Byul steps out of the bedroom after hearing a noise from the living room. Two male voice is laughing with each other. Byul rubs her eyes then ties the nightwear rope while making a way to the living room. When she reached the living room, her eyes get widen seeing Jeonghan is holding a wine glass while talking with Chanyeol. He is also holding the wine glass. She blinks a few times and Chanyeol notices her. 

"Babe! You're awake. Jeonghan came in earlier. I gave him a tour while you're asleep and explain everything to him." Chanyeol puts down the glass and walks to her. Byul narrowed her eyes as she shifts her face to Chanyeol. Her face still shows that she is sleepy. 

"Are you awake for real? Or are you sleep-walking?" he asked while caressing her hair. He hugs her waist and Byul grunts.

"Wh-What time is it?" Byul asked with her husky voice. It doesn't sound good. Chanyeol chuckled and pinch her cheeks due to her cuteness waking up late. 

"It's almost 5 pm, babe. I try to wake you up but you seem so tired so I don't want to." Byul sighs and buried her face to his chest. Chanyeol chuckled and rubs her back. "Babe, you oversleep," he told her. Byul mumbles something that he can't hear it. Byul hugs him back. 

"I know. And I was supposed to have a meeting with-" her eyes gets widen and push him away. She starts to panic but then she heard a chuckled from the couch. Jeonghan is chuckled while taking his wine glass for a sip. 

"Don't worry. I already told Josh that you are not feeling well so the meeting is postponed. Next Monday, after lunch, sounds good?" Jeonghan opens his mouth. Byul looks at him and suddenly remembers that he is her manager so he supposed to know her schedule. Chanyeol smiles at him. 

"Perfect. Thanks, Jeonghan." Byul said then rubbing her face on Chanyeol's shirt. 

"Anyway, if you don't have anything tonight, care to dinner with us?" Chanyeol offered dinner with Jeonghan. Jeonghan nods his head as he is surprised to hear that offer. Byul blinks as she is confused about why her current boyfriend is being so friendly with her manager a.k.a ex-boyfriend. 

"Sure, why not? I need to clarify a few things with Byul...-ssi also about next week's schedule." Byul smirks. 

"Drop the formality, Jeonghan-ah. No need for that." Byul said that then looks at Chanyeol. He grabs her waist and kisses her temple after Byul is giving her an invincible flying kiss. Jeonghan looked away as he is feeling awkward seeing Byul is being clingy to her boyfriend. He needs to get used to this view as this might be his everyday view. 

"He's your guest. I'm going to cook." Chanyeol said. Byul nods. "Wash your face, please. You look terrible." Chanyeol steps away from her. Byul gasped. 

"You don't want to give me the morning kiss or something?" she said while following him. Jeonghan heard that and he tries to control his expression. Chanyeol can see by his glance. 

"Morning kiss? It's 5 in the evening, babe." Chanyeol replied while walking towards the kitchen. Jeonghan looked at them and at that time Byul is hugging him from behind and buried her face to his back. Chanyeol chuckled. 

"Give me a kiss at least." Byul mumble in his back. Chanyeol shakes his head but he turns around and cupped her face. Byul already offered her lips. Jeonghan blinks and gulps. Chanyeol kiss her and Byul turns the kiss into an intense act. Jeonghan has to look away because he can feel the heat. Chanyeol smirks between the kiss because he saw how Jeonghan is blushing and looks away. Even though he trusts Byul but he didn't trust Jeonghan. So to make his mark, Jeonghan needs to know who owns Byul and what's not to touch. He shows him but Byul makes it easy as this is the usual routine for them. Morning kiss. Wake up kiss. He needs to deal with this intimacy as her manager. 

"O-Okay... that's hot. I need to take a shower." Byul said once she lets go to take a breath. Chanyeol scoffs. 

"Need me in the shower?" Byul eyes widen and hit his stomach. She suddenly remembers Jeonghan and feels shy about it. She walks away from the kitchen to the bathroom in her room. Chanyeol continues to cook while Jeonghan is organizing the schedule on the tablet.

"Oh, Jeonghan! Don't worry about taking her to the company. I'll take her there so you guys can just meet there in the company." Chanyeol informs Jeonghan just to be clear. "We'll go the same way anyway." Chanyeol ended in a fair sentence so Jeonghan didn't think that he tries to control her. 

"Sure. I'll take note of that." Jeonghan rolled his eyes and sighs when he wrote down that on a paper just to release his bit of anger. Not long after, Byul appeared in the living room. She sits next to Jeonghan and takes the paper that he is looking at. 

"What is this?" Byul asked. Chanyeol steals a glance at them in a second. 

"That is your schedule starting next week. I already talk with Josh, about the appointment." Byul nods. "And after that, you will meet Woozi-ssi for the song. He thinks you might need to arrange it again." Byul frowned. 

"Is this the song that I emailed Mr.Lee last...two weeks?" Byul taps her jaw as she forgets the timeline. Jeonghan nods. "Have you heard it?" she feels nervous and worried at the same time. But when Jeonghan shakes his head, she feels relief. "Ok, next." 

"What is it?" Jeonghan is curious. 

"Huh? Nothing. I'm thinking to make that as my comeback song so...it's a little bit private." Byul chuckled. 

"Mr.Lee knows about it." Jeonghan points out the obvious. Byul rolled her eyes. 

"Of course he knows. I need his opinion and if he says this is not good for a comeback song, then I'll prove it that song is worth it to be my comeback song." Byul said. 

"You're going to fight... again?" Jeonghan asked as he remembers how Byul was fighting with Mr.Lee to get this one song inside the album. It had a different concept from the album but Byul wants to put it inside. Mr.Lee said no and Byul disappear in two days. No appearance, no call, no text, no one at home. She went somewhere and when Mr.Lee successfully reached her, Byul makes a deal with him and he has to agree. Finally, that song is in the album and the fans personally review that song as the surprise track and it changes some kind of view for Byul. Mr.Lee loses and apologizes to Byul afterward. 

"Well, why not?" Jeonghan rolled his eyes and sighs. "Jeonghan-ah, if we did this song as my comeback song, it will be amazing. It relates to a lot of people."

"I want to hear it then." Jeonghan request. Byul is taken aback. "I wanna know if this song is good enough or not to be your comeback song." Byul pouts. 

"You don't trust me? I did it last year!" Byul whines. Jeonghan sighs. 

"It's not the same, Byul-ah. Last year, your album-" 

"What's the difference? I'm not going to make an album for this comeback. Just a single would be fine." Byul said and it surprised Jeonghan. He put down the book on his hand to the table and turns his body to face her. She did the same with a confident face. 

"Byul. You are away for 5 months and you only return with a single?" Byul nods with a proud face. Jeonghan rolled his eyes. "What will fans say? Oh, she's already in a relationship so she won't focus enough on her career, that's why she just released a single?" Byul frowned. "Or you want them to say. This is her last song, I guess. She won't be releasing anything because she will get married soon." Byul hits his shoulder. Jeonghan lets out a chuckled.  

"I'm just saying." Jeonghan lays back on the couch. 

"They won't think like that. Jeonghan-ah, please support me. You are my manager and I want you to be on my side." Jeonghan smirks. 

"Then let me hear it. The song." Byul hesitates to say yes but before she can answer him, Chanyeol called them. 

"Dinner is ready," he said from the kitchen. Byul gets up. 

"I'm just saying. They expect more from you when you do a public relationship. They want to see if you feel like quitting or continue to be a singer. It's people's thoughts, Byul-ah. And you should be aware of that." he then left to the kitchen first and make Byul think about it until Chanyeol calls her name. She moves to the kitchen and the three of them are having a nice dinner with small talk. 

"Chanyeol-ah, I want to ask you an opinion." Jeonghan suddenly calls out Chanyeol. They looked at each other with Byul narrowed her eyes. Afraid if Jeonghan says something nonsense. 

"What is it?" Chanyeol chews his food before asking the question. Jeonghan puts down the utensils and steals a glance at Byul. She is nervous but tries hard to not show it. 

"What do you think Byul should do? A full album comeback or a single comeback?" Byul sighs a relief breath when Jeonghan is asking him that question. Chanyeol chuckled and look at Byul. He holds her hands while Jeonghan is waiting for his answer. 

"Well, I think she can choose either one." his answer didn't satisfy Jeonghan. Byul nods proudly. 

"No, no, no. You can't use a boyfriend card here. You, as one of the... staff?" Jeonghan titled his head, confused about Chanyeol's position. "Anyway, you are one of the important people to be in the discussion every time Byul is doing her comeback. What would you say?" Chanyeol hums. Byul bites her lips in nervousness. 

"Well, to be honest." Jeonghan nods. Byul stares at him. "She always did full album comeback and she needs to continue doing that. Either full or mini album. A single comeback is looking suspicious for me." Byul gasped. "But she needs to do ballad or maybe another genre. She always dances in her comeback song. Why not try something slow or soothing?" Chanyeol said. Jeonghan claps his hands. Byul leans back on the chair with a heavy sigh. 

"See, Byul-ah. You just cannot do a single comeback." Chanyeol looks at Byul when her reaction is not looking good. He reached for her hands. 

"Hey, babe. Why do you want to do a single comeback suddenly? I thought you had a full long list of songs?" Chanyeol talks with her with a soothing voice. Byul looks at him and sighs. 

"I don't know. I just feel like I want to do a single comeback for this time," she answered. 

"But you've been away for 5 months without a fan meeting, live video. Just a picture updated in social media." Jeonghan pushes her. Byul stares at him. Chanyeol rubs her hands to make her feel calm. 

"I'll talk with Mr.Lee on Monday. You can't say a word about my career, Jeonghan-ah." Jeonghan is stunned by her words. Byul gritted her teeth. Chanyeol whispers her name to make her stare at him. Byul did and eventually, she feels calm. Jeonghan sees that and he feels jealous inside. He used to argue all the things with Byul and they will be good or fight for a few days or have makeup . But this time, Byul has someone else to make her calm. 

"Well, thanks for the dinner, Chanyeol-ah. It was delicious. I'll come back for more if you don't mind." Jeonghan pulls out the napkin and wipes his lips. Chanyeol and Byul look at him. 

"You're leaving?" Chanyeol asked as Jeonghan is standing up. 

"Yeah, I have an appointment with my friend tonight so... better get going now." Chanyeol gets up as Jeonghan leave the table and step back to the hallway. 

"Oh, Jeonghan-ah," she calls him when he disappears behind the wall. Chanyeol looks at Byul that stares at the wall. She sighs and gets up immediately. Chanyeol froze at the table and sits back to let them resolve the fight. Chanyeol is curious to know and wants to see but he didn't want to feel jealous of them. Byul sees Jeonghan is wearing the coat. She walks to him and grabs his arms to turn him around. Jeonghan turns and looks at Byul. She closed her eyes as she sighs. Jeonghan fixes his coat and grabs his bag that full of paper that he brings from the company. 

"Jeonghan-ah," she calls him. 

"I'm leaving. See you on Monday." he left and makes Byul feels frustrated. She grabs one of the coats and runs outside. She manages to catch him at the elevator.

"Jeonghan! Can you please listen to me?" Byul forces him to look at her but Jeonghan avoids her eyes. Byul frowned and stay next to him while waiting for the elevator. When the elevator has arrived, Jeonghan gets inside and Byul follows. But before he can push the button for the parking, Byul pushes the button for the rooftop and block the button from Jeonghan. He stares at her. Being alone with her in the trap space makes Jeonghan thirst for her kiss. Byul didn't realize that as she wants to solve their fight. 

She grabs his hands when the elevator reaches to rooftop floor. She drags him to one of the benches that cover with a pretty tree surrounding that place. She looks at him as he looks around. There is no one at this hour. Maybe because of the cold but it just because everyone is having dinner right now.

"Jeonghan," she calls him, firmly. Jeonghan looks at her. "Look. I didn't mean to say that you have no right. You have a right. I know that. But...this song means a lot to me. And I want this song to be the main focus of a whole comeback." Byul explains. 

"You wrote it?" he asked. Byul nods. "You composed it?" Byul nods. 

"Roughly, yeah." Byul giving with an answer. 

"So, what is so special about it?" Jeonghan asked again. Byul froze. She is hesitant to answer the question. It might be sensitive for Jeonghan. "Why can't you tell me? Is that song for Chanyeol?" Byul eyes widen. Jeonghan is surprised that his guess is correct and now he feels jealous. He looked away with a chuckled to cover up that he is jealous. 

"H-Ho..." Byul can't say a word about it.

"Oh my god! Why can't you tell me? If that is the reason, I'm on your side, Byul-ah." she is surprised to see his reaction. "We'll talk with Mr.Lee on Monday. I'll support you, Byul-ah." 

"Wh-?" Byul frowned. "Wait. Are...you okay?" Byul is looking at him, weirdly. 

"Of course I am. Why are you even asking that?" Byul scratches her head although it's not itchy. "Okay, you made this song for Chanyeol and we can use this as a marketing strategy. Or maybe we can make a music video with Chanyeol in it. You guys-" 

"Wait, wait. That is too much. I'm making that song for Chanyeol and I didn't want him to get so much exposure. I d-don't think he likes to expose so much." Byul said. 

"O-Okay, then. We can just use cute things in the set. No need Chanyeol. People already know once they heard this song, oh, it's for her boyfriend." Jeonghan acts girly for the impression. Byul finally chuckled and sigh a relief. 

"We can put a bit of our picture in the MV. If fans caught it, then yeah..." Byul said. 

"Right! Oh my god. I can't wait to meet Mr.Lee about this. Why don't you just tell me about this, Byul-ah?" Jeonghan frowned. Byul bites her inner lips. 

"I don't want you to...feel bad or something about this. I mean...in the past we were...but now..." Byul can't say a full sentence to her words but Jeonghan understands it. 

"Byul-ah, being your friend is enough for me. I want to fix things with Sowon anyway." Byul nods aggressively. "But I can't deny that I want to kiss you right now." Byul froze as Jeonghan leaning closer to her. When their face is closer enough, Jeonghan laughs. Byul blinks in confused. 

"Are you-" 

"Teasing you!" he laughs again. Byul hits him in his arms. "I love Sowon and I respect your boyfriend and you, Byul-ah," Jeonghan said. 

"Don't you feel jealous of us?" Byul asked. Jeonghan stares at her before scoffs. 

"I do." he nods his head and Byul feels like her breathing is in pause. "Because I can't do that with Sowon. What if I and Sowon stay in the same house? It will be amazing." Byul smiles. 

"I can cook for her. I can massage her. I can kiss her so she won't feel tired or alone. I can talk with her if she is stressing out about something." Byul smiles fade away slowly. "I can sing her a lullaby. I can tuck her to sleep. I can make her feel safe and secure every night. I won't let her feel alone or anxious. I won't let her know what hurt is." Jeonghan looks at Byul and their eyes locked. 

"I love her that I want to protect her so much. I don't want her to cry every night. If she's hurt, I can feel the pain as well." Byul eyes start to get blurry due to tears in her eyes. She feels jealous of hearing all of that but at the same time, it feels like Jeonghan is describing what he had done to her in the past. 

"Can I be with her?" Jeonghan asked a question that no one can answer. Byul keeps staring at him without realizing that he is leaning closer to her. "I love her so much." Jeonghan eyes shift to her lips as he is getting closer. "I miss you," Jeonghan said before their lips caught each other. Byul closes her eyes. But before the kiss turns to more french, Jeonghan breaks it. Byul gasped as she realized what they are doing right now. 

"I'm sorry. I was imagining Sowon," he said and gets up. Byul panting but frowned at the same time. "I need to go. I'm sorry, Byul-ah. See you on Monday." he left. Byul gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. Sowon? Does he think she is Sowon? So Jeonghan is kissing Sowon and not her. Byul's pride starts to feel hurt as she gets up and tries to catch Jeonghan. But he already left with the elevator. Byul palms her face as she is realizing the feelings that she had right now. She can't feel this. She just kisses Jeonghan! Chanyeol can't know about this. She sighs. 

Byul opens the door of her house and Chanyeol is staring at her with his arms crossed. Byul greets him with a smile and a sniff. Chanyeol walks to her and hugs her. Byul froze but rubs his back as well to guarantee anything that he may want to clarify. 

"That's long," Chanyeol said. Byul burst in chuckled. 

"He left a long time ago, Chanyeol. I'm on the rooftop." Chanyeol looks at her. "Yeah, I was thinking about my comeback. We talked and he is on my side. My comeback will be a single comeback." 

"Any reason why he suddenly agrees with you?" Chanyeol frowned, feeling suspicious. 

"Words. That's what I'm going to do with Mr.Lee on Monday. He's going to agree with me as well." she winks. Chanyeol smiles bitterly and Byul notices that. She gives him a peck on the cheeks. 

"Is everything alright, babe?" she asked. Chanyeol pouts. 

"I thought you and him..." Byul gets the hint. She hugs him and kisses his neck. 

"The only person that I want to be right now is you. I love you, babe. Don't overthink that. But actually, he did say that he feels jealous seeing you and me." Chanyeol's eyes widen. "He wishes that he can cook, take care of Sowon and live with her. But unfortunately, she is an idol and she is not allowed to do that yet. She still lives in a dorm with her member." Chanyeol nods. 

"I thought he wants you back." Byul chuckled but deep down, she feels frustrated about keeping a secret from Chanyeol. 

"He doesn't want me anymore. I don't want him forever. He loves Sowon. We did talk a bit about him and Sowon so it takes time. But the last 20 minutes is I'm alone at the rooftop." the lies. She lied again. For her relationship's sake. She's been with him for that 20 minutes and 10 minutes to calm herself to face Chanyeol.

"He really likes Sowon?" Chanyeol questioning her. 

"I guess. Why are still continue talking about him? I miss you babe!" she gives him a kiss and jumps on him. He caught it and put his hands under her . Her leg wraps around his waist and he brings her to their room.

 

Write -11/3/2021 | 12:30PM

Re-check - 12/4/2021 | 4:11PM

*What do you guys think about this chapter?