Ren’s POV

He wanted to kill me. That look on that arrogant face of his said it all. But I’m not standing down. Whether Baekho likes it or not, I live here too. We are going to get along, dammit, even if I have to force my way into these childish men’s hearts. Minhyun came walking inside down the hallway, pausing at Baekho’s doorframe. He glanced at me with pleading eyes.

“Rennn, I was only just teasing you. Get them down, please!”

I flashed Baekho an evil glare before turning my attention back over to Minhyun. “Since you asked so nicely of me. Sure, why not.” I replied, dusting my hands and walking with him to the back screen door. Baekho’s pale milk skin turned several shades of red from anger as he angrily marched after me. He grabbed my arm and yanked me backwards in a fit of rage.

“I thought I told you to clean that filth you made.”

I pulled my arm out of his grasp defensively and gave him an intimidating look. “Yes, but Minhyun asked.”

“What’s the difference?!?!” Baekho exploded.

“Tcht,” I scoffed. “Rich people; their heads are so far up their asses.”

Minhyun looked at me with wide eyes. “Hey!” I ignored him.

“What’s the difference? My, I didn’t even have to explain the difference to my children and they’re only pre-teens.” I shook my head. “The difference is that Minhyun requested my help; you demanded it.”

“And?” He looked at me with eyes that could kill. Tcht. You don’t scare me, Kang Baekho. Or at least not as much as you’d like it to be the case.

“One is polite and the other is rude!”

“I don’t care about being rude; clean it now!”

I turned my back to him. “Like I said, I’m not your maid. Clean it yourself. Or when you think you’re not above showing some manners, you can come and ask me later to help you.”

Baekho was almost purple from anger. “Help?”

“That’s right. I’ll help you. But only if you ask.”

He clenched his fists. “You think you’re so above manners? What about the café? You were rude to me and I have yet to hear an apology out of you.”

I blinked. “Oh, that? Yeah. Sorry.”

“You don’t mean it.” Baekho scoffed.

“Nope.”

“Arrogant son of a-”

“How about this? We make a deal; I apologize to you when you’re ready to be a big boy and show some respect around this house?”

Baekho laughed then spun around, leaving the two of us to unhang Minhyun’s clothes. I could already tell that it might take some time before Kang Baekho comes crawling back to me, begging for forgiveness. If it ever happened, that is. As I removed a shirt that I had so graciously hung off from one of the trees in their backyard, Aron approached me from behind and stopped. I glanced over my shoulder and stared back at him; he wore the same blank expression on his face as the day I had met him. All of a sudden he outstretched his arms and hugged me, startling me. Minhyun from across the yard paused with a troubled look on his face. I raised a brow.

“What is this for?”

“In America, when we have differences, we hug it out.”

Minhyun hurriedly approached us and peeled the shorter brunette from off of me. “Don’t be absurd,” he turned to me. “He’s lying. It’s that darn poker face of his that makes him so believable.”

Aron blinked. “Can I have the wi-fi back?” He held his hand out.

“Are you sorry?”

Aron sheepishly nodded.

“Sorry for what? I want to hear you say it.” I continued. Aron kicked the toes of his sneakers into the grass while looking down at the ground.

“Sorry… for drawing on your face… and tricking you into drinking Baekho’s expensive water… and sitting in his seat… and…” He paused. “Was that it?” He turned to Minhyun; Minhyun nodded. “Apparently that’s it. Sorry, Ren.”

A smile spread over my lips. “I’ll return it after I finish up here. Think you can hold on until then?” I asked; Aron nodded then quickly returned back inside of the mansion. Once he was gone I faced back over towards Minhyun. “What’s his deal with the phone?”

Minhyun paused then forced an uncomfortable smile across his face. “That guy? He’s the king of Instagram, Twitter, and all things that involve texting. He’s a text addict; as a matter of fact, Aron has the art of texting down even in his sleep.”

I gave him a skeptical look. “Text in his sleep?” I rolled my eyes. “That’s near impossible.” I replied and watched as Minhyun pulled his cell phone out and scrolled through his messaging inbox. He pulled up a text sent by Aron at 3:04 AM the previous morning. It read:

Donuts.

“Is it?” He asked. “And I don’t even know what that is. He wrote it in English; he’s good.”

I chuckled. “How odd of him.”

“But you know… I asked him about it once. He simply said that he was waiting for something.”

“A missed call?”

Minhyun sadly reached up from the fence and pulled down a pair of his pants. “Perhaps.”

“How long has this been going on?” I asked, sensing the sudden shift of energy in the air. Minhyun shifted his gaze down to the floor.

“Since long before our trainee days.” He replied, grabbing the last of his clothes. I nodded as I made a mental note of this while I re-entered the mansion with him. I helped Minhyun carry his clothes back inside his bedroom and hang them back on hangers. As I rehung each one, I snapped a picture of it before hanging it back inside his closet. Minhyun raised a brow and looked at me.

“In the case that I can’t be with you guys when an event pops up. I can organize a virtual outfit and send it to you.”

Minhyun smirked. “Very clever!” He paused. “Wait, busy? You said you had a day job. What was it again?” He curiously asked.

I smiled, placing a dress shirt back inside of his closet. “I teach at a middle school.” I simply replied.

“Then why are you here? That sounds like a great career.”

I glanced down. “I love it. But it wasn’t my dream.”

A look of panic spread across Minhyun’s face. “Oh, I didn’t mean to depress you!” He waved his hands around frantically. I smiled and shook my head.

“Don’t worry about it; I’m here now, trying to do what I love as well.”

Minhyun pouted. “And that big ol’ jerk Baekho is trying to stand in your way.”

I laughed. “What about you and Aron?”

Minhyun smirked. “We’re the least of your worries.”

“Why does that sound like an ominous warning?” Now it was my turn to pout. Minhyun patted me on the head.

“Silly,” He replied, walking out of his bedroom and stopping in the center of the hall. “Because it is.” He casually walked away, leaving me alone inside of his room. I sighed heavily and then poured out into the hall, stopping in front of one of the closets and opening it. I shifted across the top shelf’s contents before pulling out and removing a wireless router. As I traveled down the hall I eventually came across Aron’s room; he was lying down on his stomach inside his room, his eyes glued upon his cell phone screen. I cleared my throat and knocked on the doorframe to get his attention. He glanced up from his beloved gadget and stared blankly at me, waiting for me to explain myself. I held out the wireless router in my left hand so that he could see it; a big smile spread across his placid face.

“Come in, come in.” He replied welcomingly. I rolled my eyes and then entered, sitting at the head of his bed while he laid at the foot. I placed the wireless router on the bed then turned to him.

“What were you looking at?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” I raised a brow.

“Nothing.” He curtly replied.

“You couldn’t have been looking at nothing; even your phone is something.”

Aron paused. “You’re a teacher, aren’t you?”

I blinked. “How’d you know?”

“You speak like one.”

I chuckled, finding this tidbit amusing. If he only knew the half of it. Most of the time I found myself ‘talking,’ or rather, signing to my students. It was kind of strange to hear such a thing. “Ah, I see…” My voice trailed off before I stood back up. I walked over to his closet and pulled the door open, taking my own cell phone out and snapping pictures of every article of clothing he owned. Aron didn’t seem to mind my sudden action and instead, much to my surprise, actually tried to start a conversation with me.

“What do you teach?” He asked curiously, his attention still focused on his cell phone.

“Well, I teach a bit of everything, I suppose. My strong point is English.” I replied, trying to keep the conversation going. I already knew that getting this guy to talk to me for longer than a minute would probably be rare in the future. I might as well make use of the time I have him talking to me for now.

Aron paused again, this time facing me. “So that’s how you knew what I wrote on your forehead?” A sly smirk spread across his lips.

I narrowed my eyes and nodded. “That’s right, genius.”

“So then… if you’re an English teacher, why in the world are you interning as a stylist?”

I smiled. “Because I want to be a stylist.” I replied, using the same simple, literal language that he had been using back on me.

Aron scoffed, turning his attention back to his phone. He seemed to take offense to this. “It’s not gonna be easy.”

“We’ll see about that.” I replied as I finished with his last article of clothing and exited his room, leaving Aron to his precious cell phone that he seemed to value more than actual human interaction. Speaking of cell phones, I was suddenly reminded that I needed to call my mother. I started making my way back to my own room when I was stopped by a sudden road block with blonde hair standing dead in the center. Baekho flashed me an intimidating look, or rather, tried to. It didn’t work on me. I rolled my eyes then tried to slide in-between him and the wall in the hallway. As I almost made it past him, he nudged me with the side of his and slammed me into the wall. I immediately peeled myself off and turned around and glared at him. “Hey!”

“Tcht.” Baekho scoffed with his head held up high before entering his own room.

“Immature brat!” I stammered angrily before entering my own room, slamming the door shut behind me. I marched over towards my desk and sat down, resting my elbows on the surface and digging my face into my palms. Ugh, that Baekho guy just made me so angry! What the hell was his problem? I get that we didn’t have a picturesque first encounter, but move on already, oh my god! I had already made up my mind already though; I’m not apologizing to him first, not now, not ever. He will have to swallow that senseless enormous amount of pride of his and apologize to me first, that much was certain. I shook my head wildly to calm my senses; calm down, Ren. I sighed then switched on my desktop PC and placed a video call out towards my mother. After a few ‘rings,’ a window with my mother’s smiling face popped up on the screen.

“My, look who FINALLY remembered he has a mother!” My mother signed with a painfully fake smile spread across her face.

“Sorry, mom. I’ve just been really busy with the move and trying to keep up with grading assignments.” I signed back to her. I hated lying to her; if she really knew what I was up to though, wouldn’t she be even angrier with me? To her, being a stylist was probably a waste of my time and effort, which could be better used toward helping Deaf children. I didn’t want her to know the truth, at least, not yet. Not until I had my degree and could prove to her that I could indeed succeed in my chosen career path.

She tried to look over my shoulder and peer into the room. “What a nice place you got yourself there! It seems you’re all settled in. Is everything alright? No crazy tenants you have to worry about?” She replied; that’s right. My mom had thought I had moved into an apartment, not a mansion. Silly me, how I just conveniently forgot to tell her.

As I raised my hands again and started signing, my door suddenly slammed open, making me jump. Still looking at my video feed in the screen, I saw the angry image of Baekho stumble into the room. He stood glaring at me in my door frame. I let my hands drop into my lap and I spun around in my chair to face him, giving him a wide eyed look, a look which silently screamed ‘dude, get out, I’m on the phone.’ In the background behind me, my mother began to click the ‘nudge’ button on the instant messenger program, which sent out a ringing signal to grab my attention. I quickly glanced back at her.

“Who is that?” She placed more emphasis in her signing.

“A crazy tenant.” I signed back at her.

My mother nodded. “I can see you’re busy; call back later, ok? Oh, and Ren dear?” She signed, pausing a moment to glance back over at the fuming blonde over in the back of the room. “Lock your doors at night. Bye, love!” She replied then exited the video call.

I returned my attention back to Baekho. “Can I help you?” I innocently asked.

Baekho looked at me with strange eyes before snapping out of it. He pointed back over towards his room. “I’ve had about enough patience with you; clean it. Now.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “No.”

“Ren!”

“What’s the magic words?”

“Do it now!” Baekho angrily exclaimed.

“Why don’t you try again?”

“Don’t push me, Ren!”

I arrogantly stood up and made my way over towards my bed where I instantly flopped down. “I’m going to bed. Don’t let the door hit you on your big head on your way out!”

Baekho marched over to the side of my bed and gave me a harsh shove, rolling me out of bed. I hit the ground and immediately glared up at him from underneath my tussled bangs. I couldn’t believe he just did that! Baekho smirked then folded his own arms across his chest, looking down on me like he was so high and mighty.

“You can’t just shove people whenever you don’t get your way; who do you think you are?!” I angrily exclaimed.

“I’m Kang Baekho.” He scoffed.

“Last time I checked, Kang Baekho was just some overrated pop star, not god!”

Baekho narrowed his eyes at me. “Apologize.”

“You apologize first.”

“You’re not going to win this, Ren.”

“And neither will you, Baekho.”

“I can have you fired, you know.” Baekho replied cattily.

“Last time I checked, I work for Pledis, not Kang Baekho.”

“You think you’re so smart?”

I chuckled. “I know I’m smart.”

Baekho scoffed. “We don’t need you; we’ll never need you. You’re one to talk; an intern? Rather than us needing you, it’s the other way around. You need us. You; you’re nothing but an insignificant bug that crawls the corners of these walls. You’d be wise to live quietly and know your place while you’re still here.”

I glared at him through eyes full of hatred then angrily stood. I grabbed my phone from off my desk and then angrily marched past him and down the hallway. I was so mad I couldn’t see straight and I waltzed right past Aron and Minhyun who were sitting at the dining table in the kitchen. I yanked the front door open and slammed it shut behind me.

JR’s POV

I opened the front door to my apartment to reveal a swollen eyed blonde standing on my porch. My gaze instantly softened as I stepped to the side to let him in. Ren rubbed the corners of his eyes and slowly entered. I closed the door behind him and lead him into the living room where I sat him down on the couch. I sat on the other end beside him and stared into his eyes.

“Were you crying?”

Ren pouted. “No.”

“You’ve never been a very good liar.”

“How can he hate me so much, JR? He barely even knows me…”

I smirked then patted him on top of his head. “It’s because you’re both fire heads; neither one of you knows when to let go.”

“Are you telling me I should let go first?” He asked, sounding almost as if he were offended.

“Well he’s certainly not going to be the first.”

“I’d rather him hate me for all eternity!”

“That’s a shame,” I replied, gaining Ren’s full attention. “It’s a shame you’d rather him hate you for all an eternity than let him get to know the wonderful person that I’ve grown to lo-” I cut myself off and pulled my hand away from him, digging it between my legs inside my lap. Dammit. There I went again, almost slipping. I need to get a better hold on my tongue before I risk losing Ren forever.

Ren stared at me with wide eyes. “What did you just say?”

I shook my head and waved my hands. “It was nothing. I was just saying that it’s a shame that you don’t want to give him that chance to get to know you. You know that can never happen unless one of you lets go first, and as I said, the probability of it being him isn’t so high.” I instantly replied, trying to cover up my blunder. Let it go, Ren. Please, just let it go…

“No, that other thing you said. What was it…?” Ren continued; dammit, Ren. You couldn’t let it go, could you? I glanced away. I could already feel the blood rushing to my cheeks.

“Can we talk about something else?” I nervously asked in response, immediately rising to my feet. I needed a distraction; anything would do. I hurried into the kitchen behind the couch and opened the fridge. “Want something to drink?”

“JR…” Ren’s voice trailed off. “What in the world is going on with you?” He said as he rose to his feet and followed me inside the kitchen. He stopped behind me and leaned forward, pushing the fridge door shut. I paused, feeling my heart start to pound away inside of my chest from our close proximity. “JR-”

“Ren, please go stand over there.” I extended my arm and pointed across the kitchen.

“Why…?” He hesitantly asked.

“Don’t ask questions; just do it.”

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong with you.”

“Give me my space!” I snapped, spinning around. Startled, Ren jumped backwards and hit his arm against the side of the counter, toppling over my set of cooking knives. My eyes widened in horror as I watched one of them quickly nick his wrist before hitting the floor. Ren stared down at the horizontal cut across his wrist with wide eyes, remaining motionless. “Ren!” I exclaimed then pulled him by his arm and held his bleeding wrist up to my lips where I instinctively it clean. Ren immediately pulled his arm back and away from me as he took a step backwards, looking at me with trembling lips.

“You…” I could see tears start to build up in the corners of his eyes. He instantly turned and marched his way out of the kitchen. I was expecting for him to just up and leave my apartment, but to my surprise, he re-entered the living room and sat back down on the couch. He threw his head back and scoffed. “I should have known better… all those blind dates you set me up on… they were all just an excuse for you, weren’t they?”

I followed him outside of the kitchen and sat beside him on the couch, taking his left hand with both of mine. “What are you talking about?”

“How long have you felt this way about me?” He asked, turning to face me.

“What do you mean…?”

“How long have you liked me?!” Ren exclaimed.

I felt my heart stop. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him anymore. There was no more hiding. “F-for as long as I’ve known you…” I stuttered, finding it more than difficult to confess my true feelings towards him. For years I had dreamt of this day, but never had I ever thought that it would actually come true. Or at least not like this.

“Is that why you were always nice to me? Helping me with my assignments, getting me the internship with Pledis… because you liked me?”

“Of course not!” I exclaimed. “I did it because you’re my friend…”

“Which is it?” Ren suddenly asked. “Am I your… friend? Or am I… something else… to you?”

I shifted my gaze to my lap. “Ren… I don’t know what to say.”

“Why can’t you just say it?” He sounded as if he were about to cry. I’d feel like an if he cried because of me. I couldn’t let this happen. Right as I was about to speak up, Ren cut me off. “You know… there was a reason why I was never interested in any of those blind dates you set me up for…”

“You were always too busy to date; that’s what you always said, wasn’t it?”

Ren snorted. “Idiot… why can’t you read between the lines?”

I blinked. “What are you talking about…?”

Ren leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine. For a moment it felt as if time had completely come to a standstill. My heart started to race again; was this real? Or was this a dream? I could feel Ren’s warmth radiating from his lips and onto mine. This wasn’t a dream. This was reality. Choi Ren, the guy I had been crazy about since high school was actually kissing me. Call me childish, but I could already feel that warm, fuzzy feeling building up inside of my stomach. The feeling of wanting and being wanted in return… it was the best feeling in the world. Ren slowly pulled away from me and stared deep into my eyes, waiting for me to say something. ; what does one say in a situation like this?

“T-thank you?”

Ren tilted his head to the side and gave me a strange look. “Um, what?”

I turned at least three shades of red. “I’m sorry…”

Ren chuckled. “The calm, cool and collected JR I once knew is no more, it seems.” He teased.

“Ren… can I ask you something?” I suddenly asked.

“What is it?”

“Since when…? I mean, how long-”

“About the same time as you.” He replied. I fell back in my seat and rested my head against the back of the sofa. I couldn’t believe it. He meant to tell me that all this time I had spent secretly loving him, he felt the exact same way about me? I couldn’t believe how much time we wasted.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Ren smiled nervously. “Probably the same reason you didn’t, right? The fear of losing one another?”

I nodded; the room went quiet. “Ren…” I called out to him. “Where do we go from here?” I asked, unsure of what all this meant. Ren took my hand in his and squeeze it in a reassuring way.

“Are you scared?”

I chuckled. “A little bit, yeah. I never thought you’d feel the same way as me. I kind of wanted to ask you what was wrong with you when you said you liked me.”

Ren sheepishly scooted closer to me and leaned his head against my shoulder. “What’s not to like about you…? You’re strong, determined, and have a clear head on your shoulders. You knew what you wanted to do with your life and you went for it; and look at where it’s gotten you. You’re living your dream. Not to mention the fact that you’re selfless; trying to help me reach my own dream. What more can a person ask for? You’re an amazing person, JR. One day I hope maybe I can be that way too.”

I shook my head. “You are, Ren. I don’t think I’ve met another person that can accomplish all that you do in one day in an entire month. You mean the world to those kids; just give it time and I’m sure the guys will warm up to you, Kang Baekho included.”

Ren glanced down into his lap. “I don’t think that guy will ever like me, JR.” I pulled him into my arms as he said that and I embraced him into a hug.

“Just give it time, Ren. Just give it time.”

Baekho’s POV

I pushed open the door to my room and stepped out into the dark hallway, on my way to get a drink of water from the fridge when I paused in front of Ren’s open room. He still wasn’t back from wherever the hell it was that he had went. Figures. Probably ran off to cry about how much his life compared to mine. But in all fairness, not everyone could be the Kang Baekho. Not anyone could live my life, nor could anyone live up to meet my expectations. And I had a lot of them. That guy was kidding himself; he had no idea who he was up against. Me apologize to him? As ing if. Kang Baekho doesn’t apologize to anyone, ever. And if I ever did want to, which I wouldn’t, he wouldn’t even deserve my apology.

As I pulled open the door to the fridge in the dark, I heard the knob to the front door rustling before it slowly swung open to reveal a smiling blonde. He rested his back against the door as he closed it and seemed to smile up into the ceiling. I closed the fridge door, breaking him from his daze. The smile on his lips faded into a frown as he laid eyes on me. Tcht. Same to you, buddy.

“And just where were you?”

Ren stared at me for a brief moment before scoffing and then silently marching past me and to his room. I angrily followed him, throwing my arm and catching the door as he tried to shut me out. I forced my way inside his room. Clearly I was much stronger than him. Ren huffed and pouted before sitting down and flopping onto his bed. “What do you want?”

“Ready to apologize to me?” I asked, knowing full and well that this question would only aggravate him.

Ren pursed his lips together then sighed. “You know what? Fine.” He replied then stood back up and approached me, stopping about a couple of feet away. “This will never end, so I’ll be the bigger person here and go first.”

“Bigger person?” I raised a brow in annoyance. Did he think he was better than me?

“After all, this is so childish. I don’t even act this way in front of my children, why should I to you?” He continued to go on. There he went again with those ‘children’ of his. He clearly told me so that he was gay, eliminating the options for biological children… so just what in the world did he mean whenever he said that? “Anyways, I digress; Kang Baekho, I formerly apologize for behaving so rudely towards you at the café. I understand now that it was the consequence of a misunderstanding and I hope that you have it in you to forgive me.” He extended his hand out to me. I blinked.

“And what about the room?”

“The room is included; sorry for trashing it.”

I hesitantly took his frail hand in mine and shook it. “You’re forgiven. Now clean it up.”

Ren raised a brow. “Now? Unbelievable. You’re out of your mind! And what about your apology?!” He exclaimed.

“I never said I would apologize back to you.”

“Son of a-” Ren angrily threw his arms forward to shove me but I put a stop to this by grabbing him by his right arm. I paused when I suddenly saw a scar slashed across his wrist. Ren seemed to take notice that I had spotted it and defensively pulled his arm out of my grasp.

“Ren,” I called out to him in a serious tone of voice. “Did you try to kill yourself because of me? Because of what I said?”

Ren scoffed. “You’re so full of yourself.”

“Ren!” I exclaimed; he looked at me with wide eyes.

“Why do you care? I’m nothing but an unwelcome, insignificant bug in your house!” He replied, throwing my words from earlier back at me.

“I don’t.”

“Unbelievable.”

“Was it because of me?”

“No.” He replied, turning his back to me and examining the scar. “It was an accident. No matter how hard you try to hurt me or chase me from this house, you’ll never win. To you I might be insignificant, but I don’t see myself that way. I see my own value, my own importance. I may not have fans, but I do have people that look up to me and wish for my success; I see it on their faces every day. And you, Kang Baekho? What are you? You are a roadblock to that success, but even mountains fall and wear away with time. To try to kill myself because of a stubborn fool like you; don’t insult me.”

I stood motionless, no, speechless after his little spiel. I turned my back to him and made my way to the door frame. “I was an idiot to express concern for you.”

Ren slowly turned around and walked past me, entering my own room. “You were concerned about yourself; you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself if I had killed myself over something you said.”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Getting you off my back!” He snapped then started to clean. I remained silent and entered my room. I didn’t know what to do or what to say to him at this point. I sat down on my bed and pulled my Ipad into my lap and started to fumble around the web with it, trying to wash Ren out of my mind and ears. I felt bad towards him, but at the same time, I’d never admit that towards him. My attention was suddenly distracted by the sound of a camera. Having been a celebrity for so long, whenever I wasn’t at photo shoots or on stage, I came to fear the sound of a camera shutter. I sprung forward in my bed and glared at the blonde who was taking pictures of my clothes with his cell phone.

“What are you, a saesang? What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” I wildly exclaimed.

Ren scoffed. “My job?”

“Since when does that involve taking pictures of my personal property?!”

“It’s just clothes.” He rolled his eyes.

“My clothes.”

“Our clothes.” He corrected me. By now I could hardly control my temper with him.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Since when do they belong to you?”

“Since I became your stylist. That gives me free rights to all three of your closets. Don’t like it? Tough.” Ren replied as he continued to pick articles of clothing up, put them on hangers, take pictures of them and then hang them up in the closet. As he came to my last dress shirt, he glanced up at me and gave me a dirty look. “Unless you prefer to walk around . That can always be arranged.” He smirked then gave me an intimidating look-down. I gulped and then took a step back.

“Don’t you get any ideas!” I replied, covering my chest with my arms as the blonde practically undressed me with his eyes.

Ren laughed. “A guy like you? You’re bound to have many fanboys.” He smiled as he shut the closet door shut behind him. He slowly started tip-toeing my way, forcing me to walk backwards. As my hit the front of my dresser across the room, he stopped in front of me and pointed his index finger at me.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” I exclaimed; Ren paused then blinked.

“Do I have cooties just because I’m gay, Kang Baekho?”

I remained silent.

Ren scoffed. “Childish.” He replied before leaning in close, barely just touching me with his finger. “You listen here; I’m your stylist, which means I hold your career in the center of my palms. Piss me off and you’ll end up on Seoul’s Worst Dressed list, got it?!”

Now it was my turn to scoff. “You dare to threaten me?”

“Well I’m not threatening the Queen… though I can see how it’s difficult to tell the two of you apart.”

“You!”

Ren smirked. “Remember, Baekho. Seoul’s Worst Dressed list!” He cackled then exited my room. I gripped my fists at my sides angrily. I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna kill him. No, don’t kill him, Baekho. He’s not worth it.

I huffed then flopped back down on my bed, sighing heavily. I’ll get that little twerp back. He thinks he can mess with me? Oh, he’s got another thing coming. No one plays with Kang Baekho; I’m no one’s toy. I’ll teach him a lesson. This is a warzone and I am not about to lose to some skinny man that looks like a woman! Especially not in my own house! I pulled out my phone and immediately texted Aron. A few minutes later Aron came walking through my door.

“You buzzed?” He asked.

“I hate him.”

Aron blinked. “…who?”

“Who do you think?!?! That prissy blonde stylist of yours!”

Aron boredly folded his arms across his chest. “Since when was he mine?”

I scowled. “You’re just as annoying as he is!”

“In my defense… I’m heavily medicated at the moment.” He replied as he dizzily grabbed the door frame to prevent himself from falling. I paused for a moment, distracted from my thoughts about our new house guest.

“You’re still on those depressants?” I asked; Aron nodded. “Why do you still take them? You know it’s all in your head.”

Aron flipped his middle finger at me. “That’s not how depression works, genius. I can’t just be happy just because Kang Baekho tells me to.”

“Nonsense. Of course you can. It works for all my fangirls.”

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?” He replied, stepping inside my room and joining me on the bed. I immediately glared at him and then pointed at the opposite end of the bed. He rolled his eyes and then stood back up and scooted towards the end of the bed, sitting back down with a noticeable gap of space between us. “Why’d you call me out to your pedestal?”

I glared at him. “Pedestal?”

“You must be pretty cold up here all by yourself.”

“Kwak!” I exclaimed.

“It’s the drugs.”

“It’s your brain.”

A sly smile spread across his lips before quickly fading. “What do you want?”

I folded my arms across my chest. “We need to do something about our annoying little female houseguest of ours.”

“…Minhuyn…?” Aron blinked.

“I’m talking about Ren! Choi Ren! How did you even… never mind.” I sighed. Aron rubbed his temples and stared at the wall, lost in thought.

“Do we want to maim him, or…?”

I shook my head. “God, Kwak. Just help me teach him a lesson. You’re the king of this stuff.”

Aron stood back up. “Get yourself some sleep. I’ll take care of it.” He replied then left the room, leaving me to ponder about just what it was he had up his sleeves. Well, Aron was a born prankster. If he said he had something in mind, he most definitely did. I groaned then flopped on my back in bed, forcing my eyes shut, drifting off into a deep sleep.

I was awoken bright and early by an ear piercing scream on the other side of the hallway. I leapt out of bed and ran across the room, stopping in front of Ren’s open door. As soon as I set eyes on Ren a huge smile spread across my lips before I broke out into a hysterical fit of laughter. On the opposite side of the room, literally duck taped into the bed lay a screaming Choi Ren. He went silent when he caught sight of me.

“This isn’t funny, Baekho!”

I had to force myself to stop laughing. “It wasn’t me. Although I kind of wish it was.” I replied in an amused tone of voice.

“You or not, get me out of this!!!”

I folded my arms across my chest and leaned against the door frame. “Since you’re so keen on manners; what’s the magic word…?”

“Baekho!”

“Normally I’d agree with you on that one, but that’s not quite the answer I was looking for. I believe it starts with the letter ‘p.’”

“I’m being serious, here!”

“As am I, dear stylist of mine.”

“Baekho!” He exclaimed, sounding as if he were about to cry.

“Say it.” I taunted him. He paused then shifted his gaze down to his toes.

“Please.” He muttered.

“Say it like you mean it.”

“Please, Baekho. Get me out of this!”

I smiled at him. “No.” I simply replied then waltzed right out of the room, hiding behind the wall in the hallway. I brought my hand over my mouth to try to muffle my laughter as Ren continued to scream within the walls of his room. Aron suddenly joined me by my side.

“I’m guessing you saw my work of art?”

“You’re cruel.” I replied, wiping the tears of laughter from my eyes.

“You’re too kind.” He smirked. Suddenly a sleepy eyed Minhyun came travelling down the hall, stopping in his tracks once he heard the screaming coming from inside Ren’s room. His eyes widened with shock and he immediately ran inside, stopping by Ren’s bed side.

“You guys are asses!” Minhyun yelled back over his shoulder before turning his attention back over towards Ren. “Don’t you worry; I’ll get you out of there, Ren!” He quickly replied before running back out of the room in search of scissors. When he returned Aron and I stood in the corner of Ren’s room, watching Minhyun snip away at the tape that wrapped around the entire width of the bed. When he finally succeeded in breaking all the tape, he helped peel Ren out of the sticky bed. Ren wrapped his arms around Minhyun for comfort before glancing up and glaring at me from across the room. He released Minhyun then shakily stood on his own two feet, angrily stomping his way over towards me and Aron.

“Seoul’s Worst Dressed list!” The shook his finger hysterically at us. “The both of you!” He replied then shakily exited the room. Once he was gone Minhyun stood back up and turned to face us. He looked at us with a dark expression written across his face.

“Whose idea was this?”

Aron immediately pointed his index finger at me. I looked at him in shock; like hell he was going to pin the whole blame on me. I pointed my index finger back at him. Minhyun gave us a look of disbelief before scoffing.

“Ren was right; the two of you really are children.” He said as he approached us, stopping with two feet of distance between us. “Now let’s try this again; whose idea was this?”

Aron spoke up. “Mine, but I fail to see what the big deal is-”

WHACK!

Minhyun swung his hand across the side of Aron’s cheek. Aron looked at him with wide eyes. “You had no right to do that, Aron!”

“Geeze, Min, I’m sorr-”

“Don’t say sorry to me, say it to Ren! Dammit, can’t you guys see? This is the reason why no one wants to work with us! Does this even make sense? We’re the hottest group in Korea right now! We’re even bigger than SNSD! People should be aspiring to work with DREAM, but instead they avoid us like the plague and what for? Because of our horrible reputation that we’re difficult to work for! It’s your fault, you and Baekho!”

I stepped forward. “Right, and you don’t share any part of that blame?”

Minhyun shook his head. “Maybe I do, but at least I don’t torment our stylists! What the hell is wrong with you guys?!”

“He started it; from the moment we met he declared a war on me. I don’t let anyone disrespect me or what I do.”

“Dammit, Baekho, he apologized. You should too.” Minhyun replied then took a step forward before pausing again, glancing back at Aron. “I’m disappointed in you too.” He said before walking out of the room. Aron sadly glanced down at the ground.

“Aron-” I called out to him only to be cut off.

“Save it. You put me up to this. You make this right. I’ll apologize to him for my part.” He replied under his breath and left me alone in Ren’s room. Minutes later Ren suddenly re-entered his room, walking straight past me and opening the door to his closet, pulling out a pair of dark grey slacks and a white dress shirt with a matching grey vest. He removed the wet towel from his hair and threw it on the ground, about to open up his robe when he paused and glanced at me through the corner of his eyes.

“You’re still here?” He muttered.

“I-” He cut me off.

“Do you intend on watching me get dressed?” He raised an eyebrow. I immediately felt my cheeks grow hot from embarrassment. Wait a minute, why the hell was I embarrassed? He was just another man. I had seen Minhyun and Aron get dressed hundreds of times in front of me when we were changing stage outfits backstage. Maybe it was the fact that I almost didn’t see our new stylist as a man. He was much too feminine to be so. Ren scoffed. “Do or don’t; much like you, I don’t have anything to be ashamed of about my body.” I heard him reply, followed by the sound of the robe hitting the ground.

“Hey R-ren?” I stuttered.

“What?” He replied.

“It was brought to my attention that I still haven’t apologized for my… rude behavior…”

“No, you haven’t.”

“I’m sorry.”

Ren went silent for a moment. I slowly turned around to see him with his slacks already pulled up and he was busy buttoning up his white dress shirt, or, had been. He was frozen solid, almost as if time had stopped in its tracks around him. He glanced back at me. “Really?”

I sheepishly nodded. “Yeah.”

He finished buttoning up his shirt. “For what?” He asked, traveling towards me, stopping with only a foot’s distance between us. “What is Kang Baekho sorry about?”

I shifted my gaze down to the ground. “Let’s just say for everything, ok?”

Ren shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way, Baekho. You don’t sound sincere.”

“For being rude. For setting Aron on you last night.”

A slight smile spread across Ren’s lips; he almost looked touched. “Well… thank you, Baekho. For finally coming around.”

I dug my hands into my pockets. “So… is that it?” I asked.

“Is what it?” Ren blinked at me.

“I’ve… never had to apologize to anyone before…”

“Clearly.” Ren smirked.

“So is that it…? Are we good…?”

Ren smiled, almost as if he were amused by my actions. “Yeah. We’re good.” He patted me on the shoulder before returning to his closet to pull his vest on over his shoulders. When he finished dressing I stared at his outfit in amazement; he really did know how to dress according to his body type. I was actually impressed.

“Where are you off to dressed like that?”

“Work.”

I stared at him with wide eyes. “What? You can’t go! We have scheduled appearances today; we very well can’t wear the same outfit at each appointment.”

Ren smiled and dangled his cell phone in front of my face. “Relax; I got you covered.”

I blinked. “I still don’t get it. How are you supposed to help us with you there and us here?”

“Just trust me. I have you covered.”

About an hour later, long after Ren had left for whatever job it was that he had decided was more important than being our stylist, the three of us stood waiting in front of the mansion for our tour van to come and pick us up. Though he had been ‘gracious’ enough to pick out our first outfit for the day. Hmmph. It was decent. Definitely nothing worth giving a second glance at or worthy of the cameras. But if I had to compliment him, we looked better than we did before he had come along. Like hell I’d ever say that to his face though.

JR suddenly pulled up in his car, stopping at the front gate and waving his hand outside of his window to gain our attention. Minhyun smiled, waved back, and then buzzed him inside. The iron gates slowly spread open and JR drove inside. I raised a brow as he hopped outside and stood in front of us.

“What in the world is our dance choreographer doing here?”

JR smiled. “Your stylist sent me.”

“Pardon?”

JR dangled his cell phone in front of my face, revealing pictures of several outfits that supposedly Ren had sent to him via text. “I’m here to help out Ren for the day; I need access to your closets.”

Minhyun smiled. “Granted.”

Aron looked up from texting on his phone. “Whatever.”

“Absolutely not.” I replied. “Since when does the job description of our choreographer equal that of our stylist? There must be something in it for you. What is it?”

JR blinked. “Nope. Just helping a friend out.”

I gave him a skeptical look. “Just friend?”

“Well, if you put it that way…” JR smirked. I rose my hands and waved them at him.

“I don’t need to hear this. Just go. Get out of my sight.” I snapped. Suddenly the tour bus rolled up to our front gate and I gained them entrance. The bus stopped in front of the house and the doors slid open. Aron started to climb in; I grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him back, peeling him from the side of the van and entering first. Aron scoffed then climbed in after me, followed by Minhyun. The three of us were then rushed to our first appearance of the day; a radio show.

About an hour later, after we had finished our interview at the radio station, JR joined us in the lobby and handed us our pre-determined outfits. Since we were in a hurry and being rushed to our next scheduled destination, we snatched the outfits from him as we re-entered our bus. We would have to get changed in-between stops in the vehicle. Aron wordlessly took his outfit from JR while I snatched it without so much as sparing him a single glance. How annoying, having our dance choreographer play our stylist for the day. These were grounds for termination for Ren, however, I’m sure this had been covered in his contract negotiation since he was, after all, an unpaid intern. Ugh. The nerve of that guy. Minhyun took his outfit from JR and thanked him before graciously climbing back inside the van, sliding the door shut behind him.

The three of us quickly began to undress and pull our outfits out from inside their plastic garment protectors and off the hangers. Aron and Minhyun managed to get changed faster than I did. I glanced at their outfits. Aron looked, well, like one of those gangster rappers from America and Minhyun a noble prince. I glanced down at the garment in my bag. It contained possibly the ugliest combination of clothes I had ever seen. My bag had contained a pink dress shirt, a polka dot black bowtie, and black pants. Aron reached over and held up the bowtie.

“What are you, PSY? What’s with the bowtie?” Minhyun teased.

“How did he know we were on our way to Gangnam?” Aron joined in, starting to do the infamous horse dance that accompanied that tragic song.

“Shut up!” I exclaimed, grabbing the bowtie away from him. Aron looked at me with his usual expressionless face.

“Are you actually going to wear that?”

“Like hell I will.” I muttered.

Minhyun gasped. “You can’t be an outfit repeater!”

I stared down at the outfit like it was the plague. “What the hell was he thinking, telling me to wear this?!?!” I glanced back over at what Aron was wearing, giving him a judgmental look. “You look equally as ridiculous.”

Aron glanced down at his own clothes. “I actually like these clothes.”

“Americans.” I groaned.

“I’m Insta-fabulous.” Aron replied, raising his cell phone to take selcas of himself. “Edit…. Edit… #aron #cutie #cutiesayinhello… and it’s up on Instagram… whoa, 2,000 hearts already! Heh… I’m good.”

Minhyun glared at him. “I’m the visual of this group!” He nudged him in the elbow.

Aron blinked. “You look like a prince.”

“I own a mirror; I know it.” He held his head up high. Aron turned to me with a thumbs-up sign; he knew how to work Minhyun, maybe a bit too well. He glanced back down at his cellphone and began to scroll through the comments.

“Oppa, you look like Flava Flav….” His voice trailed off. “Yeah boi?” He blinked.

Minhyun rolled his eyes and placed his hand over the phone. “You’re such an embarrassment. Put it away.”

Minutes later we arrived at our next destination. Everyone had changed except for me. I had been too stubborn to even consider wearing that ridiculous outfit Ren had picked out for me. I mean, really, me in a goofy bowtie? Maybe I was old fashioned, but lead vocalists just did not wear bowties. It would completely ruin that suave image Pledis had built up for me. I didn’t care if I had to be an outfit repeater; my skin would not touch that hideous tragedy of an outfit. As soon as the bus came to a halt, Minhyun climbed through the backseat and slid the door open, immediately pausing when he spotted a familiar face standing outside, waiting for us.

JR smiled, holding two more outfits in his arms. He waved for Minhyun to go on without us before leaning into the van and handing Aron and I a completely different outfit. I glanced at the plastic garment bag then back at him. “Oh, come on, you didn’t think Ren would let you guys appear on public television in those. He has a reputation to uphold as well, you know.”

I gritted my teeth. “What the hell, JR? You did this?”

JR gave me an intimidating look. “Don’t mess with my boyfriend.” He replied. Of course it wasn’t Ren’s doing; we had already cleared the air between us. For now, anyways. That kid still wasn’t off the hook. For as long as he was our stylist, he would continue to be the object of our boredom.

I paused, looking at him with wide eyes before shaking the nonsense out of my head. “Whatever; it doesn’t concern me.”

JR smirked. “Good. Now get changed and hurry up; you’ll be late.” He replied then slid the door shut.

Aron, Minhyun and I all sat side by side in matching grey suits similar to the outfit that JR had given Minhyun on stage. After observing my appearance in the mirror, I had to say I was quite pleased. Ren actually did a good job, aside from JR’s interference. The interviewer continued to read us questions off of flashcards, all of which either Minhyun or I answered. Aron, much likes always, remained quiet and calm.

“How do you feel about this sudden uprising in fame?” The interviewer leaned in and asked, holding the microphone towards me.

“We would be nowhere without our fans support. For that we are eternally grateful. After all, it’s them who made us what we are today. Everything we do, we do it for them.”

“Oh, how noble of you!” She exclaimed then faced the in-studio audience. “Now we will be taking questions from the audience! You!” She pointed at one of the women in the audience and she immediately stood. She appeared to be one of our college aged fans, something which was rare, seeing as a majority of our fan base contained young teenage girls.

“Aron oppa, you’re so cool. You’re so accomplished; you were a straight A student, you got accepted to New York University, you speak perfect English, and you’re a talented rapper…” Her voice shyly trailed off. Aron’s usual stoic face was beaming at this point as she catered to his already bigger than life ego.

 Aron leaned forward. “What is your question?”

“Can we see your abs?!?!” She suddenly squealed. I glanced over at Minhyun; the look on Minhyun’s face was priceless. His eyes were as wide as plates after hearing this sudden request. Everyone in the world knew how Minhyun felt about Aron, well, all except for Aron of course.

“Well, everything we do, we do for our fans…” Aron mocked me in a melancholic tone of voice as he slowly stood up and began to untuck his white dress shirt from out of his pants. I couldn’t help but chuckle as Minhyun immediately reached forward and placed his hands over Aron’s, trying to stop him.

“Y-yah, Aron, those are for my eyes only!” He childishly exclaimed. Aron blinked for a moment, remembering the contract that the two of them had signed back at Pledis to perform fan service whenever it was necessary. Aron placed his index finger on Minhyun’s perfect cat shaped jaw and leaned forward, barely inches away from his lips. The all-female audience roared with squeals and chants, urging for them to kiss.

“I was in the wrong; forgive me?”

Minhyun defiantly pulled away, folding his arms across his chest; it was an act for the cameras. Aron slightly smiled then turned to face the audience.

“I’ll make it up to him later.” He winked then sat back down beside Minhyun, who had turned a deep shade of red. All of this fan service was probably just acting for Aron, but for Minhyun, it seemed like it was real. I kind of felt for the guy, even though I didn’t support Minhyun’s choice of lifestyle. Of course the audience screamed. I slightly shook my head and waited for this dreaded interview to be over.

Later that night after all of our scheduled appearances, finally we were allowed to let loose and have some fun. Despite wanting to just return home, Minhyun urged the two of us to go to a karaoke club with him. As we stepped inside the dimly lit place of business, we were greeted by none other than our sadistic dance choreographer and twisted stylist who wore matching smiles over their lips. I immediately spun around to exit the building when Minhyun grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me back around, forcing me forward. There was no escaping this night, was there?

The five of us piled into the private karaoke room. I immediately flopped down on the cushioned benches and folded my arms across my chest while Minhyun and Ren excitedly flipped through the book of songs. Both Aron and JR joined me at my side. I snapped my fingers; the waitress immediately came running to take our order.

“The strongest of whatever it is you have.”

Ren glanced back over his shoulder. “It just kills you to be in the same room as me, huh?”

“Yes.” I didn’t even bother to sugarcoat it. A guy like Ren didn’t deserve it. Yeah, the outfit mishap wasn’t Ren’s doing, but apparently he was dating the prick who was responsible for it, which in my eyes, made him equally as guilty.

“Jerk. After I made you guys look like royalty today.” A hurt expression washed over Ren’s face.

“My god, do you need a compliment for every time you manage to not mess up?” I snorted. Ren paused for a moment, pursing his lips together before turning to the waitress.

“Make that two!” He exclaimed. The waitress immediately scribbled it down and left the room. The others had chosen to skip out on the alcohol tonight. As we waited for her return, Minhyun and Ren began to flail around the room, singing of all songs, one of ours. Tcht. How cliché. The waitress returned with two large glasses; Ren immediately swiped one of them from off her tray and brought it to his lips, taking a large gulp before messily placing it down on the table. I took the glass from her tray like how a normal, decent human being would and thanked her, sending her away. Suddenly Son Dambi’s “Saturday Night” started playing, and with that, Ren started to sing and dance along in his already drunken stupor. My god, was this fool a lightweight.

Minhyun, JR, and even Aron began to laugh their heads off at the tragic sight. I shook my head. This was just embarrassing. I didn’t want to be here. This guy’s life was sad enough as it was. I didn’t need to contribute to it. I held my glass to my own lips and downed its entire contents in two gulps. I hazily slammed the glass back down on the table, already feeling my head begin to spin and my body feel numb. Damn. Whatever it was the waitress had brought us really was strong; maybe Ren wasn’t such a lightweight after all. Whatever, like I’d give him that either. I wobbly rose to my feet and approached Ren, snatching the microphone out from his hands and began to sing Se7en’s “When I Can’t Sing,” purposely singing all the high notes into Ren’s ears. Ren drunkenly covered his ears and stumbled backward with Minhyun catching him and standing him back up.

Ren pointed at me. “Two can play at that game!” He replied, snatching another microphone that Aron had encouragingly handed to him. He began to sing over me; the nerve! Who the hell did this guy think he was? No one sang over Kang Baekho! Millions shelled out their hard earned money just to listen to my voice live and what does this fool dare to do? Cover me up? I don’t think so. I loudly began to sing over him. Ren raised the tone of his voice even higher to mask me out again. I raised my volume as well. By now the two of us were drunkenly wailing incoherent song lyrics over the microphone with the poor unfortunate souls who were covering their ears behind us.

Ren angrily threw the microphone to the floor and picked up his half empty glass and chugged the rest of it down. The glass fell from his hand and hit the floor, surprisingly not breaking. He grabbed the sides of his head to what I can only assume to stop the room from spinning.

“You’rethemostchildishmanI’veevermetandI’msleepy-” He passed out on the floor. JR immediately shot up from off the bench and ran to him, throwing Ren over his back.

“Looks like the party’s over, hmm?” He replied.

Minhyun smiled, joining me by my side. “Well that was fun.”

“It was annoying!” I drunkenly replied, swinging my arm around Minhyun’s neck to help stabilize me. Minhyun chuckled then helped me walk out of the room, leading me to the lobby with the others following closely behind.

Ren’s POV

When I finally awoke, I found myself at the front door of the mansion, hunched over JR’s shoulder. I could hear the sound of Aron’s keys jingling as he unlocked the door and pushed it forward. The five of us poured inside the house. I watched as Aron and Minhyun went their separate ways to their own rooms while Baekho, JR and I headed in the same direction. Baekho staggered into his own room, slamming the door shut behind him while JR carried me into my room where he threw me on the bed. I giggled as my back hit the fluffy cushions. I held my arms out; JR gave me an amused smile.

“What’s this?”

“C’mere!” I exclaimed.

JR chuckled. “Ren, you’re drunk.”

“Gimme a hug!”

“Seriously?” JR asked; I nodded. He played along and leaned forward; I swept my arms around him and pressed his body down onto mine, knocking him off his feet and onto his knees, laying on top of me. He stared at me with shocked wide eyes. I could feel his heart beating wildly against my chest. I smirked, inching my fingers up his shoulder blades and to the back of his head, weaving my fingers in between his soft brown curls.

“Why so nervous?” I giggled. “We’re dating now. You’re mine, JR!” I drunkenly crashed my lips onto his nose, missing his lips by a landslide. JR started to laugh.

“That was terrible.”

“Don’t go home tonight, JR.”

JR paused, his smile quickly fading. “Ren…”

“Stay with me.” I slid my hands back down his neck and shoulder blades again, enjoying his warmth through his t-shirt. He glanced off to the side.

“I want to, but not like this. Not with you drunk…”

I wrapped my arms around him tighter. “Then just sleep here with me.” I replied. JR seemed to loosen up after I said this. He pulled away from me and climbed over me, laying by my side on the bed. He took my hand in his and lace our fingers together.

“I won’t leave then.” He leaned forward and placed a small, warm peck against my cheek. I smiled, enjoying his familiar, comforting warmth radiating against me. Despite having lived with a bunch of immature, overgrown children, I was probably the happiest I had ever been. I was starting to live out my dream of dressing the stars… and now I had JR by my side. JR, my friend that I had secretly longed for much more with for so long. Having JR here with me almost made all the hell I was going through with DREAM worth it. He made it bearable, knowing that he was here to support me and help me accomplish my dream. I couldn’t ask for more than this… My lids suddenly feeling heavy drooped closed and I drifted off into a deep sleep.

Later that night, I was awoken to the painful discomfort of a full bladder. Damn that alcohol. I didn’t normally drink; that’s just how much that jerk pissed me off, especially with all that I had done for him. I slowly sat up in the bed as to not wake JR up, who was snoozing peacefully beside me. I carefully climbed out of the bed and dizzily made my way out of the room and down the hall and into the bathroom. After taking care of business, I stumbled back out into the darkened hallway, using my hands against both walls to guide me to my destination, my heavy eyes still closed. After traveling for what seemed like forever, I came across a doorknob. I groggily turned it and pushed the door open, stumbling inside. I traveled forward until I felt my knees hit the side of the bed. Ah, at last, I made it! I climbed over the sleeping body in the bed and laid down beside him, nuzzling underneath the covers with my back facing him. I felt two arms embracing a pillow in between us. My eyes still closed, I smiled and pulled the pillow out from his grasp, instead wrapping his arms over and around me. I dug my face into one of the pillows and smiled even wider when I felt him pull me in closer to his sleeping frame. Enjoying his embrace, I soon drifted back into a deep sleep.

I awoke early in the morning to sounds of giggling. What the hell…? I slowly opened my eyes and winced in pain as the sunlight that poured in through the window blinded me. As my eyes finally readjusted to the light, the image of Aron and Minhyun standing by my bedside emerged. Aron was dangling his phone over us, snapping pictures with an evil smirk spread over his face. Minhyun, unable to contain himself, was giggling into Aron’s shoulder. Ugh, what are they up to? Whatever it is, don’t involve me and JR into your childish games. I swung my arm backward to try and stir the sleeping boy beside me when I suddenly froze.

I didn’t recognize this room… this room… it wasn’t mine…

It was then I noticed JR standing at the door frame, his right hand placed over his mouth and staring down at me with wide eyes. I felt my heart tremble as I shakily glanced at the sleeping figure beside me who still had his arms wrapped around me.

B-Baekho….

“AGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~