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“Shua-hyung, do you like me?”
Joshua blinked. And smiled. A smile that hopefully came as natural as it could be. “Of course I like you, Dokyeom-ah. Why should I dislike you?”
Dokyeom–bless his pure heart–scratched his cheek. “Well. I mean. I know you like me. And I know you like everyone else. We’re good as a family, aren’t we?”
Joshua nodded in agreement. “Of course we are, of course we are.”
“But, Shua-hyung.” Oh my. He looked hesitant now. What kind of reason should Joshua use to flee? “The ‘like’ that I’m talking about. It’s not familial like, though.”
Say ‘I’m sorry I have to call my Mom now’? Or ‘Look Dokyeom-ah, it’s time for lunch! Come on, I'm hungry!’?
“Shua-hyung,” Dokyeom called his name, for the third time. What was the saying again? ‘Third time's the charm’?
Remembering Jeonghan’s ‘taunting’, Joshua took a deep breath.
And smiled much more naturally.
“Yes, Dokyeom-ah?”
Dokyeom smiled, oh so sheepishly, oh so cutely. Very adorable, in Joshua’s personal opinion. Looking like a high schooler trying to confess for the first time, Dokyeom said:
“I think, I’m in love with you.”
Just like that, and Joshua felt like he had fallen into a much deeper pit, without knowing how to climb out–without feeling wanting to get out.