"What are you, a girl trying to avoid her crush? GO TO HIM!" 

The male stared blankly at him before standing up and walking away. Chunji frowned and scrambled to a stand. He quickly grabbed L.Joe's shoulders and yanked him around, facing him. 

"What is wrong with you? Niel got hurt!"

"It was just food poisoning!" L.Joe retorted. 

"Does that not fit into the category of pain and suffering?!" Chunji wanted to explode at how stubborn his best friend was being. After Niel was rushed to the school nurse yesterday, they had found out that he just had a mild case of food poisoning. His forehead was a bit hot and the abdominal pain was tolerable, so the nurse ordered Niel to stay at home for a couple of days. Teen Top (especially Ricky) was beyond relieved. But L.Joe? He got so pissed at the false alarm that he had escaped to the practice room and screamed in the dark for who knows how long until Chunji came. 

"If this was just a false alarm, then who knows when the actual thing will happen?" L.Joe darkly whispered. To anyone else the sudden lowering of octaves was a sign that L.Joe was about ready to punch a mirror. But to Chunji, he perfectly heard the fear underlying the other's words. 

"So what then? You're just going to keep avoiding him for the rest of your life? That would be a move and you know it, Byunghun!" 

L.Joe pulled at his blonde locks and let out an agitated scream. His life had never been perfect, not by a long shot, but when did it decide to suddenly turn into complete crap? When did it decide to throw such a large obstacle at him? 

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be wary around him. I just don't think dropping out of his life would be the best option, is all." Chunji carefully stated, attempting to warm up to his friend. "Look, I know you're scared less because we all are. But this whole vicious cycle has already started and there's no turning back. And Niel would be by your side in a heartbeat if you ever got hurt, so you should at least go check up on him." 

"What if-" L.Joe's protests died on his tongue when Chunji smacked him on his forehead.

"YAH! I JUST GAVE YOU A BEAUTIFUL SPEECH SO DON'T YOU DARE RUIN IT AND GO ING SEE THE BOY DO YOU UNDERSTAND LEE BYUNGHUN?!" 

Like a little child afraid of his angry mother, L.Joe could only nod. It was rare for Chunji to yell at him, but when he did, L.Joe had no choice but to obey. 

Niel groaned and slumped against the cabinet before reaching over and flushing the toilet. He turned and glanced out the door, staring longingly at his bed, but ultimately decided that it was too far and he was too lazy to walk. He threw up