It was your turn to go back on stage. Xiumin squeezed your hand to give you encouragement. That, you were most certainly going to need. Xiumin just didn’t know how much exactly. The staff signed you to step on the stage, so you gave a quick smile to your boyfriend, and then left him behind the cameras. IKON was already waiting on their place and you stopped beside them. You could feel Hanbin’s gaze on your face. It made you feel very uncomfortable and your palms started to sweat and shake from the nervousness.

Mark stood beside you, Taemin on his other side. The boys looked at you worriedly from which you were grateful for. It’s just that, you knew this situation couldn’t be helped, you were going to have to talk to Hanbin, and pretend that you liked it. The cameras , and Mark started by giving the greeting to the nation.

“Next, we will have a very special interview with a group that has just made their comeback, welcome IKON,” Taemin said with a grin, a fake one may you add, on his face. You turned to Hanbin, the leader of IKON. Of course he had to be the leader, it would have been too easy if he hadn’t. Your hands were shaking but you kept your smile as you opened your mouth. You could not look directly to his eyes but you knew he was looking at you. Looking at you, while almost making holes to your face. It was that intensive.

“So how does it feel now that you have made a comeback after so long? How are your lives now?” you asked nervously from him. You finally raised your eyes and he was staring at you. You were quite taken aback from his actions. He was smiling, or more like smirking at you, which made your heart beat faster. No, it was not because you liked him, but because you knew he was going to do something you wouldn’t like. He seemed so determined, it made you scared like crazy. You stole a glance of Xiumin, somehow he did not seem as happy as he had been just a minute ago. He must have realised that something was going on.

“Thank you for asking Hana, I mean Hana-ssi,” everyone had heard his “mistake” and you heard a few gasps from the audience. He winked at you, which fortunately wasn’t caught on camera. But it didn’t stop Xiumin from seeing it. He looked like he would like to run to you, and make you stay away from Hanbin. And that was exactly what you wished, but it was not possible. You looked at Xiumin and gave him a comforting smile. He had a worried look on his face, but he stayed on the spot and kept looking at you.

You turned back to B.I. and raised your eyebrows. Being called “comfortably” instead of the formal form was not that big of a deal to you, being a foreigner, but you knew that it was a very serious thing here, in Korea. And the fact that it was Hanbin that had called you with your name, was of course uncomfortable. But he kept going, like nothing had happened.

“We are doing well. Of course after the comeback it has been even more busy, so there is much less time to see our families. That’s why I am grateful that these guys are with me,” he said and his bandmates nodded their heads. Even they looked quite shocked of what had happened just a few seconds ago. Guess he hadn’t told about you, to them either, with exception of Bobby, he was the only one that knew about your “thing” with Hanbin.

“It must be hard. How about the good sides?” you asked, playing like there was nothing wrong here. He seemed content that you hadn’t stopped because of his “slip”. However, he could feel the irritation coming from you, and that made him smirk. Reaction, is always a reaction. Everyone knows that hate is easily turned to love. But you were not going to give him a chance to do that.

“Well of course our lovely fans are the first one. It is amazing how much they support us during our journey. And we are very thankful. Saranghaeyo!” he shouted. You had to admit that he was good with making people feel appreciated. That was what had happened with you, until all of it had turned out to be lies.

“Last question, how are you going to continue your career? Are there any big tours coming up?” you asked. You were almost finished. Then you would never have to talk to him again. Okay, maybe not never but for a long time, at least you hoped.

Hanbin leaned closer to you and slid his hand along your arm, lingering on your palm. You felt like the whole world around you was watching you. The faces on everyone around you were shocked. Mark stiffened beside you, glared at Hanbin and shifted uncomfortably. He looked like, he was ready to jump on B.I. As well as Taemin. You did not even dare to look at your boyfriend.

Hanbin his lips and then answered.

“Well obviously, we are hoping to gain more fans. And sorry, for being too comfortable with you. I just want to show how close I want to be with our lovely fans. You are surely one of them?” he asked with a sly smile. You nodded carefully and thanked him from the interview.

It was finally over. The cameras were turned off, and IKON bowed and thanked everyone. It seemed like his excuse about touching you had been convincing enough since everyone seemed to act normally. Everyone but you, Mark, Taemin and of course Xiumin. After you had woken up from your trance you walked to your boyfriend. He had a dark expression on his face, signalling his anger and jealousy. He grabbed your hand and started to lead you somewhere. Mark and Taemin stood behind with worried expressions. It was enough to tell you that it was time to explain all of this to Xiumin. He deserved to know. You were just afraid of how he would react. And you didn’t want to cause hatred in him towards IKON, not even Hanbin, but you had to tell him.

He took you back to the dressing room. The flowers he had brought, still lay on the table looking as bright and beautiful as before. You couldn’t say the same about Xiumin. His face was very perplexed as he looked at you. His anger had seemed to have calmed down, but it was replaced by pure worry and sadness. He grabbed your hand gently and led you to the couch. You both sat down and stared at each other before either of you had the courage to open your mouths.

“Could… Could you tell me what’s going on? Why did he do that? Do you know each other already or?” he asked with a careful voice. You hands started to tremble as the tears dropped slowly from your eyes. They felt hot on your blushed cheeks. You didn’t deserve Xiumin. He was was too good for you. You breathing started to quicken because of the panic you were feeling. He was not even angry at you, he just looked so confused and lost that it made you feel even worse. He wrapped his arms around you, allowing your head to lean on his chest. His hands were caressing your back with calming effect. Your breathing was slowing down and the tears had stopped, at least for awhile. “What’s wrong jagi?”

With that little word, he made your heart beat faster, and a small smile to spread on your face. You grabbed his hand and looked down. You were staring at your legs so that you could avoid looking at him. You were determined to tell everything to him, but it didn’t make it any less scary. He squeezed your hand gently, and put a lock of your hair behind your ear. You felt like something was in throat so you coughed a couple of times before the beginning of your story.

You calmed yourself down and stared at Xiumin, directly from eye to eye. And then you started.

“When I was a trainee, I met Hanbin through a friend. We became friends quickly because our worlds were the same, he helped me train because he is a rapper too, and he gave me advices of how to be a good leader. Both of us were so outgoing and made everyone around us shine. I was like that then. And then we fell in love. At least I thought we did. At least I though I did. He, well, I am not so sure about. But I felt this huge connection between us, and he seemed like he did too. So of course, I thought we were dating. We even acted like a couple even though it was never confirmed. I guess I should have been more careful with that,” you explained. You could see Xiumin’s face getting irritated and jealous. Especially on the part where you talked about love. But you had to finish your story, no matter how bad it felt. You were really afraid of your boyfriend’s reaction, and whether you could still call him as your boyfriend after the story ends.

“Anyway, after awhile he started to be really busy. He never picked up my calls, he never texted me back. So then I went to find him. And when I did, I told him about my feelings. I wanted to know why he had been acting so differently lately, so I asked him. And he looked at me like I was a crazy kid, and laughed. He said that he would not have time for me anymore, that he needed someone who was “the same level” than him, someone that could understand what he was going through, not someone like me that could not even debut. He said that he didn’t want us to be together, and that after that day we should act like we didn’t know each other. The worst thing was, not long after he did all this, he appeared dating a girl that had just debuted as an actress. And they said that he had been dating her for some time, which means that he was with her already when we were “together”. So with that, he broke my heart. He hurt me like no one had ever before, I decided it was best to give up on love after all that happened. I felt like I could never be properly happy again. Not until I met you,” the tears had started to fall on your face again. You waited Xiumin’s reaction horrified. You almost felt like you could throw up because of the nauseating feeling the waiting had caused.

Suddenly you felt him pulling you against him. His lips lingering on your ear, his hot palms on your back. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop it,” he said. His voice sounded almost like he was crying too. You felt like you had hit a wall. He was sorry? What for? He was the one who saved you, there was nothing to be apologising for. It should be you who is saying sorry. “I am sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier. I was afraid of your reaction. I hope you don’t hate me after this,” you said sobbing. He reached to your face with his hands and dried the tears on your face. He smiled and whispered quitely. “I should have found you earlier.” You were not sure if it was meant for you to hear but it made you happier. Maybe Xiumin would be able to forgive you.

Xiumin stared at your reddened and puffy eyes and leaned closer. Soon his lips were touching yours. They felt warm like sun, like fire. Happiness spread all over you as you kissed him back, your arms around his neck. He leaned even closer and made you fall on the couch, you back touching the soft pillows. Your heart was beating even faster and you wrapped your legs around his waist. It felt like you stayed an eternity in this position, was it minutes, hours, or years, you did not know. And it didn’t matter either.

Finally, you were able to tear yourself away from him. Both of you had a trouble breathing put you kept your faces close to each other. “I really, really like you. And I will protect you from now on. I won’t let him get near you, ever,” Xiumin promised and made you smile. You pressed your lips against his for quick kiss and then positioned yourself on his lap.

“Thank you oppa. I really, really like you too,” you said with a smile.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  One more chapter for you guys, this chapter was written basically all by the adorable Lintz2.  I hope that all of you enjoy just like I did. And about the next one  I don't know when it will be up, I hope that will be next week, because life in general it's been a little crazy these days, and to make things better I am suffering of writer's block at the moment, but I hope that will pass soon. Thanks for the ones that are supporting the fic, and please continue to leave comments, subscribe and upvoting. I wish you all a great week. :)