6th✯

There were cameras everywhere. 

"Okay, you two. Just act like you always do and start talking. We'll give missions after that," the PD instructed, standing behind all the cameras that were set up. "Camera, roll!"

Sanha was looking at me while I was looking past his shoulders, staring at the interesting white wall. Anything else but Sanha was interesting enough to catch my full attention. 

He ended up chuckling lightly as he bowed his head. "Annyeonghaseyo, Yoon Sanha ibnida. I'm Astro's maknae. What's your name?"

I raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was asking what my name was but then remembered that we were filming, meaning we didn't know each other at all. Clearing my throat, I introduced myself, "Annyeonghaseyo, Yoon Aerim ibnida. I'm a junior at Yoojak High School. Nice to meet you."

"Please take your mission card here," the PD then instructed, holding out a card. 

Sanha was the one who stood up to get it. He read its content and burst out laughing, which made me raise an eyebrow at him. He showed it to me before he showed it to the camera. 

If you were to become someone's boyfriend/girlfriend, how would you treat them? Please show us by demonstrating with props or anything you want.

Seriously? I knew it was a bad idea to accept this deal, but money drew me in. Curse my immature mind that only thought about the money and not the outcome of it. 

Sanha, on the other hand, was smiling brightly as he took a coat from the props area. He looked at me before saying, "Stand up."

"Why?" That was supposed to only be heard in my mind but I ended up blurting it out. I covered my mouth and bowed my head. I had to act. Come, Aerim. Act! 

"Come on, Aerim-sshi. Stand up?" Sanha looked like he was slightly begging as he held the coat in his hands. 

I did. Then waited to see what he has planned. 

"Jagi, aren't you cold?" Sanha asked as he moved closer. 

I tried my best to hide the fact I flinched when I heard him call me jagi. I tried to stay still and force up a smile. Play along, Aerim, I reminded myself. Looking up, I nodded with a forced smile. "Eung, I am."

Sanha came closer in and wrapped the coat around me like the ones in the dramas. "There, you're not cold anymore!"

I held the coat over me securely and tried to look like I was falling for him when, really, I was disgusted by this whole thing. "Komawo. You made me feel warmer."

Sanha ended up laughing as he massaged the back of his neck. "It was nothing, jagi."

"You can stop calling me that," I hissed under my breath as I forced up another smile. 

Sanha only leaned in closer to pinch my nose. "Good, then. Because that's how I would act if I had a girlfriend."

Really? His fans better take notes. Why couldn't one of his fans come on this show instead of me, a person who had no idea a group called Astro existed. And why me? His cousin, whom he probably has no idea of. Or does he and he's just hiding it? 

"What about you?" Sanha asked me as we took our seats again. "What would you do to your boyfriend? How would you treat them?"

Okay, acting skills, Aerim. Show them what you've got.

I stood up from my seat and approached the props area, in search for something useful. There was this prop used for birthdays or any celebrations. It was the mini cannon confetti prop. Picking it up and stuffing it into the coat that was still on me, I instructed Sanha to stand up and have his back face me. 

It was a good thing Sanha was obedient enough, unlike me. 

I took a deep breath before approaching him. I had to use my imagination. Quick, Aerim! Imagine he was Lee Hyunwoo and you were approaching him. So, with that face in mind, I confidentially approached Sanha by holding onto his arm and turning him around. 

I took my prop out and exploded some confetti. With a smile, I said, "Wah! Oppa! You passed your exams! Chukhahae! (Congratulations!) I bought cake just for you, do you want to go and eat it now?"

Sanha smiled once again and leaned in closer to pinch my cheeks. "Of course! Anywhere with you, jagi!"

Then I was snapped out of my Lee Hyunwoo dream. Here comes Yoon Sanha, instead of Lee Hyunwoo. What a disappointment, really. I hissed quietly, "Stop calling me jagi."

"No," Sanha teased, pinching my nose once again. 

"They're adorable," one of the staffs muttered with a smile. 

That made Sanha smile even wider as he threw an arm around me. "That was fun, wasn't it? I wonder... would you treat me the same way if I was your boyfriend?"

I almost blurted out a no but remembered that we were still filming. So with another forced smile, I nodded, "Eung."

"Really?" Sanha asked with a beaming face. He held my hand and asked, "Then will you be my girlfriend?"

My eyes wandered to the staffs, like asking them if this was how it went. Most of them threw me nods, others just kept doing their job without knowing that I was begging for help with my eyes. Turning back to Sanha, I faked enthusiasm and said, "Yes!"

"Okay, that's all for today. You two did well," praised the PD, clapping his ends. He re-examined the video and gave us good response by giving us a thumbs up. 

"All of that and thirty minutes have already passed," Sanha told me, taking out his phone from his pocket. "Want to go eat ramen?"

"I think I'd rather go home. All of that and I'm already drained. I didn't know acting was so tiring," I said, exercising my arms. Throwing Sanha a glare, I screamed, "Yah! Who told you to touch me, huh?"

Sanha threw an arm around and pulled me closer. "It's called acting, Aerim-a."

I pushed him away. "Then why are you still touching me?!"

"Because you're fun to tease." Sanha laughed, pointing at me, like saying, See? "Look at you. So cute."

"Are you guys done in here?" asked a voice as the door opened. Jin Jin and the others came inside. 

"Yup! All done!" Sanha replied to his hyung, walking over to them.

"How was it?" Rocky asked me. He looked around and noticed the props. "What are those for?"

"It's for the..." I picked up the mission card from where Sanha and I sat on and handed it to Rocky. "...this. Kill me now."

Rocky read the mission card and ended up laughing. He noticed the coat and pointed at it. "So Sanha put that on you?"

Sighing, I nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. If he were Lee Hyunwoo, I wouldn't mind. But since he's Yoon Sanha, I do mind if he was putting a coat on me."

Rocky lightly shouldered me. "That just shows how well of a boyfriend he is. He doesn't really know how to act around his girlfriend, but he's learning from dramas."

This time, it was my turn to laugh. "Dramas? He's really learning from dramas? Wah, at this rate, he's going to end up looking like Lee Seul Bi from Hi! School - Love On."

"Seems like someone's well educated with dramas," Rocky teased, giving me a smile. "We're friends with Kim Sae Ron, you know?"

"I know. I saw pictures," I admitted, scratching my ear as I looked away from Rocky. I was not going to admit that I did some researching on them earlier today. 

"You did?" Rocky was wearing that teasing smile again. "Ooh, someone's starting to act like a fan. Wae? Are you going to research our birthdays next?"

"Please." I rolled my eyes, only to know I already had done that. It wasn't to stalk them, it was to get to know them more, since I would be with them for a long time. I think. Also, so I don't look like some bad friend. 

"You're really adorable, Aerim," Rocky said, pinching my cheeks as well. 

I slapped his hands away and put my hands on my cheeks. "Why do you and Sanha keep touching my cheeks? Aish, so weird."

MJ then approached us, chuckling. "Annyeong, Aerim-a! I heard you wanted to give me coffee yesterday?" 

"Ye...ah," I answered, keeping a smile on. "Mian, I ended up running away yesterday because... of something."

"It's okay, my puppy," MJ said, patting my head. 

Seriously? MJ too? Oh, well. I guess being the youngest—well, almost—was a trend to these boys. It was better than being a noona, at least, or I'd feel really old. 

"Why do you guys keep calling me names?" I ended up asking since I seemed to be collecting a lot of them. 

"Because you're our adorable little girl," Jin Jin teased with a cute smile. Huh, never knew he was that cute. Plus, he has a deep voice? What a weird but cool combination he has there. 

"Here, Aerim," said the boy with a refreshing smile. Who was he again? Uhh... I forgot. He handed me a can of soda. "You must be thirsty."

"Uh... thanks..." I snapped my fingers, trying to remember his name. I always got his name confused with the other guy, whose name I also forgot. "Mianhae, I forgot your name. What is it?"

The boy with the refreshing smile laughed. "It's Cha Eun Woo."

"Cha Eun Woo?" I echoed back, nodding my head. Better remember that name if not I'll end up embarrassing myself again.

"Actually, his real name's Lee Dongmin. His stage name is Cha Eun Woo, but call him whichever you like," Rocky filled me in. 

"Ah, like you?" I asked, seeing that Rocky's real name is Minhyuk. 

"Exactly," he answered, nodding his head. He looked around the room then asked, "Hey, where's Sanha? Wasn't he here a moment ago?"

"He and the PD went to discuss something," another boy said. Gosh, why can't I remember their names? 

Rocky noticed me staring at the boy whose name I didn't know and laughed. He whispered to me, "That's Moobin. You can also call him Bin."

"Thank you," I muttered. Rocky really saved the day. He's way more useful than Sanha. Or is that just because Sanha is my cousin and I'm in this show with him? I'll never know. 

"We have tteokbokki!" MJ, who I didn't notice disappeared, suddenly reappeared with a box of tteokbokki in his hands. "Let's eat!"

"Do you want to eat some, Aerim?" Rocky asked me as we left the room where Sanha and I filmed. 

"Yes I'm starving! There's nothing that's going to separate me and my food!" I said, following the others into a different room as I patted my stomach. "What kind of show is that? I didn't get any food from it!"

Rocky was chuckling next to me and I just realized that I was starting to act like myself in front of them. Or at least Rocky, since I was the closest to him right now. "You're a cute little weirdo, Yoon Aerim."

"I am," I blurted out with a weird smile in place. "Something you guys might have never know, hmm? Wait until we become real close."

Rocky threw me a smile before we all sat down in our places. Sanha came into the room a little after, making sure to snag the empty seat next to me. MJ was passing cups around which were filled with tteokbokki and we all dug in. 

"Ah~" a voice then said as I enjoyed my tteokbokki. Any longer, I'm sure I would have look like some vampire with all the tteokbokki sauce stained on my lips. 

I turned to my side, surprised to see Sanha offering one of his tteokbokki to me. I titled my head at him and asked, "Is that really for me?" 

Sanha drew his head back, probably surprised that I didn't reject him straight away. He probably got used to me always giving him mean remarks. He nodded happily. "Yes!" 

I ate it happily. What? It was food! Food has always been with me since I was young, why would I say no? 

"Are you opening up to me now, Aerim-a?" Sanha asked, looking hopeful. 

"Nope, I just wanted food," I answered before I continued eating. I glanced over at him, noticing how he was pouting in his seat next to me. "Wae? You're sad? Then feed me more. I'll gladly accept them."

Sanha pulled his cup closer to him, as if to hug its fragile texture. It was only a plastic cup and it could easily bend and drop whatever it holds inside it. "If you're just going to steal my food then no."

I poked his arm and actually smiled at him. "Oh, come on. You know you want to give it to me."

"Stop... I don't... I do?" Sanha was questioning himself and I only silently laughed before I continued eating. 

Okay, maybe we could be friends. Without knowing whatever past we probably had before, the reason to why I didn't remember him, maybe this could work out. I turned to my other side, where Rocky sat, and asked him, "Do you want to give me food?"

Rocky looked up from poking tteokbokki onto his stick and smiled. "You want one? Go ask from Sanha. I'm sure he's got plenty, seeing that he just refilled his cup."

I glanced back at Sanha, noticing that he had just stuffed more tteokbokki into his cup it might overflow. He put the new box of tteokbokki back down on the table and avoided my eyes at all cost but his cheeks were already flushing red. Either it was the natural colour of his cheeks or it was the makeup. 

Rocky lightly elbowed me. "Eh? How cute, the both of you." 

"Don't make me choke you with your stick, Park Minhyuk-sshi," I hissed under my breath. 

"You called me Park Minhyuk-sshi again. Aigoo," Rocky said, sighing as he continued eating. That didn't mean the teasing smile on his lips stopped as well. 

"Here," Sanha said as he handed me the full cup of tteokbokki without looking at me. He looked like some cold guy from the dramas. Hmm, Hwang Sungyeol from Hi! School - Love On? Kang Tae Joon from To The Beautiful You? 

I grinned at him as I took the cup from his hands. "Changed your mind so quickly, Yoon Sanha?"

"I-I've got my own box right here." Sanha patted on the box of tteokbokki on the table. "You can have that. You seem to love tteokbokki."

I tried so hard not to laugh. Why did I find this hilarious?

"Aigoo, look at those two. It's only the first day of filming and they're suddenly so close," Jin Jin teased as he ate up. 

I stabbed my stick deep into the tteokbokki in the cup and pulled it out. "You see this, Jin Jin-sshi? This will be you if you don't stop."

"Violent too," Moonbin added. Turning to Sanha, he gave him a thumbs up. "You found a girl to keep right there, Yoon Sanha."

"Technically, the CEO chose her for Sanha," Eun Woo intelligently told Moonbin, eating up as well. "But, I agree. Sanha is willing to keep her if he really wanted to."

"Although, there's the risk of real dating because of our contracts," MJ told them, butting into the conversation. Throwing Sanha an apologetic smile, he told him, "Wait three more years until you can date in secret, maknae."

I accidentally snorted, which resulted the others snapping their heads at my direction. Oh, that was very unlady like of me. "Sorry. I just didn't think we'd be dating for real after three years."

"What was that snort for, Aerim? Plus, it sounded like a pig," Rocky teased, rolling his eyes at me as he grinned. "Also, you'll never know what will happen in the future."

"Yah!" I screeched, about to hit him but refrained from creating trouble and news. 

"You can't 'yah' your oppa, Yoon Aerim," Rocky lectured me, pinching my bottom and upper lips together so I couldn't talk. 

"Then you can't call me a pig." I slapped his hands away, throwing glares at him. I eyed the other boys and asked, "What's with you boys and skin ship? Ever since I got here, you guys keep touching my cheeks and such." I glared at Rocky. "And this one just touched my lips."

"Wae? Did you not want me to touch it with my fingers? Did you want my lips to meet yours?" Rocky teased, leaning in closer as he grinned. 

That was when Sanha threw a protective hand over me and pulled me closer to him. "Hyung! She's only fifteen! You can't kiss her! You're both still minors. Plus, she's my girlfriend."

I slapped Sanha's hands off me and sat back down peacefully. "MJ oppa! Please help me. Your younger brothers are really touchy, it's dangerous." Then, giving Sanha a look, I shook my head at him. "Your girlfriend? You can stop, really. There are no cameras here."

MJ was surprised to hear me call him oppa but quickly reacted by standing up and patting on the seat he sat on. "You sit here. Best to stay away from those two."

"Yah, hyung! You're not supposed to steal her away from us!" Sanha complained, putting down his stick on the table. 

"What do you mean us? Don't you mean you?" Rocky teased once again. "She can move and sit wherever she wants and I won't even bother that much."

I slapped Rocky's arm. "You're such a big meanie, Park Minhyuk-sshi."

"How about Rocky hyung moves somewhere else and both Aerim and I stay here, hmm?" Sanha asked, holding tightly onto my wrist. 

"Seriously?" I removed his hand off my wrist. "There are no cameras here, Yoon Sanha. You can stop acting like this."

He only smiled at my direction. 

What a weirdo. 

Before I could even move seats, my phone began ringing. I read the caller's ID: Jeonghan oppa. Oh, snap! I still haven't explained fully what I was up to these days. 

Biting onto my lower lip, I swiped the answer button and brought the phone up my ear, "N-nae, oppa?"

"Yah, Yoon Aerim! Where are you, huh? I was going to pick you up at school but Ayoung told me you didn't come to school! Did you skip school? I will seriously shave your head, Yoon Aerim! Just you wait!" Jeonghan yelled on the other line. 

I had to pull the phone away from my ear if I didn't want to become deaf. Silently sighing, I tried to explain to Jeonghan, "I told you, didn't I? That I had this—"

"Please don't tell me you skipped school to stalk Yoon Sanha or something." Even if we were on the phone, I could hear Jeonghan face palm on the other line. "Where are you now?"

"I don't think it's the best idea for you to—"

"Where are you?" Jeonghan sounded more demanding by the second. "Tell me so I can come there. Or are you too busy stalking your own cousin?"

"Why do you keep—"

"Hurry up, Yoon Aerim. Either we keep this between us or get our parents involved." 

Damn it, I hated it when he threatens to tell our parents. With a mouthful of sighs, I answered, "Fantiago Entertainment."

"I'm on my way." Then the line beeped, marking the end of it.

What have I just done?

~Author's Notes~

Slowly climbing out of the hole I call my writer's block :) And, look! This chapter's a long one, so I hope you enjoyed reading it! 

QOTU:

If Aerim and Sanha were a ship, what would their ship name be?

Comment down below your thoughts! :)

xoxo

Byun Sang Kyung