Don't Fight It

Part 7

*fast forward to last week*

That night at the club changed everything, and, hard as he tried, Hongbin couldn't forget what he'd witnessed. Every detail was seared into his mind with brilliant clarity, untouched by the copious amount of liquor he'd consumed that night: the combined scents of spilled alcohol, perfume, sweat, and urine; feeling the bass rumbling through the floor beneath him as the spotlights flashed in and out of view down the hall; the utter, earth-shattering devastation of watching his mouth move roughly against hers as his hands tangled in her hair.

He'd tried to find comfort in the methods that had been working so well for him. But this time it backfired horribly because when he let himself feel, instead of riding the wave and letting it recede again, he'd find himself sinking ever deeper into the crushing, lightless depths. It became easier to shut down completely, but even then the loop in his head wouldn't stop playing unless he immersed himself in the strategy and fantasy worlds of the games he'd previously been neglecting, or medicated himself into the blessed oblivion of sleep.

Hongbin withdrew from everyone, steadfastly refusing to speak about what had happened at the club that had caused him to get more drunk than he'd ever been. His normally bright and open personality, and the infectious smiles and laughter that were his trademark, disappeared as he became morose and depressed. While he avoided everyone, it didn't escape anyone's notice that there was one member in particular that seemed to cause him the most discomfort. He, however, seemed as baffled as the rest of them, and they could only watch helplessly as Hongbin lost weight, lost interest in everything but his online games, and lost himself to whatever private anguish was consuming him.

Comeback preparations had been rough. Hongbin always managed to pull himself together when it really mattered for recording, dance practice, filming, etc., but he hadn't contributed to the process like he'd consistently done before, and always returned to the haunted, silent, and listless state that had become his new norm. He'd seemed to improve a bit while they were promoting, putting on a good show for their Starlights and gaining energy from their love and concern when they saw how gaunt he looked, but it didn't last.

Finally, at his wit's end and sick with worrying about Hongbin and the team as a whole, N decided an intervention was necessary. After having tried numerous times already over the past few months, he knew it would be wasted effort to try to coax Binnie out of it, one-on-one, like he'd done last year - though that had been a passing shower in comparison to the current monsoon of misery drenching them all. He'd talked things over with the other VIXX members, their managers, and even Jellyfish's psychologist on staff who'd had a few, largely fruitless, sessions with the man in question, and the conclusion he'd come to after hearing everyone's input was that Binnie would need to be forced to confront the issue in order to resolve it.

During his private discussions with them, three members had mentioned that it was obvious that the sixth member had something to do with the situation, or at least knew more about it than he was saying. Based on his own observations and the way his dongsaeng had tried to avoid the topic during their chat, N fully agreed. That meant he'd have to isolate the two of them to work things out; but of course, that was easier said than done when Hongbin barely left his room and stayed as far away as possible when the two of them were required to be in the same space.

Hakyeon considered the problem for a few days, trying to figure out how he could get just the two of them together and what excuses they'd buy. The solution finally came to him when, looking at his schedule, he realized they all had a day and a half off coming up due to a variety show's filming being rescheduled. He decided he'd plan a trip just for the two of them...not that they'd know it; but to do that he'd need to get creative and enlist everyone else's help. He first sat down with the managers and three members not involved in the situation to lay out his plan. They okayed the idea and helped him refine it before agreeing to do a little acting when they had another meeting with everyone later.