Different from his band mates who had a strange thing for the maknae, JR prefered to keep his distance than touching and being around him all the time. BaekHo would be the only one who succeded having a good feedback from Ren and even the blond himself would come to him sometimes, hugging and even kissing his cheek when they were at the dorm or in the backstage when they thought nobody was seeing. Of course the good leader was seeing everything, not caring how creepy that could sound, but JR never commented anything. He was the quiet type anyway.

 

            MinHyun, the opposite of BaekHo, liked to tease Ren, to the point the poor youngster didn't know what to do anymore. He already tried hitting, screaming, whimpering and any other cute reaction that only made the main vocalist even more, but MinKi didn't reject him. At least, not how he reject Aron. JongHyun even pitied him at times, because the youngest of the group knew how to be mean and he was rather violent when it came to Aron as well.

 

            Aron was always clunting into Ren, asking for kisses, having unwelcomed skinship with him and even stole the poor maknae's first kiss in one of his games and of course that Ren created a deadly hate for the oldest of the group, trying to avoid him as long as it was possible. JR chuckled with him when he asked the leader to change the arragment the manager made for them in one of the first fanmeetings so he wouldn't be seating next to older boy and as JongHyun couldn't just say no to him, he agreed in changing seats. He was scolded by the manager in the end, but he didn't care much. Ren was happy and this was what mattered.

 

            Giving it a deeper thought, JR and Ren didn't have any special interactions. Ren only came to the leader to ask for something or show a new accessory he found on internet once in a while and asked for his opinion about it or even to show a new music he was sure both of them would enjoy, after all they had more in common when it comes to taste of music than the fans knew. JR was satisfied with it and even happy with just that. It was something natural and even though they didn't talk much, both of them knew that they would be there for each other. Although they didn't talk much, they understood each other in a deep way that other people wouldn't understand even if they explained it.

 

            After all, they couldn't explain it. Their relationship was casual yet intimate, at least in JR's eyes.

 

            Instead of going for the maknae, disturbing and stressing him even more, because he knew just by watching that the pretty boy didn't like people around and touching him without proper permission - which BaekHo seemed to have a free pass -, JR liked to just watch from afar, studying discreetly the younger's traits and the way he would sulk, his expression turning into an unpleasant one everytime he would spot Aron getting close to him or when his expression would soften, his eyes lightning up and a light smile on his lips when BaekHo was touching him someway and this was the moment he liked the most, he liked when Ren smiled although it would be rarely for the leader especially when they were in public.

 

            When they were outside of the security of their dorm or practice room, JR and Ren would seem and act like complete strangers, not even daring to take a glance on each other and it killed JR all the time, because BaekHo could easily slip between the members and get the maknae, not caring if there were fans watching every move they made, but JR couldn't. JongHyun had to control himself to keep things for himself and when things were hard, he would go to Aron since MinHyun was too young to bother with such things like the stress of being a leader and knowing things only a leader knew.

 

            Since the very beginning, JR was aware about their sales, how much they owned the agency - and believe him, it wasn't a small debt - and he was remembered everytime they would go to their practice room that if they couldn't make it, they would disband and probably their contract would be over together with their dreams, Ren's dream and dealing with a Ren with the dream of his life broken was something JongHyun could never handle. Just thinking about his melancolic expression made JR want to kill himself and the one who dared to ruin the young male's dream.

 

            There were times JR had nightmares with numbers and numbers and percents. And more numbers.

 

"You're acting weird. What is wrong?" Ren seated on the "bed" he shared with the leader and the other blond on the team.

 

"Nothing." JR smiled softly, his eyes wandering the beautiful fair skinned face. "BaekHo?"

 

"Playing with MinHyun-hyung and Aron-hyung." He couldn't miss the light sparkle on Ren's eyes when he mentioned BaekHo's name, but soon enough it was replaced for seriousness. "And don't dare to change the subject. I'm serious."

 

            JongHyun sighed and turned his gaze to the ceiling.

 

"So am I."

 

"Don't you trust me?" Ren asked a little offended, in his mind, JR could always lean on him, because he would always be there for him although he never said it out loud. With JR, he would never needed to say anything out loud.

 

            JR didn't answer, his eyes concentrated in the ceiling, his mind traveling to the numbers again. If they didn't sale a good amount of albums or stickers for the next month, they would have a bigger debt with the company and they would be even more harsh on them for the next comeback, imagining all the scold they would receive for not being good enought an- Before he could finish his thoughts he felt something on top of him and suddenly a hot breath was hitting his lips and when JR looked up, he faced Ren's eyes, their noses touching and their lips nearly doing the same. From afar, they would seem to be kissing or almost doing it, but for both of them, the ones included in that intimate act, they were studying eachother, exploring every and each corner of their minds and souls.

 

            They didn't say anything, they didn't need to. Their eyes said it all.

 

|-|-|-|

 

            BaekHo was the one acting weird after witnessing JRen's - this was the name of their couple the fans gave them, JR discovered when he was looking for the album's sales someday - intimate eyes - another term, he found by the fans. Everytime the leader would come into the room where the other members were already, he would hug Ren tight and whisper probably intimate things in his ear, making Ren blush and hit his arm lightly and of course, JR just watched.

 

            He just watched the pure white porcelain like cheeks turning slowly red, the usual piercing and ice gaze turning into an embarassed and shy one, one of the soft hands coming to cover his mouth probably to hide his grin or just hide a litte of his face. Sometimes, his and Ren's eyes would meet, sending little electric shocks to the older's body and suddenly he felt his hand uneasy and had to control himself to not stand up and do something stupid which would risk the bonding of the group.

 

            And of course that BaekHo would notice all of this and he didn't like it at all.

 

            Someday, when their promote for "Face" and "I'm sorry" finished, he discovered why the weird behavior and he wasn't surprised. As a good watcher, he knew the younger's feelings a long time ago, but didn't dare to say anything since this was something too intimate and it was BaekHo's choice to confess his love or not although JR was a little surprised to know that just now, after all, everybody could see that they had something more than just friendship.

 

"He confessed to me." Ren said while shifting in his place of the bed. It was one of the few nights BaekHo wasn't between them since he was busy recording his solo song of the new album.

 

"Who? Aron-hyung?" JR asked, clearly acting innocent and Ren hit his arm.

 

"No! No. Not Aron-hyung. BaekHo-hyung who I'm talking about." Ren said, his eyes turning to the ceiling right away.

 

"Oh. And what did you say?" JongHyun asked, already knowing the answer.

 

"No."

 

"Excuse me?"

 

"I said no. I rejected him."

 

            Both of them went silent, their eyes searching for each other and the next thing JR felt was soft lips on his own.

 

|-|-|-|

 

            Neither of them commented about what happened that day in the dorm, but both of them knew that something has changed. Their promote for "Action" started and JR was always there, always next to Ren although they wouldn't talk or look at each other as if they were just putting in action what they always knew, what they were for each other. Even though they seemed strangers, they knew better that they weren't and this was what mattered. Both of them knew what they represented for each other and this was enough.

 

"You're a bad boyfriend, Hyung." 

 

            Until Ren came up with something weird, making JR choke on his drink.

 

"W-what? What are you talking about?" He looked at the maknae as if the younger had a second head growing on his shoulder.

 

"You don't come to me, don't kiss me, you don't even touch me. I'm the one who has to start the skinship and when you come to me, you just do something useless as ask me something about Lady Gaga or if I want something. Please. Even BaekHo-hyung not being my boyfriend was much better than you."

 

            JR was frozen when he heard everything, the naggings and how BaekHo would be a better boyfriend than the leader, but he wasn't really listening to it, attached to the fact that the maknae was really refering the older boy as his boyfriend.

 

"... It though, that I want you not him."

 

            JongHyun smiled like a fool and the last thing Ren could register was soft, demanding lips against his own and his back pressed against the wall of the kitchen.