L tossed and turned all night in bed.

He couldn't close his eyes for a second without having the scene of Chunji and Jaekyung happily cooking together in the kitchen flash in his mind.

Whenever he thought about how close the two were, his heart would cringe involuntarily. He found it hard to breathe, he found it hard to stay emotionless although that has always been his forte.

He couldn't think straight anymore. What the hell was wrong with him?

L cursed as he sat up on bed. He had given up the idea of sleeping entirely, since he knew it was a faraway dream. He had a lot of thinking to do.

He got out of bed, careful not to wake the Dongwoo who was sharing the same room as he was. He went to the kitchen to get himself a drink, only to hear some strange noises. He frowned and got up to their attic, scaring the wits out of Sungyeol.

"WUUAAHHH!!" The Choding yelled, clutching his chest. "Are you trying to kill me, L?"

"Shh." L rolled his eyes at him as he sat down. "Are you trying to wake everyone else up? What are you doing up here in the middle of the night anyway?" he eyed Sungyeol critically. Sungyeol smiled sheepishly as he held out a camrecorder. "I was trying to practice my love confession to Krystal." he rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning pink.

L nearly laughed. To think his hyung was rapidly falling in love witha  girl they just met a few days ago.

He would have teased his best friend if not for the fact that he was still hung up over seeing Chunji and Jaekyung wear the couple bands together. He let out a sigh and bit his lip. Sungyeol frowned. "What's up with you?" he asked. "Why aren't you asleep? Something bothering you?"

L lowered his gaze. "I guess..." he sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me. He's her best friend, it makes sense that they share a friendship band right? But the band can also be taken as a couple band! And from what I see he likes her, just that she's too dense to see it even though the fact's practically shouting in her face-"

"Wait wait wait..." Sungyeol blinked. "Who are you talking about?"

L met Sungyeol's eyes and twisted his lips wistfully. "Jaekyung. I saw her wearing the couple band together with her Chunji Oppa." he said, his voice laced with envy.

Sungyeol raised his brows. "You...You're bothered by that? That's why you can't sleep?" he questioned in surprise. "But that shouldn't bother you! The bands can be shared between friends too! You and I can wear the bands and no one would say we're gay! It just means we're good friends!"

L bit his lip. "I know... I just.." the pained expression on his face appeared again. Sungyeol gasped. "Oh my god L." he narrowed his eyes at his dongsaeng. "Do you....although I really hope not, But do you..like ...love Jaekyung?"

L looked at Sungyeol stunned. "What are you talking about?" he blurted. "How can I love her? She's not triple powered!" he protested.

Sungyeol puffed his cheeks in annoyance. "Yes I know." he frowned. "But if you see things the way I see, you've changed L. I saw the way the two of you interact, you don't smile when you're around girls, L. You don't laugh. You don't fix their bangs for them. You don't curl their hair behind their ears. You become exceptionally gentle and attentive when it comes to Jaekyung and you practically ignore the f(x) girls when they're equally attractive." he stated. He pondered for a while. "Maybe except for Krystal. She's the most stunning." he muttered.

L ignored the last part. "I'm the closest to her after all. We've worked together for some time..." he defended.

"But I don't see you doing that to your other female collegues." Sungyeol argued. The frown on his face was getting deeper by the second as things started to get clearer to him. "You're getting so paranoid about Jaekyung and her best friend. So what if her best friend loves her? It shouldn't bother you unless you feel something for her too! And you didn't want to tell her about the real deal between you and Jihyun because you're afraid she'll do something that will result in Jihyun hurting her. You place her with more importance than even your own pride! You're definitely feeling something for her L!"

L gulped. His eyebrows twitched. *I feel something for her? But..* "I met so many women on those dates and I don't fall for them?" L growled, burying his face in his hands. "And I fall for Jaekyung. This sounds ridiculous."

"Not really." Sungyeol replied gently. He could see his best friend going through a turmoil. It was really difficult for L to love, it was difficult for that ice man to even warm up to anyone. And when he does, he falls for someone he shouldn't. What's worse than that?

"You can't stop love, L." Sungyeol told him wisely. "You can't choose to fall for a single, double, or triple powered woman. You can choose who to fall for. Because it's cupid that comes knocking at your door. Since Cupid already knocked on yours, you've got to do something about it."

"What?" L asked, feeling depressed. He was starting to see what Sungyeol was getting at. His feelings were always so tightly bonded to Jaekyung. What she did and how she felt could change his own feelings in a flash.

He already knew that she meant something to him, but he always thought it was just some brotherly instincts in him that was waiting to be unleashed.

But now it seems like something more. Something so much more.

Sungyeol met L's eyes. "If you can love her, you can forget about her." Sungyeol said harshly. "It isn't that you can't fall in love, L. But you fell for the wrong person. She can't help you get out of this marriage, L, and worse, if Jihyun finds that you've fallen for Jaekyung, you'll be banished from this land. We can't lose you, L. Infinite is always seven. Don't give up your life here just because of Jaekyung. Just...forget about her. Please."

L bit his lip. *Forget about her? Is it even possible?*




Jaekyung skipped into the office feeling happy. She recalled Chunji's face when she gave him the other friendship band. It was priceless.

"You mean you really want to give it to me?" Chunji yelped, his eyes shining.

Jaekyung nodded. "Yeah. You're my best friend aren't you? Woohyun oppa said I should give it to someone special and I guess my best friend counts as someone like that."

"KYAAAAAHHH Thank you KYUNGGIEEEEE~~~" Chunji embraced her, knocking all the air out of her lungs.

She had heard him mumbling about "first couple bands" and "first step to happiness". She told him a million times it was FRIENDSHIP bands not COUPLE bands, but Chunji still looked happy. Oh well~

She was surprised when she saw that her office only had one table left. L's table was gone. She frowned.

"Manager Kim!" she yelped as she ran to find her supervisor. "Where's Myungsoo Oppa's table? It's gone! How will he work now?"

Manager Kim frowned. "You don't know?" she gasped. "L requested for a demotion. Why he wanted it was beyond me. He's being transferred to the printing department instead. Why he wanted to do all those manual work instead of here, I can't understand. But I guess we should respect his decision, shouldn't we?"

Jaekyung's face was devoid of all colours now. *Transferred? But...why?*

She turned to go, her lips trembling. "And he didn't even tell me about it." she whispered.