Pairing- Kanemoto Yoshinori and So Junghwan.
Plot- Yoshi having a hard time as he fell for the maknae during MMM era.
(Requested)
MMM era's Junghwan is bad for Yoshi's heart.
Being the third eldest member in TREASURE, Kanemoto Yoshinori has always been a place of comfort and advice for the junior members. Yoshi is known for his angelic and funny personality. The younger members always find him comfortable and dependable. So, Yoshi has always been one of the favourite hyungs to them, specially to the youngest of the team, So Junghwan.
Junghwan is known for his fondness towards skin ship. Since he is very young, his hyungs see him as a little brother of them and treat him with unbound affection. Yoshi is not any different. Whenever he watches the younger trying to pull something off, he instinctively helps him. This made the bond between them extra strong.
Well, maybe a bit too strong.
Because when the preparations for The First Step: Chapter Three began for TREASURE, Yoshi felt like his brotherly way of treating Junghwan was affected.
Who can blame Yoshi though? The to be 16 years old boy had a massive change in his aura during that period. His hair was short and brushed back. He grew up both in length and width, which made it hard for anyone to believe how young he actually is. And even though Yoshi wanted hard to keep that in mind, during the dance practices, he could barely restrain himself.
And Junghwan wearing pants that showed his well defined shins and knees made it even harder.
Before the practice started, Junghwan came to his favourite hyung and sat by his side, placing his head on Yoshi's shoulder.
"Ahh I hope practice goes well today!" he said. Yoshi didn't say anything, he was trying hard not to glance at Junghwan's exposed legs.
"Hyung, I thought about something!" Junghwan sat up, facing Yoshi, "In the last part, like in the last verse, when we swing our hands, how about I raise my brows or maybe stick out my tongue a little?"
Yoshi still didn't respond. So, Junghwan stood up and acted out the part.
Just when the maknae stuck out his tongue and took it in by swiping it across his bottom lip for a split second, Yoshi high key skipped a beat.
"Don' do it!" Yoshi hurriedly said.
Junghwan, who became startled at that, blinked a few times before speaking, "Why??"
Yoshi scratched his nape a bit, "Well, we should protect your innocence, right?" Yoshi lied, because it wasn't about Junghwan's innocence to be protected, rather it was because Yoshi's heart wouldn't be able to take anymore of that.
Junghwan seemed a bit off, but he still obeyed his hyung. And he went back to sit beside Yoshi once again.
"But Ruto hyung does it. And he looks really cool..." Junghwan mumbled.
Yoshi looked at him, the poor baby was sulking.
"Hey, you don't have to do that to be cool, Hwanie, your dance itself is cool enough for both fans and non fans to be awed." Yoshi told him.
Junghwan beamed at that. He smiled widely after looking at Yoshi. And yes, that too made Yoshi's heart beat faster, because a full on smiling Junghwan? Way too adorable.
Hyunsuk came in soon after and gathered everyone for the practice. The comeback was near and everyone learned the choreography by heart. So they finished the first round with almost no mistake, well, except for Yoshi.
After their practice, everyone laid down on the floor, panting heavily. This time, Yoshi was beside Jihoon.
"Hey," Jihoon panted, "Is everything okay?? ...You seemed ...distracted."
Yoshi brought his brows together, trying to recall what he did that made Jihoon notice his apparent distraction. "Umm, nothing?"
Jihoon rolled his eyes, "Yoshi, I know you very well! You never lose your concentration when you dance!"
Yoshi sighed. "It's nothing, really. Maybe I'm just stressed."
"About what?" Jihoon asked back, he wasn't letting things go.
"The preparations," Yoshi lied.
"Yesterday, you said you're satisfied with our preparations this time." Jihoon sharply stared at Yoshi's quivering eyes. "Stop lying Yoshi, you're a bad liar." Jihoon said.
Yoshi sat up. He was really torn inside, he didn't even want to admit how he started looking at Junghwan in a not so innocent way. He felt so guilty and so wrong.
"I don't know, Jihoon, please don't ask me anymore, I'll go crazy otherwise." Yoshi pleaded. Jihoon's eyes softened at that.
"Alright, take your time. But know that I'll be there to talk to you anytime you need." Jihoon said. Yoshi felt grateful that Jihoon let him go. But his heart still ached as he thought that he was in the wrong.
Yoshi's condition only got worse and the stress was evident in his performances. After Jihoon, Hyunsuk and Mashiho also noticed how his performance seemed a bit off. They all inquired him but he stayed silent. The worry of the hyungs spread in the whole team and by the time the comeback date came near, everyone knew Yoshi wasn't doing well.
Just 3 days before the comeback, when they were practising, Yoshi froze when it came to his part. He got tongue tied and couldn't rap, which made him forget his dance moves as well. Everyone froze at that, some even let out little noise of frustration. Yoshi glanced at Junghwan and saw his terrified look.
Scrunching up his face in pain, Yoshi left the room in an instant and went inside him room, locked it from the inside and broke down.
Yoshi sobbed hard. He blamed his heart, his brain, his mind and overall himself. He hated how he grew romantic feelings for someone so young as Junghwan, someone from his own team, someone who looks at him as a brother. He hated how he couldn't even handle it and how he completely messed up his performance. He hated how everyone's career would be brought down only because of him.
Suddenly, he heard some soft knocks on his door, accompanied by a soft voice.
"Hyung, Yoshi hyung? Can you open up, please?"
It was Junghwan. Yoshi wanted to hold Junghwan and cry in his arms. He wanted Junghwan to know how he fell in love with him and he wanted Junghwan to love him back.
"Hyung, talk to me, please." Junghwan softly said. His voice was trembling, maybe because he was nervous as well. Yoshi wiped the tears on his face and stood up to open the door.
On opening the door, he saw Junghwan, crying. Yoshi was shocked to see the maknae crying. So, without thinking anything, he hugged the younger.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to bring you guys down. I just-" Yoshi let out a sob.
"Hyung," Junghwan let go of the hug, "That's not why I'm worried." He dragged Yoshi inside his room and let him sit on the bed, following him soon.
"Hyung, I can tell that you're upset or stressed out. Can you tell me what's wrong? It's not about the comeback, hyung, I'm worried about you." Junghwan said calmly, wiping the tears on his own face.
And the gratitude Yoshi felt made him love the maknae a little more.
"I'm fine really, don't worry, I'm just stressed because I've been messing up a lot lately." Yoshi lied again.
"No, hyung. You're messing up because you're stressed. There must be a valid reason..." Junghwan paused for a bit, "Are you in love?"
Yoshi blinked quite a few times, heart racing rapidly. He even gulped before talking, "W-what are you talking about? Why would I-"
"I don't know for sure, but I overheard Jihoonie hyung and Hyunsuk hyung's conversation... They suspect that you are in love or something, like the symptoms show and stuff... Are you though?" Junghwan spoke.
Yoshi took time to process everything and decided to go with the flow.
"Umm... kinda, you see..."
Did Junghwan's heart hurt a little? Maybe.
"Ah I see. Who is it, hyung?"
"I can't tell you that now." Yoshi shortly replied, afraid of spilling his secret if he talked much.
"Oh... Are you two together?" Junghwan asked again.
"No, I haven't even told her anything." Yoshi intentionally used 'her' in order to conceal any hint he might have given Junghwan up until then. Junghwan sighed heavily.
"I bet she'll love you back once you express how you feel." Junghwan said, "you're such a wonderful person, hyung!"
Yoshi smiled at that. It hurt him a lot to lie to Junghwan's face, but hearing the little compliment from Junghwan made him happy.
"Don't worry too much about it, hyung!" Junghwan said, as he stood up and hugged Yoshi, "Just focus on your practice for now. Time will show you the way."
Yoshi felt Junghwan's heartfelt hug and the sincerity behind it. He truly loved the kindness of the maknae.
"I am feeling great now that I've told you, Hwanie! Thank you!" Yoshi patted Junghwan's back before letting go of the hug.
"Anytime, hyung!" Junghwan replied, before leaving the room.
Talking with Junghwan did help Yoshi a lot, because for the remaining days before the comeback, he didn't make a single mistake. Soon, the promotions started and Yoshi slayed in every single performance of them. He became the new sensation for the non fans upon attending award shows with his exposed forehead and fierce gaze. But the boy's eyes always looked for the youngest of the team.
But what made him worried was the fact that the maknae completely ignored his presence after that day. He would stay as far as possible from Yoshi, he would barely talk to him and would never look at him. This hurt Yoshi a lot. Bit he let that go, thinking how Junghwan might just act professionally.
However, for Junghwan, that was not the case.
The moment he knew about Yoshi being in love with a girl, his heart broke. With a poker face, he left Yoshi's room and headed straight towards Jeongwoo's room. Jeongwoo, who was frustrated seeing Yoshi's mistake, came out watching a worried Junghwan. Junghwan took him to one of the empty practice rooms.
"I talked to Yoshi hyung," Junghwan said, "I think everything will be okay now."
"What happened? Why did he feel so stressed?" Jeongwoo asked innocently.
"I shouldn't spill it to you, but I think I need to... he's in love, hyung." Junghwan sadly said.
"Really?? Wow! Who is it?" Jeongwoo asked.
"I don't know, some girl..."
"That's kinda good and bad at the same time, however, are they dating?" Jeongwoo asked again.
"No, hyung, not yet." Junghwan replied. With a little bit of silence that prevailed as Jeongwoo kept quiet, Junghwan spoke again, "But I don't understand, why am I hurt?"
Jeongwoo blinked, "Eh? Because Yoshi hyung's in love?"
Junghwan nodded. Jeongwoo thought for a bit, "Maybe you're jealous? I mean he adores you the most, maybe he'll pay attention to someone else? That's why you're hurt?" Jeongwoo reasoned.
Maybe. Junghwan thought, but he knew he wasn't jealous because of that, because Yoshi always paid attention to Haruto over him anyway.
"Or, maybe.. just maybe, you like him", Jeongwoo said. Junghwan gulped. It felt weird to even think like that.
"No! How can I? And how do you even prove that?" Junghwan said.
"I don't know, I just thought it's a possibility. And you'll know it yourself if you do like him, don't think too much about it." Jeongwoo said, dismissing the topic. They stayed in the room a bit longer, trying out different reasons for Junghwan to feel that way, but nothing beat the 'I like him' one. And only then was Junghwan certain how he indeed fell in love with his hyung.
The hyung who loved someone else.
To not hurt himself any further, Junghwan started to distance himself from Yoshi. He could tell that Yoshi tried to gain his attention, but he still showed as less interest in him as possible.
But he couldn't avoid Yoshi for long, as the time came for them to sing their first ever Japanese track, 'Beautiful.'
Yoshi was the lyricist along with the other professionals. So, he was given the responsibility to monitor the pronunciation of the members. For better understanding, Yoshi decided to have a one on one session. Junghwan was the last to attend that.
With a heavy heart, Junghwan entered the room. He took a single glance at Yoshi and then kept his gaze at anything but him. Yoshi didn't miss that.
"You know the melody, right? How about giving it a try first?" Yoshi formally said. Junghwan nodded. But he found it hard to pronounce 'tsuitekite'. So, he searched it in google before starting singing.
"You know I'm right here, you don't need to google." Yoshi sternly said. All the ignoring from the younger irritated him to no bounds. So, without even letting Junghwan say anything, he snatched the script away from his hand, "Talk to me about everything first, then we'll proceed."
Junghwan gulped. He didn't want to create a scene. "Hyung, it's nothing, let's just-"
"We are not practicing if you don't speak to me." Yoshi said coldly.
Junghwan sighed. But he stayed silent.
"Why are you avoiding me?" Yoshi asked, seeing the other one remaining still.
"I'm not avoiding you, hyung."
"Then why didn't you ask me instead of googling? We're close, aren't we?" Yoshi held Junghwan' hand. Junghwan looked down, he didn't say anything.
"Did I hurt you in any way? Or are you scared of what I said the last time?" Yoshi asked, "I'm not doing anything but my best, Hwanie, don't worry, I'll not bring TREASURE down!" He said.
"I'm not scared about that, hyung, I trust you." Junghwan replied.
"Then what's wrong? Why aren't you being yourself with me anymore?" Yoshi asked again.
"Fine! I'm jealous, hyung!" Junghwan finally gave in. Yoshi blinked, "Of what?"
"Of the fact that you love someone!" Junghwan's voice cracked as he said.
"Why?" Yoshi asked again. He had no clue what the younger meant.
"Because, because you shouldn't love anyone else, hyung!" Junghwan let out a drop of tear.
"What do you mean? Why shouldn't I?" Yoshi was still pretty lost.
"Hyung, that's because I like you." Junghwan looked at Yoshi with teary eyes, "I'm jealous because you like someone else, not me."
Yoshi's heart skipped a beat, then the pace quickened, then the overwhelming feeling of joy engulfed him.
And he engulfed the crying boy in his arms.
"Junghwanie... I thought only I am going crazy! But you're as crazy as I am!" Yoshi said in the hug, "You little cry-baby, it's you whom I like!"
Junghwan let go of the hug and looked at Yoshi with confused eyes, "But you said you liked a girl?"
Yoshi chuckled, "I did that to mislead you. I didn't know you felt the same."
"Yoshi hyung, you're really cruel!" Junghwan hit Yoshi's arm, but he still smiled widely, getting back to hug Yoshi.
"If I had known sooner! I would've hurt less!" Junghwan mumbled. Yoshi just mumbled 'sorry's as he brushed Junghwan's hair with his hand.
After a while they broke the hug. Yoshi cupped Junghwan's face and kissed his forehead. Junghwan smiled in return.
"So, are we together now?" Junghwan asked. Yoshi shook his head a no.
"No, Hwanie. We'll wait for that."
Junghwan looked disappointed, "Why?"
"You're only 16 now. You have two more years till adulthood. But I'm an adult now. If we start dating, I might do something that would destroy your innocence. I don't want that to happen." Yoshi slowly said. Junghwan still looked disappointed.
"So, I can't claim you as my lover. It's disappointing." Junghwan said. Yoshi kissed Junghwan's cheeks at that.
"Officially, no. But in your heart, you'll know whom I love and whom you belong to. We'll just wait to officially be boyfriends." Yoshi said again. Junghwan seemed to smile at that.
"But we're allowed to kiss each other, right?" Junghwan asked. Yoshi cooed at that. Cute Junghwan is also really bad for his heart.
He soon leaned down and kissed Junghwan's lips. Junghwan immediately responded. They kissed gently yet passionately for a while. When they let go, Junghwan was blushing and smiling.
"Why are you blushing this hard?" Yoshi joked.
"I-it's my first kiss, hyung." Junghwan shyly said.
Yoshi was clearly on his edge after hearing that. So he did the last thing to restrain himself.
"Let's skip today's session and join the others in the dorm. We can continue our practice tomorrow." Yoshi said.
"But hyung, everyone is done, I don't want to lag behind!"
"We'll catch up to them soon," Yoshi said, taking his notebook and pen, "because the way things are going, let alone two years, I won't even last two minutes restraining myself from doing anything to you!" He reached the door.
Junghwan blushed even more at that. But he followed Yoshi nonetheless.
Two interesting years are coming ahead.
*****
Hi~
I published early because I wanted to present it to you as a Mashiho's day gift😁 (I did bring him once 🥺)
I actually didn't have a unique plot for this, so I wrote it like this. I hope you like it 🥺
Happy Birthday to 마시호🐹🌼
Spend your day with lots of love uri cute SHIHO💎💚