Over the next few days, the schedule seemed to take Lan Yu's condition into account: no more long shoots, mostly concept photos and a few interview rehearsals. The grueling workload he'd expected never materialized, and he couldn't help a quiet sigh of relief.

But when Luke's avatar lit up in his chat list, and he tapped in to find yet another script file, Lan Yu remembered they would be filming the weekly group reality show again tomorrow.

Lan Yu skimmed it and saw that this week they were going to a newly opened café nearby. So it looked like, early on, the show intended to win over viewers with a foodie angle, he thought as he read.

He finished the thin script in no time. Switching back to chat, he realized Luke had sent only the document and said nothing else; their message thread still stopped at the day he'd gotten hurt on set.

Only then did Lan Yu realize that since his fall, the two of them hadn't really talked. In the past, whenever they ran into each other, Luke would come right up without even asking and say hi; lately, even on set, he only offered a cool, perfunctory greeting and left it at that.

Lan Yu wasn't someone who liked to initiate socializing, so until now it hadn't registered that Luke was deliberately avoiding him.

Was it really that infuriating? Lan Yu couldn't make sense of it. He could tell Luke had been sulking that day—especially after Kaede said those truths that sounded a little harsh, Luke hadn't put a good face on since. Lan Yu knew perfectly well most people, seeing someone badly injured, would tell them to rest and not push it; the ones who, like Kaede, chose to speak from his standpoint and say things easy to misconstrue were few. But he didn't understand why Luke had such a big reaction. In any case, everything Lan Yu did was premised on not holding the team back; as leader, shouldn't Luke be even clearer on what mattered more?

That question was still with him the next day when he pushed open the café door. "Morning, Leader-nim." As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Luke already seated.

"Mm. Morning." The chill in his reply didn't sound like Luke at all.

So he really is mad—avoiding me, huh. Lan Yu thought. Still, he followed the script and walked straight over to sit by Luke.

For now the only people in the shop were Lan Yu and Luke. Kaede had been called in early to reshoot his individual photos, so Lan Yu had come ahead on his own to find something to eat—but he hadn't expected that besides Luke, none of the other members had arrived yet.

"Leader-nim, do you know where the others are?" Lan Yu tried to toss out a question to ease the awkwardness.

"No." Luke's answer was brisk.

Lan Yu thought for a beat and asked outright: "Leader-nim, are you angry?" He didn't like hiding this sort of thing and pretending it wasn't there.

"…" Luke sighed, then shook his head. "No."

"Really, Leader-nim? Since that shoot you haven't even looked me in the eye—not even now, while you're talking to me." Lan Yu said, watching Luke's profile. Luke clearly felt his gaze, but didn't turn his face.

"…Honestly, I don't know," Luke said, sounding helpless. "I don't even know what I'm feeling. Maybe I just don't know how to face you, Yu."

"Leader-nim, why are you talking like you did something wrong? You didn't do anything wrong, you know." Lan Yu tilted his head. "If anyone's at fault, it'd only be me."

"I'm not trying to blame you, Yu. It's just… I was really worried about you that day."

"I know, Leader-nim."

"But whether it was your attitude or Kaede's response, it made me feel like I was butting in—like I'd stepped in where I shouldn't. Realizing that made me feel… how to put it… really ill at ease."

"Leader-nim…" Lan Yu thought for a moment. "Like I said, you didn't do anything wrong. You just did what any normal person would—honestly, something rarer than most, because it was your way of caring for me. I wasn't rejecting your kindness, and I don't think Kaede meant that either; it's just that we're used to handling everything our own way. That ‘my way or nothing' probably reads to others like rejecting all goodwill—like you did something pointless. The reason you felt that way is because I was a little too wrapped up in myself and didn't consider how you felt. I'm sorry."

"…Yu," Luke let out a big sigh. "Like I said, I'm not actually blaming you. I just felt like maybe you're not someone who needs me to take care of him the way I imagined."

"Mm—" Lan Yu was a little surprised. "Why would you want to take care of me?"

"That, I don't know either," Luke said with a wry smile. "Maybe I subconsciously think everyone needs me to look after them—especially as your leader."

Lan Yu laughed. "You can look after me, Leader-nim."

At that, Luke's eyes seemed to flare with light. "Yu, do you mean it?"

"Mm." Lan Yu couldn't help finding his reaction a little funny. Is that really something to get so happy about? he chuckled inwardly.

"I thought you didn't want me meddling at all—that I should keep my distance," Luke said.

"I already said that's not it," Lan Yu said—feeling now like he was the one looking after Luke.

"Then it's a deal." Luke held out his pinky. "No take-backs."

"Why are you so childish, Leader-nim?" Lan Yu laughed and hooked his own pinky with Luke's to seal it.

"I'm here." Kaede walked into the shop just then.

"niisan, you're only just here. How was the shoot today?" Seeing him approach, Lan Yu stood up quickly to meet him.

"It was fine," Kaede answered, neither warm nor cold.

"Then it must have gone really well," Lan Yu said with a smile. He knew how nitpicky Kaede was; he couldn't tolerate even small mistakes. If Kaede said "fine," it meant he'd put in a hundred and twenty percent to get it right.

Kaede looked at Lan Yu's bright smile, patted him on the head, and said nothing.

"Kaede, sit here," Luke stood as well, inviting Kaede to take the seat beside him.

"…" Kaede didn't accept the invite.

"niisan is going to sit with me," Lan Yu said, knowing what Kaede preferred; he tugged him over to sit at his side.

"Feels like a rerun of our last dinner," Luke said.

"At least there's no ribeye this time," Lan Yu teased.

"Should we grab dinner again tonight?" Luke suggested. "We don't have any other schedules, right?"

"Mm—" Lan Yu glanced at Kaede; his expression was as cool as ever. "Okay." If Kaede didn't explicitly refuse, Lan Yu took it as a yes.

"Great," Luke broke into a smile he hadn't shown in a while. "I thought I wasn't going to get a chance to eat with you and Kaede again."

Lan Yu still didn't understand why Luke was so set on eating with him, but seeing that healed-looking smile bloom on Luke's face, he figured he might as well go along with it. Honestly, Lan Yu thought, he's making it look like he's the one who needed treatment, not me. Not that Lan Yu had any intention of scolding him.

After Kaede's arrival, the other members trickled in as well, and filming finally began.

"Today we're at a newly opened café near our company. I've heard from the staff that they come here for the desserts and the feedback's been great. Has anyone tried it yet?" Luke was still in charge of steering the flow.

"Nope." "Me neither." "This is the first I've even heard a new café opened here." The members chimed in obligingly.

"What about you, Yu? Did you know about this place?" Luke pivoted suddenly; Lan Yu thought, Already going to the script, huh. "I didn't. I'm not really into desserts."

"But I thought you liked coffee—you're drinking iced Americanos pretty much year-round," Luke said, sounding genuinely curious and not just reading his lines.

Since when did you notice that? Lan Yu wanted to ask, but in front of the camera he behaved and answered: "I don't actually like coffee. I drink it purely to stay awake; otherwise it's hard to get through the high-intensity training and the lack of sleep."

"That makes it sound like you're drinking an energy drink," Luke said with a laugh, picking up the thread.

"In a way, yeah," Lan Yu smiled. "So I don't really come to places like this to sit and savor coffee. I feel kind of allergic to this vibe."

"How about now? Feeling allergic, Yu?" Luke asked, blinking at him—all practiced charm.

"If I'm ‘allergic' even to sitting here chatting with everyone, then it's probably food poisoning," Lan Yu joked.

"So I can take it that you don't dislike spending time with us?"

"Mm—better to say I like it," Lan Yu said—honestly not expecting Luke's train of thought to go there, but answering without much hesitation. He really hadn't run into the awkwardness he'd imagined; he wasn't the social type, so this kind of ease was rare for him. He looked at Luke. Maybe it was this kind of leader that made for this team atmosphere.

"Woooah—" the members whooped at Lan Yu's answer. "Yu, wanna clarify—do you mean all of us, or just the leader?" "Yeah, how can you leave out a detail that big?" "Don't butt in—the target's obviously the leader. Why are you making it about yourselves?" "Exactly."

Lan Yu just looked at Luke and smiled, not joining the chorus of voices.

"Yu, not ordering dessert?" When the server came to take orders, Luke turned to him and asked.

"Mm—I'll just do an iced Americano," Lan Yu said after looking over the menu, choosing the usual. But as he set it down, he suddenly remembered something. "Ah, actually—make that two iced Americanos." Seeing Luke's question coming, he added, "niisan drinks iced Americanos like me." The moment he said it, he realized he'd slipped again; looking up, he caught the manager behind the camera giving him a judgmental stare.

"What about you, Leader-nim—what are you having?" Lan Yu tried to patch over the slip.

"Hot cocoa and tiramisu, probably." Luke answered and quickly gave the order to the server.

"So Leader-nim's got a sweet tooth?"

"Yeah, I've got quite the sweet tooth."

"You don't have pressure to maintain your figure? If I forced all that down, I'd probably have to fast three days just to work it off."

"What are you talking about, Yu?" Luke naturally put a hand to Lan Yu's cheek. "You're so skinny there's hardly any flesh—why are you so hard on your body? We need to stay healthy, okay?" he said, pinching Lan Yu's cheek as he spoke.

Lan Yu watched, amused, as Luke fussed with him. "Leader-nim, come on—you're the tall one, and you hardly weigh more than me. I'm the one who should be worrying about your health."

"No worries—I work out every day. Feel for yourself," Luke said.

"Woooah—" the members started hooting again as soon as the words left Luke's mouth. Lan Yu shot him a half-annoyed, half-amused look. This guy really has no filter. "The following content is for ARTist 19+ only," he said, turning to the camera with a wink. Might as well bail him out.

The food came out one after another. Lan Yu had just finished saying "thank you" and reached for his coffee when Kaede intercepted it outright. It wasn't only Lan Yu who froze for a few seconds at the unexpected move; all the members, the manager included, were caught off guard for a moment.

"He can't have coffee right now," Kaede said, as if nothing had happened, and took a sip himself.

Lan Yu quickly realized Kaede was referring to his back injury; the company hadn't made that public. "Right—I haven't been sleeping well lately, so I can't do coffee. I'll just get a lemon water," he said, picking up the cue and placing another order with the server. "Since I've gone with something sour, it feels right to add Leader-nim's tiramisu to balance it—right?"

Shit. Out of the corner of his eye, Lan Yu could see the satisfied smile on the manager's face behind the camera. How is filming a group show this exhausting, honestly?