“How did it turn out like this?”

Hunched on the luxurious seat of the first class private airplane, Tae Min narrowed his eyes at the scenery below, muttering to himself.

“Well of course we would want to see our friend, too,” Yi Jung said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“That’s why I’m saying, why am I here?” Tae Min snapped, his gaze meeting the signature smirk of the other.

“Tae Minnie… don’t you like hanging out with the F4?”

“Ahh, seriously, F4 my arse… who would…?” Tae Min turned away, muttering to himself again. “Yah, who the hell are you calling ‘Tae Minnie’?”

“Yi Jung-ah, give him a break,” Woo Bin gave a small smile, watching the boy opposite of him carefully.

“I’m just teasing him. At least he’s coming to see Jan Di.”

“Yah, Yi Jung! Why didn’t you take Ga Eul along then, Ga Eul?!“

Yi Jung’s lips pulled into a tight line, but he offered his reply soon enough.

“Ah, it’s a bother. Because we kept dragging her along, she says she needs to catch up with her studies?”

“What about me and my studies?” Tae Min glared.

“What, do you have a problem with something?”

“None of your business!”

“Could you two keep it quiet?” Ji Hoo asked, lifting his head off his eyes slightly. “You should sleep, too, really…”

“What to do? Our youngest is so loud…” Yi Jung sighed.

“Yah! Am I our child or something?”

“Who would want a kid like you?”

“Tch. So arrogant,” Tae Min scoffed, lifting up his gaze to Woo Bin as the other chuckled. “What? Why?”

“…nothing.”

*

When the four found Jan Di she was in trouble… again. Though Tae Min idly though “Wah, so cool~” at some point, watching Woo Bin fight – as others did, but they weren’t as cool, in Tae Min’s humble opinion – he rushed over to her as soon as he got the chance, fussing over her clumsiness.

“Do you guys know ‘Il Shil Hweh’?” Woo Bin glared at the thugs and Tae Min paused his babbling, once more fixing his gaze on the boy.

“Huh?” one of the thugs yelped, alarmed. “Are you Prince Song?”

“Yeah,” Woo Bin sent them off, fixing his gloves while they returned Jan Di’s suitcase and begged for forgiveness, and – well, then just ran for it, chased away by just a couple of words from “Prince Song”.

Whether it was the intensity of his expression or voice, Tae Min felt completely captivated by Woo Bin at that moment. As the other looked over to him, he urged himself to snap out of his daze and fixed his attention to Jan Di again, attempting to act normal.

He would have failed horribly, too, if it had been Woo Bin who knelt down in front of the girl instead of Ji Hoo. But of course it would have been Ji Hoo, and all was well – or so Tae Min told himself, hoping no one had heard the loud beating of his heart.

Then he told himself it was beating so loud because he was so worried about Jan Di, and convinced himself enough to calm.

He was totally calm until that evening.

*

The afternoon and evening the group spent outside, as everyone needed some time to loosen up and have a bit of fun. Earlier, when they’d discussed Goo Joon Pyo, the conversation just got too depressing. Not that Tae Min cared much for the boy personally, but seeing Jan Di upset made him upset as well. He was thankful at the suggestion to attend that day’s events and the evening’s festival.

It was the gondola ride that made his heart race again.

Tae Min sat frozen, squeezed in between Yi Jung and Woo Bin. He’d tried to sit next to Jan Di, but Ji Hoo had occupied the spot next to her, leaving Tae Min no choice but to move to the seat opposite.

At first he was just a bit grumpy, but when Yi Jung made him sit between Woo Bin and him and not on the side as Tae Min originally intended – that was when he realized he was completely screwed.

In his mind, the dancer scolded himself over and over again, trying to convince himself that being so close to Woo Bin that their shoulders were pressing together was not that big of a deal.

Then he wondered why he had to think such a thing in the first place and got all depressed over the sound of his heartbeat.

This is not love. This is not love. This is most definitely not love.

“What’s that noise?” Woo Bin asked suddenly, making Tae Min jump slightly and offer him an expression of pure horror. But Woo Bin was not looking at him.

“Wow, sounds like she is going to be fired,” Yi Jung commented. “How could a tone-deaf person like that…”

The said ‘noise’, see, was the sound of a young woman singing not far off, standing in a ‘parked’ gondola not much different than the one the group was in, swaying slightly to the off-beat of her song. The actual gondolier sat in the gondola, his smile showing that he was very much amused by the scene.

All Tae Min could think was that, thankfully, Woo Bin hadn’t heard his ‘noisy’ heartbeat.