passed on couple years back, walked in front of you. She held onto the smaller basket containing the carrot and beansprouts in her hands.

Your gaze softened as you watched her back facing you. She was the closest person you had as a mother figure after your sister. You felt emotional just thinking about how nice of a person your teacher was for taking care of you—even when you weren’t that much worthy looking after, you thought to yourself.

You were about to start reminiscing on the times your teacher had looked out on you and your sister but then your emotions hit pause as soon as you saw the guy standing nearby your Aunt Nari’s house.

You stopped in your tracks.

You narrowed your eyes at the guy, your grip on your basket tightening.

“Oh! Aunt Nari! Good morning~” The guy greeted your teacher as she passed by him to head towards her house.

Your teacher realised that you weren’t following closely behind her anymore, making her turn around.

“Y/n, what are you doing standing there? Get inside and get changed into something warm! Then we can sort out the vegetables,” she called out to you.

“Ah, uhh, you can head on inside first, aunty. I’ll join in later,”

Your teacher eyed both you and the guy standing in front of the house beside hers. She shook her head and said, “Alright but don’t take too long the both of you.” With that, she heads inside her house, not caring about what you and her neighbour’s son were up to doing—since she’s fairly familiar of what always happen when the both of you meet each other.

As soon as your teacher closed the front door of her house, your hand instantly grabbed onto a piece of the round cabbage from the basket you were holding.

“How’s my loving friend doing to—AGH,” the guy screamed halfway through greeting you as he tried to avoid the cabbage you threw at him.

“Yah! Kim Dongyun! Just what are you thinking, huh?! The nerve you have of just popping up here!” you called out to him as you marched towards him, the heavy basket still in your hands.

“Don’t! I said, don’t!” Dongyun backs off from where he was standing. He hurries to grab the cabbage that you had thrown earlier from the ground and raises it in his hands—making you stop marching towards him. Although to be honest, you were already standing right outside the fence of his house.

“Aha! That’s right, just stay there!” He instructed you. You scowled at him.

“What’s with that look, huh? If you move an inch, I’ll throw this cabbage far away. And then Aunt Nari will be sad because you lost her harvest,” he threatened you.

“Kim Dongyun…” you said his name in a menacing tone.

“Now, now. Listen—I’m sorry, okay? I overslept—AHHH!” he screamed again as he managed to evade another cabbage from hitting him. The cabbage passed by him and rolled into his house through the front door.

“You overslept?? Yah! Did you have any idea how tiring it was to harvest these cabbages and carry them back here all alone?! Aunt Nari kept backing you up, saying that you probably have errands to run today and that we shouldn’t be bothering you—but WOW you overslept!” You nagged. “I had to get up early and do all the harvesting alone when you agreed to help me just yesterday!” you added.

“Oh come on, Y/n. Don’t be like this. Don’t get mad.” He said to you gently. He walks up close to you and hands over the cabbage he held earlier to you. “If you get angry at me like this every time we meet…you’ll get wrinkles easier,” he whispered now that he was close enough.

Your jaw fell when you heard him say this. You dropped the basket in your hand and snatched the cabbage from his hands. “Oh ho you are so dead Kim Dongyun…”

 *

Dongyun’s House (Living Room / Still the same morning)

“Should we make a run for it while we can?” Hyunsuk asks, still worried if they were being kidnapped or conned at this point.

“He’s been out for a while, hasn’t he?” Jihoon asks back.

“Precisely 15 minutes. Not that long to be honest,” Jaehyuk answered as he checked the time on his phone.

“Which is why we should run while we can. The longer we wait, the sooner he comes back.” Hyunsuk reasoned.

“Okay but tell that to the sleeping beauty here,” Jihoon points at Junkyu that had already passed out on the floor beside him.

“What?? He was awake a minute ago! When did he even fall asleep??”

Jaehyuk snickered at the sight of his hyung sleeping on the floor.

Hyunsuk groaned just thinking about how it’d be impossible to escape now that Junkyu’s asleep. He shook his head. He shouldn’t give up so easily, he thought. He’s the leader. He’s responsible for everyone’s safety here.

“Yah, Junkyu-aa, wake upppp,” Hyunsuk called out to the sleeping koala boy.

“Aigoo hyung, just leave him be. I’m sure we’ll be just fine. Besides, you were the one who instantly agreed when the random guy invited us to tag along with him. So why should you be worried now?” Jaehyuk said, trying to calm his hyung down. Honestly, he doesn’t feel like he’s in danger.

“Sshh, shh,” Jihoon suddenly said. “Do you guys hear that?”

“What?” Hyunsuk asks.

“I hear voices outside,”

And just in time, a cabbage flew in through the front door that was left open earlier.

“Wah! I-is that, a cabbage??” Hyunsuk shouted in shock.

“I think people are fighting outside,” Jihoon said as he rose to his feet.

“Hurry, wake Junkyu up! We need to get out of here before we get involved in any way!” Hyunsuk said, hurrying towards Junkyu to wake him up.

 *

Haenam (Outside Dongyun’s house)

“I said give it back!” You ordered Dongyun since he managed to snatch the cabbage from your hands again this time. Though you were glad you had managed to hit him with it twice earlier.

“No. Stop. Aunt Nari will be pissed to see her cabbage being beaten down like this. Look at it! It’s no longer round in shape!”

You stopped reaching for the cabbage that he had been raising out of your reach since he was obviously taller than you. “Fine. Just give it back then. Then I’ll keep it back into the basket.” You point at the basket not far behind you.

Dongyun was reluctant to give it back to you. He knows how good you were at tricking him back when you both were kids so he knew what was up your sleeve most of the time.

You rolled your eyes at him. As if reading his mind, you said—“Come on. We’re not kids anymore. Just give it back, okay? I need to send it back to Aunt Nari’s house.”

Dongyun lets out a sigh and hands over the cabbage into your hands.

“Thank you,” you said to him. You turned around to head towards the basket.

But just as you were right in front of the basket, you swiftly turned around and shout at your friend “ Hah! Jokes on you! I’m not done being mad at you!” you then threw the cabbage in his direction.

Dongyun had been keeping an eye on your movements as you were walking towards the basket earlier so he had expected this from you—which made him duck as quick as lightning, evading the hit from the cabbage you threw.

Now.

Even though the cabbage missed Dongyun, your throw was kind of hard, which made it flew further towards another group of people that were stepping out of Dongyun’s house.

Lucky for Hyunsuk who had been cautious since he first entered the house—he had been looking out carefully as he stepped out of the front doors which made him notice the flying cabbage heading towards them.

“CABBAGE! DUCK!” he shouted.

Hyunsuk, Jaehyuk and Jihoon immediately moved to the sides—except for Junkyu who was still groggy from waking up from his nap.

“What? Ducks?” he said, with his eyes halfway open, him still being half asleep.

It all happened so fast.

One second Junkyu heard his hyungs waking him up from his nice nap.

And then he was being dragged towards the front door.

Next, he thought he heard his Hyunsuk-hyung screaming something about ducks.

And then he felt something hitting him in the face. Something round. Was it a ball?

After that he couldn’t remember what happened. Everything went black.

 *

Aunt Nari’s House (Bedroom 1)

“I told you both not to fight anymore. You both are no longer kids. See what happened now?? You got someone hurt.” Your Aunt Nari nagged at both you and Dongyun as she was standing at the door of the room.

“You’re lucky you knew these people too, Y/n. Imagine getting sued for hurting such handsome boys,” she added.

You shuddered from the word sue. You were mostly terrified of that. Lucky for you your Aunt Nari hadn’t realise that the boy you had accidentally hit with a cabbage was one of the famous Kpop groups’ vocalist. If she knows this you would have probably been thrown to live in the streets, you thought.

“I’m sorry…” you mumbled. You do feel bad though. It’s not like you had meant to threw it at him anyways.

You scowled at Dongyun who was sitting on the floor beside you.

“I can see you scowling at Dongyun from behind here,” Aunt Nari said, making you turn your head back to look at Junkyu who was lying down on the mattress in front of you.

“Okay then. You all watch out for the boy til he wakes up, okay? I’ll be making lunch for us all.” All of you nod at this. “Oh and make sure these two don’t fight again. God knows what would happen next if they do,” she said as she shook her head. You knew she was referring to you and Dongyun.

After Aunt Nari left you kept quiet. Well, actually, the whole room was quiet. Suddenly it felt awkward to be in the room, you thought. Even though everyone here are your friends, you couldn’t help but feel weird being in here with them.

“Y/n?” Hyunsuk suddenly voiced out, making you raise your head to look at him.

Hyunsuk, Jihoon and Jaehyuk were seated opposite you and Dongyun, with Junkyu laying in the middle of everyone.

“Y-yes?” You answered him.

“Don’t feel bad. You didn’t mean to do it.” He said softly.

You nod your head slowly at this. Your eyes went back to stare at Junkyu.

“Yeah, he’s probably drifted back to sleep anyways after you knocked him out,” Jihoon chimed in.

You pursed your lips, trying not to laugh at what Jihoon has said. Jihoon saw your lips curve upwards slightly, making him smile his warm smile at you.

“Okay.” You managed to say as you controlled your smile.

“So…these are the friends that you’ve been telling me about?” Dongyun asks, now that he’s confident you weren’t going to scold him or anything on what had happened.

You nod your head at him.

“And this is the guy that you lik—” his words got cut off as your hand immediately covered his mouth, making the rest of his sentence sound muffled.

“Ahahaha shut up Dongyun-aa.” You laughed awkwardly. “He’s always spouting nonsense. Don’t mind him,” you said to your Treasure friends.

The rest of them simply nod their heads as they watched you nagged at Dongyun about not spewing nonsense in front of your friends and that he should respect them because they are your guests now.

“Don’t you dare point a finger at Junkyu again,” you huffed, ending your nag at your friend.

Dongyun rolled his eyes at you. “Sure. Protect him at all costs, no?” he said sarcastically, earning a scowl from you again.

Hyunsuk watched the whole time you were talking with Dongyun. He couldn’t help but feel…jealous. You seemed so close with this Dongyun guy, and judging by the way you both banter with each other, it seems like the both of you are super close and comfortable with each other. Almost like you both were meant to be with each other.

He shook his head slightly and decided to just focus on watching over Junkyu.

 *

Aunt Nari’s House (Lunchtime)

Your teacher had cooked up a whole spread of foods since she was excited to see many guests at her home this time.

And not to mention, handsome guests at that too.

Seeing that she only has two sons—one being married and has migrated overseas and another one living in the city (who is also your boss), having this many boys at home made her feel like she was back in her early motherhood days.

You were the closest she had to have as a daughter, in which was why she was always meddling in your love life and asking why you weren’t dating anyone.

“Don’t be shy! Help yourselves!” Aunt Nari exclaimed excitedly as she invites the boys (and you) to eat the food that she had generously cooked that afternoon.

All of you were sitting on the floor, surrounding the table that Aunt Nari had pulled out from her storeroom, one she had kept for family gatherings since it was as big as a four-seater dining table—only shorter since it was meant for dining on the floor.

The Treasure boys were quite shy at first, only taking small bites of the foods until a couple minutes passed and they were pretty sure that your teacher was just another warm-hearted aunt that they all had somehow came across with in their own lives.

“Aigoo, I’ve never thought Y/n to have such handsome friends in the city. I’ve always thought that the only guy friend she had was Dongyun,” Aunt Nari said as you were all eating.

“Aish aunty, don’t say that. Y/n is such a pleasant person, it’s only logical for her to have many friends in the city,” Jaehyuk answered, smiling.

“I doubt that,” Aunt Nari teased. “If you boys have any friends who are interested in dating, why don’t you try to introduce Y/n to them? It’s nothing big, but I worry that Y/n would never settle down and would end up dying alone,”

You choked on your rice, earning a pat on your back from Dongyun whom was sitting beside you.

“Aunt Nari! What nonsense are you saying??” You asked as soon as you were done coughing.

“Oh? I’m only looking out for you, Y/n. Joonyoung told me that he had tried matching you with couple of his friends in the city but that didn’t seem to work out,”

You sighed. “Well, to be honest—it is awkward to date your boss’ friends. Besides, they all…don’t match me either.”

The rest of the boys listened to your conversation with your teacher, feeling like as if they’re listening to a mother trying to convince their daughter to get married soon. They felt like they weren’t even there with the both of you.

“Aigoo, you’re too picky! That’s why you’ll end up alone,” she nagged.

“I won’t end up alone.” You scooped up some rice into your mouth. “I’ll just get myself a pet,” you said, whilst munching on your food.

“Hmm. That won’t do. I might as well just marry you off to Dongyun since his mother is my close friend,” she said nonchalantly.

This made EVERYONE around the table cough and choke on their foods—including you of course.

Aunt Nari stopped eating and looked around the room at all of you. “Oh my god is the food too spicy?? Why is everyone suddenly coughing??”

You rubbed your left eye that had teared up from the choking, “Aunt Nari! What nonsense are you saying?? In front of my friends too!”

“Aish. I’m just saying. You’re too picky. Since you both are close, might as well just get you both matched up,”

You shook your head. “Nu uh. Nope. We had this talk, remember? I’m not getting matched up with anyone,”

“Aigoo Aunt Nari, what are you saying? Y/n and I are just friends,” Dongyun chimed in.

“Hmm. You’re both stubborn.” Aunt Nari complained. She set her bowl on the table, indicating that she was done with her meal.

Jaehyuk sensed the tension going on in the dining area you are all in so he decided that maybe he should try to ease everyone. He places his bowl onto the table as well.

“Thank you for the wonderful meal, aunty,” he smiles his usual charming charm. “Since you helped cook everything, I’ll help with the cleaning, okay?”

Aunt Nari was taken back by the sudden generosity from him since usually her own sons would argue on who would do the cleaning up but having a man who graciously volunteered to do seemed so new in her household that she was simply amazed by the words that came out of Jaehyuk’s mouth.

“Ah. Aigoo, aigoo! You really don’t have to!” She waved her hand at him.

“It’s nothing, really! I always help around in the dorms and when I’m home I help my mum in the kitchen too,”

Now you see, saying these kinds of words to Aunt Nari wasn’t really a good thing at the moment because she was in that obsessive mode of finding a suitor for you. So of course, you can imagine what she said next:

“My my. Who knew such a fine man would have such fine manners?” Aunt Nari leaned forward towards Jaehyuk’s direction. “Then it’s set. I’ll have you in line as my son-in-law,”

You laughed at this. “Ahuh, as if Joonyoung-ssi would be happy with you matchmaking him as well,”

She shot you a look.

“What? I have nothing against Joonyoung-ssi dating men but don’t you think matching him with a man he doesn’t know would make him less happy?”

This earned you a bonk in the head from your teacher.

“Ow!”

“You’re the only person I’m looking a son-in-law for,” she hissed at you.

“Huh??” both you and Jaehyuk asked at the same time, confused.

“Jaehyuk-ssi, right? I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.” Aunt Nari smiled as she got up to her feet to leave for the kitchen. “Y/n, once you’re done why don’t you bring your friends around town?” she was no longer in the room when she said this.

“Alright,” you called back to her.

You continued chewing on your food but then you felt uncomfortable somehow so you raised your head to see all of your friends staring at you.

“What? Why? What’s wrong?”

“Why…is your Aunt Nari…so obsessed with finding you a husband…?” Junkyu asked.

“I guess I was the closest she had as a daughter so she probably just wants to make sure I do get married before she dies or something.” You shrug. “Don’t worry, she doesn’t mean what she says,”

“Pfft. As if. Remember when she forced you to be my date for my sister’s wedding? She kept pushing and convincing my mum about it too. Our teacher isn’t one to kid around. She's been keeping an eye on me since i was a kid and when she found out about y/n being my close friend she wouldn't stop shipping me with her,” Dongyun scoffed at you. “And then I had to turn down Yerim’s offer to dance with me at the wedding because I had to only dance with you,” he sighs loudly.

You rolled your eyes at him. “Oh don’t be so dramatic about it. We were 9 years old at that time for goodness’ sake!”

Your Treasure friends laughed at this discovery.

“So what I’m saying is--,” Dongyun continues, ignoring everyone’s laughter. “I’m just glad I’m off the hook for that son-in-law list of hers. But your friend here, good luck getting out,” he smirks at Jaehyuk.

Instantly everyone’s laugh died down upon hearing this.

“O-okay calm down y’all. I promise, none of you will be forced to marry anyone here. Including me.” You assured them as you grab the glass of water in front of you.

“I wouldn’t mind though. What can I say? Aunts and mums love me~” Jaehyuk said in a sing-song tune.

You giggled at this, finding his carefree demeanour adorable.

The rest of the boys at the table doesn’t find it funny though. Jaehyuk doesn’t realise this but his friends were staring daggers at him for saying something like that.

 *

After lunch, all of you had taken a walk around the small town area, you and Dongyun being the tour guides for your guests of course.

The both of you introduced the local elementary school that you and Dongyun went to, the bakery that you had always brought goods from when you lived with your sister, the market area (even though they’ve all been there earlier this morning), the small café that serves the best iced peach tea and then some other places that you were fairly familiar with.

Though the tour had to be kept short because Dongyun had to head back home and help his dad at their farm a little far away from town; and also because the locals couldn’t stop gawking at your friends everywhere you go. Not that you could blame them though, your Treasure friends are indeed good-looking plus they are all new faces in this town so surely it got the local people curious about their identity.

And so, after the tour ended and after Dongyun had left, you had sorted your friends into several rooms in your Aunt Nari’s house to sleep in for the night but that evening they all had fallen asleep in the living room instead.

 Aunt Nari’s House (Evening)

You too also took a nap as soon as you saw your friends huddled up in the living room sleeping. It wasn’t that long though, your nap. You woke up after half an hour.

You got out of your room and headed downstairs to check on your friends.

“Ah, they’re all still asleep.” You muttered to yourself as soon as you saw them.

You yawned quietly and head towards the kitchen. There was a door leading to the backyard of the house from there.

Before heading outside, you checked the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. 4.35pm. Now’s a good time to check on the plants outside, you thought.

As soon as you stepped outside, you felt the cool breeze blowing against your exposed hands and face. It was cold, yet the Sun was warming enough at this time.

You took a deep breath and head towards the medium-sized potted plant not far from the door.

The pot consisted of a variation of Japanese roses. Orange, pink, yellow, purple—all growing in tangly stems in the pot.

You smiled to yourself. When you first brought the stem cutting of the plants last year, your aunt Nari was surprised because you were never the type to be interested in farming or taking care of plants. But then during your holiday last year, you had brought home the stem cuttings and planted the roses on your own, tending to it everyday too.

It was only when you had to leave for the city again that you told Aunt Nari that you decided to gift the roses to her in hopes that she would take good care of it while you were away.

You squatted in front of the pot, eye-levelling with the row of colourful tiny roses. “Hello my beautiful friends. You’re all looking wonderful as always,” you whispered towards the plant.

Your finger traced the delicate petals, feeling the soft texture against your skin. You hummed happily to yourself. Maybe a break from the city is what you needed after all. As tiring as it was to do the farming work and market runs here, you’ve felt at more peace compared to when you were in the city. Maybe…what your boss did was right after all.

Okay but minus the part where he took your phone away from you. That wasn’t necessary at all, you thought.

“They’re pretty,” a voice whispered from behind you, startling you.

You swiftly turn around to see Hyunsuk standing behind you.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you,” he blurted as soon as he sees your expression.

You let out a breath of relief. It was only Hyunsuk.

You shook your head and pat the ground beside you. “It’s fine. Come, sit.”

Hyunsuk sat down beside you whom was no longer squatting by now.

“Yours?” He points at the pot of Japanese roses.

You nod back at his question.

“They’re really pretty.”

“Yup,” you nodded again. “Aunt Nari took care of them really well,”

Hyunsuk hummed back in response. “Aunt Nari seems really nice,”

“She is. Even though we’re not blood-related, she’s treated me so well,” you said, your fingers tracing the flower petals again.

“Oh. She’s…not your…”

“She was my high school teacher.” You answered even though Hyunsuk hadn’t finished his question.

“She…took me in when my sister passed away during my senior year,” you added.

“Oh. Y/n, I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be.” You turned to him and smiled. “It happened.”

You look at your hands now. “It happened so quickly too…I didn’t have time to process what was really going on.”

Hyunsuk reaches out his hand and places them on yours, his fingers intertwining with yours. “If you don’t mind me asking…how did it all went down…”

Hyunsuk didn’t want to come across as insensitive when he asked this but he genuinely wanted to know you better. You were opening up about your past—one thing him and the boys never really heard you talk about. He wanted to know everything about you. Your past, your present.

You felt his hands grip yours tightly, not in a forceful way though. It was as though he was giving you strength to look back on the past that you had so much wanted to shut off your life.

Your eyes still looking down, you started talking, “When my parents separated back then…they sent us to our grandmother here—in this very town. I was 7 at the time, and my sister was 12. To be honest, it wasn’t a bad experience at all. Our grandmother was perfect. She took care of us really well. She was…” you took a deep breath before continuing, “…the perfect parent we ever had. Our parents could never treat us that well,” you chuckled.

“We had a great childhood here. We made friends, we had plenty of people taking care of one another here. I spent my school days with my sister. When I was in my senior year, my sister had already started working at the time.”

Hyunsuk heard the strain in your voice. Ah, it’s the painful part now, he thought.

“It was the day of my college entrance exams. I was already in the school grounds when I got the call. My sister got caught in an accident at the highway roads when she was on her way to work.”

You could feel the tears streaming down your cheeks. You couldn’t help it. You could never keep your tears in whenever you talk about her.

Hyunsuk started stroking your head, trying to calm you down.

“She had a brain injury,” you continued. “I watched over her for two weeks while she was in a coma, and suddenly one day—” your breath hitched as the images flowed in your head this time. How it all happened. The day you felt your whole world fell apart. It wasn’t the time your parents left you, it wasn’t when your grandmother passed on—those matters, as painful as it was, you were still able to keep on living. Because you had your sister by your side. But when she left…

“I had just gotten back from the washroom when I noticed her fingers moving. I thought she was waking up from her coma…she started shaking, and then it was only minutes in when I realised she was having a seizure. I pressed on the emergency button and ran to look for the nurses outside the room.” You stopped. You wiped your tears with the back of your unoccupied hand. “The doctor and nurses wouldn’t let me watch as they tried to handle my sister’s situation so I just sat outside the room. And when the doctor came out,” you paused again to swallow the lump in your throat. “…she was already gone,”

“Y/n…” Hyunsuk said softly. He could feel the sadness seeping through his skin as he held your hand in his.

You blinked the remaining tears, feeling it wet your cheeks. You sniffled and turned to look at the boy beside you. “I’m sorry. You only asked about how it happened and yet I literally gave you backstories,” you chuckled lightly.

“Shh, it’s okay. I wanted to listen.”

You smiled gratefully at him. You wipe away the tears off your face again.

“And then your teacher took you in and then you live here? And then…you moved to the city when you started working…?” Hyunsuk tried to continue your story for you, making you giggle at his curiosity.

You nod back at him.

“Ahh so that’s why there was no tea farm in front of your house,”

“Hm?”

“Ohh, uhh, Soomin-ssi told us that your house was located in front of a tea farm.”

“Oh, that. That’s true. My grandmother’s house was near a tea farm. She must’ve have remembered about it from our conversation about me being a tea expert since I grew up near a tea farm,” you bragged.

Hyunsuk chuckles at this and ruffles your hair.

This made you instantly pull your hand from his hold to fix your hair.

“Hey, hey, keep it easy with the hair,” you whined.

Hyunsuk leaned forward towards you and stared at you for a while. “You can have unkempt hair all you want and yet I’ll still think you’re the most beautiful person in this world,” he grinned.

You blushed at his cheesy compliment. You looked away from his gaze as you braid your hair.

Hyunsuk smiled to himself as he watches you braid your hair. He really meant what he said. He knew that this was purely wrong because he had told Junkyu to confess to you—and yet here he was letting himself fall in love with you all over again.

He was…falling in love with you.

This isn’t just a crush anymore.

He was falling.

Hyunsuk’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard you talking to him.

“…what do you think?”

“Hm?” he asked, since he had missed out on the first part of your question.

“I was asking if you had any ideas for dinner later on. Aunt Nari put me up on sous chef duty for tonight. We have some fish in the freezer so maybe I’ll fry it up and then make some soup and side dishes? What do you think?”

“I’m okay with anything, really.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, right. You didn’t mention what happened to your grandmother’s house,”

“Wow, we’re really going back to that topic huh?” you chuckled.

“I mean, only if you’re comfortable with talking about it.”

You fixed your sittingg position and made it so you were sitting and facing him directly now.

“My grandmother had granted the house to my sister before she passed on so the day my sister passed away our distant relatives instantly claimed the house since there was no true owner for it after she left. Then they made it into a homestay now.”

“Your parents didn’t buy it off them?”

“Beats me. After they left us back then, we’ve never heard any news from them.” You shrugged.

“I’m sorry, again,”

“Aish, no need to be sorry. You were just asking,” you assured him. “Besides, I plan on buying the house back one day,”

“Oh? You’re planning to move back in Haenam?”

“Yup. I mean, they bought off the house but they made it into a homestay?? No one visits here. The house seemed so abandoned for so long. I had my childhood there, there’s no way I’m letting that house rot away like that,” you huffed.

“So you intend to buy it for your retirement one day?”

You shook your head. “Nope. I’m gonna raise my kids there,”

Hyunsuk was surprised to hear this. He wasn’t expecting for this answer from you. He had expected you to want to live in the city permanently after all the painful memories you had here.

“Ah, but I love the city too…I want my future kids to have their childhood here but then I want them to have the rightful amount of exposure to the city too,” you sighed.

“Well, there must be a way to make sure they have both.” Hyunsuk said.

You tilt your head at this. “How?”

“There’s always a way for everything to work out, no? Maybe…have them attend school here, and then make trips to the city on weekends?” he suggested.

“Huh, that sounds like a good idea. And since the city is a 4 to 5-hour drive from here, it could make them feel like they’re having a roadtrip too!” you were starting to feel excited now.

“Yes!! And then during school holidays we can bring the kids to Lotte World or maybe bring them for a staycation at some hotel!” Hyunsuk joined in, him being just as excited as you are.

“Wahhh oh my god Choi Hyunsuk you are one good family planner!” you showed him a thumbs up as you giggled.

“What can I say?” he said proudly. “Oh! And get this! On their weekend trips, we should pack up some food so we can have weekend picnics at the Han River Park!”

You smiled and giggled at his excited behaviour.

“Oh and for Christmas we need to make sure our kids see the Christmas festival in the city! We could bring flasks of hot choc--,” he stopped suddenly.

“Hot…chocolate?” you continued for him.

“Ah, yes, that,” he smiled apologetically at you. Hyunsuk cursed himself for going on with the conversation this much. It seemed like you didn’t notice it though.

“Your ideas all sound so cute,” you giggled.

Hyunsuk simply smiled and nodded at you. He bit his lower lip. He was glad you didn’t realise it though.

He had gotten so excited with his ideas of family planning that he had literally pictured it to be your kids with him that he was planning a life for.

He was picturing his future with you.

This is bad, he thought. He was digging himself deeper into this hole.

“There you guys are. What are you both doing out here?” a voice appeared not too far behind the both of you.

Both you and Hyunsuk turned around to see Junkyu leaning against the doorframe of the house. He stood there rubbing his eyes. It seemed that he had just woken up from his nap.

“Junkyu! You’re awake!” you smiled happily upon seeing him.

Junkyu nods his head. “Isn’t it cold out there, you both?” he asked.

“Just a little bit. You wanna come join us?” You asked him back.

Junkyu shook his head at the idea of leaving the warm house. “It’s okay. I’ll just sit in the kitchen. Don’t stay too long in the cold,” he advised the both of you before he heads back inside.

You smiled and stood up from the ground you had been sitting on since just now. You held out your hand towards Hyunsuk, offering to help him stand up as well.

As soon as Hyunsuk got to his feet, he felt you wrap your arms around him, hugging him.

“Thank you for listening, Hyunsuk. And thank you for cheering me up with your cute ideas,”

You let go of him, a smile on your face. Hyunsuk smiled back at you, seeing you happy makes him happy too.

“Now, let’s head inside! I’m gonna make something warm for everyone,” you said cheerfully as you skipped towards the house now.

Hyunsuk followed behind you, his steps slow. His smile faded slowly. He felt uneasy. Was it just him that noticed how much happier you were the moment you saw Junkyu? 

Is y/n that much in love with Junkyu? Do I not stand a chance at all? —he thought to himself.

“No problem,”

The both of you waited for a minute or two before finally receiving both your parcels. After collecting the parcels, the both of you thanked the staff and left the office together.

“Your parcel seems kind of big, y/n. You sure you can carry it?”

“Yeah, I’m good. It’s big but it’s not heavy. They’re all just snacks anyways,” you assured him.

Hyunsuk nodded at you, holding his medium-sized box in one hand. He helped press the elevator button for the both of you.

Entering the elevator doors, Hyunsuk helped press the buttons to both your floors as well.

“Thanks Hyunsuk. You’re a lot of help,” you complimented him.

“Yeah, sure. No biggie.”

While waiting for the elevator to reach your floor, Hyunsuk suddenly had an idea.

“Hey, y/n,”

“Yup?”

“Have you had lunch?”

“Well…I’m ordering some takeout later. Why?” You turned to face him now.

“Ah, it’s just.” Hyunsuk paused. “The boys and I are all having lunch at my dorm.”

“Ahh I see. Sounds fun!” You smiled at him.

“Well I was wondering…if you’d like to join us?”

“Oh? Is that really okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be okay?” Hyunsuk snickered at your question. “It’s been a while since we all hung out together, I’m sure the boys would be happy to have you join us,”

“Hmm.” You thought to yourself for a while.

Ding! The elevator reached your floor.

“Oh, it’s my floor.”

Hyunsuk pressed on the button to keep the doors open for you.

“Thanks,” you said to him. “I uh…I’d love to join you guys,” you added.

“Yay!”

“Ah, but can we stop over at my place for a bit?” You said, giving him an apologetic smile.

 *

 Treasure’s Dorm #1 (Main Entrance/Living Room)

“Just wait til the boys see you, they’d be so happy,” Hyunsuk said to you as he closed the door behind the both of you, his cute smile beaming at you.

You nodded back at him as you took your shoes off at the entrance.

“I’m back! Where is everyone??” Hyunsuk called out as he entered the living room.

“I’m in the kitchen, hyung!” you both heard Doyoung answer from the kitchen.

You followed Hyunsuk into the living room and there you saw Asahi, Haruto and Junghwan sitting around chatting with each other.

“Heyy, where’s Yoshi?” Hyunsuk asked the maknaes with you still following close behind him.

“Yoshi-hyung went to help clean Jeongwoo and Jaehyuk because they kept making snow in the kitchen using flour,” Asahi answered him.

“Ahh, that seems like something they’d do,” Hyunsuk snickered.

Junghwan stopped looking at his phone to look at Hyunsuk, and that’s when he noticed you.

“Noona!” Junghwan immediately got up from the floor, rushing towards you.

You lift a finger to your mouth, signalling him not to be too loud since you were planning to surprise the rest who hasn’t known you’re here.

Junghwan nodded and pointed at the paper bag in your hand. “What’s that?” he whispered.

“It’s Junkyu’s shirt that I used last time,” you replied.

Junghwan was about to talk to you further but then Hyunsuk had already excitedly pulled you with him towards the kitchen.

The moment the both of you had approached the kitchen’s doorframe, you could already see your other friends’ faces and you were happy to see them since you haven’t seen them for days. Well, most of them.

You smiled at them but then none of them returned your smile, making you wonder what they were so immersed with.

You recognised the person that was speaking in front of you, the guy that you had sort of missed these couple of days—especially since that weird incident that happened between him and Chani which had resulted in you rarely seeing him around you anymore.

Your grip on the paper bag in your hand tightened, you felt hopeful now that you’re finally seeing him again.

Now, of course you didn’t know the whole dispute that begun in the kitchen at the time—where Junkyu was being all bitter about Chani leeching on to you but instead of lashing out about Chani, he had made the mistake of venting his feeling of annoyance towards you.

And so, the timing when you entered the kitchen was when Junkyu was already saying this:

“…doesn’t care anything about us. We’re always looking out for her, but what do we get in return??”

You tilt your head, wondering who he was talking about. Hyunsuk, who was beside you also seemed confuse as to why everyone looked so tense in the kitchen.

You were about to step further into the kitchen when suddenly, Junkyu said—

“Y/n is annoying,”

You immediately stopped your foot from advancing. Your eyes lift up to see Yedam, Jihoon, Doyoung and Mashiho all staring at you, fear clearly showing on their faces because this time, they all realised you were directly behind Junkyu. Which meant…you clearly heard what he had said.

Suddenly, you saw Jihoon bursting out in laughter. “HAHAHAHAA very funny Junkyu! Look at you! What a horrible joke to make!” he laughed.

You took a deep breath, thinking maybe they were pulling a prank on you.

You opened your mouth to say something, but before you could say anything, Junkyu had already spoken up again—

“No, I wasn’t kidding! Y/n really is annoying. She’s a bother—”

“HYUNG STOP!” Yedam yelled, noticing how your expression changed drastically the moment you heard Junkyu’s words this time.

Hyunsuk immediately placed his hand on your shoulder, feeling shocked. But right now, he was more worried about you because you heard it all.

The air felt heavy in the kitchen…everyone going silent for a few seconds.

And then slowly, Junkyu turned around, his eyes meeting yours.

“Y-y/n…” he said, his voice slightly shaking now.

You stood there quietly, your fingers fiddling with the paper bag in your hand.

You blinked a couple times, your gaze slowly avoiding his. What is this feeling you’re having right now? Why does your chest hurt so bad?

Junkyu could hear his own heartbeat sounds ringing in his ears. He felt bad. He felt really bad. He saw how you slowly looked away from him, making him feel even worst.

Junkyu couldn’t handle the heavy tension going on in the kitchen so he immediately dashes out of the kitchen, leaving everyone else behind him.

You felt his presence leave you, as he passes by you. You bit your lower lip, holding in the tears that were forming in your eyes now.

Everyone else exchanged glances with one another, wondering what they should do now.

Mashiho switched off the stove, knowing that he should at least save their meals from getting burnt since he had a feeling that what had happened would take up some time to be solved.

Yedam lets out a heavy sigh, deciding to approach you since you wouldn’t stop staring at the paper bag in your hands now.

“Damn,” Jihoon muttered to himself as he tossed the knife that he had been holding since just now. He shook his head as he made his way to leave the kitchen.

As he passed by Hyunsuk, his hyung raised a hand, implying him to stop.

“What is it, hyung?” Jihoon said in an exasperated tone.

“Go easy on him,” Hyunsuk adviced, knowing that Jihoon would definitely go to console his best friend.

“Hm.” Jihoon hummed as he nods. He leaves the kitchen, not sparing a glance at you.

 *

 Treasure Dorm #1 (Junkyu’s Room)

Junkyu closed the door behind him. He started breathing raggedly, his breaths uncontrollable by now. Is he having a panic attack right now?

He tried to walk towards his bed, but instead, his legs failed him. He ended up kneeling on the floor instead, trying to catch his breath.

He kept imagining the pained look you gave him earlier. He knew, he had hurt you. He had hurt you bad. He messed up badly this time.

Junkyu clenched his fists, his chest hurting, his head throbbing. He felt pain all over. Why? Why did he have to utter all those nonsense about you? He didn’t mean all of it. He really didn’t. He cares about you.

Junkyu lets out a soft sob, unable to hold his tears this time. He felt his tears streaming down his cheeks by now.

“Junkyu!” He heard Jihoon’s voice calling his name.

Jihoon hurriedly closed the door behind him, quickly approaching his best friend who was close to collapsing onto the floor.

Jihoon wrapped his arms around Junkyu, pulling his best friend up to his feet, dragging him over towards the bed.

Once he had made sure Junkyu was already sitting comfortably on the bed, Jihoon sat down on the floor, facing Junkyu.

Junkyu covered his face with his hands, softly sobbing into them.

“Junkyu…”

“Stop. Please, stop. I know. I know,” he said, his sobs getting louder.

Jihoon placed his hand onto Junkyu’s knee, patting it gently. He couldn’t bear watching Junkyu cry like this. It’s rare enough to see Junkyu cry about something but right now, seeing him as a sobbing mess, Jihoon couldn’t help but sympathise him.

“I hurt her, hyung. I hurt her. I’m a horrible person!” Junkyu tried to speak up this time, his sobs a little under control now.

Jihoon shook his head. “No, no Junkyu. You’re not a bad person. You slipped, that’s all. Okay? You didn’t mean what you said, did you?”

Junkyu wiped the tear streaks on his face with the back of his hand. He shook his head furiously, “No way! I don’t! I really don’t. I just—I was just upset when Yedam said Chani and y/n looked like a couple…I…I don’t want to have to picture them being together, hyung!”

“I know, I know…” Jihoon answered softly, his hand still patting Junkyu’s knee gently.

“Hyung….how do I fix this…? Y/n must hate me right now,”

“No…she wouldn’t, okay? Y/n is a nice person, she wouldn’t hate you in one day,” Jihoon assured his best friend.

Junkyu shook his head again. “No! She would, she deserves to hate me!”

Junkyu took a deep breath, trying to control his own ragged breathing.

Pushing his hair to the back with one hand, Junkyu continued, “I told you…I told you, didn’t I? That liking her would bring us something like this,”

“Junkyu, there’s nothing wrong with you liking y/n, okay?”

“No, hyung! You know this. You can see it too, right?”

Junkyu lets out another heavy sigh.

“Yah…Kim Junkyu…it’s all gonna be alright, get it?”

Junkyu kept quiet for a while, sniffling once or twice. He contemplated for a while before asking his hyung another question.

“You said last time that you had a feeling that someone would like y/n among us, and you said that you knew who it was going to be, right??”

Jihoon nodded, remembering the talk they had after you all had that first lunch-meet with y/n.

“That person…who was it?” Junkyu’s eyes were now staring into Jihoon’s.

“I—” Jihoon lets out a sigh. “What are you talking about? Of course it’s you! Why do you think I keep pushing you to talk to her? Why do I keep teasing you about y/n? I even made sure y/n sits opposite you most of the time whenever we eat together, just so you both could stare at each other’s faces,”

Junkyu wiped his tear-stained eyes again. “W-what?” he sniffled.

“Duh! The moment we first met y/n, I had a feeling you both were attracted to each other. You both just needed a little push, that’s all.” Jihoon was no longer patting his best friend’s knee now, seeing that he had stopped crying.

“Hyung…”

“Aigoo! Look at you, crying like this. Yah, how are you going to face y/n later?” Jihoon chuckled softly, teasing Junkyu.

“Y-yah. I’m still handsome,”

“Pfft, yeah sure. Tell that to your red nose and puffy eyes,”

Junkyu swallowed the invisible lump in his throat, a small smile creeping on his lips as he succumbed to Jihoon’s teasing.

Jihoon lets out a sigh.

“Hyung…can I ask you a question?”

“Hm? What is it?”

“You see it too, right?

“See what?”

Junkyu clicked his tongue. “Tsk, you know, hyung. I know, you know.”

“Junkyu I don’t have time for your out-of-the-world curiosity,” Jihoon said as he shook his head.

“Aw come on hyung. You know. You know…that I’m not the only one who likes y/n, right?”

“Duhh, of course! It’s you and that Chani kid,”

Junkyu shook his head again. “No. Someone else. Someone else in our group.”

Jihoon’s eyes widened. “W-what?”

And as if on cue, Junkyu’s bedroom door opened.

Both of them turned to see—Hyunsuk entering, closing the door right after.

“Hyunsuk-hyung.” Both Junkyu and Jihoon said at the same time.

 *

 Treasure Dorm #1 (Kitchen)

When Jihoon left the kitchen to go console Junkyu who had stormed off, Yedam and Hyunsuk stayed by your side to make sure you were okay.

You were still staring at the paper bag in your hand.

You had planned to return Junkyu’s shirt today, and maybe talk to him. It’s funny how you sort of miss him, when in reality, the both of you usually only made small talk with each other.

“Y/n, I…” Yedam tried to speak, but then he stopped. He shook his head. He wouldn’t know how to fix this right now. All that he knew was that you must have felt sad after hearing what his hyung said earlier.

Hyunsuk pulled you closer to him, wrapping one arm around you, causing you to lean your head against his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry y/n” he whispered to you.

Yedam stood still beside the both of you, his face still showing concern over you. He should have stopped Junkyu much earlier, he thought.

Doyoung and Mashiho, who were still near the kitchen stove too, watched over you, not continuing their cooking.

You tried your best to not feel sad, you didn’t want your friends to worry over you too much. But how? You still felt the sharp pain in your chest, and you know it’s not a heart attack that you’re having right now.

You let yourself lean comfortably in Hyunsuk’s arm that was wrapped around you, and without realising, a tear flowed down your cheek.

“Y/n,” Yedam said in a sad tone when he noticed you crying.

Hyunsuk immediately wrapped both his arms around you, hugging you close to him. “Shh, shh, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry y/n,”

You closed your eyes and you felt your tears wetting your cheeks even more now. Crap. You’re crying now.

Yedam looked around the room, noticing that both Doyoung and Mashiho were looking super sad as they watched you silently crying in Hyunsuk’s arms.

“I…I just…” You said softly.

“Hm? What is it, y/n?” Hyunsuk leaned close to you, wanting to hear what you were saying clearly.

“I just…” you stopped to swallow a silent sob before continuing, “I just wanted to see him…I just wanted to return his shirt, that’s all. I didn’t know…that all these while I was annoying him,” your voice straining as you said the final words that pained you.

Hyunsuk and Yedam exchanged glances with each other.

After a few minutes of silently sobbing, you slowly lifted your head from Hyunsuk’s embrace, making him releasing his arms from you gently.

You wiped your tears and took a deep breath. “Hyunsuk,”

“Yes?”

“Could you help me return this to him?” you asked, as you pushed the paper bag in your hand to his.

“N-now?”

“Anytime works. I…I don’t think I should see him for now. He’s…clearly annoyed with me being here,” you said half-jokingly. You tried to giggle when you said this, but it only made you sound even sadder than you look right now.

Hyunsuk held onto the bag that you gave him. “Sure. I’ll give it to him. Don’t worry, he’s not annoyed with you, I’m sure of that,” he said, trying to assure you.

You chuckled softly. “Clearly he is, but it’s okay.”

You took a deep breath and pushed your hair behind your ears. Forcing yourself to smile at your friends, you tried your best to sound okay when you said, “So, you both making lunch today?” You asked Doyoung and Mashiho that had been staring at you.

“Uhh, ah yeah. We’re making kimchi jjigae…” Doyoung answered you.

“Smells good,”

“Thanks,” Doyoung said as he nodded slightly towards you.

Mashiho turned towards the stove again, “We’ll resume cooking, alright? And then we’ll all eat together.” Mashiho turned to look at you, flashing his warm smile at you.

You smiled a small smile and nodded.

“Yedamie, you take y/n to the living room, okay? Let her rest up there. I’m gonna go check on Junkyu for a bit,” Hyunsuk said to Yedam.

“Okay, hyung.”

Hyunsuk leaned down close to you, his face levelling with yours. He stroked your cheek with one hand and said to you gently, “I’m gonna go first, okay? Don’t cry no more. It’s gonna be okay.”

You stared into his eyes for a couple seconds before nodding slowly.

And with that, Hyunsuk left the kitchen, your paper bag consisting of Junkyu’s shirt in his hand.

Yedam linked his arm around yours, “Come on y/n. Let’s rest up in the living room, okay?”

 *

Treasure Dorm #1 (Living Room)

Now, bringing you to the living room isn’t really the best idea as of the moment—

Why?

Well, you see, the moment Yedam and you approached the rest of the kids who were in the living room, they were all shocked to see your tear-stained face and flushed complexion.

Unlike the rest who were busy gaping over what they were seeing, Junghwan immediately got up on his feet and rushed over to you.

“Noona! What happened? Why…? Did you cry earlier??”

“Shh, let y/n sit first,” Yedam said softly to the maknae.

Haruto got up from his seat on the sofa and pointed towards the seat, telling you to sit there.

You were still in a daze after your crying earlier so you simply complied with whatever they told you to do.

Finally sitting down, you leaned back against the cushion behind you.

Yoshi, who was sitting closely beside Jeongwoo and Jaehyuk after helping them clean up earlier, decided to go to the kitchen to get you some water since you looked restless at the moment.

Asahi, who was seated beside you right now, turned to look at you—his usual expressionless face showing.

“So…what exactly happened…” Jeongwoo said slowly.

Yedam sat down on the floor, close to the boy asking the question and lets out a sigh.

“Something…happened in the kitchen.”

“Like…?”

“Just…something.” Yedam answered simply.

“That’s not very helpful Yedam,” Jaehyuk said this time. “How are we supposed to know what happened if you don’t tell us,”

You bit your lower lip as you felt it quivering again. It’s all happening again. You could still hear Junkyu’s voice in the back of your head, even when you’re shutting your eyes right now.

“Y/n is annoying.”

Your chest felt tight once again. You opened your eyes and sat up straight, surprising the rest who were still prodding Yedam to tell them what happened.

You stood up from the sofa and looked around you. The faces of your friends showing a mixture of concern and confusion.

You shook your head. “I…I think I’ll leave now,”

You were about to leave but then Yedam quickly grabs your hand. “Y/n? Aren’t you joining us for lunch?”

You shook your head slowly. “Maybe next time, okay?” you said, your voice shaking now. You looked at Yedam, your eyes glossy with tears that you were trying to hold back.

“Y/n…”

“It’s okay! I’m okay!” You said as you faked a laugh.

Yedam hesitantly lets go of your hand. He didn’t want you to go. But he also didn’t want to force you.

You quickly walked towards the house entrance, not looking back and immediately grabbing your shoes in your hand, as you leave the front door.

Yedam lets out a heavy sigh once you were gone from their sight.

“Hyung, what happened…?” Haruto asked this time.

Yedam sighs again before saying, “I’ll tell you all about it in a bit. I need to go tell Hyunsuk-hyung that Y/n left,”

 *

 Treasure’s Dorm #1 (Front door)

The moment you stepped out of their dorm, the door shutting behind you, you walked as fast as you could, hoping that you’ll be far enough from them for now.

It was at least few metres away from their dorm’s door that you stopped to lean your side against the wall of the corridor to control your breathing.

You felt out of breath because you had been holding in your tears, and now…it’s just hurting you.

Slowly, your shoulder still resting against the wall, you slide down to your feet. By now you’re already kneeling on the floor with your palm holding onto the wall for support.

A loud sob escaped your lips. Ah crap. Now you’re starting to cry out the tears you’ve been holding in. And you’re doing it in public too.

But could you blame yourself for being this sad and dramatic?

“Y/n is annoying.”

You shook your head, trying to stop yourself from hearing to those words over again.

Is this your first time being called annoying? Maybe. But would you care if anyone called you annoying? No.

Then why was this hurting you too much?

Was it because you thought that Junkyu and you were finally becoming friends?

You thought the both of you were already clicking. You thought….that maybe, Junkyu had liked being friends with you. He was more open with you recently…then why? Why did he say that about you?

You thought…ah, that’s right.

You thought.

You kept thinking that everything was working out fine with you both. You’ve never clearly thought if Junkyu himself was enjoying being friends with you.

You swallowed your sob, wiping your tears with the back of your hand.

“Silly me. He’s clearly annoyed with me all this while. He’s just too nice to say it to my face,” you muttered to yourself.

You blinked and again you felt your tears wet your cheeks.

You’re starting to feel annoyed with yourself too by now, considering you wouldn’t stop crying.

Why are you this sad?? You shook your head softly. Could it be…that you have some feelings for him? Have you caught feelings for Junkyu and yet you never realised it?

You pushed your hair back and took a deep breath, trying to stop yourself from crying again.

Slowly, you got up on your feet and tried to stand up properly now.

You should just hurry and return to your apartment unit, you thought. Maybe make yourself a cup of warm drink and just calm yourself down.

And just as you stepped forward, you suddenly felt a pair of arms pulling you from behind.

The arms hugged your waist tightly, and you felt the back of your head resting against someone’s chest.

The familiar voice said to you softly, “You’re not annoying. You were never annoying. He’s stupid to think of you that way.”

You then felt yourself being hugged closer by the boy behind you. “You…you’re so nice to us. You don’t deserve to be told as annoying at all,” he added, sounding upset.

Didn’t the both of you get along well that Wednesday? Then why did it seem like you had disappeared from his life? It was almost like as if the moment you both shared never happened now.

Junkyu shook his head after an intense staring competition with his phone for the past 6 minutes.

Junkyu raised his head to look at the glass window in front of him. He wondered why their ride was later than usual today. Huh. Must be traffic.

Suddenly, Junkyu’s expression turned to fear. It suddenly dawned on him, the worst thought he’s had ever. What if y/n had blocked him off her phone? Has he crossed the line when he held your hand the other day?

Junkyu groaned to himself and kept his phone into his bag. Mentally facepalming, he began to blame himself for acting based on his feelings too much.

Out of the blue, a hand rested on his shoulder, making him turn around.

“You okay, Junkyu?” It was Hyunsuk.

“Ah, hyung. I’m fine. Why?”

“Nothing, it just seems weird to see you staring at your phone so intensely. And then you started doing expressions on your own. You know, it’s like watching a one-man show,”

“Ah! I was just thinking about some stuff,” Junkyu laughs awkwardly.

“Sure,” Hyunsuk laughs along.

Junkyu lets out a sigh. “Hyung, don’t you think our ride’s a little late today?”

“Kind of. I guess the traffic must be hectic today since it’s the weekend tomorrow.”

And just as the two of them were staring out the front doors of the building, Junkyu’s eyes spotted a fluffy creature walking up towards the entrance.

It was a cat, and the guards seemed oblivious of the creature coming up towards the entrance of the building—or they just simply don’t mind about it being there.

The cat stopped right in front of Junkyu, though on the other side of the glass doors and stretched its legs before sitting down peacefully.

Junkyu furrowed his eyebrows. Why hasn’t anyone else noticed the cat? Was it only him?

He turns to Hyunsuk beside him and sees his hyung busy replying comments on the Weverse app.

Junkyu decides to just approach the cat, and so he slowly exits the front doors and stood in front of the cat.

The cat looked up at Junkyu with its sparkly round eyes and proceeds to lick its paws.

“Omo, look at you. You’re not afraid of me, huh?” Junkyu chuckled, admitting that the cat was indeed cute.

Junkyu kneels down in front of the cat and pets it, making the cat purr in contentment from the affectionate touch.

“Aigoo, you’re such a cutie. Where did you come from?” Junkyu cooed towards the cat as he smiles happily. For a moment, he forgot about how worried he was about you not replying his texts.

While Junkyu was minding his own business and spending time with the cat outside the building, Hyunsuk felt someone bumping into him as he was busy on his phone.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Soomin apologised as she fixed her bag on her shoulder after accidentally bumping into Hyunsuk.

Hyunsuk shakes his head and said, “Ah, it’s fine. I’m sorry too, for standing directly in front of the door,”

Soomin smiles and bows slightly at him before exiting the doors, in which she was surprised to see another guy kneeling on the ground in front of her.

“Uh, sorry,” she said as she almost misstep when she sees Junkyu.

Junkyu raised his head to see who it was, and instantly he gets up on his feet to greet her.

“Oh no, no. Sorry, for being in the way,” he said as he bowed at Soomin.

“Oh? It’s you! Y/n’s friend!”

“Y-yeah,” Junkyu blushed the moment he heard your name being mentioned.

“Oh? That cat…” her eyes landed on the cat sitting in front of the both of them now. The cat continued licking its paw, not caring about the people staring at it.

“Uh, yeah. It was suddenly here,” Junkyu responded.

 *

Hyunsuk kept his phone inside his bag as soon as the girl he bumped into left to exit the front doors in front of him.

He was about to join the rest who were chatting up behind him, but then he noticed Junkyu greeting and talking to the girl outside.

Hyunsuk tilts his head. Who is that girl? Though he does feel like he’s seen her somewhere before.

He decides to join Junkyu outside instead, to see what they were talking about.

As soon as Hyunsuk had stepped out of the building, he approaches both Junkyu and Soomin.

Soomin was holding up her phone to her ear when Hyunsuk approached them.

“Oh, hyung!” Junkyu said to him.

“Hey,”

Soomin noticed Hyunsuk standing beside her now so she moved her phone down. “Oh, it’s you again.”

“Yeah. I wanted to ask—” but before Hyunsuk finished his sentence, his eyes spotted the cat in front of them.

“Oh! This cat!” he exclaimed out loud.

“Hm? You know this cat too?” Soomin asks him.

Hyunsuk lowers his body to look at the cat closely. He nods in response, “Yup, I remember the diamond pattern on its back. It’s the same cat!”

“Whoa, you know this cat too! I recognised it from its diamond pattern too!” Soomin said.

Junkyu looks at the both of them confusedly. “Wait, whose cat is this?”

“I’m not sure of its original owner but I remember the lady from the stationary shop not far from our company feeding it couple of times,” Soomin answered.

“Oh? Oh as for me, I first saw this cat when I first met Y/n,” Hyunsuk answers as well.

Soomin turns to look at Hyunsuk, “Ah, so you’re a friend of Y/n as well then,”

Hyunsuk smiles and nods proudly.

“Nice to meet you, I’m y/n’s team leader,”

“Ah, I see,”

“Hmm but that’s weird. This cat rarely comes to this side. It’s always on the other side—nearby our company’s block. It’s usually napping in the stationary shop too,” Soomin said, her mind going back to the cat in front of her.

“Really?” Hyunsuk asks.

“Yup. I took a picture of it just now and sent it to the lady of the shop just to re-confirm. Just in case it is hers and had gone on an adventure on its own,” Soomin chuckles. “Ah but she hasn’t responded. She’s not picking up her calls too,” she added.

Hyunsuk and Junkyu nods at her and the both of them looked back at the cat that was just sitting, chilling on its own.

Junkyu knelt back down to pet it, leaving Hyunsuk thinking on his own about the cat.

Hyunsuk finds it odd to see the cat here—especially after not seeing it for some time now. What is it doing here? And why does it stop specifically, here, at the YG Building?

“Alright! The lady replied!” Soomin said in all of sudden as she taps on her phone.

“Oh? What did she say?” Junkyu asks, his hand still stroking the purring cat’s fur.

“Oh gosh! It’s indeed her cat! She said the cat went missing for two days now. She also said that the same thing happened last month too, the cat being lost for two days and then returning to the store on its own as if nothing happened,” Soomin reads from her phone screen. “I guess that’s why she didn’t bother to find it, huh. She must’ve believed the cat to return again after two days.”

“Aw, so we should just let it on its own?” Junkyu asked.

“Nah, I’ll take it back to her. My place isn’t that far from our company’s block either,” Soomin said as she keeps her phone back into her handbag.

Hyunsuk listened to their conversation. His mind was thinking. Thinking about how coincidental it was to meet this cat again. And today was the first time he’s met your team leader.

Was this a sign?

Truthfully, Hyunsuk has been looking for a sign to talk to you. After you had went missing, and then finding out that Junkyu had spent time with you alone—he figured that it’s best if he doesn’t intervene with what’s going on between you and his friend.

But then again, it’s not wrong to ask you if you’re doing okay, right?

Though, he noticed that your status in the chat app had been offline for some days now. He also noticed how he hasn’t been seeing you around lately. Have you gone back to your own company?

Soomin was tapping on her phone, probably texting someone, when she felt a finger tapping her shoulder.

“Yes?”

“Uhh, I was just wondering…is Y/n doing okay? I don’t think I’ve seen her online or anywhere around in the building this week. Has she gone back to work at your company’s building?”

“Oh, that.” Soomin paused. She turns around and sees Junkyu looking at her too now. She could sense a strange aura going on between these two. They seemed…extra worried about you, she thought.

Soomin looks down at her phone for a while, putting it away again into her bag like before.

“Well…she’s not here.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Hyunsuk asks.

“Well…gosh, I don’t want to keep this away from you guys since you seem to be really concerned about her…” she paused again. “Okay, I’ll let you in on something, but you have to promise me that you never heard this from me, get it?” she continued, giving in to both Junkyu and Hyunsuk’s worried expression.

 *

Treasure’s Dorm #1

The hyungs of the group have all gathered in Hyunsuk’s room after dinnertime, discussing on the new information that Soomin had given earlier.

“Wait, are we really gonna do this?” Yedam asks his other hyungs, him being the youngest in the room at the moment.

“Well, technically we’re not all going,” Hyunsuk shrugs as he continued going through the clothes in his closet.

“Do we have a proper plan though?” Yoshi asked this time.

All of them exchanged looks with one another, not sure if they all have a real plan for this matter.

“Hold on, hold on, hold on.” Jihoon said to everyone. He looked like he was thinking through about what they were all discussing.

“So let me recap on what we have discussed so far—Soomin, Y/n’s team leader told you both;” he points at both Junkyu and Hyunsuk, “that Y/n was sent back to her hometown by their boss. And now we’re planning to go visit her there, am I correct?”

The rest of the boys in the room nods at his statement.

“Okay, but did she say how long Y/n will be there?” Jihoon added.

“She wasn’t entirely sure, she said. She only knew the rough details ‘cause her boss only told her that he’s sent her away that’s all. She even said she couldn’t contact Y/n,” Hyunsuk answered.

“Huh, same thing happened to me. I can’t get a hold of Y/n either,” Junkyu confessed.

Jihoon lets out a sigh. “Alright then, I guess we could go…”

“Wait—we’re all going?? Who’s going to take care of the kids while we’re gone though?” Jaehyuk asked, raising his concern on leaving their dongsaengs here in the city on their own.

“Can I just stay back? I don’t feel the need to go in big groups anyway,” Asahi said as he raised his hand.

“Sahi has a point,” Hyunsuk nods in agreement.

“Okay, what about if we just send one representative per dorm? Wouldn’t that be fair?” Mashiho suggested.

“Hey, that’s not a bad idea at all!” Jaehyuk said excitedly.

“Then it’s set, I volunteer to stay back and watch over the kids in Dorm 3,” Asahi said as he leans back against Hyunsuk’s bed.

Yedam looks at Jaehyuk, realising that it was between him and his hyung that would tag along in their trip to see you. “Hyung…”

“Oh gosh. I mean…I could stay…but I really want to tag along on this trip,” Jaehyuk said as he thinks out loud. “I’m on my college semester break too, so I could really use this break…” he adds, a slight pout as he says this.

Yedam snickered at his hyung, deciding that he should just give in since he felt that Jaehyuk-hyung hasn’t spent that much time talking to you as much as he did. Maybe he should let Jaehyuk-hyung see you instead.

“Okay hyung, it’s okay. I’ll stay with Asahi-hyung and Junghwan,” Yedam grinned.

“Really?? Thank you Yedamie! You’re definitely the best!” Jaehyuk said happily as he scoots over to where Yedam was sitting to give him a hug.

Jihoon smiled as he watches Yedam and Jaehyuk hugging and giggling at each other. He thought that Yedam would have gone with the trip since he was close to you but he admired how Yedam had backed off for his hyung instead.

“Wow Yedam, that’s nice of you,” he said as showed a thumbs up to the younger boy. He then turns to Mashiho who was sitting beside him. “So, Shiho? Who’s it gonna be between us two?” He chuckled as he says this, thinking that it was easier to make a choice this time since they were the only two from Dorm 2 in the room.

Mashiho gave him a knowing look and smiled his cute smile, “Duhh hyung. You know I’d pick to stay. Besides, I can’t stand being away from the dorm for too long. Imagine having to clean up after all the mess that you all would leave when I’m gone,” he laughed as he said this, reminding them of that time when he went back to Japan last year and how he had immediately worked on cleaning the dorm when he came back to Korea.

Jihoon ruffles Mashiho’s hair. “Eyy it wasn’t that dirty you know? You just miss cleaning our dorm that’s all,”

Mashiho shrugs and smiled back at his hyung.

“Well then, that’s settled. I’ll be going on behalf of Dorm 2,” Jihoon announced.

“Niceeee! It’s the two of us, hyung!” Jaehyuk clapped his hands in excitement seeing that Jihoon was going to be with him for the trip.

“So that leaves Dorm 1…” Yedam’s voice trailed off when he realised how difficult of a choice it must be for Dorm 1 to pick a representative to go since…both Hyunsuk and Junkyu are in the dorm.

Hyunsuk and Junkyu looked at each other the same time, completely forgetting that Yoshi was in their dorm as well.

Yoshi, oblivious that the other two were in heavy thoughts just thinking about who gets to go and see you, raised his hand as he smiles his usual gentle smile. “How long are we gonna be visiting Y/n?”

“Til Sunday I suppose. I don’t think we can take leave so abruptly too. So we’re just gonna go tomorrow and then come back Sunday night?” Hyunsuk answered.

“Oh, cool,” Yoshi smiled. “A road trip sounds fun,”

Hyunsuk and Junkyu both turned to look at Yoshi, now realising that it was between the three of them.

“Hyung…do you want to go…?” Junkyu asked slowly.

“Sure! It sounds fun. Besides, I’ve never been to Haenam,” Yoshi answered happily. “Ah but uhh, maybe I should stay? I should stay back and watch out for Haruto,” he added, his smile fading when he noticed his Hyunsuk-hyung’s face pouting in worry.

“Ahh, so you’re not going then?” Junkyu asked as he scratches his own head awkwardly.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m not,” Yoshi said. “It’s okay, either one of you can go. I’m fine with going next time,” Yoshi smiled.

Junkyu nods at this and licks his lips. How will they pick though? Obviously Hyunsuk-hyung would want to go and meet you as much as he does, no?

Hyunsuk kept thinking about how if he doesn’t get to go this time, he wouldn’t know when he’ll meet you again next time. Maybe he should try convincing you to come back, he thought. That is—if he gets to go.

Now of course the boys had no idea that you were purely sent back by your boss to your hometown ‘til only Sunday—they thought you were sent back for a month or two because of what had happened. Silly fellas. Correction; silly but adorable fellas.

“This is bad. I can’t decide on who should go,” Hyunsuk sighs out loud again. He wants to go. He wants to see you badly. He misses you. But he knows, Junkyu was rightful to go too.

His eyes glanced over towards his younger friend. Junkyu was biting his lower lip, face deep in thoughts.

Jihoon too, grew worried about this. Even he couldn’t pick who amongst those two should go for the trip. He knew very well that both those boys were in love with you.

“Man I wish we could all just go,” Yedam said jokingly, though his eyes were looking down at his hands.

“Me too,” Jaehyuk agrees. He notices that the mood in the room somehow feels solemn. Why though?

Hyunsuk takes a deep breath and turns to Junkyu. “Okay Junkyu. How’s it gonna be? Do you want to go or should I go?”

Junkyu kept quiet. I should go. After all, you told me to confess to Y/n. This was what he had in mind. But then he didn’t have the heart to say it. How could he? Hyunsuk-hyung is such a good friend to him.

“Should we take a vote?” Asahi suddenly says, making everyone lift their heads to look at him. “I think that would be fairer,”

“Yeah, I feel like we could do that since Hyunsuk-hyung and Junkyu-hyung seems to be having a hard time deciding,” Mashiho said, supporting Asahi’s idea.

Asahi nods at his hyung. “Alright then. If that’s the case, I vote for Junkyu-hyung to go.”

But of course, Asahi picks Junkyu. He was one of the firsts to find out about Junkyu-hyung liking you. Yet again, he had no idea about his other hyung liking you too.

“Hmm, since Asahi chose Junkyu-hyung, I choose the same then!” Jaehyuk says, showing his cute whisker smile. Asahi smiled seeing his hyung’s cute behaviour.

Yoshi raises his hand and said softly, “I vote for Hyunsuk-hyung,” which earned him a grateful smile from Hyunsuk.

“Mashi?” Asahi asks the bright-eyed hyung.

“Junkyu-hyung?” Mashiho answered.

Yedam and Jihoon felt the tension rising in the room. This voting method is just adding pressure to them. They couldn’t tell who deserved to go more than the other.

“Yedam? You wanna vote first?” Mashiho asks this time.

“Uhh, I guess…” Yedam rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess Hyunsuk-hyung…”

Hyunsuk held his breath. He was one vote less than Junkyu. Maybe he should stop packing at this rate. He stops rummaging through his closet and decides to just sit down and let Junkyu go. He gave up on you once, what’s twice, right?

Jihoon on the other hand was having a hard time as well. How could he choose? They’re both his close friends. One was the person he had always pushed to be with you, and the other is his hyung that clearly liked you first from the moment he met you.

“Well, Jihoon-hyung?” Junkyu asks his best friend, his nerves rising.

“Damn y’all. Why’d you guys have to put me in this spot,” Jihoon complained.

 *

Haenam (Saturday / The next morning (6am))

“Y/n! Hurry, get up! We’re going to the market!” your teacher called out to you from downstairs.

“What?” You pushed your covers off your face and noticed that the Sun was barely up outside your window.

“Aunt Nari! It’s barely morning!” You whined, still laying down.

“Nonsense! I told you that I’ll bring you to the market this weekend, didn’t I? Now hurry, the chicken eggs are gonna get sold out!” Aunt Nari answered you.

You groaned out loud as you get up from your mattress. Usually on Saturdays you would be sleeping in, you thought. Waking up early on a weekday was no problem for you since you’re used to getting up for work. But this early on a Saturday?? Absurd.

Your eyes glanced over the lifeless junk phone your boss gave you. You scowled at it, disappointed that you couldn’t do much with it at all. You couldn’t even text your Treasure friends because the only numbers saved by your boss was his mum’s, your team leader’s and some other colleagues from the HR department—in case you needed to extend your leave, he said. You rolled your eyes at the thought of extending your stay. If anything, you wanted to go back to working and meeting your friends.

Sighing out loud, you fold your mattress and bed cover lazily before shuffling to the bathroom to wash up.

 *

Haenam (still morning)

It was around 9am when the Treasure boys got off their van as their manager that drove them to Haenam that morning dropped them off at the small bus terminal located not far from the town centre.

Jihoon stretched out his arms, letting go of all the knots he’s gathered from sitting in the vehicle for four hours.

“Thanks hyung. See you Sunday night,” Hyunsuk said as he thanked and said goodbye to their manager before he drives off back to the city.

Seeing that their manager had drove off, Hyunsuk turns to face his other friends that had tag along on this trip in meeting you. “So, where to first?”

“Let’s get some breakfast first? We woke up at 5am today, hyung. I haven’t got to eat anything,” Jaehyuk whined whilst patting his tummy.

“Aigoo, we had to wake up early anyways. Y/n’s hometown is literally a 4-hour drive from the city,” Jihoon said.

Hyunsuk glanced over his watch, “It’s only 9am. I think there should be some food—Junkyu-aa what are you doing,” Hyunsuk stopped his sentence to call out to Junkyu who was roaming not far behind them all.

Oh? What’s that? How did Junkyu tag along when Hyunsuk was here as well? You see…Jihoon had voted for Hyunsuk the night before—making both of the boys having even votes; which leads to them both going because the whole room was too tired to do another voting round.

Anyways, back to the story:

Junkyu looks around, with his curious expression. “I’m trying to figure out where Y/n’s house is hyung,”

Jihoon snickered watching his friend’s adorable behaviour. Shaking his head, he said, “Yah yah, come back here. You might get lost. FYI, no one’s gonna help a lost adult—especially one well-dressed like you,” he points out at Junkyu’s choice of outfit today. Junkyu was wearing his light creamish yellow Supreme pants topped with his BonBon hoodie. “Instead, you might get robbed if you get lost,” Jihoon added.

Junkyu walked back to his friends, pouting.

Jaehyuk chuckles and ruffles his hyung’s hair. “It’s okay, hyung! We’ll find Y/n soon. Hyunsuk-hyung knows where Y/n’s house is, right?” he turns to look at Hyunsuk.

“What? Oh, oh sure, yeah. Soomin-ssi mentioned that Y/n’s house is not far opposite a small tea plant yard.”

Jihoon looks around the area they are in. “I don’t think I see any tea farm nearby, hyung. It must be a little away from this town here,”

“So uh, are we getting food first?” Jaehyuk asks.

“Sure, sure.” Jihoon smiles as he wraps an arm around Jaehyuk’s shoulders. “Oh, that looks like a market area, let’s head there and see if they sell any food,”

 *

Haenam (Local Market / Morning)

The Treasure boys entered the market, their eyes scanning each and every stall to see if there were any food to buy. Truthfully, there were plenty of foods being sold but they were trying to find one that suits their palette for the morning.

And of course, the moment they entered the market area, they were oblivious by the stares given by the local aunts, uncles, elders there. The people there couldn’t stop staring as the boys passed by them—exuding such an attractive aura around them. You know how like when the F4 boys enters a building in that kdrama series ‘Boys Over Flowers’? Yeah, they literally shine like that fhshshs.

Jaehyuk stopped over at one particular stall that was making potato jjeon. He smiles at the aunt who was busy making the pancakes on the pan, “Aunty, how much are you selling the jjeons?”

“Aigoo young man, can’t you see the sign?? It’s said there, right there. $3 for 6 pieces,” she answered in a nagging tone, her eyes and hands still busy cooking the jjeon.

“Ah, sorry, I didn’t notice the sign,” Jaehyuk smiles apologetically. “If that’s the case, I’ll have 6 pieces then,”

The aunt sighs as she places her spatula down. She lifts her head and was immediately taken aback to see four of the Treasure boys standing in front of her stall.

“Oh gosh! Omo omo! What are you doing standing so close to the pan?? It’s hot oh my god! It might hurt your handsome faces!” she gestured in a flustered way, asking the boys to stand at the right side of her stall.

“Oh sorry—” Jaehyuk apologised again, but was interrupted by the aunt.

“Nonsense! It’s not your fault at all! I should have put the pan somewhere far in the back!” she laughs. “Now, how much was it you wanted? 6 pieces. Aigoo, I’ll give 20—all on the house!” she hurriedly grabs a paper bag to pack the jjeons into the bag.

“Huh? W-wait—” Jaehyuk stuttered.

“Aunty no, no there’s no need for that,” Hyunsuk added, panicking because it almost seemed like they were taking advantage of the aunty.

“Aigoo! Handsome boys like you all shouldn’t eat so little,” she said as she smiles. She hands the bag over to Jaehyuk.

“Thanks,” Jaehyuk smiles again, swooning the aunt all over again. “Oh and sorry for not reading the sign earlier,”

“What? Pshh the sign is old! My handwriting is probably unclear too,” she said as she tosses the price sign away behind her. RIP sign.

The four of them smiles awkwardly at the aunt, feeling bad for receiving such special treatment.

“Are you boys from Seoul?” She asks, her eyes twinkling in excitement.

“Y-yeah,” Jihoon answers.

“Aigoo! How nice! Are you all here for a holiday?”

“Kind of. We’re meeting a friend here. Just a short trip,” Hyunsuk explained as he smiles.

Junkyu nods along. “Ah, right. Aunty, do you happen to know…Y/n? She’s from around here, from what we were told,”

The aunt stopped to think for a while. “Y/n? Oh? The girl who always wears her hair in a braid? There was a girl I know that likes to wear braids on her hair with the same name,”

The boys looked at each other. They weren’t sure if that was you though. You had always let your hair down at work, also when you all hang out together. The only time you ever braided your hair was when they had lunch with you that one time.

“Oh that…we’re not too sure…” Hyunsuk replied as he rubs the back of his neck.

“Hmm…Y/n… it could be her…” The aunt said to herself.

“Did someone mention Y/n?” A voice joined in on the conversation.

All of the Treasure boys and the aunt turned to look at the guy who was standing in front of the stall beside them.

He had straight, dark brown hair—hair worn down as it covers his forehead, showing his brown almond-shaped eyes. He also has a cute nose; paired with a cute smile.

“Y-yeah, do you know her?” Hyunsuk finally asks, almost getting distracted by this guy’s visuals.

“Depends. Are we talking about the same Y/n?” he chuckles as he hands the payment for the food he bought at the stall beside him.

“Well, she’s around this tall,” Jaehyuk pointed below his shoulder, “and has somewhat bright eyes, mid-length straight hair…”

“Ah, she likes to smile and laugh at every little thing.?” The guy adds in.

“Uhh…” Jaehyuk stopped describing. The boys weren’t too sure if that was you because you weren’t the type to smile all the time or laugh a lot around them. If any, you were quite formal around them, they realised.

“She has a pretty smile, she has an eye-smile too. Uhh, what else…” Junkyu says as he tries to describe you this time. “She has this habit of rolling her eyes when she disagrees with something, she uh—”

The guy beside them laughs slightly at their efforts of describing. “It’s okay it’s okay, I get it,” He walks up closer towards them. “You all from the city?”

The Treasure boys nod their heads at his question.

“I think I might know who you’re referring to though. In all seriousness. I’m meeting a friend of mine later on. You guys wanna tag along?”

“Erm…” the four of them looked at each other, wondering if they should trust this stranger.

You found a small monitor that was showing numbers and you recognised it as the AC/Heater control. You lift your fingers and tapped on the button to increase the temperature, but as soon as your finger lands on the button, the door beside you was pushed open.

“Whoa! Oh my god, Junkyu don’t scare me like that!” you chimed at him.

Junkyu entered and closed the door behind him with his elbow since his hands were occupied carrying a food tray.

“Yah, I’m the one who was supposed to be surprised! What are you doing hiding beside the door?”

You placed your hands on your hips and frowned at him. “I wasn’t hiding. I was trying to get the room warmer,” you lift your finger to point at the temperature panel beside you.

Junkyu shook his head at you and proceeds towards the table in the middle of the room. “Come on,”

You followed behind him, wondering what he has on the tray he was carrying.

Junkyu places the tray on the table, just in time as you popped your head from behind him and peeking over what he brought.

Junkyu smiled to himself, thinking that you were kind of cute, like a kid curious to know the insides of a cookie jar.

Still smiling, he pulled your arm gently and lead you towards the chair at the edge of the table, pushing you down to sit in it.

You followed his lead and watched as he lifts the medium-sized bowl of some broth and places it in front of you.

With his height hovering beside you, you raised your head to meet his eyes. You blinked a couple times, showing how you don’t understand what was going on.

Junkyu held himself back from pinching your cheeks as you stared at him with your clueless face. Instead, he rolled his eyes at you and points at the bowl.

“Eat up,” he said to you.

“What?”

“Gosh y/n, must I spell everything out to you??” he said in an annoyed tone, but he was smiling at you as he said this. He pulled the chair beside him and sat closely beside you. He passes you the spoon and scooped up some of the broth and showed it to you.

“Like this, get it? You eat this,”

You scowled at him and slapped his arm, making him break into a fit of giggles. Your scowl didn’t last long though. Because the moment you saw Junkyu’s playful laugh, you felt your heart doing flips. He looked ethereal even in this dimly lit room.

“I know how to eat,” you replied smugly at him and grabbed the spoon from his hand. You sipped the broth and instantly you felt a spread of warmth all over your cold body.

Junkyu noticed your expression staring at the soup in shock, “Is it that good?”

You turned to him, eyes sparkling in amazement. “I feel so warm already! It’s so good!”

Junkyu was amused by your reaction so unintentionally his hands went over and pats your head.

You were startled by his sudden act of affection so the spoon in your hand accidentally slipped out of your hand—but luckily it fell into the bowl in front of you.

“Omo, are you okay? Is your hand having a cramp?” his expression changed to concern.

You shook your head and grabbed the spoon again. You looked down at the bowl in front of you and began eating the soup a little quicker, avoiding Junkyu’s eyes that were looking at you.

“Ah! There are potatoes too in there,” he said to you, to which you nodded at without looking at him still.

You wondered what hit him though. Why was he being so nice to you today? Did he eat something wrong? Okay but to be fair, he’s always been nice when it’s just the two of you. It’s only when there are other people in the room that he acts mostly cold and doesn’t talk much to you. Why though?

You furrowed your eyebrows and placed the spoon down.

Turning to him, you asked, “Yah, Kim Junkyu. Why are you suddenly so nice to me? Last I checked, you were annoyed with me,”

Junkyu scoffed at you, “Yahh how could you do this to me. I told you I was sorry!”

“Sorry doesn’t heal my wounded heart, you know?”

“But I stayed in the cold with you! I mustered all my courage and apologised sincerely,” he said, patting his chest to show how sincere he was.

“Hmm sure,” you replied expressionlessly.

“Heyyy I really was being sincere! Look, I was so worried about you catching a cold I literally brought you to this room and got you some warm soup too. This room was supposed to be used for special guests okay! I didn’t even make any reservations—” he blurted out. “I really, really was worried for you—look, my hands are still cold too,” he added as he grabbed your hands in his.

His cold hands touching your hands that are warmer now caught you by surprise. It wasn’t just the fact that his hands were cold surprised you, but the fact that he was holding your hands firmly in his yet again.

You fell quiet. You felt your heart beating fast.

Junkyu too, fell silent when he noticed that you were staring at his hands holding on to yours.

Okay Kim Junkyu. You made your point. Let go of her hands now.

Now.

And 1..2..3.. let go!

His hands stayed holding yours. Junkyu gulped to himself. He didn’t want to let go. Your warm hands felt right being in his cold ones. He wants to just stay here, holding your hands.

“J-junkyu…” you said softly.

“I’m sorry,” he said in return.

You shook your head at him and smiled at him, “It’s okay. I forgive you,”

“R-really?”

You nod at him. “Yup. Thank you…for finding me, and trying to keep me warm,” you giggled slightly as you eyed the bowl of soup on the table.

Junkyu’s eyes landed on the bowl as well and he looks down in embarrassment, “I’m sorry, you should keep eating before it gets cold,”

“Okay,” you say as you slowly slip your hands out of his hold.

“Ah, wait!”

“Hm?”

“I…uh, can I uh…can I hold your hand for one more minute? Just to uh, make my hands a little warmer,” he asks, his cheeks turning red from the bold request.

“Okay, sure. Only if you help me finish this bowl of broth too. No offense but it’s a little too much for me,” you grinned.

Junkyu nods his head profusely at you, making you smile at his cute action.

 *

YGE Building (Treasure’s Practice Room / Evening)

Junkyu entered the room, startling all his other members who have just finished their own dance practice.

“Wahh Kim Junkyu! Where have you been??” Hyunsuk exclaimed as soon as he sees the tall member enter.

“Uhh, is practice over?” Junkyu asked as he gives his friends a sorry smile.

“We’re about to end. You can keep your belongings before we leave the room,” Jihoon answered him as he wiped his own sweat with the small towel he brought from his dorm.

Junkyu nods at his best friend and heads towards his bag, checking if all his stuff are inside it.

“Hey hyung,” Haruto said as he approaches Junkyu.

“Hey. How was practice?”

“Meh, same old. We did solo practice today,” the younger boy said.

“Ahh, I see,” Junkyu says back. He looked around the room and noticed that the rest of the group were keeping their stuff into their bags as well. He figured that they were all probably fine with him being gone for the couple of hours.

“Where were you, hyung,” Haruto asked, his eyes staring at his hyung.

“I…why? Was everyone worried?” Junkyu averted the question again, just like how he did when Hyunsuk asked earlier.

“Kind of. Hyunsuk-hyung almost ordered us to search for you but then Jihoon-hyung convinced us that you were fine and that we didn’t need to look for you,”

“Hm? Jihoon-hyung said that?” Junkyu’s eyes were now looking at Jihoon who was on the other side of the room, talking with Hyunsuk.

Again, Haruto shrugs. “We were just worried if you got caught by Chani-hyung since after lunch and getting punished he said he would continue searching for both you and y/n,”

“W-what? Why me as well??”

“I don’t know, he said something along the lines of you being the one hiding y/n something like that,” the boy replied him simply. “No offense but he’s probably imagining stuff,”

Junkyu chuckled nervously. It wasn’t entirely false to be honest. He was indeed keeping you safe from everyone else in the cafeteria’s guest room, and he did spend hours talking to you until you decided to call up Soomin and meet her somewhere else.

Grabbing his bag and wearing it, he gestured to Haruto saying that he was gonna head towards the exit of the practice room since everyone else looked like they were about to leave too.

But then, as soon as he passed by Hyunsuk and Jihoon, the elder leader stopped him.

“Junkyu, come here for a second,”

Junkyu walked over towards his hyungs. “Yeah?”

“You…Are you alright?” Hyunsuk asked, his eyes showing worry.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Junkyu nods.

“Chani…didn’t do anything to you, right? Before he left us, he told us he’d be keeping guard near your studio,”

“Oh? He did? Ah, no worries there. I wasn’t in my studio at all,”

“Hm? Then where were you?”

Now, Junkyu was busy keeping eye contact and was totally immersed with his conversation with Hyunsuk that he didn’t notice Jihoon giving him glares to not reveal where he had been because all throughout practice Jihoon had been convincing (read: covering for Junkyu’s missingness) Hyunsuk that Junkyu was probably upset by you being missing which would be the reason why Junkyu was locking himself in his own studio.

Well, that plan didn’t work since Junkyu didn’t even spare a glance towards his best friend who was standing behind Hyunsuk.

Now back to Junkyu and Hyunsuk’s conversation:

“Ah, I was in the cafeteria’s private room— ah!” Junkyu covered his mouth with his hand when he realised what he had blurted out.

And then his eyes went to Jihoon who was groaning and shaking his head.

“What? What were you doing there?? We didn’t have a reservation for that room, Kyu-aa. You could’ve gotten into trouble!” Hyunsuk began to nag.

“I uh, I was…”

“You were…?”

“I was…with y/n there…”

“What?! You found y/n??” Hyunsuk said, a little too loud, causing the rest of the members to turn their attention towards the three of them.

“I’m sorry, hyung. I was—I was just helping her out. I found her unconscious and out in the cold so—”

“Why didn’t you tell us??” Hyunsuk interrupts Junkyu’s explanation.

“I didn’t have my phone with me, hyung,”

Hyunsuk lets out an exasperated sigh and turns to Jihoon behind him. “Did you know about this? Is that why you kept telling me to not go look for him??”

“Whoa, whoa. Chill it, you both. I really had no idea Junkyu had been with Y/n. I was just covering for him in case Chani wanted to hunt him down throughout the whole building,” Jihoon answered back, both his hands raised as he defends himself.

The whole room went quiet. Everyone could tell how frustrated Hyunsuk was right now just by the way he kept sighing and pushing his hair back.

Jihoon, Junkyu and Yedam though, were the only ones that knew why Hyunsuk was this upset. Of course, he must’ve been crazy worried about you, especially since he clearly has feelings for you, they thought.

The silence was broken when Junghwan, who was originally far in the back of the practice room, approached Junkyu closely to ask, “How…is Y/n-noona now, hyung? Is she okay?”

Junkyu turns to look at the maknae and nods at him, “She’s all better now. Her team leader offered to send her home just now,”

“That’s nice,” the youngest boy sighed in relief. “Did she tell you what happened?”

Junkyu nods his head slowly. “I’ll…I’ll tell you all about it when we get home,”

 *

Y/n’s Apartment (Evening)

“Thanks for sending me home, eonnie,” you thanked her again for the third time since the start of the trip home.

“Enough already, it was no biggie at all,” she chuckled at you.

You poured her a cup of some hot tea you made as soon as you entered the kitchen earlier. You carried the cup towards Soomin who was sitting at the small dining table in the middle of your kitchen, along with an extra cup for yourself.

“Here you go,” you said as you pushed one of the cups towards her.

“Thanks,” she said. Her dainty fingers traced the outline of the cup, probably checking if the tea was too hot to drink.

You sat yourself down in the chair opposite her. You lift your cup of tea towards your lips, blowing it a little before taking a small sip.

Soomin watched as you sip on your tea, her doing the same after she was convinced it was drinkable.

Coincidentally, the both of you placed your own cups down onto the table at the same time.

The both you made eye contact with one another—again, at the same time.

Soomin cleared her throat and leaned in close towards you, “So…”

You braced yourself. You had a feeling that Soomin would eventually want to talk about something with you. But you weren’t sure what about. Which was why after you had spent the whole afternoon in hiding with Junkyu, you had told him that you felt that you should go and meet your team leader to know what you should do next.

“…about today—”

“I’m sorry,” you croaked softly before Soomin could finish her sentence.

“Wait. You’re sorry? No, but why are you sorry?? Y/n, sweetie, it’s not your fault at all!” she quickly grabs your hands, holding onto them on the table.

“I…I mean, I ruined today, didn’t I? It was horrible. And I know, we were supposed to be celebrating for finishing up our final presentation for our clients and oh gosh…today just…went so awful,”

Soomin shook her head after listening to your rant. “No way, Mr Ahn, the shareholder loved our presentation. You heard him, didn’t you? It just went downhill after that,”

You slowly eased your hands out of your team leader’s hold and lets out a sigh. “I guess,” you leaned back into your chair. Your eyes were no longer staring back into Soomin’s. You were looking down at your thighs instead now.

“Y/n…I’m sorry too,” Soomin said softly.

You lift your head back up to look at her. “What? N-no! None of this is your fault either!”

“It kinda is.” She said, her eyes glistening with guilt.

“Wh…at?”

Soomin took a deep breath before proceeding to say what she wanted to say. “About your academic qualification. I knew from Mr Bae, our company’s Director. But it wasn’t because of anything bad, really!” she said before you could start assuming badly of her.

“He mentioned it to me because I was literally begging him to let you become my team member. I wanted you to join me. I like your works and all, Y/n.”

You blinked a couple times, your eyes roaming, trying to find something to stare at.

“And when he mentioned it to me, I wasn’t bothered one bit by it. I still wanted you to work with my team…” she continued. “It only turned badly today…because I told Bomin about it…”

This time, your eyes went back to staring at her. “But why…?”

Soomin licked her lips before she took a big gulp from her cup, thinking of a way to break the news to you.

“Well…I uh, well, I talk about you a lot with Bomin,” her fingers trailed against the teacup in her hand.

“It’s only because I keep talking about how reliable you are even though you were a new team member, though. It just slipped my mouth about how you’re only a high school graduate. He didn’t to be that interested by that fact at the time though.” She explained further when she sees you not responding to her.

“Eonnie, I…I’m not ashamed of who I am. I just felt humiliated and hurt because my skills and ability were judged based on my academic level. I only have a high school certificate, sure, it’s crazy how I end up being in your Comms Team. But having you dragged into this, how people view our team as incompetent all because of me—”

“No! No, no, Y/n! Listen, they know nothing. You’re efficient and competent! I’m your team leader, I would know,” she interrupts you.

“But then it’s all over now, right?” you asked her, your voice slightly cracking. You were holding in your tears. You keep thinking about how you would face your teammates tomorrow.

“They can’t say anything. They wouldn’t. I’ll make sure.” Soomin said firmly.

You looked down at your hands.

“Y/n…I’m so sorry. I really am. And if it makes you feel any better, I gave Bomin a good scolding earlier too,”

You giggled a little, imagining how funny it would be to have your team leader scolding Bomin who is scary to you.

Soomin smiled, seeing that you were still able to laugh.

“Really though. I gave him an earful,” Soomin added, giggling as well when she sees you smiling even more.

“It’s funny how he’s that much afraid of you though,” you said in between your giggles.

“Oh, that.” Soomin pushed her hair behind her ear before leaning forward towards you. “Of course, he ought to be afraid of me. After all, I am his girlfriend,” she blushed as she says this.

Your jaw fell. “What??” You hurriedly covered your mouth with your hand. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t shocked because it’s a bad thing—I was just surprised because when you first brought me to meet him, you said you were both high school friends, that’s all,”

Soomin chuckles at your response. “We were! We just…started dating not too long ago…” her eyes looked away from yours since she felt shy with her confession.

You smiled at your team leader. You felt a little better seeing her smile like that to be honest. You just didn’t want her to be upset or affected by what’s happened today.

But wait—

You shook your head, realising something.

“Hold on, eonnie. You’re dating Bomin?? Bomin, the man who kept treating me like an intern and made me run random errands??”

Soomin smiled apologetically at you, and then nods. “Yeah…but he isn’t like that at all! Usually, I mean. He’s just…intimidated,” she tried to explain.

“By me?” you asked her back, giving her a strange look.

“No, silly.” She chuckled. “He…told me what happened.” Soomin inhales again before getting ready to tell you the real story about her boyfriend.

“Ahuh…” you nod.

“Bomin finds…Chani intimidating.”

“Chani? My friend, Chani?”

“Yup, the one and only,” she nods. “Did you know? Chani and Bomin are stepbrothers?”

Your eyes widened at this. “What? For real??”

“Yup. Their parents got married around 5 years ago? Something along those lines. And Bomin’s mother seems to favour Chani more than him too. It kinda sucks I guess, since if you think back—Bomin has to compete with Chani’s dad and Chani for his own mother’s attention,”

“Huh…” you said. Things are making sense now. No wonder he’s always so mean to Chani. And you being close to Chani only gave him more reason to be mean to you as well, you thought.

“He’s also upset that he has to enrol Chani as an intern here since his mother kept on begging him to do so. I guess she wanted them to get along better but well,” Soomin paused. “We can see how that doesn’t work,” she scoffed.

“True…”

“She even made Bomin promise to make sure Chani gets hired here once he finishes his internship.”

“Okay…but Chani told me he’s been an intern here for almost two years now? How is that even logical? Shouldn’t he become an official employee by now??”

“Ah, about that.” Soomin cleared her throat and fixed her sitting position in her chair. “Well, uh, Bomin sort of explained to me he kind of uh, did something that made Chani’s best friend who was interning here before to quit and uh…that kid kind of moved away and stopped talking to Chani.”

“What…exactly did he do…?”

“I’m not sure either. He wouldn’t go into details about that,” Soomin sighs.

You shook your head after listening to her explanation. “Wait—he made Chani lose his own best friend. That’s like, a total red flag.” You pursed your lips for a second before saying, “Why are you dating this guy again?”

Soomin laughs at your question. “Oh come on, Y/n! I told you, he wasn’t naturally like that. He just…acts that way ever since Chani came into his life.”

“Oookay…but he humiliated me,” you lift an eyebrow at your team leader.

She slapped your hand gently and laughed again. “Hey, I told you. I’ll make him apologise to you later. He has to.”

“Sure, eonnie.” You said as you shook your head at her. There was no way you could convince her how much of a red flag Bomin is for her right now. She seemed so smitten by him. But then again, you still couldn’t believe the drama behind Bomin and Chani’s relationship. It’s almost like you’re hearing about a K-Drama series, you thought.

“Enough about me, though,” Soomin said, interrupting your thoughts.

“Hm?”

“That boy who was with you when I came to get you at the cafeteria.”

You blushed to yourself. You knew who she was referring to of course.

“Isn’t he one of the guys in that group? What was it again? Treasure?”

“Y-yeah,”

“Hmm. Interesting. He was the one we passed by in the hallways the other day, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So…are you both a couple now?” she grinned.

“Eonnie! Shut up!” you stammered from her sudden question. You could feel your cheeks burning.

“Gosh. You must really like this guy, huh. Your face is deep red right now,” she teased as she leans back into her chair.

“I uh, I’m gonna make us some more tea,” you ignored her as you got up from your seat to head towards the kitchen counter on your left.

 *

PEWA Groups (The Next Day)

The next day, instead of showing up at the YG Building, you have made your appearance at your own company’s building. Soomin had given you the day off from her team since she felt that it wouldn’t be exactly a good time for you to show up in front of your other team members since they had started gossiping about you now.

Although you were dismissed from your team, it didn’t stop you from attending work in your own office—especially since your President had requested to meet you in his office today.

You walked up the steps that led to the second floor of the building, where your department was located. As you entered the main door of your department’s office, some of the staff from other teams glanced up to look at you.

Instantly you felt goosebumps all over. Usually when you enter the doors of your office, the staff would take a quick glance at you and then resume to whatever business they have. However, today, all eyes were on you—and they stayed looking at you.

You tried to ignore and pretend that you didn’t realise their stares on you as you walk up to your desk on the other side of the room. You checked on the files and documents that were placed onto your table.

Shaking your head at the mess that was left by your other colleagues ever since you had switched teams and went to work at YGE for almost a month, you muttered to yourself, “Geez, and they still pile up all their workload here. It’s not like I’m the general clerk here anymore.” You let out a sigh. “And to think that I still have to tend to these whilst working for the other team.”

Suddenly you felt your phone buzzing in your bag. You pulled your phone out to see a text from your President.

 Mr. Bae: You in the office already? I’m free right now. Come here.

 You frowned at the text. You could feel your nerves shaking. Even though your boss’ text seemed casual like he usually is when he’s around you, you couldn’t help but worry what was the reason for him to call you into his office.

You left your desk after categorising the paperwork left there for a minute or two.

And the moment you entered your president’s office, you saw him sitting in his big swivel chair, his eyebrows furrowing as he read whatever file that was placed in front of him.

You closed the door behind you and cleared your throat to signal that you were there.

“Oh, Y/n! Nice to see you! Have a seat,” his eyebrows no longer furrowing as he glanced up to look at you.

You bowed slightly and walked up towards the chair located opposite him, sitting down as soon as you arrived.

“Hello again, Mr. Bae,” you greeted him.

“Aish, you know you don’t have to be so formal around me. We were less formal too, back then,” he smiled at you.

“Ookay…”

“I told you before, didn’t I? You being my mother’s favourite student should make us more of like—” he pauses to think for a while for the right word, “ah, right. Like, siblings?”

You choked on your own saliva when you heard him say this. As if being related to your boss’ mother wasn’t awkward enough to be reminded by from time to time; now he wants you both to act like you’re both siblings??

“Oh gosh, are you coming down with something? Do you need water?” Mr Bae asked, worried since you started coughing in all of a sudden.

You shook your head and tried to stop yourself from coughing any further. “No, no,” you coughed. “I’m fine. I was just…wait, what? Siblings??”

“Oh sorry,” he laughed a little. “I guess that was way overboard. Maybe I should have said we’re more like…cousins now?”

You showed him a thumbs up and nod slightly, agreeing that this was indeed better to describe the closeness between you and him.

Mr Bae smiled at you again, his eyes staring at you intently, as if waiting for you to say something else.

You blinked couple of times and pretended to look down at your shoes instead.

Why isn’t he saying anything?

What’s the point of me coming here if he’s gonna stare at me like that?

Gasp! Wait, has he heard of what happened to our team at YG’s recently??

Your eyes widened at this thought.

And as if he’s read your thoughts, your president broke the silence between you two by asking, “How are you holding up?”

You raised your head to look at him. “I…I’m sorry?”

“Working with the new team…how’s that going for you?”

“It’s all good…”

“What about the workshop you all conducted at YG’s? Everything good with our clients?”

“Uh…yeah, everything was fine. We finished up our final presentation yesterday too,” you answered him, uncertainty in your voice.

“I see.”

“Yeah…”

Mr Bae leaned forward towards his desk, his elbows supporting him. “I…heard of what happened yesterday.”

“Oh,” you could hear the drop in your own voice. Almost as if you’re giving away of how upset you were of what had happened.

“Y/n…”

Before you could let your boss say anything further, you instantly stood up from your seat and bowed whilst saying, “I’m so sorry, sir! I really am! I have no intention of bringing shame to our company, really,”

“Y/n,”

You shook your head, still in a bowing position. You refuse to look up at your boss. You could only imagine how much you have tainted your company’s name. And to think your company just recently had a big merge with another well-known company. The rumours of PEWA hiring an employee that was academically unfit for one of their most efficient teams must have spread around.

“Y/n…sit down,”

Slowly, you let yourself plop back into the chair behind you. Still, you refused to look up at your president.

“I want to apologise for what happened,”

Your head snapped back up to look at him. “W-what?”

“If I hadn’t told Soomin about your qualifications…”

“No, she had to know. After all, she was the one who requested for me to be in her team, no? I mean…it only made sense for you to tell her…”

“Still, I’m sorry for what happened yesterday,” he said again, his voice firm.

You nod and chuckled sympathetically at yourself. “It happened.”

Mr Bae nods back at you. “Which is why I have a favour to ask you. Wait, no. It’s more of an order,”

You tilt your head slightly. “Hm? What is it?”

“I want you to take the week off.”

“What??” You couldn’t believe your ears. Wait, why? Why are you being let off work??

“I want you to lay off any social media platforms too.”

“W-wait, why? It’s only Wednesday, sir.”

“Exactly. I want you to take today off, until Sunday. You can come back to work next Monday,”

“Hold on…are you trying to fire me off discreetly…?”

“What? No way! You’re such a good employee, that would be stupid!” he started laughing at your silly assumption.

You frowned at him. “Okay then, why cut me off work and I don’t know—THE WORLD FOR THE WHOLE WEEK?”

“Calm down, y/n,” he said, still laughing at your outburst. “I just want you to take a break from what’s happened. And—” he stopped to search for something in the lower drawer from his desk.

“This.” He slides a small box at you and you catch it before it slid off the table.

“What’s this?”

“Open it,”

You open up the box—to see an unused phone in it.

“I—what?” you asked him, confusion at 200% written on your face.

“You,” he points at you. “—will be using that phone throughout the time you’re off work this week. I’ve saved in my mother’s number, Soomin’s—”

“Wait—but I have my own phone too,”

“Oh I’ll be holding onto your phone for the time being. That is, until you return to work on Monday.”

“Huh?? But why?”

“Because I’m pretty sure you’re gonna creep on our company’s forum section to see all those people talking and posting about you. The phone I gave you doesn’t have internet access and its wifi connection is faulty too, mind you. So simply saying I’m giving you a junk phone,” he chuckles.

You fell silent, your eyes looking away from him. It was true though, you had trouble sleeping last night since you kept reading all the negative comments written by your colleagues about you, your team leader and even your president. Okay but cutting you off and giving you a junk phone?? A little too much, no?

“We’re gonna make sure the forums are cleaned so don’t worry too much, okay?”

Still, you kept quiet.

“Ah, right. Did I mention? With your temporary phone—you’ll be sent back to our hometown to stay with my mother. Just so she can keep an eye out on you and make sure you don’t get stressed out over what happens at work,”

This made you lift your head to look at him. “Hold on—WHAT?” you asked him, baffled.

Junkyu gulped to himself. Fearing the worst. Is y/n even alive at this point?

He leaned in closer to your face and lifts his finger towards your nose to check on your breathing.

“Ah, she’s still breathing. Thank goodness,” he muttered to himself as he felt warm air against his finger.

But Junkyu was still worried. Why aren’t you moving? Why are your eyes closed even when he poked you?

“Ah, right! I should give Jihoon-hyung a call,” he began rummaging through his pockets—only to realise that he had left his phone in his small bag in the practice room. Junkyu groaned to himself, disappointed that he had rushed off to find you without at least grabbing his phone.

“What should I do now? Why are you unconscious out here?” He asked you even though he knew you wouldn’t answer him.

Junkyu sat there for a minute, taking in your image in front of him right now.

Your head leaning forward, chin resting against your hands—arms hugging your knees close to yourself. You looked like you were in a deep slumber, he thought. Few strands of your hair were covering the sides of your face, making your face look small. Even with your skin turning pale by the second because of the cold breeze outside, Junkyu thought you looked pretty.

Junkyu wanted to maybe stroke your head, maybe push your strands of hair away from your face but he didn’t want to come across as creepy.

His eyes fell towards your hands. Your fingernails were turning blue.

“Ah, you must be really cold right now,” he said, panic in his voice. He realised that this wasn’t the time to stare and be mesmerised by how pretty he thinks you look—he needed to do something.

Should he go downstairs and call for his friends? Should he try to wake you up? But what if you didn’t want to see him? It had been clear that you were avoiding him.

Just what should he do now?

 *

YGE Building (Staircase Loft)

“Hyung! You should eat it this way,” Jeongwoo said as he demonstrated how he dipped his kimbap slice into his ramen broth. He pressed the kimbap into the broth, letting it sit in there for a couple of seconds.

“That’s…kinda weird…” Chani said as he watched the younger kid in front of him. “Besides, I thought your ramen finished long ago,”

“Oh, this isn’t mine. It’s Doyoung-hyung’s,”

Doyoung choked on the drink that he was drinking from, earning a slap on his back from Mashiho who was seated beside him on the staircase.

Doyoung wiped his mouth after he was done coughing. “Hey, why’d you soak the kimbap into my broth??” he pulled back his bowl from Jeongwoo’s hands.

Jeongwoo snickered at him. “Heheh I was just teaching Chani-hyung how to properly enjoy the kimbap.”

Chani shakes his head. “Nope, not gonna try it.”

“Aw come on!”

“I’ll try,” Yoshi said with his small smile. He grabbed a piece of the kimbap with his chopsticks and dipped it into his ramen broth, eating it after letting it soak for a while.

Everyone watched Yoshi munched on the kimbap.

“Hmm, good,” he said, his voice slightly muffled as he chewed on the food in his mouth.

“See? It’s good, hyung! Try it!” Jeongwoo said, still trying to convince Chani.

“I don’t know…I mean, I’m not—”

Chani got interrupted when in all of a sudden Doyoung raised his hand.

He lifts a finger to his mouth and whispered, “Shh, I think I hear footsteps approaching,”

Everyone fell silent for a while. They waited to hear if there were any more sounds.

“Hm. Nothing.” Jeongwoo said, assuming that there was nothing else to be heard.

And just as they all resumed to eating their food, they heard a loud gasp coming from behind Mashiho and Doyoung.

All of them turned their heads to look at who it was.

“Oh??” Jaehyuk said as his head popped up behind Junghwan.

“What are you doing down here??” Junghwan asked, his face in shock.

Everyone turned to look at Chani.

“Wait, you mean, me??” Chani questioned as he points at himself.

Junghwan shook his head. “Sorry, I meant—what are you all doing here?? I thought everyone was supposed to go search for Y/n!”

“Uhh, what are you guys doing here?” Chani asked Junghwan’s team back.

Junghwan, Asahi and Jaehyuk all exchanged looks with one another.

“Uhh…” Junghwan scratched his head and looks away from all of his hyungs.

“Ooohhh you’re all here to go sneak and buy some snacks from the convenience store!” Jeongwoo said, teasing the other team.

All three whom were standing on the top part of the staircase began to blush, embarrassed that their plan was exposed this way.

“Yahh, you’re all eating and having fun anyways. Why can’t we do the same?” Jaehyuk said this time, a slight whine in his voice.

“Okay, okay. Let’s not argue,” Doyoung said, getting up on his feet. “Come here, Junghwan. Here, have some of my kimbap,” he held out his ramen bowl to the maknae.

Junghwan leaned forward, peeking into the bowl. “Hyung…There’s nothing left in there…”

“Eh??” Doyoung said loudly. He checked his bowl and uses his chopstick to pick up the already broken kimbap in his broth. “What are you saying? There’s still some kimbap here. If that’s not enough—my love for you will keep you full,”

“Eyyyyyy” Everyone groaned at his pickup line.

“Noooo hyunggg don’t start,” Jeongwoo begged.

Junghwan giggled at his hyungs’ antics and shook his head. “Fine, fine. We’ll join you. What else do you all have here?”

 *

YGE Building (GS25 Mart / Ground Floor)

“That’s weird. I thought Mashiho and Jeongwoo were in charge of being down here,” Jihoon said, as both him and Yedam stood in front of the convenience mart.

Yedam looked around, “Huh. You’re right. I don’t see them around at all,”

The both of them were approached by Hyunsuk and Haruto not long after, both looking tired and hungry.

“Jihoon-aa, where are the rest?” Hyunsuk asked as he walks up towards the two in front of the store.

“Beats me,” Jihoon shrugged. “I told Yedam to text them just now though,”

Haruto pulled out his phone from his pocket and tried to dial Asahi’s number. He shook his head when the hyung failed to pick up his call.

“I guess not all of them brought their phones with them. I saw Junghwan sending his bag to the practice room earlier. He must’ve left his phone in his bag,” Hyunsuk reasoned.

“Yeah, sure, but some of them must have carried their phones with them too, you know?” Jihoon replied.

The four of them looked around the area, noticing how deserted it was considering its way past lunchtime now.

“Oh well, I guess we can buy some food first and wait for them out here after that,” Jihoon suggested. “You okay Ruto? You must be hungry, huh?” he asked the youngest among the four of them there.

Haruto nods back at his hyung, “Somewhat hungry,”

Jihoon snickers at this and gestured them all to follow him into the store. “Come on,”

And just as the four of them were about to enter the convenience store in front of them, they heard the door not too far on their left opening.

It was the door leading to the staircase loft.

The four of them turned their heads just in time to catch—

Jeongwoo and Junghwan walking out of the door and chatting with each other; oblivious that their hyungs were watching them.

“Yahhhh I know that sunbae!! He picks on the girls in my class too! Aish, what a douche!” Jeongwoo said to the maknae who was walking beside him.

“Really?? Aigoo. He should know his limits though! One time, he came over to my class to pick on the girl sitting behind me too! The sunbae said to the girl; ‘your hair is so springy like noodles even my dog wouldn’t date you’,”

Jeongwoo lets out a loud gasp. “That’s so rude?! So, if her hair is super-straight, he would’ve said said ‘my hedgehog wouldn’t date you’??” Jeongwoo said in annoyance.

The both of them stopped by the trash bin at the center of the floor and Jeongwoo discards the ramen bowls he collected from his hyungs before this.

“Oh, right. Let’s stop by the store and grab some soda for the other hyungs,” Junghwan said. Jeongwoo nods back at him.

But then, as they turned around, they saw Jihoon already standing right in front of them, a smirk on his face.

“Having fun, kids?”

“Uh oh,” both the maknaes said at the same time.

 *

YGE Building (Cafeteria / Rooftop Balcony)

You felt cold all over. You were starting to feel numb when you felt something poking your arms.

You scrunched your nose, feeling itchy in all of a sudden.

“Yahh, why won’t you wake up? How long do you want to stay like this? It’s cold here,” the voice whined.

You stirred from your position, trying to grasp the feeling of your numb body.

Slowly, you opened your eyes, expecting for your face to be hit by the bright sun despite the cold wind that you felt the whole time.

But then, instead of the sun rays hitting your pupils—you opened your eyes to meet bright, dark brown orbs staring back at you.

The both of you gasped at the same time.

You hugged your knees closer to your chin, surprised to see Junkyu sitting right in front of you, him looking as surprised as you were.

When did he get here? You were sure you had been alone earlier.

And wait—how did you not realise him being here??

Another gasp left your lips when you realised—that you had cried yourself to sleep before this.

You touched your cheeks, feeling the sticky residue from your dried-up tears. You groaned to yourself. You probably look like a mess right now.

Junkyu watched as you touched your face, shaking your head on your own and then rubbing your eyes slightly before finally looking at him again; as if you’d just remembered him being there.

“I uhh,” you began to say. “You…what are you doing here…”

“I should be asking you the same thing. Why are you huddled up here—” his eyes looked around as if judging you for choosing to sit underneath the table. “—and out here too, where it’s cold,”

Your body shivered after he pointed out the weather being cold. He was right though. You still couldn’t feel the tip of your fingers too. Your body must’ve absorbed all the cold whilst you were out asleep, you thought.

“Let’s go, we might catch a cold if we stay here any longer,” Junkyu said when you didn’t respond to his question.

“What—wait, go where?” you asked, your mind still groggy from the sleep you had.

Junkyu looked at you as if he was mortified by your silly question. “Anywhere, duh. You don’t want to stay here, do you??”

You looked away from him. A little taken aback by the way he responded to your question.

Junkyu noticed your expression changing after what he said, making him feel a little guilty. His tone must’ve sounded a little harsh, he thought.

“Look, I didn’t mean to say it like that—let’s just get back inside, okay?”

“Why are you here, Junkyu?” you asked him back, your eyes now on him again.

It was Junkyu’s turn to fall silent now, him being taken aback by your sudden question.

“You…Junkyu, look. I had a bad day. And you being here, after what happened between us; it’s all just making my head hurts. I can’t. I really can’t deal with everything like this, not all at once,” you huffed.

“I know. I’m sorry,” you heard him say, with a small voice.

You sniffled. The crying you did earlier plus the coldness out here must’ve made your nose runny, you thought as you tried to keep your runny snot from dripping out your nose that you couldn’t seem to feel at this point.

“Y/n, I know… what I said had hurt you. And I’m sorry. I really am,” he paused, staring at your eyes, trying to assure you that he meant what he said.

“I hope you know…that I didn’t mean what I said the other day,” he continued.

“But you did.”

Junkyu shakes his head, “No, I really didn’t! I just—I just…” he lowered his gaze, not looking into your eyes anymore.

You let out a sigh. Taking in a deep breath, you tried to move your legs just to make sure it doesn’t stay numb.

Junkyu kept quiet as he watches you again. His mind racing, thinking on how to make it less awkward between the both of you. He said sorry didn’t he? But why is it so hard for you to accept his apology?

After making sure that you could somewhat feel your feet as you tapped your feet against the cold floor, your eyes looked back at Junkyu, noticing that he had been watching you since just now.

“What?” You asked him.

“Where are your shoes?” He asked, curious as to why you were barefoot.

You looked down at your feet, embarrassed that he questioned you this.

“W-well, my feet were hurting from wearing my heels. Also—I don’t see the point of wearing it when I’m sitting down here, duh,”

Junkyu shrugs at your reply, not knowing what to say now.

“You don’t have to stay here, you know.” You said.

“What?”

“Wait, no. You haven’t answered my question though. What are you doing here??”

Junkyu shifted in his position, trying to make himself comfortable whilst sitting in front of you. He looked down at his hands for a while before looking back at you whom was waiting for his response.

“Well…Chani told us you had gone missing. So, we went around the building searching for you…”

“Wait—we?”

“Yeah, me and the other boys. And well, Chani too,” he added as he rolled his eyes at the moment Chani’s name came out of his mouth.

You stared at him in shock. “Whoa.” Just how did it come up to this? Why would they search for you though?

“Hold on, but you’re here,” you pointed out.

Junkyu nods at this.

“Does that mean…you’re the one that found me first?”

Again, he responds with a nod.

“Huh…” you wondered how much of a coincidence that the only person you dreaded to meet after what happened was the person that succeeded in finding out where you were.

You sniffled again, trying to stop yourself from shivering. One thing you were glad was that you had worn your slacks instead of your skirt today. At least you’d feel less cold out here.

“Y/n,”

You looked at Junkyu who was giving you a serious look right now. “Hm?”

Junkyu was determined. He was determined to explain himself to you. Sitting out here, underneath this secluded table; the cold wind slowly making his ears feel numb, he realised that this was indeed the only time he would have to actually tell you everything.

When would he get the chance to be alone with you again, right?

And so, with his trembling hands, he reached out to grab your hands in his.

“J-Junkyu,” you stuttered as soon as you felt his warm hands touch yours. What’s going on right now?

Junkyu took a deep breath before saying, “Y/n, listen, okay? I want you to listen to what I have to say.”

You blinked a couple times, your heart beating fast now. You nod your head slowly.

“Okay,” he said before swallowing the lump in his throat as he felt even more nervous now that you’re really focusing on him.

“I…I may have said some words that hurt you. And I regret it. I really did. I couldn’t sleep just thinking about how much I have hurt you. I saw how you looked at me that day—and it pains me to have you look at me that way. That isn’t the way I want you to see me as,” he shook his head.

“Y/n…I really am sorry. I really am. You might think that I have meant what I said, but I didn’t mean it. No way. You’re not annoying, not at all,” he continued.

You felt your eyes welling up. You could tell that he was trying his best to apologise sincerely but then, him talking about what happened just reminded you of how painful it was to hear him say those words about you. It hurt you so bad—to think that the person you like would have the guts to say that about you.

Junkyu felt your hands tensing up in his, so he gently rubs his thumb along your knuckles, trying to calm you down. “Y/n, look at me,” he said.

You didn’t realise that you had averted your gaze from him while you were reminiscing on what happened that day. Slowly, you lift your eyes to look at him again.

“I am so sorry. I was annoyed—yes, I admit it. But it wasn’t you I was annoyed with. I was just…upset at the time, you see. Your name crossed my mind at the time, but it wasn’t you that was annoying to me, I swear!”

You reluctantly nod at his explanation, trying to understand what he was trying to say.

“Y/n, I…Actually I…” Junkyu took another deep breath, gathering his courage. “I uh, I like—"

“AHCHOO!”

Junkyu froze in his spot, surprised by the sudden intrusion as he was about to confess his feelings for you.

“Oh my god, Junkyu! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—” you panicked as you saw him freeze and not blink after you had accidentally sneezed in his direction.

Pulling your hands out of his hold, you looked around, as if you’re looking for something.

“Damn, I didn’t bring ‘em,” you complained to yourself since you were sure you had tissues in your bag.

You turned your attention back to Junkyu who was still silent, probably still in shock of you sneezing at him. Great, he probably thinks I’m gross now, you thought.

“Junkyu, I—”

“Do you want to go inside?” He suddenly says, interrupting you from panicking any further.

“S-sure,”

 *

YGE Building (3rd Floor / Treasure’s Practice Room)

“Hold ‘em straight! That’s right, just like that,” Jihoon’s firm voice boomed in the walls of their practice room.

“Hyungggg please, my arms are screaming at me, can we please not do this??” Jeongwoo cries out, his arms shaking from holding it up straight for the past 10 minutes.

“It’s only been 10 minutes Jeongwoo,” Jaehyuk said to him.

“Still! I’m tired!” Jeongwoo continued whining.

Jihoon shakes his head at the younger boy and scanned his eyes around the room to see if anyone was trying to get out of the punishment.

The only boys who weren’t punished were of course, Jihoon, Hyunsuk, Haruto and Yedam. The other three aside from Jihoon were sitting comfortably on the floor, eating up hot ramen from their purchase earlier.

“This isn’t fair, my team was the last to join them eating, hyung. We didn’t loiter as long as they did,” Junghwan complained, pointing out that the other teams had indeed stopped their search way earlier than he did.

“Now, now. You all have another 10 minutes to go. If I hear any more complaints, I’m adding another more 5 minutes, get it?”

“Awww nooo hyung!” “No way!” the younger kids in front of him groaned as they struggle to stay still.

“Aigoo Jihoon-aa. Just let them go already. Come here and eat with us, will ya?” Hyunsuk called out to his co-leader.

Jihoon looks back at the boys in front of him before shrugging and attending to Hyunsuk’s side. He sat himself down beside his hyung and grabbed the bowl of noodles in front of him.

“Here, hyung,” Haruto handed him a can of cold drink as he took one for himself.

“Thanks,” Jihoon said, earning a nod from the boy.

“Yah, aren’t you gonna let them go just yet?” Hyunsuk asked again, concerned that the kids might feel too tired for practice later.

“I want to. But I can’t yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” Jihoon stopped stirring his halfway-soggy noodles to turn and look at the rest whom were still raising their hands up. His eyes fell upon a specific person, making him smirk as he turns back to Hyunsuk who was still looking at him with concern. “I think it’s kinda fun. Don’t you think so, hyung?”

Hyunsuk furrowed his eyebrows and looks over at the others. “Jihoon…I know what you’re doing,”

“Aigoo, hyung. He deserves it too, no? He’s been bothering you and Junkyu’s minds lately—as if I don’t know that,” Jihoon chuckled, finally taking a big slurp from his bowl.

Hyunsuk looks over at the rest again and mouthed a ‘sorry’ to them since he couldn’t help them much.

“Yah, Kim Doyoung. Stop moving about, will ya? You’re distracting me,” Chani complained.

Doyoung rolled his eyes at the boy. “I wasn’t moving at all. I was just scooting next to Asahi-hyung,”

“Hey, no moving about!”

“There was no rule about changing seat positions, though,” Yoshi defended Doyoung.

“Yeah, he’s just scooting over. Chill it, will ya?” Junghwan replied in annoyance at the hyung.

“This is stupid. Why am I even here anyways,” Chani huffed, dissatisfied as to how he was getting punished as well.

“Yeah. Why are you here, huh?” Jaehyuk asked back.

“Beats me. Your hyungs brought me here along with you guys. This is stupid, I’m putting my arms down—”

“If Chani puts his arms down, I’m adding 10 more minutes for you all,” Jihoon’s voice said in all of a sudden.

Instantly, all the boys surrounded Chani and forced him to raise his arms up all over again.

“Hey, hey! What are you all doing?? Let go of me! Hyungggg they’re all breaking the rules!”

“Hm?” Jihoon tilts his head as he watches his kids and Chani struggling to push one another.

“Yah, yah, yah! That’s dangerous! Stop it, kids!” Hyunsuk said to them but they all ignored him.

Haruto and Yedam stayed put in their spots laughing as they watched Mashiho managed to hold both Chani’s arms up and the rest of the boys laughing and cheering at him.

Jihoon too, giggled as he watched this. “Hmm, Hyunsuk-hyung is right. Kids, you all can stop.”

“Oh?” The boys stopped and turned to look at Jihoon.

“Yup, you all are free,”

“YAYYYYYYY FREEDOMMMMMM” Jeongwoo ran around the room, chanting the word freedom over and over.

“Except for Chani,”

“What?” Chani looks at him in disbelief.

“Hey, I would’ve let you go but you were the noisiest at the end,” Jihoon shrugs.

“No way,”

“Okay kids, make sure Chani stays putting his arms up for another 10 minutes,” Jihoon said casually before returning to eat his food.

“Hey, that’s not fair! I’m not even your team member. Where’s your sidekick, huh? Shouldn’t he be getting punished too?”

“Huh, he has a point though. Where is Junkyu anyways?” Hyunsuk asks Jihoon.