Hongjoong and San deal with the aftermath of revealing their relationship to the world through a music video.
Through this potentially devastating decision, Hongjoong is reminded why exactly he fell in love with San in the first place.
A story told...
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2020
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Radio shows were bullshit and Hongjoong disliked them with a kind of violent fervor that never took long to tap back into whenever he'd find himself squeezed in among the members in the tightness of a sound booth.
Hongjoong didn't see the point of speaking into a microphone for a room of people that still couldn't even tell him apart from any of the other members, constantly reminding each of them to state their own name before answering.
It was tiring and saddening and it always left a bitter taste in the back of Hongjoong's mouth.
Usually, their managers took care of the questions and didn't allow the interviewers to slip in anything that might cause them discomfort, but there was only so much they could control when being a small time group.
This interview was exceptionally bad, the topics varying off in rapid directions such as Yeosang's secret identity within the group, and Mingi's insensitive past in rapping that always left the younger man fuming and spitting out apologies with a heavy heart.
They were going as far to even ask the members to rate one another in looks, and Hongjoong was seconds away from clocking out and demanding to be released when a particular question made his blood boil beneath his skin.
"If you were a girl, which member would you want to go on a date with?"
Wooyoung answered Yunho after only a brief pause, charming smile breaking through his initial discarding annoyance.
He stared adoringly over at Yunho who at least had the decency to look embarrassed while giggling erratically into the mic.
Jongho somehow managed to get through his turn with only a small stutter, hands wringing nervously beneath the table where Hongjoong could see his knees bouncing.
He answered with Seonghwa, smile tight, and the others deliberately brushed past the question with humor that felt stiff and overused in the compacting room.
When Hongjoong found the attention directed at him, and the mic grasped firmly in his hand, he spoke without any form of coherent thought, words rushing past a numbing tongue.
"I'm Hongjoong, and I would have a date with San."
The answer was somehow different than the others.
The words shifted and glued into an alternate phrase entirely, and suddenly it became fairly clear that Wooyoung's I would date Yunho if he was a girl, and Hongjoong's I would date Sanwere vastly different in comparison.
