“U-Um… Excuse me… You’re the leader, right?” he asked.

“That’s me.” Baekho replied bluntly without even looking up from the magazine he was reading.

“What are we going to do tomorrow?”

“Dance practice.”

“Oh… Okay. I’ll work hard. Is it okay if I could be shown where everything is?” Slip up. Without getting out of his seat, the leader merely pointed to the essential rooms for the new arrival.

“Bathroom’s there, kitchen’s there, bedroom’s there. You’ll be sleeping in the same room as Minki and Minhyun.” JR nodded slightly, thanked him and went to explore his new home. Thoughts raced around his head about what the other members thought of him. He pushed them away in an attempt to relax as he took in his new surroundings.

Reaching his new bedroom he found three beds. One bed was sat underneath a cute shelf housing porcelain rabbits, what looked like packets of chewing gum and various other candies. The bed itself had a plain pink pastel coloured duvet. It looked as if you could walk on air in your dreams. Obviously Ren’s bed, JR thought. The bed to its left had a dark blue duvet. There was nothing very interesting about the bed itself but sat on its pillow was a photo frame with a picture of a family, obviously one of his new band mates. JR picked up the photo and by the process of elimination and by what Baekho told him, figured out that the family was indeed Minhyun’s. The boy smiled at the cuteness – the frame looked well made with an elaborate design. 

~*~*~

Meanwhile, Baekho leant forward on his thighs.

“Guys, this freak is gonna completely get in our way. I suggest you don’t fraternise with him. Ignore him where possible, and if you need to reply to him, don’t be too nice about it – we don’t want him thinking we’re his friends.”

Everyone nodded, following the obviously powerful leader’s wishes.

“I bet he’s rummaging through my stuff now. He better not touch it. He seems nosey.” Ren snorted.

“If he does, disinfect it.” Baekho giggled. “He definitely does seem like the nosey brat type.”

“You know what’s funny? I saw part of a stuffed animal poking out of his bag. He can’t live without cuddling his toy. I bet he named it too!” The blondes burst into laughter at their own assumptions.

“Do you think he’s a crier?” Aron cut in, grinning.

“Why don’t we test that?” was the sly reply from the youngest.

“New plan, guys.” Baekho began. “We make his life a living Hell. That way he’ll leave for sure!”

“Isn’t this going too far?” Minhyun attempted to help JR. “He’s new, after all…” However, the visual was ignored and the others carried on laughing. They droned off into what they planned to do but Baekho quickly broke the evil circle when he noticed Minhyun heading towards the bedroom.

“Yah, Minhyun-ah. Don’t think of being kind to that outcast, got it?”

~*~*~

JR jumped as he heard the door open behind him. He turned quickly to see Minhyun the skyscraper looking back at him, and then noticing the photo frame in his new room and band mate’s hands. Jonghyun’s eyes widened.

“I-I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have been so-“

“It’s okay, Jonghyun-hyung.”

“H-hyung?”

“That’s what you are… My hyung, right?”

“Ah, yes… But still, I’m sorry for touching your possessions!”

“It’s fine, really. You should go to bed. And a word of warning, don’t sit on Ren’s bed. He doesn’t like anyone on it.”

“I see… Thank you for that warning…” With that, Minhyun nodded then casually pulled off his shirt and replaced it with a clean white vest. JR was sat on his plain bed. He admired Minhyun’s torso, the way his vest clung to his curved figure, the way his smooth arms were uncovered and flawle- What the Hell are you doing, Kim Jonghyun?! JR scolded himself away from his distracting thoughts and quickly got up and changed, doing everything he could to resist looking over his shoulder. He got into his bed, his cold bed. His cold bed with normal white sheets. He sat up and reached for his bag, pulling out an orange stuffed toy.

“Tosun-ah” JR whispered. “You’re my friend, right?” He lay down on his side facing the wall. He clutched Tosun tightly and closed his eyes, falling asleep. 

~*~*~

Only having been told the routine once, JR made mistake after mistake.

“Yah, newbie, learn the dance or don’t participate at all!” called Baekho.

“Your LEFT foot! Learn it already, jeez!” Aron huffed. JR bowed apologetically before trying again but again, made a mistake.

“You’re never going to get this right.” Ren stated before dragging Baekho to the side of the practice room. He whispered obviously snide comments about the new rapper before separating from Baekho’s ear and returning to the dance routine. During that time, the oblivious Jonghyun was practising the dance moves over and over. He didn’t want to be told off anymore. It hurt a lot and it was beginning to hit him that the other members didn’t really want him around them. However, he forced back tears and continued practicing. Maybe he could at least get on their good sides by dancing well.

During practice once more, one move included swapping places. As JR glided across the laminate floor, his shoulder collided with Ren’s. Big mistake.

“You made another mistake!” the blonde had his voice raised. “When will you learn to do something right for a change? Stop getting in our way, loser!”

Tears stung JR’s eyes as he stared back at the younger.

“Minki…” Minhyun began, hearing the outburst. He trailed off when he noticed JR turning and heading for the door. Minhyun watched the rapper reach for the door handle, his hand quivering slightly. His head was down as he twisted it and opened the door. He walked out in complete silence and the door closed behind him. The visual turned to the three remaining members.

“I hope you’re proud of yourselves. He was new with good intentions, a boy who meant no harm, who wanted to make good friends and look what you’ve done…” Following JR's trail, Minhyun headed out the door.