*A few days later - 12:45PM*

Taehyun stretched his arms out as he let out a loud yawn and made his way down the hall to the bathroom. He sported his pajamas of a simple black tank top and gray, baggy sweatpants. After the the barbecue things had gone back to normal, for the most part. Starting up a conversation with Mino was still a bit awkward for the boy, but they still spoke when it came to discussing song compositions and dance practices. He only hoped that maybe someday everything would completely blow over and they could be just as friendly as they used to be with each other.

Today the team had decided to take a short break in the morning/afternoon and resume their practice later in the night. It felt nice to finally be able to sleep in and not have to wake up at the crack of dawn to head to the practice room.

“Good morning Tae.” Seungyoon greeted as he walked past the bathroom entrance. Taehyun waved to the boy as he stuck his toothbrush in his mouth. “Goofh morshngg.”

“The rest of us are already up. We're just chilling in the living room watching the TV if you wanna join us. B.I. and Bobby stopped by as well, they brought pizza.” Taehyun simply nodded.

After washing up Taehyun made his way to the living room, the smell of cheese and pepperoni permeating throughout the dorm. He spotted the rest of the gang lounging on the couch, some sitting on the wooden floor. When his eyes rested on Mino's form he sighed mentally. Ever since the incident Taehyun had made the decision to just suppress his feelings and continue distancing himself. There was no point in continuing his internal battle when he knew the outcome would always be the same.

“It's about time hyung! I thought you'd never wake up from your beauty rest.” B.I. called out.

Taehyun let out a chuckle. “Yeah yeah... you try looking this beautiful with the little amount of sleep I get.” he joked as he placed a hand on his chest in a mock diva-like manner.

“I'd say it's working.” Bobby joked back as he let out a dorky giggle.

“Make some room!” Taehyun rolled his eyes as he brushed past Mino and squeezed himself between the two younger boys. Mino glanced over from where he was seated at the end of the couch. He knew that things were still a little off between the two of them, but that didn't mean that Taehyun had to go and ignore him like that. He had to admit that it made him feel bad.

Taehyun leaned forward as he reached for a slice of pizza. “So what're we watching?”

Seunghoon began, “We're still deciding. Seungyoon, Bobby and I wanted to watch Appa Odiga? But Hanbin(B.I.), Jinwoo and Mino wanted to watch—“ DING DONG. He was abruptly cut off by the sound of the front door ringing. Mino, being at the end of the couch jumped up to answer it.

“Who could that be?” Mino questioned aloud.

He scratched the back of his head as he reached for the door knob. When he opened it he felt his entire body tense up and the sudden urge to slam the door surged through him.

“Hi... is Taehyun around?” Jackson asked, grinning from ear-to-ear.

NO. He's not around! “Uh... yeah, let me go get him. Wait here.” Mino felt his mood darken as he made his way back to the living room. Why the hell is that guy here? At OUR dorm of all places.

“Uh... Taehyun. Jackson is here to see you.” he said in a monotonous voice.

Taehyun's eyebrows shot up. “Eh? What could he possibly be doing here?” he quickly scrambled to his feet and jogged to the front door. The other boys looked at each other with bewildered expressions.

“Jackson! What brings you here?” Taehyun asked, surprised. He looked at the other boy to see him dressed casually in a simple black t-shirt and dark-wash skinny jeans.

“What do you mean what am I doing here? You promised me coffee remember?” he smiled.

“But I thought we agreed it would be sometime next week.”

“I know, but I couldn't wait. That's why I texted you...”

Taehyun tilted his head in confusion. He shoved his hand in his pocket, searching for his phone. When he found it he pulled out and opened his messages. Surely enough, at around 10 that morning Jackson had texted him telling him he was going to come pick him up.

“Sorry man, I didn't have time to check my messages. You see, I barely woke up like 10 minutes ago.” Taehyun apologized.

“It's cool. I can totally wait if you need time to get ready.”

“Uh...yeah sure, you can come inside and wait if you'd like.” Taehyun stepped aside to let the other boy in.

Taehyun lead Jackson into the living room of their dorm. “Nice place...” he commented to no once in particular.

Mino briefly glanced over and took a doubletake. Who allowed this guy to ing step into our home? He thought angrily.

“Hey guys, you remember Jackson from JYP right?” the other boys nodded, confused as to what was going on. “I hope you guys don't mind him waiting here a bit, I forgot we made plans to hang out so I'm just gonna get dressed.” Taehyun quickly left the room to get changed.

Taehyun tore through his closet, having difficulty deciding what to wear. After staring at two possible outfits he laid out on his bed for what seemed like forever he decided on a simple white V-neck t-shirt and a pair of light gray skinny jeans. Calm down Taehyun. This isn't a date or anything. Well... it actually kind of is... He shook his head and pulled a black beanie over it as he didn't really have the time to do any styling. He grabbed his phone and wallet and he headed back out into the living room.

He was greeted by a smiling Jackson. He sure smiles a lot doesn't he? Taehyun mused.

“You ready to go?”

“Yep! Well I'm off guys. Sorry I couldn't stay to watch... whatever show you guys decided on.” Taehyun apologized.

Mino spoke up, “You're really going out? What about practice?” he wasn't sure if he was trying to stall the other boy from leaving or what.

Jackson assured, “Don't worry. I'll make sure to drop him off at the practice room in time.”

Tch. Nobody asked you... punk. Mino couldn't stop his bitter thoughts.

“I'll see you guys at practice then. Bye guys!” Taehyun waved goodbye to the others as he ushered Jackson out the door.

When the door closed with a click Bobby turned to his hyungs. “What was that? Are they dating??”

B.I. elbowed Bobby in the ribs causing the other boy to let out a grunt in pain. “Yah...!” B.I. gestured with his eyes over to the now gloomy Mino. Bobby quickly curled up apologetically. Mino stood up and started walking to the hallway. “I'm just gonna go rest up before practice. Wake me up when you guys leave.”

“Sure...” Seunghoon replied.

When they heard the sound of Mino's bedroom door closing Jinwoo, from his position on the floor, groaned as he laid down and stretched himself out. “Those two...ahhhh!” The rest of them shrugged and proceeded to watch their program.

*At a coffee shop*

Jackson held out a hot cup of coffee as he sat across the small circular table that Taehyun occupied.

“Thanks, man.” Taehyun gratefully accepted the hot beverage.

“So what's the status on your situation with Mino?” Jackson asked. “You guys okay yet?”

“I wish it were that easy.” Taehyun took a sip of his coffee. “I can't bring myself to act how I used to around him. The awkwardness really kills me, you know? Even though I really want it to go back to the way it was. When were just good friends.”

Jackson looked sympathetically at the poor boy in front of him. Taehyun may think he's gotten over his feelings for Mino, but he knew better. He wanted to tell him that he shouldn't give up and to keep trying, but it seemed like Taehyun had enough suffered deep scars from whatever happened that night.

Not wanting to dwell on the subject, Taehyun changed conversation topics.

“So you're a 94er right? Just like me. We're same-age friends then.”

“Uh.. I guess so. I still haven't gotten used to the significance of same-age friends. You know, being from China and all.” Taehyun forgot that the other boy wasn't originally from Korea.

“Nevertheless, you're here in Korea now. Since we're same-age friends I feel like you should tell me a bit more about yourself. All we've ever been talking about is my problems.”

Jackson shrugged. “Well, I guess you could say I was born into a pretty sports-oriented family. My dad's a fencing coach and my mom used to be a gymnast in the Olympics.”

“The Olympics?? Serious?” Taehyun replied.

“Yeah. My dad got me into fencing too. I still practice every now and then. If I weren't training to become an idol I would definitely be training to become the number one fencer in the world.”

Taehyun looked at him, amazed. As a boy who's dream was always to become a singer, he'd never thought about what he'd do if he didn't become an idol.

“That's so cool! You need to show me your fencing some time!”

Jackson chuckled, “Sure.”

The two continued chatting, easily passing hours of time. Before they knew it, the time for Taehyun's practice was drawing near. Taehyun noticed a little pop-up on his phone alerting him of a text message.

It was Jinwoo.

Taehyun-ah... where are you? It's time for practice. Mino is getting impatient...

It was then when he glanced at the time on his phone....

“!! Is that really the time? I was so distracted I forgot about the team practice.” he stood up immediately and started clearing out his trash. The two boys quickly made for the cafe's exit and headed towards the YG training studio.

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A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back a little sooner with a new chapter~ I hope you all are still enjoying the story. I'm still pretty inspired by the NamSong couple and of course all of you who've been waiting for my updates. I'm hoping to continue at this regular pace all the way to the end even with school and work. *slaps cheeks and pumps self up* I can do this!! -UxT