I was with Taemin during a WGM shooting again one afternoon, and we were on our break. The two of us were sitting on the roof, him having a smoke, me looking out into the distance.

            “What do you think of Bae Suzy?” I suddenly asked him.

            I could tell that this question had caught Taemin off guard. He let out a breath, then quietly said, “She’s…alright, I guess.”

            I raised a brow. “’Alright’?”

            Taemin smiled to himself, although it seemed like a sad smile. “I met her for the first time backstage at Inkigayo, during the first week she debuted. Been in love with her ever since.”

            “What the hell, you’re in love with her too?”

            Taemin looked at me, confused. “What do you mean ‘too’?”

            “N-Nothing.”

            “You’re not talking about Kim Myungsoo’s confession, are you?”

            “Wait,” I said. “You know about that?”

            Taemin shrugged. “Who doesn’t?” Then he smirked. “I knew you had a thing for him. Funny how we all ended up in the same world.”

            “I do not have a thing for Myungsoo,” I said.

            Taemin rolled his eyes and sarcastically muttered a, “Surrreeee.” He took another drag, then said, “You know, I was really surprised when he said his ideal type was Suzy.”

            “Why?” I asked.

            “Because ever since the guy debuted, he’s always been saying stuff about ‘girls with long wavy hair who look innocent’. But to be honest, Suzy keeps her hair straight more often than waved, and she has a pretty mature image rather than ‘innocent’.

            “My bandmate Key is close to Infinite’s Woohyun and he’d tell me stuff, Naeun. Stuff relating you and Myungsoo.”

            I grew confused. “What stuff?”

“There was always this rumor going around. Something along the lines of Myungsoo having a small interest in you. When you first debuted he’d ask people how much they knew about this girl named ‘Son Naeun’,” Taemin said. “I assume you and him have grown onto awkward terms, yes? High school intermixing with the idol world does that to people. But I have heard that his ideal type used to be you. For some reason he just never wanted to say it. And after the two of us got on WGM he decides to say Suzy instead of you.”

            “Wow,” I said, trying to take that all in. “That’s some rumor.”

            “Sure is.”

            APink, Infinite, Shinee, and Miss A were all scheduled to perform in a huge concert in Taiwan along with a couple other groups.

            It was quite a plane ride to Taiwan. Yookyung and I slept most of the time, although I couldn’t stop thinking about Myungsoo.

            Bae Suzy passed by our aisle once or twice, probably to go to the bathroom. Every time she did I would look at her with envy and jealousy.

            “She’s really pretty,” I muttered aloud. “And really popular too.”

            “Naeun don’t let those things bother you,” Yookyung said. “You’re pretty and popular too!”

            I leaned my head against the window, my thoughts completely bombarded with that one boy. Kim Myungsoo. I’m pretty sure that you’re doing terrible, terrible things to me. But I think I put it up with it because I like you so much.

           The concert was the following night, where Kpop idols from all over were scheduled to perform and attend.

            APink had just performed and I was getting offstage when I hear a commotion behind some curtains.

            “Jongin, you’re here to tell me that your backup dancer is not here?”

            “She’s sick,” I heard Jongin say. “She just called my manager and said that she can’t make it, so I won’t be able to do my special dance stage.”

            “C’mon there’s gotta be another girl who knows the dance moves. An understudy? Don’t you guys have one of those?”

            Jongin paused. “There is one other girl who knows the dance routine.”

            “Who?”

            “She’s an idol. I don’t think it’d be a good idea if—

            “—who is it, Jongin?”

            “APink’s Son Naeun,” he finally said.

            My eyes widened.

            Uh oh.

            I knew exactly what dance routine Jongin was talking about. He and I had practiced it before, albeit just for fun. He was just showing me some new moves that he’d learned and we just ended up practicing it together.

            Soon, I was being bombarded by my manager, drowning in his pleads to take the opportunity.

            “Naeun-ah,” he was saying, “Take the deal, will you? This will certainly showcase your abilities and it will give you popularity as well! Kai and Exo itself are super popular right now!”

            I smirked. Kai. I will never get used to his stage name.

            “I’m just concerned about the netizens,” I said.

            “Don’t worry about them. We’ll handle them later. The deal right now is what’s important. Take it.”

            I sighed and considered it. Then eventually gave in, of course. “Sure. I’ll do it.”

            “Great! Hurry up and change into the costume!”

            I went over to the next room and ran into Jongin, who’d been waiting for my decision. “So?”

            “I’ll do it,” I said.

            “She’d be happy to comply,” my manager added. Then he stopped. “Wait Naeun. How do you know the dance anyways?”

            “Um.” I thought about it. “Kai-sshi and I run into each other at the dance studio sometimes. I picked up on some of his dance moves. We’re acquaintances.”

            “Ah. I see. That makes sense!” Then my manager skedaddled away.

            “Nice save,” Jongin mumbled.

            “Thanks.”

            The two of us practiced the routine backstage a bit once more before it was our time to shine. I wasn’t nervous one bit since I genuinely felt comfortable dancing with Jongin, but inside I was actually wary about people’s reactions. I hoped that this wouldn’t spark much controversy.

            Cheers/screams/gasps erupted from the crowd during the dance. Jongin did one of his “ballerina” twirls and motioned for me to dance on over to him, a sort of Michael Jackson type of thing. I danced over to him, unknowingly smiling.

            It was, in my opinion, a cute dance. It wasn’t anything ratchet and I liked it.

            The audience, to my pleasure, seemed to enjoy it also when the two of us excited the stage.

            “I want to hate her but I can’t!”

            “That was just too cute!”

            “Wow, first Taemin and now Kai? Scandalous!”

            I smirked at this comment. Taemin would hardly give a .

            “Awesome job guys!” people said to us as we headed backstage. “Ratings are going through the roof!”

            “Naeun,” my manager said to me, “fans didn’t know you could dance like that! That was amazing!”

            “Thanks,” I said, pretty proud myself. Then I looked over at Jongin, who was smiling right back at me. We both knew that the whole reason the dance had worked out so well was because we had great teamwork and there was no awkwardness between us. It’s rare to find someone like that.

            “Let’s go back to my waiting room,” Jongin whispered in my ear amongst the chaos.

            I nodded and followed him out of the sea of people, claiming that we were going to get some water. The two of us were laughing about something when something caught Jongin’s eye.

            Myungsoo was standing right before us, in the midst of walking in the opposite direction. The three of us stopped at that moment, as if frozen in time.

            “Naeun,” Myungsoo finally said. The way he said my name sent tingles down my spine but I chose to ignore it. I felt someone holding onto my hand, knowing it was Jongin. I held on tight, leaning in closer, all for that sense of safety. “Long time, no see.”

            “What are you talking about, Myungsoo?” I added emphasis to his name. “We’ve seen each other quite a bit, haven’t we?”

            He cautiously looked over at Kai - who was glaring straight at him - as if he was on the verge of being exposed to some huge secret: that Myungsoo and I had a past. Then realization took over and it was clear. Myungsoo knew that Jongin had already known everything regarding him and me.

            His eyes then trailed over to me and Jongin’s hands. He swallowed and said, “Thought you were with Taemin.”

            “Thought you were with Suzy.”

            “Naeun. Please don’t be like this.”

            “Why shouldn’t I?” I asked him. “I know that we’ve been ignoring each other and but do you know how much it hurts me to see you flaunt around about how much you like her?”

            “I don’t like her.”

            “That’s not what it looks like to me.”

            By now I was getting angry. I wanted to say more, to tell him everything that I’d bottled up inside of me since he left.

            But I knew I couldn’t do that. Not at this time. I had Jongin beside me and his hold was all I needed to keep me back.

            Myungsoo walked away from me, his shoulders hunched, his head hung low. Jongin and I proceeded to where we’d been heading to in the first place.

            “Dang Naeun. You can be pretty harsh when you want to be,” Jongin commented. “But it’s quite a turn on, I must admit.”

            I laughed at this. “You sure know how to make me smile, Jongin.”

            I stayed in Exo’s waiting room with Jongin for a couple minutes before leaving, heading back to APink’s on my own.

            “He still cares about you, you know.”

            I turn around to find Sungyeol, who’d been leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

            “What are you talking about?” I asked.

            “He lost his cellphone a couple months ago,” Sungyeol said. “He’d left it on my bed. I looked through it to see whose phone it was. It was new so he didn’t have a passcode yet, or any pictures. But there was a picture that he’d specifically saved onto his phone because he treasured it so much and wanted it close to him always.

            “It was a picture of you and him, Naeun. Pre-debut, at what looked like a graduation party. Quite scandalous, isn’t it?”

            I knew which picture he was talking about: there was only one. Sungyeol had gone to high school with Myungsoo and I; he was probably aware of everything that had been going on.

            What he probably didn’t know though, is that Myungsoo and I are ing related.

            “That doesn’t mean he still cares,” I said. “He’s been avoiding me ever since he saw me.”

            “Myungsoo’s not a guy to express his feelings,” Sungyeol said. “I’m sure you’re the same way, since you two seem to be one in the same.”

            “What are you trying to say?”

            “I’m advising you to not believe everything you hear about him regarding his lovelife. We all know who he truly likes, don’t we?”

            “That’s not true.”

            All Sungyeol did was wink before leaving, disappearing around the corner.