I have changed my mind. I'm going to be posting two a day so that next week I can focus entirely on school... so many assignments :'( I'll tell you now that there are nine chapters in total, so it won't take long to upload all of them after editing. 

Chapter 4 – A Good Day

N is surprised when he walks out of their bedroom one day to find Leo and Ravi practically cuddling. Okay, not quite cuddling. Leo is lying on the couch, his attention entirely on his phone. His head is on Ravi’s lap and Ravi is gently playing with his fringe. Ravi’s attention is solely on the television which is playing the most recent episode of the show he’s on. N thought it must be a recording since it usually aired late at night.

N is surprised, but then he questions whether he should be. Before Leo suddenly withdrew from them a few months ago, he’d been cuddly sometimes. And everybody knew he was a hugger.

Hyuk is sitting at their table, slowly devouring a bowl of cereal, sleepy eyes trained on Hongbin’s foot. Hongbin had tipped sideways after finishing his breakfast. He was on his back with one foot slung over the other knee, bouncing it to an imagined beat.

“Where’s Ken?” he asks, approaching them.

“We’re out of milk, he ran to the convenience store,” Hongbin supplies.

Hyuk yawns hugely before looking up at N. “’Morning, hyung.”

N’s eyes drift over to Ravi and Leo again. Hyuk must have noticed because he was grinning when N looked back at him.

“Leo-hyung is in a good mood today.”

“Good,” is all N can think to reply with.

Their day turns into a pretty normal one after that. They go to practice and work on their own things. They do a little bit of dance practice, trying to fix Ken’s awkward arm motion and the step Hongbin keeps mistiming. It’s late when they get home.

Leo is the first to shower, everyone lets him, not wanting to be the one that ruins his good mood. Overall, everybody had been in a great mood all day. They’d sort of gravitated towards Leo but had been careful not to get too touchy-feely, since that was what had pissed him off the most recently. It hadn’t ended up being that big of a deal because Leo had been sure to initiate some sort of contact with each member throughout the day.

While Leo showers, Hyuk, Hongbin and Ken take over the couch, flicking between a drama none of them were interested in, and a variety show they didn’t like the host of. Ravi got himself a drink of water and went into his room. N, curious about Leo’s sudden change, follows him.

“What’s up, hyung?” Ravi asks, turning on his laptop to work on a song he was feeling good about.

“Did Leo talk to you about something the other day? When you went out together?”

Ravi looks up at his hyung and smiles a bit. “Yeah, why?”

“What was it about?”

“If he wanted you to know, he’d tell you. I kind of guessed though, he didn’t really tell me. I sort of forced it out.”

N narrows his eyes at the dongsaeng. “Tell me.”

“No, hyung.”

N groans and collapses onto Ravi’s bed next to him. “Why won’t he talk to me?”

“He will when he’s ready,” Ravi says, patting N on the shoulder.

N sighs and sits up. “Let me hear your song? It sounded good today.”

“Alright, but it still needs some work...”

Leo pops his head in several minutes later, he looks at N suspiciously but Ravi shakes his head. He joins the two of them as the shower starts up again.

“How did it turn out?” Leo asks Ravi. He’d been the one working on the song with Ravi.

“Better than I thought, I want to change the chorus a little.”

Leo nods and they listen to the song. N hesitantly reaches up to brush the damp hair away from Leo’s neck. Leo is surprised by the motion but lets him do it.

They listen to a few more of Ravi’s songs before he puts a movie on. Leo is scrolling through his phone, a frown growing stronger as he goes. Ravi sees but he doesn’t say anything because N is there. He hopes Leo isn’t letting comments get to him again.

All three members want to sleep, but it was impossible with the shower going and with members wandering around. They can hear Hyuk and Ken laughing and Hongbin is in the shower.

Leo didn’t even realise he’d fallen asleep until he woke up with his head on N’s lap. Like this morning with Ravi, the other member was playing with his hair. He feels his cheeks begin to heat and pulls away, sitting up.

“Is everyone finished showering yet?” he mumbles, messing his hair.

N smiles at him. “Hyukie is in there now.”

Leo says nothing more, just gets to his feet and heads for bed.

Ravi raises an eyebrow in question and N frowns.

Leo’s good mood from the previous day is nowhere to be seen at breakfast. The other members know instantly and Leo feels bad for bringing the mood down. Only N is brave enough to pat Leo on the head and say that it’s okay and Ravi smiles at him, telling him not to worry about it. It makes him feel marginally better but just makes the other member’s curious.

They go to practice and dance. By the time they’re finished, it’s perfect and they’re proud, feeling ready for their comeback. For the most part their individual schedules were finished. Leo and Ken had finished their musicals, Hyuk’s movie was in the final days of filming, apparently only the end scene remained, and Hongbin’s drama was about to air its last episode. Only Ravi’s rapping show – which was nearing the end of the season and would have a cast swap – and N’s drama and radio show remained. They were all tired but excited for their comeback.

Their comeback stage is in two weeks but they start promoting next week with an appearance on a variety show. N is dreading it a little, preparing for the teasing he and Leo will undoubtedly receive. He doesn’t want Leo to pull away from them again now that he’s coming back bit by bit.

He hopes the show turns out okay.