Woohyun took a few more steps forward and stopped abruptly, looking back over his shoulder. There was no one following him around, yet he felt like he was being watched. He couldn’t relax at all, with that feeling driving him close to insanity. It was even worse than practicing for Paradise all day long.

He scratched the back of his head, turning around completely to take a good look at his surroundings. There were no people around, because only Woohyun knew about this abandoned place. He loved coming here when he felt somehow awkward or simply stressed out. But he didn’t dare to bring anyone with him. Not even once. So, did someone follow him?

Taking a sharp breath, Woohyun his lips and proceeded forward once again, refusing to look back. And for the moment, the feeling seemed to have disappeared. He felt a lot better, but after walking a good distance, he felt it again.

He turned around quickly and opened his mouth to let out a displeased scream, but he froze upon seeing a small dog take a few steps away from him in sudden fear.

A dog..?

A dog was following him and he didn’t notice it earlier? Now that sounded funny. Woohyun sure had a lot on his mind after what Sunggyu had told him this afternoon. Making couples official, the irony.

Woohyun crouched down and reached out his hand for the dog. The small animal hesitated a little and moved its head to the side, looking at the boy like he was about to jump to the front and eat the dog alive.

“Come on, little boy. I won’t hurt you,” the boy whistled and waited patiently for the dog to come closer.

The animal felt appease with Woohyun’s soft voice and took a few uncertain steps to the front, touching the boy’s fingers with its cold nose.

“Good boy. Are you lost?” Woohyun let the dog sniff his hand and smiled a little. “I might be just as lost as you are.”

When the dog stopped sniffing his skin, he placed his hand on top of the dog’s head and its fur in a kind manner, showcasing that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt the animal. Just brushing his fingers against the animal’s fur, made Woohyun go through his memories for a while.

“I… have something to tell you.”

Who would have not taken his words seriously?

“It’s not only YaDong I want to make official.”

Who could have not thought he had another couple in his mind?

“No, Woohyun. I’m talking about us.”

Who could have laughed at those words like it was nothing more than a mere joke?

Woohyun. He could have.

“Sunggyu, I think you’re too much into this act. None of us are gay in reality, right?” he laughed nonchalantly and placed his arm around the older male’s shoulders, rocking their bodies together.

“But…” the leader tried to say something, but Woohyun cut him off before he could do it.

“Hoya and Dongwoo are easy, they’ll eventually forgive us for playing with them, but hyung, I don’t want to play around with your feelings and your heart.”

Sunggyu lowered his head and Woohyun cracked an awkward smile, looking elsewhere but not the leader. He felt kind of guilty, but he couldn’t say anything else.

“You have to find a girlfriend even better than mine. Since you’re the leader and you’re the best of us. Okay?” he said in the most cheerful tone he could pull off and pushed Sunggyu towards the practice room.

While Woohyun was stuck in flashbacks, the dog settled beside him and put its head on the male’s lap, closing its eyes. The aura around the boy made the dog feel comfortable and safe. It couldn’t ask for more from a random human.

Finally, the boy snapped back to reality and shook his head slightly, in attempt to shoo away all the unnecessary thoughts. He looked down at the silently napping dog and gave out a longing sigh.

“There’s nothing wrong with me trying to protect him from making a huge mistake,” he whispered to himself and reclined his head, adoring the darkening sky. He wanted to stay like this forever. With no problems stressing him out. Just him, the vast sky and a pet friend to keep him warm. Maybe that was all he needed for the moment.

-          -

When Sungyeol, Sungjong and Hoya walked into the dorm, Sunggyu and Dongwoo were still lying on the floor lazily, slurping orange juice from their juice packets.

“Oh, you’re back?” Dongwoo sat up on the floor and set his juice aside, nodding his head to the trio.

“Where’s Woohyun?” Sunggyu asked after noticing that the male was gone.

Sungyeol let out an irritated sigh and shook his head, tapping his finger against his forehead.

“That man is unbelievable. I’m not going to follow him around. He’s going to come back by himself. By the way, what’s with the juice?” he asked, flopping down to the floor and taking a full packet of juice.

“Oh, that,” Dongwoo snapped his fingers and pointed at his and Myungsoo’s room. “Myungsoo brought us all this juice. He said managers gave it to us for the hard work.”

“And where’s Myungsoo himself?” Hoya asked, looking at the closed door to their room.

Dongwoo pointed at the same room again, not bothering to say it out loud and took another packet of juice, this time, with apple flavor, which just happened to be his favorite.

Sunggyu slapped the ground with his hand, attempting to catch everyone’s attention, and when he did, he cleared his throat.

“I didn’t quite catch it. Where’s Woohyun?”

“Somewhere,” Sungyeol answered casually and slurped his juice, not caring to explain the whole situation.

Sunggyu was about to hit his back for not telling him the whole thing, but Sungjong then decided to stop being silent and spoke up in his usual gentle tone.

“He probably wanted some time alone. He’ll come back.”

Hoya nodded to maknae’s words and leaned against the wall. A small smile was playing on his lips, but only he knew the reason behind it.

“By the way, didn’t we decide to go home and practice instead of just lying around and doing nothing?” he pointed out happily and turned to the practice room. “Or maybe I’m just going to spend some time alone with Dongwoo. Come, you dinosaur.”

Dongwoo quickly got up on his feet and followed after Hoya into the practice room.

Sungyeol dropped his juice and looked at Sunggyu. Sunggyu shrugged and looked at confused Sungjong, but maknae only shook his head in disbelief. They had no words.

Did Hoya just say he wanted to be alone with Dongwoo? Or was it only their imagination?