Chapter 48

Instinctively, she turned to face him, her nostrils were flaring as she clenched her fist tightly. Yongguk's grin soon went away upon seeing her before she decided to kick him really hard in the shin. “Ow!” he grunted in pain as he was trying to bite his tongue. “What was that for?” he whined.

Annie glared at him. “That, was for my eye,” she huffed before walking away from him.

No one seemed to noticed except Himchan, who was trying his best to stifle his laughter. Serves him right, he thought grinning mischievously. “Bummer,” he said finally. Yongguk turned to glare at him upon hearing him snicker. Annie proceeded to walk past him, barely seeming to acknowledge him in the process.

“Wow! That was awesome!” Lucy exclaimed as soon as everyone made their way backstage. “I'm especially impressed with the two of you,” she said looking over at Daehyun and Youngjae. “I never knew you guys had such beautiful voices.” She beamed proudly before glancing over at Zelo and Jongup. “And don't get me started on you two...” She sniffled slightly. “I'm just so proud of you guys! It's like watching my own kids growing up before my eyes!”

“Thanks, noona,” Zelo and Jongup sheepishly replied in unison.

“Okay, now that we got the song over with, can we eat now?” Daehyun asked impatiently looking over at Annie, who did not seem to be paying attention. Clearly, she was a bit flustered and dazed at what had happened once the song ended with Yongguk. “Yoohoo...” He waved the hook in his hand in front of her face. “Earth to Annie.”

She flinched slightly. “Huh?” she looked over at him curiously.

“Can we eat now?” he asked again.

“Go ahead,” she sighed, brushing him off.

Daehyun eyed her sneeringly. “What's up with you?” he asked.

She shot him a look prompting him to back away from her. She clearly did not want to be interrogated at the moment especially when she was still reeling about what had happened. And knowing Daehyun, he knew just the right buttons to push before she gets really ticked off. Yongguk was doubling over in pain rubbing the leg Annie had kicked to notice her staring at him. Daehyun followed her gaze then sighed before looking over at Youngjae, giving him a knowing look before shaking his head.

Everyone saw what happened at the end of the song. Daehyun and Youngjae could have sworn they heard murmuring throughout, especially from the women in attendance. It was like Yongguk and Himchan had broken their hearts when they approached Annie onstage. They both knew that Annie was a bit stunned by what had happened which felt convenient for Youngjae's part to step in and intervene at the right time before it got awkward.

She had already proceeded to go into her own little corner to be alone hoping no one would bother her. As soon as she collected her thoughts, she would return to the party with everyone else. At least that's what she planned for herself. Yongguk, on the other hand, wanted to stay behind to check up on her along with Himchan but as if reading their minds, Youngjae stepped in. Both best friends turned to face him wearily. “I can take it from here,” he told them.

“If this is about what happened onstage--” Yongguk began but Youngjae held up his hand to stop him.

“Let me handle it,” he assured them patting their backs reassuringly.

“Will she be okay?” Himchan asked wearily.

Youngjae sighed, glancing over at her. She was twirling her hat around her toy sword, oblivious to their presence at the other end of the room. “She'll be fine,” he nodded.

Himchan and Yongguk glanced at one another before turning back to Youngjae. “Keep us posted,” he said patting Youngjae's back.

“Will do,” Youngjae said, nodding in agreement.

As soon as the older guys left the room, Youngjae soon made his way over to her. She was still in a daze as he sat across from her against the other wall. She turned to face him then sat up adjusting her wardrobe. “Hey,” she said, then went back to playing with her hat.

“You okay?” he asked as he settled beside her against the wall.

She glanced at him and sighed. “Yeah, I'm fine,” she said.

“You sure about that?” he asked raising an eyebrow. “If it's about what happened onstage, none of us expected that...”

She turned to face him. “I don't know what to think, Jae!” she exclaimed in agitation. “I've been trying to fight this feeling for so long and I can't take it anymore.”

“Whoa!” his eyes widened as he held up his hands to calm her down. “What are you talking about?” He asked, furrowing his brows.

“I like him,” she muttered softly.

“What?” he leaned closer to her.

“I like him,” she said a little louder.

“Like who?” he asked curiously.

“I like Bang,” she said in a hushed tone.

“Who?” he asked a little loudly.

“Who else?!” she exclaimed irritably.

“Yongguk hyung?” he said a little too loudly, raising an eyebrow.

“Shhhh!” Annie immediately brought a hand to his mouth to shut up him. She glared at him before looking around to see if the coast was clear. Luckily for them, there was no one around. She nodded sheepishly and sighed in frustration. “There, I said it,” she crossed her arms over her chest then looked away from him.

“Huh,” Youngjae grinned in astonishment.

“'Huh' what?” she said, narrowing her eyes.

He chuckled then turned to face her. “I may have seen it coming,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Of course, Captain Obvious is my middle name,” she said dryly.

“Pretty much,” he nodded, giving her a teasing smile. “That should be your pirate name, 'Ahoy Matey! I am Captain Obvious the Pirate! Arrrgh!!!'” He said, using his own pirate voice before chuckling to himself. In turn, Annie shoved him. “What was that for?” He scowled.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Gosh, you're turning into Daehyun,” she said sneeringly.

“Hey,” he said defiantly. “Just be glad it's me and not Daehyun. Who knows what would happen if he's the one talking to you about this right now?”

“Point taken,” Annie said. “He'd be dead by the time I get to the subject matter.”

“Exactly,” Youngjae said curtly. “But let's get real here, you like Yongguk hyung.”

Annie groaned in frustration, rubbing her temples. “Must you remind me?” she whined. “Just be glad I told you and not the others...”

“Come on, Annie. It's not a bad thing,” he grinned. “I don't see why you're embarrassed all of a sudden. I mean if anything, you should be proud because you're actually being honest with yourself for once.” He said. “That being said, you should totally fess up to him.”

She sighed. “I don't think that's a good idea,” she said cautiously.

“How come?” he furrowed his brows in confusion.

She turned to face him. “I don't know,” she shrugged, shaking her head.

He scratched his head in confusion. “How could you not know?” he asked impatiently. “I don't get you sometimes.” He muttered, eying her carefully.

“Well, Jae,” she began, looking down at the floor at their feet. “There are a lot of factors.”

“Such as?” he asked, suddenly interested.

“Well, I'm afraid of embarrassing myself,” she told him. “I'm afraid I might look like a fool in his eyes and he'll laugh at me. I'm afraid he won't feel the same way and I'll just look stupid in the end. I'll be the one with my feelings hurt, etc. etc. etc.” she said, trailing off as she looked down at her hands on her lap.

“You don't know that,” he told her.

She looked up at him. He made a good point, she thought. “I know, maybe you're right,” she said. “I could be reading into this a little too much.”

“Right,” he nodded in agreement. “But think about it, have you ever considered how he might feel about you?”

“What do you mean?” she asked curiously.

“Hey, you'll never know. He might feel the same way too,” he said reasonably. “I mean, think about what happened on stage a while ago. Also, let's not forget about Himchan either.” He scoffed. “I knew it was right of me to intervene when it was my cue to step in.” He mused to himself thinking about the events that transpired earlier.

Annie froze. She had forgotten about Himchan. Instead, she was too preoccupied thinking about Yongguk to even notice the moves he was putting on her. The way he looked into her eyes when he spoke to her made her feel giddy but she had to fight this feeling. The signals both best friends were giving off felt so real and she found herself confused about her own feelings. Himchan can't have feelings for me, she thought to herself, It's preposterous.

Yongguk groaned in pain as he placed a bag of ice against his injured leg. “I always knew she kicked hard but I didn't think it would hurt this much,” he complained.

“That's Annie for you,” Daehyun remarked taking a bite into his slice of cake. He was holding his plate in one hand while using his hook as a utensil. He always knew that thing was convenient as soon as Annie forced the costume on him. The others looked on in amusement as he ate at the table while Zelo and Jongup were off tending to the kids at the party. They were surprised the younger guys still had all that energy left after their performance. “One other thing,” he looked back at Yongguk. “Make sure you have ice packs handy just in case she kicks you again.” He chuckled before taking another bite.

“Oh yeah,” Lucy spoke up. “Why did she kick you anyways?”

“Don't tell me you didn't see what happened on stage like everyone else,” Daehyun remarked, shaking his head.

“Oh right,” she nodded, then turned to Yongguk. “Serves you right.” She said glaring at him.

Yongguk gasped. “Me? What did I do?” he asked defiantly.

“You should never give a girl the wrong idea, especially when you're about to kiss her in front of a bunch of people!” Lucy barked back.

“But--” he managed to say but was interrupted by Daehyun.

“It's just an act, Luce,” Daehyun said finally.

She turned to face him. “Yeah but knowing Annie, she is still probably reeling about it right now.” She said, giving him a knowing look. They had forgotten about Youngjae staying behind to look after her.

Daehyun considered it a moment then nodded slowly. “Huh, didn't think of it that way but you make a point,” he said then turned to Yongguk. “Yeah hyung, that's kind of messed up.”

Oh no,” he groaned, looking away from them. “She's mad at me isn't she?”

“Mad?” Daehyun chuckled ironically. “Mad, is an understatement,” he continued matter-of-factly.

“Then, should I fix it?” Yongguk asked eagerly, standing up.

“Oh, no you don't,” Daehyun placed a hand on his shoulder pushing him down into his chair. “You're gonna sit here and let things be. She needs space and time to cool off.”

“For how long?” he asked glancing from Lucy to Daehyun.

“When she's ready,” Lucy chimed in, smirking.

“Which usually occurs in a few days or if you're lucky, after tonight,” Daehyun added with a knowing smirk.

Reluctantly, Yongguk decided to follow their advice and continued to ice his injured leg shifting his attention away from them. Lucy then leaned closer to whisper softly into Daehyun's ear. “How do you think she's doing?”

Daehyun shrugged, then sighed. “I don't know,” he answered honestly, turning to face her. “We'll just ask Youngjae later on.”

“Speaking of the devil,” Lucy remarked turning to find Youngjae making his way to their table. Annie soon entered not so far behind. Upon spotting Yongguk looking up at her from the table, she immediately turned towards the other direction.

“Is this what you mean by giving her space?” Yongguk asked, turning to face Lucy and Daehyun, who both nodded in unison.

“What's going on?” Youngjae chimed in as he settled into a chair beside Yongguk.

“Nothing,” they murmured.

He eyed them suspiciously. “It's Annie, isn't it?” he finally said. He took their silence as a yes and sighed. “She's not mad at you, if that's what you're wondering.” He told Yongguk.

“If she's not mad at me, then why is she avoiding me?” he asked glancing in Annie's direction only to find her gone. His eyes searched around the room for her but she was nowhere in sight. Curiosity soon took over as he found himself wondering where she'd gone but did not want to seem too eager.

“Wait, so she's not mad at him?” Lucy asked, raising an eye brow. Youngjae shook his head.

“What did you two talk about anyways?” Daehyun asked curiously.

Youngjae sighed. “I'm not supposed to tell you,” he told them, glancing knowingly at Yongguk.

Daehyun and Lucy caught on right away as they followed his gaze. Yongguk was deep in thought, furrowing his own eyebrows. He soon stood up, turning to leave. “Wait, where are you going?” Daehyun asked.

“I'm going to talk to her,” he replied before leaving the three friends to gape at him in astonishment.

“Okay, now that he's gone, spill the beans, Jae,” said Lucy, eagerly.

“I told you I'm not supposed to say anything,” he said, giving her a look.

“You're gonna have to fess up one way or another, Jae,” Daehyun finally said, agreeing with Lucy.

“Wow, you guys are actually agreeing on something for once,” Youngjae sarcastically remarked, prompting Daehyun and Lucy to glare at him.

“Will you promise not to tell anyone?” Annie begged prior to entering the room to join the others.

“Annie,” he shot her a look. “Who would I tell?”

Annie's eyes wandered a moment. “Gee, I don't know,” she shrugged. “Your most loyal best friend who happens to have a big mouth!” She said with Daehyun on her mind as she shook her head at the thought.

“He's your best friend too!” he argued back.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Look, no one is supposed to know so just be glad you're the only one who knows my secret,” she said. “There's a reason I tell you these things and not Daehyun or Lucy.”

“Well, it won't be a secret once everyone finds out,” he said. “Especially once Yongguk hyung finds out.”

“I don't intend for that to happen anytime soon,” she told him.

“It's gonna come out sooner or later,” he said firmly.

“Well, you can't be too sure, Jae,” she said finally. “Just promise me you won't say anything.”

Youngjae sighed and nodded. “I promise,” he assured her.

“Thanks,” she grinned slightly. “Let's go inside before the others start to worry.”

On command, Youngjae pushed opened the doors then walked inside with Annie following close behind.

A/N: Hello again! I'm back!!! I know my little vacation was short but you all know I had that situation with my computer -_- Anyways I'm glad to be back! I hope I didn't keep you guys hanging for so long... I hope you enjoy this chapter because I was stuck on it and felt like it was a little sloppy but of course, that's just my opinion. Your opinions matter and I love you guys for them! :D

This chapter is dedicated to dreamingunderstars (please check out their stories! Lunna and Dami are very good writers!). You ladies have been so kind to me and I really appreciate your comments and feedback! And I do enjoy talking to you guys. It's always nice to actually converse with some of you guys and you guys are a lot of fun to talk to :D Please don't be a stranger once this story ends! ^^ Anyways, I dedicate this chapter to you ladies because for Dami, this chapter is focused on Youngjae and Annie moments (I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter just as much as I enjoyed writing it >.<). And as for Lunna, Annie finally comes clean about her feelings for Yongguk to someone rather than keeping them to herself.

Don't mind the errors... I plan on reading over this once again then I'll make necessary revisions lol.

On a side note, did you guys see the teasers to BTOB's comeback?! Two words: HOLY COW... *_* They are about to ruin my bias list the way BAP did... This was a really good summer lol. A VERY good summer and with BTOB's comeback, I think it's a nice way to end summer and a great way to start off my fall. I can sleep peacefully lol. Okay I'll stop talking! Happy reading! ^^