Chapter 10

Recommended song: If I were you (by 2NE1)

Out of everyone, why did it have to be Jinhwan, who he had always relied on and known for years? He did not want to admit it, yet everything seemed to add up and fall into place. Hanbin had always thought that after so many years, Jinhwan's feelings for him would have died down, if not abated, since he had dated several girls afterwards. It was almost impossible to believe than he would go to such great lengths and extremes to break him and Yunhyeong up, giving them such a hard time, just because of his own desires. Hanbin had never for once seen Jinhwan as selfish as Jinhwan always hoped for all the members to be happy and congratulated Yunhyeong on having confessed successfully to him. At first, Hanbin and Yunhyeong had doubts about dating, yet it was Jinhwan, who brought them round and told them that they were meant to be together  and that he would deal with the managers and the other members. Whenever Hanbin had a argument with Yunhyeong, ending up with them giving each other the silent treatment, Hanbin would always go to Jinhwan for help and Jinhwan would always listen to his problems and sometimes get Yunhyeong, who was very stubborn, to change his mind. Jinhwan was the bridge between him and Yunhyeong, facilitating talks between them when things were difficult. Without him, they might have broken up much earlier on. It was even more implausible to him that Jinhwan would tell Yunhyeong that he was jeopardising the team's future as all of the members had never minded this happening since they were going to stick together through thick and thin. However, Jinhwan was the only person, not even Hanbin himself, Yunhyeong completely believed and trusted. Yunhyeong trusted Jinhwan so much to the extent that he would take all of Jinhwan's words as truth since Jinhwan was the one who guided him out of darkness during his trainee days, keeping him motivated in all those years of strenuous training. Hanbin believed that if it was his word against Jinhwan's word, Yunhyeong would not even think twice and persuade him that Jinhwan was right. Lost was Hanbin, yet now he had no one to go to for advice. Again, he was left all alone.

After taking a long stroll around the park nearby, he decided to return home to check on Yunhyeong.

To his surprise, June and Jinhwan were found outside Chanwoo's room, talking to Chanwoo, as he passed by the corridor that led to Yunhyeong's room. The three of them turned their heads simultaneously as Hanbin cleared his throat to establish his presence.

'Hyung, it's about time to get this over and done with,' said Chanwoo to Hanbin, while retreating to his room, leaving June and Jinhwan alone with Hanbin.

'Is Yunhyeong still sleeping?' asked Hanbin.

'Yes,' replied Jinhwan curtly.

'June, this is between me and Hanbin, go home,' demanded Jinhwan in a serious tone.

'No, I deserve to know the truth as well since Chanwoo told me that I was part of it,' replied June firmly.

'Let June stay. He has the right to know about it,' said Hanbin, staring at Jinhwan with an unreadable expression.

'I'm going to cut to the chase now. Why did you do it? I thought you supported us,' hissed Hanbin angrily, trying to keep his voice down.

'I just want everyone to be happy, as simple as that,' answered Jinhwan nonchalantly.

'How the are we happy now? You're ing crazy,' said Hanbin,with his fists balled.

'You, calm down and hear me out. Let's talk about poor Yunhyeong first. Has he been happy ever since you guys started dating? Maybe, for the first few months, but since the whole honeymoon phase was over, and with the adrenaline gone, he became more insecure as ever. There's no point in denying that you used to be quite a head. Oh, you even wrote 'Jerk', talking about how big of a jerk you were to him. Do you know how many times I've seen Yunhyeong break down in tears during dance practices after you've blown a fuse at him for getting dance moves wrong? You knew that he was a softie and couldn't take criticisms as well as we do, but you did it again and again. It's funny that you could not think of anything to say to defend yourself now. When you were away at nights, Yunhyeong always sat up, waiting for you, because he was worried about you. He even pretended to be sleeping, so that you wouldn't have to worry about him or feel bad. Oh, I almost forgot about that. He knows about you and Jaewon,' said Jinhwan in a row.

'He has forgiven me already for that night. Who are you to talk about that? You were the one who plotted that, you er,' half-shouted Hanbin.

'No, you got me wrong. I wasn't talking about that night. I was talking about Jaewon being your first love and you guys hooking up when you and Yunhyeong took a break. You've gotta stop lying to him,' replied Jinhwan.

'Who told him about it? Was it you? It had to be you,' shouted Hanbin.

'Keep it down. Yunhyeong hyung is sleeping,' muttered June, breaking the tension.

'You forgot to click out of Messenger before lending your laptop to Yunhyeong. He saw your chat with Jaewon. He knows that you guys have been flirting with each other. Have you not noticed Yunhyeong's face darkening when you told him that you were going out with Jaewon?' explained Jinhwan.

'Jaewon and I have never been a thing. I used to like him before getting with Yunhyeong. But that was it. Okay, we did hook up once, only because we were on drugs. The flirting was pure teasing. I do that to Bobby hyung too. Yunhyeong's the only one in my heart,' retorted Hanbin angrily.

'Now, let's talk about June. Are you hap-'said Jinhwan, changing the subject.

'Hyung, don't, it's irrelevant,' interjected June in a defiant tone.

'June, he's gotta know about it. June has loved Yunhyeong for so many years. Do you think seeing you guys being all lovey dovey was okay for him? Of course not. I can sympathize with him as I feel that acutely myself, with you and Yunhyeong. June and Yunhyeong was definitely a better match than you and him. June is always gentle and tender to Yunhyeong under all circumstances. He definitely would not berate or even say anything mean to Yunhyeong. If Yunhyeong gave June the chance, I'm sure he'll realise what he had missed out on all this time. Without doubt, Yunhyeong would treat June right- it's just part of his nature to stay loyal. There was once after you left with Jaewon Yunhyeong said to me, 'I wish I was in love with June instead because I would not have to suffer so much'. With you guys broken up, everyone would be happy. If everything goes as planned, June would go with Yunhyeong and you could finally do what you want. I know the deal between you and Mr Yang. Hanbinnie, you know that I want you to be happy more than anyone else,' said Jinhwan, with a small smile.

'You're ing insane! I chose Yunhyeong and you don't get to manipulate us. And, stop acting endearing towards me! You're disgusting as ,' shouted Hanbin

'I'm disgusting? How is Song Yunhyeong any better? Because of him, you signed a ing slave contract with Yang. You know what that meant right. You'll have to do whatever he tells you to. Even your solo projects got postponed and cancelled because of him. He's ing toxic for you. I know that freedom and music are what you treasure most. Song Yunhyeong didn't only take your sensibility away. He also took your freedom, your goal in life, and your future away. What he does is act cute and cook for you. I could do that as well, but I would never ever get between you and your life. Hanbinnie, please choose for yourself. Yunhyeong will be happy with June as well,' replied Jinhwan vehemently, face reddened.

'Listen up, I won't repeat this again. You don't speak of Yunhyeong that way and Yunhyeong is my ing future,' shouted Hanbin at Jinhwan, with his hands reaching for Jinhwan's collar.

'Hyung, if you say talk about Yunhyeong or try to manipulate us again, I promise you'll pay for it,' threatened June, glaring at Jinhwan menacingly.

What they all did not expect was the slim figure at the doorway of the end of the corridor that led to the living room, eavesdropping on their hushed conversation.

Yunhyeong had never felt this exhausted before, yet, with millions of thoughts streaking across his mind, sleep did not seem to be an option. Yunhyeong, in a million years, would not have guessed that Jinhwan had ulterior motives to almost everything Yunhyeong thought he did out of kindness and friendship. Was everything an act? Yunhyeong knew that he was not the brightest spark, but he never considered himself as such an idiot, who trusted a barefaced liar and psychopath, and had fallen victim to manipulation. How could Jinhwan encourage him to confess to Hanbin, despite being in love with Hanbin himself? Yunhyeong was not one to use vulgarities, but this time he could only describe this whole situation as a ing mess. Everything was just so messed up. Before he thought that Jaewon was the only obstacle between him and Hanbin, however, with so much more coming to light, he was no longer certain about anything. He was only sure of one thing: he had all the more reason to let Hanbin go in order to restore peace within the group. With him out of the picture, Hanbin could finally follow his heart and be with Jaewon, who was often featured in Hanbin's sleeptalking. Tying Hanbin's heart,  which had never belonged to him, down was too selfish of Yunhyeong. Yunhyeong knew that Hanbin was only attracted to him because he had big sparkling eyes that resembled Jaewon's, yet, before, he never had the courage to accept it as fact. Yunhyeong bet Hanbin only accepted his confession as Hanbin had always been fond of his personality and did probably did not have the heart to reject him- it was pity, not love. This was not the only thing he had done to harm Hanbin. He had to get Hanbin out of his slave contract at all costs, even if it meant that he had to directly confront Mr Yang, putting his career at stake. Yunhyeong had had his share of happiness and now it was his turn to return the favour to Hanbin.

A soft pat on the back pulled Yunhyeong out of his train of thoughts.

'Yunhyeongie, it's seven now. Would you like anything to eat?' asked Hanbin, with a weak smile.

'Hanbinnie, I'm not that hungry...I think I'll pass,' replied Yunhyeong, flashing a reassuring smile at Hanbin.

'You haven't eaten for the whole day. I'll get something you like for you, is it okay? And, I've booked a doctor's appointment for you tomorrow morning. I'll go with you...oh...June might come as well,' said Hanbin, with his hand caressing Yunhyeong's cheek.

'Hanbinnie, I really don't feel like eating. Can you get me a glass of water instead? And, thankyou...for everything,' said Yunhyeong, still smiling.

'Yunhyeongie, you really have to eat more. Look at how thin you are now...Mianhe, it's my fault..' muttered Hanbin, with sadness written all over his face.

'Hanbinnie, saranghae,' murmured Yunhyeong under his breath, as he saw Hanbin walk out to get water for him.

After a short while, Hanbin returned with Yunhyeong's mug, which was filled with water, and handed it to Yunhyeong.

'Gomawo, Hanbinnie,' said Yunhyeong, after taking a sip of water.

'Yunhyeongie, um...about today...can we...' stuttered Hanbin nervously.

'Let's talk about it tomorrow. Now come and sleep beside me,' interrupted Yunhyeong.

In the wink of an eye, Hanbin laid himself next to Yunhyeong and wrapped his arms around him, enveloping him in an embrace.

'Yunhyeongie, goodnight,' said Hanbin softly, after planting a soft peck on Yunhyeong's forehead.

'Hanbinnie, saranghae,' whispered Yunhyeong, when he heard Hanbin's soft snores.

Yunhyeong hoped that this night would never end…