Youngbin's mind was a mess, half of him wanting to tell the truth and confess to Dawon while the other half was ready with some sort of lie. 

"Youngbin-ah," 

Dawon touched his arm, making him jump a little, and gently guided him towards the park.

"I don't remember the park being this close to the dorm," Youngbin muttered. He must have been so out of it that he didn't even realize where they were going. 

"So," Youngbin started. Dawon hummed and kept looking at him expectantly. 

They were standing about a meter apart, facing each other. 

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Dawon asked. His voice was soft and gentle, no hint of any accusation. 

Youngbin took a deep breath, his mind mulling over things. Dawon remained quiet which was so unlike the guy that it's starting to make Youngbin a little bit nervous. He should confess and get this over with but then again, he's afraid that it would put a strain on their working relationship and affect the whole group. 

"Youngbin-ah?" 

There's really something about the way Dawon says his name that makes his insides curl up into a thousand emotions. Youngbin took in a deep breath and clenched his fists, finally deciding on what to do. 

"I-I think you're just overreacting," he said. "I mean, yes we were close during our trainee days but I guess all that changed after debut. You and Inseong and Rowoon and Chani, you guys have schedules outside of the group and you're all staying in one room together so maybe you all just got really close to each other. You're just overthinking it," 

It felt like he was watching a slow-motion clip, the words coming out from his mouth changed Dawon's expression into a mask by the second - cold and unreadable. It left a bitter taste in his mouth and he wanted to take them back as soon as he said them but it was too late. 

It's for the group, he kept repeating to himself but even the words grow weak with every iteration. 

The silence stretched long between them, their gazes, unwavering, on each other's face. Youngbin tore his gaze away, unable to take it anymore, and fixed his sight to the ground. 

"That's just it," he muttered. 

"That's just it," the way Dawon repeated the words made him flinch. "Okay. That's just it then." Without another word, Dawon left, the sound of his footsteps walking away echoed loudly around Youngbin. He clenched his fists tighter, feeling his nail digging into the skin. 

" it,"

Youngbin whipped around and hurried after Dawon, managing to stop him by blocking the path ahead. 

"Wait! I lied. The truth is, I'm jealous of you and Inseong. I'm jealous that you two spend a lot of time together and that you sometimes turn me down just so you could accommodate him. I hate it that I'm having a hard time talking to you nowadays when it wasn't like that before. I wanted to talk to you and tell you but... I just thought that you're more happy and comfortable with him and that I really don't have a hold over you so I figured that I'd just avoid you except when it's about work or something," 

The words just poured out of Youngbin and by that time, he didn't care anymore. 

"I-I like you, Sanghyuk-ssi," Youngbin finally said, holding the other man's gaze. He can feel his heartbeat ringing in his ears as the words hung between them. He knew very well that Sanghyuk could just continue walking away and he would be okay with that now that he has admitted the truth. 

Sanghyuk took a step forward and that small motion made Youngbin's heartbreak. He looked at the ground, not wanting to see the other guy walk away from him. 

"Youngbin-ah," 

Sanghyuk was standing close to him. 

He didn't walk away, was all Youngbin could think of. 

"You should have told me this before," he said softly. "I'm sorry. I really am. It's just that, you really look busy most of the time that I thought I would give you some time to rest... that's why I kept turning you down. You look a really stressed since the debut and just... I'm really sorry." 

"You know, Inseong is like a brother to me. An older brother. But you... You have always been more than a friend to me... I guess we could take things slow and give us a try?" Sanghyuk said with a smile. 

"I-what?!" Youngbin exclaimed. 

Sanghyuk smiled wider. "What I'm saying is, yes, I'll date you and see where this will lead us,"