---

A few months had passed by since the incident in which Hakyeon told Taekwoon to back off -- and in those few months they had finished their Hyde comeback. The leader managed to act as if he was his normal self after his break down in the bathroom - but things between him and Leo has been increasingly tense when they were alone with one another. On camera he can easily act as if he was the happy leader that craved for the attention of their introverted member, but off camera, he'd act as if he couldn’t leave the room fast enough. The leader even stayed late at the practice studio and walk home alone despite however far it was. This brought a plus side though – since he came up with the choreography for their new song though there were still down sides such as walking home alone in the dark or being too tired to even leave sometimes. Of course the first few times the other members worried, but after a while he was able to convince them all it would be fine. Even Taekwoon worried - yet Hakyeon didn't spare him a breath.

Sighing out at the thoughts, Hakyeon shook his head quickly to push them away to concentrate on the task at hand. They were now promoting 'You're Impressive' and he felt as if he was doing well now. That he didn't care if Ken and Leo liked each other-- if Leo even liked males at that. He highly doubts Leo does, but if he did he wasn't going to care. He was still slightly jealous over how Hongbin and Ravi has been having such a perfect relationship and he has been having no scores with anyone because he himself keeps backing out of whatever commitment was thrown his way. Hakyeon just couldn't take the thought of being committed to anyone, especially not when it meant the feelings he tried so hard to lock up would be disturbed and he'd end up having another break down over Taekwoon - which had happened once during their Hyde promotion.

The stress during that time was all too much as he remembered useless things such as how some anti-fan called him a man- and how his feelings for Taekwoon weren't ever going to be returned. The leader had one of his moments in which he had to go through the fancafe again and stumbled upon more ‘Keo this’ and ‘Keo that’. Clearly pushing those thoughts away only lasted for a few days before resurfacing again.

Taking in a deep breath to calm himself, he quickly remembered that he was at the hospital - with Jung Taekwoon and their manager. Why the hell did that stupid competitive athlete had to go and get himself injured? Why did he have to foll- oh wait. He's the leader. Of course the leader has to come. Hakyeon never hated being a leader more in his life until now.

Glancing over at the injured singer sitting in the seat across from him as they waited in the room alone, the lead dancer quickly averted his eyes to the floor as another frustrated sigh pass his lips. Hakyeon wasn’t sure how much longer he could stand being in this room with him. The tense air was starting to suffocate him and he needed to figure out some way to leave the room – and fast.

"Why aren't we talking anymore?"

Before the older could even think of an excuse, the vocalist had already asked the question the leader was dreading to hear. Biting his bottom lip for a moment as he tried to formulate an answer - he just decided to go for the easy way out. The cliché excuse that people use in this situation. "What are you talking about? We have been talking."

Clearly that didn't go well with the annoyed injured male at all though. His burning gaze was right on the dancer and he could feel it. "That's not what I'm talking about, Cha Hakyeon."

"It's honestly the truth though. I try to talk to you on camera all the time but all you do is push this poor leader away" The older whined slightly, trying his best to put on his camera act for Taekwoon. It didn't matter if he looked stupid or not as he tried to go through with it- he just wasn't in the mood for talking about such a topic. Then again, the leader knew all too well that he himself would never be in the mood to talk about it.

"Hakyeon, I'm not in the mood for that. You should know well that I have not been in the mood for that crap for the last few months. "The voice was all too stern, making him roll his eyes as he stood up properly this time.

"I told you back then it was –”

Before he could finish his sentence this time, the manager walked back in with the doctor. Sighing slightly as he knew he couldn’t leave the room now, the leader made himself comfortable in his seat before puffing out his cheeks in annoyance. He was worried – very worried – over Taekwoon’s injury. He hated that the vocalist actually drove himself to the point of injury over some stupid sport competition. It was as if he purposely did it because now the leader had to give him most of his attention and that was just not cutting it.

Listening to the advices the doctor was advising them to take and the precautions as Leo should stay off his foot as much as possible, all the leader could do was pray that the singer would stay back at the dorm until his leg healed up – but he knew it was impossible since Taekwoon is known for having a ‘never give up’ attitude, which is one of the reasons why he was injured in the first place.

Standing up as the doctor and their manager Mickey said their goodbyes, his eyes glanced over at the singer who was clearly having trouble with the crutches. Shaking away the thoughts of ‘just leave him be’ he decided to put on his leader front again before taking a hold of the younger’s arm and placed it around his shoulder. “Mickey manager- Take the crutches. I need to help this baby get out of the hospital in one piece.” He made sure his tone came out as teasingly possible before securing another arm around the taller male’s waist. Hakyeon could tell that Taekwoon was against such close contact when they haven’t even gone over what was wrong between them but the leader wasn’t even in the mood to care as the three of them made their way out.

---

Back at the dorm, everyone had already huddled around Leo to see if everything was alright. Breath of relief came out of every member as the singer made his way back to the bedroom. He definitely didn’t like being surrounded by people and the younger members all knew that, at least that’s what he had assumed. Little did he knew the main vocalist, other than himself, was following him straight to the room as he made his way to the bed and sat down. Hearing the door shut, Taekwoon brought a hand up to run through his hair in frustration as he could feel the tense air rising instantly.

“Don’t lecture me—“

“You’re being absolutely stupid.”

The injured singer sighed out, rolling his eyes at the younger’s words. If it weren’t for the fact his leg was injured, he would’ve attacked the other for disrespecting him. “I am not. I seriously didn’t know my leg was in-“

“Don’t lie. You can get away with lying to Hakyeon, but you can’t get away with that to me. Honestly, I don’t even get how the leader can be so dense right now. The both of you are frustrating me to bits! It’s been months you know.” Jawhwan spoke in an annoyed tone, clearly different from the usual happy dorky act he has on camera. “Months. We finished Hyde and now we’re almost done with G.R.8.U. Not to mention you went off and injured your leg… How much longer do you two intend to mess around like this?”

Grabbing the nearest object, which so happened to be a pillow, Taekwoon flung it over to his friend in annoyance who skillfully dodged it all too well. He was aware of how long it had been since the two of them had a proper conversation and how tense the air was. The singer also knew how it was affecting the other members and he didn’t mean for things to get that far.

“Hakyeon likes you and you know this. Why don’t you just go tell him already? I’m sure you see how miserable he is. “ Ken spoke in a soft tone this time, clearly worried for their leader. “I don’t get what happened between the two of you when you both left the dance room, but clearly it’s something that needs to be worked out.”

Sighing heavily, Taekwoon rubbed his forehead in agitation. Of course he knew Hakyeon liked him. He knew from day one – probably way before the leader knew himself. This whole liking business was definitely complicated though- too complicated, especially when Ken bursts in on his free time just to lecture him about how he needs to set things straight with Hakyeon as soon as possible.

“You know, it’s not as difficult as you’re making it seem. If you like him, ask him out. If you don’t, then let him know. But don’t you dare lie to me and say you don’t because you make things way more obvious than he does. Always eyeing him and watching his every move off camera. Tch. I don’t even understand why we’re shipped together.” The younger mumbled, clearly annoyed with the thought as he folded his arms. “I can’t even get two words out of you, let alone understand you. Hakyeon understands you completely – though the idiot doesn’t seem to understand that you like him.”

Glaring over at the singer, Taekwoon raised a brow as it was his turn to fold his arms and eyed his bossy friend. “You’re giving me advice? How about you take your own and go ask out Hyuk. God knows how long you’ve been eyeing the kid. Oh wait, you did. But that ended up in a failure because you he assumed you were talking about something else, didn’t he, since you kept beating around the bushes.”

Clearly he hit a sore spot though and he could tell with the way Ken lunged at him, straddling his waist and gripping at his shirt as the injured male was pushed back against the mattress. “Yah! You promised to never bring that up! Besides, at least I gave it a shot rather than—“

Before their argument was finished, both males heard the door open and there stood a clearly confused looking leader. Confused and hurt. Clearing his throat though, Hakyeon let out a heavy sigh as he made his way to where he placed his phone before speaking. “Aish, if the two of you are about to do something, can’t you guys take it outside of the dorm. People other than the two of you live here you know.”

Almost instantly, Leo pushed the agitated singer off him before making an attempt to get up – only to realize his injured leg was preventing him from getting far before he buckled down and fell on to the floor. Hissing slightly in pain, Taekwoon let out a small breath of air before attempting to speak, but once he looked up the leader was nowhere in sight and Jaehwan had gave a slight smack to the back of his head.

“Great. Thanks to you, things are going to get worse. Hakyeon is going to really think we’re dating and Hyuk will probably find out and then they’ll probably end up dating cause Hyuk would be there to comfort the heartbroken leader and then… I’ll never get Hyuk! And it’ll be because I had to be friends with an idiot that can’t make up his mind as to whether or not he wants to go out with the person he likes because it’s his best friend and he doesn’t want to ruin the clearly ruined relationship! “ Letting out a breath of frustration, Ken pulled at one of Taekwoon’s cheek, earning a hard glare from the singer. “Now either you fix things with the stupid leader or I’ll hook Hakyeon up with BTOB Minhyuk. God knows how much people enjoy seeing them together since that peppero game.”

With that threat, the younger singer made his way out of the bedroom, not wanting to hear protest from the injured male as he left. Taekwoon on the other hand sighed out in frustration at the way things were going. Clearly things couldn’t get any worse, mostly since he screwed it all up to begin with. If he had just chased down Hakyeon that day and insisted on the leader to tell him the issue, surely he would’ve told him his feelings. Or maybe if Taekwoon wasn’t such an idiot and just confessed first things would’ve ended much easier – and happier. Despite being named ‘Leo’, he definitely was far from courageous. The name wasn’t fitting to him at all. Far from it.