You sat under that tree in the park for hours. You weren’t crying anymore, but you were still upset. It felt strange to fight with Taemin. You never could get angry with him before, but the way he talked about Kevin just got the better of you and so you exploded. You felt that you needed to apologize to him for being rude, but first you had to calm down. You leaned back against the tree and looked up at the clouds moving by. The autumn air was cool and breezy and the leaves were starting to change color with the season. Since it was Sunday, there were many elderly people in the park. You watched them mill around, feeding the birds or sitting on a bench, reading.

The calm atmosphere really helped you find your center and relaxed you. You knew you were ready to go back and apologize to Taemin. You were on your way back to your house, when you saw a figure sitting on his front porch steps. You could see it was Kevin, not exactly the guy you wanted to see right now, but you didn’t want to blow him off. He smiled when he saw you approach him, but that smile quickly disappeared when he saw your red, puffy eyes.

“Why does it look like you’ve been crying”, he asked concerned.

Having to remember your and Taemin’s fight brought fresh tears to your eyes. Kevin embraced you in a big hug and your hair, trying to comfort you.

“Tell me what happened.”

Kevin sat you down on the porch and you started to tell him everything that went on.

Through tears you choked out, “I wanted to ask..Taemin about your argument last night and he said that he told you to leave me alone because all you wanted out of me was . And I didn’t believe him and said he was jealous.”

Kevin’s eyes were filled with disbelief and concern. He was trying to contemplate what to say to this.

“Why would he ever say something so absurd like that? Why does every guy think that other guys are only being nice to their friends that are girls because they want ?! It irritates me. Well I’m glad you didn’t believe him. I would never use you like that. Hell, I’d never use any girl like that.”

You still had to apologize to Taemin, but you wanted Kevin’s opinion on how you should go about that.

“Kevin, I want to apologize to Taemin, but I’m not sure how I should do it. Can you help me?”

“You want to apologize to him?! After what he said?!”

“Neh, we’ve never fought before and I feel like I should apologize to him. I said some pretty mean things.”

“He should be the one to say sorry to you, not the other way around. Look, if you really think you should apologize to him, wait a few days. Let him think about what he’s done. I hope that helps.”

“Yeah, it does. Thanks for listening Kevin oppa. I’m glad I have someone to talk to.”

You got up and kissed Kevin on the cheek before you walked back to your house.

Kevin POV

After our talk, ________ left. I can’t believe Taemin would say something like that about me to her. Where the hell does he get the nerve?! Guess I’ll have to teach him a lesson. So I walked straight over to his house and knocked on the door. The door opened seconds later and it was just the person I wanted to see. When he saw who it was, his expression immediately darkened.

“What do you want”, he said coldly.

“We need to talk.”

“Fine, but make it quick. I have more important things to do”, he said shutting the door behind him.

“Why would you tell ________ that I was only being nice to her to sleep with her?! Where did that even come from?”

“Hey, I just had to tell her the truth. I’ve been telling her all these years that you can’t trust other guys. That’s all they want you for.”

“All these years, you’ve drilled these lies into her head and made her afraid to have other guy friends. I’m finally starting to see your angle.”

Taemin crossed his arms.

“And that would be”, he said cockily.

“You just want her all to yourself. You made her afraid of other guys so you wouldn’t have competition. That way she would only look up to you and fall in love with you because you’re the one that has always protected her. Why would you do such a thing?”

“I think you’re a bit confused. I’ve never done anything of the sort.”

“Well, you’ve definitely gotten her wrapped around your finger. She actually thinks the fight was her fault and she was going to apologize to you.”

“Oh really?!”

“Yeah, but I talked her against it because it’s your fault and you should apologize to her."

“Actually, it’s your fault we fought. We never argued before you came and now you’ve ruined everything. Why don’t you just leave us alone!?”

“I’ve ruined everything?! You’re doing a good job of that yourself because you’re letting your ego get in the way. You think you’re some tough guy who helps a damsel in distress when all you’re really doing is causing her more problems.”

“I see your point, but too bad I don’t care.”

“Well you should. Messing with her emotions like that isn’t good. It’s only creating more damage in the end. I’m just trying to help.”

Taemin shot me an angry look and balled up his fists.

“Look, if I needed your help, I would’ve asked you for it, so just leave”, he said shoving me backwards.

I usually wasn’t the type to fight, but he just pushed me too far, so I pushed him back.

“Oh so that’s how it is, huh!?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

You POV

After your talk with Kevin, you went home and up to your room. Not more than 20 minutes later and you could hear a commotion coming from outside. You looked out the guest bedroom window and saw Taemin shove Kevin. And then Kevin shoved him back. You raced down the stairs as fast as your legs could carry you and darted out the door before things could get more out of hand.

“Guys knock it off”, you said calling out to them.

Kevin turned in your direction, just as Taemin’s hand connected with his shoulder. Kevin gasped in pain.

You rushed over to stop the fighting.

“What has gotten into you two lately?! This ends here. I’m tired of you two fighting. What is so important that you need to be violent with each other?!”

Wincing in pain, Kevin said, “It’s just we both care about you and we just can’t agree on things right now.”

“Well if you guys care about me so much then either make up or I’m done with the both of you.”

You turned around and stormed back off into your house, leaving them staring at each other with shocked and confused expressions.

Taemin POV

I watched her run back to her house. She was right, in a sense. I have been letting my ego get in the way of our friendship. And even Kevin has a point. I’ve sheltered her and told her lies about other guys just to keep her all to myself. The truth is I really like her. I’ve liked her since the day we first met and I’ve been trying so hard over the past four years to hide my feelings for her and it’s gone well. Guys at school knew she was with me so they left her alone. The girls picked on her, but that’s only because they’re jealous. I’ve tried to tell her how I feel, but every time I tried, I got nervous and choked up. No matter what others may see when they look at her, I know that she’ll always be my everything.

Kevin POV

I was still in pain. Taemin could really pack a punch, but my physical pain was nothing compared to my mental one. I felt really guilty and at fault. We went overboard just to show her we care. Even though I’ve only known her for less than a week, I’m really starting to like her. She’s funny and easy to talk to and she doesn’t judge me. I know we’ll have to compromise if we’re ever going to get her to talk to us again. It’s time we put our pettiness aside and think about her feelings for a change. I just hope she’ll be able to forgive us.