Taekwoon arrived home feeling totally exhausted. Not only he was tired physically, but he was drained why thinking about all sorts of things during his ride back to the dorm. The room was empty and dark when he walked in and he guessed that none of his bandmates were home from their schedules yet. He left the lights out and dragged himself to the sofa and let his body fall onto the pile of cushions.

He leaned back and rested the back of his hand on his forehead, closing his eyes in deep thought.

“What the hell is happening to me?” he asked himself in a hushed tone.

“What’s wrong?” Hakyeon poked his head out from their shared bedroom, surprising the tired man on the sofa who had no idea that the leader was in the house at all. Taekwoon sat up as he sensed his friend walking towards him, shuffling slightly so there was space for the said man. Once Hakyeon was seated, he turned to Taekwoon with a worried look on his face. “What’s wrong?” he asked again.

Taekwoon sighed. Seeing that there was no one else besides them in the house, he decided to confide in the only person in the team who he trusted enough to spill his problems to. With another sigh, Taekwoon began talking.

“I feel like I need to protect her all the time.” Taekwoon started. Even though he didn’t mention who, Hakyeon knew what exactly his friend was talking about. “Like that time when she burnt her hand, and the other time when she almost feel down the stairs. I don’t know why I want to keep her safe but it just happens…”

Hakyeon nodded and let his friend continue without interruption.

“The thing is, I don’t want to burden her.” Taekwoon said truthfully. “I don’t know what’s happening to me and I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable because of my actions, since she only sees me as her onscreen husband and nothing more.”

Hakyeon’s loud gasp startled Taekwoon as the former looked at the latter with wide eyes.

“How is there nothing more between the two of you?” Hakyeon’s eyes stayed wide. “You can't say that! Everyone can see the chemistry between you guys!”

Taekwoon shook his head as he closed his eyes. “No, she doesn’t see me like that.”

“But do you see her in that way?” Hakyeon asked back, temporarily forgetting the previous comment.

“I…” Taekwoon started. “I don’t know.” What he really wanted to say was that he didn’t know whether those feelings were genuine, or were the outcomes of being on the show.

The older male looked at the confused man with a gentle gaze. It wasn’t this often that Jung Taekwoon would be this confused. He would always be the first one out of the whole group to know exactly what he was doing and yet, the man in front of him right now only reminded him of a young boy who has relationship troubles.

“I think you do.” Hakyeon said, causing Taekwoon to snap his head to face the other male. “And I mean the both of you. She sees you as someone more than just an onscreen partner, and you, my friend, see her as someone more as well.”

Taekwoon blinked at those words. In his opinion, that was a lot to take in. Not only did his friend reveal his own feelings, but the girl’s feelings as well. Hakyeon looked as if he had more to say and therefore Taekwoon kept quiet.

“You see, if you’re this confused already, think about Jimin, she must be feeling the same, right?” Hakyeon smiled. “What you’re feeling is mutual attraction, and that means it works both ways.”

“I doubt it.” Taekwoon shook his head. “She doesn’t feel like that towards me. She’s around so many males on a daily basis and the chances of her choosing me are so low. There’s no point in trying to think about this.”

Honestly, he had no idea what kind of stupid things he was saying to his friends. On one side, he wanted to know what Jimin felt for him, but on the other, he was so sure that she didn’t feel that way so there was no point in trying to confirm anything because it would only bring him disappointment.

Hakyeon suddenly whacked the back of Taekwoon’s head, making the latter yelp in pain.

“Why the hell are you so negative?” he asked. “Where’s the usual confident Taekwoon?”

Taekwoon bit his lips in conflict and it made Hakyeon feel sorry for the man. Hakyeon knew there was something going on between the onscreen couple, no, more like everyone knew there was some kind of attraction between them. Comparing them to other couples on the show could highlight the differences in their behaviours. Taekwoon and Jimin were a lot more natural than the others, and their interactions were so smooth that if one didn’t know better, they would have no problem believing that they were a real couple. However, as much as Hakyeon wanted to tell Taekwoon this, he felt that it would only have the best effect if the troubled man saw it for himself.

“Look, why don’t you and Jimin meet outside the show and talk it out?” Hakyeon suggested desperately. “Maybe you can use the show’s name to call her out? Like, saying how you guys need to discuss something for the show!”

“It’s not right to use the show as an excuse.” Taekwoon said. “And there’s no point because these feelings are one-sided.”

“Why are you so sure? Have you asked her?” Hakyeon questioned. “You can't speak for her like this.”

Taekwoon sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to know, the idea of facing rejection and disappointment wasn’t too appealing to him. Furthermore, he didn’t want to ruin the relationship he had with her now. The last thing he wanted was to make things awkward for the two of them for their remaining time in the show together.

“Hey, I’m only saying this because you're my best friend, but seriously, if you don’t step your game up, she’ll be taken away in front of your eyes in a blink of an eye.” warned Hakyeon. “Do you have any idea how many idols are after her? No, scratch that. I mean, do you know how many people are after her? Not only idols love her, staffs, producers, back up dancers, even the security guards love her! You have no idea when one of those people are going to take her away just like that!”

“No… she’s just nice to everyone… I guess that makes it easier for the others to like her…” Taekwoon’s voice started to fade out as he lost the point he was going to say.

“Jung Taekwoon! Are you hearing yourself speak?” Hakyeon was now pissed with his friend behaving cowardly. “You're only making excuses because you don’t want to be disappointed. And let me tell you one more thing, you're also worried about bringing her reputation down, right? Stop letting these things get in your way and face reality, for goodness sake!”

Hakyeon stood up in fury and stormed off into his room, closing the door with a loud bag behind him, leaving Taekwoon alone in the dark living room to have those words repeat in his mind for the next couple of hours.