Woohyun directed himself towards the hospital rooftop. He had spent the last thirty minutes wandering through of the building, asking every nurse and opening every accessible door, looking for Sungjong. So the roof was the only place he was missing, and he seriously prayed Sungjong was up there because he wasn’t going to be able to explain to the managers his absence.

 Woohyun reached the last step and was about to open the door when something called his attention. There was a muffled sound coming from the other side of the door. Woohyun strained his hearing to listen to the sound better. It was… whimpers?

The young idol grabbed the doorknob and twisted it slowly to open the door just a bit. He then poked his head and searched for the source of the sound, but he couldn’t find it. It must be in the back, he thought. So he proceeded to exit the trapdoor and close it as quietly as he could.

The place was full of white sheets, all hung to dry up. The night was windy and the climate was so cold that it sent chills down Woohyun’s spine.  This made him feel extremely anxious for his youngest dongsaeng.

There was a lamp that provided a little bit of light, but Woohyun still moved as carefully as he could to the back of the terrace were the noise sounded stronger.

Just as he expected, Sungjong was there.  The maknae was curled up in a ball, his face buried in his knees and his arms around them. His body was shivering violently and  he was whimpering loudly; up close it could be heard really quiet sniffs. The sight of Sungjong pained Woohyun’s heart deeply. What had he done to deserve something like this?

The moment Woohyun started approaching, Sungjong felt his hyungs presence. He turned his head so fast that it startled the older one; his eyes were bloodshot and there were tear tracks in his flushed face. Sungjong kept staring at Woohyun with his eyes wide open, as if measuring his every move. This made the latter feel extremely uncomfortable, so he continued approaching with caution now.

When he was finally at an arm’s length distance, Woohyun kneeled next to the maknae to be at eye level with him, the youngest only observing him. Woohyun lifted his hand and attempted to pat the other’s shoulder but the maknae flinched involuntarily at the movement, and inadvertently, started crying silently again.  Watching this made Woohyun’s heart ache even more. He lowered his hand and bit his lip.

“Leave,” the maknae said, his voice quavering.

“I am not going to hurt you,” Woohyun answered softly. He wanted to embrace the other so much, but refrained himself in fear of upsetting the other.

“You hate me,” Sungjong said, tears running faster now. “You- you don’t want me in- the team anymore.”

“Don’t say that,” Woohyun rebuked. “No one wants you off. And no one hates you,” he said kindly.

Sungjong shook his head. “You are lying.”

Woohyun bit his lips again, his own eyes welling up in tears. Before he could stop himself, he grabbed Sungjong’s arms and brought him closer to his body, grapping his arms around him tightly. Sungjong, who was taken off guard, started struggling in his hyung’s clasp.

“LET GO!” he shouted trying to free himself.

Woohyun ignored him and instead tightened his embrace. The boy started kicking and hitting his hyung however he could, but the latter didn’t budge. The only thing Woohyun could feel was guilt, for pushing the other to feel at fault of everything. The maknae cried his heart out and struggled while Woohyun only endured.

They remained like that for a long time until Sungjong tired himself out and finally went limp in his hyung’s grasp, only sobbing lightly. By now, Woohyun’s tears were at the verge of falling. No one said anything, but Woohyun kept Sungjong tightly to his chest until he calmed down.

“Why are you here?” Sungjong asked, his voice hoarse because of crying.

“No one should be alone at this time,” he responded. “Especially when there is no reason to be alone.”

“I almost kill him,” Sungjong murmured, holding back tears again.

“Hey,” Woohyun said while tilting Sungjong’s head up lightly to look into his eyes. “Nothing of what happened to Sunggyu today was your fault. You heard the doctor right?” he asked.

Sungjong nodded a little. “He was- like that already,” he whispered.

“Exactly,” Woohyun said softly while wiping his tears. “It had nothing to do with you.”

Sungjong removed his head from Woohyun’s hold to look at the floor again. “But I contributed,” he said depressed. “He will never forgive me.”

“Sungjong-ah, Sunggyu is not that mean,” Woohyun said.

“Why does everyone keeps saying that?” he questioned a little bit annoyed.

“Maybe because we know Sunggyu hyung,” Woohyun responded thoughtfully.

“I don’t know,” Sungjong said dejected.

Woohyun chuckled a little and repositioned himself so that Sungjong could settle more comfortably.

“Do you know why Sunggyu hyung pressures you so much?” Woohyun asked.

Sungjong stared at Woohyun for a moment before shaking his head.

“He does that because he is jealous,” he answered amused.

“Jealous?”

Woohyun nodded while smiling.

“Of what?” Sungjong asked confused.

“He is jealous of your youth and your talent.”

“What?” Sungjong asked unbelieving.

Woohyun directed his gaze to the sky and contemplated it for a moment before looking back to Sungjong. “Sunggyu hyung believes that you have the potential to do anything you want to do. Especially considering that you are barely in your twenties, that’s the reason he pressures you the most. He wants you to be the best.” he answered.

“I-“ Sungjong was at loss of words. Never in his wildest imaginations would he think that their leader was jealous of him. This time, it was his turn to stare at the sky. The night was really pretty, just like before. He hadn’t realized that despite the hour, there was still a lot of life in the city. He could hear the cars passing; he could hear the people in the streets, they still sounded crowded. Just at that moment he felt all his senses crashing down on him. When he had come up here before he had zoned out everything but now that he had calmed down, he felt overwhelmed. For the first time in the night he felt cold, not that much because Woohyun was still holding him, but that didn’t stop the shivering.

Feeling the sudden change in Sungjong’s behavior, Woohyun stood up. “Let’s go inside,” he said while pulling the maknae to his feet. The younger one didn’t resist.

Woohyun lead the maknae to the cafeteria and bought him a cup of hot chocolate. Sungjong accepted the cup and blew it a little before taking a sip. He felt how the hot liquid ran down his throat warming his body and smiled.

His hyung took a sit in front of him while holding a cup for himself. He also smiled when he saw the maknae’s reaction to the drink. They both remained in silence while finishing their drinks. The moment they were over Sungjong attempted to throw the cup but Woohyun beat him to that, taking both cups and disposing them in the garbage bin. He then returned to his place and stared at Sungjong while the other avoided his gaze.

“What are you thinking?” Woohyun asked curiously.

Sungjong took a moment to order his ideas before answering. “I still don’t understand.”

Woohyun tilted his head to see Sungjong’s face better. “What don’t you understand?”  he asked perplexed.

Sungjong raised his head to look into his hyungs eyes. “Even if he wants me to be better, isn’t he going too far?” he asked. “Why does it seem like he only likes to bully me?”

At that question Woohyun straighten his posture. He stared at the maknae for a moment before responding. “Honestly? I don’t know either,” he said plainly.

Sungjong sighed and bowed his head.

“Sungjong-ah,” Woohyun called and waited until the later looked at him. “If there is something that bothers you, speak to him. He is not going to bite you,” he said seriously.

The maknae sighed again. “I know,” he said.

“Well, if you know that,” Woohyun said while standing up. “Are you ready to go and see him now?” he asked. He then extended his hand for Sungjong to take it.

Sungjong stared at the hand before slowly rising his own. He hesitated for a moment but then he took it and squeezed it tightly. Woohyun smiled and squeezed back.

Woohyun took the maknae to Sunggyu’s room, but Sungjong stopped his hyung before he could open the door by grabbing his hand. Woohyun looked at his dongsaeng who had become restless.

“Hyung,” he said nervously. “Are you sure no one hates me?” he asked.

Woohyun chuckled and used the hand that had been gripping Sungjong’s to pat his head. “No one in there is angry. No one is going to blame this on you,” he said softly.

Sungjong glanced at his hyung once more before nodding. He then let go of his hyung’s hand to allow him to continue.

Woohyun twisted the doorknob and pushed it to open the door. Sungjong took a deep breath before stepping inside after his hyung.

The room was completely silent. The only one awake inside was Dongwoo, the others were resting. Myungsoo and Sungyeol were sleeping in the small sofa located in the corner of the room; Hoya was resting in a chair next to the window; and Dongwoo was sitting on the stool next to the bed staring at Sunggyu’s hand while the other one slept.

Dongwoo turned his head at the sound of the door and was surprised to see both of his dongsaengs coming in. The moment Sungjong closed the door Dongwoo stood up and walked towards the maknae. When Sungjong saw his hyung moving closer to him he regretted coming and instantly tried to escape but Woohyun prevented him. Dongwoo reached the youngest and without a warning embraced him in a crushing hug. “I am glad you are here,” he said, his words muffled by the other’s shoulder. Sungjong stood petrified for a couple of seconds before returning the hug.

“Sungjong?”

The trio turned their heads and saw that Sungyeol was staring at them. The maknae looked back at Woohyun and waited for his encouragement, which came in the form of a nod, to move closer to his other hyungs. Watching Sungjong approach, Sungyeol shook Myungsoo to wake him up and miraculously, the other did instantly.

Sungjong kneeled in front of Sungyeol and apologized. “Why are you apologizing?” Sungyeol asked. Myungsoo tilted his head.

“For-“ he was going to answer ‘for what happened to Sunggyu-hyung’ but he remembered that Woohyun told him that it hadn't been his fault. “For worrying you,” he said instead. Both Myungsoo and Sungyeol smiled at the maknae and Sungyeol wrapped his arms around Sungjong and hugged him tightly while Myungsoo patted his head. Myungsoo then looked up and searched for Woohyun. The older looked back at him and them moment they exchanged glazes the younger mouthed a thank you and smiled.

Sungjong felt the warmth in his hyungs hugs and regard and felt his eyes welling up in tears again. He detached from Sungyeol’s grasp to look back at the others. From the distance he saw that Howon was looking back at him and was also smiling. This made him feel finally accepted and forgiven.

He couldn't take it anymore so he released the tears he was holding and bowed to his hyungs. “Thank you,” he said feeling extremely appreciated.

“Awww, don’t cry,” Dongwoo said laughing. The rest moved near the maknae and trapped him in a group hug. Sungjong started laughing as well, the rest soon to follow.

He felt extremely happy and blessed of having a group of brothers so understanding and so willing to support each other. He was surrounded in love and care from all of them. Now only one was missing; Sunggyu-hyung. He was going to fix everything, he was sure of that.

A/N: There it is! Chapter 6^^ 

There are some things I want to apologize for with this chapter. The first one is that I'm so, so sorry for the delay. I am aware that anything I say will probably sound like a lame excuse so I'll rather just apologize. The second thing is that I'm sorry if the first part became overly descriptive. I had this strong image in my mind that I wanted to convey, but I think in the end it came out wrong ._.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll try to update sooner this time, so please, wait for it:D

Again, thanks to all my commenters, subscribers, upvoters and silent readers. This is all for you^^