The three boys walk into the studio one by one through the clear doors as they have a conversation on whether normal tteokbokki or cheese tteokbokki is better. They stop as they face the Level four dance room after some time of walking.
"I'll go to an individual room," Riki announces, adjusting his bag around his shoulder as Jay places his hand on the doorknob.
Sunghoon sighs, a sort of hurt in his eyes as he turns his head to face him, "You keep on leaving. You have been saying for the past two weeks you'll go practice at an individual room but we searched for you yesterday and you were nowhere," he says, furrowing his eyebrows.
Ni-Ki bites his lips nervously, glancing back and forth between the two boys who had a soft disappointed expression. Why hasn't he told them? He wonders. They were two people that he trusted the most in Korea but he felt like it was wrong to tell them. As if it was forbidden.
"I will tell you," he says, looking down at his shoes, his feet shifting a little. "But not yet," he continues, looking up and giving them a nervous, boxy smile.
Jay sighs, "We just want you to trust us, Riki," Jays sincerely says, putting one of his hands on his shoulders, the other still on the doorknob.
Sunghoon nods, "That's why we feel a little hurt and disappointed. Everyone has different standards for who to trust. We've only known each other for a month or so," he pauses. He makes eye contact with the youngest with a small smile, "We want to be good friends."
"You guys are! Believe me!" He exclaims. "I'll tell you as soon as I can, I promise."
They put on a content smile, nodding in synch. "Leave now before we drag you in," Jay says, lips still tugged up.
Ni-Ki gives them both a quick hug before running away towards the destination he has been visiting for the last two weeks. As soon as he's there, he doesn't hesitate to turn the doorknob, pushing the door open.
He glances around. The room's empty, he notes.
He furrows his eyebrows, Sunoo's usually here before he is. Usually, the room's already filled with some music, the said boy warming up in the middle of the room, where he quickly joins before practicing. He decides to let it go, shrugging lightly as he closes the door shut. He puts his bag down against the mirror in one of the corners before walking to the little table that holds a small Bluetooth speaker. He takes his phone out, connecting them and playing his playlist as he moves a little further from the mirror.
He begins his usual stretch routine of two songs, moving his whole body around as he glances at the door through the mirror every once in a while.
He begins to practice.
Sunoo might just be running late. Maybe there was traffic. Maybe he's just not coming today. Or maybe he's just ditching him because he finds him so annoying he's finally giving up on this. Maybe Sunoo regrets ever asking for his help. Maybe he'll ask Riki to stay as many meters away from him as possible. Or maybe-
He stops his trains of thoughts abruptly stopping his movements as well, beginning to pant.
He doesn't care if that's the case. He shouldn't.
But why does even the possibility of those scenarios hurt his heart so much? A hurt he has never felt before.
He furrows his eyebrows, his mind is filled with possibilities of the reason but none of them is the correct answer; the one that his heart has been screaming for some time now.
The heart wants what the heart wants.
He holds onto his chest, still in the middle of the room, his breathing now even, some drops of sweat on his forehead. He stares at himself through the mirror, deciphering what it was that his face was showing. When he finally figured it out, he became scared. He couldn't like Kim Sunoo. He just couldn't.
The door suddenly opens, making him turn his head around as he drops the hand that was pressed on his chest. Sunoo walks in carelessly as he looks down at his phone. When he finally turned his phone off he moves his head up, his eyebrow raising in question as he notices the younger staring at him intently.
"You're here late," Ni-Ki says as he turns his head back to the front where he could still he the silver head due to the mirror.
The other hums mindlessly as he sets his bag down next to the other's, "Had a shoot today," he explains shortly as he walks to stand next to him. "I suppose you started to practice?" He questions as he raises his arm putting it over his head and across his head, his gaze directed towards Riki.
After a second, the blond clears his throat as he moves his gaze to the other side, avoiding the eyes of the older male. "O- of course, I did, I wasn't just going to sit around and wait."
"Great, let's start with your vocal lessons," he states as he drops his arms.
The Japanese boy nods silently as he reaches to grab his phone in order to play the song he has been practicing for the next evaluation.
"Open your mouth more," Sunoo instructs as he looks directly at his mouth, his ears focusing on what came out of it.
Riki continued to sing for a while until he saw what he was doing, blushing profusely at the attention he was getting. He continues nonetheless, trying his best to not focus on the other but rather the lyrics though he was finding it a little hard.
"You lost focus from the second chorus," the boy says after the song finished and his gaze went back to the other's eyes.
Ni-Ki nods slightly as his eyes get attracted to the other's lips which looked incredibly soft and he just wondered- nothing because he couldn't let that happen.
"I- I have to go," he stutters out as he tears his gaze from the other as he hurries to grab his things, rushing out the door without a response.