Jinwoo took a deep breath as he looked at his reflection on the mirror. His palms were sweaty and his heart was beating fast. It was the one thing he hated most about himself. He gets anxious whenever he meets new people. He doesn't know how to react nor how to act at such situations. He was always awkward, and he knows it very well. 

Before exiting the restroom, Jinwoo once again took a deep breath. He stood up straight and walked with his chest pumped out. There Taehyun was, sitting with his legs crossed while scrolling through his phone. His face showed a displeased expression as he had been waiting for Jinwoo for the past few minutes. 

Upon noticing Jinwoo walk towards him, Taehyun immediately pocketed his phone and smiled lazily. He observed as the deer-eyed man stumble while walking, failing to keep his composure. Taehyun chuckled at the sight. Jinwoo reminded him one of his classmates in his high school days. The ones he and his circle of friends always made fun of---the shy and clumsy ones.

"What took you so long?" he said with his eyebrow raised.

Jinwoo smiled awkwardly. "Uh.. I'm sorry. It's just that.."

Taehyun stared at him, waiting for him to continue his sentence. He folded his arms onto his chest, as he leaned in his head a bit closer to hear the fidgeting man.

"Uh.. I-I was.. nervous.." Jinwoo looked on the ground, rubbing the side of his neck, embarrassed.

Taehyun laughed. He can't believe what he just heard. He knew that the deer-eyed man was nervous, but he didn't expect him to admit it. 

"You're what?" he asked in a mocking manner.

A faint blush tinted Jinwoo's cheeks. He bit his lip as he paused for a moment, having second thoughts on whether he should repeat what he just said to the grinning man. 

"I-I said I was nervous.." he said, looking on the ground.

Taehyun once again burst out laughing. Jinwoo was ridiculously naive and honest about his feelings, that it made Taehyun embarrassed on his behalf. 

"What the hell are you nervous for? You're just gonna show me around, right?"

Jinwoo's cheeks turned bright red. He couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself, given Taehyun's attitude towards him. Feeling insulted, he didn't answer Taehyun, and instead, walked ahead of him while gesturing him to follow his lead.

"Hurry up. We don't have all day," he said in a monotonous tone.

Still grinning, Taehyun placed his hands into his pocket and followed Jinwoo. 

"This is the practice room. Our practice room." Jinwoo exclaimed as they passed by a studio room.

Taehyun nodded, following Jinwoo. He could feel his feet sore as they have been to every nook of the building, being the practice room their all but last destination. 

"So, now. Off we go to our dorm, shall we?" Jinwoo stretched the sides of his lips, merely smiling.

"Alright. After you," he said, politely gesturing at him to lead the way.

It was unusually cold, and Taehyun was getting more and more annoyed by the minute. He couldn't do much about it, since Jinwoo insisted on walking rather than riding a car to get to their apartment dorm. His feet was sore from the tour earlier, and now, he can't feel his legs anymore. Wanting to ease off the cold by lighting up a stick of cigarette, he checked on the man in front of him first. There Jinwoo was, walking ahead of him, not even bothering to look back. He then immediately reached out for his pocket and took out a pack of cigarette. He lit up a stick while glancing at Jinwoo, checking if he's still not looking.

"Ah, right. Let's go stop over at a convenience store, first-"

Jinwoo paused upon seeing Taehyun puffing out smoke from his mouth. 

"Hey. You can't do that," he said, reaching out to take away the cigarette.

"And why not? I'm freezing here." he said as he backed away from Jinwoo.

Jinwoo sighed in disbelief. "Unbelievable."

Taehyun chuckled mischievously, finding entertainment in every bit of reaction he makes.

"Ah, whatever. You're the one who's gonna get in trouble. Not me." he said as he turned his back on him, leading the way once again.

"Yeah. Mind your own business." Taehyun chuckled. "Anyway. How far is this apartment dorm-" 

He paused upon catching a glimpse of familiar faces walking towards their direction.

Wondering why he had stopped talking, Jinwoo turned to face him. "..What's wrong?"

There Taehyun was, frozen as ice. He stood still, not uttering a single word. His eyes widened, looking like it had seen a ghost. Jinwoo tried waving his hands in front of him, but it was of no use---the man was in absolute shock. He panicked, sensing something was wrong. He looked at the direction Taehyun was looking at, and there he saw, a couple of guys, laughing and talking as they walked. They looked as if they were good friends for a long time, considering how close they are to each other.

"Uh.. Do-" Jinwoo halted, thinking twice if he should continue. "..Do you know them..?"

Taehyun gulped on his seemingly dry throat. He stuttered, forcing his tongue to move. "..I.. I don't know them.."

Jinwoo arched an eyebrow, unconvinced of his answer. "You don't?"

"..Yeah." He merely nodded, looking like he himself is not convinced by his own answer. 

"I see.. Are you okay? You look a bit.. stiff?"

"Huh? Of course I'm okay. Uh, let's go some other way," he said, avoiding eye contact.

Jinwoo squinted his eyes, unsure of what's going on. "Okay..?"

Without hesitation, Taehyun immediately turned around and began walking fast. His legs were numb and his feet were sore, but he doesn't care anymore. All he cares about now is to get some place else, away from the sight of those familiar faces. Jinwoo, on the other hand, although puzzled, still obediently followed and tried catching up on his walking pace. 

"Can't you at least tell me what's going on? You're walking too fast!"

As expected, Taehyun didn't answer. He continued walking fast, ignoring the man following behind him.

"Aish. You're really unbelievable, you know that?" he complained but still continued to follow him anyway.

But as if luck wasn't on his side, Taehyun heard a familiar voice call out his name. He stopped walking. He stood there, not turning around and responding. He knew the voice so well, that it gave him shivers down his spine. He gulped once more before turning around and finally facing the people he was trying so hard to avoid. 

"Oh. Taehyun! It really is you!" said the man walking towards him.

Taehyun vaguely smiled, trying his best to hide his displeasure. "It is. How have you been, Jinhyung?"

"I'm great! It's been so long, huh? You still remember Hongseok?" he said as he gestured to the other guy beside him.

"Of course. How could I forget," he said, trying his best to keep his forced smile.

"Oh, lookin' good Taehyun! How are you?" said Hongseok, smiling widely.

"You know, still the same."

"I see you have a friend with you. Who's he?" Hongseok said while looking at Jinwoo, smiling.

"Oh, him. He's Jinwoo. My new teammate."

"H-Hello. I'm Kim Jinwoo. Nice meeting the two of you." he said politely as he bowed.

"Oh~ He looks shy." Jinghyung chuckled. "That's cute."

A faint blush tinted Jinwoo's cheeks, causing both of the guys to giggle.

"Sorry. Don't mind us," said Jinhyung, grinning.

Jinwoo just nodded, embarrassed. 

"Oh, right, Taehyun. You said he's your 'teammate', right? What kinda teammate? In a basketball league or something?" asked Hongseok, arching an eyebrow.

Taehyun paused, hesitating to speak. He immediately regretted that he had said that word. Noticing that his friend was struggling to answer, Jinwoo decided to speak on his behalf. 

"Uh, we're both a trainee in YG. We're in the same team."

Hongseok and Jinhyung's eyes widened. Anyone could tell that they were shocked at what they just heard.

"Wait, what? You're a trainee?" Hongseok burst out laughing. "What the? You want to be in a boy band?"

Jinhyung also burst out laughing. "Are you for real? A trainee?"

Taehyun stood there with a deadpan expression on his face. Although angered, he tried his best keeping his cool. He could feel his blood boiling, slowly rising as the minutes passes by. His fists was clenched, ready to beat someone up any moment.

"What happened to you? You want to be one of those K-Pop groups now, huh?" said Jinghyung, still laughing.

Taehyun's vision turned black. He heard a snap inside his head. He couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward, ready to teach them a lesson, but got stopped by a hand pushing him back.

"Would you guys mind? You two are very rude." Jinwoo stepped forward. "What's wrong with being a trainee? What's wrong with wanting to be in a 'boy band'? That's what he wants and you guys have no right to make fun of it. So, off."

The two stood there speechless. Both were shocked at what they just heard. It was very gutty and it took them by surprise, considering it had come from the seemingly-shy-and-timid guy. Taehyun, on the other hand, was shocked as well. He stared at Jinwoo with a baffled expression on his face. He never would've imagined that Jinwoo was capable of saying those words.

"Let's go, Taehyun. These guys are wasting your precious time," Jinwoo said as he grabbed on Taehyun's hand.

Taehyun nodded, not fighting off the fact that he was being dragged away. "Okay..?"

"Don't show yourselves to us anymore, okay? That is, if you still want to keep your pretty faces." Jinwoo said, glaring at the two guys in front of them before leaving.

Taehyun stared at him, his eyes widened. He still couldn't believe at what he just witnessed. He looked at the furious Jinwoo as they walked, dragging him away carelessly. Taehyun chuckled.

"Interesting," he whispered to himself, grinning.

Apologies for the long wait, my lovely Kimnam shippers.

Also, I changed the foreword. You might want to check it out.