It's a time when almost everyone is back at the dorm, some busy with personal things, some sleeping, and rest free to interact with each other, but everyone's under the same roof and none are working right now. It is at this time that Yunho decided to throw around the topic of Soojin's friend, not all in the house had heard of it yet, they simply weren't free to do so up until now— what to say, idol life!

"So?" Yeosang says, not understanding why Yunho sounds too excited to speak of this friend. "She has an American friend, how exciting! Wow, this was exactly what I wanted to know right now instead of watching anime!"

Mingi has an unamused gaze but his focus still on his tall friend, hoping the news isn't limited to just that piece of boring discovery.

"Well, I guess it's news to learn she can make herself more friends but are you really that excited enough to detain us here for this?" Wooyoung who wants nothing more than getting to go play video games right now advocates.

"You are all so impatient, listen to it fully, for God's sake," Yunho says.

"It still isn't all that amusing compared to all the weird things that has happened," Jongho who's passing by the group remarks.

"Oh right, you!" Yunho puts him on the spot. "You knew this already! Soojin doesn't care much and you're the same. But I personally think we can figure something out with this info, so I don't get why you didn't think it necessary to tell us," Yunho says.

"What are—" San tries to speak.

"Oh, you can figure everything out? We'd all like to see you try then. You think noona didn't try figuring it out before she could come to pretend like it was nothing too unordinary. She's smart, we're all smart, even that Yoongi hyung-nim is smart, but no one has an answer. It's been months, hyungs!"

"Yah! Tell us too! What the hell are you two talking about?" Mingi yells in his naturally loud, scratchy voice. He or the rest pay no heed to Hongjoong who's sleeping on the couch in the same room.

"Joshua Hong also happens to be the owner of Daisy's restaurant," Yunho says. "And no, Soojin had no idea, she still never saw that place before the dreams. After waking up, she found out that her childhood friend owned it."

San gasps loud. "Whoa!"

"Coincidence?" Yunho asks his entourage.

"No, it's too weird to be that!" Wooyoung screeches.

"Exactly!" Yunho says.

Wooyoung pulls his sleeves to show his arms. "Wah! I have goosebumps again, every time we discover things like this, it gives me goosebumps... Whoa!"

"You knew about it?" San rhetorically asks Jongho, eyes accusatory. "Should've at least mentioned to us even if you didn't think much of it yourself."

Jongho shrugs. "Sorry," he plainly says and turns back on his heels to leave them for their further discussion.

"It's still a mystery why you wouldn't think it necessary to tell us, Jongho," Seonghwa who Jongho sees standing by the shared room of the oldest two says.

"There is no particular reason," he replies. "I just didn't."

Seonghwa's eyes tell him that he doesn't believe it one bit.

The maknae sighs and walks past him to enter the room, Seonghwa confusedly following. "Fine," Jongho says after he closes the door behind. "I think maybe it's time we have this talk, hyung."

"What are you talking about?" Seonghwa's brows contort.

"Hyung," he begins. "I didn't tell you because I liked it that I knew something exclusive that you guys didn't. I was already the only one who she didn't mind texting and talking to back then when she told me, but I was greedy for more exclusive attention." Wow.

I wouldn't admit such a thing if I was him.

"What?" Seonghwa says in disbelief, but he harbours no look of judgement like Jongho anticipated.

"She could've told all of you, at least after she told me, I expected her to tell you all, and that didn't happen. So I didn't end up telling you guys too, I felt special."

"Look, I understand that feeling, but this wasn't like any personal secret she shared with you or something, it was just something that she even herself hoped you'd tell us all." Okay, now he's judging the boy.

"That's why I didn't want to explain myself, it's pathetic, I know," Jongho says so quietly Seonghwa almost doesn't hear it backed with all the heavy voices of discussion from the living room. Almost.

Seonghwa painfully nods. "Jongho-yah," he exhales, shaking his head.

"Anyway," Jongho says, now back to normal. More than back to normal actually, he stands straighter now, looks more confident suddenly. "So you finally had the honours of meeting her best friend, right?"

"Yeah," Seonghwa replies, his tone flat.

Jongho, picking up the change in his mood, somehow seeming to gain more confidence, says, "You don't like him." Oh, it's a firm statement. "Don't worry, so do I."

"What?" Seonghwa's eyes grow a tad bit bigger, an innocent look adorning his face. He sure does look like that toothless.

"He's a common enemy."

"What?"

"Come on, hyung," Jongho says. "We all know you still have feelings for her, maybe even want her back. We're a competition to each other, I know that, you know that."

"Jongho, I—"

"I can see it in your mannerisms hyung, there's no denying. I know, everyone here knows. Don't worry, I'll make sure this competition won't affect our friendship, at least on my part, I will.

"There was no competition, Jongho. I never intended to compete," Seonghwa says.

"Was?"

"But if you are going to be like this, maybe I won't sit back," he calmly says, no hard feelings at all, just a peaceful answer with no hidden threat. "You've made me realize how hard it'd be to picture her dating someone else, especially when that someone would be a friend and especially when I'd have to see you being a couple in front of me a lot. I'd have stayed put, but if you're going to actively pursue her, then I'll try too. I'm sorry, Jongho. I sound like a greedy, jealous person but I can't help it, I'm sorry." He looks anywhere in the room but doesn't dare to meet eyes with the maknae.

"So, it's a direct competition against me rather than competing to win her heart?" Jongho asks, sounding disappointed.

"I-I..." Seonghwa's voice gets stuck in his throat. "I... only...I..It's not like that, don't interpret it like that, Jongho. I like her, I admit now. She wouldn't take me back, I'm scared of rejection. That was the reason I was laying low. But not anymore."

A few moments of intense silence later, Jongho speaks. "I'm first this time."

"What?"

"I was fast and I was early this time. Last time, I'd been a fool, I was very late, you got to call her your girlfriend before I even confessed, I was pathetically late. But not this time. I'm glad I have that advantage now, hyung. Let's see how this ends." He opens the door and walks out composedly.

"I still and will always love you as my hyung, don't forget that. Fair and non-toxic play, remember!" Jongho adds last before he disappears from Seonghwa's sight, leaving the man flabbergasted at the sudden turn of events.

And a few hours from that, on this night, Soojin receives a message from Seonghwa that, undoubtedly, takes her by shock and freezes her on spot, overwhelmed by emotions.

'I miss the old days, I miss you. I miss you and I together,' the message said.

.

.

.

I'm leaving for the restaurant. As soon as I try to open the gate of my house, I stumble back due to the sudden appearance of a man in front of me on the other side of the iron bars. He looks up at me with a small laugh. "Sorry, did I scare you?" he asks and I gasp.

"Jongho! How'd you know where I live?" I ask with a hand still on my thumping heart.

And now we're both inside the house as he's standing by the wall in the corner of my kitchen watching me make tea. He told me how he came all the way from the restaurant, apparently, Sooyoung sent him here. It's rude to ask him to walk back to the restaurant again so I decided to get him a drink before.

"Wouldn't you be late?" he asks me.

"Sooyoung sent you here, right? She has to cover for me now, her responsibility," I say.

"You aren't happy I'm here, noona?"

"It's sudden and unexpected."

"Sorry if it's weird. I only intended to meet you at the restaurant but your mother told me she's not certain when you'll reach. And then your sister suddenly gave me the address and she seemed to be very sure it was alright to drop by here. She was weirdly very encouraging, to be honest."

"Yeah, that's her. Eomma's kinda the same too. Did she not recognize you? I mean not as the Choi Jongho but as Jongho at least, my only other friend who she has once talked to over the phone."

"She did. We talked a bit. She said I looked familiar but don't worry, I didn't blow my cover. Sooyoung-ssi gave the address in front of your eommonim actually, she didn't seem to mind I was gonna visit you."

I nod and he intently continues to watch me as I pour the tea into an ice-filled glass. "Here's your iced tea, Choi Jongho-ssi," I give him the glass with a smile.

He snickers. "Thank you, madam. It's an honour to receive service from such a gorgeous, beautiful lady."

"Shut up," I say. It's just, sometimes it's really hard to not seem to be blushing when he says stuff like these.

"Why? My teachers always taught me to speak the truth without hesitation." He looks directly into my eyes as he slowly takes sips. "It's amazing, noona. Just like you."

I gasp at his shamelessness. "Okay, I lose. You're better at this game than me." There was a time when I used to flirt with KQ Fellaz and they used to be the ones who got flustered and shy. The tables sure have turned now!

"Who said it's a game? I don't joke around, I prefer speaking the truth."

"Shut up, Jongho."

He playfully grabs his chest as if he's hurt. "But I was your sweetie, I prefer to be called that."

I don't say anything. It's better to zip your lips in awkward situations. And with the number of awkward situations I've faced in my life, I should've been a master at handling it but here I am.

"Maybe it's overstepping but I have a silly wish, I want to see your room, noona," he randomly goes.

"Why?"

"I'm just curious to see what an Atiny's room is like," he shrugs. "Besides, I may or may not want to see if my poster's in there. It'd make me very happy if I see one." And then he smiles like the most adorable little human-bear I've ever seen, his beautiful gummy smile on display. God, how can someone seem so innocent and child-like after saying flirtatious things like that!

My room was dominated by Park Seonghwa's and Kim Hongjoong's posters once, it was before they were Seonghwa oppa and Captain to me. Now I just have one big poster of Ateez so it's not so much of a danger zone. But...

"I keep my room messy, you wouldn't be pleased seeing that," I say.

"You can say you don't want to do it, noona, excuses aren't needed, you know how bad my room's like."

Do I not want to show him my room? Fuck it! I don't care.

"Follow me, lil' one," I say and walk past him out of the kitchen and he follows.

I open the door to my bedroom and we both enter. Apart from the Ateez posters on the wall and a few merch, there is nothing worth watching in this monochromatic, plain wall confines, and the messy way the sheets are draped or pillows are thrown on the mattress only takes away from it. Luckily there are no pile of clothes on the chair today. This room can't ever, even with the most added decorations, compare to how Choi Daisy's was.

"Just like I expected," Jongho comments.

"I don't know what to make of that. Is that an insult?"

With offended eyes and pouty lips, he turns towards me. "You really think I'd insult you? I could never, noona."

Stop being so cute!

"I'm hurt you don't have a separate poster of me," he says. Why do you keep doing this, Jongho?

"W-Why would I—" before I can complete, my phone rings and I pick it up. It's from Sooyoung.

"You have a surprise on the way home," she says with a playful giddy giggle.

"Your surprise is already sipping iced tea beside me, you're too late," I say and hang up. "It was Sooyoung."

He quietly nods and his eyes settle on my phone screen.

"Wait!" he suddenly goes, eyes still settled on my home screen. It was a vertical photo collage of two photos, an orange and a grey kitten on the top and bottom respectively. "They look like Minnie and Monnie!"

I smile wide at him. "You remember them."

"Of course, I do. Are they—"

"I don't think so, sweetie," I say. "There are some differences. These kittens aren't exact clones of Minnie and Monnie, but I still love them. They're from two different cat cafes in Seoul, I kinda went on a kitty hunt to find any similar orange or grey kitten of their size I could, I missed them."

"That's soooo cute," he coos.

"I know right, they're so cute—" and then I look up from the phone. He wasn't talking about them, his eyes are clearly on me. "Ohh..."

He clears his throat. "I miss playing with them too, you know."

"A-Ahh, okay..."

He chuckles. Do I look too awkward and funny?

"You know, I still kinda wish it was my picture you had as your home screen."

Okay, now I gotta talk about this.

"Why do you keeping doing this so much, Jongho?" I finally ask.

"What?" he innocently asks.

"You know what! Why these flirty-kinda jokes?"

"Who said they're jokes? I've told you this many times, I only speak the truth when I do those jokes." Why is this so familiar? "It's not simply just some humour like you did back then. This is a real attempt at flirting. And you can guess why I'm flirting, noona, can't you?"

"Please don't say you had no idea, it'd be a terrible reenactment of the past," he adds.

But I can't ever be sure. I know why people flirt but I'm not Daisy anymore. "I don't know, I prefer verbal communication rather than assuming and creating misunderstandings due to it."

"I like you, noona. There, I confessed on time this time, hopefully."

I stay frozen in my place.

"I..." I don't know how to tell him. "Jongho... I...I'm Ahn Soojin, Jongho, not Choi Daisy anymore. Why do you like me? Do you still see Daisy in me or Soojin, tell me?" I know it, I know it in my heart, they only see the semblance of Daisy in me that they wish to hold onto, Seonghwa oppa and now Jongho too. Seonghwa oppa said he misses the old me, the old days. Of course. He missed Daisy, he missed her. Who cared about Soojin anyway? Who would?

"I see my friend," Jongho is quick and confident to answer.

"What?"

"I see the same friend. I see the same soul I liked back then. But I also can clearly see the identity now, you're Ahn Soojin and I can confidently tell you that it is Ahn Soojin I planned to and am confessing to right now. So don't worry, I'm certainly living in the present. I like you, Ahn Soojin!"

Ahn Soojin can be likeable?

My heart beats fast and I don't know why. Is it because I got confessed to, or is it because of the fact that something I so firmly believed and held onto up until now has been defied just so instantly?

"You wouldn't have liked Ahn Soojin if you'd have never met Choi Daisy, if the magic never happened."

"We've discussed this before, noona," he says. "There wouldn't have been much chance that we would have met if not for the dreams. But maybe if we still would've met and become friends, I don't see why you think there's no possibility at all that one of us wouldn't have fallen for you."

"I don't believe you."

He stays silent for a few moments. "Would you have believed if it was Seonghwa hyung instead of me here now?" he asks.

What?

"Sweetie, it isn't about that. What? You think I turned you down because you weren't likeable or something, or that oppa was more qualified than you? What is there to not like about you? Do you not see how precious you are, sweetie? I told you back then also, if you'd confessed earlier there would've been a chance I looked at you in a different way. You'd be very good boyfrien—"

"You sound so confident when you're reassuring me, noona. Yet you can't believe that about yourself."

"I...." He got me tongue-tied there.

He positions himself just in front of me. "Noona," he keeps his hands on either side of my shoulders and shakes it to have my attention. I look into his lively dark brown orbs. "There's no pressure on you. I just confessed because we are friends, right? I thought I should come clean and make myself clear, and do it before the time is up this time. This is by no means any relationship proposal so don't worry about it. But I do want an answer from you now."

"What answer?" I ask. I suddenly become conscious of the lack of gap between us, but strangely I'm not chickening out. Do I like this?

"If you are sure that there would never be a day that you would start liking me, if you're that confident, then tell me. I'll back down forever then, don't worry though, I'll still be your friend. But if you don't deny now, then I'll still keep trying to impress you, hoping for the day when you like me back."

I just stare at him, blinking faster than usual. Maybe my body and brain has gone frozen.

"Of course, even if you don't deny but tell me to not actively bother, I'll do that, I don't wanna be creepy. What I mean is that I'll be waiting for you, silently or otherwise. If you want me to keep flirting or stop it is up to you, just say the word and I'll behave accordingly."

He looks at me expectantly for an answer. And I push my silence for a while, but before he can disappointedly retrace his hands from my shoulders, I speak. "Why do you think I was an obsessed fan of you? You are already a person I really find hard not to fall for, Jongho."

"Is that your way of saying I can continue waiting for a response someday?" he breaks into a happy smile but this situation yet isn't easing to bring one onto my face as well.

"But what if you still don't receive the answer you wish for at the end of all the waiting and hoping. It'd hurt, sweetie."

His smile doesn't falter still. "I'm ready to take that pain if there's still a possibility you might reciprocate my feelings, noona."

I reach my hand out to pat his hair. I don't know why? I don't know why I enjoy this silence with him and the lack of distance between us. I smile. He fondly leans into my touch and I see his eyes trailing down to land on my lips. I immediately stop patting him, once again I'm frozen.

My heart race and my mouth go dry, I instinctively lick my lips and gulp. The only thing I can think is that I don't want to push him away even though his eyes are on my lips. And I'm starting to think I won't budge if he were to lean in.

And then he leans in and contrary to what I wanted, he rests his chin on my shoulder and hugs me. What I wanted? What? Why am I bummed out that he didn't go for a kiss?