"Hey Jongup!" He stopped in the doorway out of our changing room, turning to me. "You wanna go for some tonkotsu?"
"Ah," he said, face lighting up, "yeah, sure."
"Great, let me just finish changing."
"You're going for ramen?" Zelo asked while pulling a clean t-shirt on. "Man, I also want some."
"You're not coming?" Jongup asked.
"Can't, hyung, I have to go to the hairdresser after this." Of course, I thought to myself. I had picked this time to ask Jongup out for lunch specifically because only Zelo was there, and he had an appointment to attend. Slipping my phone into a pocket, I shuffled my hair in a last attempt to dry it and followed Jongup out the room. 

There was a good ramen place close to TS's premises, and we headed straight for it while discussing the newest video game Jongup had bought. I was happy we could casually hang out and talk like this again. Within the hour, I would risk losing it once more. But I had to. I was not one to avoid and ignore my own feelings. Not anymore. I had to do something about it, and so I would. Be it after we had both eaten our fill; dancing was hard work and one should never do serious talks or decisions when hungry. 

"There's something I need to tell you, Jongup," I said once my bowl was empty and his had nothing but some broth left. Looking up at me, he waited in silence for a continuation. I imagined different scenarios running through his head, but if they were, he did not let it show on his face. "For starters, I want you to know that I mean exactly what I say today. I'm not joking, I'm not twisting facts, I'm not doing this because I still feel bad about what happened that night. Though I still do, of course," I added hastily.
"Alright," he said, shrugging. "Will you get to the point soon?"
"If you want me to. I think this kind of thing should have like a proper build up, I mean it feels kinda weird to just get straight to it and say it-" seeing his one unimpressed raised eyebrow, I quickly gave the rambling trail up. "I really like you, Jongup. Really, really like you. I have no idea if you feel the same, or if you're just kindly tolerating my presence at this point but... Well, I wanted you to know." It was hard to look at him now; my eyes found an easier target in my empty bowl. "Like I said, I really mean this. I'm serious. This isn't about what happened that night. I just like you, because you're you." Several seconds of silence passed, and when I felt like I was dying from not knowing what he was thinking, I chanced a glance up at him. 

"Cheesy," he muttered. I could not help but to crack a small smile.
"Sorry. Some people are just worth being cheesy for."
"That's even worse. Don't think half--quoting Frozen will get you any extra points." After some quiet thinking, he spoke again. "You remember what I told you after Himchan brought me home? Is this like that?" Oh, I definitelyremembered. He should know as much.
"No," I said at length. "I do want you to mind this. I don't really have any kind of right, but I am asking you out." He nodded in understanding, and my choice of words reminded me of something else he had told me that time. "Do you remember what you told me? Everyone has the right to cry, you said. That was seriously one of the sweetest things anyone's ever said to me. I don't think I'll ever forget it." His face was growing red, and my stomach did a tiny flip. If he was blushing, it was a good sign. I just hoped he was not flushing red from anger.
"You're too cheesy," he muttered once again, voice sounding thick. "Damn it hyung, how could you come with this after all this time?" I smiled sadly.
"Sorry, I can't really control my feelings and get them to be on time. You know."
"I know..."
"Are you about to cry?"
"No. I don't cry."
"Silly," I chuckled. "But what do you say? Am I totally too late, or do you think you could give me a chance?"

~~•~~•~~

//Note: So, originally this was the end of the story. But then I figured I'd write a bonus chapter to wrap the story up. So I'll be posting the last chapter tomorrow. What's more, tomorrow I will post the first chapter of another Daejong story! It is almost 30 chapters long, and (imo) better than this one; I actually just wrote this as a quick thing to take a break from writing on that one. I'll post a link tomorrow, do check it out! :D