Chapter 145 - You Are A Man!

"You're a man."

Yu Gyeom stared down at the message that Zirui had sent on his phone, having no idea what to reply with. Well, of course he was! But this message was too out of the blue. He rubbed his eyes and wondered if he had fallen asleep in the middle of the practice and was now imagining things. But that was just weird. Why would he even have such dreams.

Placing his guitar aside, he replied with,"??"

What was the mad girl up to now? Over the time he had known Zirui, he had started to slowly accept that there were girls out there who loved them for the dorks they were instead of what their agency portrayed them to be all stylish and affluent. He had never once thought that he would be able to have a friendship with a fan but here he was, having formed close ties with one of their biggest fans. 

They had initially bonded over food and music but slowly, she had become a close confidant. It was rare for him to have someone outside the group to talk to but talking to . One thing he had started to know about her was that she was totally scatter brained unless she was working on something! In a way, she was just like him. The only thing she was different in was she had this habit of jumping to topics totally out of context. Just like this one. The last they had spoken about was when they had discussed Alice's miscarriage and she had barraged him with questions regarding their mental and physical health. She had almost wanted to turn him into a nurse with the information she had sent for taking care of Alice! Finally, he had simply forwarded the articles to Adam and then threatened Zirui to block her! 

And now, after five days, she was sending him such a message and now he was waiting for a reply. He did not have to wait for long..

Zirui: Why did you send question marks. I just made a statement!"

Gyeom ( in frustration):" Well why did you make such a statement?"

Getting information was harder than cracking a walnut! Well at least you could throw the walnut against the wall and crack it! Her head however! He was pretty sure even if he was able to open it and peep inside, he would not understand anything! Once again the girl deigned to reply!

Zirui: Because I wanted to ask you something!

Gyeom: Then you should have just messaged the question! How does answering a question have any relation on me being a man!

Zirui: I needed a man's perspective!

Gyeom: Just ask what you want to know!

Zirui, on the other hand was trembling inside. After much thinking, she had chosen Gyeom to ask her question. After all, they had almost kissed...one night.. So, she took a deep breath and steeled herself," Can you make love without being in love?"

Gyeom almost spewed the contents of the drink he had just had when he read the message. His eyes widened and all thoughts of ideas entered his head. Did she fall in love with another deadbeat man? Did she get drunk again? Did she sleep with another man?

But he dare not ask her these questions. She would chew him out about his outdated ideas otherwise. Being in the industry that he was, he knew all about love affairs and sex without being in love. But since he was the youngest and with the axe hanging over their heads, Phillippe had always kept them under the wraps. Whatever knowledge Gyeom had was actually derived from watching certain videos and comics on the internet by using K's or Apollo's id!

There were also many girls and women who threw themselves at them backstage but the idea of scandals always kept them worried. This had been even more so when he had formed a friendship during his vacation and the scandal had almost crumbled him. Of course with K's experience now, he was not that scared of the scandal but he was also not prepared for it. Even though their fandom had not been affected much from his marriage, there had been a negative effect minutely which would show in the long run. 

At present, none of them had any plans for disbanding but there were some things that the outsiders did not know. Once the band separated, he was the only one who planned to continue in this industry and be a musician. Adam planned to retire and join his brother in business part time and be a 'trophy husband' the rest of the time, while Felix and I.M wanted to be together and roam the world in peace. Apollo had already made preparations to start a dance studio where he would nurture little talents. 

But Gyeom had no such ambitions. He only wanted to keep producing music and singing songs and dancing on stage.

A series of 'dings' brought him back to the present and he checked his phone to see that she had sent him many question marks one by one!

Thinking carefully he gave her an answer that was not an answer, "Depends.."

He hoped that she would be disappointed and not pursue the matter further but he should have known that he would guess wrong because she then asked an even more outrageous question,"Gyeom! For your fist time, did you like the girl you were with or did you just do it with a random one!"

Gyeom did not know how to answer that...It was way too personal.. So, he finally decided that attack was the best form of defense ," I am not telling you anything until you answer the three W's"

Zirui: What three W's?

Gyeom: Why? Why? Why?

Zirui pouted as she looked at the why's and wondered if she should answer them. She needed answers but she did not want to share so she finally decided to come clean," I like a guy! He is good at kissing and I am sure other things too. He did a few things..." Just as she was about to describe the things that had taken place, she shook her head. That would be too much information! and continued instead," I offered to be his friends with benefit and he has accepted! But now I am not too sure. Did I come across too easy? Do you think he will think that I love him? I don't.. love him you know.. So do I need to clarify it? He said that he does not want that.. "

Gyeom realized that he was in shock. The smile on his face as he had been texting her was wiped clean. She was seeing another guy. He did not know why he felt hurt. They had already decided that they were going to be good friends only. And he had never had any thoughts about her that would make him believe that he liked her.

But as Gyeom contemplated his heart ache, he felt melancholy. The fact that Ziruibhad even asked the question clearly implied that she maybe liked the guy. Otherwise she would not offer to sleep...uh make live with him. Secondly, she had asked him that..which meant that she did not even consider him as a potential boyfriend.

But he had been unaware of his liking for her. He did not know that his feelings for her we're just that of a friend or they could develop into more. Sigh.. He had been too late even thinking about them. And it wasn't as if he could think. He was pretty young at this time to think of getting into a relationship...even a casual one when his focus was only his career.

Thinking carefully, he finally replied,"Don't overthink this. Guys don't. Just go with the flow and feel. You are young and allowed to make mistakes."

Zirui smiled as she read Gyeom's reply. She had been worried that he would judge her or try to stop her from taking this path. He had told her the same thing after Samual's incident. A supportive friend was what every girl needed.

Gyeom on the other hand, picked up the guitar he had placed aside, and started to practice. He was planning to produce his own song for the upcoming album. He had almost written down the notes and it just needs a bit of fine tuning so that he could get Felix to approve it and add to their next album.

To Gyeom, music was magic and in that he could lose himself and find himself. But music was also heart and slowly the upbeat tune that he had composed changed a little, unnoticeable at first but more impactful. Just like he did not know that he had already felt his heart break and this would help him grow even more. Maybe someday he would find a girl who would offer to be friends with benefits with him.. Someday...