"Thank you for coming out everyone, we had a great time! I hope you all get home safely, this was CNBlue!" Yonghwa's voice was hoarse and cracking by now, but the look on his face showed that he was content. 

"Looks like it's over," Kyuhyun yawned. Sungmin immediately stood up straight, unnecessarily fixing her bangs. "Yeah, time to head to Jungshin's. You taking me?"

"He won't need to." Jonghyun came over, towel around his neck and hand in his hair. He looked sweaty and messy. Sungmin swallowed. 

"Oh? Then... will you be taking her?" Kyuhyun asked as if he was issuing a challenge.

"'Course. She's ridden with me on the bike before." Jonghyun looked into his eyes nonchalantly as he patted his face dry. He glanced sideways at Sungmin. "I have two helmets now, so you can keep your calm." 

"Well, I think it'd be safer for Sungmin to go with me, but it's up to her..." Kyuhyun stared piercingly at her face. 

"Uh-"

"Yah, yah, Cho Kyuhyun!" Hyukjae stumbled over, with one arm slung around his indignant girlfriend. "Can you take us to the partaayyyyy? We're gonna turn up!"

"You be quiet," Donghae grumbled. "How about you take us home, Kyu?"

"Well-"

"It's fine, Kyu. Take them home, Hyuk's in no state to drive. I can't believe you let him get wasted, Hae." To say Sungmin was disappointed would be fairly accurate.

"Alright." Kyuhyun agreed resignedly, watching Jonghyun steer Sungmin out to the parking lot.

Leaving a room full of warm, sweaty bodies, Sungmin shivered as the night breeze hit her. 

"You cold?" Jonghyun slipped his sweatshirt around her shoulders before she replied. 

Sungmin smiled but wrinkled her nose. "Gross. It smells like your sweat."

"Manly, right?" She rolled her eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat when they arrived to a familiar motorcycle. "I need to mentally prepare."

"I told you you'd have to get used to it, how else am I going take you places?" He promptly put a helmet on her head, muffling her reply.

"We could always walk."

"Just get on." He grinned as she wrapped her arms around his torso. "Don't be scared, I'd never let anything happen to you."

Kyuhyun stared at the dashboard as Donghae struggled to buckle her incoherent boyfriend into his seat. When she was finished, she sighed. Kyuhyun met her eyes through the rearview mirror.

"You let her get away."

"What do you mean?" He knew exactly what she meant.

"You know, if you both keep pretending there's nothing between you, that's exactly what's going to happen. Nothing between you. I don't mean nothing as in like, romantically, but your relationship in general. If you both go with different people, you could be putting each other in the past. Separating." She crossed her arms.

Kyuhyun blinked at her frankness. "What the hell was I supposed to do, load you and your drunk monkey on someone else?"

"Call a cab, get Zhou Mi, hell, you could even get Henry, that boy got his license like a week ago!" She threw her hands in the air.

He narrowed his eyes. "Were you testing me?"

"Yes." She huffed, her eyes seemingly ablazed. Kyuhyun shrank back into his seat slightly. "You failed, big time, Cho. You're running away from your feelings. You let her go because you don't want to confront them."

Kyuhyun sighed. Why must everything be my fault? Damn you, Lee Jonghyun-

"Not just you, though. That girl is a real piece of work. Stubborn as an ."

Kyuhyun glared at her. "I wouldn't be having this issue if you had your driver's license." 

It wasn't that Donghae never learned to drive, she was just really bad. Siwon almost cried when she scratched his car during parking practice a few months ago.

"Listen to me. If she were to confess to you, right now, would you accept her?"

Kyuhyun thought about it. For once, he sat and thought deeply about it, not blocking similar thoughts from his mind. He thought about growing up with her, watching her become prettier every day, watching her smile the same smile and sing when she thought nobody was paying attention and dance like her life depended on it and just joking with her and teasing her and saying things to her that would make other girls' cry from anger or sadness but made her cry because she was laughing too hard and-

"No." Donghae barely resisted the urge to let out a frustration-laden scream.

"Where we are now, is fine with me. I don't think it's a good idea to change, maybe ruin that." He felt a headache coming on. This is why he avoided deep, emotional thought processes.

"Yeah, but the thing is, I don't know if it's enough for Sungmin. Kyuhyun, she's moving forward whether you want her to or not, and from the way things are going, you're going to be left behind."

Jonghyun watched Sungmin as she struggled to unbuckle her helmet, immediately fixing her bangs once she pulled it off. Cute. 

"Jonghyun?" She looked uncertain.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks, for the song dedication." She looked shy, and Jonghyun felt the urge to pinch her cheek, even when she frowned. "Even though I told you not to do it for me."

"It's ok, your expression is stony but I know your heart was moved," he smiled cheekily. She punched his arm. Ouch. That kind of hurt, actually.

"Shall we go in?" He held out his hand.

"We shall." She walked past him.

"Ah, Jonghyun, Sungmin-hyungsu, glad you could make it. Welcome to my humble abode," Jungshin met them at the door. Sungmin stepped on his foot.

"I'm sorry, what did you call me?" She smiled sweetly. He wheezed. "Sungmin-noona?"

"Better."

She almost jumped when she felt warm breath on her ear. "Pity, I think hyungsu fits you better." 

She shoved him off. "There are at least fifty other girls for you to flirt with here, take your pick. I'm gonna get some water."

Minhyuk was lounging on the kitchen counter when she came in, munching on some chips. "Long time no see," he smiled, cheeks full of food.

"Oh God, that's too cute," she almost squealed, grabbing a cup and placing it under the faucet. "This isn't spiked, is it?"

"It's my noona-attracting charm. And it's tap water, so it might as well be." Sungmin shrugged before turning the tap on.

"Did you like the show?" He looked so innocent, sitting there with wide eyes and chewing on food. 

She nodded. "Amazing, as always. I liked the Japanese ones as well, glad you guys added those in this time."

He scratched his head. "Yeah, those are Yonghwa-hyung and Jonghyun-hyung's favorite ones, they both lived in Japan for a bit. Me and especially Jungshin have a bit of a harder time with the lyrics but you know, we don't really sing so no big deal."

She patted his head, feeling totally like a noona. "I'd like to hear you guys sing some day."

"Whoa, touching other boys while I'm gone? And younger boys, no less?" Jonghyun strolled into the kitchen, grabbing a packet of cookies off of the counter with a mock-scandalized expression. Sungmin ignored him.

"Where's Yonghwa-hyung?"

"Probably trying to get lucky with a certain someone." Sungmin snorted. The worst Yonghwa was doing to Seohyun was probably making her feel even more awkward by putting a foot of distance between them at all times. 

"Sounds like someone I know," Minhyuk coughed, averting his eyes. Jonghyun chucked a cookie at his head. 

"You stay innocent, you," Sungmin said sternly. Minhyuk sent a noona-killing eyesmile her way before hopping off the counter. "I'm gonna go dance a little, my legs are stiff from sitting behind the drums all night."

"Keep it PG!" Jonghyun called out, as Minhyuk flipped him off. Well.

Sungmin eyed the strawberry cookies in his hands. "You didn't strike me as the sugar-loving type."

He smirked. "What can I say, I have an affinity for sweet things." 

She stared, unimpressed. "Well, what about you, what kind of things fit your fancy?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"I like strawberries." She stole a cookie from him and popped it in , trying to ignore the calorie-counting mechanism in her mind. 

His brows furrowed. "I don't find any euphemisms in that statement."

"Good."

Sungmin pulled herself up onto the counter, occupying Minhyuk's previous spot. As she reached for another cookie, Jonghyun pulled away.

"Come on, share," she pouted. For some reason, that worked with a lot of people.

He put one halfway between his lips. "Come get it." Sungmin narrowed her eyes, making a quick grab for the package-

Only to fall forward. Jonghyun stood directly in front of her, holding her by the shoulders. The cookie was no longer between his lips, it had fallen on her lap.

She grimaced, desperatly trying to ignore the proximity of their closeness. "I can feel your saliva on my thigh."

"That's hot." He grinned wickedly. "You know, I can make that happen any time you want-"

Unceremoniously, he was shoved to the floor. She checked the time on her phone. It was already nearing midnight. 

"Jonghyun, I know we were supposed to talk about the arrangment, but-"

"It's past Sungmin's bedtime." Both teenagers whipped their heads towards the doorway, to find a (furious) Cho Kyuhyun.

"Kyu?" She jumped off the counter. "Why did you come here?"

"To get you, why else." He gritted his teeth.

"Says who?" Jonghyun sat up, rubbing his neck. 

"Her... dad," he lied. Jonghyun was ready to argue but Sungmin leaned down, catching his eye. "I'll see you on Monday, Jonghyun." She patted his shoulder, dropping his sweatshirt in his lap, before following Kyuhyun, who was already halfway through the house.

"Well, look who was left behind," Yonghwa whistled as he bustled past his best friend to get a drink. "You stuck with her the whole night too. I'm impressed that Han Sungmin has this effect on the untameable Lee Jonghyun." 

"Shut up." His words had no malice, though. If Cho Kyuhyun wanted a fight, he was going to get one.

Sungmin pushed through the crowd of bustling bodies, some grinding, some shuffling, as fast as she could to try to catch up. 

"Leaving so soon, Sungmin-hyungs- noona?" Jungshin seemingly materialized out of nowhere. Sungmin bowed but kept moving distractedly forward. "Great party, Jungshin, but I have some.. issues to sort out." 

"Kyuhyun?" she called out, frustrated. "If you're gonna take me home, I actually have to be in the car when you leave, you know."

The figure in front of her sighed but stopped. "At least I came back for you. I had half a mind to leave you with Jonghyun, since you seemed to be in good hands. Literally," he muttered the last part. 

She surprised him with a shove. "Look, Kyu, I don't know why you think you're my dad lately but you need to cool it. I'm a big girl now, I can handle myself, I can handle Lee Jonghyun, but I can't handle you breathing down my neck." For some reason, she felt tears pulsing behind her eyes. Instead of trying to be my dad or my brother, why can't you just-

He stared down at her as she shook with... anger? "Sorry. It's not that I don't trust you, I don't trust him, Min. We're good friends, so believe me when he tells me all about what he gets up to sometimes. I just don't want you to be one of them." 

"I'm not! I won't be!" she yelled. "Why can't you just see that-"

Kyuhyun paused, his breath stopping. If she were to confess to you right now, would you accept her?

No.

"Ok, I got it. I really do. I'll try to hold back, just.. if you ever need anything, I'm here."

She nodded but said nothing more, getting into the car and closing the door. Kyuhyun ran a hand through his brown curls. 

The drive home was uneventful. Sungmin turned the channel to the radio station Sukira, a personal favorite of hers, and closed her eyes. Kyuhyun would have thought she was asleep if it wasn't for her controlled expression.

As a familiar sad song began to filter through the air, Kyuhyun pulled up in front of Sungmin's house. She unbuckled her seatbelt, and turned towards him. "Thanks, Kyuhyun." She gave him a half-smile before stepping out and shutting the door gently behind her. He waved, despite the fact that she probably couldn't see him in the darkness. She stepped up onto her porch, unlocking the front door and closing it behind her.

Not once had she looked back. 

"...final song for the night is 'Let's Not', thank you listeners for tuning in."

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ok so apparently the secret to writing is word vomit at 3 AM.......... not healthy but it works

<3 you all, thank you for supporting my comeback <3