Fate had a strange way of working out for the VIXX members. If there was anything they didn't want to happen, it definitely would. Their bad luck surely didn't help the tension that had built up over night after practice. Even though the members were tired and irritated with each other there was still work to do. Hyuk stared blankly at the schedule they kept posted on the refrigerator. Him and Hongbin were supposed to appear together on a popular radio show. Of course, he thought. The one person that I don't want to see right now. How was he supposed to act after what had happened in the company car?

Pushing the thought out of his head, Hyuk continued reading the schedule list. He froze in shock when he reached the bottom. N and Ravi were to appear as special guests on a new TV show. What absolute horrible timing! Hyuk thought back to last night with much reluctance. He didn't know what was happening with his hyungs. He had never the two of them fight before. Sure Ravi would sometimes get annoyed with N's nagging, but this was different. There had to have been something that started this. Tension like that didn't just come out of the blue—

Hyuk practically leaped out of his skin when he felt someone hug him from behind. "Hyung!" he gasped, not really knowing which one it was. He strained to tilt his head back, trying to see who had grabbed him. Of course, it was none other than Hongbin. His hair was damp and tousled, hanging in front of his dark eyes. Hyuk stiffened. How was he supposed to concentrate when he looked like that?

"Oh, I forgot we had that radio show today. I never know what to say. Maybe if I hang around N hyung enough I'll learn to talk nonstop," Hongbin laughed. Hyuk could see through his light joking. He knew how worried Hongbin had been last night.

"I'll cover for you."

"Yeah right." Hongbin laughed again, causing drops of water to sprinkle onto the back of Hyuk's neck. He shivered, wishing his dimpled hyung would back off a bit. "You're too awkward. But I appreciate you, Hyukie."

"Well, we can't let Ken hyung have all the fame. Then we'd be known as the idiot idols."

"I heard that!" Ken shouted from the bathroom.

Hongbin and Hyuk chuckled quietly to themselves, careful to keep Ken from hearing. Hongbin finally released Hyuk from his back hug and studied him attentively. "When did you get ready?" he asked, referring to the nice clothes his maknae was wearing.

The truth was that Hyuk had woken up early. It had nearly been four o'clock in the morning. He couldn't sleep because of the thoughts running wild in his head. He kept remembering the way Hongbin's body had felt pressed up against his, the way his hyung's warm breath had brushed against his lips. Hyuk had never had a crush before and barely knew the meaning of the word 'love'. He couldn't explain the way his body was reacting to the memory. Just thinking about it now made his skin hot like someone had set him on fire.

"I uh... Well I—" Before he could reply, the door of N and Leo's room flew open. N emerged, eyes more red and swollen then they'd been the day before. "Hyung..." Hyuk didn't know what to say to his depressed leader. There seemed to be nothing that would make what happened okay.

"What's the schedule?" was all N said in response.

"You're supposed to be on Nankam School, remember?" Hongbin reported cautiously. He hoped that N remembered who would be on the show with him so that he didn't have to break the bad news. There was an awkward silence as N stood still, eyes dazed. After a moment he glanced at the schedule and saw his and Ravi's names together. Hyuk expected his hyung to break down in that instance, but instead he simply walked back into his room, the door shutting behind him with a soft thud.

Hongbin glanced at Hyuk.

"Do you think they'll be okay, hyung?" Hyuk's voice was laced with worry. Their dorm had never been filled with agitation like this before. What if this tore them apart? Was it possible that this could cause VIXX's destruction? Hyuk hated the idea of that.

"They'll work things out," Hongbin murmured, gently patting his maknae's head. "They have to."

xxx

I want to see you, read Nicole's text. Though Ravi had seen her yesterday, his beautiful new girlfriend seemed to already miss him. It was comforting to know that there was at least one person who didn't hate him. His fellow members had practically disowned him after last night. Hongbin hadn't said a word to him this morning. He only got out of bed, went the the bathroom, and didn't return. Ravi felt even worse not knowing what N thought about what happened. The last image he had of N was Leo tugging him out of the practice room.

What the hell? Ravi cursed to himself. What right did Leo have to act like he was the villain? Why did he always seem to be by N's side recently? Ravi punched his pillow angrily. And now to make matters worse, he was destined to appear on a show with N in an hour. He couldn't bare the thought of facing the older boy, not after nearly making him cry. He probably did cry. With Leo there to comfort him.

Deciding that thinking about last night was making him crazy, Ravi dialed Nicole's number. He needed someone to talk to. Someone that wouldn't make him feel guilty about being such a jerk. Nicole answered on the second ring.

"Ravi~" She seemed excited by his call.

"Hey," was all Ravi could think to say.

"Hey," she laughed. "I know you've been kind of busy... but I'd really like to see you. I mean, the 30^th is tomorrow and I thought we should meet before then." Ravi couldn't help but wonder why that day seemed so important to the older girl.

"Noona, I promised that we'd meet. You don't need to worry about it. I kind of have to get out of my dorm. I feel like I'm suffocating."

"Then you'll meet me tonight?" She sounded hopeful. Ravi always paid close attention to the way Nicole spoke to him. She would sometimes whisper to him, causing shivers to tickle down his spine. There was something in the way she invited him that made him nervous. Though he'd thought he knew her well, Nicole was turning out to be an unpredictable girlfriend. She texted him quite often, asking about how his practice sessions went. It seemed that she was very interested in what Ravi was doing when he wasn't with her.

"Yeah," Ravi agreed after a moment. "I'll pick you up at your dorm. There's nothing scheduled for tomorrow since it's N hyung's birthday. We'll be able to stay out late if you want."

Nicole giggled on the other end of the line. "What's that supposed to mean?" Ravi flushed as he realized what he said could be taken the wrong way.

"I-I didn't mean it like... that," he stuttered, wishing he could crawl under a rock.

"I know~" Nicole teased with a cute snort. "Hey, I gotta go. Pick me up at seven?"

"Sure thing."

"Bye, Ravi," she said, her flirty voice traveling through Ravi's ears like pop rock candy. The phone hung up before he could reply. Ravi let out a shaky breath. There was just something about Nicole that made him so... nervous. He almost felt scared that she would try to eat him up. She'd certainly be capable of it. But even though he felt nervous, he couldn't help but feel excited to meet up with her.

There was a quick knock on the door that startled Ravi out of his thoughts. "Manager hyung wants to know if you're ready to go," came what sounded like Hongbin's voice through the door. What, Ravi thought bitterly, Hongbin doesn't want to talk to me face to face? Whatever.

He stood from his futon, ready to face his doom.

xxx

Hongbin was proud of himself for being able to act natural around Hyuk. He had been so nervous that things would be awkward between them that he probably over acted. However, the younger boy didn't seem to notice. Hongbin felt stupid for worrying so much. What was wrong with him? Why would Hyuk get excited over something as dumb as his hyung falling on top of him? Better yet, why did Hongbin get excited over it? The thought was mortifying and sick. Though he'd never had a girlfriend, noticing Hyuk like that was abnormal.

I'm probably just attention starved, Hongbin tried to convince himself. He'd only been affected because he'd never kissed anyone and Hyuk's lips were too close. That's right. Nothing else.

Hongbin had never even thought of kissing a guy before... though his dreams had thought for him. Last night, in his dream, he and Hyuk were back in the company car. Their noses brushed as they tried to breathe carefully, avoiding unnecessary movement. Hongbin's heartbeat was like a plane propeller. He was conscious that he shouldn't be there, mounted onto of his maknae, but he couldn't pull away. He wanted to be there. Hongbin longed to know what it would feel like to press his lips against Hyuk's. Would they be soft like a girl's? Or would they be rougher, more like a boy's?

Before the older boy could act on the desire growing the pit of his stomach Hyuk reached up, pulling his arm's around Hongbin's neck, and kissed him. It was gentle at first, innocent. Then Hongbin felt as though someone had flipped a switch inside of him. He ravished the younger boy's mouth, pressing their bodies tightly together. It didn't feel wrong or abnormal anymore. Being with Hyuk felt as natural as being caressed by the sun on a warm day. Hongbin wanted no more than to stay like that forever—

"Hyung! Hello?" Hyuk waved his hand violently in front of his hyung's face. "I've been calling you for the past minute. What's wrong? Why're you zoning out?"

Hongbin flushed dark red and muttered, "Oh, I— I'm just tired." He tried to laugh in a natural way but it sounded robotic even to his own ears.

The radio show had ended and Hongbin and Hyuk were in a car, on their way to the party store. They had to hurry if they wanted to buy enough decorations for N's birthday. They needed balloons, streamers, and paper plates. The cake had already been ordered and was waiting in a quaint bakery to be picked up. Nerves ate away at Hongbin as he thought about tomorrow. The day would either be fun or a total disaster. He just wanted N to be happy, knowing how exhausted he'd been lately.

"We've got a long day tomorrow," Hyuk muttered as if reading his hyung's mind.

"Let's just hope it doesn't go up in flames. I don't want to repeat last night."

Hyuk was silent in thought for a few minutes. He bit his bottom lip as Hongbin watched him. It was one of the maknae's many habits. While before Hongbin might have seen it as an innocent gesture, now he couldn't keep his eyes off the younger boy. He felt as though he were being teased.

"I know everyone seems to think I don't pay attention," Hyuk nearly whispered, "but I do. And I can see that Ravi hyung hasn't been himself lately. As a matter of fact, neither has N hyung. They both walk around like somebody died or something. And they've been acting even stranger towards each other."

Hongbin blinked, not quite knowing what to say. He'd just assumed that N was tired from work and that Ravi was in a bad mood. He hadn't drawn those two facts together. He felt like an idiot. Why couldn't he at least act like a hyung around Hyuk? "So do you think they're fighting?" Hongbin asked.

"Something like that. But I don't get why. They used to cling onto each other like they were the best of friends..."

"Look. If I tell you this you can't tell anyone, okay? Not anyone. Do you understand?" the dimpled boy asked, a mask of seriousness on his face. Hyuk nodded, slightly frightened by his hyung's tone of voice. "Recently... Ravi got a girlfriend."

xxx

Ravi wished that he could say he had fun on the show, but he didn't. Him and N had been far too stiff for the playfulness of the atmosphere. To make matters worse, neither of them could look into each others eyes. Ravi assumed that the older boy was furious with him. Why wouldn't he be? Ravi had practically called him a terrible leader. He knew that had hurt him. N had come only to Ravi with his worries about being worthy of VIXX. How could I just trample on his feelings like that? the rapper thought angrily to himself.

When they had arrived at their dorm N took cover in his room, not uttering a word. Ravi didn't know what to do anymore. He was the bad guy. He had been for a couple of weeks now. And it seemed as though the VIXX members were starting to notice. Leo, Ravi thought, probably hated him. For the past few days the quiet boy appeared to have gotten more protective of N. Seriously. What was that about?

Thankfully the sun had gone down, putting an end to the horrible day. It was nearly seven and Ravi was beyond ready to see his girlfriend. The word still sounded strange to him while thinking of Nicole. Though it wasn't like he'd never had a girlfriend before— just no one serious. Nicole seemed different in some way, more capable of having things her way. Ravi wasn't used to such an outspoken girl. Nevertheless he was pumped with energy as he left the dorm, giving a brief guilty glance at N's door.

Nicole's dorm was a short ways away so Ravi made it there in no time. She was already waiting outside for him, staring off into space. He wondered for a moment if she was ever late. He studied her, knowing she hadn't noticed him yet. Nicole's lips were a deep red this time, matching her ruby nails. Her short hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. The dress was a bit less girly than what she'd worn on their previous dates. It was black and tight, hugging the curves of her body.

Ravi suddenly felt intimidated. What did a girl like her want with a guy like him? He managed to clear his throat, announcing his presence. And although Nicole was dressed like a girl who could destroy any boy with her glare, she smiled brightly at him.

"Ravi!" she cheered, literally pouncing on him. "I'm surprised you aren't late."

"Noona," Ravi groaned. "I'm not always late. That was only like two times!"

"I told you not to call me that. It's Nicole! Nicole." She whacked the younger boy hard on the head.

"Alright, Nicole. What did you want to do tonight?"

Nicole grinned wickedly up at him, making Ravi sweat. She smacked her cherry lips together and placed a hand on her hip. "Well, I actually have somewhere I wanna go. I thought that since you don't have a schedule tomorrow... we could make it a two day thing."

"Oh? And where's that?"

Instead of answering, she grabbed Ravi's hand. She pulled Ravi down the street without saying a word. He would ask where they were going but he knew better. When Nicole wanted to be dramatic she wanted to be dramatic. Ravi had learned that the hard way. The night was nearly silent as they strolled down the street. Every now and then a tired looking company worker would pass them— probably hurrying home for dinner— but otherwise the sidewalks were vacant. The quiet was nice, peaceful. Unlike at VIXX's dorm where everything felt tense.

"We're here!" Nicole chirped after stopping in front of a medium sized building. Ravi froze in shock when he realized what it was. They stood in front of an average hotel. A hotel. What could Nicole want to do at a hotel besides— Ravi shook his head. There had to be some other reason they were there.

"Why here?" Ravi asked, his voice sounding distant and strained.

"Well why do you think? It'd be nice to be alone together, right? And since you'll be free the next two days we can sleep over." Though Nicole had said it so naturally, Ravi couldn't believe his ears. They'd only been dating a few days after all. "Let's just have fun," she said as if sensing his distress.

Nicole tugged on Ravi's arm and they strode together into the hotel.

Oooh lala VIXX lovers~! What to think about this?! O____o I wanted to post this chapter sooner but I got sick. Thankfully I was able to finish it doing somewhat of a good job.

I love drama so please don't hate me XD Things will eventually get better! And now we've got some solid Hyukbin to work with!

So guess what? Over 50 SUBSCRIBERS~! Whoo! I didn't expect so many people to subscribe this quickly. Thank you berry berry much!

Until next time~ Mwaaa!