“Here, you can sit in this chair.” Peniel gestured, pulling up a spare seat next to his own, which was in front of a large makeup mirror.

His hair stylist immediately ran over, a brush in one hand and hairspray in the other. Rainie watched, amused, as she set to work, tugging and pulling at his hair as if it were made of clay. Rainie didn’t really know what to say. She wasn’t one for small talk, particularly with someone like Peniel. Boys never talked to her, and if they did, it was usually to point out how embarrassing to society she was.  

Talking wasn’t really necessary around Peniel though. He seemed to be perfectly able to fill the silent void himself. On and on he went, changing the subject as he saw fit. Mostly he talked about BTOB’s different promotions, and small tidbits about each of the members other than Sungjae. It wasn’t until they saw Sungjae bouncing past like an idiot, trying to slide on a pair of skinny jeans, that Peniel mentioned him.   

“Sungjae often stares at a certain photo on his phone. I can never really see the picture clearly though, he always pulls it away too fast...” Peniel said, tapping his chin in thought.

“Don’t move!” his stylist yelped, smacking him lightly over the head with the brush.

“Sorry, Noona.” he replied flashing a goofy smile at her through the mirror. She sighed but smiled back, going back to her work.

What could that photo be of? Did Sungjae have a secret girlfriend? Rainie simply nodded as Peniel continued to chatter happily.

The two developed a sort of system as the minutes passed by, with Peniel talking as Rainie patiently listened, occasionally “uhuh-ing” and “yeah-ing” whenever he paused to look at her.

BTOB’s manager walked over to Peniel and handed him a clear costume bag with several outfits in it. Before Rainie could even count to two, Peniel was already yanking his shirt over his head and whipping off his pants. Marveling at his sculpted body, Rainie finally realized after what seemed like hours that he was half . She got up and turned away quickly as Peniel slid on his own pair of skinny pants, chuckling heartily at her reaction. Rainie closed her eyes in embarrassment, covering her face with her hands.  

“You can look now, Rainie.” Peniel whispered from somewhere right next to her. His breath tickled her neck.

Jumping, she nearly tripped over him as she whipped around.

“Woah there, we wouldn’t want you hurting yourself because of me, now would we?” Peniel laughed, grabbing hold of her so she could steady herself.

Rainie squinted, scrunching her head down shyly. “Sorry.” She mumbled.

“Don’t apologize, I don’t mind catching you, actually.” Peniel smiled and slowly let go of her. “I gotta go, I’ll see you in a bit.” He said before jogging over to join the rest of BTOB, who were waiting for him.  

Rainie’s arms still tingled where his fingers had been moments before. She whispered a quiet “Bye” after him, which she was sure he couldn’t hear. Dreamily, she waddled away to the back of the room, images of the way his hands had lingered still swimming through her mind.           

Sunlight had all but disappeared from the gym, the windows having been covered by the stage crew. BTOB stood on the elevated stage, listening intently to their manager as he pointed out certain mistakes they had made during their quick dress rehearsal. Sungjae towered over the rest of the members. His hair had been pulled up to an arch in the front, and his eyes looked noticeably more intense. Rainie could see now why all the girls in her school loved him so much; his new aura was attracting to say the least.

Peniel, who was standing next to him, caught Rainie’s eye and winked, prompting that annoying blush again. In contrary to Sungjae’s new found hotness, Peniel’s natural charisma had been toned down and replaced by what Rainie felt could only be called cute. His hair was slightly curled, and his shirt was light blue, the same color as her own. Judging from the way he tugged at it while looking her he seemed to realize that fact too.       

“Now, we just have to wait for the special fans to get here, then we can rehearse your last songs.” Their manager called out loudly, looking at Peniel pointedly to get him to focus.

As if on cue, the gym doors slammed open and a group of rowdy teenage girls pranced through the entrance, creating a huge ruckus as they entered the room. They all wore tight mini-skirts and different shades of pastel. And front and center, holding her backstage pass haughtily in front her, was Minah.  

Rainie shuffled further back into the shadows with a groan. She should have known Minah would come. Minah never missed a chance to show off, and here was the perfect opportunity.  

Minah strutted up the steps onto to the stage as if she owned it, and shoved her pass at the stage crew manager, who frowned but allowed her to keep walking. Her cronies followed after, each clearly trying to replicate the way she swayed her scantily-clothed body from side to side. As she approached the boys though, her pretentious manner fell away like petals on a dying flower, replaced by an almost scary frailty. Minah looked timid, and Rainie wasn’t surprised at how real her acting appeared. Rainie had seen her switch faces like that before. 

BTOB’s manger smiled sincerely at the girls, who had all adopted the same innocent expression as Minah.

“Hello, I assume you are the backstage pass winners?” he asked, although he clearly knew the answer.

“Yes.” Minah said in a sweet voice that sounded so fake, Rainie had to mask her scoff with a loud guffaw.

“Alright then, I’ll be announcing your pairs.” The manager said with authority, looking down to the clipboard in his hand. “Yoona, you’re with Eunkwang.”

And on he went, listing names and pointing the boys toward their respective partners.

“Hyeji, you’re with Hyungsik.” He called out, looking around for a raised hand.

“Hyeji’s sick.” Minah said politely, pulling out a pretend look of sadness.

“Oh, but we can’t be missing a girl.” The manager said in exasperation. He looked around the room desperately.

“Ah! You, over in the corner!” He yelled, noticing Rainie. “Come here!”

She stood up straight and walked over to the stage, carefully avoiding the rest of the girls while the rest of the room stared at her curiously.

“You know Hyungsik well, don’t you?” the manager asked her, “I saw you talking to him earlier.” The expression on his face showed it was no time to argue.

“Yes.” Rainie replied, glancing at the boy, who was busy scratching his .

Noticing all the eyes on him, he dropped his hand immediately and covered up with a ridiculous grin. “Yeah, me and Rainie are friends!” he chirped, shuffling over to stand beside her.

“No.” Sungjae said loudly from the other side of the group. “Rainie can’t partner with him.”

“Why not?” Hyungsik whined. He sidled up to Rainie, who was frowning at her brother.

“You’re a ert.” Sungjae replied. 

The girls standing around them started giggling obnoxiously. Minah’s laughing ceased earlier than the others, though, and she shot Rainie a look of deep dislike.    

“Fine then, Rainie, you can be with Minhyuk.” The manager said, nodding towards one of the last two BTOB members who hadn’t been paired up yet.

Hyungsik mouthed something at Sungjae, who shrugged and looked away. Minhyuk walked forward and bowed politely at Rainie, who followed suit.

Peniel, who was the only remaining member, glanced at Rainie for a second before walking up to Minah.

Seeing them exchange greetings and smile at each other felt like a stab in the gut, and Rainie turned her attention to Minhyuk, who stood awkwardly beside her, rocking back and forth from his toes to his heels.

“Uh, so what’s going to happen, exactly?” Rainie asked him. He looked just as nervous as she felt.

“I…uh…I have to sing you a love song.” He replied, biting his lip. “You’re going to sit in one of those stools.” He said, pointing to the cluster of brightly colored stools beside the stage.

“Ah, I see.” She answered simply.

Rainie found Minhyuk’s shyness rather endearing, and somehow it made her more comfortable around him. Unlike Peniel, he didn’t talk much, and when he did, he spoke very short sentences, but Rainie was okay with that. He reminded Rainie of herself, as if she was looking into a mirror.  Minhyuk didn’t put her down either, which was even better.           

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm really happy to be receiving so much support from you all, you're all so sweet :) Sorry if I haven't mentioned your bias from BTOB in this story yet, so far the main characters are probably going to be Peniel, Minhyuk, Sungjae, and Hyungsik. If your bias is another member, feel free to tell me in the comments below, and I'll make sure to write more about him!  *throws kisses*