♥ Nineteen

Waiting

A lot had changed in the NU’EST dorm. So many new things scattered around, new posters up on the wall, new albums on display. Minhyun had visited it a few times since moving out, but now that he had moved back in, he really took in how much things had changed since the finale of Produce 101.

One of the biggest changes was that Minhyun’s old room was now occupied by Ren, and Ren had settled in quite comfortably to the point that moving out would be too much work. The other members had decided that Minhyun would randomly get to choose from a hat which room he would share with another member, and so the day he moved back in, the hat with the names was already prepared.

Minhyun prayed he would not end up with two people: the first was Baekho because Baekho’s room was infested at this point; the second was, of course, Jonghyun, because Minhyun didn’t want Seongwoo to worry unnecessarily.

Still, fate was cruel, and he drew Jonghyun’s name.

As the other three members celebrated the fact they’ll keep their own rooms, Minhyun considered telling them that he would prefer drawing again and explaining that his boyfriend might not like this arrangement.

But when he opened his mouth to say something, he held back in fear that maybe those words would hurt JR. Saying ‘I don’t want to be roommates with JR’ would surely sting a bit, and so he bit back and decided to just go along with it. Seongwoo would just have to deal with it.

As Minhyun unpacked and JR cleared some closet space, their interactions were thankfully now awkward at all. It had been a very long time since their break-up, and it was more than enough time for both of them to heal and come to terms with each other as friends and not lovers.

 “So, how are you doing with Jooeun?” Minhyun asked they moved some furniture around to make room for Minhyun’s bed. Last Minhyun had heard was that the two had started going out for real since that incident when she pretended to be his girlfriend.

“Oh, right. You didn’t hear,” JR replied awkwardly. “She broke up with me a couple of weeks back. Sorry I didn’t tell you, but you were a bit busy with Wanna One activities.”

“Are you okay?” Minhyun asked him, concerned.

“It was hard at first, but I’m okay now,” JR answered. “It wasn’t really working out between us anyways.”

“That’s unfortunate. She was nice.”

“She was.”

“Did she say why she broke up?” Minhyun asked curiously.

JR laughed a little and nodded. “She did actually. She said I was too… prude. Looks like all my relationships end for that reason. Maybe I should learn to be less prude.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Minhyun quickly replied. “You should just be yourself, and if your partner doesn’t like it, then that’s their problem. Their loss.”

JR just laughed and said, “did you forget that you’re also one of those partners? Or are we pretending that it didn’t happen?”

“Of course not,” Minhyun replied, and he suddenly stopped unpacking to give JR attention. “I’m one of those losers.”

JR then quickly asked Minhyun to help him move the dresser, and Minhyun obliged. JR proceeded to complain about how much clothes Minhyun had and how they needed an extra closet. The truth was that JR was just trying to change the subject; he was afraid that dwelling too much on the past would make him long for it.

He didn’t want to long for it; both of them had moved on, and both of them were on good terms again. JR didn’t want to ruin it by redeveloping those feelings that had been long buried now. And JR knew that the more he thought about it, the more likely they will come back to haunt him.

-

“You’re sharing a room with Jonghyun?!” Seongwoo erupted as soon as he heard it.

“Don’t be so dramatic!” Minhyun groaned. “We barely spend time in our rooms anyway, and when we do, it’s to sleep.”

“No!” Seongwoo replied. “Why can’t you share a room with Aron or something? Why did you choose Jonghyun of all your members?”

“I didn’t choose; I had to draw from a hat,” Minhyun answered him. “It doesn’t matter anyways…”

“It does matter! Please, change roommates!”

“I don’t want to,” Minhyun replied.

“Why not??”

“You tell me, Seongwoo. How would you feel if someone goes up to you and tells that they don’t want to be your roommate because their boyfriend is afraid you’d steal them away? It’s ridiculous, and I don’t want to make JR feel bad.”

“Why do you care so much about him?” Seongwoo snapped.

“Of course I care about him,” Minhyun snapped. “What are you even saying?”

“You shouldn’t!”

“That’s the most ridiculous think you’ve ever said…”

And hence proceeded the first fight they had since Wanna One’s breakup, and it was quite a serious fight ending in Seongwoo storming off in the middle of their date.

They made up that night when Seongwoo apologized for being paranoid through a text message, and Minhyun forgave him immediately, agreeing to meet him that night in a hotel to make up for it.

-

“Where you going?” JR asked, pausing his anime when he noticed Minhyun packing up a duffle back.

“A date,” Minhyun answered.

“Now? It’s like midnight.”

“Yes, I’m spending the night out.”

“It’s too late now. You should sleep. We have recording early morning…”

“I have to go out tonight. Seongwoo and I kind of got in a fight, and I need to see him again to make sure it’s all okay,” Minhyun answered as he packed the duffle bag.  He wasn’t thinking when he opened one of the drawers and took out condoms and lube and threw them in the bag, completely forgetting that JR was watching him.

“I see,” JR said, eyes on the items that were now in the duffle bag. It hit JR then how much Minhyun had changed; Minhyun would now go out in the middle of the night with items that JR could have never imagined seeing in his possession before.

Minhyun, realizing what JR had saw, suddenly became red and closed the duffle bag, as if closing it would help JR unsee it.

JR only laughed. “Have fun, Minhyun,” he told and winked, then sunk back into his bed to continue watching his anime.

Minhyun bit his lower lip and scuttled away embarrassedly, duffle bag over his shoulder.

As soon as Minhyun was out the door, JR paused his anime again and sighed a deep, hearty sigh. His heart was hurting him, and JR hated it.

“Stop it, you stupid heart,” JR said out loud to his own chest. “You’re over him, remember?”

-

Baekho felt like he had been putting on a lot of weight lately, and so finally, after much consideration, he decided to invest in a gym membership. If he can’t successfully go on a diet, at least he could successfully develop biceps, right? His fans would like that.

The second day in the gym, he ran into someone he didn’t expect.

“Oh, Daniel!” Baekho called out to him when he saw the other Kang lifting weights.

“Dongho- hyung!” Daniel beamed happily, dropping the weights and heading to greet Baekho.

“Long time, no see,” Baekho said as Daniel hugged him. “You’re a member at this gym too?”

“Yes,” Daniel answered. “I figured I would try and get into shape while my company’s getting it’s together.”

“Preparing for your second debut?” Baekho asked curiously.

“Yep,” Daniel said, “but MMO is the worst,” he sulked. “Apparently, they lost a lot of money in stocks or something, and so we’re just waiting around for them to solve their money issue.”

“That for you. I’m sorry,” Baekho replied, knowing all too well what it feels like to wait around for a company with money issues. “Meanwhile I’m here to lose weight.”

“Why? You’re y just the way you are,” Daniel said and Baekho laughed.

“Thanks. But I have to compete with Kang Daniel in the y male idol arena so my competition’s no joke! Let’s hope MMO’s money issues last long enough for me to catch up.”

And thus, Kang Daniel and Kang Dongho became gym buddies.

-

Seongwoo had started appearing in the NU’EST dorm very, very often. It was fine for everyone in the beginning; he was Minhyun’s boyfriend after all. Ren and Aron liked Seongwoo and they were fine with it. Baekho didn’t like Seongwoo but he bore it for Minhyun. JR told everyone he was okay with it.

Minhyun eventually even gave Seongwoo the key to the dorm, and so Seongwoo just slipped in whenever he wanted. The guy made himself at home, even going as far as to keep a toothbrush and a change of clothes around. And he spent the night there so often, that the couch had become his bed.

At one point, Baekho started to find it annoying.

When the NU’EST members were alone together, Baekho finally voiced his grievances.

“Your boyfriend is spending too much time in our dorm,” Baekho told him. “Tell him to lay off a little or I will.”

Ren agreed. As much as he liked Seongwoo, the guy was being just a little too intrusive. Aron, too, thought maybe Seongwoo should be in the dorm less often.

And they were right, and Minhyun knew it. As much as Minhyun himself loved having Seongwoo around, he understood that the members were finding it a little uncomfortable. Especially Baekho, who didn’t like Seongwoo very much.

“Fine, I’ll tell him.”

-

Seongwoo did not react very well.

“Is it because of Jonghyun?”

“What? No! Everyone just thinks you’re spending too much time here, so I’m just asking that you spend a little less time…”

“It’s bad enough you’re still roommates with your ex…”

“Don’t talk about JR like that! He’s not my ex; he’s one of my members, okay?”

“Oh? So he’s not your ex?”

“I… I just hate that word,” Minhyun hesitated. “It makes him seem so… so distant, and he’s not.”

“So you love him?”

“Of course, I love him. The same way I love all of my members. Now can you stop being paranoid, for heaven’s sake,” Minhyun replied through gritted teeth.

“I know I’m paranoid,” Seongwoo admitted, “but I can’t help it, Minhyun. I just can’t. Whenever I see him, I feel self-conscious. That’s why I’ve been hanging out in your dorm a lot, because I just don’t want to give you the chance for you heart to skip another beat for him. I think that if I’m around, it would limit that chance.”

Minhyun reached out and took Seongwoo’s hand. “Seongwoo, please just trust me, okay? You would feel so much better if you just trusted me.”

“I do trust you,” Seongwoo replied, “but trust has nothing to do with it. Because your heart is something that you can’t control.”

“Then why don’t you stop trying to control it then,” Minhyun replied. “Because by your logic, if I was to fall for Jonghyun again, then nothing you can do can stop it. So please, please let loose a little bit, okay?”

-

Seongwoo did not let loose. The next fight came soon after, when Seongwoo watched a broadcast in which NU’EST were playing the Pepero Game. Minhyun played with JR, and he was very enthusiastic about winning. As the Pepero stick was placed between their mouths, Minhyun dove in to take as much of the stick as he could. Minhyun’s hands ended up behind JR’s head, pulling him closer, and as their lips came closer and closer together, neither of them did that thing where they retracted their lips so that they didn’t touch. Their lips came together, and none of them pulled away in disgust like the game was supposed to be played. When they parted, JR’s cheeks were red and Minhyun took the little piece of Pepero to show everyone how small it was. He was smiling happily, and Seongwoo wasn’t sure that it was because they did well in the game or because Minhyun had found an excuse to kiss his ex.

It was fanservice!” Minhyun insisted when Seongwoo confronted him about it over the phone.

“Well, you seemed to have enjoyed the fanservice a lot!”

“You’re being ridiculous!”

“Next time, lose the damn game!”

“Fine, I will!” Minhyun exclaimed. “Now can we please stop fighting about this?

Seongwoo hung up on him.

For the first time, Minhyun felt that maybe Seongwoo had a point to be mad at this particular instance. It was true that Minhyun enjoyed the “fanservice” a lot. He like the feeling of his Jonghyunnie’s lips against his for the first time in a long while. He liked holding JR close, and he liked seeing the blush on JR’s cheeks when he pulled away.

He didn’t mean to like it; he just did.

The heart is something that you cannot control.

-

Something had changed, and JR knew it from the feeling of butterflies in his stomach when he and Minhyun played the Pepero game.

It was supposed to be just a game, a game where they both pull apart from one another in revulsion when their lips touched while others around them laughed at their misfortune; but this game was not like that. When JR felt Minhyun’s lips against is, there was no disgust there whatsoever. There was only that funny feeling in his stomach and a wildly beating heart.

That fuzzy feeling stayed with JR throughout the rest of the filming until he was finally out of the clouds and back down to the reality that what he felt after that “kiss” was stupid, because it was never a kiss to begin with.

It just made him feel the way that all of their real kisses from before could not.

-

Revenge was sweet, thought Seongwoo after he had wrapped up a V-Live featuring Daniel where the two played the Pepero game. Seongwoo went all in on that game, the same way that Minhyun went all in with his game with Jonghyun.

“What the hell was that?” asked Daniel when the camera was closed and Daniel was still shocked at the extent he went for this stupid fanservice game. “Did you forget you had a boyfriend?”

“You should ask my boyfriend that question!” Seongwoo replied.

Daniel pouted. “I see,” he mumbled. “So you called me up here to do a V-Live with you to make Minhyun jealous. You used me for revenge. Well, you. To think I thought you actually missed me,” Daniel sputtered and left, immediately heading for the gym.

-

“I HATE ONG SEONGWOO SO MUCH!” Daniel carped to Baekho as the two of them were lifting weights together.

Baekho raised an eyebrow. “You do?”

“Yes,” Daniel insisted.

“Aren’t you two like best friends or something?” Baekho asked, genuinely curious

“ no,” Daniel muttered. “That’s just for the cameras. We’re not best friends, we’re just… I… don’t know how to explain our relationship…” Daniel trailed off.

“Well, I hate him too,” Baekho revealed.

“Wait, what?” Daniel raised an eyebrow. “You hate him. As in legit hate him?”

“Yes,” Baekho answered. And it was true. Baekho was the kind of person who held grudges, and ever since Ong Seongwoo threatened him a year ago, Baekho had held a lot of animosity in his heart for that . He had kept it all inside all for Minhyun, but now that Baekho had to see Seongwoo nearly everyday, he felt like he wanted to explode.

“How can you hate Seongwoo?” Daniel asked.

Baekho laughed, “weren’t you saying that you hated him too?”

“Not like legit hate him!!!” Daniel mewled.

“Then be more specific about your hatred next time!”

“Why do you hate him?” Daniel asked.

“Secret,” Baekho replied.

“Come on!”

“I can’t tell you; sorry.”

“Please!” Daniel begged. “I’m so curious! Tell me!”

“Nope.”

“If I tell you my secret, will you tell me yours?”

“What kind of secret?” Baekho asked, raising an eyebrow.

“A big secret.”

“Tell me, and if it’s not big enough, then I won’t tell you mine,” Baekho warned.

“Fine!” Daniel agreed and went straight to the point. “I ed Ong Seongwoo once.”

Baekho just burst out laughing at Daniel’s bluntness, a bluntness that Baekho appreciated a lot.

“Why are you laughing?” Daniel pouted. “Is it not big enough for you?”

When Baekho’s laughter died down, he said, “yeah, it’s big. But mine is still bigger.”

“Fine,” Daniel mumbled, “I’ll tell you another one. It’s an even bigger secret, but you have to promise that you won’t tell anyone!”

Baekho eyed Daniel, curious. What can possibly be a bigger secret than ing Seongwoo? “I promise.”

“I think I have feelings for Ong.”

 


A/N: this is a quick update, but im not sure if the next update will be as quick. I’ll need at least another week for various reasons, sorrryyy.

Anyways hopefully this update was less painful for you all lol

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NuNeen
for updates on my progress with this fic and my excuses about why updates are taking so long, follow my fanfic twitter account: @NuNeenFic ^^

Comments

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AnnKYSJZNH2H #1
I love 2Hyun, thank you for this ...
I would like to ask permission to translate it into Spanish and give you all the credits
melodyfan #2
Chapter 14: As 2hyunist i hate ong for this, omg why you did that to my babies ㅠ.ㅠ
uriboo #3
Chapter 30: thank you
_maelees_
#4
Chapter 29: Omo...that was unexpected and surprising....never imagined Ong and Baekho together...lol (poor Danik). Anyways, it was one of those fanfics I really liked (not that I read a lot of them, but Nu'est and you dragged me into it :)) ). Will be great to read smth Nuest-related from you again!
_maelees_
#5
Chapter 28: Such a lovely chapter! Thanks to you, I've got to love these cute babies even more. Your writings feel really 'real'...:) A bit sad the next chapter's gonna be the last one. But yeah...that's life...everything which is good is bound to end sooner or later...:/
Reducto17
#6
Chapter 30: I've read the updates!!! :D
I'm happy with the outcome :) Thank you for such a wonderful story!! :))))
tvxqjyj_love #7
Chapter 29: Please don't delete the story !! There are very few nuest Stories that Are interesting.... Yours was by far the best and i am going to reread it?
A2 #8
Chapter 30: I really, really want a chapter that emphasizes Daniel's dillema in Mississippi or was it Minnesota?
emarginata
#9
Chapter 28: Aaah finally, my heart is now contented
Joselyn2cute #10
Chapter 28: Aw it’s a great story and I loved every chapter of it! I hope you continue writing more stories in the future