“Hoonmin, you are keeping a secret from me.”

“What?” he asked innocently from his seat next to her. “I’m not.”

“You are,” Serin insisted. “You and Soohyun have been behaving strangely every time I’ve seen you in the last several weeks. What aren’t you telling me?”

“Aren’t we always behaving strangely though?” he asked her matter-of-factly.

“I don’t mean your usual weirdness. You’re being sneaky and evasive when you’re together. You’re not being you. Which means that something is up.”

“Geeze,” he said, shaking his head. “You really don’t want to let this go.”

It was then, as luck would have it, that Jaehyun sent her a photograph. As she opened it and viewed it, she realized instantly what it was likely that he was hiding from her. Hoon peered over her shoulder to view the image on the screen of her phone, and his face froze. “That… wasn’t supposed to be out yet,” he stuttered.

“Well, looks like a back up dancer posted it prematurely,” Serin said. “Seems like your video went well, too.”

He sat in silence waiting for her to push further about the more obvious question the picture presented. Namely the fact that their new member stood in the back row, and he had managed to keep that a secret from her until this point miraculously enough. He chalked it up to the fact that they’d been separated for the last few months. He’d gotten through She’s Mine promotions without letting it out, and that was largely because the new member hadn’t been active with them, busy training intensely with the choreographer on his own. It was the fact that they’d been in Japan for so long, and he’d only been around a few days at a time that he’d managed to keep the secret. But he was now expecting her to question him, so he said nothing, waiting for her to speak up.

She just looked straight ahead as she gathered her thoughts. “You know,” she said then, “I’m sort of glad.”

Hoon gulped, afraid of where this conversation was headed. “Glad about?” he pressed gently.

“You guys really could use a new member. And I’m glad Eli will get a bit of a reprieve, which he very obviously needs.”

Hoon could hear the unspoken “but” at the end of the sentence. She was not happy with him. “Serin, I’m sorry,” he apologized immediately. “I couldn’t tell you.”

“You’re right to apologize,” she replied. “And I do forgive you. But why couldn’t you tell me? I’m a secret, too, remember? Who would I tell? It kind of hurts that you’d keep something like this hidden from me.”

Hoon sighed. “It wasn’t something I did willingly,” he admitted. “I talked it over with Soohyun and the manager. All of the members agreed, as well. We weren’t going to tell anyone. Our families don’t even know. Hoonbi. You. My parents. I couldn’t tell any of you. So I really and truly am sorry if you feel like it’s because I didn’t trust you. I do trust you. I wanted you to know. But I have to follow the rules.”

She mulled his explanation over for a bit. She believed him. She had no reason not to. And it wasn’t like he had many options. If the company told him to not speak of something, he had to not say anything about it. She couldn’t fault him for following directions, even if it did hurt her feelings a bit. Serin fully understood that, for the most part (and also mostly out of necessity), she was in second place to his job. And this was one of those things that she couldn’t let bother her. So very gracefully, she accepted his explanation and apology, and then proceeded to change the topic. “So… what’s he like?”

“Very talented. We all were a part of selecting him. He can sing, dance, and rap very well. He’s funny and gets along with all of us.”

“How old is he? What’s his name?”

Hoon laughed. He should have said that first. “He’s our new maknae. Lee Junyoung. We’re calling him Jun though.”

“That’s cute. It rhymes with your name.”

“Yep,” Hoon agreed. “He’s only 17 though.”

“Oh wow. That is really young. He’s eight years younger than me. I hope you guys have been nice to him. He doesn’t need to be badgered too much over the .”

“We’ve tried to make him feel included. And he does get along pretty well. I know what it feels like to be in his shoes, so I’ve tried extra hard to help him get used to things.”

Serin smiled at him kindly then, putting her hand on top of his. Now that her feelings had shifted from being upset with him, she was touched that he, having been the newest member in the past who didn't know anyone, would try to help Jun. It just showed how considerate and kind he was, and it was for that reason she had fallen in love with him. She was so proud of him for staying true to himself. “That’s a good thing to do. And I do hope Soohyun hasn’t made him feel too uncomfortable.”

“Kevin more than anyone has tried to make sure Soohyun leaves him alone. Soohyun hyung can get a little touchy with us members, and we didn’t want to scare Junie too early on.”

“’A little touchy’ may be an understatement, Hoonmin,” Serin teased.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Hoon agreed, laughing. “But we’ve been trying to make sure Soohyun doesn’t make him uncomfortable this early on. You kind of have to… understand Soohyun. Otherwise, it’s a little creepy.”

“You know I understand,” Serin said. “I’ve seen it in action.”

He smiled, turned his palm over to interlace his fingers with hers. “Speaking of Soohyun, I should probably head back home. Don’t want him giving me too much trouble for being over here.”

“You wouldn’t want that,” Serin jokingly chided. “Maybe he’d you as punishment.”

“I think I’d rather have you me as punishment,” Hoon responded.

Serin just smiled demurely as she said, “Ah, but if I d you, it wouldn’t be punishment. I think you’d like it too much.”

“Maybe you should find out just how much I would or wouldn’t like it,” he insinuated.

She cocked an eyebrow at him, giving him a sideways glance. “I thought you had to go so that Soohyun wouldn’t—“

He cut her off. “I think I can handle anything Soohyun dishes out at me after you’ve had your way with me.”

Serin smirked then, happily accepting his invitation. “Well, Master Yeo. If you insist.” He stood up off the couch and offered her his hand to help her to her feet.

“Please punish me for being with you later than I should.”

Her smile was pleasant, though her eyes filled with mischief, as she told him, “With pleasure.”