Because I’m Your Friend

Dominic's POV

"If a child refuses to sleep during a nap time, are they guilty of resisting a rest?" I joked.

Everyone groaned at how corny that joke was. They always seem to hate it. Especially Yo Chul-hyung. There was one time he actually didn't cook for us back in the dorm just because I cracked a joke. Thankfully, there was always this one girl who would laugh at all of my jokes no matter how cringy it was.

Mina Myoi…

How I love her gummy smile and cute laugh…

We were hanging out at New York's Central Park having barbecue. I was trying to lighten up the mood from what happened today. Apparently, some pervert actually tried to harm Tzuyu. Poor Jiwoo, he's still pretty much down even though he's trying to smile. Tzuyu on the other hand was doing better than we expected. She actually has a strong mentality even though she was practically balling her eyes a few hours ago.

Right now, we were happily chilling by enjoying the night sky while stuffing ourselves with some American cheeseburgers, New York's finest pizza and American Barbecue. Definitely something I'd pick over anything. I missed New York, I missed America, but these guys have made me feel more at home even though I was in South Korea for years now, and I'm grateful for that.

I wouldn't even want to go home because… there's someone in Korea who I want to see every day. I stare at Mina and smiled. Although I really like her, unfortunately, she has eyes for someone else. I then shift my glance to JayB who was talking to Dahyun. They soon broke into laughter which made Mina smile.

As JayB's friend, I have to give her up because it might cause JayB and me to fight, and that's the last thing I want.

"Hey guys!" I tried getting their attention.

They turn to me with expectant faces. They waited for what I was about to say. I then started the joke, "What do you call a person with no body and no nose?"

They just stared at me with blank expressions. I turn to Mina who was becoming more expectant with the answer. She was covering her mouth to stop herself from giggling.

I then smirked and said, "Nobody knows."

Groans echoed throughout the park as our table complained at how awful the joke was. I didn't care. Seeing Mina covering her mouth just to stop herself from laughing hysterically was more than enough. The conversation went on and I cracked a few more of my jokes and Yo Chul-hyung tried to stab me with a fork to try and stop me from doing so. It was really a bright atmosphere.

"I'll go take a walk. I'll be right back." JayB said as he stood up from his seat.

"Alright. Don't wander off too far." Matt-hyung said.

He nodded and proceeded with his walk. He seemed so out of it lately. I wonder if he's doing fine. Minutes later, I noticed that JayB-hyung hasn't returned. I was about to stand up and look for him when Mina stood up. "I'll go find JayB-oppa. He's been gone a while."

Before I could protest, Jihyo gave her a nod. "Alright, just be careful and don't get lost ."

Jihyo must have known about Mina's feelings for JayB that's why she's letting her find him. Before I was able to stop her, she gave a wink at Jihyo before she hurriedly went away. I sighed and thought of how incomparable I am to JayB.

"Don't beat yourself about it. We all know who JayB-ya likes. Mina just needs time to realize that she actually likes you and not JayB-ya." Jeong Do whispered as he stuffed himself with a big piece of meat before turning to Sana to feed her.

I cocked my eyebrow. "What makes you so sure?"

He snapped his head towards me and glared. "World's greatest detective… remember?"

His response made me laugh. I shook my head and became assured that I'll have my chance with Mina someday. I just hope JayB-ya would realize that I like Mina so much. I'm just too embarrassed to tell him.

I stood up and whispered to Jeong Do. "I need to take a piss."

"I'll go to the bathroom too. Is it okay if I come with? I'm too scared to walk alone." Dahyun said.

I shrugged. "Be my guest."

We walked in silence as we tried to look for the bathroom. As soon as we spotted one, I realized how far apart the two stalls were. I guess it's to give the women some privacy to do their thing.

"I'm heading over here. Will that be cool?" She says as she pointed to the women's comfort room stall.

I nodded. "Alright. See you back in the group."

She smiled and nodded before she headed to the direction of the stalls. I chuckled before I started heading to the stall. When I was about to enter, I spotted two familiar people sitting in one of the benches. I squinted my eyes to realize that it was JayB and Mina sitting together.

I approached them quietly as I planned to surprise them. But when I was about to jump at them, Mina turned to JayB and kissed him. I immediately ducked down behind the bush and clutched my chest.

Why does it hurt so much?

Why am I hiding as if I was caught doing something bad?

Why?

Suddenly, tears streamed down on my face which made me realize that I was already crying. Do I really like her that much that it breaks my heart that she's with my best friend?

I slowly crawled away before slowly making my way back to the path towards the group. As I was making my way, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and didn't notice someone running towards me.

With a loud crash she fell on to the floor while I stood there unharmed. It snapped me out of my trance and as I turn to apologize I realize something "Sorry. It's my fault… wait, Mina?"

She was there on the ground but her face was turned against me. "Hey, Mina. Are you okay? I'm so sorry."

I helped her up but I could her crying. I turn to see her face and it broke my heart. Her eyes were really puffy and red from all the crying.

I then pulled her in for a hug. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry."

She shook her head. "It's not your fault."

"Then what is it? Is it… JayB-ya?" The moment I mentioned his name, she jerked a little and pulled off from the hug. She didn't say anything and just stood there.

"Don't tell anybody that you saw me crying." She said before she turned her back on me and stared walking.

I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth. "I saw you and JayB-ya. I saw what happened. Is it because he rejected your feelings?"

She stopped on her tracks and turned to look at me. "Pretend you saw nothing."

"How can I just turn around and 'pretend' to see nothing when the girl I like is in pain just like that?!" I practically yelled my confession. I didn't even realize it until I blurted it out.

She just stood there unfazed by what I said. "I know you like me and I'm thankful for that. Really, I am. But… I like JayB-oppa. I hope you understand."

"I don't understand, Mina-ri. Why do you like someone who just rejected you? What do I need to do to make you look at me? Please tell me." I was basically begging at this point.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, oppa."

That's was all she said before she turned around and walked back to where the group was. It took me a while to get back because I tried to cool my head off and 'pretend' that I was okay.

It didn't work though.

Because after that night… things were never the same again.

_______

I spent the next month trying to ignore and avoid JayB. I know that it wasn't his fault that Mina likes him, and I definitely don't blame him for rejecting her. I mean, everyone in Alpha knows he likes… HER. It's just, after that night, I feel kind of awkward around him pretending not to know what I know and pretending not to see what I've seen.

It was hard…

But I still end up hating him every time we see each other in the dorm, in the company, in the practices… basically everywhere. And it was affecting the team's morale and chemistry. I just hope we'll be in good terms before it ends.

I could hear Seiji-hyung nag in the lobby as he urged everyone to prepare faster because we were running late for our schedule. Apparently, one of our labelmates couldn't make it back to Korea because of a storm in China. They were there for their promotions and because of that, we had to fill up the gap on their behalf.

I kept trying to steal glances at JayB and was trying to figure out how to tell him about what happened last month. We were about to leave, and I was about to approach JayB and tell him the truth.

"Dahyun-i? What are you doing here?" Zee suddenly asked.

I turn to the door and saw Kim Dahyun standing outside the cold with her hands balled and raised which means she was about to knock on our door.

She chuckled wryly. "I was here to see, JayB-oppa. Is he here?"

Great…

Another girl…

My heart started beating faster and I could feel myself getting angry at JayB. Mina's crying face flashed in my mind. What is going on?

I can't be mad at JayB for something he didn't do. He likes someone else, and it wasn't his fault that he rejected Mina and hurt her like that. I have to convince myself this, but my emotions were betraying me.

We all turn to look at each other before the members started making a path to let her see JayB. He gave her a cheeky smile as he waved at her.

"We'll leave you two to talk. Everyone else, let's go to the cars. Don't take too long JayB-ya." Yo Chul-hyung said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets to avoid the cold.

As soon as we left, I gave one last look at the door with my fist clenched. I can't believe he can easily let a woman enter the dorm like that. I glared at the sight of Kim Dahyun entering our dorm.

When I turned around I saw Jeong Do staring at me inches away from my face. "Ah! You startled me!"

"What is wrong with you? Why are you brooding all the time?" He asked.

"Me? Brooding? Why the hell would I?" I lied.

He rolled his eyes. "You've been ignoring JayB-ya for a month now. I could feel you're cold treatment towards him a mile away. Now tell me. What happened?"

I sighed. I could never hide anything from him. Ever since JayB-ya had his own room, we started growing apart a little, while Jeong Do and I became closer. We would fight and argue sometimes but in the end, we would make up and it allowed us to become closer. Besides, you can't hide from the world's best detective/lawyer. I ended up giving him the short story of what happened.

He wasn't actually surprised about it and he told me that I was being childish. He told me that I should tell JayB the truth before things get out of hand and it would end up destroying our friendship. Though the cars were just below the apartment, the walk towards there was slow.

God… how I wish I'd just listen to Jeong Do.

________

In the end, I couldn't control my emotions. During the taping for I Can See Your Voice, we ended up arguing multiple times. I only snapped out of it because Jeong Do and Zee kept on elbowing me. In the end, he was right with his choice. I shouldn't have doubted him. We were finally done with the taping and were heading to our cars to head for the company to meet briefly with JYP PD-nim about a Christmas album that JayB-ya was working on. I plopped down on the car as soon as I entered it.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Jeong Do said as he entered the car and sat next to me.

"I know, I know. I don't know what came over me. The memory from a month ago kept playing inside my head." I replied as I buried my face on the palms of my hand.

He clicked his tongue. "For a doctor, you're bad at keeping your head cool and calm."

I groaned. "I know. I wonder what's wrong with me."

He chuckled. "You're basically in love."

I raised my eyebrow. "I like Mina. But I don't know if it is love."

He laughed. "Believe me. I know how you feel. I was also like that with Sana-ya when she was always around JayB-ya. It annoyed the hell out of me. Then JayB-ya told me to go for it. He also took a step back so I could have my own space with Sana-ya."

"Why didn't JayB-ya do the same for me?" I asked in a whisper.

He smacked my shoulder hard. "That's because you didn't tell him that you like Mina-ri."

"Really? I thought I was being obvious?" I asked.

"Oh please… do you know how dense he is?" Jeong Do returned a question.

I laugh. "You're right. He's probably clueless about all the girls that's chasing after him."

We both tried to suppress our laughs as Zhang entered the car in a groggy state. With that, we headed to the company.

__________

"Why didn't you give any songs to me? Did I do something to offend you? Is it because of the… kiss?" Mina said as she argued with JayB-ya.

A while ago, every idol group in the company was present in the meeting. PD-nim was giving us all our new schedules that we needed to work on. He also gave the lyrics and the demo to the people who were asked to participate in the Christmas album. I was asked to sing a song with some other labelmates. I was pretty much excited.

After the meeting I saw Mina following JayB in one of the hallways leading to our studio. When I was about to turn the corner, I could hear them arguing over something.

"It's not that. I didn't want to burden you since you'll have a lot on your plate. You'll be performing on 6 year-end shows this year, and I didn't want to burden you with any more projects." JayB-ya replied.

Mina was having none of that. "You're just afraid of working together with me, aren't you? You're not comfortable being around me."

JayB pinched the bridge of his nose. "If I WAS uncomfortable to work with you, which I'm not by the way, I would have stopped being Twice's producer. Why are you being so unprofessional about this?"

"Why don't you care about my feelings?" Mina asked.

It made me clench my fist and my vision was starting to become hazy because of my anger.

"Mina! THIS!" He motioned his hands around him. "THIS isn't just about you, okay? Why can't you understand that? I'm not ignoring you. I'm just giving everyone a fair shot. Especially for those who are about to retire. Got it?! Now grow up! Will you?!" He yelled.

Mina began crying and when I saw that, I felt something in me snap and my vision goes dark. The next thing I knew, I was briskly walking towards them.

"Hey." I called to JayB.

He turned to face me and his eyes widened. "Dom? What ar-"

I didn't let him finish his sentence as I punched him as hard as I could making him fall down. It was my chance to teach him a lesson. I didn't give him the chance to recover as I sat on top of him and pinned his arms with my knees. He was still dizzy from the punch earlier and that was my chance.

I started beating him up. I didn't know how many punches I've thrown at him because all I could think about was Mina's teary face. I could hear her telling me to stop, but they sounded muffled because of my anger towards JayB. Every punch I land only made me angrier. It wasn't until I could feel someone pulling me off him.

"No! Get off of me!" I was trying my best to get away from the person who was stopping me.

He then tripped me over and pinned me to the ground. "If you won't stand down, I'll break your arm so bad that even you can't fix it."

I turn to see that it was Matt-hyung who was pinning me. He had that angry look in his eyes, and I knew that if I don't listen to him, I'd get more than just a scolding after this one. I stopped resisting and that's when he slowly lifted me up.

When I looked around, some people were here. Twice and Alpha were gathered around us. The rest of the members were stopping some people from getting through and seeing what happened. Twice were covering their mouths in shock.

Then when I turned my gaze back to JayB, I felt a pain in my chest. My best friend was on the ground and his face was swollen and bleeding. What hurt more was Mina was tending to him together with Dahyun who was trying to calm her down from crying.

"I… deserve… that…" I heard him utter.

"JayB-oppa. Don't say more. Please." Mina said as she was crying.

I slowly walked towards him and knelt on his side. Mina pushed me away making me fall down. "Get away from him! I hate you!"

"Stop it!" JayB yelled at her.

I didn't bother fighting anymore. My relationship with Mina… was over the moment I threw that punch.

JayB then turned to Dahyun. "Dahyun-i… please take Mina away. Dominic's going to treat me now."

"But… he…" Mina tried to say something.

"Let's go Mina-ya." Dahyun whispered as she helped her up.

I opened my backpack and got my kit. I then started tending to his wounds.

"Why didn't you tell me that you like her?" JayB asked.

"What good will it do? She only has eyes for you." I replied.

JayB chuckled. "Because I'm your friend, Domi-ya."

Mina probably heard that one as she slowly turned to look at me.

JayB-winced in pain. "Ow… laughing was a bad idea."

"No kidding. It's going to bruise but it'll heal overnight because of the medicine I gave you. Other than that, you won't have any problems. I've also injected you with Seiji-hyung's serum to hasten the healing process. It won't leave a scar so don't worry. I've also patched you up so you're good to go." I said as I slowly helped him sit up.

"You know… I'm your best friend, right?" He asked with hint of melancholy in his voice.

I bit my lip as I slowly nod. He slowly tilted my head to his shoulder and said, "It must have been hard on you… to see her like that a month ago. It must have been hard on you when you saw her kiss me."

The rest of the members of Twice gasped when they heard that. Alpha was also starting to get emotional as they watched us. Mina's face softened when she heard that.

"You've been watching over her all this time Domi-ya. I know what you did for her behind her back." JayB said.

Mina walked over and asked, "What do you mean JayB?"

JayB slowly let go of me and left me there kneeling as he slowly stood up and turned to look at Mina. "You know what? You've been busy running after someone else when there's a man who loved you secretly because he was too afraid to tell me."

"I don't understand." Mina said.

I slowly stood up and started walking away. Even if I did help JayB, I was still too embarrassed to face him for now. The rest of the members didn't stop me. They knew that I needed to calm down and cool my head.

But I could hear JayB explain to Mina what really happened. "Mina-ri, remember those times when I gave you water, a drink, or medicine because you were not feeling well?"

"Yes, I thought that it was sweet of you." She replied.

"Dominic Cane was actually the one who asked me to give it to you. He told me to tell you that it came from me. He gave you medicine because he knew you were not feeling well." JayB explained.

Mina's eyes widened in shock. She covered her mouth. JayB continued explaining to her. "That's not the only thing he did. He'd cover you a blanket when you'd fall asleep inside the recording studio. He would place a pillow under your head when you would sleep in the practice studio. He secretly gave you snacks and chocolates when you were hungry."

"All these time… I thought they were from you." Mina said.

JayB shook his head. "The person who loves you the most did ALL those things for you. And that person... just left for the parking lot."

I saw Mina running in the parking lot, but I didn't bother stopping because I was too ashamed to face her and talk to her now. She said that she hates me, so no matter how much she called for me, I drove off to the streets of Seoul and never looked back.

I guess… love isn't for everyone.

_______