Soonyoung shifted nervously in his chair. A few days had passed since his break down, and he found himself no longer able to keep all his feelings in check. After confiding in Wonwoo, Soonyoung continued to be angry, if only out of spite. It wasn't until the day before when Seungcheol finally forced Soonyoung to sit down and talk to him is when Soonyoung finally started to feel his anger dissipate. Seungcheols words rang with familiarity, as they were almost identical to what Wonwoo had told him only a few days before. If both Wonwoo and Seungcheol were preaching the same message, Soonyoung started to realize that there might be truth to what they were saying.

So Soonyoung found himself waiting for Seokmin at a small table in their front lobby. After his talk with Seungcheol, he realized that yes, he did need to actually talk to Seokmin, rather then just yell at him. So Seungcheol took it upon himself to let Seokmin know that Soonyoung would be waiting for him the next day to talk.

Seungcheol was happy that Soonyoung seemed to be finally coming around. Not only for the well being of his friends, but for the whole group. They had recently held a live feed video on a new app, which didn't star their usually bright eyed, wide smiling Seokmin, but a much more solemn one. He couldn't find himself to be particularly cheerful about anything, even for their fans. Which they easily caught whiff of, if the nearly never ending comments of how sad Seokmin looked was anything to go by.

Soonyoung began to twiddle his fingers. It would be an understatement to say that he was nervous. This would mark the first time since his accusation that they would be alone together. He'd be surprised to see Seokmin even show up. He probably wouldn't if he was in Seokmins shoes.

But apparently Seungcheols convincing powers were far beyond what Soonyoung originally thought. Soonyoung caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and slowly looked to see a meek looking Seokmin start to approach the table he was sat at. Seokmin kept his head low, not making any sort of eye contact. He looked scared, which pulled at Soonyoungs heart. He almost forgot how good of friends they had been before the whole love potion fiasco took place.

When Seokmin finally took his seat, he lifted his gaze a little higher, seemingly to give off a signal to Soonyoung that he was listening. Soonyoung just stared at the boy he once called his best friend. How could this change in Seokmin be his fault? It hurt to look at, even worse so because he knew that the boys body language was all because of him.

Soonyoung then took a deep breath, prepping himself for his apology.

“Hey.”

Well, that wasn't exactly how he planned to start it off, but at least it was a start.

The simple greeting seemed to catch Seokmin off guard. He finally lifted his eyes up to Soonyoung, but he still kept his head low.

When the two boys eyes finally locked, a flood of emotions from the past raced through Soonyoung. The happiness he felt when he and Seokmin played off each other in a joke. The easy going feeling he felt whenever they were together in peaceful silent. The pleasure he got from their little escapades. And finally the heart shattering feeling from when he realized what had actually happened. The only thing missing was the love he knew he must have felt to have caused all this drama.

A small shiver ripped through Seokmins body. Soonyoung knew then that Seokmin had also experienced a similar experience to what had just happened to himself.

“Do you love me?”

Soonyoung was ready to smack himself. None of this was going as planned, which was entirely his own fault.

Seokmin pursed his lips at the question. Unbeknownst to Soonyoung, Seokmin had also had quite the heart to heart with Seungcheol when the leader had come to tell him about the meeting he was going to have with Soonyoung. The main thing he got out of it was that he needed to be honest. Nothing was going to come of him just agreeing to whatever Soonyoung accused him of.

Seokmin was mad at himself now that he made the decision to answer all of Soonyoungs questions honestly. He was almost tempted to revert back to his earlier mentality of just giving Soonyoung the answers he thought the blonde wanted. But no. He couldn't start back tracking now that he was finally talking to Soonyoung again.

Seokmin gritted his teeth before finally answering with a simple, “Yes.”

Soonyoung thought that hearing the boy actually confirm his suspicions would have effected him in someway, but it didn't. Maybe his subconscious had known all along and had already come to terms with the fact that his best friend loved him.

Soonyoung just nodded in understanding.

“So was that why you did all those thing?” Questioned Soonyoung softly. His voice sounded much sadder then it had just a few seconds before.

Seokmin swallowed at that. He knew it was coming, the question as to why he did what he did. But it didn't keep his heart from plummeting into the depths of his stomach. Not so much from the question, but for the answer he was about to give.

“Yes.” Came Seokmins voice again, but it had also lowered in volume, mirroring Soonyoung despondent mood.

Soonyoung rubbed his face hard, not expecting the sudden sorrow that had overcome him because of Seokmins answer.

“But why?” Soonyoungs voice came out quite pitchy, so he stopped and swallowed the lump in his throat down before continuing. “Why would you take advantage of me in that state?”

Seokmin took a deep breath, to calm his nerves. But it came out shakey on the exhale, which did little to calm him before answering.

“Because. I know you don't love me. And probably never will. So I was selfish and grabbed hold of it while I could. The fake relationship that I had always wanted with you.” Seokmins words came out quite evenly, which surprised him immensely. “And I'm sorry for that. I can only hope in time that you'll forgive me.”

Soonyoung stared at Seokmin, his mind reeling with all the information he got out of his few sentences.

He was only starting to come to terms with the fact that Seokmin had liked him, so hearing that Seokmin 'loved' him so much that he would be desperate enough to say, ' it' to their friendship just to get a piece of something he knew would only lead to a horrible ending was almost too much for Soonyoung to bare.

Soonyoung couldn't imagine how much Seokmin must have actually wanted it. Some sort of relationship deeper then just friends. To ruin said friendship just to get a taste of what a relationship would have been like. Soonyoung had to admit, it was selfish of Seokmin.

But he also couldn't say he blamed Seokmin, now that he knew that he did it because of his 'love'. Maybe Seokmin did love him. But the way Soonyoung saw it, the love Seokmin held for him was quite tainted. The love Seokmin had for Soonyoung was one that was breed out of want for something you don't have, not mutual emotional attachment.

Seokmin 'loved' Soonyoung so much that he would take anything that was given to him that resembled something more then friendship. Which was not the love Soonyoung wanted.

Soonyoung clenched his eyes when he came to his realization. He was glad he hadn't started out with his apology as planned. He no longer felt like he needed to after realizing completely what had happened.

Seokmin looked at Soonyoung hopefully. He had been quiet since his confession, which reminded Soonyoung that he should probably say something.

“Alright.”

It was the only word Soonyoung could think of saying that seemed appropriate. He no longer was mad at what Seokmin did, for he now knew the reasoning behind it. But it didn't mean everything was dandy either.

“...'Alright'?” Questioned back Seokmin. It definitely wasn't the answer he wanted.

“Yes. Alright. I now understand why you did it. Which was all I wanted to know.” Came Soonyoung eloquent reply.

“So. Are we good?” Soonyoung looked into Seokmins hopeful eyes. But it was time for Soonyoung to be honest.

“I don't know actually.” Seokmin visually deflated at that. “I can't say I forgive you for what you did, because that would mean that I was over what you did. But I'm not. I don't think I'll ever be. But at least now we can maybe restart our friendship.”

A feeling close to rage flared up in Seokmin. After all that, that was the answer he was getting? He almost felt cheated. But the only thing holding him back from acting on the small fire in his stomach was the small voice in his mind that reminded him that this is what he deserves. Not everything can go back to being normal after an apology. There was consequences for your actions. Seokmin settled down a little with those thoughts. At least he could start to repair what he had thoughtlessly destroyed.

He let a small, albeit fake, smile settle on his lips. “Alright then. Lets start over.”

Seungcheol sat on the ground, just barely out of earshot of the two boys who occupied a table not too far from his hiding spot. Seungcheol was doing all he could without reveling his hiding spot to the boys he was spying on. For the two being the loudest in their group, they were speaking pretty low.

Just when Seungcheol came to the conclusion that he was wasting his time trying to overhear their conversation, a small hand landed on his shoulder. He let out a small squeal at the sudden scare, but quickly slapped a hand over his mouth and checked to see if either Soonyoung or Seokmin had heard him. Neither looked like they noticed anything, to Seungcheols relief.

Seungcheol then turned back to his sudden visitor, only to be greeted by a confused Jihoon.

Jihoon opened his mouth, ready to interrogate Seungcheol as to why he was sitting on the floor of the hallway. Before he could get any sound out though, Seungcheol slapped a hand over Jihoons mouth, effectively shutting him up. Seungcheol hissed a small, “Shh!” behind his forefinger, which he had pressed to his own mouth. Jihoon could only glare at the older boy. Without unclasping his hand from Jihoons mouth, Seungcheol smoothing slid to his feet and started to guide the shorter of the two back down the hallway, the way he had come.

Jihoon was soon fed up with Seungcheols actions, and decided to remove the hand from his mouth himself if Seungcheol wasn't going to do so on his own accord.

Only when they reach far enough away was when Jihoon was finally able to rip the hand away from his mouth. It was apparent that he was only able to because Seungcheol had decided they had made it far enough away to finally allow the shorter to speak. Jihoon was reminded in small moments like this of how strong Seungcheol actually was.

Still irritated though, Jihoon spat out a, “What the hell was that?”

Seungcheol could only sheepishly smile back at him. “I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to say anything.”

“And why was I not allowed to say anything?” Questioned Jihoon harshly.

“Because Soonyoung and Seokmin were finally having the heart to heart they needed.” Came Seungcheols easy reply. During so, he started to saunter off farther into the building, leaving Jihoon to follow if he wanted to continue the conversation.

“So you were spying on them?” Accused Jihoon. He was still miffed by how he was man handled, so he was pulling out every jab he could think of to throw at Seungcheol. But if Jihoon had learned anything in the years he knew Seungcheol, it was that he was pretty much impervious to Jihoons snide remarks.

“Yep.” Replied Seungcheol matter of factly. Jihoon followed after Seungcheol for a little bit after that, curious as to where the boy was going. They soon found themselves in front of the small refrigerator they had in the building. Seungcheols grin grew wide as Jihoon watched the boy throw open the door to the freezer section. There wasn't much to be honest. Just a few bags of frozen fruit for if they wanted a smoothie and a box that read, 'VERNONS' in bold letters. Seungcheol easily disregarded the labeling on the box and went to check what Vernon had inside said box. Seungcheols face lit up when he saw what was inside.

“Score!” Shouted Seungcheol excitedly. Jihoon couldn't keep the judgmental face he had on at Seungcheols antics. Said boy then proceeded to pull two popsicles from the box, which Seungcheol then handed to Jihoon to hold as he returned the box to its original place in the freezer.

Neither boy questioned the morality of taking the popsicles that were obviously Vernons, the boy could always go out and buy more if he wanted them so badly.

Jihoon handed one back to Seungcheol wordlessly, as Seungcheol gave Jihoon a small thanks at the action. They both then proceeded to rip off the plastic that covered the treat. Jihoon wasn't really in the mood for such a sugary treat, but he knew he could never refuse Seungcheol when it came to be offered something.

Seungcheol then hopped up onto the counter next to the refrigerator, as Jihoon leaned against it. Both quite as they enjoyed their stolen treat.

Jihoon glanced over to the preoccupied boy next to him. In these moments was when Jihoon realized how much he had grown to really care for the older. The comfortable silence that settled between them made Jihoons heart swell with affection. He found it a rare occurrence to find himself in a comfortable silence around others, for they seemed to take Jihoons silence as hostility and tried to either make awkward conversation or just leave altogether.

Seungcheol finished his much sooner then Jihoon. Seungcheol had taken quite big bites out of the cold popsicle, something Jihoon wouldn't ever dream of doing out of fear of the backlash he would get from biting into something so cold.

Jihoon was only halfway done when Seungcheol hopped down from his perch on the counter, and turned to Jihoon. Jihoon sent him a questioning look as Seungcheol proceeded to stare at Jihoon his popsicle.

Seungcheol only blinked, then asked, “Are you going to finish that?”

Jihoon deadpanned at the boy, sending him a look that easily read as, 'Does it look like I'm ing done?' As he continued to eat his treat.

Seungcheol looked like a kicked puppy at that. Jihoon sighed before offering over the sticky treat to Seungcheol, whose emotions did a complete 180 after seeing the offered food.

“Thank you~!” Sang Seungcheol, who immediately bit into Jihoons popsicle while it was still in Jihoons grasp. Jihoon could only mumble out something that could have gone along the lines of, 'didn't really want the thing in the first place anyways.'

Seungcheol didn't seem to notice Jihoons muttering as he continued to take another bite, still not taking the offered object from Jihoon.

“Are you going to take it or what?” Asked Jihoon. He tried to sound exasperated, but it came out a little too playful for his liking.

Seungcheol took another bite before answering with a, “But I like it when you feed me.”

Jihoon only blinked at the leader. “I'm not feeding you. I'm holding it as you eat it.” Jihoons eye caught some of the popsicle melting onto the stick just above his grasp. “And you better take it before it makes a mess all over my hand.” Warned Jihoon.

Seungcheol seemed to be content with ignoring Jihoon as he went to take another bite. But Jihoon wasn't about to let his hand get sticky just because Seungcheol was lazy. Jihoon all but shoved the thing into Seungcheols mouth. If he wasn't going to take the thing willingly, he was going to force him to take it.

Seungcheol reared back out of surprise, taking the popsicle in his mouth with him. Jihoon smirked a little, for mission accomplished. He was almost proud of himself before he looked down to see that he had not avoided getting a drop into his hand. He scowled down at it, then up to Seungcheol, who he blamed for what had happened.

In the mean time, Seungcheol had taken the time to completely finish off the rest of the popsicle. He found himself rearing back once again when suddenly Jihoon shoved his hand up into Seungcheols view.

“Look at what you did. Take responsibility.” Came Jihoons clipped words. He waited, as he expected Seungcheol to turn and wet a paper towel for him. What he hadn't expected was for Seungcheol to lean down a a long strip onto Jihoons hand, effectively getting the whole drop while leaving a long trail of saliva on Jihoons hand. Jihoon didn't know which fate was worse.

Jihoon let his had drop to glare at the wide smile on Seungcheols face. He looked quite proud of himself.

“You're lucky you're you. Anyone else would find themselves waking up in a ditch somewhere if they did what you just did.” Came Jihoons dark words.

Seungcheol then lunged at Jihoon, at the while shouting, “Aww! I knew you loved me!~”

Jihoon was fighting too hard to keep Seungcheols large body off him to reply properly.

A few more weeks had passed, and it looked like almost everything was back to the way it was before a love potion has slipped into the midst that was Seventeen. Today, they found themselves on a variety show. As usual, they were playing in teams of three, split into their respective units within the group.

It was hip hop teams turn to take on the game performance team had just ended. Each one of the boys in hip hop unit held a white board in their laps. They would be asked various questions about their unit members, to which they had answered before they came on to the show. The point of the game was to see how well each one knew each other, and each correct answer would count as a point for their team.

The questions regarding Seungcheol were first, consisting of questions along the lines of, “Does S.Coups sleep on his side, stomach, or back?” Surprisingly, Vernon was the one out the the remaining three in hip hop unit to answer the most correctly about Seungcheol. The leader rewarded him with a tight arm around the boys neck that he tried to play off as a hug and not a headlock.

Next were the questions for Wonwoo. Wonwoo shifted in his spot next to the MC nervously. To be honest, he was actually quite curious to see how well his team members knew him. Wonwoo looked up to Mingyu, who wore a determined expression. He was ready to show off his Wonwoo knowledge prowess.

The first question was read off by the MC, which was, “Would Wonwoo rather go to the beach or hiking in the mountains?” Almost instantly, Mingyu scribbled his answer onto his board. He sat expectantly, waiting for the two others to write their answers.

When asked to reveal their answers, Both Mingyu and Seungcheol wrote hiking, while a sheepish looking Vernon revealed his to read beach. The MC revealed that hiking was the answer that Wonwoo had picked. When asked to explain how they knew their answers, Mingyu was quick to answer.

“I just remember him mentioning how much he enjoyed hiking around the forest when we were taking photos for our 2nd album.” Explained Mingyu easily.

Wonwoos heart swelled a little at the fact Mingyu remembered such an offhanded comment, especially since what he remembered happened before they had started dating.

3 questions later, the scores were read as Vernon with 2 points, Seungcheol with 3 points, and finally Mingyu who held a perfect score so far.

That was when the MC announced that this was going to be the last question about Wonwoo. Mingyu seemed to sit up straighter, expectant.

“Who in Seventeen do you think Wonwoo would pick as being closest to?”

Unlike all the questions beforehand, Mingyu didn't instantly start to write his answer on the board. Instead, he looked straight into Wonwoos eyes, trying to figure out what route Wonwoo had gone down for his choice.

The first route could be what they originally planned to do, which was act seemingly distant or playfully rude towards each other when ever it came to an on camera interaction. They were well aware of the fans tendency towards shipping them together, so they needed to play it cool when it came to hiding their relationship from the public.

But the second route was the honest path. Where they allowed themselves to slip a little on camera, to give fans a little something to talk about.

Mingyu must have seen an answer in Wonwoos eyes, since he turned his gaze downward and started to write his answer.

Seungcheol and Vernon were done quite a bit ago, which left them waiting on Mingyu to finish writing his answer.

The MC then asked for the three to reveal their boards. Vernons had 'Jun?' written in very shakey handwriting. The smile and shrug relieved that it was just a random name he had thrown out. He already knew he wasn't going to win, so he decided to just pick any member, to give the show a little something more then generic answers. Plus it would get their fans confused and would probably start a frenzied search to find any Jun and Wonwoo moments, trying to find the reason as to why Vernon thought the two were close.

Seungcheols had '$.Coups!' written in bold lettering, a proud smile on his face.

Lastly, Mingyus was revealed to have 'Mingyu' written in small lettering in the middle of the board. His small smile gave away only the fact that he was happy with his answer.

Many 'Ohhs' and 'Ahhh' came from the peanut gallery that was the rest of Seventeen. If you hadn't been paying attention, you would have missed the small look Jeonghan shared with Jisoo, his eyebrow raised in disbelief.

The MC was proud to announce that Wonwoos answer was indeed Mingyu, cheerfully slapping a happy Mingyu on the back in congratulations. “And with that, it's a perfect score for Mingyu! No wonder Wonwoo picked you as the one he's closest with!”

Mingyu easily shrugged off the MC boisterous words. “It was nothing, you should have asked harder questions!”

Wonwoo was finding it hard to keep his smile from getting wider then appropriate. He knew he probably had a camera trained on him, and he didn't want to give the editors any reason to show his face in the broadcast in this moment. But to think that Mingyu could read him that easily.

Wonwoo then returned to his seat next to Mingyu, for it was Vernons turn to have questions answered about him.

Wonwoos tried to keep his facial expressions toned down to a light happiness, but Mingyu was like a ray of sunshine. They allowed themselves to share a quick look, but that was all that they needed. They both knew they were happy that Mingyu knew so much and showed off the fact that he did.

As a reward for them both, Wonwoo allowed his shoulder to touch Mingyus all throughout Vernons round of questions.