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Hana POV:

I went out, took out some cups, placed them outside on the coffee table, well at least now, the makeshift shots table. I took the bag of beer that Minho bought earlier and bag of soju we brought together, placing them out near the table. Just then Minho came out, same clothes but his hair fixed. When i was done getting everything ready, i looked at the cats that were all relaxed on the cat tree.

Oh shit. I forgot.

Seungmin's allergic to cats, and well we have 3 of them. Not good.

"Umm... Minho? We might have a problem."

"Less snacks?"

"No no, you got enough, thank you very much. Its the cats."

"MY CATS??" he exclaimed, concern written all over his face.

"What problem do you have with them, you seemed to love them just an hour ago?!" He said, walking over to the cat tree

"I do love them, I'm not sure Seungmin will. He's allergic to cats."

"Stop exaggerating. He'll live."

"No, no. I mean it. He's medically allergic to cats"

"Oh shit. My bad, i thought you were exaggerating because he didn't prefer cats."

"I'll keep them in my room for the night, that shouldn't be an issue."

"Thanks, you're the best." I said, with a small smile on my face.

Minho POV:

"Thanks, you're the best." She said, with a small smile on her face.

That smile... it felt so...

Endearing.

But it looked so forced? So empty?

Maybe I'm thinking too much into it. Maybe that's how she normally smiles.

I realized i was staring for too long, i shook my head and flashed back a smile, picking up Soonie in one and Dori in my other arm, walking with them to my room.

"Are you sure they'll be okay?"

"What? Oh, the cats? Yeah, yeah they'll be okay. They'll probably fall asleep in the room because its so quiet"
I said, entering the living room, and picking up the last one, Doongie, who was already asleep on the lowest cat bed and dragged two of the smaller cat beds to my room.

"Right, right."

Just then, the bell rang.

"Oh that must be them" She said, walking quickly to the door.

"Hana! Oh god i missed you."
 I heard as soon as the door opened. 

"Oh i missed you too Jeongin"

Hana said, engulfing him in a hug

"Hey, hey I'm here too you know?"
The other boy, Seungmin said.

"I missed you too, Dad"
She said, laughing and wrapping her arms around him.

They walked inside, Seungmin, Jeongin and Hana. They carried a few bags, looked like food.

"Oh! Minho! You're here too?"
Jeongin said, realizing that i was standing in the same room too.

"Yeah, well he lives here, doesn't he?"
Seungmin said to him

"Oh right, that completely left my head. I forgot to tell you both"

"Hi? Hana asked me to join you guys for a drink, so here i am. Also yes, what he said."
I said to Jeongin, pointing at Seungmin.

"Hi Minho, properly this time."
Seungmin said, motioning a shake hand.

As i went to shake his hand, he withdrew his hand with a smug look on his face

"Seungmin, Not cool!"
Hana scolded him

"What? If he's going to one of us now, he better get used to it"
Seungmin retorted.

"I'm so sorry for that, Seungmin's a menace. If you couldn't already say that."

"Oh no, no I'm used to this. He reminds me of my close friends."
I said to her, stopping her from apologizing.

Jeongin stifled a laugh, and both me and Hana looked at him, confused.

"What the fuck is so funny?"

"You called Seungmin a menace and now he's pissed, look at his face"

We both look at Seungmin, for sure, yeah he looked pissed.

"You cant just sit there whining cause i called you a menace?"

"Watch me do just that."
He replied

"Then I'm assuming all this food, snacks and drinks can be devoured by the three of us and you're sure you won't be mad at that?"
Hana asked, probably rhetorically and in a teasing manner

"NO? I got that food, So I'm obviously eating?"

"Only if you stop being a brat"

"You're annoying and I'm not a brat"

"Uh-huh, and I'm the best singer in the world"

"You sing?"
I asked in an agreeing tone, partly because i wanted to tease Seungmin that Hana was right about him being a brat and also because i wanted to know if she sang as a hobby.

Jeongin laughed again, this time uncontrollably, with Hana and Seungmin joining him.

"Uhhh.... why you guys laughing? I was being serious!"
I asked, laughing along with them. I expected Seungmin to give a better reaction.

"I'm not even mad about the brat part anymore, just laughing cause you think she can sing-"

He said gasping for air, as if it was the funniest thing.

"She's terrible at singing, she tried to give us a demo of a song for a school-"
Jeongin said, well at least tried to because was cut off, with a hand over his mouth

"Shut up before you get kicked in the hamstrings"

"Eww, not your hands over my mouth"
Jeongin cried, swatting away her hand from his mouth.

"No, Eww you, you licked my hand!"
Hana exclaimed, aggressively wiping her hands over Jeongin

"Then you watch where you put your hand!"

"Aww man, I wanted to know"
I said teasing her.

Eventually, we stopped quarreling amongst ourselves, and i must say, they were effortlessly hilarious.

"You guys remind me so much of my other friends, we should all meet sometime, you'll fit it just fine."

"Should we?"
Seungmin asked, eyeing Jeongin.

"Definitely, i love meeting new people"
Jeongin said, his eyes lighting up as if he heard the best idea in the whole world.

"If Jeongin says yes, then yes"

It was cute how they all made up so quick. Within seconds picking on the each other, switching teams. Definitely my type of people.

"No, definitely not. Jeongin says yes to anything and everything."
Hana said.

"Come on, I'm sure you'll like them, they're not so bad. We're like this big family, they can be stupid, menaces but they're cool."

"How would you define cool as?"
Seungmin asked.

"Well... I guess, they have cool jobs?"

"Oh i've never told you this, Minho is professional boxer, Isn't that cool?"
Hana perked up.

"You've got all our attention now, spill."
Jeongin said, a curious glint in his eyes

"Well, yeah i am... good at sports? Boxing is definitely my fort. I've won a lot of matches, I'd show you my trophies, but they're still at my parent's place. I don't have a showcase right now, so maybe once i buy one for here, ill give you a tour" 

I felt embarrassed, but in a good way. It's so awkward talking good about yourself.
All three of them listened so attentively to whatever i was saying about my career, they were all so cute, listening like curious little kids. I need not have to mention this again, but all THREE of them were cute. We all got comfortable on the sofa, Seungmin sitting on the same couch as me, and Jeongin with Hana.

As i finished my story, all three of them looked at me agape, slowly clapping.

"Wow, you're so cool hyung."

Jeongin finally said, to which i just scratched my neck.

"Oh it's nothing too impressive, just a lot of hard work, you know?"
I said humbly

"How come you never call me hyung?"
Seungmin asked

"Maybe if you'd act your age, i would"

Jeongin said, blowing a raspberry to Seungmin

"You're such a brat"

"Okay, that's you proving my point"

"Calm the fuck down, you both are like..... 4 months apart? And besides, you've known each other since forever, stop being dramatic"
Hana said, trying to stop their bickering

Seungmin poked out his tongue to both Jeongin and Hana, while the two of them just laugh, it was just some friendly fire after all. Once the laughing died down, Seungmin tugged on Hana's sleeves. She looked confused, but Seungmin gave her a sarcastic "Are being you serious" look, which she seemed to immediately recognize.

"Umm, Jeongin keep him company, and please.... BEHAVE."

"Oh sure, ill treat him friendly"

 I like this guy, he seems good."

"Yeah see, i seem good."

Jeongin said, giggling

"Minho, he's good at yapping  and with that dangerously innocent face of his, you can't escape him, he'll successfully guilt trap you."

She said chuckling, that same empty, seemingly-forced chuckle that seemed to tire her out more than she already looked like.

"Oh that's fine, at least he's funny
I replied

Hana shook her head, patting Jeongin's head, slightly ruffling it and walking to away with Seungmin, probably towards her room.

Why was Seungmin going alone with her? 

____________

I guess it was time for addressing this apparent "elephant in the room".

The elephant must be invisible, because there was nothing to talk about. 

But of course, that's what Hana thought. 

Not me, not Jeongin and definitely not Seungmin and you readers.

____________

Seungmin POV:

"Why have you pulled me away from there, i was having fun?"

"Didn't know people could have fun while they look so tired and quiet."

"Huh? What-Seungmin, please can we just enjoy?"

"Yeah, I know that's what i want too, but this is important. We came here, not just to spend time, we came here for you because we're worried."

"Potato, Potahto. You're not making any sense. When are you two not worried?"

"Hana, please. Drop the act. You acting coy isn't helping anyone. We're worried."

"There's no act Seungmin. You- You both are mistaken. I've been doing....."

"doing...?"

".... So well ever since i moved out."

"So that means, all these months before you moved out, you weren't fine? And you lied? I knew it, but i kept quiet. We both did. You keep getting thinner every time we see you, you wouldn't touch your food at the restaurant and that confirmed everything i was suspicious about. And god alone know what else there is that you're hiding. It scares us."

"I'm not saying that. You know the usual constant nagging from my parents while i was still there. But i promise, it wasn't so bad. And the food- For the record, I did eat."

"Is that why we both had to eat one whole serving by ourselves because you barely touched yours? And if you're really okay, why did you hesitate? Hesitate to say you were fine?"

"When did i hesitate?"

Okay, now she was trying to hard, too hard to hide it,
too hard to just confess she wasn't doing well.
I was almost mad at her, i want to scold her, ask her why she keeps pushing people away.

"You literally stopped mid-sentence when you said that it was us who was mistaken."

She sighed. Yeah, because now she's run out of excuses.

"I'm doing fine. I'll tell you if something was wrong."

There it was, the line that i was waiting for. Not for a good reason. She always tried to say this, tried to make-believe that she'd keep her promise.
But that promise, I'm afraid i already she's broken it.

 At this point, I'm not mad. I'm just really, really worried.

We don't want her to be sad.
We don't want her to be miserable.
We don't want her to stop smiling.

"Hana, please cooperate with us. I'm begging you. We want to help." 
I said as my voice slowly started wavering.

"No, no please, please don cry. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

"Please, don't worry so much. I'm okay, Seungmin."

"How can you say that with a straight face? We all know I'm never wrong when i sense something wrong. You're lying. You're lying to me, to both of us again."
I said, trying to compose myself, but i felt tears fall down my face.

"Why are you always lying?"

"I'm not lying, please. It's okay. Everything's fine. I'm okay, you're okay, Jeongin's okay. Everyone's okay, that's what matters."

She said, as she pulled me in a hug.

"I'm sorry i worry you so much. I didn't mean to."
She continued saying while she patted my back

"I know you're still lying, but please, at least promise you'll stop doing whatever it is that you're doing. I don't know what's going on, but I'm here. Your friends are here."
I told her, my voice full of desperation, as i kept my chin over her head.

"I'm sorry, now please stop crying."
She said tightening her arms around me.

This is stupid. I've made no progress. I'm still at square one. I just know she isn't good. But i need to know what's not good.  Yeah and that promise? I'm not convinced. Not one bit.

She didn't say "I promise." She just told me to stop crying. Definitely not the same thing.

She's struggling alone, and there's nothing we're going to be able to do because she's being so stubborn. Why can't she just take the help?

Jeongin POV:

I continued talking to Minho, he was an amazing guy, really funny and we clicked almost immediately. But I was worried because Seungmin was going to talk to Hana, and i really wanted to be there for them, but i had to give her privacy. The less people know, the better. Even if it's just me. She needs help, not attention.

Five minutes in and I'm starting to get worried. We can hear Seungmin raise his voice a little, but i tried to ignore it, because Minho was here too.

"Why'd they go alone? I mean, why are you not with them?"
Minho asked

"There's something they need to talk about, Seungmin had sort of a... How do i put this-?"

We hear a sobbing, frustrated voice of Seungmin, and that was enough to stop us from the act of pretending "nothing too serious".

"Okay, i think you should check on them. Don't worry, i wont pry. You can go help them about... whatever the situation is."

"Thank you, for being understanding. I'm sure its nothing"

"Not sure that's all true, but okay."

I laughed nervously before i walked quietly to hear what was going on.

All i heard from outside the door was,

"I'm sorry i worry you so much. I didn't mean to."

"I know you're still lying, but please, at least promise us you'll stop doing whatever it is that you're doing. I don't know what's going on, but I'm here. Your friends are here."

"I'm sorry, now please stop crying."

That broke my heart. Seungmin probably didn't get to hear whatever he wanted to and panicked, which is why we heard the sobbing. I knocked on the door, gently trying not to startle them.

"Hey there, is everything okay?"
I asked softly, as if it wasn't obvious that things weren't okay.

They were both hugging each other, Hana consoling him to stop crying.

"Bad timing to ask that Jeongin."
Seungmin said, pulling away from the hug and wiping his tears as he turned around.

I quickly hugged the two of them, tightly. 

"Hana, you know we love and worry for you right? All we want is for you to be happy."
I said, trying to hold back tears.

"So please. Please, don't push us away."
I said, letting out a deep breath i didn't know i was holding.

Hana tightened her arms around us, 
"I'm sorry if i worried you guys. I'm sorry if i tried to push you away."

"How many times with the apology? You know we hate it."
Seungmin said, with a smile on his face

"Right, right. Sorr- Habit. Got it, Won't say it."

"Good. Now let's go and forget all about this. And also when I and Minho were out in the living room, he kind of heard you guys cry, so deal with that, I'm not making up an excuse for you two."

Well, it was the least of our worries, because Minho didn't ask, he was just happy to see us come back. He probably thought it was all okay now and that whatever happened was sorted out.

I wish that was true though.

Because, it wasn't. It wasn't sorted out.

Hana's POV:

I don't know. I can't admit it. I don't want to admit it. 

Ill become a burden.

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a/n: Long chapter because i came after so long. i love how the title is the goofiest thing but this chapter is mildly angsty.

Enjoyyyyyy <3333

Also, genuine question:

Is Seungmin really allergic to cats?
I've heard so and then again, he wasn't on the BuzzFeed cat interview either. 

But i was watching the Know-Know camping skz code episode, and he playing and feeding a cat. So I'm now super confused.