The door slammed shut behind him hard enough to alert everyone that he was home. It was evening now, they had been dismissed from practice early because they were needing to practice vocals at home. Minki was smart enough to know that the manager wanted them to all work things out, but Ren was too angry for that. Especially since he had gotten a text from Lime, saying that the company was trying to hook them up. Ren felt like vomiting and throwing his phone. He felt like a pawn, used for someone else to get a rise out of.

            Before he had even stepped foot into the dorm though, he had called Seungcheol to let him know he wasn’t fired. He’d kept the call short though, because now he was on the hunt. He made his way into the kitchen and rounded on Minhyun, who was doing dishes.

            “I need a favor from you.”

            A headphone dangled from Minhyun’s ear as he scrubbed at a pan, “What is it? I’m a bit busy right now, these pans won’t wash themselves.”

            Minki had to stop himself from making a face, “Min, I know you have OCD about the dorm being clean, but I will scrub them myself if you take Aron and get out of the dorm for like, two hours.”

            That had Minhyun’s attention then, “Promise to actually scrub them right? You aren’t the best dish washer.”

            “You know, I’m desperate. Just get him out of the dorm. Go see Jihoon or something, he always likes when you help him with his music. You two have like three songs already made for whenever a collab happens. Please?”

            Minhyun set down the sponge and he sighed softly, “I’m not sure that I want to know what this is about, but I got a text from Seungcheol earlier. Hopefully you talked to him because he was worried. If this gets bad, will you promise to at least tell me?”

            Ren found himself hugging Minhyun out of habit, curse Minhyun and his motherly tendencies. “Of course I will, likely I’ll tell you everything once I get it figured out. Right now, I really just need you to be out of the dorm.”

            There was no other response from Minhyun aside from a tight hug in return. He headed off to get Aron, and once the two were gone he checked himself out in the mirror. A deep breath later, and he put a sway to his hips when he walked down the hall and up the set of stairs that led to the little cove that Baekho slept in. He didn’t even bother knocking to let Baekho know he was there. “I know it was you.”

            The surprise on Baekho’s face was evident, but then his eyes became guarded. Defensive. Ren knew he’d already won by the look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

            Ren grinned, almost malicious as he reveled in the small victory. “You can lie to everyone else and play innocent, but I know you called the manager last night. My question is why? You must know that it wasn’t the first time I crawled into Jonghyun’s bed, though it may be the last. Were we too loud? You like him? We secretly disgusted you?” He moved a bit closer, and he had to stop himself from grinning when Baekho scooted closer to the wall and sat straighter. “So which of those is it? Did I miss a factor in something? Because thanks to that phone call, likely I’m going to have to fake date Lime from Hello Venus, and I am not one for bedding a woman, especially one that looks like me. So start talking.”

            Baekho took a slow breath; it was odd to see his happiness replaced by a look of pure disbelief. “How did you know it was me? I didn’t make it obvious.”

            Ren folded his arms over his chest, “Dongho, you don’t get it. I know you all well enough to figure things out. Jonghyun was with me, that’s one less member to think of. Minhyun would rather cut off his own foot than tell the manager, and Aron is from LA. He gave me his blessing to find happiness; I doubt he would tell the manager that my preference is men. This leaves you. You, who always looked at Jonghyun with this look on your face that I couldn’t ever figure out until now, you like him. You should have said something! I would have stopped! You’re a good friend of mine, why wouldn’t you just sit down and talk this out with me?”

            He didn’t like that Baekho stood up, but he shut his lips to listen. He needed a reason, some sort of excuse from Baekho that could make him less angry. Something that would help him fix things, so that the band dynamic could go back to normal and he wouldn’t have to hold hands with a girl in public. He hadn’t anticipated Baekho cupping his face and kissing him, though in retrospect, he really ing should have. It took him a few seconds to push Baekho away, another few to touch his lips in shock. “.”

            Baekho had the decency to look ashamed, “I should have asked if you were okay with that, . Minki I’m sorry-“

            Ren had to stop him, he held his hand up to signal silence. He was a diva for a reason. “Stop, seriously just stop for a minute. How long?”

            Dongho looked away, like something interesting had just appeared on the wall that was oh so very entertaining. Minki wasn’t having it, not after that kiss. His head hurt already from the headache forming behind his eyes. He intensified his angry glare, and finally Baekho caved. “Since we debuted, there are you happy? You were so cute then, and you went from cute to ridiculously hot and I wanted you. There, are you happy? I know I’m not Jonghyun, I’m not thin like him, I can’t rap and I’m sorry. I got tired of you sneaking into his bed, so I called the manager on a split second decision. I’m sorry, I just wanted to get your attention away from Jonghyun somehow, so you would see how I felt. He made it seem like you were the sole person to blame for getting caught though, is that really someone you want to be with?”

            Minki felt like he was going to be sick, it was too much. He turned away, going for the stairs. “I need to go.”

            A hand grabbed his wrist and Minki wanted to shriek at him to let go, to throw a fit because of the sensory overload but he was better than that. “Baekho let go of me now.”

            “Minki, please don’t run away. What can I do?”

            Minki could sense the difference in the question, this wasn’t to help the situation. This was Baekho desperate for some sort of positive reaction to his confession. “Baekho, I don’t like you like that. You’re my hyung, I care about you but… Please let go of me.”

            Baekho slowly let go of his wrist, and Ren turned and bolted for the door.