“So they’re letting us dance together for the competition? Without them? Seriously?” Dongwoo beamed after hearing Hoya’s words about the competition and what Sunggyu had told him. “I can’t believe this. I thought they would never let us!”

“But they did!” Hoya slapped the older boy’s back playfully and pushed the corners of his lips as high as he could.

“This day is the best in my life. We’re the best team,” Dongwoo continued to spazz like a child who just got the permission to visit a zoo or something.

He didn’t notice how Hoya’s face turned sour when Dongwoo said they were the best team. Only after hearing that sentence, an idea struck the younger dancer. This could have been a trap.

Hoya cocked his eyebrow and looked at Dongwoo curiously, who was dancing in front of the mirror like a chimpanzee.

“Hey, Dongwoo.”

“Yeah?” he instantly stopped dancing and turned to face the other boy. He caught his curious gaze and his lips impatiently. “What is it?”

“In Infinite… You’re closest to me, right?”

Dongwoo nodded at Hoya’s question without thinking much.

“And I’m the closest to you…”

The dancer nodded once again and wriggled his eyebrows. “Since we’re the best team. The best dancers. What about it?”

Hoya shook his head calmly and forced a smile upon his lips. He knew where this was going. Sunggyu wanted them to spend more time together, so they would get along even better and then… No, he couldn’t let this happen. He was happy to be given a permission to dance with Dongwoo only, but he didn’t intend to let his hyungs win their childish game.

“Hey guys! Practising already?”

Both Hoya and Dongwoo turned to Sungyeol, who was followed by Myungsoo and Sungjong.

“Ah, no. We didn’t even start. We’re too happy,” Dongwoo scratched the back of his head and laughed quietly. “But thanks for letting us dance!”

“Thank Sunggyu, not us,” Sungyeol smiled at the dancer and turned to Myungsoo. He noticed that Sunggyu and Woohyun were nowhere to be seen. “Ah? Where’s the other two?”

Myungsoo shrugged nonchalantly, because he didn’t really care about them. Sungjong looked back, but resisted the urge to go back and find them.

“I’ll go look for them,” Hoya quickly volunteered and left the room without any other word.

Sungyeol threw Sungjong a look and the younger male sank his shoulders in fear. But Myungsoo stepped in between them and turned to Sungyeol with his usual poker face.

“I want coffee. Could you make me some?” he said.

His voice was laced with seriousness and Sungyeol didn’t have any other choice but to obey.

“Sure,” he mouthed arrogantly and disappeared out of the room.

Sungjong was about to thank Myungsoo for saving him from Sungyeol’s fierce glares, but the older male walked away from him, not even looking back.

“What kind of dance are you thinking about?” Myungsoo asked, turning to Dongwoo, who was quietly observing everything that was happening in the practice room.

“Not sure. Hip hop maybe. I’ll let Hoya decide.”

“Mm,” Myungsoo nodded slightly and looked at Sungyeol, who came into the room with his coffee.

He took the hot cup like it wasn’t hot at all and sipped the drink. Sungyeol was about to bark at Myungsoo for not thanking, but his gaze told him enough.

“Fine,” he whispered and crossed his arms on his chest.

Sungjong was still afraid to say something and Dongwoo gave him a curious stare, but maknae didn’t seem to notice it.

After a while, Dongwoo decided to speak to break the awkward silence.

“Sungjong?”

The younger male’s head snapped towards the rapper and he blinked confusedly, not comprehending what the rapper would want of him.

“Are you okay?”

Maknae nodded and flashed a smile.

“Yeah, I am. I just wanted to dance with you, but…”

“But we decided to let him dance alone next time. Or with other groups’ members,” Sunggyu finished Sungjong’s sentence as he walked into the room first, followed by giggling Woohyun and Hoya.

“What’s so funny?” Sungyeol asked, looking at the two weirdly.

“Well…” Hoya sniggered like a young girl. “We thought we could make Sungjong and another member of our group date for show. Sungjong would be a perfect girl!”

Upon hearing Hoya’s words, Sungjong’s eyes became wide as plates and he lost his balance for a moment, almost falling to the ground.

“Me? A girl?!”

Laughter echoed in the room for a few minutes, but Sungjong and Myungsoo weren’t laughing at all.  When everything calmed down, Woohyun hugged Sungyeol’s shoulders for support and let the words slip past his lips.

“I vote for Dongwoo plus Hoya, though.”

Hoya quickly stopped laughing and took a step back, hoping that he had misheard his own name. But there was no way his ears could have fooled him. He looked at Dongwoo, who was just as surprised as him.

“Why?” the older dancer asked quietly and blinked twice.

Woohyun straightened his back and looked at Hoya suggestively.

“Wouldn’t it be fun? Like… Rappers got married, or something?” he snickered. “It’s for show, of course. Maybe our little show would be more popular than that ‘we got married’.”

“I’m…” Dongwoo started, but lost his composure and messed up his hair. “I’m against playing with people’s feelings!”

Sungyeol rolled his eyes and placed his hands on Dongwoo’s shoulders.

“It’s just an act. Maybe after this you two could become successful actors or something. Like L,” he pointed at the silent male, who was still drinking his coffee without any particular expression on his face. “He’s already popular in Japan! Imagine all the fame…”

Sungyeol started drawing stars in the air and Dongwoo looked at him in disbelief.

“Imagine fan girls wanting to see your smile, or you crying, or… something dramatic. Imagine all of the fans fainting over your acting!” he continued like he was in his own world, yet Dongwoo’s expression didn’t change.

“I have enough fame now,” he cut off the younger male and pushed the boy’s hands off his shoulders. “If you remember, I didn’t join the group to be famous. I wanted to sing and dance, that’s all. Acting’s not my passion.”

Hoya let out a muffled laugh and raised his hands in the air.

“Looks like our couple won’t work~” he sang in a sweet voice and clapped his hands. “Try some other pairing. I vote for Sungjong with someone.”

Sunggyu sighed unnoticeably and walked over to the audio system.

“Let’s practice for Paradise. We shouldn’t bully maknae like this,” he said and pushed the button, some random music filling the air.

-          -

After practice Sunggyu and Dongwoo were lying on the ground in their house and looking at the white ceiling. They didn’t talk at all. Not one word slipped past their lips. And others were out to have some fun and relieve the stress. So Sunggyu and Dongwoo were alone in the dorm.

Sunggyu blinked lazily and turned his head to look at Dongwoo, who had his eyes closed. His breathing was calm, Sunggyu could tell that from the way his chest was rising and falling down to its original position. The dancer almost looked like he was sleeping. Sunggyu couldn’t let his gaze move away.

He didn’t know for how long he had been staring at the younger male, but Dongwoo got tired of lying in the same position and opened his eyes, catching the leader’s gaze.

“Is there something on my face?” he asked, sitting up on the floor.

“Yes,” Sunggyu answered and smiled a little.

Dongwoo raised his eyebrows in question, earning a bigger smile from Sunggyu.

“There is nose, eyes, lips…”

The dancer rolled his eyes and nudged Sunggyu’s stomach, causing him to burst into laughter. They laughed together.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Sunggyu said when he stopped laughing and looked kindly at Dongwoo, seeing him nod quick enough.

“Have you ever had the feeling of wanting to hold someone in your arms so much that it hurt?”

Dongwoo rolled his eyes backwards in attempt to remember such a situation. But nothing came to his mind, so he just shook his head.

“Are you hurting somewhere, hyung?” he asked.

Sunggyu hesitated between nodding and shaking his head, but in the end he went with nodding it almost unnoticeably. He then picked up his hand and touched the place where his heart was.

“Here.”

“Why?” the rapper asked, moving to sit a little bit closer to Sunggyu.

“The person I love… rejected me.”

Dongwoo closed his mouth and locked his jaw, forcing the following words down his throat, so they wouldn’t escape his mouth and hurt his hyung even more.

“I feel like everything’s falling apart now,” Sunggyu said, trying to blink away the tears that were gathering at the corners of his eyes, but to no avail. Soon they started to fall down like some uncontrollable rain.

“You shouldn’t give up yet.”

Sunggyu stopped sobbing for a moment and looked up at Dongwoo, who had a pained expression on his face. He couldn’t believe the words the other male had just said.

“I can’t bear to see you so sad, but you shouldn’t give up yet. You should try to approach her once again, or try some different tactics to seduce her- I don’t really know anything about these things, but hyung! Stay strong and be a man. Don’t cry.”

Sunggyu could see the worry in Dongwoo’s eyes. Dongwoo was confused with what he could do to help his hyung, but Sunggyu considered it enough.

“Thank you,” the older male whispered and leaned on Dongwoo’s shoulder carefully. “I won’t cry anymore. Nor will I give up just yet.”

Dongwoo patted his back like a true friend would do.

“That’s the spirit.”