'Nice to see that you've arrived' Jihoon sarcastically said as Jeonghan appeared in front of his house a few hours later.
'Sorry Ji, we came back late from last night's party' Jeonghan replied, entering the younger's house. 'Everyone's here, yeah?' he asked, tugging the collar of his turtleneck, and Jihoon nodded in response. The two of them walked up to Jihoon's studio, where they found the rest of their group. The usual loud, jokey dynamic between them was replaced with a serious vibe as they went along with their session. When anyone entered Jihoon's studio, there was always a tense feeling. There was no room for funny business; no one dared to touch or experiment with any of the equipment without asking him and the four knew they had to concentrate. So, it wasn't a surprise to them when the two hours they spent working flew like the wind.
'Nice work, guys. Our final session is dismissed!' Jihoon announced, clapping his hands.
'Whoop whoop!' Seokmin cried in his loud voice. 'We're gonna kill it next week!'.
'We sure are' Joshua agreed. He then sighed as he plopped beside his boyfriend. 'Ji, could you turn the AC on. For some reason, it's always hot in here'.
'Same here. Jeonghan Hyung, how the fuck are you surviving in a turtleneck?' Seungkwan asked, pulling down the collar of his shirt before the elder could react. 'Oof, you had fun last night with Seungcheol Hyung' he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows as he eyed the red marks on Jeonghan's neck that he was previously covering.
'Ha, I wish it was Seungcheol' Jeonghan spat, the anxiety that he felt the night before rocketing through his body yet again.
The room fell into complete silence after Jeonghan finished his sentence, the other four interpreting and realising what he was implying. Seungkwan immediately retracted his actions, his eyes suddenly glossy and his mind full of guilt. 'Hyung, I'm so sorry. I was joking abo-'.
'Leave it, Kwan, What's done is done, and I'm okay now' Jeonghan interrupted, walking up to him and hugging him from behind.
'I'll grab Jihoon's guitar and beat that fucker' Joshua said through gritted teeth.
'Jisoo!' Jeonghan scolded. 'Since when did you begin to cuss? And anyway, he didn't do anything further before Cheol came in' he shakily spoke, contradicting the excuse he made.
'Shush. You don't need to feel like you need to bottle up your emotions with us' Seokmin said, joining the hug.
'And you know those who do shit to our friends won't get away with it lightly' Jihoon smirked, glancing at the array of guitars he owned.
'Thanks, guys' Jeonghan laughed, wiping his tears away from his cheeks and smiling. 'You don't need to do anything, cause Yoongi Hyung said he'll deal with it'.
At that, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, so he let go of Seokmin and Seungkwan and looked at his screen. His eyes instantly lit up at the message and he eagerly typed in the password to unlock his device.
Cheollie🍒💕
Wassup, baby
My shift has just finished
Yay!🤗
Our session has as well.
Do you want to go out today?
Not really feeling it.
Oh okay
do you wanna cuddle at home then?
Yes, yes.😊
I'll come to your house in a bit.
My house?
You sure?
My mum, Aiden and Bea are at home.
I don't mind.
I like your house.
That's a first.
Oh shush.
It's not bad as you make it out to be.
When are you coming round?
I'm gonna leave in a few.
Remember to drive safely.
Gosh Cheol, you're acting like a dad.
☻☻😈
T-that's not what I meant.
Did you just stutter in a text?
Is that weird, Cheollie?
Am I weird to you? ☹
No no bby, don't be sad
☹
Nooooo
I'm gonna come as soon as I can
Hehe
The things I do for you
Because you love meeee
I can't lie 'bout that
See ya later, cutie😘
❤❤
'I guess that Seungcheol you're talking to' Seokmin observed by the look on Jeonghan's face.
'Aww, you're gonna abandon us then, is it?' Seungkwan pouted.
'Hey! Says the people who always abandoned or made me a third-wheeler when I was single' Jeonghan defended.
'Alright, calm your asses. Guys, you can leave now if you want to and do whatever. It's fine by me' Jihoon said.
'You're only saying that cause you want to get rid of us and go to sleep!' Joshua laughed.
'You know me too well, Hong'.
After they said their goodbyes, Jeonghan quickly went to his car, started the engine and began driving to Seungcheol's house. He couldn't contain his excitement upon seeing him again, even though they were together only a few hours before. Twenty minutes later, he parked his car on the street before the road Seungcheol actually lived on, as remembered, and got out. As he locked his car, he saw a figure with black wavy hair, wearing a hoodie and joggers and a grin made its way onto his face. He sped walked down the street, and once he got close enough, he ran to Seungcheol, who placed the bag he was holding on the ground and accepted Jeonghan with open arms. Seungcheol picked him up and spun him around, pecking his lips before placing him on the ground.
'I missed you Cheollie' Jeonghan whispered, leaning on the other's chest. 'What's in the bag?'.
Seungcheol didn't say anything but bent down to pick up the bag. He handed it over to Jeonghan and smiled as he watched the other's reaction. 'You bought me strawberry bubble tea!'.
'You said you wanted it this morning, and since you chose to stay at home, I thought to would be nice to get you some' Seungcheol explained, slinging his arm over Jeonghan's shoulder as they walked towards his house. 'Kids, Jeonghan is here!' he called after unlocking the front door.
The couple entered the living room and were firstly greeted by Aiden, as usual, who was sitting on the ground building with lego. 'Hiya Jeongie Hyung!'. Jeonghan, in return, ruffled the younger's hair and let him continue playing. He then walked up to Bea, who was concentrated very hard on her Ipad, swiftly swiping her stylus on the screen.
'Whatcha up to Bea?' he asked, edging closer to her. Bea widened her eyes and quickly changed the app that she was using. 'Hi Jeonghan Oppa. Um, I was just watching some YouTube'. She shifted her gaze to Seungcheol, but when Jeonghan turned around to see his boyfriend, he was suspiciously looking somewhere else. 'Um, is there anything going on between you two?'. Bea only shook her head and plastered her winning smile onto her face, and Jeonghan decided to leave his curiosity at that. They've been super secretive lately...
'Guys, where's mum?' Seungcheol asked.
'She went to the supermarket to stock up' Bea replied.
Seungcheol then went around distributing the drinks in his bag: oreo milkshakes for both Bea and Aiden, strawberry bubble tea for Jeonghan and original milk bubble tea for him. 'This is for mum, so do not touch this with your sneaky fingers' he said, finally placing the last drink on the table.
'Don't worry; i ain't about to touch some green tea' Bea assured, pulling her face and shivering as she drank her milkshake.
Seungcheol shook his head at his sister's dramatics and smiled, before taking Jeonghan's hand and leading him to the bedroom. He sipped on his milk tea and put it on his desk. 'Wow, you nearly finished your drink'.
'Duh, obviously. Why would I not finish this incredible strawberry bubble tea, which has definitely sprouted from the heavens?. Try some'. He handed the cup over to Seungcheol and he took a sip. 'Don't tell me you don't think this is good'.
'It's nice but too sweet for me; I prefer the original' Seungcheol replied, handing the drink back to Jeonghan and laying down on his bed.
'Hmm, suit yourself'. Jeonghan placed his now empty cup on the table and went to join Seungcheol on the bed, nuzzling his head between Seungcheol's broad arms. 'Today's practice went well. I really want to tell you what we're doing, but Jihoon will kill me if he finds out I snaked to you. You won't tell anyone, right?'.
'Hannie, why don't I wait to see you perform with the group instead of spoiling it? It's nice to keep a surprise' Seungcheol reasoned. While that was true, Seungcheol didn't have the heart to find out what the other's were doing when he himself was participating. He knows that the rest of his friends were very competitive, and him knowing their plans wouldn't be fair, considering they didn't know about his involvement. The talent show was a full on competition, so Seungcheol didn't want to risk any feuds on the day.
'Fine, it's your decision' Jeonghan replied, snuggling further into Seungcheol's chest. Seungcheol wrapped his arms around the other, and though Jeonghan felt like he should be used to this by now, he still had a fluttering feeling in his stomach as their bodies pressed against each other. He sank into Seungcheol's warm embrace, and the two of them stayed in that position till they slowly drifted to sleep.
Timeskip- a week later...
It was Saturday, the day of the talent show, and Seungcheol wasn't going to kid himself to the fact that he was nervous. Really nervous. For most of the night he wasn't able to sleep, a jittery feeling keeping him awake, questioning himself to whether he would go forward with this idea. However, he reminded himself that it wasn't about whether he was comfortable with doing it. It was about his sister. Seungcheol had never seen Bea put as much effort as she did in creating that video, and when he saw it for the first time, he cried and hugged her non-stop. He was so glad that his family were so supportive of his relationship with Jeonghan, and it was emphasised by how well Bea produced the video.
'Cheol-ah' the soft voice of his mother called, quietly entering his room. She walked over and sat down on his bed, stroking his face gently with the knuckle of her index finger. 'You're going to do so well today. I can still remember you dancing and singing for me in the front room when you were younger. You were so confident and playful back then, but then you suddenly changed. I wondered what had happened to my Seungcheollie'.
What? Seungcheol thought, staring intently into his mother's eyes; he didn't remember that time in his life.
'But that has changed now' she continued. 'You are no longer the person that you were 9 months ago. And, I think we both know why. So, enjoy today Seungcheol. I'm sure you don't want your embarrassing mother there, but you better remind Bea to take a video'.
'When on earth did I say that? Of course I want you to come!'.
Seungcheol's mum tilted her head to the side and a smile made its way onto her face. 'Really?'.
'Yes, really. There are so many parents who are going to be there, so what's the problem with you coming?'.
'Alright, I'll call a taxi to take the four of us there' she decided, standing up and brushing the creases on her skirt down. 'Now you, Mister, need to get ready. Bea's already downstairs waiting'. She left the room, closing the door behind her and Seungcheol rolled out of bed, deciding what to wear.
An hour or so later, the family arrived at Pledis Academy, and Seungcheol led them to the reception to get entry tickets. 'Two children tickets and one adult ticket please. I'm one of the contestants in the show' Seungcheol explained to the ticket man. The guy searched Seungcheol's name on the participation list and, once his name was found, the man ticked it off and gave a number card to Seungcheol. He then handed their other tickets to their mum, and they walked into the massive hall, which was already packed with students, family members and friends from other schools. Seungcheol scanned the room till his eyes landed on the back of a head which obviously belonged to Jeonghan, and luckily, there were a few empty seats around him. Seungcheol led his family over to that area and slyly tapped his boyfriend's shoulder. Jeonghan jolted in his seat and snapped his head round like a meerkat, scowling at the other.
'ay! Quit scaring me!' Jeonghan cried, punching Seungcheol lightly in the chest. However, his expression quickly changed to a smile when he realised that Seungcheol's mum was there, and he stood up to bow to her. 'Hi, Ms Choi'. He then nudged Joshua, who was sitting neck to him, saying 'Seungcheol's mum is here'. Joshua passed the message along the row to their friends, and they all also greeted his mum with a bow. Seungcheol then sat down next to Jeonghan and the two extra spaces next to him were filled by Aiden and Bea. Ms. Choi decided to sit behind them next to a kind-looking couple.
'Hello, I'm Yoon Lina, and this is my husband Yoon Hanbin. Nice to meet you' the woman next to her greeted.
'My name is Choi Seunghee. Are you Jeonghan's parents? Well, it's very nice to meet you too; I'm Seungcheol's mother'.
'Seungcheol's mother? Deary me, you seem awfully young compared to the two of us' Jeonghan's dad said.
'Nonsense!' Seungcheol's mum laughed and continued to converse with them.
'Okay, may we have silence in the hall please' a teacher announced, an the noise in the room quickly settled down. 'Thank you. Now I would like to wish you a warm welcome to the Pledis Academy annual talent show!'. Cheers and applause roared throughout the room, and Seungcheol and Jeonghan could feel the chairs vibrate underneath them. The teacher then introduced the panel of judges: there was the headteacher, the head girl Im Nayeon, the head boy Choi Minho, and Kim Jongdae, a student turned idol who just debuted in the boy group 'EXO'.
'Right, may the first five participants make their way backstage. We will call out the number of the entry before each performance, but nevertheless we ask those participating to keep in mind when they need to go backstage. Thank you'.
After a few minutes, the first contestant made it on stage and the show began. There were so much variety in terms of what people did, but students mainly chose singing or dancing, which only made Seungcheol more nervous. Some did comedy and martial arts, but it didn't seem impressive to him. Minghao and Jun could easily pull of those moves without blinking an eye, and there were so many people in his friendship group who could excel at telling jokes. Heck, even Wonwoo seemed better than some acts and he only tells dad jokes.
The first of their friendship group to go up was Soonyoung, Chan, Minghao and Jun, and they performed 'Dangerous' by Michael Jackson. Seungcheol was mind-blown to say the least- they were so good at hitting the moves with the upmost precision and their stage presence was out of this world. The way they played with the audience, smirking and pointing at particular people added to the performance, and they received many cheers.
Minghao caught people's eyes with his flips and tricks, Jun was the most clean out of the four of them, and Soonyoung had so much passion. Yet, the star of thee show was Lee Chan, who was featured as the main at the start and the end of the dance. You could tell instantly that he choreographed the dance as his aura was all over it. It was remarkable that he was already reaching the level of professional dancers at the young age of 15. Seungcheol glanced briefly at Bea and smirked as he noticed how her eyes were fully fixed on Chan, her mouth agape.
'Close your mouth, hun, before you catch a fly' he whispered, and sniggered as she gave him a death glare.
Next in line were Mingyu, Wonwoo and Vernon, who rapped to 'Dang Dang Dang' by Supreme Team. Even at their song choice, students were already beginning to cheer. These guys were the only rap performance so far, so it got everyone excited. When they properly started, people were on their feet chanting the ad-libs. The three of their styles worked incredibly together; Wonwoo was the most experienced, and you could see that through his intonation and perfect pronunciation. Next was Mingyu, and though he wasn't as experienced as the other two, his charisma and uniqueness drew people's attention. Then, there was Vernon, and his chill vibe and flow topped the act off. Like Chan, being one of the youngest, he had great talent.
Finally, it came to the vocal performance with Jihoon, Jeonghan, Joshua, Seokmin and Seungkwan, and if the other performances from his friends didn't leave Seungcheol shook, this certainly did. Jihoon introduced his original song 'Adore You'- acoustic version, and because he was known throughout the school as the musical prodigy, there was high expectations. And, like always, he exceeded those expectations. Adore you is a cute, fun song describing someone's feelings when they first have a crush. Seungkwan started off the song, executing pitch perfect runs as though they were nothing, before Seokmin came in with an iconic growl, switching from his chest voice to falsetto effortlessly. Joshua and Jeonghan came in after, contrasting with the powerful tone from Seokmin and Seungkwan to a softer, sweeter tone, their voices matching quite well. After Jeonghan finished his solo part, he looked at Seungcheol and smiled as his boyfriend gave him a thumbs up. Though Jihoon didn't get many solo parts, when he did, he sang them flawlessly, his musicality and control clearly evident. Despite the differences in how they sing, all of their voices blended nicely and their harmonies within the bridge were seamless. They finished strong and the audience reaction showed that. Seungcheol gave the loudest cheers, whistling as the five of them bowed and left the stage.
'That was amazing. I bet you that you'll at least come in the top three' Seungcheol said once Jeonghan came back to his seat, and he hugged him from the side.
'Thanks Cheol. But, I still wished that you could've performed today' Jeonghan replied. Seungcheol hummed yet he was secretly giddy on the inside. According to his number, he was the last to perform; he began to bounce his knee up and down to calm his nerves as the last few acts approached. 'Hey, I'm gonna go to the bathroom' he said, standing up from his seat.
'I'll go with you; I'm kinda desperate'. Bea also stood up from her chair and followed Seungcheol, leaving Jeonghan to look after Aiden for a bit. 'Okay, here's the usb'. Bea handed it over to Seungcheol, who tightly gripped it as they walked backstage.
Once they reached the sound and tech team, he handed the usb over to one of the students working the computer and projector. 'The video and song is on this; my sister will know how to to set everything up'. The guy, named Johnny, moved out of the way to let Bea do her thing and he handed a microphone over to Seungcheol.
Seungcheol took deep breaths in and out as he paced back and forth. He couldn't stop thinking about how spectacular his friends' performances were, which made his nerves intensify by 100. Calm down, this is not about beating anyone, but for my family and Han.
'Right, Seungcheol, after I announce this, you'll be on, okay?' Johnny said. Seungcheol nodded and saw Bea, who mouthed 'fighting' and was smiling brightly, causing him to smile a little as well.
'Right, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the final act of the day! Act number 17000'. I guess it's now or never. Seungcheol took in a final breath before walking out into the blinding spotlight.
💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎💎
Thank you for reading this chapter 😊. I hope you've enjoyed it.