As the day progressed, the rain let up, though an entirely different kind of storm would soon be brewing. The soccer game had long since finished and the members of Infinite had all either gone out or wandered off to other areas of the apartment, except for L. The television sat tuned to a news broadcast, the anchorwoman conveying the day's stories in a monotonous voice that was starting to give L a headache.

     "—and with the recent spike in crime rates, authorities are cracking down on offenders—"

     L pressed the power button on the remote and the television flickered off. He wasn't interested in hearing media-skewed information, meant to be regurgitated by every news outlet in the area, about a city no one truly knew better than Infinite. The lull in gang activity that Sungkyu had previously found suspicious was quickly gaining back its momentum, but such was the usual pattern.

     Cops don't know half the that goes down in their own city, L scoffed to himself as he leaned back across the couch, stretching out his arms and legs.

     His momentary peace and quiet was interrupted as Dongwoo entered the room, pushing L's legs off of the couch in order to make room for himself to sit. He let out a chuckle as if he had just heard something humorous, and L noticed an amused grin still lingering on the man's face.

     "Something funny?" he asked, wondering if he had missed a joke.

     "Choding finally kissed her," Dongwoo announced as he reached for the TV remote that L had set aside, still laughing inwardly over the story Sungkyu had recounted about how the whole thing happened.

     "Kissed who?"

     "Haneul."

     L stared at him. "…He what?"

     Dongwoo's smile faded as he saw his expression, suddenly realizing that L didn't find the information as amusing as he did. L was quiet, which in itself would be normal for him, but still his silence made Dongwoo uneasy.

     "Hey… Are you alright?"

     L's gaze only flickered in his direction momentarily. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" he said tersely as he got up to leave the room, and Dongwoo shivered from the effective cold shoulder.

     How did this happen? That shouldn't have been Sungyeol; that should have been m–  L quickly stopped himself mid-thought. No. He had given himself limits. He had drawn the line at holding her hand at night and making discrete contact that only he was aware of, rarely doing so in the light of day let alone in public where the other members would see and perhaps catch on to what he was doing. As much as he knew that Haneul would be okay with it due to her angelic affection of close contact, L couldn't help but feel like she was his weakness, and he couldn't allow Infinite to recognize it too. Setting these limits for himself, he had never even considered such a level of skinship, but he hated how easy it was for Sungyeol to surpass them.

     No, no. L just wanted Haneul's telepathy; that's what he really wanted. That was the real reason why he found his hand slipping into hers each night, why he casually let their arms brush together as they walked, why he held onto her firmly in crowded areas so that she wouldn't get lost. He wanted her thoughts, her endless source of peace that settled his mind and calmed his nerves. Even if it was selfish, it wasn't like it harmed Haneul in any way; their symbiotic relationship was mere commensalism at worst. Haneul seemed perfectly content with the attention, anyways.

     But L wasn't the only one that was coming to these conclusions. When Sungkyu caught wind of L's strange behavior later that evening, the leader knew he couldn't ignore what had been right in front of him all this time. If L couldn't realize that what he was doing was wrong, then Sungkyu couldn't let himself sit back and tolerate it anymore.

     "I need to talk to you," Sungkyu's voice b