Page 23 of GR8VITY

Dav En's hands come up to cover his grin and flaming cheeks. It does nothing to help the pink from spreading to his ears. Kyung glances at him with a quiet chuckle.

"Yes," Kyung agrees. "Sleep first and dinner later. I will meet you at your place tonight."

"You don't have to walk all the way out here," she argues. "I'll meet you."

"Okay, get some sleep, sunshine," he tells her quietly. "I'll see you tonight."

He doesn't try to fight her on it, letting her have her way. It's so out of character for him.

"Bye, Kyung," she murmurs almost like her face is buried in her pillow. There's a slight pause before she adds, "Bye, Dav En."

Dav En uncovers his face, turning to Kyung's phone as they both tell her bye at the same time. After he pushes the button to end the call, he crosses his arms on his chest and looks over to Seong. Without attitude, he says, "It's done."

"Kyung," he starts, pausing to likely consider his words, "This is serious?"

"Yes," he answers without hesitation.

Our leader sits back with a long sigh and nods. "Can't wait to meet her."

He's saying what we're all thinking. Except Yoon Ji apparently.

"I have a question," he blurts out of nowhere. "So, like when you that you're both with her. You both stayed and slept in her bed. How does that work?"

Dav En covers his face again as the rest of us laugh including Kyung. Seong simply closes his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose.

"How about we not ask anything about that later at dinner, yeah?" Yeon suggests, patting Seong’s knee.

"What about her speaking Korean?" Minsul asks.

"There's a story behind that," Dav En starts.

Stopping him from going further, Kyung interrupts, "Why don't we let her tell them her story?"

Dav En nods in agreement.

Kyung slaps the tops of his own thighs before standing. "I'm going to go back to bed and get a little more sleep now if you guys don't mind."

He bumps Dav En's leg on the way by. "You need to go shower and change, too."

Walking away, he's mumbling about something about how he can't believe he slept on the couch. I reach out and slap the side of his leg before untangling myself from In Se and standing. "Yeah, man. I can't believe you slept on the couch."

I try not to make it obvious as I go after Kyung, pretending to casually stroll out of the room like he did. Even though my insides feel like they're jumping around like crazy. I reach his door just as he's about to close it. He smirks, letting go of it and giving me the decision of closing it and walking away or coming inside. Putting his phone on the charger on his desk, he walks over and literally crashes sideways into his bed. Of course, I see this because I've taken the option of inviting myself in before shutting the door.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, I lean my elbows down on my knees. We sit in silence for a few minutes before he nudges my back without speaking.

"I'm just still trying to process," I tell him quietly. "Things have been weird lately, and I just assumed it's because we're busier than we normally are. I don't even see you anymore unless we're at practice or recording. Same with the others, too."

He doesn't say anything, letting me get everything off my chest at once. "I miss you guys. I don't want this to change us more than we already are."

"Mmm," he murmurs, taking the time to think over my words. "I agree. We've definitely neglected each other over the past several months. I'm sorry I've been so distracted, Jae-un. I never want to make any of you feel like you're not important to me. You know better than anyone that this is our family, and it comes first. Sometimes, just like in families where new people come in, there's going to be some small changes. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. Give me a chance to prove it to you."

I glance over at him with a half smile. "You know I trust you and got your back, no matter what."

"Thanks, brother," he says right before letting out a big yawn.

I snort gently before getting up and going over to close his curtains. Tossing his blanket over him, I tuck him in like a massive burrito and teasingly go in for a kiss. He laughs and pushes me away. Feeling a little better now, I leave, shutting his door quietly behind me. He's right, of course, no matter what, I trust him and that means trusting his decision with this, too.

Hours later, we're all sitting around anxiously waiting on Kyung to get home with Liz. I've said her name at least four dozen times or more all day, trying to wrap my head around the whole idea of her. I have so many questions, and I probably won't be able to get a single one out tonight. Glancing around, it's clear I'm not the only one that's nervous either. All of our anxious tics are showing. Dav En is the only exception who is simply relaxed back into a corner of the couch watching something on his phone. In Se is pressed as tight as he can possibly get next to me and occasionally runs his palm across my back since I'm sitting with my elbows on my knees. Yeon and Minsul are both fidgeting so much that I'm pretty sure they've straightened their clothes at least once a minute. Seong's knee hasn't stopped bouncing since he sat down. Yoon Ji just keeps looking around at the rest of us like he's awaiting instruction from us.