Taemin hung up after getting cursed at in every way possible by his manager. Everyone else will probably be mad, too, Taemin thought with a bit of guilt at the thought of the other members having to fill in for him on the variety and radio show he'd had scheduled for yesterday, but nothing could bring down his mood right now.  God, she was perfect, he thought in bliss as he slipped on his pants from yesterday. As he looped his belt on he smiled at the memory of Eunmi taking it off last night.

She stepped out of the bathroom and her hair was still damp. Mine, Taemin thought. He was almost giddy with the memory that he had been her first.

She stopped as soon as she saw him standing in the middle of her room shirtless. "Uh… You… Um… I have dance class today so… and you probably have work and… Yeah." She gave up trying to talk and just stood there, pulling her earlobe—a sure sign that she was anxious or nervous.

"Yep, I have a few interviews for today." He pulled his shirt over his head, smiling when he remembered that a sweet spot of hers was right around where she was tugging her earlobe. "But there's nothing for tonight. Did you wanna go out?"

Eunmi didn't know how to answer. Mostly because she was sure he meant "go out" as in a date and that was exactly what Eunmi didn't want. "Uh… Can't. The dance instructor is moving and she asked a few of us in the class to help her out so… yeah." I hate how good I am at lying sometimes, Eunmi thought with regret. She'd never lied to Taemin before, but this really wasn’t what she wanted.

She walked Taemin out and there was an awkward moment at her door when he clearly wanted some kind of skinship rather than a wave, but a wave was all Eunmi gave him. She stood staring at the door for a few moments as she heard his footsteps recede down the hallway and started to get dressed for dance class as soon as the sound of his footsteps had faded.

That evening, Eunmi was sitting in front of her television watching a rerun of a drama. Taemin really was her only friend and without him she really had nothing to do.

Her phone rang and she looked at the screen. She wasn't going to answer at first when she saw it was Taemin because she was slightly anxious at the thought of talking to him, but answered anyway because he really was her best friend.

"You lied," Taemin said in a deadpan voice as soon as she answered.

"Huh?"

"You lied. Unlock your front door, I'm in front of your building on my way up now." He hung up before she could think of a response and debated with herself for a few seconds before she went and unlocked the front door.

When Taemin walked through the door, he stayed completely silent as he took off his shoes and sat down next to Eunmi on the couch.

"You're regretting it, aren't you?"

Taemin's question hung in the air around them for a few seconds before Eunmi finally asked, "You aren't?"

"Not at all," Taemin replied without hesitation. Guilt slammed into Eunmi at his words. "You didn't answer my question," he reminded her.

"Yeah, I am," she said with a sigh as she played with her earlobe. Eunmi didn't see the hurt flash in his eyes because she wasn't looking at him.

Taemin mentally prepared himself to say what he knew she wanted to hear. "Nothing has to change, Eunmi. We can stay friends like we have been or we can be more, but it's really your choice."

"I…" Eunmi blew a cherry and stood up. "Taemin," she said turning to him and folding her arms across her chest. "You know I love you and I know you love me and we both know nothing should change between us."

"Not all couples that start as friends in high school end up like your parents, Eunmi," Taemin said quietly. Eunmi stayed silent. "You're obviously not anything like your parents, but if you don't want us to be anything more than friends, that's fine with me. I wouldn't risk losing you as a friend for anything. So, just don't lie to me, okay?"

Eunmi nodded, suddenly finding her feet interesting. Taemin leaned over so his face blocked her view of her feet. "Ever. You're a good liar, but I know you too well and it almost killed me when you tried to pull that with me."

Eunmi met his eyes and nodded again. "Okay…"