Things were going exactly according to plan.

Seongwoo had thought this through; he would get intimate with Minhyun (not so intimate that it would be considered cheating on Jonghyun, but just intimate enough to make Minhyun’s heart beat). In that moment, Seongwoo thought he could test the waters with Minhyun, see if there was some kind of attraction, and boy did he feel that attraction.

Minhyun felt the spark, Seongwoo knew he felt it. He could tell by how flustered the guy appeared after Seongwoo pulled away from him. The Emperor Hwang Minhyun, who was always so cool and calm­– was flustered? It was so unlike him, and so Ong reasoned that Minhyun must have felt something unusual.

Now that the possibility of an attraction to Seongwoo was planted in Minhyun’s head, Seongwoo thought he would strike when the iron was still hot and make it known to Minhyun that that potential attraction was mutual.

And it worked even better in his favor since Minhyun came back from visiting his NU’EST members that night. Seongwoo noticed Minhyun’s distress. Whatever ual advances Minhyun tried on JR most certainly did not work.

Minhyun later told him that he felt this bad energy with his NU’EST members that he never felt before. As demonic as it was for Seongwoo to feel happy about this, Seongwoo thought it was almost a perfect opportunity. Before the memory of that spark between them faded, before Jonghyun and Minhyun had the chance to properly make up, Seongwoo confessed.

And the confession seemed to throw Minhyun into all sorts of disarray. Minhyun probably got love confessions at least once a month, and given that he had been with Jonghyun all these years, Minhyun must have been skilled with letting people down easy, rejecting confessions with kindness and class. But as for Seongwoo’s confession, Minhyun did not take it with very much class at all.

Minhyun avoided Seongwoo at all costs. He couldn’t even meet Seongwoo’s eyes or talk to him.

Minhyun was confused, and Seongwoo couldn’t be happier.

-

JR never imagined that it would be easy to get so far from Minhyun in such a short amount of time. Before, they had always been in sync, on the same page. They always understood one another so well, and that’s what made them such a good couple. But now, for the first time ever, JR didn’t feel like they were on the same page at all.

He hoped that it was just a temporary rift that would pass with time. He already accepted that the two of them were not going to be same for the next year and a half. But maybe when 2019 comes, they would get back in sync again, he hoped.

It really took a toll on him though, and no one noticed it better than Baekho.

Baekho did not really want to be involved in s’ love lives (especially when it pertained to their lives, yuck), but JR was so helpless that Baekho felt obliged, as a fellow member, to try and support him through this difficult obstruction in their relationship.

“A grand romantic gesture would help,” Baekho suggested.

It was then JR remembered that conversation he and Minhyun had in the beginning. Minhyun was upset that he couldn’t promote with them and continue the legacy of NU’EST, and JR said that they wouldn’t. Hence the idea of a sub-unit came about, an idea that none of them really considered that seriously.

And so JR went to the CEO, and told him the idea.

“NU’EST… W?” the CEO asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, NU’EST Waiting.”

CEO narrowed his eyes as he considered this idea. It wasn’t a good idea to change a group’s name when the group was getting so much attention already. A comeback as “NU’EST” would be a lot more powerful than a comeback as a sub-unit of NU’EST. But at the same time, the name change would make headlines… a lot of headlines.

‘NU’EST members to promote as NU’EST W, meaning that they are waiting for their member who unfortunately is unable to promote with them.’ Netizens would love it! They would think: oh, how sweet of them; how considerate must the NU’EST members be. Plus, it is good marketing off of Minhyun, who was extremely popular.

“Fine,” the CEO agreed. “NU’EST W it is.”

-

It was such a surprise for Minhyun.

It was Daniel who showed him the press release that morning.

“Hyung! Look at this!!!” he said excitedly, giving Minhyun his phone. “That’s so sweet!”

Minhyun read it. “NU’EST members to promote as NU’EST W in Hwang Minhyun’s absence” because “NU’EST is not complete” and they will wait until the five of them are back together again to use “NU’EST” again.

They did it. They actually did it. NU’EST W. The 5-syllable mess of a subunit name that Minhyun did not ever think would ever be realized, was actually happening. And Minhyun was touched beyond belief.

He asked, no begged, his manager for his phone back. He needed to express his appreciation for them. He needed to tell how much it meant to him that they were putting NU’EST on hold just for him.

I love you guys so much, Minhyun wrote in the long-idle NU’EST group-chat. Thank you.

It was your boyfriend’s idea, Baekho wrote, along with a smirking emoji.

I love you, my boyfriend. Seriously, I love you so much jju-ya.

JR just replied with a heart emoji. He didn’t have any other words, but he was glad to see that Minhyun was so touched by the gesture.

Wanna One were now shooting for another endorsement, and Minhyun managed to excuse himself to go the bathroom and immediately call JR.

“I can’t believe you did that!” Minhyun immediately yelled into the phone when JR picked up. “How did you get CEO to agree?”

JR laughed. “Not important,” he said. “I’m so happy you liked the surprise.”

“It’s the best gift I could ever ask for. I feel so much happier right now. Really, thank you. Thank you so much. I love you. More than anything. Really, I just love you.”

Hearing those words, JR felt content.

Maybe things haven’t changed after all.

-

With the new headlines, Seongwoo’s plans were ruined. Now, this sweet gesture from NU’EST distracted Minhyun from Seongwoo’s confession and now all Minhyun seemed to care about were s and how much he loved them. He was starry-eyed all day, happy all day, and to make it worse, he didn’t stop avoiding Seongwoo. And boy was Seongwoo bitter.

“So… is there something you want to tell me?” asked a voice suddenly, making Seongwoo jump a little.

Seongwoo turned to find Jisung, arms crossed with an intent expression on his face.

“No,” Seongwoo answered.

“You and Minhyun seem a little bit strange today. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Seongwoo lied.

“Fine, don’t tell me,” Jisung said. “But if whatever is happening between gets out of hand and affects group dynamics, I’m going to step in. So solve the problem, whatever it is, because it’s starting to become obvious and the little ones are beginning to notice.” With that, Jisung left, and Ong began to realize that the guy was a lot more perceptive than he let on.

-

But the problem was not solved. Days passed, and Seongwoo and Minhyun barely talked about anything besides schedules. Even then, Minhyun always avoided Seongwoo’s gaze, and it was dead obvious to Jisung.

“Hyung, is it just me, or is there something weird about Minhyun and Ong,” Woojin asked Jisung one day. “They used to talk all the time, now they’re not even looking at each other. Yesterday, Seongwoo sat next to Minhyun to eat, and Minhyun stopped eating, said he was full, and left. It was weird.”

At this point, Jisung knew it was time to interfere.

One night, after schedules, Jisung told Minhyun to wait in his room because he needed to talk to him, and Minhyun happily obliged.

He then went to Seongwoo, who had just finished showering and was getting ready for bed. Jihoon and Guanlin were also in the room preparing to sleep,

“I need to talk to you alone. In my room, please,” Jisung requested, and of course, Guanlin and Jihoon piqued their ears with enthusiasm. Jisung talking to another member alone? This must be juicy, they thought.

Seongwoo knew what this is about though; it was about that stupid gorgeous tall guy that had been avoiding him. Ong groaned, wishing that Jisung didn’t feel the need to solve the stupid problem, because it’s not a problem that Seongwoo wanted to tell him about. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust him, but he just didn’t want people to feel sorry for him for being rejected.

“If this is about what I think it is, then…”

“Ong Seongwoo, you are coming to my room now!” Jisung insisted with sternness that was not characteristic of him at all. This made Guanlin and Jihoon freeze. Happy-go-lucky Jisung acting stern? This must be very serious, whatever it was.

With some hesitation, Seongwoo headed towards Jisung’s room. He did it mostly because he didn’t want Jihoon and Guanlin to get more curious about this, and he was afraid that Jisung would make more of spectacle of it

Jisung followed him, arms crossed and waiting for him to go into the room. When Ong entered, he froze when he saw Minhyun already sitting there waiting. The door then slammed behind him and was locked from the outside.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Seongwoo muttered when he realized what Jisung was doing.

“This door will be locked until tomorrow morning,” Jisung announced through the door. “Get over whatever it is that’s going on between you! Bye!”

“Well I could think of at least 100 better ways to handle this situation,” Seongwoo mumbled as Minhyun, who was just as surprised as Seongwoo was, strode to the door to try and make sure it was indeed locked.

Minhyun sighed and took a seat on Jisung’s bed.

“What? Are you still going to give me the silent treatment?” Seongwoo asked.

“No,” Minhyun answered. “I apologize for how I’ve been acting. I just… I don’t know what to say to you.”

“Just say you don’t feel the same way and move on,” Seongwoo laughed, trying to lighten the heavy tension between them. “I’m a big boy; I can take it.”

Minhyun smiled a little and finally looked at Seongwoo with a sorry expression on his face.

“Finally, eye contact!” Seongwoo commented, making Minhyun laugh.

When his laughter died out, that sorry expression returned. “I apologize, Seongwoo. For being so… awkward… about this.”

“And here I thought you’d be used to love confessions. I mean, look at you,” Ong joked.

“I’ve had my fair share of those,” Minhyun answered with an amused grin. “But it never came from someone this close to me.”

“Really? What about Jonghyun?” Seongwoo asked, naturally veering the conversation towards something else.

Minhyun smiled to himself when he remembered JR and the how they became a couple. There had been no love confessions or anything like that. Now that Minhyun thought about it, it had been a very unconventional beginning to a very unconventional relationship.

One night, way back in 2014, Ren, Baekho, Aron and the staff decided to have tacos in a Mexican restaurant beside their hotel in Japan. Minhyun, however, had never been very fond of foreign food, and so JR offered to go uptown with him to a Korean restaurant.

But JR liked tacos; he only went uptown for Minhyun’s sake. It was a long bus ride to get there, and Minhyun remembered feeling bad because it had eaten up from JR’s anime time. And so when they finished eating, Minhyun repaid him for the gesture by taking him to one of those arcades and play the games with him. It made JR so stupidly happy.

They called it a date. Perhaps neither of them really meant that this was an actual date at the time, but it naturally became the vocabulary they used to describe that outing, which became more and more frequent as time went by: JR accompanied Minhyun for dinner someplace that served Korean cuisine, and Minhyun accompanied JR to some arcade or manga shop or whatever Japanese entertainment that JR took such interest in.

They both enjoyed those outings, no, those dates, very much. It was nice to get away from the staff and the other members, and just spend time with each other. It was nice to try new things and explore the country together.

Minhyun remembered that one conversation that the two of them had about these dates with so much clarity. How simple it was. How easily it completely transformed the status of their relationship–

“We go on so many dates, it feels like we’re a couple,” JR had said with a bemused grin.

“I guess we are a couple,” Minhyun had replied.

“Yeah. I guess we are.”

And lo and behold. That was the beginning. That one, brief, momentary realization was like a flap of a butterfly’s wings that changed their lives forever. They eventually found themselves doing more romantic things on their dates, like holding hands and walking in the parks. They eventually found themselves cuddling into one another’s arms. They eventually found themselves kissing. They eventually found themselves falling in love.

There had never been a confession from either of them. The two just naturally fell together in this weird way that Minhyun had found so natural and pure. There didn’t need to be a grand love pronouncement; they knew they loved one another without even saying it.

Seongwoo listened to this story with piqued interest. What a strange couple those two were. What a strange couple indeed.

“What?” Minhyun asked as he watched Seongwoo’s dubious reaction.

“It’s a cute story,” Seongwoo said with a shrug. “And it explains a lot too.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that you two didn’t come together like most other couples. It’s probably why you’re so different from regular couples too.”

“Maybe. But I like the way we are,” Minhyun added, making eye contact with Seongwoo to relay his sincerity about that.

Ouch. It was a little painful to hear Minhyun say that, because it felt like Minhyun’s form of a rejection, however subtle and unassuming. But Ong decided not to take it as such. Up until now, Minhyun still hadn’t properly responded to his confession yet; he still didn’t say anything like ‘no, sorry, I can’t accept your feelings.’ He may have implied it, but Seongwoo would not make anything out of those implications. He deserved a proper rejection, not just apologetic looks and statements about his current boyfriend.

“Can I… just say something?” Seongwoo asked, uncertain if it was wise to say it. Usually, he would think through these things before blurting them out loud, but now, he didn’t feel like thinking about it and making all the necessary calculations. He just really wanted Minhyun to see the problem. He just really wanted Minhyun to reconsider.

“Of course, anything,” Minhyun encouraged.

“Before I do, can you just forget about my feelings for you for a second? I swear they have nothing to do with what I’m about to tell you. I don’t want you to mistake my motives.”

“I won’t,” Minhyun said.

“Do you want to stay celibate all your life? Think about it, Minhyun. If you really are with Jonghyun long term, that is what’s going to be expected of you. If you can’t have three years after dating and seven years after knowing each other, you certainly won’t be able to do it in the future. But I don’t think either of you can remain without having a ual partner, and so you guys will break up eventually. Let’s face it, you and I both know that JR is attracted to women; look at the s on the women in all the manga he reads for crying out loud. He will also one day want to break out of a less relationship to explore his uality, and you’ll want to do the same.”

Minhyun fell quiet as Seongwoo’s word rung in his ears like an unwelcome wake-up call. The longevity of his romantic association with JR had definitely popped up in head a few times, but was subconsciously suppressed because he didn’t want to think about it, because it always seemed to allude to the end and that upset Minhyun immensely.

And Seongwoo was right. JR was attracted to women, and it was not just the anime girls with big s that told Minhyun that. It was also the way he looked at some girls, the way he would ogle them without even realizing it, and the way he listened whenever Baekho, Ren and Aron were talking about women’s bodies. Minhyun still couldn’t forget the way that JR looked at and danced with Kim Hyuna when they both appeared on Knowing Bros; it was much different than the way that JR had ever looked at him.

“I swear I’m not saying this because I want you two to break up,” Seongwoo quickly added. “I’m saying this because I want you to think about this, Minhyun, for your own sake.”

“Okay,” Minhyun conceded. “What we have might end in the future. But right now, I don’t want to think about that. I just want to enjoy what I have with him while it lasts.”

“As you wish,” Seongwoo told him. “But maybe it’s better to break up when you’re not promoting in the same group than when you are­– I’m just saying.”

Minhyun narrowed his eyes at Seongwoo. “Seongwoo, I’m starting to think that you’re not trying to help me here.”

Ah , Seongwoo cursed in his head. Maybe that came out wrong. Maybe he should have thought more about what he said. Was it that obvious that he was pushing for a break-up? Stupid, stupid, stupid Seongwoo.

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Seongwoo apologized quickly. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”

“Then I’ll just forget you said it then,” Minhyun told him.

But Minhyun did not forget, of course. Ong’s words had more of an effect on him than Minhyun would have liked to admit, and even the prospect of breaking up suddenly emerged in his mind like a dark looming shadow. It’s better to break up when you’re not promoting in the same group than when you are­.

A/N: most of the readers of this fic are such passionate 2hyun shippers so im sorry for the angst this is putting you guys through lol

p.s. it might take longer to update this than usual because im going out of the country soon! Just a head's up!