When sungyeol woke up that day, he went down looking for a drink. Dongwoo had noticed him first, lunging himself softly to sungyeol before cooing. The guys had decided to sleep here, while minah would go back after awhile.

“My baby” He says, before caressing sungyeol’s hair and patting him in the back, cooing at him until Sungjong decided to hug his hyung too.

Sunggyu and Jaehwan had noticed this and immediately went to him (Prying Dongwoo and sungjong off). His eyes were puffy, like he’d been crying all time when they went down. And the pain crawls on their veins yet again as he smiles at the two before mouthing out a thank you. Sungyeol had noticed Jaehwan and Sunggyu had cried too. He feels bad for them. He feels bad for dumping a burden on them.

Myungsoo went to his friend, pouting.

“Yah” He started “Why are you sick?”

Sungyeol chuckled, looking down. “Just cause.” He answers, voice hoarser than before, Sunggyu and jaehwan cringes at this.

Myungsoo chuckled along at his playfulness and took notice of sungyeol’s lips. He averted his eyes to jaehwan who was looking at sungyeol, blankly. Myungsoo couldn’t decipher what jaehwan looked. He looks at Jaehwan’s bruised lips and then back at sungyeol before opening his mouth.

“What happened to your lips?” He asks, taking turns in looking at jaehwan and sungyeol.

“I fell” Sungyeol blurted out, as he feels jaehwan flinching at myungsoo’s question. “It was nothing.”

Why did jaehwan had one the same on his lips? Why were their faces flushed? Myungsoo wanted to ask but opted for silence. Why does he feel like his best friend is slipping away without his knowing? He knows it’s his fault for not making time for him but was he keeping secrets now? He’d taken note of asking sungyeol to hang-out with him.

Minah silently laughs at their reaction.

It had been a week since Jaehwan and Sunggyu found out about Minah’s act. And it had been 3 days since sungyeol came back after his cough and colds. The two of them hadn’t felt better after that, seeing sungyeol acting okay. It wasn’t pleasant.

Sungyeol smiled at them both as he took a sip of his half empty Americano when Jaehwan had told him about sunggyu knowing his parents… sungyeol looked down when he heard this. He told them it was okay. That sooner or later, he’d have told them anyway but he doesn’t know how considering it was his father.

Sunggyu and Jaehwan convinces him to tell everyone. To myungsoo. But all sungyeol does is shake his head and told them ‘I don’t want him to hate me for ruining his happiness’. His expression was serene, like he had no problem but his eyes says otherwise. Later that day, Sunggyu tried to hold in his tears as Woohyun asks him what sungyeol and him had talked about.

He asked sunggyu to keep quiet about it, knowing woohyun would violently react at this. Sunggyu obliged ("You're telling them sooner or later sungyeol. We're you're friends, let us help you") Sungyeol nodded. But despite that, he knows he wouldn't be able to take Myungsoo's saddened face and the outcome of their whole friendship.

They were now in the restaurant they frequent. The table was loud but jaehwan and sunggyu weren’t doing anything but look down on their food. Woohyun casts a worry glance at sunggyu before nudging him.

“Gyu?” He asks. “You okay?”

Sunggyu took a deep breath before giving him a smile and nodded, eating. Maybe his taste buds were going bad because he doesn’t seem to taste the food.

Hakyeon patted jaehwan noticing that the younger had bearly touched his food. “Yah” He says, softly “Eat. You haven’t been eating. Are you sick?"

Jaehwan had been locking himself up in the room since a week ago, not letting anyone talk to him. The members, even the manager, are all worried at it but all he does is apologize and get to work.

Jaehwan shakes his head before eating, the guys looking at the both curiously. They haven’t been acting the same ever since they went to sungyeol. The both of them had been distant and would always tune out that it worries them. It worries sungyeol. Sungyeol thought that if only he wasn’t sick at that time or if only he changed his shirt the two wouldn’t have find out and carry this burden. The pressure wouldn’t have made them this quite. He hates himself for it.

Jaehwan's has already been suffering jus as he is, and now he had to add this burden. He even had to take measures and beg for sunggyu not tell woohyun which could threaten their relationship. Sungyeol curses himself.

Minah doesn’t pay