You have to understand them for yourself.

I understand your fears.

You'll thank me later for this.

The elderly woman's words replayed in my head like a broken record. I tossed and Jongin's bed. I'm sure Kyungsoo oppa might have muttered something about Jongin to stop ing creaking the bed in his sleep-induced spell. It's really hard to sleep in your boyfriend's body, but of course, I can't tell that to Kyungsoo. 

Then there was that whole deal with Jongin being a little miffed with me keeping things from him.

I'm starting to feel like I don't even know you. 

I was restless beyond repair. As if to read my mind, Jongin's phone buzzed. Good, maybe I can occupy myself with whoever was texting him right now. I'm putting my bets on - 

Taemin.

I knew it. 

Taemin Hi hi~~ I can't sleep. Do you want to grab a drink with me?

An interesting plot had suddenly popped up in my head. Like a switching turning on and putting me on overdrive, I replied back quickly.

Jong In Sure. Where do I meet you?

And then, just to around with this twit, I added, Baby~

Taemin Outside the building honey

I shuddered. What in the world is going on with these two?

#

Judging by the lateness of the hour, I threw on the thickest of Jongin's jackets, anticipating a cold night air. I had to slink past a sleeping Suho and Luhan, who were sprawled listlessly on the living room couch, the muted late night TV show emanating a bluish glow on their dozing skins. I shut the door as quietly as I could behind me and took the stairs down the apartment building. Outside, puffing warm air into the little cavern he makes with his gloved hands, was Lee Taemin. His eyes flitted up and a huge smile cracked across his face at the sight of me - Jongin.

As I approached him, he moved towards me and threw an arm around my - Jongin's - shoulders. It's all brotherly, so I didn't think too much of it. 

"Where are we headed?" I asked him as he moved us towards the street.

"Just the usual place," Taemin answered. "They cancelled the photoshoot that I was supposed to have tomorrow so I thought I might take the night off by having a drink with my best friend foreverrrr!"

I laughed uncomfortably. Not even my own girl friends are this giggly. 

Taemin led us to a little restaurant by the corner of their block. From the outside, you could already hear late-night patrons crooning to 90's ballads from the karaoke rooms inside. He chose a table for two at the back of the restaurant, where a middle aged woman gave us menus. Taemin immediately waved them away.

"You'll have the usual?" She asked at the indication of his gesture. 

"Yes, please, thank you," he answered, smiling sheepishly. The restaurant ahjumma ruffled his hair the way a mother would, clicking her tongue.

"Ah, you kids aren't even my husband's age yet and you already drink as much as he does."

Taemin laughed shyly and I joined in, playing along with him. When the middle aged woman left our table, Taemin turned back to me. Or rather, Jongin's body.

"How are you and Min Seol doing?" He asked.

I'm surprised he even mentioned my name first. The entire time we were together for practice today he didn't say one word about me. Now he's talking about me like it's something he and Jongin talk about all the time. Do they really?

Overcoming my initial shock, I answered, "We're fine...ish."

I wasn't looking directly at him, but I could tell Taemin wasn't convinced. "Are you sure about that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know... I mean, we've had a huge fight the other night about being too busy to see each other... and then it sort of blew out of proportion after that." Way out of proportion, I'd like to add. But I don't bother because I'm still wary of Taemin's motive here.

The restaurant ahjumma came back with a tray of soju and shot glasses. After placing them on our table, she left. Taemin spoke.

"Aish... Jongin-ssi," he said, shaking his head in what seemed like disapproval. "You're always getting into trouble with Min Seol."

I frowned, watching Taemin take a shot of the soju. When it hit him, he contorted his face until the bitter, burning taste of the rice wine subsided. That's when an idea occurred to me.

Now, from what Jongin has told me, Taemin has a rather low tolerance for alcohol. He suggests that it's because Taemin's so skinny, but that doesn't make sense because Jongin has just about the same body mass as his best friend and yet he holds his alcohol really well. Nonetheless, I ordered two more bottles of soju. 

It might be because he's been so stressed out lately or just really enjoys drinking, but Taemin doesn't notice that I've only managed to consume a third of the soju he's taken in. By now, he's pretty intoxicated and no time seems like a better one than now to ask him about how he really feels about me.

"So, about Min Seol," I spoke up as he stuffed a fried calamari appetizer into his mouth. "Why do you dislike her so much?"

Taemin chewed for a little bit until he answered me, shaking his head quite vigorously. "I don't dislike her at all! I think she's a sweet girl."

Again, this catches me by surprise. Like many of the things that come out of Taemin's mouth, I'm not quick to believe this one.

"What do you mean?" I asked. 

He shrugged languidly. "You two are a great couple." 

Taemin took his time to pick up a fried appetizer and eat it all up. I waited. He pointed at me and started chuckling.

"Remember that one time you wanted to break up with her?" 

Aha. Jackpot.

I'm confused with this, so I made sure that my - Jongin's - facial expressions showed it.

"When you started preparations for EXO's debut," Taemin burped. "Y-you told me that you were so tired all the time and being with Min Seolie was only making it worse. And do you remember what I told you?"

Taemin was slurring his words now, but that didn't stop me from pressing on, so I shook Jongin's head in negation. Come on, Taemin, what did you tell my boyfriend when he wanted to break up with me!

"I said..." Taemin was now chewing haplessly on his food. When he swallowed, he continued. "I said, 'No, Jongin-ssi, no. You have a greattttt girlfriend and if anyone would be envious of your situation right