Ever since Ji Eun started doubting that Zelo’s feelings for her boyfriend were beyond friendship, her slight disliking of the younger boy grew into burning hatred. A few days have passed but Zelo’s murdering glare was still fresh in her mind. She found excuses to stay out late with Yongguk right after dance practice and drop by every day at B.A.P.’s dorm. When she couldn’t keep him company, she would call him on repeat, often dialling his number after hanging up only seconds ago. For the past two days, neither Yongguk nor she had free time since their live performance was approaching and both of them had dance practice with their group members. Ji Eun was worn out with fear and worry. Yongguk hadn’t been returning her calls anymore, only responding by short text messages to her long and pleading ones. Now that she considered Zelo as a rival, she didn’t want to leave Yongguk with him for a second. Who knows what might happen?

The worst thing was that Zelo lived with him. And she didn’t.

Thankfully, Secret and B.A.P. will be performing “Coma” together. Even though she’ll only appear on stage to sing a few lines, the two groups shared the same waiting room and she decided to make most of the time spent with Yongguk and the rest of B.A.P. backstage. She glanced at the other members.

Hyosung was fawning over Himchan who was busy calling his mother. There was also Hana and Sunhwa giggling like stupid teenagers on the couch. Meanwhile, Jongup was engrossed in a plant set on the table and the DaeJae couple was nowhere to be seen. She pushed the door leading to the other room, sure to find Yongguk or Zelo but it was empty. However, the boys’ possessions were scattered on the floor and Ji Eun narrowed her eyes when she saw a small bottle filled with a clear substance on top of Daehyun’s coat. She also noticed that Youngjae’s coat was missing. She then caught a glimpse of a jacket threw carelessly over one of the chairs and picked it up, smiling.

‘How thoughtful. He brought the jacket that I forgot at his dorm.’

Her goofy smile dropped when she felt something hard in the pocket and pulled out a cellphone in a cute Tigger case.

‘Oh right. He has the same jacket as me.’

She was about to put the cellphone back in when it struck her.

This was Yongguk’s phone for personal use.

Which meant that she could see all his call history, text messages and hopefully, Line of Kakaotalk. So why not?

Ji Eun was glad that Yongguk didn’t have the habit of setting up a passcode. She slid her finger across the screen, wondering if she hadn’t gone too far as she heard the crisp “click” of her boyfriend’s smartphone being unlocked. It’s not like Yongguk would get mad if he found out, but she could never face him again.

She mindlessly scrolled through his contacts, growing guiltier by the second.

But when her eyes landed on the messages sent to a certain person, she knew that it was worth it. It was worth the guilt, the nervous knots in her stomach and the risk of being caught.

To Junhong-ah: come back, Zelo. did I do anything wrong?

To Junhong-ah: Zelo, where r u? u r not even at the skate park.

To Junhong-ah: Damn, u could’ve told me that u were locked up in your room. I can’t believe u actually sneaked back into the dorm while I was waiting for at the skate park.

To Junhong-ah: Jongup says he needs to get something personal in your room.

To Junhong-ah: Please come out, I’m sorry.

To Junhong-ah: It was all my fault, Junhong, forgive me.

Ji Eun huffed and shoved the cellphone back into Yongguks jacket. Her finger touched something cold and hard. She fished out the object of her curiosity, placing a hand over as she did so.

A ring of delicate silver shone brightly despite the dim lights in the room. The piece of jewellery was beyond beautiful and radiated a heart-warming, confortable feeling. The sparkling silver matched the sparks of hope in Ji Eun’s dark brown orbs.

She slid it religiously on her finger, expecting it to fit perfectly. She cursed under her breath as the ring refused to slide down any further.

‘Maybe Yongguk didn’t know my fingers were this fat? Then again, why would he buy an engagement ring for me without asking me?’

A large grin spread across her face.

‘How romantic. He didn’t want me to know he was going to propose to me.’

She wanted to pull off the ring and started panicking when it was stuck in the middle of her finger. Even after a few powerful yanks, the ring didn’t budge from her chubby digit. Hell, Yongguk could enter the room at any second.

She changed her mind when a certain young boy entered the room instead.

Zelo ignored her presence and bent down to fumble in his bag. Ji Eun was quietly seething at the only sight of the boy and knelt down beside him. She patted him on the shoulder, flashing him a bright but fake smile when he slowly turned around to face her.

“Zelo-ah, did Yongguk tell you already?” She smiled again, revealing rows of pearly, white teeth.

“What?” Zelo huffed, not before glowering at her.

Ji Eun waved her hand under his nose.

“Yongguk proposed to me,” she gushed. “Isn’t he so romantic?”

She studied Zelo’s reaction. The young boy’s eyes were empty and his lips pressed together into a thin line. “Congrats,” he muttered and picked up the pieces of clothing he needed, ready to leave the room. It was only when he stood up that he realized someone had been standing behind him and Ji Eun.

He met Yongguk’s dark eyes and turned away.

“Zelo, it’s not what you think-” Yongguk started but Zelo brushed past him without sparing him another glance.

Yongguk let out a long, tired sigh. Ji Eun wrapped him tight in a back hug, hiding that stupid triumphant smile of hers into Yongguk’s neck.

“Gukkie, I’m sorry. I kind of ruined the surprise. But I couldn’t be happier that you proposed to me.”

Before Yongguk could explain himself, a pair of hands forced Ji Eun’s apart from his waist, making her stumble back a few steps. An angry Himchan covered in sweat, pins sticking out of his hair and shirt ed, pointed an accusing finger at Ji Eun.

“You took it!”

Ji Eun looked puzzled. “What?”

“I was looking everywhere for the ring I purchased at Tiffany’s for my mother,” Himchan paused to smile proudly. “You know how much I love her.”

Ji Eun was silent, her euphoric expression slowly crumbling.

“I don’t know where you found it, but give it back to me now!”

Himchan proceeded to tug at the ring still stuck on Ji Eun’s finger. Ji Eun squealed at the pain of Himchan’s rather sharp fingernails scraping her skin and pushed him away, only to have her finger tugged harder at. Yongguk decided it was about time to interfere.

“Calm down, Channie. I’ll help Ji Eun get the ring off. Get yourself ready for stage. Your face is dripping with sweat and your clothes are a complete mess.”

“Do it gently, to make sure she wouldn’t be putting a ring on you next time,” Himchan smirked.

Yongguk scrunched his nose in disgust at the mental image, wishing he didn’t know what Himchan was referring to.

Zelo’s world was a blur as he stormed towards the washroom. He needed a place to retreat, to smooth things out. He needed to get away from Yongguk.

He had no rational reason to hate Yongguk for what he had done. They were very close, but not enough to pry into each other’s love relationships. Zelo didn’t know why he was doing this. Throwing fits like a little brat and running away wouldn’t solve anything. He had to admit it, Ji Eun was pretty. And not as dumb as Hyosung or the others. She could easily get all the men she wanted, so why Yongguk? Why his hyung? Why was she the one Yongguk takes out on romantic dinners, the one receiving a silver engagement ring and the one to lovingly lean her head on his hyung’s shoulder and whisper sweet nothing into his ear? This wasn’t right. He also hated himself for hping that Ji Eun and Yongguk weren’t meant for each other in the first place instead of wishing them happiness.

But again, he wasn’t doing anything wrong by liking Yongguk.

Or was he?

Why couldn’t he like Yongguk?

He pushed open the bathroom door and froze to the spot.

Youngjae was leaning over the sink, his milky thighs pressed against the cold marble counter and back arched as Daehyun into him.

“D-Dae, faster. We don’t have much time left.”

“Anything for you, babe.” Daehyun grunted. He pulled out of Youngjae and slammed back in, earning a rather loud moan from the younger’s lips.

Zelo sighed and closed the door behind him before his reflection could be caught in the bathroom mirror.

No, it wasn’t the first time he saw his hyungs, Daehyun and Youngjae going at it.

Ji Eun was a crying, hysterical mess. Yongguk checked the clock. He had less than 30 minutes left to find Zelo. He slipped out of the room, avoiding the cordi-noonas on his way. Yongguk headed straight to the washroom, figuring Zelo would most likely be hiding there. Sinfully loud moans seeped through the door cracks. Yongguk frowned before a dirty thought flashed across his mind.

‘If Zelo’s in here, then … no, I must not think about that kind of things!’

He chased away any mental images of a young boy panting heavily and shaken by waves of pleasure.

Yongguk opened the door and immediately closed it behind him.

He really didn’t need to see Daehyun and Youngjae both coming down from their highs. Thick, white was trickling down the marble counter and the inside of Youngjae’s thighs. “Aish, these two, I swear,” Yongguk mumbled.

He felt a tight grip on his arm and mentally groaned. He really didn’t need an over enthusiast Himchan to intercept him. Not when Zelo was probably fuming and ready to permanently ignore him.

“Gukkie! How’s my hair? And my make up? Do I look perfect?”

Yongguk rolled his eyes and shot him a thumbs up. “Channie, you know you always look perfect.”

“Good!” Himchan beamed, patting his raven black hair one last time. “Now come with me!” He took Yongguk’s hand in his and all but dragged him to the principal waiting room.

“Where’s the others?” Yongguk inquired.

Himchan only shrugged. “We’ll all meet here in 20 min anyways. We two need to do a quick partner interview.” Yongguk reluctantly followed him. He let Himchan do all the talking and mindlessly answered a few questions. He couldn’t wait to get this performance over with. For some reason, he didn’t want Zelo to be mad at him because of Ji Eun, almost like she wasn’t worth it.

Yongguk was emotionally drained when he stepped on stage, Himchan tagging closely behind him. Yongguk furrowed his eyebrows when he saw Zelo sharing unusual skinship with Youngjae. The fans roared from anticipation. They held back a breath when the taller boy leaned in to kiss Youngjae on the cheek. Then came an outburst of screams and chants of the OTP. “JAELO! JAELO! JAELO!”

Yongguk clenched his fists and was about to march over to the acclaimed couple, but Daehyun was a step ahead of him and situated himself between Youngjae and Zelo, wrapping an arm possessively around his boyfriend’s waist. “Daehyun oppa, are you jealous?” shouted some fans seated in the front row. Daehyun only smiled wearily at them, too tired to say anything. Besides, he needed to save his stamina (or whatever was left of it) for singing. Youngjae leaned against his boyfriend’s toned body for support, legs slightly wobbly. During all this chaos, Jongup stood there smiling sweetly, not budging from his spot on the stage. Yongguk decided it would be a better idea if he talked to Zelo alone, after the performance.

“Not in front of these idiots.”

The speaker announced the first song they would be performing, “One Shot”, which earned deafening cheers from the fans. Yongguk’s voice hit lower octaves than usual, as frustration was taking over him. Zelo completely messed up the choreography, switching spots with other members when necessary to make sure he was never close to Yongguk. This had Youngjae and Daehyun utterly confused, even more exhausted than they already were. Except for Jongup whose danse steps were still impeccable, everyone was glad to go backstage. They barely had finished changing into black suits and white ties when they were called out again to perform “Coma”.

Ji Eun stepped out on stage with them, clad in a creamy white satin dress, her wavy brown hair tied into a bun on top of her head.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it.”

The spotlight cast over her tall, lanky figure and she stepped forward, perched dangerously on needle heels she didn’t need to accentuate her height.

“I can only look at you like this.”

Her strong, angelic voice was soon replaced by Zelo’s fast LTE rap.

“You not being here, not being by my side. My heart stops, it’s the same as being dead.”

Yongguk was completely absorbed in Zelo’s rap, eyes lowered to the ground, when he was interrupted by a high-pitch scream. He raised his head, just in time to see Ji Eun trip over the edge of the stage, Zelo standing behind her.

A/N So yeah, here’s the even longer chapter I’ve promised you! Thank you to those who subscribed, up voted and commented this fic! You’re the sweetest readers ever, although I wish you wouldn’t be so silent >.< Haha, leave a lot of comments! We really enjoy reading them.