“Hakyeon hyung! Can you please for once, stop making mistakes?! Do you know how many times we have been repeating the same dance routine over and over again?!” Hyuk said as he stomped over the player and paused the music.

Upon hearing Hyuk’s outburst, Hakyeon did not reply and instead stared at the ground. 

The other members did not step in to defend Hakyeon. Instead, there were looks of irritation in their eyes.

Sensing the atmosphere, Taekwoon quickly stepped in, suggesting to stop practice for the day.

Hyuk and the rest of the members took their bags, leaving the practice room. Hakyeon and Taekwoon were left in the practice room alone. 

“Don’t mind what Hyuk said just now, he’s just tired…Whatever that happened to you, be sure to settle it okay? We’re performing tomorrow so….” 

“I understand.” Hakyeon said as he cut off Taekwoon, without listening to what he has to say.

Taekwoon nodded his head as he made his way out of the room.

Once Hakyeon made sure that Taekwoon left, he finally allowed the facade to fall as he clutched his back in pain. He limped over to the bench to retrieve the pain killers he kept in his bag. 

Just than, Hakyeon received a phone call from his best friend, Wongeun, the actor that he previously worked with.

“Hakyeon hyung!” Wongeun exclaimed happily.

“Wongeun-ah!” Hakyeon broke into a smile as he picked up his phone.

“Where are you right now hyung?” Wongeun asked.

“Oh, I’m at the company.” Hakyeon said.

“Do you want to meet up for a moment? I’m free now!” Wongeun inquired.

“Sure, I’ll meet you at the 24hr cafe nearby?” Hakyeon said as he stood up, forgetting about his injury. Due to the abrupt act of standing up, he hissed in pain as pain shot up his back. He quickly sat back down.

Wongeun did not miss the sudden groan from Hakyeon as he panicked.

“Hyung! Are you okay? Did something happen?!” Wongeun said worriedly.

“I’m fine, I just kind of injured my back a little today..” Hakyeon muttered.

“Stay where you are hyung! I’ll meet you at the practice room!” Wongeun quickly said as he hung up, without waiting for the response of Hakyeon.

Hakyeon smiled at the worried response of his friend.

Despite being in pain, he couldn’t help but chuckle at his pathetic self. He recalled all the events that happened the past few months. The members no longer included him in chats, no longer asked him to have dinner together, always excluding him… Things were just different. His own members did not even realise that he was injured but yet Wongeun was able to detect from his slight groan. He was tired - tired of trying to mend the relationship between s again and again.

His train of thoughts were broken by the loud entrance of Wongeun.

“Hyung! Are you okay?! You were still fine a few days ago. Did something happen for you to injure your back again??” Wongeun said as he rushed over to his best friend.

“I’m fine. I kind of fell just now when I was filming for my previous schedule. ”Hakyeon said as he smiled.

“Ohhh. You should have been more careful! But why are you here alone? Where did the members go?” Wongeun asked as he looked around.

“They left. We kind of..had a fight.. because I was messing up a lot today..” Hakyeon muttered sadly.

Wongeun sat down on the seat beside him, sighing deeply.

“Do they know about your injury?” Wongeun asked.

Hakyeon shook his head.

“I see…Do you want to talk about it?” Wongeun asked.

“I’m just..tired Wongeun-ah…I really don’t know whats wrong anymore…” Hakyeon muttered tiredly.

“Have you seen a doctor?” Wongeun inquired.

“Not yet..I can’t afford to. I spent most of my money on the hospital’s fee for my father and other expenses..” Hakyeon replied softly.

“Let’s just go, you seem to be really hurt. I’ll help you to pay for it. Don’t worry about it.” Wongeun said quickly.

“I can’t do that. And the injury is not that bad. I’ll be okay.” Hakyeon said as he struggled to stand, holding on to the wall for support.

“But-“

“I’m really fine Wongeun-ah. Don’t you trust me? If it gets really bad, I’ll ask my manager to fetch me to the hospital.” Hakyeon reassured his friend. 

“If you say so… But hyung, are you ever going to tell your members about your father being admitted? I mean, wouldn’t it be better if they know about it so that they can understand you even when you show up late or something?” Wongeun asked.

“I don’t want to become more of a burden than I already am. I can handle this on my own. Don’t worry about it okay?” Hakyeon replied.

“Okay than. Let’s go, I’ll see you off to your dorm before going back.” Wongeun said as he helped to support Hakyeon as they made their way back to VIXX’s dormitory.

On the other hand, after the VIXX’s members made their way back to the dormitory, no words were exchanged between them until Taekwoon broke the silence.

“Guys, after taking a bath, we should have a talk.” Taekwoon said sternly, which all the members agreed to.

An hour later, everyone gathered around the living room. 

“Hyuk, you should apologise to Hakyeon later on. You were rude to him today.” Taekwoon said.

“Why should I? He was dragging everyone down today! We have an performance coming up and he is still not taking it seriously.” Hyuk said.

“That doesn’t mean that you can disregard him!” Taekwoon said as he raised his voice slightly.

“Why? Are you trying to become the good person here? You used to disregard him more than me!” Hyuk screamed defensively. “You-!” Taekwoon was about to scream back but was stopped by Hongbin.

“Enough guys, thats not the main point here. I think we should have a proper talk with him later on. I realised that he is prioritising other things instead of focusing on practice. He is always coming late and he keeps on taking other schedules when he can’t handle it. Sooner or later, he will drag down everyone.” Hongbin muttered, which other members agreed to.

“I also realised that he seems to be quieter lately, always distracted too…” Jaehwan said.

“He’s just putting on airs because he’s receiving more schedules, I’m sure. Isn’t it nice that he finally stops clinging onto us? Finally, some peace and quiet.” Hyuk said as he smirked. 

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. I’ll wait for him to come back and talk to him. You guys can go to bed first.” Taekwoon said.

Everyone went back to their respective rooms. Little did they know, Hakyeon heard the conversation that they exchanged with each other inside the dorm. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he turned and walked away. He didn’t know why he was crying. It wasn’t the first time he heard these words from but today - just for today he wanted to let go of the strong facade that he has been holding up for so long. It was just reality.

When he exited the dorm, he noticed that it was raining. Disregarding the ra