WE ALL NEED LIGHTHEARTEDNESS AND RAINBOWZ~~~

But the angst ain't over. 

There were a lot of things in Leo's life that he wished he hadn't seen. For example, two dogs humping. Or a gory horror movie scene. Or that one really bad Christmas family photo from when he was three.

This, however, was by far the worst.

When Leo opened the door to Ravi's and Ken's dorm, he caught a glimpse of a tousled Hongbin pinned down on Ravi's bed. Pinned down by a pair of legs. A pair of legs that belonged to a very familiar sophomore.

Their faces were awfully close.

Leo turned around quietly to face Ravi and Ken with their McDonald's, pointed over his shoulder, and shut the door.

"What? Someone fing in there?" Ken's face lit up, and Ravi and Leo moved away to gain as much ground as he could before Ken could get the door open. They weren't far enough away, though, to hide from Ken's delighted screech.

"I KNEW IT!" Ken disappeared into the room to the sound of protests, and Leo and Ravi both snorted hard enough send them into coughing fits.

"When the f did you--" Hyuk started, cut off by the thwump of a pillow flying. 

Ravi had tears in his eyes, and Leo was doubled over, slapping the floor, when the sheepish pair came out into the hall, adjusting shirts and smoothing hair. 

"Oh, quit it," Hongbin said, face a disconcerting shade of red.

Leo was a little surprised not to feel his stomach do a dance. 

Ken giggled the way his happy self usually did and danced out of the room. He stopped in front of the two laughing so hard they were reduced to rolling on the ground. 

"Well, I've never seen you laugh like that," Ken said, putting a hand on his chest. "Is it all for me?"

Leo gave him a solid kick to the thigh and splayed out, in deep breaths to calm down.

"You're...stupid," he managed.

N helped his parents put up the Christmas tree early on Monday morning. 

Leo's back at school already, he thought, tying a golden star to the top. With everyone else. And his family is in Mexico. And the school's gonna throw their holiday banquet day after tomorrow.

He wished he was at school.

N's foster mother wrapped a fuzzy silver scarf around N's face. "The star is lopsided, Hakyeon," she said, in that tone of voice that meant she knew something was off.

"Yeah, I'll fix it." N peeled the scarf off and spat out a clump of silver. "Ew."

His four-year-old sister dashed across the living room, giggling as she chased the family dog. She slipped on the edge of the rug but clambered right back up, unfazed.

"Judy," Mrs. Carleton warned. "Leave the poor dog alone."

Judy just flashed one of her winning smiles over her shoulder and kept running.

"That girl is just the human form of energy," Mrs. Carleton said, sighing but resigned to simply hanging up the aluminum angel ornaments.

N thought of Ken and sighed too.

They worked quietly for a while, turning the tree around to make sure all the ornaments were on before turning on the lights. The tree flashed silently, throwing faint rainbows on the wallpaper and glittering on the drawn drapes.

"Are you feeling okay, honey?" Mrs. Carleton finally asked. 

N sat down on the couch, not meeting his mother's eyes. Instead, he toed the fallen tinsel from the tree decorations. "Yeah," he said. 

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Carleton caught the dog running by and lifted him up, much to both the dog's and Judy's protests. "Hang on sweetie. I'm talking to your brother."

"I'm fine, Mom."

Mrs. Carleton gave her adopted son a careful once-over before pursing her lips and sitting down next to him. "You're lonely, aren't you?" she said quietly. 

N looked at her hands. The Carletons were young--Mr. Carleton was thirty-seven, and Mrs. Carleton thirty-three--but sometimes, they seemed so much older, especially when they had to handle the darker issues their son faced. Maybe they were only growing older because of N.

"A little," he answered, voice much quieter than he intended.

Mrs. Carleton let go of the dog and watched it zip away. "I'm sorry we can't do anything," she said, eyes downturned. "I wish there was something."

"You're...doing plenty." N crossed his legs and pulled a pillow closer. He wished he was back at his dorm room with his stuffed animals and his books and his favorite blanket. He hadn't even had the chance to take them, and everyone wanted him to leave his things there.

And Leo. He really wanted to be back with Leo.

Mrs. Carleton wrapped an arm around N's shoulders. "It'll be over soon," she said, giving him a soft squeeze. "The police'll find your...the murderer. Then you can go back to school. I promise."

It was Hyuk who broke the unfortunate news to Leo.

"Director heard you singing the other day," Hyuk said. "He says you have to participate in the benefit concert."

Leo's face must have betrayed him, because Hyuk chuckled nervously. "I, uh, had no part in this."

The only event during which outsiders were invited to the school was the benefit concert in February. Donations and ticket fees went to paying for treatments and maintenance of the school, and while he should be flattered--only the best performers got to showcase themselves--it was the one thing Leo didn't want to do.

"Well, f the director," Leo said.

"Go tell him that. I can't do anything." Hyuk shrugged, then glanced at his phone. A pale pink went to his face, and he cleared his throat while putting his phone back into his pocket. "I, uh, someone wants me to...uh--" He stood up and left hurriedly.

Leo smirked. He had a feeling he knew who that was.

Now that Hyuk was gone, the choir room felt a little too empty. Usually, someone would be in the practice rooms, or Ravi and Ken would take their off time to wrestle around under Hongbin's cautious eye, or the choir director would be shuffling around the sheet music. But Leo was all alone. 

Well, he thought.

Something crashed in the second practice room, followed by a loud S . Leo got up from his seat by the window to look inside.

A student--Leo didn't recognize him--stood by a fallen music stand, staring down at the explosion of music on the ground. As Leo watched, the student inside heaved a huge sigh and sat down, resting his forehead on his arms. 

Quietly, Leo turned the doorknob and went in.

The student's head shot up, and he flushed a bright red. "S-s-sorry," he said. "I was s-s-singing and-d it f-f-fell--" He scrambled for the sheet music.

Leo knelt down and gathered up some of the pages. "...The Forgotten Season?"

"Y-yeah. I'm g-g-going to s-sing it f-f-for the ben-benefit." The student bit his lip. "S-s-sorry. I st-stutter."

"...that's okay." Leo held out a hand. "I'm Leo."

"Th-the one who everyone s-s-says d-doesn't t-t-talk?" The student took Leo's hand rather reluctantly. 

"Yeah. I talk."

"I g-guess. I'm S-S-Sandeul. I'm a s-senior."

"You don't...look like one."

"Hah...I kn-know." Sandeul pushed the fallen sheet music together into a pile.

"I thought only...people in choir could sing...at the benefit."

"My f-friends and I used t-t-to be in ch-choir." Sandeul shuffled around the papers, getting them back in order. "I w-wasn't g-g-good enough, s-so I dropped out. The others...s-said th-they wouldn't s-s-sing if I d-didn't." He sighed again and stared down at his feet. 

Leo nodded and handed the last sheet to the senior. "Can I...hear you?"

Sandeul looked up, horrified. "Oh, G-G--d, n-n-no. I'm r-really b-bad."

"You're performing at the benefit."

"W-well..." Sandeul shrugged. "Y-you'll hear it f-f-for real in a m-month."

"Okay." Leo stood up and brushed off his knees. "You'll do great."

"Th-thanks," Sandeul said.

Leo turned to leave, but at the last moment Sandeul's voice stopped him. 

"I'm r-really sorry ab-about your r-roommate. N? He l-left, r-r-right? I'm s-sorry."

The senior looked genuinely openly remorseful, as if he had been responsible for it all. Leo just glanced away.

"So am I.'