Sungjong twirled his fingers around his freshly-dyed, bright pink hair as he closely examined it from many different angles in the living room mirror of the Infinite dorm room. "Does it look bad?" he asked, biting on his lower lip in anticipation.

     "It looks like a bottle of Pepto Bismol exploded on your head," Woohyun teased, earning snickers from both Hoya and Dongwoo, who were sitting on either side of him on the couch across the room.

     The maknae immediately turned around and glared at the three of them, annoyedly stomping his feet and pouting. Myungsoo, who was sitting next to Sunggyu on the loveseat, got up and bonked Woohyun on the head and earnestly said, "Don't listen to him. It looks good on you." He flashed a pleasant smile in Sungjong's direction before sitting back down next to Sunggyu, who just rolled his eyes and flipped through the channels on the television. This wasn't unusual behavior for any of the Infinite boys - someone was ALWAYS teasing someone for one reason or another. Woohyun softly massaged the top of his head while Hoya and Dongwoo aimed their laughter towards his misery.

     "Really? You mean it?" Sungjong asked with a warm smile and widened eyes, shyly placing his right hand on the back of his neck.

     Myungsoo looked over to him and nodded, smiling gracefully with his eyes. "Yeah, it suits you."

     Blushing slightly, Sungjong replied with a simple, "Thanks, hyungnim."

     Sungyeol then came in through the front door, a plastic bag containing a box of fried chicken in his left hand. "Hey guys, I brought home dinner!" he exclaimed as he shut the door behind him. He then took one look at Sungjong, who was just a few feet in front of him, and facetiously exclaimed, "Damn, Sungjong. What happened to your head?" The latter released an angry grumble and stomped off to his and Myungsoo's bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Sungyeol stood in front of the door and glanced around the room. "Aish... I probably shouldn't have said that. I forgot how sensitive he can be."

     "Damn it, Sungyeol," Myungsoo muttered under his breath. He intimidatingly shifted his eyes toward's the former, who didn't seem to notice the dirty look he was receiving. "I'll go and talk to him," he added calmly, then got up from the loveseat and followed Sungjong into their room, peacefully shutting the door behind him. Upon walking into their room, he immediately noticed Sungjong lying on his bed on his stomach with his face buried into his pillow. Myungsoo walked over to him and lightly shook his shoulder. "... Sungjong? Are you okay?" he asked in a soft tone, well-aware that he was indeed not okay.

     Sungjong slowly rolled over onto his back. "Yeah, I'm fine," he halfheartedly replied, staring blankly at the ceiling with his arms crossed over his chest.

     Myungsoo released a faint sigh and sat down on the edge of Sungjong's bed. "No, you're not. Are you upset because of what Sungyeol said?" he asked, wincing at the just the mere sound of Sungyeol's name.

     A few moments passed before Sungjong sat up and wrapped his arms around his legs. "Maybe," he hesitantly responded, resting his chin on top of his knee, still pouting.

     Facing the floor, Myungsoo frowned and replied with, "You know he was just teasing you. That's what he always does."

     "I know, but it still hurts," the younger boy replied, feeling a strong sense of melancholy.

     Myungsoo looked over to Sungjong with a sullen expression, blinked a couple of times, then turned back to the floor. "I know how that feels," he mouthed without any sound so the latter wouldn't hear him. He cleared his throat. "I don't even know what you see in him. He's such a choding," he responded genuinely, somehow managing to hold back all of his inner jealousy.

     "I don't really know why I like him either. My heart just wants him," Sungjong answered rather quickly. The room fell silent as Myungsoo thought of how to respond without making his true feelings known, but before he was able to, Sungjong added, "I'm not sure if I've ever thanked you properly for this, so... thanks for keeping my secret, well, a secret." He smiled for just a brief moment, and that smiled was aimed directly towards his best friend. "You're a true friend, Myungsoo."

     "Friend..." Myungsoo mumbled without realizing it, fighting back tears.

     "Hm? What was that?" Sungjong asked in a concerned manner, leaning over until he was just a few inches away from Myungsoo's face.

     Myungsoo could feel Sungjong's presence inching closer and closer and his heart rate nearly doubled in speed. "WHA-? Oh, nothing," he replied in a state of panic, scooting about an inch away and wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "And... no problem," he said with a forced, fake smile. "You know you can tell me anything. I'm good at keeping secrets."

     Suddenly, there was a knock on their door. "I'm sorry for what I said," Sungyeol's voice called out apologetically. "I really didn't mean it. I don't even know why I said it... you know I say stupid things sometimes. Can you come out of there, please?"

     Sungjong let out a romantic sigh. "It's really hard to stay angry at him when his lisp is so precious," he whispered just low enough for Myungsoo to hear, then couldn't help but giggle like the cheerful cherub he normally was. The latter's face turned green with envy and he cringed as Sungjong yelled out, "FINE, you're forgiven, but just this one time. We'll be out in a second." He slowly got up from his bed and walked over to the door, checking himself out in the mirror on the back of their door before realizing Myungsoo wasn't getting up. "Hyungnim, aren't you coming?" he asked, confused.

     Myungsoo turned his head slightly to look Sungjong in the eyes. "I need to do something first. I'll be out in a couple of minutes."

     "Oh... okay," Sungjong replied, his bubbly personality springing back to life. "I'll be waiting for you, then!" he added before opening the door and leaving their room, walking side-by-side with Sungyeol towards the kitchen.

     Myungsoo slowly stood up and nonchalantly closed the bedroom door, then walked over to his own bed and reached his hand underneath his mattress and pulled out his journal. He grabbed the pen that was tucked away inside and opened up to the first blank page. He sat down on his bed and quickly began writing without even thinking. 

     "Why did I have to fall for my best friend?

     Why did my best friend have to fall for someone else?

     Sungyeol, I know we're friends and bandmates and all, but sometimes I honestly hate you. What does Sungjong even see in you? You're pretty attractive, I'll give you that, but half the time, you're not even nice to him. I know you're just playing around, but I still don't like it. Rather, I don't like the closeness you two have that you feel like you CAN play around with him like that. He deserves better. He deserves me.

     I hate being jealous all the time, but above that, I hate having to HIDE my jealousy all the time. If I told Sungjong I liked him while he likes someone else that would only further complicate things, and I have to put his feelings into consideration. But if I put his happiness before my own, does that mean... I'm in love with him?"

     His eyes widened in shock as he wrote the last line, then panicked and scribbled over it. He autonomously flipped a few pages backwards to escape from the dreaded "L" word that was intimidatingly staring right at him. Upon doing so, he accidentally came across the entry he had written a few weeks prior, which was a short song he had written for Sungjong. He stared at the depressing words and began to quietly sing along to get his mind off of his newfound... love.

     "Even without trying, you make my heart race
     I don't know how or when or why this happened
     All I know is that I want you, but your heart is his

     It hurts to know you want someone else
     I'm here by your side, so why not be by mine?
     I'll do anything to make you happy
     Even sacrifice my own happiness for you
     That's something he would never do

     Why do I even bother? There is no "us"
     To you, everything is all about him
     Now I know why it's called a crUSh"

     Tears began to stream down his cheeks as he choked through the last few lines. He didn't even bother to wipe his tears away because he knew they would keep coming, so he just stuck the pen back into the journal and went to lie down on his bed, holding the journal tightly in his arms. "I think I really am in love with my best friend..." he cried to himself, not wanting to ever admit it.
 

A/N: When I started writing this, I didn't intend for it to get so sad so quickly. It just kind of... happened that way. xD I hope you guys still enjoy it anyway. Even if you didn't, thanks for reading! :>