Two weeks after.

Sungyeol did try. He really did try. And it seemed to be working for a little while. It wasn't going great, but it couldn't have gotten any worse. Sungyeol was sure that if it did, by any means, he wouldn't have survived. He was in a difficult position. Very difficult. It had been two weeks since he and Sunggyu talked. It was unexpected, and it sure did surprise the oldest, when Sungyeol did not shed a single tear the day after. Or the day after that. Or after that…

The atmosphere seemed a little brighter. But there was this artificial tint to it. It was as though Woohyun had infected the whole group with his offscreen-onscreen act. The problem here was, they were doing it twenty-four-seven. Were they lying to themselves? Sunggyu wasn't sure. What he was sure of, though, was that no one dared to admit it. Sunggyu would always be on the edge of his seat, convinced that any second, something was going to blow up. He would glance around only to have his suspicious eyes meet Sungyeol's. Then the younger would offer him a reassuring smile.

Truth be told, rather than easing his nerves, the secret smiles he received from the boy made him even more anxious. Someone must really be planning something right under his nose but he was just too oblivious to notice it. Or perhaps, Sunggyu was just paranoid. It was probably paranoia, right?

Sungyeol had been surprisingly convincing when the cameras roll. He'd be himself again. And most of the members would start to breathe again. For a moment, they'd let themselves smile, believing that the Sungyeol they knew was back. That he was going to be alright. And Sunggyu almost fell for it. Almost.

The point was, Sunggyu believed that Sungyeol must've had no other choice but to resort to lying and pretending. And the oldest decided not to say anything. He'd just wait and see how this played out, all the while, hoping nobody would get hurt.

Another week had passed.

Things had gotten better. Sungyeol didn't seemed so upset as he received his daily dose of insults. Sungjong had always been throwing mean remarks at him. It’d become a routine. Sungjong would insult Sungyeol, Sungyeol would get upset, and not a single soul ever tried to stop this from happening. So, it resulted in Sungyeol always being the unfortunate soul when it came to verbal abuse. Sunggyu didn't agree to this. But he was too nice to displease the maknae. Possibly, this applied to the other members as well.

One more week went by.

The seven of them were in the van, heading to some-place-Sungyeol-had-no-idea-where. It was late in the morning and Dongwoo was half asleep, half making pointless conversations with him. Lately, he'd been hanging around Dongwoo most of the time. It had been four weeks since he last shed a single tear, and he was trying his best to stay composed. He really didn't want to be pitied.

It was that time of day again. This was the time Sungyeol couldn't help but feel upset. It wasn't like he wanted to listen to Sungjong and his mean remarks. Sungyeol would usually stay as quiet as possible during these late morning rides. He’d come to hope that perhaps the maknae would forget he was there, allow him to fade into the background. But his hope never once came to light. And today wasn't going to be any different. Or so, he thought.

Dongwoo didn't like seeing Sungyeol upset. Heck, no one did. He hadn't the slightest idea of what had happened between that boy and the maknae. All he realised was that it wasn't doing anyone any good. Dongwoo was out in space, when he felt someone nudge him. The noises in the van got a little louder as he came back to his senses. He could hear Sungjong and his distinctive voice. He rolled his eyes, not even trying to guess what kind of insults the maknae had thrown out today.

Nudge. Nudge. He spun his head towards Hoya, who was trying to get his attention. His eyebrows raised as the younger whispered something into his ear. Eyes widened and a grin formed on Dongwoo's face, while trying to stifle his giggles. Dongwoo glanced at Hoya, who’d snickered and nodded encouragingly. So the older swiftly turned towards Sungyeol, whose body sat tensed in his seat.

Sungyeol's eyes almost popped out of his sockets, when he’d heard what Dongwoo had to say. He shook his head violently, panicking and refusing to do what he had been told. Their silent conversation went on as Hoya and Dongwoo nodded their heads vigorously in unison. Dongwoo exaggeratedly mouthed 'Just Do It', as Hoya counted down with his fingers.

Three.

Two.

One.

"Sa-nnnfff!" Sungyeol hurriedly covered Dongwoo's mouth, preventing him from speaking. "Ha-oof-nnff!" The oldest of the three found it half violent and half hilarious, as he got shoved around by the two. One trying to stop him from speaking, and one trying to pry the other's hands off his face. "Sa-nnnfff..."

"What the hell are you guys doing?" The three froze, eyes darting towards Sunggyu, who had poked his head in between their seats. Sungyeol and Hoya reluctantly loosened their grip, straightening in their seats. Dongwoo cleared his throat awkwardly, as Sungyeol guiltily fidgeted. Hoya went back to staring out of the window, and Sunggyu eyed them a little more, before retreating back to his seat.

An indicative sigh came from the front, lowering the temperature inside the van. Sungyeol felt the air become considerably colder, as he continued to stare at his fists on his lap. Dongwoo and Hoya eyed each other decisively, just as an insult rang above the air.

“...really think that people ca-"

Before anyone could hear the rest of the sentence, Sungjong's seat was kicked roughly, by a foot clothed with DC's shoe. The maknae let out a piercing squeak before spinning around to eye his hyungs indignantly.

"Who did that?" Sungjong asked threateningly. The only two hyungs who weren't affected by the hostility, made a failed attempt in pretending not to find the situation amusing.

"You squeal like a girl, Sungjong." Dongwoo commented daringly, earning a glare from the maknae.

"Heheheh..." He gave Sungjong a guilty grin, while Hoya and Woohyun snickered. Sungyeol stared around incredulously, while Sunggyu sat in his seat, watching the quarrel with a serious expression. Myungsoo who was next to Sungjong, had looked forever uninterested.

"Get a life, hyung." The maknae seethed.

"Aw." Woohyun delightedly clapped, while Hoya consoled Dongwoo with light pats on the shoulder. Then they were interrupted by a voice coming from the seat next to the driver.

"Hey, Sungyeol?" Their manager called out, turning around.

"Y-yes?" The boy straightened, grateful for something else to focus on.

"Changik-hyung had just called. You know, that new drama you went for castings?"

"Y-yeah?" Sungyeol's interest peaked, all attention on his manager.

"Well, he asked whether I could drop you by before noon."

"... Um, and?" He cleared his throat, and shifted in his seat.

"You got casted." Their manager chuckled, seeing the stunned faces of the members mirroring himself.

"What? S-Sungyeol in another drama?" Dongwoo cried out, eyes shifting between the boy and the manager. "Since when did you go for castings?" Dongwoo asked, to which the boy shrugged.

"Is it SBS again, hyung?" Hoya questioned their manager, and was responded with a faint 'yes'.

"Hyung, can I go with Sungyeol just for today?" Dongwoo pleaded, excitedly.

"No."

"B-but I-"

"No."

"But ther-"

"No."

"Who else is-"

"No– what?"

"Who else got casted?" Dongwoo asked again, having changed his question abruptly.

"Um. This girl, Park Myungsin… I think? There are other actors too, but I think… Park Myungsin is the one acting with Sungyeol.” Their manager replied, after a thoughtful pause. "I heard she's also friends with Ahn Jihyun?” Then, a loud smack was heard as Dongwoo slapped Hoya on his forearm, looking as though he was about to choke.

"Park M-Myungsin?" Dongwoo stressed out a stutter. "Did you say Park Myungsin?"

"... Yes." And then, there was silence, as Dongwoo tried his best to form coherent words. He looked between Hoya and Sungyeol meaningfully, to which the pair responded with confused frowns. Giving up, he turned towards his manager, looking serious all of a sudden.

"Hyung. You have got to let me go."

. . .

Goddamned. Sometimes, Sungyeol was angry with himself. Life was unfair, he already knew that. And yet, he was still sulking as if he hadn't seen it coming. Sungyeol had lost his best friend. Fine. The boy he was in love with was in love with someone else. Fine. Who was he trying to fool? Himself, obviously. Thinking that there was a slightest chance his love may not be unrequited. Why did he even let himself hope? He was just Sungyeol, so what kind of happy ending did he really expect?

"W-wait!" Dongwoo slapped Sungyeol's hand as he was about to open the door. "Uh... I-I'm nervous." The older whispered in reply to the younger's doubtful gaze.

“… ?" Sungyeol raised his eyebrows.

“… W-what if she's already inside?" Dongwoo hissed under his breath, looking at Sungyeol in a pleading manner. The boy had the urge to chuckle at his hyung's silly worries. Instead, Sungyeol softened and offered Dongwoo half a smile. It was all he could muster.

"Wait then, I'll see who's here." He reassured, opening the door in the process. The older quickly hid behind the doorframe, slightly peeking to get a glimpse before the door shut itself after Sungyeol.

"Sungyeol!" A curly haired lady in her thirties came out of nowhere, managing to grab his attention as the door swung to a close. His thoughts went out the window.

"H-Heeyoung noona!" Sungyeol responded in a surprised tone, almost forgetting to smile.

"Thank the gods, we landed the same set." She said happily, before adding in a darker tone. "Eh... This will be a tough one, sweetie."

"... What do you mean?" He asked dumbly.

"Oh, you'll see..." Heeyoung noona waved dismissively, before going back about her business. Sungyeol was left to look around, not forgetting to scout for the cause of Dongwoo's unusual behaviour. Uncertain of what he should be looking for, Sungyeol deemed it safe enough for his hyung to enter.

Several minutes later, the boy found himself uncomfortably sharing a seat with Dongwoo at a big round table, along with at least ten others. More than half of these people were professional actors and actresses. All of them were way older than Sungyeol, except one.

"Park-ssi, please stop spinning." A man directed his words, to a skinny boy across the table, who seemed to be using the office chair for some sort of entertainment. Evidently, not liking the order, the boy made a face as he stopped. "Thank you." The man said.

He responded with a cheeky grin and Sungyeol was so sure that the kid was going to get scolded for his attitude. But unexpectedly, the man only sighed and he began to hand out the scripts by name order.

Unexpectedly, Sungyeol found out a bit later that the said boy was, as a matter of fact, a girl  (a pretty good looking one too, he should add), after she had taken off her cap, letting her dark hair fall past her shoulders. And from the flustered Dongwoo, Sungyeol then recognised her as, Park Myungsin. The session dragged on with Sungyeol zoning out for almost half of it. If he had known this was a set meeting, he would've finished the bitter coffee he made this morning. Now, his eyes were drooping and he felt like someone was shaking him unkindly. And did somebody really just slap him on the shoulder? What was that noise? It sounded so much like Dongwoo hyung's rapping voice.

"Sungyeol~ Wake the up!" A familiar voice cried out, then his chair disappeared from underneath him. His landed on the floor with a painful thud. Now Sungyeol was awake.

"... Ow." He groaned, blinking the brightness out of his eyes. He found a gaping Dongwoo staring down at him, with the bo- girl at his side.

"Whoa, dude. You okay?" He chuckled amusedly while pulling him up.

"Y-yeah." Sungyeol replied as his eyes darted towards the girl beside his hyung. He noticed she was leaning on the chair he'd been sitting on. "D-did you do that?" asked Sungyeol, pointing at the chair in the girl's grasps.

"Do what?" She questioned innocently. But he could see the mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Oh, you know what." His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What? Made your kiss the floor?" She suggested, with this girly smile that totally contradicted her boyish words.

He started to say, "Why, you li-"

"Hey, hey... dude, breathe." Dongwoo interrupted, gripping his shoulder and patting his chest indicatively. Sungyeol rolled his eyes and let it go. It would be wrong to get mad, right?

So, when Sungyeol said he needed fresh air, he expected Dongwoo to leave the girl and come with him. But his hyung just had to bring her along. Not that he had a problem with it but it wasn't exactly what he wanted. But what did he expect? He never got what he wanted. Besides, he didn't really feel comfortable having the girl who just hurt him around. It turned out, the older brother of this girl was actually Dongwoo's long lost friend. Long lost, because he was dead. After that Sungyeol wasn't really irritated anymore. Probably because he kind of understand. Having a dead brother wasn't exactly on his wish list either. But the strange habit this girl bothered him a little. Sungyeol had never met a girl who called older guys, 'hyung'. And he thought girls screaming 'oppa' was the epitome these days…

“Myungsin-ssi, why do you call people ‘hyung’ instead of ‘oppa’?” Sungyeol asked curiously, and promptly earned himself a glare from Dongwoo. He watched as the girl shrugged her shoulders and scrunched her nose in this cute way.

“Mm, I only call my oppa, oppa.” She said lightly and then added. “Others don't make very good oppas…” At that, Sungyeol's eyes met with Dongwoo's as they silently exchanged glances.

"Myungsin-ah… We should find a good place to sit." Dongwoo suggested, "You need to explain what Changik-nim covered, you know… to the dude who fell asleep." He eyed Sungyeol.

"Right..." She responded thoughtfully. "Let's go buy ice cream, hyung."