Jihoon was once again locked away in his studio, working hard to make sure each song he made was better than the other. He wanted only the best music for their Seventeen albums, and his determination and perfectionism resulted in countless hours of hard work. It had been long hours since the sun had set, but the man couldn’t tell, due to his windowless room. It was only when he thought of searching up the meaning of a word – so he could properly include it in the song’s lyrics – that he realized the late time of the night, seeing as his phone’s digital watch showed 2:34AM.

He was pretty sure most of the members had gone home already, he was probably the only one left in the building. There was a time when they’d go in to say goodbye to him, but since that only distracted him from the work and made him lose momentum, they stopped. It was up to him to decide when to come out.

Having been shocked by the late hour, and feeling his stomach growl with the sudden realization that he hadn’t eaten in almost half a day, he just leaned back in his chair and allowed a sigh to come out, pulling his headphones away and putting them on the table. He stretched his body, feeling his joints stiff and painful from being in the same position for too long. He was tired, and he was finally feeling it. He wanted to get up and go eat, but he was also feeling lazy and weak, so he didn’t want to move.

With one more sigh, and a sudden forgetfulness towards that important thing called self-preservation, the man sat back up, ignoring his body’s desire for food and sleep, and just putting his headphones back on. After he was done with that song, he would allow himself to eat. It was almost as if he was blackmailing himself; he could only eat and sleep once he was done, no breaks allowed.

But before he could even play anything, and properly return to his work, there was a light knock on the door, and then it opened.

Soonyoung poked his head through, a soft smile reaching his lips once he caught Jihoon looking at him. The bright man then fully went in, raising his hands and showing two steaming cups of instant noodles.

“Dinner time.”

He said with a chuckle, and Jihoon turned to receive the food while chanting blessings and gratitude to the other man inside his head. The sight and smell of the cup-noodles was more than enough to drive him crazy.

“Thank you. I didn’t know you were still here; it’s so late, I though everyone was gone.”

Jihoon mentioned, watching as Soonyoung pulled a chair in, and placed it next to his.

“I was perfecting the choreographies. I want to make sure it’s all nice and clean.”

Soonyoung smiled at him, and then dug into the noodles, showing that he was just as hungry as Jihoon – if not more, since he had been dancing – and that sight reminded the other man to eat his own.

“Do you want to listen to this new song? It’s not done yet, but it’s almost there.”

Jihoon had barely chewed his noodles properly before he spoke up, already taking his headphones off again and pushing them towards Soonyoung.

The man put them on, and without any needed reply, Jihoon started playing the file he was working on. For nearly three minutes, the two were silent, just gulfing down their noodles. Soonyoung wasn’t as still as Jihoon though, swaying his body to the music, his expression changing to show that he was enjoying himself, and that sudden parts of the song were nicely surprising.

“It’s sounding great! And you said it’s not done? It sounds done to me!”

Soonyoung pulled the headphones down to his neck, turning to Jihoon with much appreciated excitement. Jihoon could only smile as the man commented on his artwork, feeling proud of himself.

“I still have some arranging to do; I’m not 100% satisfied.”

He explained, and Soonyoung immediately laughed and made him a silly mocking face.

“You’re never 100% satisfied! Don’t overwork yourself!”

The man nudged Jihoon’s shoulder, getting a smile out if him.

“I just want to make it better.”

Jihoon explained, even though he knew he didn’t need to. Soonyoung understood him; out of all the members, Soonyoung was always the one who best knew what he felt; because the other man was the same. The man wanted his choreographies to be the best they could be, and for that, he pushed out the best out of all the members dancing abilities, just like Jihoon tried to bring out the best in their vocals.

There was no reply to that comment – as no reply was needed – and a comfortable silence fell. But naturally, it didn’t last long, as it was difficult for Soonyoung to stay silent for too long. The man started wiggling his shoulders, and Jihoon just knew something was coming.

“It’s so catchy, it keeps replaying in my head!”

The man exclaimed, making Jihoon chuckle and give him an endearing look, enjoying to see the other in such an excited state.

“I can’t wait to dance to it!”

The man coyly continued, turning to Jihoon to send him a charming wink, and immediately laughing after it.

“Ugh, that’s so cheesy!!”

Jihoon complained, but he was also laughing, unable to control himself after the other man’s silly behavior.

“Well, cheesiness is my best trait!”

Soonyoung loudly replied, making tiny hearts with his fingers and making some cutesy and silly poses with them, but each graduated to a more derp-y expression, until he was just being plainly funny.

Jihoon was laughing hard, being inebriated by the other’s bubbly happiness. But one thing was on the back of his mind, and he had to say it.

“No it isn’t though! I disagree!”

He said as they were both still laughing, and their cackles turned into chuckles, as they calmed down. Soonyoung’s attention was on him, waiting for an explanation.

“Kindness.”

Jihoon blurted out, a soft but meaningful smile resting on his lips then, and his eyes shifted towards the cup-noodles that sat in front of him.

“Kindness is your best trait.”

He elaborated. There was pure silence after that –which for Jihoon was very weird, since he expected Soonyoung to loudly react to something like that – so the man turned to see what was happening on the other’s face. He turned to see Soonyoung looking down, a shy and embarrassed smile peeking through his lips.

It was an honest compliment, received with an honest and pure reaction.