“Yujin!”

Looking up from her phone, Yujin saw her very excited, Thai friend approaching her with a medium sized box in his hands.

“Look! I got you a late birthday present!” Ten exclaimed happily and plopped down the couch next to her.

“It’s not just from Ten, Yujin,” Taeyong told her as he approached them with the rest of the 127 boys with him. “I told you I was gonna get you a birthday present no matter what!”

Yujin put down her phone and gave him a skeptical look. “I told you I was fine without any presents.”

“But we insist, Yujin!” Taeil said and sat down on the couch.

“Well, if Taeil oppa says so…”

Taeyong clenched his jaw as he smiled with gritted teeth. “You really favor Taeil hyung over me, huh?”

“Eh?” Yujin asked in confusion. “Of course I do,” she replied casually which the other member laughed at hysterically.

“Ah! Yujin you really know how to hurt my heart!” Taeyong cried out and hid behind Yuta for comfort.

Yujin had a small smile on her face as he watched Taeyong sulk from her teasing, then found Yuta’s eyes gazing at her rather seriously. This caused her to blink at him in confusion but brushed it off once he looked in a different direction. ‘Silly mountain man has been acting weirdly since they got back from Osaka… I wonder what happened.’

For the past few days, Yuta and Yujin’s conversations would just be about numbers. Yuta would keep on asking her to give him a number, and when she gives him a random number, the members would start laughing and Yuta would force a smile and thank her then go away. Then the cycle repeats.

“Open the present, Yujin!” Ten pushed the box towards her and had the widest smile on his face when she started to open it. “We bought this from Osaka while thinking of you. It’s from all of us!”

Yujin widened in her eyes after seeing the contents of the box. “Wah…” she gaped in awe, her smile getting a little bit wider from the sweet surprise she received from them. “Thank you for this.”

Inside the box was a variety of flavors of her favorite snack. Yujin’s eyes started twinkling when she saw the different flavors that she hasn’t tried before.

The boys smiled warmly at their stylist, happy that she genuinely liked their gift for her.

“Winwin and I will gladly help you out with the eating process, Yujin,” Jaehyun smirked at her.

“Yeah!” Winwin agreed, already grabbing a pack from the box but Yujin was faster and closed it before he could even reach for it.

The members started laughing once again seeing Yujin very overprotective of her snacks. Little did they know, Junseo already entered the room to fetch them.

“Okay, boys and girl,” he caught their attention. “It’s time to leave for Music Bank.”

“Hyung, what about me?” Ten asked as all of them started leaving for the door.

“You’ll go with us first, then another manager would drive you to your press con.”

“Okay,” Ten replied happily. “Come on, Yujin!” he wrapped an arm around Yujin’s arm and started walking ahead everyone else.

“Yuta,” Taeyong called his best friend and walked side by side with him. “How are you doing with your mission? Today’s the final day, right?” he reminded him.

“Ha!” Donghyuck exclaimed from behind. “Yuta hyung hasn’t even made progress ever since we got back from Japan!” he laughed.

“It’s harder than you think!” Yuta complained. “How am I supposed to ask her without slipping up and asking her directly!”

“Well, maybe you should’ve made a different approach?” Mark suggested. “I mean, all you did was ask her to give you a number every time.”

“Well what alternative would you suggest, Mark?” Yuta asked, rolling his eyes. He honestly didn’t know what else to do besides that.

“Hmm…” Mark started to think but was interrupted when they were already in the parking lot of the SM building. “I don’t know,” he said, laughing awkwardly at him.

Yuta sent the younger boy a playful glare as he proved his point. “I told you—” Yuta was supposed to make another snarky remark but stopped when he saw Yujin looking at him with her natural blank face. He quickly avoided her gaze from shock and a little bit of embarrassment as he entered the van.

☆*:.｡.make you smile.｡.:*☆

“One, two, three…”

“Done,” Yujin gave them an ‘ok’ sign with her fingers after taking a photo of the boys outside their Music Bank waiting room. The members of NCT 127 were already dressed in their Fire Truck stage outfits and Ten was already in his casual, but very stylish outfit for his press conference.

“After you post that, you and Ten can go with the other manager to the venue for the presscon,” Junseo instructed her.

“Ok, oppa,” Yujin nodded and started working on getting that photo in the group’s social media as she entered the waiting room again.

“Aw, you mean Yujin noona’s going to leave us?” Donghyuck asked sadly.

“Sooah unnie’s going to be with you though,” Yujin reassured them.

“Haha! I get Yujin as my stylist for today!” Ten exclaimed triumphantly.

“Eh, she’s not that great if you ask me,” Jaehyun scoffed playfully, trying to get Yujin’s attention while she was busy with her current task.

“Don’t say words you might regret, Jaehyun,” Yujin said nonchalantly, not taking her eyes away from the phone.

“Hahaha! You’re going to get yourself in trouble,” Winwin instigated.

“I posted it already,” she said, turning to Junseo.

“Good. Now, you two can leave now,” Junseo motioned for Ten and Yujin to go outside.

“Goodbye, guys!” Ten coolly waved off. “I’ll see you back in the dorm later,” he told them and left the room with Yujin following closely behind.

“Bye, noona!” Mark waved goodbye. “See you tomorrow!”

“She’s not coming to the fansign later?” Yuta asked in surprise, looking at everyone for answers. He still hasn’t asked for her number and time was running out for him.

“Yeah, she’s going to be with Ten, then attend her classes later today,” Taeil informed him.

Yuta quickly sprung on his feet and ran to catch the stylist but before he could, a staff member from KBS called them for the stage rehearsal.

“It’s ok, Yuta hyung,” Jaehyun patted his back comfortingly and teasingly at the same time as they made their way to the stage. “I’ll make sure not to make a lot of mess for the next two weeks,” he laughed.

“Ugh,” Yuta rolled his eyes, feeling defeated already.

☆*:.｡.make you smile.｡.:*☆

“Ah! I’m so excited for the premiere!” Ten exclaimed inside the van that was headed back to the SM building.

The press conference for Ten’s Hit the Stage has finally ended and now both the idol and the stylist were now enjoying a brief time for relaxation.

“Yeah,” Yujin agreed, her eyes glued to her phone. “You did really well on the first stage.”

Ten was watching the scenery outside with a meaningful look on his face. “But losing first place for the Devil’s Concept was unfortunate…”

Sensing Ten’s sudden change of mood, Yujin paused what she was doing on her phone and looked to her side only to feel bad seeing Ten look sad. She recalled the time when they filmed for the Devil’s Concept just a few days ago. Ten was thrilled when he continuously held the first place for a while but was unfortunately overtaken by his seniors in the long run. “Yah, your rank on the first concept doesn’t define your skills of how good of a dancer you are,” Yujin told him. “You already proved your skills just by being cast on the show. Plus, there’s still more concepts to try out. Maybe you’ll get the first place next time… I’m sure of it.”

Ten turned to look at Yujin with tears in his eyes. “Yujin-ah!” he cried, but his tears didn’t fall. Instead, he gave her a tight hug which surprised her. “Who knew you could give such uplifting pep talks!”

Yujin stuck her bottom lip out, not really agreeing with Ten. “I don’t think so..?” she replied blandly.

Ten released her from his friendly embrace and smiled widely at her. “Well I think you do!”

Yujin shook her head but still appreciated the thought.

Ten pouted at her lack of enthusiasm even though it was Yujin’s norm to be that way. “What’s gotten you so engrossed in your phone, Yujin?”

“Um…” she trailed off, still reading a text she received. “One of my classmates just texted that our professor won’t be coming to class.”

“Oh, so you’re free for the rest of the day?” Ten asked her curiously.

After typing a few more things in her phone, Yujin locked it and turned to Ten. “Yeah, seems like it.”

“What do you plan on doing?”

“I don’t know. Maybe just go home?”

Ten gave her a dissatisfied look, “That sounds so boring, Yujin.”

Yujin deadpanned in return. “Well, I have nothing else to do so I might as well go home.”

The van soon arrived at the SM building with Ten and Yujin spending their travel in silence. The first thing that both teenagers did was head straight to the dressing room to get Ten out of his outfit.

Once Ten was back to his more casual outfit, Yujin quickly fixed his clothes back to the rack while Ten was busy on his phone.

“Wah, the boys are already having the fansign,” he told her.

“Hey, Ten,” Yujin called her friend as she was organizing some of the accessories used by Ten for the day. “Did something happen in Osaka?”

Ten looked up from his phone and swiveled his chair to face her. “What do you mean..?” he asked, feeling nervous all of a sudden. ‘Oh crap, is this about the favorite member bet we made? Did she find out about it?’

“I don’t know,” Yujin sighed in defeat. “Some of the members are acting really weird since you guys got back,” she explained. “I don’t know if their personality changes towards me had to do something about the concert in Osaka but I really can’t put a finger on it since I wasn’t there with you.”

Ten swallowed hard, surprised that she actually noticed something. “Like who?”

“Well, Jaehyun’s normally playful with me but I think his recent teasing have meanings behind them,” she said. “His uses stronger words now.”

‘Oh my god, Jaehyun’s still bitter about him losing the bet,’ he thought to himself. “Really?” Ten feigned ignorance. “Maybe he’s just really enjoying himself because he likes teasing his same age friends?” he told her. “I wouldn’t give it too much thought, Yujin. If he goes overboard, tell me and I’ll be sure to kick his for you,” he laughed, trying to reassure her.

Yujin exhaled loudly, considering Ten’s advice. “But then there’s Yuta too…”

This time, Ten froze for a good minute before reacting to what she said. “Wh-what about Yuta hyung?” he asked, feeling a cold sweat run down his forehead.

“I mean, Yuta and I get along, but recently, I noticed that he’s been having mood swings and I think he’s taking it out on me?” she said, looking at the ground. “He’d keep on asking me for numbers and once I do, he’d look at me like I did something wrong. It’s honestly making me feel uncomfortable.”

Ten frowned after knowing of Yujin’s troubles. He didn’t expect their plan to make Yuta and Yujin become closer to backfire. “Uhh.. I don’t know about that with Yuta hyung but I’ll talk to him about it,” he said, honestly not knowing what to say to her about Yuta, since the mood swings that Yujin is talking about is because of the bet.

When Yujin didn’t say anything else, Ten felt guilty for making Yujin feel bad because one bet. Trying to think of how to cheer her up, he put on a confident smile on his face and approached her.

Yujin’s eyes shot up at Ten when she felt him pull her up from her chair and lead her out the dressing room. “What are you doing?”

Ten looked back at her with a smirk and said, “I don’t like to seeing that gloomy look on your face so I’m going to bring you somewhere exciting!”

☆*:.｡.make you smile.｡.:*☆

“What are we even doing here, Ten?” Yujin asked, on the verge of panicking as she was handed the #NCT127 album.

Ten beamed at her, “You’re gonna go get that signed, obviously.”

Yujin stared at the Thai teen blankly and tried to shove the album back to him. “No, I’m not—”

“Oh look, Yujin! You’re next!” Ten exclaimed and excitedlt pushed Yujin towards the staff that was in charge of the lines.

“What—wait!” Yujin tried to retort but she was too late. A staff member already pulled her in one of the lines towards the boys’ fansign session.

‘Ah~ I feel like a proud dad sending his kid to her first day of college,’ Ten breathed out proudly as he watched Yujin awkwardly stand in line and wait for her turn.

“Wah! You must be a really good boyfriend to let her get a fansign while you’re having your date together,” a fan who also waiting in line told him in awe.

Ten smiled shyly behind his face mask and shook his head. “Ah, we’re not dating!” he corrected kindly. “We’re just best friends!”

The girl raised an eyebrow and smirked, not believing him but she let it go. “So she’s a fan of Taeyong oppa?” she asked curiously.

Ten shook his head again, still smiling. “Well I guess she’s his fan too but she really wants to get Yuta hyung’s— I mean Yuta’s sign,” his eye smile disappeared from quickly recovering from his mistake that may cause him to blow his cover.

The girl eyed her suspiciously and said nothing as she looked back in forth from him and Yujin. “Then why is she on Taeyong oppa’s line?” she asked in confusion. “Yuta oppa’s line is over there,” she said, pointing at Yuta’s line which was in the middle of Jaehyun and Mark’s line all the way on the other side from where they were.

Ten shrugged his shoulders confidently. “She’ll get to Yuta’s line anyway so there won’t be a problem.”

The girl looked at him, dumbfounded at what he just said. “But you line up for only one member who you want to get an autograph from..?”

Ten’s eyes widened in surprise at what she told him. Quickly, he looked to where the stage was and gasped in shock to see that she was right. “But aren’t they supposed to give away their fansigns to all the fans here?” he asked frantically.

The girl jumped back a little in shock when the stranger in front of her raised his voice. “Uh, yeah that was the original plan earlier but since there were so many fans that showed up, the staff changed it this way so that all of us could get at least our bias’ sign. The first ones who showed up were really lucky since they got all of their— huh?” she blinked in surprise to see that he boy she was talking to was gone. “Where did he go?”

‘Oh crap. I didn’t expect for this to happen,’ Ten thought to himself as he tried to get out of the crowd that he was in to and look for Yujin. ‘All I wanted to do was to help Yuta hyung finally get Yujin’s number just to get this silly bet done and over with even if it means I’ll end up losing the bet. I mean, I don’t have anything to lose anyway since I currently don’t live with them in the dorm,’ he chuckled to himself, feeling proud about his brilliant idea. “Now if I could just get to Yujin and tell her about this whole line confusion thing—” he was cut off when his arm got caught by someone and forced him to turn around. “H-hyung?!” he exclaimed as he saw a scary glare from one of the NCT staff he knew.

“What are you doing here?!” the staff member’s eyes widened when he was right about seeing Ten in the venue. “Why are you walking around like this? What if someone recognizes you?!” he asked angrily and started pulling Ten away while trying not to get more attention from some of the fans who were staring at them already.

“I was just—” Ten tried to reason out but the staff member made a gesture not to say a word anymore which he immediately complied with.

Once the staff member was able to get Ten inside the tent behind the stage, he finally let go of him and surprised the other staff that were there.

“Who’s that you brought along with you?” Sooah stood up from her seat and asked the staff member, confused as to why he barged in with a teenager with him.

The staff member said nothing and turned to Ten who busy rubbing his arm that he held on tightly just a few moment ago. “Aren’t you going to show them your face?” he asked him impatiently.

Ten sighed shakily and bit his lower lip in nervousness, mentally preparing himself for the scolding he was about to have. He removed his cap and his mask and slowly looked up and finally met the eyes of their stylist’s surprised ones.

“Ten?!” Sooah exclaimed. “What’s going on? Why are you here?” she asked and quickly approached him. “Aren’t you supposed to be back at the company?”

“Apparently, I found him wandering out there and also talking to the fans,” the staff member spat in annoyance. “He covered himself up well but it was a good thing that I was able to recognize him before anyone else did.”

Sooah looked at the staff member and then back to Ten, still in disbelief. “Why on earth would you do such a thing, Ten? Did you know what you did was very dangerous?”

“I-I’m sorry,” he said quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear.

“So why on earth are you here then?” she asked again in a calmer tone for the shaking teen’s sake. “Do the managers even know about this?”

Ten his lips nervously before answering her. “I just wanted to look around and see how the fansign was going. Yujin and I—”

“Yujin?” Sooah asked and raised a brow, attentive enough not to miss that part. “You came here with Yujin?!” she asked threateningly.

Ten froze on his spot for that huge slip he just made and Sooah didn’t miss that as well. Also, the look on Sooah’s face terrified him. It was the first time she ever made that kind of face in front of him and it scared him, not only for himself, but for Yujin as well.

Sooah sighed loudly, pinching her temples with her fingers, feeling a headache coming. She turned towards the staff member, “Go find her and bring her here immediately once you do—oh, and try not to make a scene while you’re at it.”

“No! Wait—” Ten tried to stop the staff member but he was already out of the tent before he could even do anything.

“You and Yujin are going to be in bigger trouble if you take one step out of this tent,” Sooah told him and that was enough to make him stop on his tracks.

Ten walked towards the sofa with heavy footsteps and sat there, angry at his self. He covered his face with his hands and exhaled deeply as he thought of a good explanation to save him and Yujin out of this mess he started.

☆*:.｡.make you smile.｡.:*☆

“Thank you so much, Taeyong oppa! I love you!” a teenage fangirl screamed on top of her lungs as she got her album back from her favorite member.

Taeyong chuckled at the very excited fan. He bowed his head gratefully, “Thank you!” He waved at her goodbye as the staff started pulling her away for the next fan he had to meet.

“Next!” a staff member called for the next fan and gestured for her to approach the table.

Taeyong smiled fondly at the fan when he saw her covering half of her face with their album, “No need to be shy!” he chuckled and waved at her to come forward. “Hello!” Taeyong greeted, but when his eyes met the fan’s eyes, he felt his heart stop. “Yuji—”

“He-here you go!” Yujin exclaimed, giving the album to him before he could even say her name.

Taeyong took the album in complete confusion as he