To be honest, when I was asked if Mingyu had done something, I found it funny. Because really, I didn't even know if he was the one who had done something or if I was calling because I was concerned about my own actions.

I guess it was more because of myself instead of Mingyu.

“We're actually together“, I announced, laughing a bit at how ironic those words were: “But not really. I mean, I thought we're together, but I found out that he's just lying to me. Well, that doesn't mean that we're not together, it just means he's not in love with me. Does that make sense?“

I heard a laugh from the other end of the line.

“No, it doesn't. I don't understand a single thing“, Seokjin answered, his voice light and happy instead of bitter and angry as I'd thought it would be: “So Mingyu is your boyfriend now, did I get that right?“

“Yeah“, I replied, hesitating a bit at that statement: “Yeah, he's my boyfriend.“

“But he doesn't love you and is lying to you? What's that about?“, Seokjin questioned, probably confused by my words. Hell, he was probably even more confused about the fact that I was calling him. I mean, it's not like we were on good terms, not at all. We hadn't even seen each other yet talked since the Mama Awards.

But, honestly, I needed someone to talk to and he was the only one I could turn to. And so I ignored all logical thoughts that were coming to my mind, saying I shouldn't tell Seokjin about my issues when I didn't even know how he would react.

I guess I just wanted someone to confirm that my plan wasn't complete nonsense. 

“He's actually been pretending to be in love with me. Don't ask me why because I don't know that myself. All I know is that he's trying to make me happy and faking to love me and yeah, I found out about that yesterday“, I explained to Seokjin, feeling awkward while telling him everything without a second thought: “And now I just kind of-“

“You need my advice?“, Seokjin cut me off, laughing while doing so: “You're conflicted because Mingyu is pretending to be in love with you and so you call me for advice even though you know how bad our relationship is? Wow, Wonwoo, I honestly didn't think you'd have the guts to do something like this.“

I stayed silent, thinking Seokjin was going to yell at me and tell me he didn't want to help me with my problem. I thought he would be mad by my sudden request for his help, but in fact, he wasn't.

Not at all. Instead, he seemed to like the fact that I was turning to him when being confronted with such a conflicting situation. 

“Look, if you want my help I think we should meet up so that you can tell me everything face to face. You know that I don't like to talk about problems over the phone, it's not my thing”, Seokjin announced, hesitating a bit before continuing: “Are you free now? I have a something scheduled this evening, but right now I can spare about three to four hours for you.”

I didn't know how to answer him since I did not feel comfortable when thinking about meeting Seokjin. I mean, I had no idea what he was up to, but on the other hand, I was the one asking him for help, so I wasn't really in the position to decline his offer. 

Now you might be confused why I was so uncomfortable with meeting him but hadn't been hesitant about calling him, but that's a whole different thing, really. Calling him was safe since there was still a huge distance between us and I knew that he couldn't hurt me meanwhile meeting him meant I actually had to face him which was something I didn't even want to think about. 

Would I be running into another trap by trusting him? I didn't know. But what I did know was that I needed his help and so I agreed to his suggestion, thinking I should simply be careful around him: “Yeah, let's meet up, I don't have anything scheduled today.”

And so it was decided.

Seokjin told me to meet him at the cafe we used to go to which is why I found myself sitting there only thirty minutes later, anxiously waiting for him to walk through the entrance door. Honestly, I was scared, thinking he'd actually told me to come meet him so that he could laugh or scream at me, showing me that he didn't even care about me and my problems. 

But he didn't.

As he finally entered the cafe, Seokjin wore a small smile on his lips, eagerly looking around to find me. And as he spotted me sitting in the back, nervously nibbling on the straw of my drink, his smile grew even larger and his hand automatically went up to wave at me. Happily, he made his way towards my table and sat down on the chair in front of me, greeting me with a short: “Hey.”

It was confusing and overwhelming to see him in such a good mood when I knew just how mad he should be. I didn't get it, really.

“Urm, hi”, I only mumbled, awkwardly looking away since I didn't want to see his face. It was a bizarre feeling to just meet up with Seokjin again. To be honest, in that moment I actually regretted my choice to have called him, thinking that something about the situation wasn't right.

“You can look at me, you know. There's no reason for you to be so tense”, Seokjin told me soon after, probably noticing that I didn't like to be so close to him again: “I swear, I'm not going to do anything to you. I'm, urm, I'm not like that anymore. I've gotten over you, really.”

I looked at him.

“Actually, I've been thinking about calling you for quite some time now. I wanted to apologize to you but I just-”, he stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath: “I just didn't know how to do that. I'm way too ashamed to even think about what I've done to you and I guess I wasn't brave enough to call you.”

His smile fell as he said those words, his eyes suddenly not able to look at me anymore. And I didn't even know what to say to him, not fully trusting him either.

“I'm actually very glad you called me to ask for advice because it kind of feels like you still trust me enough for that, you know?”, he muttered, looking back at me awkwardly: “Really, I'm so sorry for what I did and I know that an apology isn't enough for you to forgive me, but I'll help you out now so that you can believe my sincerity, alright?”

I started smiling as I saw how concerned he looked. Sure, it's not like I was completely convinced by Seokjin's words, but I wanted to believe him, I really did.

“Hyung, that's alright. Let's just leave everything in the past, okay?”, I offered, making his eyes go wide in surprise: “If you help me now I'll know that you've changed, so don't dwell on it too much. We're okay.”

Seokjin raised his eyebrows at my words, still a bit unconvinced about the fact that I forgave him so easily: "Are you sure?"

“Yeah, I am”, I started, chuckling as I saw how confused he was: “You know, it's actually weird to see you like this. Normally, you're always so confident of yourself but right now it feels so different. Honestly, you don't have to worry, I'll believe you. So just get back to your normal self and tell me what to do about Mingyu. I'm seriously about to go crazy when I think about how messed up everything is.”

And finally, Seokjin started smiling again, nodding at my desperate request for help.

“Alright, I'll believe you then. And well, I think you should tell me the whole story first so that I can understand what exactly is going on“, he told me, taking some time to think about everything before continuing: “So you and Mingyu are together now and you found out that his feelings aren't real, right? Well, why don't you confront him about that, then?”

I sighed since I'd expected something like that to come.

“Because I don't want to”, I answered him truthfully: “Mingyu has actually just been pretending to be an all this time so that I would fall out of love with him, you know? And now that he's pretending to be in love with me, I don't know, I don't want to tell him that I know about it because I feel like he'll react badly and just go back to treating me like .”

Seokjin seemed to be surprised by my words: “Wait, so you're saying he put you through hell because he wanted you to fall out of love and then he told you that he actually does love you? How did you even believe him? That's just absurd and totally doesn't make sense.”

I took a deep breath.

“Because he wanted me to fall out of love so that I would be happier. I don't know what exactly is going through his mind, but for some reason his ultimate goal is to make me happy and I don't understand why”, I explained to him, furrowing my eyebrows while doing so: “And now that I'm aware of the fact that he doesn't love me but just wants me to be happy, I don't know what to do. Hyung, I just want to stay close to him. But at the same time, I'm sure that I'll feel guilty for making Mingyu pretend to be my boyfriend when he isn't even gay. He's probably disgusted by the things he's doing with me and just endures everything because he wants me to be satisfied. And that just-”

“That doesn't make sense”, Seokjin interrupted me: “Wonwoo, don't get me wrong, but I don't think Mingyu is doing all of that to make you happy. Nobody would pretend to be in love with someone just to see them smile, that's just way too much. I mean, even back then when he was treating you like , I don't believe he did that just so that you would be happier after having falling out of love with him. Think about it, no person in this world would go to such lengths just to make their best friend satisfied, no matter how much they care about that friend.”

I shook my head at Seokjin's words almost immediately, not even wanting to think that they're the truth: “No, I'm pretty sure he actually is going to such lengths. But it's exactly what's conflicting me. Mingyu has such a big heart and does all these things for me, so yeah, I know I shouldn't just use him like that. But Seokjin-hyung, ever since I've been dating Mingyu everything has been so amazing. It's like I'm living a dream and I just don't want it to end, you know?”

Seokjin started laughing at that.

“You're making it seem like you're the actual right now”, he stated, trying to calm down his laughter: “Wonwoo, Mingyu has been lying to you so much and yet you still think you're the bad person in this whole situation? Don't you get that he's completely twisted and always trying to fool you? Listen, if you want to hold on to the relationship the two of you are having right now, then just do it. Mingyu has put you through so much pain, why shouldn't you use this opportunity he's giving you to find your happiness? If a relationship with him is all you want, even if you know he's lying to you about his true feelings, then just pretend you don't know about anything and go along with his act.”

I didn't like Seokjin's answer.

“How can I do that without feeling guilty?”, I inquired, biting my lip in hesitation before continuing: “How can I put Mingyu through all of that without hating myself for making him go against his own feelings? I mean, shouldn't I just tell him that I'm not mad at him for lying to me and say that I'm happy anyways and that he doesn't need to be my boyfriend?”

Seokjin shrugged his shoulders at that.

“Well, will you be happy then? How can you be guaranteed that he won't leave your side after you tell him all of that? Wonwoo, this is something Mingyu decided on his own. He's the one who wants to fake his love for you, so just go along with it if it's the only way for you to be happy”, he told me, trying to make me realize that Mingyu was the wrong one in the whole situation: “But if you want me to be honest, I really don't think Mingyu's goal is to make you happy. It's something else he's aiming for, seriously. Even if it sounds harsh and probably crushes your dreams, I don't believe he's as selfless as you think. Actually, I'm pretty sure he's doing all of this for his own sake. He must be getting something out of your happiness, that's all I can guess.”

I hated Seokjin's words. 

I hated how he wouldn't be convinced of Mingu's innocence and kept insisting that Mingyu was acting selfish while trying to make me happy. Honestly, his words didn't even make sense to me since I was way too sure of Mingyu's good intentions that I couldn't even criticize him at all. I was naive and trusted Mingyu way too much, but I wasn't even able to realize that.

"Hyung, are you jealous of Mingyu?", I asked, confused: "Because you keep putting him down and I don't understand why. He's just trying to help me, don't you understand that? Wait, don't tell me you actually still like me? Is that the reason why you can't believe him?"

Seokjin closed his eyes and sighed deeply: "God, Wonwoo. I already told you that I'm over you, didn't I? I actually have a boyfriend now, so no, I'm not jealous of Mingyu. I'm worried that he's just using you for something and you're too deluded to realize that." 

I stayed silent.

"I know you're in love with him, but you have to start thinking about everything instead of just accepting whatever Mingyu does or others say. Why cant you understand that something about this whole situation doesn't make sense?", Seokjin complained, shaking his head: "I mean, Mingyu acted like a total towards you and yet you believe he did that with a good will? And now he pretends to love you so that you're happy? Wonwoo, that's bull!"

"It's not!", I argued, my voice rising: "You don't know Mingyu enough to be able to judge him correctly! Actually, you don't know anything! God, I shouldn't have called you and asked for advice if I'd known you'd just bash Mingyu as soon as you get the opportunity to do that!"

I was mad, so ing mad.

And since I couldn't even look at Seokjin's face anymore, too aggravated by his sight, I stood up, taking a deep breath while doing so: "I'm going home. I don't think talking to you will help me in any way and actually, I really don't want to see you right now. The way you talk about Mingyu makes me sick, sorry."

I stormed off just like that, leaving behind a confused and innocent Seokjin who had no other intentions than to help me out of my fooled state. But I didn't know that.
______

I came back home to find Mingyu sitting on my bed, his hands firmly grasped together, his eyes staring on the ground. 

I smiled.

"Are you okay?", I asked while walking towards him, kneeling down in front of him to see his face. Mingyu's gaze slowly found my eyes and as it did, he shook his head, biting on his lip soon after.

I furrowed my eyebrows at that, my smile falling: "What's wrong?"

Mingyu sighed. 

"Did you pick up my phone yesterday? Because Seungcheol-", he stopped himself for a moment, trying to find the right words: "Seungcheol asked me why I just hung up on him yesterday and when I checked my phone, well, I saw that the call happened while I was showering."

I only managed to let out a small "Oh", shocked by Mingyu having found out about that. Almost instantly, I felt scared, thinking that everything was over just like that. I mean, if Mingyu was aware of the fact that I knew about his lies the whole plan was ruined anyways. 

And I didn't want it to be ruined.

"So you know?", Mingyu questioned in hesitation, his voice shaking a bit, his eyes not daring to look at me. I thought he felt ashamed and sorry for having lied to me and so I almost smiled, feeling touched by the way he acted.

And just like that, I decided that I wouldn't let it be over. I didn't want it to be over and apparently, Mingyu didn't want that either. Sure, I was acting selfish by just pretending not to know about it all, but I didn't know what else to do.

I simply wanted to stay Mingyu's boyfriend.

"Know what?", I asked, acting like I had no idea what he was talking about: "Did Seungcheol say something important? Because I couldn't hear him. I kept asking if he was there but there was no answer from the other end of the line. I hung up because I thought he'd called you on accident."

Mingyu gasped, his face brightening almost immediately.

"So you didn't hear what he was talking about?", he questioned, his lips forming a smile. I only shook my head at his words, chuckling: "No, I didn't. Why?"

I'd become such a great liar, really.

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Don't worry about it", Mingyu tried to convince me, beaming at me as he took my hand in his, planting a kiss on my forehead soon after: "Honestly, Seungcheol was just talking nonsense, so forget I asked."

I nodded, knowing Mingyu was lying. But I didn't even care. Seeing him smile so happily when realizing that I didn't know the truth, I was more than satisfied. 

After all, I thought he was doing everything to make me happy. I completely ignored Seokjin's words, saying Mingyu had other intentions than wanting me to be happy, but just stayed convinced of Mingyu's innocence. 

Hell, I didn't even give Seokjin's thoughts a chance when they were nothing but the painful truth. 

I thought it would be better this way.
______

A/N: These last two days Meanie had been going wild and I'm very happy. Also Wonwoo is on stage again and it's the best thing ever, I missed him so much.

There's not much to say about this chapter, tbh. Wonwoo is still acting like he always has (besides the fact that he actually dared to meet Seokjin woah) and Mingyu is just Mingyu. SEOKJIN THOUGH LETS TALK ABOUT SEOKJIN BC DAMN BOY WAS ACTUALLY SO NICE IN THIS CHAPTER IM STILL SMILING AT HIS KINDNESS

Alright, that's it. Next chapter is actually going to be a bit more interesting, so wait for it! Thanks for reading, I love you guys!