“I’m so sorry you had to hear all that Jina, I didn’t think you’d come so quickly,” Mingyu my drooping back.

“How long did you know?”

His hand stopped moving and retracted. He sat up, looking like a kicked puppy.

“Jina…”

“Just tell me. How long has he been like this?”

“Since the beginning of the year...”

“That long? We’re halfway through the year now.”

“He’s stupid, like he said.”

“I still can’t believe all this,” I rubbed my face. Mingyu’s arms were wrapped around me within an instant, his hands playing with my hair.

“Jina, as much as you like Myungho, please believe me when I say I liked you for even longer.”

“What?” you pull out of his arms.

“I’ve liked you since last year when we had to be partners for that science project. You worked so hard on it. I think that’s when it started. I liked seeing your face so focused. And remember when we won? You were so excited when our names were called. I felt like giving you a hug that day.”

“Oh Mingyu...”

“Can you tell me something?”

“What is it?”

“Back there, I said I had fallen for you. And you the same. Please tell me I wasn’t telling a lie back there.”

“Mingyu,” you sit up straighter, making him do the same. “You weren’t telling a lie. I have fallen for you. But Myungho...”

I could see how his face had lit up but deflated when I mentioned Myungho. “Will you ever get over him?”

“One day. Hopefully soon. So I can live peacefully.”

“I’ll help you. Don’t cry anymore. I don’t wanna cry. Please. Please only look at me.”

“Of course.”

The next day, Mingyu hung out with me instead of Seventeen. I didn’t see Myungho the entire day so I was able to breathe a bit better. Gossip still spread however.

“She’s so rude to us, how can she just ignore us?”

“Mingyu deserves so much better.”

“She started a whole argument between Myungho and Mingyu, now they aren’t even friends, she’s tearing them apart.”

The last one really hurt. But I never told Mingyu about it. He heard about them eventually and was disappointed I didn’t speak up.

“It’s fine Gyu,” I tried tugging his arm to stop him as he dragged me along, suddenly furious. His tall and much stronger stature did nothing against my much smaller frame. He reached the school’s recording studio, where there were a few students doing the daily announcements. They jumped in shock and stopped talking when the door burst open.

“Let me talk for a minute,” Mingyu demanded. They immediately jumped away from their mics and Mingyu sat himself in one of their chairs, clearing his throat. I watched helplessly as he began speaking.

“This is Kim Mingyu. I’d appreciate it if you stopped bullying my fiancee. I will take action if I hear anything else. It has to stop. Leave her alone. Stop spreading false rumors. She is not tearing Seventeen apart. Whoever started that, I will find you. Thank you for your time.”

He nodded, satisfied with himself, and dragged me back out of the studio. We bumped into Myungho in the hallway. He looked at my hand intertwined with Mingyu’s with a pained expression.

“It was you wasn’t it,” Mingyu said. It wasn’t a question. “You thought Jina is tearing us apart.”

“Mingyu! Don’t accuse him of such things!”

Myungho stayed silent, only crossing his arms and taking up a more defensive pose. “You want the truth? I did. I did start it.”