"No, I think it is." Ravi said, determination boiling under his skin. "I've become a part of this. So just tell me."

Leo continued to look out the window. The stoic mask always kept on his face had been broken to pieces. He wouldn't allow Ravi to see him like that. "This isn't something you can gossip lightly about. You don't know about it because it's better off forgotten."

Then why'd you bring it up? Ravi wanted to ask. He could see that he was about to walk down a dangerous path. By the tension in Leo's shoulders, the VIXX rapper knew how serious this was. Even so, he couldn't help but feel as though he needed to know N's past. The thought of Leo knowing more about their leader than Ravi was sickening. It made him feel as though the older boy could easily steal N away.

"Fine," Ravi said, breaking the static silence. "I can wait to hear the story."

Leo nodded, still refusing to turn around.

"This isn't something I can ask N about, is it?" Though his hyung didn't respond, Ravi already knew the answer. Absolutely not.

Ravi turned to the door, ready to escape the tension filled room. He paused before reaching for the door knob. "You know, I'm probably going to find out eventually." And with that, the younger boy left the room.

Leo wanted to hurl his fist into the wall. Stupid, he cursed to himself. It was utterly stupid of him to have mentioned N's past to Ravi. Now he wouldn't be allowed to forget. Now he would be forced to face N if Ravi ever discovered the truth. Leo would rather die than see the slightly older boy hurt. 

xxx

N had spent the last hour drowning in his thoughts. He could feel nausea stirring up inside his stomach. For reasons unknown to his brain, he couldn't force his body to move from the bed. N knew he should join s and reassure Ken that he was feeling fine, but that seemed impossible.

As he lay there helplessly, memories began to flow into N's head. Memories he hadn't thought about since VIXX's debut. N fought back tears once more. Why couldn't he let it go after all this time? Why did he constantly let himself sink into the shadows of his past? N couldn't help but blame himself for the turn of events. He knew that if he had paid attention, no one would have ended up hurt. And it was that fact that made N's memories hurt him so badly.

Suddenly there was a rapid knock at the door. The VIXX leader could hear excited giggles behind the thick reddish wood. 

"Hyung? Open the door!" came Hyuk's energetic voice.

N sighed and sat up. He wiped his cheeks, checking for tears. When he detected none, he stood and opened the door. Hyuk, Hongbin, Ken and... Ravi all stood in front of him with beach towels in hand.

Hyuk grinned. "Come on, hyung. Let's go down by the water."

"Isn't it supposed to get dark soon?"

Ken eyed his leader, conveying a silent message. "All the more reason to go. Now we can see the French sunset!" In other words, 'you need to get out of this room and relax'.

"All right, all right," N agreed. He carefully kept himself from meeting eyes with Ravi. "Let me change and grab a towel." The VIXX leader shut the door and quickly grabbed his swimming trunks from his suitcase. He hadn't been swimming in a while. Maybe this vacation really would cool things off between the members. Hopefully the issues between Ravi and Leo could be solved. Before N could think too much about that, he shook his head and stripped out of his clothes.

xxx

"Where's Leo?" N asked a sour looking Ken. The VIXX vocalist was attempting to apply sun block onto the middle of his back. He grunted as his arm cramped. N decided to save Ken from his suffering and apply it for him.

"I think he's sleeping in his room. You know him. I mean, he's your roommate." Ken shivered when his leader's hands met the skin of his back. "I can't imagine what the two of you talk about when you're by yourself."

"Talk? With Leo? Ha!" Once N was finished covering the younger boy's back with sunscreen he threw the bottle on the towel. He was too exhausted to use any of it on himself. The sun was beginning to go down anyway. "I wish he would come hangout with us, though."

Ken sighed, serious for once. "I feel you. Sometimes I wonder why he even wanted to be a singer."

N searched Ken eyes before responding. He knew that Ken tried hard to include Leo in the group. And it was difficult work considering how annoying Leo found him. "I know why he wanted to become a singer..." N murmured, mostly to himself. Ken looked at him questioningly. But before he had the chance to ask his leader to explain a large beach ball smacked him square in the face.

"Yah!" He shouted at the other VIXX members, nose bright red. "Who had the balls to do that?!"

"Oh, stop bluffing, Ken hyung! We all know you're not going to do anything about it," Hongbin shouted back. He was up to his thighs in sea water. His hair was dripping wet and slicked back out of his face. N hated to admit it, but Hongbin was probably one of the most handsome guys he knew. Ken jumped up, pointing a finger at the handsome boy.

"It was you, wasn't it?" he accused.

Hyuk laughed in his place next to Hongbin. "Guess again, hyung."

"I'm gonna get you!" Ken rapidly grabbed the beach ball and charged at Hyuk. The maknae snickered and dashed further into the ocean. N smiled, enjoying the ridiculous show of affection.

"I'm tired just looking at them," Ravi chuckled at N's side. The VIXX leader flinched, startled. Ravi had snuck up next to him sometime during Ken and Hyuk's banter. N remembered his original determination to pretend as if nothing was wrong. Just act like you always do, he encouraged himself.

N forced out a shaky laugh before clearing his throat. "They're just lucky that ball didn't hit me. Umma wouldn't gotten the hurt on!"

Ravi offered a cheeky grin. "Umma? That's funny... I could've sworn you were grandma..."

"Yah!" N elbow the younger boy in his side. So far so good. Surprisingly, he didn't feel any tension coming from Ravi. He breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe Ravi had a similar idea of leaving all their problems in Korea. N could see Ken watching them nervously from the water's edge. The older boy sent him a reassuring smile. He felt like an idiot for crying in front of Ken earlier. N knew he shouldn't push his issues onto other people, especially his band mates.

"...ry, hyung," Ravi was saying.

N looked at him, startled from his thoughts. "Huh?"

"I said, I'm really sorry, hyung." The VIXX rapper wasn't looking at him. Instead he had his gaze intensely fixed on his hands. Ravi's eyes were dark with what appeared to be regret.

N shook his head gently. "Let's not even think about what happened between you and Leo. Let's just... try to enjoy our vacation?" It came out a question though N didn't intend it to. "I just want us all to get along and have fun before we have to go back. When we go home all we'll be doing is work."

"Yeah..." Ravi muttered. "I just feel like you've been really forgiving of me lately."

For a moment silence passed between them. Ravi was right. N had been really forgiving. But he couldn't exactly tell the younger boy that the reason for that was his sinful... affection. He didn't have it in him to really be upset with Ravi.

"Just don't act stupid anymore," N said lamely.

Ravi smiled, finally looking at his hyung. "Cause you know how good I am at that."

xxx

While N and Ravi sat on the beach smiling at each other, Hyuk was freaking out! He had tried to use Ken as a distraction, but that had only lasted a couple of minutes. He just... needed to get away from Hongbin. It wasn't really easy being around someone that looked that good in a bathing suit. Especially if they kept trying to tackle you to the ocean floor. Hongbin had managed to chase the maknae far down the beach. Their hyungs were now out of hearing distance.

"Hyuk! Slow down!" The dimpled boy called after Hyuk. But there was no way Hyuk was going to give up escaping. Whenever he was close to Hongbin, he felt the danger of doing something incredibly stupid. Hyuk had to avoid that at all costs. "Hyuk!" Hongbin called again.

Coincidentally, Hyuk slipped in the sand, face planting. "Ow..." he groaned into the heated beach floor. Great going, Hyukkie.

"Hyuk, are you okay?" Hongbin knelt down beside the injured maknae. Even though he was suppressing a chuckle, the older boy was actually concerned. "That looked like it hurt."

"Yeah. I think I only broke my nose... and all of my fingers."

Hongbin let out a barely controlled laugh. Hyuk rose to punch his hyung in the stomach.

"Don't laugh at me! That seriously hurt," he grumbled, wiping at his nose. Hongbin covered his mouth obediently.

"I'm sorry," the dimpled boy said once he didn't feel like laughing anymore. He wrapped an arm gently around Hyuk's shoulders. "Really, though. Are you okay?"

"Fine." Hyuk knew his face was starting to turn red. He could feel every muscle in Hongbin's sculpted arm. It was weird having his hyung's bare skin touching his. Weird, but not unpleasant. Hyuk hated that he had these thoughts while Hongbin was touching him so innocently. "Perfectly fine," he said again, trying to casually push his hyung's arm away.

Hongbin noticed. "Come on, don't be mad."

"I'm not mad." Hyuk stood so that he wouldn't have to look into the older boy's eyes.

"Okay, maybe you're not mad. But something's up, right? Something's been up with everyone ever since the drama with Ravi," Hongbin ranted, also standing up. "It's like you people think I don't notice anything."

Hyuk didn't really know what to say. He stared at the sand quietly as the sun went down, aware that Hongbin's eyes were on him. Something was up, but even Hyuk didn't what. He suddenly regretted not dating before VIXX debuted. There was no experience for him to fall back on. The maknae didn't know exactly what his feelings were for Hongbin. And he had no one to help him figure it out. However one thing was certain, there would soon be no more hiding from his hyung. Hongbin wasn't an idiot. He would find out eventually.

"Nothing's up, hyung," Hyuk lied through his teeth.

Hongbin sighed as the sea breeze rustled his hair. The air was becoming a bit colder. "Whatever... Let's go back to the others." The older boy turned to return to their members.

Hyuk grabbed his arm before he could walk away. "Seriously," he said, trying his best to look into Hongbin's dark chocolate eyes, "nothing's up."

xxx

Leo could see the beach from his hotel window, but none of the VIXX members were in sight. He felt grateful for that. At the moment, he didn't really feel like seeing them having a great time without him. The sun had finally set and Leo could feel a chilly wind enter the room. He welcomed it. Leo much preferred the cold. Sweating wasn't really his thing. Even so, he decided to take a walk before s returned.

Leo grabbed a light sweater from his suitcase and his wallet before leaving the room. He planned to see if there were any snacks he would like at a convenience store nearby. The VIXX vocalist didn't eat junk food as often as the other members, but he was curious about French snacks. Leo was surprised to find that there was a convenience store only a couple of blocks from the hotel. One look was enough to decided that it wasn't as well stocked as the ones in Korea or Japan. Even so, he bought a chocolate bar and a bag of chips. He couldn't read what kind they were.

As he was leaving the store, Leo noticed a group of guys standing outside of what could only be a small bar. They laughed and joked casually with each other. But that wasn't what caught Leo's attention. All five of them were speaking fluent Korean and appeared to be Korean themselves.

One of the men noticed Leo's stare and gave him a strange look, a look of recognition. The man tapped his friend on the shoulder and pointed at Leo. His friend appeared to be a bit younger, probably around Leo's age. He had long hair that was dyed a midnight blue color and a long, lean figure. He was so familiar. Leo stiffened as their eyes met.

The boy stepped forward, clearly eyeing Leo with seething hatred.

"It's..." Leo barely managed to whisper. "It's you."

Though the tension was clear in the boy's shoulders, he smiled at Leo, flashing a set of perfect teeth. "It's me," he muttered and then his smile vanished.

Please don't hit me, VIXX lovers!!!

I was gone at lot longer than I thought I'd be! :(

Anyway I'm back from Japan and I have a brand new chapter for yall. I hope you enjoyed my terrible writing. I'm trying to add a little bit a drama. 

Please let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions as to what should happen next~! I love you all and thanks for sticking with me!

Until next time~