Felix finally pulled away and moved to stand.

"Well, we should probably head back and face our obligations, shouldn't we?" he said with a smile.

"Wait—you didn't tell me why you were hiding. Are you sure you didn't want to talk about it?"

"No, it's okay. That's kind of why I came here. To be alone. Until you ruined that."

Hongjoong gave a shy smile, looking at his hands.

"Sorry about that."

"Come on, we should head back."

Felix offered him a hand and he took it, standing up stiffly. The two made their way to the door, stepping back into the hallway.

Hongjoong couldn't help but notice that Felix's face didn't seem to have any tears.

Not that crying was a requirement for a breakdown. But it seemed a little odd to him.

"We've got to stop running into each other under such sucky circumstances," Felix laughed and Hongjoong laughed as well, trying to cover his suspicions.

"We really do. Thanks for talking with me, Felix. It means a lot."

"Of course. I hope you guys are alright."

"Me too."

They parted ways and Hongjoong walked back to the practice room.

So he was right.

It had to be Felix.

But if Felix was the spy...he and Seonghwa would be in trouble. He'd made sure not to say anything too personal about Seonghwa since it seemed like JYP had used that against him before. He'd considered leaving their relationship out of it but he was sure Felix had connected the dots when they had their double date at the dorm.

And if he had tried to hide something that big, Felix would know he was onto him.

But Felix didn't seem to be doing it of his own accord. He seemed like such a sweet kid. What could JYP possibly have on him?

And he couldn't rule out the possibility that he wasn't acting alone. There could be someone else keeping tabs on them too. They really had to be careful if they wanted to pass their big audition next week.

The audition that Hongjoong had already fucked up by neglecting to inform his members.

He sighed, shaking his head as he neared the practice room. He couldn't afford to beat himself up about it. They only had a week to prepare. He knew they were good but a week wasn't enough time.

He hated the idea of enforcing long hours again but...

He stepped into the room, causing everyone to stop playing.

"Hey guys, I'm sorry I—"

"Don't worry about it. We're all worried about Seonghwa hyung, too," Wooyoung smiled and the others nodded.

"We're going to make sure we practice hard so we can pass this audition. For him," Yunho said with a firm nod.

"You guys..." Hongjoong felt tears forming but pushed them down. "Thank you. You're the best bandmates—the best friends I could ever ask for."

They all smiled and set down their instruments, coming in for a group hug. After a few moments, they all pulled apart just slightly, their arms across each other's backs in a circle. Hongjoong smiled at them.

"Everyone ready?" he grinned. They smiled, in realization and nodded, each placing one foot in the center.

"Eight makes one team!" they yelled in unison and headed to their instruments to finish out practice.

...

Hongjoong cautiously knocked on the door to his bedroom, waiting for a response from Seonghwa. But there wasn't one.

He was probably sleeping, so Hongjoong opened the door slightly, stepping inside. He saw Seonghwa lying in bed turned away from him and noticed the blankets had drifted away from him.

Moving as quietly as possible, he walked over to the side of the bed and grabbed the blankets to pull them back, but his shin slammed into the bed frame, rocking the whole bed.

Hongjoong bit back explicits as he stumbled backwards, holding his shin, trying his best not to make any more sudden loud noises.

Thankfully Seonghwa was unfazed.

Hongjoong sighed, recovering from the injury and moved to grab the blankets again. But as his hands brushed the sheets he couldn't help but notice they were wet.

Concerned, he pulled his hands away and turned to Seonghwa. He set a hand on his shoulder, shaking him lightly.

"Hwa? Hey, Hwa it's time to get up."

But Seonghwa didn't wake up.

"Hwa, you're scaring me," he laughed but he wasn't smiling. Panicking, he started shaking him harder, practically rattling his whole body.

"Hwa!"

"God! What the—are you trying to give me brain damage!?" Seonghwa croaked, and Hongjoong quickly stopped.

"Hwa! Jesus! Are you okay??"

His hands reached for Seonghwa's forehead, checking his temperature, before feeling around his cheeks for any excessive heat.

"Hongjoong—stop, I'm fine! Why are you—I said I'm fine!"

Seonghwa pushed Hongjoong's hands away, grabbing his head with his hands.

"Sorry. It's just...I noticed..." Hongjoong looked down at the bed and Seonghwa followed his gaze.

"You weren't responding and I saw that and I panicked and—"

Seonghwa laughed suddenly, calming down from his rude awakening, and Hongjoong turned to face him.

"You think I—Hongjoong, you really think I wet the bed?"

Hongjoong stared at him with a serious expression.

"If you did, it's okay—you don't need to feel embarrassed—"

"I didn't!"

Seonghwa turned over, grabbing something from under his back. He pulled out the soggy remnants of the bag of ice that had been tied to his chest.

"Oh."

Hongjoong felt his face run bright red.

Seonghwa smiled, but tried to bite it back as he didn't want to embarrass Hongjoong any more than he already had.

"It's okay, it was a logical conclusion."

"I'm sorry...I'm so stupid," Hongjoong laughed bashfully and Seonghwa reached a hand forward, taking Hongjoong's in his own.

"You really wouldn't be grossed out if...I really had..."

"No, of course not," Hongjoong whispered, his eyebrows pressing together as he moved to sit by Seonghwa on the bed. "I could never."

"That's one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me," Seonghwa smiled but Hongjoong remained serious.

"Honestly, Hwa. No matter what. I'm on your side. Whatever happens."

His eyes were so sincere, not letting Seonghwa's wander. They stayed focused on him, as if he was afraid he'd run away if he dared to blink.

Seonghwa didn't know how to respond. He was so overwhelmed. He'd never had someone care about him like that. Never had anyone look at him like that. All because he'd thought Seonghwa peed the bed.

Something so small and trivial, yet...

He really, really cared about him.

Seonghwa released his grip on Hongjoong's hand and pulled his back to his lap, fiddling with them.

"You believe me, right?"

Seonghwa looked up at him. He hadn't moved.

"Yeah. Of course," he managed.

"No matter what. Even if everything goes to hell, even if we go to hell. No matter if we fall apart, no matter if you find someone else, I'll always be by your side."

Seonghwa shook his head, grabbing Hongjoong's shirtfront.

"There's no one else. There will never be anyone else. How could I ever love anyone the way I love you?"

With that, he pulled himself forward, locking lips with Hongjoong. His hands slid up his chest, finding the back of his neck and guiding him closer. He felt Hongjoong engage as his right arm dropped down beside him, giving him stability as he moved forward. His left hand reached around to Seonghwa's back, moving gently to keep from flaring up his injury.

Their mouths moved together, in the way they were programmed by the universe, two souls bound together.

When their lips met, it was like they finally felt whole again.

But after a few moments, Seonghwa couldn't help but start laughing, his warm breath releasing over Hongjoong's cheeks as he started to turn away.

Hongjoong sat back a bit, still holding Seonghwa's lower back in his hand. Seonghwa's wrists sat crossed behind Hongjoong's neck.

"All of this...because you thought I peed myself," Seonghwa chuckled, and Hongjoong felt a small smile tug at his cheeks.

"Shut up," he giggled, scooting forward so he was in Seonghwa's lap. He laid his head back on Seonghwa's chest, wrapping his other arm behind him so he held Seonghwa in a loose embrace.

"I'm sorry. I ruined the moment, didn't I?"

Hongjoong shook his head.

"I'm not going to lie, I was running out of air," Hongjoong smiled, nestling his cheek in Seonghwa's sweatshirt. "It's been a long time since we've done that."

"Oh thank God, me too," Seonghwa grinned, setting his head on Hongjoong's. "I was worried it was a side effect of my panic attack."

Hongjoong quickly sat up, looking at him in concern.

"Well, we can't know that it isn't."

"Hongjoong, sit down, it's okay."

"What if it is?"

"I'm just goofing around. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Should I grab your inhaler, just in case?"

Seonghwa pulled him back onto his lap, holding him so he was face-to-face with him.

"I'm fine, really. But if you want me to, I'll use my inhaler. Besides, I could use a boost of oxygen if I'm going to make it through the night."

Hongjoong turned his head in confusion.

Seonghwa gave him a suggestive eyebrow raise.

Hongjoong's face filled with understanding and his cheeks flushed.

"Aish—not when you're injured! What if I make it worse or something!?"

"Are you saying you're going to ride me that hard?"

"Jesus—no Sexy Seonghwa when you're injured!"

Hongjoong gave him a playful swat and rolled off of him, sliding down beside him on the bed. Seonghwa rolled over, careful to avoid putting pressure on his ribs.

"Pretty please?"

"Aish—you are making it very very difficult to say no."

Seonghwa's hand reached forward to Hongjoong's chest, slowly walking its way down.

Hongjoong grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand back from under the covers and using it to curl underneath Seonghwa's arm and snuggle.

He kicked his feet happily under the covers, proud of his smooth maneuvering. Seonghwa sighed, letting Hongjoong keep his arm.

"Fine. But as soon as this injury is healed, sexy Seonghwa is coming back. And he's been waiting a long time," Seonghwa whispered in his ear and Hongjoong pushed him away, laughing.

But internally, he was really hoping that ice pack would work its magic, and quickly.