Sungmin watched his friends during their show from the backstage.  He was thrilled when Ryeowook invited him to come with.  After calling Sungmin on the air in late November at their radio show from Japan, he realized just now lonely Sungmin was and how left out he felt.  Sungmin didn’t like being drug along out of pity but then again, he loved to travel.  Especially with a certain someone along with.

            The trio rushed off the stage and Sungmin lit up at seeing them headed his way.  He stood up straight and hugged Ryeowook when it was all over.  “You three sounded wonderful.  I just love that new song of yours,” he beamed.

            “You should come up and sing a couple with us tomorrow night,” suggested Kyuhyun, still a bit breathless from running around onstage.  “The fans would be really excited.”

            Sungmin smiled and shrugged his shoulders.  He’d been invited to sing at their concerts before but somehow it still felt like he didn’t belong. 

            “We could sing What If again,” Yesung chimed in, pulling off his sweaty t-shirt and tossing it unto his bag.  “You already know that one and it sounds really good.  The fans would go crazy.”

            Sungmin smiled, nodding.  “Okay.”

            Ryeowook called over to one of the staff, “Do we still have some of the costumes from last tour?  Or do we have something that Sungmin can wear that will match the rest of our outfits?”

            As they spoke for a while, Sungmin quietly stood off to the side, unable to take his eyes off of Yesung, who was still only half dressed.  Kyuhyun came up from behind him and tapped his chin.  “Quit letting that drop, you look more obvious that way.  Unless you want him to know you’re ogling at him.”

            Sungmin felt his face begin to burn and turned towards Kyuhyun.  “Am I really being that obvious?”

            “Honestly?”

            Sungmin nodded.

            “Yes.”

            “Do you think he knows?”

            “No,” he said, looking over at Yesung.  “He can be a little oblivious to stuff like that but if you don’t want him to know, you might want to knock it off.  But personally, I think you should just tell him and have it over and done with.  Then you can either start dating or move on with your life.”

            “But I still have to see him on almost a daily basis,” complained Sungmin.  “If he says no and he’s not attracted to me, then it will be awkward between us.”

            “Hey, I already think this whole thing is awkward,” Kyuhyun said, slipping off his pants and putting on his jeans.

            “How did you tell Ryeowook you loved him?”

            “Well,” Kyuhyun said, grimacing at the thought, “I was pretty damn drunk at the time and we just started making out.  Then one thing led to another, yada-yada, and we were together.  Keep in mind, I was really young at the time and completely inexperienced.  I don’t think you can get away with something like that at your age.”

            Sungmin sighed, turning back just in time to watch Yesung take off his pants as well and rummage around in his bag for clothes.  Sungmin hid his