“I know h…she doesn’t like me back,” JR said to Jason.

“How do you know?” Jason responded. He didn’t press to know who it was immediately, glad that JR was at least starting to open up to him. He didn’t want to rush him, or unsettle him about it.

“She told me she liked someone else, as if to confide in me or something,” JR said.

“Who is she, little brother?”

“It’s not a ‘she’ hyung,” JR said.

Jason looked startled for a second. “Aren’t you straight though?”

“He’s special.”

Jason nodded and asked, “Is it one of your members?”

JR nodded his head slightly, watching Jason’s face carefully, waiting for Jason’s to finally realize.

 “Ren?”

“No.”

“Minhyun?”

“No.”

“Baekho?”

“No!” JR said, beginning to feel impatient.

“Aron?”

“No,” JR said again, hoping that Jason would finally get it.

“I see,” Jason said blankly, “me.”

JR nodded and then said, “and I know those feelings aren’t returned, and I’m okay with that.”

There was nothing in Jason’s expression that told JR anything about what was going on in Jason’s head. It was quite a poker face, void of anything to suggest an emotion or any substantial reaction to this confession.

“Let’s play Call of Duty,” Jason finally said after a prolonged an awkward silence.

And that was exactly what had happened. Jason avoided reacting to the confession. He very obviously wanted to do anything to avoid talking about it. When the game stopped working, he put in another one almost immediately.

It’s not that JR expected him to react positively, but he did expect him to react. JR felt as if Jason was dismissing his feelings as insignificant, as something that can be ignored and forgotten after a few games. It hurt him more than if Jason were to blatantly say that he didn’t feel the same way. It bothered him so much as he played. He couldn’t play like he usually did. He lost all games to Jason and very quickly, and pretty soon, they were both very bored, and both uncomfortable with the sudden despondent atmosphere that lingered about them.

They had schedule soon after, and JR was glad. Finally, he got to spend time away from Jason. He hated what this confession had amounted to: him wanting to be away from the person he liked. It was supposed to the other way around. JR usually looked forward to being around Jason every day. Now, he didn’t. Now, he was glad that it was Ren that often shared a room with Jason and not him.

As soon as JR spotted his other members in the venue, he walked towards them quickly, leaving Jason to lag behind.

“How was your night, JR?” Minhyun asked JR with a bright smile.

“Good,” JR lied.

Much to his dismay, Jason immediately greeted Ren. He hugged the maknae, and Ren hugged Jason back with full force. Jason asked him about his night, suggestively winking at him making Ren blush and scold Jason jokingly. Jason only laughed. Ren laughed too. Pretty soon Baekho, Minhyun and Aron also laughed. JR was the only one that was not laughing.

Jason seemed to notice that and then abruptly stopped and glanced at JR apologetically, as if he was sorry for being that way with Ren.

JR took a deep breath and just walked away from the laughing group, excusing himself to take a walk. They were at an outdoor park in China, where they were to do an outdoor photo-shoot.

The fittings and makeup weren’t going to start for another half hour, and so JR decided to just keep walking alone. It was a nice venue, was perfect for just taking a walk to release all of the frustrations that had been welling up inside him.

He walked without looking back, striding quickly through the walkways, enjoying the breeze against his face and just being alone, away from Jason and Ren and all the heartache that comes with watching them.

When he relaxed a little, he lowered his pace and tried to catch his breath. The walk did him well. It put him at ease temporarily, when he got over how much it hurt to see Jason completely disregard his feels and act that way with Ren.

That relaxation only lasted for so long though, only as long as it took for him to see his old manager peering at him from the distance.

-

Holidays are over for me today; excuse me while I go cry. And depending on lots of things to do with university, it might (emphasis on might) take longer to update than usual. Sorry for the cliffhanger!

Also, the story is almost done! :)