Hours. 

Hours of practice. Hours of sweat. Hours of arguments. 

It was exhausting. 

"Okay. That's it!" Hyde shouted, storming over to the stereo and pausing the music. "I'm done with this . Why is everyone acting so hurt? Do you have the capacity to be professional, or are you just going to let your emotions get in the way of your work? Because if that's the case walk out of this practice room right now, because this group doesn't need you." 

"You've been shouting and rude since we first walked in!" Ivan retorted, his gaze cold as he glared at the leader. "Are you like this because you're the leader? Are you on some kind of power trip? You need to learn some respect before you can expect to get it in return!"  The other boys watched as the two eldest members stared eachother down. The air in the room was tense, as it would be if a fist fight was about to break out. It was a very real possibility, since the choreographers and Ace had left the room for a moment to get them lunch.

"Stop." A quiet voice came from the corner. Hyde and Ivan blinked, then looked over to the makane. Chanwoo looked at the both of them with wide eyes, and he appeared as if he were about to burst into tears. "We're supposed to be working in a group together!" He squeaked, his voice rising as much as it possibly could. "You guys shouldn't be fighting!" He walked over to Ivan and Hyde, giving them both a disappointed look. "You don't think Hyde has a reason for doing what he's doing? If we can't criticism and harshness from our own leader, how are we going to take it from the public?" Chanwoo nervously wrung his hands, not used to talking to so many people at once, his face was a sickly pale, and his breathing was shallow. "We shouldn't be fighting...Let's just-" 

"Is he dead?" 

"How the hell am I supposed to know? He just passed out!"

"Nice Job Hyde, you killed him. You scared him until his heart gave out." 

"Kiss my Insoo."

"Yah, are you okay?!" Youngmin shouted, shaking the makane, who had just collapsed. Slowly, the small boy opened his eyes, groaning a bit as he raised a hand up to his head. He looked around at the five boys crowding around him, concern painted on all of their faces, even on Hyde's. 

"I'm okay..." Chanwoo nodded slowly, biting his lip. 

"You're not okay if you're collapsing." Hyde disagreed, chasing Youngmin away so that he could help the makane up. "We should probably tell Ace about-"

"NO!" Chanwoo shouted, suprising even himself with how loud his voice was. "Don't tell her." He whispered, his voice laced with fear. If Ace knew about him collapsing, he might not be able to debut, and that would be the worst thing that could happen to him. 

"Are you sure?" Youngjae asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're expecting us to just not tell them that you're in here fainting..."

"Please..." Chanwoo whispered, his eyes wide as he grabbed Youngae's arm, unconciously holding it in an almost painful, vicelike grip. "Please."

"...If he thinks he can go on, then let him go on." Hyde said with a shrug, getting up and stretching. "They're coming back soon, so you'd better get up and look like you're doing something or else we'll all get in trouble." The rest of the boys nodded, and walked around the room, trying to look busy. The door opened, and they all turned to look at Ace and Young Gi, who were carrying in bags of takeout. As if in unison, all three boys groaned in desire as the scent of hot food wafted throughout the air. 

"You're the best, noona." Youngmin said brightly as he plopped down on the floor, grabbing one of the styrofoam shells that contained food. Opening it up, he grinned as he saw the combination fried rice. "Ohhh yes." He said with a smug nod, grabbing two forks because he knew Youngjae was going to come over and share with him. 

"Eat up guys, when you're done, you'll have one more hour of practice, then we'll be getting you all moved into your dorm. You guys are gonna be filming your music video tomorrow as well." All six boys looked up with curious faces. 

"What's the concept?" Yunwook asked, tilting his head to the side as he shoveled some food into his mouth. 

"Um...You'll see. I don't really know how to describe it. It's a pretty cool, manly image though." Ace said with a smile. 

"Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing it then." Yunwook smiled, nodding a bit. He looked around at the boys that he was going to end up working with, briefly wondering who he would end up forming friendships with. 

"Can I sit here?" Chanwoo asked quietly as he slowly lowered himself so that he was sitting next to the blonde. Yunwook looked at the makane and smiled, nodding quietly. 

"Are you really okay?" Yunwook asked softly, so as not to be heard. "You hit the floor pretty hard."

"Well...my leg aches a little, but it'll go away in a few moments." Chanwoo shrugged, pushing the food around in the container with his fork. Yunwook pursed his lips as he watched the smaller boy, but decided not to say anything. 

"Hey." He said simply. "You know we're going to be friends right?"

"Yeah." Chanwoo nodded.

"Good."