A/N: Hello my loyal readers. I had a very hard time writing this chapter. Plus writer's block was being a bitch. Anyway, please show it some love to let me know I did an okay job. I appreciate all the support from you guys <3

Chan-woo sat in the middle of his room assembling the newly arrived furniture from that morning. Soft melodies floated to his ears that played from his nearby phone and he hummed along to them quietly. Before him was the slick, black bookcase he'd ordered and the toolkit open next to him. The office chair had already been setup; a quick five minute job. His hands worked on auto-pilot mode as his mind were consumed by the different topics that came to him.

He thought about how peaceful his last few days in the house had been. He, for the most part, stayed in his room alone. With his room completely finished though, he had gotten a little bored with nothing to pre-occupy his hands. He had spent a lot of time in his new comfortable bed since he didn't have a desk chair at that point of time. He had worked on some of his lyrics for other songs and tried his hardest to polish up the composition for 'Fake Love' in preparation for the session he'd have with Namjoon. And he had spent a bit of time purely relaxing on his phone. Something he hadn't done in a while and probably won't be able to do any time soon when things start to get busy.

The boys left him to his own devices. They gave him space. And Chan-woo was internally so grateful for that. As the days went on he begun to feel more rejuvenated and recharged. The energy that surrounded him in the new house was much lighter and seemed to be full of positivity. It almost felt like he could breathe easier. He could almost forget about all of the troubles that had plagued him now that he was in a space he could call his own. Almost.

At least now he didn't have eyes that could watch him 24/7. He didn't have to hear any comments made about him. He didn't have to see any looks, directed at him or shared with others. There in his room, in his own space, he felt like a small amount of the heaviness had begun to ease off his shoulders. Although he knew that it would take him a while to feel fully comfortable since he was still dealing with the tricky, unstable and uncertain relationships with the boys.

A knock on the door interrupted his peaceful sanctuary. Chan-woo pushed himself off of the ground and walked over to his door only to open it to find a smiling Namjoon on the other side. The kind smile grew wider on the leader's face as they made eye contact. The younger shyly nodded his head and took a step back, silently inviting the other in. He settled himself back on the floor and got back to work. Meanwhile, Namjoon gently closed the door and sat himself on the neatly made bed.

"You're room is looking really good. You know, you may have an eye for interior design," mused Namjoon as he looked around the room slowly.

"Thanks Hyung," said Chan-woo with a tiny chuckle.

"And I still can't believe you have assembled everything yourself," he shook his head with amazement. "Was that desk just as hard as you thought it'd be?"

"More so," sighed Chan-woo as he glared over his shoulder at the inanimate object. "The hutch almost fell on me probably at least five times. And the amount of times I stubbed my toe on something was unbelievable."

"You should have asked for help," he chuckled with bemusement. "Could have saved yourself lots of pain."

"No, it would have only slowed me down. I find manual work like this is best done alone for me. And, well, at least if something is wrong with the desk then I would only have myself to blame," Chan-woo said while he focused on the bookcase.

"That's fair enough. Well the reason I came in was because I was just about send the schedule for this weekend," Namjoon said while he simultaneously pulled his phone out his pocket. "Thought I'd come here and make sure the group chat works for you before I do."

"Okay," he nodded as he paused the music and waited patiently. It didn't take long until the phone buzzed in his hand and a group chat named 'BTS Scheduling' appeared with only one message in the chat.

Unknown Number:
Chan-woo, can you see this?

Chan-woo:
Yes Hyung.

"You could have just answered me out loud you know," chuckled Namjoon, his eyes still on his screen, before he sent another text with the scheduled attached to it.

"I didn't want the others to think I was ignoring you," quietly said Chan-woo with a blush.

"Cute," whispered Namjoon as he finally looked up from his phone. "Do you want me to show you who's number is which?"

Chan-woo nodded his head and Namjoon smiled brightly before he sat down next to him on the floor. The pair quickly went through each number, Chan-woo saving them to his phone. He made sure to put 'Hyung' after all of them, just like he did with all of the other limited contacts in his phone. For a reason he couldn't explain, he added honorifics to contacts, he always had. He thought it was just the polite thing to do.

"That is really cute how you are putting Hyung after all of our names," Namjoon smiled and ruffled the already messy hair.

"T-Thanks," Chan-woo hung his head shyly. "It's just a respect thing. I don't know why I've always done it. I add them whenever I rarely get given someone else's number."

"I'm changing your contact name," Namjoon laughed and typed away at his phone. A big smile lit up his face as he turned the screen around to show off the new name. "Channie Dongsaeng. Perfect. Now we are matching."

Upon seeing the words, Chan-woo's heart exploded with happiness. An intense heat grew on his cheeks as he hung his head. He could feel the tears form in his eyes and he sadly chuckled to himself. He placed the screwdriver that was in his hand down and brought up the sleeves of his hoodie to his face to wipe away the few tears that had fallen. An arm was placed around his shoulders gently as another hand rubbed soothing circles upon his knee.

"What's wrong? What's got you so emotional?" Namjoon's gentle voice asked with concern.

"No one has ever called me their Dongsaeng before," whispered Chan-woo as he forced himself to look directly into the kind, worried eyes of Kim Namjoon. "That just made me really happy, that's all."

"That breaks my heart to hear, Channie-ah," he whispered with an upset expression on his face. "Come here."

Chan-woo shuffled over towards the older and with his help, sat on Namjoon's cross-legged lap. He leant his right side against the firm chest, placed his head beneath his chin and played with the sleeves of his own hoodie in his lap. Two strong arms wrapped around his body and pulled him closer. He melted in the embrace, the heartbeat next to his ear soothing him. Tears continued to flow and he would occasionally wipe them away.

"I'm sorry," Chan-woo whispered after a few minutes of silence.

"What for?" Namjoon asked, perplexed.

"I'm always crying these days," he sighed and pulled away slightly to look up at the other. "It's just been so hard."

"There's no need to apologise for such a thing. But these are happy tears right?" he said and offered a comforting smile as he brought his right hand over to wipe away the tear tracks.

"Right," he nodded with a blush.

"And how long since you've cried happy tears?" he asked and resumed rubbing the youngest arm with his right hand.

"I-I don't know," he shrugged as he looked down at his lap. "Years maybe."

"And does it feel good to not be crying from sad tears?" softly asked Namjoon.

"Yeah," Chan-woo answered as he looked up with a smile on his face.

"Well I hope if you need to cry in the near future that it is only happy tears," he smiled down at the younger. "And, as cheesy as this is going to sound considering our current position, if you ever need a shoulder to cry or lean on, I'll be here."

"Thank you Hyung," Chan-woo said with a chuckle. "Very cheesy indeed. But it's appreciated."

"No need to thank me," the older pinched Chan-woo's cheeks before he guided the younger's head to rest on his chest once more. He ran his hand through the soft hair and sighed, not wanting to let the other go just yet.

Silence settled between the pair. Chan-woo sat there, surrounded in the warmth and comfort that Namjoon provided. His eyes closed on their as he relaxed further. The rhythmic pitter-patter of Namjoon's heart consumed his mind, numbing all thoughts. He sighed contently as the hand continued to gently run through his hair.

"Hyung. I really am glad you were there for me these last few days. After Yoongi, Taehyung and Hoseok Hyung all pulled away, it was really hard. I'm sorry if I seemed a little distant or short towards you. I was just hesitant to let someone else in after what they did," Chan-woo said quietly, his eyes still closed.

"You don't need to explain yourself and you don't need to apologise. You had every right to be that way. I mean, I probably would have been the same," Namjoon said just as quietly before he sighed. "You've been through a lot. And what we did wasn't right. What those three did wasn't right. You shouldn't be the one apologising, but it's us that should be."

"Thank you, Joonie Hyung," whispered Chan-woo as he twisted his upper half slightly and wrapped his arms around Namjoon's torso. He buried his head into the older's neck and breathed in deeply. "Thank you."

"Stop saying thank you," lightly chuckled Namjoon as he returned the hug, his left cheek rested against Chan-woo's hair. "You're welcome Channie-ah."

Chan-woo never wanted to let go. It felt so nice to be held while being told nice things. It meant a lot to him that Namjoon recognised everything they had done wrong. And it meant even more that his hesitant and distant attitude over the last few days didn't bother the leader. The fact he had validated his feelings brought him immense comfort.

"Do you think you are ready to talk to them yet?" inquisitively asked Namjoon without moving an inch.

"No, not today," Chan-woo gripped Namjoon's t-shirt tighter. "But soon, yeah."

"There's no pressure to get it done," the older soothing rubbed his hand up and down the younger's back. "It's all on your time. I just wanted to check in with where you were at."

"Mmm," he hummed, both from the touch and at the statement.

"Well I should let you get back to your stuff. Plus there's work that I need to be doing," Namjoon said quietly.

"Okay," Chan-woo sighed as he let go and shuffled off of his lap.

"Is there anything else I can do before I go?" he asked.

"No, nothing at all. My rooms almost finished. Just need to do this bookcase and then hang my curtains," he said as he picked up the screwdriver again.

"And just how are you going to reach the rails for the blinds?" amusedly asked Namjoon with an eyebrow raised.

"My desk chair," he huffed with a pout from the teasing.

"Would you like me to put them up then? Save you one less thing to do. And plus I'd rather you not hurt yourself climbing on furniture," offered Namjoon as he smiled.

"T-That'd be nice of you," he blushed with a nod as the pair stood up.

Retrieving the packaged item from his closest, Chan-woo handed over the newly purchased curtains to Namjoon. The leader looked upon the royal purple fabric with approval. He opened the package up and brought down the rails, making quick work of threading the two pieces onto it, before he hung it back up securely. He pushed both pieces off to their respective sides and took a moment to look out into the front yard.

"I like the colour you chose," noted Namjoon as he turned around to find the younger back on the ground and consumed with the bookcase once more.

"Thank you. I thought it would break up the black furniture with a nice pop of colour. Same with my bed sheets," he gestured with his head towards the sea blue sheets.

"It's nice," said Namjoon as he walked over towards the door. "Like I said, you might have an eye for interior design. Anyway, I'll leave you be. Text me or come and find me if you need anything at all."

"Thank you, Hyung," Chan-woo smiled up at the other.

"Get some rest later on, okay?" chuckled Namjoon as he walked out of the room.

With a small laugh of his own, Chan-woo resumed the music on his phone before he got back to work. A smile stayed on his face for many minutes even after Namjoon had left. His whole body was thrumming with elation. The interaction left him feeling even more secure than he had in the last few days. He didn't know what had exactly changed, or why, but this was the leader of BTS he had expected to meet the first time round. The kind, supportive, calming presence of Namjoon he'd seen everywhere had finally shown itself to Chan-woo. And he was internally grateful for it.

>_<     >_<     >_<

The room was quiet except for the furious clicking of the keyboard and mouse. Chan-woo sat at his desk working away on his laptop in the pitch black room. He had completed assembling his bookcase hours ago and had moved on to work on various projects. He had worked on lyrics for a few songs before he decided to pour his attention into messing around with the compositions of some tracks. For the past hour, he'd been working tirelessly on a composition for a particular track that had been giving him problems for many months.

The beginning two thirds of the track had been the easiest to create since it was merely chords of a piano that accompanied the vocals. The soft, sad melody of the piano emphasised the beautifully tragic lyrics he had written. However, he had decided that in the last third of the composition to include both an electronic and percussion beat. And it was this last third that he couldn't get to sound right. There was something missing. But Chan-woo couldn't put his finger on it to save his life.

With a frustrated sigh, Chan-woo lent back in his comfortable chair. He closed his eyes as he took off his headphones and haphazardly threw them on to his desk. He knew he should take a small break since no more significant progress was being made. If he kept pushing himself to try and figure out the missing puzzle piece, he'd burn himself out. What he needed was some fresh air to gather his thoughts.

Chan-woo grabbed his phone and left his room without another thought. As he walked towards the balcony, he ignored the rumbling in his stomach that reminded him he hadn't consumed any food for a few hours. He would deal with that after his trip outside. His entire being craved for fresh air to wash over his skin, to help soothe how pent up he had become. Only then would the frustrations of making no progress ease from his tense body.

Just as he stepped out into the cold night's air, his phone begun to vibrate in his hand. Chan-woo paused mid-step, looked down at the screen, and sighed as his eyes landed on the contact name that was trying to call him. Should he answer it? If he did, he would risk bringing up all of the negative emotions he had been trying to bury for the past few days. Or he could ignore the call. He could pretend he was either busy or asleep if the other asked why he hadn't answered. But with a small gulp, Chan-woo accepted the call.

What Chan-woo had failed to notice, however, was that he was in fact not alone on the balcony. A set of eyes watched the distracted boy from the far right of the balcony. The only light that illuminated the deck came from the light of the hallway inside and the phone in Chan-woo's hand. So it did not surprise the older that he had not been spotted from his position in the darkened corner.

"Hello?" Chan-woo answered the phone without using any honourifics like he usually did.

"Chan-woo, hi," Daniel's familiar happy voice floated through the device.

"Is everything alright?" Chan-woo asked as he walked up to the rail of the balcony and leant against it. It was peaceful to overlook the dark landscape before him.

"Yeah I'm fine," the other responded with a small chuckle. "I just wanted to check in on how you were going."

"Oh," he said while a small lump got caught in his throat. Chan-woo took a second to allow the cool air to soothe his now flushed skin before he took a deep breath and continued to talk. "I-I'm fine. The last few days have been fine."

"I'm glad to hear that. And how have things gone between you and those two guys? Did you ever speak to them about the jealousy issue?" Daniel asked, oblivious to the sad tone Chan-woo spoke with.

"No," simply said Chan-woo.

"That's okay. Maybe some day soon it will sort itself out," he said, voice full of optimism. "There's another reason why I called you. I know you must be busy now that you'll be debuting soon. But I was wondering if you had some free time to meet up. We could go get some lunch somewhere. My shout of course."

"I can't," Chan-woo said as he closed his eyes and hung his head. Although he couldn't voice what he truly meant to the older. More like he can't and won't meet up with Daniel. It would hurt too much.

"You're really that busy, huh?" there was a playfulness in Daniel's tone that caused butterflies in Chan-woo's stomach. "Too busy for your Hyung?"

"I'm sorry, I really can't Hyung," sadly sighed Chan-woo, he squeezed his eyes even more tightly shut, a pained expression upon his face.

"And this is why I became a dance instructor and not an idol," chuckled Daniel. "It's alright. I completely understand how busy you must be, Chan-woo. I hope you are eating well and looking after yourself. I won't be happy if I hear you've ended up in hospital again."

Chan-woo choked slightly on his breath. He was a fool for answering the call. He was an idiot. Listening to those sweet words from the other ignited all of those feelings once more. The ones he tried so hard to bury after he learnt Daniel had a girlfriend. The ones he had tried to forget about the moment he had walked away from that café.

"Chan-woo?" Daniel questioned after the silence dragged on and the other had not responded. "Chan-woo are you still there?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Hyung, I have to go. I'm really busy," eventually Chan-woo spoke again, his voice full of despair. It took everything in him not to start crying. He was stupid for accepting the call.

"Don't be sorry," sighed Daniel, which caused Chan-woo's heart to clench at the older's obvious disappoint. "Have a good night, Channie-ah. I miss you a lot. Please take care."

"I am sorry. Bye Hyung," he said before he hung up, not able to bear hearing another word uttered from the other.

It was only after Chan-woo had ended the call did he open his eyes. For a moment he stared at the pitch-black yard before he turned his eyes up towards the dark night sky. Amongst the stars he found a tranquil solitude that helped calm his emotions. A soft sigh left his lips. What an absolute moron he had been for answering that call.

"Are you okay?" a voice from the right of Chan-woo asked suddenly which caused him to jump in fright.

"Fuck," he whispered as he grabbed at his chest with one hand. "Jin Hyung, you scared the living shit out of me."

"Yah, language!" scolded Jin from where he sat comfortably on one of the deck chairs.

"Sorry," Chan-woo blushed while he hung his head in embarrassment.

Chan-woo wondered how long the other had been there for. Had Jin heard the entire call? Had he only heard a part of the call? He cursed the dark night for allowing the older to loom in the shadows without his knowledge. Because if he had known that Jin was on the deck as well, Chan-woo would have definitely declined the call. Plus it would have saved him from surfacing all of the negative emotions all over again.

"So?" Jin asked after a few moments of silence between the pair.

"So what?" Chan-woo looked up and tilted his head to the side, confused by the question.

"So are you okay?" he repeated his earlier question that had gone unanswered.

"Oh, I'm fine I guess," he shrugged as he turned his back on the older and looked up to the sky for comfort.

"Are you sure?" Jin asked but only frowned deeper when he received a silent nod in response. "Well then why did you seem so sad with whoever you were on the call with? You also lied to them at the end. Busy my ass."

"Because he hurt me a while ago," Chan-woo sighed as his eyes scanned the twinkling stars. "But it doesn't matter. I don't plan on speaking with him again any time soon. I need some time away from him to heal from the pain."

When the silence continued, Chan-woo decided he better start getting ready for bed since the following day would be intense. He turned around and begun to walk towards the door. A hand appeared on his shoulder before he was even halfway across the deck. He flinched from the unexpected physical contact and turned his head to meet the soft gaze.

"Chan-woo, what you said about me in that interview, well, it was really nice of you," Jin said with a faint blush that rose upon his cheeks, illuminated by the light of the hallway inside. "I know I haven't really been the nicest to you since you got here. And I know I don't deserve to be called caring, especially by you, but it really meant a lot to hear it."

"You're welcome Hyung. I meant every word," Chan-woo nodded as he felt a blush also rise upon his cheeks.

"If you ever need someone to talk to about whatever is going on, I'll be there to listen to you," Jin spoke softly as he simultaneously squeezed Chan-woo's shoulder. "Or if you need me to break some knee caps then I can also do that."

"Please, I know you don't care enough about me to honestly mean that," Chan-woo scoffed, as he looked forwards, away from those eyes that turned sad after he spoke.

"I am sorry," the older of the two hung his head in shame, his hand fell to his side. "I'm sorry for the way I've treated you. And for all the things I've said to you. I hope one day you can accept my apology and we can start over as friends. I will wait for that day. For how ever long it takes for you to forgive me, I will wait."

"Hyung, don't," he whispered and hung his head to hide the tears that suddenly swarmed his eyes.

If he allowed Jin to speak any more, Chan-woo feared he may end up in tears. His emotions were all over the place after the call with Daniel. The last thing he needed to hear in that moment was an apology and some accountability for the harshness that had been directed towards him. If it had been any other time, he would have thanked the other straight away.

But this wasn't any other time. It was, in fact, the worst time. Chan-woo had the secondhand rejection from Daniel still fresh in his mind. He still had the ruthless treatment from all the members fresh in his mind. He still had the heatless words spoken by all the members fresh in his mind. All the negative emotions and thoughts that he had buried deep within him for the last few days had came rushing back up the instant he had answered that godforsaken call. He was an utter imbecile.

"It hurts," Chan-woo whispered, followed by a small choke, as the tears finally begun to flow down his cheeks. 

"Chan-woo?" Jin gently turned the younger around until they were face-to-face.

"It hurts so much Hyung," he lifted his head to look the older in the eyes. "I-It hurts. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about. Why are you saying sorry?" Jin frowned as he very slowly embraced the younger in a tight hug.

"I don't know," Chan-woo said in a shaky whisper as he held Jin just as tightly, his head buried into the crook of the other's neck.

"Take a breath, okay? I didn't mean to upset you even more," he said as he rubbed Chan-woo's back gently. "Probably really bad timing on my behalf, hey? You were already upset from that phone call, and then you had me to deal with afterwards."

"Y-Yeah," he sniffled after a few pathetic sobs escaped him, more tears streamed down his face and onto Jin's shirt.

"I haven't been a good Hyung to you. And look at me now, only making it worse for you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Jin said, almost to himself, as he placed his chin on top of Chan-woo's head, his eyes closed upon instinct.

"Hyung stop," Chan-woo gripped the back of Jin's shirt tighter and pulled him closer against him. "You were doing the right thing... It was just incredibly bad timing."

The pair stood in silence as the tears continued to fall from Chan-woo's eyes. Occasionally he'd sniffle which indicated to Jin that he was still crying. The older didn't want to let go in fear that the pain written across his own face would be seen. He had messed up what was meant to be the turning point in their relationship. Jin had played this scenario over in his head a thousand times, thinking about the exact words he'd use to apologise. But he never expected he would only make things worse for the younger as he did it. He felt stupid for not reading the signs. He should have known better then to apologise when the other was already clearly upset.

"Just know that I truly am sorry. Alright? Now, come on, let's go inside. We don't want to catch a cold before our busy weekend. Then I'd truly be a bad Hyung," Jin said, trying to lighten the mood, as he pulled away from the embrace.

"N-Namjoon Hyung would kill us both if we got sick," said Chan-woo while he rubbed his face clear of the tear tracks with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"I don't think Namjoon could kill you," chuckled Jin, ushering Chan-woo inside with a gentle push. "He definitely has a soft spot for you. You could give him one look and he'd melt into a puddle. I bet you could ask him for anything and he'd give it to you."

"Really?" whispered Chan-woo in shock as he felt the warmth of the house engulf him.

"Really," he laughed while he made sure the door to the balcony was securely locked behind him. "Now, go get ready for bed."

"Yes Hyung," he smiled with a small nod. "Oh, and Hyung?"

"Yes?" Jin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Thank you," Chan-woo smiled even wider.

"Of course. Now shoo," he waved the younger off before he disappeared into his room which was directly beside the door, on his left side, across from Namjoon's room.

Chan-woo couldn't help the light chuckle that left him as he made his way back into his bedroom. As he closed the door behind him, he noticed he felt much better. That small talk with Jin had left him feeling a little more secure within himself. He didn't feel as much of an outcast now that he knew he could turn to the leader as well as the eldest of the group. Although he promised himself that he would still be cautious with the new relationship between himself and Jin. After all, he knew how quickly things could change.