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| January 7th, Thursday, 2021 |

"I'm home!"

A loud voice spoke from the door.

"In my room!"

The squirrel-like boy rushed to said location.

"Hi! Look what I brought for you!"

"You didn't have to...I didn't get you anything."

The elder lied.

He had proudly shown his girlfriend earlier the socks he had bought in Jeju to his friend.

"Woah, thank you! My babies will love this!"

Minho stared in awe at the toys for his kittens.

"Oh, God, I'm so tired."

He walked away from the computer desk and straight to his friend's bed.

"Hey, hey! Wash up before you lay in my bed!"

"Come on..."

Han approached the bed slowly with round eyes.

"Whatever, don't complain when I lay on your bed after practice then."

Minho shook his head and went back to looking at the screen.

"Uh?"

Han started sniffing, which made his group mate turn the chair around.

"Don't tell me the room smells, I cleaned it yesterday!"

He joked as the younger one kept sniffing.

"Did you have someone over?"

"No?"

Minho replied with widened eyes.

Does this kid know him so well to recognise his bed had a different smell?

"Really? Maybe she came on her own then?"

"Who?"

He asked, already fearing the answer.

"Hae- Annie, it smells just like her perfume."

Han inhaled deeply, appreciating the scent.

"Ew! Let me wash it asap."

Minho got up, appearing disgusted.

"No, no! Let's exchange sheets, then."

He stopped the elder with his hand.

"What? Why?"

"Because it smells good! And it reminds me of her."

Minho took a step back.

He doesn't...right?

He just cherishes his friend a lot.

The idol felt like his head was spinning after being hit by a hard object. Yes, he had thought Annie and Han were dating before but, since the girl made it clear they were only friends, he stopped thinking about it. Why would he? He trusted her, he knew she liked him.

But he forgot about a little thing called platonic love.

"So? Can I keep it?"

Minho knew it wasn't his fault, he was aware of how strong his feelings were to give up the girl just to be nice.

So, if Han Jisung truly liked Annie, he was about to become a bad friend.

"You're not even paying attention, are you?"

The younger one whined, finally getting his attention.

"Uh? Oh, uhm...just leave it here, I'm too bothered to change or wash it."

"Okie, but you should let me lay here, then!"

Han spoke with a big smile, to which Minho couldn't bring himself to return.

"Hm..."

He took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I have to talk to you about something, why don't you go shower first?"

"What is it about?"

His smile turned into a worried look.

"Nothing big! Go shower, I'll cook us something."

Han only nodded before leaving, still slightly anxious.

As soon as he heard the sound of the shower turning on, Minho grabbed his phone. He asked to meet his girlfriend the next day, in the morning, at the company. It didn't take much for her to understand that it wasn't going to be another fun date, but rather something serious. Especially since her boyfriend made sure to say they need to talk about their relationship.

The boy's head was so full he didn't even notice his friend showing up at the kitchen, hair still a bit wet while a white towel was thrown around his shoulders.

"I thought you'd cook something fancy, but you made ramyeon."

Han laughed.

"I was out of ideas for 9 p.m food."

He smiled and sat down with the two cups.

"This is just perfect. So, what do you want to talk about? Did something happen while I was out?"

Yeah, I kissed your best friend, whom you probably like very much.

"...Not really."

"Uhm..."

Han just nodded, not wanting to push his friend to say whatever was on his mind.

"I was wondering..."

"Yeah?"

"How would you react if one of the members was dating?"

The chopsticks that were heading towards Han's mouth paused midway through.

"You're dating?"

"No! Of course not! Why would I? I mean, I'm just asking what if."

Minho thanked himself for choosing spicy noodles, so it'd be easier to excuse the red cheeks.

"Right, I don't think I've ever seen you being close to a girl– do you like guys? Is this what you wanted to talk about?"

"No, Jisung, no! Why does everyone think I like guys?!"

He raised his tone in frustration.

"I mean..."

Han prevented himself from continuing and just laughed it off.

"Back to the topic!"

"Ah, right. If a member was dating...it depends on the member. For example, if it were Seungmin I wouldn't be surprised, but if it were Chan...I can't even imagine that. Channie? Dating someone? He's not the type."

He shook his head in denial.

Chan is the type of guy to focus entirely on his partner, his first would probably be his last. With that said so, he wouldn't enter a relationship while he's the leader and main producer of the group.

At least that's how the members saw him.

"And you? Do you have anyone you like?"

Minho finally asked, his heart was beating just as fast as when he asked his girlfriend out.

Han stayed silent for a few seconds, taken by surprise once again.

"Are you asking if I like Haerim? Because of what I said? Ay~ we're just friends! Friends, bro."

He replied with the fun swag he used when joking around.

"You know you can tell me, I won't judge you...I have my reasons to hate her, that has nothing to do with you."

Minho made sure to remind him he hated the girl, at least for now.

"I'm being serious! She's just a friend. You don't need to feel guilty."

Han nudged him softly.

"Guilty? Why would I feel guilty?"

He kept a straight face.

"Because you hate the girl I supposedly like, you said it yourself!"

"Ah, yeah."

Han grinned one more time while giving him a side hug.

"Don't worry about me, but I'd appreciate it if you treat her well."

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