You woke up the next morning and went straight to Taeil’s bedroom.

You usually got him a cup of coffe, tea, some bread or whatever and woke him up in the morning, he would wake up and give you his biggest smile and

thank you. Today, though, he was gonna get a kiss too. You wanted to kiss him for a long time, but of course you didnt, affraid he might not like it, want it… it

was just gonna make things awkward and ruin the practically perfect friendship (?) you had. But if he could kiss you goodnight, you could kiss him

goodmorning. You still couldnt believe he kissed you.

But today, he wasnt there. Instead, you found a note in his pillow.

Last minute schedule, sorry =( We’ll probably be back really late. Stay well, ok?

——-

You spent the whole day alone. You watched Tv, cleaned up some stuff, looked for any recepies Vic umma wrote you that might be easy to make. You

thought about the kiss the whole day. When it was 1am, you decided to wait in your bed.

Like promise, they were back really late, and you were already asleep.

Taeil called you as soon as he stepped in. Still feeling a little ashamed he kissed you so suddenly like that and then left you alone all day, he brought you

chocolate pie. He called you again. When he got no answer, he opened the door to your room. You had fallen asleep, still on your clothes and the lights

were on. He turned them off, then hesitated before making a decision, hoping you wouldnt wake up. He kneeled beside your bed and kissed your parted

lips.

Now he was completely convinced he was the biggest idiot on earth.

——

You had set your alarm to try to wake up before everybody left the next morning, but they still beat you to it. At least this time, Taeil woke you up.

- Hi! - he said as you opened your eyes. - Sorry to wake you up this early but i didnt wanna leave again before talking to you. We are recording “MTV Match

Up”, and its gonna take us the whole day again…

- Can i go with you? - you said, throwing the covers aside and already getting up.

- Uh, are you sure? I mean, its gonna take…

- I dont mind. Do you want me to stay?

His face lit up.

- No, i want you to come too…

- Then give me five minutes.

They all fell asleep in the car. They looked so tired. As soon as Taeil sat next to you on the backseat, he cuddled against your shoulder and closed his eyes. 

The trip was long. Taeil got closer and closer to you as he fell deeper asleep. At some point, he nuzzled your neck with his nose, and pulled you closer to

him by your waist. You blushed, feeling extremly hot despite the cold weather. His breathing was giving you goosebumps. 

He had to like you. At least a bit, if he felt comfortable enough around you to do this. And he kissed you! But… what if he really didnt? What if he was just

enjoying your company, since thats what you really were, company. Someone he could come to whenever he felt like, when he was alone, no strings

attached, because thats your job.

Even if this friendship… who were you trying to fool? You wanted to be much more then a friend to him. Well, even if this ”friendship” felt so real to you, you

werent sure what it meant to him. And this doubt was killing you.

You rested your head on his, and he woke up. Slowly, he realised his position and sat straight.

- S-sorry. - and yawned. - We didnt get much sleep last night.

- Yeah, i can see that. - you laughed and pointed to Jaehyo almost falling from his seat in front of them.

- Hm… ________… - Taeil looked down, his face turning red. - I wanted to apologize for… kissing you like that the other night. 

What?

- What?

- I-i mean… - he glanced at you. - I shouldnt have done that.

You felt like you had swallowed a block of ice. He was regreting kissing you? 

- I should have asked you first, or… something! Anyway, i hope you not mad at me, and i hope you still wanna be my… ”love friend”, because… i need you.

- Boys, wake up, lets go! - said the manager opening the door. It startled you, you didn’t even realise the car had stopped.

You didnt get a chance to reply to Taeil. As soon as they got all, they were taken to the place where they would film. It was an outdoor scenario, a place with

trees and hills all around, a small river crossing it, it was a pretty cold morning. Then it was a mess of hair and wakeup getting done, so you sat on a corner,

even more confused then before. You didnt even see the time pass.

- ________! - Taeil came up to you after a few hours. - They are giving us a break in a about 10 minutes. Come here. - he took your hand and made you

stand up, then pointed. - Do you see that place over there, by the water and the rocks?

- Yeah…

- Can you wait for me over there please? Ill be right there!

It was a beautiful place. The sunlight hit it just right, and there were trees all around it. You stepped over a rock to try to get closer. It was slippery. You

grabbed a bigger rock for support, and made your way carefully to the other side, but slipped and hit your hand hard against the rock, getting a bruise and a

nasty cut. The moist grass was making your clothes wet and cold, so you tried to get up, but you heard your name at the same time you felt arms snaking

around your waist and lifting you up.

- ________! Oh my god, are you ok? How did you fell? I shouldnt have told you to come alone, are you hurt? - Taeil saw the blood on your hand before you

could answer. - Holy… come here. - he pulled you closer to his body and helped you sit on a rock a few steps away, one that was dry. His face was very

pale. - Ill go get you some medicine.

He came back with bandages an started cleaning and wrapping your hand in it.

- I can do it myself… - you mumbled.

- No, please let me do it, it was stupid, i should have come w…

- Im ok, really, you dont need to be so worried. I just slipped… - you noticed his hands were shaking.

- But thats what i was telling you earlier, this things shouldnt happen, i should take care of you if i want you to stay.

- But… i am gonna stay. - what the hell was he talking about?

He looked at you.

- You are?

- Yes! Why would you think i was leaving?

- Well… i thought you were mad at me. First because i, you know, kissed you without permission, then left you alone, and now i did it again and you got hurt.

Its just that… - he paused, and realised he just made a big knot on the bandage and had to start over. - When they told me about this whole ”hire a friend”

thing i didnt like it at all. Because it wouldnt be real, i was affraid you were gonna be completly fake. But i changed my mind when i met you, and you wouldnt

even look at me without blushing… - he smiled. - The truth is, i liked you. And i started to like you more and more as we spent time together. You are

everything i need to feel myself again and continue to work on my music and try my best. I made a promise to myself, that i would keep you happy so you

wouldnt want to leave… - he let out a sad laugh, looking at his messy work with the bandage. - I guess im not doing a very good job.

You werent sure if he was talking about your hand or the whole keeping-you-by-his-side thing, but you didnt care either. You leaned forward, catching him by

surprise, just like he did to you, and pressed you lips against his. At first, he was to shocked to even breathe, but then he kissed you back, pressing light

pecks against your lips, like he wasnt sure this was really happening. You stopped him, with both your hands on his cheeks and pressing your forehead

against his.

- Im not leaving… unless you want me to.

Taeil smiled, then suddenly wrapped his arms around your waist and crushed you against his chest, burying his nose on your neck.

- No way.