“And boring,” Shindong says. “You should sing something upbeat so the audience can dance!”

“The audience will be sitting down. Even if they were standing, it’d be too crowded,” Kibum corrects, his eyes closed as he rests beside the tree.

“Shut up,” Shindong mutters, throwing a carrot at him.

“I like ballads,” Ryeowook defends. “Besides, Sungmin is going to help me pick a song, isn’t that right, Min?” he asks, looking over at Sungmin.

Sungmin, who is simply listening while nibbling on his mini sandwich, is surprised at being brought up and just nods. “Yeah,” he replies slowly. “What time do you want to hang out today?”

“Maybe this weekend,” Ryeowook offers.

“He can’t,” Kyuhyun interrupts, his voice cool despite the heat. “I tutor him over the weekends.” In all honesty, Kyuhyun wouldn’t mind skipping a tutoring session – he could easily spend the time playing Starcraft – but something about the whole thing annoys him in ways he doesn’t understand. “Sorry, Ryeowook.”

Ryeowook just smiles though. “That’s fine. We can plan another day, right, Min?” he asks, turning to Sungmin who is somewhat speechless.

“Yeah,” he replies quickly. “Of course. Just text me and I’ll try to be there.”

Kyuhyun doesn’t speak anymore.

-

“You know, you’ve got to tell me when you’re tired,” Hyukjae mutters as Donghae slumps against him, panting and sweaty. “I don’t really pay attention when we’re practicing.”

Donghae pouts, although Hyukjae’s looking elsewhere and doesn’t see it. “The festival is in a week, and we need to practice. As coach says: push yourself until you want to throw up, then push yourself some more. You can throw up later.”

Hyukjae makes a face. “Ew.”

Donghae, with a groan, pushes himself off of the ground. “Let’s just go through the dance one more time and we won’t have to practice until Wednesday.”

“Make that Thursday, or I’m not getting up,” Hyukjae mutters.

“Fine,” Donghae relents, actually relieved too. The two go through the dance one more time, putting all of their leftover energy into this final rehearsal. When the music finally ends, Hyukjae collapses where he stands and Donghae rolls onto the ground.

“I’m so glad there’s such thing as air conditioning,” Hyukjae says with a sigh. “I’d die without it.”

Donghae, too tired to even speak, just nods. Every muscle feels limp in him, and he feels as if he can't move for at least ten minutes. The two just lay in their spots, panting and too exhausted to even speak. The silence is broken when Donghae receives a text and crawls over to his bag to see who it's from.

"I've got to go," Donghae says, his voice soft. Hyukjae glances up, still not moving, and just nods slightly. Donghae, very slowly, stands up and achingly stretches. He murmurs a goodbye before leaving.

When Hyukjae finally gathers the strength to get up, he's surprised when Sungmin opens up the door. "There you are," Sungmin says, rolling his eyes. "How long have you two been practicing? You guys were gone during lunch, and now after school? You two are serious."

Hyukjae nods. "We really want to impress everyone."

"I suppose so. I passed by Donghae, and he was really sweaty," Sungmin says, scrunching his face up. "You are, too. Go shower." 

Hyukjae just waves his hand flippantly at his best friend. "I'll do that when I get home. I'm too tired," he says, getting up lazily. He slumps against Sungmin, who pushes him away in disgust. "Carry me, Minnie," he moans, pouting.

Sungmin snorts. "You're not that light, Hyuk, no matter how bony you are. Just get up and walk." He pulls his friend up and the two exit the dance room. Hyukjae, still very tired, drags his feet the whole time, much to Sungmin’s displeasure. Eventually, Sungmin gives up and calls for a taxi, knowing Hyukjae won’t make the whole walk and will pass out and Sungmin would be awkwardly standing there if that were to happen.

“So I was thinking about what you said,” Sungmin says softly as they wait by the curb, Hyukjae resting his head on Sungmin’s shoulder. “Maybe I’ll try something with Ryeowook… he’s nice and everything. We do go well together.”

Hyukjae, as tired as he is, still tries to feign excitement for Sungmin. “That’s great, Min. I really hope he makes you happy,” he says earnestly, his voice soft and the exhaustion clearly there. “You’ll forget about Kyuhyun eventually.”

Sungmin laughs. “You never forget a crush like that,” he admits, playing with his hands. “And I don’t want to. But I’ll get over him. You’re right.”

“Never?” Hyukjae asks curiously. “Even if five years pass?”  Sungmin nods. “Ten?” Hyukjae continues, leading to the same answer. “Even after you find someone else?”

Sungmin smiles sadly. “You don’t forget these things,” he assures Hyukjae. “But they don’t haunt you, like you must think they do.” Hyukjae, who’s eyes were becoming heavier and heavier, just nods. “Go to sleep,” Sungmin finally says quietly. “I’ll take you home.” And Hyukjae does as Sungmin requests without hesitation.

-------

A/N: Another ridiculously hard-to-write chapter that made me want to stab my writing self and cry in a corner. My PE teacher actually did say that to us once, when she was talking about the mile. I was like, “Uh, no.” Seriously. I try in PE, but I am not about to throw up in that class. Anyway, this chapter was pretty short. Still around a thousand words, but definitely short compared to others. I tried -.-" I'm just glad I finished by tonight, because I was afraid I wouldn't.

The next chapter will be more exciting, I'm glad to say, and hopefully things will be much smoother. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)