Flashback

The guys ambled back into the practice room, sipping on various drinks and chatting about other rehearsals they had seen.  It took them a second to notice Onew leaning up against the wall, staring at nothing.  He looked stunned.

“Onew, what’s the matter with you,” Key asked impatiently.  “We need to get back to work.” He strutted over to the mirrors, adjusting his clothes and hair until he was satisfied.

“Ne, choreo doesn’t learn itself,” Jonghyun added.  He walked over to the CD player, fiddling with the settings.

“Hyung, I brought you some water,” Minho began, “and I guess ______-ah left already?”

When Onew didn’t respond, everyone got a little concerned.  Taemin reached out to grab his arm, giving it a quick shake.  No response.  Taemin looked over to Minho, “Hyung, he’s okay right?”

Minho walked over and poked Onew in the shoulder. Onew blinked slowly and slid down the wall to land on the floor with a muffled thump.  He his lips slowly.

“She…she…,” he stuttered.  By that time, Key and Jonghyun had joined the circle surrounding the dumbfounded leader.

“She, she, she, what?”  Key clapped his hands in front of Onew’s face.  “Snap out of it, what happened?”

“She threatened to cut off my balls with her sewing scissors.  Then she walked out,” Onew stated in a flat monotone. 

(>_<)     All the guys winced     (>_<)

Jonghyun’s hands hovered over his crotch protectively.  “_____-ah is scary.” 

Taemin nodded in agreement, his face pale.

“Told ya she wasn’t just any woman,” Minho chimed in, handing Onew the bottle of water.  Onew took it with a slightly trembling hand.

“She…she...walked out, laughing,” he whispered, staring sightlessly off into the distance again. 

A quick flick on the forehead had him snapping back into focus.  “DETAILS!  I MUST KNOW DETAILS,” Key demanded, dropping into an easy seated position. 

The rest of the guys also gathered around, and Onew glanced around meeting their eyes.  He gave a half-hearted smile.

“Can the fake smile, and get on with it.”  Key often ran out of patience waiting for his hyung to get to the point.  Rolling his eyes, he wondered if this story would be full of lame jokes like almost every other story of Onew’s.

Letting his smile fade to a grimace, Onew sketched out the events since they left the practice room.

“So to sum up,” Key said, ticking the points off on with slender fingers, “She walks up to you all y.  Leans into you like you’re gonna kiss.  Instead, she threatens to cut off your ..”

“My balls.  Cut off my balls,” Onew interjected.  Key rolled his eyes.

“Fine. Cut off your balls.”  He sat back, a finger tapping thoughtfully at his chin.

The others watched his face like cats at a fishbowl, following every little movement.  The sudden noise as he clapped his hands together made everyone jump.

“It’s obvious, hyung, she loves you.”

“BWO?!”  the reply was loud and unanimous.  After the initial shock wore off, the guys had varying reactions to the outrageous statement.  Onew’s jaw fell open.  Jjong laughed, “Knew it.”  Taemin smiled and started congratulating his hyung with clapping and shoves to his shoulder.  Minho reached over and closed Onew’s mouth, shaking his head and chuckling at his typical cluelessness.

“She loves…me?!?”

“Of course,” Key nodded wisely, “you notice she didn’t threaten any of us, now did she?  You didn’t see her pulling y moves on any of us, or even scolding us that much did you?”

Minho agreed, “Hyung, it’s like when you’re younger, and you tease the girl you like, doing mean things to her.  You actually like her, but you don’t want her to know you like her.”  

A moment of silence followed as everyone thought about it.  Even Onew nodded in understanding.

“But, girls aren’t like boys,” Onew started (eye rolls from everyone and muffled snickers from Jjong which Onew valiantly ignored), “and ______-ah looks at me like a big brother.  I practically AM her big brother.”

“YAH!”  The shout from Jonghyun stopped the rambling excuses pouring from his lips.   “Look, we’ve all seen how ____-ah looks at you.  it’s not like a sister.”  His tone grew teasing.  “How do you think she’s resisted my y self?  Or Key’s snark?  Minho’s face?  Taemin’s adorableness?  It’s because she doesn’t like us, she likes you.”

“Hyung, do..do you like ____-noona?”  Onew looked at him as if he expected Taeamin to blush, but the maknae looked surprisingly serious.   “Because, if you don’t really like her, Onew-hyung, then you should make that clear to her.  It’s not good when people aren’t honest about their feelings.”   For once, the cute expressions were completely absent, replaced by something approaching regret and sorrow.

Key reached over and hugged his ‘son’ with concern.  “Taemin-ah,” Onew whispered. 

“This isn’t about me, hyung,” Taemin said, his voice cracking a bit, “it’s about you.  Do you like her or not?”

Onew couldn’t refuse to answer- the sincerity of his group member’s opinions made it impossible to reply with anything but the truth.  “I like her.  In fact, I love her.  For a long time.  But, I’m still not sure that she even likes me romantically.  I don’t want to lose her friendship by making it awkward…”

Minho snorted.  “Mianhe, hyung, but you are the definition of awkward.  If awkward were a country, you’d be the president.  If sangtae was a disease, you’d be terminal.  Learn to deal with it.  Just be a man about it.  If you never ask, the answer is always no.”

“We can’t do this for you, hyung, it’s something you’re going to have to get the courage for yourself.”  Key issued what seemed to be the final piece of advice, and nagged everyone into getting ready to practice.  “Last thing- You know that  ____-ah will probably be working late hours to make the deadline on our project.  It could be a good time to talk to her without anyone around..you know, when you’re ready.”

End Flashback

Onew POV

“And it took two loooonnnngggg weeks of agonizing to decide that I should just have confidence and ask you.  I’ve waited for so long, and hearing the guys finally convinced me that even if you said you only liked me as a friend, that at least I’d KNOW, one way or the other.”

She chuckled in sympathy.  “I know exactly what you mean.  I would never had said anything to you, because I didn’t want to burden you.  How many thousands of girls want you? And how many of them are so much more beautiful, accomplished, all around better suited to be your girlfriend than I am?  And I know being an idol is difficult, schedules and anti-fans, and company rules, everything.  It just seemed like too much to ask that you would like me.” 

She sighed heavily, then squirmed around to lie facing you.  Still on the couch, you were pressed together, her arms braced against your chest the only thing separating you from each other.  Unable to resist, you leaned in and brushed your lips in feather light kisses across her silky cheeks. 

The slight pressure of her hands as she pushed against your chest registered. 

“Onew..,”

“Call me by my real name.  Call me Jinki,” you interrupted.

She blushed.  “Okay, then.  Jinki- we need to figure out right now how we’re going to have this relationship.  I mean, you can’t just announce it to everyone, can you…and what do we do about the reporters and fans that follow you around?  and I don’t want anyone to think that I got this job because of you, and…”  Her voice was rising slightly in panic as she started listing worries at lightning speed.

“Shhh.  Calm down, jagiya,” you soothed.  Just as you’d hoped, the endearment cut her off mid-sentence and she blushed that becoming rose color again.  “We’ll figure it out as we go along.  For right now, we’ll try to keep it as secret as possible.  But I refuse to be ashamed of liking you.” 

You tugged her more fully into your chest, nestling your head into the mussed clouds of her hair.  “Whatever comes,” you whispered, “we’ll deal with it together.  And besides, we do have an ace in the hole if anyone bothers us.”

She snuggled into you, rubbing her nose into the crook of your neck, sending a shiver of arousal down your spine.  “And what is that,” she mumbled.  The feel of her hands spread across your chest, unconsciously tracing its contours was distracting, but you managed to laugh through your tightening throat.

“We sic Key on them, of course!”

A/N: LOLOLOLOL- I totally see using Key as a threat! :D  Guys, your comments are the only thing keeping me smiling lately!  Thanks so much for liking the story, and for the recommendations that you've made to other people.  My subbers are the BEST!  *wipes tear away in pride*