We stopped practicing after the announcement since we weren't going to be using any of it anymore, and the managers came to pick us up to go to the dorm again. When they arrived, Seunghwan hyung looked at me.

"Good for you," he muttered.

I smiled back. "The hyungs were really nice about it."

The manager hyung raised his eyebrows. "Really? That's great to hear."

I nodded, and then the manager hyung gathered Yesung, Ryeowook and me together.

"So, you guys are a new team now," he said with a smile. We nodded and smiled back, but Yesung and I barely looked at each other. We met each other's gaze and with a quick smile, looked away again. The manager hyung noticed and squinted at us.

"Why don't the four of us go out for lunch?" he asked.

"Uh, I thought I was supposed to go to school today," I improvised wildly. God, Yesung and I were still awkward with each other, and eating with Yesung sounded impossible.

"What? No, not today," said the manager hyung, then he smiled. "So let's go out for lunch."

I sighed and saw Yesung looking just as uncomfortable. On the other hand, Ryeowook beamed; the two of us were closest to him on the team, and he must have been beyond happy. It was a good thing that Ryeowook was here.

We went for lunch at a nearby Chinese restaurant, and throughout the entire meal, Yesung and I sat diagonally from each other and didn't say anything to each other; in fact, we barely even looked at each other. If it weren't for Ryeowook who was chattering away happily at both of us, there might have been no conversation whatsoever. The manager hyung didn't seem too keen to speak for some reason, which felt so foreign; he always had something to say to me, either to criticize or to offer advice, but today, he just watched and listened without saying anything. As Ryeowook left the table to use the bathroom, there was total, uncomfortable silence at the table. I saw Yesung shift in his seat uncomfortably as the manager hyung didn't look at either of us and did nothing but eat his food.

"So," I said carefully, looking at the manager hyung. "How long do they think until we start promotions?"

"Two months," said the manager hyung, and I saw him open his mouth as if he wanted to say more, but he seemed to restrain himself.

"Go ahead, hyung," I urged. The manager hyung just shook his head and continued with his food. Oh god, how are we supposed to get over this awkwardness?

We didn't say a single word to each other until Ryeowook came back to the table, after which Ryeowook was leading all of the conversations again. The manager hyung still didn't say anything, and just watched our awkward dynamic for the entire meal.

We didn't say anything more about the issue until later that night when I was on the kitchen table, studying after having finished my chores, when I heard the manager hyung call, "Kyuhyun!" from his room.

I looked up from my work and sighed with the annoyance at having been interrupted.

"And Jongwoon!" called the manager hyung again. "Come here right now!"

My face immediately paled. Oh god, did we do something wrong? What did we do wrong?

I was so scared that I could feel myself stiffen up as I walked into the manager hyung's room.

"Yes, sir," I said, looking at him nervously, but the manager hyung looked at me and laughed.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble," he said. I breathed a sigh or relief.

"Hyung, next time, please don't scare me like that," I said, my face buried in my hands.

"Sorry," said the manager hyung with a small laugh, then Yesung came out of his room and walked into the manager hyung's room as well.

I bowed to Yesung a little, and Yesung nodded before facing the manager hyung again, who was watching our interaction wordlessly with his arms crossed. He still didn't say anything as we just looked at him, and after just a few seconds, Yesung lost his patience.

"Yeah, hyung," he said.

The manager hyung sighed. "You guys are worrying me," he said.

"Um - "

"You guys are going to start promotions in two months. And things worked until now because you guys haven't had much chance to interact on shows and things. But once the three of you start promotions, you won't be able to fake it anymore."

Yesung and I looked at each other, then I faced the manager hyung again and opened my mouth with a small frown. "What exactly do you - "

"You're awkward with each other and it shows."

Yesung laughed. "Hyung, we have two months to work it out. We'll spend two months practicing with each other. I'm sure we'll be fine by the end of the two months."

I also nodded.

"What I noticed today during lunch is that you guys aren't going to get close to each other because Ryeowook is so close to both of you. He'll just do all the talking, and you guys won't talk to each other," said the manager hyung.

I looked at my feet as Yesung sighed. "So what are you saying we should do, hyung?"

"I'm talking about Yesung using that single room that one of us managers is using now - "

"I don't like single rooms," said Yesung quickly, and the manager hyung held up his hands.

" - and Kyuhyun sharing that room with you."

My mouth dropped open.

"Um, hyung, that's really - unnecessary," I said carefully, wondering whether Yesung would be offended, but Yesung seemed to share the same sentiment.

"I'm fine with the room I have now," said Yesung.

"Well, Kyuhyun moving rooms won't be hard, since he doesn't even have a bed anyway," said the manager hyung, pretending he hadn't heard us. "And the two of you - "

"Hyung, if you're going to do this, at least buy me a bed," I said, cutting him off.

"Sorry, there's no space. Maybe when we move," he said nonchalantly.

Ugh. This was so much worse than being in trouble.

"For how long?" I asked tiredly.

"For as long as I think you need," said the manager hyung.

"Aw, hyung," said Yesung with a sigh. "Do we really have to - "

"Yeah. Minsung manager hyung already got his things out of the room. So start moving your things in that single room, Jongwoon," said the manager hyung with a satisfied smile, then he dismissed us both, who both sighed with the prospect of having to share the room with each other.

I went back to the kitchen table to start studying again while Yesung started moving his things into the single room. As I was studying, the manager hyung came out of his room and put his hand on my shoulder.

I looked up at him and sighed. "Hyung, I can't believe you."

"I'm sorry about the bed situation. Either way, I was just going to say, you're not allowed to study out here anymore."

I goggled at him. "What? Why not?"

"Because I want you to be in your room." The manager hyung smiled again. "All the time."

"Why are you being so mean?" I asked, burying my head in my arms.

"You'll thank me for it later," he said confidently.

"I'm sure," I muttered.

"Go to your room. Your new room," said the manager hyung, gathering up my books from the table.

"I don't think so," I snorted.

The manager hyung raised his eyebrows. "Just a reminder, there's a broom in the dorm again, thanks to you."

God, I had to get rid of that broom somehow.

I closed my eyes in frustration and buried my face in my arms, but the manager hyung tapped my shoulder.

"Now, Kyuhyun," he said, starting to use his stern tone.

I sighed and lifted my head again. "Yes, sir," I muttered in discontent, and I grabbed my books and walked into Yesung's new room reluctantly.

There was barely any space in that single room for me to lie down; When I lied down in the only space on the floor that was there, one shoulder touched the side of Yesung's bed and the other shoulder touched the wall. I could barely keep my legs straight without touching the door with my feet if I pushed my head against the closet. Whereas I appreciated the manager hyung for his effort, I couldn't help but hate him for making me sleep here.

It almost felt like the time when I had to share a room with Heechul, except the fear was replaced with awkwardness. We didn't say anything to each other for the entire night. Yesung was on his laptop the whole time while I was studying. I think both of us felt uncomfortable with each other, and even past 2am, Yesung seemed tired but reluctant to ask me to turn the lights out.

At 3am, Yesung finally worked up enough to put his laptop down with a loud yawn. "Kyuhyun, let's turn out the lights," said Yesung.

I flipped through my work to see how much I needed to do - I thought I could finish today's work if I studied for just two hours or so. If I could finish - I really should, seeing as the dreaded entrance exams were so soon.

"Okay." I picked my books up from the floor. As I got up with my books and opened the door before turning the lights out, Yesung sat up on his bed again.

"Hey, where are you going?" asked Yesung quickly.

I looked at him, perplexed. "Um - I just have a bit more to do, so I was going to study in the kitchen."

Yesung hesitated, then he laid down with his eyes closed. "Okay, okay. You can keep the lights on."

I shook my head. "Sunbaenim, I really don't mind having to study in the - "

"Hey! Listen to what I'm telling you," said Yesung with a small frown.

"Okay, okay," I muttered, and I got back on the floor, thoroughly puzzled at his response, unsure of why Yesung wanted me in the room so much.

From the next day on, the three of us started learning to sing with each other and to learn each other's vocal styles. To Yesung and my dismayed non-surprise, what the manager hyung had said was true. An entire week into singing with each other, I didn't feel even a bit closer to Yesung, and we didn't even exchange a word with each other; Ryeowook really did do all of the talking. And since a vocal coach was there for us almost all the time, there really wasn't much time for free conversation anyway.

The company was also very nervous about my speaking skills, so I got public speaking coaching. I'd said almost nothing when I was with the whole team since there weren't many opportunities to speak anyway, but with just the three of us, that was certainly going to change. The three months of training I did at SM were mostly dedicated to learning dance and refining my vocals. I had a few acting lessons and a few speaking ones, and I had learned how to carry myself on air, but that was not the focus. When I started having to stay at the office from 8am to 1am every day except the five hours a week to go to school was when I realized maybe, my debut was a bit rushed after all, especially since they were this panicked with still two months until promotions would begin.

On the other hand, the situation with Yesung barely improved over the week, either. The manager hyung had no doubt had expected us to talk out the awkwardness and the rough patches we'd had over the six months that we'd been together, but we had merely grown comfortable with the awkward silence, if that was possible. We still didn't speak to each other.

At the end of the second week, things were more or less the same between me and Yesung, except the silence was even more comfortable, or at least I thought. As I was slaving tirelessly over my schoolwork in my room after getting back to the dorm at 1:30am, Yesung finally spoke.

"Okay. Fine. Let's talk about it," he said with a sigh.

I looked up from my schoolwork. "What do you mean?" I asked. I was so close to the bed that I could barely even make eye contact with Yesung without straining my neck.

"Whatever it is that happened that's making us like this."

I frowned a little as I closed the book that I was studying.

"We've always been like this," I said. "There's nothing to talk about."

There were another few minutes of silence where I contemplated whether I should open up my book again, then Yesung finally spoke.

"Okay. Then I'll start."

"Sunbaenim, there's nothing to - "

"Be quiet while I'm talking."

I closed my mouth.

"Okay," sighed Yesung. "Okay. So. I'm sorry about that day when I punched you."

I stared at him blankly for a second, then I almost laughed. He still remembered that incident? God, that was before my debut, and so much had happened since then.

"That's okay," I said with a tiny smile.

"But I really thought you were giving Ryeowook a hard time. I never thought you two would become good friends like you are now."

"How about we talk about the other time," I said, looking at him.

Yesung frowned.

"That day when you weren't on my side when Kangin hyung told me to clean the living room."

"What? No one was on your side that day," snarled Yesung.

I paused for a second. That was certainly true. "Okay. Fair enough. Then a few weeks ago when I made that Dancing Out mistake. You didn't have to hit me. You know that stage was wet that day."

"I only hit you five times! Teukie hyung hit you a lot that day," complained Yesung.

"You try being in that much pain and telling me that five hits don't make a difference," I snapped.

Yesung paused. "Okay. I'm sorry."

I didn't yet say that it was okay. I still wasn't sure if that was why I felt awkward with him.

"God, I said I was sorry! You're not going to say it's okay?"

I still didn't say anything. Was my saying "It's okay" supposed to make our awkwardness go away? Because I wasn't sure if that was going to happen.

"Okay. Fine. Then you hit me five times, then let's move on, okay?"

I burst out laughing.

"What?" yelled Yesung.

"No, I'm really sorry, that's not - that's not what I meant," I said, still laughing.

"Are you laughing at me?" demanded Yesung. I took a deep breath and finally stopped myself from laughing.

"No, sunbaenim. Sorry."

"Then what is it?" asked Yesung impatiently.

"Okay. I'm sorry. It's okay. I really think it's okay," I assured.

There was another awkward silence, then I spoke.

"Oh, and thank you for the ice that day when the manager hyung beat us."

Yesung smiled. "And that was the card I was going to play if you said it wasn't okay."

I smiled too, but I didn't know what more to say, and the silence was back.

"And well, since we're going to be in each other's company a lot, well, we might as well feel comfortable."

I nodded; I knew exactly what he was talking about. "Okay, hyung," I said with a small smile. "Wait, do I still use honorifics?"

"Ugh, you cheeky little - " said Yesung angrily. "Don't go too far, now."

I was taken aback. I guessed I went too far too soon. "Okay, hyung," I said timidly.

The silence was back.

I opened my books to study again, and Yesung lied down in his bed to sleep.

"Hyung, why don't you want the lights off when you fall asleep?" I asked.

Yesung stared at me for a second. "I told you I didn't like single rooms."

I suppressed another laugh. "You'd rather sleep with the lights on than to fall asleep alone?"

Then Yesung looked at me with the softest eyes I'd ever seen him look at me with. "Yes," he said simply, then he looked away from me again and laid back down in his bed.

I laughed silently, and as I went back to my schoolwork, admiring Yesung's quirk, I wondered whether the manager hyung would allow me to move back into Sungmin and Donghae's room so that I wouldn't have to sleep in such a small space anymore.