"Seriously, go to sleep right now or I'll whack you both in the head." Hwall threatened, holding up Haknyeon's club.
Haknyeon and Youngjae's eyes widened and frantically shook their heads as they scrambled onto bed and pulled their blankets over their head. Hwall put down the club and sighed. A chuckled made him turn. He glared at Hyunjae who looked at him innocently.
"Hey, I tried to help." Hyunjae held up a bottle of wine.
"By making them consume alcohol?" Hwall quirked his eyebrow.
"Alcohol makes one sleepy."
"And achieve a huge headache in the morning after." Hwall deadpanned. Hyunjae shrugged.
"I guess it differs from person to person. Good night~~" Hyunjae said as he left, sliding the door shut behind him.
He kept swirling the bottle as he walked back to his room. As he was taking a gulp, he squinted his eyes at a figure slouched down beside the wall.
He took his time observing Chanhee who seemed to be drawing figures with a stick and mumbling to himself. He smiled in amusement when Chanhee let out a particular "Aish!" out of frustration. He took a sip of his wine and sat down to continue looking at Chanhee. A serene smile never leaving his face.
It was when Chanhee threw his stick angrily and that stick hit Hyunjae, Chanhee finally noticed him.
"Oh! I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Chanhee scrambled to him and cupped his face, trying to inspect him. Hyunjae held Chanhee's hands on his face and smiled up at him.
"I'm fine." He said.
"You sure?" Chanhee asked, worriedly. Hyunjae rubbed his eyes, squinting a bit.
"No, I'm not. I think I got stabbed with that thin branch. Mind treating my wounds?" Hyunjae said, sarcastically. Chanhee eyerolled and slapped his arms.
"Shut up." He muttered and stood up. Hyunjae laughed and got up, too.
"What are you doing out here? I though you were going to bed early?" Hyunjae asked, dusting Chanhee's shoulders. Chanhee avoided eye contact and fiddled with his fingers.
"Just wanted to clear my head a bit." He replied. Hyunjae tilted his head at him.
"What happened?" He asked. He put on a reassuring smile when Chanhee looked at him. Chanhee sighed.
"I argued with Sunwoo."
"Well, that is brand new information!" Hyunjae teased and received a glare.
"Sorry, sorry. Continue." Hyunjae said, pressing his lips shut.
"He asked me about something and I avoided answering it. Then I confronted him about something and it got a bit serious and.... and I left." Chanhee confessed. Hyunjae jutted his bottom lips out as he looked at Chanhee thoughtfully.
"So, both of you did not answer each other's complaints?" He concluded. Chanhee's eyes wandered up as he thought to himself. He pouted and nodded.
Hyunjae found himself cooing at that simple gesture. Then, he cleared his throat as he tried to compose himself.
"Both of you got heads that are harder to change than mountains." Chanhee scowled at Hyunjae's remark.
"You just admit you didn't respond to his question and that he didn't respond to yours. What was he asking, by the way?" Hyunjae asked, taking a swig from his wine bottle. He looked at the wine bottle and strangely got reminded of Professor Hoseok. He shuddered at the thought.
Chanhee thought back to what Sunwoo asked.
"Are you dating Hyunjae?"
Chanhee's face flushed pink. Hyunjae got puzzled at the sudden color change.
"Hey, you okay? Your cheeks are the same color as your hair." He commented, ruffling up Chanhee's hair. Oh, it's really soft, Hyunjae thought to himself.
"It's nothing." Chanhee said, avoiding eye contact as he moved away a bit from Hyunjae's hands.
Hyunjae stopped his hands midair as he looked at Chanhee, confused as to why he moved away. He took a step closer.
"Does it have anything to do with me?" Hyunjae got his answer when Chanhee shook his head furiously. Hyunjae smiled adoringly at Chanhee. He held Chanhee's chin to make him face up.
"You really can't lie." Hyunjae whispered. Chanhee looked at him with his twinkling doe eyes. Hyunjae felt like he could fall in them.
"I'm not lying." Chanhee muttered, unconsciously pouting again. Hyunjae smirked and let go of Chanhee's chin as he stared up at the night sky.
"Of course, you aren't lying. So what did you ask Sunwoo?"
".....Why doesn't he trust us." Hyunjae looked at Chanhee. "I asked him why he didn't have faith in the team. Why did he have doubts."
"He said he didn't believe in us?"
"Not exactly."
"Then how?"
"Didn't you hear him at the meeting? He already thinks we are gonna lose just by knowing there are more gumihos in the other team. And he thinks we are not prepared enough." Chanhee ranted. Hyunjae held Chanhee's shoulders and rubbed them in an attempt to calm him down.
"You might've misunderstood. He might have just been nervous as we are and stated facts that worried him." Hyunjae suggested. Chanhee shook his head.
"No, it's him who doesn't get it. He doesn't understand that sometimes you need to believe in order to achieve something." Chanhee muttered. Hyunjae looked at him thoughtfully.
"Sunwoo has a habit." Chanhee peeked up as Hyunjae started to speak.
"He does things either spontaneously or he does things when he knows he can win completely. There's no in between. And through most of his life, he survived on his own." Chanhee listened intently.
"On his own?"
"He lost his parents in a fire years ago when he was a kid. He doesn't remember much though. We met accidentally and I watched him. I watched him try to survive the harsh society." Hyunjae said.
"I guess, you didn't just 'watch'." Chanhee added. Hyunjae smiled to himself.
"Maybe." Hyunjae never gave credit to himself for Sunwoo. In his view, it was the younger's pure effort and sheer desperation which pulled him through. Hyunjae admired Sunwoo for that.
"What I'm saying is," Hyunjae looked at Chanhee directly. Chanhee looked really eager and attentive. So much that he looked real cute too. Hyunjae continued,
"Sunwoo has been on his own for too long. He doesn't really know how a team works. Give him some time. I'm not sure about others but I do know Sunwoo. Trust me." Hyunjae said, not moving. Chanhee stared into Hyunjae's eyes and nodded.
"Fine. I'll trust you then." He smiled. Hyunjae smiled back. That simple sentence made Hyunjae feel proud.
"Great. Then let's get back, shall we?" Hyunjae stretched his arms out and yawned. Chanhee took the opportunity and poked a finger into Hyunjae's open mouth.
"Splghgghg! What the heck!?" Hyunjae spluttered as he gaped after Chanhee who ran away giggling. Hyunjae smiled at him fondly and ran after him as well.
Breakfast was awkward. Changmin and Younghoon glanced at each other, shrugging. Youngjae, Haknyeon and Hwall also looked at each other, shrugging. The five peeked at each other, shrugging. Then they glanced at the rest.
Juyeon and Hyungseo were picking at their food. They did try to pick up a scoop of rice to their mouth but their spoon only carried air. Hyungseo kept biting on his own spoon. Juyeon seemed dazed as if his mind was somewhere far, far away.
Sangyeon and Joonyoung weren't that bad but they weren't exactly normal either. It was painfully obvious the two were trying to avoid eye contact with each other. Even when they entered the room, they stuck close to the others as if they were allergic to each other's touch.
Finally, the squabbling duo was quiet. That was the strangest occurrence of all this morning. Sunwoo and Chanhee hadn't uttered a word to each other. They were avoiding eye contact as well. Only Hyunjae who was sitting beside Chanhee seemed to be normal, stuffing himself with plenty of meat.
Younghoon, Changmin, Youngjae, Hwall and Haknyeon looked at each other again. Then shrugged for what seemed like the nth time.
After they had finished breakfast, the five of them shuffled out of the room quickly. They needed a fresh breath of air that didn't stink with awkwardness.
Sunwoo grunted as Haknyeon accidentally shoved him a bit in the shoulders as he went past in the corridor.
"Sorry!" Haknyeon shouted back as he walked away. Sunwoo didn't respond. The bump made him turn around and now he was faced with a straight-faced Chanhee.
Sunwoo gulped slightly. He didn't know where to look. Chanhee didn't seem to mind as he slide by Sunwoo to get out.
"Wait." Sunwoo said, hands hesitating to hold back Chanhee. Chanhee waited.
"Uh- I, uh..... Good luck for today." Sunwoo rubbed his nape as he winced at how stupid he sounded.
"You too." Chanhee replied and walked away. Sunwoo sighed. Chanhee hadn't even turned back to face him. Was Sunwoo that selfish?
"Hey hey hey! Lighten up! Get those shoulders up!" Hyunjae slung his arm around Sunwoo and slapped his back. Sunwoo hissed at the slap.
"That hurt." He gritted out. Hyunjae grinned.
"You needed to wake up. Now, let's go win this thing!"
"I trust everyone of you. Show them what it means to be a Hwarang." were Namjoon's last words before they left. Jungkook accompanied them to the competition site.
Joonyoung was walking ahead when Sangyeon stopped him in his tracks. Joonyoung looked at him confused. Sangyeon seemed to want to say something. Joonyoung could sense the internal conflict in Sangyeon's mind.
"About last night...." Sangyeon trailed off, not knowing how to put it into words. Joonyoung avoided eye contact.
"I understand." He said, making Sangyeon confused. Sangyeon quirked up a brow.
"Understand what?"
"Let's concentrate on what's important first." Joonyoung muttered tiredly and walked past Sangyeon, shoving him in the shoulders slightly. Sangyeon was left, standing motionlessly.
Hyungseo watched from behind, peeling his gaze away a bit in case Sangyeon noticed him. He clenched his fists. Hyungseo did not know what he was feeling at the moment. Sadness? Confusion? Jealousy?
He snapped out of his thoughts when Juyeon walked by in front of him. Hyungseo looked at Juyeon as he walked up to Sangyeon. Sangyeon was still motionless when Juyeon stopped in front of him.
"Hyung? Are you alright?" Juyeon said. Sangyeon nodded, wordlessly. He turned and continued to walk. Juyeon didn't follow after him. Instead, he turned back to look at Hyungseo.
Hyungseo got a bit startled when Juyeon looked at him.
"Let's go." He said, smiling a bit. Hyungseo nodded and smiled back.
A/N: this is my last update for this year!
Happy New Year to you all!!!