Warning: Cursing from Jin Sung.
...
In the crack of dawn, a pompadour-haired male woke up to his alarm along with the groans of his roommates.
Pissed and cranky at the lack of sleep, he snatches his phone from the floor. About to end the alarm and continue sleeping, he reads the description of his alarm.
Get ready for date.
Abruptly sitting up, he realizes what he had to do.
Recalling the sounds of his roommates, he felt dread at the thought of them being awake. Quickly taking in the sight of his passed-out group, he sighs in relief.
Taking the blanket off, he tiptoes to the bathroom, making sure he didn't accidentally wake them up with his footsteps. During his slow movement to the bathroom, he did a quick head count:
Vasco was sleeping next to Bum Jae near the couch.
Vasco and Jace, check.
A pink-haired male was next to the exit of the dorm.
Already feeling dread, he thought about ways on how he would pass the male to get to the door:
Being the leader as always... Eli, check.
Getting closer to the bathroom, he found Jae Yeol and a blanket with something under it next to him.
Assuming the bundle under the blanket was Hyung Seok, he checked them off as well.
His hand on the handle of the bathroom door, he turned the door, thinking, Finally!
What he didn't realize was the amount of pressure he had to put on the handle.
Crying tears of joy, the door opened.
However, on the other end was Hyung Seok.
They both stared at each other, dumbfounded.
Confused, Jin Sung tried to remember if he counted him off his checklist.
Remembering the blanket, he cursed inside his head.
Shit. He wasn't under that blanket? No wonder the door was easier to open than usual.
The door handle had both boys opening it at the same time, making it feel like there was less pressure necessary to open it than usual.
Wiping the remaining water on his face, Hyung Seok blinked.
"Jinsung?"
Trying to keep calm, Jin Sung gulped before replying a little intimidatingly, "What?"
Already used to such behavior, Hyung Seok asked the question stuck in his head, "Are you going somewhere?"
"Why do you want to know?" Jin Sung started sweating, hoping he wasn't caught already.
Seeing him put up his guard, Hyung Seok waved his hands in dismissal, "Oh, I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that you don't usually use the bathroom unless you're getting ready to leave."
Jin Sung gaped a little, surprised at his observation skills. He never sought Hyung Seok as the type to observe his surroundings or at least put it to good use.
"Tsk. It's none of your business."
Hyung Seok was slightly taken-aback. He had thought that he and Jin Sung had gotten closer over the past few months, but seeing how he won't even tell him where he's going, made him doubt their closeness.
Jin Sung didn't understand why Hyung Seok would want to know such a thing. He's never been nosy before, so this was a bit odd and new for him. He never thought Hyung Seok would care enough to ask.
"...I guess you're right." Hyung Seok awkwardly laughed it off. Walking out of the way, he apologized, "Sorry for asking."
Surprised, Jin Sung didn't know if he saw right, but it seemed like Hyung Seok was affected with the way he said that sentence. Usually, the boy would just brush it off as his natural way of talking—now, it felt like Hyung Seok got the wrong idea from his reply.
Feeling the sudden urge to stop Hyung Seok, Jin Sung's hand twitched. However, he stopped himself.
...Why do I care if Hyungseok misunderstood? It's not like we were close to begin with. We're just from the same idol group; nothing more, nothing less.
Reassuring himself that what he did wasn't something he should care about, he went inside the bathroom.
...
Successfully getting passed the final boss—Jang Hyeon—he walks out of the dorm.
Happy, he does a quick pose before he felt something in his heart.
Regret.
He had no idea why he was feeling this way—actually, scratch that. He could list a few things.
Like how he didn't tell his group he was going on a date even though dating was banned for rookies; not making up with Hyung Seok, which was quickly crossed out as something he shouldn't regret.
With these in his mind, he still didn't know why he was feeling such things, but he did know one thing.
He was making Mi Jin wait.
Dashing to their meeting spot, he tries to clear his mind, the feeling continuing to bother him on the way there.
...
Everyone now awake, Jang Hyeon did a quick roll call check as his intuition told him that someone was missing.
Brushing his teeth, he walked around the dorm; seeing almost everyone, he knew who was missing.
Finished with brushing his teeth, he asked the group, "Where's Jinsung?"
They looked at each other, not knowing the answer—well, maybe except for Hyung Seok.
Raising his hand, he spoke, "Um."
Jang Hyeon sweatdropped after he had noticed the boy's hand.
Why is he raising his hand?
Nonetheless, he chose to go along with him, "Yes, Hyungseok?"
"He might of went to meet someone."
"Someone?"
Bum Jae decided to join the conversation, "If it's someone, it has to be her."
"Her?" The others questioned as they turned their attention on him.
"Ah..."
They went back to Hyung Seok.
Hyung Seok bit his lip, knowing why Jin Sung didn't tell him where he was going.
He was going on a date.
He had recalled the slight lecture they got from Jang Hyeon on why they shouldn't date until the CEO thought it was okay. The lecture took two hours, so it was kind of hard to forget.
Knowing that Jang Hyeon would get pissed, he struggled to get the words out of his mouth.
The leader noticed this before he smiled...
Intimidatingly.
"Hyung Seok~ Do you know why he left?"
The poor boy was now being interrogated.
Stepping back a little, he gulped, "Y-yes? K-kind of?"
Jang Hyeon walked closer to him; Hyung Seok started to walk away from him.
The walking started at a slow pace before it increased to the point that the rest watching was wondering how Hyung Seok could walk backwards so fast.
Reaching the wall, Jang Hyeon placed a hand on the wall next to Hyung Seok's head.
Hyung Seok was sweating now, Jae Yeol was jealous, and Jang Hyeon was having a little too much fun.
Looking right into Hyung Seok's eyes, Jang Hyeon asked:
"I'll ask again; where's Jin Sung?"
...
Hyung Seok told him what he had thought Jin Sung was doing.
Jang Hyeon deemed it to be true as he pulled out a device.
The members crowded around him, they wondered what it was.
"What's that, leader?" Vasco asked, curious as the rest of the group.
"A tracking device." Jang Hyeon said as if it was normal.
The others were surprised before they thought the same thing.
Being the brave soul, Bum Jae questioned, "Do you have one on all of us?"
Jang Hyeon looking up, started blinking, "How did you know?"
They shivered, they felt their privacy being threatened, but then again, they're idols, so they don't have much privacy to begin with.
Bum Jae quietly felt relief; just in case Vasco didn't have his phone, he now has someone he can call to find him.
Hearing his tracking device find their target, Jang Hyeon glanced at his device before smirking:
"Found him."
...
Jin Sung sneezed before he rubbed his nose.
Damn allergies.
Jin Sung, currently in Caffee & Tee, was waiting for Mi Jin.
Wearing the most casual clothes he had, he took in the fact that someone might recognize him, so he kept a cap and mask on.
While waiting, regret started to overwhelm him.
Maybe I should have told them after all... Ugh. Shit. These feelings are starting to get to me.
Stuck in his thoughts, he felt a stare on him—a rather strong one at that, as if there were multiple of them.
Snapping his head towards the stare, he glared in the direction.
Poor innocent souls were now under his glare before Jin Sung realized it wasn't coming from them.
Sighing, he thought, These feelings are really starting to get to me.
Jin Sung should've believed his instincts more as he was correct. Someone was watching him—well, more like five people were stalking him.
Jang Hyeon breathed a sigh in relief, "He didn't notice us."
The five were currently waiting in the coffee shop across of Caffee & Tee.
They were wearing casual clothes while everyone varied with either a mask or hat.
They couldn't wear both or else they would attract too much attention.
Sadly, they were already attracting too much attention as some girls felt that the group were famous people from the get-up they were wearing.
Whispering, they fangirled at the possibility of being in the same coffee shop as famous people or better, an idol group.
"Hey, hey, don't they kind of look like Lookism?"
"Eh? I thought they look like famous people, but now that I take a closer look, they do look like them!"
"How did you know?"
"My bias is there!"
"Which one?"
"The blond one! He has bangs over his eyes, of course I'd recognize him!"
Looking over at him, they saw that the blond was currently wearing a mask, covering his beautiful features.
"Now that you say that, I can see that he's definitely J!"
"Right?! Hmph, I'm quite proud of my idol skills, being able to know who's who by looking at their unique features!"
"What about the other group members?"
"Hmm..."
While contemplating on who was who, a third person joined in.
"I know! I know! The one with the hat with some pink poking out of it, is my precious Eli!"
As their conversation continued, more and more people joined in, curious on what they were talking about. As the fandom joined together, they started quietly chanting, "We are Lookers, and we are proud!"
They did that to gather the courage to approach them.
They were too shy, so no one dared do it, until someone stood up.
"I'll go!"
The girls admired her courage as they clapped, "Woahh!!"
About to talk to the group, the girl noticed that they were already leaving the shop.
The fandom could only look on with sadness.
What they didn't know was that the five could hear their entire conversation. The group of girls gathering in a spot near them would attract their attention, so that was a given. They weren't exactly the quietest bunch either, so as they were choosing someone to go talk to them, they chose that moment to leave the shop.
They felt a bit bad when they saw their fans' saddened faces, but they couldn't do much about it.
Being the guy that he is, Jang Hyeon lifted his hat up enough for the girls to finally see his face. They were about to cheer in being right before Jang Hyeon winked and placed a finger up to his lips while quietly shushing them.
Whether he was their bias or not, they all blushed with some having nosebleeds.
When they finally regained themselves, they noticed that they were gone already.
...
"Eli, was that wink really necessary?" Bum Jae sighed, exasperated by their leader's actions.
"Eh~ of course it was! They're our fans yet we left them while they were gathering up their courage to talk to us. The least I could've done was show that they were correct." Bum Jae showed him a deadpanned face. To redeem himself, the pink-haired coughed, "Besides, we were leaving anyway, so they wouldn't be able to stalk us here."
They were currently in the shop diagonally across of the coffee shop Jin Sung was currently at.
The fact that the boy hadn't left yet left wonders along with the fact that there were multiple shops that were able to look through the window of the shop.
Seeing that Jin Sung finally left with Mi Jin, they stopped their small argument to follow the rebellious boy.
Following them, the five failed to notice another group with cameras following him.
...
"Hey, Mi Jin, I'll go get you a prize from that." Jin Sung pointed at a claw machine, most of the prizes being stuffed toys.
"Oh, really? Thank you, Jin Sung!"
Jin Sung played the machine multiple times, yet he managed to get nothing every time.
"Um, Jin Sung, you don't have to get me a prize." Mi Jin sweatdropped as a nervous smile appeared on her face.
The "if you can't get one" was unsaid, but it was clear as day to Jin Sung.
"No! I'll get you one!" Jin Sung, being the stubborn one as always, proclaimed.
Seeing how determined he was, she sighed.
Looks like they're going to be here for a while.
An hour passed before Jin Sung finally got a prize.
Crying tears of accomplishment with a smirk, he held the prize up in the air.
Giving the prize to her, he smugly gave a statement, "Here's your prize, Mi Jin."
Mi Jin couldn't help the smile from forming on her lips, "Thank you, Jin Sung."
Watching this, the five wondered how much of his pocket money Jin Sung used up.
Jang Hyeon and Bum Jae could only shake their head, Jang Hyeon muttering, "This boy..."
Vasco didn't really know what the problem was, but nonetheless, joined in with the disappointment as that was the flow of things.
Hyung Seok was staring at Jin Sung intensely, whispering under his breath, "With that amount of money, I could of..."
While the disappointment spread around the group, Jae Yeol couldn't see why they were acting this way. In his eyes, Jin Sung didn't use a lot of money. However, he could agree that Jin Sung used too much money on one machine, so he slowly joined the group of disappointed members: a rich uncle disappointed with the amount he used on one machine, two parents shaking their head, a confused child, and another child calculating the money in his head, thinking of all the things he could have bought or repaired.
While they were doing that, Jin Sung felt the contagious disappointed as he felt ashamed and embarrassed out of nowhere.
Confused, he shook his head, Why am I feeling like this?
...
The five watched on as they slowly got bored.
Jang Hyeon felt their disappointment before he suggested, "Let's sabotage their date."
The four were shocked and confused at his statement.
Jang Hyeon only tilted his head, "What? Did I say something weird?"
Seeing their expressions, he sighed, "He is currently disobeying the agency's rules. We are, of course, not going to tell on him since we'll get affected too. But, that doesn't mean that we can't punish him. He didn't even tell us that he was going on a date, so it's only right if we ruined it indirectly."
They weren't convinced, so he continued, "We'll only beat him in the games he plays. We're not going to make him lose his chance with Miss Kim Mi Jin."
Hearing that, they slowly warmed up to that idea.
"Whoever's in, say I."
"I."
...
Now began their slight revenge on the poor pompadour wearing male.
As Jin Sung went on different games, they always got a higher score right after he finished it, making sure Jin Sung could only hear, "New high-score!"
By the time Jin Sung turned his head, the person who beat him would be gone. At that moment, Jin Sung would always look at the machine he lost on and see his high-score beaten.
As always, he would try to beat it, but Mi Jin would refrain him from doing so.
Jang Hyeon felt a bit childish today as he smirked at Jin Sung's misfortune.
"Now, who's going next?"
With that said, they observed what Jin Sung was about to do, a punching bag.
Seeing this, they all knew who should go up next; Hyung Seok.
He did win during the Weekly Idol game, so they figured he would be the best bet.
As Hyung Seok's punch resounded throughout the arcade, Jin Sung snapped his head to the direction, this time, prepared.
Not being able to run, Hyung Seok gets caught by Jin Sung.
"Ah hah! I got you now, bastard..."
Seeing who it was, Jin Sung let go of him, "Hyungseok...? What are you doing here?"
Putting pieces together, he whispered. "...you didn't."
Hyung Seok could only smile sheepishly, "I did?"
Catching on to what happened, Jin Sung quickly searched for the rest.
Finding them, he snarled, "You guys were the ones stalking me?"
He was angry for a split-second before he remembered what he was doing.
He was on a date.
Just like that, he backed down.
Finding this as a chance, Jang Hyeon cornered him, "Jinsung~ what do you think you're doing? Don't you remember the lecture I gave you? You know, the one about how dating is bad and all?"
Jin Sung gulped as he felt pressured in the corner, "I could explain..."
Mi Jin watched this before she knew what was going on.
Angry, she smiled with an annoyed tick mark on her forehead, "Jin Sung..."
Hearing her, he felt even more scared, "...Mi Jin. I—"
Huffing out, she shook her head, "I can't believe you hung out with me without their permission."
Jin Sung looked like a kicked puppy, "But Mi Jin..."
She was about to let Jin Sung go from the expression he was making before she got a hold of herself.
"No buts, Jin Sung."
Turning her head away from him, arms crossed, she held her ground.
Hearing Jin Sung apologize repeatedly, she sighed before turning her gaze on the boy. Being unable to just end the date like that, she made up her mind.
"...Jin Sung, let's continue this date when you can actually date, okay?"
Hearing her words, Jin Sung cheered, "Of course, Mi Jin!"
Like that, Jin Sung's and Mi Jin's date ended.
Now, in the dorm, Jin Sung sat on his knees in front of Jang Hyeon.
"Jinsung, you do know that I'm not going to let you off that easily, right?" Further using his intimidation, he asked, "Do you know what you did wrong?"
Jin Sung flinched, "...yes, sir."
"Oh~ and what was it?"
"...I went on a date." Jin Sung further felt embarrassed that he was acting so weak, but at the current moment, it couldn't be helped. Jang Hyeon could be scary at times.
"And why was that so bad?"
Wondering why Jang Hyeon was asking further, he answered, "Because it's banned?"
The leader nodded, "Anything else?"
"It could have ruined our reputation?"
"Yes, and?"
Now he was just confused.
What else could going on a date make him get in trouble for?
Taking in Jin Sung's expression, Jang Hyeon knew he didn't know the other reason.
Seeing Jin Sung's guilty and confused expression, the leader patted him on the head.
Crouching down to meet eye to eye, he smiled, "You didn't tell us you were going on a date."
Jin Sung blinked.
He had forgotten about that.
"Oh, is that all?" Knowing what else was left, he started to relax. He was worried that he did something else that got him in trouble.
Jang Hyeon took his hand away before he frowned, "It's rather important, you know? As leader, I was quite worried."
The pompadour-haired male wasn't expecting that.
"Worried? Why would you?"
Jang Hyeon got a little pissed at that, "Why would I? More like, why wouldn't I?"
Jin Sung widened his eyes.
Sighing, the leader frowned, "We're friends, right?"
"Friends?"
Jang Hyeon got annoyed, so he slapped the back of Jin Sung's head.
"Yeah, friends. Why, are you saying that we're only in the same group?"
Recalling that he thought that way of Hyung Seok, he felt apologetic to the blacknet. While thinking so, he felt slight déjà vu as something similar happened in the past.
Ahhh, I'm in the same situation as Hyun Do... Well, not as bad of a situation, but it's similar.
Seeing him zone out, Jang Hyeon waved a hand in front of his face, "Hello? Jinsung?"
Zoning back in, Jin Sung blinked, "Ah. Sorry."
Jang Hyeon wasn't expecting that response as he voiced out, "What?"
The apology being accidental, he decided to use that chance to actually apologize, "I'm sorry... I should have told you guys that I was going..."
The other four were just as surprised before chaos ensued.
"Woah! Jin Sung apologized!"
Annoyed and slightly embarrassed, he looked elsewhere.
Surprised even further, they voiced out their amazement, "He didn't take back his apology..."
Jin Sung blushed before shouting, "Fine, if you're going to be like that, I'm taking back my apology!"
Amused by his reactions, they slowly ganged up on him, Jang Hyeon taking the lead.
Putting him in a headlock, he ruffled his hair, "See, it wasn't that hard, now was it, Jinsung?"
Laughing and enjoying their time, they were interrupted by Jang Hyeon's phone.
Curious, Jang Hyeon wondered who would be texting him at such a time.
Blinking, Jang Hyeon was surprised at the message he had gotten from Soo Jeong.
Surrounding Jang Hyeon, they read the message.
"LKM is going to Kim Won Joon's concert tomorrow."
...
Hello! Sorry for not updating like I said I would! School made me quite busy! Like I said, the updates are now going to be irregular (sorry), but please don't give up on this fanfic! It's still going to update!
Should I have arcs like the manhwa? Like, this is the normal arc, I could add some arcs (sneak peek: Jae Won High is famously known for churning out many K-POP artist trainees, models and popular idols (Chapter 4)). However, if I do this, this fanfic will be 40+ chapters (if my Math is right). Please give me your opinion!
For the next variety show, it got cut down to: Celebrity Bromance (pairs are Jaeseok or Rapmon and Jang Hyeon) and Hello Counselor (Jinsung, Jace, Vasco, and Hyungseok appear in it). Both shows will appear, so this is to see which one appears first.