For a good 10 minutes, Yoseob had bombarded Junhyung with questions, trying to pry into what had gone on when Junhyung was—as he had guessed—alone with Hyuna before their showcase.

But Junhyung was determined. He had told Yoseob as much as he was willing to, and he was going to keep it at that.

Soon, Yoseob had lost all patience, “Why are you being so shady about it!?”

“About what?”

“About what you did!!”

“We didn’t do anything”

Yoseob calmed slightly, knowing that raising his voice wouldn’t make things any better. “Ok. So you didn’t do anything, but Junhyung, it’s me. You know you can tell me anything”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Junhyung wasn’t liking the tone Yoseob used on him—it made it sound like Junhyung was hiding something scandalous.

Yoseob couldn’t hold in his calm any longer, and he burst out screaming, in one long breath; “Are you two going out? Is that what you can’t tell me!? Were you two making out in some deserted corner, that the time slipped your mind?!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is going on here?” A new voice added to the conversation

The two whipped their heads to the source of the sound to find a surprised Hyunseung hovering at the doorway, hesitating to step in. “Nevermind” He said, throwing his arms up in defense at their looks,

“Don’t wanna get involved” He added, after thinking twice and stepping into their dorm only to hastily flutter into the bedroom, being sure to close the door properly once he was safely inside.

“Oh great,” Junhyung complained, “You couldn’t keep your loud mouth shut, could you?”

Yoseob gasped, “So you are going out?! And who has a loud mouth!?”

“No!” Junhyung said loudly, quick to clarify, “We’re not going out! What’s wrong with you!?”

“But you…”

“Now Hyunseung misunderstood” Junhyung sighed loudly before addressing Yoseob again, “Look, I don’t know who or where you got that idea from, but Hyuna and I are not dating.”

“…Really?” Yoseob knew Junhyung wasn’t lying but he couldn’t help but sound disappointed

“Yes.” Junhyung said the next words clearly, “We are not going out.”

“Are you sure—?”

“I think I’d know, Yoseob” Junhyung said, cutting him off

Yoseob pouted before mumbling, “…ok”

“Now go tell Hyunseung he misunderstood and explain what happened” Junhyung ordered

Yoseob’s face lit up and he nodded, hopping off the chair to get to their bedroom. A second later, Junhyung grabbed his collar from the back, sitting him back down, “On second thought, I think it’ll be safer if I go”

Junhyung walked over to their bedroom, glancing at Yoseob, who looked restless in his seat. Somehow, he knew Yoseob would probably only make the misunderstanding grow bigger instead of helping him fix it. He sighed at the thought, it was going to be awhile before Yoseob was going to let this go.

He opened the door, an apologetic expression plastered on his face as he prepared to confront Hyunseung.

“Yeah, they’re going out! I heard it from Junhyung!!” Hyunseung was lying leisurely across his bed, dressed in comfortable PJ’s and phone propped against his ear.

Junhyung froze at the words.

A second later, after regaining feeling from his legs, he was leaping across the room, snatching the phone away from Hyunseung. “Didn’t wanna get involved, huh?”

Hyunseung looked almost horrified at the sight of an angry Junhyung, he was caught red-handed.

“Who’s going out?” Junhyung continued, his voice dripping in sarcasm, waving Hyunseung’s phone in the air as he did, “What did you hear from me?”

“N-Nothing.” Hyunseung said awkwardly, “Can I have my phone back please?”

“Why? It didn’t sound like nothing,” Junhyung taunted, “I’m really interested in what you had to say”

“Yah! Junhyung-ah!” It was a woman’s voice that yelled, the sound coming from Hyunseung’s phone. Junhyung raised his eyebrows at Hyunseung, there were only 3 girls that called him so informally, and one of them was his own mother.

“Jihyun?” Junhyung replied uncertainly, his glare not leaving Hyunseung all the while. It was easy enough to narrow it down, since he knew hyuna’s voice by heart and he highly doubted Hyunseung would be calling his mother—unless he was weird like that… which he was. Still, he could never be too sure.

He heard a few giggles in the other line, sounding more like suppressed laughter, and he knew Jihyun wasn’t alone. “Seriously?!” He groaned

“Junhyung, wait!” He heard Jihyun yell for him from the other line, commanding him against ending the call. She seemed to know what he was going to do next.

Without a second thought, he hung up the phone and flung it behind him, not caring where it fell.

Hyunseung, with an incredulous face, jumped towards his phone immediately, frantically checking for vital signs, “Was that really necessary?!”

Junhyung simply sighed, “You never learn if I put it too nicely”

Hyunseung pouted but kept silent, dropping the argument once he was certain his phone was alive and well, unaffected by the fall. It landed on carpeted flooring, after all.

By now, Yoseob was already standing on the entrance of the room, the loud noise attracting his short attention span. His curiosity piqued even more when he saw Hyunseung on the floor, looking like he was just crying and cradling his cellphone against his chest—Junhyung standing over him with an annoyed look.

“…Should I ask?”

Junhyung’s eyes darted towards Yoseob, “You!” He pointed accusingly, “This is all your fault!!”

“…Maybe not” Yoseob muttered, answering his own question

Grabbing his coat from the closet, Junhyung swiftly walked out of the room, making his way out of the dorm.

“Where are you going?” Yoseob asked, following Junhyung out of the room

“Girls’ dorm.” He replied, quickly grabbing his wallet and keys from the counter before heading out

Yoseob nodded, “Have fun!” He yelled teasingly as he closed the main door —he couldn’t help himself.

He gave it a few seconds and once he was sure Junhyung wasn’t coming back to strangle him, he quickly made his way back to their room where Hyunseung was back lying on his bed, leisurely on the phone again —probably gossiping with Jihyun.

Yoseob jumped on the bed, eager to join Hyunseung in the conversation.

“He’s going to the girls’ dorms” Yoseob said excitedly

Hyunseung put his cell on speakerphone, “Oh scandalous!”

They could hear Jihyun laughing from the other line, “You guys are such… girls!”

“Am Not!!” Hyunseung defended loudly

Yoseob laughed along, knowing she was only joking, “No, but this is… quite interesting”

“I feel kinda bad,” Hyunseung said thoughtfully after a short silence, “I mean, word spreads like wildfire within cube.”

“That’s because it’s filled with people like you, Hyunseung” Jihyun said, teasingly

Yoseob laughed again, “Yep, quiet but unusually talkative when it comes to these things” He said, poking more fun at Hyunseung

“Yoseob, you shouldn’t be laughing” Jihyun said gravely, “You’re the worst of them”

“But scandals are fun!” Yoseob pouted, “In our otherwise too busy lives…”

Hyunseung nodded in agreement, hugging his pillow as he set his cellphone on the bed between them.

** ** **

She couldn’t keep the wide grin off her face as she walked, with a slight skip in her step, up the winding staircase.

Her smile only grew wider as she recalled the events that happened—she had just finished recording for Rain’s debut as a producer. The group, who he named MBLAQ, was his first produced artist and he had hoped to have her lend her voice for their debut single.

Even if it was only a short part of the hook, she was very excited and more than willing. The fact that her great Sunbae wanted her to be a part of his debut as a producer made her feel all warm inside.

She checked the time on her watch, “Oh man, I hope they’re still there!”

She quickened her pace and jumped the last few steps until she reached the third floor, and then half-jogged the rest of the way to the large dance studio at the end of the hallway.

Flushed face, silly smile, and full of small giggles, she clumsily stepped inside, her thoughts still on Rain and the recording.

She looked up and stopped giggling, the trace of a smile still on her face.

She bowed immediately, “Good morning, I’m Kim Hyuna. Sorry for coming late!”

He chuckled, amused “It’s the afternoon already, Miss Kim Hyuna”

She sneaked a peek at him, “Oh…”

“But that’s fine, I was wondering if you would be able to make it,” He said, motioning for her to come closer, “But since you’re already here, that’s good”

She cautiously walked towards him to the middle of the room, “So… everybody…?”

“Finished.” He replied, “It’ll be just us”

“Oh…” She nodded, awkwardly avoiding any eye contact with him.

He kept his eyes focused on her, “I’m Prepix, by the way”

** ** **

He huffed, stopping to catch his breath as he just ran up 6 flights of stairs.

Supporting his weight with a hand on the wall, he made his way to the familiar apartment door. Once he reached the entrance, he knocked loudly several times, hearing shuffling inside as the girls got up from whatever they were doing.

“What?” It was Jihyun who opened the door

He took note of the cellphone on her hand, “I’m sure you already know that whatever Hyunseung, and presumably Yoseob, is feeding you are complete lies?”

“I’m not that stupid” She agreed, “But still, it’s always a fun subject”

He let himself in, stepping aside Jihyun as he did, “What did they tell you?”

“Everything” She replied

He raised his eyebrows, “What’s everything?”

She shrugged, watching as he looked intently around their dorm

He turned back towards her after quickly searching the dorm with his eyes, “Who else…?” He braced himself for the answer

“Just me and Jiyoon,” Gayoon said as she entered the living room from her room, Jiyoon alongside her.

He sighed in relief at the sight of the two—they weren’t as noisy, or nosy, as the two he had left back at the dorm. The information wouldn’t be dangerous between these two, they weren’t interested in trivial, childish things.

“Just them?” He asked, directing the question at Jihyun, who was his real problem here. Even though she was smart enough to figure out the truth, it was always hard to figure out what she planned, and she was always planning. Unlike the two, she was more than interested in these things. Especially if it concerned her members.

“Why?” It was Yoseob’s voice coming from Jihyun’s phone, “Afraid it might reach a certain somebody?”

“Yah!” Junhyung said loudly, “You idiots are still on the phone, huh? I guess Hyunseung didn’t learn his lesson yet, just wait till I get back there!”

At that, Jihyun heard a click from the other line, followed by a flat tone signaling they had hung up on her, “Aw, jerks!” she muttered at her phone

“Jihyun,” He now addressed her, “Please…” He didn’t want this to go any further. If it never reached anyone else, that would be best.

He didn't want to have to clear up misunderstandings to everyone in the company for a year.

She shrugged again, “What? I’m not going to do anything”

He nodded, not completely believing her, but if it meant the rumors wouldn’t get past them for now, that was fine.

He tried to act casual at his next question but couldn’t help but look away slightly as he did, “Where’s…” He didn’t even know if it was alright for him to ask, it might worsen the misunderstanding

But he knew he had to clear it up with her before it reached her from someone else, that or she might already know and Jihyun was keeping it form him. Either way, he needed to talk to her. Swallowing hard, he asked carefully, “Where’s… Hyuna?”

He didn’t like the smile that formed on Jihyun’s lips at his question, “Why?”

“I need to talk to her” He said, his eyes darting away from hers

“She didn’t come in yet” She replied, “Probably still in the company”

He nodded, mumbling thanks as he made his way out of their dorm.

Next destination, the company building.

** ** **

She was now looking properly at him, her face skeptical, “Prepix, huh?”

He nodded, “Why?”

“That’s either a big coincidence, you’re a new member, or you’re plagiarizing”

He looked startled, “What?”

“Prepix is not a person, it’s a dance crew” She frowned, “One of the best, too. I’ve been following them since my junior high days, you can’t fool me!”

He laughed at this, “Wow, adorable but you don’t hesitate to bite, don’t you? No wonder he’s infatuated”

It was her turn to look startled, “What?”

“Ok, ok” He said, raising his hands in defeat, “You caught me”

She eyed him, waiting for him to go on

“Let me introduce myself properly, then” He continued, “I’m Prepix iLL”

Her eyes widened at his introduction, “T-The Prepix iLL?!”

“So you have heard of me,” He chuckled, “I’m not a new member, I’m sure you know”

“Sorry for—I didn’t—It’s just that I never actually—I’ve only met Haw and them…and so…”

He was laughing openly now, “That’s fine, it’s actually Haw who should be here choreographing for you guys but he was busy”

She nodded, a little awestruck at meeting one of the renowned choreographers in Prepix.

“I was in the country so he asked if I could sub for him, just for a bit” He continued, “But it’s getting really interesting, I might decide to just stay”

“You should!” She encouraged, excited about the idea of working closely with one of best choreographers in the business, “Wait, you said Haw was…?”

“Yes, you lucky bustards, you get to keep my hyung!” He said in feigned anger

She laughed at this, “You should learn to share better”

“Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve been told that”

Sensing that they were straying too far from their purpose, Hyuna decided to shift back, “Um… So, choreography…”

“Oh, right” He muttered, “Actually, you guys aren’t learning anything new today; I was just instructed to work you guys out”

“If I needed that, I’d be in the gym” She complained, she had been excited about learning new choreography

“Fair enough,” He replied, “but when I said workout, I meant a mental workout too”

She tilted her head in confusion, “Mental?”

“Basically, I’m measuring how fast it takes for you to absorb new choreography”

“So, I’m a sponge now?” She joked

“Dear, you’ve always been one”

She thought about it for a bit, the image of her and the rest of the girls as sponges making her giggle slightly.

“Well, hyun-spongie, let’s see how much you can handle” He challenged, rolling his sleeves up as he eyed her reaction

She smirked competitively; when it came to dance, she was most confident in her abilities

“You’re on!”