Hoya, Dongwoo, and Sungjong came back worried, knowing that there was something going on. Something was wrong for sure. There was a strange tension in the air that usually wasn’t there and the last time it felt like that, Sunggyu and Woohyun had been fighting for the role of the main vocal. It had been a long time since the practice room had been filled with such an ominous feeling, and Dongwoo felt a chill down his back. They all wondered what had happened while they were gone, but knowing that they all had to practice, they shrugged off the feeling until they just really couldn’t take it anymore.

***

            Infinite had been practicing for about five hours now. It wasn’t anything they weren’t used to, but today Sunggyu was being a little unbearable. Everyone was sweating and silently begging for a five-minute break. Usually they would’ve gotten a break by now.

            Unfortunately, Sunggyu didn’t think they were performing well enough: Sungyeol was out of sync, Woohyun had sluggish movements, and Sunggyu himself felt stiff. Myungsoo and the rest of the members seemed to get it well enough, but they just couldn’t stay in sync. Infinite was nothing if they didn’t have their sync, so the rest of the members heard the word “again” come from the leader’s mouth.

            Another hour passed by with little mistakes here and there and it was running Sunggyu’s patience thin.

            Sunggyu brushed his bangs away from his forehead that was beading with sweat, and he sighed. Woohyun was getting better, at least. However, Sungyeol was still out of sync with everybody else. He glanced at the clock in front of him and realized that they had practiced for more than half the day already. It shouldn’t have taken this long for them to get back in sync. They usually didn’t have to practice for this long on a dance they should already know, but he looked at the rest of the members, seeing eyes that were practically begging for a break.

            “Okay,” he said, clapping his hands together to get everyone’s attention, “let’s take a little break.”

            The members all sighed happily and practically dragged themselves out. Even though they had to stay in the building, they were happy to get out of the suffocating room.

            Sunggyu stood by the door, watching the members walk (more like crawl in Dongwoo’s case) one by one out of the door. When Sungyeol tried to pass by though, he stopped him.

            “Sungyeol,” he said, pushing the younger back lightly, “you need to work on the dance more. Stay behind.”

            He cringed slightly from the frown that Sungyeol gave him. He was surprised someone that was the reason that they had to practice so much anyway wouldn’t want to stay back to make sure the group didn’t have to keep practicing over and over.

            Shouldn’t an adult know better?

***

            Sungyeol groaned loudly when he found out he had to stay back and practice more.

            “Sunggyu, you weren’t in sync either. You should stay behind too,” he mentioned. He wasn’t going to go through this torture alone. He wasn’t the only one that kept messing up.

            Sunggyu glared at Sungyeol, angry at the change in tone from the younger’s voice. He lashed out, “Maybe I could’ve focused better if your lanky body wasn’t in the way.”

            “You wouldn’t be able to see the mirror anyway. Don’t blame it on me. You’re the one with the stamina of an old man. Why are you dancing anyway?” Sungyeol spit out.

            Sunggyu pursed his lips together, and turned away from Sungyeol. He was reminded of how sharp and quick Sungyeol was with his words. Having nothing to say back, he relented.

            “You know what; just go have your break. I’ll stay behind and practice.”

            “Sunggyu—“ Sungyeol began. He didn’t mean the words that came out of his mouth. He regretted it immediately, realizing how harsh it actually sounded coming from him.

            But Sunggyu just waved him away.

            “I got it. Just go. You’re the kid, and I’m the adult. I obviously should practice more. I have to take responsibility.”

            The condescending tone bothered Sungyeol, and it hurt his pride hearing that Sunggyu still thought of him as this stupid, irresponsible child. Fuming, Sungyeol stormed out of the room.

            “I’m not a child.”

***

            Sunggyu looked into the mirror after running through the song a few times and he yelled out in frustration. The mirror was bothering him, the sweat that was sticky on his skin bothered him, the lights that felt like they were about to die were bothering him, and he just couldn’t take it anymore. Everything bothered him; he was irritated and because of that his dance moves were choppy and too sharp and he just wanted to push Sungyeol against a wall and punch some sense into the tall, child-like man who didn’t know when to admit he was wrong.

            The leader walked towards the mirror and weakly hit it, knowing that he wouldn’t really be able to physically hurt the taller member. He turned around and sat down against the mirror, catching his breath.

            Why couldn’t he get along with Sungyeol this week? They were never really all that close, Sunggyu knew that. But this week had been harder to bear than any of the others. He just didn’t understand why the younger was being so difficult these days. Was it because Sunggyu had taken the second solo album? Did he feel like Sunggyu wouldn’t have time for Infinite anymore? Or was it because Myungsoo got another acting role? Was Myungsoo spending enough time with his supposed-to-be best friend? Was Sungyeol just jealous?

            Sunggyu pulled at his short hair, still angry at Sungyeol’s actions and words from that day. He didn’t understand the younger and he just wished that Sungyeol would tell him what was actually wrong so that they could resolve this stupid situation.

            He glanced up at the clock and started to hear footsteps from the hall. He could hear the ramblings of Dongwoo, the rhythmic steps of Hoya’s feet, and the sluggish drags from the rest of the members.

            Their break was ending soon.

***

            They practiced for another three hours before finishing for the day. They were all extremely tired and even Myungsoo felt like his legs were going to become jelly.           

            He glanced back at Sungyeol, catching his eyes.

            “Sungyeol, are you okay?”

            He saw Sungyeol feign a smile and sighed.

            “Yeah, I’m fine,” the elder said; it was barely a whisper and it bothered Myungsoo to no end.

            Myungsoo stared at him.

            “I thought I told you that you were a terrible liar,” Myungsoo teased, trying to bring the atmosphere up. He hated seeing Sungyeol like this.

            “And I thought I told you that I wasn’t lying,” Sungyeol retorted, a genuine smile creeping up at the corners of his lips.

            The visual leaned forward and ruffled Sungyeol’s hair before walking out of the practice room. The half-smile was enough for now, but something still bothered him. He glanced back and the tall male’s face was back to a small frown. Myungsoo turned around again and stared at his fingers. He was disappointed that Sungyeol thought he had convinced him.

            I know you enough to know when you aren’t lying Sungyeol.

***

            Sungyeol went to sleep bed early that day, tired and sweaty. He didn’t have the energy to wait in line for the shower and he certainly wasn’t in the mood to go talk with the rest of the members. After changing, he covered himself in his blanket, not wanting to see Sunggyu when he came in to sleep.

***

            “Woohyun,” Sunggyu called out, not wanting to walk around the dorm and find the other main vocal.

            Woohyun looked at the lazy leader who knew exactly where he was, and sighed, walking over to Sunggyu, who was lying on the couch.

            “Yeah?”

            There was a short pause before Sunggyu answered, almost as if he were deciding on whether to ask Woohyun or not.

            “…can we switch rooms for tonight?”

            Hearing Sunggyu’s request, the smile was wiped off Woohyun’s visage. He sat down on the ground next to the couch, wanting to talk to Sunggyu.

            “No, you two need to work this out. The members are starting to feel the tension between the two of you grow, and it’s going to blow up in all of our faces soon if you two don’t talk. I’m pretty sure he isn’t sleeping, so you both have plenty of time to fix this, whatever it is.”

            Sunggyu sighed. “Come on Woohyun, just for one night. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

            Woohyun chuckled softly. “There won’t be time tomorrow. Just go now.”

***

            Sungyeol layed on his bed. He stared at the ceiling, not able to sleep again. He didn’t hear the door open after Woohyun had come in, so he assumed that Sunggyu wasn’t going to sleep in their room tonight. He didn’t like that. He didn’t like having problems with Sunggyu, and he didn’t like conflict in general. He just wished that Sunggyu would come in, so they could work things out.

            But Sunggyu didn’t come in that night. He had slept in the living room.

***

            When Sunggyu woke up, he was surprised to find himself in his own bed. His body shot up immediately, wondering why he was seeing sunlight. They usually woke up before the sun was high up against his window. But then he remembered: he didn’t have a schedule that day (thankfully).

            He looked around the room. Sungyeol and Myungsoo were both gone, and as he listened to the quiet dorm, he realized that everyone else had already left as well. He leaned back against the wall and reached out to get his phone from the nightstand. Turning on his phone, he had planned on just checking the time, except just below the numbers that told him noon; Sunggyu saw an unexpected text from Sungyeol.

            Sorry.

            Sunggyu smiled, knowing that it took a lot to be the first one to apologize.

            Maybe Sungyeol isn’t all the childish after all.