"It was never right for me to burst out like that," says the leader gravely, taking a seat among them. "With context or not. That I'll have to clarify first. Also, what I speak may also hurt the rest of you. Be prepared."

The members wait in an odd silence, and even Seung knows to curl up and wait. Aside from a brief howl, he keeps quiet too.

"It's related to Junhyeok," states Sungjin, and he sees how the mention of that name caused ripples of emotions to flit across their faces.

He takes a deep breath, attempting to speak of the matter clearly.

"His dismissal is partly due to my negligence," he continues. "We had our fights as well. Ever since that time, I can't help but to feel a need to control things. It's one of the reasons why I have this habit of keeping things neat, and why your pile of clothes always threw me off, Jae. It's why I'll go around at night to make sure everyone is well and fast asleep. The surprise is something lovely, yet my instinct is to snap. I didn't want anything going on behind my back. I've gotten out of control and I have to apologise for that."

Brian is the first to break out of the stunned silence. He flicks the leader's forehead.

"Well, you were scary yesterday, but I'm not so scared that I won't tease you like this," laughs the bassist. "You were rude but we're still here."

"Besides, the cake from yesterday is still waiting for you," says Jae with a grin. "We can make amends over that. That's when we know you're sorry."

Wonpil sits next to Sungjin and gives him a side hug.

"It's okay that you're fussy, as long as you understand and welcome our unexpectedness too," he says, clinging on to the leader who couldn't help but to laugh.

Dowoon smiles childishly at it all, carrying Seung closely.

"Maybe you were demanding at times," he says. "But you brought Seung home to us. I think that's one of your best impromptu acts. You can't say you were being controlling back then."

Reaching out a hand to ruffle the drummer's hair, the leader cannot help but to feel that his words rang true.

[click here to continue]