Read yesterday's update if you haven't yet! :)

Daehyun glanced over at Youngjae, the two of them having been put to work on dinner for a change. After Youngjae and Yongguk had nodded as an answer to Himchan’s intense stare the morning after they had forced them to talk, the group had decided they needed to try to fix things. Junhong was due back soon, and Himchan had said he didn’t want him to return to a place filled with tension. Jongup had been the one to suggest that they all took turns making food, since it gave them something to do and forced them to communicate – besides, there wasn’t much else to do for them.

And so they had set up a system of rotation: two people every day, picked at random, and only as long as they had time for it and it didn’t interfere with their schedules.

Initially Daehyun had been supportive of the idea, but after the first day this had dropped significantly. The first two had been Himchan and Yongguk, and to his frustration Himchan refused to tell him what the two had discussed, insisting that it was personal and that he doubted Yongguk wanted him to share. He had smiled and said he understood, yet this was far from the truth.

It made sense, of course. Yongguk didn’t like being vulnerable, so Daehyun could easily picture him asking Himchan to please not tell anyone what he had told him, because it was most likely related to their non-relationship. And Himchan, who loved to talk, was actually good at keeping his mouth shut when it mattered.

Still, he kept thinking about what the leader might have said. He didn’t think Yongguk would have confessed something too worrying, because he couldn’t see the older man do that to Youngjae. So then why had he not wanted anyone to know? Had his feelings for Himchan been that deep, or was it something else entirely?

Youngjae seemed happy, at least, unbothered by the fact that his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s old flame held things between them they couldn’t share with anyone else. He was with someone he cared about and who cared about him, which was probably all he asked for. And it wasn’t that Daehyun didn’t trust Himchan, it was just… Yongguk.

Although their relationship was still young, Daehyun could already tell that Yongguk was better to Youngjae than he ever could have been. And although Himchan assured him time and again that Daehyun was all he wanted, he shared his boyfriend’s insecurities: what if Himchan didn’t truly love him? What if he thought he had made a mistake, but didn’t dare to tell him? What if he wished it was Yongguk instead of him? He felt nauseated when he thought of the possibility that Himchan might have pictured Yongguk during one of their more intimate moments, although he knew it was unfair to think that way.

And now Youngjae. Despite how annoyed he had been when Himchan had told him it saddened him that Yongguk could so easily connect with Youngjae in a way he had never been able to with him, Daehyun felt the exact same way about the younger vocalist. Oh, yes, Youngjae had run from Yongguk as well, similar to how he had avoided Daehyun’s company, but in the end it had been much easier for the leader to win him over than it had been for him. It was… difficult. Difficult to see them together, even though he had no right to feel that way.

The thing was: everyone needed Yongguk. Youngjae did, but he barely spoke to Daehyun, unless Daehyun spoke to him first. He wasn’t fully comfortable around him yet, and that was fine. Painful, but fine. Worse was that Himchan needed him. He needed reassurance that he mattered, but he needed it from Yongguk, not from Daehyun. It wasn’t until Yongguk started treating him like his best friend again that Himchan seemed to relax.

“How are you?” Daehyun asked, startling Youngjae. They had both been quiet for so long that Daehyun’s voice sounded incredibly loud, and even he himself winced at the sound.

Youngjae shrugged, a soft smile spreading across his lips. “Pretty good. And you?”

“Fine.” Daehyun gazed down at the tomatoes he was supposed to be dicing for the salad. “How are things with Yongguk hyung?” he then asked, hoping he sounded as nonchalant as he intended.

“They’re better than good,” Youngjae replied, his cheeks and ears red. “How about-”

“Did you kiss yet?” Daehyun interrupted.

Youngjae gaped at him, but Daehyun looked back seriously, unsure why he had asked. “Yes, we have,” Youngjae answered after several moments of awkward silence. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just wondered. Since you guys came close before and all.”

Youngjae nodded, more than confused, but he continued to work on their dinner. “Could you hand me the salt?”

Daehyun complied, leaning against the counter afterwards to watch Youngjae cook. “Was it good?”

“Was what good?” Youngjae asked, distracted.

“The kiss.” He didn’t know what had gotten into him, but somehow he couldn’t shut himself up, even though he knew he was going too far.

Youngjae frowned at him. “What’s it to you?” he asked suspiciously. “And don’t tell me you’re ‘just wondering’, because it’s like me asking you if Himchan is a good kisser. It’s weird.”

“To be fair, if you wanted to know that, you could just ask your boyfriend,” Daehyun replied, regretting the words even as they came out. He had definitely crossed a line here, and Youngjae’s furious expression only confirmed it.

“I don’t know what kind of issues you two are having, or if it’s just you who’s messed up in the head, but you shouldn’t take it out on me,” Youngjae snapped. He shook his head when Daehyun tried to apologise. “No, don’t bother. You can apologise when I know you mean it, and I’ll accept when I want to.”

He pushed away from the stove, glaring at Daehyun fiercely. “And in case you forgot: if you really wanted to know how Yongguk kisses, you could always ask your boyfriend. As far as I know, they’ve done more than kissing, so if you’re really curious you could always ask for details. Maybe you could pick up some tips.”

Daehyun ran his shaking hand through his hair when Youngjae stormed out. Well, he had royally ed up. He honestly had no idea what had come over him, and wished his brain-to-mouth filter hadn’t given up on him.

Himchan poked his head into the kitchen, his eyebrows furrowed. “What the hell happened? Youngjae just came into the living room and he’s pissed. Did you do anything?”

Daehyun sighed and buried his face in his hands before recounting the story, unfortunately aware that he couldn’t keep this from him. As he had expected, Himchan told him in no unclear terms what an idiot he was before turning around and leaving him behind, absolutely fuming.

He groaned and rolled his head back. “Awesome…” How was he going to make this up to them all?

Junhong logged on to Skype, waiting for  Jongup to come online too. They hadn’t been able to talk for the past two days, but with Junhong’s return to the dorm coming up, they had agreed to speak tonight. Thank god, because Junhong wanted to know what the dorm was like at the moment.

He smiled widely when Jongup called him and answered quickly, happy to see his friend’s face. “Hyung! How are you?”

Jongup shrugged and smiled back. “I’m okay. What about you? Ready to come back?”

Junhong nodded eagerly, making Jongup laugh. “I should be back by the end of the week. The doctor said my leg healed well, so I can dance with you again soon!” He had missed dancing. And his friends, of course. It was nice to be with his parents, but he wished he could have stayed with the others.

The original intention had been for him to return to the dorm once the guys returned to Korea, but management had decided it would be easier for them all if he stayed at home. He had protested that the dorm was his home, but his parents had seemed upset at how badly he wanted to leave again and he had agreed to stick around.

“Good, because you have a lot to catch up on,” Jongup said, sounding far too happy at the idea. “I’ll help you, don’t worry,” he added when he saw Junhong’s worried face.

“I know you will,” Junhong replied with a smile. He wasn’t too excited at the prospect of so much work waiting for him, but at least he’d be able to dance again, and he’d have the perfect excuse to spend time with Jongup. If he missed everything and everyone else, it was nothing compared to how badly he missed the other boy. And he was curious if Jongup would take him up on the kissing he had mentioned before.

“How is everyone else? Are things any better?”

He frowned when Jongup sighed and knew to expect the worst. “What happened this time?” he asked warily. The group had visited him, revealing that Yongguk and Youngjae were together (Junhong had already known this from Jongup and had been genuinely surprised, but he was happy for them) and things had seemed awkward, but not too terrible. The last time they had talked, Jongup had told him they were all trying to fix things: they had started up a routine to get everyone to talk again. According to him, things had gone well between Yongguk and Himchan.

“No idea what they talked about, but they’ve been talking again. So I guess it was good,” he had said.

So what now? And so close to him returning as well… This wasn’t the welcome back he had hoped for. Not that he had thought they’d all miraculously be back to normal, but from Jongup’s expression it was clear that whatever had happened had been bad.

“Daehyun hyung was an idiot,” Jongup eventually replied, a sour look on his face that didn’t befit him.

“Of course he was,” Junhong remarked, rolling his eyes. He should’ve known it was him, considering his behaviour recently. “What did he do, yell at Yongguk hyung?” After all, the leader seemed to be the main source of his problems. Or, well, he was the scapegoat for them, to be more accurate; Daehyun’s ridiculous insecurities and his jealousy were the real issues.

“No, it wasn’t Yongguk…”

Junhong listened to Jongup’s account and shook his head at the end. He understood that Daehyun was hurt and confused, but he really should learn how to think first. “What is wrong with him?” he sighed. “Did he apologise?”

Jongup nodded. “He tried to, at least, but it didn’t go very well. You know what he’s like with apologies.”

That he did. Wonderful, so his first task when he came back was to teach Daehyun how to apologise sincerely. Yongguk wasn’t too difficult; he didn’t hold grudges and believed in forgiveness, and he probably understood Daehyun on some level. Youngjae, on the other hand, could brood for a long time, and he’d need some big gesture. As for Himchan… He wasn’t as bad as Youngjae when it came to grudges, but he was more intense in his anger until he let it go.

“But let’s not talk about that now,” Jongup said, cutting through Junhong’s contemplations. “I want to talk about you.”

“What about me?” Junhong asked with wide eyes.

Jongup chuckled and Junhong watched him turn on his stomach. “Do you miss me yet?” he asked, a wide grin on his face.

Junhong sat back in his chair and shrugged, his eyes travelling over Jongup’s form. “Not really,” he replied airily, ignoring how Jongup only looked more pleased. Of course he knew he wasn’t fooling anyone, but it was still difficult for him to talk about things like this. “Why, do you miss me?”

The dancer hummed and stared at Junhong fondly. “A little. I miss talking to you, and holding your hand. And I miss your hugs.”

Junhong’s cheeks felt warm and he contemplated slamming his laptop shut. Even though Jongup was only a little older than him, he often felt so incredibly young, so inexperienced. And although Jongup didn’t care either way, he did. He hadn’t had his first kiss yet nor did he have any experience with relationships. Sure, he had advised Himchan, but that was completely different from being in a relationship himself.

“So you’ll hug me when I get back?” Junhong asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

“If you’ll let me,” Jongup answered, smiling softly.

Junhong bit his lip and nodded. Of course he would. He enjoyed being close to Jongup, after all. “And…” He hesitated, unsure how to finish his next sentence. “Never mind,” he said hastily. He had wanted to ask if he’d kiss him too, but it had been hard enough to ask for a hug. Besides, it was probably better if that happened spontaneously.

Jongup gazed at him curiously, but didn’t ask any further. That was one of the things Junhong liked about him so much: he allowed people to speak at their own pace. If someone didn’t want to tell him something, that was fine. And if they did, he’d listen. ‘Special’ was the only way to describe him, but in the best possible way.

He wrinkled his nose when his mother called out to him and mumbled about people always interrupting him when he was having fun. Jongup laughed.

“You have to go to bed again?”

Junhong pouted and nodded. “Yeah… At least we can sleep together soon.” He froze, while Jongup simply raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I didn’t mean- I meant actually sleep! Nothing more!”

Jongup laughed again, covering his mouth to quiet himself. “It’s okay, I knew what you meant,” he assured Junhong. “But you should go to bed now. I’ll see you soon, and hopefully things will be better then…”

“Skype me tomorrow,” Junhong demanded suddenly. “Just to keep me updated,” he added when Jongup stared at him questioningly.

“Sure,” the other grinned. “But I’d want to talk to you anyway.” He tilted his head and gazed at Junhong quietly for a few moments. Junhong was sure he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. Instead he wished him goodnight and waved before turning off his webcam, Junhong doing the same.

He crawled into bed and thought of everything that was waiting for him at the dorm. He didn’t really want to focus on the four oldest, because all the drama might actually put him off. Jongup, though… His crush on him was growing by the minute and he hated it, because it made him act like an idiot. He pulled his blankets over his face, the thought of Jongup kissing him once again being what let him get to sleep.

A/N: And an update after yesterday's! I apologise for Daehyun... He really doesn't mean it. And some Jonglo as well. Don't worry, they'll focus more on each other soon enough! Anyway... The next update will take longer than a day, but hopefully there'll be less drama soon. >.>