“Oppa!” I greeted happily.

It was the first time I paid him a visit in camp since he enlisted.

“Took you long enough to come visit me,” he mumbled.

“I was busy, oppa. Besides, you think it’s that easy to secure a visiting slot with you?”

“Youngjun told me you’re pretty busy these days. Got a new boss already? Are you gonna ditch me?”

“Pft, you wish. Jellyfish Entertainment hired me for a year-long job with VIXX.”

‘Whoa!” oppa was surprised by the news, “that’s wonderful, Byul-ah!”

“Yeah, they have pretty interesting concepts so doing their makeup is really fun.”

“Okay, work aside. Do I have someone to call brother-in-law yet?”

“Yeah, my job.”

“Oh my gosh, you need to go out and meet people, Han Byul.”

“I do go out and meet people. I do that every single day.”

“You mean the people you work with?” Jaejoong oppa rolled his eyes, “but really, do you want me to introduce some new friends to you? I don’t want you to be a loner for the rest of your life!”

I remembered one time we were in Tokyo and he pulled me along to a meeting with his friends. I almost bolted out of the bar when I recognized my dear oppa’s friends as Shirota Yu and Yamaa Tomohisa. Meeting well-known celebrities while on the job is one thing, meeting them in a casual setting is another. I never went out with him to meet his “friends” after that encounter.

“Nope, no thanks, oppa. I’m fine on my own.”

----

It happened that weekend, during the MBC Gayo Festival.

“Happy New Year, everyone! Thank you for an amazing year!”

VIXX had returned to their waiting room after the countdown on broadcast. Everyone was just greeting everyone with New Year wishes and blessings. Amongst the slight chaos, someone grabbed my hand and pulled me into the changing room. I only managed to look at that person’s face after he locked the door. It was dark, but those features were easily recognizable.

“Taek—”

He held up a finger to his lips, signaling me to stay quiet. I strained my ears to hear if anyone noticed we were missing, but apparently, no one did. It was still noisy in the room. I could feel Taekwoon’s breath on my face as he had me backed against the wall, him leaning over me. Before I could get any words out of me, his lips were on mine. I stayed frozen at the contact. What was he doing?!

“Happy New Year, Byul,” he whispered after pulling away slightly.

I had agreed to drop all formalities with the group, and because I was older than them, they all called me noona, except Taekwoon. Right at that moment, I realized why.

I stared up at him, eyes wide, “what…”

“I like you, Han Byul. A lot.”

Okay, I definitely did not expect to get confessed to by an idol in a cramped changing room. I was confused, I didn’t know what to say.

“T-Taekwoon-ah, I…”

He shook his head, “you don’t have to give me an answer now. I only wanted to let you know how I feel about you.”

Outside, the commotion slowly died down. We heard the stylist team and dancers bid everyone goodbye as they left.

“Did Byul noona leave already? I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her!” Jaehwan’s loud voice boomed.

“Her bags are still here,” Hyuk said, “maybe she went to the washroom.”

“Where’s Taekwoon hyung?” Hongbin asked.

Someone knocked on the changing room door and I jumped, my hands flying to my mouth to prevent myself from making any noises.

“Taekwoon-ah, are you in there?”

“Yeah, I’m changing,” Taekwoon replied.

“Already? We have to go greet the station staff still!” Hakyeon’s voice came through.

“You guys go ahead first, I’ll join you in a bit.”

“Okay, then,” we heard Hakyeon walk away from the door, “guys, let’s go first. Taekwoon will join us