An involuntary groan of pure exasperation bounced off the walls, startling the slumbering leader awake who was nestled snugly on the velvet couch standing in the dimly lit room. His eyes remained closed and his ears analyzed every sound in the backdrop. He felt the presence of s and the low humming sound in the short distance, in which he figured was a rerun of a previous One Piece episode. Seconds passed until he felt himself returning to his lethargy, muffling the sound of his surroundings while his body turned light as air, only to be jolted once again into wakefulness by another whimper identical to the last one.

Yunho let out a sigh and complied to his consciousness this time. He glanced over at the escalating vexation building up at the coffee table, taking in the sight of the main singer lying sprawled on the floor just like how he envisioned him to be.

"You're still at it? Why don't you just take a break? Whatever you're doing is not healthy," he said with annoyance but still out of concern.

"My head feels full, but why can I hardly remember anything? Am I even learning? Hyung, I think something's wrong with me," Junsu asserted, with his voice sounding distorted caused by the open book sitting atop his face.

"You're over-studying. You won't recall anything if you over-study."

"You don't understand. My brain is not equipped to learn another language. This is like algebra and we all know that algebra is alien language. Hyung, I want to go back to Korea. I don't like it here."

For a second, Yunho's face grimaced. He was convinced that the younger member was going to bust out another one of his recurring weeping episodes, which was an understandable reaction knowing that the stress of being in a foreign country had been taking a toll on him – on all of them. Funnily enough, all of them had different ways of dealing with the new environment, where some would rather remain reserve, while others did not mind being vocal about it. It hadn't even been a month since they had moved out of Korea to promote TVXQ in Japan, yet their duties as a group had multiplied beyond belief. Not only did they have to prepare for their debut single, they also had to learn the language so that they could at least understand what on Earth they were singing about. It was like debuting all over again, the members all agreed. No, it was like living their trainee days all over again.

Fortunately for all of them, Junsu's cry never came, for Changmin had beaten him to it with another one of his snarky remark and Yunho reminded himself to thank the youngest one later. He wasn't in the mood to deal with his mewls, especially since his much needed nap had to come to a halt.

"Even aliens can absorb more information than you," the maknae teased but his eyes remained glued to the television.

"Says the youngest person in the room."

"Your point?"

"Younger people have it easy. Learning a new language requires less effort for you young ones," Junsu claimed with conviction, earning a dubious frown from Changmin.

"We're literally just a year apart," the other one chuckled, "Just admit that you're not the brightest person in this room."

"I don't have to admit anything. Anyone will tell you that Nihongo is a very complex language to learn."

"What do you call me then?"

"You're one of the odd ones."

"All four of us?" It was a sly grin Changmin had given him and he didn't fail to notice the added snickers from the older members.

Junsu pouted under the book before throwing it in Changmin's direction. He stood promptly and stomped off down the hallway, hoping to receive some loving comfort in the arms of the oldest member.

But his journey didn't last long, for the young man was now in his feet, looking more moody and petulant than ever.

"Well, that was quick. What's the matter? Mother hen didn't give you what you needed?"

"He didn't even acknowledge my presence," Junsu mumbled under his breath, "...always on that damn phone of his. How do they not run out of things to talk about..." He continued to grumble in an undertone.

Yet somehow, Yunho's ears perked as he processed the hushed bleats of the young man. The dancer didn't have to take a second guess about what Junsu had meant, as he knew exactly what the chagrin was all about. He was becoming too accustomed to this and he didn't like it one bit.

"What else is new? Those two can't get enough of each other," Yoochun stated the obvious and a spasm churned through the leader's stomach.

"What exactly do they even talk about? All I hear are giggles and cackles, it makes me sick. And what's worse is that Jaejoong hyung is acting like a thirteen-year-old girl experiencing her first puppy love," Junsu shuddered at the thought.

"He's making friends. I've never seen him this open and chatty, so why don't you cut him some slack." Changmin defended the oldest member.

"But why isn't he like that with me?"

"You can't be trusted."

"And you think you're that trustworthy?" Junsu retorted.

"More than you, that's for sure."

"Oh please, I'm sure that you're dying inside because Jaejoong hyung replaced you with his new best friend."

"I'm not that petty. I'm not like you."

"You could try sounding more convincing. Admit it, you've been replaced by Sanghy-"

"Can you both simmer down? If you have nothing better to talk about, then please keep it down! Your back-and-forth banters are giving me a headache! Stop acting like children and keep quiet!" Yunho exclaimed and swathed himself with his knitted throw blanket, taking everyone in the room by surprise.

"Speak for yourself. You're the one sulking like a child," Junsu retaliated in a whisper, making sure that his words did not reach the older man's ears.

"It's your fault, you woke him up in the most inconvenient way," Yoochun teased his friend.

"I didn't mean to! I'm just trying to learn and now all of you are attacking me!" The main singer fought back but still remained hushed.

"There's no point putting the blame on him. We all know how hyung gets when Sanghyuk's name gets mentioned," Changmin shook his head.

"Right. What's his deal with him, anyway? He seems to hiss whenever we speak of him."

"He's probably feeling threatened."

"Why would he feel threa-"

"I can still hear you!" Yunho cut in and all three members exchanged looks and shrugged, which indicated the end of their gabfest.

Yunho was beyond annoyed. Not only was his pleasant nap taken away from him, he also had to hold back and listen to his friends discuss about the he-who-must-not-be-named. He didn't know the man personally, but something about him irked the living soul out of him. He didn't know why and he wasn't planning on delving further into it, but he hated his guts. There's just something off-putting about the sound of Jaejoong's ringtone reserved solely for the man and the beam plastered on his roommate's face as he looked at his call display. What exactly did Jaejoong see in him? What's so special about him anyway?

.............................................................................................

The next few months flew by like a whirlwind and though performing in front of smaller crowds was becoming more and more customary to the team, the preparation for their second debut had kept them on edge. It wasn't like in Korea, where they had many supporters prior to the launching of their group. This time, they had to start from scratch and tiptoe their way in as they test the waters.

The group had returned to their shared dorm only to receive an hour later, the news about their debut single reaching thirty-seven on the weekly chart and being labelled as a "shame" to the history of Korean pop. They had been called guinea pigs, used to test the emerging success of the Hallyu Wave, only to fail as they did not meet the expectation of the Japanese population.

Alas, Tohoshinki did not receive the same attention as they did back in their motherland. It was highly expected, but the sorrow shared among them was undeniable. They wouldn't call them a complete failure, but having to start all over again with less encouragement this time around, was enervating and disheartening.

The members were filled with worry, with the thought of their fans at home anticipating the same success they had achieved in the previous year. But what were they to do other than strive harder as they had promised everyone that they would aim higher and make everything worth the wait.

"So what now?" Yoochun broke the silence, as he rearranged his face mask for the nth time.

"What do you mean?"

"What are we going to do?"

"We're gonna do what we came here to do. We keep going until we reach the top," Changmin tried to sound enthusiastic, but the damp sheet laying gently on his face prevented him from conveying his optimism.
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