Stolen Moments | Yang Jeongin

Fourteen

The practice room buzzed with energy as the boys joked around, stretching and warming up for another long day of rehearsals. Jeongin and I were sitting off to the side on one of the couches, finally able to be next to each other without having to worry about keeping up appearances. The secret was out, and while I thought it might make things awkward, it had honestly only made everything more fun.

Jeongin leaned closer to me, a playful grin spreading across his face as he poked my side. "You're really bad at hiding things, you know that?"

I shot him a look, nudging him back with my shoulder. "Says the one who couldn't keep his cool in front of Hyunjin. You were the one who almost blew our cover a hundred times."

He chuckled, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Yeah, but we're free now, right?"

Before I could respond, Chan walked by, stretching his arms and raising an eyebrow at the two of us. "You two are way too comfortable now. It's a little unsettling."

"Jealous?" Jeongin shot back, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer to him. I laughed at the fake pout Chan gave us.

"Yeah, sure," Chan said, rolling his eyes but grinning as he plopped down on the floor in front of us. "Honestly though, it's nice to see you guys not sneaking around anymore. It was painful to watch."

Felix, who was lying on the floor playing with his phone, raised his head and smirked. "Honestly, it's kind of cute. You two are like... I don't know, like the rom-com couple that finally gets together in the end."

"Oh my god, not you too," I groaned, covering my face with my hands.

Jeongin just laughed and leaned into the teasing. "See, even Felix is on our side. We're the main characters."

"Main characters of what?" Seungmin chimed in, walking over with a water bottle in hand. "The cringiest love story ever? You guys were obvious from day one. I can't believe it took this long for everyone to find out."

I gave him a mock glare, feeling my cheeks heat up. "It wasn't that obvious."

"Please," Han cut in, sitting down on the couch's armrest beside us. "The way Jeongin always looks at you? It's like you hung the stars in the sky or something. We've all seen it."

Jeongin's face turned red at Han's comment, and he gave him a half-hearted shove. "Okay, calm down, Romeo. No need to get all poetic about it."

"Jeongin's just mad because we all know he's the softest one here," Hyunjin added with a smug grin, finally joining the teasing as he walked over with a towel draped around his neck. "Look at him, all cuddled up with Minji like a lovesick puppy."

I shot Hyunjin a glare, but I couldn't help but smile. After all, it was true. Jeongin had always been soft when it came to me, and now that we didn't have to hide it, it felt amazing.

"Alright, alright, enough roasting," I said, trying to salvage a bit of dignity. "I thought you were here to rehearse, not to talk about how cute we are."

"Can't we do both?" Han asked, laughing as he leaned back and rested his arms behind his head. "Honestly, this is more entertaining."

Jeongin just grinned and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek, completely unfazed by the attention. "Let them talk, jagi. They're just jealous."

I rolled my eyes, unable to keep from smiling as the boys erupted into exaggerated groans and fake gagging sounds.

"Look at this guy!" Seungmin said, pretending to swoon dramatically. "Jagi this, jagi that. He's whipped."

Chan laughed, shaking his head. "Whipped or not, it's actually kind of nice to see you both so happy."

Jeongin and I exchanged a soft glance, and I felt a wave of warmth wash over me. It was nice—being able to just... be together, no secrets, no sneaking around. And even though the boys were teasing us, I knew they were genuinely happy for us.

"Okay, but real talk," Felix suddenly said, sitting up and looking between us with a playful glint in his eyes. "Who made the first move?"

The room went quiet, all eyes on us as they waited for an answer.

Jeongin looked at me, eyebrows raised as if to say, "Should we tell them?"

I grinned, deciding to have a little fun with it. "I did. I was drunk though."

Jeongin's eyes widened, and the boys burst out laughing.

"Drunk?!" Han exclaimed, clapping his hands together in amusement. "No way! But when I think about it... you were really obvious."

"Why does everyone think that?" I asked, feigning offense. "I can be subtle when I want to."

"Yeah, sure," Seungmin said with a grin. "But we all know Jeongin's the shy one. So come on, what did he do when you told him?"

Jeongin groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Why are we talking about this?"

I laughed and leaned closer to him, playfully nudging him. "It's okay, babe. I'll defend your honor."

He peeked through his fingers, grumbling, "Thanks a lot."

Felix, always the instigator, wasn't going to let it go that easily. "Come on, Minji, spill the details"

I smirked and looked at Jeongin, whose face was now beet red. "Alright, fine. I'll keep it simple. Let's just say he was way more confident than you'd expect."

Jeongin shot me a warning glance, and I giggled, deciding to let him off the hook. "But that's all you're getting. The rest is private."

"Aww, come on!" Hyunjin whined, though he was grinning. "You can't just tease us like that!"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving him off as I stood up, pulling Jeongin with me. "You'll just have to keep wondering."

As the boys continued their playful banter, Jeongin squeezed my hand, his eyes full of warmth and affection. We didn't need to say anything to each other; the comfort of being together, openly and freely, was enough.

And for once, I wasn't worried about anything. No secrets, no sneaking around—just us and the people we cared about most.

The teasing might never stop, but as long as we had each other, I didn't mind one bit.