It took a few seconds for Baekho to realize that he had just initiated and act of treachery. He quickly pulled away from her and stood up, turning his back to her, rubbing his forehead. He felt his heart beat uncontrollably within his chest.

Sandy also stood up, completely baffled at what just happened. She hesitated for a bit before she wordlessly began to walk back towards her house.

“Wait!” Baekho called after her. She turned to face him. She still looked alarmed. Her eyes were wider and her body was stiffer. “I’m sorry,” he said stupidly, not knowing how to explain his temporary insanity to her.

She bit her lower lip and then, without responding, she turned around and continued walking back.

“Wait!” He called again. She turned to face him again. “Please don’t tell Aron,” Baekho pleaded.

“I… I… but… why did you do that?” she finally asked, her expression changing from that of alarm to that of desperate curiosity.

Baekho raised his shoulders.

“From the time you talked to my parents in Seoul that day, do you still like me?” She said, trying to help him answer the question.

Baekho guiltily nodded.

“I thought you were over me,” she responded quietly, looking the ground beneath her feet.

“Don’t tell Aron please,” Baekho repeated. “Please…”

She shook her head. “I have to tell him, Baekho. I can’t hide something like this from him.”

“No, please,” he pleaded. “I will not do it again.”

She stood there, silently considering it. “This is so awkward, Baekho,” she responded. “You shouldn’t have done that.” She turned around and continued walking.

He grabbed her arm. “Will you tell him?” he asked.

“I won’t. I’ll pretend it never happened,” she said raising her shoulders. “But don’t do it again. And Baekho, get over me, okay?” With that she turned and continued walking back home. Baekho silently followed her.

Everything bothered him at the moment. He betrayed Aron. He’s making Sandy hide something from Aron He disappointed Sandy. He made everything awkward between the two of them. More importantly, he confessed to Sandy and she’d indirectly rejected him. Of course she’d reject him. How could she possibly not reject him? He just wanted to go back to the hotel and bury his face in a pillow. He couldn’t wait until the three weeks in the US were over so that he could go back to Korea and love her from afar.

When Baekho went into the house, the rest of Nu’est gathered around him.

“Baekho, something is seriously wrong with you,” Minhyun noticed. “You aren’t smiling like you usually do.” He put his hand on Baekho’s forehead. “You don’t have a fever. Are you okay Baekkie?”

“I’m just feeling nauseous and homesick. I’ll get over it,” he answered giving Minhyun a reassuring smile.

“This has never happened to you before though, when we go to other countries,” Aron stated. “Baekho, I’ll get noona to take you to a doctor maybe something’s wrong with you.”

Aron’s concern for him drove Baekho insane with guilt. He had just betrayed him, and Aron was still smiling at him as if nothing happened.

“It’s okay, hyung. I’m just a little upset and I miss Korea. I don’t like this country,” Baekho answered. He couldn’t look into Aron’s eyes.

Aron pulled Baekho toawards him and hugged him, making Baekho feel even guiltier. He felt so undeserving of Aron’s love. “It’s okay, Baekho. I understand. Why don’t we have dinner in a Korean restaurant tonight? Maybe that’ll cheer you up.”

“As long as she’s not with us,” Baekho blurted without really thinking.

Aron furrowed his eyebrows curiously at Baekho. Ren, Minhyun and JR looked surprised as well. “Why? You don’t like her?”

“It’s not that. It's just I want it to be just the five of us. I’ll feel more comfortable when she’s not around.”

“I agree with Baekho,” JR said to Aron. “You know I like Sandy, but let it be just us five tonight. You know, so we can go crazy with guy stuff. It’ll be more fun.” Thank you JR, Baekho thought.

“I see. Okay then, just the five of us,” Aron looked a little disappointed. He wanted to spend as much time as possible with Sandy. Regardless, he decided it best to take a sacrifice for the rest of Nu’est, who aren’t as comfortable with her.

Aron explained to Sandy that the five of them would be going to a Korean restaurant without her. She nodded in understanding, saying that she wouldn’t want to go anyways. She looked a little dozed off to Aron. She was a lot quieter and seemingly absorbed in thought. He didn’t dwell on it too much though.

The rest of the afternoon was fun. Baekho still seemed pretty agitated, but everyone else had a good time. Minhyun had clumsily spilt soda all over his clothes and JR’s who was sitting next to him, and that gave us a good laugh. Sandy asked them both to follow her, and after disappearing for quite some time, they came back wearing different clothes that apparently belonged to her uncle who lived with them but was in the army.

Aron had taken her hand in the middle of the gathering and dragged her towards the guest room that he had slept in last night. He wanted her alone. He was too shy and polite to touch her when her parents and the other members were around.

“What’s up Aron?” she asked when they were in the room.

“I just want you alone,” he said taking both of her hands. She blushed. He leaned in and kissed her gently, pulling back to see that she looked a little uncomfortable, “is something wrong?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

“Something’s bothering you, right?”

“No,” she said. Aron could tell she was lying. She was a horrible liar after all.

“Why are you lying to me?” he asked, taking her chin in his hand and having her face him.

“I… I…” she couldn’t look him in the eye. “I’m sorry.”

“Something is bothering you?” he asked again.

“Yes,” she answered under the pressure of Aron’s imploring gaze.

“What is it?” he asked with concern.

“I can’t tell you, Aron. I wish I could, but I really can’t.”

Aron let go of her chin. “Why not?”

“I promised I wouldn’t tell.”

“Who did you promise?” Aron inquired.

Sandy wrapped her arms around his upper body and rested her head on his chest. “Just forget about it, okay? It’s not really important.”

Aron thought about what she said the rest of the day. He wondered what she meant and what could bother her so much. Whatever it was, it happened recently because she was just fine in the morning.

When they went to the Korean restaurant, just the five of them, it seemed that Baekho had lightened up a little. Everybody seemed to be having fun. Minhyun was glorifying manager-noona, Ren made fun of him, Baekho joined the conversations, JR talked to Lime over the phone. It was just Aron that was still bothered by what Sandy had said.

“Hyung, what’s up? You’re the one that seems down now, not Baekho,” Minhyun noticed.

“He misses Sandy,” Ren said, “we should have brought her with us.”

“No, I’m glad we didn’t bring her,” JR said. “It’s more fun without her.”

“I agree,” Aron said, “I’m glad we didn’t bring her. It’s just that there’s something she said that’s been bothering me.”

“What?” Baekho asked curiously.

“Something was bothering her, and she wouldn’t tell me what it was,”

“I see,” Baekho said in tone that was strangely solemn.

Manager-noona picked them up in a car she had rented. Aron asked her to drop him off at Sandy’s home, but Nu’est apparently had a scheduled practice and a fanmeet tomorrow in the morning. She promised she would take him after the fanmeet.

“You know, Pledisboss would kill me if he found out I was letting you spend the night with your girlfriend,” noona told Aron. “He’d kill me even harder if he found out that this girl was Sandy, the scandal magnet. Just letting you all know how lucky you are to have a manager like me.”

“Thank you noona,” Aron told her putting his arm arms around her and kissing her cheeks while she was driving.

“Aron!” she scolded, but she couldn’t hold back her smile. “You really like getting into people’s personal space, don’t you?”

Aron noticed that Minhyun was watching him with a jealous eye. Aron knew that it had been Minhyun’s dream to kiss noona, but unlike Aron, he didn’t go around giving free hugs and kisses to everyone.

When noona dropped them off at the entrance of the hotel and went to park the car, Aron slung his arms around Minhyun’s shoulders.

“Minhyun, do you get mad when I kiss noona?”

“No,” Minhyun answered. “I know you’re a troll that kisses everyone and that your kisses mean nothing.”

“Good. I don’t want you to think I’m betraying your trust or anything and trying to steal noona away from you.”

“Ugh, I just remembered the time I betrayed your trust and kissed Sandy,” Minhyun recalled. “What was I thinking back then?”

“I don’t know, what were you thinking?”

“I was stupid. Sorry hyung. That was the most awful thing I have ever done in my entire life and I can’t believe you forgave me so fast.”

“Can we stop talking about this?” Baekho suddenly snapped. “About kissing and trust and all of that. All of this talk is making me uncomfortable…”

They woke up the next morning, had their practice and attended their fanmeeting. They all rested in their hotel for a while afterwards, as Aron was waiting for noona to shower so that she could drive him to Sandy’s home.

“Hyung, will you spend the night with Sandy?” JR asked.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Don’t. Not tonight. Come back after you spend a few hours with her. We’re going to rent a horror movie and watch it and you have to be with us to translate. And to hold Ren when he cries during the scary parts.”

“But...”

“Yeah, come on hyung! I need to bury my face in your chest when something scary happens” Ren begged.

“Just one night, Aronnie please. It’s not fun without you,” Minhyun pleaded.

Aron agreed.

When Aron made it to Sandy’s home, and had their greetings and welcome kisses, Sandy asked, “Take me on a date tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, I’m not staying over night tonight,” Aron informed earning a sad pout from Sandy.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because the other four are renting a movie and…”

Her face fell.

“Come on, don’t tell me you’re disappointed. I still have three weeks to spend with you,” Aron said, trying to lift her spirits.

“But, you’re with Nu’est always when you’re in Korea, and I’m only with you while you’re in America. Can’t you spend a little less time with them,” she said, surprising Aron with that. He never thought she would be bothered by this sort of thing.

“Yes… but…”

“Forget it, I’m being a y, jealous girlfriend, aren’t I?”

“Look, if you want me, then I’ll call and tell them some other time.”

“No, it’s okay. I don't want them to hate me. Let me just enjoy you for a few more hours now,” she said, as she snuggled closer to him. They stayed like this, cuddling and making small talk until Aron brought it up again.

“Remember how you told me yesterday that something was bother you? What is it?” he asked her.

“Aron, I told you to forget it.”

“I can’t forget it. What is it that could possibly be bothering my little princess? I really want to know. Please tell me.”

“I never wanted to hide it from you, but I made a promise not to tell you.”

“Specifically me?”

She nodded.

“Who is it?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“What is it then? Tell me. Sandy, I really don’t like that there are secrets between us.”

“Me neither,” she said. She bit her lower lip, “but I really can’t tell you, Aron.”

He put her hands on her shoulder and made her look him in the eye. “Did something happen with another guy? Is that it? Is that why you can’t tell me?”

She seemed to cower under his inquisitive gaze. She wouldn’t lie to him while looking into his eyes like that. The fact she couldn’t say ‘no’ meant that it was a ‘yes.’ He gulped down all of the negative emotions that were building up as she guiltily looked to her side.

“Look at me Sandy,” he implored. She locked her eyes with his. She won’t be able to lie to me, Aron thought. There was a question that had been bugging him for a while now that he wanted answered honestly. He felt guilty for even suspecting it, but somehow, he knew the answer.

“This guy…” he continued, “is he in Nu’est?”

Sandy opened to say something, but nothing came out. She couldn’t deny it. She couldn’t lie to his face. She put her head down in defeat, confirming Aron’s suspicion along with that.

Yeah. Poor Aron. Poor Baekho too. Aishh, Sandy needs to learn how to lie a little bit.

Long chapter which I sort of had writer’s block with. What did you think? :)

And if you guys like EXO, maybe you can check out my friendship HunHan oneshot? Thank you precious EXOTIC LO/\Ers <3