arrow twenty-two: in which everyone needs to talk to everyone

“I like you, Taeyeon.”

“Don’t joke around, oppa.” Taeyeon smiled a little awkwardly, taking a step back.

Leeteuk wanted to punch himself in the face; he didn’t mean to say that. He didn’t. But suddenly couldn’t stop himself, couldn’t stop his feelings, and couldn’t stop his mouth. He already started the confession that he had wanted to say for so long, so he might as well continue. With a deep, nervous exhale, he shakily murmured, “You should be with me instead, Taeng.”

The blank look she was giving him in return was nothing reassuring, but he had said too much to take anything back now.  “I just, I really like you Taeyeon.”

“But,” she looked at him, as if he was saying something completely unheard of. “Oppa…” As they stared at each other, the confused look on Taeyeon’s face slowly morphed to a more apologetic one. “Sorry, but-”

Leeteuk caught her off before she could finish, suddenly feeling a little helpless and a lot of panic. “But I’ve liked you all this time! I liked you even before you liked Junsu!”

The apologetic look on Taeyeon’s face didn’t change, but she did murmur wearily, “For that long?”

He found himself nodding miserably at her question. “Why didn’t- why didn’t you ever tell me?” Taeyeon felt more bewildered than anything, thinking back to how long she has liked Junsu- and how long Leeteuk has liked her for.

“I just- I guess I just wanted to wait for the perfect moment.” he admitted, sounding a tad sheepish. “And I have tried before, but you’ve just been so wrapped up in Junsu and liking him, that I guess- I guess I never got around to it.” Leeteuk looked at the floor awkwardly, fidgeting as he finally admitted what he had wanted to for the longest time.

Taeyeon thought back to all the times that she squealed and blushed and went crazy over Junsu while Leeteuk was right next to her suddenly made her feel immensely guilty. “I’m so sorry, oppa.” She looked like she was trying to find the right words to say, and that made him feel sick to his stomach. “But Junsu oppa…” Taeyeon paused, looking him right in the eyes. “I’m sorry I can’t accept your feelings.”

Leeteuk felt his heart drop and figuratively break into a million pieces right after he heard her murmur those quiet (but heartbreaking) words. He wouldn’t go down without a fight- or at the very least, without getting his main point across. “You don’t get it- he took you from me.” He inwardly cringed a little bit, not liking how desperate he had sounded.

Taeyeon had to frown at that statement. “He didn’t take me from you- I just fell for him instead.” With a slight hint of a blush, she quietly added, “And he just happens to reciprocate.”

“That little-” Leeteuk couldn’t keep the would have been insult from spewing from his mouth- but Taeyeon had cut him off before he could finish.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t badmouth him, oppa.” Taeyeon’s tone was dry as she looked at Leeteuk critically.

“But you really don’t understand, Taeng!” he had to make her see the light somehow- that she should be with him instead. He huffed, racking his brain on how to make Taeyeon see the truth. “Look, he is not a good guy- that Kim Junsu.” Okay, that might have been a far stretch of the truth, but Leeteuk was willing (and desperate) to make it work.

Her initial reaction was just to brush off the statement- obviously, Leeteuk wasn’t making the most valid of points at the moment. But when Taeyeon looked at Leeteuk, the person who has been her friend for years, and someone who has always looked out for, she sighed. “What do you mean he is a bad guy?” Taeyeon figured that there was no harm in hearing him out.

Leeteuk brightened slightly at the question (because that meant Taeyeon was willing to listen to him) and immediately retorted with, “He knew about my feelings for you, but he is still going out with you anyway!”

“Junsu oppa knew?” She looked a little weary and a lot more hesitant about the whole thing.

Taeyeon needed to have a talk with Junsu.

-

Minho already knew that this conversation with Taemin could go down in just one of two ways: either horribly or fantastically. That wasn’t to say that Minho was psychic or anything of the sort- he just knew Taemin, and he knew him well.

In a general sense, Taemin was pretty open and easy to talk to in most situations- but because this certain situation involved Krystal, Minho knew that there would be no easy, middle ground to be found anywhere. “It’s okay if you like Krystal, Taem.”  His tone was measured and placating as he stressed the younger’s nickname, hoping that hearing the pet name would calm him.

It didn’t calm Taemin at all; if anything, it fueled his indignation and rage at the situation at hand. “Don’t ‘Taem’ me, hyung. This is serious.” Taemin’s mouth was set in a hard line as he stared straight into Minho’s eyes.

“You’re making this more complicated than this has to be, Taemin. Just calm down and talk to me like how you normally do.” Taemin scoffed at the statement while Minho growled in frustration. He did not like the haughty and irritated expression on Taemin’s usually smiling face. “Why is this even turning into an argument anyway?”

Taemin gave him a deadpanned look, as if saying, “Really, Choi Minho? Really?”

Minho suddenly felt tired, biting out a quick, “It’s fine, I don’t care if you like Krystal or not!” He never thought that this would be a problem- in fact, he should have known that Taemin did. Now that he was properly enlightened, he could have smacked himself in the face. Everything was so mind-blowingly obvious that it made him feel like a fool for not noticing. (What makes it worse is that he has known Taemin for years- and he was his best friend. His closest dongsaeng. Someone that he knew.)

“Of course it would be fine for you. It just doesn’t matter to you, does it?” Taemin smiled, but there was no cheer or happiness in it, “Why should it matter anyway, I mean- you’re perfect Choi Minho, loved and adored by all.” He sounded sarcastic and arrogant, his words hitting Minho right in the heart.

“You know that’s not true.” he bit back- he hated hearing those types of words the most. Just because he was a little popular, kind of athletic, and didn’t look half bad (in his own opinion), people wrote him off as perfect and untouchable without even getting to know him.

“You’re the oppa everyone wants to have and the dongsaeng that is favored by all the hyung’s and noona’s.” Taemin’s tone was flat as he continued speaking like Minho didn’t retaliate at all.

Minho hated the way that Taemin was speaking. His tone was filled with bitterness and- and something that sounded a lot like jealousy. He grimaced and opened his mouth to respond appropriately, to assure his dongsaeng.

Opening his mouth was as far as he got before Taemin cut him off with another remark that almost broke Minho’s heart. “It doesn’t matter to you because it is always you and never me.” He looked away angrily, mouth twisted into a scowl.

Minho should have felt angry- Taemin wasn’t making any sense to him, was acting funny, was saying things that sounded completely ludicrous.

“What’s wrong with me, hyung?” Taemin asked, voice still angry and expression still haughty- but just a tad more vulnerable than before.

The moment Taemin looked back at him, and Minho saw his eyes, any possible anger left him. Because what he saw was not some dongsaeng acting out, or his best friend throwing a fit.

 What he saw was an insecure dongsaeng that felt hurt- and not good enough for the rest of the world.

Something in the conversation suddenly shifted, and Minho thought, “ah, this is what’s really wrong.”

“It’s really hard to be around you all the time, hyung. Especially when everyone loves to compare.” His voice still carried the same angry tone, but now he sounded more tired than anything else. “I’m always the second choice and no one ever really trusts me.”

Minho wanted to suddenly erase all of his insecurities, wanted to assure him that Taemin was never, and never will be, second best; he felt like beating himself up because he didn’t even know that Taemin felt this way. And he was supposed to be his best friend.

“You’re second best to no one, Lee Taemin.” Minho wanted to take Taemin by the shoulders and to shake him. “Especially not me.” Minho doesn’t know exactly what to say to make Taemin believe this, but he would say anything in the world if it would make the insecurity in Taemin’s eyes fade. “And there is nothing wrong with you- except for you being a little stupid because- because Taemin, really, you are never second best.”

Taemin let out a bitter little chuckle before saying, “I can’t even walk Soojung home by myself when you’re around because Jessica noona would want you to walk her instead- because you’ll be able to protect her better.”

Something about saying Soojung’s name clicked in Taemin’s mind, and then the conversation shifted once more. “Hyung, I know you’ll tell me over and over that you don’t like Krystal- but could you…ever? Like her?”

Minho opened his mouth to spout a vehement denial, but snapped his mouth shut right after- because he suddenly felt guilt. A lot of it. Because although he wants to say, “no, never!” his mind suddenly reminded him of their latest outing- and how he said he could think of Krystal as a real girl now. It’s not like Minho wanted to lie to the boy- but saying the truth was much, much worse.

Silence served to answer Taemin’s question when Minho could not.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said that there is no one in the world that I am more jealous of.” Taemin sighed, tired and more than a little bitter.

“Please get out.”

Minho left without another word.

(He couldn’t find it in himself to stay, no matter how much he wanted to.

He had (unknowingly) hurt Taemin too much to stay.

Minho would just find another time to talk to Taemin. And maybe Krystal, too.)

-

One night passed with Minho feeling guilty, Leeteuk feeling heartsick, Taemin feeling bitter, Taeyeon feeling confused- everyone else was seemingly obvlivious and happy, not knowing of the things to come.

-

Four days. They had four more days until opening night.

And everyone was going completely insane.

(A/N: You make me go insane, you give me so much pain, I won’t be back again~ oh I wanna hate you~ whoops, here is an inappropriately author’s note- but I love BTOB, and I fell in love with them when ‘Insane’ came out ;A;)

But Jessica, being assistant director, was quite possibly going the most insane (because even though the lead actors should also be going crazy, the playful and easygoing bickering and bantering between Changmin and Yoona didn’t hint to that at all). “You! You with the props! Drop those again and I will stab you with a fork.” Someone holding the box of props almost dropped the said box before scurrying away.  “Fany, are all the costumes ready?” Jessica called out desperately to her best friend.

Tiffany gave her a blinding and reassuring eyesmile before making an “okay” symbol with her hands. “Everything is ready to go- final fitting went awesomely yesterday.”

Jessica sighed in relief at the positive answer, and was just about ready to shout at someone else, before she felt a playful poke to the shoulder. “What?” she growled out, not even bothering to turn. She already knew who it was, if Tiffany’s cheerful giggle was any good indicator.

“Hey, don’t stress so much, Sica~”

She frowned at him immediately, but there was no real bite to her words. “Don’t call me that.”

“I’ll just go and do a run through on all the costumes~” Tiffany smiled as she politely excused herself. “And I’ll leave you two to your business~” Tiffany kind of wished that Jaejoong was here with her, so she could have someone to maniacally laugh over Jessica and Donghae with. But alas, he wasn’t even near the area, so she just shrugged and went off to actually do her job.

Donghae waved cheerfully at Tiffany’s retreating figure before turning back to Jessica and shrugging nonchalantly. He brightly stated, “It’s not like I can stop calling you Sica, Sica!” The name pretty much stuck with Donghae. And once something stuck, there was no way it was going to go away.

She pouted at him and merely said, “Stop,” before turning away and checking something off of her clipboard.

(He couldn’t actually read what was on it- but if he could, the biggest, most adorable teasing session would have ensued.

After all, Talk to Donghae was first on the list of things Jessica had to do- and now it had a checkmark right next to it.)

Donghae poked her again, and with an almost annoyingly sunny smile, he stated, “If it bothers you that I call you Sica so much, then you can just call me Hae.”

She froze immediately at the statement- her mind immediately repeating the word. “That would be too much!” she retorted. “I can’t call you that!” It was too intimate, too friendly. (But even as she wrote off the nickname, her mind betrayed her my whispering thoughts of, “Hae. Hae. Hae.”)

Donghae immediately shrugged once more. “We would be even though, right? I’m just not going to stop calling you Sica~”

Jessica stared at him blankly for a moment before walking away without a word to Donghae, screaming random orders at actors and sound technicians, with her cheeks burning in embarrassment.

--

Jessica managed to avoid Donghae for fifteen minutes with her abuse of power over screaming at people to get things done.

“Here, I got you a donut!”

“Why?” she looked at it skeptically. “Wait, here’s the better question- where did you even get that?”

Donghae smiled brightly (and notably ignored her question) before asking innocently, “Don’t all assistant directors love donuts?” (Donghae didn't think it would be important to mention his best friend Kibum- the one who owned a donut shop. He liked the air of mystery that random and magical donuts gave off. Jessica would be none the wiser!)

Jessica couldn’t really deny that logic, although she didn’t completely understand it either. She always did see people of power in the acting industry with donuts, after all. Jessica made a “hand it over” motion with her hands, to which Donghae immediately grinned at.

“Nope! I’m not handing it over until you call me “Hae”, Sica!”

Jessica naively believed that there would be no catch. She was wrong.

“Say, “please, Hae!” I know you’re hungry!” Donghae gleefully prodded at her, taking a strange sort of amusement in noticing how Jessica's eyes narrowed and her cheeks turned pink. He didn't know why he was pushing this so much- he even got a magical donut from Kibum, after all! But Donghae knew that he just really, really, really wanted to hear Jessica call him "Hae".

“How would you know that?” Jessica retorted, batting at Donghae’s arm. He squirmed out of the way and taunted Jessica with the sugary treat.

“Hae. Haeeee. It’s not that hard Sica, it’s really not.”

“…you idiot.”

--

Yoona watched from her place on stage as the assistant director (who was pretty much their director) and the guy in charge of the lights yelled and taunted each other. Jessica hit Donghae and he poked her in return.

She knew just from the slight twitch in Jessica’s lips that the older girl was trying really hard not to smile. On the other hand, Donghae smiled freely, holding what Yoona thought was food (but she couldn’t really tell, seeing as how she was a ways off).

Seeing Donghae smiling like that immediately made her feel a little sick and irritated; she felt like wanting to punch something and laying down at the same time.

The smile that she was seeing right now was rather familiar to her, and that just made her feel even more sick.

Yoona always felt that her meeting with Donghae was something akin to a fateful encounter. Admittedly, it was a little weird, seeing as how she was hiding in the dance room, but she loved how he had danced for her and smiled brightly.

Since then, she would seek him out at random times, getting to know him slowly, and adoring the smile that he would always give her.

It didn’t take long for Yoona to notice how Donghae’s smiles became extra bright around her, or how he sometimes babbled and blushed. She wasn’t naïve, but she was very flattered (because maybe- okay, not maybe) because it didn’t take her very long to fall for that smile.

She loved seeing that smile.

And she loved knowing that it was for her.

But now it was directed towards someone that wasn’t her, and that made her eyes glaze over and her lips purse into a frown.

Yoona probably didn’t mean to, but as she was reminiscing, she was staring straight at the person she was thinking about. And she stared long enough for her co-star to notice. “Yoona, are you okay?” Changmin poked her cheek playfully as he followed her line of vision. He almost sighed- he should have known.

“Fine, oppa. Just fine.” was twisted in a slight grimace as she watched Jessica and Donghae bicker and play around.

She needed to talk to her Jessica unnie.

--chapter end.

HI. HELLO. I’M A LOSER AND I’M SORRY.

Okay, well, I have been gone for an awkward amount of time- I won’t even say when the last I updated was >< but…I’m back? ;D

THE APPEARANCE OF INSECURE!TAEMIN. HELLO THERE. Anyone else remember the hospital scene where Jessica sent MinStal off, even though Taemin was there too? And remember all those times where Jessica picked Minho over Taem? Well, here are Taemin’s feelings about that. ;3

And is this the end of the TaeTeukSu? ;o haha, nope! ;D Leeteuk- well, he is just persistent. xD and he loves to take things out of context, because Su didn’t date Taeyeon earlier for you, Teukie! ><

In which I am conflicted because idk if I should do Jaejoong/Yoona or stick to Jaejoong/Tiffany because Changmin/Yoona can also be done and- I just. The possibilities. ;A; And also in which I didn’t plan the timeline right (because what the hell, Jonghyun was supposed to be in here already) and things/events will seemed rushed if you think about it chronologically, but lets all just go with it <3

BYE LOVELIES, UNTIL NEXT TIME. ;D