In just two days, Taehyun received a series of messages on his phone. He risked missing a chunk of his lecture and quickly read through the new messages, relieved to read about the rest of the team’s decision to arrive at Seoul soon. He had a feeling that it was necessary to have the team back on their feet, but the agitation in his heart wouldn’t leave. At that moment, he knew he had no choice but to wait, for he was aware of the busy lives that each of them were leading.

He looked to his side to see Beomgyu and Kai sitting just next to him; he noticed their eyes, and he thought it was awful how the duo had such innocent, oblivious looks on their faces despite the obvious worry mutual within the team. He whispered in Beomgyu’s direction, hoping for the message to be relayed to Kai: “They’re all going to come to Seoul soon, maybe in a month’s time and hopefully, no longer than that. When they show up, we’ll all have to meet up and have a proper discussion.”

Soon after all the classes were over for the day, the trio walked out of the building, each wearing drastically different expressions; Kai had a fake smile on his face, for he continued to mourn inside, the sudden death of Jungeun drawing him close to a pit of despair; Beomgyu was bluntly upset, the sorrow visible in his eyes as he gritted his teeth, feelings of anger pushing through; Taehyun, on the other hand, had stern eyes with no sense of focus or direction, for he had much to think about.

“Gyu, can we talk?”, asked Taehyun as he sat on the couch in their dorm and watched the other walk out of one of the bedrooms. He moved forward to grab the remote, hoping to at least watch a movie together if they couldn’t talk. “Kai’s not in the dorm at the moment, so we might as well just talk it out.”

A part of him wished to have sorted this out much earlier, but other things had interrupted this much-needed talk.

“There’s nothing to talk about, and you might as well start working on the composition we each have to submit later this month.”

The bitter tone in Beomgyu’s voice was enough for Taehyun to realise that the older was, in fact, far too mad at him. He couldn’t help but try again, for he knew that he shouldn’t let the crack in their relationship get in the way. He thought for a moment, wondering what he could say to get the other to talk, but as he saw Beomgyu approach him, he seized the opportunity: “I’m sorry.”

Beomgyu plopped down onto the couch, crossing his legs as he pulled a cushion close to his chest. He remarked, “Hmm, I wonder why…”

“I had a few drinks with a friend, and I was way too drunk to comprehend what was going on, and apparently, they were making a move on me. I wasn’t thinking straight, and I sort of reciprocated the act, but in the end, I managed to understand the situation, so I left.”

“Where did you even go?” Beomgyu tried not to sound hurt, but he couldn’t simply ignore the twisting pain inside. He stayed strong, putting pressure on the edges of the cushion he held. “How far did your friend go?”

Taehyun widened his eyes at the realisation of the other’s intention behind those questions. He shook his head aggressively to make a point. “Just a bar, that’s all! And, it was just a kiss, I swear!”

“Did they know about us?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then I guess you’re not the asshol