“Daamn, who’s this hot chick?” Zelo crowed and raised his eyebrows. He bit his lips and pretended to look surprised as you approached him.

            You smacked his arm. “Shut up. It’s dress to impress day. Why are you dressed like a bum?”

            He grinned and struck a pose. “Babe, I already impress.”

            You glared at him. “You know, your girlfriend really wouldn’t appreciate it if you keep calling me that.”

            He shrugged. “She can deal. I mean, you’re my best friend. I think she should be secure enough to know that I like her, but I like to joke with you too. Besides, where’s Daehyun? Aren’t you two always attached by the hip?”

            You looped your arm around his. “Nah, it’s best friends’ day out today.”

            Zelo grinned. “Then what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

            The two of you have been best friends since you were in diapers. Unlike other people, you never had feelings for one another in that way. Maybe it was watching the ups and downs and the unglamorous parts of your lives or it was just because friendship mattered more, but the two of you always remained platonic, much to the surprise of observers.

            Zelo held your hand as you hopped over a puddle, your feet wobbling in your heels. “Looks like hard work.”

            “Zip it. Minyeon walks in heels all the time.”

            “That’s cause my girlfriend needs to be tall enough to kiss me.” He smirked. “It’s not my fault your boyfriend is a bit lacking in the centimeters area.”

            You scowled at him. “No dissing Daedae.”

He laughed out loud. “Are you serious? Daedae? I’m going to tell the others and they’ll laugh him out of the school.” He held his hands up when you glared at him. “Okay, I apologize. Best friends day so no fighting okay?”

“Alright, where are you taking me, Mr. Choi?”

            He shrugged. “Where did we grow up?”

            You smiled. “We’re going to the recording studio?”

            He nodded. “Of course. I need to show off how professional my best friend looks to the company. They want to help train managers too. Wanna be my manager if I ever become famous?”

            “Glad to know you value my skills.”

            You knew it had always been a dream of Zelo’s to work in the entertainment industry and as his best friend, it was your job to support him all the way. You had great organizational skills and Zelo was serious about making you his potential manager, or advisor.

            Zelo slung an arm around you and the two of you entered the company. “Zelo, is this your girlfriend we’ve heard so much about?” a couple of trainees asked when they passed.

            You shook your head. “Oh dear no. Daehyun would be jealous.”

            You entered the recording studio and Zelo placed on headphones. He handed you the other one and you placed it on, hearing the instrumental start to fill your ears.

            “We’re going to be putting out a practice album. See if my rapping style fits okay? Then I need to try some singing. The company wants well rounded people.”

            You nodded and Zelo began. His rapping voice was smooth and he rarely took a breath. He matched the rhythm perfectly and you smiled. He was good. But when he started singing, his voice cracked a bit and he winced but kept going. The octave was a bit high for him and he stopped. He stopped the recording and looked at you.

            “Okay, that was bad. I give up on singing.”

            You patted his shoulder. “Let’s go see your dancing mister.”

            Zelo brightened, happy to show off his other talent. “Let’s go.”

            You watched him dance and company officials entered as well. Immediately, you could see his body tense. His flow started to splutter and you motioned in the mirror. The officials couldn’t see you from the mirror but Zelo could. You did a funny wiggly dance and made faces at him. Zelo had nervous issues and he couldn’t’ afford to mess up.

            He caught your eye and you did your own imitation of his popping dance and he bit his lips. He raised his scarf slightly to hide his grin. Almost as if regaining confidence, Zelo started to dance with his heart again.

            You laughed as he redid the popping move and later slid to the right, jutting out his hips. His arms were swinging and he was in his element. When the music ended, the company officials clapped their hands.

            “Very god, Zelo. Training has done you well.” He bowed to them and when they left, hugged you.

            “Thanks a ton. I don’t know what happened to me. I just froze for a bit.”

            “More like you froze. Besides, if my client didn’t do well on his evaluations, I would be out of a job.”

            A few months later, you attended his first solo stage. Zelo had a duet with Bang Yongguk, another trainee he had worked with. The entire stage was packed and you were proud of him. You saw Minyeon waving a poster with ‘Zelo Hwaiting! Saranghae~’ written on it and walked over to her, pulling Daehyun with you.

            When the lights dimmed and Zelo came on stage. You whooped. “Choi Junhong! Choi Junhong!” you cheered with the rest of the fans. He smiled in your general direction. His rapping was powerful and all the months of training proved to have not been wasted. When he started dancing the familiar dance, you started to laugh.

            After the end, you went backstage and Zelo picked his girlfriend up, kissing her. He turned to you and grinned.

            He swung you around. “Best friend ever.”

Zelo best friend request