Why didn't Hongbin seem to know how to back off? They sat in front of the TV, playing a new video game Ken had bought N for his birthday. Hongbin sat so close to his maknae that their thighs touched. Though this may not have bothered Hyuk before, now it seemed unbearable. Had they always sat this close? Hyuk had to admit that he'd been hyper-aware of his hyung in the past few days. But he couldn't help it!

"Damnit!" Hongbin cursed as his soldier was wounded. He groaned and leaned his head on the younger boy's shoulder. Hyuk could feel Hongbin's wavy hair tickling his cheek. He resisted the urge to flinch back.

Being hyper-aware of the older boy meant that he noticed just how handsome he was. His hair, his face, his body... Hyuk knew he'd watched him a bit too frequently. But he would only notice when they met eyes.

"Hyung, you weigh a ton," Hyuk complained, wiggling his shoulder.

"Are you calling me fat? This is all muscle, you know. You'll understand once you gain some of your own."

"Shut up," the maknae muttered as Hongbin laughed. His head, still resting on Hyuk's shoulder, didn't budging an inch. Hyuk felt his fingertips tingle whenever the dimpled boy touched him. It was something he just couldn't explain. It was as though his whole body would react from a simple innocent caress. I'm disgusting, Hyuk thought dismally. If hyung knew he would definitely say I'm gross. The VIXX maknae knew he had to get himself under control. Hongbin could never find out how tainted he had become.

"Let's stop playing. I keep dying," Hongbin grumbled.

"Some people just aren't cut out for this kind of game."

"Huh? What was that?" The older boy playfully punched Hyuk in the stomach. It didn't hurt, but the force was enough to knock him over. He dropped his controller, accidentally letting the game run wild. Hongbin leaned over the smaller boy with a mischievous grin.

"Hyung, you ruined the game! We'll never get past level nine again!"

The dimpled boy only laughed. But then he seemed to realize just how close their faces were. It was like that night in the car, nothing but inches between them. Yet even though they were abnormally close, Hongbin didn't pull away. He just stared into Hyuk's wide eyes, mesmerizing him. The tingling sensation in Hyuk's fingertips grew stronger. He suddenly felt a scary desire to touch his hyung. His hands twitched as he battled with himself.

"Hyuk," Hongbin murmured, voice lower than usual. "That one night... Did you feel—"

"Aah, geez." Hyuk pushed his hyung off of him. He sat up, trying to pretend that everything was normal inside his head. For some reason, he was scared of hearing whatever it was Hongbin wanted to ask. One wrong word and their friendship would change forever. Hyuk wasn't sure he was ready for that. "Look what you did. It'll take forever to get back to where we were."

Hongbin stared as his maknae who had picked up a controller. His expression grew darker as the young boy complained. "You can go ahead and play. I don't really feel like it anymore," he said. Before Hyuk could think to respond, Hongbin stood and strode out of the room.

What was that about? Hyuk stared blankly after his agitated hyung. Did I say something wrong? The game controller suddenly felt cold in his hands. Why did things have to get weird between them? Was one stupid car incident enough to rip their friendship apart? The thought made Hyuk sick to his stomach. He didn't want to be awkward with Hongbin like he was before VIXX debuted. The older boy had become his best friend.

It was obvious that something had to be done, but the maknae was clueless. Dispiritedly Hyuk threw his controller on the floor. He shuffled into his room in a hazy state. What was he to do but lay on his futon with a comic when Hongbin ignored him?

xxx

Ravi was back. He was friendly with N the way he had always been. N loved the sight of his smile, the way one side of his lips lifted before the other. Seeing it now after so long made N's heart sting in a pleasant yet painful way. He never wanted to fight with the younger boy again. He'd rather cut out his own tongue. But now there was no reason to be weird around Ravi.

N had decided to give up on him.

There was a swift knock on VIXX's dressing room door, alerting all of the members— except for Ravi who had fallen asleep. Before anyone could stand to greet their visitor, the door flew open. A smiling, radiant Nicole stepped into the room, heels clacking on the hard floor. Though at first glance she appeared content, N could see the tenseness in her shoulders.

"Noona!" Ken greeted, clearly not aware of the sour look behind Nicole's smile. "What are you doing here? Aren't you on stage in five minutes?"

"Why do you know Kara's schedule?" Hongbin laughed from his seat in front of the hair dresser.

"I just happen to be very interested in their music."

The dimpled boy only rolled his eyes in response. Nicole seemed even more annoyed now. She tapped at her hip impatiently.

"Oh, I get it," Ken sang. "You're here to see Ravi."

"Yes, I need to talk with him. Is he here?" Nicole's catlike eyes searched the room, spotting Ravi curled up on a couch in the corner. Her walk was graceful yet strained as she approached him. What was going on? N knew Nicole well enough to notice that this wasn't her normal behavior. She was usually loud and silly, an attention attractor much like Ken. Now she seemed troubled for reasons N couldn't imagine.

As Nicole shook VIXX's rapper awake, N tore his eyes away. He spotted Hyuk leaning against a wall, gaze wondering off into space. He was surprised to see the young boy alone and not at his usual spot by Hongbin's side. Now was N's chance to get away before he could see something that would break his heart. He stood hastily, dragging Hyuk out of the room.

"What're you doing, hyung?" Hyuk exclaimed in surprise. He squirmed as N pulled him into the hallway.

"Let's do some vocal warm ups to get ready!" N said, purposely making his voice sound cheery. It was difficult given the fact that his stomach felt like a batch of gooey worms.

"Couldn't we have just done them in the dressing room?"

"It was too loud in there. What, you don't want to warm up with me, Hyukie?"

The maknae kept his mouth glued shut, resisting the urge to tease his hyung.

xxx

"What is it, Nicole?" Ravi asked cautiously, eyeing the older girl. They stood in a quiet hallway near the back entrance. There was a draft in this area of the building and Nicole wrapped her bare arms around her chest. Though Ravi always seemed to be hyper aware of his noona's body, he didn't feel the pull of attraction. He didn't feel what he knew he should... and it scared him.

"You haven't heard yet?" was all she replied. Ravi shook his head, causing his long bangs to brush against his eyelashes.

"Heard what?"

"The rumors. The rumors about us going to a hotel at night." Nicole's face was a mask of annoyance. Her eyebrows knit together as her nails dug into her arms. The younger boy knew what she was trying to do. Nicole tended to put on a brave face whenever she felt threatened. Underneath the facade could only be a terrified young woman.

"Wait, you're talking about that night before the 30^th? No one could've seen us. No one was there!" This was serious. Ravi felt his heart drop into his ankles. Gossip like this could ruin both of their careers. What was VIXX supposed to do without their rapper? And what would become of Ravi without s?

"That's what I thought too. But someone did, and someone told."

"Has this already leaked?! How do you know someone saw?"

Nicole ran a hand through her neatly styled locks. "Our manager told me this morning. The company was mailed a folder full of pictures of us entering that hotel. Apparently there was a note too, but I'm not allowed to read it."

"This sounds like blackmail," Ravi sighed. He felt oddly heavy, like gravity was trying to hammer him into the ground. How could I have let this happen? That night he had known it was a bad idea for them to enter the hotel. But of course, they did it anyway. "So, what? We just wait until this story shows up in the headlines? We didn't do anything!"

"That's not what matters to our fans. The company thinks they can buy this person's silence. I just thought I should let you know. Your manager will probably talk to you about this anyway." Nicole began to turn away, but paused. "I'm sorry," she murmured before hurrying down the hall.

Ravi felt his shoulders sag. He leaned against the hallway wall for support, gaze falling to the dusty floor. What would N do if he found out? What would he say? What kind of face would he make? Surely N would be disappointed in him. Nicole was right— whether or not they went all the way didn't matter. What did matter was the fact that they were even at the hotel. How could Ravi possibly escape misunderstandings?

"What did you do?" came a soft voice from around the corner. Ravi's eyes snapped up, landing on a tall older boy. Leo. Ravi tried to swallow but his mouth had gone dry. "What did you do?" Leo repeated, his voice sounding more strained. "If N finds out—"

"I didn't do anything! N doesn't need to know." The younger VIXX member tried his best not to sound too defensive. He had never been in a situation like this before. And he definitely hadn't expected to have to explain himself this soon.

"Didn't sound like that..."

Ravi gritted his teeth. "Are you going to tell him?"

Leo only shook his head. And though his voice was always soft, his eyes were piercing and dark.

"Why not?" Ravi scoffed, anger sizzling under his skin. "Do you think this is funny? It's what I get, right?"

"I don't want to see N cry..." The stoic boy fell speechless for a while, but his eyes didn't leave Ravi's. "I knew it. I knew you would hurt him again."

xxx

"What does it mean to like someone?" Hyuk asked, interrupting their warm up session.

N stopped singing and stared at his maknae with wide eyes. They had never had a conversation like this before. Oddly, N felt like a father about to give meaningful advice to his first son. "Uh, i-it depends on what kind of like you're talking about."

"What's the difference? If you like someone, you just like them. I don't understand why it has to be so complicated." The young boy scratched at the back of his neck. He didn't know what to do with his hands at a time like this. It was embarrassing to ask a hyung about love— especially when you couldn't give away any details. Hyuk just wanted some answers. He needed to know that what he was feeling was normal, a phase even.

"I know at first it doesn't make any sense. But you'll understand once you get to that time in your life." N paused, not sure if he should continue. "When someone is just your friend, you probably wouldn't even consider being closer to them. And when you feel something more than just friendship... you'll see the signs."

Hyuk gave his tan skinned hyung a confused glance. "The signs?"

"Things just won't be the same. You won't be able to act the same way around them. You'll start seeing that person in a new light." N's gaze fluttered to the ground as he spoke. His black eyes were dreamy as though he were imagining something. Something or someone.

"Do you have anyone special, N hyung?" Hyuk asked. His hyung stared at him in bewilderment. He shook his head violently, making his hair a mess. Later the stylist would definitely yell at him.

"No, no I don't." N bit his bottom lip. "But... I used to."

"What hap—"

"VIXX, you're on in five," their manager interrupted, sending them meaningful looks. "And N, go get your hair fixed. I don't know how you managed to mess it up so fast." He walked away before waiting for a reply from the two boys. Stress seemed to seep from him in waves. N wondered what was bothering the older man. Hopefully it had nothing to do with the group.

A/N: Hey VIXX lovers~

Thank you to the lovely people who still read this little dribble. :)

As I've said in the comments, because of school issues I'll have to update every TWO WEEKS. If I have time I'll throw an extra update in the mix. Just thought I should let you guys know that I have no plans to ditch this story.

Soooo yea, what shall happen next, hmmm?

Until next time!