“Well aren’t you two sweet?” A light-haired boy wearing a sweater that’s too long for his arms stops in front of them.

The two boys simultaneously turn their heads. “Jihoon-hyung.” They say in unison, recognizing the older member. Seungkwan casually removes his arm on Vernon, placing them on his sides.

Jihoon chuckles, covering his mouth with his hand. “Why are you suddenly getting shy, Seungkwan? I’ve seen you two do way more skinship than that.”

Seungkwan’s eyes widen. “This hyung.” He mumbles and playfully hits Jihoon on the shoulder. “What’s with that...”

Jihoon places a thoughtful hand on his chin. “Come to think of it, you two have toned down on skinship ever since we got pretty busy with the debut and comebacks.”

Vernon chuckles awkwardly. Now that Jihoon pointed it out, Vernon remembered all the skinship he did with Seungkwan before they debuted. His cheeks flush thinking about how close they were, almost like a couple. He looks at Seungkwan and sees him standing awkwardly, unable to say anything else, cheeks a slight shade of pink. “Ah Hyung. Why are you out? Is the practice over?” There’s no better way to escape an awkward situation than to change the subject.

“Oh yeah. Let’s go back to the convenience store. The kids are hungry for some snacks.” Jihoon steps in between the two, almost like breaking off the awkward air and heads to where they came from.

The two boys look at each other, an awkward smile on their faces. “Nice save.” Seungkwan gives a weak thumb up and follows Jihoon. The two stand awkwardly beside the other while Jihoon finishes up with his shopping. The awkwardness lingers throughout their walk back and even during practice.

Hoshi claps his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, now let’s do Adore U.” He clicks on play and  rushes to his position.

Everything is going well. The members are in a good mood and are recharged after their quick break. They’re almost at the middle of the song. They go through the chorus, Mingyu’s part, Seungcheol’s, and then Hoshi’s. Next, it was Vernon’s part. He struts at the center followed by Minghao, Jeonghan, and Seungkwan. After he raps, he casually lies down, the other three members catching him without effort. But then, Vernon falls, his face almost smothering the floor.

“Whoa!” Vernon braces himself, stopping his face from falling flat on the floor with his hand.

The members at the back stop and look at the commotion. “Are you okay?” Jeonghan asks. Checking Vernon’s face.

“Yeah.” Vernon nods and stands up.

Seungcheol comes to the front. “What happened? Are you okay?” Their leader asks, worried. This wasn’t the first time they failed at this part of the dance, but they’d been doing this for so long so it’s been months since then.

“He’s okay.” Jeonghan assures Seungcheol. “Minghao and I were holding Vernon pretty well, so I think we weren’t able to balance the weight well on Seungkwan’s end.” He looks at Seungkwan. He was just standing there, looking dumbfounded.

“Oh really? What happened, Seungkwan?” Seungcheol pats Seungkwan’s back.

Seungkwan looks at the member’s faces, all waiting for him to apologize and explain himself. “I’m just a bit sleepy, I guess.” He rubs a hand on his neck and bows apologetically. “I’m sorry.” That was all he could say because it really was his fault. Once Hoshi said they were going to practice Adore U, he immediately had butterflies in his stomach. He was nervous because he knew he was going to have several parts close to Vernon. He didn’t think he’d actually drop him at that crucial part, though. Vernon’s sweat on his hands and his warm breath slightly blowing on his arm was too much for Seungkwan to handle he couldn’t help but weaken his grip on the boy.

Seungcheol pats Seungkwan’s back. “It’s okay. Just get your head together. We’re all sleepy and tired, but if we make any more mistakes, it’s going to take us longer to practice. So focus, ok?” He looks him straight in the eyes.

Seungkwan nods. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”

Hoshi claps his hands. “Alright. From the top, guys!”

Everyone gets back to position and they finish the dance without any mistakes, but Hoshi kept noticing something at the corner of his eyes while they were dancing the part switch version of the song. There was something off with how Seungkwan and Vernon interacted. It didn’t look natural. What’s up with them? Hoshi wondered.

“Hey, Seungkwan.” He calls him out as soon as practice was over. “Come over here, for a second. You too, Vernon.”

The two members approach the performance leader. “What’s up hyung?” Vernon slides to Hoshi’s side.

Hoshi stands in the middle of both members and puts his arms on their shoulders. “Are you two okay? Your interactions in the dance looked awkward. I just let it slide during practice so we can all go home, but I’m not going to let you two off until you tell me what’s wrong.” Hoshi was serious. If the members had a problem with each other, it could affect their performance and if the fans see it, they might get worried.

“I’m just tired, hyung.” Seungkwan tries to brush it off.

“Seungkwan-ah. We’re all tired, but we’re giving it our all.” He sighs. “Practice like it’s the real thing, remember?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry.” Seungkwan pouts. “I’ll be better tomorrow.”

“Okay, but just to make sure that it’s really nothing, I want you two to stare at each other for 1 minute.” The two boys look at him like they just heard something outrageous. “What’s with your expressions? There really is something wrong!” He puts his hands on his hips. “Come on, just say it.”

Vernon looks at Seungkwan. He wasn’t sure if it really was the reason why they were being awkward and he really didn’t want to talk about it again, but they need to get this over with now. If there’s anything he learned from being in the group for the past years, it’s that issues should be resolved before going to bed, else it will carry over the next day. “I think it’s because of what Jihoon-hyung said a while ago.” He studies Seungkwan’s expression. The other seemed to agree.

“Vernon and I were talking like this…” He puts his arm on Vernon, his arm awkwardly lying on the boy’s shoulder. “Then Jihoon-hyung said that we were sweet. So I was kind of shocked…we weren’t doing anything sweet. So then I put my hand down like this.” He puts his hand off Vernon’s shoulder. “Then he said Vernon and I had done more than that, so I shouldn’t be so shy about it.” Seungkwan explains.

Hoshi nods but his expression didn’t look like he grasped what Seungkwan just said. “I don’t understand.” He finally says, looking at Vernon, hopeful he’d have a better explanation.

“Seungkwan, I think this is what you were doing when Jihoon-hyung came.” He was unsure about how to explain how Seungkwan embraced him so his arms flapped around the other. Then, he gulped and dove in, putting his arms around Seungkwan, hugging him from the side. “And then we were looking at each other like this.” He nervously puts a finger on Seungkwan’s chin and slightly pushes it so their faces were facing each other. Their eyes met, Seungkwan’s mouth forming a small O, and Vernon biting his lip.

“Ah! No wonder Jihoon-hyung said that. That is sweet!” Hoshi laughs. Seungkwan and Vernon’s face turn red and they instantly stand at attention, Vernon letting the embrace go and Seungkwan moving away from his bestfriend. “Why are you two so embarrassed? Don’t you do that all the time? Seungkwan, you even caress Vernon’s face like this.” He caresses his own face, sliding a hand on his cheek.

Seungkwan’s mouth drops. “When did I do that?!”

“Almost every day.” Vernon agrees with Hoshi. “You treat me like I’m a baby.” His eyebrows furrow and his lips pout.

Hoshi puts his hands on Seungkwan and Vernon’s shoulder. “Anyway, the point is, it’s something that’s pretty normal between you two. We’re all used to it. So, what’s the problem?” He looks at Seungkwan.

Seungkwan fiddles with his fingers. “I guess it was just awkward because Jihoon-hyung said something like that.” He looks at Vernon. “I didn’t think Vernon and I would be labeled sweet.”

Vernon nods. “Yeah. It sounded like only something couples would be labeled as. But I guess we are pretty sweet, if you put it like that.” He cackles, now amused at their little awkward moment.

“Yeah. Your skinship is no joke.” Hoshi then caresses Vernon’s face with dreamy eyes.

“Yah!” Vernon and Seungkwan both hit Hoshi and the three boys laugh.  

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Here's another chapter! I hope this didn't seem too forced. It's so hard to imagine these two being awkward with each other. Thankfully there was that moment in Star Show 360 so I was able to picture out an awkward Vernon and Seungkwan. Haha! I hope you guys like it! If not, let me know what I can do to improve or if you have any suggestions about the development, like whether you want this to be a friendly thing or something romantic. Thank you again for all the comments and for subscribing! :)