While walking back to the hostel Taeil texted Jiho to make sure everyone was in bed by the time they got home. He didn’t want to have to deal with everyone when he walked in with a sobbing Minhyuk. Jiho waited in the living room though for Yu Kwon to return home but when it was almost 2 AM he texted him to get home soon. Yu Kwon walked in the dorm five minutes later.

Jiho waited for the two in the study as he didn’t want to turn on the TV and wake anyone up. After about twenty minutes he heard some shuffling outside the door and quietly approached the front door of their dorm.

Minhyuk and Taeil were taking off their shoes and coats, the taller still sniffling from his crying fit before. As soon as Minhyuk took one step into the living room Jiho wrapped an arm around his shoulder. The dancer was confused at first then shot his head up in fear to look at the leader. Did Jiho know too? 

The bleach-blonde put a finger to his lips and smiled reassuringly. Minhyuk had never seen him acting so sincere. Not even when Jihoon was rushed to the hospital because of the whole Thailand controversy thing. The dancer was utterly confused as well as a hundred other emotions right now. It didn’t help that when he looked down at his feet he saw Yu Kwon’s shoes neatly placed on the shoe rack. He bit his lip hard and tried to blink back the tears but a couple escaped and ran down his cheek. He quickly wiped them away before Jiho or Taeil noticed but when he looked back up at them they were staring at him in concern.

“I’m okay guys…really. All I need is some sleep.” He tried to assure them but they didn’t look convinced.

Minhyuk slowly started to head for their room but a loud growl stopped him and he blushed in embarrassment. Not having dinner and next to no lunch wasn’t the best decision he made. Taeil sighed and grabbed the taller boy by the wrist and sat him down in a chair. Jiho made his way to the fridge to microwave some leftovers while Minhyuk awkwardly sat there feeling like a child. He could have made his own food and he certainly didn’t need the two concerned members staring at him while he ate.

“Would you guys stop? I am perfectly able to eat by myself and you didn’t need to make my food for me either.” They intensified their stares toward him while Jiho pushed him to finish his meal.

The older sighed and shoved the rest in his mouth throwing the paper plate away when he was done. He then started to make his way to the bedroom, the other two reluctantly letting him go as they wanted to question him further but decided he’s been through enough for today. Jiho followed while Taeil went to the other bedroom trying to be quiet, as they didn’t want to wake anyone up.

Jiho and Minhyuk crawled into bed and didn’t say another word to each other. Before he fell asleep, Minhyuk noticed that Jiho was closer to him than he usually was.

~~~~~

When the leader groggily awoke his peaceful slumber he expected to find a puffy red-eyed man sleeping next to him yet all there was was coldness. He was startled and starting looking around the room for his elder yet there was no sign of him. He started worrying as to where he may be or what he might be doing as his thoughts ran over last night. He’s somewhat still emotionally unstable.

Jiho quickly got out of bed and walked quickly to the living room of the dorm looking around for the lead dancer. He looked in the study, bathroom and other bedroom but he was nowhere to be found. Just as he was about to bolt out the door to go searching the phone in his pocket vibrated. He was in no mood to be having a conversation right now but he checked to see who it was anyway. He flipped open the phone and read the text.

Before you start worrying I’m at the dance studio. No need to worry, I had a quick breakfast. You can tell Taeil hyung when he gets up as well J

-Minhyuk

The worried man sighed and plopped down on the couch still looking at the text. He quickly replied back:

Yah! You almost gave me a heart attack! You could have at least woken me up when you were going or left a note on your bed!

Minhyuk replied almost instantly, apparently taking a break.

Sorry~ I didn’t think you would like it if I woke you up at 5AM L I’ll be here most of the day so if you need me just call.

-Minhyuk

Jiho laughed. Of course he wouldn’t want to be woken up at 5AM considering it was almost 11 o’clock now. But what person wakes up at 5 in the morning to go dance? Jiho typed back:

All right hyung, I’ll see you later then.

He flipped the phone closed and laid his head back to stare at the ceiling. How am I supposed to deal with them, he thought.

Minhyuk put his phone in his bag so he wouldn’t get distracted and took another gulp of water. He’d been practicing since 5AM and it was now 11. Dancing for six hours is hard task and he deserved a little break although he wouldn’t allow himself more than ten minutes.

Instead of creating new choreography though he decided to learn someone else’s dance. He picked 100%’s “Bad Boy”. The dancer really liked the song and more importantly liked the dance, as it wasn’t something simple like most idols’ dances were. He was just about done perfecting it and would hope to be done by around 12 so he could get some lunch then practice some more for their appearances on various variety shows and music programs.

When the clock struck 12 Minhyuk collapsed on the floor in a pile of sweaty goo, his tank top long gone and one leg of his sweatpants rolled up. The sweat glistened off his muscular chest, which was rising and falling quite fast. The music had stopped so all you could hear was the sound of his panting.

When the raven-haired boy started to cool down he walked over to the fan sitting in the corner of the room to cool down even more. Even if the air conditioner was cranking it didn’t help his over heated body. After a good ten or so minutes of just sitting in front of the fan he decided that a good lunch was in order.

Minhyuk walked over to the other side of the room, pulled on a spare tank and rolled his pant leg down. He took another gulp of water and used a towel to wipe the sweat off his face. He threw on a light sweater and a baseball cap and grabbed his phone out of his bag. When he turned around to text Jiho if he wanted to meet up for lunch he saw two familiar shoes. His eyes widened in shock and looked up from his phone to the red head in front of him. That stupid boy gave Minhyuk his annoyingly charming smile that Minhyuk couldn’t help but fall for.

The elder quickly zipped up his bad and slung it over his shoulder and started to head for the door while Yu Kwon looked at him in confusion. Minhyuk was about to reach the door handle but Yu Kwon grabbed his wrist to stop him. The elder blushed and looked to the floor.

“What, Yu Kwon?” He said rather more harshly than intended.

“I was wondering if you wanted to practice together. I’ve been trying to reach you all day so I figured you might be here.” The younger said all too innocently.

Minhyuk chuckled and looked at the boy who still held his wrist firmly.

“Kwonnie, I’ve been practicing all morning. I’m taking a break to get lunch.” Minhyuk stated, trying to wriggle out of Yu Kwon’s grasp but failing.

“Good, I haven’t had lunch either. How ‘bout we eat together? We could go to the café around the corner.” Yu Kwon suggested.

“No thanks, I’ll just eat by myself.” He rejected while yanking his hand out of Yu Kwon’s.

Yu Kwon frowned and crossed his arms. Minhyuk had been avoiding him lately and would always blow him off when they had plans. They would barely see each other and he would always reject plans to hang out or eat together. It was starting to really irritate the red head.

“Minhyuk hyung,” he started, “do you hate me?”

Minhyuk laughed internally. “No...” Quite the opposite actually, Kwonnie.

“Then why are you ignoring me? For the past couple months you’ve been treating me like the plague. Like speaking with me would cause you actual pain. Did I do something wrong, hyung? Would it really kill you to sit down and have a conversation with me?”

The elder looked at his feet and back up at Yu Kwon with a fake smile and chuckled to himself. He put a hand behind his nape and scratched at it awkwardly.

“Have I been ignoring you? I’m sorry, Kwonnie, I’ll make it up to you next time, kay?” Minhyuk ruffled the smaller’s hair who pouted and frowned.

“Hyung…” He said knowing that Minhyuk was lying. He was never a good liar to begin with and even if he did pull a convincing act, Yu Kwon could still spot the lies.

“Yu Kwon let me as you something.”

“…” He said nothing, waiting for Minhyuk to ask the question. Yu Kwon well knowing that the answer could mean if Minhyuk would keep ignoring him or talk to him like he usually did.

“Are you…Do you…Doyouhaveagirlfriend?” Minhyuk stated rather quickly while looking at his shoes not wanting to see his reaction or answer. But since he did get no response he looked up at Yu Kwon who was looking down at his feet as well blushing and twiddling his thumbs.

That was enough of an answer for Minhyuk because at that moment he bolted out the door and ran down the street to an alleyway behind some apartments. There he sat on the curb and let his silent tears streak down his face.

_______________________________

Finally another chapter! Did you wait long? How long has it been? 1 week? 2 weeks? Aish, I'm sorry! I've been procrastinating! Yes, I'm still making Minhyukkie suffer. Sorry all you B-Bomb biases :(

Also by the whole "Jiho slept closer to him" part, I meant that he was trying to comfort him, not make a move on him. I'll try to update more especially now that Winter break is coming soon~