From admiration to love on occasion

Friends will be friends

She sighed and put on her comfortable training clothes. It was just a tracking suit with matching grey pants and hoodie. She put her hair up in a ponytail and added some concealer beneath her eyes to hide the dark circles. She also swallowed a pill to soothe her headache. It wasn't too bad, but she didn't wanna fall behind at practice because of hangovers.

She convinced herself that telling the girls about Taehyung could wait till later, and then left the restroom and entered the practice room instead. When she got there, Yongsun and some choreographers were there already. "Hey Wheein," Yongsun said with a smile. "You're earlier than usual." Wheein nodded, reciprocating the smile.

"Proud of me?" she grinned, making the leader laugh as well.

---

After dance practice, Wheein brought Hyejin back to her place so they could have the girly day they couldn't get yesterday. "So!" Wheein said, cracking a bottle of wine open, pouring the dark red liquid into two glasses. "Any updates with you and Namjoon?" She looked curiously at her friend who simply laughed while taking one glass in hand. She swung the glass slightly so the wine crept up the sides, leaving a light red color on them.

"Not really," Hyejin answered. "We spoke a bit earlier this week. BTS are going on a tour next month, so there's a lot of preparation for them. We've decided to meet up before they leave, but I don't really know what it'll all turn into." She shrugged and took a sip of her wine. Wheein was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She didn't know BTS was going on a tour. She beat herself up in her mind, trying to let go of the sad feeling she got, knowing she wouldn't be able to see Taehyung for a long amount of time.

"You can just keep in touch with him, it'll be fine," Wheein said with an encouraging smile, trying to give both her friend and herself a little hope. "But what do you mean you don't know what it'll turn into? You have feelings for him, right?" Hyejin walked to the couch and Wheein followed her. They both sat down.

"I don't know what I'm feeling," she replied, shrugging once again. "Or.. I mean-" She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "It's not that I don't have feelings for him. I just have a hard time telling by his actions whether or not he likes me in that way. We haven't even kissed." Wheein frowned.

"You haven't?" Maybe it was because things with Taehyung had moved so quickly, but she found it weird that Hyejin and Namjoon hadn't had any romantic interactions with each other.

She shook her head. "No, we haven't. We've only been together in private twice and-" Hyejin was interrupted by the sudden buzzing from Wheein's phone. Wheein put away her glass on the coffee table and grabbed her phone from her back-pocket. It was Taehyung. She bit her lip, wanting to answer the phone - but sisters before misters. That was what her and Hyejin had always agreed on. Therefore she just turned the volume down, put the phone back and directed her attention at Hyejin once again with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, that was just.. uhm.." She scratched her hair, once again grabbing her glass of wine and taking a quick sip. She was panicking. She didn't know what to say. She could easily lie and say it was her parents, but maybe this was in fact the perfect time to confess to her friend. She gently hit her fingernails against the glass and licked her lips.

"Just who?" Hyejin raised an eyebrow curiously. With the following silence, it seemed that she became aware of what type of person had called her. "Is there a man in your life that you haven't told me about?" She scooched closer to Wheein, who let out a small laugh.

"No! Or, I mean- ...kinda?" She covered her friend's mouth, knowing she was about to scream out loud. That led to both of them laughing. "We've only been on one date, alright? It's really not a big deal," Wheein continued, but it was as if Hyejin didn't really listen to her words. She kept staring at her with that same curious look, wanting Wheein to give more information - which she didn't.

"Not a big deal, my ass!" Hyejin then exclaimed. "Tell me about him! What's his name? Do I know him? Is he cute? Geez, Wheein-ie, give me some details for the love of god!" Wheein laughed and took a big sip of her wine.

"I'm pretty sure you know who he is," she replied after having stayed silent for a bit. Her words simply increased Hyejin's excitement and curiosity. "It's, erhm.. it's Taehyung." She looked nervously at her friend, fearing her reaction. "From BTS, you know," she kept going. The smile on Hyejin's lips grew bigger, and she placed her glass of wine on the table before wrapping her arms around Wheein with a whine.

"Wheein! That's crazy!" she almost screamed, making Wheein laugh softly, hugging her friend back.

"Not THAT crazy," she said, giggling and pulling away. "I feel like you're forgetting what I told you. It's not a big deal, and we've only been on one single date." Wheein sent Hyejin a serious look, trying to make her understand. It didn't seem like that was possible for her, though.

"Shut up! Taehyung's like.. known internationally and everything!" Wheein rolled her eyes while smiling, pushing the friend's shoulder gently.

"I know! That's why we're not gonna make a big deal out of it. It's only you and the BTS-members that know, which is already more than enough. I haven't even gotten the chance to figure out how I feel about him yet." It was now Hyejin's time to roll her eyes. She took her glass of wine in hand again, taking a sip.

"Was it Taehyung who called you?" Wheein nodded. "Then why the fuck didn't you pick up? Hurry, call him back!" Wheein widened her eyes, sending the friend a confused look.

"Why? Why do I have to call him back?"

"Because! Maybe he wants to arrange a date or something." Wheein was about to say something, but Hyejin wouldn't allow her. "Listen, either you call him yourself or I'm gonna dial his number for you." The look in her eyes was serious, telling Wheein that there was no way she could avoid calling him.