After the whole fuss, Jonghyun and Key left without a word, exiting through two separate doors. The commotion on the dance floor continued, and through the midst of it, Minho nudged me as a signal to leave. At first, I assumed it was to leave the crowd, but the look in his eyes pressed to leave the ball. There were gleams of hope, desperation and slight confidence as he placed an uneasy hand on my waist.

"Taeyeon?" he called in a whisper, fingers curling against my skin. My eyes tried to keep his, but I couldn't hold on. I had a second of uncertainty, and it quickly erupted into total doubt. Before I could stop it, my hand pressed lightly on Minho's arm as I shied away from his touch.

My eyes widened with guilt as I realized what I had done. I didn't dare meet his gaze before I bolted for the door. My heels clacked against the floor and its straps dug into my ankle, but I didn't let up. I caught sight of Joon and Onew on my way out, and the pair snatched me before I could leave.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Onew exclaimed in surprise. "Where's the fire, girl?"

When I shook my head, both of their expressions twisted seriously. "What happened?" Joon asked. I willed myself to not look back as I explained that I needed to go home.

"You take her," Onew told Joon with a stern nod. He leaned in carefully before whispering, “I'll talk to Minho." Surely I wasn't supposed to hear that part, and I wish I hadn't.

Joon took my hand and led me out of the ball and back to his car. He helped strap me into my seat before moving to his. The car ride back to school was silent minus the muffled radio playing in the background. Joon passed occasional glances my way, but never tried to initiate conversation. After a while, I just stared out the window till we arrived.

After parking, Joon tried to to walk me to my room, but I ultimately refused and trudged down the hallway by myself.

‘God,’ I thought as I threw open the door. As soon as I was in the room, I kicked off my high heels and began to strip off my dress. ‘What am I going to do?’ I couldn’t stop thinking about Minho and the ball and everything that had just happened. School would be chaos tomorrow. I didn’t know how I was going to confront Minho, and I didn’t want to.

My hands cupped the sink water, and I roughly splashed my face with it, trying to peel away the layers of makeup the maids caked on. I looked up to mirror and shook my head at the sight. “He likes me.”

Normally, that would exciting to think about, but right now, that was a problem. When he liked Taemin, it was alright because he doesn’t know who I really am. But now, he really likes me and I don’t know if that is okay or not.

“Oh God!” I cried as a sudden realization hit. I gripped the edge of the sink as I hunched forward in defeat. What is Father going to think? If he hears wind about us, I’m screwed!

I jumped out of the bathroom and buried myself into my bed. I fought with the covers, irritated that they were struggling. When I finally got comfortable, I huffed in annoyance and hid my face into the pillow. I glared at the ceiling in discontent and cursed the world because I was not looking forward to the next day.

“Good morning!” Onew cheered happily, waking me up. When I opened my eyes, I was shocked to see the older sitting on my bed, smiling down at me. I looked to my bedside clock to see a glaring ‘7:45’.

“How did you get in?” I grumbled as I turned my back to him and pulled the covers over my shoulder.

Onew chuckled softly before yanking the blanket away. “The maid let me in. Now get up, sleepyhead.” His hand wrapped around my wrist, but I snatched it away before he could pull me up.

“I don’t want to!” I whined, refusing to deal with the day. Onew huffed in disappointment and crawled out of the bed. I could hear his footsteps as he walked around the room, but I didn’t bother to check to see what he was up to. A few moments after, the closet door clicked open and then shut and something dense landed against my waist.

“Come on, get dressed,” Onew ordered lightly, pleasant smile still in place.

I rolled my eyes at his act and finally shuffled out of bed. “Yes, mother.” With the clothes in hand, I locked myself in the bathroom and quickly redressed myself in the school uniform. When I came out, messily clothed, Onew was perched on the bed with his head in his hands; his expression was serious and thoughtful, as if he were really considering something. However, when the door closed behind me, his lips twisted back into a smile and his eyes tinged with a gleam.

“Ready to go?” he called as he offered me a hand and nudged his head to the door. I was hesitant to take his hand, but I took it anyways while eyeing him carefully. He tilted his head slightly, as if silently asking me what was wrong, but I didn’t know if I could pry. I was sure he knew that I saw his turn of emotions, so why was he playing like this?

“Are you okay?” he dared to ask, smile softening. What nerve, I couldn’t help but think. Best friends don’t act out of pure audacity like that right? He was being so obvious. Does that mean I can call him out too?

My lips turned down into a pout and my grip on his hand tightened. “Are you?”

His eyes widened slightly in shock. Really? Are you really shocked? “What do you mean?”

“Onew,” I huffed, “I can tell when you’re lying. What’s wrong?”

He thought for one second, two and then three, and instead of answering, he shook his head. “I’ll tell you later, alright?” And then before I could counter, he interrupted with, “I promise.” There was no room for arguments when it came to promises between us; he would surely keep it, so I guess I just had to be patient.

Onew and I walked to class together, skipping breakfast since we were running late. I didn’t mind anyways since I still wasn’t ready to face Minho. I knew I would have to, sooner or later, but I just wanted to push it off as much as I could.

“Onew! Taeyeon!” Jonghyun called as we entered the room. He stood from his seat and frantically waved while Key was slumped in his seat, leaning lazily against the wall. We approached the pair, I more cautiously than Onew.

“Morning.”

“Oh hey,” Jonghyun nodded to me, tilting his head curiously, “Minho was looking for you earlier. Did something happen?”

Onew twisted to face me immediately, impatiently waiting for a response. I instantly cursed Jonghyun for bring up the topic, but I tried to remain cool. Don’t let it show. “Nothing, why?”

“He seemed uneasy, is all,” Jonghyun shrugged, trying to play along.

Suddenly though, Key stood from his seat and walked past all of us. Jonghyun asked him what was wrong, but received no response. Key merely exited the room, only taking a glance at us once before leaving. I thought for a second that he caught my eye and was trying to call for me, and my suspicions were proven when I received a text from him seconds later.

“I’ll go check on him,” I said before placing a secure hand on Jonghyun’s shoulder. He made a move to stand up, and I was sure he wanted to go after the other. However, I couldn’t help but think Key wanted to just talk to me. Jonghyun nodded and wished me luck.

I passed by our teacher on the way out, and he warned me that I only had five minutes before the bell. I didn’t give it much thought, of course, and met with Key, who was still lounging around in the hallway.

“Glad you took the hint,” he nodded, motioning towards the seat beside him. I followed his gesture and plopped down against the wall with him. When I was comfortable, I turned to face him but his gaze was off somewhere else.

“Is everything alright?”

He shrugged. “How are things for you?”

I nervously looked away before answering, “alright.” Key just hummed an affirmative, but when I looked back, his eyes were hard. Though I don’t blame him because that was hardly believable. “What about you?”

He huffed in mild annoyance as he took his turn to look away. “You’ve probably already heard about the... incident between Jonghyun and I...” When I nodded, he only sighed more heavily. “The news is traveling so fast; it’s never this fast!”

I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and smoothed over the edges as I shushed him lowly. “Are things alright between you and Jjong?”

“Oh, we’re fine,” Key assured me with a slight hint of sass, which I thoroughly appreciated because it meant he still had high spirits. “It’s our parents I’m worried about.”

“So... have they...”

“Yeah, they heard about it practically half an hour after it happened.” Key rolled his eyes. “They confronted Jonghyun and I about it when we got back home, and neither of us knew how to react or what to say.”

“I...” I slid my hand down to rest over his. “I’m so sorry, Key.”

“It was all just so confusing! Like, my parents were yelling about us being gay and questioning why they didn’t know that before. But then surprisingly, Jonghyun’s parents were working in our favor and arguing that it was alright because we were all close family friends and we could make this work.” Key took a second to catch his breath before resting his head lazily onto my shoulder. “But man, when my parents asked when we started liking each other, I didn’t realize... just how long I’ve probably liked Jonghyun.”

My fingers immediately laced with his own, and I gave it a careful squeeze of reassurance. The corners of my lips tipped into a slight smile at his announcement, and I offered a light snicker.

“Do you...” Key pulled his head away and shifted his gaze to the ground. His hand grasped so tightly onto mine, I began to worry. “Do you think we are revolting?”

I jumped up from my seat to grab hold of his shoulders. My hands instinctively shook him wildly as his eyes widened at the sudden outburst. “Are you kidding me?!”

His eyes settled for a second before he looked away again. “I’m being serious...”

“Well, so am I when I say, hell no.” He glanced up unsurely, but I scoffed angrily. “Key, we’ve all been best friends since I got here. I’m honestly upset that you’d doubt me like that.”

“I...” He looked back down, shyly this time. “I’m sorry.”

The bell suddenly rang overhead and we both looked to the classroom. There was a moment of slight hesitation, but we ultimately decided to go back. As I moved to stand up, Key grabbed me by one of my hands and pulled me to his chest.

“Thanks for everything, Taeyeon,” he mumbled, tightening his embrace.

I shrugged lightly before hugging him back. “It’s nothing. I’m just happy for you both.”

“Yeah,” Key nodded, a hint of shyness in his voice. When he spoke again, there was a slight crack of tenderness that left me speechless. “I... I really like him.”

Key and I entered the classroom ten minutes past the bell. Our teacher attempted to lecture us, but Key just walked right past him and headed back to his seat by Jonghyun. The older greeted him with an enthusiastic grin the younger returned with a scrunch of his nose. I tried not to stare too hard as I made my way over to Onew, but it was difficult when I saw them slyly hold hands underneath the table. I nearly knocked the end of the table with my hip, but luckily Onew caught me just in time.

“Whoa, watch out!” Onew whispered sharply as he gripped my waist. When I fully snapped out of my daze and looked at him, he raised his brows. “Are you alright?”

“Uh.” I glanced over at Jonghyun and Key again, just to see them pull away from a quick peck. “Yeah, just... just distracted.”

Onew helped me to my seat with much guidance as I continued to gawk at Jonghyun and Key’s undeniably cute exchanges. They were usually close, sure, but it was different now knowing that they really did like each other that way.

The rest of class I paid no mind to the lesson. My attention was focused on the intimate couple from across the room. Five minutes into class, Jonghyun had scooted his chair that much closer to Key’s, leaving no space between them. A minute later, his hand landed on Key’s thigh, ever so casual and innocent. Key responded with his own hand over Jonghyun’s, thumb over the back. Halfway through the class, Jonghyun was resting his head on Key’s shoulder with his arm looped around the back of the chair. And at that point, I had had enough.

Honestly, I was a little - if not really, really - jealous of their open relationship. I was happy for them, so so happy for them, but I couldn’t understand how it worked out so easily for them. Besides Key’s parents being a bit iffy, Jonghyun’s parents were all for it and they were pretty much in the clear. I’m still contemplating my feelings for Minho and worrying about my father’s initial reactions because they definitely won’t be positive.

The bell rang, the very sound I feared up until that moment.

When I saw Jonghyun and Key walking out of the class, hands interlaced, something clicked inside of me. I suddenly realized, suddenly understood everything. Perhaps it wasn’t about my father, about those worries. Sure Key had - what I imagine will be - my same reaction to the idea, but I couldn’t help but think he brushed it aside so easily. He had his insecurities, but he wasn’t entirely concerned; he seemed perfectly content with his condition, especially since it involved being involved with Jonghyun. And Jonghyun, of course, was ecstatic. The neverending grin seemed to stretch even further than before, something we thought was inconceivable.

It almost was like they were drowning themselves in the shallow happiness that their relationship brought, and based on their reactions to it, it seemed like the best thing ever.

I thought about Minho; I thought about us. There was so much to think about and so much to consider. It was crazy to think that we’d known each other for so long, and even after a year or so of separation, I still... I still might have feelings for him. I realized how often he was on my mind, how often I wished he was by my side.

With Jonghyun and Key ahead, Onew and I followed from behind, I farthest back. I tugged on Onew’s sleeve, using it to guide me as I fixated my thoughts on Minho and what was about to happen.

Am I ready for this? I asked myself, not sure what the answer was.

We entered the cafeteria, the motion all too routine as we approached our usual table. Minho, unexpectedly, wasn’t there, and so we sat down with a space for him to join. Onew started the conversation with a toast of congratulations to Jonghyun and Key’s new relationship, and the two wholeheartedly thanked him and then I for, as they said, ‘our devoted friendship’. The pair shared a quick kiss, something Onew and I playfully coughed at. We both earned a slap at the shoulder from Key, but we all brushed it off with a fit of laughter.

There was such a release of the tension within me, and I finally decided that I was going to be okay, no matter what the outcome.

And as if on queue to that revelation, Minho strutted into the cafeteria with a look of pure determination and hesitation, a paradox that matched my own mood entirely. He opened his mouth to call me, but I already stood up. Jonghyun questioned what was going on, but we ultimately ignored it. With the nod of his head, we exited the cafeteria together, earning curious gazes from all of our peers.

He pulled me up the stairs, all the way to the rooftop of the school building. The door slammed shut as he approached the railing, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. There was a moment of silence, where I simply watched Minho collect himself through a series of grumbles and sighs. Sure I was also thinking, but I definitely felt more prepared.

I was ready.

“Taeyeon,” he finally started, body turning to face me. His hands braced onto the railing, as if he desperately needed that support. “We really need to talk.”

I knew what he wanted to say, and I knew what I wanted to say. So maybe it was rude of me, but I didn’t see the point of all that. It was already so emotional, so why not just indulge? Why not just plant a rough kiss on his lips and melt away?

And so that’s what I did, and I, quite frankly, melted.

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A/N: surprisingly enough, I am not dead! I know, I know; this chapter took way too long to happen. I originally had planned to post it on the 16th since it was my birthday, but I didn't entirely finish it. So here it is now, as a my birthday and Thanksgiving present to you all! :) 

anyways, I hope you guys liked it! sorry for never updating properly. I'm literally almost done with my college apps (yeah, i procrastinated on that too....), so I should have more free time in the future (i'm just lying to myself and you guys, aren't I?). I'm so bad at juggling things and prioritizing, I swear. i couldn't even finish this chapter, yet i planned a new fic instead. sorry guys!

well, i hope you guys have an amazing thanksgiving break with your families! don't spend too much time on here haha. i'll catch you guys another time! hopefully, I'll update at the very least, one more time before the end of the year. bye guys! <3

oh, and how do you like the new layout? :) let me know what you think of it and this chapter in the comments keke >u<