AN: first of all, SORRY for not updating last week. I don’t know what happens with other writers, but I always hit this crisis mode with my fics. Not that I stop disliking them, but I end up losing enthusiasm. But I’m sure I will get it back, especially if you guys comment and support me.

Thanks myrajunho for caring and for the more than 80 subscribers (yaaay. so happy about it).



Chapter 15

Wooyoung silently watched Chansung getting up and taking Soohyun upstairs. On the other side of the room, Junho was rebelling against his hyungs. For most of the people, Junho would seem arrogant, while the maknae could be confused as someone tough. But he knew better. The way they behaved was nothing more than their defense mechanism, a shield placed to show their real feelings. He wanted to sigh in exasperation and shout at them to kiss and make up, but that wouldn't help.


“What about his scandal?” Junho asked while Chansung went upstairs. Junho looked a scared cornered cat and reacted like this out of instinct.. But judging from Chansung's cold stare at Junho, he didn't see it that way. The so called scandal was a sore point to the maknae, everyone knew better than to mention it so callously. But Junho always liked to poke at the wound.

“Come here,” Taecyeon said with menace on his words.

“Ouch, you are hurting me.”

“Well, cry me a river. You've done enough damage for today.” He knew he shouldn't be laughing, but there was something funny about Taecyeon dragging a wide eyed Junho across the room like a rag doll.

“Hello, Junho-yah,” he giggled, waving for his friend, now being sheepishly carried outside.

“Bye, Junho,” Nichkhun added, a smile on his lips. Apparently Wooyoung wasn't the only one who thought the scene was kinda hilarious.

“I will check on Soohyun and Chansung. Be right back,” Minjun said and left the room hurriedly. As soon as he left the room, Nichkhun's smile fell.

“Are you not going to tell them?”

“Not yet.” Wooyoung wanted to delay that discussion for now. They already had enough problems, dropping a bomb on them wouldn't help at all.

“I think we should tell them. They have the right to know,” he pleaded with furrowed brows.

“I agree, but this is not the time. Let's talk to my doctor tomorrow and set things straight, okay?” Wooyoung had a doctor's appointment for the following day. The consultation was scheduled to know his limits when it came to band activity, but it served mostly to calm Nichkhun down.

Sometimes when Nichkhun wasn't looking, Wooyoung would notice how the oldest gaze sometimes traveled to somewhere far away. His eyes would get sad, his mouth would turn upside down. Wooyoung knew the reason why and felt regretful for it. He wanted to shout he was okay, to assure him he could still live a good life, but it wasn't enough. So maybe a conversation with his doctor would help.

“I'm afraid, Wooyoungie,” he added in a small voice, hugging his friend. Nichkhun put his arms around Wooyoung and his face on his neck, habit he seemed to grow since his arrival the other day. He would breathe deeply on him, making his skin tingle and sending his thoughts away from diseases, problems, fights, scandals. It was heaven.

“Don't be afraid, I'm alright. I just wish they would stop fighting.”

“They will eventually, don't worry,” he added, his bright smile back to his face. They stopped hugging, but intertwined they hands. A few moments later, Taecyeon and Junho came back. From the look on their faces, he could guess the conversation worked.

“You are on board?”

“Yep.” It was the brightest he has seen Junho laughing in a while. Wooyoung knew getting 2PM back together was the right thing to do. Nichkhun, Taecyeon and Junho looked their happiest now, hugging themselves with joy and enthusiasm.

Wooyoung himself was laughing so much his cheeks hurt, but his smile fell when he thought of Chansung. The maknae still had a lot of wounds, but he would try his best to help to heal them.

“I will have a talk with Chansung,” he added somberly, making them stop their reunion party.

“What?” Junho asked with wide eyes. He was acting like Wooyoung sputtered something absurd and unreasonable.

“Well, yeah. Why not?”

“Don't you think Taecyeon is best suited for this? Look at what he did to me,” he added with a nervous laugh.

“Yeah, I think Junho is right,” Nichkhun added good naturedly.

“No, no. Wooyoung and Chansung are really close. I talked a lot with Chansung these days and Wooyoung can help more than me.” Junho looked pointedly at Taecyeon, his eyes now tiny slits.

“Alright.” Junho was so obvious sometimes. But he couldn't understand Nichkhun's reasons for agreeing to this. He knew Chansung and Wooyoung were really close. Of course, Woo wasn't a miracle worker, but they both knew a heart to heart talk would help their cause. But he saved the question for later.
He went upstairs and looked for Soohyun's room. The second floor had several doors, but it was easy to spot the one that belonged to the kid because it was a baby blue decoration with his name on the door.

When he entered the room, Soohyun, Chansung and Minjun had their elbows on the floor, their whole bodies sprawled around. They were so focused in a jigsaw they didn't even notice him entering. He didn't want to interrupt, but he had to.

“Chansung, can I talk to you?”

The maknae looked up, suddenly getting out of his jigsaw trance. He smiled, nodding his head and getting up from the floor.

“You guys can talk in my piano room,” Minjun said, winking at Wooyoung. Message received.

When they entered the room, Chansung hugged him again. “I missed you, you fool. We have a lot of catch up to do.” He felt the same, but they had urgent matters to talk about.

“Miss you too. But we need to talk about 2PM first.” At Chansung's hurt expression, he added, “We will catch up. I swear. But first we need to get things right. It's heartbreaking, it bothers me. Let's fix it.”

“You heard him, Wooyoung. You see the scorn of his face when he looks at me, talks about me. But never talks to me.”

“You know Junho. He often says things he doesn't mean. He's impulsive, you know that. Just give this a chance. I'm sure he will try harder from now on. You should try it too.”

“I'm not sure, Wooyoungie...”

“Chansung,” he added in a small voice, pleading with his words. He approached the maknae to look him straight in the eyes. “This group is everything I have. Everything we have. Please help us here,” he added with tears on his eyes.

“I didn't know it was so important to you, Wooyoung,” he replied with compassion, his hand on Wooyoung's shoulder.

“It's one of those cases you only realize the value of something when you miss it.”

“I understand. But how to do this if we don't get along?”

“He wants this too. You are so wrapped up in your feelings for him you don't see a few things. He plays it cool, like his life is perfect. But he misses us as much as we do. So he will try to make this work.”

“I'm still not sure. Having a group is so hard, it's not the paradise some people think it is. You know better than me, Wooyoung. If we have problems now, imagine when we get back together, seeing each other every day.”

“I know. But the ups will still beat the downs. Plus, I'm...” he felt like sputtering the words, the dooming words that would send one more person on a spiral of sadness, but he resisted.

“You what?”

“I'm gonna be real selfish here. I really need this, Chansung. I need you to try harder. If not for the band, then for me. I can't tell you nothing yet, but this band might help me with some problems I'm having.”

“You are worrying me. What's wrong,” he asked with urgency, his eyes growing restless and alarmed.

“No, no. Don't be worried. It's just I need this in my life. But I know you need it too. So just let's just try. If things don't work out, you can always walk away.”

He shouldn't have mentioned his “problems”. Now Chansung looked worried and suspicious. “What is going on? Tell me now,” the maknae added, his words commanding. He never heard Chansung talking like that. It was scary. The hand that was on Wooyoung's shoulder now squeezed harder.

“When it's time I will explain to all of you. But to all of you, as a group.”

“I can try, but I won't make any promises, Wooyoung. I finally got back on my feet. Junho is not the only one who will hurt me. Some people didn't let that scandal go, people didn't believe me when I said those were all lies.”

“But I believe you. Your hyungs believe you too.”

“Thank you,” he added with a sad smile. “All I can do is hear your plans, see where this takes. But first problem and I'm out. I got things to take care, college, my gym. Jia...”

“I'm sorry about that, by the way. Have you spoken to her since then?”

“Just very briefly. We still didn't talk face to face.”

“What happened?”

“When we meet again I will you all about that. Now let's go downstairs and resolve the 2pm issue, shall we? And I will let this problem of your discussion rest for now, but I won't forget it,” he added with resignation.

“Fair enough.” He beamed, taking one of Chansung's hands as they went downstairs. He could hear the voices while they descended the steps and that made him happy. Taecyeon's jokes, Minjun's thick accent, Junho's and Khun's laughter. All these sounds traveled across the house, but when they entered the living room, everything went dead silent. He didn't miss Junho pointed look at their laced hands, but he chose to ignore it.

“Chansung, Junho has something to tell you.” He pushed the smaller man towards them, almost making him trip. Junho looked like a recalcitrant about to apologize for breaking the neighbor's glass windows.

“Listen man,” he said almost in a whisper, his eyes cast down. “I didn't mean to keep talking about that scandal. It's in the past, right?” When he enunciated the last word, he finally looked up. “I’m sorry for being a bad friend and not going to your wedding too.” For the first time, he looked hopeful.

“Sure,” Chansung said with a weak smile, extending his hands immediately. Wooyoung held his breath for a second, afraid of the result of this. But Junho quickly grabbed the hand and held Chansung's hand a for brief moment. When he looked around, all his hyungs look as relieved as him. The fighting duo looked awkward as hell, but it was a start.

For a while they discussed details, plans. It was almost like years ago, the only difference was the unsureness of Junho, Chansung and Nichkhun. For different reasons, they weren't committed to this body and soul. They give suggestions and ideas, but still looked tentative about it. But with each moment that passed, Wooyoung knew they would break those barriers with time.

“Great,” Taecyeon said loudly when they were about to say their goodbyes. “Now let's call our Don't Stop, Can't stop chant.”

“What?” All of them said, almost in unison. It was such an old habit and it was so out of the blue that they looked at each other not knowing what to do.

“Yeah, you call it, Chansung. Like the old days.”

“Alright,” he said it with a deflated voice and sagging shoulders.

When they joined their hands – even little Soohyun joined with the help of Taecyeon – he started. “Don't,” he shouted. His voice ran across the room, as if he was talking through a megaphone.

“Stop,” they shouted back with enthusiasm and 5 times louder.

“Can't,” he shouted again.

“Stop. 2PM.” When they stopped yelling, it was clear calling the chant was the right thing to do. All of them, no exception this time, smiled widely. Once again, the feeling of rightness took over him. Everything was going to be alright.

They said their goodbyes, with Chansung and Junho leaving first, but separately. Taecyeon would be staying over a little longer, so Nichkhun and Wooyoung left together.

“It went well, right?” Wooyoung asked, still on Minjun's front yard.

“Yes, it did. But there is something I still don't like.”

“Oh, the fact I hid that from them?”

“That too. I mean something else.”

“What?” asked a wide eyed Wooyoung. Everything was so perfect and ended so well, it scared him that Nichkhun still had problems about something.

Nichkhun remained silent, but approached him with maddening slow steps. When Wooyoung thought he would stop, he continued his course until his mouth was really close to Wooyoung's lips.

“I don't like when you get too close to Chansung,” he whispered. To his surprise Nichkhun didn't stop there and grazed Wooyoung's lips lightly with his own, giving the youngest a small peck after the brief touch. But surprisingly, he stopped there and started walking towards their car with a smug smile on his face.

Wooyoung stood there shell shocked, his hands touching the place Nichkhun just grazed with his lips.

“Let's go, Wooyoung.” He got out of his trance and ran towards the car, still not knowing what the hell just happened.

UP NEXT: Taecyeon.