Ever since he joined the kpop group Teen Top, L.Joe has been trying to increase his height. This is all due to the fact that the Teen Top members a.k.a cruel heartless creatures (according to L.Joe) enjoyed teasing him about him and his wonderful 172cm height. He couldn't believe that even Ricky was taller than him.

Despite everything, L.Joe has never lost his determination for growing taller before. That is, until the fateful day he decided to bring his best friend to Teen Top's dorm. L.Joe's best friend, who L.Joe liked to call YoYo, was the only person (apart from the smart fans) that knew about his crush towards Niel.

Anyways, YoYo has been bugging L.Joe to bring him to Teen Top's dorm for a while now, so YoYo was ecstatic when L.Joe suddenly allowed him to visit.

"Whoaa! Your dorm is so cool! But what's with that smell?" YoYo started to comment as soon as he entered the dorm.

"Ahn Daniel's trying to cook again." ChangJo joked after greeting YoYo. YoYo couldn't help but notice the slight blush that crept onto L.Joe's face at the mention of Niel's name.

"It's the pile of clothes over there. The cleaner doesn't come on weekends." Niel poked his head out of his room, explaining while glaring at the evil maknae. However, his expression changed when he saw YoYo and L.Joe. Niel scrambled to greet YoYo and YoYo could, once again, see another wave of red appearing on L.Joe's face when Niel hugged the short man while screaming 'WELCOME HOME HYUNG!'

One by one, the Teen Top members popped up from nowhere and greeted YoYo.

~YoYo's P.O.V~

Wow, all the Teen Top members are so nice! They're not as evil as L.Joe says. Yup, that's right. I call Hunnie L.Joe, because I like to pretend that I'm one of those Americans who calls him L.Joe.

After I greeted them accordingly, I followed L.Joe to his room. His room is cleaner than I have originally thought. I sat down on his bed and I started to listen to L.Joe's non-stop fangirling about his crush, Niel.

"Kyaaaa! Did you see how he hugged me earlier? Oh my gosh, I forgot to tell you! Yesterday at the concert----" I observed L.Joe's room as he rambled on and on. I have listened to his ramblings enough to know that he overreacts at every little thing Niel does to, or for him. 

Just then, I spotted a nicely framed picture sitting at the corner of my best friend's room. I stood up and walked towards it. "What's this?" L.Joe stopped talking and he glared at me, clearly feeling offended. I laughed it off as he came over and explained: "Oh, this is the picture Teen Top took together at the fanmeet a few weeks ago. The fanmeet was really, really fun, so we decided to take a picture to commemorate the day." L.Joe bounced up and down as he started to tell me about how handsome Niel was during the fanmeet. I rolled my eyes and stared at the picture. So it was a fanmeet. No wonder there were so many camera flashes on them.

Then, I smirked.

~L.Joe's P.O.V~

For some reasons, after YoYo looked at the commemorative picture, he became all quiet and nice. I didn't think much of it since this means I can talk more, but I regretted ignoring this large problem during dinner.

At the dinner table, everyone was rowdy, as usual.

"Yo-ssi, try eating this beef. It's really, really tender!" ChangJo exclaimed as he placed a piece of meat onto YoYo's filled plate.

"Hah, this is the first time I've seen Changgie sharing his food," Niel snickered. ChangJo wordlessly glared at his hyung while YoYo shot them an amused look.

"Yeap...it's always like this," I groaned. YoYo chuckled and was about to continue eating when ChunJi hyung decided to land a mountain full of veggies on YoYo's plate. YoYo visibly sweatdropped and all I could do was apologize repeatedly. I was still feeling fairly guilty until YoYo decided to insult me.

"So, what were you guys doing in Hunnie's room?" C.A.P hyung asked.

"Oh yes...I have something interesting to tell you guys," YoYo started, smirking like the evil person he is deep down inside. I looked at my 'best friend' with an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Well you see...I discovered a really nice picture in L.Joe's room..." I remembered the picture from earlier...but how is that interesting? I mean, all the members obviously knew what happened that night anyways.

"L.Joe here told me that it was a picture taken to commemorate a job well done. You know what's so interesting 'bout that pic?"

Everyone including me leaned in, curious to hear what YoYo was about to say.

"Everyone seemed fairly tall..."

I groaned. There's no way my BFF will---

"Except L.Joe. Oh my god, he looked like an elf like that!"

Everyone except me laughed. I stood up abruptly and ran into my room, locking my bedroom door firmly. Once I made sure no one chased after me, I slumped down against my bedroom door and brought my knees close to my chest.

Then, I pouted.

At first, all I did was sulk for a while. But when the laughter from the kitchen got louder and louder, I felt tears forming in my eyes. Soon enough, I was crying into my knees, trying to muffle my embarassingly loud whimpers.

~Author's P.O.V~

L.Joe didn't know it, but he continued crying for almost an hour, and finally fell asleep from fatigue. Two hours later, YoYo knocked at L.Joe's door and apologized to his best friend, but receiving no reply, he left, thinking that L.Joe was simply throwing one of his infamous tantrums again.

The next morning, it was L.Joe's turn to make breakfast for the boys. ChangJo slept at the kitchen table for an hour before waking up to see the rest of the members gathering around the table, wondering why there isn't any food on the table. "Why isn't Byung Hun up yet?" C.A.P asked. Everyone shrugged and continued doing their own activities, hoping that food will miraculously appear on the table.

Ten minutes later, ChangJo and Ricky was as good as lifeless bodies. C.A.P demanded Niel to go and call L.Joe. Niel dragged his way to L.Joe's room, knocking lightly. "Hyung... Wakeeee uppp. I'm hungry..." Usually, L.Joe would be bouncing out of his room, apologizing like crazy, but today, there was only silence. "Hyung... the maknaes fainted from hunger..."

That seemed to do it. L.Joe opened his door slightly to glare at his crush who he believed to have laughed the loudest last night. "Hyung, good morning~ Rise and shine~" Niel chirped, ignoring the fact that L.Joe's eyes were red and swollen. For all he knew, his oversensitive hyung probably took yesterday's joke too seriously. He believed that L.Joe would be back to normal in about an hour.

Lips sealed tight, L.Joe walked past his oblivious dongsaeng and went on his way to make toast and scrambled eggs in the kitchen. Niel happily skipped behind L.Joe, fantasizing about the breakfast that he is finally going to get. Not-so-surprisingly, nobody in the kitchen commented on L.Joe's puffy eyes. Immediately after serving breakfast, L.Joe went back into his room and continued to lie down on his bed like some half-alive creature.

A few hours passed painfully until L.Joe heard Teen Top's leader screaming: "LEE BYUNG HUN, WE HAVE A PHOTOSHOOT TODAY, SO GET OUT OF YOUR ROOM. NOW!"

After hearing that, L.Joe bolted out of his room while changing into a presentable outfit. When they reached the hair salon later, the screams of the workers there filled L.Joe's ears. "OH MY OH MY OH MY, WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED TO YOUR EYES?!" L.Joe's usual make-up artist screeched in horror while applying a whole bottle of powder on L.Joe's face. "Yah, if you apply so much powder, his face will become paler! What will I do with his hair then?! He is freaking blonde!" L.Joe's hair-dresser yelled in frustration.

"Alright, alright! Please. Stop. Being. So. Noisy!" C.A.P grunted while walking over towards L.Joe's seat. "Okay, here's what we'll do. We have three hours 'till the photoshoot. Dye his hair red for now, and make his hair straight. As for you," C.A.P turned to the frantic make-up artist, "Can you use some concealer instead? Make sure that his face colour isn't too different from his body colour. Got that?" Seeing the professionals nod in understanding, C.A.P went back to his own seat.

L.Joe could only thank whatever power up there who blessed him with such a talented leader. Two hours passed quickly and L.Joe looked perfect. The magazine company was extremely satisfied, leaving the Teen Top members in peace for the rest of the night. Well, almost.

No matter how much the cameramen complimented L.Joe's looks, L.Joe's mood never seemed to get better. As a result, the cameramen decided to let L.Joe use the 'cool look' for the whole photoshoot session. Eventually, Niel started to worry over his normally happy hyung. "Okay, that was a great shoot, guys! Thanks for your hard work!" The director and Teen Top exhanged bows. Then, Teen Top entered their van.

Once in the van, Niel plopped down next to the quiet L.Joe. "Hey, hyung! I downloaded a new app yesterday! It works really well! Do you know which app I'm talking ab---Hyung? Seriously, what's wrong?" Niel reached out and placed his hand on L.Joe's forehead. L.Joe flinched and turned away harshly. This left Niel's hand hanging in the air. "Um...hyung...?" L.Joe leaned against the window and observed the blurring sceneries behind him. Niel's hopeful expression fell and was replaced with a worried one. "Are you okay?"

L.Joe turned to Niel's direction slowly. He didn't say anything. All he did was glare. "H-hyung, did I do something wrong?" Niel squeaked in fear. L.Joe's stoned expression seemed to waver a bit but he still looked intimidating. "Nope. None at all. Why would you even think that?" L.Joe gave a humorless laugh. The generally happy atmosphere of the van darkened and everyone became silent. "No, um, 'cause you've been acting kinda moody the whole day, that's all. I was just...w-wondering..." Niel looked down as he explained himself.

L.Joe hummed boredly and continued to stare at the window. With such tension in the air, no one had the mood to talk anymore. One by one the members started to sleep. The only ones left were L.Joe ad Niel. L.Joe was awake because he felt that everyone around him would start teasing him once he was out of earshot, while Niel isn't sleeping yet because his favourite hyung is awake.

"Hyungggg..." Niel whined, finally using his awkward aegyo. L.Joe's face looked pink for a second, but the fairness of his skin soon returned. "What." As in 'What', and not a 'What?' kind of what.

Niel unconciously flinched with L.Joe's cold tone. "Hyung, everyone's asleep now, and manager-hyung is too concentrated on driving to listen to us, so...please tell me what's wrong?"

"..."

"Hyung..."

"..."

"Hyung, is this about the joke Yo-ssi made yesterday?"

"...No."

Niel clung onto L.Joe's arm desperately. "Hyung!!! No one really cares about your height, you know that? In fact, I think it's cute! As the saying goes, 'Don't take yourself too seriously. No one does.' "

L.Joe could feel a blush creeping up to his face, and in order to prevent that, he decided to act like an . "Easy for you to say. You don't live my life; how could you possibly feel what I feel?! And I have never heard of a saying as stupid as that before. Now let go of my arm."

Niel stared up at L.Joe from his crouched position with wide eyes. His hyung was always nice to him. Heck, why do you think L.Joe is Niel's favourite hyung anyways? Not that he told anyone, but whatever. Back to the current situation, Niel was rendeered speechless. Niel took a few moments to finally sort out his thoughts.

"Hyung...I have my own problems too. You were always there to comfort me when I'm troubled. And during those times, you don't know how I feel either, isn't that right?"

Niel felt a sense of accomplishment as he saw L.Joe squirm a little.

"But hyung, even if you didn't know I really felt, you still managed to comfort me. That's why I want to be here when you need me too, hyung. Place some trust in your favourite donsaeng, now would you?"

L.Joe's frozen expression has definetely melted by now. He looked at Niel for a second before hugging the younger male. Niel struggled to breathe against the steel grip of his hyung, but he managed to keep quiet about it.

"Niel... I trust you. I do. I really do. I'm so sorry for acting so mean... please forgive me...I...I'm just really stresed about my height, that's all. I tried basically everything but I just can't grow taller anymore. And it...it always seem as if everyone is taunting me, laughing at me..." L.Joe mumbled out all of his worries, and he felt at ease.

Niel smiled, knowing that his hyung is finally being sincere. "It's alright. Don't worry about it. Like I said, no one really cares about your height, Byung Hun hyung. It's all a part of the Lee Byung Hun that I love oh so much!"

L.Joe squinted his eyes at Niel's last sentence. "No...I love you more..."

Niel laughed heartily while slapping L.Joe's back playfully. "Hehe~ Nope. I love you more. I love you so much much much more!~" L.Joe shook his head sadly. Niel stopped laughing and turned serious once more. "What's wrong, hyung?"

"I mean it. I really...really love you. Not the kind of love a hyung has for his dongsaeng. I---"

"I know." Niel intejected. "What kind of love did you think I was talking about?"

L.Joe gasped and let go of Niel. "What...?" Niel chuckled at his hyung's cuteness. "I love you, hyung. More than I should."

Niel leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his hyung's lips. L.Joe stared at Niel in disbelief. "I...You...I...I love you too." L.Joe sighed in defeat. He let his head rest on the crook of Niel's neck, loving the warmth it provided. Niel L.Joe's red hair softly.

"See hyung? I didn't need your physical features to make me fall head over heels in love with you. I just love you, everything about you. So what, right? So what if people call you short? I will love you no matter what. And you'll do the same for me too, wouldn't you?"

L.Joe laughed for the first time that day. He could feel tears of happiness seeping through his eyes, but he didn't give a damn about it. He simply nodded and rested in Niel's warm embrace, muttering: "So what..." 'till he finally feel asleep. Niel smiled and placed a kiss on the top of L.Joe's head before drifting off to the land of nod as well.