While everyone is waiting for the final results, Hyukjae pulls Sungmin away for a moment when Donghae is talking to Ryeowook.

“What?” Sungmin asks, wondering why Hyukjae needs to talk in private all of a sudden.

“You like Kyuhyun, don’t you?” Hyukjae asks bluntly, his tone so sure that is should even be a question. He is smiling so wide that his gums are showing. He wonders why he didn’t see it before, and thinks himself a bad friend for a moment for not noticing.

“What?!” Sungmin exclaims. “Of course I don’t! I mean, I think he’s a good singer, that’s all!” He’s flustered and hopes that Donghae comes running after Hyukjae soon so he can avoid this conversation. Talking about guys is not one of the things on the ‘What to Talk About with Your Best Friend’ list.

“Don’t lie!” Hyukjae says, teasing. “I saw the way you watched him during his performance.”

“Like I said, I like his voice,” Sungmin defends, crossing his arms while looking the other way.

“But that’s not all you like,” Hyukjae says in a singing voice, nudging his friend. “Why won’t you tell me the truth? I already know! Besides, maybe I can help!”

Sungmin scoffs, letting his arms drop to his side and turns to look at Hyukjae. “Really? You, of all people, are giving me advice on relationships?”

“Hey! I know about this stuff!” Hyukjae argues.

“You haven’t been with anyone for over a year, Hyuk,” Sungmin says, rolling his eyes. “And even that was for a couple of months.”

“She wasn’t the one for me.”

“I wonder if you’ll ever find her,” Sungmin mutters. Or him, he adds in his thoughts.

“This isn’t about me,” Hyukjae says. “This is about you and –“ Hyukjae’s eyes light up and Sungmin can only dread the reason why that may be. “Kyuhyun!”

“Hey, Eunhyuk,” Kyuhyun’s deep voice comes from behind Sungmin. Sungmin almost jumps in surprise, and he immediately moves over so that he’s facing Kyuhyun and is standing beside Hyukjae. “Hey, Sungmin. What are you doing here?”

“Supporting my best friend, of course,” Sungmin answers, smiling. He notices that the boy from earlier is with Kyuhyun.

“This is Changmin,” Kyuhyun says, introducing his friend. “He auditioned, too, if you guys hadn’t noticed. He’s a freshman, as well.”

Changmin raises his hand in a form of waving and says, “Hello.”

“You two were really good,” Hyukjae says. “Sungmin hear was practically falling off of his chair during the performance.” Sungmin’s eyes widen and he vows to kick Hyukjae’s after this.

“Really?” Kyuhyun asks, amused.

“It was probably my voice,” Changmin says, smirking. Kyuhyun turns to him and grins.

“Whatever,” he laughs. “I’ll see you guys later. Bye Eunhyuk, Sungmin.” He and Changmin walk off in the direction they came from. Sungmin watches them for a moment before Hyukjae’s laugh brings him back.

“Why’d you do that?!” Sungmin demands, glaring at Hyukjae. “Seriously, I could kick your any day of the week, Hyuk. Don’t think I won’t.”

Hyukjae just keeps laughing, though. “You – You should’ve seen your face when I said that – Oh, man…” Wiping his eye, he finally notices Sungmin’s sober expression. “Sorry,” he finally says, although it doesn’t sound very sincere to Sungmin.

“If you didn’t need your legs to dance, I would break them right now,” Sungmin warns. “Don’t ever do that again.” He turns to walk off, and Hyukjae pouts, running after him, apologizing over and over, more sincere each time.

“Why do you look so annoyed, Sungmin?” Donghae asks when the two return.

“Your partner is a jerk,” Sungmin deadpans, causing Donghae to gape.

“My Monkey? How?” Donghae asks, genuinely surprised. Hyukjae groans at the use of his nickname. “He’s one of the nicest persons I know!” Sungmin, who was earlier annoyed, is now fairly amused at Donghae’s admiration for Hyukjae.

“Really?” Sungmin asks, crossing his arms. “I’ve known Hyukjae for a long time now. He’s not exactly mean, but he’s not that nice.”

Donghae smiles nostalgically. “I just know,” he says matter-of-factly. Sungmin opens his mouth to argue, but Hyukjae just puts a hand on his shoulder that says, ‘Don’t bother; it’s not worth it’, which is probably true.

Finally, all of the three judges exit the auditorium, papers in all three of their hands. The middle one announces, “We will be calling those who will be performing in the festival. We will start with the rappers.” They begin calling names, one by one. Every person who gets called looks relieved, while the people around him seem to be shaking with anxiety. When the rappers are all called, a couple of people leave, grumbling to themselves.

Then the dancers are called. Hyukjae is standing by Sungmin, almost collapsing from his nervousness. He doesn’t know when Donghae made his way over to his side, but he realizes it when Donghae clutches Hyukjae’s arm. Hyukjae, although wanting to protest, doesn’t, and continues listening to the names. He smiles a little when he hears Junsu being called, but then he is again overwhelmed with anxiety as the number of leftover spaces decline.

“Lee Hyukjae and Lee Donghae…”

Hyukjae’s eyes widen in disbelief. They made it. They. Made. It. They’d be performing as together at the festival! He feels Donghae shocked into stillness for a moment, before jumping up and down in excitement beside Hyukjae, still holding onto Hyukjae, although he’s now holding onto his hand.

Sungmin smiles at the two. “Congratulations,” he says, his voice soft so that those around him can hear the judges calling the last couple of people. Hyukjae smiles at him, and Donghae just grins like silly. Ryeowook gives them quick hugs, smiling happily for them, but he is still anxious to know if he passed or not.

Finally, the singers were called. Sungmin hears Changmin being called towards the beginning, and glances over at the two. He sees as Kyuhyun smiles weakly at Changmin before going back to listening. Even though Kyuhyun says he doesn’t care whether or not he passes, Sungmin knows that he really does. If he didn’t, then Kyuhyun wouldn’t have given it his all during the performance.

Ryeowook is called towards the middle, and Ryeowook bursts into giggles when he’s called. Donghae and Ryeowook give each other big hugs, and Hyukjae just smiles at the two in celebration. It seems like everyone has gotten what they wanted so far. Soon, there are only two spots left, and the second to last one is taken by someone else.

Sungmin sees as Kyuhyun’s face drops, and Changmin pasts him comfortingly. Please, please let him be the last one! Sungmin thinks to himself, his fingers crossed unconsciously. He would give up his guitar for a whole week – which is a long time for Sungmin – just so that Kyuhyun will pass.

“And Cho Kyuhyun.”

Sungmin almost faints.

---------------

A/N: This chapter is more eventful for Kyumin... and then the next chapter might be a bit... well, you'll all see. :) No updates tomorrow, unfortunately, so I'll try to get another update today. School is about two weeks away, and I have a lot of work to catch up on. I really hope I can finish this before school starts though... Hope you all enjoyed and thanks for reading :)