Minchan's POV: 

"So, he asked you if you ever liked him or not, but never really mentioned that he had an engagement ring with him? And ever since your first meeting, he hasn't said a word about the engagement ring?" Jongwoon asked, sitting next to me on my bed. It was a Saturday morning, and we were relaxing with a bowl of vanilla ice cream in our hands. This became our norm, after eating breakfast with the guys we would have some sort of bonding time in either his or my room. No one was allowed in and problems that happened outside of our rooms were to be dealt without us. Yes, that's how important this time was between us.

I took a spoonful of the cold sweetness into my mouth, savoring the flavor as I slowly nodded. "Mmmhmm." I hummed since my mouth was full. "It's strange. It's been a week since our last meeting and we've seen each other almost everyday due to our job and the bonding time Officer Song wants us to build. I mean, you know how our friendship was when we were younger, right? Like seriously, he would tell me everything. He even told me how upset he was when I spent more time with the Infinite boys than him!"  

Jongwoon couldn't help but chuckle lightly, getting his own spoonful of ice cream and placing it in his mouth. "Well..." He mumbled, soon swallowing his ice cream. "One's thing for sure, there's something fishy about Inguk. I say keep an eye out for him. I mean, yeah he was your best friend. But things may have changed between the two of you, more specifically he may have changed. Don't trust him when he said he has told you everything. Because hiding an engagement ring is PRETTY big, you know?" 

I nodded, looking down at my half eaten ice cream. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I just wish he would at least tell me what's going on in his life, you know? I told him about everything, including the whole Sungmin situation." "Speaking of Sungmin, have you two talked at all after your first hang out with Inguk? I mean, he has been sincere about wanting to fix everything about you two. Whenever he's not busy promoting Break Down, he would sometimes sit alone or stand outside thinking about what to do from what Donghae has told me. And there are times where he would come up to me, apologizing about ending things with you and also ask me how to get you back. I think he still really loves you, Minchan." 

I bit my lip softly, letting his words travel from my ears to my heart and mind. It was nice to hear that Sungmin was trying to figure things out, but it still hurts. I mean, what if he and I did get back together? Would I be able to trust him all over again? I made him work hard for our relationship, and getting me back is like ten times harder now since I was in a coma and he did not wait for me to wake up. If he truly loved me, he would've waited. He would've put more faith in me and prayed harder for us. 

"He still really likes Sunny though, right?" 

Jongwoon slightly winced, now biting his own lips to figure out how to answer that. "Honestly, I don't know. I mean, he claims so and it's obvious that he has feelings for her. But I mean, if he really likes her, why would he go through all the trouble to figure out a way to get you back? I feel that, maybe he's holding on to Soonkyu to figure out what he needs to do. Possibly he is considering of moving on as well, seeing that you and Henry are almost hitting it off." 

My spoon dropped into my bowl after he had said his last sentence. "Henry and I? Hitting it off?" 

Jongwoon chuckled. "Isn't it obvious? You let him kiss your forehead and you two are always together. The boys think you might be falling for Henry now, which isn't all that bad. I mean, I approve of him as well." 

I sighed softly, quickly finishing my ice cream. "Well, I don't know. I guess I sort of like him and I do have a crush on him. But, I don't know what I want to do with that. I don't think I'm ready for a relationship."  

"I understand, but promise me you won't let mix signals get to Henry, okay? He is an innocent kid, you know? And he is very much in love with you. Don't lead him on or anything." 

"Of course I won't." Once I finished my ice cream, I heard my phone singing loudly. "Oh, someone's calling."  

I exchanged my bowl for my phone with the nightstand, placing it on top of the piece of furniture. I clicked on the answer button and placed the phone close to my ear.  

"Hello? Kim Minchan speaking."  

"Minchan, it's Myungsoo. I was curious if you're free today? I finally have  a free schedule and I was curious if you would like to spend it with me. I mean, I sort of rented out a skating rink so it'll be free just for us, if you wanted to come."  

There was a touch of nervousness in his voice as he continued to ramble about it. I couldn't help but giggle softly, earning a strange look from Jongwoon. "I'm free today, and of course I would love to spend some time with you. When would you like to meet?" His voice was now filled with excitement telling me the address and times. "Alright then, see you at 3 o'clock."  

"Who was that?" I looked up at my brother, who was now getting off of the bed since he was finished with his ice cream. He offered a hand, either to take my empty bowl or help me off the bed. I decided to take it as the second thought, letting him help me off effortlessly. "Well whoever it was, sounds like you are going to see this person whether I say yes or no. But still, who is this person you're going to meet at 3 o'clock this afternoon?"  

I couldn't help but chuckle at him, rolling my eyes in the midst of walking towards the door. My brother was always like this, trying to guilt me out of hanging out with other people to be with him. Even if it was with Seoyoung or Jongjin, he would still do that! I mean, I don't blame him for being a bit clingy after all those lost years, but come on! I still need time to be with other people and do the things I want to do. Maybe he's taking our little norm after breakfast a bit too seriously. 

"Well if you really need to know, it was Myungsoo. He said that he wanted to hang out with me so badly that he rented out an skating rink all to ourselves." Jongwoon groaned when we were leaving my room to the kitchen. I couldn't help but give him a puzzled look when we were at the sink, looking at him to figure out what that frustrated sound meant. "What's with that sound, Oppa? It's just Myungsoo, it's not like some ert or stranger you would try to kill."  

Jongwoon shook his head as he was washing our dishes, looking over at me for a few seconds before looking back at the sink. "You do know how obvious Myungsoo feels about you, right? I know that you and him are close friends, but he also needs to know that you aren't really looking at him as boyfriend material..." He paused, as if contemplating what he should say next. Now he was the one who had a puzzeled expression on, and quickly he looked over at me. "You actually don't see him like that, right?"  

"No!" I quickly answered, my body straightening up as if it was also showing the truth through some other form of langugage. I couldn't believe he was asking me that kind of question! I don't like Myungsoo that way nor do I look at him that way! It's obvious what kind of guy I look for; and although Myungsoo is great boyfriend material, he isn't the kind of guy I would want to spend the rest of my life with. "I absolutely don't look at him that way, Oppa."  

"Well you better set things straight with him, Minchan. Knowing that you are y Free and Single plus ready to bingo..." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his addition to his own lyrics in our conversation, to which he chuckled to himself at and continued, "He's probably going to do almost anything and everything he can to get you to be his girl. Maybe you should tell him straight how you feel about him today when you hang out alone at that skating rink! Sure it'll hurt his feelings, maybe even crush him a bit too much, but it's better now than never and continuously leading him on!"  

Quickly I nodded and put both my hands out, trying to stop the madness right in front of me. If I let him continue, he's going turn this short scolding into some sort of motivational speech. "Alright, I'll try doing that today. Now go focus on making lunch for you and me while I go get ready for this hang out." Seeing that he parted his lips to say something, I interrupted him with a brief "Ah" sound and pointing at him. "To which, I'm only going to shower, fix my hair in a minor manner, do natural make up, and wear some kind of sweater and jeans for. Meaning I'm not going to go all out for this hang out, Oppa." And with that, I rushed towards the bathroom and began to wash up.  

After two hours in total of getting ready, I left my room to see Jongwoon putting the finishing touches on his fabulous Kimchi Stew at the kitchen. There were three bowls, however, he was setting up for, which made me confused. I took one step closer towards the kitchen to only see who was standing right behind him, waiting for their food.  

"Alright, Sungmin. Here's your food as well, hope you like it. I made it the way Minchan likes it, so hope you can handle the spiciness." The mentioned male nodded with a smile, grabbing his bowl while holding his spoon in his hand. "And please do be careful taking it to your room, remember the last time you brought food over there and you tripped on the way there? You know how upset you made Ryeowook?" He could only chuckle and nod, reassuring my brother he will be careful. But when he took one step forward towards this hallway, he saw me and quickly paused his steps.  

Jongwoon was in the middle of asking what was wrong as he faced the direction that Sungmin was looking at. "Oh, Minchan!" He said, acting perfectly normal to kill the thick atmosphere that was starting to steam up between me and Sungmin. "Come on over and eat! I made a lot because, well, you're going to be doing an awful lot of skating with Myungsoo today! And talking as well, which means you need that energy!"  

I nodded with a small smile, letting out an awkward sounding giggle before walking over there. Sungmin just stared at me, still being emotinless as ever whenever it came to me, before making his escape to his room. While we both walked to where we needed to go to, our arms brushed against one another; and as much as it pains me to admit it, the jolt of familiarity ran through my system. And this is why I try my best to keep my distance from him, because this feeling would always rush through me, which I always hated.  

"Thanks for the food, Oppa." I told him sweetly, grabbing a spoon and began eating my soup while standing right beside him. He asked if I wanted to sit down, to which I just simply shrugged and continued eating. He got the message that I just wanted to eat, thus leading him to eat right where he was standing.  

"Still awkward, isn't it?"  

I couldn't help but let out a soft sigh. This was always a question that was asked whenever Sungmin made some sort of interaction with me. I mean, I didn't really care whatsoever, but it's getting to the point where the answer is quite obvious. It was tiring to answer the same old question over and over again; and if he just so happened to watch the whole instense staring contest me and Sungmin had, then he should already know the answer to that question.  

"Well, of course. Can't help feeling weird when I see the man who broke my heart and is still basically begging for my hand in marriage while being with that other woman." I continued to eat, hearing the next few nags a typical brother would give to his little sister after she stated some nasty things about people. All I did was hum and nod, not giving any care about his words. Hey, I get to think and act to this situation however I felt like doing so. There's no such rational thought that could help me think proper about this. It's quite clear who has every right to throw some trash talk at, and it just so happens to be me.  

"I'm done, thanks for lunch. I'm going to brush my teeth and start heading off." I put my dishes in the sink then started doing the last few things I needed to do before leaving. Even though we agreed to meet up two hours from now, it wasn't all that bad to be there early. I quickly kissed Jongwoon's cheek before rushing out of the dorm. And when I stopped right in front of the elevator to press the down button, which to my luck the doors opened right away, Henry was inside it.   

"Oh! Minnie Mouse! Where are you heading off to?" He sent his breathtaking smile down my way, and instantly a warm rush went through my system. "Come on, wherever you're going to, I'll at least you to your ride to wherever." I couldn't help but let out a chuckle, stepping into the elevator and letting the doors close. He pressed the number one button to indicate what level we were heading off to, and the elevator began to move. "So? Where?"  

"I'm just going to meet up with Myungsoo at the skating rink. He wants to hang out and catch up. Guess he got a day off and knows that I'm really free today." I looked over at Henry to see him with a slight stiff expression masking his face. I knew what that look meant; he did not like what he just heard. And knowing this, I couldn't help but shake my head. "Hey, it's not like we're going on a date. Don't worry about it."  

The doors opened at a great time, making me smile brightly towards Henry. "I'll just go off on my own from this point on. Thank you for escorting me at least. Save some time for me tonight? I want to spend some time with you." And with that, I went on the tip of my toes to press a soft kiss on his cheek. Before he could even react, I rushed out of the elevator and waved goodbye at him before continuing my way out of the building to my car.   

An hour passed and I arrived at the skating rink, seeing Myungsoo already waiting at the entrance for me. Parking went by fast, since there was no one around to take any good spots, and I headed out to meet him. A smile grew on his face when he saw me, and instantly his arms opened wide for a hug. I chuckled softly, soon getting closer to him and hugging him close.  

"It's nice seeing you again, Minchan. And it's nice to spend some quality time with you. Let's go have fun now?" He pulled away slightly to look into my eyes, and a sweet smile grew on his lips.  

I felt a slight pain going against my heart, as I knew the intentions of my meeting with him was to just tell him we are just friends. So all I did was send him a small smile, pulling away quickly and taking his hand in mine.  

"Come on, I want to have fun now. You better not make fun of me if I screw up somehow and fall flat on my face." I pointed at him with my free hand, and his happy-go-lucky chuckle was let out. Hearing that coming out from him made me feel a little bit better about it all, which brought my smile to grow a bit bigger. And so we walked into the building, immediately beginning our fun.  

Throughout the whole afternoon, we were inside the building and skating all around. He decided to play all these Infinite songs on the speakers as we were moving about, trying to get me caught up with what he and Infinite have been up to.  

I have to admit, their songs are pretty good. I must ask them to sing them to me one day.   

Anyways, along with those songs he played current favorites of the year and ones that were my favorite way back then. He was quite thoughtful about it all, not trying to make himself seem the overpowering thing within our hang out. He would sometimes check if I needed to rest, to which I would agree on and we would escape the rink to a bench for our break. By the third break we took, I thought it was the perfect moment to ask him about all of these "lovey dovey" feelings.  

"Myungsoo? Can I talk to you about something?" Quickly he turned twoards me, eyes smiling along with his lips. Silently he nodded, showing that it was perfectly fine to talk about whatever I wanted with him. Seeing that smile on his face made me nervous, which made me sigh out of frustration and look down at the ground. Knowing him, his expression would falter into a worried one and would put a hand on my back, trying to comfort me.  

Which, in fact, did happen. I hate how much I know this guy.  

"It's about us." The pressure he pressed on my back was now light, and I knew that the feeling of concern was overwhelming his thoughts. "Well, I mean, let's get this thing between us straight now. I'm glad we're close friends and all, and I want to keep that kind of relationship we have for sure. But I know that you like me, how much you've been crushing on me these past years. I thought by now you would have forgotten all those feelings and moved on with someone new, but I guess it hasn't happened. And well, I just thought maybe flat out telling you would make you see the reality between us more. I'm really sorry, but I don't really see you more than a close friend."  

The warmth of his hand faded away, and I could hear some sort of groan/sigh/terrible-low-sound coming out from him. I looked over to see him doing the same exact pose as I was: elbows pressed against his knees and looking down at the ground (however his hands were covering his face). I bit my bottom lip before straightening up my posture. I knew that saying all of that would be a good load off my shoulders, but seeing him like this just made me feel so guilty. I mean, I can't help it! I don't like him that way and I don't think I'll ever will! He had to know now, right?  

After what seemed like an enternity of silence, Myungsoo sat up and looked over at me. Surprisingly, a smile was on his face, and it was the genuine kind! I blinked a bit, slightly taken aback by how well he was taking this harsh "rejection" by me.  

"Thank you for telling me this, Minchan. I guess, it is about time to start letting things go. I just don't know how to start letting go, I guess. I mean, I've been crushing on you since we were younger and it's been going on up to this day! I don't know how I can just forget you that quickly."  

A small smile grew on my lips. I knew exactly what he was feeling right now, it's basically what I'm going through with Sungmin. I mean, instead of a tiny crush that's been going on forever, it just so happens to be this strong love I've had for him for years that I thought it could be continued to this day. But sadly I just need to start seeing this reality that it isn't like that and I need to move on; and that's exactly what Myungsoo needed to do.  

"I mean, I could just give you some time apart from me. Maybe about a week or two? Try flirting it up with some cute girl! You probably have tons and tons of girls going gaga for you at this minute. I probably would be dead if they found out I was with you right now!" He then chuckled softly, which made the mood feel a bit lighter. "Try focusing on your work as well and hang out with the guys a lot, or different guys. I know how you've been with those guys for ages, so maybe make new friends. As long as you don't drink or do anything crazy, I'm sure you'll be fine. And it takes time, I know that from experience."  

Myungsoo nodded, and after another moment of silence he got up with a hand out right in front of me. "Thanks, Minchan. Now come on, my renting hour is about to be up and I do not want to waste much more time or money."  

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his words before taking his hand and getting up. "Alright, let's have fun."  

We skated through the whole afternoon up until our time was up. Once it was over and we returned everything to how it was, we said our goodbyes and went off to our own places. I was glad that I would be arriving at the dorms by dinner time, because I really needed some nice home cooking by either ZhouMi or Ryeowook (I love you Oppa, but your cooking is just pretty average). Once I got to the dorms and parked, I headed towards the entrance of the building to only see Sungmin there.   

He was casually leaning against the wall right by the entrance, eyes focused on the ground with one leg kicking back and forth to probably kill time. For some odd reason I felt nervous, as if half expecting that he was waiting for me. But then a wave of hatred fueled my feelings, knowing that he was waiting for Sunny to come on over for a disgusting date or something. I didn't want him to ruin my mood anyways, so I just casually walked towards the entrance with my eyes only looking at the doors.   

However that did not help at all when I felt his hand quickly wrap around my arm and hold onto me tightly.  

"Minchan, can we please talk?"  

Try not to look, I kept telling myself as I stood there with the doors opened right in front of me. I could simply just escape quickly and run inside, which is something I wanted to do. So why was I just standing there and almost contemplating about talking to him or not? I don't even know myself, but all I knew was that a familiar pain was ringing in my heart.  

"If you don't want to talk, that's fine. Just listen to me. I know how hard it is between us right now, how both of us are confused. I know that you still have feelings for me, and I know I still have feelings for you. Please know that, okay? Don't question that statement or think I'm lying, because I'm not. I still love you so much, Minchan. But you have to understand the dilemma I am in since I am dating Soonkyu."  

Hearing her name was already painful enough, so you could imagine how much it hurt hearing it from him. And at this point, the ringing pain was just unbearable to handle and I could feel my tears swelling in my eyes. I couldn't handle it anymore, I had to escape and say something. So quickly, I jerked my arm out of his grasp and looked over at him.   

"How can I try to understand any of this, Sungmin? I'm already in so much pain and I don't want to feel this crushed anymore. How is any of this a dilemma? You like her and you want to be with her. I don't see why you can still be in love with me and stay with her. It's pathetic, just choose one girl already! I'm glad she can be so oblivious about what you're doing behind her back, so that she doesn't have to feel this annoying pain that is killing me right now."   

After saying my part, I ran inside and went for the elevator, mashing the up button to try to go to the dorms fast. However, it seemed that he wasn't giving up just yet as I heard footsteps behind me and my name being called out constantly. Thankfully the doors of the elevator opened, and I ran in, pressing the proper buttons to head up. But luck wasn't on my side when he made it in just in time to leave us inside the elevator.   

"Minchan, listen to me! Can't you see it's hard enough for me to choose between you two? I'm fighting between the girl I used to love and the girl I love now! What if the love I am feeling for you is just of longing? What if that is the case for Soonkyu? I am so confused and I don't want to make the wrong decision for myself and even for you two! I know it hurts, but please give me more time! I hate seeing you with Henry! I hate seeing you with any other guy except for me!"   

He grabbed me by the shoulders, pulling me closer to him. I couldn't help but look up at him, seeing frustration mask his eyes. It looked like he was going to yell at me more, trying to make me change my thoughts on this matter he was facing. But he took a different turn on this situation when I saw him leaning down.  

He pressed his lips against mine; he was kissing me.  

And you know what I did?  

I kneed him in the gut.  

He groaned in pain and backed away from me, and all I could do was look at him in slight digust. How could he just do that to me? How could he simply take advantage of this moment and throw himself at me? All these thoughts were hurting me, and my tears were already rolling down my face.  

"I hate you so much right now, Sungmin. God, just leave me alone until you can figure out a way to end all of this properly."  

The doors of the elevator finally opened and I rushed out, not giving a care about how much in pain he was in or whatever. I just wanted to be in my room or be in the comfort of my brother. So when I reached the dorm and ran in, I did a quick scan to see if Jongwoon was around. Sadly, he was not, so I decided it was just best to run in my room. But when I got to the door of my room, I could feel someone right behind me.  

"Minchan? What happened?"  

I turned around to see it was Henry. Oh dang, I totally forgot I asked if he could save some time for me this evening. He looked like he wanted to go out, wearing some semi-casual attire for this evening. But here I was, not ready to go out while crying hard and ready to just die in bed. Out of all the guys who could see me like this right after what happened in the elevator, it just had to be Henry. However, I was just in so much pain that I couldn't careless at the same time.  

So I approached him, hugged him tightly, and burried my face in his chest. He held me close to him and rubbed my back, softly shushing me and saying sweet words to try to calm me down. He somehow escorted me to my room as we were still hugging, and still he held me close to him when we were in there. He asked me if I needed anything or wanted to be with Jongwoon. I told him I wanted food and just needed either him or Jongwoon with me. He simply nodded and through the rest of the night, he took care of me. He held me close while we sat on my bed, feeding me and singing anything to me.   

An hour or two later, Jongwoon returned home and came rushing to my room. He told Henry that he would take care of me and he should rest up for his performance for tomorrow. Henry simply nodded, pressed a gentle kiss on my forehead, and headed out. When the door was closed, Jongwoon looked over at me.  

"Sungmin texted me that he talked to you. How did you end up in here crying and why is he moping around in the balcony while hugging his stomach? What happened between you two?" 

And so with that, I told him everything while we were both under the covers of my bed. Once I was done telling my story, I was just too tired to even listen or talk about anything else. Jongwoon simply said he'll try talking to Sungmin tonight and that I should go to bed now. I agreed with him, which gave him the sign that he should leave. Once he cleaned up and left my room, turning my lights off and wishing me a good night, I snuggled in bed more and tried my best to sleep.  

God, why is loving Sungmin so difficult? 

- ♥ -

Hey guys! Guess who decided to comeback after a long long time? 
I apologize for making you guys wait for so long, school made me busy and I hade a major writer's block.
But now that there is no more school for me and I got rid of that writer's block, I'll be updating frequently now
At least every other week, hopefully, but I'm going to try hard to be updating this bad boy a lot and try to finish it soon!
Thank you guys so much for being so patient and still loving this crazy journery with Minchan. 
I love you all so much! ♥