“Hyung,”

“Hmm?”

“Do you want me to find you another babysitter?”

Junmyeon looked at his friend, bewildered. “Why? Is there any problem with Jae In?”

Chanyeol answered with a sigh. “The problem is with you hyung. I saw everything clearly on Jinnie’s first birthday dinner.”

It had been the smallest first birthday party for the little girl. Jae In baked a cake and many more sweets, and the only one Junmyeon had invited over was his one and only close friend Chanyeol. And during the dinner, his sharp eyes had noticed every single movement of his friend.

“You’re way too transparent hyung. I bet even the girl already knows that you have a thing for her.”

“What thing! Stop being ridiculous Chanyeol!” Junmyeon snapped at him.

“You’re the one who’s being ridiculous hyung! Listen to me. You have two options now. Just choose one. Either forget the fact that she’s already taken and confess your feelings to her, and get the girl to break up with that trainee and come to you. Or else fire her and get a new babysitter if you can’t bring yourself to get over her! You were like a high school kid in front of his first ever crush hyung! Aimlessly glancing at her the entire time... I bet even Jinnie can notice your crush for her nanny.”

The older male sighed, dropping the pen on the opened folder on his desk and gripping at his own hair.

“If my Jinkyung grows up one day, and falls for a married man with a child, would you think I will allow that?”

“I’m seriously done with that stupid rational self of yours Junmyeon.”

“She’s someone’s precious daughter Chanyeol! Her parents brought her up with countless dreams and hopes about her. And what do you think even the girl has in mind? She’s probably dreaming about getting together with that dashing boyfriend of hers one day after he becomes successful. That’s the sole reason she’s working to no end and trying her best.”

He continued after another heavy sigh. “And what am I? A man who’s left alone with a child, who doesn’t have enough money to by his own house and still lives in a leased apartment, can do nothing for her more than paying her a monthly wage and supplying a few meals. And above all...she’s still a kid Chanyeol...she’s nine years younger than me!”

“You know what...? None of your excuses sound convincing enough to me.”

Chanyeol stared at Junmyeon in silence, for a moment. “Just confess to her hyung. You still don’t realize that you’re in love with her do you?” he pointed a finger at the bank clerk’s black rimmed reading glasses.

“You’re tearing up under those glasses. I can see everything hyung.”

~ ~ ~ ~

“Jongin I didn’t mean to disturb you! Since it’s my day off and you’ll be practicing all day long in that practice room, I thought a homemade lunch would strengthen you up! You’re always eating from restaurants so I how can I eat a proper homemade meal all by myself?”

The girl stared at her boyfriend, who was rubbing his temples while shuffling on his feet impatiently before her. “Still did you really have to call me out while I was practicing? Jae In we were in the middle of a serious discussion about our debut teasers! Do you even know what a debut teaser is?”

She bit her lip, frustrated and guilty. “You told me not to come into the agency building...that’s why I called you out. But if you told me that you were busy, I’d have gladly waited until that discussion was over.”

He stopped rubbing his temples and looked at her. “Jae In you really don’t understand this situation, do you?”

Confused, the girl shook her head. And he sighed, before continuing his words. “I’ll be debuting as a boy group member next month. And if you have enough common sense, you should understand that this industry is no place for personal affairs and romantic relationships.”

A brief silence followed his words.

“What do you mean Jongin?”

“What I mean is... if I get caught by paparazzi or fans for loitering around with some random girl, it’ll be the end of my career as soon as it begins! Do you want me to give up on everything after coming this far, after all the hard work I did for this?” he asked imploringly.

“Some random girl?”

Her eyes filled with tears staring into his unsteady gaze.

“Aish... it’s not what I tried to mean Moon Jae In...” he sighed. “I mean... idols are not supposed to have relationships with commoner girls. It’s not something I came up with. It’s the concept of most maniac fans. And do you want me to fall in trouble because of something like that? Haven’t you told me that your dream is to see me pursuing my dream?”

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“Are you... breaking up with me now?”

Jongin bent forward, holding the