"Yah, are you still hiding Yunho here? What are you two doing?" Jaejoong asked in a cold tone, giving you a rather threatening look. From that you guessed that Lin hadn’t decided to lie to him just yet.

"What’s it to you? We’re working." You scoffed at him and leaned your head back. "There’s shows coming up after all." Just then Junsu wormed his way past Jaejoong and smiled at you.

"Can’t we join you? Taemin didn’t you say I could always come here?" He looked at you expectantly. Yunho shot you a cautious glare and you nudged his arm before turning away, heading back into the house in silent agreement.

"Just remember that Yunho hyung and I are working. Amuse yourself without breaking my things." You called out, pulling Yunho with you to the kitchen. "And take off your shoes!" Not that they normally wouldn’t. Nervously you tried to keep track of the treacherously soft footsteps of Lin who was moving around. You did not want that girl in your house. As long as she was there you knew that you wouldn’t get a moment of rest.

"Hyung, sit down here. We can work here." You stated to him. As you suspected Lin wasn’t far behind you. Her eyes were directed at Yunho, so you slapped his arm to make him look at you instead.

"Taemin oppa! You should at least say hello to me! Aren’t I your guest?" She was pouted. Miserable thing. You bit your lips, ready to snap at her when you noticed Jaejoong looking at you from the living room.

"Hi." You told her before facing Yunho again, "hyung, I meant to talk to you about this. In a few weeks there is a presentation I need to give. I could do with some tips here." You nodded faintly at him. Yunho nodded, understanding that it was your presentation in general since you would have to be on television sometime soon.

Yunho crossed his legs and leaned back, shooting Lin a glare before asking you if you should move somewhere else. You shook your head and listened to him talking about show presentation. You wondered if Taemin had this talk to. Had Yunho helped him train once? Time seemed to pass fairly well as you listened to Yunho’s hushed talking.

"Taeminnie! Yunho hyung! We’re playing karaoke so come and join us!" Junsu yelled from the living room. Surprised you sat up. Yunho grabbed your arm almost immediately, shaking his head as you had stepped in their direction.

"I didn’t know I had that game?!" You shouted back at them. Yunho got up and squeezed your arm lightly.

"Lin brought it from her home! Please come play with us?"

"What are we going to do?" Yunho muttered and glanced back at the room. You took his hand and squeezed softly. You had decided it was better to face them head on. This was your –Taemin’s- house. Full of played confidence you stepped into the other room and dropped yourself on a chair. Yunho sat down by your side and squeezed your shoulder, motioning that he would protect you. He was being too suspicious right now, you thought in annoyance.

"I’m going to get drinks. Any volunteers?" You called out as you got up. It was too frustrating to be stuck there with one overprotective man and a girl you assumed was messed up in the head. Immediately Yunho got up as well, which bothered you.

When he offered to go with you Lin sat up and looked at you with a bright smile. Whilst putting on aegyo she turned to Jaejoong and asked him to go with you since Yunho must be tired of work. You glared at Jaejoong, trying to tell him not to even think about going with you. Unfortunately that just made him smirk and nod, agreeing to go with you.

After Jaejoong said goodbye to his girlfriend he followed you outside. The night was quite chill, and you stuffed your hands into your pockets. Begrudgingly you walked beside him, occasionally glancing at him suspiciously. It had been a while since Jaejoong had last been near you.

"Taemin.. " He finally broke the silence, "I don’t like you." It stung a little to hear it like that but you shrugged and turned to him slightly.

"I know that. You don’t have to state it." You told him before turning again to head to the nearest supermarket. Jaejoong placed a hand on your shoulder and stopped you from walking.

"I want you to pretend if anyone recognizes us. If our fans think that we are fighting, it will cause a mess. So pretend we’re hyung and dongsaeng." At his words you rolled your eyes, but he didn’t see it as he was facing your back.

"I got it." You muttered and twisted your shoulder to get out of his grasp. Jaejoong caught up with you. For  a few minutes you walked in silence. The silence wasn’t as awkward as exchanging words was. At some point you even felt rather comfortable with it. Your mind found its way back to Yunho and Lin. Slightly worried you quickened your pace a little.

"How long have you had a girlfriend?" You finally asked, regretting immediately that the silence was over. A store was coming into sight. Jaejoong sighed and you glanced at him. For a few moments it seemed he was in distress.  

"A while.. " He then said and nudged your shoulder a little too hard to be casual. "It’s none of your business.. But.. We’ve been together for a while. Honestly lately I have the feeling she isn’t into me all that much anymore. Don’t you dare tell anyone I told you this. I don’t trust you Taemin, but at least I know you won’t make a big deal out of it."

His spontaneous outburst surprised you, and simultaneously made you feel bad for him. Both Yunho and Jaejoong were feeling bad because of her. In an attempt to get rid of the feeling you just nodded at him and straightened your back as you were about to enter the store. To be polite since he was older than you, you made a final statement about it.

"No one hears anything about it from me. What do you want for drinks?" You asked as you picked up a basket, heading to the liquor department. Jaejoong picked up a few bottles of soju and slid them into the basket. It was gradually getting heavy, but you did your best not to show it. You then added a few snacks to the basket. After that you decided that you might as well buy something to cook for the next evening. The last few days had passed by in such a blur that you were sure you were practically out of everything.

When you reached for a cabbage Jaejoong’s hand brushed over yours. Surprised the both of you took a step back. He blinked at you as you stuffed the cabbage into the basket as well.

"Why are you buying those things? Are you going to cook?" He asked, stepping closer to you to subject you to an inspecting glare. You shrugged and retorted that no one else was going to cook for you. Jaejoong shrugged but offered to pay under the condition that you’d cook him a meal the next night. Seeing as he probably forget about it you agreed to it and let him pay.

As soon as you entered Taemin’s home again, you could hear the sounds of what sounded like an argument in the living room. To make your arrival noticeable you slammed the door shut behind you. Then everything went quit. After taking off your shoes you headed into the living room and gave everyone a bottle of soju. Lin latched onto Jaejoong which made room for you on the couch beside Yunho.

"Jaejoongie! I missed you!" You only half heard the rest of her blabbering and turned to Yunho, offering him a drink. As you poured him a shot you whispered to him under your breath.

"What happened while we were gone? Are things okay?"

Yunho glanced at Lin, who gave the two of you a cold stare over Jaejoong’s shoulder, and then turned his eyes back to you. As quiet as possible he explained to you that things had escalated quickly and he ended up arguing with Lin. Junsu and Changmin both gave you a quiet nod whilst Yoochun just sipped his drink angrily.

"Taemin oppa! Since there isn’t a lot of space can I sit on your lap?" Her voice suddenly interrupted you. You slowly raised your head and looked at her. Her eyes were cold but there was a smile on her lips. After exchanging one glance with Yunho you quickly shook your head. She pouted and stomped her feet. Moments later you heard her argue with Jaejoong about her remark.

Frustrated with their fight you just sipped your drink as well, not turning from Yunho as there were also older people than you on the other side of you. For the rest of the evening things were sour. Junsu tried very hard to get people to join games, but the tension between Lin and Jaejoong was enough to even sour his mood. When you finally had enough of it you announced that everyone had better go home because they needed to work early. Nobody seemed to mind and Lin especially hurried to get away, followed by a frustrated Jaejoong.

"Taemin-ah.." You glanced at Yunho as you pushed him towards the door. "Thanks for.. Helping out. I’m sure your sister feels the same way."