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Haknyeon and his team debuted as a boy group last 2017. He has trained with them a few years prior. Basically, he’s known his team members for quite some time, that is why he didn’t expect one of them, Sunwoo, to drop down on the floor and suddenly exhibit uncontrollable jerking movements with his arms and legs. The younger one's eyes suddenly turn white and he starts to unconsciously bang his head as well.
“Sunwoo!” Haknyeon shouts. His heart was racing in fear, cradling Sunwoo’s head on his arms. It did not help that the only other person in their dorm at the moment was their maknae who was having a shower in the bathroom. Haknyeon’s got no choice so he yells for his help, “Eric! Call an ambulance please!” Haknyeon realized now that he’s almost crying.
“W—what?!” Haknyeon hears Eric turn off the shower. “What did you say?!”
“Sunwoo’s having seizures! Eric please!” Hearing the words coming from his own mouth, Haknyeon has immediately remembered an old movie he watched, where the main protagonist placed a spoon inside her mouth to prevent herself from biting her own tongue.
With seemingly perfect timing, Eric steps out of the bathroom, rushing straight to the pair with a worried look, “What’s wrong with Sunwoo?”
Haknyeon hands Sunwoo over to the half-naked maknae — with only a towel on his waist, “Don’t let him bite his tongue,” Haknyeon’s says almost out of breath as he dives to the kitchen to look for a spoon.
In the short 3 seconds Haknyeon’s came back with a spoon on hand, his heart stopped as he feels his world in slow motion. He first hears a click of the door, and that's when Hyunjae comes in with cups of coffee at hand. A few seconds later, he hears the sound of evil laughter coming from the two maknaes telling him between their cruel giggles, that it was all a prank.
Haknyeon’s lost it. “That was not funny,” his tears start blurring his eyes. He pushes pass the naughty ‘kids’ and straight to his room. Locking them out.
Hyunjae does not miss the scene of his younger roommate's angry crying and the look on the faces of the guilty pair.
“What the hell did you guys do this time?! And Eric, put on some clothes, will you!”
That night during dinner, Hyunjae somehow manages to convince Haknyeon to come out of their room and enjoy his treat of pizza and chicken. After all, Haknyeon is well-known for his love of food in general.
Sunwoo holds his breath at the sight of Haknyeon’s puffy eyes and red nose. He’s really sorry for pulling on a stupid prank, seeing how affected the older was. It was the maknae’s idea in the first place and he just wanted to give Haknyeon a good laugh as they start their one-week break after finally being done with their summer tour.
Eric was fast on his feet, getting Haknyeon the biggest slices of pizza and 3 chicken drumsticks, Haknyeon’s favorite part. “Hyung, forgive us please,” Eric gives him his best smile amidst the fear of rejection.
Sunwoo feels nervous as Haknyeon hesitates to take Eric’s plate full of food but is relieved when the older quietly nods and starts eating.
Hyunjae clears his throat, “Now Sunwoo, it’s your turn.”
Sunwoo feels ashamed that Hyunjae’s treating him like a child. He could have saved himself the embarrassment if he had just bravely knocked at Haknyeon’s door hours ago, but he couldn’t erase the look on Haknyeon’s face when he stormed off. And if he’s not mistaken, Haknyeon barely looked Eric’s way when he found out it was all a prank. He was glaring straight at him crying. Only him.
Sunwoo is actually quite lucky that both Changmin and Chanhee are on a trip with the others in Busan, or else they’ll be teasing him non-stop on how anxious he looked right now.
Juyeon and Younghoon who has a magazine photoshoot with Hyunjae tomorrow are the only ones present, and these angels are both giving him pitiful stares. Since it was rare for Haknyeon to get mad, everyone is now silently waiting for Sunwoo to apologize.
When Sunwoo’s already gathered enough courage to say something, Haknyeon beats him to it. He coldly utters, “I’m not talking to you.”
Sunwoo feels his world crashing down. Not again. He remembers the last time he and Haknyeon fought over finishing the older’s strawberry ice cream. Haknyeon barely acknowledged his presence, and it lasted for months.
That time it was clearly Haknyeon just being greedy so Sunwoo had called him selfish and felt he had a right to get mad at him back. But this time it feels different. It was all his fault, and yes, he can probably say the older was being overly sensitive but he knew better, so he kept his mouth shut.
“Haknyeonie probably needs some time,” Juyeon soothes Sunwoo as he sees his dongsaeng’s shocked expression.
Younghoon awkwardly starts a conversation with Hyunjae regarding the director expecting them to wear heavy make-up for the shoot to ease the tension in the room.
Hyunjae and Juyeon both engage in a small talk, but Eric who does not know how to take a hint, blabbers, “Haknyeon hyungie, I—I planned everything. You know how I’m so bad at acting, that’s why I asked Sunwoo to do it.”
“You know how scared I was—-when you,” Haknyeon stops himself from saying anything more when he and Sunwoo made a short eye contact. Haknyeon is stubborn when he wants to. He remembers he was not supposed to speak with the other, so he leaves the table even when he’s not yet finished with his last slice of pizza.
Sunwoo sighs defeated, “Eric-ah~, for once just learn to shut it."
“But why was he just mad at you?! I don’t understand.”
Hyunjae smirks, “Because it’s Haknyeon.”
“What does that mean?!” Eric exclaims.
Younghoon gives Hyunjae a knowing smile. Juyeon looks just as confused as Eric. Eric is even relieved that he’s not the only one who’s in the dark.
Sunwoo, on the other hand, has blocked all of the background noises as he replays everything that has happened that day. He strongly regrets doing the prank, thinking how difficult the following days will be when Haknyeon would no longer be there for him. Just imagining how he’ll miss the sound of Haknyeon's laughter, his sweet ways of taking care of him, and the feeling of his arms around him as they cuddle.
Haknyeon was clingy but Sunwoo loved the attention. It was endearing. He can’t deny that.
But now, he can’t help but feel scared that this time he won’t be able to fix what he's broken.
Juyeon pats Sunwoo on the back, “Hey, don’t cry. He’s going to forgive you soon. Hyung will help you.”
Sunwoo was surprised himself. Why was he crying? Why does missing Haknyeon make him a mess? Or was this just guilt?
Eric hurriedly hands him tissues. “You should wipe it with these,” the maknae points at his runny nose.
“You better check on Haknyeon, Hyunjae-ah. If Sunwoo’s like this, Haknyeon’s probably the same. We shouldn’t have left the maknaes at home alone in the first place,” Younghoon says feeling a migraine coming.
Juyeon gives Eric a warning look which triggered the other to break down crying as well.
“Yah, Juyeon. Stop that!” Hyunjae screams.
“Y—you just have to stick close to him. Hyung can’t avoid you forever,” that’s Eric’s ingenious advice.
“We’re actually going to the gym the day after tomorrow. Uhmmmm you can tag along, no no no. That won’t work. Just pretend we met there by pure coincidence, bring that monkey beside you,” Juyeon devices a plan.
“I’m coming even if you don’t ask me to. I have to fix this somehow,” Eric says seriously.
“For the meantime, Eric, you’ll be the parrot. If Haknyeon needs to say something to Sunwoo, you’ll be the messenger, and vice versa. And Sunwoo, I know how badly you want to apologize but let him cool down first. Giving him space will make a huge difference. Trust me,” Younghoon’s plan was not to further escalate the fight, something like a ceasefire before they can sort things out.
But Sunwoo worries that dragging the fight will lead to Haknyeon giving him the silent treatment for months again.
“Haknyeon’s weakness is still food. Just order good food. Bring it to his room and leave immediately,” Hyunjae encourages him. “Fighting? Aja!”
Sunwoo nods with a long face.
“Roger! Good luck, hyungs! Break a leg!” Eric salutes their older brothers as they leave for their shoot.
Sunwoo carefully knocks on Haknyeon’s door and does not wait for an answer. He brings in a plastic bag of Chinese takeout, without the intention of starting a conversation but when he opens the door and sees the other crying in front of his laptop, he stops his tracks.
Haknyeon now being hyper aware of what he looks like, quickly wipes away his tears, “I—-was watching a drama—-if you—-,” he finally realizes Sunwoo has brought in food.
Sunwoo clears his throat, “I—I’m so sorry for yesterday.”
Flashbacks of Sunwoo putting on an act, just made Haknyeon furious once again, he looks away, “I’m still mad. I don’t—
This time Sunwoo stops him from saying anything more, “I’m leaving—just eat, please.”
Once out of the room, Eric starts asking Sunwoo, “Well? What?”
“What do you mean what? He’s still mad.” Sunwoo says with a bite.
“Don’t take it out on me,” Eric pouts.
Sunwoo sighs. He has lost his appetite. Fighting with Haknyeon was tough. It was exhausting, he couldn’t sleep the whole night. Hyunjae tells Sunwoo via chat that Haknyeon was keeping mum instead of opening up which made him even more worried. Haknyeon was the type to speak up and complain when he was having a hard time. This was not like him at all.
“Earth to Sunwoo? Hello? This is really bad. You know I feel like you guys are just taking this too far. Why do you guys fight worse than anyone in this house?”
Sunwoo snaps out of his reverie, “You tell me.”
“Younghoon hyung was explaining to Juyeon hyung that you guys are an item. It’s like when couples fight he said. I overheard the conversation in their room last night,” Eric scoffs.
The creases on Sunwoo’s forehead tell Eric that the other was trying to analyze his words as if he was considering it.
“Woah! Is there truth to this rumor?!” Eric has an evil grin on his face.
“Shut up.”
“I need to report this to the others. If Changmin hyung or Chanhee hyung finds out, they'll—
“Younghoon and Changmin hyung are—were together.”
Eric’s mouth drops.
“That’s why Younghoon hyung had that assumption.”
“W—what—? Why didn’t I know that?! Wait. Don’t change the subject!”
Sunwoo rolls his eyes, “I don’t know. All I know is that I feel awful right now. And I—- don’t feel like eating. I’m going out for a jog.”
Sunwoo gets a light jacket from the clothes rack and puts on his running shoes.
“It’s 12 noon. The sun’s burning!”
“I just need to think,” Sunwoo hurries out the door.
“Wait! Tell me about Changmin and Younghoon hyung!” Eric feels so betrayed until he realizes he can ask Haknyeon about it as well.
“What?! Changmin and Younghoon hyung were together?!” Haknyeon feigns ignorance.
“You’re useless, hyung,” Eric crosses his arms in disappointment.
“Sunwoo just probably fooled you,” Haknyeon lies. Of course, Younghoon always asked for his advice when it came to Changmin’s moods, since he’s trained together with their main dancer the longest.
“He did?!”
“Have a taste of your own medicine,” Haknyeon smirks.
“Sorry about that, how about you forgive Sunwoo as well, huh?”
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Why?”
“I just can’t,” Haknyeon tries to leave his room but Eric stops him and studies his face.
“You’re hurt.”
“Of course I am.”
“Tell me.”
“Yesterday when he—- I can’t talk about it. I need to to tell him first. I’m sorry.”
Eric was taken aback by Haknyeon’s apology. He was the one at fault and yet Haknyeon is saying sorry. Haknyeon is a person who forgives easily. Even when people judged him unfairly during the Produce Series. He did forgive. But why was it different with Sunwoo?
Eric realizes now that Younghoon’s words had some meaning to it. Sunwoo and Haknyeon. Haknyeon and Sunwoo. These two. They are figuring out “this thing” they have because of his stupid prank.
“Hyung, Sunwoo went running with an empty stomach. He’ll probably get dehydrated when he comes home,” Eric is testing the waters but it’s working.
Immediately Haknyeon turns pale, “Why? It’s so hot outside. Has he gone crazy?!”
Eric rejoices on the inside, “How about—-
“You go bring a bottle of water and follow him. Call him over the phone or something. He’s your responsibility now,” Haknyeon pretends to be busy with his laptop.
Eric frowns. Looks like his plan backfired. “Okay, hyung. I’ll call him and get him a drink then.”
“Thanks, Eric-ah,” Haknyeon says softly.
“Hyungs and their fat pride, Geez!” Eric walks out mumbling.
Next day, at the gym, Juyeon and Haknyeon start on their cardio exercises. Fifteen minutes on the treadmill, as rehearsed, Eric and Sunwoo comes in to join them like it’s just by chance that they all wanted to work out that day. Of course, their trainers are ecstatic that a bunch of them came. Since it’s fun if they do weight-lifting with the team members and they can healthily compete with each other.
To even out their strengths, Sunwoo and Haknyeon will make one team while Juyeon, the best among them, will be teamed with Eric, ‘the laziest’.
Both teams need to do sets of kettlebell deadlifts, some squats, and farmer’s carry.
Juyeon would bicker with Eric as the youngest would leave his sets unfinished, taking advantage of the fact that the older would simply finish them for him. The older was that competitive.
Sunwoo and Haknyeon, though not in speaking terms, are doing their parts individually as best as they could, as there is no actual use for teamwork except for their records. Sunwoo is thankful that Haknyeon was tolerating his presence in public. Haknyeon can naturally become quiet all of a sudden that everything looked fine on the outside.
Everyone had finished two sets of dumbbell lifting when Sunwoo yelps in pain. Haknyeon drops his weights without thinking and rushes to massage Sunwoo’s side of the neck which he knows usually acts up when he puts too much pressure on. “You okay? Let’s stop this. With Juyeon hyung on their team, we lose anyway.”
Sunwoo involuntarily blushes at the gesture, “I’m okay hyung, really. Thank you.”
Haknyeon realizing that he not only spoke with Sunwoo just now, but he’s also touching him. He immediately shuts his mouth but it’s already a little too late now, so he continues to rub circles around Sunwoo’s neck, attempting to relax the latter's muscles.
Sunwoo doesn’t tell him to stop either so they just continue to steal glances at each other sadly on the mirrored walls as if they are trying to figure out what to do next.
Eric and Juyeon look at them with lovey-dovey eyes as their trainers chat on the background.
Haknyeon now noticing the pair staring at them, awkwardly excuses himself to get to the showers. Sunwoo almost instantly misses Haknyeon’s warmth, follows him to the locker room.
“Hyung, wait. Let’s not fight anymore. Please. I—I don’t think I can last another day fighting with you.”
“I’m not ready to make up yet,” Haknyeon rushes to hide inside the showers but Sunwoo grabs his arm to stop him.
“Why’s that?” Sunwoo asks almost begging.
“I—-I don’t know.”
“I scared you. You said you were scared—-I’m sorry for doing that to you.”
Haknyeon shakes his head, “Just don’t do it again.”
“Hyung, tell me what’s wrong? I’m really worried about you. You can’t make me stop caring and I really can’t stay away.”
Haknyeon’s starts tearing up, “I hate you. I hate you for making me feel this.”
Sunwoo engulfs him with a hug as the other starts to shake, “I’m so sorry, hyung.”
“When I saw you seizing and falling unconscious, I realized how I can’t— I just can’t live without you, you moron!” Haknyeon tries to push him away but Sunwoo holds his place.
“I actually realized the same thing,” Sunwoo gives Haknyeon a kiss on the temple, “Sure we’ve fought a lot before but I thought this time I was gonna lose you, because I’m a moron. I get it.”
Haknyeon breaks free from Sunwoo’s embrace to look him in the eyes, “You—are not really a moron, you are a smart kid, Sunwoo,”
Sunwoo holds Haknyeon's face, “JuHaknyeon, I’m not a kid. I’m just a year younger than you. And I love you so much. I just cannot not say it. I’m sorry.”
Haknyeon turns red, “I—-I did not see that coming.”
“You don’t have to say it. Just please. Can we be friends again? I miss you and it hurts me,” Sunwoo says, feeling defeated.
“I don’t want to be friends. Not after this,” Haknyeon takes the chance to kiss Sunwoo full on the mouth.
It’s Sunwoo’s time to blush this time, but he covers it up by kissing Haknyeon back instead.
Amazingly, the kiss felt so good that all of their worries had all seemed to have dissipated until they hear snickers on the side of the lockers.
“Oh Haknyeon my Romeo oh Sunwoo my Juliet~ ” Eric loudly teases them, laughing even.
Juyeon was covering his eyes with his huge hands, “I—-I wasn’t looking, I swear.”
“Yah! Both of you!” Sunwoo shouts.
“Juyeon hyung, how can you let Eric make fun of us after I found you and Hyunjae hyung making out in our room last week?"
“You didn’t!” Eric feels betrayed, “Why doesn’t anyone tell me anything?!”
“Its because you love to play pranks, kiddo,” Juyeon messes up the maknae’s sweaty hair.
“But you got to give me some credit. If it wasn’t for the prank, they wouldn’t have realized they have already fallen for each other anyway,” Eric declares smugly.
Haknyeon and Sunwoo look at each other smiling, knowing Eric was right. But neither of them will admit that. At least not when the maknae’s around.