LINK TO ORIGINAL STORY

Tumblr Author: nuest-fanfiction

Summary: What happens when NU’EST decides to play Truth or Dare?

Rating: PG-13

Pairings: MinRon, BaekRen, JRen, BaekLime and more~

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The thunder roared outside, startling Ren and making JR drop the manga he was reading. The storm had gone on for about two hours now, and it showed no signs of stopping. All schedules for NU’EST were cancelled because of it. At first they were all elated that they could get some extra sleep, but turns out sleep was out of the picture. No one could sleep with the sound of rain hitting the roof with full force, or with the sound of thunder roaring every few minutes, or with the furniture vibrating from the force of the storm.

They were all extremely bored as well. The TV was out. The Wi-Fi was out. They had no food in the fridge and absolutely nothing to do.

“Guys,” JR called out to all of his jaded members, “let’s play a game or something.”

“I’m in,” Baekho said immediately, “ rising from the floor in which he was laying on out of boredom.

“What can we possibly play that would be fun,” Ren added. “I’m in no mood to do anything physical so I’m not playing tag or whatever.”

“We haven’t played Truth or Dare,” JR shrugged.

Ren blinked, considering it for a while, “I’m in.”

“Me too,” Baekho agreed.

“I’ll play too, I have nothing to hide,” Aron said, walking toward Ren, Baekho and JR.

They all looked in Minhyun’s direction. “I don’t know about this,” Minhyun said. “Unlike Aron, I have things I’d rather hide…”

“Then choose dare all the time.”

“But I’m afraid you guys will make me to do something… bad.”

“Min, stop being a ,” JR rolled his eyes. “We won’t ask you to strip in front of us or anything like that.”

“To make it more interesting though,” Ren added, “what about the person who loses gets to strip ? I think that would encourage us all to actually play the game properly.”

“Agreed,” JR said, looking towards the rest of the members.

Aron and Baekho nodded, but Minhyun was still reluctant. When he saw that the eyes of s were prying him to agree, he yielded to the pressure and nodded. How bad can it be? he thought. Oh how he would regret it later.

“Great!” JR said in excitement. He took out his phone and took out the Truth or Dare App that he had prepared for a time like this. JR had secretly always wanted to play Truth or Dare with the members for one specific reason.

After he was done typing in the names to the app, he looked towards s and clicked the start button.

Aron.

“Hyung, truth or dare?” JR asked.

“Truth.”

“Tell us about your first time.”

“?”

“What else?” The members had always known that Aron was not a . He never really straight-out told them, but they just kind of knew.

“It was like three years ago, with my girlfriend. We were out on a late-night date for her birthday, and then when I took her back home, her family wasn’t there. Later I learned that they purposely wanted to leave us alone. Anyways she pulled me inside and then it just happened, you know.”

“Details!” JR demanded.

When Aron opened his mouth to say something, Minhyun interrupted, “I don’t want to know the details. Can we please move on?”

JR rolled his eyes and then said, “okay, fine. Next.” JR clicked the button.

Ren.

“Truth or Dare?” Aron asked with a mischievous smirk.

“Truth,” Ren said, “but not because I’m a chicken, but because it’s Aron.”

“You always tell us that you like being androgynous. You tell your fans that too. Do you really like it? Have you ever wished that the management didn’t give you the image? Tell the truth.”

Ren bit his lower lip and then looked at Aron and nodded, “sometimes I hate it. I hate being compared to other female idols. I hate being called pretty. I hate being called gay. I hate getting all this criticism. I hate being mistaken as a girl. I really want to cut my hair and dye it black sometimes, but I can’t. Because I know this image is bringing attention to NU’EST, and I know that I’m making us more popular.”

“Really?” JR asked, sounding surprised. “You hate it?

Ren nodded.

“Ren. If you hate it, then cut it,” JR said, looking awfully concerned for Ren.

“I can’t.”

“Yes you can. Should I bring you the scissors?”

“JR, just forget and let’s go to the next question.”

“No, we’re going to resolve this first. I’m the leader of this group and I’m not going to let you sacrifice your individuality to make NU’EST more popular. Screw our popularity. You’re more important.”

“JR, I don’t hate it. I’m used to it. It’s okay. It bothered me in the beginning, but now I’m okay. Let’s just carry on with the game okay?”

“Ren, if you’re worried about what the CEO and the managers will say, I’ll take responsibility. I’ll say that I did it while you were asleep.”

“For crying out loud JR, it doesn’t bother me that much!” Ren said impatiently as he snatched the phone from JR and clicked the button.

Minhyun.

“Truth or dare?” Ren asked Minhyun.

Minhyun hesitated.

“Quickly!”

“Uhh… Truth.”

“Ugh, you guys are so boring,” Ren rolled his eyes. “have you ever watched ?”

“No,” Minhyun said confidently.

“Never?” Ren raised an eyebrow.

“It makes me uncomfortable. So no I haven’t.”

“So innocent,” Ren said dismissively as he clicked the button.

JR.

“I choose Dare,” JR said and waited for Minhyun to dare him.

“I dare you to… upload a derp selca of yourself on the fancafe.”

“Oh Minhyun, you’re so boring,” Baekho rolled his eyes. “The LO/\Es have seen a millions of derp pictures of JR. Nothing new and it’s not embarrassing anymore.”

Minhyun shrugged his shoulders, “it’s the only thing I can think of.”

“I’ll upload it as soon as the Wi-Fi’s back,” JR said.

Baekho.

“Truth,” Baekho said.

“Do you like Lime?” JR asked.

“Not really,” Baekho said almost immediately.

“Liar!” Ren said, raising his eyebrows. “Do you really want to strip right now for lying? I know you like her.”

“I don’t, Ren.”

Ren glared at Baekho threateningly.

“Okay fine. Maybe a little,” Baekho finally said. Before they followed up with more questions, he snatched the phone and clicked the button.

Minhyun.

“Me again?” Minhyun whined.

“Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“You said you never watched , but I saw you three weeks ago with quite an . Where did that come from? What were you thinking about?” Baekho smirked when he saw Minhyun’s look of dread.

“You saw it?” he asked looking extremely embarrassed.

“Min, it’s normal. Don’t be embarrassed about it,” Baekho said reassuringly.

“I don’t want to answer that question,” Minhyun muttered with a shrug.

“Then strip ,” Ren demanded.

“I was reading fanfiction,” Minhyun answered begrudgingly. Everyone burst out laughing.

“So you read , but don’t watch it? That’s hilarious!”

“It’s different, okay,” Minhyun said, pink in the face and more humiliated then he’s ever been before.

“Who was the fanfiction about? Is it you and one of us? Or was it a girl?” JR asked curiously.

“That’s not part of the question. Ask me that next time,” Minhyun said.

“Fair enough,” JR said and clicked the button.

Aron.

“Dare, because I know Minhyun’s too chicken to give me a proper dare,” Aron said with a smirk.

Minhyun raised his eyebrows at Aron, “Really? You’ll see, Kwak Youngmin. I’ll make you regret the day you called me chicken. I dare you to French kiss Ren right now.” Everyone burst out laughing, even Ren.

“Minhyun!”

“Do it!” Minhyun said affirmatively.

“I’m sorry for calling you a chicken. Please change the dare.”

“Fine, french kiss JR.”

“Minhyun…”

“Not happy? Baekho then.”

“Minhyun, this dare is really too much.”

“It’s just a kiss. For someone who’s had and like ten girlfriends, this should be a breeze.”

“Fine, but I choose the member I want to kiss, right?”

“Sure.”

Aron stood up and made eye contact with JR, and then Baekho and then Ren but then quickly pounced on top of Minhyun, locking their lips and kissing him.

Minhyun pushed Aron away as soon as their lips touched, “hey!” He wiped his lips quickly. “I was not one of your options.”

“You said any member,” Aron smirked as he got off of Minhyun. “That will teach you to mess with me!”

“. That was my first kiss.” He grabbed a nearby pillow and wiped his lips, placing it on his lap as soon as he was done.

JR.

“Dare,” JR said.

“I dare you to drink from the toilet.”

Without any hesitation, JR made his way to the toilet with a cup. He filled the cup and gulped down the water.

Ren.

“Dare.”

JR eyed Ren for a while. “I dare you,” he paused, “I dare you to cut your hair.”

Ren’s face fell as he glared at JR. Ren looked angry, and sad, and irritated beyond a doubt. After a moment of silence, Ren began taking off his shirt.

“What are you doing?” JR asked as Ren threw his shirt across the floor.

“Stripping . I am not cutting my hair JR,” Ren stood up and began pulling down his pants.

“Wait,” JR said before Ren could finish.

“What?”

“Ren, you want it! Why don’t you just do it?”

“You don’t understand!” Ren said, almost bursting into tears. “How can I do it? My fans love me because of my hair. Because of my looks. Because I stand out. How can I cut something that makes people love me?”

“The fans love you because it’s you, not because of your hair you idiot,” JR said.

“You don’t know that! Do you think I didn’t consider it? The LO/\Es don’t want me to cut my hair. I read it online. They say things like ‘I’ll cry if Ren cuts his hair’ or ‘Ren’s hair is so beautiful he should never cut it’ or ‘Ren’s hair is the only thing that makes him so beautiful’. My hair defines me. My hair makes me ‘Ren.’ Without it I am no one in the kpop world.” At this point, Ren was crying.

“Ren…” JR said, feeling guilty for pushing Ren like that. Ren rarely every cries and when he does, it mean’s he’s truly sad.

Ren sat back down, his pants still up to his knees, his chest bare. He buried his face into Baekho’s shoulder as he cried.

“Rennie,” Baekho said, “I agree with JR. I don’t think you should hold yourself to something because people want you to be a certain way. Remembers our lyrics? ‘There’s no need to care about others, you are shining. Ready, incredible Showtime! Ready, your own showtime!’”

“I can’t. I just can’t. I can’t disappoint my fans. I’m not making this decision for myself, but for my fans.”

“I understand,” JR said. “I’ll change the dare then. I dare you to stop crying… please?”

Ren smiled and wiped his eyes, “sorry for being such a baby,” he laughed.

“I’m sorry for making you cry,” JR said, looking truly guilty.

“Who’s next?” Ren asked.

Baekho.

“Truth or dare?” Ren asked Baekho.

“Truth.”

“Tell us about your most fantasy with Lime.”

“Umm…” Baekho’s face turned red. “Ren, you’re pretty evil for someone who was just crying.”

Ren smirked.

“It was in the dance studio. It started off as slow-dancing. And then stuff… happened.”

Ren giggled, “carry on…”

“Guys, can we please not get into details,” Minhyun said, shifting uncomfortably.

“Oh Minhyun shut up. You read , you know how this works,” Ren said.

“But…”

“Fine whatever, we won’t get into details,” Ren said and JR clicked the button.

Minhyun.

“Ha! Yes!” Ren said with a triumphant smirk, “ask him about the fanfiction he read!”

“Not so fast. I choose dare,” Minhyun said glaring at Ren before gazing at Baekho with an imploring look, as if begging him not to make him do anything rash.

“I’ll be nice to Minhyun,” Baekho said with a grin. “I dare you to give me that pillow.” He pointed with his eyes at the pillow on Minhyun’s lap.

Minhyun’s face looked extremely anxious all of the sudden.

“You’re terrible!” Minhyun said, throwing the pillow at Baekho’s face.

The four boys burst out laughing when they saw what was under it. There it was, very clearly emblazoned between Minhyun’s legs.

“Woah there Min!” JR said. “What in the world are you thinking of?”

“I remembered that fanfic last time you asked me about it, and that’s why this is happening again, Minhyun said, his face flushed pink as he covered it with his hand.

“Wanna excuse yourself and help yourself out in the bathroom?” Ren asked, who was crying because of how much he was laughing.

“No way. I’ll wait until it goes away by itself.”

“It makes me curious. Just how good is this fanfic that you’d get an just thinking about it?” JR asked curiously.

“Can we please carry on with the game?” Minhyun said, tired of being interrogated.

JR clicked the button.

Ren.

“Truth, only because I’m afraid you’ll dare me to give you a or something,” Ren laughed.

“I will never ask you to that!” Minhyun said, his jaw dropping at what Ren just said.

“Just hit me with a question,” Ren said impatiently.

“Have you ever… have you ever thought about a boy as more then just a friend? Like, have you ever liked a boy?”

“No,” Ren answered with a shrug.

“Never?”

“Why, have you?” Ren asked, raising his eyebrows

“No!” Minhyun said, blushing madly.

“I’ll ask you again next time you pick truth,” Ren winked.

Aron.

“Dare,” Aron chose.

“I dare you to… oh I have a good one. I dare you to go to a random fanfic about yourself and do exactly what that fic says.”

“Ren! Goodness, you’re evil.”

Ren grinned and took out his phone. “I’ll search ‘NU’EST Aron’ in the fanfic site and sort it in random order. The first one that comes up, we’ll read it, and you do exactly what it says. If a girl is involved, then the pillow that covered Minhyun’s friend will be your girl. If it involves one of us, you’ll use whoever it involves.”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

Ren took out his phone. JR, Baekho and Minhyun huddled behind him as Ren searched up ‘NU’EST Aron’ and the results came up.

“The fanfic is…” Ren paused to laugh, “it’s a MinRon fanfic. It’s called ‘His Other Half.’”

“Just read it and let’s get this over with,” Aron said with a grunt.

Ren scrolled through the boring parts of the fic and then cleared his throat and began: “Aron took Minhyun’s hand and caressed it lovingly, looking deeply into Minhyun’s eyes.” Aron did just that with Minhyun, causing Minhyun to blush and causing the other three to laugh uncontrollably.

Ren continued, reading, and Aron did everything that Ren read: “Aron kissed Minhyun’s hand soflty, pulling him closer and closer. He wrapped his arms around Minhyun’s slender waist, standing on his tiptoes, whispering ‘I love you’ into Minhyun’s ear. Minhyun would tremble under Aron’s touch.”

“Can it be over now?” Aron asked, still in that really intimate position with Minhyun.

“No way, we’re getting to the good part!” Ren smirked before continuing, “Aron took Minhyun’s arms, and pulled him towards the bed…”

“Enough!” Aron said irritably, letting go of Minhyun.

“Relax, I won’t make you have with Minhyun, I promise. But do a little bit more! You can use the couch as a bed.”

Aron let out a deep breath before grabbing Minhyun’s arm and pulling him to the couch. He continued doing everything that Ren said.

“He laid Minhyun down on the couch, and climbed on top of him, kissing his neck. Minhyun moaned loudly…”

Minhyun really did moan as Aron kissed his neck. And it wasn’t just acting, Minhyun actually moaned. Aron looked almost afraid of Minhyun when he heard it… but he carried on role-playing as Ren continued reading:

“Aron’s arms went under Minhyun’s shirt and he began rubbing his bare chest whilst still kissing Minhyun’s neck. He pulled Minhyun’s shirt off and began kissing his bare chest…”

“Ren, let’s stop here,” Aron said as he pulled away from the flushed and now shirtless Minhyun. “Minhyun’s as hard as a rock and frankly I’m freaked out by the fact I’m getting hard as well.”

Ren put away his phone and nodded, realizing that this little session was getting out of control.

Minhyun got up from his laying position on the couch, taking the pillow again and hiding his hard-on, even though hiding it would be pointless now that everyone’s seen it.

Aron also sat down on the floor, feeling strangely liberated after what he just done. He avoided all eye contact with Minhyun. Minhyun avoided all eye contact with him. The other three looked at each other awkwardly.

“Okay… umm, let’s see who’s next,” JR said, breaking that awkward silence and clicking the button.

JR.

“Truth. Because dares are now scary.”

Aron, who was still overwhelmed about what just happened with Minhyun, could not find it in him to think up a creative question for JR. Instead, he just came up with the most cliché question to ever ask: “tell us about the person you like?”

JR bit his lower lip, as if that question made him nervous.

“The person I like… is someone out of this world. It’s someone with a kind smile and a pure heart. Someone funny and cute and extremely pretty. Someone completely selfless…”

“Who is it?” Aron asked impatiently.

“You said to only describe the person, not tell you who it is…”

Aron glared at JR, “fine. Next person.”

Minhyun.

“Me again?” Minhyun pouted at his misfortune.

“Truth or dare?” JR asked.

“Dare,” Minhyun muttered, not wanting to pick truth for fear they’ll ask him about the fanfic.

“You’ll thank me for this: but I dare you go in the bathroom right now.”

Minhyun stood up and went to the bathroom, gladly doing just that. He was out in less than five minutes. When he was back, he looked at them all and said, “for the record, I’m extremely embarrassed right now, more than I have ever been my entire life. And so I’m going to embarrass the hell out of all of you too. Whoever’s next better be mindful.”

Baekho.

“Crap,” Baekho said.

“Truth or dare,” Minhyun said with a serious expression.

“Umm…”

“I’ll get you either way.”

“Truth seems safer.”

“Oh no it’s not,” Minhyun said. “Tell us a big secret. And it has to be something that surprises me or else it’s not big enough”

“Hey, that’s too broad.”

“No it’s not.”

“Guys?” he turned to JR for support

“Just answer it Baekho.”

Baekho sighed, “Before Lime, I had the biggest possible crush on Ren.”

Ren’s eyes widened and he stared at Baekho wondrously “seriously?”

“Yeah, but not anymore.”

Ren blinked and nodded in acceptance as Baekho flushed pink.

Aron.

“Truth or dare?”

“Truth. There is no way I’m choosing dare again.”

Baekho thought for a moment and the asked: “honestly, did you enjoy that little thing with Minhyun?”

Aron nodded. “I enjoyed it, honestly. Not because I like him like that or anything, but because it was… it was hot.” Aron said hesitantly.

Minhyun held back a smile and stared at the ground.

Ren.

“Dare, because everyone’s being chicken and choosing truth,” Ren answered.

“I dare you to… to kiss Baekho. You know, given that he likes you and all,” Aron dared.

“Well, isn’t this game turning awfully gay?” Ren said as turned towards Baekho and leaned in to kiss his lips. Baekho submissively accepted this kiss. Even though Ren wasn’t the person he liked at the moment, it was nice to indulge the desires he had before he started liking Lime. It felt liberating and good to have Ren like this. When Ren pulled away from the kiss, Baekho smiled and Ren smiled back.

“You have some sweet lips, Tiger,” Ren said to Baekho while their faces were only inches apart. “Lime’s a lucky girl to have someone like you crushing on her.” He winked at Baekho and sat back down, looking around to see JR, Aron and Minhyun looking at them all curiously.

“Next!” Ren said, taking the phone from JR and clicking the button.

JR.

“Truth or dare?” Ren asked.

“Dare,” JR said apathetically.

“You don’t want me to ask you about who the girl you like is, right? Heh, no can do JR. I dare you to pick Truth in your next turn.”

“Fine,” JR said.

Baekho.

“Dare,” Baekho chose.

“I dare you to… to call Lime right now, put her on speaker and confess to her right in front of us all,” JR said raising his eyebrows.

“Good one JR,” Ren smiled. “Go on Tiger.”

“I’ll strip .”

“Baekho!” JR said in disappointment. “Come on, we were having so much fun. Don’t ruin it for us.”

“Guys, she’s out of my league. She can rap and dance and sing and she’s extremely pretty. I can sing, but I’m not good looking enough. I can’t rap and I’m not a great dancer. She deserves someone much better than me.”

“And I had no idea you lacked in self-confidence, Baekho,” Ren scolded as he glared at Baekho in disapproval.

“Baekho, listen to me,” Aron said, “if you think things like ‘I’m not going to confess because she’s out of my league’ you will never date anyone ever. You start liking someone because you think that person is great, right? So technically, you always fall for someone you think ‘is out of your league.’ Back in L.A, I always confessed to the girls I liked, no matter how popular they were, no matter how much better then me I thought they were, and I was successful 80% of the time. You just have to approach it with confidence.”

Baekho looked hesitant… “but guys, what if she rejects me?”

“Then it’s okay. It means she’s not someone who recognizes your awesomeness and so she’s not worth it,” Minhyun said.

“It might hurt at first but you’ll get over it,” Aron said. “And it helps to have people to support you and all four of us here.”

“Come on Baekho, do it!” Ren urged, slipping his hand into Baekho’s pocket and handing him his phone.

Baekho took the phone reluctantly and dialed Lime’s number. His heart beat fast and he began fiddling with his T-Shirt and biting his lips. Every ring felt like an eternity. It rung and rung and Baekho was just about to give up and conclude she did not have her phone on her until she picked up.

“Dongho! I’m glad you called,” she said brightly. “I’m bored out of my wits and I wanted to talk to someone.”

“You can talk to me!” Baekho said, not really knowing how else to respond to what she said. He regretted it as soon as he said it. What a stupid thing to say.

“Yes I can! Did you call just to talk or did you wanna tell me something?” she asked.

“Actually, Lime… I… I…”

“Yeah?”

Baekho looked towards s, who urged him to talk with hand gestures. “I like you!” he said quickly.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

Baekho grunted. It was so hard to say it, and now he has to say it again…. “I li…,” he said again, and as he said it, he heard Alice through the line.

“Ya! Alice get out of here I’m talking to Dongho!” Lime yelled, and Baekho wanted to strangle himself. Alice made some weird noises and then he heard a door close.“You were saying?”

“I…” Loud thunder struck, muffling the rest of his confession. He wanted to just give up there and then. It seemed like God was against this confession.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear that. Stupid thunder,” Lime said. “One more time, I promise I’ll hear you this time!”

“I like you Lime! I really, really like you,” he said, the words pouring from his mouth. He found himself covering his mouth as soon as he said it.

There was a silence from the other end of the line for a moment and Baekho thought she wasn’t there.

“Lime?”

“I’m here,” she said, “if you could see me right now, you’d see that I’m smiling like an idiot,” she said with a giggle.

“Really?” he asked, his heart finally relieved.

“So you like me? Now what?”

“Go out with me?” Baekho asked hopefully.

“I would love to,” Lime answered.

“Great,” Baekho said, letting out a sigh of relief and feeling a flood of happiness overcome his heart. The other members clapped for him and patted his back in congratulations.

“Great,” Lime repeated. There was an awkward silence as both of them took in the happiness.

“I’ll see you later then,” Baekho finally said.

“I can’t wait,” she said.

“Me neither. Bye.”

“Bye.”

When he hung up, the other four members applauded him and hugged him and earnestly congratulated him for what was to come. Baekho could not stop smiling. He was glad they played Truth or Dare after all.

“Okay guys, let’s carry on with the game,” Baekho said.

Minhyun.

“Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“I dare you to pick Truth next time,” Baekho said, “I need to know about that fanfic!”

Minhyun glared at Baekho, “if you weren’t so happy right now, I would punch you in the face.”

JR.

“Well, you have to pick truth this time because of Ren’s dare,” Minhyun reminded him, “and now for the truth: who is it that you like exactly?”

JR bit his lower lip as he considered it. He avoided all eye contact with any of the members and stared at the carpet beneath him.

“I like Ren,” JR admitted, lifting his gaze from the carpet as his eyes met with Ren’s.

Ren looked truly surprised. His lips were parted and his eyes widened and twinkled with curiosity and disbelief. They held eye contact for three seconds before Ren shook his head and looked away.

“Ren?” JR called softly, prompting Ren to say something.

“What do you want me to say, JR? I have nothing to say,” Ren said almost crossly.

JR nodded in understanding. “It’s okay. I didn’t expect this confession to end up like Baekho’s confession to Lime,” he shrugged his shoulders and smiled, but it was obvious to all of them that the smile was only an attempt to conceal the hurt he was really feeling.

JR clicked the button on the app before Ren could reply.

Ren.

Great, JR thought. He really wanted it to be anyone but Ren as to give Ren both of them the time to get over it before they talk again. Stupid app. He looked at Ren questioningly, waiting from him to pick Truth or Dare.

Ren thought for a moment, “truth.”

“W… what’s going through your head at the moment?” JR asked reticently, almost afraid of the answer.

Ren took a deep breath, “I hate this ing androgynous image!” Ren roared out of nowhere. “That’s what’s going through my head at the moment, JR,” Ren said, eying JR crossly.

“Does this hate have anything to do with me liking you?” JR asked Ren curiously, suddenly seeming so weak under Ren’s gaze.

“Yes it does,” Ren said, not explaining.

“How?” JR pressed.

“I know why you like me JR. It’s the same reason Baekho liked me. It’s the same reason all the boys and girls like me. I’m pretty. I’m a girl. But I’m also a boy. I’m like this perfect ual object for…”

“What?!” JR said, “you think I like you because of that?”

“Yes, I do. In fact, I know that’s why you like me,” Ren spat. “Well, let me tell you something JR…”

“That is not why I like you!” JR yelled before Ren could continue. “Liking someone is not synonymous with being ually attracted to them!”

“For someone like me, it is,” Ren said. “I bet you that if I weren’t pretty, if I didn’t look like this, you wouldn’t even give me a second look. If I didn’t have this face, I wouldn’t have become an idol. If I wasn’t androgynous, I would be the least popular member of this band. That’s why Pledis gave me his image, right? For me to be ualized…”

“That’s not true,” JR said, not knowing what else to say.

“Oh don’t deny it JR. Look at all the forums online. Look at all the fanfiction. Look at all my role-players. Look at all the so-called fans. They want to have with me. They all make a out of me. All they ever speak about when it comes to me my non-existent s and my . They say that all four of you want to me and whatnot. Well, I never took that seriously because I didn’t think it was true, but now both you and Baekho confessed to me and now I feel like it is true. Do Minhyun and Aron want to me too?” At this point Ren was crying and wiping his eyes.

“R… Ren,” JR muttered, completely startled by this reaction. The other three were speechless as well.

“See, none of you are denying it. You all know it’s true. I’m just an object of your ual fantasies!”

No one spoke back, too dumbfounded to say anything coherent and so they held back and watched as Ren cried.

JR then stood up walked over to the cupboard with a pair of scissors. He walked up to Ren and grabbed his hair.

Ren pushed him away violently. “Get away from me!”

“If you hate it so much…”

“ off JR!”

“Ren!” JR howled: this time JR’s voice was loud and daunting, causing Ren to freeze in place and look at JR in fear. JR took a deep breath and continued, “I didn’t think it hurt you so much. Of course I see how people ualize you and it makes me sick as well. But if you really do mind it so much, just change it goddammit!”

“I’m not cutting my hair,” Ren said as he wiped his tears and sniffled.

“Then I’ll do it for you,” JR said as he held Ren down. Ren struggled under JR’s hold and then screamed at the top of his lungs…

“JR, stop!” he begged as JR took the scissors in his hand and positioned the blades onto a strand of Ren’s hair.

JR looked at Ren for a long time before putting the scissors to the side and letting Ren go. “Think about it, Ren. But just know one thing: I don’t like you because you look like a girl. I don’t like you because you’re pretty. I like you because I fell for your confidence, for your will to take on something so controversial and for your endurance of it. I like you because you’re selfless, because you’re funny and because you’re pleasantly unpredictable. I love your vivaciousness, and I love hearing your voice and I just love everything about you as a person, not a ual object.”

By the end of JR’s affirmation, Ren was crying into his knees. A minute passed as they all sat in silence not know what else to do. Minhyun only got up to bring Ren the tissue box. Ren took a tissue and blew his nose and wiped his eyes.

“Let’s continue playing,” Ren said in his lachrymose, scratchy voice. He grabbed the phone from JR and clicked the button.

“Ren, let’s end the game now,” JR said to Ren as Ren looked at the name on the screen. He revealed the name to everyone: JR.

“No way, it’s my turn to ask you. You aren’t getting away from me,” Ren said to JR and he forced a smile and JR couldn’t find in himself to refuse. “Truth or dare?”

JR shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t really want to play anymore after what just happened, so he didn’t even have the capacity to think about what to choose. He simply chose the one that rolled off his tongue first. “Truth.”

Ren nodded and then asked his question: “honestly, have you ever thought about having with me?”

JR hesitated. He knew that the answer Ren wanted to hear was “no,” because then that would mean that JR never “ualized” Ren. But that would be a lie.

Ren nodded when he saw JR hesitate. “I knew it,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“You didn’t even give me the chance to answer,” JR said.

“The answer is pretty clear.”

“No, I haven’t thought about ing you. Never have I thought about having with you like that. I have never thought about you graphically. But yes, I have thought about making love to you. That’s completely different.”

Ren glared at JR for a while and then nodded. “Good answer,” Ren said, following it with a smile. Ren then clicked the button on the app.

Minhyun.

Minhyun pouted.

JR was too busy staring at Ren, he didn’t even look at the name on the screen. “Go on, ask Minhyun about the fanfiction he read,” Ren said to JR.

JR looked at the name on the screen and then at Minhyun.

“Tell us about the fanfic you read that gave you that ,” JR said apathetically to Minhyun.

“Please change the question, now is really not the right time to talk about that,” Minhyun stated agitatedly.

“You aren’t getting away Minhyun,” Ren said, trying to get back into the spirit of the game.

Minhyun gulped as everyone stared at him. Everyone kind of expected that the fanfic would be about him and another boy, specifically about Aron. Most fanfics about Minhyun tend to be MinRon fics anyways. So everyone watched, half expecting Minhyun to say “MinRon.”

“It was MinRen,” he admitted and covered his face in shame. “But I swear to God Ren, although I thought about having with you, I do not ualize you! While I’m at it, let me admit some more things: I thought about having with Aron and Baekho and JR too, so it’s not just you! I read fanfiction about me and all of you all the time; it’s just that the MinRen one was particularly good,” Minhyun said, not wanting Ren to feel offended.

Everyone looked towards Ren to see how he would react. Everyone thought he was about to cry, as his eyes were twinkling and his body was stiff. Instead, he burst out laughing, much to the relief of Minhyun.

Everyone else found it safe to laugh as well, even Minhyun who was beyond embarrassed. It was a nice moment, laughing together like this after all the preceding tension between them.

Ren then said: “I know you don’t think of me like that Min. I know none of you do. I overreacted when I accused you all of thinking that way. I’m sorry. Sorry Aron, sorry Minhyun, sorry Baekho, and sorry JR.”

There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds. JR broke the awkwardness when he clicked the button.

Aron.

“Truth,” Aron chose.

“You said you enjoyed it. So would you do it again?” Minhyun asked curiously, eying Aron carefully. Everyone knew what Minhyun was referring to, and Aron found himself blushing as he recalled it.

“Honestly, yes. If you wanted it, I mean,” Aron looked at the floor.

“Of course I want it,” Minhyun said to Aron.

“Then let’s… do it again,” Aron said reluctantly.

“I’m in. But do we really need the fanfiction to guide us this time?”

“I do,” Aron admitted. “I don’t know how it works.”

“I read fanfiction all the time. I’m quite the expert. I can guide you,” Minhyun smirked.

JR covered his face as he listened to the exchange between Aron and Minhyun. “Guys!” he interrupted, “take it to the bedroom please. We don’t need to hear it.”

Minhyun grinned as he stood up and held out his hand towards Aron. Aron took it, his face flushed pink. Minhyun led him into the bedroom and shut the door.

“What the just happened?” Ren asked as he looked at the door Minhyun just shut.

“Turns out our Minhyun isn’t as innocent as we all thought,” JR laughed.

Just then, Baekho’s phone rang. It was Lime.

“Bye guys,” Baekho said as he leapt towards the unoccupied room to talk to her.

When Baekho was gone, JR looked towards Ren and smiled, “guess it’s just me and you.”

“Truth or dare?” Ren asked JR.

“Umm, dare,” JR said, knowing that the game was essentially over but he played along.

“I dare you to kiss me,” Ren said.

“Gladly,” JR responded with a smile.

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