“They’re going out”

“Hyomin?!” Hyuna said, a little too loudly “Hyomin and Joon?!”

Junhyung raised his eyebrows, “Yeah, they have been, since a few weeks ago”

She was stunned, and her face reflected it. She had never felt so stupid, the added embarrassment she felt didn’t serve to help the situation at all. In this light, a lot of things made more sense now—how Junhyung didn’t seem fazed by her public confession of her ideal type, how he wasn’t affected at her overfriendliness with the guy, how he didn’t seem to take her liking to Joon seriously.

Her shoulders slumped, it was another failed mission. She couldn’t continue with it, knowing that a couple was now involved. Her lips scrunched up into a sad pout in an attempt to keep the emotions from getting out. Why hadn’t she found out sooner?

Something inside him stirred at her expression, and he couldn’t make out what it was.

No, it couldn’t be, could it? He would have known if it was. It was something remotely familiar to him, a trace of feeling his body remembered from long past relationships, no doubt. But there was just no way it could be what he was feeling, he simply had no right—they had no obligations to each other, other than common courtesy and friendly tendencies.

And yet there it was, brewing deep inside him—getting more and more pronounced in his thinking. It defied all logic and baffled him to no end.

Jealousy.

Jealousy that Hyuna had felt something strong enough to make her this defeated when it came to Joon, and not to him. And he knew it. He discovered a selfish side to him that wanted those feelings directed only towards him. He wouldn’t hurt her, like Joon—who didn’t know he was affecting her so—he would know how to treat her, how to keep her happy.

It was scary just how deeply it affected him, stemming from what must be—in some form or the other—an even deeper sense of affection for this petite anomaly sitting beside him, oblivious of the going-ons in his mind right now.

The next question, then, was—since when? For how long had this newfound affection been lying unnoticed by the one who declared confidently that he always knew what he wanted?

“You didn’t know?” He unconsciously voiced out, more to himself than anyone

It must’ve come off sounding like a scoff—the question was directed to himself—for Hyuna shot him a look, “What do you think?” she shot back, indignant at his lack of understanding for her situation.

Not soon after, her eyebrows furrowed into a frown as she was lost deep in her own thoughts again. Something was just not fitting. Hyomin was her good friend, since filming Invincible Youth, yet she never heard a word from Hyomin about Joon, even when Hyuna had told her of her plans for revealing to the public that he was her ideal type. Was she not trusted? Was she not a friend?

The thought hurt her, more so because she knew there was a possibility it was true. She adored Hyomin but was selfish in thinking her freindly feelings would be reciprocated. There was always this light tension—barely noticeable—between them and Hyuna just could never figure out why.

If Hyomin had just told her about her feelings, Hyuna would have quickly clarified that she really felt nothing for Joon except for admiration for his stage performances. Joon knew himself of her plans to gauge Junhyung’s feelings towards her (she was getting mixed signals, she had complained) by being blatantly public of their overfriendliness, and he agreed to help her.

…Now that she thought about it, why hadn’t Joon told her about Hyomin, either? Hyomin, at least, was busy with promotions and couldn’t meet up often. Joon, on the other hand, she had just seen hours earlier. And the day before that. And the week before that.

“Arghhh!!” She whined loudly, her mind in a frustrating mess, “This is driving me insane!”

A second later, she found herself surrounded by a pair of gentle—yet firm—arms, a broad chest blocking her line of sight. “J-Junhyung…?” The close proximity made her nervous

He didn’t reply—he couldn’t. What could he say? He himself didn’t know how to explain his sudden impulse upon seeing her in that condition.

Instead, his arms wound around her tightly and she found herself pressed up even closer against his firm chest. She gasped silently, all other thoughts flying out of her brain in that instant. The closeness, the arms, the breathing, his scent—she couldn’t say she hated the position she was in.

Relaxing slightly—her previous frustration only replaced by an addicting thrill she felt from the nervousness of being held this close, by him no less—she found herself resting her head forward on his left shoulder.

She let out a soft sigh, her breath grazing the part of his chest not covered by his loose—and revealing—tank top. His skin tingled at the sensation and he realized the position they were in. Silently thanking KiKwang for overstretching his tank top that one time he borrowed it—and mentally taking note of this one time that that muscle babo was finally useful for—Junhyung wondered when he would decide to release her from his selfish clutches.

The obvious answer was… well, obvious.

The logical answer, however, screamed at him from all sides.

Sitting here alone in a large practice studio, hugging her tightly and feeling her shy breath on his skin, he knew it exactly.

Never.

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a/n: lol, this is embarassing >_< but thanks for reading (if you managed to get this far, that is. I know it was hard, I tend to drag things out haha)