After much persuasion from the group leader, the other members had finally gone to bed (with the exception of Jihoon who had taken the opportunity of having free time to once again lock himself in his composition room to work on new music).  Yet, despite the soreness that ran through all the muscles in his body, Seungcheol couldn’t find it in himself to follow suit and retire for the night, knowing that not all the members had safely returned to their shared home.  As much as he trusted their choreographer Hyelim, his instincts as not just the group leader, but also the unofficial group father, kept him from sleeping, despite the fact that they were all expected to be up and dressed by seven o’clock the following morning.  Instead, even as midnight approached, Seungcheol found himself lying on his back, arms and legs spread open as the hushed sounds of R&B music filled the unlit room.

“The concert should have ended already,” he muttered, head tilted to the side with his eyes locked on the apartment entrance.  “I hope they’re okay...I should have made Jeonghan stay awake so I wouldn’t be the only one waiting.”

Although he had personally urged the other members, who instead wanted to stay up all night to goof around, to go to bed, the Seventeen leader couldn’t help but feel a sense of loneliness, despite the fact the apartment was technically packed with people.  As the group’s unofficial mother, Jun insisted on joining Seungcheol on his mission of staying awake, but the oldest boy had adamantly refused, noticing the Chinese dancer’s paled complexion due to lack of sleep.  Jeonghan, too, had offered to stay up, but within a few minutes, the long haired boy was passed out on the floor, his head resting on Seungcheol’s shoulder.  Typically, the older boy never minded, but his own fatigue (in combination with the slight drool dribbling down Jeonghan’s chin) was more than enough reason to send the soon willing boy to bed. Of course, hanging with Jihoon was always an option, but the likelihood that the composition room would be quieter, as well as more awkward, than the empty living room was increasingly high.

The older boy’s train of thought was broken when a series of loud footsteps, alongside a conglomeration of muffled shouts and singing, approached.  Just as he was scrambling to sit upright, the lock softly unclicked before both Seungkwan and Seokmin burst through the door, wrapped in an impressive amount of blue whilst each carrying a never ending armful of signs.

“We can fly away!” The two lead vocalist sang aloud as they haphazardly kicked off their sneakers before joyfully gliding towards Seungcheol.  “taeyang gakkai olla, deo nopi deo mani borira!”

The leader clasped their mouths with the palms of his hands, pointedly hissing a quiet “shh”.  When the two, eyes widened in confusion, finally nodded, he slowly removed his hands, gingerly rubbing his temples as he prayed that none of the other members had been awakened by the sudden musical number.  

“Where have you two been?  The concert ended long ago.”

Before the (somewhat) calmer of the two could gently explain to the group leader, Seungkwan leaped forward, latching himself to Seungcheol’s arm as he excitedly shook the older boy’s arm.  “Hyelim-noona took us out to eat after she brought us backstage to visit Ryeowook-sunbaenim!” he shouted, gleefully swaying from side to side.

“We also got to greet Yesung-sunbaenim and Kyuhyun sunbaenim!” Seokmin s