anti-carat .

epilogue

"They have been hinting a new fucking member for so long and he might be revealed today, Lee Jihoon, can you hear me screaming?!" Minhyuk yells, leaning onto Jihoon. "You're screaming right into my ear, of course I can fucking hear you." Jihoon grumbles, pushing Minhyuk off of him. The overexcited boy sulks, staring at Jihoon disappointingly.

"Oh, by the way, I won't be home for the rest of the day. I have something important to do." Jihoon informed, picking up his phone. "Damn, just get married already."

"It's not a date, Hyuk. I have to finish my leftover work. Brian's gonna fucking end my ass if I don't submit it today." Jihoon, who seemed to be more stressed than ever, spoke. "Oh, I see. Take rest after that, yeah? You already sounds super stressed."

Jihoon sighed, remembering what he signed up for. He simply nodded to avoid further discussing about the topic. "I...I'll get going now." Jihoon mumbled after taking a look at the time. Minhyuk waved at him as usual, watching as he slipped his shoes on. Jihoon let out a huff, ready for whatever was coming his way.

About 5 hours later, Jihoon stood in front of Soonyoung, his heart racing. "Will it go okay?" Jihoon asks, his hands trembling with nervousness. Soonyoung, who noticed, held his hands, giving him a reassuring smile. "It'll be all okay. Breathe in and out, stay calm." Soonyoung softly spoke, not breaking eye contact. "What if I mess up?"

"You won't, It'll go smoothly. Just trust me on this one."

"A-alright..."

"Jihoon, we're rooting for you!" Mingyu smiles, patting his shoulder. "We're here with you, yeah? We're in this together." Seungcheol cheered on in hopes to make Jihoon feel a little comfortable. "Thanks, guys."

♡

"So, I heard you guys had a little surprise waiting to be revealed. A surprise that has been being hinted for the longest time now." Eunwoo, who was the MC, spoke with the same beautiful smile he has on all the time. "Let's invite in a special guest we've all been waiting for! The new member of Seventeen, Woozi!"

Entered Jihoon, trying to look as confident as possible. He gave Eunwoo a small bow before turning to the camera and officially introducing himself, "Hello! I'm Seventeen's Woozi."

Once that escaped Jihoon's mouth, he felt the biggest weight lift off of his shoulders. He flashed a confident smile at the camera before being instructed to sit down. "So Woozi, about the whole 'Anti-Carat' thing...what was that for?" Eunwoo asks, making Jihoon let out a troubled smile.

"Well I have to admit...I really did despise them at one point and I guess my actions were just a little...extreme? I guess I mainly because they had everything I wanted. The hatred then died down quickly as I got to properly know them." Jihoon answers, finally revealing the truth. Soonyoung smiled softly on how well Jihoon dealt with the questions.

"Wow, that's truly something..." Eunwoo chuckles, moving on to his next question. "So it was out of jealousy?"

"Yeah...I didn't like seeing them or their posters at first as it kind of rubbed it in my face that I could never be as successful. I then met Hoshi and he helped me understand where I went wrong and stuff." Jihoon spoke, earning a nod from Eunwoo. "Oh, did you like Hoshi at first?"