"Do you want to talk about it?" Jae asks, and Brian just smiles.

"Not really," he says, honestly,

"But just being able to admit that something's wrong feels pretty good."

Jae gives him an understanding nod before saying,

"You shouldn't do that, though." and Brian looks at him,

"You know, keep it all bottled up inside you. Release it somehow, I'm not saying to tell me everything right now, I'm just saying, you don't have to face things alone." 

But you have. You've dealt with losing Younghyun alone, being left alone by me. God, I don't even know if I properly said goodbye to you. 

"Maybe I'll write a song," Brian decides to muse along given the situation.

Jae smiles and says,

"I'll be sitting right here watching you perform it once it's written, then." 

The two go on to watch the rest of the performances, but Jae leaves first, telling Brian he has to meet up with Wonpil, but in reality he just doesn't want to deal with the awkward feeling which is hindering him from enjoying the show.

Brian is kind of thankful that he's left alone, giving him time to think by himself without the biggest form of distraction right beside him. The live music only acts as background noise as he's rethinking everything. 

He goes home to Minri, but he doesn't sleep right away like he usually does; mainly to avoid uncomfortable conversation. 

"Oh" Minri says, kind of surprised as she's getting ready to sleep,

"You're gonna play?"

Brian has his guitar in his hands, a blank score infront of him,

"Oh, sorry it's late, isn't it? Never mind-" and he goes to put it back on it's stand,

"No, play!" Minri says, excitedly with a beautiful smile on her face.

"It's been a while since I've heard you," she says fondly and Brian just smiles.

"Play me something to sleep?" Minri asks, as she practically runs to their bed, and gets under the covers. Brian just laughs lightly, and clears his throat before asking,

"Any requests?" 

"Anything. I just want to hear your voice," she replies, resting her head on the pillow as she gets comfortable underneath the blankets. 

Brian thinks for a while, but soon enough, the sound of his guitar fills their dimly lit room.

Please don't see just a boy caught up in dreams and fantasies

Please see me reaching out for someone I can't see

Take my hand, let's see where we wake up tomorrow

Brian's smooth voice, along with the soft strumming of the strings is what Minri falls asleep to, an unconscious smile on her face as she drifts into slumber. Brian waits till Minri's breathing becomes steady, before he stops singing. He moves out into the living room with his guitar and blank score, and sits on their couch. Brian decides to write a song, but not the lyrics just yet, just the melody for now.

He decides to go to bed once he's satisifed with his intro, and has a set chord progression. 

Brian quietly enters their room, trying not to wake Minri, and settles in bed. He lays beside her, staring. Brian lightly brushes the hair out of her face and plants a soft kiss on her forehead, like routine, and whispers a 'good night' and, for the first time in a while, he's not left awake staring at the ceiling.

The next day, Brian does the cafe and finds it odd that Jae doesn't stop by. Instead, Wonpil's there, talking to Sungjin as usual, his drink in his hand as Brian ever so often interrupts their conversation to get Sungjin to make an order.

It may be busy, but it feels quieter than usual, and Brian tells himself it's only because Jae's not at the counter distracting him. 

But, he can't really blame Jae for not coming. They were both completely sober, so they can't chuck Jae's actions up to the excuse of alcohol. The barista figures it's fine, and that Jae will probably get over it, and come back tomorrow. 

Brian just finishes serving a customer when his phone goes off,

Minri♡:  hey bri! just got off work, but i'm gonna run some errands. see you at home! 

Brian replies with an 'ok! :) ' and then goes back to work. 

Minri makes a quick stop at their apartment to change into more comfortable clothing. Minri is a teacher who deals with preschool kids, so she usually gets off a lot earlier than Brian. This is her first year in teaching, but she's good at dealing with the children. She slips on some white shorts and borrows Brian's denim button-up which is too big for her petite frame, but she likes it.

She's minding her own business, just shopping for some groceries, when she hears a,

"Hey," 

She turns to see the owner of the voice, and is greeted with a man, quite short and wide, in the nicest terms Minri could put it. He hadn't shaven in a while, and his sketchy appearance wasn't giving quite a comforting vibe.

"Hi," she replies, cautiously.

"You look beautiful," he comments.

It's just a compliment, she tells herself to calm herself down.

"Thank you," she says with an awkward, uncomfortable laugh accompanying it.

And then he gets a little too close for comfort. 

"You smell nice, too..." 

"U-Uh, thanks" she says, backing away, but he only gets closer.

This time he starts running a hand down her arm, and she flinches at his touch,

"I have a boyfriend," she warns. 

"I don't see him," the man replies, and continues on to whisper,

"Plus, he doesn't have to know" and she's about to scream for help, when someone interrupts his unwanted touching,

"Minri!" a voice calls, and she turns to look, the man's hands finally getting off of her,

"Hey babe," the voice says, endearingly, and Minri looks at him confused, because it's not Brian's who's saying this.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," Jae says with a smile, and Minri is still completely lost. 

"Our cart is over there," he gestures towards the items in Minri's hand,

"Why don't you go put those things in there?"

Minri's staring at Jae, and Jae just tilts his head towards some general direction and then Minri is off, leaving Jae and the man alone. 

When Minri's far enough, Jae turns to the man, leaning in close and says through his gritted teeth,

"If you ever lay your hands on her again," and he didn't know he could act this well so he's quiet for a few seconds, adding to the dramatic effect, before continuing,

"I will hurt you." he warns. The man stares at Jae, who's significantlly taller and his tone of voice and expression aren't that pleasant either.

"Get out of here." Jae says and the man is off. Jae gives himself a pat on the back before going to find Minri, who he finds near the cash registers, 'their cart' which never existed nowhere to be seen.

"Hey," he says,

"You okay?" 

Minri looks shook, still nervous and traumatized, but she looks at Jae with grateful eyes,

"I am now," she says,

"Thank you." Minri adds, sincerely and Jae gives her a smile before saying,

"Don't worry 'bout it. Just did what everyone else would've done," Jae replies,

"God, that was so scary..." she says and Jae can hear the fear in her voice,

"Seriously Jae, thank you- I didn't know what I was gonna do"

"Hey hey," Jae tries calming her down, his voice gentle

"It's fine. Just glad I saw you when I did, and you're okay"

"Do you wanna go out for some ice cream?" he offers,

"Not trying to hit on you or anything," Jae quickly clarifies, making Minri laugh, relieving Jae 

"No, no, I wasn't assuming that." she says,

"I just thought ice cream would probably make you feel a little better," Jae informs,

"Plus, I don't want that guy to follow you out of here,"

"Oh, you don't have to,"

"And who said I was paying?" the author says, and Minri doesn't know what to say, but then Jae laughs,

"Just kidding," and Minri begins laughing too,

"I'll just pay for these, and we can get going"

"Okay," Jae says and decides to follow Minri to the check-out, looking around to see if the man had dared to stay around.

They're walking to the closest ice cream parlour, which Jae insists is amazing, and Minri gladly follows along.

"So Jae, what were you doing there?" Minri asks, referring to the store,

"Oh, I needed to buy some necessities," Jae replies, slightly lifting the bag of things he's purchased,

"Y'know, just toiletries and snacks" 

"And those are necessary?" 

"Of course! Especially the snacks," the author replies, and the 2's laughter travels through the slightly busy sidewalk.

"Just so that there's no confusion, I'm not interested in you in a romantic way," Jae reminds as he holds the door open for Minri to walk inside. She smiles as she gives an 'ok' sign with her fingers and says

"Perfectly clear." 

They walk inside the parlour, and Minri likes the slightly cool air, that almost smells like sugar. It's different, yet similar to the cafe. 

"What flavour do you like?" Jae asks, and Minri's browsing the tubs of ice cream.

"I like Mint Chocolate Chip," she says, and Jae nods,

"How about you?" 

And Jae's smile is huge when he points to the tub of ice cream that's contents are a swirl of red, blue and yellow.

"Superkid." and Minri contorts her face in confusion,

"Superkid?" she repeats,

"What does it taste like?" she asks, amused, considering the childish name and also the bright colours, which you wouldn't necessarily associate with a well-known author,

"I don't know, like... like childhood?" Jae answers, and then they both laugh.

Jae orders them 2 scoops each, of their choice, and then they're out and about, walking and enjoying their ice cream.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Minri asks,

"With?" 

"Being out in public, with a girl, eating ice cream," and Jae takes another spoonful of his Superkid before replying,

"Yeah, don't worry. People don't really recognize me, and even if they did, they wouldn't freak out." 

And Minri nods. They're just walking and eating, the silence is comfortable and Jae 

"Oh! Shoot," she says, and Jae looks at her, slightly concerned.

"What?"

"I forgot to buy something," Minri whines, and Jae takes a look at his watch,

"What time do you have to be home?"

"Any time, I don't have a curfew" Minri replies, with a light laugh and Jae says,

"Well, then let's go!" he says as he skips ahead, throwing his empty cup of ice cream in the trash, and turning around to look at Minri who's a few steps behind,

"Let's go buy that something" Jae says, with a smile that causes Minri to smile too, and jog slightly to catch up with Jae.

"You sure you're okay on time?" Minri asks, just to be sure

"Yeah, definitely. Got loads of it," the latter replies, and then they're off.

They enter a popular clothing store, and Jae almost loses Minri when he assumes, and starts walking towards the female section, but Minri walks the opposite way.

"Oh," he says,

"Buying something for Brian?" 

"Mhm!" Minri confirms with a smile that Jae can only describe as blissful, and cute. 

"Actually, now that I think about it,I'm actually really glad you came," she says and Jae doesn't avert his eyes from the polo shirts when he replies,

"And why is that?"

"You can be my model," Minri answers happily before adding,

"You and Brian look like you'd be about the same size, torso-wise." 

And Jae smiles sadly as he remembers the amount of times Younghyun and him shared clothes because, like Minri assumes, they were the same size for tops. They practically shared closests, and Younghyun's favourite thing to borrow was Jae's sweaters, and Jae swears he still has some of his.

"What're you thinking of getting him?"

"I want to get him an outfit,"

"Wasn't his birthday a while ago?"

"Yeah, but random gifts here and there won't hurt him," she says with another sweet smile.

Jae's almost sad; because this is Brian's girlfriend. She's so sweet, and sincere, and her eyes when she talks about Brian are so bright that Jae wonders if that's what's blinding his judgement.

"So, how did you and Brian meet?" Jae asks, and they're browsing through the button-up tops,

"He was performing at one of these live clubs" she answers, smiling as she retells the story of how her and Brian had came to be.

"That night, I didn't want to go out with my friends, and I was so convinced that a live club would be boring..." 

Jae watches as Minri just skips through clothes, not really paying attention to browsing for a gift at the moment,

"But now that I look back, going to a 'boring live club' was a decision I don't regret. His voice was enchanting, much like his looks, and so after his performance, I decided to go up to him and compliment him, and then I guess we hit it off. Started talking more, then exchanged numbers, and the rest is history" Minri laughs to herself, blushing as she processes how cheesy this is all sounding,

"Sorry, I still get butterflies, I know it's really lame," 

"No, no, it's cool, I get it" Jae says, with a smile,

"Oh, yeah, you probably do, Mr. Author of my favourite Romance Novel," 

"Well then, thought my name was Mr. Park, but, to each their own" Jae jokes and Minri responds with laughter.

"Oh! I saw your interview, and I agree with the interviewer, there's no way you haven't dated anyone" 

"Should I take that as a compliment or..." 

"I mean, from a girl's opinion, I think you're quite handsome. But, my main thought was there was no way you could write such heartfelt things without being in love,"

"And who said I haven't been in love?" Jae asks, and Minri thinks of an answer,

"I haven't dated anyone, that much is true, but I don't remember saying I haven't loved anyone before." 

"What happened to that person? The one you loved?" Minri asks,

"Well, considering I've never dated anyone, let's just say we didn't end up like you and Brian," he answers, and Minri feels apologetic seeing the sad smile on Jae's face

"I mean, I have some girl friends I can hook you up-"

"What? No! That wasn't my intention" Jae cuts off, laughing.

Jae's standing still, as Minri's seeing how tops would look on Jae, and Jae wondering why he's doing all this.

"Do you still think about that person?" 

"A lot." 

"Do you think you'll get over them soon?"

"I don't know if I want to give up on them just yet. Still thinking things through" 

"I mean, I, personally, think that if the feelings aren't the same, if they're not there anymore it's better to let the person you love go." 

Jae remains quiet, nodding as Minri's still browsing through clothes.

"And when you do, one of my girls might be up for a date" she jokes and Jae just laughs.

Minri ends up buying Brian an outfit, and Jae wonders if he was really needed to be a 'model' but he honestly didn't mind spending time with Minri.

It gave him a chance to know her better, and she became more than just "Brian's girlfriend." 

Jae's contemplated whether or not he should hate Minri.

But then again, he has no reason to. 

Minri didn't steal Younghyun from him, because she's Brian's girlfriend. It's not like Younghyun disappeared to cheat on Jae-

Cheating. That is also invalid, Jae concludes, because in order for Younghyun to cheat, they would've had to been dating.

Minri hasn't done anything malicious to Jae, and honestly, spending this short afternoon with her only made Jae's view on her positive.

She's pretty, Jae admits, and the sincerity in her voice, the affection, the endearment in her eyes whenever she's talking about Brian is so sadly relatable to Jae.

Jae knows the feeling that causes the natural smile when that certain someone's name leaves your lips. And the fact that both him and Minri have experienced it because of essentially the same person, is sad yet comforting in some odd way.

Jae would mainly describe Minri as nice. She's pleasant, kind, and beautiful. She's funny, and easy to talk to and Jae can only think of positive adjectives which isn't really comforting given his situation.

They part ways, and leaving Jae alone with his thoughts, as per usual. Minri goes back to their apartment, and Brian's pleasantly surprised and thanks her sincerely. 

"Do you like it?" Minri asks, looking at Brian who's looking at himself in the mirror in his new outfit.

"Yeah, I love the shirt!" 

"Ah, it was a good thing I listened to Jae then" she replies, and Brian's curiosity is peaked,

"Jae?"

"Yeah, he was there. He helped me pick out that shirt" 

Brian just nods, and turns back to the mirror to appreciate the outfit. Over dinner, Minri tells Brian why she was with Jae in the first place, and then they go on to talk about other trivial things of life.

It's a few days later, and Brian's working the cafe with Sungjin. It's been a while since he's seen Jae, and Jae's usual spot at the counter is replaced with Wonpil. Minri's also here, and it would feel complete with Jae, but he's been MIA for a while.

Brian's not really listening to whatever Wonpil and Sungjin are talking about, but his best friend's laugh is frequent and he feels happy and slightly proud about that. He's just watching Minri slowly drink her latte, but then he decides to interrupt,

"Hey," he says, and all 3 of have their attention on Brian,

"Do you guys know where Jae is? Haven't seen him in a while,"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you guys" Wonpil speaks up,

"He's gone again."

"Gone? Again?" Brian repeats,

"Mhm. Whenever he's bothered by something, or has writer's block he usually just leaves for a bit," Wonpil answers,

"Where does he go?" 

"Anywhere. It changes everytime, and he's usually gone for about a week, maybe two."

"Does he do this a lot?" Sungjin asks,

"It started about 3 years ago, he says being in a new place gives him a new mindset, and allows him to clear his mind, which I can kind of get," Wonpil answers, and then adds,

"I've gotten used to receiving just one text from him before he leaves, and it always just reads 'brb'." he says, laughing at the end.

Brian's thinking again, wondering where Jae is right now, or if he's still on a plane, bus, train or in his car.

"He usually goes somewhere far, too. Last time he went to London" Wonpil adds. 

"Ah, so that's why he bought those things" Minri says, and the turning of the boys' heads causes her to continue,

"When I was with him last week, he bought some 'necessities' and snacks" she basically quotes. 

"Oh, then he's been planning this since last week... Something is probably bothering him, then. When it's writer's block, it's usually a spontaneous trip with last minute booking and packing" 

It's quiet again, before Minri comments,

"Being able to escape the chaos of everyday life like that..." and she says,

"Must be nice." 

AUTHOR'S NOTE;

sorry this was kind of boring, but I wanted to let you guys know more about Minri, considering she is Brian's girlfriend. LOL , but yeah! the next chapter hopefully won't be as boring :// hope i didn't let you guys down D: work has been intense. LOL so i'm sorry for making you guys wait so long!

please please please comment any thoughts/opinions on the story so far :3 i LOVE reading them ! ^_^ and i try to reply to every comment so that we can talk and fangirl about day6 & jaehyungparkian together. oh shoot, did you guys see jaehyungparkian cover eyes nose lips tho- o snap

LOL anyway! please subscribe to keep updated (THANK YOU FOR 50 SUBS! <3 ) and upvote if you're enjoying the story so far!! ^_^ i'll try updating quicker, and i really appreciate all the understanding, patient comments. love you guys! i'll try and update soon, until then, peace! :D - Zen