There was a knock at the door.

"N?" came Leo's soft voice. "Can I come in?"

N didn't dare answer. Instead he chose to snuggle deeper into his blankets. It was hot underneath the thick cloth, but that was better than opening the door for Leo. Surely he was being immature, but what could he do? He didn't know what to say the slightly younger boy. After all, last night Leo had been forced to sleep on the couch.

"Please, N. I need to get my clothes."

The VIXX leader sighed heavily before pulling himself from his futon. The last thing he wanted to see was Leo's face. What could he say to him after last night? Him and Ravi had practically tried to kill each other! And of course, N had received all of the heat from their manager about it. The fight had happened while N was inside the dorm. He should have prevented it but he had been sleeping.

With a quick flick of the wrist, the tanned boy opened the door. Before he could meet eyes with Leo he turned his back, hoping to hide inside his futon again.

"Wait," Leo said, grabbing onto his arm.

"Just get your clothes and leave." N jerked his arm back.

Leo froze, hand still gripping his leader’s forearm. “I know… Ravi and I shouldn’t have fought.” The stoic boy bit his lip as he tried to continue. He had never been very good with words. Explaining himself to N seemed completely impossible without making the older boy mad. “It won’t happen again. We’ll… stay away from each other for a while.”

“You can’t be like that, Leo,” N complained, removing the quiet boy’s hand. He hastily returned to his futon and wrapped the blankets around himself. “We’re supposed to be a team. You and Ravi can’t just go around hating each other. And if you start avoiding each other you’ll grow apart. What is the rest of the group supposed to do then—”

“Then will you stop avoiding me?” Leo questioned, his eyes searching N’s. The older boy blanched and looked away.

N sighed heavily, pulling his blankets closer. “I’m not avoiding you. I’m just…” The room became engulfed in silence. Outside of their room, N could hear Hyuk shouting. The maknae was probably trying to wake Ravi who always slept like a log. N didn’t feel like seeing Ravi much either. He wasn’t confident in his choice of giving up on the younger boy. How could he give up when he’s loved Ravi for so long?

“Why did you fight with him?” N quizzed, breaking the silence. “I mean, the two of you have never acted like this before.”

Leo’s jaw tightened with a snap. He turned to his dresser, striping off his shirt. Quickly, he picked out a clean outfit and threw it onto his futon. N watched in silence. He wasn’t sure if he really expected an answer. If Leo didn’t want to tell him, he wouldn’t.

“Why?” The VIXX leader snapped anyway. Maybe he was being sensitive, but he felt he should be defensive. “Do you not trust me enough to tell me? Am I not a good enough leader?”

Leo’s voice rose louder than N expected. “That’s not it!” he shouted. Moving faster than the older boy could react to, Leo leaned over him. The usually stoic boy rested his hand on the wall behind N’s head. “If you knew… what would you do?”

"If I knew, I could fix this!" N knew his face was probably tomato red. He wasn't unaware of how attractive Leo was. And it didn't help that his bare skin was inches away from the older boy's nose.

"I don't really think that's possible..."

"Oh, yeah? And why exactly do you think that is?"

"Because," Leo murmured, dropping his hand, "you're the problem."

xxx

"Come on, Ravi hyung!" Hyuk groaned, kicking the sleeping lump named Ravi. This was by far the hardest he'd ever had to try to wake the older boy up. Even so, the maknae was determined. He would be the one to get yelled at if they were late to the recording. "Hyung, please!"

Hongbin stepped into the room with a sigh. "Don't worry about him. I'll get him up somehow."

"B-But..." Hyuk kept his eyes on Ravi. His dimpled hyung was sporting a bath towel and damp hair. How would he be able to keep his cool if he peaked? "You weren't able to wake him up earlier," the maknae finished, sending another kick to Ravi. Stupid rapper! Just wake up already!

"I said don't worry about it." Hongbin wrapped his arm around the younger boy and gave him a gentle shove out the door. "Why don't you just take a shower?" As soon as the door shut Ravi sat up. He didn't look well rested. In fact, he looked as though he hadn't slept in days. Hongbin didn't bother saying anything to the rapper. Instead he began changing into the clothes he picked out last night.

"We're recording for our album today, aren't we?" Ravi asked barely above a whisper.

Hongbin nodded without facing him. Of course, he'd heard about the fight between Ravi and Leo. He was disappointed. Lately it seemed as though Ravi was a completely different person. A person with built up anger and no self control. Hongbin didn't feel like dealing with this 'new Ravi'. He had enough of his own problems... with Hyuk.

"You know," Ravi sighed, "I really need your help."

Hongbin furrowed his eyebrows before turning to face the older boy. "Help?"

"I think I've figured it out, Binnie. I've been acting like a psycho because I wanted to hide something. Something that I myself didn't know. But even realizing it now... I'm afraid that all of you will hate me for it."

This was the first time the dimpled boy heard Ravi speak like this. He was so serious... Too serious for what Hongbin was used too. Without much thought, he took a seat next to Ravi. He lightly punched the VIXX rapper's shoulder. "How could we hate you?" Hongbin muttered, embarrassing himself.

Ravi chuckled sadly, shaking his head. "Rather than hating me, you might be disgusted."

"Well what is it? Come on, just tell me. What am I your best friend for if not this?"

With a deep breath Ravi prepared himself. He searched Hongbin's eyes for judgment. When he saw none he confessed, "Actually... This is about N hyung."

xxx

The car ride to the recording studio was horribly awkward. Each VIXX member stared off in different directions. All of them were aware of the quarrel that occurred between Ravi and Leo. No one wanted to speak for fear of stepping on a land mine. N kept his eyes firmly on the rain coating the street. At the moment he wished he could just disappear. It seemed that he was entirely responsible for what happened last night. The only thing was... he didn't know why. N had stormed out of the room when Leo said that he was the problem.

"What's with you kids today?" The manager asked and was discouraged when no one answered. "Just don't behave like this when we arrive. I know that last night wasn't ideal, but we have work to get done."

"We understand," Ken said, glancing around at the other members. Everyone continued to stare out the windows.

VIXX arrived at the recording studio very shortly after. N could see how hard Ken was trying to lighten the mood, but he just didn't have the energy to help. Still, he linked arms with the younger boy to encourage him.

"What's up, hyung?" Ken whispered so that only N would hear. "You still upset about last night?"

N nodded, though he wasn't exactly sure. At the moment he was more troubled by his conversation with Leo. "I don't know if I'm cut out for this. Watching over you kids is pretty tiring."

Ken laughed brightly, not fully understand his hyung's mood. "You're starting to sound like manager hyung."

"Hey... Do you think that maybe I'm the problem?" When the VIXX vocalist gave him a puzzled look N continued. "I mean, you don't think I'm the cause of this, do you?" N bit his lip nervously. He knew he shouldn't expect much of an answer. After all, Ken had no idea what he was really talking about.

Ken thought about it for a moment then shook his head. "I don't see how that could be. But... I guess that, in a way, it feels like Ravi and Leo hyung are always competing for your attention."

"Ha?! Leo is? There's no way." N knew that was absolutely impossible. The stoic boy was always getting annoyed and pushing him away. The last thing he would ever want was N's attention. Leo practically hated him, right?

"I don't know, hyung. When you don't go to Leo hyung, he always comes to you."

N considered that as they walked inside the building. His mind came up blank though. N had never really been overly observant. And Leo's displays of affection were always way too subtle. He shook his head, nearly giving himself a headache. There's just no way that that's the reason. "You brat," N muttered towards Ken, elbowing him in the side. "It's bad to lie to your elders."

Ken smiled slightly, looking relieved that his hyung had enough energy to retort. Together, the two boys led the way to the third floor where they'd be recording.

xxx

"Did you mean it, Ravi?" Hongbin asked, eyes scraping the ground awkwardly. Him and Ravi were sitting on a couch, watching their leader sing behind the soundproof glass.

Ravi studied his friend before responding. "Yes," was all he said.

"Wow..." the dimpled boy mumbled, ruffling his hair. Somehow he couldn't wrap his head around the idea. Ravi was in love with N. Sure, they had always been glued together before things got messy, but still... Hongbin was a bit hurt that Ravi hadn't told him until now. Weren't they supposed to be best friends? But even though it bothered him, he knew that he would soon do the same. Hongbin was too afraid to tell Ravi about his newfound feelings for their maknae. "So what are you going to do about it? Nothing?"

"I think I have to make a move. After all, I'm not the only one that wants N."

Hongbin's eyes whipped up to meet Ravi's. "What?! Who?"

Ravi only shook his head. "If I talk about it, it'll piss me off. It feels like... like I can't compete with him." Leo's face flashed through Ravi's mind. He curled his hand into a fist as he tried to push the image out of his head. N always paid an exessive amount of attention to Leo. How easy would it be for the stoic boy to snatch him away?

"Alright kids, gather round!" their manager called as N left the recording room. Quickly, the VIXX members stood around their manager. "I've got some good news for you. Since you boys have been working so hard this past year, the CEO decided you deserved a treat."

"A treat? Wow!" Ken shouted excitedly like a little kid.

Manager hyung smiled before continuing, announcing like a game show host. "Yes. And that treat is... an awesome vacation on the beach!" The boys instantaneously broke out into cheer. Ken practically pounced on top of N in his excitement. Hyuk and Hongbin hugged happily, but somewhat awkwardly. And though Ravi was also ecstatic, he couldn't help but steal a glance at Leo. He accidentally met eyes with the older boy and quickly looked away. He knew what this trip would mean.

"Hyung, you're not messing with us are you? This isn't a dream, is it?" Hyuk quizzed.

Hongbin chuckled loudly. "There's no way this is a dream, idiot!" He pinched his maknae's cheeks to prove that they were awake.

"When are we leaving?" N asked with Ken still hanging on his shoulder.

"Glad you asked," manager hyung said. "Actually we'll be leaving tomorrow morning. So you'll finish recording today, then leave tomorrow. The decision to let you go was a little last minute so... Just make sure everything is packed tonight. We're leaving the dorm at five, alright?"

Excluding Leo, the VIXX members all groaned in unison. None of them were particularly fond of air travel. The thought of being at an airport at five in the morning was definitely unappealing.

"Don't complain! Realize that we're paying for this trip!" And with that their manager left the recording room. The VIXX members looked at each other for a long moment before cheering again. They all decided to power work through the evening so that they'd have time to pack when they returned home. It was Ravi's turn to record and he stepped into the soundproof room. Yet though he was focused on his rap, he couldn't help but watch N through the glass.

Hello again VIXX lovers~

I am SO SO SO sorry for the wait! It's hard to keep up with a story while being a junior in high school XD I only have sad excuses.

I'm preparing for a trip to Japan soon so I thought it'd be awesome to have the VIXX boys go on a trip. Lots of things can happen on trips... [insert sneaky laugh here] >:3

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me guys! Love you!

Until next time!