chapter sixteen; 

                  caught 

»  As promised, I called Bella once I had showered and gotten into my pajamas (which weren't much really. Just a pair of shorts and a big t-shirt).

She picked up on the first ring. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry," she exclaimed.

I laughed, shaking my head. "It's okay, Bells." To be honest, I wasn't mad at her for telling Jordan. In fact, she possibly had helped me because knowing myself, I probably would have chickened out last minute and never ended up telling Jordan. Something told me he wasn't exactly Doyoon's number one fan. But it was a little bit till 12 so I was thankful for her to be here. "I just need someone to talk to right now."

"Well...okay. I really thought you had told him by then." A pause. "Well! Tell me everything!"

I started with the bus stop, telling her about how Doyoon had brought up the subject about confession. I told her my reasonings and she agreed that Doyoon was worth the shot. I continued to tell her about the rain at the ice cream parlor, him calling me jagi-ah, the rain and stopped when I reached the point where we made it to Pledis. By this time, with Bella interrupting in between every sentence I said, it was a little past one in the morning.

"Can I come over tomorrow?" I asked, studying my nails. It was really time that I redo them. The blue nail polish was all chipped. "I don't think I can tell the whole story over the phone."

"Yeah, sure. No one's gonna be home except for me anyways."

"Good." I yawned, stretching my back and let out a sigh. "I don't know why but I'm really tired. I think I'm gonna crash."

"Yeah, alright. Text or call if you need anything."

I smiled. "Thanks, Bella."

"Anytime, Lisa."

»  "You poor thing," Bella coos, pulling me inside her house the next morning when I rang her doorbell. "I bet life has been anything but easy for you," she says, closing the door behind her.

Okay, yeah, so I lied about having a day to myself but in my defense, a day with no boys to worry about was a relax day. I groaned, flopping down on her couch and stared as she walked into the kitchen, opening the cupboards.

"Where'd I leave off?" I asked.

"Ah, when you guys reached the main practice room. Wonwoo and Mingyu were being all cuddly cuddly…" She gestures for me to continue.

"Right, okay well so -- " I launched the story of talking to the small pairs. "It was funny though," I said, laughing as I laid down on the couch. "Jisoo oppa and Junghan oppa though we had met Doyoon in school."

Bella frowns, making a face. "What? School?"

"Yeah, but Junghan oppa corrected him to pool." I laughed again, shaking my head. "They're a weird group."

"Yeah, no kidding..."

"Yeah, well and then Jordan stormed in and demanded to talk to Doyoon, refusing to leave." I rolled my eyes, shaking my head as I sat up. "But hey, get this, he wasn't pissed because we were dating." I paused, thinking for a moment. "Okay, well, yeah he was, but it was mainly because he was going to confess the same night Doyoon did and he said he thinks Doyoon confessed only to piss him off. Do you think that's true?"

"Doubt it. Doyoon seems like a really nice guy and he totally seems interested in you." Bella continues opening cupboards and sighs. "Hey, do you wanna hit up the store? We're running low on snacks. Like, literally low. There's barely crumbs in here."

I shrugged. "Sure, I don't see why not."

                  doyoon's pov

» I kept replaying last night over and over again. A smile appears on my lips as I think of her reaching up to kiss me on my cheek. I sigh happily, my thoughts blurred and my head in the clouds. I glance down at the song lyrics I was working on and saw that I saw getting nowhere except random love lyrics scribbled here and there. There's a sudden noise at the door of the studio and I peek my head out to see my manager

"Hyung," I called, leaning back in my chair as I tried to catch him. "Are you going out now?"

He nods. "Ne, why?"

"I was wondering if you could pick up some kimchi. I've been craving some since last week," I explained, grinning at him.

He sighs, shaking his head."I don't know what kind you want so just come with me," he suggests, waving for me to follow. I hurriedly jump from my chair and tag along after him like a shadow, glad to have a distraction from the previous nights, a distraction from her.

» "I'll wait in the car," my manager says, handing me some bills as I got out of the car. I nodded, slamming the door shut and walked towards the store with my hands in my pockets. I promised I wouldn't get sidetracked and buy too many things. I was here to kimchi and to go back home and work on that song. I stood in front of the kimchi stands, studying the shelves for the kind I always ate when I heard two familiar voices arguing softly.

"No, I really think we should get those next time since we're already getting those biscuits."

"How about we get those and the chips?"

"Aish, Lisa, I can't get both. My dad will kill me once he finds out how much we're buying right now."

I freeze at the name and turn about to see Lisa and Bella are standing at the freezer aisle, looking through boxes of frozen fries and peas before throwing them in their cart. I stared at them for a moment but quickly went back to looking at the kimchi boxes, thinking that the last thing I needed was for the distraction for be distracting me.

"Hey, Lisa, can you go check if they have those candies my dad likes?" I hear Bella ask. Lisa shrugs and nods, walking away the other direction. Bella starts to make her way to me, pretending to scan the rows as she gets closer. I avoid her glance, continuing to scan the containers of kimchi, wondering where the fricking kimchi brand I needed was.

Bella's voice suddenly surprises me what comes out of next isn't exactly what I had hoped for. In fact, it's the complete opposite. "You're Doyoon, aren't you?" She doesn't even look at me, scanning the kimchi along side of me.

I blink at her. "Yes, I'm Doyoon. I thought we went over this when we met." I laughed. However, Bella was not.

"No, I mean, the Doyoon. The one that was Lisa's childhood friend." I blinked. How did she...? I open my mouth but Bella shakes her head, waving a hand in my face. "I dont really care for the lies you have in mind, Doyoon. I have it all figured out."

"Wh - what?"

Bella doesn't look my way. Instead, she keeps her eyes on the ground, a smirk on her face. "It's pretty simple really. I mean, is it really such a coincidence that you both have the same name?" She pauses, thinking. "Doyoon from the past wants to be an actor, Doyoon from the present is an idol. Doyoon from the past gives Sabrina a unicorn, Doyoon from the present finds it. Doyoon likes Lisa since first grade -- oh, sorry day. And, what was it Jisoo oppa and Junghan oppa said about...meeting at a pool? No, that can't be right. School...?" She teasing. I know she is. She shakes her head, waving it off. "Doyoon from the past looks just like Doyoon from the present...? Surely it's more than a coincidence."

"That isn't evidence," I argue.

"You're right, it's proof."

I go quiet. "Please don't tell Lisa. I'm trying to build up the courage to tell her myself."

Bella scoffs. "Lisa thinks she's dating Seventeen's Doyoon when really, she's dating her childhood friend as well." She shakes her head. "Once she finds out, you'll have left her confused and frustrated. And that won't be the first time you do that, is it?"

I rubbed my forehead, guilt seeping through. We both knew she was right. "I'll tell her soon," I declared, frowning.

"Soon better be sometime this week, Doyoon. Someone else could find out and tell her before you could."

"Who else?" I asked, afraid of her answer.

She walks over to a magazine stand and scans the covers and finally picks up one. She leafs through it before ing it in my face. "Congrats, you guys made the cover." I grimace at the cover and the headlines. On the cover is a picture of us in front of Lisa's home, when she distinctively leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. I smiled at the memory before Bella's sharp tone spoke again. "There's an article too, you know."

I grimaced, looking at her before scanning the cover for the page number to the article. Flipping to page 46, I found that things could obviously get worse. More photos of us together from the moment we stepped in the ice cream parlor - us eating ice cream, us together under the rain, us running. The photos continued when we left Pledis and then started again at her house where the kiss took place. Whoever had taken these photos made sure not to leave out anything. The article states, "Seventeen's own Doyoon seems to have made a new friend…or…maybe more than friends? The two were caught leaving the ice cream parlor (a date, probably) and even dancing in the rain together! How romantic…and terribly cliché. The two seem oddly close to have been (probably) dating for the few days or weeks. Holding hands, even receiving a kiss! Sigh, don't you wish you were her, ladies? However, seems as if the long haired female isn't well known (or known at all, in fact) or even working in the business. Who is the mystery girl that has caught the trainee's eyes and stolen his heart? Stay tuned for more information!" I handed the magazine back to Bella, starting to feel sick.

"Look, I don't know who exactly you were to her in the past years or why you left her but you must have played a big role in her life." She sighs. "Aish, babo. She can't even see what's right in front of her."

"I'll tell her," I whispered.

"Lisa is my best friend, Doyoon. Please don't break her heart."

I looked over to her solemnly and nodded. "I won't. I promise."

»  That night, I laid awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. I didn't know what to do. I knew it was too good to be true. As much as I wanted to keep hiding, I knew Bella was right. I knew that if I kept up my little game, Lisa would end up getting hurt. But I couldn't do it. I just couldn't see myself admitting that I was the Doyoon she knew before. That I was the same friend she had to begin with.

I groaned out loud, running a hand through my hair. Things have been hectic the past few days - from confessing to Lisa, to finally getting together, and that kiss on the cheek! I smiled to myself before continuing with my thoughts. That Jordan kid wasn't making things any easier. How could he have just barged into the studio and demand to see me? I would have understood if he at least politely asked when he got the chance. Was he mad that Lisa and I had started dating. To be honest, I would have gotten upset too if that happened to me. I mean, he trusted me enough to tell me but I blew it up anyways. Oh, well. I had Lisa now. That was all that mattered, right?

And that article...! Imagine if Lisa saw. She wasn't big with being a celebrity or being followed around. Would she get upset if she saw it? I decided to keep it on the dl for now. If she asked, or found out, I would tell her. I paused. Would I do the same if she asked about being her childhood friend...?

The door suddenly swings open and Seungcheol steps in, taking a step back when he sees me awake. "You're not asleep?" Seungcheol asks, surprised. He strips off his shirt and throws it in the dirty hamper while looking through the closet for a clean one to wear to bed.

"No, I'm thinking," I replied, my eyes not leaving the ceiling. "Hey, can I ask you something?" I prop myself up and lean on my elbows as he grabs a blue t-shirt and slips it on.

"Yeah, sure, what is it?"

"What would you do if you had a best friend all your life and one day, they just disappear? Without much of a goodbye?"

Seungcheol considers this. "Well, I'd be pretty pissed. I mean, it's like I meant nothing to them, you know?"

Strangely, this wasn't making me feel any better. "Okay, okay, but what if they left to accomplish their dream?"

"I'd still be pretty pissed."

I stared at him for a moment before sighing. These weren't the answers I wanted to hear but I knew he was right. "Okay, well, what if a few years later, that friend came back?"

Seungcheol stares at me and then smirks. "This is about that Lisa girl, isn't it?"

I frown, laying back down on my back. "Don't be silly. Just forget I asked."

He scoffs. "I'm not stupid, Doyoon. I can see the way that you look at her. You see her more than just a girl you like. You see her as a best friend and you couldn't possibly look at a girl like that if you met her around a week ago."

I raised my eyebrows at him, amused. "You can tell all that just by how I look at her?"

He shrugs, climbing into his own bed. "It's pretty obvious." He pauses, laying still for a moment before continuing. "But to answer your question, I'd be still pretty upset but relieved that the...friend...is okay and everything, you know? I'd want to know how things went."

"Okay, but what if you didn't know that the friend who came back was the friend from the past?"

Seungcheol frowns, making a face. "Can you just please explain what you're talking about instead of asking me ridiculous questions?"

Seungcheol climbs in bed, yawning as I sighed. "Alright, so you see, I actually...was friend with Lisa before. We were inseparable. Childhood friends. We grew up together and I like to think that we were each other's rock."

Seungcheol snaps his fingers, grinning. "Knew it."

I pursed my lips into a thin line. "But, three years ago I kind of...left without really telling her."

"Dude."

"I left her a letter! Explaining that I had left to audition!" I exclaimed, getting defensive. He raised his eyebrows as if waiting for me to explain more. "Um, I said something about how I was leaving to achieve my dreams and that she shouldn't look for me..."

"Dude."

"Stop saying that!"

"Just a letter? Did you text her at least? Give her a call?" When I shake my head, Seungcheol groans. "God, Doyoon!"

"I was scared!"

" move, man." Seungcheol shakes his head, scoffing. "You could have at least tell her where you went." I grimaced and Seungcheol shakes his head again. "And what about after you got through the auditions?"

"I didn't have the heart to contact her because I knew it wouldn't be the same since I still wouldn't be around." I cringed as the words came past my mouth.

Seungcheol flops down on his back, his head hitting his pillow. "Dooooyoooooon."

I groaned myself. "I know, I know. But she's here now and we're dating!" I grinned enthusiastically.

"Yeah, but she has no idea who the other half of you really is."

I frowned, staring at him, knowing he was, again, right. I hated that. "Would you tell her if you were me?" I asked, propping myself on my elbows again.

"Obviously but only when the time is right. You gotta time it perfectly." I nodded, sighing as he leaned over and tugged on the lamp light. "Don't think about it too much. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. Don't stress it."

For once, the joking and carefree Seungcheol had a point.

AUTHOR'S NOTES 

ahhhhh you're all so cute!!! i love signing in to read all your comments!! it means a lot that you guys like this fanfic [chokes back sobs] i wish i could buy plane tickets and travel to all of you just give y'all a big hug but sadly i cannot. i can barely afford to buy albums or band merch :///

on another note, im pretty sure this ff will be ending soon (probably a few more chapters) sO after this, im thinking of writing a seungcheol or wonwoo fic next. what do y'all think?? i think either way i'll cry bc wonwoo is my first bias and seungcheol is my second haaaaa. anyways, give me your vote???

thanks for all your support, sunshines x