Aries: “What are ‘feelings’ and why do I have them?”; little sideways glances, gets overly bashful when talking to them

Libra: Can’t decide whether to make the first move or just chill; always trying to deny their own feelings for their crush

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Taehyun has been noticing some weird…things. He hadn’t noticed them before because they were all busy with their debut, but now that promotions are over, he’s finally noticing it. There’s something up between Mino and Jinwoo.

First, it started as minor side glances and eye contact that lasted a little longer than normal. But he just ignored it back then, because Taehyun doesn’t really like meddling in anyone else’s business. But it’s been happening too much lately. Not to mention the fact that they’ve been spending more time together compared to back when they were trainees. It’s been kinda bothering Taehyun for a while. He doesn’t like not knowing. And so, he makes it his mission to find out what’s going on.

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His first target was Mino, since he’s the one he’s closer to between the two. He makes his investigation as natural as possible, taking in as much information as he can while he spends the usual amount of time with him. The first thing he noticed is that Mino is a little shy when he talks to Jinwoo, quite unlike his usual unabashed self when he’s with the rest of them. And that’s weird since they’ve been together for so many years now. Furthermore, why act shy around him now? It’s not like Mino just found out that Jinwoo is older than him despite how young he looks. And lastly, Mino looks somehow confused all the time? Taehyun can’t really explain why, but it’s like Mino is also aware of how weirdly he’s acting and he’s confused about it. This theory was confirmed when Mino sat beside him in the living room of their dorm one day and asked a very strange question:

“Hey Taehyun, ever wonder where feelings come from?” the rapper asked him without glancing up from his phone. Taehyun cocked his head at him. The heck?

“Uhh…the hypothalamus…?” Taehyun answered hesitantly, extremely perplexed as to why Mino would even ask that.

Mino seemed deep in thought, and then he added, “So, like, are there any ways to stop the hypothalamus from producing, uh, certain feelings?” He seemed very serious about the question, like he wanted to know the answer for real. And why did he stutter? It wasn’t like Mino to stutter.

Taehyun genuinely didn’t know the answer to his question, though. So he answered it with another question instead. “What kind of feelings?”

This seemed to catch Mino off-guard. Suddenly, his eyes were shifty, desperately trying not to make eye contact, and he adjusted himself to a more upright sitting position on the couch. His actions made Taehyun narrow his eyes at him suspiciously.

“Uh, y’know, all…kinds..of feelings. Yeah.” Mino was just outright stammering, nervously waving at him to make it look like it was just some random thought. Which clearly wasn’t, given how Mino was acting. Then suddenly, Jinwoo emerged from his and Seungyoon’s room and sauntered towards them. Taehyun quickly glanced up at him, then returned his gaze towards Mino, who had also looked up from his phone briefly before hurriedly opening a game on his phone. While it was still loading, Mino tapped on the phone, as if pretending to be playing. Weeeeird.

“Hey guys, whatcha doin’?” Jinwoo asks light-heartedly as he stood beside Mino, slightly leaning over towards his phone.

“Just playing,” Mino replied, his words coming out a little faster than usual. Then Taehyun saw Mino’s ears reddening and, eventually, there was an undeniable tint of pink on his cheeks. It was then that everything just clicked in Taehyun’s mind—the stolen glances, the weird question, the bashfulness around Jinwoo, the stuttering and the blushing.

Mino is crushing on Jinwoo.

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After Taehyun solved that mystery, the next question was: Does Jinwoo like Mino, too?

This one was a little harder though, because Taehyun wasn’t as close to Jinwoo as he was with Mino. It wasn’t that Taehyun didn’t like Jinwoo, because he did (who could hate him? The guy is a literal angel), but maybe it was because of the between them that they haven’t bonded that much yet. But Taehyun willingly dived into the mission anyway, because he might even get a little closer to his oldest hyung afterwards. Thankfully, when he started to spend more time with him, Jinwoo didn’t seem to notice a thing. In fact, as Taehyun observed, his attention was drawn to Mino half of the time. Jinwoo still made sure to give attention to anyone he’s with, but with Taehyun’s highly-attuned senses, he could still notice the subtle swaying of his attention from time to time.

Another thing Taehyun observed was that Jinwoo seemed to be at war with himself. Whenever he talked with Mino, the look on his face would switch back and forth from relaxed to guarded. And whenever their eyes met, Jinwoo couldn’t seem to decide whether to look away or not. Sometimes he would, sometimes he won’t. Also, Jinwoo is usually one of the touchy members in the group, but lately he would hesitate making platonic physical contact with Mino. He would stop himself before touching him or sometimes, he would retract his hand completely. It’s like he has doubts on how Mino would react to his touch. All this hesitation and fluctuation makes Taehyun think that Jinwoo isn’t sure what Mino thinks of him. But why would he care so much what Mino thinks of him?

The answer became clear when, upon closer observation, Taehyun saw the way Jinwoo turns bright red around Mino, how he smiles more and his eyes are brighter, as if he’s taking pictures of him in his mind. And most especially, whenever Jinwoo talks about Mino in passing, he always seems like he wants to say more, like he wants to gush all night about him, but he deliberately stops himself by shaking his head and switching the topic far, far away from the original one. It's like he's trying to fight the way he feels but to Taehyun, it's clear as day. Jinwoo has a crush on Mino, too.

In conclusion, both of them are gay for each other.

Taehyun wasn't sure what to do with the information at first. He had nothing against the gayness; he respects that. What he wasn't sure of was whether he should give them a little nudge towards each other or let them develop at their own pace. But after a few weeks of watching his two hyungs helplessly pining for each other, Taehyun found it so amusing that he decides on the latter. The fact that only he knew about this made it even more interesting for him, especially when he watches them desperately trying to hide their big fat crush on each other. Soon enough, Seunghoon and Seungyoon will catch on to it, and then maybe Mino and Jinwoo themselves will finally know how they feel about each other. And maybe even sooner, the fans might notice and then everyone else might, too.

But for now, it's Taehyun's little secret to keep.

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(A/N: The end~ I'm really sorry if I didn't protray Taehyun all that well because I don't really know him that well either. But feel free to educate me about him more if you want! Also, thank you to everyone who reads this and I hope this was worth your time. ^^)