Boys.

Boys, boys, boys.

Boys were cool.

Boys were funny.

Boys were eloquent.

Boys were good company.

I had never shut myself out on the attraction of boys. I had kept my mind open to the idea of admiring someone from the opposite . I was human after all. And surrounded by these charming species, I had eyes so I used them.

Boys were cute.

But if there was something that I did shut myself out on, it was the idea of dating them.

I just didn’t have the heart to give them the love, and the care, and the attention they desired from me. I was always ten steps away emotionally. I couldn’t be like the other girls who were all over their boyfriends, acting like the world had come to an end every time they would break up with them.

Never was I broken up with; I was the one to break up.

But even so, I would probably be opening the door for them when they would be leaving.

Just like alcohol and crowded places, boys weren’t my thing.

I had never pictured myself living the rest of my life in a home full of my chidlren with a husband.

And it took me long enough to accept that this was really who I am.

It took me seven boyfriends, seven male heartbreaks, and a thousand of texts that said “Mina please take me back” or “Mina I still love you” or “Mina I can’t get over you”.

I realized I didn’t like to be more than friends with these tall, mighty, muscular characters who would occasionally approach me for a drink or two.

I tried.

Since it was the normal thing to do, I really tried.

But it would always wound up becoming pretense love stories and I wasn’t fond of that.

I preferred to just be friends with them.

Not boyfriends, but boy friends.

There was space.

We were at the MNet studios waiting for our turn to record our comeback stage, and coincidentally we had another popular name with us that day.

“Annyeonghaseyo!” A group of good-looking men bowed to us a few feet away.

Space.

“Annyeonghaseyo, sunbaenim!” We greeted in return.

Weeks ago we had been informed that we would be having our promotions along with other big names in the industry. It was going to be a big summer K-pop party with us, GFriend, Red Velvet, and YG’s Pink Punk.

And prior to us making our comeback, one boy group had already made theirs a week early.

Or should I say man group?

IKON was there in our waiting room. They had dropped by after hearing we were around and wished us well on our comeback stage.

“Good luck on your performance today, noonas!” Their maknae Chanwoo said. “Your album is really good. It’s probably your best yet!”

We thanked them for the kind words.

“I’m really looking forward on promoting with you just like old times, but,” Bobby followed a chortle. “Don’t knock us off our number one place, okay?”

We laughed. “Oppa! But we already did! All-kill!”

“Aish,” Bobby shook his head laughing as well. “It’s really hard competing with the Nation’s Girl Group, am I right?”

TWICE and IKON had become really close over the years.

We debuted around the same year and would often cross each other’s paths at music shows and award shows. And as our bosses were also really good friends, we were bound to form a friendship of the same bond. 

It was a casual thing for us to sit around in each other’s waiting rooms.

Also, the dating rumors were getting really quite old and still none of them were true.

Except for one though.

“Hyung,” Junhoe said to Bobby. “Where’s Hanbin? I thought he wanted to come here with us.”

“Yeah,” Bobby replied, glancing at the door behind. “I wonder where he is.”

None of the girls reacted on Junhoe’s question. None of them asked further questions.

Momo was next to me, clutching my arm, and smiled at me from the mention of his name.

Hanbin.

The girls knew about Hanbin and I.

Everyone knew about Hanbin and I. Everyone.

For a while, we were like the Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez of the K-pop world.

And I don’t mean it figuratively, but literally.

Our names would constantly be in news sites, gossip sites, heard on the radio, be referred to in shows—we were everywhere.

Paparazzi followed us anywhere went. It could’ve gotten worse if our fans didn’t accept our relationship, but they did.

It confused me that they were so happy a