Sungjae dashed towards the bathroom after the accidental meeting with Red Velvet and of course, Joy.

As soon as he got inside the loo, he released the breath he has been holding. He held his chest, and it was beating wildly like he just ran a full marathon in ten minutes. He rested his hands on the sink and stared at himself in the mirror with furrowed brows.

Idiot. You are such an idiot, Yook Sungjae!

He cursed to himself before angrily running his hands on his head.

Without permission, his thoughts flew to Joy and their awkward, exchange earlier. Those two brown eyes who used to have a blank expression, now seemed to carry familiar emotions— sadness and longing.

A confused Sungjae shook his head dismissively.

No, it can't be. It's just me hoping, again. God, get a grip!

Right after he got out of the bathroom, he went straight back to the waiting room. Changsub immediately noticed his changed aura. Standing up, he went to where Sungjae sat and started his quest of finding out what happened during the short time that he ventured outside.

"Sungjae-ah..." An eagerly curious Changsub started but was quickly dismissed by Sungjae.

"Don't.."

"Mwo? I haven't even said anything yet."

"I have a feeling of where this is going so..just don't."

Sungjae's voice was firm that Changsub decided to leave him alone. Retreating back to his original seat, he turned to Eunkwang. To his surprise, the leader was already aware of the situation as he pointed. "I guess he met her."

"Yeah, I don't think it was exactly a nice meeting."

Sungjae could hear the two talking no matter how low they kept their voices. He decided to ignore it and kept his attention to his phone, his mind was already chaotic enough. Then he remembered what Changsub said about not avoiding their current state, but sometimes, things are easier said than done.

Sungjae's thoughts kept on bugging him so he gave up browsing on his phone and chose to sleep. Their performance would be in a few hours and he needs to sober up from the situation he was just in.

*****

"Are you feeling a bit better now?" A concerned Wendy asked the currently swollen-eyed Joy who was still sniffling.

"Ne unnie, gomawo." Joy replied, putting her hands on her face out of embarrassment. She was thankful only the five of them were in the waiting room at the moment, or people would already start talking.

"That's good to know. Now, will you please tell us what's wrong?" Irene softly patted Joy as if begging her to spill the beans. Everyone knows Irene's cold image, but in reality she was the one who worries about them the most.

Joy nodded but before she could begin talking, they heard footsteps outside.

"I guess you will have to tell us later unnie." Declared Yeri who was pouting her lips since she was so worried about Joy.

"Let's have a pajama party later." Seulgi suggested, her eyes becoming a thin line when she timidly smiled.

Joy quickly wiped her tears and started retouching her make-up to avoid questions from her manager and stylists.

As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, her mind suddenly drifted to Sungjae. Her heart started beating faster again, but this time, it was not because of excitement or happiness, but of pain.

*****

A few weeks later, in the middle of their promotions, a concert event brought their groups together again. They were already seeing each other during their music shows and now even in event.

Red Velvet was inside their waiting room, noisily chatting as they get their make ups. When their staffs left to get something to eat before the event starts, they all gathered around Joy who was blankly staring at her phone.

"Joy? Joy? Park Sooyoung!!!" An almost irritated Wendy half screamed at her. Joy flinched and lifted up her head in confusion. "Eoh?"

"Oh my god! We've been calling your name since forever, what are you looking at?" Irene abruptly grabbed Joy's phone from her to check the screen, and all she could do was shook her head.

With a long sigh, Joy just let her members be. She knows they're just worried about her and it was because of what she told them after their first music show.

The girls looked at her sadly and she just gave them a forced smile. A photo was on her screen when they checked, it was Sungjae, and her, during their WGM Hainan trip. She was holding his shoulders and he was leaning his head on hers.

Joy loved that photo simply because it gave the feeling of Sungjae letting her claim him as hers. But it was now jus