Sojin glared into the mirror, giving his best dirty look as he brushed his teeth. It only lasted for a moment before he decided it was hopeless. He was far too calm to go off on someone that he had just met and that wasn’t going to change a half hour before his fateful encounter. Although he imagined in his mind that the confrontation would look something like an episode of the Kardashians, he knew in actuality, he’d probably just calmly ask Minseok to back off. With a sigh, he returned to Onew’s room and picked up one of the idol’s black sweaters, slipping it over his head. Maybe the EXO member would take the hint that the relationship was real if he saw the boy wearing Onew’s clothes. 

“Sojin, I really don’t think you should go to this alone. I can talk to him, it’s my own problem,” the idol stated, sitting on the edge of his bed and staring at the younger boy anxiously. In his head, Sojin knew what the singer said made sense--it was his ex, so he should handle the aftermath--but after their last interaction, he couldn’t let the two be alone together, even if it was irrational. 

“It’s fine! I know I seem innocent, but I can defend myself if I need too,” the half-Korean responded, walking over and scratching Onew’s head as if he were a puppy. Sojin was always amazed how fluffy and soft the boy’s hair was, regardless of how many times he dyed it. Onew couldn’t help but smile at the gentle touch of the younger boy, a grin spreading across his face and causing Sojin’s heart to pound. So cute! Before he knew it, the idol had wrapped his arms around his waste and whisked him around onto the bed, climbing on top of him. 

“Wah! Careful, careful! I just got my ‘bad boy’ look right, don’t get my hair all messy again,” Sojin complained with a laugh from beneath the Shinee member. Onew scanned the younger boy’s face with an intense gaze, causing Sojin to blush. “W-what are you looking at?!”

“I’m trying to memorize your face before you and Minseok get in a fight and end up maiming each other,” the leader said with a giggle, before dropping his face down to give Sojin a peck on the lips. The younger boy glared, but smiled as the idol rolled off of him and helped him back to his feet. Onew looked over his outfit and brushed a strand of the younger boy’s hair back into place. “Don’t worry, you’ve still got the bad boy look. I’m scared!”

“Ugh, stop being so cute,” Sojin moaned, a smile still stuck on his face from Onew’s adorableness. As he crossed the room and opened the door, he turned and gave the idol a salute. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I come back alive!” 

With that, he slipped into the hallway and shut the door behind him, then glanced at his phone. 1:45. Just enough time to get to the cafe on time. As he walked down the hallway, he held his breath as he passed by Taemin’s room. The last thing he needed was the dancer adding to his anxiety today. He hadn’t had time to come up with a solution for that problem yet, but he hoped Taemin would realize he was being insane and finally come to his senses. Fortunately, it seemed as if the maknae was out of the apartment and he managed to make it past the room undisturbed. As he entered the living room, he found Minho sitting on the couch, watching a surprisingly romantic drama on the T.V. Upon hearing Sojin emerge from behind him, the rapper jumped in surprise, seemingly embarrassed to be caught watching a romance show. 

“I didn’t know you were the type that liked love stories!” Sojin said with a smile as he walked past the boy towards the door. Minho seemed like he was about to deny it, but instead chose to embrace the fact.

“Everyone enjoys love stories! Even me!” he exclaimed, crossing his arms and turning his head defiantly. Sojin let out a laugh as he pulled his shoes on, charmed as usual by the charismatic rapper. Minho glanced back at Onew’s room, then back to Sojin, bringing his hand to his chin. “And where are you going…?”

“Nowhere! Just to do some errands,” Sojin replied, trying to sound as natural as possible. It wasn’t a complete lie--he really did consider this a chore. Minho narrowed his eyes and Sojin figured that Onew must have told him about the situation. 

“Well, I’m not gonna stop you from your ‘errands,’ but just be careful, okay?” the rapper asked, a genuine look of concern on his face. Sojin withheld a sigh, slightly annoyed that everyone was acting as if he were about to get demolished by Minseok. Was the EXO member truly that intense?

“Don’t worry! I might not be able to physically fight like you, but I can hold my own in a battle of words,” he responded, trying to ease the rapper’s mind, but not completely believing his own words. Before Minho could respond, Sojin opened the door and hopped out of the apartment, bidding him farewell.

~~~~

As expected, Sojin was the first to arrive at the cozy cafe. He had often come here to study during his final exams or get bingsu with his friends, but today’s matter would be far less peaceful. He smiled at the girl behind the counter before choosing a table as far in the back corner as possible. If there was going to be a scene, he wanted to disturb as few of the other patrons as he could. Taking a seat, he tried to formulate a plan that would cause as little drama as possible, but before he could pull anything together, he saw the EXO member enter through the door. The idol masked his face with an oversized pair of black sunglasses, the inability to see his eyes making him even more intimidating. 

It took him a moment to scan the cafe and Sojin imagined that he must be looking for Onew. Finally, he seemed to spot Sojin, walking over briskly and taking a seat across from the younger boy, his lips pursed. The non-idol was quite taken aback by the singers menacing composure--it was completely different from the lighthearted Minseok he had seen on television. Not bothering to greet him, Minseok folded his hands on the table and leaned forward, clearly displeased.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, not a hint of warmth in his voice. If the people around them were listening, they likely thought Sojin had committed some horrendous crime towards the other boy based on Minseok’s behavior. The younger boy swallowed hard, steeling himself, before diving into the storm.

“We need to talk. And I knew you wouldn’t want to talk to me, so I had Onew send you the message to meet here,” Sojin began, trying his best to sound serious. He couldn’t tell what was going on behind Minseok’s glasses, but he imagined that the idol was glaring daggers at him. 

“You’re absolutely right. I don’t have time to waste on some nugu nobody,” Minseok shot back, malice in his voice. 

“I get that you’re upset that I’m dating Onew and you can hate me if you want, but you have to respect boundaries,” Sojin stated, trying hard not to let Minseok’s words hurt him. The idol seemed surprised by his forwardness, and the half-Korean felt proud momentarily. He had actually been direct for once!

“I ‘have’ to? And who made you the boss? You date Onew and you think you can suddenly tell every idol what to do?” Minseok began. The singer pointed at the sweater that the boy was wearing, a slight smirk upon his face. “Did you wear that to try to make a point? I gave him that sweater. You’re wearing my leftovers and you have the nerve to try to peg us as equals. It’s funny.”

Sojin sat wide-eyed, unable to hide his frown as Minseok continued to rip him apart. His plan to wear Onew’s sweater had backfired and the vocalist was completely steamrolling him. He was slowly beginning to see why Onew and Minho had been so opposed to him meeting the EXO member one on one, but it was too late to turn back now. 

“Look, I’m not trying to argue with you, I just--” Sojin began, trying to de-escalate the conversation, even though he was the one taking the verbal beating. He was cut off by the idol, whose face now glowed with a hint of red anger. 

“Stop there. I hate your type the most. Acting all innocent and playing the victim. Trying to ‘keep the peace,’” Minseok stated, suddenly fuming. Sojin was unsure of what had set the idol off, but he was beginning to get a little scared. Maybe it was good that Onew had taken a good look at his face earlier as it seemed like the EXO member was about to maul him here and now. “Why are you acting so high and mighty when you have some dirty little secrets of your own?”

Sojin’s heart rate suddenly spiked, his eyes widening in fear at the last sentence. Did he know about the incident with Taemin? But how? For a moment, Sojin wondered if the dancer had orchestrated this whole thing. At this point, he wouldn’t put it past him. Before he could get his thoughts together, Minseok was back at his throat.

“Well? What kind of fan are you? Pledging yourself to Onew, but making out with his bandmate,” the idol stated angrily, confirming Sojin’s guess about the topic of his accusations. The singer suddenly shot to his feet and slammed his hand down on the table, shaking the coffee cup atop it, and all but screaming his rage. “Stay away from him, you two-timing , or I’ll make sure it ends!”

The tables surrounding the pair had all ceased talking, staring in awe at the drama unfolding next to them. Sojin’s face flushed as he felt the judging eyes in the room fall upon him,  and he was completely unable to come up with a rebuttal. Hell, it was all he could do to keep from crying--he had never been berated like this. 

“I’ll give you two days to break it off with him yourself. If you don’t do it by then, I’ll finish it for you,” Minseok stated, returning to his icy aura. Without another word, he his heel and marched past the cashier and out of the cafe. The girl at the counter looked from the idol to Sojin with a concerned gaze, clearly having heard what just went down.

Too embarrassed to stay there any longer, Sojin rose to his feet and hurried out of the cafe, quietly apologizing to the employee as he passed. Back on the street outside, he took a moment to compose himself, still flustered from the whole event. Was this what dating an idol was like? Non-stop drama? It seemed as though when one issue resolved, three more would open up. His normal, pre-Shinee life seemed like such a distant memory at this point, but he suddenly felt himself yearning for it. 

~~~~

As he returned to the Shinee apartment and pulled the door open, he could feel his emotions beginning to change from embarrassment to anger. Minseok was certainly awful, but his thoughts turned to the one who had likely given the EXO member the ammunition, his eyes narrowing in the direction of Taemin’s room. Before he could get any further, Minho, who was still seated on the couch watching dramas, asked the boy how the meeting had gone. Sojin, so lost in thought, hadn’t even noticed the rapper and found himself stumbling to put on a facade.

“It...it was good!” the half-Korean lied, forcing a smile, even though he really wanted to go cry on the rapper’s shoulder. Minho’s eyes narrowed as he easily saw through the lie, having been in arguments with Minseok in the past himself. 

“That doesn’t sound very convincing, but I’ll let you figure it out if that’s what you want,” Minho stated with a shrug, fiddling with the remote in his hands. “Just remember that I’m on your side if you wanna talk it out.”

Sojin felt himself begin to tear up, touched by the rapper’s constant kindness towards him, but he choked back the urge to cry. The amount of stress he was bottling up felt like an emotional timebomb--anything could set it off and send him into a breakdown. Still, he didn’t take the rapper’s offer lightly, knowing that he would likely need Minho’s help somewhere down the road. 

“Thanks, Minho hyung,” he replied earnestly, before hurrying from the living room, the rapper giving him a look of concern as he disappeared down the hall.

Sojin stopped outside of Onew’s room, unsure of what he could say to the leader. Onew would surely have more questions about the meeting than Minho, and Sojin felt bad withholding the truth from him. He considered simply coming clean about the kiss, but realized that would mean having to explain the whole situation with Taemin. Even though the dancer was causing him such trouble, Sojin still couldn’t get behind the idea of causing any friction between the group members.

In that case, it seemed like he’d first have to take care of the issue from the source. His gaze fell to the right, landing upon the knob to Taemin’s room. He could hear the dancer moving about inside. The thought of him cooly going about his day while Sojin suffered ignited a fire inside the non-idol. He reached for the knob, the heat of anger rising to his face. This time it was his turn to go on the offensive.

~~~~

Omg, it's been 4 years since I updated lmao but I'm having Shinee withdrawal so I'm back! Chapter 20! If you read all the other chapters and made it to this point, thank you so much xD Plz like/comment/subscribe!