“Somin. You have a second?”

The young woman looks up from her phone, startled. It’s Kwangsoo; he probably just arrived, considering he hasn’t put on his mic yet. He’s unusually early today. Wasn’t he filming a movie?

“Yeah, oppa.” Somin nods. “What’s up?”

“You talk to Jongkook hyung lately?” 

Oh boy. She shrugs, acting nonchalant. “Not really. Only during filming I guess. What’s wrong?”

“Really? I thought you and Sechan visited him.” It’s not something Kwangsoo would typically talk to her about, so she tries not to blink too fast or look shocked. 

“Hmm? For what?”

“I don’t know. I overheard Ha Ha...”

. Somin frowns, pretending to think. “Oh yeah, I did. Sechan begged me to follow him because Jongkook oppa was trying to get him to work out... You know how he is. That’s how rumours between us start!”

“Yeah, I’ve been there.” Kwangsoo shudders, relaxing slightly. “Did you see anything strange there?”

“No.” Somin feigns confusion. “Other than oppa’s dumbbells of course. Why are you asking all this?”

Kwangsoo hesitates. He told Jaesuk, but only because he tells his hyung everything. He can’t tell Jongkook because it concerns him, but maybe he should tell Somin. After all, they were family and hiding secrets was a sore topic for them now. Plus Somin isn’t involved like they are, she’d know what to do...

“I spoke to Seongmoon.” 

“Song Jihyo’s brother?” Double . “Why? Did he find her?”

“No.” If Kwangsoo’s suspicious by her quick response, he doesn’t show. “He told me he’s going to hire a private investigator.” 

Oh, what the . Somin’s eyes widen as she forgets all about her plan to stay calm. “Are you serious? Isn’t that a bad idea? Oppa, I’m not an expert but I’m pretty sure you don’t hire someone to chase a woman presumed dead.” 

“That’s what I told him.” Kwangsoo sighs. Even though he’s not as much of a fool as he is on camera, she’s never seen him look so serious before. She knows Jihyo means a lot to him and this must be tearing him apart. Oh, how guilty she felt already. “He suspected Jongkook and I wouldn’t normally accuse hyung of anything, but lately...”

“What?”

“Maybe it’s just me, but do you think hyung’s been acting strange?”

“How so?” Somin swallows her worry and tries to look perplexed. She has to tell Jongkook about this. 

“He’s always rushing off after filming. Usually he hangs around for a bit, but lately he’s always saying things like he’s busy or he has to go for another schedule.” Kwangsoo points out. “Hyung’s really big on chatting outside work but the last I talked to him was when he called me up saying he needed a drink, and that was the day he saw Jihyo noona.” 

Somin whips her head up so fast, she could have accidentally strained a muscle. “Before Seongmoon came to set?”

“Yeah.” Kwangsoo mistakes her shock for concern. “That was a month ago. Do you think hyung’s hiding something? He wasn’t even there after we gathered to talk about our next steps.”

Somin curses in her head, struggling to think of something else to say. “Ha Ha oppa wasn’t there either.”

“That’s because Soul was feeling ill.” Kwangsoo shakes his head. “Think about it, Somin. Hyung’s been missing in action a lot and I know he’s not that busy like he claims to be because they don’t even film at his house now, with the new formatting. Isn’t that suspicious?”

Somin frowns — he has a point. “Oppa... You might be overthinking. I know unnie is  important to you, but—“

“Unnie?”

“Huh?”

“You just called her unnie.” Kwangsoo repeats, eerily strict. He stares at her for a beat too long, and she can’t help but gulp under his intense glare. “Since when are you close to noona?”

She mentally curses some more, too vulgar to say it out loud. Jongkook is going to kill her. She’s going to die if she doesn’t explain her way out of this. “I mean,” She gulps, anxious. “I just... It slipped. I’m sorry, oppa, I shouldn’t have said that since I’m just an outsider to this...”

Great, now she’s acting all pitiful. Curse her big mouth!

“Wait, Somin ah. I didn’t mean it like that.” Again, Kwangsoo mistakes her nervousness as hurt for accidentally insinuating that she’s not an original member. “It just shocked me, that’s all.”

“I...” Somin’s voice trembles, only because she’s downright scared of what Jongkook will do to her if she reveals their secret. It works though; Kwangsoo pales a few shades lighter. “I didn’t mean to...”

“No, no, Somin. It’s me, I shouldn’t have been so harsh— I’m just worried about Seongmoon. He’s acting weirder by the day, and if we don’t find Jihyo noona soon, he might go insane.” Kwangsoo confesses, still apologetic.

“Don’t worry, oppa. I understand why he’s so worried.” Somin clears , internally sighing with relief at her near miss. “If it was me, Wookmin would be the same.”

But then again, she’s quite certain her own brother would not hide decades of her past away from her. Wookmin won’t even hide it from her parents. 

“You’re right.” Kwangsoo nods absentmindedly. He has a sister too and if she went missing, he’d be devastated. They all were, but he couldn’t imagine the strain on Seongmoon right now. “Anyway, let’s just focus on filming. Don’t mention anything to Jongkook hyung, okay? I shouldn’t have doubted him anyway. Seongmoon just got to me and I already gave him a piece of my mind.”

“Got it, oppa.” For the sake of the secret, Somin wants to give the matter a rest too. “What did you do with Sunbin last weekend? I saw her posts...”

As Kwangsoo brightens up over his girlfriend, Somin thinks about what she’s going to say to Jongkook. Oh no. This was not looking good. A private investigator? Seongmoon going to Kwangsoo? Him being suspicious? This was bad, real bad.

How much longer can they hide this for?

After filming, Somin slyly asks Jongkook for a ride home, making it seem natural with a fabricated lie that her manager couldn’t send a car over in time. Jaesuk nearly sends her home himself, but she casually turns the offer down with another lie about how she’s going the same way as Jongkook. 

Phew. She’s lucky she’s an actress. But why was she so bad at lying on the show?

Never mind. She’ll figure that out another time.

“You want to have dinner with us?” Jongkook asks, confused. He doesn’t mind giving the actress a lift home, but he’s pretty sure her house was closer to Jaesuk’s than his. 

“No, oppa. I’m warning you. Kwangsoo knows!” 

“Huh?”

So she recaps everything Kwangsoo told her before. Strangely, Jongkook isn’t as alarmed as she is.

“I know.” Jongkook sighs, his eyes on the road. “Ha Ha told me. Apparently Jaesuk told him.”

“So? Oppa, this is bad!” Somin cries. “He literally asked me if you were suspicious. That’s a warning, isn’t it?”

“But you didn’t tell him anything, so it’s fine.” Jongkook replies calmly, in contrast to her panicky tone.

“I... I made a mistake. I called her unnie.” Somin admits, telling him about her slip up. “I didn’t mean to. It just came out! He nearly tore me down, but I think he bought over my excuse. What do we do, oppa? If Seongmoon finds out... Do you think he’ll demand for Jihyo to go back?”

“Well, she’s a grown woman. Her brother has no right to tell her what to do.”

“But he has, for four years!” Somin folds her arms. “I know Kwangsoo said you might be suspicious, but has anyone thought of how weird Seongmoon is? Wookmin would never hide things from me.”

“Maybe he’s a little over protective.” Jongkook suggests, but it’s true; Seongmoon is weird. “Anyway, he won’t find her. The only way Jihyo will see him again is when she decides to.”

“But—“

“And she doesn’t want to yet. So what if Seongmoon’s desperate? I say we let him wait it out longer. Four months isn’t as long as four years, I think we can afford to do that.”

“What about Kwangsoo oppa? He did nothing except worry!” Somin argues, a bit flustered. “Are you going to hide it from him for four months too?”

“No.” Jongkook lies. “I’ll tell him and the hyungs when it’s time.”

“Ah, oppa.” Somin sinks deeper into her seat like a frustrated teenager, which is exactly what she felt. How was he taking this so calmly? Oh, she could tear all her hair out at how annoyed she was. “This is ridiculous! That’s worse than being her brother! What are you, her boyfriend? I—“

“Would you look at that! We’re at your apartment!”

Somin looks out of the window, shocked. He’s right, the familiar surroundings of her apartment complex through his tinted windows. “What the... Oppa, I was kidding about the ride home. You could have just dropped me at a cafe to wait for my manager.“

“You’re already home, why would you want me to turn back and drop you somewhere else?”

He does have a point. Nothing is going well for Somin today, not even during filming when she was one of the first few to be out. “This is not over, oppa! I will talk to Jihyo unnie and we will both agree that Kwangsoo, Jaesuk and Sukjin oppa deserve to know!”

“Yes, I have no doubt about that.”

Her oppas was not wrong about how insufferable Kim Jongkook could be. “This is why you can’t get a woman, oppa! Oh, I will tell unnie—“

“Good night, Somin.” Jongkook sighs tiredly, unlocking the doors. “Please don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Then I wouldn’t be able to leave the house.” Somin pokes back cheekily, resigned to the fact that whatever she says won’t be registered in his mind. “Alright, I’ll go. Have a good night, oppa. Say hi to unnie for me.”

That Jeon Somin. Jongkook watches as she closes the car door, waving happily at him through the windows. He allows himself a soft smile, even though she probably can’t see him through the tinted glass, then grips the steering wheel tighter and releases a sharp breath he’s been holding onto. It’s not that he doesn’t want to listen to Somin; it’s just that he doesn’t know what to expect from Seongmoon, or Kwangsoo, for that matter. 

Well, . Is it selfish that he doesn’t want to tell anyone because he wants to keep her for himself? That’s the truth, isn’t it? He just wants to enjoy this blissful period of having Jihyo in his apartment before she decides to move on and live a life of her own, or God forbid, go back to Seongmoon. No, she’d likely go back to her parents in Pohang and he’ll never see her again...

God, he’s no worse than a kidnapper now. First a liar, now an abductor, what’s next? At least she doesn’t have Stockholm’s syndrome. 

Wait, if she did, wouldn’t she be in love with him? On the plus side, that wouldn’t be too bad—

What the heck is he thinking of? He’s not in love with her. Not anymore, anyway. (That’s the first step to moving on, accepting his past feelings.) She’s a friend, a very good, long lost friend. 

That’s what you said the last time. Regret after regret but now she’s finally back and starting to remember, you should grab your chance.

Even his thoughts are betraying him today.  Nothing like a good Monday. 

Hold on. Is Somin still standing outside the building, waiting for him to drive off?

Jongkook winds down the windows, exasperated. “Somin ah! I’m waiting for you to go up first, otherwise Jaesuk hyung would yell at me for not taking good care of you!”

“I can take care of myself, oppa!” She yells back, flustered. “Whatever, I’m heading up! See you next week!”

Finally, he watches as she steps into her apartment building, shaking his head. Honestly, they were all so hard to look after. All his dongsaengs! Even if he had the time to meet his other friends now, he’d be taking care of another group of dongsaengs, young and hopelessly in need of supervision. 

And Jihyo, of course. His heart wavers at the thought of seeing her again, even though he’s told himself time and time again not to get too attached. 

But maybe another few weeks... 

He steps on the gas pedal, lunging forward. Time to go home and live in the fantasy he’s conjured for himself.

Somin watches as Jongkook drives off, then ducks out of her apartment building again.

“Oppa, this is ridiculous.” She hisses, moving towards the bushes where one man stood. “You could have just messaged me or something.”

“I did! You turned your phone off.” Ha Ha groans, coming out of his hiding spot. “Yah, what took you two so long? I’ve been here for fifteen minutes! It’s cold and I want to go home.”

She hastily checks her phone — oops, the battery is dead. “I didn’t ask you to come! What if I was going to Jongkook oppa’s house, huh?” Somin exclaims, flustered. 

“Then I would have turned back and gone home to my kids.” 

“As opposed to going home straight from work? Oppa, is this another dinner with Goeun unnie? Because I don’t remember any plans—“

“No, I’m here to talk to you about Jihyo.” Ha Ha explains, cutting to the chase. It’s winter, for God’s sakes. He’s going straight home after this. “Hyung, he’s not dating her, is he?”

“OMO WHAT?”

“Oh. I guess he’s not.”

“Hold on, oppa! You don’t just wait for me to go home and leave once you’re done asking me a question you could have asked via text!” Somin declares, stopping him. “What’s th