|fifty-eight|

|JiSu's POV|

"You're amazing." I chirp as I scroll through the photos TaeHyung sent me.

"Can I post some on my account? Not many people will see them. I only have like fifty followers." TaeHyung asks as he sets his camera down on the table.

"Of course! You better tag me though." I insist as I attempt to decide what pictures to post on Instagram. I know as soon as I post them the other girls will be messaging me, but it's worth it.

"I would never not tag you." TaeHyung smiles as quickly posts a few photos of his own.

He glances up at me and chuckles as I scrunch my nose. It's so hard to pick which ones I like the most. He took so many of them.

"What kind of ice cream do you want?" TaeHyung questions as he slowly gets to his feet.

"Strawberry with gummy bears." I glance up at him with a bright smile.

"Great choice." TaeHyung nods in satisfaction before hurrying toward the counter.

I decide on four pictures and upload them. A few likes roll in before JuHee is calling. I sigh and hit answer, hoping she's done before TaeHyung gets back.

"Oh my god. Did he take those? You look amazing. I'm jealous! Do you think he'd take some for me." JuHee asks as SunMi and the others chat in the background.

"I don't know, JuHee. I'm a little busy. Can I talk to you about it when I get home?" I mumble, trying to mask my call from TaeHyung.

"Nope. I wanna know everything that's going on." Aera takes the phone from JuHee.

"I don't ask you guys all the details from your hang outs—why do you have to ask all mine?" I groan as TaeHyung makes his way back to me with my ice cream.

"Here—give me the phone." TaeHyung states as he sets our ice cream on the table and reaches out for my phone.

I hesitantly oblige. He holds the phone to his ear and listens to whatever Aera is ranting and raving about.

"Well, first we took pictures. Now, we're getting ice cream. I was thinking maybe heading to the big hit building for a relaxing roof chat next—or maybe some singing and dancing just for the fun of it. I'm not sure yet. I guess it really depends on what JiSu wants to do." TaeHyung informs Aera as I pick at my ice cream anxiously.

TaeHyung laughs brightly as he hands my phone back to me. I lift it to my ear hesitantly.

"Keep him. You better bag that kid. You can't come home without a wedding ring." Aera insists as I roll my eyes.

"I'm going. Goodbye." I hang up and set my phone down on the table. I glance up to see TaeHyung staring at me with a smirk.

"You've got quite the friends." TaeHyung smiles as he leans forward and reaches out to brush my hair from my face.

"Yeah—they're just kind of clingy sometimes." I try to brush it off as nothing as my heart races from his gentle touch.

"That's not always a bad thing. It means you'll always have someone there to help you through the hard times. They'll even bother you to the point you can't hide anything from them. It's always good to have a close group." TaeHyung reaches across the table and ruffles my hair.

"You're right. NaHee tried to talk me out of wearing SunMi's clothes, but I figured I'd come across better if I did." I sigh as I take a bite of ice cream and glance out the window.

"You should never change yourself. People are going to love you for you. All of the gummy loving, pink addicted, adorable you." TaeHyung smiles as he digs into his ice cream.

I allow a causal silence to fall over us as we both eat our food. We both steal glances at each other and turn away embarrassed. I feel like I'm a little kid around him. He makes me want to ignore the world and just be me. I think I could really get used to being around him. I don't even care if it's just as friends. I'd do anything to keep this.

"I have a question." TaeHyung mumbles as he takes his last bite. He glances up at me and patiently waits for my attention.

"Yeah? Ask me anything." I meet his eyes and listen intently, prepared to give him the best answer I possibly can.

"Those rumors that were going around about you for the longest time—they aren't true, right? Like—I don't think they are. I just think a lot of people like being around you. You're really nice, but the guys were kind of iffy on it. They said that I didn't really know you, so I couldn't make any assumptions." TaeHyung asks awkwardly as he runs at the back of his neck.

"No. They aren't. I just have a lot of friends I guess. I've never dated anyone before. There's a lot of rumors about all of us. Some have slivers of truth to them, but most of them are exaggerated nonsense. Like the SunMi one about her parents. It's true they have money and that we're living in one of their houses, but they didn't buy her way into the company. They also don't let us live in the house for free. Right now, they have us on reduced iou rent. So once we debut, we'll slowly start paying it all back." I explain as I try not to meet his gaze. I always feel awkward trying to right wrongs. I didn't say it, so why should I have to fix it and clarify it? It's not fair.

"The media can be a pain sometimes—a lot of times honestly. Speaking of the media—we should probably get going I think people are starting to notice us." TaeHyung mumbles as he glances toward the small crowd forming outside.