Chapter 8

A/N: Hi guys~ this chapter will be dedicated to Yuto's thoughts and feelings on what's happening in the story! There won't be any new events just a new perspective

-Thank you!!

____________________________________

Yuto POV:(ch8)

I put some chocolate protein powder in my shake bottle and begin to mix it up. The jingle of keys soon sound outside the door as I slowly peer around the corner to the entrance to scare Taesuk.

Instead of scaring the giant giraffe-man, I'm greeted with a Taesuk, smiling from ear to ear. I take a gulp from my protein shake before wiping my mouth. "You sure look happy," I say flatly. Taesuk jumps a bit then turns to look at me, shyly smiling at the ground.

"Oh yeah-I guess I am" he confesses. I watch him look up from the ground first before looking back down. Something's off...

"Why do you look so guilty then, Taesuk?" I interrogate. Crossing my arms and looking at him up and down. He pulls his ear before speaking,

"Nothing nothing I just found out who I was working with today!" Taesuk says, suddenly removing his hand from his ear and holding his hands behind his back. I watch him some more before speaking. First the ear, now the jumpy reactions? Come on Taesuk you can do better.

"Why would finding out your partner make you happy?" I turn my head, annoyed and take a step closer to him.

"Oh well they seem different, and new!" Taesuk says excitedly, walking into the kitchen. I follow him, watching him for any other signals of nervousness. He seems fine now....

"Uh huh...Taesuk?"

"Hm?" He turns around, sipping a bottle of water.

"Did you apologize to Gina yet?"

"Yeah it went well! She says she won't do anything to mess up our friendship and that she hopes we can get along! Plus she said she's gonna have to get along with me because she's gonna see me because of you and because she—" he stops mid sentence, and puts his bottle in the fridge.

"And because she what Taesuk?" I blurt at him, highly annoyed. Taesuk ignores me, doing meaningless tasks around the kitchen to keep himself from answering me.

"Taesuk," I badger.

"Did you know we're out of eggs?"

"Taesuk-ah 말해줘 (please tell me)."

"Since when did we have chocolate protein powder? I thought you like vanilla—"

"TAESUK!" I explode, throwing my arms out of their crossed position.

"Just tell me and tell me straight," I calm down and pause for a bit, then look directly in his eyes.

"Because. She. What." I say breathily, trying to calm myself down. Why won't he just tell me? I'm sick of this beating around the bush mess, he's supposed to be my best friend and have my back since we moved.

"Gina...I have a shoot with her tomorrow...and she's working with me. I-I- I gave her your number. She'll definitely text you!"

"That's it?" I put my protein shake down and put my hands on my hips.

"Well I mean...she asked for mine," he mumbles quietly looking at the ground. "BUT BUT— she seemed so excited about your number! So she gave me a MINI SIDE HUG BUT THAT WAS IT I SWEAR!" He admits to me.

I let out a breath of air from my nostrils, it's just a side hug....you're good you're coooollll Yuto. She almost KISSED you remember?! I keep telling myself it's not a big deal as I pace around the house.

Taesuk doesn't say anything and follows me around the apartment. Silently watching me from the entrance of each room, and following me out. He's like a sad puppy, I think to myself and feel a sudden smile creep up on me, and then immediately wipe it off my face.

"Taesuk-ah," I say suddenly and stop pacing

"예 형? (*politely* yes hyung?.)"

"I'm not mad..."

"But you're disappointed?" Taesuk questions, careful not to set me off. He really is a sad puppy.

"No Taesuk-ah. You know how I feel about her, I know you don't like her but try to keep away from her?" I reassure him.

Now, deep inside of me I wanted to say:

Taesuk YOU IDIOT!! You never get any other models number because you said you keep work and social life separate. But now you're blending the lines?! You're starting to like her aren't you? Don't get yourself hurt Taesuk-ah... You know she only has eyes for me. Go find yourself another nice girl. I won't lose

myself another nice girl...not again

But instead I decide to suppress the feelings of anger. We're moving a little fast anyway. It's been what a week? Week and a half?

"We cool bro?" Taesuk asks me, holding his hand out for our handshake.

"Of course!" I chuckled, receiving the invitation for a handshake. I watch Taesuk make his way into his room and I make my way to mine. I check my phone.

| Unknown Number |

*30 minutes ago*

>Hey it's Gina! I got

your number from

your roommate!

> Can you believe

we work at the

same company?

I smile at my phone, if you only knew Gina... if you only knew

Hey! Sorry I <

Didn't reply sooner!

I was practicing.

>It's good!

But practicing

what?

just...some rap stuff<

>Ooo you rap?

umm...yeah I do! <

Just a bit tho

>Wow I'd like to

hear you someday!

okay sure! <

Next time you come

I'll rap for u.

She doesn't respond for a bit, and out of boredom I decide to pester Taesuk— he gets extra jumpy under stress. I slowly creep outside my room and look at the living room and kitchen. No Taesuk here...

I slowly walk to his door, tip toeing and making sure I don't make a single creek. Once I'm at his door. I SWING IT OPEN AND SCREAM. Taesuk screams bloody murder and jumps, knocking over some of the stuff on his shelf. I hear glass shatter and see the shattered picture frame on the floor. Taesuk and I both look at each other then to the frame, and rush to pick up the broken pieces.

It was an old photo of me, Taesuk, and our old friend group. Junghee, Vincent, and another guy named Kain. Along with 3 girls, Mika, Yuna, and...and Sarah.

Sarah was my ex. Not just an ex, I had known her all throughout high school. We dated senior year of high school to sophomore year in college. I idolized her, I wanted to be like her and loved her for who she was. I supported her in everything, I EVEN HELPED HER PAY FOR COLLEGE. Sophomore year in college, she told me she had been pregnant the year before, and didn't want to tell me. Not because she was afraid that I wouldn't want to keep it, because she didn't want to tell me it could've been someone else's. Guess who's? Kain's — or his real name — Korain.

I was so upset and confused. The person who I held to high standards, the only person who I had a special place in my heart for, sent my world crashing in just a few sentences. It all came crashing down on me. It was way too much way too fast. The next thing I knew, I was on a plane to Japan with one suitcase, and my best friend Taesuk.

Noticing my sudden flashback, Taesuk quickly takes the glass from the floor and the picture out of my hand, and places them inside of a drawer. "I know I'm sorry. I still keep in contact with them, Junghee's her manager ya know?" He speaks slowly, backing against the drawer to shut it.

"I know you do. H-how is he?" I caution. As much as I dislike Kain, I can't forget the several years of friendships we had together. "He's doing good! Apparently he's transferring to a new dance school. Since his Grandma's in Japan..." Taesuk sounds excited at first then trails off, realizing the gravity of his words. I don't reply to Taesuk verbally, nod my head, exit his room, and slowly trail back to my room.

I open the door and flop on my bed, starting to think about the past with my old friends... What life would've been if she— no no it was her choice... she had the right.... I pick up my phone to distract myself and see a new message from Gina.

| Gina ☁️ |

>it's okay! I like

you alright?

"SHE HUH?!" I shout, and spring to a sitting up position on my bed. I put my phone down on my bed and run my hands through my hair. "I should just reply how I feel too right? I don't leave this type of stuff on read. Do I walk over to her apartment...No no too forward," I whisper to myself as I stare at my phone, blankly looking at her message. Just keep it short Yuto.

| Gina ☁️|

I-I like you too<

Almost 3 minutes later, she FaceTimes me. I freak out and drop my phone on my bed. "Okay Yuto be normal be normal...you are cooooollll," I convince myself, and answer the phone.

"Gina-ah hiii~"

The conversation starts off well, Gina tells me she called me to tell me that she likes me, and I tease her. Then, she starts to space out. She isn’t 100% there, and it upsets me a little at first. But what really got me was when I called her name multiple times...and she didn't answer me. If she called me shouldn't she at least pay attention to me? I yell for her attention to pull her out of her daze, and think about what made her space out in the first place.

"You wanna come over tomorrow?"

Dang. So it is about Taesuk isn't it... I think to myself. I wrap up the conversation quickly. Hating myself for not making any moves sooner. Why couldn't I just have asked her out sooner? Or made her come eat with me again? This would've never happened if I would've asserted myself.

I head outside of my room, leaving my phone on my bed. I see Taesuk on the couch playing video games. "야 우석이! 나 갈게! (hey Taesuk I'm leaving!)," I yell at him and slip on my shoes at the door. "Okay hyung! Have a good run!" He yells back, pausing his video game to look at me as I leave.

I run when I'm stressed. Too much has happened today, at least for me, and I run to make things slow down, to calm myself, to take time out and focus on the different things that happened — its a workout both mentally and physically.

What if it wasn't Taesuk she was thinking about? What if it was something else? It could've been anything Yuto! Get it together!

I'm constantly saying this to myself on my jog. Telling myself that Taesuk isn't the only thing on her mind. It could've been you... she could've been thinking about how badly she wanted to rush over to your apartment. Kiss you until she absolutely could not wait and— I stop myself.

"No unholy thoughts," I whisper to myself and shake my heads to get the

thoughts out.

As I'm running, I spot the ramen place I took her to on her first day here. I pant and smile as I look up at the store sign, Leeho’s food shack, it reads. I walk in and decide it'd be a good idea to pick up ramen for her, it is her favorite food, I smile at my thoughts.

How do I know this? She eats it almost everyday, come on. I ask them to make it low-fat, since she does have a photoshoot tomorrow. The girl needs to eat but the girl needs to look good as well. As soon as the ramen in done and they hand me the to-go bag, I sprint out the shop and down the street.

~~Time Skip~~

As I'm walking up the stairs near her apartment, I see Taesuk and Gina standing in the door of her apartment. I hide behind the corner and see Taesuk bend down close to her face. Oh he's dead meat. I look for her reaction, and there is none... Sure she steps back a little bit, but besides that she's...neutral. Taesuk and Gina converse, Gina constantly pouting and looking up at him. She's so cute I think and smile. But the smile soon fades as I think about her....smiling at...him.

Taesuk is smiling and laughing. He teases her every chance he gets. I can tell by the way he rocks on his heels that he's nervous, but he quickly turns nervousness into confidence in a blink of an eye. I start to feel a sinking feeling in my heart, and feel the smile that was once there fade to nothing. They look like they're having such a good time, fighting and teasing each other like a real couple. I look down at the ramen in my hand and sigh, feeling defeated.

"Maybe another time..." I sighed and looked back at them one more time.

History sure has a way of repeating itself...