Woozi looked towards Baekho, his mouth hanging open in in surprise.

Baekho was an idiot. A stupid, love-struck idiot. He undermined everything that NU’EST had done by revealing that there was no traitor. He basically put his group in a difficult situation, and he did it all for Woozi. Since when did Woozi mean more to Baekho than his own members?

Woozi had texted Baekho after Minhyun posted the riddle, saying that he wanted to cooperate in exchange that they only target S.Coups from the members of Seventeen, and that they not reveal the truth about Adore U. Woozi had promised to provide some photos and more truths he knew about S.Coups.

“You are very good at betrayal, aren’t you?” Baekho asked Woozi, crossing his arms. “First you betrayed me by sleeping with that Soonyoung guy, and then Seungcheol by telling us about the affair.”

“I had my reasons for doing both,” Woozi replied, “as you did by betraying your members like this.”

Baekho looked amused, “I didn’t betray them. I told them straight out that if they did anything to compromise you, I’m out. They betrayed me, if anything. They posted that thing revealing that there was a traitor without my consent. I was so angry because I knew you’d be under suspicion and that everything was on the line for you. My members thought I was being an idiot, that I’m too deluded by my love for you.”

“Well they’re not wrong,” Woozi frowned.

Baekho smiled and reached out to caress Woozi’s face, which Woozi pushed away immediately.

“No, Baekho. You know I’m over you.”

Baekho nodded, looking slightly sad. “Is it Hoshi now?”

“No. That was over ages ago,” Woozi replied.

“It’s a shame. He’s kinda cute, and he suits you, I think.”

Woozi narrowed his eyes.

“Why did you guys stop going out?” Baekho asked.

“We were never going out to begin with,” Woozi replied. He didn’t know why he was defending himself or explaining that to Baekho. Somehow, he felt like he owed it to him. “It was just for ,” Woozi sheepishly admitted, “and we stopped because S.Coups found out.”

Baekho curiously turned to Woozi and asked: “is that why you dislike Seungcheol?”

“Who says I dislike him?”

“You ruined his career,” Baekho pointed out.

“Wrong. I helped you and your members ruin his career. You were going to do it anyways, and so I figured why not use that to make sure you don’t ruin mine or other members’.”

“What made you so sure that we wouldn’t use your betrayal against you.”

“Because I had faith in you,” Woozi explained, “I knew you still had feelings for me, and so I knew you wouldn’t let netizens destroy me by telling them about my betrayal.”

“And you were right,” Baekho replied with a small smile.

“And you’re an idiot,” Woozi crossed his arms, “you had me in the palm of your hand and now you don’t anymore. As soon as that apology video is released, everyone will hate NU’EST for lying and harassing their hoobaes. Seventeen will be the innocent band members that were caught up with NU’EST’s desire for revenge against the company. Seventeen will rise again, and NU’EST’s name will go down in the dumps. All because of you.”

“I think it’s worth it,” Baekho shrugged, “at least now you don’t hate me.”

“I do,” Woozi claimed with his arms crossed.

“If you hated me, you wouldn’t be telling me all of this,” Baekho replied with a grin, “and you would have laughed at me for doing all of this for you. But you’re not. If anything, you seem angry at me. Why are you angry?”

Woozi had not noticed, but he was angry. He was so angry at Baekho’s idiotic unrequited love that put both him and s and NU’EST in a horrible position. He was angry that Baekho was stupid enough to let something like this even happen. Woozi was also angry at himself for not knowing why he was angry. Why did it matter that Baekho compromised himself? Why did it matter to Woozi so much? It all worked out for Woozi in the end after all.

Could it be that I care for him?

After a moment’s hesitation, Baekho opened his mouth and began to sing:

I feel weird, I’m not talking as much.
My friends are all worried,
My heart races only when I’m in front of you.
So I’m sorry about my clumsy actions.
So what I mean is, I want to know all of you.
I’ll sing about you, U Hoo, I’ll sing about you, U Hoo.
Even if my lips are dry, I need to say this baby.
I adore you, I adore you, enough to get dizzy.

The familiar lyrics seeped out of Baekho’s mouth effortlessly, his tenor voice complimenting the song well. It’s been almost too long since Baekho had sung to Woozi, and hearing it again triggered a wave of memories from their past.

Who am I kidding? I miss him. Woozi thought as he looked at the floor and listened to the song being dedicated to him.

Woozi didn’t pull away when Baekho stepped forward and reached out to caress his face, still singing. Woozi hesitantly made eye contact with Baekho, who had a bright smile on his face as he sang the words.

“What are you doing?” Woozi asked, interrupting Baekho’s song.

“Charming you,” Baekho replied, his fingers still ghosting over Woozi’s cheeks in a gentle caress.

“It’s not working,” Woozi lied.

Baekho’s hand fell from Woozi’s cheek to his neck, and Baekho slowly brought their faces closer. Woozi did not understand why he was allowing Baekho all of this intimacy. Why was he letting it happen? Why was it so hard to turn his face?

“Can I kiss you?” Baekho asked when their foreheads were together.

Woozi did not answer, because he did not know the answer. His braim screamed no, but everything else inside of him wanted otherwise. Baekho did not wait for the answer either and tenderly brought their lips together.

Before long, Woozi had his arms around Baekho’s neck and was returning the kiss as passionately as he had two years ago. It was an adrenaline rush, a rush of excitement that Woozi had forgotten he was able to feel.

The kiss was interrupted with the sound of his phone ringing. Conveniently, Woozi’s ringtone was the chorus of Adore U. Baekho gently pulled away (much to Woozi’s displeasure), and smiled.

Woozi blushed foolishly as his arms disentangled themselves from around Baekho’s neck. He shuffled them clumsily into his pockets to get his phone.

It was Junghan calling to ask where he was. Woozi had to come up with an excuse on the spot as to why he stayed behind. "Diarrhea" was the one he gave, and Junghan appeared to believe it.

Woozi had to take a bus back immediately. He apologized to Baekho, promising to be back later. He couldn’t keep Junghan waiting or else suspicion would arise.

“I love you,” Baekho told Woozi before he left.

Woozi blushed, and then reluctantly replied, “I think I love you too.”

On the bus back, Woozi reflected on what had happened. Baekho had charmed him. Woozi was under Baekho’s spell, and if this was a trick, he had fallen for it hard.

Woozi took a moment to consider the possibility that this was all a setup… was Baekho just pretending? Was this all a scheme to get Woozi at the palm of his hands?

No matter how suspicious Woozi got, he could not help smiling sheepishly at the memory of the kiss. He could not help looking forward to meeting Baekho again. He could not help how his heart beat at the thought of him.

The brain, Woozi concluded, has absolutely no control of the heart.

A/N: i have writer's block for this story ahhh.

i hope you enjoyed this chapter though :) any predictions as to what will happen?