Tear slips down my cheek, damping my already sweat-covered face. I can feel my heartbeat, quickened by the dancing, but also by regret and worry.

 I did it again... A mistake. During the recording. And it didn’t help that I couldn’t get the timing right when we tried to match it up again afterwards.

 I bit my lip in frustration, turning away from others. They’re all staring at the screen where slow-motion footage of the video is rolling. They’re replaying the part when I missed the timing, over and over again. I can hear some murmurs, few of the band members tell me not to worry about it.

 I walk away from the lights of backstage, in a dark space between the stage and wall, wanting nothing but to escape their disappointed looks. I was the only one that messed up, and this was our first real recording. All of South Korea will soon be watching us sing and dance the routine we practiced over thousand times. And I still made a mistake, even now.

 I feel another tear slide down my cheeks. Thank god it’s dark here, I’m pretty sure someone from M!Pick already got a footage of me crying and I really don’t want them to film any more of it. I just want to be left alone...

 I hear footsteps... The ones I could recognize anywhere.

 Slim arms hug me around my waist and a warm body presses against my back. I can’t help myself but lean in the known embrace.

 “Hyung...” I can hear him whisper near my ear, hot breath on my skin. “... You okay?”

 I can’t stop the tears from falling. Rather, I wipe them away quickly. “Y-yeah...” My voice sounds weak. He notices that too.

 Turning me around, I find myself looking into deeply worried, identical eyes. He leans his forehead against mine. “Youngmin... Everyone makes mistakes.”

 I sniff, my arms limp against my sides. “But...”

 “It doesn’t matter that this was during the recording, Youngmin.” He sounds so sure. My breath hitches at his words... He still seems to be able to guess exactly what I’m thinking. “You want to know why?”

 I nod, shivering slightly as he runs his palm up my side, lifting it up so he cups my cheek.

 “Because I know you can do it. I know we’ll match our timing somehow. I know you’re doing your best and somehow, you’ll do it perfectly.”

 Tears start to slowly dry on my skin. “You really mean that?”

 “Of course I do. I know you better than anyone, now don’t I?” He smiles softly, thumb caressing my cheek and wiping away the remaining moist.

 “Yeah, I guess...” I whisper, sniffing again. He pulls me closer, hugging me tightly. “Thank you...”

 “No need to thank me, pabo.”

 I relax in his arms, hugging him back gently, and inhale the scent of sweat and lotus shower gel. We stay like that, not really caring about the fact that we should go back soon since we still have to record the Intro.

 All too soon, he moves away, smile still on his lips. This time, I smile too, trying to silently tell him just how much affection and gratefulness I feel right now. And he somehow understands.

 Then, suddenly, he leans in closer than before, eyes shining in the faint light. “Hyung... Ppo-ppo?”

 I can feel my heart skip a bit and my cheeks redden. We haven’t done this since we were kids...

 Despite that, I still lean forwards, closing that small gap between our lips and...

 Suddenly, I realize I stopped breathing.

 His lips are touching mine in the softest, feather-like kiss. His nose is pressed against mine and his arms tighten around me, palms pressing against the small of my back. And our lips are still connected.

 I close my eyes, forgetting instantly about the outside world as I press him close too, moving my lips just slightly. He returns the kiss and I feel him smile.

 Then I hear our manager call our names and the magical moment is broken. I move away quickly, breaking away from him. My hands are shaking.

 That definitely wasn’t an innocent smooch. My fingers brush against my lips while I’m still trying to get my breathing under control.

 But then I look over to him and he’s smiling, tender and lovingly. And somewhat reassuring.

 “We should get back, Youngmin...”

 I nod, speechless. My cheeks are burning up.

 He takes me by the hand, his fingers entwined with mine like they were made for that. I’m surprised to find myself smiling softly as well, letting him pull me away from the dark corner and back to other members of our group.

 “Where were you two? We were waiting for you; we should start again soon...” Jeongmin says, but trails off as he sees our identical smiles. “Well... As long as you’re in better mood, Youngmin.”

 “Yeah...” I say as I sit down. My hand suddenly feels empty and I turn around to see him walking towards the manager.

 “So did Kwangmin manage to cheer you up?” Jeongmin’s voice shakes me back to reality.

 “You could say that.”

 I think that I kept on smiling for the rest of the day.