The sun is shining through the windows. I tuck my head in blanket further trying to prolong my time in bed. Sunshine, please go away. The house is dead quiet, the hyungs probably still asleep after the long night. I bury my head under the pillow. I am never drinking again.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

I swing my arm over to grab my phone and it drops to the floor. “ah…………………..” I reach for it with half effort and roll back under the covers. My phone beeps again. And again.

“FINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I yell out loud, stretching my arms over my head. “I’m up, I’m up!!!”

“Shut up!!!” I heard Junhyung scream from the other room. “No one else is…”

Oops.

I see messages in my inbox and I crossed my fingers hoping to get a message from Mina telling me what a great time she had but no luck. Instead I get 20 messages from Suzy apologizing, my guilt compounding.

TEXT: Dongwoon-ah. I’m sorry I acted horrible last night. Forgive me? ^_^ I will be a better girlfriend.

Sigh. What should I do?

“You are an idiot, Son Dongwoon.” I say out loud to nobody. I go back to sleep.

_________________________

“What do you think, Dongwoon-ah? Pink or black?” Suzy steps out of the dressing room, twirling around in a tight pink dress. We had a day off today and Suzy decides that we are going shopping. I would have no problem with it but it’s the 67^th dress we’ve tried on so far and our 6th stop.

But I am trying to be a better boyfriend. I didn’t text or call Mina all week no matter how much my heart was telling me to. I need to prove to myself I have self control. At least on the surface. Inside, I think about her constantly. Every love song still reminds me of her. Every funny thing I see I am desperate to text her first. But instead, I scroll past Mina’s name and text Suzy instead. I am her boyfriend and I should act like it.

I step back, motioning her to turn around. “Black. It’s slimming.”

Wrong answer. “So you think I’m fat?”

“No!” I reassure Suzy, standing behind her in the mirror. Her eyes staring daggers into mine. She’s turning from side to side trying to see if she had arm fat, which she didn’t. “Black is easier to match, that’s all.”

“Fine.” She snaps, shutting the door to her dressing room.

A nearby guy gives me an apologetic, bonding look like “hey…women and shopping.” I shrug back in understanding but in reality, I LIKE shopping. Especially after being Mina’s dress up doll for so long. She’s taught me well. She’s still our resident go-to person whenever we’re in a wardrobe crisis. Her and Hyunseung still go shopping at least once a week.

I wander over to the men’s section checking out new dress shirts, remember how Mina said I looked the best in shirts with collars. I smile recalling the first time I dressed formally for a CUBE dinner.

_____

“Son Dongwoon. Are you seriously wearing that plaid shirt? Is that a ketchup stain?! Is this the image you want to show President Hong? Dongwoon, the ketchup boy?!” Mina says, looking at my comfy red and blue shirt in horror. I stare in the mirror, Looks good to me. I say out loud.

She pauses and stands next to me in the mirror. “You look cute now. Terribly adorable. But I’m going to make you super y.” She signals for me to take it off. With a determined look on her cute face, she starts digging in my closet, throwing shirts left and right. She wrinkles her nose in frustration not liking anything she sees.

“Wait, I have something!” she exclaims as she skips to her room. I lay shirtless on the bed, amused and feeling like a Barbie doll waiting to get dressed for prom. She comes back with a dark grey shirt with a subtle stitching and a tie in a darker grey. “I bought this for Kikwang.” She admitted. “But he has way bigger chest than you.” I laugh only because it IS true. Kikwang hyung does have the most beefiest chest ever.

Mina helps me get in the shirt, meticulously buttoning each button, fixing my collar carefully. She ties my tie with expert precision, something I still struggle with all the time. In that moment, I had a fleeting thought, ‘I wish Mina was my wife and she helped me get dressed every morning.’

She threw a pair of black dress pants at me and closed her eyes. “Hurry! Get dressed so I can see!” I smirk, thinking of how embarrassed she gets even though she sees all of us half all the time.

“Done!” I say admiring myself in the mirror. Whoa, I look handsome. Even more than handsome, I look mature like Doojoon but y like…well, myself. Mina peeks through her fingers and smiles happily.

“Woonie-ah, you look amazing!” she gushes circling around me fixing my pants and tucking my shirt in properly. She leans forward and s one more button opting revealing more of my chest underneath. She steps back and bites her bottom lip eyeing her creation. Her soft hands graze my neck and tickle my nerves as she removes my tie. She hangs my tie around her own neck looking y.

“There. No tie today.” She steps back satisfied. “Casual but y.”

I look at myself again in the mirror, my hand reaching for Mina’s. “We make a cute couple.” I smile. She smiles back, reaching for her iphone to take a selca. “Super cute.” She exclaims showing me the picture, sending it to me in the process. Which I would later use as a screensaver.

She smiles and leaves the room, “Have fun tonight, Son Namshin.”

_____

I smile at the memory, skimming the rack for a new dress shirt. I glance over to the women’s dressing rooms, no sign of Suzy coming out yet. I turn the corner to look at the new Armani shirts and spy a familiar form 4 feet away.

It’s Mina, dressed in a dangerously short and tight denim sundress with an oversized white YSL bag and high heels. Her long hair is glowing and wavy, tied loosely with a white bow. My heart stops with excitement. She looks like a summer goddess. I glance at myself in a nearby mirror to make sure I’m presentable.

I head toward her trying my best to contain my joy as a slim, handsome male grabs her arm. “Mina!!!” he whines, holding up two shirts. “Which one looks better?”

Mina laughs cutely, walking too close to the mysterious male taking the shirt off the hanger. She presses the shirt against the boy’s body, his face showing that he enjoys the contact way too much.“This one.. it shows off your arms.” She insists, her hand lingering way too long on him (in my opinion), the male returning her smile. She strolls suddenly over to my section and I get frantic trying to hide myself behind a mannequin.

“………………….Dongwoon?” Mina says quizzically, moving behind the rack. I adjust myself casually pretending that I was just checking the size of pants on the mannequin.

“Oh hi Mina!” I say, giving her a small hug. “Didn’t see you over there. How are you?”

“Uh Dongwoon-ah. I just saw you last week.” She smiled. “Why haven’t you come over yet?”

Because I’m already way too in love with you. Because I have a girlfriend. Because it’s already hard enough trying to stop thinking about you.

Instead, I blush and say, “We actually just came back from Japan. I’m so happy to be home” So happy to be here with you. My instincts are going crazy wanting to ask about her male companion. I check him out again still looking in the mirror. I conclude that while he’s handsome, I’m MORE handsome. Oh my god. What is wrong with me? I hate feeling this very vulnerable and insecure right now.

She looked sympathetic, “Awww. I know how much you guys hate traveling. That’s ok Woonie-ah. I’m having a house warming party in a couple weeks. You can visit then.” She adds, her arms casually by her side. I can’t help but think that if we were alone, she’d grab my hand or touch me or I’ll touch her. It’s how we were. Who was this guy with her? Why is her skirt so short? I think, my mind flooded with jealousy.

“MINAAA!”

We turn around, her male friend coming toward us with a look of suspicion in his eyes. I observed as she’s way too kind with him, apologizing for wandering off. She looks at me and I raise my eyebrow in question.

“Oh! Dongwoon, this is Nam Woohyun.” The other male bows curtly, checking me out up and down, his eyes narrowing at this unexpected interruption. “He’s from Infinite.” She added helpfully, her voice taking on a fan-girly tone that I instantly disliked. “Woohyun, this is Son Dongwoon, from Beast.”

I can’t help but glare at the older boy, wondering the origins of their relationship. He picks up on my insecurity and smirks, casually throwing his arm around Mina’s bare shoulders. She looked surprised at the sudden contact but didn’t move away.

“Mina-ah,” I said loudly, clearly disturbed. “Hyungs want to know if you want to come over for dinner tonight.” Yes, I am immature to play the “I’ve known Mina better and longer” game.

She looks at Woohyun, who smiles at me, and answers immediately. “Sorry Woonie-ah. Infinite has to film their MV tonight and I promised Woohyun I’d be there.” This answer reveals nothing. Is she with him? Is she working for him? WHO IS HE? I think angrily.

“THERE YOU ARE.” A very angry Suzy comes storming up to me throwing her clothes in my arms. I flail back at the impact. “I CALLED YOULIKE 6 TIMES.” She snaps. If looks could kill.

Mina looks surprised, mirroring the look I gave her and her “friend.” I take the initiative before Suzy can say something damaging. I wanted to tell Mina about Suzy but not now, not here.

“This is Suzy.” I stammer quickly, pushing Suzy forward. “She works for CUBE.” I add helpfully.

“YA!” Suzy turns to me, offended. She faces Mina, not knowing who she was. “Hi, I’m Suzy Kwon. I work for Beast and ………..I’m also Dongwoon’s girlfriend.” She adds as an afterthought.

Mina’s jaw drops for a second but she quickly recovers. “I’m Mina Lee. I used to slave away for these boys too.” She smiles jokingly.

Suzy’s eyes narrowed, clearly remembering the name and what significance Mina has to Beast and especially me. “Sooo. You’re Mina.” She says slowly, looking her up and down. She reminded me of a vulture before it eats its prey. “I’ve heard so much about you.” She says sarcastically.

Mina was calm. I suppose all her LA-mean girl experiences come in handy. “All good, I hope.” She says sweetly. “Well, Woohyun and I have plans. It was so great meeting you. And it was so great catching up with you Dongwoon-ah.” And then they turn to walk away. I stare at his back wanting to be the one doing Sunday shopping with Mina.

“SO that was Mina.” Suzy says, her voice high and straining. I know what this is. I know she is about to pick a fight.

“Yup.”

“She’s pretty.” She continues, her eyes focusing on my reactions as if a slight twitch would mean that I pick Mina.

“Un.” I nod.

“Seems plastic tho.”

“She’s not.” I immediately reply, never being able to stand anyone saying anything bad about Mina.

“I just said seeeeems. Jeez, Dongwoon-ah.” Suzy presses. “Not like you’re dating her.”

I nod, my eyes still searching for the shorter girl. “No, it’s  not like that.”

“Good.” Suzy replies, heading toward the cash register. I look back casually hoping to catch a glimpse of Mina again but she’s nowhere to be found.