They tried to make it work, they did.

All that did was make her sadder than she already was.

Having to see him many times after all these years finally took a toll on her.

Right now, Son Naeun, the visual of Apink, was sitting alone in a music show’s waiting room and crying. Her members had left to get something to eat but she insisted on staying. There’s still hours left until they need to be on the ending stage and she had nothing to do. That led her to think of everything that had been bothering her lately. Especially him.

Even though she always tried to busy herself with work, like Cinderella and the Four Knights, she would hear of him somehow. In fact, she heard his album Press It on the set of Twenty Again since one of the stylists was playing that and she was too tired to complain. She heard every song that he had released so far and she can’t seem to stop wondering if some of those songs were about her. Was Soldier about wanting to protect her? Was Sayonara Hitori saying that he moved on? She wouldn’t be too surprised if he had. Even though she still loved him, she can’t do anything about it.

She really wants him by her side all of a sudden. Everything was going horrible for her nowadays. From the fact that people think she got plastic surgery even though her makeup artist changed and her face bloats whenever she’s stress to the fact that Apink hasn’t won anything for their most recent comeback.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?

Taemin was going back to SHINee’s dressing room after going to the bathroom when something caught his attention. Apink’s dressing room. As far as he can tell, there was no one in there since the lights were out. He swore he heard sasaengs but due to the fact that there was nowhere to hide, he silently but quickly opened Apink’s dressing room and locked the door once he was in. He let out a sigh of relief after hearing the sasaengs getting in trouble and getting escorted out. When he looked up, he saw a figure on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest, it seemed like she was sobbing. There was a candle lit on the table in front so he was able to make out that the fragile girl was no other than Naeun. His Naeun.

She finally noticed someone’s presence so she looked up, straight into his eyes.

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you,” he said quietly. Hearing his voice and seeing him made her tear up even more. Seeing her in that state, he couldn’t dare leave. He went over and sat down next to her.

“Naeun-ah,” he caressed the side of her neck but all that did was made her tense up and turn away. Getting the sign, he removed his hand.

“What are you still doing here?” she asked in an ice cold tone. Almost impenetrable he thought.

“I can’t leave you like this, I won’t.”

“Well, that’s new, isn’t it,” she said with a hint of sarcasm.

Hearing her say that made him think back to that time. It was a few months after WGM ended. They were in a carefree relationship but everything had to go wrong one night. Taemin was stressed out about going solo and he was also jealous of her hanging out with other guys. When she came over, he exploded. They both couldn’t remember what happened except for the fact that there was major shouting which ended with her slapping him and him leaving her crying. They were both still immature back then. They didn’t know what to do and that led them to drift apart overtime.

“Can’t I comfort a friend?”

“Since when were we friends?”

“Then what are we?”

“We’re merely sunbae and hoobae.” When that left , Naeun felt a sting in her heart.

“Okay,” he whispered so gently that it was barely audible. “As a sunbae, I want to ask what’s bothering you?”

She kept silent.

“How about me confiding in you. There was this girl,” he started. She already knew what will happen. “I was in love with her but at that time, I didn’t realize it. So I let her go. I thought I was over her but recently, I saw her kiss someone. Of course it was for a drama, and it was with someone who's married, but I felt my heart hurt. And I wanted that guy to be me. But I ignored it. Till this day, I thought that I was protecting her by avoiding her to not damage her. But I just realized that I was wrong. I saw her crying. And I want to hug her, tell her that everything will be okay. But I can’t. Knowing that everything I do will pain her, that it had always brought pain to her,” Taemin finished with a tear running down his face.

“What if she wants you to hug her?” Naeun finally spoke up. She then turned and came into his embrace. Even though she was staining his shirt, he didn’t care. They were in their own universe. They could finally smell the scent that they had been longing for so long. After what felt like forever, Naeun pulled back. Taemin could see the look of hurt on her face.

He slowly pulled her closer until they could feel each other’s breath on their lips. He closed the gap and ever so gently, kissed her. He’s been dying to do this ever since WGM started. For Naeun, it felt like a dream that she never wants to wake up from. Due to both of them running out of breath, they separated.

“Am I your first kiss?” he asked after awhile of just staring at her.

“Yes,” she replied slightly blushing.

“Can we start over?” Taemin managed to spit out.

“I would like that.” Before anything else could happen, They heard someone trying to open the door.

“Naeun, are you in there?” Chorong asked.

“Crap, what time is it?” Taemin was looking at the clock, they had to be back on stage in 40 minutes.

“I’ll get going, I’ll text you later. Same number, right?”

Naeun could only manage a nod.

The girls of Apink were just returning after getting a meal. When they walked down the halls, they saw a lot of hoobaes bowing to them so they bowed back. Everything was so bright. Once they reached their dressing room door, they noticed that the lights were turned off.

“Is Naeun in there?” questioned Hayoung.

“Let’s see,” replied Chorong. Chorong walked up and twisted the doorknob but it wouldn’t budge. “Naeun, are you in there?”

A few moments later, they saw the lights turn on. The door opened to reveal Taemin. Lee Taemin. All of the Apink members were shocked.

“I’ll get going now. Bye,” said Taemin to both Naeun and the rest. He disappeared before any of the girls got a chance to bow.

“What was going on?” Bomi asked as the girls filed in. None of them would’ve thought that they would ever see Taemin with Naeun again.

“I’ll tell you once we get back, let’s call the stylists back in,” Naeun replied. Due to the fact that they saw Naeun’s eyes were red, they let her off the hook for now.

The ending stage was normal, Taemin would pretend that Naeun doesn’t exist. They both know that it was to protect Naeun from any hate. Once they got back, Chorong, Bomi, and Namjoo came down to Eunji’s, Hayoung’s, and Naeun’s dorm after getting changed. They were all sitting on the living room floor and anticipating what Naeun was going to say.

“Spill it,” Namjoo stated.

“Me and Taemin decided to get back together. He walked in while I was crying and things just sort of repaired themselves…”

“Listen, I don’t want you to suffer anymore. I know that you’re older now, matured over the years. So I trust you. You can make your own decisions. But, if he ever makes you cry again, I will kill him,” Chorong stated.

“Unnie,” Namjoo started. “Please know that even though we might not seem like it, we are happy for you and will always be by your side no matter what.”

“Thanks. Now, you guys should get some sleep,” Naeun said. With that, Chorong, Bomi, and Namjoo went back up to their dorm and the remaining went into their respective room.

When Naeun turned her phone on, she saw multiple messages from Taemin. The messages were asking how she was and what she was doing. She replied to him that she was getting ready to sleep. Unexpectedly, Taemin called her.

“Hello?” she picked up. “Why are you calling?”

“Why can’t I call my girlfriend?”

“Because you just saw her.” The conversation continued as they caught up. Weirdly enough, to both of them, it never felt like they broke up. The mood was light hearted and filled with giggles from both sides. Without realising it, they had been on the phone for about 2 hours.

“I should go to sleep now,” she said.

“Okay.” When she was about to hang up, he stopped her.

“Wait, Naeun-ah?”

“Hm?”

“I love you,” Taemin said whole heartedly.

“I love you too.” With that, they both went to sleep with the “I Love You”s playing over and over in their minds.

In the morning when Naeun woke up, she saw a good morning text from Taemin. She felt like that was the best sleep she ever had in years.