Minwoo was ready to tear his hair out in frustration.

For years, he struggled with the butterflies in his stomach, struggled with sleepless nights, and struggled with his pounding heart. He tried to ignore the fluttery feeling that arose in his gut whenever he looked at him. There was no way to avoid him; they were in the same band and lived in the same building. Besides, Minwoo didn’t want to make him worry by suddenly ignoring him.

By the time he grew sick of dancing around his feelings, Minwoo had worked up enough courage to convince himself to confess to the other. Unfortunately, his courage proved to be more of a coward than Minwoo was. Several times, Minwoo approached his crush only to have his courage fail him, leaving him spluttering in front of a very confused Donghyun.

He wanted to give up. There was no way Donghyun liked him back now.

However, Minwoo’s pride wouldn’t let him forget his feelings. He tried to persuade himself to push the feelings aside and focus on his career as an idol, which didn’t work since Donghyun was the leader of the group Minwoo was in. Leaving the group was out of question, so Minwoo threw that idea out the window.

He tried to convince himself that these feelings were wrong. A man should not love another man. He repeated the phrase over and over until he could recite it in his sleep. This backfired when Youngmin had to wake Minwoo up in the middle of the night since the younger was practically yelling ‘It’s wrong! It’s wrong!” while asleep.

In the end, Minwoo still had to live with his attraction to the oblivious Donghyun, who had become worried for Minwoo after Youngmin had told him about the maknae’s sleeptalking. The leader cornered Minwoo a few days ago and tried to coax the latter into spilling the beans, looking disappointed and hurt when Minwoo insisted that nothing was wrong. Minwoo still felt guilty whenever he remembered Donghyun’s dejected face.

Minwoo was interrupted from his thoughts by someone calling his name. He turned to see Donghyun watching him from the doorway. Removing his hands from where they were gripping his hair and trying to look natural, Minwoo cleared his throat.

“Yes, hyung?”

“Hyunseong made dinner. Are you coming down?” Donghyun asked softly.

“Oh, yeah. I’ll, uh, be down in a bit.”

Donghyun looked as though he wanted to say more, but ultimately decided against it. He turned to head downstairs, stopping when Minwoo suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand.

Minwoo froze, cursing his body for moving on its own. He awkwardly released Donghyun’s hand as the older turned around to look at him. There was a hopeful look on the leader’s face that made Minwoo push down the urge to say that it had been nothing. He was going to confess.

But like all the previous times, his courage failed him, leaving him stuttering again.

“I, uh….I…”

“Do you need more time?” Donghyun asked when Minwoo sighed in frustration. Minwoo shook his head vigorously. He had taken enough time and feared that one day, Donghyun would tire of waiting.

“I…” Minwoo squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. “I...like you.”

He finally said it.

A silence fell between the two. Minwoo didn’t dare open his eyes, didn’t dare let out the breath he was holding, and didn’t dare move. He felt like he was a crime suspect in a courtroom, waiting for Donghyun, who was the judge, to deliver the verdict for his pounding heart.

Then he felt it.

Something was flitting against the side of his face, softly against his cheekbone. The same feeling crossed the other side of his face, and Minwoo realized that someone was cradling his head. He opened his eyes to see Donghyun’s hands placed on either sides of his face, holding his head ever so gently.

A smile rested on the Donghyun’s face as they looked into each other’s eyes. Wordlessly, the leader pulled the maknae into an embrace, pressing the latter firmly against his chest.

“You finally said it.”