“Jin, wait,” Sehun said, just as the last of our stylists went out of the room.

                I stopped in my tracks and wheeled around to face him. Sehun curiously gaped behind me to see if the door was already closed and we were left completely alone. Once he’s satisfied, he finally spoke.

                “Hey,” he began, carefully scrutinizing my face. “Why didn’t you reply to my texts last night?”

I shrugged. Sehun and I didn’t exactly talk when I arrived for work. He was already getting his hair done for our poster shoot at the studio, so it wasn’t convenient with many people scuttling around. I was aware however that he texted and even tried to call me last night, but I felt guilt in my stomach just by being so openly inlove with him at the expense of Jongin’s pain. That’s why I just slept the stress away. “I kind of had a lot in my mind. But it’s fine now. I’m sorry.”

                Sehun seemed to be thinking quite a bit about the next words he’s going to say, but I was sure what it is he wanted to know.

                “Did you see him?” he asked quietly. “How did it go?”

                “Yes, I didn’t have to say a lot. He already knew.” Flashbacks of Jongin looking out the window after I apologized registered in my mind as soon as I ended my statement. I didn’t like it, not it one bit. 

                “How?”

                “He just knew. He’s that kind of person,” I muttered, then went on explaining just to make it have better sense, “He’s very intuitive.”

                Sehun pursed his lips slightly before asking his next question, “Was he mad at you?”

                “No, he’s not like that…” I refuted, sounding quite defensive even to my ears for no particular reason.

                “Okay…”

                “He wanted me to tell you something.”

                “What?”

                “That he won. I don’t know what that means.” I slightly furrowed my eyebrows.

                “I do. It’s about what he said to me last time he picked you up at Baram’s. He said he knows I like you, and he’s gonna prove it to me.”

                “Jongin said that?” My eyes grew wider. Why would he pick a fight with Sehun like that? Why didn’t he just let it go when I said I’ll move on from Sehun? Did he really like me or did he think going after me was a challenge-worthy cause? Or did he do that exactly because he likes me and he wants me to be happy knowing how much I love Sehun? Should I even be overthinking this right now?

                “Yeah…” Sehun affirmed.

                “I’m just…absolutely stumped. And I thought last night was enough…” I mumbled, feeling like my heart sunk a notch lower.

                “Jin…are you hurt?” Sehun suddenly brought up.  

                “What do you mean?” I said almost absentmindedly as I ran in my head the times Jongin spent with me for any indication of his real intentions.

                “Did letting him go hurt?”

 “Of course…he’s important to me.”

                “Well…do you think, that maybe, you love him after all?”

                I shut my mouth and finally focused on Sehun. He didn’t look away but I could tell he was anxious about something. I heaved a deep breath to calm myself down. Just what the hell am I doing and saying, and in front of Sehun too? Of course he would feel disconcerted. We even just got together…

                “He’s important to me,” I repeated after what seemed like a minute pause. I needed to get myself in one piece. “And I don’t think I can just delete that. And…yes, he did make my heart flutter at times, unexpectedly,” I said that last bit in a rush, hoping that it won’t matter to him that much, then continued, “but I know what I feel for you Sehun, and it isn’t the same.” I took his hand. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

                “I shouldn’t have let you even get a step farther from me,” Sehun sounded quite restless. Just his eyebrows were enough to let me know what he was feeling.  

                “Hun…” I sighed.

                “I mean it.”

                “And I’m not saying you don’t,” I replied. “But are you really going to doubt me as early at this point?”

                “No…of course not,” he said, slightly taken aback.

                “Don’t…” I gave him a small assuring smile as I took a step closer to him. I’m sure about Sehun. I really am, but it doesn’t change the fact that we started in a very complicated position. I wish we hadn’t.

                This time, he was the one who sighed. “Okay…” he said back to me. He put a hand on my cheek rather thoughtfully. “I’d like it if you can only look at me moving forward…”

                “Oh Sehun you’re quite possessive, aren’t you?” I lightly tried to tease.

                I didn’t know what it is that changed in a matter of seconds, but I suddenly felt nervous about the fact that we were the only ones in the room. I raised my head to look properly at him, and he was staring back at me like he was thinking about something deeply. His eyes slowly shifted to my lips, and for a wild moment there, with my heart pounding like never before, I thought he was going to kiss me, but he suddenly let his hand fall back to his side. I let go of his other hand and crossed my arms instead as if it would protect my embarrassing thoughts from escaping and reaching Sehun. He smiled and was about to say something when the door burst open.

                As if on instinct, I moved away from Sehun because we were standing too close. I turned my head and saw that it was a junior staff on set. Her eyes were wide open as they bore on us.  

                “Oh! Sorry!!!” She hastily apologized in a loud uncontrolled voice. She held the knob and was about to go out when Sehun spoke.

                “What is it?”

                The girl turned abruptly around but she didn’t dare look at us. Instead, she settled on staring at the space between Sehun and I. Her cheeks were deeply-flushed.

                “They wanted me to call both of you because they already fixed the set,” she informed us in one breath.

                “Okay, thank you, we’ll come right out,” I responded amiably.

                “Okay! Thank you!!!” she said in a high pitched voice and then hurried out.  

                Sehun and I looked at each other then. I was quite confused and abashed at the same time but Sehun donned on a very amused grin.

                “What?” I asked curiously. I couldn’t help but to grin back at his expression. I like a happy Sehun very much.

                “I just remembered something,” he simply answered.

                “What?” I insisted.                                                                       

                “Nothing important, just something my company wanted me to do before.”

                “Oh…” I tried to act unfazed, but I suddenly understood what he’s saying. He doesn’t know it wasn’t a secret to me anymore because of Baram. Somehow, his management’s hopes were fulfilled eventhough the staff didn’t particularly walk in on us while being extremely affectionate.

                “C’mon,” he urged. “Chanyeol might throw tantrums at us.”

                I sniggered, but Chanyeol really did as soon as he saw us. Sehun and I exchanged quick glances, just before we got the opportunity to sit behind our school desks for the shoot. The photographer helped us with group poses, and then we had our individual shots taken. After, the three of us had to sit down for a small promotional interview and we also played games. I felt quite bad for Chanyeol though, because the interviewer kept her questions focused on my relationship with Sehun and how it’s like to feel working with each other. It was also like this during our Knowing Brother’s appearance, and I expect that the rest of our interviews for the film would also go the same way. That’s why I tried my best to include Chanyeol in my answers, no matter what the question is.

                “Chanyeol’s into biking around Han River these days, Sehun and him go together,” I told the interviewer. “They keep on leaving me out.”

                “We leave you because you’re so physically-challenged,” Chanyeol teased.