*Flashback  15 years ago*

"Oh! Hyukjae! What are you doing here?" Yunho asked as soon as he saw Hyukjae outside their dorm room. 

"Oh, hello, Yunho-ssi." Hyukjae greeted shyly. "I-Is Donghae here?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. But um," Yunho trailed off a little as he glanced at Donghae's closed bedroom door. "He's a little busy right now though."

"Oh. Is he studying for a test?"

"Not exactly." Yunho cleared his throat as his hand went to scratch his nape uncomfortably. Hyukjae pouted a little at his cryptic answer and tried to walk past him to go see Donghae but the latter stopped him by grabbing his arm and turning him around. "I wouldn't go there if I were you."

"Why? What's wrong?" Hyukjae started to get worried that Donghae might have been hurt or sick. 

"Hyukjae, nothing's wrong. Donghae's just....busy."

"I won't bother him." Hyukjae said and made another attempt to walk to Donghae's room but this time Yunho blocked his path by getting in front of him and stopped him using his entire body. Hyukjae was starting to get upset at how he couldn't get past Donghae's roommate. "Yunho, I need to talk to Donghae. It's important."

"Can't it wait?"

"No." Hyukjae insisted. He's been waiting a long time to gather up the courage to face Donghae and tell him the truth but Yunho blocking his every move is kind of dampening his confidence. "Yunho, I really need-"

"Donghae oppa~ can I really not stay?"

Hyukjae stopped talking as soon as he saw the girl walk out of Donghae's bedroom with her hair messed up and clothes still not on properly. Donghae was giving her a lazy smile and shook his head at her question. Hyukjae's entire body froze for a moment as he watched Donghae move his head away from her when she attempted to kiss him. He couldn't believe his eyes and thought about the possibility that maybe this was just another one of his nightmares. However, at the corner of his eyes, he saw Yunho giving him an apologetic look  and Hyukjae knew that this was all too real.

"I'm sorry, Hyukjae."

Blinking his eyes rapidly, Hyukjae tried to laugh it off and gave Yunho's shoulder a playful punch. 

"What are you talking about? What is there to be sorry about?"

"Hyukjae, I-"

"Actually," Hyukjae cut him off before he could hear what he has to say. "I just remembered the I actually have a project due so I'm gonna go." Hyukjae turned around and walked out the door before Donghae could even see him but Yunho was too worried to let him go so he ran out the door after him. 

"Hyukjae!"

Just as he thought - tears were already falling down Hyukjae's eyes with the latter aggressively wiping them off his face.Still too stubborn to admit that he was hurt. Hyukjae faked a laugh and looked to the sky trying to will his tears back from falling.  

"Oh..I'm sorry. I- could you not tell Donghae I stopped by? He was expecting me but I guess he forgot."

Yunho for some reason felt extremely guilty seeing the pained expression on Hyukjae's face. He tried to reach for Hyukjae but just then they heard Donghae's and the girl's voice getting nearer so without further saying anything, Hyukjae his heel and ran out of there. Yunho stayed behind and just watched him leave helplessly. 

"Yunho? What are you doing outside?"

Yunho looked back at him and then at the girl who was smiling innocently. Suddenly feeling his mood dampen, Yunho scowled at her then went back inside the dorm without saying a word. Blinking at the silent aggressiveness of the latter, Donghae bid the girl goodbye then went back inside to check on his roommate. 

Present Day

Hyukjae walked inside his studio and smiled when he saw their trainees on the floor sweating and gasping for air. It seems like he came just in time for their break. He greeted a few of them on his way to Shindong to check on his progress. 

"Hey, hyung. How's it going?"

"Good. We got a lot done today. We've finished the choreography for two out of the five and then after that Yesung would be coming in to rehearse vocals."

Hyukjae nodded his head along, taking mental notes of their planned agenda for the day when Shindong added something else.

"Oh, also Siwon-ssi wanted to meet you at his office."

"His office?" Hyukjae repeated a little alarmed. "Did he say why?"

Shindong simply shrugged his shoulders as an anaswer. "I don't know. He just said he needed to talk some things over with you."

"With me? Did you tell him that everything production related also goes through you?"

"I did but he said it was important." Shindong shrugged off the whole thing, totally unaware of any other possible intentions Siwon might have with Hyukjae. "Just go meet with him at his office so that you can get back here as quickly as you can. I don't want them slacking off because I gave them too much braek time."

A few of the trainees groaned when Shindong said "too much" which caused both instructors to chuckle. They know that they were being hard but it's not like you could create a quality production without breaking a sweat. Simply nodding his head in agreement, Hyukjae quickly made his way to SIwon's office to deal with whatever it was that the latter needed to talk to him about. 

Arriving at Siwon's office, Hyukjae noticed that his door was left open. Not wanting to intrude, he still knocked before coming inside. 

"Hey. You wanted to see me?"

Siwon looked up and greeted him with a smile. "Oh, hey. Yes, I did." Siwon stood up from where he was sitting and walked to close the door behind Hyukjae. "Um, go ahead and take a seat."

Hyukjae was still not sure what they would be talking about but did grab the seat in front of Siwon's desk. 

"What did you want to talk about? Did you have a question about production?"

"Actually, it's not anything related to work." Siwon started sheepishly. "I'm going to sound very forward, and you might not want to hear this right now but...I just needed to tell you something."

Hyukjae could feel how quickly the atmosphere between them changed. Shifting in his seat, Hyukjae chose to stay quiet and listen to what Siwon has to say. 

"Um...heh, I didn't realize I would be this nervous," Siwon grimaced and tried to shake out his nerves. "I-I guess I'd start by saying I have zero interest on this production."

"What? Then why would-" Hyukjae didn't have to finish his sentence because by then, Siwon had sat on the chair opposite of him hosting that intense gaze that he used to get lost in. 

"Hyukjae, I made a mistake all those years ago when I let you go. I was young and stupid and I shouldn't have done that." Siwon admitted honestly and slowly grabbed Hyukjae's hand to hold against his. Hyukjae didn't do or say anything. He just kept on listening without uttering a sound. "That was my mistake and I've-I've changed. I can prove it to you. I really have...so please, before you say anything, I just want you to think about us one more time."

Hyukjae didn't know how to fully process Siwon's words to him. It was a lot to take in two minutes and he knows that any other human being might have already melted into a puddle of goo hearing those sweet words of confession but it just didn't have the same effect on him. Maybe years ago when he thought Siwon could have been "the one" but recently, he's come to realize, that maybe his "one" might never change.

"Siwon," Hyukjae started not knowing exactly what to say. His breath hitched for a second trying to come up with the right words to say. "You-...You weren't wrong." He eventually admitted. "You weren't wrong to feel the way you did back then but...Donghae and I..." Hyukjae paused once again as he quickly reflected on his relationship with Donghae. "Donghae and I - w