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30

"minho, you're not concentrated."
chan breathed out.

"I am!"
minho groaned.

even tho minho was the best dancer out of his group, and memorized choreography quickly, he made so many mistakes today. and it was frustrating. for both him and chan.

"let's sit down, okay?"
chan said softly, putting his hands on minho's shoulder.

minho sighed, his head falling down, before nodding. the two of them sat on the ground.

"what's wrong with you? is there something that has been bothering you?"
chan asked carefully.
"does it have to do anything with..."

minho closed his eyes.
"I'm so tired of it. I just...can't seem to stop thinking about him. wherever I go, he's haunting me. I...I miss him. I miss spending time with him."

chan breathed out trough his nose, patting minho's back.
"you can always call him, and go out. you can always talk to him about your feelings, and be honest."

"you don't get it, do you?"
minho said, his voice weak.
"I can never have him. the entire point of setting me up for the date with junho was so junho would find someone that would calm him down, and later on, he would marry and connect assets with. love never played a part in this. if my parents find out that it didn't work out with junho, then they're going to let me be for a while, until they find me someone else when they would want to give me the company."

chan pressed his lips into a thin line.
"maybe...wouldn't that be the best? go and meet new people? there are so many-"

"I thought that jisung was the one. well, junho. I have been on dates before, but I have never had such an understanding with anyone else."
minho said.
"we shared interest, humor, and I loved spending time with him. and he was the heir of their group, which would mean that we could connect our groups and companies, and grow it together, while being happy ourselves. we didn't really have to be dating, or get married, be intimate or anything. but we understood each other, and frankly? I wouldn't mind spending my life with him. but jisung isn't an heir. he's the forgotten twin no one but me cares about. I am stuck between pleasing my parents and finding someone that I can expand our territory with, and between following my heart. but I have to please my parents. I have been raised to do so. so why do I have such a hard time forgetting jisung and moving on?"

"because you have feelings for him, minho. you can't just erase that."
chan said softly.

"I thought that maybe, just maybe, we could work out. but I met him in a book store few days ago."
minho looked down.
"he told me that he won't be going on the dates in junho's place anymore. I understand that it was really stressful for him, but by refusing to go on the dates with me, he willingly stopped hanging out with me."

"you can't blame him for that, minho."
chan said.

"I don't. he got pulled into this unwillingly, and he found an escape. I am glad that he's free, but I can't help the feeling, you know?"
minho sighed.

"just because he won't go on the dates doesn't mean that you guys can't hang out."
chan said.

"we agreed to hang out once a month at least. we want to stay...friends. but I don't think that I want to be only friends."
minho said, turning to look at chan.
"what do you think I should do?"

chan breathed out trough his nose.
"look, just because you're not going on dates with him doesn't mean that your relationship will change. you're still going to hang out whenever you guys want, and even if not, you can text. so don't beat yourself up over this, because it's useless."
he said.
"the more important thing is what you think you should do."

minho blinked slowly.
"I don't want to start going on another blind dates. I'm probably just going to continue going on the dates with junho. maybe it won't be that bad, and at least, i would know that jisung is safe, and he's not being forced to go on dates with some other guy. maybe I'm going to do something new to stay busy, so I wouldn't have to go on many dates, like karate class or something. I don't know. and who said that we had to actually go and see each other? junho doesn't want to as well, so we can just say that we went, when we actually were out alone, or with someone else. and this keeps both me and junho free, and jisung out of any uncomfortable situations."

chan smiled.
"it seems like you have a plan."

"I'm gonna have to talk about this with junho himself. I don't have his number tho, I'm gonna ask about it on the next date we will go together on, and I will talk to him about my plan."
minho said.

"but minho, don't turn into junho."
chan warned.
"don't start using him for your own benefit."

"don't look at it like that. think about it as a benefit for both of us. and I get to stay close to jisung."
minho said, getting up.

"I know. I'm just worried it will get out of control."
chan sighed.

"it won't. if we both will be on the same page, nothing can happen."
minho said, turning the speakers up.
"and now, let's do this."

"minho."
Chan put his hand on Minho's shoulder.
"slow down a bit."

"my head is clear now, chan. I got to talk about what has been weighing me down. I will be able to do the steps properly now."
minho said.

and he meant it. his head felt clearer, with a plan that sounded way too good. and the best part was that maybe, just maybe, it could actually work out.

chan gave him a small smile before nodding, and turning up the speakers even louder.