Cute?!

Niel just said that you were cute?!

The same Niel who had been ignoring you for days and acting as though he hated you after what you had said to Jae-Hwa had just called you cute?!

You sat staring at Niel for a while, not sure what he had just said to you. Did he mean that he thought that you were cute? Or that other people may think that you acted cute? After all, there was a difference between Niel thinking that you were cute and Niel thinking that other people saw you as cute.

Niel still sat there looking at you as he had been before, resting his head against his hand, only this time... Something was different...

This time...

Niel was smiling.

You didn’t know what to do or say to Niel, so you just sat there, the blush which had crept onto your face turning your cheeks redder and redder every second. You wanted to put your hand onto your cheek to see how hot it had grown, as you were sure it was going to be burning you were that flustered.

It was obvious that Niel had noticed your blush, as he looked away momentarily as he chuckled to himself, only making your blush grow. As this was happening, both your mother and Niel’s mother were returning to the table, they looked at Niel, who was still sat smiling at you, and then they looked at you, who was trying desperately not to make eye contact with Niel after the awkward moment which had just occurred.

Your mothers continued looking at you and Niel for a while, before turning to one another, chuckling and whispering something to one another. You couldn’t hear what was said, as you were still too flustered and confused about what had just happened with Niel only moments ago. Had he really just called you cute?

Clearly, Niel had heard what had been said as his smile grew a little bigger.

“Anyway, Niel, your manager just called, you have to be back soon, so we’re all going to set off home shortly.” Niel’s mother smiled.

We have to leave? Is this how it was going to end? Sure, you hadn’t wanted to come here with Niel in the first place, but now that he had somewhat called you cute, you wanted to stay, at least for just a little longer. You didn’t know what he really meant when he said it, and if you left it like this, the next time you saw him you might feel awkward. Had he meant to call you cute?

After she had said this, you all headed back out to the car, so that you could return to your dorms. You got in and set off to your dorm, before Niel’s mother took Niel back to Teen Top’s dorm, and took your mother back to your Aunt’s house.

With what had just happened between you and Niel, you were a little apprehensive to get into the car with him, sure you didn’t want to leave it like this with him, but you were scared that he would be silent on the journey like he was on the way to the cafe. If he didn’t speak at all, you would have left still feeling awkward with Niel, something you really didn’t want to happen.

“So Mélodie, it’s been really nice to meet you, I think it would be nice if you got Niel’s phone number, you never know, you might want to talk again sometime.” When Niel’s mother said that you felt as though you were going to die. Your cheeks flushed again as you realised that you couldn’t tell her that you already had it, and you felt too awkward with Niel to try to get him to play along.

“I told you, I wouldn’t be a good daughter in law.” You laughed a little, unsure exactly what to say to Niel’s mother now.

“Oh, well I’m sure it would be nice for you to remain in contact.”

“Popcycle and Teen Top do some shows together occasionally.” You said, trying to hint that you didn’t want Niel’s number. “I’m sure we will remain in contact.”

“Ok, if you’re sure.” Niel’s mother laughed a little.

This time, Niel wasn’t sat staring out of the window as you expected him to be, instead, he was sat facing in to the rest of the car, listening to what was going on. A small while had passed before Niel’s mother spoke again.

“I don’t know why you don’t think you would make a good daughter in law, Mélodie, I think you’d be great.”

“It really isn’t necessary to bring this back up.” You began, after realising your last attempt to stop her from talking about it had failed. “After all, we have already discussed this, and I’m sure I’ve told you that I’m not the best daughter, so I really won’t be the best daughter in law either.” As you said this you subconsciously looked back over at Niel, who was sat smiling at you, an amused look on his face.

You quickly looked away as you felt your face growing red again, why was he looking at you like that? Did he really think you were cute? Soon, the car pulled up outside and you all got out so that you could say goodbye to everyone.

“I’ll come and visit you very soon.” You grinned, embracing your mother and holding her as you said your goodbyes.

“Of course, but until you do I’m going to miss you!” Your mother beamed, and you had no doubt that you would see her again very soon. “And don’t forget to take good care of yourself, eat well, don’t get ill...” Your mother went on, beginning to fuss about your wellbeing for after she had left.

You tugged your lips into a smile, as you felt tears approaching your eyes, happy to have seen your mother after such a long time, yet sad to see that she was leaving again.

“Don’t worry, I will do, you too.” You assured her, “You should go home now, it’s getting late.”

The sky was growing darker and darker, and you know that before long it would be pitch black outside.

“You’re right; it’s getting very late...” Niel’s mother chipped in, “Ah! Niel! Why don’t you go with Mélodie to her dorm? As she said, it’s getting late, and I’d hate for anything to happen to her. Go with her and make sure she gets there safe!”

Niel didn’t say anything to his mother; he just walked towards you, running his hands through his soft brown hair.

What? Niel was going to accompany you back to your dorm?

“It’s fine, Niel doesn’t need to come with me.” You smiled, doing your best to assure Niel’s mother that you would be fine to walk to your dorm alone, and that Niel didn’t need to go with you to make sure that you were ok. “Really, it isn’t far, and it isn’t even that late yet!”

“Ok, I’d feel a lot better if he went with you though.” His mother smiled and said goodbye to you. You bowed at her and said goodbye too, before turning back to your own mother.

“I love you, and I’m going to miss you so much!” You frowned, putting your arms round her and hugging her one last time.

“I’m going to miss you so much too, but we will see each other very soon! I promise!”

With that you turned and walked towards your dorm, giving your mother one last wave as she got into her car.

As you walked into the building, you noticed that Niel’s was following you, but you didn’t even look at him. This was the first time you had been alone with since he had called you cute, and now you were feeling too awkward and shy to even look at him. Maybe you should talk to him, act like you had forgotten about him calling you cute and tell him it was all fine. Would he think you were strange or weird if you did that?

You decided that it would probably be a good idea, and you opened you mouth to speak, but you didn’t get chance for the words to come out, as the elevator pinged, signalling it’s arrival and the doors slid open. Stepping inside the elevator, you turned to face Niel, who was still standing outside by the doors, looking uneasy.

“Umm..” You began, not really knowing what to say to Niel. “You can... come in if you want...” You said with a small voice, not sure how Niel would react to that, so it took you by surprise when you saw him smile and step into the elevator beside you.

You stood in an awkward silence for a few moments before Niel eventually decided to speak.

“So uh... How was your day?” He asked, still not looking over to you.

You were a little taken aback by his question, as you had been together all day.

“Well, I did the same things as you.” You answered him, shifting awkwardly and wanting to get out of the elevator before the subject of him calling you cute was brought up. Niel let out a small yet hearty laugh at your response, which made your heart melt a little, did he really actually think you were cute?

“You’re right.” He replied, and even though you weren’t looking at him, you could tell that he was smiling.

The elevator grew silent again and your mind began to wander to Niel... Did he really think you were cute? He can’t like you though, can he? He already likes Jae-Hwa! That’s when it hit you, you realised that you needed to help him with her, after all, a promise is a promise.

“Do you want to talk to Jae-Hwa?” You asked him. “You know, if you did, you just had to say.”

Niel stopped smiling for a moment while he considered it, and during that couple of seconds he stopped smiling, you could have sworn your heart stopped beating. Was he going to say something about you? That he changed his mind about Jae-Hwa? That he really did find you cute?

“You’re right.” Niel replied his face lighting up again, killing all your hopes of him changing his mind about who he likes. “I would really like to speak with Jae-Hwa.” He continues smiling and then looked down at you. “You must be a really good friend to me if you can tell what I was thinking!”

At this you didn’t know what to feel, sad that he didn’t like you in the way that he like Jae-Hwa, or happy that he wanted to be your friend, at least that’s what it seemed like... was he wanting to be your friend again?

You remained silent as you walked towards your dorm, thinking about Niel’s sudden personality change, was he the same guy as the cold, silent one you had sat in the car with this morning?

Soon, you arrived at your dorm and knocked on the door.

“Ah! Mélodie! You’re back!” Ae-Sook grinned as she opened the door for you. “Where have you be-” the trailed off when she noticed that you were with Niel.

When the other members noticed that you were with Niel, you could have sworn you saw them grin!

“Ah! Niel!” Jae-Hwa smiled, walking over to him. “Can we talk for a moment?” She asked him.

“Sure!” Niel smiled in reply and they both stepped out of the room so that they could not be heard by the others.

You stepped into the room and turned to close the door so that they could have some privacy, but it was intriguing to know what they wanted to talk about in private, so you didn’t fully close the door. You knew that you shouldn’t just be stood there listening to them- It was wrong, but if something was going on between them, you needed to know!

“But what about the text earlier?!” You heard someone say.

“Byunghun and me...”

You were only able to hear small parts of their conversation, but whatever they were talking about sounded pretty serious, and even though they were stood outside the door, they still kept their voices low, as though they didn’t want anyone to hear them whatsoever.

“Wanted to...”

“Oh, right...”

“Do you understand now?”

“You mean you tricked her?!”

“Yes.”

“What am I going to do?”

“You’ll know after you call him.”

“Just... don’t tell her about this.”

You flattened yourself against the wall. What in the world were they talking about?!