"Ottoke? Unnie, na ottoke? (What do I do? Unnie, what do I do?)" You sit down at the table, dazed, all your enthusiasm gone. "You have to tell sajangnim. As to whether he'll agree or not, I don't know." Younghyun draws her lips into a thin line. "Unnie, Seunghoon oppa has just debuted..." Yeonah adds on. "What if he doesn't allow Seunghoon and I to date?" You're so worried you start to feel sick. "I don't know. He used to put a dating ban on 2NE1. But he also doesn't really interfere in idols' personal lives." Younghyun analyses. "But, if. If sajangnim doesn't approve of your relationship, what will you two do?" "I will still love him." You hastily reply. It's true. Sajangnim can't control your feelings, anyway. "What will Seunghoon do?" Younghyun asks. You freeze, not knowing what to say. You know Seunghoon has nothing but respect towards sajangnim. You also know how hard he worked to get into YG Entertainment. "I..." was all you could utter before Yeonah swoops you into her arms. "Don't even think about being a noble idiot. You've always said the noble idiots in dramas were stupid. Don't even think about that." "I won't." Indeed, you won't. Then, what will you do? You decide to ask Seunghoon first.

"Hoon-ah," you give him a back hug once you see him at the company. You bury your head into the crook of his neck, wishing you can just ignore the whole existence of sajangnim. "Did you sleep well?" Somehow he doesn't sound very happy too. You let go of him so that he can face you. "I did. But Hoon-ah," you start. "What do we tell sajangnim?" You words were quiet, but has a powerful impact. "You want to tell him?" He asks. "I think he should know." You say. "As much as I don't want to tell him, he should know. We owe who we are today, to him." "Okay then. I'll follow your decision. Let's go find sajangnim in the afternoon. I'll call you." "Can't we go later? Maybe at night?" You ask. "I'm afraid." You admit. "I'm useless, aren't I?" "No you're not. I'm afraid too. But no matter what happens, I will love you." He gently clasps your face in his hands and plants a kiss on your forehead. "So don't worry." "Eung," you reply.

You can't even practice properly with all the thoughts weighing on your mind. As much as you try to focus on the dance, you lose your concentration halfway. "I'm sorry." You sit down on the floor, burying your face into your hands. Younghyun hands you a bottle of water. "Gyeowool-ah," she speaks in her motherly voice. "You should get this over and done with. Go and ask sajangnim as soon as possible. If this affects your performance, all the more sajangnim won't allow you two to date." She has a point. "Unnie, should I go now?" You ask. "You should. Go find Seunghoon now, I'll go with you." Younghyun replies. "Thank you." You're moved by Younghyun's kind gesture.

While you can't concentrate on dancing, Seunghoon is different. He doesn't say anything throughout the whole dance practice. All he does is dance and dance, with an extra surge of energy, fuelled by anxiety and all sorts of mixed feelings. Mino doesn't even know if he should speak. Seunghoon looks as if he'll swallow anyone whole right now. Anyone except you, of course. "Hyung..." Mino finally speaks up. "I don't know if this is what you want to hear, but you should settle this quickly. Don't let this affect your performance." "I'm not." He protests. "You are. 'High High' is supposed to be fun, but you seem as if you're going to eat someone up if they do so much as to whisper..." Mino trails off. "Mino-yah, I don't know what I feel. I'm anxious, angry, sad, I don't know." Seunghoon sits down. Mino reaches over and gives him a hug. "Hyung I'll be here for you. You should go find Gyeowool noona now. I'll go with you." "Thanks, Mino."

En route to find each other, you meet each other in the hallway. You fall silent. "Gyeowool noona, Seunghoon hyung wants to find sajangnim now." Mino breaks the ice. "Gyeowool too." Younghyun replies. "Good luck, Seunghoon-ah. Gyeowool, fighting." Younghyun gives you a thumbs-up. "Hyung, noona, fighting!" Mino encourages you. "Thank you." You and Seunghoon say, then you turn to go to sajangnim's office. Unbeknownst to both of you, Mino and Younghyun give each other a fist bump. "They can do it." Younghyun hopes what she says is true. "They will, noona." Mino replies.

Both of you stand outside sajangnim's office, not wanting to press the bell. You're so jittery you feel like you could collapse any moment. You break out in cold sweat. Your hands feel like they don't belong to you anymore. "Gyeowool-ah, calm down." Seunghoon soothes you. His words hit you like a wave of cool water. "It's fine. We'll be fine." He takes your hand in his. You give his hand an assuring squeeze. You then press the bell. You jump when the door opens. It's now. You and Seunghoon enter the office.

"Lee Seunghoon-sshi, Han Gyeowool-sshi. Why are you here to see me, together?" Sajangnim speaks in his usual calm way. "Sajangnim," Seunghoon starts. "I like Gyeowool. I asked her to date me." He speaks directly. "I always knew that. From the time Seunghoon recommended you to work in our company. But I didn't know Han Gyeowool-sshi liked him too." Sajangnim turns towards you. "Sajangnim, I've liked him since a long time ago. We knew each others' feelings only yesterday. You have to know, so we came to tell you. You try to sound confident, but your tremblings hands give you off. Seunghoon grabs your hand, as if asking you to calm down. "Of course I should know. You do know I don't want to interfere in our artistes' personal lives, but Lee Seunghoon-sshi here has debuted for only 2 months." Your heart sinks to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. "I haven't enforced a dating ban on WINNER." Sajangnim says matter-of-factly. "To an artiste, the rookie era is the most important. It determines his whole future in the industry. This concerns not just Lee Seunghoon-sshi, but also the whole of WINNER." You feel Seunghoon's hand jerk as sajangnim delivers his speech. "The public should not hear of news of WINNER dating, for now." You want to sit down and cry your heart out, but your anxiety far overtook your sadness. "Sajangnim, I really like Seunghoon." You don't know else to say. "People say it's the darkest under the lamp*." Sajangnim remarks. What? You think back to his previous sentence.

"Then, sajangnim. We'll date in secret, we're both in the same company. We can be together when we're in the company. Only during our own break times. It won't affect our performances. We'll work even harder than now. If we keep our relationship within the company and don't interact outside of the company, the public won't know. Sajangnim, I'll work hard." You plea. "We'll work hard, sajangnim." Seunghoon pleas. "You're smart enough." A minuscule smile creeps up sajangnim's face. "Can I trust both of you for now, to keep your relationship within the company? You need at least 2 more years before I can confidently let you publicise your relationship." "Yes! Yes!" You shriek. "Kamsahamnida, sajangnim." "Sajangnim, I will do well. I will work even harder than before. Thank you." Seunghoon bows. "I might change my mind if it doesn't work out." Sajangnim calmly replies. "Thank you! We'll go practice now! Kya! Sa to the jang to the nim!" You're too excited. "Sorry," you bow before dragging Seunghoon out, who screams once he's out of the office. It's still audible from inside the office though. "Why did I take in a bunch of weird kids..." Sajangnim murmurs, pondering.

"Hoon-ah! Sajangnim approved! It feels like a dream, kya!" You feel as light as bird, worry-free, flying in the sky. "A few minutes ago you were going to faint." Seunghoon laughs. "I still am! I'm going to faint from happiness!" You shake him by the shoulders. You grab the collar of his shirt and pulls him down to kiss him. He returns your kiss equally passionately before you have to break away because you can't stop laughing.

"Yah! Sajangnim approved!" You run back to the practice room. "Kyaaa you did it!" The dancers came to envelop you in a group hug. "Yah, invite him to our dorm for dinner today!" "Can't, sajangnim said we're to date only in the company." You reply. "Eyyyyy..."

"Mino I did it!" Seunghoon sweeps his dongsaeng into a hug, jumping in circles. "Hyung, congratulations! Now you can practice in peace." Mino returns the hug. "Ask Gyeowool noona for dinner tonight!" "But we can only date in the company..." "Then just eat in the cafeteria!" "Okay!"

훈이: Gyeowool-ah, dinner tonight in the cafeteria?

You: Okay!

"Mwoya, unnie you should change Seunghoon oppa's name in your phone!" Yeonah peeks over your shoulder. "Don't peek! What should I change to, then?" You ask. "Yeobo, with a heart!" "No way! I'll just add a heart now." You add a ♡ to his name, changing it to '훈이♡'. "Unnie I'm so envious! I want a boyfriend too!" Yeonah pouts. "Go find one then!" You shoo her away.

That night, you have dinner with Seunghoon at the cafeteria. Not much change, really. Both of you just focus on eating and don't actually talk much. He still occasionally deposits a piece or two of bulgogi in your bowl, but now you give it back to him. "Eat more," you say. "You're so skinny." "Are you worried for me?" He asks cheekily. "You stick out your tongue at him. "Not telling." "Yeonah told me you write about me in your diary." "What!?" You nearly choke on your food, silently cursing Yeonah. "What did you write about?" "Not telling." "I bet you write about me every night." "I don't!"

*"It is darkest under the lamp" is a Korean proverb saying that people tend to overlook things that are just right in their faces.

I'm sorry for the abrupt ending, because this is not the end yet! There's an EPILOGUE!

Cutie