“The number you are trying to reach is currently out of—“ I closed my phone and sighed as I sat in the middle of the living room at the dorm. I juggled my phone lazily while waiting a few minutes before trying to call again. Hopefully, she was already feeling better.

While I was in Japan keeping up with our schedule I was worried about why she had suddenly changed her behavior. From being all cheery and being able to fight with me at first, to being able to talk to me normally and finally, to just be sulking in corners like something was bothering her.

We had settled things at least, it seemed we really weren’t on bad terms anymore and that was alright with me. Of course, fixing things to how they really were was more difficult than I had initially imagined. Fixing 5 years of someone’s life—it’s not easy. Especially, when I was the one who actually ruined our relationship to begin with.

“Why aren’t you answering…?” I gazed at the clock hanging on one of the walls of our apartment, while looking at it I noticed how every minute seemed to be going slower than it should. The hands of the clock moved slowly and that was somehow exasperating, the endless ‘tick tack’ in the silence of the dorm was insufferable.

No one was awake yet, it wasn’t normal for them not to be up by now. However, taking into consideration the fact that we had just arrived from Japan the previous night then they must have been sleeping. It was weird though, not seeing Minhyuk awake.

Mostly because he’s up very early. I tried not to wonder about things so much and decided to call her again. Perhaps I was the one who was up too early, but I had a recording to attend and wanted to talk to her before leaving Seoul.

“The number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please leave your message”

“Yah! If you don’t answer the phone I will have to go to your house…! Let me know you are alright, ok? Geez…” I said, it might have sound a little too harsh for a morning call—but I couldn’t help it. I felt something was wrong with her, I really wanted to know what it was and help her fix it.

Worried that I might have come off as rude I dialed her number again.

“…Hello?” I heard her mumble.

“Yah! Don’t listen to that message I left a while ago!”

“Excuse me, who are you?” she sounded really sleepy when she answered so I wondered if she was consciously joking around or not.

“Lee Jonghyun of CNBlue” I answered.

“ahh…”

“Your ex”

“Ahh…”

“Why do you answer like you’re not impressed? Do you have a boyfriend in the music industry by the way?”

She giggled in reply, “I’m sorry, I’m just really sleepy right now”

“Sorry that I woke you up. It’s just that we arrived from Japan yesterday night and I hadn’t had the chance to talk to you, are you doing better?”

There was a short pause before she answered though, “Yeah, kinda…”

“Are you sure? When I left you the other day it seemed like you weren’t really doing good”

“I’m feeling better now, sorry to have worried you...”

I smiled as though she could see me, “I’m glad… oh! Remember that we had agreed to go out once we came back from Japan? I’m sorry but I’m behind my schedule, I have to shoot my scenes from my drama so they can edit the episode before it’s broadcasted”

“Ah…I see, well…I guess we can go out once you’re free”

“Yeah…sorry about that”

“No—it’s ok, I’m looking forward to your drama, Jonghyun” she answered.

“Yeah so…call you later when I’m done with the recording, so bye..”

“Bye…”

And I love you I wanted to add but I thought that saying so would be like forcing my feelings onto her and I had already done so the past few weeks. I just simply hung up on her and put the phone in my pocket.

When I turned to look around I saw Minhyuk standing in the middle of the hallway, “Oh, Minhyuk you are up already, good morning”

“Morning…” he said, the look in his eyes was strange. They looked slightly disappointed at something, what it was though was something I didn’t know. We didn’t talk like we used to some time ago so I wasn’t sure of what was going through his mind.

“Have you been there for a long time?” I asked him.

“N-no, I was just going out of my room—that’s all, don’t worry…I didn’t listen to anything” he said as he shook his head no.

“Ah… well um, do you want me to help you out preparing breakfast?” I casually asked to ease the awkward atmosphere that surrounded us.

“No it’s ok, you have a recording to attend right? Better get ready for that, I’ll make breakfast” Minhyuk said as he made his way inside the kitchen.

For some reason, he seemed to be feeling uneasy lately, “Minhyuk!” I called out to him as I followed him inside the kitchen.

“Is everything alright?”

“Sure… why?”

“Is something wrong between you and…Jinae?” I asked, his eyes opened wide in surprise like he wasn’t expecting me to ask about her. Lately, whenever I ran into them they were extremely close to each other for one reason or another.

“Why do you ask me about her?”

“You guys are dating, right? Or so it seems, at least from what I could tell last time I saw you, you guys were hugging and seemed pretty surprised when we ran into you”

“N-no, of course not, we are not dating or anything—it’s all a big misunderstanding”

I examined his expression and I was sure he was telling me the truth, however, after finding him with Jinae in different occasions I didn’t know what to think. She liked him, or at least she said she did but did Minhyuk liked her? I wasn’t really sure, I was never sure when it came to this issues.

I never knew who Minhyuk liked in high school, I only knew he liked that girl very much and that he was really in love with her. I thought that it would have been nice if I had got to meet her but Minhyuk stopped talking about his crush so suddenly it was strange.

“Alright, forget I said anything” I nodded and smiled at him. There was something bothering him, I could tell. Even if most of the time I didn’t say anything, I knew when something was up.

But for some reason, I was scared to find out what it was.

After having breakfast I went out of our flat and hopped inside our van, “Good morning, hyung”

“Yonghwa, why did you call me just like that?”

“I need you to take me to some place, I really need to fix something” I said as I looked at my phone for her address. After finding the address, I handed the manager my phone, “Let’s go there”

“Isn’t that…?”

“Yep, the place we spent the night at some time ago” I explained to him. He looked at me with a curious look on his face.

“And why do you want to go to that place?”

“Because I really have to fix something” I smiled. I really wanted to fix that misunderstanding. For them to talk calmly again, for Minhyuk to stop feeling depressed and maybe, just maybe…for her to take notice of him. To notice him.

It’s not like I was against Jonghyun being with her, after all, I really didn’t know the type of relationship they had. The only thing I knew is that several years of unrequited love were hurting Minhyuk and that perhaps there could be at least a chance to him to reveal his feelings at one point.

But if he didn’t talk to her again then expressing his feelings was going to be impossible. Not like it wasn’t difficult already, things were difficult to him. After all, having to remain quiet because of his friendship with Jonghyun must have been tough on him.

“What are you even up to?”

“Nothing bad, don’t worry at all”

The manager didn’t ask me any more questions and just drove in the direction I told him. I just hoped to get to find her and take her to him.

Once we arrived to the place, we waited inside the van for some time, “How long until she comes out?”

“Have you come to look for Minhyuk’s friend?”

“Yeah, they are not in good terms at the moment and I want them to patch things up”

“Seriously, Yonghwa? Aren’t you being nosy?”

“Nope, not really” I said as I looked out to the window and saw her by the entrance, “Oh! There she is, let’s follow her”

“Are you stalker?”

“Just follow her, hyung!” I exclaimed as I push the seat he was at, “Quick,quick”

A stalker. That almost made me laugh but it was kind of accurate since I wasn’t going out of the van and was kind of stalking her.

“And where are we going to go with this girl?”

“To Minhyuk’s recording of course”

“Why am I even getting involved…?”

If I didn’t talk then probably coming to her place was going to be a waste so I decided that I had to speak to her, “Hyung, stop the car”

I lowered the window and called out to her “Hey, that girl who’s lucky to know CNblue!” she immediately turned around and was noticeably surprised upon seeing me.

“Hello!” I waved at her and smiled, “Are you busy?”

“J-Jung Yonghwa-ssi” she stuttered and bowed, “Good morning…”

“Morning” I replied.

“I don’t want to come off as rude but…what are you doing here?” she said.

 “I’ve actually come to take you to some place” I explained to her.

She examined my expression with a skeptical look on her face. Like she was hesitating to go with me. She must have found it surprising to see me asking her to accompany me to an unknown place. But I was in a hurry, I wanted to take her there while Minhyuk didn’t notice.

“I’m not sure if I should go” she replied, taking a few steps back in nervousness. She must have been worried about people seeing her with me. I guess she was more worried than when she was with Jonghyun or Minhyuk because people could easily recognize me.

I just smiled at her though, a reassuring smile that tried to tell her that nothing was going to go wrong, “I really want to show you something, I really want you to see someone”

That someone I wanted her to see was probably also dying to see her. Minhyuk, he—he really wanted to see her. After seeing that expression on his face this morning when he overheard Jonghyun talking to her, I was sure that he really wanted to see her.

I couldn’t just leave things like that. It was sort of my fault that she overheard our conversation the day she came by our dorm. The day she misunderstood Minhyuk’s words and actions.

“But—“

“He won’t see you, but I want you to see him”  

If Minhyuk knew that I was going to take her to him, then he would probably be mad at me since it was likely that he didn’t want things to go like this. But knowing how he was feeling, he probably wasn’t going to do anything.

“See who exactly?” she asked, holding tight onto her bag’s strap.

“You’ll see once we arrive, I promise you won’t regret coming with me” I opened the door of the car and held out my hand for her to take and jump into the van. She seemed like she didn’t really want to go because she was unsure of what was waiting for her ahead, but at the same time, the look in her eyes told me that she in fact wanted to go. 

“Are we going?” I asked again as I saw her still hesitant attitude.

She looked to the floor for some seconds and before I knew it she took my hand, “There we go!” I felt like I had achieved something great. I felt like I was close to getting them clear this misunderstanding. Even if she didn’t get to talk to him, only seeing him would make her realize what Minhyuk was going through.

She stepped inside the van and smiled a bit, “Thanks”

“Thanks to you for coming with me” I said as I put one of my hands over hers to show her my gratitude, “Hyung, let’s go!”

“Why?” she suddenly asked.

“Why what?”

“Why thanking me?”

“Oh… For accepting my invitation, I wasn’t sure if you’d say yes—in fact, I was already looking for a way to convince you”

She giggled at my explanation, “Who can say no to Jung Yonghwa?” she joked. This girl seemed so nice, nice enough for Minhyuk to like her. I could understand why he liked her attitude.

I laughed at her words since I found them a little funny, “Well, you do say ‘no’ to Jonghyun so—“

“Jonghyun’s a special case” she stated as she looked out of the window, “He’s special”

“As in ‘I am in love with him’ special?” I surprisingly asked, I didn’t know where I was trying to get with this conversation but for some reason, I felt like making sure she was in love with Jonghyun. Her eyes opened wide upon hearing me asking that, she looked like she wasn’t sure how to reply to that.

But when you are in love with someone, is it difficult to say that you are?

“As in… ‘I’ve known that guy most of my life’ type of special” she said and took her phone of her bag, “This is the proof” she said as she handed me her mobile. The first thing I saw was a picture of them during their high school days.

“You three looked so young there!”

“Right? I think that was the last pic we took before we graduated from high school” she explained with a smile as she remembered those years.

“Were you and Jonghyun dating when you took this picture?” I inquired. Again. My questions surprising her.

“Eh?” she looked surprised to hear me asking about her relationship with Jonghyun.

“You were, weren’t you? It does seem like that” after all, in that picture Jonghyun had an arm around her and was holding her close to him and Minhyuk was on the other side, close, but not as close like Jonghyun was.

“Yes, we were” she answered.

“Nice couple” I casually said as she nervously laughed since she didn’t know how to reply to that.

“Thank you… I guess…”

“How’s your relationship going nowadays? I saw you the other day at our dorm but you left really fast”

“Oh that… well, we were just hanging out and he decided to take me to your place so I could know your dorm and all… but well” she clutched the cloth of her bag and sighed, “But I had to leave… I really didn’t want to bother Minhyuk”

“Why bother him?”

“I thought you heard him… he said he didn’t want me close, so I just decided to leave” she explained, the expression she had in her face changed to a disappointed one. So it had affected her, what Minhyuk said had in fact affected. That’s a good sign I guess. It can mean a lot but then again, it can’t at the same time.

“I don’t think Minhyuk meant it that way” I heard her sigh after what I said, “Do you think otherwise?”

She nodded in response, “I think he must have become tired of me—you know? He used to take care of me a lot when we were in high school and lately… he also has taken care of me a lot but—“ she paused for a while as she looked for the right words.

“But I think he noticed that it was time to stop because he has to worry about the girl he really likes”

“The girl he really likes?” I asked slightly surprised by that. Did Minhyuk make her believe he liked someone else? Another girl? Who? That girl who always shows up at the backstages?

She nodded, “Yes, one of our friends in High School. We found her once when we were out talking at a café and well… I guess they became close again. I had the feeling he liked her when we were studying but I guess I just confirmed it the other day”

“What do you mean by ‘confirmed it’?”

“Well… I’ve found them both hugging each other twice, so I guess they have something going on. I mean…it’s only normal that he has to take care of her now and that he’s tired of me already…”

I wasn’t aware of that but I was sure Minhyuk had an explanation to it. He wouldn’t just tell me that he was in love with the girl that was sitting next to me and then be dating another girl.

“I’m sure everything’s a misunderstanding”

“Eh?”

“Minhyuk’s not dating anyone, I can assure you that”

“Eh… it’s alright, he has the right to date who he pleases. I’m just his ‘best friend’ or well…was. But I don’t have any right to say anything about his love life”

“Ah…” this girl was just as confused as Minhyuk was regarding everything. He didn’t know about how she truly felt and she didn’t know his feelings, “Oh, we’ve arrived” I said upon seeing the studio close.

Once the car was parked, I opened the door and jumped off the van, “Let’s go” I said  as I offered her my hand to help her jump off as well.

“Thanks” she smiled, “Where are we?” she asked as she looked around the area.

“We are at a filming set”

“Filming set…? Why?” she asked as she took a step back.

“I told you, I want you to see someone—I won’t force you to talk, I just want you to see him” If she felt like that then perhaps it was not wise to make her and Minhyuk talk, but probably if she only got to see him she would understand how he felt.

She would understand that he wasn’t as happy as she thought he was. She would probably understand that a person who supposedly has someone he’s in love with doesn’t have that expression of disappointment in his face. She’s his best friend, isn’t that right? Then why is it hard to understand how he feels? Why is it hard to notice?

“It’s not …Minhyuk who you want me to see, right…?”

“It’s precisely him, he hasn’t been feeling well so—“

“I’m sorry I need to go” she turned around quickly and tried to leave the place.

“Are you scared of facing him?” I asked. Her steps stopping when hearing me.

“Yes… I’m scared, I don’t want to hear him telling me to leave. I don’t think I will be able to stand it”

“I promise he won’t see you, trust me. He won’t tell you to leave” she her heels and looked at me, hesitation filling her eyes. However, she took a step forward and stood next to me.

“Only for a little, I don’t want to interrupt his job” I nodded and took her inside the set. Everyone was walking from one side to another and while we were walking around the place we ran into Junhee, or Juniel as she was known to the public.

“Oppa! What are you doing here?” she cheerfully asked upon seeing me.

“I just dropped by to visit”

“Oh, do you want to see Minhyuk? He’s inside, let me go and bring him—“

“No!” I interrupted her, “it’s alright, I don’t want to let him know I’m here”

“Oh…” she said then looked behind me, “Who’s her? A friend of yours?” Junhee asked as she curiously look at her.

“Yeah, and a friend of Minhyuk as well, we