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| January 8th, Friday, 2021 |

"Anyone else going home already?"

Hyunjin asked the other seven, splattered around the dance practice room.

It was 7 p.m and the group was done with the group practice, so now it was "free" time. Seungmin and I.N were heading to their extra vocal lessons and Changbin was going to the gym but the others had no fixed schedules.

"I think I'll go with you."

Felix said before gathering his things.

"I'm going to the studio."

"Me too!"

Han followed the eldest.

Or at least tried to.

"No, no. You're staying here with me."

Minho pulled him by the arm, making the boy pout with puppy eyes.

"Why?? I did well!"

"Yeah, but it could be better."

The others laughed quietly, feeling sorry for their fellow member.

"Good luck, Han!"

"You can do it!"

One by one, they left the room.

"Let's have a five minute break first."

Minho commented before getting his phone and sitting on the couch.

|It's only me and Hannie now, you can come

|3C

Okie|

I'll wrap things up and go|

|Hm

|you're really sure about this, right?

Yep|

  Annie pressed "save" on the track she was working on and turned the computer off. In a minute, she finished the rest of her watermelon ade and threw it in the trash bin. After making sure she had gotten everything, Annie headed to room 3C, which was located on the floor above the one she was staying at.

You can do this, Haerim.

You're just telling your best friend that you got yourself a boyfriend! Nothing else!

The girl reassured herself again and again.

*Beep* – the watch on her wrist vibrated. Her heart rate was over 100.

She took two deep breaths before knocking on the door.

"Come in!"

"You called someone el- Haerim?"

Annie gave him the most awkward smile ever before closing the door behind her.

"Hey!"

"Hey?"

The youngest looked back and forth between his friends, waiting for one of them to explain what was going on.

"So..."

She took big and slow steps.

"Do we have another collaboration stage that I don't recall?"

"That's a really good guess, but no."

Minho laughed, then sat down on the floor, signing the others to do the same.

The couple exchanged glances, having an entire conversation through their eyes only.

"Alright, I'll say it!"

Han stared at her with eager eyes.

"You know me and Minho have always hated each other, right?"

He frowned but ended up nodding anyway.

"...Yeah, so...we- we don't hate each other anymore."

Minho facepalmed.

"O..kay?"

"Oh, God. We're dating."

As always, Annie felt more comfortable saying these kinds of things in English.

"Ah."

Han pursed his lips and looked around the room before looking down at his fingers, which he was fidgeting with since their conversation had begun.

Meanwhile, Annie and Minho had another talk with their eyes only, wondering if they should say anything else or just wait for the boy to process it.

It didn't take long for Han to raise his head up again with a smile and glowy eyes.

"Thank you for telling me...I actually kinda knew already."

"What!?"

The couple exclaimed at the same time.

"Wh- How?"

"Did Chan tell you?"

"Chan knows?"

Annie smiled apologetically.

"We thought he should know as the leader and oldest..."

Han nodded, understanding.

"How did you know, though?"

"I've been your friend for 5 years now, Ham, and Lee Know's for 4. I know you guys. I noticed you stopped cursing him out, you didn't fight every time you saw each other and you did, it seemed staged...at least for me, since the others seemed clueless."

Annie sighed.

"But you guessed we were dating just because we stopped fighting?"

This time, Minho was the one to question it.

Han shook his head.

"At first, I thought you two had become friends and didn't want the others to know because you were embarrassed."

Well, that's pretty much correct.

"...but I saw Haerim trying not to smile when you were on screen once...she only does that with Changbin."

So he knew.

"I also saw you two together with a random kid at the station once...who was that, by the way?"

He tilted his head in curiosity while the others tried to recall the child's name.

"Ro-ha! She got lost while waiting for her dad that worked there. She was really cute."

Minho smiled upon remembering that day with the little girl.

"Ah...well, anyway. Everything was confirmed when I smelled your perfume on his bed yesterday."

Han laughed lightly, so light it didn't reach his eyes.

"Oh. We-"

Annie stopped the sentence herself. She was about to tell him that they didn't do anything...but they did.

Nothing nasty, but they still did.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, Ham! I'm happy you told me. I'm also glad my two best friends are finally getting along."

He pulled the two closer, placing both arms around their shoulders.

"You two better never break up, understand? I'm not choosing between you!"

They chuckled softly.

"We'll see about that."

"Hey!"

Annie attempted to kick her boyfriend, but her moves were limited.

Han retracted his arms, his smile immediately disappearing as he gazed at the eldest.

"...but Minho, if you dare make her cry, I'm kicking your ass, I'm serious."

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