Rae came back into the studio and all the boys could tell something was wrong. She had them go over their choreography again, but she wasn’t pushing them as much as she usually did. Every time she looked in Chaebin's direction, she would blush and turn away. Chaebin was getting annoyed. He cut away from the group and grabbed Rae by her arm, pulling her to the side. 
“Look, I’m sorry for surprising you back there, but you can't let it affect practice like this. If you need to, then go home for the day.....and think of what I said.” Rae just nodded and left as quickly she could. She rushed through the parking lot to her car, getting inside and closing the door as fast as she could. Acting as if someone was out to get here. She sighed, thinking about getting home and crawling into bed, when she realized that going home just meant seeing Jackson again. 
She sighed again, “.”
When Rae got home, she snuck in as quietly as possible. She heard voices in the living room, and attempted to scale the far wall to be unseen on her way to her bedroom. She thought she was going to get away with it, but Kokorana called out her name. 
“Hey Rae, I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping with me later?” Rae stood frozen, hoping that by not responding, Koko would take the hint and leave her alone. Just leave me be, please, she thought to herself. It felt like ages had passed, but she was still expecting a reply. 
“I’ll text you if I want to go, okay?” 
“Alright.” Koko responded. Without allowing her another word, Rae made a bee line for her room.
“I’m assuming your confession has her tied up, Jacks.” Kokorana turned looking to Jackson who was fidgeting with his phone. 
“Did I mess up by telling her that I like her?” 
“No you didn’t. No one was expecting Chaebin to cut in like that. I know she'll kill me for this, but you should go and try and talk to her.” 
Mark gave Kokorana a look, asking if she wanted to die. “He’ll be fine, Mark. I might not be, but I’m not going to let her run and hide like she’s done in the past.” Mark still didn’t think it was a good idea, but decided it wasn’t worth arguing over. Jackson got up from the couch and headed to Rae rooms. He knocked but there was no answer. He knocked again, but was just greeted with more silence. He paused before opening the door and poking his head inside
“Don't you know when you’re not welcome? What if I was changing or something?” Rae was yelling but avoided eye contact. 
“Rae, can we talk about what happened? We live together and I don’t want it to be awkward between us.” Rae went ridged and didn’t speak. What was she supposed to say? She had two guys confess at once. 
“Will you at least turn around and face me?” 
No, Rae wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. For once she was speechless. Jackson walked up to Rae and turned her around, once again she wanted to yell at him but the words wouldn't come out. She tilted her head to the side, refusing to look at him. He grabbed her chin and pulled her face to look at him, causing her to face to become hot and blush. 
“Im not going to push you into anything, but I needed you to know how I felt. You don’t have to give me an answer right away, okay?” Rae mustered up the courage to nod her head. 
Rae couldn’t help but look over Jackson’s face, since it was so close to hers. His lips were so close to her own it made her face even hotter. She didn’t know what to do. She tried pulling away, but her body wouldn’t move. Jackson leaned over and whispered into her ear, “You thought I would kiss you, didn’t you?” Jackson pulled away and left her room. She lifted a hand as if she was going to say something, but she had no idea what to say. She wanted to yell, but didn’t know who to yell at. The uncertain feelings were starting to make her blood boil. She clenched her fist, thinking that surely Koko were to blame somehow. Koko, you better start running, she thought.    
Rae came barging into the living room and Koko could feel the heat rolling off of her. She tried hiding behind Mark but Mark just laughed. “Told you that you would pay for that.” 
Rae was burning with anger but seeing Jackson in the room kept her from her doing anything. 
“I’ll buy you dinner. I’ll get you Hu-hot.” Kokorana whimpered. 
Rae turned her head slightly. “Hu-hot?” 
Kokorana nodded, she knew the only way to calm her was to offer her food. She wanted to be angry, but Kokorana knew what to say to stay out of trouble. 
Rae pointed her finger at her, “This isn’t over. You make one mistake and you will pay for everything.” She stormed out, leaving the house in complete silence. Rae was still fuming, so she decided a walk to the park would cool her down. She loved the park cause it over looked the ocean. She sat down on a bench, tilting her head back to look at the stars, trying to collect her thoughts. "What am I going to do?" She thought out loud. 
“Follow your heart,” she heard a familiar voice to her side. She jumped, startled, and looked over seeing Jinyoung standing next to her. Rae rolled her eyes. “You don’t know what Im talking about. What if I was thinking about jumping off a damn bridge, would you tell me to follow my heart and jump? I don’t think so.” 
Jinyoung let out a chuckle. “I can read people, and it seems like love is on the brain. I'd bet someone confessed to you.” Rae gave him a blank stare, but wondered how he knew. “I’m kind of in the same boat," he continued. "But for me, I am in love with someone who I’m pretty sure doesn’t even notice me. I have always wanted to be with them but I didn’t want to risk our friendship.” Jinyoung laid back on the grass, “I came to hear to think and figure out what to do. Should I tell them or not.” 
Rae smiled as she watched Jinyoung lay in thought. She hadn't known him long, but she was certain she knew who he was talking about. “Why don’t you follow your own advice and tell them how you feel.” 
Jinyoung shook his head. “I can’t.” 
“Why not?” She said, jumping to her feet. A new anger rising in her. “Jinyoung, if you don’t let them know soon, they might get away before you get the chance.” She grabbed him, pulling him to his feet. “If you deal with your problem, and tell them how you feel then I’ll tell you what my problem is.” She yanked his cellphone out of his pocket to put her number in it. “Call me when you’ve dealt with it, okay?” Jinyoung tried speaking but Rae wouldn’t let him. “Just go." Her voiced had softened, but he could still hear the commanding tone. He nodded and left her alone in the park once again.    
Rae knew she needed to deal with Chaebin. She decided to text him. “Hey Chaebin, meet me at the office. I need to talk to you about a few things.” She started heading to the office knowing Chaebin would definitely be there. Her phone went off and it was a text from Chaebin, “I’m still at the office was about to head home but I’ll wait for you.” She smiled to herself and started running. She knew she needed to do this before she lost her guts to do it. Twenty minutes later, she was standing in a room alone with Chaebin. 
“So what did you want to talk about?” Chaebin asked. 
Rae looked down, she knew she had to face him but she didn’t want to break his heart. It was easier facing Jackson even though she hadn’t said a word to him. 
“I....can’t.” she mumbled out. 
“You can’t what, Rae? Is it cause I’m younger then you or the fact I am one of your trainees?” Rae shook her head, her eyes still directed at the floor. She could feel going dry and suddenly wondered if she was going to be able to do this after all. Chaebin could tell Rae was lost. “Look, whatever you decide, I’m not going to be upset or hold it against you. Will you just look at me please?” 
Rae finally found the courage to look in Chaebin eyes. All of her feelings for him came rushing to her, she always cared for him and took him as one of her many children but that was it. She finally found the courage she needed to speak. “Chaebin, I can’t. I care about you so deeply. I care about all the boys, but you're my favorite, right?" She gave a small smile, though her eyes filled with tears. She was trying to read his face to see what he was thinking, but he had a talent about hiding what he was feeling. She walked closer to him till there was no breathing room between them. "I love you, but in a different way. I think, if anything, I see you more as my child that I will always protect. I will be there for you for everything, just not like....that." She looked to the ground, worried. "I hope this won’t make you feel like you need to leave the company...” 
Chaebin smiled, wrapping his arms around Rae in a warm hug. “Of course I won’t leave. You mean so much to me. I won’t disappoint you.” He let her go and gave her a small bow. “I’ll see you tomorrow, though if you let this effect you during practice, Rae, I’m going to shove you off the top of the company building.” Rae couldn’t help but laugh. Chaebin's sense of humor was just as dark as her own. That’s why they worked well together.