Author's Note: Firstly I apologise for having disappeared the past 3 months! I wonder if any of you will come back to read this? But my semester just overtook everything in my life and I couldn't find time to write. If you do return to this fic, I am very grateful for your patience and support and I hope you enjoy the remaining 1 or 2 chapters after this <3 Kei

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Instead she would have to fight fire with fire, and make sure that whatever he had planned—he wasn’t going to succeed.

She needed to protect her heart, restore their friendship to its previous state... and move on.

‘This is delicious!’

‘I bloody well hope so,’ Hyoyeon muttered under her breath while Yonghwa shoveled food into his mouth.

While she was glad the food turned out well, her crabbiness stemmed from the fact that she’d gotten up extra early that morning because he wanted her to make him a lunch box “like they did in manga/manhwa”. It would have served him right if she made something inedible so that he wouldn’t dare make the request again—but her pride got the better of her.

‘I think you’re ready to become a wife,’ he grinned.

She tried not to be touched by his statement.

All week (and it was day 4 now) Yonghwa kept saying adorable things that made her just want her to dissolve into a pile of goo. But she was keeping her resolve strong.

‘I’m glad you think so—unfortunately,’ she said icily, ‘I’m too busy babysitting you to make a match.’

He grinned but was too busy chewing.

Still, Hyoyeon let her gaze just linger at him enjoying his food. He had his jumper rolled up his forearms just below his elbows... she found the sight so y...  Ugh, you need to get a hold of yourself.

‘Next request!’ he suddenly announced.

‘What is it?’ she groaned, ‘making me carry your books to all your classes like on day 1? Making me wait for you to finish practice and buying you dinner like day 2? How about the massage I gave you because your shoulders were stiff last night?’

That massage had nearly undone her-- touching him so intimately-- it took every shred of willpower not to jump him there and then.

‘No, today I know that you have practice with Jonghyun at the university—but you’re not to go home until I come and pick you up.’

‘What for?’ Hyo asked.

‘To walk you home, stupid,’ he tapped her lightly on the head.

It was direct hit to the heart.

‘I think that Jonghyun can walk me home.’

‘Jonghyun will be too busy walking Hyun home,’ Yonghwa said, ‘anyway don’t leave without me—or else remember our deal, we have to extend this deal one more day!’ he looked at his watch, ‘Uh oh, gotta go—thanks for the delicious meal!’

Like usual, long after he'd left Hyoyeon was left there wondering what had just happened.

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The harmonies were working really well tonight.

Hyoyeon loved working with Jonghyun because he had a distinct vision with his song. It was just the same way she loved learning difficult choreography more than freestyling—working within the boundaries, where mistakes were more noticeable and success a lot more obvious—she relished the challenge.

So much so that she didn’t realise that Yonghwa had been standing at the doorway until he started clapping after the duet finished.

Her gaze flew to him and then to the clock—it was 8.30, thirty minutes after their meeting time.

‘I’m so sorry, were you waiting long?’ she asked, and then laughed at the way it sounded. It sounded the way a girlfriend would speak to her boyfriend. Yeah right, wishful thinking Hyo!

‘It’s okay. You sounded really good! Jonghyun-ah, good job!’

‘Thanks hyung, and I’m glad you’re here to take Hyo back. I didn’t want her to walk on her own.’

‘Ready to go?’ Yonghwa asked her.

'Yup,' she said, picking up her stuff.

She was a bit surprised when he lifted her bag out of her hands and slung it over his shoulder. She was going to make a fuss, but wondered what would happened if for once she just went along with it.

‘Did you two take a break for dinner, or do you want to eat something?’

‘Don’t tell me you’re going to buy me food?’ she , lightly bumping him.

‘Of course,’ he said seriously, surprising her with his agreement, ‘someone has to take care of you.’

Hyoyeon gulped slowly; she knew that she was in trouble.

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‘Hyoyeon-noona, you know that we love you right?’ Jungshin asked

‘I do.’

‘And we’d do anything for you?’ Minhyuk added.

‘Yes, of course!’

‘But right now all I want to do is strangle you,’ Jungshin growled, ‘it’s six thirty on a Saturday morning!’

‘Here have some breakfast,’ she pushed the bowl of hot porridge towards him, ‘you know I wouldn’t call you here for no good reason.’

‘I should hope so,’ Minhyuk muttered into his food, ‘your friend is driving me crazy—I know that opening night is a week away, but she doesn’t have to keep me rehearsing lines until past midnight—barely feeding me anything, crazy woman!’

She didn't want to tell them but honestly, after a night tossing and turning, it was only the remaining shred of common courtesy that wasn’t eaten up by her crazed brain that meant she didn’t text them any earlier than 6am.

 ‘I have some shocking news,’ she laid her palms flat down on the table, trying to figure out the way to say it.

Jungshin and Minhyuk exchanged a glance in excitement (despite their lack of sleep). Had their hyung finally kissed her? Made her his girlfriend? Confessed his undying love?

‘I...’ she hesitated and they leaned forward, ‘I like Yonghwa.’

Saying it was a relief. It was as though telling another soul (and two souls at that!) had lifted a weight from her shoulders and she was finally happy.

 ‘For real?’ Minhyuk looked murderous, ‘you called us out for something that we could’ve told you at a decent time of day in the last two weeks?’

‘What?’

‘Noona... it’s written all over your face.’

‘It is not!!’ Hyoyeon lifted her phone and checked herself out on the reflector screen, ‘is it?’

‘It is.’

‘Do you think Yonghwa knows it?’

The brothers exchanged another exasperated look, ‘No-- and that's not even the funny part. I don’t understand how they say they WE are the slow ones...’ Jungshin complained to Minhyuk and then turned back to Hyoyeon, ‘Noona, why do you think that hyung even made you his personal slave for a week?’

She blinked.

‘Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he wanted to spend some time with you?’ Minhyuk suggested patiently.

‘I thought he was just a crazy control freak.’

‘Yes, he’s that too,’ Jungshin conceded, looking around as though expecting Yonghwa to just jump out from behind a booth, ‘but no—it’s obvious he’s trying to win you over.'

‘So you’re only speculating?’ Hyoyeon asked skeptically.

‘We’re going around in circles. Why don’t you just ask him for yourself?’

‘Ask him? Heck no!! What am I, crazy?!?!’

‘YES!’ both boys agreed.

‘But seriously, you want to know how to get him to tell you his real feelings—I have a plan.’

Hyoyeon didn’t like their plans, they never worked out... and yet this time, stupidly, or maybe in desperation, she had to trust them.

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It all comes to a head in the next one!