It had officially began. As soon as Taeyong sat down with them for lunch that afternoon, an awkward silence immediately enveloped the table where the five best friends sat. There was none of their usual loud bantering or Johnny’s loud cackling, there was no mean yet honest criticizing from Yuta, or one of Hansol’s daily lectures about the magic of friendship… instead it was completely silent, with the exception of Jaehyun biting down on some chips.

Yuta let out a loud sigh before angrily stabbing his food with his fork while giving Johnny what was probably the deadliest glare ever.  Of course it was awkward. Taeyong believed that Yuta was in love with him, and the other boys knew how in love Taeyong was with Ten. It was also awkward after Taeyong had so brutally “rejected” Yuta’s fake love confession and after having seen that hug earlier that morning. Although Yuta’s confession wasn’t real, Taeyong didn’t know that, so it was hard for the guys to act like everything was normal.

“So, Taeyong…” Johnny suddenly spoke, much to everyone’s relief, “What do we owe this surprise visit to? I mean, not that we mind, but you haven’t joined us during lunch for over two weeks now.” He said, not missing the way Yuta stabbed his food again and again all while staring straight at him. Johnny gulped before looking back at Taeyong and waiting for his reply.

“Ten had to study for a test with his friends today, so I came to join you,” Taeyong replied simply before asking, “You guys don’t mind right? I mean, I know I’ve been a little pre-occupied with Ten lately, but we’re still best friends right?” He looked around the table at each of his friends who, for the most part stayed quiet, unsure of what to say. It’s not like they were angry at Taeyong, but rather, they were disappointed that Taeyong had ignored them for so long just because of a boy who didn’t seem to care about him.

“Of course we are!” Hansol finally said with the kindest of smiles on his face. The others nodded in agreement and Taeyong let out sigh of relief. He didn’t want to lose his friends.

Yuta rolled his eyes and shook his head before suddenly picking his things up and standing up, “I’m not that hungry today, see you guys later.” He put his hand on Johnny’s shoulder and gave it hard and painful squeeze before leaving.

“Awkward,” Jaehyun mumbled as he continued to eat his chips while watching Yuta quickly walk away and make his way towards the exit. He slowly put the bag down upon realizing the other’s eyes were on him, judging him for eating at a moment like this one.

Johnny immediately stood up as well, “I’m gonna go check on him,” he announced before turning to leave and chase after the other. However, before he could, Taeyong grabbed his wrist and shook his head when Johnny looked back at him, “I’ll do it.” Taeyong said nothing more as he stood up and quickly followed after Yuta, who was halfway out of the cafeteria.

“Yuta!” Taeyong called his friend’s name out loud as he came up behind him and grabbed his wrist. He didn’t give the boy a chance to respond, he was immediately dragging the younger boy somewhere where, they could hopefully talk privately and with less pair of eyes staring at them.

Yuta leaned back against the car while looking down at his feet and avoiding all eye contact with Taeyong. He usually wasn’t the type to act this way, especially not towards his friends, but the awkwardness of this entire situation was just too much to bare. He hated having to lie to Taeyong with something this huge. He hated how silent it had been during lunch. And most of all, he hated that none of their friends could act normal because of this fake love confession.

“Yuta,” Taeyong stood next to him, leaning against his own car as well before hesitantly asking, “D-Did Johnny put you up to this?” This whole thing had Johnny written all over it, however, Taeyong didn’t want to hurt Yuta’s feelings by asking this. What if his friend’s confession had actually been genuine? He certainly didn’t want to treat that as a joke.  

“YES!” Yuta replied instantly, a huge smile immediately spreading across his previously gloomy face. He wrapped his arms around Taeyong out of pure joy, “He blackmailed me Taeyong, he has a picture of me so I had to do it but I swear I didn’t want to.”

Taeyong decided to ignore the comment about the photo and instead let out a small laugh and a sigh of relief, he patted Yuta’s back as the other continued to cling onto him, “Stupid Johnny,” he mumbled to himself, “Always so overprotective.”

Yuta let go of Taeyong as he nodded in agreement, “I know right?” he asked before adding, “And he made me go along with his stupid plan too.” He scoffed and shook his head in pure annoyance, “I mean, no offense Taeyong, but I think we can both agree that I’m just a little too good for you. After all, I am such a catch,” he stated proudly.

Taeyong smiled widely as he shook his head, “There’s my savage best friend,” he said happily. “I hated that awkwardness from before.” Taeyong looked over at Yuta and the two immediately began to laugh, both extremely glad that things could go back to normal after such an uncomfortable lunch earlier. After all, their friendship meant a lot to them.

“By the way, you and Ten actually look pretty good together,” Yuta added after a while, “but don’t tell Johnny I said that.” Taeyong smiled another bright smile, and this time it was him who hugged Yuta tightly. The opinions of his friends wouldn’t change how Taeyong felt towards Ten, but it was still nice to slowly gain their support anyways. His friends were very important to him after all.

“Hey, I know you’re in love with Ten and all, and that you’re determined to win his heart,” Yuta started as an evil smile spread across his handsome face, “but what do you say we mess with Johnny for a little?”

“Actually, I think this could be beneficial for both of us,” Taeyong said as he slowly nodded in agreement, “Ten seems to be coming around, but a little jealousy might just speed up the process.”

The two friends gave each other knowing smiles as they slowly nodded. Despite it being unspoken, they both knew what the other was thinking and agreed that the plan could be beneficial for them both. Yuta could get back at Johnny and Taeyong could make Ten jealous and give the boy that final push to finally accept his feelings and, hopefully, confess his own.

“Is that-” Hansol squinted his eyes as he looked towards the other end of the hallway at two figures that seemed to walk straight towards them.

“No! It can’t possibly be-” Jaehyun exclaimed as he walked up besides Hansol, the two figures now a lot closer “B-But it is!”

“So… my plan worked?” Johnny asked himself, “Yuta and Taeyong? Together?” He held his stomach as he suddenly felt himself grow nauseous at the sight of two of his best friends walking down the hallway, holding hands, and smiling at each other like two lovesick puppies. The sight was truly disturbing and something no one expected to see. Although it was his plan, Johnny felt like the two, despite looking awfully cute, just didn’t go together.

“Hey guys!” Yuta greeted them brightly as he and Taeyong passed by the three. Taeyong also waved at them with an equally big smile on his handsome face. Both seemed uncharacteristically happy, but it was more of a shock to see Yuta actually smiling such a huge smile.

Jaehyun, Yuta, and Johnny watched with wide eyes and slightly opened mouths as Yuta and Taeyong walked right past them and towards their classroom. They raised their hands slightly and waved at, what they assumed, was the new couple. It wasn’t just their friends who eyed Yuta and Taeyong, they had the attention of everyone near them, including a confused and upset looking Ten.

It was the last ten minutes before the final bell and Ten was currently in his final class of the day, venting to his friends instead of focusing on finishing up the last of his math problems, “I’m dead serious guys, I saw it very clearly with my own two eyes, Taeyong was holding hands with Yuta!”

“Okay but maybe it wasn’t in a couple way,” Doyoung said as he worked on his own classwork, “I mean, I’ve seen the way Taeyong stares at you during lunch, he really likes you Ten, feelings like those don’t just go away overnight.”

Taeil nodded in agreement as he put his pencil down, his classwork was already finished, “I agree with Doyoung.” He passed his worksheet over to Ten, knowing that his friend probably wouldn’t be able to get anything done since he was too distracted, “And besides, didn’t you say that Taeyong had already told Yuta that he couldn’t accept his feelings?”

Ten nodded as he quickly copied down the answers from Taeil’s worksheet, “Yeah, he did,” the boy let out a sad sigh, “but maybe he got tired of waiting around for me and decided to give Yuta a chance? Or maybe he realized that Yuta is better looking than me. Or maybe he-”

Before Ten could finish, Doyoung cut him off, “Ten, trust us, that boy is head over heels for you.”

“Besides, I don’t think you need to worry about Taeyong not liking you anymore,” Taeil said as he motioned towards the window. Ten turned around and felt his heart skip a beat when his eyes landed on the beautiful male that was Lee Taeyong.

Despite being happy, part of Ten was beyond confused when he saw Taeyong waiting outside his classroom that day, leaning against the wall across the room while staring down at his cell phone and looking as handsome as ever. It wasn’t unusual for Taeyong to come and pick him up after class, however, Ten had figured that since he had seen him with Yuta earlier, that would no longer be the case. But, maybe his friends were right and Ten had just overthought the entire thing. After all, Taeyong claimed to be in love with him and feelings like those didn’t fade away so quickly. At least, Ten hoped those feelings wouldn’t go away, because he was finally starting to feel ready to let Taeyong in.

“Hey Ten!” Taeyong greeted him as happily and as excitedly as he usually would, he shoved his phone into his back pocket as he walked up beside him, “Ready to go?”

Ten smiled his award winning smile and quickly nodded, “Yup!” He and Taeyong began walking out of the building, everything was going more than okay. Ten was actually talking to Taeyong, they were enjoying themselves, laughing, smiling, and everything seemed nearly perfect. It was only when they stopped in front of Taeyong’s car that Ten noticed Yuta leaning against it and it was then that his smile immediately disappeared.

Taeyong walked over to Yuta first, he wrapped his arms around his friend and smiled before leaning down to place his lips against the other’s forehead. Yuta smiled at the other, trying to make it to seem as convincing as possible, but he and Taeyong were both fighting off the fit of laughters that were threatening to escape.  

“Oh Yuta, this is my friend, Ten,” Taeyong said as he gestured towards the male, “I haven’t formally introduced you two yet.” He smiled at Ten, “And Ten, this is my best friend, Yuta.”

“Hey Ten,” Yuta smiled at the male as he waved at him, “We have a couple of classes together, but we’ve never really talked before, right?” Ten nodded as he tried his best to smile back at the other, all while trying to hide just how upset he really was, “Y-Yeah… umm, it’s nice to me you and finally get a chance to talk to you.”

“Lets go guys,” Taeyong said as he casually put an arm around Yuta’s shoulder and walked him over to the passenger side of the car and opening up the door for him. Yuta smiled and thanked him before getting in  the car. After closing the door, Taeyong smiled at Ten, “Come on, get in.”

Ten really didn’t feel like sitting in the backseat of Taeyong’s car and watching the guy he liked and Yuta flirting. He really didn’t want to suffer through the anger, sadness, and awkwardness that would result from the entire situation. So, with a forced smile, he shook his head slowly, “I think I’ll take the bus back home today.” Ten looked at Yuta in the passenger seat, the seat where he had sat just that morning, “You already have to drop your friend off and I really don’t wanna be a bother.”

“But our homes are really close to yours, just go ahead and get in Ten,” Taeyong said kindly, “It’s really no bother at all.”

Ten let out a soft sigh and nodded once, “Okay,” he said before opening the car door of the backseat and getting in.

As Ten predicted, the car ride from the school to his home was extremely awkward. Taeyong and Yuta were having a conversation, making plans for the weekend. So Ten had to listen to the two best friends plan, what seemed like a freaking date. Ten secretly rolled his eyes, annoyed with the entire situation, and eager to quickly get out of the damn car and just vent to his sister. He just couldn’t believe that Taeyong, who for long claimed to be deeply in love with him, had moved on so quickly. It was upsetting.

Ten had never been so glad to be home. As soon as Taeyong’s car stopped in his driveway, he said goodbye to him and Yuta and quickly got out and almost ran to the front door. As he dug through his backpack to look for his keys, Tern opened the front door and pulled her brother inside the house. The smile of her face was huge and in her eyes, Ten could see a mixture of excitement and curiosity, “So, how did it go?”

“I was too late, Tern.” Ten said slowly, his backpack dropping to his side as he slowly walked over to the couch and let himself fall back on it. He let out a soft sigh and put his arm over his eyes, “I was too late and now he’s falling for his best friend. And his best friend is really good looking too, a little mean sometimes and too honest, but still handsome.”

“He couldn’t possibly be cuter than you,” Tern said as she came up to sit besides her older brother. She smiled and wrapped her arms around Ten, “And anyways, how can you be so sure that he’s moved on? Did he say he was over you? Did he say he was dating someone else now?”

Ten thought back to Taeyong’s action throughout the day. That day Taeyong had picked him up for school and waited for a really long time just to drive him. Their conversation in the car had been great, he learned a lot more about Taeyong and Taeyong had learned a lot about him. Taeyong came to pick him up after his final class and drove him home. That day had been like any other, Taeyong had been nothing but kind to him.

“I don’t know Tern, maybe you’re right.” Ten thought back to anything that had been different that day. The only thing that came to mind was that, for the first time in over two weeks, he couldn’t have lunch with Taeyong. “He did have lunch with his friends for the first time in a while, maybe Yuta and Taeyong just… missed each other?” Ten said hesitantly.

Tern smiled and nodded, “That has to be it Ten,” she unwrapped her arms from around her brother, “Trust me, Taeyong likes you a lot, just think about how he’s refused to give up even after you were so harsh when you rejected him. Don’t worry, he just needed to reconnect with his friend, everything will be back to normal tomorrow.”

“You think so?” Ten asked, hopeful.

“I know so.” Tern replied, confidently.

Hansol’s and Jaehyun’s eyes followed Johnny as he walked back and forth on his living room. They had tried watching TV, but it was impossible when their tall freak of a friend continued to get in their way. They eventually gave up trying to enjoy the new episode of Spongebob and just nodded as Johnny rambled on and on.

“I know it was my idea, but you guys saw them together, right?” Johnny asked, not waiting for the reply of his friend as he continued to talk, “They just look all wrong together. I… I just can’t understand it?”

“I thought you wanted Yuta to go out with Taeyong?” Jaehyun asked as he pulled out a bag of chips from his backpack, he opened it up and began to eat them, slapping Hansol’s hand away when his friend tried to reach for some.

“I did, but not for real,” Johnny said as he stood in front of his friends.

Hansol let out a sigh and shook his head in disappointment, “This is what happens when you try to be involved in people’s love lives Johnny.” He took the bag of chips from Jaehyun and began to eat some before continuing to speak, “I know you have their best interest at heart. Whether Yuta and Taeyong are together or not, you just have to support it and be there for both of them regardless of what happens, okay?”

“I hear what you’re saying Hansol, I really do,” Johnny began, “but I can’t just sit back and watch them suffer through this.” He stared at his two friends, who seemed to be more interested in eating rather than listening to him. Johnny reach out and took the bag of chips from them before tossing it aside, “How are you guys so ing calm right now?” he asked. “Am I the only one who’s freaking out right now?”

“YES!” Jaehyun and Hansol both yelled out at the same time.

“But, they’re not right for each other,” Johnny sighed, “They’re gonna get heartbroken, and it’ll all be our fault. We’re the ones who pushed Yuta and forced him to ask Taeyong out. How could we possibly let it get this far?”

Jaehyun and Hansol decided it was better not to say anything else. No matter what, Johnny wasn’t going to shut up any time soon.

Johnny started pacing back and forth once again, he was trying to think of any possible way that he could fix this. Fix the mess he had made. He couldn’t possibly let Taeyong and Yuta continue whatever the hell was going on between them. It honestly bothered him that he could possibly be the cause of heartache for any of his friends. “That’s it! Okay guys forget about operation: ‘get Taeyong to stop crushing on Ten and start crushing on someone else who will actually appreciate him because Ten is a jerk who doesn’t know perfection when sees it’ and get ready for operation: ‘break up Taeyong and Yuta because they aren’t right for each other and we need to protect them from getting heartbroken’!”

Hansol and Jaehyun just let out heavy sighs. This was going to be a long day.

Hey everyone! I tried to update this as soon as possible because I know it took me forever to update it last time and I feel truly sorry for that. Anyways, there’s not much Taeten in this chapter, and I know I probably gave some of you guys hope that they would be together after last chapter but, that would be way too easy. Haha, so anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and thank you so, so, so much for the comments on the last chapter.