Ren’s POV

I screamed at the top of my lungs capacity as I saw the sleeping blonde lying next to me, myself entwined inside his arms. My scream startled him; in a fit of panic and adrenaline, Baekho flung out of bed with his eyes still closed, tearing off the covers with him as he tumbled to the floor, and landing with a thud. As soon as his bottom hit the wooden flooring, he groaned then forced himself to sit up, entangled and trapped within the sheets and comforter. He opened his eyes. Once he realized how many people were inside his room, watching him, his sleepy eyes widened.

“No one is allowed inside my room without permission. People don’t come into my room. Why are you in my room?!” He snapped angrily. Aron hid shamelessly behind his cellphone while Minhyun pointed at me with an amused smirk on his face.

He glanced back up on the bed at me; his eyes immediately narrowed with hatred. “You.” He spat with a certain venom in his voice. He suddenly placed his hand over his mouth and hunched forward, almost as if he were so disgusted by the thought of having slept in the same bed as me that he needed to throw up. He messily freed himself from the trap of blankets and jumped to his feet, throwing JR, who had been standing in the doorway, out of the way and dashing down the hallway. I heard the bathroom door slam shut.

“Well that was a bit much.” Minhyun managed to spout through his giggles. I ignored his comment and stared at JR with pleading eyes.

“I swear to god, nothing happened!” Forgive me. Forgive this idiot who doesn’t and shouldn’t ever drink. God, I knew there was a reason why I had usually abstained from alcohol. Now I remembered; I usually made a complete of myself. Please don’t tell me my relationship with JR was over before it has really even started. Oh, why me?

A big smile slowly spread across his lips. “Of course nothing happened, Ren.” Aron, who finally couldn’t hold it in anymore, snorted loudly through his laughter. In response to his less than graceful reaction, Minhyun and JR started laughing as well. I soon found myself at the center of everyone’s laughter, and I didn’t like it.

I threw my legs off the side of the bed and sat up. “Well, I’m glad I’m the center of amusement for everyone!” I snapped. The laughter only increased. “Is my misfortune that funny?!”

“Yes.” Aron didn’t miss a beat to reply. Minhyun forced himself to stop laughing and then immediately nudged Aron with his elbow in the stomach.

“Sweetie, we’re laughing because of course nothing would happen between you and Baekho. I mean… its Baekho. Come on.” Minhyun replied.

I shifted my gaze to the floor and pouted. “He didn’t have to overreact. It was an accident, a stupid drunken accident.” JR entered the room and sat down beside me on the bed, throwing his arm over my shoulders and around my neck.

“Ren, one of the things you will have to learn about being DREAM’s stylist is that Baekho overreacts to everything.”

“Everything?” I blinked.

“Don’t take it personal; Baekho is an extreme germaphobe. He can’t fathom the idea of touching others, especially for long periods of time. In fact, he complains all the time whenever the choreography involves making brief contact with either Min or Aron. He says they’re dirty.”

“Complains? More like es.” Aron cut in, making his own side commentary.

“So…” My voice trailed off. “It’s not just me then?” I asked JR.

“It probably is.” Aron cut in yet again.

“Kwak!” Minhyun practically threw him across the room.

JR smiled. “You’re perfect, Ren. He doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.” He lightly kissed me on my forehead. I smiled back at him.

“That works out perfectly for you, doesn’t it?” I sheepishly wrapped my arms around his waist and nuzzled my head against his neck, enjoying his warmth. Thank god JR wasn’t mad and he understood my situation. It’s not like I wanted to sleep with Baekho; god no. I think hell would have to freeze over for that to ever happen. It was an honest-to-god mistake that I wouldn’t consciously make on my own. Note to self: don’t drink. EVER.

Baekho finally returned, stopping outside the room. He peered inside. “Why is everyone still here?!”

Minhyun’s POV

I entered my room and shut the door behind me as I read the name that flashed across my phone’s screen. I pressed my back against the door and solemnly answered the call. My mother’s insensitive voice poured out from the speakers. I didn’t want to speak to her. I hated her. I hated everything she had ever done and wanted for me. My mother was a Stage Mom; she lived her life vicariously through me. She had to control every single detail of my life and I was sick of it.

“I saw yesterday’s interview.” My ears bled as I heard her voice.

“And?” I coldly replied.

“You’re looking old; have you been taking your Botox injections?”

“I don’t need them!” I snapped, trying to keep my voice below a whisper. I didn’t need our new stylist to pick up on the resorts I was forced to take just in order to keep this princely image of mine.

“Your place there isn’t permanent; if you can’t keep up, you can easily be replaced and you know it. The entertainment industry does it all the time; out with the old, in with the new. If you don’t take care of yourself, you’ll end up yesterday’s news. You’ll be forgotten. Do you really think your fans care about you? The moment you slip, they’ll be saying ‘Hwang Who’?”

My bottom lip trembled. “Mother, that’s enough.” I was tired of her interference. Since the day I was born, she had been training me, grooming me to become an idol. I had grown to love music. I had grown to love dance. These weren’t hobbies I had chosen for myself. I had never chosen any of this. I didn’t hate my life though; I loved being an idol. I just wish I had been able to choose this lifestyle for myself, without the urging of my mother.

“You should get a touch-up. I have the name of a prestigious plastic surgeon-”

“That’s enough!” I snapped through tears. “Plastic surgery, mom? Do you not want to recognize your own son anymore?”

She went silent. “Is that so? You speak as if you haven’t already received any.”

“And whose fault was that?!”

“Everything I have ever done, I’ve only ever done it for your best interest.”

“I’m a grown man; I don’t need your help anymore.” Silent tears trickled down the sides of my face. Once again she went silent. I doubt my words even pierced through her steel heart. She didn’t care about me. All she cared about was having a famous son; god forbid she actually love that son.

“I don’t care for your friend.” She replied, referring to Aron. “Homouality is a sin, whether it’s an act or not.”

“What if it’s not an act?”

“Minhyun.” She warned. “Do you love that man?”

“It’s no concern of yours, mother.”

“You disgust me.” She scoffed.

“I’m hanging up.”

“One more thing,” She replied hurriedly. “Watch your weight; you’re getting thicker these days.”

“Goodbye, mother.” I adamantly replied then hung up the phone. I took a deep breath and exhaled as I stared down into the wooden floor. Her words hurt. Her words pierced through me like nails. I left my door and walked over to my full length body mirror beside my bed. I stared at my reflection, turning left and right and observing my frame. I gritted my teeth; I hated what I saw. This wasn’t the person who I wanted to be, never feeling good about myself, never happy with the reflection that stared back at me in the mirror. In a fit of rage I threw my cellphone down to the ground and I squatted, resting my head on my knees.

I’m so ugly. On the inside and out. I’m so hideous.

This voice continued to repeat itself through my head on a daily basis, whenever I was forced to see myself in a mirror or picture.  This voice tormented me, making me believe that I had no business being an idol, much less the ‘visual’ of the group. My mother had continuously beat down my self-confidence over the years, making me believe that I would never be good enough. Never mind that I was part of the hottest band in Korea right now; like she said, I could be replaced. Pledis could find some new, young, talented thing and put him in my place instead.

Aron, Baekho, why were they so naturally flawless? They didn’t even have to try. Why is it that others don’t even have to try to look good, while I on the other hand have to resort to all sorts of scrubs, peels, injections, hell, surgery, just to be good enough? Is being pretty really everything? To be in this industry, in this line of work, yes. I’m so, so tired though. I want to be me, but I want to be satisfied whenever I look inside the mirror. At the rate I’m going now, will I ever be satisfied? Or am I doomed to suffer a life of body dysmorphia? One thing was certain though. I hated myself.

Baekho’s POV

I’m going to get revenge. I’m going to get revenge against that little girl that dared to sneak into my bed and try to take advantage of me in my sleep! Oh, but how? How, how, how can I make Ren’s life more miserable than it already is? I chuckled; surely I wouldn’t have to do much. I walked into the kitchen to see Minhyun busy slaving away in front of the stove, cooking his brains away while Aron sat boredly at the table, scrolling through his phone. Ren was nowhere to be found. Tcht, he was probably ing our choreographer in the other room. I shuddered as the thought of those two getting busy inside my house occurred to me inside my head. Disgusting. I need to get that brat kicked out of here as soon as possible so I can then disinfect that entire room. With as dirty a person as Ren is, I’d need an entire hazmat team to clean up his mess.

I sighed heavily and then sat at my spot at the table. Minhyun placed two plates overflowing with food down in front of us. I glanced over at the empty stove. He hadn’t made a plate for himself. Minhyun raised a brow, wondering what I was looking at.

“What?” He asked.

“Are you trying to kill us?” I blinked. “Where’s yours?”

“Hey, I’m satisfied. Reminds me of the food portion sizes in good ol’ ‘murica, right here.” Aron replied, placing his phone down on the table. He unbuckled his belt to make room for his future food-baby he was about to conceive and began to stuff his face. I kept my gaze on Minhyun, observing him.

“You’re not starting this again, are you?” I asked, referring to the times where Minhyun would go days without eating because of some stupid reason or another.

Minhyun turned his back to me, removing his apron. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Baekho.”

“Then take out another plate and serve yourself half of what you just served me.”

Minhyun threw the apron down on the floor. “I’m the visual!” He exclaimed. “Why doesn’t anyone ever understand me?”

“Understand that you’re an anorexic little girl? Sure, I understand.”

“Baekho!”

“Then eat.” I warned.

Aron glanced up at me from his food. “Baekho, stop it.” He said rather darkly. “Leave Minhyun alone.”

I took the plate Minhyun had placed in front of me and shoved it across the table and towards his way. Minhyun took a step back, revolted by the sight. I scoffed; I live in a house with two annoying women now, it seems. Aron slammed his fork down on the table and angrily stood, glaring at me.

“I said stop it!” He yelled.

“Or else?” I taunted. “What are you going to do, Kwak? What are you going to do?”

Aron remained silent and reached for his phone, taking it with him as he left the two of us alone in the kitchen. Minhyun turned his back to me again and walked to the back screen door, sliding it open and stepping outside. I sat back in my chair and groaned heavily; god, what was wrong with these two pricks? I pulled out my own phone and placed it on the table, flipping through our schedule. Today would be spent entirely inside the dance studio back at Pledis since tomorrow we were scheduled to do a live taping for Inkigayo. Great; this meant less time to mess with our stylist. Or did it…?

I stood up and marched straight up to Ren’s room. He was busy sitting at his desk in front of a pile of papers, scribbling on them with red ink. JR was nowhere to be found. I silently approached him from behind and towered over him.

“Do you think today is a free day, just because it’s Saturday?”

Ren literally jumped six feet from his chair.

“Just because we’ll be at the studio all day doesn’t give you the right to slack off. Work is work; intern or not.”

Ren scratched the back of his head. “I got it, jeeze.” He muttered.

“Do you?” I asked, doing my best to intimidate him. “You have to go pick up our outfits today.”

“Alright.” Ren said as he stood up from his chair. He tugged the hem of his shirt down. “Where are they?”

“Oh, did I say ‘pick up’? I meant, pick them out and pick them up.”

“I do…?” Clueless. So clueless. How did this guy get through life on his own? Oh, this was difficult to watch. I pursed my lips together in annoyance and flicked my index finger against his forehead.

“You’re the stylist, aren’t you? Do I need to tell you how to do your job?”

Ren narrowed his eyes at me. “Of course not.”

“Then get it done.” I snapped, turning my back to him. “Minhyun refuses to touch anything fake. It’s quite obvious Aron will wear anything. And myself… I trust your better judgment. Good luck. You’ll need it.” I smiled then slowly exited Ren’s room, leaving him to ponder about the meaning behind my words.

Ren’s POV

I found myself strolling down the streets of the fashion district side of Seoul, holding none other than Pledis’ official credit card. Needless to say, I felt like one of the richest men in Korea right now. The director said I probably wouldn’t need it, seeing as many of the fashion companies already sponsored DREAM, but to have it on my person just in case I found something rare. I couldn’t help but smile at all the brand name designer logos hanging above all the shops; I was excited to be here. These were all clothes and accessories that I, not even in my wildest dreams could afford to own, much less look at. But now I’d be able to actually go inside and… touch things. I got goose bumps just thinking about it. Now where to first? My eyes lit up; oh my god. Gucci.

I calmly put myself together and then entered the store, slowly making my rounds across the several racks of clothes lining the walls, acting like I owned the place. A sales associate approached me; as she spoke to me I held my head up high.

“Are you perhaps… lost?”

Crap. She saw through my disguise. “O-of course not!” I replied, offended.

“Then is there something I can help you with?” She smiled, almost taunting me.

“I’m a stylist!” Well, that was rather graceful, Ren.

“I see…” The look on her face said it all; I was scaring her.

“What are your new arrivals?”

She smiled again, “Whoever are you styling?”

“DREAM.”

The smile quickly faded from her lips. She pointed towards the door. “Get out.”

I raised a brow. “Excuse me?”

“We refuse to work with Kang Baekho.”

“Are you serious?”

“Get out before we call the police.” She warned, still pointing towards the door. I could see that she wasn’t joking. I hurried out the door and glared at the front of the shop. The nerve of these people! I knew Kang Baekho was a bit of an , but really, this much? Even Gucci didn’t want to work with him! I sighed. I would have to try the next shop. I walked across the street to the Armani store; the same story, only different names. This time Armani refused to work with Minhyun. What the hell, guys? I stopped dead in my tracks; oh my god. This was what Baekho meant earlier. Crap! These guys… they really weren’t going to make things easy for me, were they? They were planning on making things difficult, ruining the rest of my life, weren’t they? At this rate I would never get my degree or my diploma. I’ve hit a dead end. My life, my dream, it’s all over, isn’t it?

I listlessly entered the Burberry store. “I’m the stylist for DREAM; are you going to kick me out too?”

The manager of the store approached me. “DREAM, you said?”

“Yes sir.”

“Which one?”

“Huh?” I asked, surprised that he was threatening me with the cops just yet.

“Which one are you styling?” He repeated.

“Whichever you’ll work with.” I replied. I was desperate at this point. I didn’t want to spend my entire day being kicked out of designer stores. My pride wouldn’t allow it. I had some self-respect, despite what Baekho tried to make me believe.

“We will work with Aron Kwak and Hwang Minhyun.” Big surprise.

“Any chance you’d be willing to work with Kang Baekho?” I pleaded.

“Well, we’d love the chance to work for him, but Mr. Kang refuses to wear our clothes.”

“And why is that?” I asked. Kang Baekho, what in the world? Who died and made you a fashion guru? You’d be lucky to wear designer wear from someone as prestigious as Burberry. Burberry dressed all the idols, at least from what I studied back in school. Big stars like G-dragon and CL rocked the stage with Burberry, and you, Kang Baekho, were telling me that it wasn’t good enough for you?

“We’d like to know that as well.”

I stared at all the studded designer wear. “Well… how about this? You show me your latest arrivals and I’ll guarantee you Kang Baekho will wear it tomorrow on stage for Inkigayo.” I replied; I was up for this challenge. Baekho had said after all that he trusted my better judgment, had he not? Well, he was lucky this brand was at least willing to work with him. The other designers wanted nothing to do with him. It was either Baekho or Minhyun that the labels didn’t want to work with because they were listed as ‘being difficult to work with.’ I had to admit, I was a bit surprised by Minhyun, but not when I remembered that he was picky whenever it came to clothes.

The manager smiled. “Of course.”

I arrived back to the mansion carrying three different sets of outfits, each furnished by Burberry. As I stepped through the front door, Minhyun came running to help me. He took the plastic bags and carried them over to the couch, observing them with excitement in his eyes.

“Wow! These are nice! Great job, Rennie!”

I raised a brow. “Rennie?”

“We’re friends, aren’t we?” He asked, smiling. I stared at him for a moment before returning the smile.

“Sure, Minnie.”

“That’s not cool…” His voice trailed off with displeasure at the nickname that I had given him. He returned his attention to the clothes. “But these are! Oh my god, you got us Burberry; are we wearing these on stage tomorrow?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I-”

SLAM!

Both Minhyun and I jumped. An angry Baekho barged through the front door and came at us. He grabbed me by my collar and hysterically shook me. I stared at him with wide eyes; what in the world was going on? What had I done now?

“Choi Ren, is it fun?!” He angrily exclaimed.

“Is what fun?!”

“Ruining my life!”

I gasped. “Your life? I can ask you the same question! Not a damn designer in the city of Seoul is willing to work with you! Was it fun sending me on a one-way mission?!”

“I don’t give a damn about your problems! Look!” He released me and pulled out his cellphone, shoving it in my face. I angrily took it from him and scrolled over what looked like one of those celebrity news blogs. In big bold letters the headline read ‘Celebrity Kang Baekho Caught In Bed with a Beautiful Blonde.’ I scrolled down; it revealed a picture that someone had taken of the two of us this morning, only, it had been taken at an angle where you really couldn’t see it was me. “This is your fault, Ren!”

“My fault?! Was I the one who took the picture?” I paused; Aron… “I’m a victim too!”

“Victim my ! You set this up! You climbed into my bed! You made things difficult for me since the moment you stepped into that café! Choi Ren, you’re a life ruiner!”

I was stunned speechless. I was hurt. How could he say something like that? After all I’ve done for him, for all these overgrown children! I never meant to make life difficult for any of them. I just wanted to do my job so that I could get what I came for, my degree. They were the ones trying to make things unnecessarily difficult. Why couldn’t we all just do our own jobs and then go into our own respective rooms each night? Why did we all have to meddle in one another’s lives? I shifted my gaze down to the ground, biting my lower lip which was trembling.

“You’re right.” I replied, walking past him without making eye contact.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Baekho scoffed.

“To set things right. I’ll tell them it’s me. I’ll tell them it was all a misunderstanding.”

Baekho’s eyes widened to the size of plates. “Are you kidding me? You think you coming forward could possibly make things better for me?!”

“Then tell me what I need to do, Baekho!!!” I screamed at him, startling him. Baekho took a step back.

“I’d rather the world think it was a woman rather than for them to know it was you. Do you know how many fans I would lose if the world thought I was gay?”

I laughed, hurt. “That’s right, it all comes back down to you. Kang Baekho, you despicable jerk.” I muttered underneath my breath, pushing past him and entering the hallway, slamming the door to my room. I ran to my bed and threw myself in it, burying my face into my pillows and sobbing. Why wasn’t my best good enough? Why did it even matter? I would always be wrong in Baekho’s eyes. JR was wrong; Baekho would never warm up to me, he’d never like me. This was all pointless! Maybe mom was right; maybe my future was teaching and solely teaching.

Kang Baekho, I hate you…

Minhyun’s POV

I watched in silence as Ren stormed away, hurt, after Baekho’s harsh comments. Once he was gone I placed the outfits down on the couch and approached the stubborn fool who stood brooding over his phone, making un-intelligible words under his breath. I glared at him. He slowly glanced up from his phone and gave me a ‘what’ look.

“You didn’t have to go that far; it wasn’t his fault.” I scolded him. Baekho held his head up high and scoffed.

“Stop taking his side; that fool deliberately did what he did to me just to spite me, just to get back at me.”

“Will you stop?” I asked in disbelief. “Get a little famous and it all goes to that brick head of yours, doesn’t it? Kang Baekho isn’t a god; what makes you so special as to walk all over others? Just because you can sing? I can sing as well, but you don’t see me hurting him, do you?”

Baekho glared at me. “Regardless, he’s responsible for what happened-”

“Do you really think so?” I asked, giving him an intimidating look.

“If not him, then who?”

“I’ll take care of this; I’ll repair what damage you’ve caused yet again.” I replied then left him, making my way straight to Aron’s room. When I arrived I noticed the door was closed. I paused in front of it and knocked several times; no response. I turned the knob and pushed open the door to reveal Aron laying on his stomach on his bed, scrolling through his phone. I shut the door behind me and made my way over towards his bed, snatching the phone out from his hands. Still looking forward, Aron scoffed.

“Well, that was rude.”

“Really? Then what do you call what you did to Ren?” I asked; Aron glanced up at me with a confused look on his face.

“Ren? It was meant to hurt Baekho.” He replied.

“So you do acknowledge what you did wrong.”

“Yeah, but…” His voice trailed off.

“Your actions indirectly backfired and hurt Ren; you need to apologize.” I scolded him. Aron nodded then sat up, rubbing the side of his head. He shifted his gaze towards the ground. He resembled that of a guilty puppy that had disobeyed the orders of his owner.

“I really wasn’t going after Ren this time, I swear…”

“What were you trying to accomplish by your stupid actions?”

“Stupid?” Aron glanced back up at me. He scoffed. “I did it for you.”

I paused, almost feeling my heart stop. “What?” What in the world was he talking about? For me? What for? Why? Did Aron actually… care about me? No, that was ridiculous. Of course he wouldn’t care for me the same way I did for him. Aron would probably never return my feelings, no matter how badly I wanted for him to.

“About earlier; because if I didn’t do anything, Baekho would continue to walk all over you.”

I sighed heavily. “Kwak Aron, what are you talking about?”

“Are you completely blind to the way he treats the people in this house? Kang Baekho is an , the King of s; he’s the absolute worst!”

“And that’s why you sent that picture to the reporters?” I asked, still trying to make sense of him.

“I wanted to bring him down to earth. I wanted to knock some sense into him. He really makes DREAM unbearable to be a part of sometimes. I’m tired of him acting like he’s some hotshot and we’re nothing but his mere backup dancers. We’re not; we’re all equal. We’re all a part of DREAM, dammit…” Aron’s voice trailed off.

“Aron…” I sat down next to him on his bed and wrapped my left arm over his shoulders, leaning him against me. I ran my fingers through his hair. “Your heart was in the right place, however, your actions hurt someone who isn’t a part of this. Baekho completely blew up at Ren.”

“I get it! I need to apologize to Ren! Dammit!” Aron exclaimed, pulling away from me angrily. I stared at him with wide eyes as he stood up and turned his back to me. “Kang Baekho acts like he’s so much better than anyone else; he acts like he doesn’t have problems of his own. My depression, your looks… he mocks it all. Does he not have anything defective going on with him? Is he so damn perfect?”

“Aron-”

“He thinks we can just wish our problems away, Min, and it pisses me off. I can be happy if I really just tried? You can feel better about yourself if you just change your way of thinking? It doesn’t work that easily. Do you know how hard I’ve tried to be happy? It just won’t happen!”

I paused. I was shocked. Aron had tried to get over his depression before? He had tried it alone? “What are you so unhappy about, Aron…?” I finally brought myself to ask. After all these years of knowing him and being aware of his depression, I had always been afraid to ask what the cause of it was. What spurred Aron to just close up and become the idle, blank, almost robotic person he was today?

Aron glanced over his shoulder. “You don’t need to know.”

“Does it have something to do with the same reason why you’re always staring at your phone?” I asked; I wanted an answer. I wanted something to go by. So far Aron had never given me any hints or clues as to why he was the way he was. I just wanted to get to know him better, what was wrong with that? We had trained in the same academy, hell, we were even in the same band. Why couldn’t he trust me? Why couldn’t he let me in?

Aron gripped his fists and started towards the door.

“Aron-”

“It’s none of your business, Min.” It felt like a slap to the face. That just proved it. Aron didn’t trust me. That slight hope that I had that one day, maybe one day Aron might actually like me, it evaporated right here and now. Aron would never feel that way about me. There was just no way I could change him. He’ll never want me. If he can’t trust or confide in me, it’s pointless to continue to pursue him. Even still… even still I couldn’t bring myself to stop liking him. I had spent so much time admiring and crushing on him, it would be too hard to bring myself to just stop. I wanted him… I needed him. I just wished he felt the same way instead of him consistently hurting me like this.

“Aron!”

“I don’t want to talk about it!” Aron snapped, for once losing his cool composure that he always seemed to wear over his face. He pulled open the door and took a step forward.

“At least tell me where you’re going!”

Aron paused. “To apologize to Ren.” He replied then shut the door behind him.

Aron’s POV

I knocked on Ren’s door and without waiting for a response I shoved open the door and stepped inside. Ren didn’t even bother lifting his head out from his pillow. The sounds of his muffled cries and sniffles could be heard throughout the room. I awkwardly approached the side of the bed and just stood, debating for minutes on whether or not to stir him. As I was about to reach forward and tap him on the shoulder, Ren suddenly spoke out to me.

“What do you want, Aron?”

I jumped. Jesus, he startled me. “I did something bad to you; I came to apologize.”

Ren raised his head. “Can you just get out? I’m not in the mood to talk to any three of you.”

“Got ya.” I replied then sat down on the bed beside him. Ren groaned in annoyance before flipping onto his back on the bed. “Ren.”

“What?”

“Do you have any secrets?”

“What are you talking about?” He asked in the same annoyed tone.

“Are you perfect?” I asked. Ren sat up and stared at me.

“Of course I’m not perfect; what would ever make you think that?”

“Minhyun and I, we both have our flaws, but Baekho, that guy seems convinced he doesn’t have any.” I replied. Ren rolled his eyes then laid back down, staring up into the ceiling. “What makes that guy so great?”

“Is there a point to all of this, Aron?”

“Yes.”

“Then make it.”

“When I sent that picture, it was meant to hurt him and not you. Sorry.” I muttered under my breath. I hated apologizing. I was a grown man, and yet, I was well aware that I acted like a spoiled brat at times. I just hated having to own up to my mistakes.

“Apology accepted.” He replied. I raised a brow.

“Really?”

Ren sat back up again and faced me. “I’m not a bad guy, Aron. I deal with children like you and Baekho every day.”

“Your students?” I asked; he nodded. I stared off into space. “Is it… fun? I mean, is teaching fun?”

“Of course it is.”

“Do your students ever… confide in you?”

“What do you mean?” He asked.

I brought my gaze up off the floor and made eye contact with him. “Every idol has their secrets; Minhyun and I, we both have ours, but we can’t seem to figure out what Baekho’s is. Do you think… maybe… can you find out what it is?”

Ren laughed at me. “What makes you think I of all people can get Kang Baekho to open up to me? He hates my guts.” He blinked. “Why? What do you hope to accomplish by getting him to open up?”

“Nothing; it’ll just give him less of a right to be so high and mighty. He’ll stop picking fights with all of us; he’ll be more human.”

“Believe me, I of all people would love to see the day where Kang Baekho becomes more human, but I think it’s so far off…”

“Will you try?” I asked; I was pretty much desperate at this point, desperate to get Baekho off our backs. I was tired of living in a house with a diva. I was tired of having Baekho pick on Min and I. I just wanted all the fighting to stop. At the end of the day, I was here to do my job. I was brought here to rap for DREAM, not live in Baekho’s ice cold shadow.

Ren seemed hesitant to answer me. “I can’t stand him… but I’m here for a reason. I almost thought about packing up and going back home, but then I realized if I did that, Baekho gets what he wanted. All we had was a bad first start; I’ll make him get past that, eventually. I’m determined to make you all realize my potential as a stylist. Even though you guys hate me, I’m determined to earn each and every one of your respect, Kang Baekho included.”

A small smile spread across my lips. “Thanks.”

Ren silently smiled back at me. I stood back up and walked back over to the door. I paused as I turned the doorknob.

“We don’t hate you. None of us hate you.”

“What about Baek-”

“There is only one person Baekho hates. But it’s not you, Ren. He’s playing with you because you’re fun to play with. He yells at you because you allow him to yell at you. Like you did the other day, don’t be afraid to stand up to him. Playing the victim doesn’t seem to be your style.” I replied before pulling the door open and exiting his room, leaving Ren to ponder on my last words. As I pulled out into the hallway I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks. Standing outside Ren’s room was none other than the culprit himself.

Baekho’s POV

It had taken nearly an hour to gather up the courage to even walk to Ren’s corner of the house. I must had spent several minutes stalling outside, contemplating what I would say to him. After doing some much needed self-reflecting, I realized that maybe Minhyun was on to something. Maybe it wasn’t entirely Ren’s fault. Okay, so he was drunk that night. Alcohol impairs judgment, doesn’t it? There’s no way he would have climbed into my bed when he was sober or in his right mind, would he? Of course not; he knew he would meet a certain death by doing so. As for the picture… well, he very well couldn’t have taken it himself, could he? That only left one other culprit--- Aron.

As soon as his name flashed inside my mind the door to Ren’s room suddenly swung open, revealing the devil himself. Aron completely froze as the door shut behind him, hitting him in the . Aron jumped as he got hit, falling forward and into my chest. He slowly pulled away from me, hesitantly making eye contact. A dark, evil smile crept upon my lips.

“Just the guy I wanted to see.”

Aron scoffed. “Then what are you doing standing outside Ren’s room?”

“You don’t get to ask questions, Kwak. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t beat you down where you stand for the mayhem you created earlier.”

Aron blinked. “Because I’m your rapper.”

“I said a good reason.”

“I don’t have one.” He replied then brushed past me. “I’m not sorry for what I did to you. You’re a jerk and everyone in this house knows it. I told you to stop; you didn’t take me seriously. This is what I had to resort to just to knock you off your pedestal.”

“By public humiliation?”

Aron slightly smirked. “You’ll get over it if you just try.” He said then left me alone in the hall. The nerve of that foreigner. I allowed him to continue to be a part of this band and a member of this household and this is the thanks I get in return? DREAM didn’t need a rapper. It certainly didn’t need a sub-vocalist like Minhyun either. I could run this ship all on my own if I really wanted to, but I chose to let them on board. I could run to Pledis any day and complain; all I had to do was mention the word ‘quit’ and they’d obey my every request. If my request just so happened to kick Minhyun and Aron out of the picture, then so be it. I was born to be a soloist anyways.

I found myself staring at Ren’s door. That’s right; I was here to talk to him and attempt to apologize for going off the deep end with him earlier. I had to admit, I slightly felt bad about what I said to him. I probably shouldn’t have gone that far. I reached for the doorknob; oh, what the hell? I couldn’t apologize to him, not again. Apologizing for the second time to the same person was like an insult to my pride. I couldn’t bear the thought of doing so. I won’t do it. I can’t. I pulled my hand away from the doorknob and turned away.

About an hour later the three of us entered the practice room at Pledis; our choreographer was already waiting inside for us. As the three of us entered, he stared at us with folded arms across his chest. JR was leaning with his back against the wall of mirrors. He shot dirty looks at Aron and I before propping himself up off the wall and approaching us in the center of the studio. There was no doubt about it that he had probably already seen the news reports about the picture that Aron had stupidly sent in as an ‘anonymous’ photographer.

“Welcome. You’re late. Let’s get straight to work.” JR replied as we placed our practice bags down in the corner of the room. He started clapping his hands and counting. “And 1, 2, 3, 4 and 1, 2, 3, 4-” Minhyun flawlessly complied and started performing our rehearsed choreography. Aron clumsily began to dance to his part, lagging several steps behind after joining in late. I took a couple of seconds to myself before joining in. “Stop! Again! Start at the duet.” JR instructed.

I glared at JR but remained silent. He began to clap again. Minhyun and Aron began to dance in synchronization as the music played on the speakers in the background. Minhyun’s vocals, with the addition of Aron’s rap filled the entire room. As my part in the song came up, I prepared myself to start my own choreography but right as I was about to start JR cut me off again.

“Stop! Do it again, ladies.” He replied before cutting off the music and rewinding it back to the beginning of Minhyun and Aron’s duet, which by now was perfectly executed. Still, it seemed like JR was unhappy with their performance and cut them off and instructed them to do it again right when my segment was about to approach. I clenched my fists and glared at him.

“What the hell, JR?”

JR smirked at me. “Do you have a problem with the way I’m running things, Kang?”

“You’re damn right I do; why do you keep cutting me off?” I asked, approaching in on him. We were barely a foot apart now and yet he still had the nerve to look at me with that annoying, blood curdling smile of his. Arrogant prick. JR was one of the few people left in this world that wasn’t intimidated by me. Everyone else simply adored me, worshipped me, but no, not him. Not our damn choreographer.

He gave me an innocent look. “Why, Kang Baekho, you don’t need to practice; you’re a perfect human being, aren’t you?”

“Why you-”

“Inside this room, I’m in charge. If you don’t like it, then get out.”

I glared at him. I knew what he was doing, and I knew exactly why he was doing it. “You’re just -hurt because of the news reports; you’re jealous of me, aren’t you?”

A sudden wave of darkness and anger washed over JR’s usual cheerful face. He reached forward and grabbed me by my shirt and flung me around, slamming my back against the mirror wall. “Me? Jealous of you? Take that back or get out.”

I smirked in annoyance. “You are, aren’t you?”

JR laughed. “You, Kang Baekho? I don’t even see you as a threat.”

“Then why are you acting like a teenage brat?” I snapped.

“Because you hurt him.” JR shook me before releasing me and stepping back. “What happened was nothing more than an accident. The release of that picture was tragic enough for a normal person like Ren; do you know how many saesangs would be after him if god forbid, that picture actually revealed his face? He even offered to step up and make things right by admitting to the media that it was him, but what, you were too afraid of what your fans would think if you were gay?  Is being a gay a crime, Kang Baekho? Is being different such a terrible thing? Words can hurt more than actions, and your words were true venom.”

I stared at him with wide eyes. Had Ren called, crying to JR? What a baby. Couldn’t he handle anything on his own without the help of our damn choreographer? I hated it. I hated that JR was right about me being in the wrong about what I had said to Ren. But even still, I’d never admit it. I’d never apologize to Ren again. My pride meant more to me than his feelings did. I clenched my fists and walked past him, grabbing my bag from the side of the room and heading towards the door. “I don’t have to stand here and take this from some nobody.”

“Nobody? Who the hell got you where you are today? This ‘somebody’! Kang Baekho, you get back in here right this instant and get back to work!” JR screamed at me. I scoffed then pulled open the door and exited.

Ren’s POV

After spending several hours of sulking in my room, I finally brought myself to venture out inside the rest of the house. I slowly entered the living room and stopped in front of the couch where the several outfits, furnished by Burberry, laid from earlier. One by one I tore the plastic coverings off of the hangers and I started to observe and admire the fabrics chosen to construct each garment. As I came to Aron’s outfit I paused; neither his blazer nor his pants bore any pockets inside of them. This could pose a possible problem; Aron didn’t like to be without his cellphone. The times I had seen him inside of the house without it, which were rare, he seemed to suffer from anxiety if it wasn’t on his person at all times.

“This won’t do…” I took the blazer and carried it back inside my room. I laid it on top of my desk and I hurried over towards my walk-in closet and pulled out my sewing machine. I placed my sewing machine out on my desk and returned to my closet. I pulled down a large rectangular box off one of the shelves and opened it, flipping through my spare swatches of fabric. I picked out a nice black material that matched the inside lining of his blazer then put the box back and returned to my desk. Within the next several minutes I was able to construct the perfect cellphone-sized pocket inside Aron’s blazer. As I finished I hung it back up on the hanger and smiled at it. Now it was perfect for him. I returned to the living room and picked up the remaining outfits and carried each one to their respective rooms. The delivery to Baekho’s room was of course last.

I slowly opened the door to Baekho’s room and hesitantly entered. I felt like I was overstepping my boundaries by coming inside uninvited or without some sort of permission. But I would just be in and out rather quickly. Everything would be fine. I just needed to hang his outfit on his closet door then get the hell out. I hurriedly tiptoed my way inside his room and towards his closet. I immediately hung the garment on the door then took a deep breath of relief. So far I had made it without breaking anything. Now I just needed to get out silently and without Baekho noticing anything-

Out of the corner of my eye a certain picture frame standing on Baekho’s nightstand caught my attention. It was a picture of him with a gorgeous brunette woman. Who was she? I didn’t remember Baekho mentioning he had a girlfriend, neither did the others. I had just assumed that Baekho had been single all this time. Huh… Kang Baekho actually had it in himself to love another human being other than himself? Hell must have frozen over. I blinked; oh, Ren, what are you doing? Get out of here, now! I quickly made my great escape from out of his room and shut the door behind me. As soon as I entered the hallway I sighed. Oh, thank god. I didn’t make a mess or destroy anything in his room again, meaning I was spared from another one of Baekho’s great temper tantrums of the century.

I heard the front door to the house rattle open. I slowly made my way to the living room to greet them, but to my surprise, it was only Aron and Minhyun at the door. I blinked; where was Baekho? I mean, not that I wanted to see him, but hadn’t they left together? Why was he the only one still not here? Was he still getting his things out of the van? That must have been it. The three of them were hardly separated whenever they went out, and they were on a schedule today, meaning they had no choice but to be together. Aron and Minhyun were exhaustedly removing their shoes by the door when I approached them.

“Long day?” I asked. Minhyun glanced up at me and groaned. He looked beyond exhausted. He had bags underneath his eyes and his white skin looked much paler than what I was used to seeing on him. Was Minhyun sick?

“JR is trying to kill us.” He pouted. Aron stared at him.

“I told you.”

“Be quiet; you’re crazy.” Minhyun retaliated, running his fingers through his bangs. He took a step forward and almost lost his balance. I hurriedly grabbed him by his shoulders and held him up.

“Are you okay?” I asked. Aron and I slowly led Minhyun over to the couch and sat him down. He tiredly nodded then threw his head back on the backrest, closing his eyes.

“Just tired.” He replied. Aron sat next to him on the couch and ped his bag, taking out a bottle of water and pressing it against the side of Minhyun’s face. Minhyun’s eyes snapped open and he took it from him and unscrewed the cap, quickly chugging it down. I glanced back over at the door; Baekho was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Baekho?” I finally asked. The two of them gave me the same confused stare.

“He’s not here already?” Minhyun tiredly replied, placing his index finger on his lips lost in thought. “Where could he be? He stormed out of practice early.”

I don’t know why, but I felt a sudden wave of dread once Minhyun’s words reached my ears. An angry Baekho had stormed out of practice earlier? And he still wasn’t back? Could something have possibly happened to him? I wordlessly grabbed my phone and my house key and made my way for the door, kicking on my shoes. I knew to go out to look for him went beyond my duties of being DREAM’s stylist, but I couldn’t help it. Despite the fact that he had been a jerk to me earlier, deep down I still wanted to try to work my way into Baekho’s heart and make him accept me not just as his stylist, but as his friend. If I ever wanted that to happen, well, these were the things I would have to resort to. I slammed the door shut behind me and took off running into the city.

Hours later it was already close to midnight and I still hadn’t found the missing pop star. Just where did Baekho go? He really didn’t want to be found, did he? I stopped to think; I had searched movie theaters, shopping malls, arcades, restaurants, everything! He was nowhere to be found. Think, Ren, think. You’ve been inside his room a couple of times now. Did anything stick out at you? I tried to remember. No, Kang Baekho had a pretty ordinary room, aside from all the designer furniture he owned. Hobbies… did Baekho have any hobbies? He seemed to like playing around on that Ipad of his. Maybe a cyber café? I pulled out my phone and picked up a list of cyber cafes in Seoul and started heading to them one by one. Maybe after my fourth café, after looking like a complete whacko stalker fan of his, checking each row of computers, I finally found him. He had disguised himself with a black baseball cap, wearing a pair of headphones over his ears. He was busy playing away on one of those MMORPG games. My eye twitched; he had spent over five hours playing a game? Kang Baekho really was a man-child, wasn’t he?

I walked over to the vending machine and purchased two drinks and then approached him from behind. I reached over his shoulder and placed a can down on the desk in front of him; Baekho screamed then jumped, glancing back up at me with wide eyes. His eyes narrowed once he recognized me. He pushed the can away then scoffed, returning his attention back to the game. I didn’t take it personal. I figured that if I wanted to deal with Baekho, I would have to treat him like I would one of my students. I remained standing behind him, watching him play until finally he couldn’t take it anymore.

“What do you want, Ren?”

“What are you playing?” I asked, still looking at the computer screen.

“World of Warcraft.” He muttered.

I snickered.

Baekho raised his fist at me. “Want to die?”

I placed my hands playfully in front of my face. “Today’s not a good day; you see, one of my clients went missing and I’m on a mission to bring him back.”

Baekho rolled his eyes and paused the game. “You found me; go back.”

I pulled up the empty chair next to him and kept my attention on the computer screen. “Oh, what’s that?” I asked, pointing, completely ignoring his last statement. Baekho childishly glanced at the screen to see what I was asking about.

“It’s my character.”

“Wow, he’s wearing a lot of gear. You must have been playing for a long time-”

“Of course! I’ve logged on over 500 hours-” He cut himself off. “I mean, I play every now and then.”

I smiled. “It looks like fun.”

“Fun?” He scoffed. “You think this is a game?”

“Isn’t it?” I innocently asked. Baekho looked almost insulted by my question. “Can I play?” Baekho silently stared at me for a good long while before suddenly standing up. Oh, great. Here he was about to run away again. Nice going, Ren.

“Here.” Baekho suddenly handed me a pair of headphones. I stared at him with wide eyes. “Put these on.” He replied then grabbed the back of my chair and scooted me back in front of the computer next to him. He pulled up the game on my computer screen and set me up a username and password then helped me pick my character. Needless to say, I was stunned. Was Baekho actually being… nice to me? Not only that, but he was teaching me how to play World of Warcraft, for heaven’s sakes! This had to be some funny kind of dream. If one were to ask me, ‘hey, Ren, what did you do today?’ And I answered, ‘oh, you know, learned how to play WoW from megastar idol Kang Baekho,’ no one would believe me. I might be sent to the mental hospital, if anything.

Once he got me playing, minutes seemed to turn to hours. The two of us were pounding away at our keyboards with our occasional battle war cries (well, mostly mine anyways), ignoring everyone in the background. When the clock finally struck 2 AM the manager of the café tapped us both on our shoulders and told us we had to leave. Baekho nearly had to pry me off of the computer and out of the café. Once we were outside, I sheepishly dug my hands into my jean pockets and the two of us walked side by side down the street in silence.

“Why did you come?” Baekho suddenly asked; I glanced up at him with wide eyes. A small smile spread across my lips and I shrugged.

“No clue.”

Baekho blinked. “Did they send you…? I mean… did Minhyun and Aron send you?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

“So you came without any reason?”

I laughed. “Pretty much.”

“Idiot.” Baekho muttered.

“Smarter than you.” I muttered back, earning a death glare from Baekho. As soon as our eyes met, to break the tension, I used some of my charm that I had usually reserved for JR, on Baekho and inflated my cheeks and pouted. The cold, heartless expression painted on Baekho’s face slowly dissipated into the beginnings of a smirk. He quickly stopped himself before he did so.

“After all that I said to you; don’t you hate me? Aren’t you mad at me?”

I looked at him, almost offended. “Of course I’m mad at you! Whoever said I wasn’t?”

Baekho went quiet.

I laughed. “Don’t take it so seriously; words are just words. Baekho, look at me.” I called out to him. He refused to do so, much like a scolded child who was ashamed of himself would. I reached forward and grabbed both sides of his face and forced him to look my way; Baekho’s eyes widened to the size of plates. As he was about to scold me for daring to touch him, I spoke up before he had the chance. “I’m fine. Hate? I don’t have it in me to truly hate someone. I might really dislike you for fifteen minutes, but I get over things fairly quickly. Life is too short to be angry.”

Baekho grabbed my wrists and threw my hands off of him. “Well then, that makes you better than me in one aspect of your life.”

“You hate someone?” I blinked then pointed at myself. “Me?”

Baekho did something that completely surprised me; he genuinely laughed, something I hadn’t expected to ever really hear. I was used to his laughs of amusement at my misfortune, but not because he was truly happy. “You really push the line between that boundary; I mean, you’re really, really, really close, don’t get me wrong.”

“Oh, I’d never.” I replied sarcastically.

“I just. I don’t know. You frustrate me. I don’t know how to deal with someone like you. I just want to beat you up for being so smug sometimes.”

“Really, do go on.” Because people just love to hear that you want to smash their faces in… “If not me, then who?” I don’t know what possessed me to ask this. Like Kang Baekho would ever tell me his deep dark secrets.

Baekho glanced at me as he continued to walk forward. “Let’s just say, someone who has an even bigger head than I do.”

I blinked. “Someone actually has a bigger head than Kang Baekho?”

Baekho smirked. “Surprising, isn’t it?”

“Totally.” I replied as we continued to walk together. Mere minutes later as we approached the front gate to our mansion, Baekho stopped dead in his tracks. I glanced up at him with questioning eyes. He turned to me and made direct eye contact with me.

“Don’t misunderstand me; just because we had fun once doesn’t mean you’re a welcome guest inside this house. I still can’t stand you.”

I nodded. “Of course, of course.” I replied, waving him off like it was nothing. This action of mine seemed to only further irritate him.

“What is wrong with you?”

“Me?” I blinked. “Is something wrong with me?”

“Aren’t you going to ask me to apologize to you, you know, for earlier?”

I smiled sweetly. “Do you want to apologize to me?” I asked; of course I was playing mind tricks on him. This method usually worked with my students. It just so happened that I was testing it out on man-children now.

“No!” Baekho scowled.

“Then don’t.” I replied then pushed open the iron gate, leaving Baekho behind.

“You little-”

“You can’t force an apology; it isn’t an apology if it’s forced. Apologize when you feel like apologizing, otherwise don’t. Okay?”

Baekho glared at me. “Then what was with forcing me to apologize the other day?!”

I smirked. “That was-” I was cut off by the sound of my ringing cellphone. I dug it out from my pocket and read the screen then immediately answered it. “JR! It’s late; is something wrong? Oh, you can’t sleep? Sure, I’ll be right over!” I excitedly replied, happy at the chance that I would get to see my… wow, I couldn’t believe I was saying this, but, boyfriend tonight. Baekho stared at me in disbelief as I left him standing at the front door by himself.

“Childish; don’t you have your day job to be at in the morning?!” Baekho scolded, still watching me as I traveled to the front gate. I waved back at him as I pushed it open.

“Tomorrow’s Sunday. I’ll see you guys tomorrow in time for Inkigayo!” I said. As I started to take off running, I could have sworn that I heard Baekho call out to me.

“Wait-”

I stopped dead in my tracks and glanced back at him, only he was facing towards the door, shoving his key through the lock and turning it. I shrugged; no, I must had been imagining it. Kang Baekho asking me to stay? Ha ha, yeah right, Ren. I rolled my eyes at my own silliness then started running again, making my way over towards JR’s apartment.

JR’s POV

I blankly stared down at the white envelope which sat in my hands. The front of the envelope contained writing in the English alphabet and the address read from New York City. I had opened it earlier, wondering what on earth someone from New York City, a place I had never even been to but always dreamed of going, wanted with me. When I opened it, it revealed that the letter was from an entertainment company associated with Broadway. That’s right, the Broadway. I had been offered a letter of employment to not only work with their dancers, but to become one as well.

The job offer was tempting; I hadn’t planned on spending the rest of my life training DREAM or working for Pledis. God no; I could barely stand the all day practices with those three nightmares. But I had envisioned another life for myself. I didn’t want to be the guy that always hid behind the curtains. I wanted my chance to shine on stage as well. Becoming an idol was out of the question; I couldn’t sing. I could rap, but, I wasn’t really into the whole idol lifestyle. I was far too messy to be a clean cut, princely idol like Minhyun or from a different country to have that ‘foreign appeal’ like Aron or enough muscles to be ‘manly’ like Baekho. I was a lanky, dark skinned, scruffy haired dancer. And I was happy with that.

The sender of the letter had asked that I give them a call with my response once I made my final decision. I laughed; my final decision? They made making the choice sound so easy. It wasn’t easy. Well, it would have been, if only my life hadn’t taken such a drastic turn lately. I hadn’t imagined Ren coming onto me like that a few days ago. I had thought that we would always remain best friends and nothing more. But now things were different. If I accepted that job offer, I would have to pack up and leave Korea right when Ren was starting to settle in with Pledis. I couldn’t dare ask him to go with me. Becoming a stylist was Ren’s dream… and dancing was mine. Was it possible that the two of us could pursue our own paths, our own dreams, without hurting one another? I didn’t think so. One of us would have to give, and I’d be a monster if I got him that internship and then asked him to throw it all away and come to New York with me.

I was distracted by a loud knock at my front door. I tucked the letter in a kitchen drawer before dusting off my hands and making my way to the door, pulling it open to reveal a smiling Ren. I warmly smiled back at him and then stepped to the side, allowing him entrance. Ren came in and made himself comfortable on the couch before patting the seat next to him and pouting at me. I chuckled then shut the door before joining him. As I sat down next to him, Ren immediately wrapped his arms around me. I was shocked; Ren wasn’t the least bit shy when it came to showing affection, was he? All this time, as my friend, he had me fooled. All those times he rejected those blind dates or hesitantly met new friends of mine had me thinking that Ren was a prude and that he didn’t like the idea of being close to another person. Clearly I was wrong.

“I had the most stressful day today, JR.” Ren pouted, nuzzling his head against my shoulder and neck.

“Aside from the fallout you had with Baekho earlier, did anything else happen?”

Ren immediately sat up. “He ran away!”

I stared at him like he was crazy. “You mean he didn’t go home?”

Ren shook his head. “It took hours to find him; just what happened at practice today that set him off?”

I guiltily glanced away. “I might have… scolded him… for what he said to you.” I replied. Ren glanced at me in shock before lessening his eyes and smiling. He wrapped his arms around my right arm and squeezed it.

“I knew it had something to do with me. It always does.”

“I take it that you found him though?” I asked, curious. Ren nodded. “Where at?”

“Of all places, a cyber café.”

I laughed. I couldn’t picture it. The high and mighty Kang Baekho, a gamer nerd? “Oh, really?”

“Yeah, but that’s not even the surprising part! Are you ready for it?” Ren asked, smirking. I nodded. “He actually taught me how to play WoW.”

I blinked when those words escaped Ren’s mouth. The Kang Baekho taught Ren how to play a MMORPG? What’s more was that they actually spent time together just before I had called Ren up to meet with me… I couldn’t help but feel a small pang of jealousy. Was this something to be concerned about? I shook my head; no, of course not. This was Kang Baekho we were talking about. He couldn’t stand the thought of Ren, let alone being in the same room with him for extended periods of time. Like I had told Ren earlier, it would take Baekho time to even warm up to him. There was no way Ren was working his way into the glacier known as Kang Baekho’s heart so quickly. One thing was certain; Baekho wouldn’t allow it. He wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“I see…” My voice trailed off. “Was it fun?” Please don’t say yes.

“Actually, yeah.” Ren replied. My heart slightly sunk. “But then when we got back to the mansion, Baekho did a 180 on me again and it was as if nothing ever happened.” Thank goodness. I suddenly felt silly; that slight worrying was for nothing. In the end, that was the Baekho I knew. I knew he wouldn’t allow himself to have fun with someone he considered an enemy so easily.

“That’s good.” Oh . What did I just say?

Ren pulled away from me and stared at me. “What did you just say?” He asked; I turned a deep shade of red. A wide smile soon spread from corner to corner over Ren’s lips. “Kim Jonghyun; are you jealous of Baekho?”

Ridiculous! Me, jealous of Baekho? I didn’t even consider him competition. Despite the raging fire burning up within me, I played it off coolly. “O-of course not.”

The smile faded from Ren’s lips. “Darn. That would have been so cute of you.” He replied then sat back in the couch, staring off into space. “Hey, JR, can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“Baekho said he didn’t hate me.” My heart sunk once again. Ren, why are you doing this to me? Do you really not know how uneasy I feel about Baekho suddenly? Why is the brute suddenly being so nice to you? This was totally unlike Baekho. “But he said there is someone he does. Do you have an idea as to who that could be?”

“U-ie.” I replied in a heartbeat.

Ren turned to face me again, shocked. “What? Really?”

I nodded. “The two of them used to be super close back when Baekho joined the trainee academy. She showed him the ropes; the two were inseparable. But now you won’t even see the two of them in the same building.”

“Did they date?” Why was he asking this?

“No clue. That’s something you’d have to ask The Almighty himself.” I replied uncomfortably. I hated feeling this way. I hated feeling so insecure around Ren. It’s just… I didn’t want to lose him. It had taken years of friendship just to be able to reach this level with him now. But surely my worries were for nothing, right? Baekho was straight; he’s never try to take Ren away from me, even if he did warm up to him eventually. Besides, Ren was one of those rare, truly genuine and kind people. He didn’t have it in him to purposely hurt another person. He’d never betray someone’s trust that they had put in him. In other words, there wasn’t a mean bone inside his entire body.

“JR?” Ren called out to me. I snapped out of my daze and made eye contact with him. “What are you thinking about?”

I smiled. “I’m just really happy you’re here.” I replied. Ren smiled back at me.

“So why couldn’t you sleep?”

“Because you weren’t here.” I lied. I knew eventually I would have to tell Ren about New York, but now wasn’t the right time. I didn’t know if there would ever be a ‘right time’ for it, but at least not now. Right now I wanted to just enjoy what I could with him.

Ren playfully punched my shoulder. “You’re so lame.” He chuckled then leaned forward and planted a kiss on my lips. Choi Ren… I’m glad you’re here. Stay with me here, just like this, for as long as you can. Please, just be mine and only mine. You can do that for me… can’t you?