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It was no secret that Nano was a shipper. Anyone who knew him well had seen firsthand his ability to detect chemistry like a bloodhound tracking a scent. He could sense romantic tension the way others noticed a change in weather: instinctively, inevitably, and often before anyone else had a clue.
It had taken him one look at Jun and Dylan to know these two were meant to be. They were his masterpiece in progress, his most obvious yet most stubborn case study.
For four years, Nano had been studying his most fascinating subjects. The two moved around each other like gravitational pull. Their arguments over everything from coffee orders to chord progressions had become MARS's background soundtrack, familiar enough that the rest of the band had learned to tune it out entirely.
"They fight about the stupidest things," Nano had complained to Pepper just last week after watching Jun and Dylan spend twenty minutes debating the merits of different guitar picks. "It's like they've forgotten how to have normal conversations."
Pepper, ever the voice of reason, had simply raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly would you have them do instead?"
The answer, in Nano's mind, was obvious: stop pretending they didn't want to tear each other's clothes off and just get on with it already. But Pepper's pointed looks had kept him from any truly drastic interventions. Although, the idea of the locked practice room remained temptingly viable.
It should have been textbook. The handsome charmer and the gruff rapper, trading barbs and heated looks, using conflict as foreplay because they couldn't figure out how to just talk to each other like normal humans. Nano had been waiting for four years for the inevitable explosion, the moment when all that pent-up energy would finally find its proper outlet.
But that was the issue, he was still waiting.
The near-disbandment crisis had shifted something fundamental in their dynamic. Where Nano had expected a breakthrough—tears, confessions, maybe some life-affirming making out in the practice room—instead he'd gotten... nothing. Well, not nothing exactly. They'd grown softer around the edges, less sharp in their verbal sparring. But old habits die hard, and they'd retreated back to their familiar pattern of aggressive flirtation disguised as mutual antagonism.
Not that Nano minded the entertainment value. Watching Jun deploy his devastating smile to fluster Dylan mid-rap, or seeing Dylan's carefully crafted indifference crumble whenever Jun absently ran his fingers through his hair, was better than any drama series.
The new ONER contract had changed everything and nothing. More creative freedom meant longer hours, tighter deadlines, and a schedule that left little time for Nano's usual meddling. Months blurred together in a haze of recording sessions, photo shoots, and promotional events.
Longer hours and packed schedules should have created more opportunities for the kind of explosive moments Nano lived for. Instead, Jun and Dylan had settled into something that looked almost like... comfortable coexistence.
Which was impossible. Nano had watched them for four years. He knew their patterns better than they did. Jun couldn't be in the same room as Dylan without finding some excuse to show off. Dylan, meanwhile, had perfected the art of pretending Jun's existence was a minor inconvenience while simultaneously tracking his every movement like a heat-seeking missile.
But somewhere in that whirlwind, something fundamental had shifted.
Nano couldn't pinpoint the exact moment he'd noticed. Maybe it was the way their usual heated glares had started lasting a beat too long, or how their "accidental" touches had begun to linger with deliberate intent. The change was subtle but unmistakable.
For the first time in years, Nano found himself hesitant to push. Whatever delicate equilibrium Jun and Dylan had reached felt too fragile for his usual heavy-handed approach. Instead, he watched from the sidelines, cataloging every meaningful glance and loaded pause like a scientist documenting a rare phenomenon.
The annual ONER company retreat couldn't have come at a better time. Two days at a luxury resort with the entire label family was the perfect pressure cooker environment for forcing whatever was happening between Jun and Dylan into the open. Nano had attended enough of these events to know that enforced relaxation had a way of stripping away people's usual defenses.
This year, he was determined to crack the case.
Room assignments were always a strategic battlefield, but Nano had done his homework. Pepper's agreement to room with Thame and Po had been secured through a combination of logical argument and shameless bribery.
Pepper knew when to give Nano leeway and when to draw the line. This was innocent enough for him to indulge.
With one of the two triple rooms filled, it left a mathematical certainty that should have sent Jun and Dylan into their usual spiral of creative excuses and passive-aggressive alternatives.
Instead, when Nano announced the arrangements with his most innocent smile, both of them barely reacted.
Dylan glanced up from his phone, shrugged. "Cool. Whatever."
Jun nodded with the kind of easy acceptance that immediately set off every alarm bell in Nano's head. "Sounds good to me."
No protests. No sudden concerns about incompatible schedules or bathroom habits. No elaborate suggestions for room swaps that would coincidentally separate them. That only made Nano more suspicious.
For the first time in four years of meticulous observation, Nano found himself completely stumped. Every instinct he'd honed told him something monumental had shifted between Jun and Dylan, but he couldn't figure out what, when, or how he'd missed it.
The only thing he knew for certain was that he was about to spend two days finding out exactly what he'd been blind to. And knowing Jun and Dylan's talent for making simple situations impossibly complicated, it was going to be one hell of a revelation.
The bus ride to the resort provided the first real clue, though Nano almost missed it in his focus on seating arrangements.
Of course, Jun and Dylan didn't sit next to each other. Pepper had strategically planted himself between them like a human buffer zone, a position he'd perfected over years of preventing World War III. But as Nano settled into his own seat, something caught his eye.
Jun was wearing only one earbud, the right one nestled in his ear. And there, on Pepper’s other side, Dylan sat with his usual noise-canceling headphones conspicuously absent, sporting a single white earbud in his left ear instead.
Nano blinked, certain he was imagining things. Jun and Dylan—who fought tooth and nail over every creative decision, who had once spent an entire afternoon in passive-aggressive warfare over whether a bridge should be four bars or eight—were sharing a playlist? And Dylan, who treated his headphones like a fortress wall against the world, had voluntarily lowered his defenses?
Well, that was definitely new.
Nano spent the rest of the journey cataloging this development, watching as Jun occasionally glanced back at Dylan with something that looked less like irritation and more like... checking in? And Dylan, rather than his usual practice of pointedly ignoring Jun's existence, seemed to be actually listening to whatever they were sharing, his fingers tapping silently against his thigh in rhythm.
By the time they reached the resort, Nano's detective instincts were in overdrive.
The room was exactly what he'd expected from a company retreat: clean, functional, and designed for maximum awkwardness. A double bed dominated most of the space, with a single pushed against it like an afterthought. The setup was perfect for Nano's purposes.
He didn't hesitate before launching his first test.
"So," he said with studied casualness while dropping his bag, "do you guys want to share the bed?"
The reaction was immediate and exactly what he'd expected from the Jun and Dylan of last year.
Dylan scoffed, the sound was sharp enough to cut glass. "Sharing a room is fine, but I draw the line at sharing a bed."
"As if I'd want your cold feet near me," Jun shot back. He punctuated the retort by tossing his pajamas onto the double bed, staking his claim while seemingly relegating Dylan to the single.
Nano filed away every micro-expression, every slight hesitation. The words were right, the choreography familiar, but something about the performance felt just slightly... rehearsed.
Interesting!
Although Jun and Dylan spent most of the day apart by joining separate activity groups, Nano didn't miss the small moments that peppered their interactions. During Khun Pemika's mandatory welcome speech, they'd somehow ended up sitting next to each other in the resort's main pavilion, legs spread wide in their usual manspreading competition until their knees bumped. But instead of the sharp jerks away that used to follow such contact, they'd simply... stayed there. Knees touching like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Then there was the whispered conversation about afternoon activities that Nano definitely wasn't supposed to overhear. Jun had chosen jet skiing with Thame and Po. Dylan had simply nodded and mentioned something about preferring to linger by the pool, their tone suggesting coordination rather than avoidance.
By evening, when they trudged back to their room to change for the themed dinner party, Nano was practically vibrating with investigative energy.
"You know what's weird?" he announced, flopping dramatically onto Dylan’s single bed while Jun and Dylan rummaged through their luggage. "You two haven't fought all day. Like, not even once."
Dylan paused in his search for his costume, shooting Nano a look that was entirely confused. "We weren't even together most of the day."
"Exactly!" Nano sat up, pointing at Dylan like he'd just solved a murder case. "That's what's weird. Usually, you find reasons to fight even when you're in different time zones."
Jun's laugh resonated as he held up two different shirts, apparently weighing his options. "Maybe we're just getting mature in our old age."
"Mature," Nano repeated slowly, like the word tasted foreign on his tongue. "Right. Jun. You. Mature."
"Hey!" Jun protested with the kind of fond exasperation he reserved only for Nano.
The room had fallen into an eerily comfortable silence, the kind that used to be filled with pointed comments. Instead, Jun and Dylan moved around each other with efficiency, Dylan stepping aside automatically when Jun needed to access the bathroom, Jun wordlessly handing Dylan a wrinkled shirt that needed steaming.
It was domestic in a way that made Nano's brain itch with unresolved questions.
Something was definitely happening here, and he was going to figure out what.
The themed dinner party unfolded exactly as expected. The resort's main dining hall had been transformed with tropical decorations and tiki torches, the dress code calling for "island casual" that had resulted in too many Hawaiian shirts, sundresses, and at least three people who'd taken the theme way too literally with transforming themselves into actual islands.
The food was exceptional, conversations flowed as freely as the cocktails, and the usual ONER family dynamics played out across the scattered tables. Nano found himself caught up in the infectious energy, laughing at Pepper's surprisingly accurate impression of their A&R director and getting pulled into an animated debate about the new recording studio setup with some of the sound engineers.
It wasn't until the DJ cranked up the music and people started migrating toward the makeshift dance floor that Nano felt the familiar pull of bass-heavy beats calling to him. He'd always been helpless against a good rhythm, and tonight the combination of tropical drinks and freedom from their usual schedule had him feeling loose and ready to move.
"Come on!" he called over his shoulder to the table as he bounced toward the growing crowd of dancers, but when he turned back a few minutes later, flushed and slightly breathless from an enthusiastic attempt at salsa with another vocalist whose name he didn’t remember, his eyes automatically sought out his bandmates.
Pepper was exactly where he'd left him, deep in conversation with Thame and Po about something that required a lot of hand gestures. But Jun and Dylan's chairs sat conspicuously empty, their barely touched desserts still sitting abandoned on the table.
Nano paused mid-dance move, scanning the dining hall with the methodical precision of a security camera. The room was packed with ONER employees in various states of drunkenness, but nowhere in that sea of familiar faces could he spot either Jun's perfectly styled hair or Dylan's signature pout.
He kept dancing, but his attention was split now, eyes constantly sweeping the room for any sign of his missing bandmates. The bar area—nope. The outdoor terrace where some people had migrated for air—negative. Even the far corners where the more introverted staff members had claimed quiet tables—nothing.
It wasn't until nearly an hour later, when he'd worked up a proper sweat and was heading back to grab some water, that he finally caught sight of them. Jun appeared first, emerging from the direction of the resort's garden paths with his hair slightly mussed and his shirt wrinkled in a way that suggested it had been bunched or thrown away carelessly. Dylan followed a few minutes later from the same general direction, looking suspiciously relaxed and sporting what might have been grass stains on his jeans.
They didn't return to the table together—Jun made a beeline for the bar while Dylan circled around to approach from the other side—but there was something about their timing, their carefully casual reappearance, that made every one of Nano's detective instincts start screaming.
Had these two actually disappeared together? Snuck off to some quiet corner away from the party, away from Nano's increasingly obvious surveillance?
The implications made his head spin with possibilities.
He was growing sure something was going on. Something either sexual or romantic or both—the kind of breakthrough he'd been predicting for four years. Had he somehow missed when it actually happened?
He'd intended to return to the dance floor, let the music wash away his overthinking and enjoy the rest of the party like a normal person. Instead, Nano found himself abandoning that plan entirely, gravitating toward Dylan with the single-minded focus of a moth drawn to flame.
Dylan had claimed a spot at the edge of the main seating area, nursing what looked like beer and surveying the party with his usual air of detached observation. Perfect. Isolated target, no escape routes.
Nano plopped down in the chair beside him without invitation or preamble.
"Where were you?" he asked, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.
Dylan didn't even look at him, taking a deliberate sip of his beer before responding with casual indifference. "None of your business."
The deflection was textbook Dylan: dismissive, slightly irritated, designed to shut down unwanted conversation. It might have worked on someone else. But Nano had spent too many years studying Dylan's defensive mechanisms, he wasn’t about to back down.
"Were you with Jun?" Nano pushed, watching Dylan's face like a hawk studying prey.
There! Just the slightest tick of Dylan's jaw, a micro-expression that lasted barely a fraction of a second before being smoothed away behind his usual mask of indifference.
"Why would I spend time with Jun?" Dylan's voice carried just the right note of dismissal, the kind of tone that suggested the very idea was mildly ridiculous.
Anyone else might have been fooled by the performance. The words were pitch-perfect, the delivery flawless. But Nano wasn't anyone else, and he'd made a career out of reading between the lines of Dylan's carefully constructed poker face.
More importantly, he caught the way Dylan's eyes unconsciously darted across the room—just for a split second—landing on Jun's figure at the bar before snapping back to his beer bottle. It was involuntary, instinctive and Dylan realized his mistake the moment it happened, his shoulders tensing almost imperceptibly. But it was too late. Nano had seen it, cataloged it, and filed it away as evidence in his growing case.
"Interesting," Nano murmured, leaning back in his chair with the satisfied air of a detective who'd just cracked a crucial piece of the puzzle.
Nano knew he wouldn't get anything else out of him tonight. Not when Dylan had his defenses up and was actively on guard against further interrogation.
Time for a strategic retreat.
"Well," Nano said with exaggerated casualness while standing up, "I guess I'll go back to embarrassing myself on the dance floor."
He could feel Dylan's eyes tracking him as he walked away, but Nano didn't look back. Sometimes the best way to catch someone off guard was to let them think they'd won.
Nano threw himself back into dancing with renewed enthusiasm. The physical movement helped process his racing thoughts, each beat matching the rhythm of puzzle pieces clicking into place in his mind.
It was during a brief pause to grab some water that he noticed the subtle reshuffling that had taken place at his bandmates' table. Jun had appeared beside Pepper, Thame, and Po, looking relaxed and engaged in whatever animated conversation was happening. That part wasn't surprising considering Jun’s extroverted nature.
The surprise came in who was sitting beside him.
Nano had missed the exact moment, but somehow Dylan had been coaxed away from his solitary corner and was now part of the group, looking less like he'd been dragged there against his will and more like he... belonged there. Like it was natural for him to be sitting close enough to Jun that their shoulders occasionally brushed when one of them leaned forward to contribute to the conversation.
The transformation was subtle but unmistakable. Dylan, who usually treated social gatherings like endurance tests to be survived, was actually participating. Even from across the room, Nano could see him responding to something Po had said, the ghost of what might have been a genuine smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Nano would have loved nothing more than to march over and insert himself into whatever conversation was happening, to probe and analyze every interaction for clues. But the music was calling to him, his body still thrumming with energy, and sometimes the best intelligence came from patient observation rather than direct interference.
He made a mental note to interrogate Pepper tomorrow about anything interesting that might have been said.
By the time Nano finally stumbled back to their room, it was well past four in the morning. He'd danced until his shirt was soaked with sweat and his legs felt like rubber, the kind of complete physical exhaustion that usually guaranteed immediate unconsciousness.
He fumbled for his key card, trying to be as quiet as possible as he slipped into the darkened room. The soft glow from his phone revealed exactly what he'd expected to find: Jun and Dylan fast asleep in their respective separated beds.
Except...
Nano paused, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light, and realized that "separated" might not be the most accurate description of what he was seeing.
Dylan's single bed was plenty spacious for one person, but he'd somehow managed to fold himself onto the side nearest to Jun, leaving almost half the mattress empty behind him. It was like he'd unconsciously gravitated toward the other bed, drawn by some invisible magnetic force.
And Jun—Jun, who usually sprawled across whatever sleeping surface was available like he was claiming territory—had somehow ended up pressed against the edge of the double bed closest to Dylan. One arm hung over the side, fingers reaching toward the gap between their beds like he was trying to bridge the distance even in sleep.
Nano's detective brain immediately started calculating angles and lighting, wondering if he could capture this moment as evidence. But the camera flash would definitely wake at least one of them—Jun especially was a notoriously light sleeper when not in his own familiar bed—and destroying the scene to document it seemed counterproductive.
Instead, he committed every detail to memory: the way Dylan's breathing seemed to match Jun's rhythm, the mere inches of space between Dylan's fingertips and Jun's dangling hand that somehow felt more intimate than if they'd been actively holding hands.
Nano managed to change into his pajamas and brush his teeth without disturbing either of them, though he had to resist the urge to accidentally-on-purpose make noise just to see how they'd react to being woken up. Instead, he settled carefully into his claimed spot on the other side of Jun's bed, his mind still spinning with the implications of everything he'd observed.
Despite the adrenaline of discovery coursing through his veins, exhaustion won out within minutes. But even as sleep claimed him, one thought echoed clearly through his fading consciousness: tomorrow, he was going to get answers.
Nano woke to the sound of whispered conversation, soft voices pulling him gently from sleep. At first, the words were too muffled to make out, just the gentle cadence of familiar voices trying not to disturb. But then one word cut through the haze loudly enough to fully wake him but still quiet enough to suggest the speakers thought they were being careful.
His ears perked up automatically, years of being the baby brother in a house full of secrets having trained him to catch conversations that weren't meant for him.
"Come on, Dyl'," Jun's voice was barely above a whisper, but Nano could hear the pleading note threading through it. "Just five minutes. Nano's asleep, he won't notice."
Nano's heart rate spiked, but he forced himself to remain perfectly still. He was facing away from them, which worked in his favor. He kept his eyes closed and concentrated on maintaining the deep, even breathing pattern of someone lost in sleep.
The rustle of sheets followed, and Nano could picture Dylan carefully checking to make sure he was truly unconscious.
"Fine," came Dylan's reply, so quiet Nano almost missed it. But the resigned fondness in that single word made Nano's chest tighten with the magnitude of what he was witnessing.
The mattress beneath him dipped as Jun carefully extracted himself from their shared bed, and Nano had to concentrate on not letting his breathing change as he listened to the soft rustle of sheets and the quiet padding of bare feet across the space between beds.
There was a moment of careful maneuvering—whispered instructions and gentle shifts—and then Jun's voice again, slightly muffled now as if his face was pressed against something soft.
"Shit, your feet are icy."
The complaint was accompanied by what sounded like Dylan slapping Jun's arm in retaliation.
"Shush," Dylan hissed. "I didn't have my personal heater last night. I don't understand how you can run so hot all the time."
"Thanks, babe," Jun's whispered reply carried a grin that Nano could hear even without seeing it. "I know I'm hot."
"Shut up," Dylan's response was immediate but fond, tinged with the kind of exasperated affection that spoke of countless similar exchanges. "You're going to wake Nano."
Nano's mind reeled as the pieces finally, definitively clicked into place. The casual endearments, the easy intimacy, the way they moved around each other like they'd been sharing space for months… because they had been. This wasn't the tentative beginning of something new; this was an established relationship operating in stealth mode.
He debated whether to make himself known, to sit up and demand explanations and timelines and all the details he'd been missing. But something held him back. Maybe the contentment in their quiet voices, or the rare vulnerability of hearing them when they thought they were truly alone.
Instead, he lay still and let the reality wash over him: after four years of watching them dance around each other, Jun and Dylan had finally figured it out. They were together—actually, genuinely together—and somehow he'd been too focused on looking for the beginning to notice they'd already reached the middle.
The why of their secrecy was harder to parse. Company policy around dating was notoriously restrictive, sure, but ONER had been relatively flexible with Thame and Po once their relationship was out in the open. Keeping it from the band felt unnecessary. Pepper had always been supportive, and Nano himself had been actively rooting for this outcome for years.
But as he listened to their quiet murmurs and the sound of them settling into what was clearly a familiar configuration, Nano found himself caring less about the reasons and more about the simple fact that they'd found their way to each other.
The questions could wait. For now, it was enough to know that his instincts had been right all along.
Silence settled over the room for several minutes, broken only by the soft sound of synchronized breathing. Nano began to wonder if they'd drifted back to sleep in their stolen embrace when Jun's voice cut through the quiet darkness.
"Take a shower with me," he said, and even whispered, the demand carried enough heat to make Nano's cheeks flush with secondhand embarrassment.
"No." Dylan's response was immediate and definitive.
It didn't deter Jun in the slightest. "Why not?" The whine in his voice was so exaggerated it was almost cartoonish, but there was real disappointment underneath the theatrics.
"Because," Dylan's voice carried the patient tone of someone explaining basic logic to a particularly dense child, "how exactly are we going to explain stepping out of the bathroom together if Nano wakes up before we're done?"
There was a pause, and when Dylan continued, his voice had dropped to an even quieter whisper, tinged with fond exasperation. "Besides, I can feel exactly why you're asking, and I'm not helping with that. Take matters into your own hands. I'm not in the mood to deal with the logistics of keeping quiet."
"You're so mean to me," Jun complained, but his voice held more amusement than genuine upset. "Lucky for you, you're cute when you're being all practical and responsible."
What happened next made Nano's face burn with the realization that he was definitely overhearing something too private for his ears. There was a soft sound—unmistakably a kiss, though Nano couldn't tell if it had landed on lips, cheek, or somewhere else entirely—followed by Dylan's quiet exhale that sounded suspiciously like pleasure mixed with resignation.
"Go," Dylan murmured, and Nano could hear the smile in his voice. "Before I change my mind about being responsible."
Jun's quiet chuckle was followed by the sound of careful movement and soft footsteps padding across the floor. The bathroom door closed with a gentle click, and moments later Nano heard the shower turn on.
He forced himself to wait several more minutes, counting his breaths and listening to the rustle of sheets being adjusted, the quiet beep of a phone being unlocked. Only when he was certain enough time had passed did he begin his own theatrical awakening, complete with an exaggerated stretch and a jaw-cracking yawn that would have earned him a drama award.
When he turned over, blinking in the pale morning light filtering through the curtains, he found Dylan propped up against his pillows, scrolling through his phone like he hadn't just been cuddling with his secret boyfriend.
"Morning," Nano offered, keeping his voice gently rough with fake sleep.
Dylan glanced up briefly, offering a noncommittal grunt that could have been a greeting before returning his attention to his screen.
Nano didn't want to overplay his hand, so he settled for mirroring Dylan's behavior: grabbing his own phone and scrolling aimlessly while occasionally stretching or shifting position. The performance felt absurd, but maintaining the illusion seemed important for everyone's comfort level.
When the shower finally shut off, Nano made a show of rummaging through his luggage, giving Dylan a few precious moments of privacy before Jun emerged. He took his time selecting clothes, sneaking glances at Dylan's face and noting the way his expression softened almost imperceptibly when the bathroom door opened.
"Bathroom's free," Jun announced to the room in general, but Nano caught the way his eyes lingered on Dylan for just a beat too long.
"Perfect timing," Nano said, gathering his toiletries with deliberate efficiency. "I'll grab a quick shower before we head to breakfast."
As he stepped into the steam-warm bathroom, Nano couldn't help but smile at his own cleverness. A few minutes of privacy would give Jun and Dylan the chance to steal whatever moments they could—maybe a proper good morning kiss, maybe just the simple intimacy of existing in the same space without having to perform careful distance.
The thought of them finding these small pockets of authenticity in between the secrecy made his chest warm with affection. They looked happy. They sounded happy. And really, that was all that mattered.
Armed with his newfound knowledge, Nano spent the rest of the day in a state of delighted observation. Every interaction between Jun and Dylan took on new layers of meaning like the way Dylan automatically handed Jun his sunscreen at the pool or how Jun's fingers lingered when passing Dylan a drink.
It was like watching a master class in secret relationship maintenance, and Nano found himself genuinely impressed by their skill at maintaining plausible deniability.
The afternoon found all six of them in the resort's main pool. True to form, someone had suggested chicken fights, and now they were pairing off strategically.
"If you make me fall, I'll kill you," Dylan announced, mainly aimed at Jun, with a menacing tone as Nano clambered onto Pepper's shoulders, wobbling precariously as he tried to find his balance.
"Won't be my fault if you're weak as hell and can't handle your opponent," Jun shot back, but Nano caught the way Dylan was willingly climbing onto Jun's shoulders, his hands definitely lingering longer than strictly necessary as he settled into position.
Nano had to bite back a knowing grin. From his elevated perch, he had a perfect view of Dylan's hands threading through Jun's wet hair—ostensibly for stability, but the gentle massage Dylan's fingers were giving Jun's scalp seemed far more intimate than necessary.
"Focus, Nano," Pepper warned from below, clearly feeling his passenger's attention wavering. "Size advantage only works if you use it strategically."
Right. Chicken fight. Nano surveyed the competition with renewed determination. Being the smallest didn't mean he couldn't be the most ruthless, and he'd been perfecting his technique for years.
Thame, perched on Po's impressively broad shoulders, looked like the obvious threat—height, reach, and Po's unwavering stability made them a formidable team. That left Jun and Dylan, who were still getting their bearings and bickering about hand placement in a way that was probably more flirtatious than either of them realized.
Decision made, Nano directed Pepper toward the JunDylan duo. "Take us in close," he whispered, adopting what he hoped was a menacing expression.
The ensuing battle was chaotic and mostly fair, a tangle of splashing water and competitive shouts. But when standard pushing and shoving wasn't getting results fast enough, Nano decided to deploy his secret weapon.
Instead of going for another shove, he reached out and began ruthlessly tickling Dylan's sides.
The effect was immediate and devastating.
"You're—that's not—you're not playing fair!" Dylan managed between helpless bursts of laughter, his whole body convulsing as he tried to escape Nano's attack while maintaining his position on Jun's shoulders.
Jun, for his part, seemed to be enjoying Dylan's predicament immensely. The smile spreading across his face was soft and fond.
When Dylan's defenses were thoroughly compromised, Nano delivered the finishing blow with a solid shove that sent Dylan toppling backward in a graceless arc. Jun, caught off guard by his suddenly shifting passenger, followed him down in a spectacular splash that sent waves cascading across the pool.
They disappeared beneath the surface in a tangle of limbs and bubbles, the churning water making it impossible to see clearly for several seconds. But when the chaos settled and Nano peered through the dispersing foam, he was almost certain he caught a glimpse of movement beneath the water and Jun surging forward, using the temporary cover to steal a quick kiss.
The moment was over almost before it began, both of them surfacing with exaggerated gasps and complaints about water up their noses. But Nano had seen what he'd seen.
"Did you see that?" he squeaked, tapping Pepper's head frantically while trying to maintain his balance. "Jun kissed Dylan! Underwater!"
"Your delusions have reached new heights, my dear Nano," Pepper replied with fond exasperation, patting the thigh that rested on his shoulder.
"Oh, P’Per," Nano said, his voice taking on a sing-song quality that usually meant trouble, "prepare yourself to be absolutely shocked. I haven't told you about what happened this morning yet."
"What happened this morning?" Thame chimed in from his perch, having maneuvered closer in preparation for their own battle. Po looked equally curious, though he was clearly trying to keep them steady in the water.
Dylan and Jun were still engaged in what appeared to be an attempt at mutual drowning, providing perfect cover for gossip.
"Jun and Dylan are dating," Nano announced in a stage whisper that carried more excitement than actual discretion.
"Nano," Pepper's voice held a warning note, but it was too late to stop the flood of revelations.
"They were talking so sweetly to each other this morning! I heard everything! And they were cuddling! " The words tumbled out in a rush of vindicated excitement.
"Who was cuddling?"
Jun's voice cut through the conversation like a knife, appearing at the pool's edge seemingly out of nowhere and making Nano yelp in surprise. Everyone turned to stare at the sudden intrusion, various expressions of panic flickering across their faces.
"No one," Po said quickly as he shot warning looks in Nano's direction.
Jun treaded water closer, his expression curious but not suspicious. "I'm not allowed to be in on company gossip? That seems unfair."
Nano's mind went completely blank, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he scrambled for any plausible explanation that wouldn't expose what he'd overheard.
"Nano was just telling us about his dream," Pepper intervened smoothly, once again proving why he was the leader. "Apparently his subconscious has some very interesting ideas about romance."
Jun's eyebrows rose in amusement.
"I’m a romantic at heart," Nano managed weakly, grateful for Pepper's quick thinking.
"Right," Jun said with a laugh, clearly buying the explanation. "Well, next time you dream about cuddling someone, make sure it's someone hot."
Jun grinned and pushed off from the pool edge, swimming back toward where Dylan was floating.
"I love you, Nano, but you need to learn when to shut up," Pepper said, his voice carrying the patient exhaustion of someone who'd had this conversation before.
Po's eyes darted toward the couple in question, taking in the way Jun was doing lazy circles around Dylan's floating form, staying just close enough that their movements looked coincidental. "Is it actually true, though?"
"Can we please drop this?" Pepper's tone sharpened with urgency. "Whatever may or may not be happening between them is none of our business. And more importantly, this is exactly the kind of weekend where the wrong person could overhear the wrong thing."
The weight of that hit Nano with shame. His excitement deflated immediately, replaced by a sick twist of guilt in his stomach. He hadn't meant to put Jun and Dylan at risk. He hadn't even considered that his loud-mouthed revelations could have consequences beyond satisfying his own curiosity.
But then Pepper's careful phrasing filtered through his shame, and Nano's analytical brain caught on the subtle implications. The way Pepper had said "whatever may or may not be happening" with the resigned air of someone managing a situation rather than discovering it. The specific mention of keeping things quiet this weekend, as if he'd given this exact warning before.
From his perch on Pepper's shoulders, Nano used his height advantage to lean down and tap his friend's forehead with one finger.
"You already knew," he breathed, the realization hitting him like a thunderbolt. "Oh my god, P'Per, you already knew and you didn't tell me!"
Pepper's shoulders sagged beneath him, and when he looked up, his expression was a mixture of fondness and exasperation that Nano knew all too well.
"Jun told me about it months ago," Pepper admitted with a heavy sigh. "And before you ask, no, I'm not telling you any details. That's their story to share, not mine."
"Months ago?" Nano's voice cracked with betrayal. "How many months? When did it start? How did you keep it from me for months?"
"Nano." Pepper's warning tone was gentle but firm. "This is exactly why they haven't told you yet. You're about to interrogate me in the middle of a pool where anyone could hear, and you've already announced it to the entire band mere hours after learning about it."
The truth of that stung, but before Nano could formulate a proper response, Thame cleared his throat meaningfully.
"Incoming," he murmured, nodding toward where Jun and Dylan were swimming back in their direction, apparently having finished whatever they were doing.
Nano clamped his mouth shut so fast he nearly bit his tongue, but his mind was spinning with a dozen new questions. How long had Pepper been covering for them? What other signs had he missed while Pepper was actively helping maintain their secret? And most importantly, when exactly were Jun and Dylan planning to trust him with the truth?
At least it was clear from Thame and Po's reactions that they didn't know either, which brought Nano a small measure of relief. He wasn't the only one who'd been kept in the dark, though that knowledge did little to ease the complicated knot of emotions churning in his chest.
The journey home unfolded in the drowsy hush that always followed company outings with everyone too drained from forced socialization and scheduled fun to maintain their usual energy. Conversations were sparse, mostly confined to quiet murmurs about forgotten items or travel arrangements.
It should have been the perfect opportunity for Jun and Dylan to retreat to opposite ends of the bus, to rebuild the careful distance they always maintained. Instead, they'd somehow ended up in adjacent seats near the back, and Jun's exhaustion had apparently overridden whatever caution usually kept them apart.
Nano watched from several rows ahead as Jun's head gradually tilted sideways, drawn by gravity and tiredness until it came to rest against Dylan's shoulder. Dylan stiffened for just a moment before seemingly remembering that most of the assembly were asleep or absorbed in their own devices.
The transformation in Dylan's posture was subtle but unmistakable. His shoulders dropped, his breathing evened out, and after a moment of internal debate, he let his own head lean against Jun's dark hair.
It was painfully tender, the kind of unconscious intimacy that made Nano's chest ache with a mixture of fondness and want, sprinkled with guilt. Because while he was cataloging this moment of vulnerability, other people were doing the same thing.
He caught the subtle movement of phone cameras from the seats around them, the way other ONER employees were discretely capturing the scene with the predatory patience of wildlife photographers. Hushed conversations started up in different pockets of the bus, voices pitched just low enough to avoid waking the sleeping pair but loud enough for gossip to spread like wildfire.
"Are they...?"
"I mean, look at them..."
"Someone should definitely post this..."
The familiar thrill of insider knowledge curdled in Nano's stomach was quickly replaced by something that felt uncomfortably like shame. How many times had he done exactly this—seized on moments of perceived intimacy between Jun and Dylan, analyzed them, shared his theories with anyone who would listen? How many times had he contributed to exactly the kind of speculation that was happening around him right now?
The hypocrisy sat heavy in his throat. For years, he'd been the one pushing for this outcome, convinced that Jun and Dylan's happiness lay in finally admitting what seemed obvious to everyone else. But now that he knew the truth—that they'd found their way to each other quietly, carefully, on their own terms—he was beginning to understand why they'd chosen secrecy.
This bus ride would generate weeks of social media analysis. Fans would dissect every angle, every expression, looking for confirmation of theories they'd been nurturing for years. The photos would be cropped, enhanced, shared with breathless commentary about "soft moments" and "domestic vibes."
And Jun and Dylan would wake up to find their private moment of exhausted intimacy turned into public property, their relationship—if they chose to call it that—dissected by strangers who felt entitled to their truth.
Nano turned back around in his seat, pulling out his earbuds and trying to focus on anything other than the quiet conversations happening around him. But the damage was already spreading, phones lighting up with notifications as people shared their discoveries with friends who hadn't been on the trip.
By the time they reached Bangkok, Nano knew, the internet would be buzzing with speculation. And Jun and Dylan would have to navigate the aftermath of a moment they'd probably thought was safely hidden in the drowsy anonymity of a company bus ride home.
The guilt twisted deeper as Nano realized he was partially responsible for priming people to look for exactly this kind of moment. His years of obvious shipping, his pointed comments and knowing looks, had trained everyone around them to watch for signs of romance between Jun and Dylan.
He'd spent so long wanting to be right that he'd never considered what being right might cost them.
The weight of guilt sat so heavily in Nano's chest for the remainder of their journey home that the moment they crossed the threshold into the safety of their shared house, the words came spilling out of him like a dam had burst.
"I'm sorry for not being more careful around you both," he said to the room at large, though his eyes were fixed on Jun and Dylan's tense figures. "I'm sorry I overheard you this morning, and I'm sorry people are already posting photos online. I should have—I should have kept my mouth shut."
The silence that followed was deafening. Dylan's entire body went rigid, his shoulders drawing up toward his ears in a defensive line. Jun carefully set down his weekend bag and turned to face Nano with calm.
"So everyone knows now," Jun said, his voice eerily measured. It wasn't really a question.
"I'm sorry, Jun," Pepper confirmed gently, moving closer to place a supportive hand on his friend's shoulder. "It wasn't intentional, but—"
"Thank you," Jun interrupted, his voice softening as he looked at Pepper. "For keeping it to yourself all this time. I know how much you hate having to lie to the others."
He squeezed Pepper's hand briefly before turning back to address the group with something that looked like resigned acceptance.
"If anyone's angry with us for keeping this hidden, please just say it now so we can deal with it and move forward."
Angry? The idea was so foreign to Nano that he couldn't even process it. Who could possibly be angry about Jun and Dylan finally being happy together?
"No one's angry," Po said quickly, his voice warm with reassurance. "We're happy for you both."
"Maybe a little hurt that you felt like you couldn't trust us with something this important," Thame added carefully, "but not angry. Never angry."
Dylan, who had been standing frozen in the middle of the room like a deer caught in headlights, finally moved. But instead of joining the conversation, he bolted toward the hallway without a word, his bedroom door slamming with enough force to make the walls shake.
The sound reverberated through the sudden silence, leaving the rest of them staring at the empty space where Dylan had been standing.
Jun closed his eyes and let out a long, slow breath that seemed to deflate his entire body.
"I'm sorry," Nano whispered, tears already blurring his vision. "This is all my fault. I exposed you before you were ready, and now P'Dylan—"
"Hey." Jun's voice cut through his spiral, and suddenly there were arms wrapping around him, pulling him into a fierce hug that Jun reserved for moments when someone really needed it. "It's okay, Nano. This isn't your fault."
Nano felt Pepper's comforting hand land on his shoulder as he pressed his face against Jun's shirt, trying to muffle the sound of his guilt-ridden sniffles.
"But what if he breaks up with you because of this?" Nano managed through his tears. "What if he can't handle people knowing and—"
"Nano." Jun's voice was gentle but firm, with an underlying note of amusement that made Nano pull back to look at his face. "Dylan isn't going to break up with me because a few people saw us sleeping on a bus. He's just... processing. This is how he deals with things feeling out of control."
"But he looked so upset—"
"He is upset," Jun acknowledged. "But not at us, and not at you. Dylan gets overwhelmed when things change too fast, and finding out that our private relationship is now closer than ever to public knowledge definitely qualifies as a big change. Give him some time to sulk and adjust, and he'll be fine."
The confidence in Jun's voice was reassuring enough to slow Nano's racing heart, but he couldn't quite shake the image of Dylan's frozen body.
"Are you sure?" he asked in a small voice.
"I'm sure," Jun said firmly, then grinned. "I know my boyfriend pretty well by now."
The casual use of the word 'boyfriend' sent a thrill of joy through Nano that temporarily overrode his guilt. Despite everything, despite the chaos and the tears and Dylan's dramatic exit, hearing Jun say it out loud felt like a victory.
"Your boyfriend," Nano repeated, unable to suppress the smile spreading across his face.
"My boyfriend," Jun confirmed with a laugh. "Now, how about we order some food, I'll go coax the grumpy one out of his room, and we'll tell you everything you want to know. Deal?"
"Deal," Nano said, wiping his eyes as Pepper was already pulling out his phone to order their usual Chinese takeout.
Nano found himself unable to meet Dylan's eyes as they settled around the table laden with familiar Chinese takeout containers. The usual chaos of shared meals—reaching across each other for dishes, competing for the last dumpling, loud debates about everything and nothing—had been replaced by a careful politeness that made his skin crawl with discomfort.
He felt like a child waiting outside the principal's office, even though Jun kept shooting him reassuring smiles between bites of his caramel pork. The weight of unspoken truths pressed down on the room, making even the simple act of chewing feel monumentally loud.
It was Dylan who finally broke first, setting down his chopsticks and fixing Nano with a direct stare that made him squirm in his seat.
"I owe you an apology," Dylan said, his voice carrying none of its usual defensive edge. "For running off like that earlier. That wasn't fair to anyone, especially not to you when you were already feeling guilty about something that wasn't really your fault."
Nano opened his mouth to protest, but Dylan held up a hand to stop him.
"Let me finish," Dylan continued, glancing briefly at Jun before returning his attention to the group. "Jun and I... we've been dancing around each other for basically the entire existence of MARS. On and off, hot and cold, making it everyone else's problem without ever actually dealing with it ourselves."
Jun picked up the thread smoothly, as if they'd rehearsed this conversation. "We've been properly together—like, actually together and not just whatever mess we were before—since we signed the new contract with ONER. Eight months now."
Eight months. They'd been happy and settled and building something real for eight months, and he'd been completely oblivious. All his detective work, all his careful observation, and he'd somehow missed the most important development of their entire relationship.
"I know what you're thinking," Jun added quickly, reading the expression on Nano's face with ease. "And before you spiral about not noticing sooner, we worked really hard to make sure nobody would notice. That was the whole point."
"But why?" The question burst out of Nano before he could stop it, raw with genuine confusion. "Why hide it from us? We're your friends. We're your family. Did you really think we wouldn't support you?"
Dylan and Jun exchanged a loaded look, the kind that carried entire conversations in the space of a heartbeat.
"It wasn't about not trusting you," Dylan said carefully. "It was about... figuring out what we were first, without everyone watching and waiting for us to either explode or implode. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to have people analyzing every interaction, every argument, every time you're in the same room together?"
The accusation hit home, and Nano felt heat creep up his neck as he remembered years of pointed comments and knowing looks.
"Plus," Jun added with a rueful laugh, "let's be honest about our track record. We spent three years being absolute disasters at communication. When we finally got our act together, we wanted to make sure it was going to stick before we made it everyone else's business too."
"And then there's the company situation," Dylan continued, his voice dropping slightly. "ONER's policy on dating isn't exactly encouraging, even if they've been decent about Thame and Po. We wanted to be stable enough to weather whatever professional complications might come up."
Nano absorbed this information, trying to reconcile it with his mental image of Jun and Dylan.
"I'm still sorry," he said quietly, meeting Dylan's eyes for the first time since they'd sat down. "For pushing so hard, for making it harder for you to just... exist without being a spectacle."
Dylan's expression softened, and for a moment he looked exactly like the person Nano had glimpsed in the early morning , albeit if only by voice, vulnerable and fond and completely unguarded.
"You're forgiven," Dylan said simply. "Just... maybe dial back the matchmaking instincts in the future? We're managing just fine on our own."
"Though," Jun interjected with a grin that was pure mischief, "I have to admit, your complete obliviousness to us actually being together was pretty entertaining. Do you have any idea how many times we almost got caught? You walked in on us making out in the practice room last month and I don’t even know how we got out of that one.'"
Nano's jaw dropped as the memory came flooding back, followed immediately by a dozen other moments that suddenly made perfect sense in hindsight.
"Oh my god," he breathed, looking between them with wide eyes. "You've been laughing at me this entire time."
"Not laughing at you," Jun corrected, reaching over to ruffle Nano's hair with familiar affection. "But definitely enjoying the irony of our biggest shipper being completely blind to the actual ship sailing right past him."
"Wait, hold on," Po interrupted, his brow furrowed as he processed everything they'd just learned. "How come Pepper's known about it all this time? That seems like pretty crucial information to keep from the rest of us."
Pepper straightened in his chair with an air of smug satisfaction. "Because I'm an excellent friend who knows how to keep secrets when they matter."
"I needed someone to talk to," Jun admitted, his expression growing more serious. "The whole situation was... complicated. Pepper had experience navigating a relationship while keeping it private from the industry, so his advice was pretty invaluable."
Nano nodded knowingly—he remembered Pepper's own careful dance around his ex-girlfriend and how that had ended messily when the press got involved. It made sense that Jun would go to someone who understood the stakes.
"What are you planning to do now?" Thame asked, ever practical. "I mean, with people already posting photos and speculating online?"
Part of Nano was desperate to bombard them with a thousand other questions—exactly when had their first kiss happened, who had made the first move, what had changed between the old contract and the new one to finally push them together—but he forced himself to focus on what actually mattered right now.
Dylan shrugged, his expression remarkably calm for someone whose private life was currently being dissected by strangers on the internet. "Let it die down. People speculate about us constantly anyway. A few photos of us looking cozy won't change much in the grand scheme of things."
"Besides," Jun added, reaching over to squeeze Dylan's hand in a gesture that was casual and comfortable and absolutely devastating in its simple domesticity, "we're not exactly planning to start making out on stage or anything. We'll keep doing what we've been doing… Just maybe with a little less paranoia about accidental touches."
Nano tried to rein himself in, he really did. The mature, responsible part of his brain kept whispering reminders about boundaries and privacy and letting his friends share their story at their own pace. But now that the initial crisis had passed and he wasn't drowning in guilt anymore, every suppressed question from the past eight months came bubbling up at once.
"When did this happen?" The words exploded out of him in a rush that he couldn't have stopped if he tried. "How did this happen? What was the actual trigger? When was your first kiss? What changed between the old contract and the new one? I can't believe you guys have been genuinely happy together for eight months and I completely missed it. I mean, I saw things, obviously I saw things, but I thought you were still in that weird limbo of 'Dylan pretends Jun annoys him while Jun flirts with everything that moves without acting on it' phase."
Jun burst into laughter, doubling over with the kind of helpless mirth that made his shoulders shake. Even Dylan was fighting a smile, though he was clearly trying to maintain some semblance of dignity.
"Breathe, Nano," Pepper advised dryly. "You're going to pass out."
But Nano was far from finished. Eight months of missed observations were demanding immediate attention, and his brain was cataloging every interaction he could remember with newfound clarity.
"Oh my god, the shared playlist on the bus," he gasped, pointing an accusatory finger at them. "And Jun, you were wearing Dylan's hoodie last week during practice. I thought you'd just grabbed the wrong one from the pile, but you were wearing your boyfriend's clothes!"
Dylan's cheeks flushed pink, and he shot Jun a look that clearly said 'I told you he'd notice eventually.'
"And the way you two have been sitting closer during meetings lately," Nano continued, his voice climbing with excitement. "I thought it was just coincidence, but you were actually choosing to be near each other because you wanted to be near each other!"
"Nano," Jun managed between giggles, "you're going to give yourself an aneurysm."
But Nano was on a roll now, years of suppressed detective instincts finally getting their moment to shine. "The night shoots last month when you both kept disappearing for 'coffee runs' that took forty minutes. Coffee runs don't take forty minutes unless you're… Oh my god, were you having sex?”
The absolute mortification on Dylan's face was answer enough, and Jun's laughter reached a pitch that suggested he might actually be dying.
"Oh my GOD," Nano shrieked, clapping his hands together with vindicated glee. "You were! You were having sex during work hours! That's so—"
"Nano," Pepper's voice cut through his revelation with the sharp authority of someone who'd reached his absolute limit.
"Okay!" Jun interrupted loudly, clapping his hands together with enough force to make everyone jump. "That's enough questions for tonight. Some mysteries are meant to remain mysterious."
Dylan had buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with what Nano hoped was suppressed laughter.
“For the record,” Jun then said, contradicting his previous words, “because I know that’s what you’ree dying to know—”
Dylan's head snapped up from his hands with an expression of pure betrayal. "Jun—"
"—after we signed the ONER contract," Jun continued smoothly, completely ignoring Dylan's murderous glare. "We were celebrating at that little bar near the studio, remember? The one with the terrible karaoke setup?"
Nano could picture it now, all of them crammed into that tiny booth, everyone giddy with relief and possibility. But he couldn't remember anything particularly significant happening between Jun and Dylan that night. Not even a duet.
"I don't remember anything romantic happening," Nano said, frowning as he tried to reconstruct the evening.
"Because it didn't happen at the bar," Dylan muttered, shooting Jun another withering look. "It happened after."
"After we got home," Jun confirmed, his grin widening at Dylan's obvious discomfort. "Dylan was drunk. Not wasted, just... loose enough to actually say what he was thinking for once. Jun nudged Dylan's shoulder playfully. "Want to tell them what you said, or should I?"
Dylan exhaled dramatically, the sound cutting through the room as he tilted his head back against the couch before straightening his posture. “I told Jun that I wouldn't sleep with him anymore unless he grew a pair and asked me out properly.”
The silence that followed was deafening, and Nano felt his brain short-circuit as he processed what Dylan had just admitted. His mouth fell open, then closed, then opened again like a fish gasping for air.
"Wait," he managed, his voice climbing an octave. "Wait, wait, wait. You were already sleeping together? Before you were dating?"
Dylan maintained eye contact with impressive determination, but Jun seemed determined to torture his boyfriend further.
"On and off for about two years," Jun said cheerfully, completely ignoring the way Dylan was trying to telepathically murder him with his eyes. "Very casual. Very no-strings-attached. Very 'this doesn't mean anything, we're just blowing off steam.'"
“We told you we were a mess.” Dylan grumbled.
The full weight of it crashed over Nano. Two years. TWO YEARS of friends-with-benefits and then eight months of dating while he'd been sitting there like an idiot, analyzing their every interaction, theorizing about when they might finally get together, practically writing fanfiction in his head about their first kiss.
"You have got to be kidding me," Nano breathed, staring at them both with something approaching horror. "I spent years telling you to just admit you liked each other while you were already—" He gestured wildly between them, words failing him completely.
The memory of every teasing comment he'd ever made came flooding back with excruciating clarity. All those times he'd nudged Jun about making a move. All those pointed looks when Dylan got angry by Jun's flirting. The countless occasions he'd rolled his eyes at their "obvious chemistry" and told them to just get a room already.
They had been getting rooms. They'd been getting rooms for years while he played matchmaker to a couple who was already sleeping together.
"Oh god," Nano groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I'm an idiot. I'm the biggest idiot who ever lived. You must have been laughing at me constantly."
"Not constantly," Jun said, but his voice was suspiciously unsteady with suppressed amusement.
"I can’t believe no one saw anything,” Thame interjected, speaking for the first time in long minutes.
Dylan's half-laugh cut through Thame's observation. He was half smiling when he said, "Oh, people saw things. They just didn't understand what they were seeing."
“We've almost been caught more times than I'd like to admit. However, we've improved now that we don't act on a whim.” Jun confirmed with a wicked grin.
Nano sat back in his chair, his mind reeling as he tried to process the complete restructuring of everything he thought he'd known about Jun and Dylan's relationship.
For four years, he'd been so convinced he was the mastermind observer, the one person who could see what everyone else was missing. He'd cataloged every heated glance, analyzed every argument, built elaborate theories about when they'd finally break and admit their feelings. He'd been so proud of his detective skills, so certain that he understood the situation better than anyone else including Jun and Dylan themselves.
But the truth was so much more complex, and so much simpler, than anything he'd imagined.
They hadn't needed his help. They hadn't needed his pushing or his knowing looks or his carefully orchestrated room assignments. While he'd been playing matchmaker to what he thought was a slow-burn romance, they'd already figured themselves out—messily, imperfectly, but entirely on their own terms.
"You know what the most embarrassing part is?" Nano said finally, his voice quiet with genuine humility. "I was right about you two being perfect for each other. I was right about the chemistry, right about the way you looked at each other, right about everything... except the timeline."
Dylan leaned forward, his earlier embarrassment replaced by something softer. "Maybe that's because we didn't want you to notice. You're not unobservant, Nano. We just got really good at hiding."
"Still," Nano sighed, slumping deeper into his chair as the full scope of his obliviousness hit him. "I spent months analyzing whether Jun passing you his water bottle meant something romantic while you were probably... I don't even want to think about what you were probably doing when I wasn't around to witness your 'obvious chemistry.'"
The laughter that bubbled up around the table was warm rather than mocking, but Nano still felt his cheeks burn with residual embarrassment.
"For what it's worth," Po chimed in, "if it makes you feel any better, the rest of us didn't figure it out either. So either we're all terrible detectives, or they're just really good at being sneaky."
"We prefer 'strategically private,'" Jun corrected with mock dignity, which earned him an eye roll from Dylan that was so fond it made Nano's chest ache with happiness despite his wounded pride.
Nano looked between his two friends—his bandmates, his chosen family—and felt something shift in his chest. The desperate need to know everything, to control and orchestrate and push them toward what he thought they needed, was fading. In its place was something quieter, more sustainable: simple contentment that they were happy.
"I surrender," he announced, throwing his hands up in theatrical defeat. "I officially retire from matchmaking. Clearly, I'm terrible at it."
"You're not terrible at it," Pepper said gently. "You just cared too much to stay objective."
"I cared too much to mind my own business," Nano corrected with a rueful laugh. "But I'm learning. From now on, I promise to let people figure out their own love lives without my helpful interference."
"We'll believe it when we see it," Dylan said dryly, but there was no malice in it. Just the comfortable teasing of someone who knew exactly how much Nano's promises were worth when it came to resisting the urge to meddle.
"Besides, someone needs to keep you entertained. If not us, you'll just find some other couple to obsess over." Jun added with a teasing head tilt and his usual smirk.
Nano opened his mouth to protest, then closed it as he realized Jun was probably right. His matchmaking instincts weren't going to disappear overnight just because he'd been spectacularly wrong about one case.
"Just... maybe next time, try asking the people involved before you start planning their wedding," Dylan suggested with a small smile that took any sting out of the words.
"Deal," Nano said, and meant it. "But for the record, when you two do decide to actually get married, I'm planning the bachelor party. And it's going to be legendary."
The way Jun and Dylan's eyes met across the table, soft and private and full of shared secrets Nano wasn't privy to, suggested that might not be as hypothetical a scenario as he'd expected.
But for the first time in four years, Nano found himself perfectly content not to know the details.