In less than twelve hours, all of your hard work and years of training will be put to the test. RockCandy’s debut, your first live performance, reputation and name put on the line.

You usually aren’t fazed by big events or anything of that sort; as a musician, you were used to it; until now.

You were mentally suffocating in the grand function room of FNC’s company building. The President had organised a surprise pre-debut party for RockCandy. You had been surprised of course, with all the big banners, your faces plastered on the walls, bright purple and white balloons and the guest list, mainly consisting of the FNC family.

You felt over dressed in your fitting yet flowing deep purple gown that swept at the floor whilst Ollette, Cherry and Riafashioned light lavender purple dresses too. You had realised that despite being a small company, in comparison to YG and SM, FNC liked to spend a lot of time and money on things that you deemed ‘unnecessary’; just like the music playing in the background as you tried to hide in the corridor that lead to the great hall.

‘I’m A Loner’ started blaring through the speakers set throughout the hall. You took a peek into the grand room, hiding behind a wall. From what you could see, guests were chatting and eating; in fact no one was really looking for you.

“You’re a loner, You’re a loner, Dara diri dara du~”

“That’s not the lyrics…” You spoke to yourself, sort of confused, thinking something was wrong with the music file or something.

“Who says I’m not allowed to change it?” A shifty Yonghwa stood behind you, waiting for your reaction.

You turned your eyes and rolled them as two of you faced each other for the first time that night.

“Why are you out here?” He asked, raising an eyebrow, “Isn’t this your party?”

You folded your arms, trying to think of the best excuse.

“…I’m waiting!” You snapped back, turning back around again, the train of your dress sweeping by his shiny black shoes.

“For me, right?” Yonghwa said smoothly, trying to hide the try-hard within, “Well, I’m here now~”

You scoffed at his cockiness. He was so full of games and antics, you began to think that maybe you should fight fire with fire…

“What if I was?” You attempted to mess with his head, your back still turned to him.

If it were possible, you could’ve sworn that you heard his heart stop a second, followed by some sort of gasp.

“Wait- What, really?” Yonghwa was taken by surprise, you could almost visualise his mouth dropping.

You remained standing with your back to him, and were tempted to turn around and laugh in his face, the fact that you were joking. But the determined person you are wanted to win this game. You took a few steps towards the hall, leaving him where he was before finally turning around just slightly, giving him a small smile.

With that last glance, you forced yourself to enter the hall but only to be greeted by your band mates who appeared to have already drunk a little too much flutes of champagne; particularly Ollette, who had probably drunk so much because she couldn’t wait for Yonghwa.

“You missed… like… half and an eighth of the party” Cherry grabbed your hand, placing her glass in into your grasp, “Where you been girl?”

You placed the glass onto the tray of a passing by waiter, before attempting to calm your fellow RockCandy members.

“You girls need to sit down” You said, looking around for a table with vacant seats. You scanned the whole room, fortunately finding one in the front corner with only one person seated at it.

Tugging the three girls by their hands, you managed to bring them to table three, without any mishaps along the way. You sat each and every one of them down before sitting down yourself, not realising who was seated beside you.

“Anneyonghaseyo ______” Minhyuk bowed whilst still seated in the white covered seat, “I haven’t seen you till now”

“Ah, Oppa!” You bowed in return, tucking a stray strand of your fringe behind your ear, “Mian"

“Give Minhyuk-sunbae a kisssss!” Ria almost shouted from across the table before dropping her head onto the table for a nap,

You avoided eye contact with Minhyuk for a second, but as you heard him chuckle, you looked down and turned to face him.

“Forgive me, their kind of out of it at the moment” the leader within you apologised on behalf of your band mates.

“It’s alright” Jungshin and Jonghyun approached the table, wide smiles on their face, “We can take it from here”

The boys signalled Minhyuk to take you away from the slight mess, as they tried to accommodate Cherry, Ria and Ollette, who gave no signs of sobering.

“Yah!” Ollette snarled, directed at you as Jonghyun attempted to grab her hand, “I wouldn’t be.. like this.. if _______ wasn’t with Yonghwa-sunbae”

You jolted in your seat. What did she mean with Yonghwa? You were pretty sure that she was aware that you were in the arranged couple with Minhyuk.

Minhyuk grabbed your hand beneath the table and gave you an uncertain look.

“…Uh. She gets like that when she’s had too much” You replied, giving a forced smile. “…How about we go for a walk?”

---

The gardens of the buildings were quite beautiful, particularly at this time of night. Fairy lights were almost everywhere, but stood out the most to you as they were wired around the frame of an arch of the mini pergola. A small quartet orchestra was inside, rehearsing by the lights, playing a sweet melody that brought up the mood between the two of you.

The two of you held hands as you both made your way up the few stairs that lead up to where the orchestra was. The small gestures of affection that two of you shared became not because of force but because the both of you genuinely had become close. 

“________” Minhyuk softly yet audibly called your name, his grasp of your hand getting tighter, “What did she mean by ‘with Yonghwa’-hyung?”

You could tell that Minhyuk respected his hyung so much. You’d never do anything to harm that. You knew that he wanted an honest answer.

You avoided his glance for a few moments, looking around at the garden before giving a reply,

“Before you saw me just then, I was with Yonghwa-sunbae” You told him truthfully, still holding onto his hand.

The orchestra continued to play, the two of you now facing each other, the small yet bright lights forming a circle around you.

“Well, that’s okay” Minhyuk assured you, taking you into his embrace. He was so good to you, his reaction was so selfless, a reason why part of you really was falling for him.

“Really?” You asked, resting your head just under his shoulder, your arms wrapped comfortably around him,

“You’re my girlfriend, right?” He chuckled, playing along with the fact that the two of you were together in the first place because of the arrangement, “I wouldn’t be with you if I couldn’t trust you”

You giggled before sighing contentedly, still resting your head on his broad shoulder.

“If we’re dating…” You spoke up, “Why haven’t we had our first kiss?”

You felt Minhyuk loosen his embrace. You felt as if you jumped a couple of steps to quickly but Minhyuk felt otherwise.

“Shouldn’t it be at a time and place that’s perfect?” He asked, thinking that you had that sort of perception on first kisses, “I would have done it a while ago, but I thought you would’ve wanted it somewhere perfect”

You smiled because you couldn’t help it. Minhyuk was so thoughtful and it was too adorable. He pulled you back closer to him, giving you a loving a look. He held you around your waist, your bodies in comfortable contact.

You held his face, bringing it closer to yours, his hold of you tightening as you dived into the moment. Unsure of how he would react, you softly , kissing him firmly yet lightly, leaving him wanting for more; you could tell as he held your face by your cheeks that had begun to warm up.

You thought that the orchestra had silenced, but that thought soon passed as they reached the of their piece, the cello beaming, and violin singing a lovely melody.

Minhyuk sweetly kissed you once more, his lips grazing yours for a few last seconds before a grin formed on his face, his gaze attached to yours.

“Sarang-” Those words, just about to drift gracefully from his mouth; you had a feeling that either one of you were going to say it sooner or later, but you didn’t think that the moment would be cut short.

“Yah!”

The two of you instantly let go of each other, as if the tables had turned like you weren’t meant to see each other; even though you were. Your attention had been drawn to the steps to the pergola, where one could say, a loner, was standing.

“They’re cutting the cake now” Yonghwa sternly addressed the both of you.

From where you were standing, he looked slightly drenched, as if it had rained. But the whole time you were outside, the heaviest that it could’ve rained was a slight sprinkle. A feeling inside you was telling you that he may have been standing there for actually quite some time…

“It’s not like it’s her birthday” Minhyuk joked, putting your hand into his as he realised that it was only his hyung.

You took another look at Yonghwa, his expression dull, almost disappointed as he continued to stand where he was. Each carefully placed strand of hair on his head, either damp or taken out of place. You felt sorry for him, as if you were to blame for it.

“Oppa” You turned to Minhyuk, forcing a smile onto your face, “You’re a fast runner, do you think you can go ahead and tell them to wait a bit?”

Nodding obediently, Minhyuk squeezed your hand and gave you one of his loving looks before quickly pacing back to the hall, passing by Yonghwa.

“How long have you been here?” You asked in a neutral tone, but your arguing voice waiting on stand-by.

“For a second I actually thought you meant it” He diverted from answering your question as he looked away before focusing on you.

“Meant what?” You became defensive.

“When you said you were waiting for me” Yonghwa admitted, sounding as if it took so much energy to say so.

Your eyes widened till you realised what he meant.

“Is this about before?” You asked, placing your hands on your hips, “I was just playing along!”

Yonghwa’s expression hardened but you could feel a sense of vulnerability.

“If anyone should know that, it would be you, Yonghwa andyou know what? That’s all I know about you. You’re all games”

You looked to the ground before trying to walk away from him; you couldn’t face Yonghwa anymore.

“You wanna talk games? Then tell me, it was luck that I stopped him from telling you that he loves you” Yonghwa had caught you with his words. “It’s not fair if he says it, and you say it back, especially if you don’t mean it"