"Didn't you just leave a couple of hours ago?" Sun Ae's mom asked as she pulled the door open and Taemin stood there with a thoughtful expression, hands deep in his pockets.

"My prior commitment was cut short" He answered easily as he stepped back into the house, it was late, but he was sure that she wouldn't be asleep yet, "Is she up in her room?"

"No, I think she went out to the garden" Her mom replied as she turned a wrist and glanced with worry at the fine silver watch that hung daintily, "It's been a while though.. Taemin I hope I'm not bothering you too much, but I'm worried about her. You noticed it too right? Something must have happened"

"I know, I noticed it. Don't worry about it, these things pass" He said, leaving it at that as she nodded and he comfortably moved through the house and stepped out back.

Grass bent under his feet as he stepped off the path and looked around. There were a few trees, a nice outdoor table, and many, many flowers, but no trace of Sun Ae. He frowned and walked in further. The wind was fresh as it rustled the leaves around him, but for the life of him he couldn't see her. He called her name, his voice carrying on that last gust of wind when he spotted the old shed off to the side. Memories of playing house came back to him and he relaxed, instantly knowing that's where she would be. He called that hot afternoon when his mom and hers had gotten together and fixed up the unused shed, making it a virtual playhouse for them. It later became a sort of hang out place for the two of them and cute curtains were replaced by posters of things they liked and they would take a laptop out there and spend nights watching movies.

He chuckled, the image of a young him, eagerly following her into the small shed. Carefully he pushed the door open, he had to crouch slightly to get in, but he was pleased to find everything just like they had left it all those years ago. He found her, asleep besides the farthest wall from the door. He quietly went up to her and moved the flashlight and cell phone she had in her hand off to the side. Staring at her for a moment longer, Taemin stepped back out and headed back inside the house.

Casually, he went up the stairs and went into her bedroom. Grabbing a couple of pillows and blankets he gathered them into his arms, the faint scent of her body wash fluttering all around him, and headed back outside. When he walked back in she hadn't moved, still deep in sleep and he placed the pile of pillows and blankets besides her. He sighed as he stepped out once more. This time quietly closing the door behind him before taking a few steps off to the side and pulling his phone out.

"Hello?" A familiar voice answered tiredly from the other side.

"Jong In, how have you been?" Taemin asked, a frown on his face as he glanced back at the shed. He could almost hear every muscle in Jong In's body tensing up.

"You blocked your number" He said after a long pause.

"Seems like that's the only way to reach you lately" Taemin replied, "Listen, I can't reach Sun Ae lately. Have you heard from her?" He asked playing dumb.

"... If you can't reach her why would I be able to?" Jong In said and Taemin raised an eyebrow at the very obvious tint of bitterness in his voice.

"Because you're her boyfriend" He shot back, keeping the string on insults he wanted to add to his sentence to himself.

"Well I haven't"

"Is something going on with you two?"

"No, nothing at all" He said and after a brief moment of hesitation he added, "Oh, she did tell me all about how you two were becoming experts at lying to me. Yeah, she mentioned that"

"If she told you, that means you actually mean something to her"

"It means she was lying to me this whole time"

"You're no angel either Kim Jong In" Taemin snapped, fingers digging angrily into the case of his phone, "So even though you've basically had a huge fight with your girlfriend and she's not picking up the phone... you're not even going to try to call her and see if she's ok?" He asked a bit disgusted at his stubbornness. He knew Jong In was just this way. He was too emotional... too easily in love, easily hurt, easily betrayed and very stubborn once angry.

He still cared about Sun Ae, Taemin could almost guarantee that, but actually knowing that he's the whole reason Sun Ae had been like that all this time made Taemin furious. Taemin knew Jong In was going to regret acting like an idiot.

"I don't even know if she's my girlfriend anymore" He suddenly confessed, his voice sounding resigned.

"Jong In, we're not really friends anymore, I get that, but if there's a last thing I'm going to say as a friend is that you're acting like a damn idiot. So fine don't call, she doesn't need you" Taemin said calmly, a thin layer of anger underneath as he hung up the phone before Jong In could piss him off even more.

He kicked the ground suddenly, a clump of dirt flying upwards and landing with a muffled thud. That idiot. He was such an idiot. He couldn't see what her telling him the truth meant?! He grit his teeth as he tried to calm himself because Taemin could see what it meant. It meant she was taking Jong In seriously, that she was taking a step forward with him and that idiot was just dragging their relationship all the way backwards.

Taemin let out an annoyed breath and shook himself, he couldn't even be happy over Jong In self imploding his own relationship because he was watching Sun Ae suffer and that was the worst part. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and went into the shed. He closed the door behind him and froze as he saw Sun Ae staring over at him. She was sitting, her back against the wall and she had her knees pulled up to her chest. They stared at each other for a second before he noticed the phone in her hand.

For the first time he had no clue what to say to her. So he stayed silent as he went over to her side and slowly slid along wall so that they sat side by side. She turned the phone over in her hand and they waited side by side for it to light up. Minutes dragged on before Taemin was sure that Jong In wouldn't call.

"Did you... overhear my phone call?" He asked hesitantly.

"You came back fast" She whispered, he didn't miss the wavering in her voice, "Short date?"

"It was boring, I cut it short. You haven't answered my question" He insisted.

He watched her as she bit her lip and she nodded silently.

"I thought I was doing the right thing... I didn't know he would get so mad, I didn't know he would be so hurt by it that he won't even talk to me" She said quietly.

"It'll blow over" Taemin said as he places a hand on her phone and gently pried it from her fingers, "He'll start thinking straight again in no time"

She laughed harshly in disbelief, the short laugh transforming into a quiet cry as tears spilled over and she shook her head. She tried to keep the tears in, she wouldn't cry. She had done so well all this time. Why out of all people to cry with did it have to be Taemin?

"He's a jerk... I won't forgive him" She whispered as more tears spilled out and her shoulders shook silently.

She cried as she felt a gentle hand on the side of her head lean her into his shoulder. For a moment she reflected on how messed up this whole situation was. Crying for another guy with someone who had feelings for her, but she couldn't help it. It had begun and she couldn't hold it back. Every single tear she had fought so hard to keep in seemed to spill over and she couldn't stop as she cried freely. The whole time vaguely aware of the presence with her the entire time.

"You're an idiot too" She said through sobs.

"Why?" He asked calmly, his voice calm and he gently her hair.

"You shouldn't be here. Doesn't it bother you that I'm so weak that I'm hurting my best friend by crying to him about another guy?"

"It does. It hurts a lot. But it wouldn't help if we both sit here crying right?" He asked, a sympathetic smile on his face as he held her close, "Next time you can comfort me. Tonight, I think it's a good night to let it all out. You'll feel better tomorrow"

She grit her teeth as she buried her face into the side of Taemin's chest. Her tears were soaking through his shirt and she cried for him as well because maybe it would have been all easier if she had forgiven him. If she had just held on a while longer... but damn it all if when she remembered the way Jong In grinned brightly or laughed, her heart wrenched in a crippling pain. She hated it.

~~~~~~

"It was Taemin" Jong In said, answering the question that was going to come from Baekhyun's mouth.

"What did he say?" He asked as they took the stairs up to the training rooms.

"...That he can't contact Sun Ae and that I'm an idiot" Jong In said with a frown.

"Call her! What if something's wrong?!" Baekhyun asked coming to a stop in the middle of the empty staircase.

"I'm sure... I'm sure she's ok" Jong In said despite the flood of worry that rolled around inside of him, "Besides I can't talk to her... I acted like an and besides what do I even say? I haven't even checked the messages she left me yet"

"You are an idiot then" Baekhyun said calmly, folding arms in front of his chest firmly and fixing Jong In with a glare.

"Why?! She's the one that lied to me! Not just about anything but about the fact that her ex-boyfriend is still in love with her and she sort of cares for him or whatever I don't know!" Jong In snapped, chest heaving as the faint remainders of his anger fizzled out.

"She was nervous she told you! And she told you the whole truth in the end but you can't do this stubbornness thing and expect her to wait forever. Jong In... you're probably not the only one who's suffering" Baekhyun said, trying to knock some sense into his friend, "You haven't talked to her in so long... I know she's been calling you so quite honestly if you're paying her back for lying to you then I'd say you're doing a great job dude"

"I just... I don't know, I was going to call her before, but every time I tried I just kept thinking about her... with Taemin and then how close they are...."

"But she chose you ! Are you stupid? Did you dance all your brain cells away?" Baekhyun asked knocking on Jong In's skull, "Besides, if you didn't care about her then you wouldn't be losing sleep over her every night"

"That's not the problem. I know what I feel for her, but what if when we finally talk... I kept letting time slip past and I've made this worse haven't I?"

"You have" Baekhyun admitted patting his friend on the back, "But call her tomorrow and just talk with her. I'm telling you, at this point you two have nowhere to go, but forward"

Jong In glanced at his friend and nodded. He thought about the handful of messages waiting on his voicemail and decided to listen to them after they finished practice. He followed behind Baekhyun, his mind trailing back to Sun Ae. He checked the time and calling her now would be too late. Tomorrow, he would talk to her and they could start over. Baekhyun had a point. She did tell him on her own after all. He just had to stop letting his stupid jealousy get the best of him. He groaned as he tried to think of what to say to her when someone called out to them.

"Hey guys, are you guys up for quick snack before that extra practice?" Chanyeol said excitedly as he ran down the hall.

Jong In and Baekhyun hesitated, both glancing at each other before Baekhyun shrugged.

"I'm kind of hungry" He said with a grin and Jong In smirked.

"You go ahead. I'll get started on my own" He said easily and Baekhyun nodded as he went along with Chanyeol.

Jong In laughed and turned towards his usual practice room. If he called her tomorrow would she pick up? What would she say? What should he say? He thought about it as he pushed the door open and walked in to find that the room wasn't empty.

"Oh hey, sorry I thought I had booked the room tonight" Jong In said, standing in the doorway.

"Yeah... that's my fault. I didn't think you would come this late so I thought I could kind of just use it" Krystal said with a laugh.

"Uh... that's fine you can use it tonight. I've got a lot on my mind anyways so you're good" Jong In said with a smile as he started to leave.

"Wait! We can share. You've helped me with my dancing lately so I can return the favor"

"That's ok. Don't worry about it"

"Come on, you're gonna make me feel bad if you just leave like that" She said with a small shrug, "Just stay for a little while so I can at least tell myself I gave you the chance to use it alright?" She said as she began to stretch.

"Since I've got to wait Baekhyun anyways. I'll stay for a few minutes" Jong In said as he placed his bag down and went out to the center of the room.

~~~~~~

Baekhyun laughed at some stupid joke Chanyeol told as they turned the corner to go to the training room. He pushed his way in and frowned slightly when instead of Jong In, Krystal stood in the middle of the room.

"Sorry, have you seen Jong In?" He asked.

She stopped dancing with a sudden halt so that it almost seemed like time had jolted to a stop. She turned to Baekhyun curiously and shrugged.

"He was here for a while, but then he suddenly left" She said and she smiled as if she had just told a joke that only she could understand, "If you do see him though, tell him that it was no big deal, he'll know what I mean"

"I'll tell him, thanks" He said giving her a last glance before turning to Chanyeol, "He's probably pissed we didn't come sooner. I'll head home and see you tomorrow then?" He said turning to Chanyeol and he nodded. He left quickly wondering what kind of scolding he was going to get from Jong In. Probably something about how he's not taking what should be the most important thing in his life seriously.

When he got home he found Jong In sitting on the edge of his bed. In his hands was his phone and his shoulders slumped forward, head hanging low.

"Are you ok?" Baekhyun asked cautiously.

"She called me so many times and I was too stubborn to even listen to her messages" He whispered, "She sounded so sad Baekhyun. Meanwhile I was angry, but you were right"

"Don't worry—"

"She told me she loved me and I didn't call her back"

"Tomorrow you can—"

"I can't. Not anymore. I can't!" He yelled, suddenly throwing the phone at the wall so that it cracked and fell to the ground in pieces.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"She loves me and I hurt her and I— Damn it I should have listened to the messages before! I would have called her!"

"You can still call her!"

"How can I call her now?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"... Nothing. Nothing, I need to go. I need some fresh air" He breathed out as he walked past Baekhyun, not letting his friend get another word in before he was out the door.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'll post up one more update most likely tomorrow night :)

Thanks for reading & commenting! ^____^