Again, he was alone in a studio room. Again, he was the only one left in the entire building. And again, he was too preoccupied to notice his surroundings.

They had only just debuted a week ago but the effect it had on him was boundless. For the whole week, he found himself in the studio more frequently than ever—and that wasn’t including the recordings he needed for the band. He had always loved writing and composing.

And with the new realization of debuting finally hitting him, he couldn’t find a better place to be than this dark studio surrounded by tapes and expensive equipment, occasionally putting in samples and recording his own material with what little he was allowed to tinker with.

It wasn’t that he avoided the others, he just felt the need to be here.

Or was it something more? Someone more?

“L to the O to N-E-R”

He nearly fell off his chair at the voice—he had thought he was alone like all the other days. But he didn’t need to turn around to know who that husky light voice belonged to. He couldn’t deny the part of him that felt relief that it was her.

After all, she understood him best.

“It’s J to the O to the K-E-R” He retorted, “And you’re an S-T-A-L-K-E-R. Jeez, creepy much?”

He heard her chuckle, followed by footsteps, and soon she was plumped on a sofa to his right. Maybe it was because he had been alone for so many nights here, that her company—or presence—brought back his sanity a little bit.

He was happy to have the company. But it hardly showed.

“4 nights in a row now, seriously Junhyung?” She complained, “Are you trying to kill me?”

He turned to her, raising his eyebrows. “You knew I was here?”

“Well… yeah, I passed by here a couple of times but I didn’t wanna bother you, you looked so seriously constipated” She smiled at the last word, she had meant to say ‘concentrated’ but the last second change seemed to fit much better

He laughed a little, “I wouldn’t be surprised, I’ve been sitting on this chair for too many hours”

“Yeah, dude! I was seriously going to go crazy, you turned into such a recluse since debuting, I was beginning to wonder if you hated my voice that much”

“But I’ve hated it since—“

“Point taken.” She cut him off, earning a sly smirk from him in return “But anyway, I couldn’t take the frustration anymore so…”

“Frustration…?” He knew what she meant, but he still couldn’t help but ask. Maybe he was hoping for a different answer?

“Well, you went from bestie to extinct like… overnight! I need friends too, you know”

“You have SoHyun” He didn’t know why he pursued the subject so, but he just acted before he could stop himself

“She’s busy these days”

“I’m busy these days”

“Yeah, but it’s you”

“It’s me? So I’m worth bothering?”

She frowned at this, unable to comprehend why he was being difficult—why he couldn’t get that she was more comfortable with him. Unable to respond with a quick comeback, she got up and sighed, defeated.

“Fine.” She said, “I’m sorry. I’ll leave now”

She gathered her stuff—keys, phone, wallet—before heading out the door. She paused when she reached the door, her back at him as she said a few last words; “It’s just… you looked like you could’ve used some company. Sorry for misunderstanding.”

'I did. I’m the one who should be sorry. Don’t leave.' His words refused to come out

She turned to face him, now with a gentle smile just barely hiding the slight hurt she knew she shouldn’t be showing, “And don’t overwork! Be sure to sleep enough and eat well, ok?”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned away and was already pacing quickly down the hallway to the nearest elevator.

Still in the studio, Junhyung’s head was bowed in shame. He didn’t understand it himself, either. He had regretted saying it immediately after, when he saw Hyuna’s face scrunch into a frown. But his voice wouldn’t rescue him, he was too ashamed.

“Hyuna… stay.” He whispered into the air, too late and too quiet.

He sighed harshly, rubbing his head between his hands. Maybe the stress was getting to him, maybe the long hours—done voluntarily out of his feeling of obligation—was getting to him.

His head in a bigger mess than before she came, he was no longer able to continue working.

Standing up, he grabbed his coat and walked out the door—silently deciding that if he found her waiting outside the building for him, like she usually did on occasions before (his debut) which he found himself unconsciously reciprocating, he would apologize.

Although he knew it was highly unlikely she would be waiting after what he did—or did not—do, a part of him really wished she would be there—if more to ease his guilt than anything.

When he stepped out into the dark night, a shock of a cold breeze him met him in the face. Ever so slowly, he cautiously looked around. Except for the wind, the overbearing silence was reflective of the deserted streets. There was no one, and it was painfully obvious.

“No surprise there, Junhyung” He muttered to himself as he started walking down the street towards his dorm a mile away.

He could still wish, couldn’t he?

** ** **

“ARRRGHH!!” Hyuna yelled in frustration, banging the door behind her as she entered her dorm, “That stupid, stupid, stupid idiot!!!”

The four other girls were still in the living room, their focus glued to the TV where a boyish looking park shin hye looked like she was being bullied by an effeminate looking jang geun seuk.

“Shh Hyuna!” GaYoon snapped, “You’re Beautiful is on”

Hyuna pouted as she watched the four, no one was paying attention

Sohyun patted on the floor next to her, motioning for Hyuna to sit beside her. Hyuna obliged, sloppily plopping herself beside Sohyun maknae and then resting her head on her shoulder.

“He was in the studio again?” She asked quietly, her eyes not leaving the TV—at least her attempt at the conversation showed she cared, hyuna thought to herself

“Yeah…” The older girl replied, “Him and his stupid moody self is going to be the death of me”

“It seems his mood swings have been affecting you more…”

“It’s not that,” Hyuna muttered, “His mood swings are the one getting worse since his debut”

“Then, maybe it’s just the stress getting to him”

“Kikwang doesn’t seem any different..” Hyuna mumbled

“Yeah, well Kikwang debuted before already,” Sohyun said, “so he’s used to it. Remember when we debuted? I was a shaky, nervous mess. But you were there for me, the only calm one out of the group—the one with the experience. And you calmed me—us—down. Because of you, we were able to have a confident stage.”

Hyuna thought about this, “I guess… but he doesn’t spend as much time with me, anymore”—and he doesn’t seem to care about it at all, she silently added to herself

Sohyun shot her a look, “It’s only going to get worse, he’s going to get busier, and then we’re going to get busier. It’s what we signed up for, remember?”

“I know that” Hyuna mumbled as she pouted, “I just miss him already”

By now, Sohyun had already left the drama playing on TV, her focus on Hyuna, “Unnie… do you—?”

“NOOOO!!!!” Jiyoon’s loud yell made everyone jump a little—the maknae’s especially, as they were barely paying attention to the TV

The Maknae’s turned back to see Gayoon hugging—and trying to calm down—a very spazzy Jiyoon. Jihyun was just chuckling beside them, “How can he be so mean!?”

“I know right?!” Hyuna replied, thinking of her own situation

Sohyun stared at Hyuna for a moment before shaking the thoughts out of her head. Getting up, she pulled Hyuna along towards their room. “Let’s go Unnie, it’s bedtime”

Hyuna simply nodded, suddenly exhausted after the day’s events. She just wanted to crawl into her bed and fall into deep slumber in the warm embrace of her thick blanket.

But Sohyun had no plans of sleep at the moment, there was something she was too curious about—and she was going to get to the bottom of it. She grinned, a little mischievously, as she glanced at a tired looking Hyuna.

It was going to be a long night.