"Hyeong, isn't this room a bit too much?" The moment they stepped into the karaoke room, Cheol-seong was a little startled by how spacious it was. This room could fit members from a few more groups and still leave plenty of space to spare.

"It's fine. The room itself isn't expensive." Lan Yu spoke as he cast a pointed, meaningful look at Nat. "Besides, I wasn't planning on buying drinks for certain people."

Nat knew exactly what that was supposed to mean. He immediately grabbed Lan Yu and started pinching his cheeks again. "Oh, wow, Yu. So the hyeongs are paying for their own booze now, huh?"

"From the start I only said I'd treat everyone to karaoke, didn't I?" Lan Yu knew he had zero chance of wriggling out of Nat's grip, so he didn't bother struggling. But there was no way he was going to lose verbally. "I never said 'unlimited drinks.'"

"There's gotta be a minimum spend for a VVVIP room, right? Yu—so you're really not even buying the rest of us a couple drinks?" Nat leaned in until his face was practically pressed against Lan Yu's.

Lan Yu didn't even blink—he just rolled his eyes. "Nat hyeong, be honest. Out of everyone here, you're the only one who wants 'a couple drinks,' right? You don't have to tack on 'the rest of us' just to hide the fact you're the only one here who actually wants the booze. Besides, Nat hyeong, the minimum spend in this room wouldn't even cover your tab if you drank on your own. Could you at least let the younger ones catch their breath and have something with actual nutrients?"

That string of questions was obviously not the answer Nat wanted. Nat pressed in even closer, eyes widening as he glared, and his fingers pinched harder.

"Nat, if you want to drink, I'll buy it for you." Luke's hand slid right between the two faces that were nearly stuck together, prying Nat off Lan Yu's cheek.

"Yes, Leader-nim!" Nat, triumphant, immediately switched targets and clung to Luke instead, crowding in with a grin. "Leader-nim really is the best. I want a leader who'll speak up for me too, just like Yu has."

Luke looked at Nat's shamelessness, amused despite himself, and let out a sigh. "Nat, I can't even tell whether you actually want to drink or you're just here to stir things up between Yu and me."

"Why can't it be both?" Nat looked completely sincere. "Drink and mess with the hottest ship in the group."

"Then I'm taking back what I said about treating you to drinks." Luke made a show of peeling Nat off where he was stuck to him, like he was about to drag him out the door.

"Don't, Leader-nim! I'm wrong, I'm wrong, okay? I promise, as long as I get alcohol, I won't mess with you two anymore!" Nat instantly put on a face like he was about to drop to his knees and beg Luke for a charity pour.

"Nat hyeong, honestly, you should be checking into rehab at this point." Lan Yu watched him, dead serious. "You really do look like a severe alcohol-dependence case."

Nat didn't even blink at that. "It's fine. Since Leader-nim already said he'd buy, my drinking quota for today is covered."

"Nat hyeong, didn't you just drink a whole round at the barbecue place?" Lan Yu stared at him, speechless.

"It's past midnight." Nat answered with perfect calm. "It's a new day."

"..." Lan Yu had to laugh at how shamelessly Nat said it. Luke met Lan Yu's gaze and laughed too. In the end, everyone could only accept the reality: their group really did have a resident alcoholic.

The food and drinks Lan Yu had ordered were brought out quickly, including the alcohol Nat had been relentlessly pestering for. Everyone dug in at once.

"Why does it feel like we just changed locations to keep eating?" Jiho teased. "We're at karaoke and no one's singing."

"Hyeong, we literally just finished a music show stage," Sian shot back. "Hyeong can still sing right now?"

"Yeah. We've been doing promotions for over a month," Eunwoo chimed in. "Kind of don't want to sing anymore."

"Then how does that repay Yu's hard work?" Nat raised his brows and looked straight at Lan Yu.

Lan Yu gave Nat a quick thump. "Oh, come on, Nat hyeong. You already managed to get your hands on some booze—don't take the win and still play innocent."

"Why is our Yu always getting physical?" Nat waggled his brows as he rubbed the spot Lan Yu had thumped, putting on a face like he'd taken a critical hit—baring his teeth and hissing in exaggerated agony. "But come on... everyone just sitting here bolt upright and eating is way too boring. This doesn't feel like karaoke at all. How about we play something?"

"Why does that sound so ominous?" Lan Yu crossed his arms tight, like goosebumps were crawling all over him.

Nat immediately leaned in and pried Lan Yu's arms apart. "I'm not going to eat you, Yu!" Then, after a beat — as if a wicked little lightbulb popped on — Nat's eyes lit up. "How about we play Truth or Dare? We've got a bottle right here. We can spin it."

"Who knows how many people's dreams would shatter if it ever leaked that top boy-group idols were playing Truth or Dare with a soju bottle in a karaoke room." Lan Yu side-eyed Nat.

"It's fine." Nat, brazen as ever, picked up the empty bottle he'd just finished and spun it on the tabletop. "At least we're not top idols yet."

"Seriously..." Lan Yu didn't even get the chance to throw another jab before the empty bottle slowed — and the mouth of it pointed right at him.

"Aha!" Nat popped up, delighted. "It's you, Yu! Choose! Truth, or dare?"

"...Truth." Lan Yu didn't trust what kind of outrageous task Nat would come up with if he picked dare. Then again, truth could easily mean an outrageous question too.

"Me — me — me!" Cheol-seong shot his hand up right away. "I have a question I want to ask Lan Yu hyeong!"

"Aaaah — our Cheol-seong is so cute." Lan Yu hooked an arm around him and pulled him in. "Ask, ask. Anything Cheol-seong asks, I'll answer properly." Cheol-seong can't come up with anything scary anyway, Lan Yu thought.

"Why is hyeong so brave?" Cheol-seong lifted his eyes to Lan Yu, and there was admiration in them — threaded with something like worry.

"...Huh?" Lan Yu hadn't expected that at all.

That darkness surged up again. The noise of the crowd made the shadow in his chest feel sharper, almost shrill.

"Maybe... been through some things. So... not wanting anyone else to have to face them."

Only after a long while did Lan Yu give that kind of ambiguous answer. Cheol-seong could tell perfectly well that Lan Yu didn't want to make it any more specific, so he tactfully didn't press. "Hyeong, today you stood up for me. Next time, I'll stand up for you too." With that, he hugged Lan Yu back.

"Okay, okay, okay," Lan Yu said, indulgent, and patted Cheol-seong's hair. "Then from now on, I'll be relying on Cheol-seong to speak up for me."

"Yu! Why didn't you say you'll rely on me?" Luke squeezed in, looking at Lan Yu in a spoiled, teasing pout. "And you never do that to my head."

"What are you talking about?" Lan Yu was equal parts annoyed and amused at Luke forcing his way in. "Didn't it already happen this afternoon?"

The words slipped out of Lan Yu's mouth — and instantly lit the room on fire. The members erupted into shrieks and hoots.

Nat laughed, eyes gleaming. "Yu, what — doing all that behind our backs with Leader-nim now?"

"No wonder everyone ships you two — you guys have way too many private interactions!"

"Yeah! I thought Yu only hung out with Kaede."

"Seems like I didn't know you two were meeting today either," Kaede said, looking at Lan Yu and Luke.

"Oh, please—at least we're the leads of a ship fansite, you know. What's wrong with us meeting up? According to the internet, Leader-nim and I have been 'dating in secret' for a long time now." Lan Yu deliberately replied in a flippant tone. He knew the more seriously he answered these people, the more they'd enjoy pestering him and refusing to let it go.

"Have hyeong and our Leader-nim been together that long?" Cheol-seong tilted his head. "When we filmed the group reality show for the first time, it didn't feel like hyeong and Leader-nim were that close."

"A relationship isn't measured by how long it's lasted." Luke shoved his head right between the two of them and answered first. "Right, Yu?"

"Huh?" Lan Yu stared at Luke, speechless.

"Okay, okay, next round, next round." Nat was already impatient to keep the game moving. "Cheol-seong, you're not allowed to ask something that boring again."

"Nat hyeong just wants juicy gossip," Lan Yu said, shooting him a look. "Don't blame our Cheol-seong."

"Isn't that the whole point of this game?" Nat spoke as he spun the bottle again. This time, the bottle's mouth stopped — pointed squarely at Kaede Fujiwara. When everyone realized who it landed on, the room went quiet for several seconds.

So everyone's actually that scared of Kaede, Lan Yu thought. "Does niisan want truth or dare?" Lan Yu, almost reflexively, started running the process, unwilling to let the silence harden into something worse.

"Truth."

"Then, niisan..." Lan Yu was just about to ask something harmless—some bland, nothing question to smooth the awkwardness—when Luke spoke first and tossed out a question instead: "Kaede, what do you like about Yu?"

Luke's question was like throwing another nuclear bomb into the room. Lan Yu was hit so hard his thoughts scattered everywhere; for a long moment, he couldn't even process why a question like that had shown up at all.

Lan Yu flicked his gaze over the members. None of them looked particularly strange about it. They all just assumed Lan Yu and Kaede were longtime friends from trainee days, so to them Luke's question probably sounded like harmless gossip — some funny trainee-era story.

Lan Yu glanced at Luke again. He couldn't read what their leader's expression meant either. For a split second, Lan Yu even thought Luke's real intention might be exactly what the others assumed—just wanting to reminisce about their trainee days, nothing more.

Finally, Lan Yu's eyes settled on Kaede. Lan Yu had never asked that question. He hadn't wanted to — and he hadn't dared to. But now that Luke had said it out loud, Lan Yu couldn't stop himself from wondering what kind of answer Kaede would give.

Kaede only looked at Luke, expression indifferent, and asked slowly, "Does there have to be a reason?"

Lan Yu was even more at a loss for how to interpret that answer.