“It didn’t mean anything though” He explained quickly and Sun Ae rolled her eyes.

“Good for you” She shot back, “I just find it funny that me telling you the truth about an ex who happens to be my friend was apparently unforgivable, but you kissed a girl and we’re cool with that right? Is it because I didn’t know? Do you hate honesty? Is that it?” She asked, her voice rising as she grew angrier. He honestly thought that his explanations were going to be enough didn’t he?

“It wasn’t that. I was going to call you, but then that stupid kiss happened and I knew I couldn’t face you knowing I had put you through all of that only to turn around and do something worse!” He said desperately.

“Ha you must’ve felt so bad” She said, sarcasm heavy on her tongue, “How did you ever survive Kim Jong In? It must have been so hard for you to feel bad. It didn’t matter when I felt bad for NO reason, but since you felt bad it was alright to keep making me feel like right?!” She snapped, stepping closer to him pushing him back with a finger on his chest.

“I wasn’t thinking right! I just needed time to figure out how to talk to you. To avoid this angry conversation. To explain to you that it meant nothing!” He said.

“That’s the thing Jong In you took your sweet time so that everything would be alright for you, but you didn’t once think about me. You had over a month! I called you crying like an idiot so many times and that didn’t matter to you! Do you really think anything was going to help you avoid this angry conversation?!”

“That’s not what I mean! I just didn’t have the courage to face you alright!”

“Well let’s get you some courage then! Tell me, how many men do I have to kiss so we’re even again? The other guys looked pretty cute can I take my pick? Or how about this to really just make you feel not guilty I’ll go to Taemin? Is that better for you? Will that help you because you do know you’re the only person that ever mattered in this relationship right?”

“Stop it. You’re being ridiculous. That’s not what I meant. Yeah I felt bad alright and I’m sorry, but I couldn’t face you just yet”

“Taemin had to call you. He had to tell you to call me, he told you he was worried about me, that I wasn’t picking up the phone and you didn’t care” She said, suddenly tight, “You didn’t care because I wasn’t worth it to you was I?”

“That’s not it! I love you!” Jong In confessed loudly.

“No you don’t. You’re a selfish Jong In. You don’t love me” She whispered, keeping her tears inside. She just wanted to put an end to this she told herself.

He reached for her and she slapped his hand away.

“I love you. I’m so sorry I was an idiot and I let my pride get the best of me, but that was only because I see you with Taemin and I see how close you two are and there’s just no way I can beat him” He said, his shoulders slumped forward, “I knew I was going to lose you anyways” He said suddenly.

“You want to be more to me and yet you kissed her”

“It was a mistake. I’m sorry. Please give me another chance. Please” He whispered and she shook her head.

“It’s not worth it. It’s never going to be. I have to go” She whispered and she turned to leave.

She gasped as Jong In came up behind and grabbed her hand forcefully.

“I’ll prove it to you. I love you. If the whole world knows, if I bet my career on it, then you have to believe me right?” He asked, eyes set with foolish determination as he dragged her to the side door where fans were waiting outside the metal doors

“W-what are you doing?!” She yelled, fighting to free her hand and trying to break free, “You’re insane!”

“I don’t care” He said, even though he did. Even though he valued his career the most, his dancing was the most important thing to him and despite all that he couldn’t find it in himself to stop. Love really did make you into an idiot he thought ironically as he pushed the door wide open.

She reached for his hood and drew it up right as they stumbled out into the cold. She pulled her own hood over her own head and they both paused as they were met with emptiness. Jong In breathed heavily as he tried to calm himself down and tried to tell himself he hadn’t just shot his career in the head. They could hear the chatter of girls and the screams even as the side door slammed shut behind them, but they couldn’t see anything. Sun Ae turned to the side and caught sight of the end of one of the idol vans by the front door and she thanked her luck. Someone had come in and they were all distracted. She reached for the side door only to remember that it locked automatically so that others wouldn’t be allowed in.

They had time to sneak away though she thought as she glanced back at the crowd of girls who had their back to them and were screaming for someone else’s attention instead. She pulled on Jong In’s hand as he stood in shock, mostly because he had just taken a huge gamble on his life, and froze when a fan turned back to the side door and caught sight of them. Her eyes darted to their interlocked hands and the mysterious idol in the hood and she yelled something to her friend.

“. Come on” She whispered nervously as she pulled Jong In through the back of the building and they broke out in the street. She heard a few yells, some girl calling her a even though they didn’t even know who she was with and the sound of footsteps.

“What are we going to do?!” Jong In yelled as they held onto their hoods to keep them from blowing back.

“Just follow me!” Sun Ae yelled back as she pulled him into a familiar little store.

“Please open you back door!” She yelled at the grandma who owned the small shop. If it hadn’t been for her buying something her just last week the elderly woman would’ve probably said no, but maybe their look of utter panic and the sound of girls clamoring behind them helped as she propped the door open and Sun Ae pulled Jong In in.

“Could we please hide here for just a few minutes? I’m so sorry for the inconvenience it’s an emergency” Sun Ae explained quickly and added, “We’ll be sure to buy lots of things too before we leaves!”

“Kids these days, always getting into trouble… sure go behind there” The old woman said and Sun Ae pulled Jong In down behind the main counter.

She heard a thump as Jong In banged his head on the edge as they pulled their legs in and hid as deep under the counter as they could. Jong In breathed heavily as they stayed in place and Sun Ae really could have hit him over the head for being so damn impulsive. Instead they tried to keep quiet as they heard steps rush into the store as girls ran in and some faded out the back door. Sun Ae and Jong In tensed up, letting out a long breath when they heard three girls speak.

“…. I think they’re still here” One of them said and they froze as footsteps shuffled from the other side of the counter.

Sun Ae looked up in fear and smiled as the old woman had moved up behind the counter and stood in front of the space where they were hiding. She looked over at Jong In who had also seemed to relax slightly.

“Hey go look at the counter real quick” Someone hissed.

“You get near my cash register and I’m calling the police!” The woman snapped and the footsteps stopped.

“We don’t want your money! We’re trying to find someone!”

“Like hell you don’t! I’ve seen hoodlums like you everywhere! Get out of my store!”

The girls grumbled something and reluctantly their footsteps ran out the back as they finally gave up on finding them in here and ran that way in the hopes of finding out who the girl was and more importantly, which idol she was with.

It was only until minutes later when they finally crawled out of there. The woman gave them a stern glare as they thanked her and headed over to the isles of the small convenience store to buy something in thanks.  

“Why did you do that? That was so stupid. You’re an idiot” She whispered.

“Ah… Love does make you stupid after all” He said with a grin and she rolled her eyes.

“There’s levels of stupid and you definitely had plenty of stupid to spare before ‘love’” She said as she grabbed a few things she might need, “Oh, here’s that toothpaste you like, buy that” She said pointing at it and silently reminded herself that this wasn’t exactly the time to take the time to shop together.

“Ok” He said with a small smile as he grabbed a couple more things and they took it up to the counter and bought the objects. After a couple more thanks and apologies to the elder woman they made it out.

“Well, that was interesting” Sun Ae said as they had stepped outside. She watched as Jong In drew his hood and stood there expectantly, “You should probably go back on your own. I might as well go home since I’m already out and it’ll be less suspicious for you to return on your own”

“Sun Ae… what about us?”

“What about us?”

“Aren’t you going to forgive me? You saw what I did for you right? That’s got to count for something” He said expectantly and she hesitated.

“Nothing’s changed” She said quietly, biting her lip, “It was a nice gesture, but it doesn’t change everything else Jong In. It’s probably better if we don’t talk about this anymore. I don’t want to be a danger to your career”

He opened his mouth to say something, but instead went up to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly, “I’m so sorry, but I do love you and eventually you’re going to realize it too” He whispered as he pulled away with a smile and planted a small kiss on her forehead.

She should have slapped him for that, but Sun Ae found that she couldn’t move and that it was taking all of her effort to prevent her arms from going up around him and holding onto him.

“I’ll see you around” He muttered as he turned and began to walk away.

“Jong In!” She called rather impulsively, but the way he stopped immediately and turned around to face her did nothing to ease her nerves. She stood for a few seconds because she had nothing to say really. She just didn’t want to see him leave, “Nothing, never mind”

He watched for a moment and smiled as he waved and headed the opposite way. Sun Ae waited until he was a long distance away before finally moving from her spot and going towards her house. The walk was going to be long, but she needed it to clear her head. This break up thing was hard when the person doing it didn’t even have the will to do so she confessed to herself. She pulled out her phone and quietly scrolled through the names. She lingered when she got to Jong In’s name and she glanced behind her even though he was long gone. She wondered if he liked Krystal. She was pretty three was no denying that and they did have the same job so they could probably understand each other whereas Sun Ae recognized that she never could. Not in the same way anyways.

She groaned in annoyance, because she wanted to be so angry that cutting off ties would be easy, but a lot of it had faded. Not that she wasn’t still angry, but she couldn’t help but smile at the look on that idiot’s face when he had pulled her outside. It had gone from determined to terrified in a split second as he realized what he had done. Her phone beeped in her hands and she stared down at the text from Taemin and laughed at the timing. That was one thing Taemin had going for him, his timing was impeccable.

Instead of calling him though she put her phone away and took the opportunity to think on her long walk. If nothing else, it helped her feel better she realized as she walked back home and went up to her apartment. In the front door there was a bag from her favorite restaurant. She stared at it in surprise before picking it up and her stomach growled as the odor from the delicious food inside made her stomach loudly remind her just how hungry she was. She opened her door and reached for the note. It was from Taemin and told her that he had been worried about her not eating enough. She smiled as she locked the door behind her and put the bag on the counter. She pulled out the food and finally the piece of chocolate cake that had also been put in there for desert. She smiled as she took out her phone and this time pressed the call button.

“Thanks for the food. I can’t wait to dig in” She said with a grin as she took out a place.

“No problem, I was worried about you not eating enough”

“Trust me after this I’m going to have to go running for the next week” She joked as she put food on her plate, “Seriously though thanks. I didn’t have the energy to cook today”

“Well you know I’m here to spoil you Sun Ae. Now go eat before I hear your stomach growl through the phone” He joked and she laughed.

“Alright bye!” She said hanging up and heading straight towards her food.

Taemin smiled as he put down the phone and put it back into his pocket.

“You’re so tacky” Kibum said from the other side of the treadmill.

“Hey now, he’s allowed to be with our future sister-in-law” Minho joked and they all laughed.

“I’m working on it” Taemin said with a grin as he looked into the mirror and watched Jong In’s reflection run faster on the treadmill towards the end. He smiled to himself as he watched him stumble on it and finally simply turn it off. He picked up his bag angrily and walked out without looking back. Taemin knew that Jong In may have been winning before, but he had the upper hand now and he wasn’t about to waste it.

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Hello, it's been a while! Sorry for not updating for the past few months! I honestly forgot how much I liked writing this fic and just focused on my other one during the my school's break :/ But I'm back so I'll be updating more often from now on :)

Thanks for reading!