“I’m back,” Taeyong says as he enters their dorm.

Everyone was gathered at the living room of the fifth floor apartment. They were all done eating their snacks and were just hanging out. Taeil and Jungwoo were having a friendly argument about cider and cola. Haechan, Jaehyun, Doyoung, Yuta and Johnny were on their phones, some of them busy updating their Instagram accounts. Meanwhile, Mark was playing his guitar at the corner of the room.

“You’re back hyung!” Mark stops playing his guitar briefly to greet Taeyong.

“We left some food for you hyung,” Jungwoo says.

“I’m not hungry, you can have it,” Taeyong answers.

“Great! I’m going to eat everything!” Jungwoo says before happily digging in to the food.

“That’s your fourth meal today!” Taeil tells him but Jungwoo ignores the eldest member.

Jaehyun looks up from his phone and eyes Taeyong suspiciously, there was something different about his hyung’s face. His eyes were shining more brightly than usual and his cheeks were flushed as if he had a couple of drinks, but Jaehyun’s sure that wasn’t the case.

“Where did you go hyung?” Doyoung asks.

“Just somewhere,” Taeyong answers. “I’m going to shower first,” Taeyong says and heads straight to the bathroom.

“Are you sure you’re not hungry?” Jungwoo asks.

Taeyong waves a hand dismissively and closes the bathroom door.

Doyoung could also tell something was off about Taeyong. He tells himself he’ll ask his hyung about it later. He has a hunch that Taeyong is hiding something. He thinks it has something to do with Hyeyoon which makes Doyoung jealous but he stops himself.

Taeyong is their leader and Doyoung knows Taeyong wouldn’t start dating someone now. Not that there’s anything wrong with dating a housekeeper, but getting caught dating their own personal housekeeper, right when they’re about to have a comeback, would be bad. It would be a huge scandal.

NCT 127 has just started to grow their fandom and dating news could ruin their momentum. They’re company has been trying to push them to become a top-tier group. They’re not banned from dating but they try to keep their dating as private and discreet as possible.

Later in the evening, Doyoung enters Taeyong’s room. Their leader was seated in his rotating gaming chair, playing a game on his computer. He says hi to Doyoung when he noticed he entered his room.

“What’re you doing?” Doyoung casually lays on his hyung’s bed and stares at the ceiling.

“Just playing a game,” Taeyong keeps his eyes glued to the computer screen.

Doyoung and Taeyong are undoubtedly the closest amongst the nine members of NCT 127 but, somehow, Doyoung finds it difficult now to confront his hyung about what’s going on. Where did he really go this afternoon?

“What did you get this afternoon hyung? A package?” he tries to speak as nonchalantly as possible.

Doyoung notices Taeyong pauses for a moment before answering, “uh yeah, something like that.”

Taeyong continues playing his game and tries his best to concentrate but he could feel Doyoung’s question lingering in the air. He knew his younger member was actually trying to find out what he truly did this afternoon. He didn’t want to lie to Doyoung but he already knew he would be judged if he would tell him that he went out with Hyeyoon.

They were silent for a while but Doyoung was getting impatient. There was no other way to go other than asking Taeyong directly. He knew their leader isn’t the type to lie or keep secrets from him. They were best friends.

“Was it something to do with Hyeyoon?” he asks his hyung.

Taeyong stops playing his game. He spins his chair around and faces Doyoung who was now seated up on the bed. He looks at his younger member who was looking back at him with a face that was saying: I trust you’ll tell the truth.

Taeyong sighs and gets up from the chair. He knew if he lied now the lies will pile up more later on. It would be better if he just told the truth now. He paces around for a bit before stopping to finally speak.

“The truth is… I was out with Hyeyoon. We ate some food together then I drove her home.”

Doyoung wasn’t shocked. He looks at his hyung with an unreadable expression on his face. Taeyong smiles sheepishly at him and goes back to sit on his gaming chair.

“I drove her home the other night too, when she got injured…”

“Do you like her, hyung?”

Taeyong stares at him with wide eyes, he was caught off guard by his younger member’s bluntness. They always spoke to each other this way but he didn’t think Doyoung would really ask about that now. He momentarily thinks, brushing a hand through his hair. There was an accusing tone to the way Doyoung talked to him. Why does he feel like Doyoung likes Hyeyoon too? That’s going to make things even more complicated.

Taeyong takes a deep breath before confessing, “yeah, I like her.”

This is a mess, Doyoung thinks. Haechan admitted a few days ago that he has a crush on Hyeyoon and now, Taeyong’s telling me he likes her too. He even drove her home! Twice! He suddenly feels like he’s about to get a headache. He stretches his neck and closes his eyes to think.

Taeyong is silently observing him, wondering what to say next.

“Do you like her too?” Taeyong asks quietly.

Doyoung opens his eyes but doesn’t look at his hyung. He hasn’t really thought about it seriously yet, whether he likes Hyeyoon. Isn’t it too quick to say that you like her? Doyoung wonders what Taeyong sees in her. He believes his hyung and Hyeyoon have shared a couple of moments that he’ll never truly find out in detail.

But then he realizes, he does know what Taeyong sees in Hyeyoon. There was something magnetic about her. An innocence, a delicateness, and a sadness that was all bundled up in her pretty face. He could see it in her eyes, an unhappy memory that seems to haunt her every day. Does his hyung notice that sadness too?

“I think I do, yeah. I think I like her too...”

They both fell silent. They could hear Haechan and Johnny rambling about a game in the other room. How should I feel about this? Both of them were asking to themselves. What do you do when your best friend likes the same person as you?

They didn’t know Jaehyun was outside the room, coincidentally passing by when he was about to go to their manager hyung to ask permission to go out with his 97 liner friends. He heard both of their confessions, not really that surprised but more worried that this could cause a rift between the two guys.

Jaehyun was out for the very first time with his fellow 97-liner idols, Eunwoo, Jungkook and Mingyu. They’ve invited him multiple times but he always declined, telling them he was busy or tired. But today, he just felt like going out. He was worried about his group members Taeyong and Doyoung whose serious conversation he overheard just a couple of hours ago.

But his thoughts keep wandering to Hyeyoon who was in the middle. How does she feel about all this? Does she know the effect she has on the guys of NCT 127? Jaehyun thinks she probably just wants to work and get her job done without getting involved with any of them. He admits they were pretty attractive and a lot of girls would be happy to date any of them. But, he feels like Hyeyoon is too good and pure for any of them.

Jaehyun didn’t really have that much fun hanging out with the “97-line”. They went around Itaewon, ate some food, had a couple of drinks and checked out a nightclub. The whole “guys’ night out” wasn’t his style. He preferred going to a quiet coffee shop and just talking.

He went home feeling tired. He laid down on his bed, still in the same clothes he wore outside. Jungwoo, his roommate, noticed his strained face.

“Did something wrong happen on your night out, hyung?” the younger member asked.

“No, I’m just tired.”

“Do you want to order your favorite midnight snack?” Jungwoo says trying to cheer him up.

“I’m still too full but thanks Jungwoo.”

Jungwoo looks at his hyung worriedly but decided to just let him be. He’s probably just tired. Jaehyun rarely goes out with people other than their fellow NCT members. Jungwoo understands that feeling, when you’re worn out from socializing with other people and you just want to rest.

Although Jungwoo is known as the funny member of the group, he has those moments too; when he’s mentally exhausted from being so upbeat and cheerful all the time. He pats Jaehyun’s leg comfortingly before heading to Yuta and Taeil’s room to ask if they wanted to order some midnight snacks.