"What?! You're kidding me," Jihoon couldn't believe what he just heard from CEO, Mr Song Yunhyeong.
"You have been asking me to get you the best platform to expose you as someone that can be recognized by the public easily. I told you to prove that you can maintain your exposure among the public and you've shown it just in a month. Which is very impressive. I know that you can do it and I didn't regret it to put a high hope on you," Mr Song said. He took out a document and handed it to Jihoon. "Yook PD's team did contacted me like a week ago asking if T5 is going to have a schedule for some dates this month. I told them that T5 is just in preparation for their upcoming comeback. They told me that they're going to book you for the whole 2 weeks and asked me to keep your schedule empty. And there you go. You're going to film a variety show,"
Jihoon took the document and took out the content. There's a booklet with the 'Housemate Season 4 (MBTI Villa). Cast T5 Park Jihoon - ENTJ' on the front cover. Jihoon still couldn't believe that he's being casted in a variety show on his own. T5 did get casted on variety shows as a guest a few times before as a group. Doyoung and Junghwan also get casted as individuals too on different variety shows before. It's not like Jihoon never got an offer but he used to tell the company to reject it if they asked for him as an individual. He used to feel like he shouldn't be standing out too much considering those comments he got that keep on criticizing him for stealing the group's spotlight.
But now, after he met Hyunsuk, he wanted to change for the better. Not just for Hyunsuk to finally look at him. But also for his growth as an artist. Jihoon is glad that he met Hyunsuk, someone that makes him want to be the better version of himself. To make people who are dear to him proud of him. Jihoon just realized how he has been trying so hard to not be too exposed as an artist outside of T5. It's just him being a coward. And sure. For someone who shines so bright like Hyunsuk. And is on the one of the highest points in this entertainment world, he needs to leave the cowardly version of himself and be the better one. To be the one that at least someone like Hyunsuk will look at. This is still the beginning and he's going to keep trying hard.
"They asked you to be present in Jeju starting from tomorrow and the filming will be starting on the third day. They told me that you're going to spend your whole week at the set while the managers will be checking in at the hotels nearby. The concept of this season isn't that different from the past season. You will be given missions and stuff. They'll film the first day of the cast arriving at the Villa and will hold a formal meeting the next day. The filming will resume the day after," Mr Song said. "I didn't have any warning or anything for you because you already made me almost get a heart attack by announcing that you're going to date 7chill. Knowing you, I know you won't do any other thing that can drag down your reputation and I want to believe that,"
"I'll work hard for this," Jihoon said. He flipped open the booklet.
"The other kids will be continuing the practice for your upcoming comeback. Make sure that you have at least one hour of dance practice every day when you're there. I'll make sure Woohyun hyung keeps up with your daily practices. Make sure to record and upload your video of your dance practice as well. Without fail," Mr Song said. "And work hard for your variety as well. If you need anything, just tell Woohyun or the company right away, alright?"
"Okay," Jihoon said.
"You can go and pack up your stuff. We already booked your flight and it's the earliest one tomorrow. Make sure to have plenty of rest while you can," Mr Song said. "And good luck,"
"Thank you, Mr Song,"
Jihoon walked out from the CEO's room after they finished with their discussion. 14 days, huh? It's been a very long time.
"You're going to be away for 2 weeks? I heard it from Junkyu hyung," Doyoung suddenly said as soon as he walked out of the CEO's office.
"You startled me!" Jihoon scolded.
"Chill, hyung," Doyoung said. "So, we won't have a leader for 2 weeks?"
"It's not like you'll go anywhere as a group. If you did, there's Junkyu or Jaehyuk who can lead you guys well," Jihoon said.
"You already picked your replacement?" Doyoung said.
"Can you not twist my words like that?" Jihoon asked.
"I'm joking. Why are you being bitter? Is it because you're going to miss us because you won't see us for 2 weeks?" Doyoung asked. "Ah. It's not that. It's Hyunsuk hyung, right?"
"Why did you call him Hyunsuk hyung?" Jihoon asked.
"He asked me to call him that. Don't you call him Hyunsuk hyung as well?" Doyoung asked. How did Doyoung get close to Hyunsuk? And how the hell Hyunsuk let Doyoung call him like that? Jihoon remembered that Hyunsuk didn't let him call him hyung before because they're not that close. But Jihoon was persistent and kept calling him that making the older Omega just natural went with it. But he clearly remembers Hyunsuk telling him not to call him hyung before. But he asked Doyoung to call him hyung? That's unfair.
It's him who's close to Hyunsuk first before Doyoung. And how did Doyoung get close to Hyunsuk well enough that the older Omega to personally asked him to call him that?
"Oh! Our leader who won't be leadering for 2 weeks," Junkyu suddenly said when he saw Doyoung and Jihoon.
"Leadering? Is that even a word, hyung?" Doyoung asked.
"Who cares," Junkyu said. He looked at Jihoon. "Someone really booked a successful era, I guessed. Why don't you not look as happy as I thought you would? Are you sick or something? Do you need to go to the hospital?"
"It's because of Hyunsuk hyung," Doyoung whispered but loud enough for Jihoon to hear.
"7Chill hyung-nim? Ah. Because you won't see him for 2 weeks?" Junkyu asked. "I'm pretty sure that he didn't even miss you a little bit,"
"Hyung. You're cruel," Doyoung said.
"It's true, right. Park Jihoon. Remember that you have been telling me your non-existent relationship problem to me almost every day. I know what's going on between you and your Hyunsuk hyung. It was clear to me that he probably didn't even care if you're here or not. Didn't you say that he didn't even plan to give you any chance?" Junkyu asked. "But it's you who want to keep on trying. So you have to bear with it. It will be hard and probably hurt. The outcome is still unpredictable. He might and probably also won't care about you at the end of the day. But this is still your choice. And it's the process of you to improve as an artist as well. Then, endure it,"
"Why did it sound like you're telling Jihoon hyung to give up?" Doyoung asked.
"I didn't, Kim Doyoung. Instead, I asked him to endure it because I want him to keep trying hard and going forward with his choice. I saw his schedule earlier. There's an additional at least one hour of dance practice even though he's filming and he needs to record and upload the video," Junkyu said. "It's not easy and it would probably very tiring since Housemate is almost like 24 hours filming type of variety show,"
"It is? I'm feeling tired already just by hearing it," Doyoung said.
"Yeah. They told me to record my dance practice everyday," Jihoon said. "What to do? Like Junkyu said. This is my choice,"
"But seriously, Jihoon. I'll be praying for your success for real. I can already see you're going to win the rookie entertainer of the year award this year," Junkyu said. "But yeah. You probably need to sacrifice a lot to reach it. Things will get hard and probably unbearable sometimes. Don't forget that you still have us. You have T5 with you. Jeongwoo can be your listener too. He probably acted childish and needed parental guidance most of the time but he's quite a mature guy, you know? Even Junghwan too. He's really mature now,"
"Sure. Thank you. I'll keep that in mind," Jihoon said. They had a short T5 meeting discussing their schedule for the next 14 days. After that, Jihoon went shopping with his manager.
"You're so happy when Yook PD told you that they'll contact the company about your appearance on his variety show. Why now that they already confirmed your casting on their variety show, you didn't look as excited?" Woohyun asked.
"Hyung. You know. Hyunsuk hyung said that he has never planned to give me a chance even if I won the main award this year on my own and not under T5," Jihoon told.
"Eh? Really? Did you just find out about it?" Woohyun asked.
"No. He said that a few weeks before. He probably didn't intend to directly say it to me but I overheard it," Jihoon said.
"And you're still trying so hard to make him fall for you even after you knew? You're really persistent," Woohyun said. "Is that why you're not so excited now? Because the main reason for you trying so hard has disappeared?"
"It's not disappeared. It's still there. I'll still make Hyunsuk hyung to acknowledge me. I'll work hard to reach the point where he will look in my direction," Jihoon said. "But you know. Hyunsuk hyung hasn't even looked at my messages today. Even if I texted him, he probably didn't even pay much attention. I want to tell him about this and make sure that he gets the news about it from me myself. He won't even answer my call though,"
"Haish. Now I need to settle your relationship problems too?" Woohyun asked.
"I didn't ask you to solve it. I just want to tell someone about it," Jihoon said.
"Oh. Dongwoo-ya. Sorry if I bother you. I want to ask is 7Chill is still at the company or already went home?" Woohyun suddenly makes a call. Jihoon's eyes widened as he heard that. Did Woohyun just called Hyunsuk's manager? "Okay. Can you let me know about it later? Yeah. My kid has a relationship problem and needs me to solve it. Thank you, Dongwoo-ya. I'll buy you delicious meal later,"
"What are you doing, hyung?" Jihoon asked.
"If he's still in the company, I'll send you to Rainbow Cloud. If not, I'll send you to his condo. Your flight is early in the morning tomorrow, right? You said that you want him to know about it. If he didn't read your message, then go and meet him," Woohyun said. "If I am you, I'll definitely already give up after knowing that he didn't even want to give me a chance. But well. He's 7Chill though. And I quite admire your willingness,"
"Ah.."
"He's still at Rainbow Cloud. I'll give you 30 minutes. It's plenty, right? Go and talk to him and we'll go back to the company right away after that," Woohyun said before he started the engine and drove to the company where Hyunsuk is currently at. As soon as they reached there, Jihoon was quite troubled to go inside. Usually, it's Dongwoo who helped him to get it. He forgot to ask Woohyun about it. But he'll just try to get inside by himself first.
"Oh. Park Jihoon-nim," the security guard greeted him.
"Good evening," Jihoon said.
"Are you here for 7Chill?" The security guard asked.
"Yes," Jihoon said. The security guard typed something on the computer before he handed him a visitor pass. Jihoon is quite surprised that he can get it that easily.
"Thank you," Jihoon said.
"Sure. Have a nice day, Park Jihoon-nim," the security guard said. Jihoon took a deep breath and walked toward the floor where Hyunsuk's studio is. He knocked on the door.
"Come in," Hyunsuk said from the inside. Jihoon opened the door and closed the door behind him. He inhaled the air inside the studio. It's the Omega's scent. It's calming. Definitely what he needed at that moment.
"What are you doing here? Did you know what time it is now?" Hyunsuk asked after he saw Jihoon inside of his studio.
"Almost 10," Jihoon replied. He knows that the Omega didn't really ask him the question but to make him leave. It's a bitter reality but Jihoon tried so hard not to take that to heart. Try to ignore it.
"How did you know that I'm here?" Hyunsuk asked.
"I asked Woohyun hyung to ask your manager," Jihoon said. Even though it's Woohyun who asked Dongwoo without him telling the manager to do it, Jihoon didn't want to look like his manager noticed that he's hopeless so he helped him or something. Jihoon showed the visitor pass that he got. "The guard in charge tonight recognized me and he gave me permission to come here,"
"At this point people here will think that we have some special relationship, you know," Hyunsuk said.
"We do have," Jihoon mumbled but Hyunsuk cut him right after.
"We won't have," Jihoon secretly sighed. He needs to endure it. He knows it. He already sees this coming since he decided to choose what he chose. "What do you want?"
"Nothing. I just want to personally let you know that I'm going to film a variety show with Yook PD starting tomorrow," Jihoon said.
"You can tell me by messages. You don't have to come here this late," Hyunsuk said.
"You haven't even seen my messages hours ago," Jihoon said. "I didn't mean to complain about it but I just want to make sure to let you know about it. So I come here, personally telling you about it,"
"Oh. Congratulations," Hyunsuk said. Still sounds like he didn't care.
"I won't be able to see you for 14 days," Jihoon said. "I'll be in Jeju starting tomorrow. I will need to catch the earliest flight there tomorrow morning. That's why I came here to tell you this,"
"For that long?" Hyunsuk asked. Jihoon couldn't guess if this is Hyunsuk's genuine question or just being sarcastic. He bitterly smiled. For him, it's a very long time though.
"Yeah. I know it so well that I'm going to miss you so much," Jihoon said.
"Yah. It's just 14 days. Not 14 years," Hyunsuk said.
"But still," Jihoon said. "I already let you know about it. So, I'll leave now. Rest well, hyung,"
Jihoon walked out from the studio and was about to leave. But it doesn't seem right. He chose to be persistent. And he will. Jihoon walked back inside after he took a few steps away. Hyunsuk is still standing and where he was when he left earlier. Jihoon grabbed the Omega's face and pressed their lips together. Jihoon is glad that Hyunsuk responded to his kiss. Jihoon pulled the Omega's body closed and tilted his face to kiss Hyunsuk more. Hyunsuk parted his lips apart, as if he's asking Jihoon to kiss him even deeper. And Jihoon did it.
This is why Jihoon didn't easily give up even after the Omega openly told him that he won't give him a chance. Because his body responded otherwise. They kept on kissing for the next few minutes before Jihoon pulled out first. He stares at Hyunsuk's lips before he rubbed the Omega's bottom lips with his thumb. All the heavy feelings he had been experiencing a few minutes ago disappeared with the kiss they shared.
"I really going to miss you,"
"You only miss kissing me," Hyunsuk said. Jihoon didn't expect the Omega to respond like that.
"Didn't you too?" Jihoon teased.
"Shut up," Hyunsuk pushed Jihoon until he sat on the sofa in the studio. He sits on the Alpha's lap and continues to claim Jihoon's lips. They kept on kissing till Hyunsuk decided to pull out. Jihoon snuggled his face on Hyunsuk's neck. Inhaling the scent there. "It's tickled, Park Jihoon,"
"You might be in a very peaceful time for 14 days because I didn't think that I could even send you a message. I saw my updated schedule and it's super packed. I still need to practice, record my dance practice and upload it so the company is sure that I'm doing the dance practice," Jihoon said.
"Are you complaining?" Hyunsuk chuckled. Before Jihoon could say anything, he got a call from Woohyun. Seems like 30 minutes have already passed.
"I'll come and see you as soon as I finish filming, hyung," Jihoon said. He pecked the Omega's lips before he lifted the Omega and put him to sit on the sofa. Jihoon pressed a kiss on Hyunsuk's lips and smiled. "I really hope you'll miss me, hyung. I'll pray so hard to make you miss me,"
"Please don't. I don't want to," Hyunsuk said. Jihoon just giggled.
"See you later, hyung,"