Second In Command
Oops.

It’s Byunghee’s turn to do the laundry when the ipod falls out of one of the baskets.

Bending down, he immediately notices the name engraved in the back. Yang Seungho. In that moment, he realizes why their leader was stomping about grumpily all morning. When he turns it over in his hands and traces his fingers along the shattered screen, he also knows why it was hidden in the bottom of a pile of dirty clothes. Whoever is responsible is clearly trying to hide it and he knows that things will only go downhill if he doesn’t get the full story before approaching their leader.

Naturally, he starts with the owner of the hamper which it was in.

“Yah Sanghyun,” he calls in a voice that means business and makes the eternal maknae jump slightly before he blinks and looks away, guilt already spreading over his face.

“It wasn’t him,” Chansung immediately pipes up. “Don’t go blaming people.” It’s not surprising seeing as that kid always seems to be looking out for Thunder but the equally as guilty expression he wears is certainly peculiar.

“I haven’t accused anyone of anything,” he says while trying to keep an even tone. They are after all, younger than him. If Byunghee’s learned anything from his nephews, it’s patience. “Do you know why it might have been in your hamper?” he questions.

“I d-don’t know,” his roommate stammers but the look on his face says he does. Changsun shakes his head in agreement, also avoiding eye contact. And then, Byunghee figures out who they must be protecting with their silence.

 “I swear I’ve never seen it before,” the maknae exclaims, burying his nose in a manga quickly. It’s not hard to tell by his body language that he’s scared to death to admit anything.

“Cheolyong,” he warns threateningly.

“I just wanted to borrow some batteries for my game controller,” the boy whimpers from behind the pages of the book. “It was on the floor and I stepped on it. It was an accident; I didn’t mean to break it.”

Everything about the confessions screams child as the fluffy hair visible behind the pages trembled slightly. The vocalist sighs, knowing the kid would never have touched something so valuable much less broken it on purpose.

“I know,” he says, sitting on the edge of the bed and pushing the comic down to look his dongsaeng in the eye. “Even so, you know need to tell him what happened.”

“O-okay.” The youngest mumbles in a rather unconvincing voice.

“Tonight by dinner or I’ll have to tell him.”

Chelyong gulps and nods a bit more fervently this time with the sudden mention of the ultimatum and with that, Byunghee hopes his job is done. Except for the fact that four hours later, when they sit down to eat, things between the leader and maknae seem absolutely fine- too fine. So he traps the youngest once more after dinner.

“Come with me,” he orders, gripping the younger’s wrist gently but firmly.

“Where?”

“To tell Seungho. You can’t keep lying.” He really isn’t trying to be mean, he knows that Seungho will be a thousand times more harsh if he finds out the maknae’s been hiding the accident.

“No!” The boy shouts with a shriek that practically breaks Byunghee’s eardrums. He winces, tilting his head and unconsciously tightening his grip. In return, Cheolyong whimpers and squirms. “He’s going to hate me.”

Slackening his hold, the elder frowns and squats down much like he does when he is talking with his nephews.“Cheolyong, he won’t hate you, but if you keep lying to him it will be wrong. It was just an accident, but keeping it to yourself will make Seungho more angry in the end. It’s better to be honest and apologize. I’ll come with you if it helps, but you need to explain to him. Don’t you want to feel better too?”

 It takes a few more seconds, but every so slowly the boy nods in agreement. Wrapping an arm around the smaller male, Byunghee steers him down the call and knocks lightly on Seungho’s door. From his pocket he take out the ipod and presses it in into Cheolyong’s shaking hand. “You can do this.”

As the maknae stutters through the story of the incident Seungho blinks, a fire rising in his eyes for just a second but right when Byunghee thinks he’s going to explode, the leader his lips and nods.

“Byunghee may I have a word with Cheolyong for a minute.”

As much as he wants to listen, he knows it’s not his place. He leaves, giving the youngest one more pat on the shoulder and wanders into his own bedroom.

“Is he really mad?” Sanghyun questions curiously.

“He’ll be fine. It’s better to be truthful, you hear?” His roommate nods, going back to picking up the room and Byunghee does  the same until he hears two pairs of footsteps go down the hall, disappear into Joon and Mir’s room and a few minutes after that, only one pair exiting.

He pokes his head into the hall. “You two alright?”

Seungho runs his fingers through his hair and closes the door quietly. “Yeah, we’re fine. He didn’t mean it.”

“He’s a good kid.”

The leader nods, “He told me how you made him tell.”

Byunghee freezes, unsure if he’d about to be in for a scolding. He isn’t, after all, the oldest or the designated man in charge of the group even if he’s 87-line. “About that, I-“

“It was the right thing,” Seungho comments before pausing ever so slightly, “You’re good with them and that’s a good thing.” The elder then gives him a quick pat on the shoulder before retreating to the bathroom where the sound of running water is heard.

As simply as that, Byunghee is left in the hallway, feeling like he’s really starting to get the hang of what it means to be one of the hyungs.

***

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long, I was away from home for a few weeks without internet and before that the site was down. Anyways, any suggestions for situations that Byunghee might experience differently as the second in command are welcome. I won't guarentee I'll use them because I might not be inspired by all of them but I will take a look!

Thanks for sticking around!
~Alicia