The boys’ comeback was just around the corner, their album was recorded and various boxes were ready to be shipped out to various music stores across the nation in countless different cities – some would even be finding themselves overseas. Both their music videos “Be the Light” and “Wow” were filmed and were being ran through the final editing processes. Their jacket shoots and photo shoots had ended with some drama between Younghun and Minhyun but all-in-all, it ended in a success. Their solo schedules were dwindling down to scarcely anything, making the strain in the relationship between Younghun and Minhyun more apparent since they had more time around each other, however the members and managers did not interfere because the duo still carried on as normal. Woojung, however, could tell that Minhyun was planning on apologizing – or so he looked like he was considering it, for whatever reason.

Shin stood silently in the kitchen, standing lazily beside the coffee pot. His eyes were half-lidded with exhaustion, despite it being late in the evening. He watched intently as the water slowly dripped from the machine to the pot, the hiss of the water hitting the heated surface of the glass, breaking the silence that sat over the dorms. So, when Xue slammed the front door of the apartment open, Shin jumped from shock. The magnae threw his backpack on the floor at his feet and collapsed dramatically onto one of the plush cushions of the couch.

“What’s wrong?” questioned Shin in concern, “Are you still being bullied?”

“No,” muttered Xue, “No one has bothered me in school, at least not yet.”

“That’s good, isn’t? Why are you so annoyed?” questioned Shin, still concerned for the youngest.

“I’m so far behind everyone,” muttered Hajoon, shifting on the couch so that he was hugging a pillow to his chest, “They are all so serious as well. Most of my classmates are already studying for the national college entrance exam…they started to do so during their winter vacation. Hyung, I could hardly answer any of the questions in the lesson, I feel so stupid.”

“You aren’t stupid though,” stated Shin, narrowing his eyes towards the magnae who was clearly stressed, “You are just a bit behind due to the short breaks you took last year.”

“Hyung, I need to do well,” muttered Ha Joon, “I’m pretty sure the company will pull me out of the group if I don’t keep my grades up.”

“I’m sure they won’t, especially since we are slowly growing in popularity,” stated Shin, “Plus, Younghun dropped out of university last fall, so he’s not getting an education anymore and they don’t seem to mind it.”

The magnae frowned, muttering, “That’s different though hyung, Younghun-hyung is already in university, unlike me, I’m still in senior high, I can’t just drop out. Plus, I’m not Jhun-hyung, he’s smart even without all the lessons – he was born and raised to be the heir of some big wig international business chain after all.”

Shin shook his head, “That’s not naturally smart - no offense to hyung, he struggled a lot with studying as well.”

“Right, he’s smart because he studied, which I feel as though I'm incapable of doing” muttered the magnae in frustration, about ready to pull his own hair out as he peered at the older male.

“Not completely,” stated Shin.

“Pretty much,” stated Ha Joon, frowning as he peered at the elder male,  “Anyway, changing subjects, where is everybody? Aren't they all supposed to be here?”

“Well, I just got back from college classes,” stated Shin, “Younghun was diagnosed with the swine flu or another serious upper respiratory infection – or something like that. So, Younghun is sleep in his room."

“How’d he get sick?”

“We don't really know the actual cause, but I've been saying that he got it from the kiss scene he had with one of his co-stars in the new drama.”

“I’m sure Minhyun will love hearing that…”

“Oh, I know,” responded Shin, smiling cheekily, “which is why I say it. Woojung told me that Minhyun threw quite a fit when he heard Younghun was working with that Ha Neul Young girl again, apparently they have too good of chemistry together.”

Xue laughed, “Maybe it’ll encourage Minhyun to finally confess or something, or at least make up again.”

“Maybe.”

“So, where is he? Weren’t he and Woojung supposed to be back today?”

Shin shook his head, “Minhyun and Woojung are still in Jeju for their CF shoot, they’ll be back tomorrow – it is their final schedule before we commence preparations for our comeback showcase in two weeks. Also, before you ask, Sora will be in Japan for three more days, filming a cameo in some popular Japanese drama in preparation for our Japanese debut later this year.”

Xue hummed nonchalantly, “So, it’s just the two of us for the night and our sickly leader?”

“Indeed.”

“What do we do?”

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t want to go out right now.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, but I want to nap for a little bit after that hellish day at school.”

“You’ll waste what is left of your day,” muttered Shin in disapproval, “Are you sure you want to nap?”

“No.”

“Then why are you going to?”

“I never said I was going to, I just said that I wanted to.”

“Watch your sass,” stated Shin as he moved towards the kitchen, shaking his head in shock at the small attitude the magnae was taking on.

“I’m not being sassy,” responded Xue, his voice muffled from where he buried it into the pillow he was holding.

“You have an attitude appearing,” stated Shin, peering at the magnae who looked like he was attempting to suffocate himself, “Are you going through your rebellious stage? I remember your parents saying something about you never really going through one yet when they visited for the holidays.”

“Yes, hyung,” responded Xue sarcastically, sitting up on the couch, “I’m going through my rebellious stage.”

Shin chuckled and retorted, “That sass is back.”

“Good,” responded Ha Joon, pouting slightly as he plopped back down onto the plush surface of the couch in a rather comedic manner, “At least I’m just giving you attitude, I mean I could be like some other people I know and go sneak out to drink in public or smoke – risking not only my own reputability but the group’s as well.”

“I’m really glad you aren’t doing that,” responded Shin from in the kitchen as he poured himself a cup of coffee, "The company doesn’t need any more trouble after the illegal gambling scandal with Andy-hyung.”

Shin got no response and turned to see Xue staring in the direction of Minhyun and Younghun’s shared room to see the leader waddling out of the room under a layer of blankets. Shin tried hard not to laugh at Xue who was dramatically covering his mouth upon seeing the ill Younghun. Younghun was dressed in countless layers, trying hard to sweat out the virus.

“You look like you’re going to peel over at any moment,” muttered Shin, “You look like death.”

“I feel like death,” responded Younghun, his voice raspy from mixture of throwing up and lack of sleep the previous night.

“Shouldn't you go to the hospital?” questioned Xue, his voice muffled by his hands.

“If it was anything serious they would’ve kept me there when I went last night,” stated Younghun, collapsing into a chair, happily pulling a second blanket over himself.

“You get sick often…” muttered Xue.

“It’s because I have a naturally weaker immune system,” retorted Younghun, “Plus, it didn’t help at all that I smoked between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, sure, it was only four years but I smoked a LOT and by a lot I mean countless packs...an obviously unhealthy amount.”

Shin hummed, “That could’ve been part of the reason.”

“You smoked?” muttered Xue in shock, having not heard that fact about the leader before.

Younghun nodded, “It was a stress relief back then and now it’s a bit sickening to smell cigarette smoke, despite the fact my body still craves them every now and then.”

“It’s one of the hardest things to crack,” confirmed Shin in agreement, situating himself beside Xue, who stayed curled up against the arm of the couch – his nose and mouth still covered by the pillow in his arms.

Xue looked between the two older males, nodding in understanding – having heard all about how bad it was in all the health classes he was in, he neglected the words though because he knew he would never do such a thing since countless studies showed that it could ruin his singing voice and that was the only talent he was really confident in.

“So, what are we going to do?” questioned Xue.

Younghun tossed him a couple of bills, causing the magnae to look at the leader, “What am I supposed to do with all this?”

“Go out to eat or something – the two of you,” muttered Younghun, “I’m going to be sitting out here for a while in hopes to wear myself out a bit and get to sleep since my body is incapable of doing it when I just lay there.”

Xue chuckled and thanked the leader cheerfully, before looking towards Shin – who seemed a bit guilty about spending the older male’s money since the elder had not gotten many jobs recently other than the small cameo that had ended with him being ill.

“Go enjoy the night, it’ll probably the last one we have off for a while,” responded Younghun, smiling towards Xue, “Also don’t feel guilty about using it, I enjoy treating you all out. I was planning on it before I started feeling like .”

Shin nodded in understanding before standing up and finishing the little bit of coffee before heading towards his shared room with the magnae, the duo happily moved towards their rooms, prepared to spend the remainder of the night together away from the drama of the industry and the dorms. The two soon left, bidding the leader farewell, still feeling a bit guilty about leaving him alone in the dorms despite the condition he was in.

In Jeju, Woojung laid sprawled out on his temporary bed, his phone pressed against his ear as he happily talked to Sora – who was telling him a tale he heard from Xue who had heard it from Shin who had heard it from Younghun, the victim of the tale. Woojung earned the attention of Minhyun – who was lying lazily on his own bed – as he cracked up laughing.

“Really, hyung got sick from doing that?” muttered Woojung in amusement, holding back laughter.

“Who got sick and from what?” questioned Minhyun in curiosity however, he was ignored by Woo Jung who was staring intently towards the sea that sat meters away from the window by his bed.

Woojung had raised a hand to silence the elder male and signaling for the older man to be quieter for a couple more seconds, “Alright, I’ll see you in three days. Bye.”

“Why didn’t you confess your undying love for him again?” questioned Minhyun, “Don’t you two have to say the three words daily to assure each other you still like each other?”

“We’ve decided not to say them around you,” stated Woojung, “At least not until we see you and Younghun together – it’s impossible though, isn’t it? Oh, talking about Younghun.”

“The idiot leader is sick again, isn’t he?”

Woojung nodded, “You’ll never guess how.”

“Is it stupid?”

“Depending on the person it is, but Sora and I find it humorous. As for you…we think you’ll blow a fuse hearing it,” stated Woojung after much thought.

“How’d the idiot get sick this time? How serious is it?” questioned Minhyun nonchalantly, trying hard to act as though he was not concerned – trying to ignore the fact that he was worried for the older male but if asked he’d respond that it was for their upcoming comeback promotions.

“Apparently that Ha Neul girl had the flu a couple of days ago and did not inform anyone that she did and she was apparently recovering from it during their kiss scene filming and now hyung’s ill,” stated Woojung, laughing as Minhyun’s expression to one of frustration, “He apparently got the virus from their countless run throughs of their kiss scene.”

Minhyun growled, “That idiot…how does he expect to stay as our leader if he can’t even take care of himself?”

“We’ll if you would just succumb to your feelings and take care of him, he wouldn’t have to worry about it. That way he could take care of us and you can take care of him.” responded Woojung, “Well, it would be more like he took care of you, but still – if you just confessed that you liked him back, it would take that little bit of stress off of him.”

“Or he could give up.”

“Something you and I know you don’t want,” stated Woojung, “I’ve never seen you like someone so much before. Sure you’ve played with countless people leading them on and then throwing them away once they’ve harbored feelings for you, but you have yet to throw away Younghun – even after he confessed to you two, possibly even more, times.”

Minhyun stared at Woojung, however, he understood what the younger was getting at and he silently admitted that there was truth to the younger’s words, you like him far more than you admit to it.

“I know you all too well Minhyun, so just confess to him already,” stated Woojung in frustration staring at Minhyun who returned his gaze in shock, “I know it’s scary and all that, but seriously just confess before someone punches you for being so annoying in our group. As I've said countless times before: there is no need to be afraid of being rejected because it is already well known that he likes you. Plus, as for commitment – you guys could always date but not put a title on it...at least not right away. You can date but not be together and not be going steady.”

Minhyun stared at him silently.

Hope you enjoyed the chappie.