"One mango, one strawberry please!”

I hand Mina her mango froyo and topped it with some fresh sliced strawberries and mochi bits. We both decided to ditch our lunch plans and catch up over some delicious desserts.

“Looks delicious, Woonie-ah.” Mina giggled, taking a huge mouthful. “Mmmm. So sweet. It’s so good in this weather.” We make our way to a nearby bench, away from the crowd of couples and teenagers. I feel like a little kid, too excited and anxious wanting to be so close to her.

“Come, come!’ she waves finding a perfect seat under the shade. “Sit.” She scoots over on the bench making sure I wasn’t in the sun. I smile at how thoughtful she still is. We eat our frozen yogurt in happy silence. I want to ask her so many questions but I didn’t want to ruin our moment. Instead, I glance over at her near empty bowl, “Let me try the mango.” I ask, reaching for her spoon. She batted my hand away.

“No, mine!” she laughs turning away. “I told you to get mango but ‘nooooooo. I only like strawberry’” Mina mocks me in a horrible impersonation of my voice. She scoops a tiny bite of mango goodness and grazes my lips with the spoon. “Say ahhh.” I stick my tongue out to the cold treat and she snatches it away. “Ha!” she the spoon clean, “Mmmm, so good.”

“You little….!” I pout, eating a big bite of my own sad looking pool of pink goo. “How about we trade, one bite for one bite? Pleeeease? ” I put on my cutest aegyo voice. I’ve been practicing in the mirror. Yoseobbie  and Doojoon are terrified but I think it’s cute.

 “…………………………Please don’t ever do that voice again.” She stares in horror as she takes another huge bite, sticky mango coating her lips. “And still no. I like my mango.” Her voice taking on a whining tone and I know she’s about to give in just so she doesn’t have to be annoyed. 

 “Fine….i guess I just have to…” I lean in suddenly, a mischievous gleam in my eyes. I press my lips against hers the mango-y flavor off of her pink lips. Even though the playful kiss meant nothing and lasted for one second, she took my breath away.

“YA! SON DONGWOON!” Mina shrieks, laughing and pushing me away, completely innocent to the effect she has on me. “That’s cheating, oppa.”

“I miss being called oppa.” I smile. 

“I bet your fans call you oppa.”

“You’re right. In fact, one did right before I ran into you, Mina.” Our hands absent-mindedly intertwine as I trace my fingers in her palm. I forget how touchy-feely we always were.

“Oh really.” Mina says, giving me a suspicious look. “Did you like it?”

“Is someone jealous? Yes. I liked it and I even gave her a hug and told her I loved her.” I tease, tracing hearts into her palm making her smile.

“No. Of course not.” She says pretending to pout, flipping her long hair over her shoulders. “In fact, I hope you two get married.”

“She was like 6, Mina.”

“.”

I laugh at her constant inappropriate sense of humor. My phone suddenly buzzed in my pocket, a message from Kikwang asking if I’m still meeting them for dinner. I stall at my reply, wanting to stay with Mina now (and forever) but didn’t want to overwhelm her and scare her away.

“It’s Kikwang hyung. We’re supposed to meet for dinner with the rest of the members.” I say sadly. I know, only a couple hours ago I would have died for chili crab but Mina is way better than the crab. Not that I would like to share this comparison with her. I get a bright idea. “Do you want to come Mina?”

“I want to but I can’t.” Mina says apologetically, checking her own phone as well. “I already have plans tonight.”

My ears perk up and I’m instantly jealous. Who is she having dinner with? Is it a guy? Does he have Yoseob’s cuteness, Junhyung’s swagger and Kikwang’s abs? Great, it hasn’t even been four hours and I’m already feeling protective over her. Play it cool. I tell myself, it’s different this time. I can’t possibly still be THAT in love with Mina. Besides I have…

“Sooo.. I guess I’ll talk to you later?” she says getting up from the bench, her hands still enveloped in my own. Pulling a notepad from her bag, she scribbles something on a piece of paper. “Here’s my number and address. Maybe you can come by sometime..”

I folded the paper carefully and tucked it in my wallet, cherishing it like a golden ticket.  

“I missed you, Mina.” I can’t help saying as she walked away.

She smiles over her shoulder. “I missed you too, Woonie”

_________

“Dongwoon-ah, where were you?” Doojoon asks accusingly as I rush into the restaurant. Being the youngest and the last one to arrive isn’t the best combination, earning me dirty looks from both Junhyung and Yoseob. Yoseob hyung might be cute but when he’s hungry, he is not your best friend. “We waited on you to order because you said you were on your way an hour ago.” Oh no, Doojoon looks hungry enough to kill.

“Let him be.” Kikwang pipes up, scanning the menu. I smile at him gratefully, pouring tea for the others hoping to get back into good favors.

“Oh, easy for you to say.” Hyunseung snaps, his stomach growling audibly. “YOU just got here yourself 5 minutes ago.”

Me and Kikwang share a guilty smile as he pats me on my thigh. We let the others choose the food of their liking, neither of us being too picky. Doojoon ordering a couple bottles of celebratory soju. “To us! For finally getting a tiny break!” he cheers, “But after this week, we have to prepare for comeback! Hwaiting!”

“Hwaiting!” a chipper, melodic voice calls from behind me.

“Hi Suzy!” the Beast boys say in unison. A tall pretty girl dressed down in jeans and a sweatshirt, leans over to kiss me on the cheek before sitting down. “Where have you been all day, Dongwoon-ah? I’ve been texting you.”

I stammer, “I’ve just been at the gym Suzy. Didn’t have my phone on me.” She looks at me doubtfully. Yes, it’s a horrible story. I don’t even really go to the gym but I'm a horrible liar. 

“Me too!” Kikwang furrows his eyesbrows. I can see the confusion, i secretly laugh to myself despite the situation. Hyung's face trying to put together information is pretty darn cute. “But I didn’t see you?”

“Oh I went to a different gym.” I said quickly hoping that he’d take a hint. “The one behind the new market.”

“There’s a gym behind the new market? I thought that was a pet hospital” Kikwang asked looking even more confused. “Is it a pet hospital and gym?” Aish, hyung. Please. Not now.

“Yes.” I lie, practically seeing him trying to process this mysterious pet gym in his mind. I look over to see if Suzy had busted me for lying but she was already over this conversation and interacting with Yoseobbie and Doojoon instead, the three of them quickly moving into drinking games.  

I met Suzy on one of our shoots 3 months ago. She was the new coordi Jiyong hyung hired and we all instantly took a liking to her. I think it’s partially because she reminded us so much of Mina, loves fashion, snappy, funny. Although she’s much taller and definitely not accident prone. Hyunseungie decided to be a sneaky little matchmaker and kept telling Suzy that I had a crush on her.

I remember when we first met.

“So you’re the guy that keeps putting love notes in my bag?” the pretty black haired girl eyed me suspiciously as she helps put on my make up. “Tilt your head up.” She instructed.

“What?” I looked baffled as I lean back, closing my eyes as she fixes my eye makeup.

“The creepy notes about how you like my eyes and nose and wanted to date me.”

I am going to kill Seungie. I blush furiously not knowing what to say.

“Yes.” She says casually.

“Yes, what?” I ask looking confused.

“Yes, I’ll go out with you.” Suzy smiles, revealing her straight white teeth. “It’s a date.”

I smile back, my heart aching momentarily. I know the hyungs mean well. They want me to be happy. “I guess it is.”

“Dongwoonieee!” Suzy slurs, slumping against my arm waking me up from the flashback. “Take a shot with us!”

I happily oblige not wanting to be the party pooper. Gulp. The soju went down smoothly. “Another!” Yoseob cheers as he pours me another shot. “That’s for making me starve, maknae.” So I take another and then more as the food continued to be served. By the end of the night, my cheeks were red and I was quickly moving from being a happy drunk to an emo drunk.

“I missed you too Woonie-ah.”

“I missed you too Woonie-ah.”

“I missed you too Woonie-ah.”

“Shut up mind.” I say out loud.

“Who are you talking to?” Junhyung says as he looks at me as if I lost my mind. His eyes narrowing. 

“Uh.. no one.” I reply, embarrassed. I should really build a higher tolerance to liquor. I look at my reflection in my iphone and tousled my already messy hair. Even in the dark reflecton, my eyes glowed.

“Aish, don’t worry. You’re handsome.” Kikwang laughed, noticing that I was checking myself out. I giggle in response at being caught.

I look over and see Yoseob quickly drifting off to sleep land, his head resting comfortably on Doojoon’s lap. Doojoon is still talking about his soccer stories to anyone that would listen, not seeming a bit drunk. He has the highest tolerance. The rest of us including Suzy just wanted to go home and sleep.

Junhyung stood up first, helping me get Suzy steady on her feet. She’s giggly and talkative chatting about the weirdest things with Prince Jang. “Help Suzy home ok?” Junhyung said, always being the responsible one. “We’ll see you back at the house.”

I wrap an arm around the wobbly girl, and hailed a cab quickly. She closed her eyes and rubbed against my chest, planting sloppy kisses along my neck. I can’t help but move away. She mumbled incoherently, “Dongwoon-ah?”

“Yea?”

“How come we haven’t slept together?” She questioned, her eyes trying to focus on mine. Her hands continue to roam my chest and my legs. I can see the cab driver looking at us in the rearview hoping to catch some action.

“I just want to wait.. that’s all.” I answer honestly.

“We’ve been dating for two months already.”

"Two months isn't a long time, Suzy" I say confused.

"Well, its two months that could turn into six and then ten and then never!" She snapped suddenly becoming angry. Aish, this is why I can’t stand her drinking. Her moods switch like Jekyll and Hyde. We sit in slience until we arrive at her dorm and she storms out of the cab.

“Aren’t you going after her?” The cab driver questioned.

I sigh, paying for the fare and run to Suzy, who was fumbling with her keys at the door.

“Suzy-ah…wait. What’s really wrong?”

“You know what’s wrong, Woonie-ah..”

“Don’t call me that.” I say before I can help myself. Oops, that really didn’t help the situation. Her eyes flashes an angry red and I saw pure hatred in her face.

“OH, I’M SORRY SON DONGWOON.” She spat, opening her door furiously. “See? THAT'S what's wrong. I forget that your nickname is exclusive to that .”

“Don’t….” I give up trying to reason with her, suddenly feeling angry and frustrated. “You’re drunk. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I say firmly, turning to leave.

“What makes you think she still even likes you. Or if she ever liked you? SHE WAS USING YOU. ALL OF YOU.” Suzy yells bitterly after me.

I keep walking until I got to the nearby park, sitting as my drunkness wearing off.

I pull out my phone and call.

“Doojoon-ah, can you come get me? I’m by Suzy’s.” I say, afraid he’d be mad. I wince, bracing myself for a scolding.

Instead I heard a deep sigh and he just said, “I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

___

Doojoon’s POV

I drive up to the park maknae was waiting and stare at him under the tree, in his dejected frame. He’s wordless as he sheepishly gets in the car. Neither of us opt to speak first. I press play on my ipod to fill the silence.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh oppa reul saranghae, ah ah ah a manhi manhihae”

Oops.

Dongwoon snickered unable to contain his laughter.

“YA!” I yell. “Yoseob must have been adding to my playlist.” I add quickly. Got to keep my leader composure.

“Sure” Dongwoon gasped, still holding his stomach from giggles.“Do you have a cheerleading outfit, oppa?”

“One more word and I’m leaving you in the streets.” I threaten, smacking him in the back of the head.

“Ow!” The blonde hair boy smirked. “Fine, I won’t tell anyone you’re a sone, hyung. It’ll be our secret.”

I chuckle. “You better.” I glance over as the smile starts to drift from his face, he sighs heavily with his shoulders slumping down. I’m upset and confused at what happened. We just had a great dinner with everyone and Dongwoon is usually so happy. I hate seeing him upset. Well, any of them upset.

“Did you and Suzy have a fight?” I ask casually, my eyes flicking over to the dejected boy. Dongwoon twitches and looks down playing with his silver bracelet. His thin fingers twisting the chain until it nearly breaks.

“No..well, kind of.” He says finally, avoiding my eyes. Hmmm, he’s hiding something. Dongwoon has never been able to keep a secret and even worse at hiding his feelings. “Hyung, I have a confession. I ran into her today. When I told Suzy I was at the gym, I was really with Mina.” He admits painfully.

Hmmm, I think carefully about how I should answer. It didn’t seem like that big of a deal.

“Well, you’re bound to run into her. She does live here now you know.”

His head snaps over to me. “How did YOU know that?” His eyes confused. Oops. Wrong answer. Although the details are murky, I gathered that out of all of us, it was Dongwoon that Mina chose not to talk to again. Every time we talk, she would ask about him making sure that he was well but every time I asked if she wanted to ask him herself, she would smile and say, “No Doojoon-ah, I don’t want to bother him.” I know what she’s thinking, that if she cuts herself cleanly from his life, he’ll move on and find his fairy tale. As if things really work out neatly that way.  

“She..uh told us last week.”

 “Oh..” he mumbled. I see his reflection in the window, his eyes getting teary. He wipes his eyes quickly with the back of his hand.

“So what did you guys fight about?” I ask hoping to steer his mind toward Suzy. We reach the dorms but we sat in the car; mainly with me wanting to get him calmed before we walk in. “Suzy is a really nice girl.” I added as an afterthought.

“She is.” Dongwoon nodded reluctantly. But there's always a "but", I think to myself. “It’s the same fight we’ve been having. She thinks I don’t want to be with her. She thinks I’m still not over Mina.”

This is the first time in months that he’s come close to admitting to his unhealthy Mina obsession. I wonder if this is the calm before the storm or if its some sort of breakthrough. “Well, are you? Over Mina?”

“Yes, of course.” He says avoiding my eyes again. I could read the thoughts behind his eyes screaming no, no, no. But I don’t question him. He’ll figure it out soon enough.

Instead, I nod and say with leader like confidence, “Well, then you should apologize to Suzy and you can still be friends with Mina.” I look over at him inspecting his face. “Two people can be friends if they have no feelings for each other anymore. You have no feelings for her right?”

He ignores me but I let that one go.

“Good. Now go wash your face and go to sleep.” I said yawning, my body exhausted. Dongwoon gets out of the car, tripping over his own feet. Aish, clumsy. Just like Mina. No wonder he thinks they’re soulmates.

I make a beeline for my room and plop down on my bed only to land on a very lumpy Yoseob. “Ahhhh, Voldemort, don’t sit on me……..” he mumbles fearfully, thrashing around clearly having a weird dream. I push the fluffy boy over and get into bed with him patting his back whispering spells Yoseob makes me remember from the movies. The cuddly boy slowly breathes normally and falls back asleep.

Yes, I’m the leader of Beast, sometimes a therapist, sometimes a wizard.