"Hyung, time to- oh. What happened to your lamp? And why are you here?!" Chan's voice had adopted a rather threatening tone at the last question and the sound of crushed glass became audible when he approached the bed. Jisoo's eyes immediately shot open to check whether the younger had hurt himself. To his relief, he found that Chan was already wearing his sneakers (although Jisoo usually scolded him for it), his feet well protected.

"Be careful, you're going to spread glass all over the flat," he mumbled groggily but the Guardian completely ignored his advice for the sake of staring at him. At his throat, to be more specific.

Seungcheol had sat up next to Jisoo and was eyeing the unusually quiet male. "Are you okay? Chan?"

At the mention of his name, Chan finally flinched and caught their concerned gazes. He looked slightly lost and even younger than usual. "Hyung, is that- is that a hickey?"

-

Ever since the other guys had moved in, I couldn't remember a time when it had been this quiet during breakfast. Usually there was at least some sort of bickering going on between Hansol and Jun, or Jeonghan was annoying everyone with the newest celebrity gossip he religiously followed. I was pretty sure he was the sole reason most of those gossip magazines hadn't gone bankrupt yet. But everyone had their own hobbies, who was I to judge?

I usually concentrated on eating and reading the news, so it really didn't matter whether someone was talking as long as they weren't talking to me. Everyone knew better than to do so anyway. But today not even the news could distract me from the reason why it was so silent:

Apparently my brother had ed up. Big surprise.

Although I couldn't really blame him since nobody had had the guts to actually talk about the issue beforehand. The issue being Jisoo and our god damn feelings for him. I had simply assumed that we would all maintain status quo - nobody crossed the line, everyone stayed somewhat happy. But, oh well. I knew my brother the best and of course I knew that Cheol sometimes turned off his brain and instead did whatever his heart told him. It was probably at least partially my fault for not talking to him more often lately. Damn it. And now we were stuck in this mess because of my stupidity and Cheol's inability to read the freaking situation.

I put down my fork since I wasn't hungry anyway and, to my surprise, Jisoo followed suit, his rice only half eaten. "Could you please tell me what you're thinking? You're all blocking me and I don't know what's going on," he pleaded and tried to catch the gazes of those present. Seokmin and I were the only ones ballsy enough to not look away. The silence that followed was long and burdensome but I couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't sound like an accusation - which would probably make matters worse. But seriously, how could he not see what the glaringly obvious issue was?

Jeonghan was the one to finally break the silence. I inwardly applauded him for it. "Jisoo, sweety. What did- uhm, have you and Cheollie- are you and Cheollie a couple?" I knew my brother well enough to hear the pain in his voice although he tried to play it somewhat cool.

Jisoo's cheeks reddened - a fact that none of us Forcebearers missed - and he glanced over to Seungcheol. My brother's face was unreadable, a sure sign that he had grasped the consequences of his actions by now. "Uhm... I don't think s-so? Not y-yet, at least?" It was hard to bear the awkwardness he was radiating when Seungcheol didn't answer immediately and I couldn't help but feel a bit bad for him.

My brother carefully set down his chopsticks before looking up from his bowl and facing the stares directed at him. "I like Jisoo, a lot actually. We're not in a relationship or anything because I don't think he's ready for one, but I'll wait for him."

My stomach felt as if it was lodged in my throat at the sight of Jisoo's embarrassed smile and his joy burned like acid inside of me. I forced a small smile in response. By the looks of it, I wasn't the only one.

Chan caught my gaze and the amount of sadness in his eyes surprised me. I knew he was one of the closest Forcebearers to Jisoo but I didn't expect him to be that serious about the whole matter - I usually perceived him as a child, a bit of a brat sometimes but a good person overall. It only hit me at that moment that he was an adult with deep, valid feelings. Seokmin next to him had obviously noticed it too and I wondered shortly whether it was due to his ability or if he was just a very empathetic person in general. While I was watching, he quietly placed one of his prawns in Chan's bowl which earned him a sad smile. Strangely enough, it made my heart feel a bit lighter.

Jeonghan caught my gaze next, his unnatural bright smile not reaching his eyes. I was sure that he was considering to lighten the mood with a joke or one of his usual flirty quips but the tight grip on his chopsticks revealed his real feelings. I raised an eyebrow at him and his shoulders relaxed slightly, the smile immediately sliding from his lips. He looked more than disappointed at that moment, defeated and ready to give up.

Hansol and Jun excused themselves from the table shortly after; another first on this blessed day. Usually they ate until nothing was left or until I forced them to stop, probably because they were used to starving on the streets. Their food remained almost untouched in front of their empty chairs and the silence that hung over the table seemed to grow even heavier after their departure. I could see regret in Cheol's eyes and in the way the corners of his mouth drooped slightly. Jisoo also was very quiet while picking at his food, his feelings no