It was a normal Saturday night… for everyone else, at least. For you, it was just a night of torture. You plopped down on your couch and the television to watch Taemin’s ‘We Got Married’. You haven’t seen every episode but since it was the last one you decided to do so.

Watching the program always made you feel hurt in a way. You’ve liked Taemin ever since you were little and became best friends. But you never had the guts to do something about it. You hated to admit, even to yourself, that he looked so happy and comfortable with Naeun and because of that you just couldn’t help but think they really liked each other. The whole situation was driving you crazy.

Dear God knows you had nothing against the poor Naeun, you were only wishing to be in her place and enjoy Taemin’s company. But of course, since you were just an ordinary girl, it was impossible. You’ve considered auditioning somewhere to become an idol and match his level, you had the talent after all. But then you thought about how much Taemin enjoyed spending time with someone who’s not in the showbiz world and the idea of becoming an idol vanished. If you were to become an idol you’d barely see him or spend time with him. Not to mention you won’t be able to act as comfortable as you both really were. Rumors spread fast and the last thing you wanted was to get him in trouble.

The show had come to an end and sighing you decided to head to the kitchen and distract yourself by cooking dinner. With music on, you started to prepare the ingredients while singing and dancing. You were really trying hard to get the picture of Taemin and Naeun’s wedding ceremony out of your head. But all your efforts went down the drain.

You heard the doorbell to your apartment and checked your monitor to see who your guest was and to your surprise, it was Taemin.

“Just a second!” you yelled and after deciding in which direction to run you went to the bathroom to fix your hair at least.

“Hurry up before someone sees me,” you heard him hiss through the monitor. You tried to steady your breath and finally opened the door for him. He quickly made his way inside your apartment and waited for you to close the door so he could crush you in a hug. “Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve seen my best friend!” he exclaimed while embracing you, making your heart dance in your chest.

“I know! You should come more often, you know,” you said and hit him playfully making him laugh. Your heart clenched at the sound. Just a few minutes ago you saw him do the same with Naeun on TV and now here he was. It all seemed so surreal.

“Looks like I came in time for dinner,” he wiggled his eyebrows making you snap out of your thoughts. Taemin really loved your cooking ever since he tried it for the first time.

“Then you better help me if you wanna eat.” He happily accepted the offer and went to the kitchen. You smiled remembering the last time he was in your apartment. He wanted to eat pasta so badly that day.

“Oh! Pasta!” he celebrated when he saw the ingredients in the kitchen counter. It was as if destiny had planned it all out. “Did you know I was coming?” he joked.

While the pasta was boiling, you updated yourselves on what was going on in each other’s lives. He was more interested in hearing you out than him telling you about his since you probably knew already. But to you it didn’t matter, you just wanted to hear it from Taemin himself.

He stared at you intently mesmerized by everything you were saying. “What, it’s not as if I’m telling you something new, Taemin,” you laughed at his silly behavior.

“I know but, I just like—”

“The pasta!” you shrieked interrupting his words and ran towards the stove. You got there just in time to stir it before it stuck to the bottom of the pot. After finishing all the procedure, you served the plates on the table for Taemin to admire. He quickly sat down and had a taste of the food. He closed his eyes and sighed in delight letting you know how good it was.

You were so busy looking at Taemin eating the food with so much enthusiasm that you barely ate yours. You wished it could be like that every day and suddenly felt sad. Taemin noticed how your mood dropped but he was somewhat afraid of asking you what was wrong, so he just tried to start a conversation with you by telling you what he did during the day. You figured he wanted to know what you did as well, so you told him everything. Including that you watched ‘We Got Married’.

His face looked worried and all he managed to say was a simple “oh”. Silence filled the room and you couldn’t take it anymore so you excused yourself and went to the bathroom. There, you splashed water on your face and tried to pull yourself together.

Taemin just sat there waiting for you. He was barely touching his plate anymore. The fact that you were watching him with another girl scared him. After all, he didn’t want you to misunderstand. He reached for his pocket where he had a gift for you and took it out. It was a necklace you once had but lost it at the beach last summer. You treasured it since it was a gift from your dad, so he decided to get you a new one and give it a whole new meaning. He wanted to confess his feelings for you but he felt like you’d turn him down just to not ruin the friendship. He didn’t even know if you had feelings for him but he knew you’d be the type to do that.

You came out of the bathroom and he quickly put the necklace back in his pocket. “I’m sorry, I’m not feeling so well,” you laughed halfheartedly.

“Ah, then I should probably leave—”

“No! No, you don’t have to. It’s fine really. I mean, I barely see you anymore…” you trailed off and felt your eyes get teary. You quickly grabbed the plates and walked towards the kitchen to clean them. Your tears fell without permission but luckily, Taemin couldn’t notice from the table.

“Stay still,” he ordered and naturally, you did as you were told. The only sounds in the room were the water running and the soft music playing from the living room. After what felt like minutes, you felt Taemin putting something around your neck and after, he back hugged you.

You were too surprised to react. You were trying to analyze the situation telling yourself that this was all a dream, or maybe he knew about your feelings for him and he just felt sorry that he didn’t feel the same way. You didn’t want to believe it, until his words struck you.

He called your name. “Maybe I already know the answer to this but I feel like I have to take the risk,” he took a deep breath, “I like you. I like you and only you. I’ve felt like this since a long time ago and I just had to tell you before I go crazy,” he finished with an awkward chuckle. You looked down to see the familiar yet different necklace and fresh tears rolled down your cheeks. You were shocked. So much, you just couldn’t bring yourself to say something. “I didn’t want you to go thinking I like Naeun, that’s all,” he went on and you felt his grip loosening. Finally reacting, you held his hands in place so he wouldn’t let go.

“I…I like you too,” you quietly admitted. His arms tightened around you and he sighed in relief. “I’ve also liked you since a long time ago,” you smiled.

“Thank you,” you knew he was smiling from the tone of his voice. “I thought you would reject me because of our friendship,” he admitted.

“I should have… but I waited too long,” you sniffled. Taemin made you face him and looked straight into your eyes.

“What have I told you about crying in front of me?” he raised an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t, not in front of you anyways,” you pouted and immediately wiped your tears away with your hand full of soap and some of it fell in your eyes.

You complained of the slight pain and Taemin chuckled. “It’s not funny, it hurts!”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” he kept laughing and helped you wash it away. “Don’t open your eyes, let me look for a towel.”

“Just grab the hand towel in the bathroom,” you yelled for him to hear. It took him a while to get back to you which was odd. He knew your apartment very well. “Got it?” you yelled again. Suddenly, you felt a pair of lips kissing your forehead.

“Got it,” he announced and helped you dry your face. You were thankful for the fabric covering your face at the moment because you were blushing madly.

‘I could get used to this,’ you thought and smiled, letting the moment sink in.

-joejoeelfish