Don't Fight It

Part 5

*fast forward 1 year & 5 months*

"Cut! That's a wrap," the director yelled. "Great work everyone. Let's get set for the final wedding scene."

Hongbin and his costar relaxed, letting the scene's passionate emotions drain out of them with an awkward laugh and a mutual "You worked hard" as their managers rushed over with padded jackets and hot drinks.

He'd truly enjoyed his role in this rom-com. The writing was good and he felt like he'd learned a lot playing his character - they'd even been getting great ratings - but at moments like this he couldn't help but wish, just a little bit, that it was an action or medical drama or something less, well...romantic. He had no trouble acting as if he were in love with his female costar's character; he had plenty of personal experience to draw from.

And that was the problem. Injecting his own emotions into the character, and seeing them returned through his costar, every day for the last several weeks was making him sad and a little bitter.

Hongbin had been doing much better since his epiphany at the kimbap restaurant. It hadn't been easy, but he'd tried his best to stay positive and enjoy the roller coaster his heart was on. Of course there were moments when the unfairness of it all got to him. He'd sometimes catch himself staring longingly at the object of his affection and be unable to stop himself from wishing his heart wasn't so steadfast in its devotion. He'd tell it to pick someone else; anyone else who wouldn't destroy his group and had a glimmer of returning his affections. But then he'd pick himself up and return to being his usual happy-go-lucky self. And, on the whole, he'd been content, even truly happy sometimes, over the past year and a half.

He slept in the next morning and woke with that slightly lost feeling he always had after finishing a project. He'd been shooting the drama for weeks and gotten used to the late nights and early mornings on set. Now that he was done he had a few days off until VIXX began buckling down for comeback preparations next week, and he was looking forward to catching up on sleep, fanmail, and movies - after tonight, that is.

It just happened that this week, in addition to wrapping his own drama, Ken's musical run came to an end and Ravi had his last fansign to finish up promotions for his third solo album, so their CEO told the whole group to have a night out - on the company card - to celebrate. It had been a few weeks since they'd all spent any significant time together, and Hongbin was looking forward to spending the night talking, eating, and drinking with his best friends...and especially being close to *him* for a few hours. He'd just have to be careful not to let his inhibitions slip so far away that he did something he'd regret, but he'd managed it well so far so he wasn't too worried.

Binnie spent the afternoon at Jellyfish doing a few short interviews for his show and meeting with the staff to debrief about the experience. By the time he was done, his manager let him know that the rest of his members had trickled in and were in their practice studio. He rode the elevator down, his smile slowly turning into a grin the lower he went, stepped out and walked briskly down the hall, excited to see them...him.

He heard them a few yards away from the door, despite the room's soundproofing, and walked in to find everyone chasing after Hyuk, who was cradling his phone as he dodged the other four like an American football player.

"Yah! Han Sang Hyuk! Hand it over right now so we can delete those things forever," demanded N breathily, as he lunged at the maknae in an attempt to grab his waist and bring him down.

Hyuk only snickered as he spun away and tossed over his shoulder a flippant, "NOPE! You can't make me~!"

Ken had snuck up behind him and made a quick grab for the phone, only to end up flat on his butt when a startled Hyuk jabbed his elbow back into Ken's stomach and pulled away quickly. Hongbin, standing in the doorway, burst out laughing and caught the attention of the group.

"Finally," Leo panted, hands on his knees, "go grab him and get that phone back."

"Why?" Hongbin asked. "What's on there that you need so badly?"

He saw Hyuk's face transform into an impish grin as Ravi explained, "That kid's got tons of weird pictures of us! He's been taking pictures from weird angles and putting silly filters on us when we're sleeping and..." he trailed off, glancing around as everyone else snickered, "and videos of me dancing with Butt in my underwear," the rapper finished in a barely comprehensible rush, looking chagrined. "I thought no one was home!" he added defensively as Hongbin looked askance at the rapper known for his swag. "But it's not just me!" Ravi protested quickly, "He's got stuff on all of us, you included," he declared, indicating Hongbin.

The second youngest sighed and shook his head as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "So you're ganging up on him?" he asked, feigning sympathy for the pursued as he covertly made eye contact with the pursuers. Walking over toward Hyuk, who was doing his best 'wounded, innocent angel' impression, Hongbin continued, "I know he's stronger than all of us but 4-on-1 seems ill-advised." He glanced at N and gave a tiny nod, edging closer still as he continued, "For the sake of fairness..." he began, then suddenly lunged at Hyuk and yelled, "...better make it 5-on-1!!" as they all converged at once.

The ensuing scuffle resulted in all of them sprawled out and entangled on the floor, giggling and talking smack about their respective fighting skills - or lack thereof - as Leo and N went through Hyuk's pictures, deleting any they deemed potentially dangerous. Binnie reveled in the moment, enjoying the euphoria and camaraderie of being together again, and of being close enough to feel the warmth of his love's skin inches away from his own as their hands lay next to each other. Hongbin wanted to reach out and grab it, press it to his lips and lay claim to it, but settled for turning on his side to lob a grin and a friendly insult his way.

"Yes," Binnie thought happily, listening to his members and his love laugh along with him, "this is fine. Life is good," even as his fingers twitched with the suppressed urge to bridge the fathomless gap between them.