Because I am excited to post this immediately, there might be small changes afterwards xD. Finally, a break to Ricdy Papa-Son relationship and some Jindy action! xD I apologise for the focus of my first 3 chapters. I am too obsessed with Ricdy (They are my 2nd pairing. In the family way. First being the birds!!!)

Andy walked into his new room, the room he would soon be sharing with Choong Jae (and Minwoo). His eyes skimmed around. The thin layer of dust on the furniture glistened under the sunlight streaming through the window. The movers did a slipshod job; the pieces of furniture were messily scattered around.  Andy put his undersized luggage in a corner. He found a piece of rag and used it to wipe the dust off before unpacking his things. The next step was to arrange the pieces of furniture.

The cabinet landed onto the floor with a thud when Andy saw someone was behind it. It was Choong Jae. Had he been sitting there all along?  Andy saw the shadow underneath his eyes. He wondered if Choong Jae slept at all. It must had been hard for him, more so than other members.

Reflexively, Andy took a step back, wanting to exit the room. Choong Jae quickly stood up and grabbed his wrist. Andy became flustered.

“Choong Jae-ssi, let go of me!” Andy said; sounding irritated to mask his true state of mind. But it upset Choong Jae and things spiraled out of control.

“Choong Jae-ssi?” Choong Jae sneered. “At least you finally said my name.” He took a step forward and in a swift motion, pulled Andy towards him. Andy was petrified with fear and several other emotions he could not admit nor understand. His heartbeat accelerated as the space between his face and Choong Jae’s compressed.

Andy, react! React! React! React!

The pair of pretty lips advanced nearer. Choong Jae’s whole being was radiating heat.

Andy Lee Sun Ho, if your lips meet his, every chance of keeping the friendship will be lost. There would be no way to backpedal and there would be no more Shinhwa, no more Choong Jae in your life!

Andy snapped out of his daze and pushed his soul mate away. Choong Jae fell onto the floor. Andy saw his eyes widened with shocked before he shut them tight. His brows deep in furrow.

The image of Choong Jae’s face inches away remained in his mind. Andy felt his cheeks burning. He was thankful Choong Jae’s eyes were close.

“I’m sorry.” Choong Jae mumbled; eyes still closed. “I’m sorry I got carried away. I only wanted to sort out things between us.”

“Sort what? There is nothing between us to sort.” Andy replied curtly. Offense was the only defense he could conjure at this point. Choong Jae’s eyes snapped open and he looked at Andy, pleading, almost begging.

“Andy…Please! Please…Can you just give me a chance?”

Andy felt his defense weakening. He knew what Choong Jae wanted. He knew since Choong Jae’s transformation. But he had to keep Choong Jae in his life. He could not let their relationship go out of the friendship zone. He ignored the pain in his heart.  “I believe I already did. For many lifetimes...”

He saw Choong Jae stiffened. He saw fear crept in and hope seeping out. Choong Jae became dejected. He was breaking down. “But we are soul mates…”Choong Jae sniveled.

“Please stop this.” It was no use. Choong Jae was on the verge of bawling.

“Choong Jae, I am straight. I can’t accept a guy.” Andy sighed and said the exact reason for his distress. He needed Choong Jae to understand him. But Choong Jae only gave a bitter laughed which broke Andy’s heart.

“What happened?” Minwoo’s voice sounded and Andy felt a pair of arms held his. He had no idea when his hyungs entered the room. Hyesung went over and helped Choong Jae up.

“Minwoo hyung, Andy was tidying the room. I was fooling around and tripped accidently.” Choong Jae answered, protecting Andy. Andy bit his lips, guilt-ridden again. “You should stop fooling around so much and help Andy with the packing!” Hyesung added quickly, ruffling Choong Jae’s hair. Andy saw Choong Jae smiled and it lifted his heart, just slightly.

He could not stay in the room any longer. He needed to breathe. He needed to get away. “I’ll go and help Eric hyung with his unpacking.” Andy turned and walked to the door. But he had to do more to keep Choong Jae in his life. Andy turned around. “Choong Jae, I’ve seen how your room was before. Make sure you tidy this place up or I will not sleep in here.”

“Roger sir!” Andy heard Choong Jae’s sudden vigour voice. It felt as if a heavy burden had fall off his shoulders. He smiled as he advanced to Eric’s new room.

Everyone bunked into the largest room in the dorm that night (Andy’s, Choong Jae’s and Minwoo’s room), with it being the first day in their new dorm.

******

Andy stirred. There was something unfamiliar about the way Eric was hugging him. It was…perfect. He felt completely contented and relaxed in the embrace. He felt he belonged (which was totally wrong, Andy thought). He wanted to remove Eric’s hand and all of a sudden realised why it felt that way. Andy tensed up as his senses became hyper alert. He sniffed in Choong Jae’s smell against his will and he felt the parts of his skin, which were in contact with Choong Jae’s, burning.

Andy heard Choong Jae grunted and immediately let his lids closed again, pretending to be asleep. Choong Jae’s hand shifted slightly before snuggling further against him, his breath tickling the back of Andy’s neck. Andy’s heart threatened to burst out of his chest. He did not think he could keep up with the sleeping act much longer. Andy bit his lips and starting praying. To his gratification, the older boy pulled away and Andy sensed him going into a sitting position. But his gratitude was short life. He realised Choong Jae was leaning towards him. Choong Jae paused when their faces were inches apart. Andy knew it was very possible that a kiss might land on either his cheek or lips.

The kiss did not come. Instead, Andy felt Choong Jae’s warm breath near his ear.

“You thought Junjin means to move forward without you, but the real significance of the name is to never give up on you.”

The warmth spread all the way to his heart…

Andy let out the breath he never realised he was holding when Choong Jae finally got up. He continued feigning sleep until Hyesung awoken and he thought it was safe enough to be convincing he knew nothing about Choong Jae sleeping beside him.

“Did you have a good night sleep Andy?” Minwoo asked the first thing Andy stepped into the kitchen. Andy could sense the mischief in his voice but he was not going to let Minwoo had his satisfaction. He nodded indifferently and walked towards Eric. Eric gave him an odd look and Andy lowered his gaze.

Andy took a slice of bread and realised that the butter was right in front of Choong Jae.

“Junjin, can you pass me the butter please?”

Andy felt all pairs of eyes landed on him albeit it did not last long. His hyungs recovered quickly and acted as if nothing unusual had happened. They were not the only ones that were shock. Andy had surprised himself that he actually spoke to Choong Jae in a proper manner. And…he called him Junjin. A name that used to hurt him, but now had a brand new meaning to it.

Choong Jae was the only one that had not recovered from the shock. Andy felt sorry. Choong Jae must be confused by Andy’s irresolute behaviour. He saw Dongwan nudged Choong Jae and the boy clumsily passed him the butter.

Andy vowed he will as much as possible, try to disregard the fact that Choong Jae was his soul mate and treat him as a normal friend. At least to the extent of how he treated the rest of the members.

Now if you re-read chapter 8, you will realise the change in name Andy used to address Junjin xD Because of what Choong Jae said and the significance of the name "Junjin" to Andy.  I wonder if this is a spoiler for the next Andy's POV. But if you are observant enough you would have known =P

P.S: I edited the foreword for Andy's POV.