Who Wouldn't?

At exactly five o'clock, when Yoseob and Jieun were still separated from the rest, a bell chimed throughout the building. The two raised their head to the sky, wondering where the lovely sound came from. Following the sound, a voice had chirped up through the speakers.

"Hello guests! I hope you guys are enjoying the fun booths around the academy. In thirty minutes, our main event will be held behind the school, where a large concert will be held. During these thirty minutes, we will be calling all the participants to come to the back stage in order to prepare for the concert. The order of the teams announced will also be the order of when the team is supposed to perform. Ready? Listen carefully for your name!"

Jieun stopped walking and continued to look up at the sky. "Yoseob, did you hear that?"

"Of course," he replied, looking for the speaker. The two carefully listened for their band name.

"BTOB...Everest Five... and last but not least, APink! Please be sure to come to the back stage as soon as possible! This is Namjoo from APink, informing all the groups who were called to come to the backstage!"

"Our name was called pretty early," Yoseob mumbled.

"Great! When we go back, I can hear what Daehyun has to say about his crush." She cheered by raising her fist in the air. Yoseob gave her an annoyed expression and pushed her hand back down to her side.

"Why are girls so interested in love? They'll eventually find someone who will complete them. Why are they so eager to hear about love stories when they only make girls feel envious?" he asked, trying to avoid any topic relating to Daehyun.

"That's like asking why a guy wants a girlfriend," she said, walking into the crowd. "Do you think the rest got the message? Ugh, I'm so curious over who Daehyun likes!"

Yoseob faked a laugh and followed Jieun. "I bet they did... I bet they did..."

He sent Baekhyun a text, just in case.

"Daehyun, we have to go! Are you going to stick to the wall? Honestly, why are you so upset?" Baekhyun asked, irritated. He had his eyes glued to his phone, and he knew that Yoseob had texted him about the announcement. When he looked up, Daehyun was still attached to the wall, sulking and upset over the idea of Yoseob having a crush on Jieun.

How could I have not noticed this before? Daehyun wondered, groaning. Of course he would like her! How stupid can I get?

"Jung Daehyun, are you really not going? Are you going to fail the entire team just because you're depressed? Jieun's waiting!" Myungsoo pointed out.

"By the way, where did those two other girls go?" Baekhyun asked, looking around.

"I told one of them that they were ugly, and the other that she was an annoying pest. The clingy one cursed at me, and left the room saying something about 'revenge' and that 'guys were a bunch of dogs.' Rude, huh?" Myungsoo asked, shaking his head.

You're the rude one here, Baekhyun thought. "Anyways, Daehyun, are you done?"

The blond kept quiet for a second. "Hey, is it okay for me to like Jieun?"

"Uh, sure. It's not like we're in control of your love life or anything," Myungsoo said.

"Would I be the bad friend if I confessed to her?"

"Daehyun, I have no idea where you're going with this," Baekhyun said.

"I'm terrible! I'm such a terrible guy! I can't believe I haven't noticed this before!" Daehyun exclaimed, turning to the two boys. "Yoseob likes Jieun!"

Silence filled the atmosphere. Yoseob liked who?

"Where are you getting this nonsense? Isn't it only you who likes Jieun?" Myungsoo asked.

Guess who also likes Jieun? Me! Baekhyun thought. "Did he tell you that he likes her or something?"

"Yoseob likes Jieun. Have you not noticed the way he looks at her with affectionate eyes? He even dragged her out of the room right before I got to confess to her."

"You were serious?" Baekhyun shouted, widening his eyes. Thank goodness Yoseob pulled her out of the room!

"I don't think Yoseob sees Jieun like that. If anything, they have more of a brother-and-sister relationship. Among the four of us, I think he would be the least to have a romantic relationship with Jieun," Myungsoo said, looking up at the ceiling. He stopped for a second. "Still, it is possible."

"But Jieun doesn't even like Yoseob that way."

"Are you sure?"

The three boys stared down at their shoes or looked at each other. Their hearts began to thump, and cold sweat formed on their forehead. All three were lost, confused, and dreading at the thought of Jieun liking Yoseob.

Then again, they didn't even know if she liked anyone.

"L-Look," Baekhyun said. "I-I'm sure that this is nothing. No big deal, okay? Let's just get out and hope that we can clear this up with Yoseob after we perform, okay?"

Daehyun and Myungsoo nodded their head. Myungsoo walked over to the door, and tried to twist the doorknob. Baekhyun stared down at his phone, and glanced back at him.

"Myungsoo, stop fooling around and open the door."

"I can't," he said. "It won't budge."

"No, you're just the idiot," Baekhyun said, pushing him aside. He reached for the doorknob, but it was looked. Baekhyun frowned, and continued to twist the metal. The door wouldn't move.

"We're... locked from the outside, huh?" Daehyun asked. Baekhyun cleared his throat.

"I-It's okay! This is fine. I'll just send a text to Yoseob, since none of you guys brought your phones--" He paused, and stared down at his phone.

It had ran out of battery.

"I'm asking you for the fifth time. Are you two the only one performing in Everest Five? You guys signed up at five, but there's only the two of you!" the tall man in a black suit asked. Yoseob bit his bottom lip and glanced at Jieun, who only stared at him back.

"Can you give us five more minutes?" Yoseob pleaded.

"You guys go on in five minutes! It's been nearly an hour since we've called everyone back stage. It's either you guys are going on stage, or you're out of the contest."

"Then give us three minutes to decide on what's going to happen," he said. The man scowled, and walked off. Yoseob quickly turned to Jieun and put his hands on her shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" Jieun asked, panicking.

"This... This is okay! We're going to do perfectly fine." Yoseob kept quiet, and stared down at his phone. A minute had passed. "We're going to have to make some adjustments, okay?"

"Adjustments? In just three minutes? Yoseob, are you insane?" Jieun shouted.

"This is fine! You know the song, and it can be sung solo."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll... I'll play the piano! You can sing and play the guitar, right? At the same time?"

"I can, but--"

"Okay! You practice on that for three minutes. Adjust the lyrics so that it fits to a girl's point of view. I'm going to get the host and tell him that we're going to perform. Here's my phone. If Baekhyun replies, make sure to tell me!" Yoseob said quickly. He scurried off to find the host, and left Jieun alone with his phone. She heaved a sigh and brought the phone to her chest.

Please... Please reply!

"Naeun, this is childish. Are you really going to do this to a new band?"

"What? That guy deserved it."

"It's not his fault. We wouldn't be bothering him in the first place if you weren't so crazy over Taemin," Namjoo said, shaking her head. "Come on, Naeun. Please? Reconsider this?"

"No. I like what I did to him. Those three deserve to be stuck in the room while leaving their two friends to handle the pressure," Naeun snapped. The two were at the side of the stage, hiding behind the curtains. In two minutes, the curtains opened, but enough to cover their presence. The girls watched Yoseob and Jieun scurry closer to the stage.

Jieun firmly held onto her guitar and sat on a tall stool, giving the crowd a frightened gaze. Yoseob managed to bring the electric piano closer to her, as if he was trying to say that he would stand besides her. When there was a moment of silence, the girl took a deep breath and began to strum her guitar. After a few strums, Yoseob pressed a few notes on the keyboard, giving off a jazzy vibe.

"Only the two of them?" Naeun asked. She broke into a smile. "This'll be a complete disaster."

Is she still so great?

Does your heart drop just be a single phone call?

Namjoo broke into a smile and watched her friend's face fall. "I don't think so, Naeun."

As Jieun continued to sing solo, Yoseob began to accompany her in any way he could enhance the sound.

What was so great about her?

Why are you like this? (like this)

At that moment (when they were half through the song), Baekhyun, Myungsoo, and Daehyun approached behind the two girls. They were breathing heavily, tired from running down the stairs and around the large track at the back of the school.

"We're... here!" Daehyun said breathlessly.

"It's too late for you guys to go on," Namjoo said, stepping in front of Baekhyun, who was about to go up on stage. "Wait until they're done."

"We can't just sit here and do nothing! They changed the entire song just to fit them. We need to bring the audience what the real music behind this is. This song isn't just for piano and guitar. There's also a little drum and--"

In a blink of an eye, the audience started to clap. The three looked up to see Jieun pale and shaky, yet pleased with the response. Yoseob looked tired and exhausted, but he didn't fail to smile at those who loved their music. He grabbed Jieun's hand, pulled her up to stand, and bowed at the audience. The two ran to the back of the stage, where they had encountered the trio.

"Where were you three?" Yoseob hissed, glaring at them. "Do you know what kind of pressure you had to put on us?"

"We were locked up in the room, and tried to find out ways to get out of the room," Myungsoo said.

"Then what took so long?"

"Myungsoo broke the doorknob, Daehyun broke the window, and the janitor eventually found us and took us to the office, where we were told to wait and pay for the damage," Baekhyun explained.

"Baekhyun also punched a whole in the wall!" Myungsoo added with enthusiasm.

"Give us credit for at least coming early," Baekhyun said, hoping that his comment would overshadow Myungsoo's unnecessary announcement.

"Never mind any of that!" Jieun exclaimed, running up to Daehyun. "Who's the girl you like?"

Baekhyun and Myungsoo froze, while Yoseob tiredly rubbed his eyes. Daehyun stared at Jieun for a long time until his cheeks slowly turned visibly red. He quickly looked away and stared at Naeun, who smirked at him. He looked at her friend, who seemed more amused over the budding romance than his troublesome situation However, Daehyun carefully looked at Yoseob, who seemed rather calm about the situation.

How can he just act like that? So calm and supportive? he wondered. Is it right to tell her how I feel? Maybe it's too fast. I should just wait. Plus, she's going to reject me anyways. She's probably mad about us ditching them.

"Do you want me to tell her?" Yoseob asked Daehyun. Daehyun gasped while Baekhyun gave him a shocked expression.

"Yoseob!" Baekhyun scolded.

"I'll tell her, too!" Myungsoo offered.

Baekhyun turned to him. "Myungsoo!"

"Why are you so against this, hm?" Naeun asked, putting her elbow on Baekhyun's shoulder while looking at him. "You seem like you want to prevent this. Are you..." She leaned close to his ears. "...scared?"

Baekhyun felt something tug his heart when Naeun's haunting words wrapped around his thoughts. He gave out a shaky cough, unable to think correctly or to say anything.

By now, Jieun was growing impatient. "How long am I supposed to stand here and wait?"

"I can tell her!" Myungsoo exclaimed, leaning himself on Daehyun's back.

"S-Stop!" the blond boy stuttered, too shy to say anything else. Yoseob finally grabbed onto Jieun's wrist and pulled her closer to Daehyun. He gasped loudly when Jieun accidentally fell into his arm. "Y-Y-Yoseob!"

"What?" Yoseob asked, smirking. "Go ahead! It's the perfect mood."

"It's still me, isn't it?" Jieun asked, heaving a sigh.

No one spoke a word. Daehyun felt embarrassed to the point where his ears and face were red; Baekhyun felt his heart pound against his chest, anxious over what she had said; Myungsoo raised his eyes in amusement; and Yoseob gaped at her. Obviously, the guys were shocked to hear such a thing come out of Jieun's lips. How did she know?