Daehyun watched silently, remembering Youngjae's words. Your girl is about to get stolen by Mr Nice Guy.

Right on.

The gang was hanging out at an eatery after school, sharing a large plate of ddubokki together as they chatted. Daehyun didn't eat because he had no appetite and he just watched Jongup and So Eun's interaction silently from the corner, taking everything in.

Jongup would voluntarily raise his hands up to ask for a refill of water for So Eun when her glass of water was running low, even before she realized her water was finishing. He, like Daehyun, knew So Eun couldn't take anything more than mildly spicy.

When So Eun got some sauce on her lips, Jongup would pass the tissues to her immediately even though Daehyun could see the guy wanted to wipe it off her lips himself.

Jongup would laugh at her jokes and seemed sickeningly attentive to every single thing So Eun said. Perhaps it was just Jongup's character, since he was a nice guy after all. However, it still sickened Daehyun to see it and he had to force himself to look away before he puked into their ddubokki.

Youngjae was right. Jongup really had a crush on So Eun, darn that brainiac for being so accurate.

However what Youngjae didn't guess correctly about Daehyun was that despite his feelings for So Eun, he had a higher goal in mind compared to love. He had to save her and stop her from falling in love with him.

The curse worked in wonders. If Daehyun wasn't by her side, some vehicle would run over So Eun to kill her just for the fun of it on her eighteenth birthday. If Daehyun was there guarding her, the curse would use this fact against So Eun and threaten his own safety instead, making So Eun give up her life for him.

Stupid. The curse was freaking smart and he felt absurdly desperate.

The only thing he could do now was to be near enough to So Eun but in a way such that even when the curse strikes and tries to use him to lure So Eun into giving him, she wouldn't love him and she would do nothing to sacrifice for him.

And the way to do that was to make her fall in love with someone else, Daehyun concluded. Daehyun eyed Jongup up and down, suddenly finding a lot of displeasures in looking at the younger guy. He irked him with his nice guy smiles and gestures and Daehyun felt annoyed.

But he couldn't deny that Jongup was a good person either and if So Eun was to end up with someone else other than him, Jongup was a good choice.

So it had come to this. *I'll have to push her away.* Daehyun thought grimly, absolutely exhilerated by the thought. Not.

-----

Jongup had been practicing his gymnastic movements when the doorbell rang.

He was wearing black sweats and a tank top, perspiring madly as he did every time he worked out. Jongup stopped lifting the weights and ran for the door, grabbing a towel in the mean time to wipe his face. He opened the door and was surprised to see who it was.

Daehyun.

"Hyung." Jongup blinked in surprise and opened the door wider, breaking into a smile. "What brings you here?"

Daehyun eyed Jongup's muscles and he could even see the latter's packs from behind the tank top. Darn it, this guy was fitter than Rain. Maybe.

Daehyun cast away his immediately dislike and discriminating thoughts of Jongup and he strolled into the living room, his hands in his pockets and sighing softly, wondering how he was supposed to approach the subject. Jongup didn't suspect anything as he smiled at Daehyun, happy that this hyung was here and wanted to get closer to him.

"Why are you here, Daehyun hyung?" Jongup grinned. "Where's So Eun? Are you bored? You can workout with me you know, or I can get my video games out and we can have a battle." he suggested good-naturedly.

Daehyun bit his lip and turned around, looking at Jongup. He sighed and plopped himself on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees and crossing his fingers, twiddling his thumbs. "Sit down." he told Jongup.

Jongup sat down cautiously, scratching his head and wondering what on earth was going on.

"I wanted to ask you something." Daehyun muttered, shifting uncomfortably. "What do you think of So Eun?"

"So Eun?" Jongup looked stumped that he would ask something like that. "So Eun? She's beautiful of course. Kind and smart but a bit too smart sometimes...and she has the prettiest laugh." he blurted. Jongup stopped himself, feeling that he had revealed a little too much to be comfortable.

Daehyun nodded, agreeing. "Is it safe to say that you...like her?" he asked carefully, watching Jongup's reaction.

Jongup instantly pinked and he played with his fingers. "I'm actually not very sure." he admitted. "I know the other boys had crushes on So Eun at some point in their lives, especially when both genders were undergoing puberty. I never actually got there."

Jongup bit his lip. "Until now, maybe." he glanced at Daehyun. "I'm not too sure what I feel about her but I'm a little too aware that she's a girl, on top of the fact that she's my friend. I've always only seen her as one of the brothers but now I'm acutely aware that Kim So Eun is a girl. A very pretty one at that." he pinked.

*This guy is slow.* Daehyun couldn't help but think. *My So Eun has always been a pretty girl and only now he realizes?*

"Why do you want to know, hyung?" Jongup asked curiously. "Do you like So Eun as well?"

Understatement. Daehyun shook his head and tried to look as kind and patient as possible. "No I...I was concerned about you." he cleared his throat, feeling a little disorientated by the degree of mushiness that was sprouting from his mouth to another male. It was highly disgusting. Like seriously...concerned about you...

"I think you should confess." Daehyun blurted, looking at Jongup in the eye. "If you like her, confess. Risk it, or you'll never get her if you wait."

Jongup looked at Daehyun, his eyes shining. "You really think so? I was afraid that So Eun might not like me that way." he bit the inside of his cheeks. "And if that's so, our friendship will be ruined."

"Trust your years of friendship, if things go wrong you guys will not feel awkward about it." Daehyun advised genuinely, because he really wanted Jongup to find his girl too. Just that the girl in question was also his. "You're a nice guy. So Eun will be a dummy to reject you."

Jongup seemed elated to hear that and he nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you hyung! Thank you for the encouragement and advice!" he leaped and gave Daehyun a hug.

Daehyun couldn't help but smile even though he was now covered in perspiration that wasn't even his own.

"YOU SAY WHAT?" the boys chorused.

Jongup looked back at the house in panic and shushed his hyungs. "Softer." he hissed. "I said, I want to confess to So Eun."

The boys were over at Yongguk's for dessert and the nice So Eun had gone in to help Mrs Bang with the scooping of ice creams and decorating with chocolate chips before bringing them out for the boys. As the BAP boys gathered at the front lawn, Jongup had notified his hyungs and dongsaeng about his decision to confess the next day.

"You want to..." Yongguk looked genuinely shocked. "Wow Jongup I'm shocked. For one I didn't know you had it in you. Secondly....SO EUN?" he raised a brow.

Himchan elbowed Yongguk. "You had a crush on her too remember? When we were ten." he reminded. "All of us crushed on So Eun at one point or another but as we grew older we realized it was just brotherly feelings." he shrugged.

Zelo looked at Jongup. "What made you want to confess all of a sudden, hyung?" he asked curiously as he bit into a chocopie.

"Well actually.." Jongup glanced at Daehyun. "Daehyun hyung encouraged me to do so. He said that if I don't risk it, I'll never get her. I think I should confess."

Everyone turned to look at Daehyun in surprise and the latter cleared his throat awkwardly. "What." he muttered. Youngjae was completely puzzled by his actions but he kept mum, frowning and working things out in his mind.

"Didn't know you were a love advisor, Daehyun." Himchan grinned. "But well if you're sure Jongup. If So Eun is the girl for you and you're the boy for her, we'll all be happy for you two too. A couple in the group, can you imagine the teasing?" he guffawed.

Yongguk turned serious as he frowned at Jongup. "But for the same reasons, because we are good friends, are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked. "If anything goes wrong in your relationship, you'll be risking your friendship with her and we don't want that."

Jongup nodded, jutting his bottom lip out as he considered Yongguk's words. "I know. But what Daehyun hyung said is true. If I don't try, I'll never know. I think I want to try, hyung."

Yongguk nodded and settled back. "Good. Then I wish you all the best."

"What were you guys talking about?"

The boys stiffened as So Eun walked in with a tray of beautifully decorated ice creams and distributed them to the boys. She gave a blue cup one to Daehyun and smiled at him but he looked away, clearing his throat. She eyed the boys and noticed their strange behavior. "What's going on?"

"Nothing noona." Zelo shook his head and put on his best innocent smile. "Are there anymore ice creams left? I finished mine." he showed his empty cup.

"Already?" So Eun shook her head in amusement. "Aish I'll give you half of mine."

Daehyun smiled softly at her kindness and ate his own ice cream, having mixed feelings about the whole Jongup-confessing-to-So Eun thing. Youngjae tapped on his shoulder and Daehyun looked up, wary.

"What are you doing?" Youngjae whispered fiercely, frowning intensely. "Why did you encourage Jongup to confess to So Eun?"

Daehyun glanced at the rest and was relieved to see that they weren't paying attention to them. "He likes So Eun, what's wrong?" he defended.

Youngjae looked at him, pissed and puzzled. "But you like So Eun too so why are you pushing her to Jongup? Fair fight amongst brothers, hyung. You can't just sacrifice like this, what if the one for So Eun is you?"

Daehyun's face immediately hardened and he stood up. "It's not." and he walked away.

Daehyun's shoulder brushed Youngjae's as he passed and the latter frowned, confused. *I'm getting more and more confused by his actions. Is he hiding something?*