(A/N: To all haters that kept bringing up the stupid scandal. Move the on. It's been years and literally a ing one time thing. I'm always so mad when it comes to this. He rarely spoke in interviews ever since. Shut up if you don't even know what happened and how he is. Dammit)

This is the third time of the week Niel found Minsoo sitting on the balcony all alone.

He also spotted a couple of beer bottles next to him. Niel could see the earphone cable, letting him know that Minsoo in his cave right now and he usually won’t bother him if that’s the case, but the situation is getting severe and he’s worried.

They were all worried, to be honest. Niel recalled how Jonghyun told him earlier in the day how he felt sad looking at the lack of smile from the older and how Changhyun chimed in suggesting Niel to go talk to him soon. And Niel had been wanting to do so, from the very first time he caught the look of sadness in the leader’s eyes, but he also sensed somehow the guy needed to be alone, so he decided to just leave him be, hoping it would get better.

But it didn’t. It got a lot worse.
He stood there, behind him, for a good fifteen minutes before he heard a door creaked open. And he saw Chanhee. The guy with the chubby cheeks was about to open his mouth to say something, probably to ask Niel what he’s doing, but his eyes quickly found the figure of Minsoo, and he got it immediately. He sighed, walking to their leader, giving him a pat on his shoulder before sitting down next to him.

“You know we’re always here for you, right?”
Minsoo turned his head towards the shorter guy, forcing a smile to stop the other from worrying, but it failed.

“Hyung, don’t do that.”
Niel could hear how shaky the tone of his voice is, knowing how emotional Chanhee can be and sensing right away that he’s holding back from crying. Minsoo wrapped his arm around Chanhee, pulling him into a hug, and the younger broke down. He cried, hard, in the leader’s embrace and the latter patting him in the back. Niel felt a shot of pain inside of him, seeing how his boyfriend still took care of the members when he’s supposed to be the one got taken care by the others. Chanhee started to calm himself down gradually before fully coming to a stop and he took a really deep breath.

“I’m always grateful to you for helping me taking care of the others. I’m sorry I brought this to us.”
And the string of words brought another hit, not only to Niel, but also to Chanhee as he got up and stared at Minsoo, shaking his head and giving Minsoo another pat on his shoulder.
“Our group won’t be this good if we had anyone else as our leader. Get some rest, silly.”

He walked out and into his room, but not before giving the look to Niel. Talk to him.
So he did.

He finally walked into the balcony, positioning himself behind the older guy, wrapping his long thin arms around his waist, holding him really tightly in his embrace. He placed his chin on his shoulder and they stayed there for a couple of minutes before his palm caressed Niel’s and he opened his mouth to break the silence.

“Took you long enough.”
“I thought you wanted to be alone.”
“Whenever I feel like I want to be alone, I still choose being alone with you.”

The sentence made him hug Minsoo tighter, a smile popped up on his face but still with a glimpse of sadness. He landed a few small pecks on the older’s face, which he responded with a smile, the smile that Niel longed to see for the last few days.

“This is supposed to be our happy day. Our first win, but I ruined it.”
“You did not. It was a million years ago! Stupid trolls will never grow up, hyung.”

Minsoo sighed. There’s no point of arguing with Niel, and he did not want to ruin the happiness he got. He ended up patting his own lap, trying his very best to cover his true feeling, just for the sake of making Niel no longer worry.

“Come here, it’s been a while since the last time I hugged you.”
And Niel was still worried. But he did not want Minsoo to talk about something he did not want to.

The tall guy got up and moved himself to sit in front of Minsoo, leaning himself on the broad chest of his boyfriend. The older quickly gave him a hug, a tight warm hug, a hug they both had been waiting for.

“I still remember the first time I fell for you.”
“When was it?”
“Exactly the first time I saw you.”

Perhaps we can just talk about it some other time.