pandemonium

Name: Nam Haeyeon
Age: 20
Previous Profession: Professional Swimmer

The fourth member of Pandemonium was revealed today, sending fans into a frenzy when it was revealed to be professional swimmer and heartbreaker, Nam Haeyeon. Fans across the nation suffered break downs in sheer excitement at having the handsome ex-swimmer back in the spotlight and with something different for his teaser video; a dance video showing off his mesmerizing moves instead. After a heart-wrenching accident last year that cost him his shot at the Olympics, Haeyeon took an indefinite leave from swimming and left his fans on the edges of their seats in anticipation. Now that he has returned and has joined the all-star line up of Pandemonium, this reporter can't help but ask herself; where can I join their fanclub?

"Haeyeon is one of those rare individuals that excels in everything he does. For those of you who think he's just a swimmer, prepare to be blown away."

One month later...

Four months in training, and Yoonae still hadn't gotten through to Haeyeon.

The problem wasn't that he didn't have a good singing voice, Haeyeon certainly had a wonderful voice; husky, soulful and warm. The problem was that he was shy and nervous and would not sing loud enough or with enough power to be considered ready to debut. This lack of confidence was both becoming a problem and puzzling her immensely; never before had Yoonae ever met such an astounding private and reluctant person in her life. And she would have been alright with him if he wasn't training to be an idol - the personality almost exact of Haeyeon's.

“No, that's still not loud enough,” she sighed again, shaking her head at the young male. No matter how kind she was to the boys when she came swooping in like their guardian angel when the twins or Youngwoo were terrorizing, Yoonae was a strict yet fair vocal trainer. Some of them didn't need as much practice with her as Haeyeon did, but she meant the best for the boys, and considered her high expectations to fall along the lines of tough love. But of course, she felt bad when Haeyeon would blush and stutter and apologize profusely though.

She didn't know why he was such an apologetic young man, but it simply broke her heart every time to see him so nervous and so easily affected when most boys his age would simply brush off her anger and her snapping. She suspected that it had something to do with his past as it seemed as if anyone who even raised their voice at him was suddenly belayed with hurried and polite apologizing. So perhaps, taking from her also difficult life growing up in the country side of Korea, it could be that his parents or his guardian had been far too hard on him. But she couldn't bring herself to ask him, so all she could do instead was gently reassure him the best she could in her role.

“I-I'm sorry, I d-don't-” he stuttered under his breath, bowing his head in shame again. Yoonae simply glanced away for a moment through the window at the other boys as they sat and chattered amongst themselves, feeling hopeless against this problem Haeyeon was having. She'd been trying to break through and inspire a little confidence in him for so long, ever since she had first met him, but it was a battle she wasn't sure she could handle alone. They were currently in a private room to practice so Haeyeon wouldn't have the added nervousness of them all watching him, but still, the boy was completely fidgety and uncomfortable even with just her.

She smiled to hide her conflicting worries though, turning back to him with a warm smile before murmuring in her soothing voice, “It's alright, Haeyeon, we'll work on it again tomorrow. Can you send in Haneul, then please?” And before she even finished, he was already out of his seat, bowing and apologizing desperately as he exited the room with a flaming face, so embarrassed of his performance that he completely left the studio so he could cool off.

“Is he okay?” Hanuel asked quietly uneasily to the surrounding boys, while Taechul immediately jumped up and followed Haeyeon out to check on him as soon as the main dancer had left the room. Jinsung watched Taechul's departure from the corner of his eyes, trying not to make it obvious as he scooted closer to Sangjeon, who was busy writing the composition for the rap duet he would be doing with Kyugeum. On the other hand, effectively calmed down from his tickle and giggle session with Haneul earlier in the day, the blonde male was diligently worked on the revising the lyrics while humming the Pororo theme song to himself.

“Geum, can Sangjeon and I have a minute?” Jinsung asked in a way that hardly gave Kyugeum an option to say no, furthered even more by the fact that the smaller male was giving him a meaningful glare. So when the hyper blond glanced between the two confusedly, Jinsung got even more irritated and with a light kick aimed at his , sent Kyugeum off yelping and scurrying to the other side of the room. Almost immediately, Sangjeon looked up at him with questions swirling in his eyes and an eyebrow raised at him, his lips tugged down into a little scowl.

“Hey, we're supposed to finish that by-” he protested in annoyance before being cuffed lightly by Jinsung, who quickly covered his mouth to shut the babbling boy up for the moment. There were more important things to discuss, and Jinsung had no patience for Sangjeon's complaints at the moment.

“Just shut up a moment, would you?” he growled softly, scooting even closer to Sangjeon until their sides were practically plastered together and sending a barking glare at Kyugeum when he glanced in their direction to mind his own business. Once Jinsung was convinced that Kyugeum wasn't listening with an extra glare thrown in just for good measure, he leaned over to whisper in Sangjeon's ear despite the younger boy's extreme discomfort, “Don't you think those two have been hanging out a lot?” he asked in a hissed out whisper, narrowed eyes pointed at the door that both Taechul and Haeyeon went out of.

Sangjeon's head whipped to the side, glancing at the door, his nose wrinkling up a little while he thought about what Jinsung said. After a minute, he shrugged and turned back to the older male, confusion written all over his expression. “Well, they're doing a solo together...?” he asked slowly, not quite understanding what Jinsung was talking about whice said male rolled his eyes. Of course, Sangjeon wasn't suspicious, he thought dismally. Of course, he was just an innocent and kind of dumb kid underneath all that gruffness and it would almost be cute if Jinsung wasn't so irritated.

“That's not what I mean, stupid,” he growled lowly , half tempted to try and knock some sense into the kid as he rolled his eyes. “I mean, they seem to be getting along pretty well, don't you think? Spending tons of extra time together...” he hinted, praying Sangjeon would understand what he was hinting at. If he had to spell it out, that would just be ridiculous... But Sangjeon still looked hopelessly confused. “Don't you think they might.... Have a relationship?” Jinsung finally asked with an exasperated sigh, and Sangjeon actually let out a loud laugh.

“Really, hyung? This is Haeyeon we're talking about!” he exclaimed in surprise, almost bitterly since he had first-hand been the victim of Haeyeon's endless obliviousness. If it had been anyone else, what Jinsung was talking about might have been a plausible explanation, but not Haeyeon. They'd known each other four freaking months and Haeyeon still hadn't even the slightest clue about Sangjeon's completely obvious crush.

Jinsung frowned even deeper, shaking his head as he said grimly, “It's also Taechul we're talking about."

Then, Sangjeon's eyes widened in minor horror as he finally understood what Jinsung was talking about - it wasn't just about Haeyeon, but also Taechul and Jinsung too. “Oh my god,” he gasped out loud enough to earn a frown from Kyugeum, who felt a little sad that he was being left out of their conversatio. It really did seem like it was a pretty heated discussion, seeing as the two were practically plastered to each other and whispering so intensely, almost like a couple...

Kyugeum froze, his eyes wide. They looked exactly like a couple actually, seeing as Sangjeon was blushing and Jinsung was smirking triumphantly at whatever he said. Now Sangjeon was saying something back, and Jinsung turned red and smacked him lightly on the cheek with what might have been affection. Kyugeum glanced around in a panic, completely floored by his new realization that Sangjeon and Jinsung were in a relationship. Oh god, he had to tell Haneul when the maknae finished his vocal lesson as this new development was of utmost importance...

“So, we'll sneak out and follow them to see what they're really up to, okay?” Jinsung asked almost excitedly as he smirked again, earning a strange look from Sangjeon who seemed hesitant to actually sneak out when they had such a strict curfew. There were few things he feared more than Youngwoo's wrath, honestly.

So the younger male frowned, shaking his head, “But Youngwoo-hyung-”

Now Jinsung rolled his eyes as it was obvious that Youngwoo had Sangjeon completely and utterly whipped. “He won't know. We'll just tell him you're teaching me a dance,” he replied smoothly, patting Sangjeon's head reassuringly and wondering what the crazy dietician had did to so thoroughly tame the rambunctious orange haired boy. It had to have been pretty traumatizing to get Sangjeon this submissive.

Sangjeon reluctantly agreed right as Haeyeon walked in, followed by a grinning Taechul who didn't miss the way Jinsung looked away when he glanced over, or the curious way Sangjeon looked between him and Haeyeon. He also didn't miss the fact that the two of them were nearly on top of each other, or the strange look Kyugeum was giving the pair. Did he miss something when he went out to talk to Haeyeon about their duet?

After all of their schedules were completed and they were left to their own devices, the boys split up and went their separate ways for the evening before having to regroup back at the dorm. After Taechul and Haeyeon bid everyone farewell to go practice for their duet, Jinsung announced that he and Sangjeon were going to do some grocery shopping and proceeded to drag the reluctant Sangjeon behind him, while Kyugeum pulled Haneul aside and shared with the maknae what he suspected was going on. “That cannot be right,” Haneul almost laughed out loud when Kyugeum told him that he suspected Sangjeon and Jinsung were in a relationship. Really, for Sangjeon to even be in a relationship was just... Absurb for him to even think of.

Completely unfazed, Kyugeum huffed before stomping his foot in minor frustration and shook Haneul as if that might convince the skeptical maknae.“I swear it's true Neullie! When you were practicing, they were sitting together doing couple stuff,” using air quotes when he said couple stuff. But Haneul wasn't going to correct his use of the air quotations because he was much more concerned with what Kyugeum meant, eyes slowly widening as the blonde male continued on, “I'm serious, there was skinship everywhere! They were whispering in each others' ears and blushing!”

Haneul couldn't help but be overwhelmed with surprise as what Kyugeum was saying finally began to sink in, “Wow,” he absently mumbled as he chewed over the thought, unable to really picture Sangjeon and Jinsung being in a relationship. But now that he thought about it, maybe there were signs? Jinsung and Sangjeon always seemed to be teasing each other, for one. And the two actually got along pretty well, considering that Sangjeon usually never snapped at Jinsung anyways, so they never argued with each other, at least. “I never would have expected that.”

Kyugeum jumped up and down excitedly, unable to contain it any longer as he was practically losing his mind over what seemed like a world-changing revolution in his mind. “I know! I swear I almost freaked out when I figured it out!” he screamed, overcome with his feelings toward the situation.

Meanwhile, the supposed couple in question was having a pretty intense complaint quarrel as Sangjeon had naively trusted Jinsung to know where they were going, which not surprisingly, ended up with the two horribly lost. “Well why did you trust me?!” Jinsung roared back as he rounded on the complaining Sangjeon, slapping the younger male on the back of the head.

The taller boy simply snarled back and jabbed his fingers hard into Jinsung's forehead as he retorted angrily, “Because you said you knew where it was!” Then he readjusted the beanie he was wearing as Jinsung had messed it up quite a bit with his assault before continuing to scowl and shiver slightly. He wasn't wearing enough clothing for the cold night, and was immensely regretting the minimalist outfit he had chosen that day; he might look damn good in his denim vest, white tee-shirt, skinny jeans and beanie, but it wasn't practical for walking around in the middle of the night in the fall.

Jinsung, meanwhile, was wearing a sweatshirt over his beat up old blue hoodie, looking mighty warm in comparison to the inadequately dressed Sangjeon who eyed the warm clothes enviously. Rolling his eyes as he jammed his hands in his pockets and pulled out his cell phone to get directions from their position to the company building, the younger male quickly took the lead from the frustrated and ranting Jinsung as he scowled again. “It's this way,” he grumbled in irritation, grabbing Jinsung's hand as he lead the angry hyung toward the company building, having no idea that Kyugeum and Haneul had decided to trail them.

“I can't believe it,” Haneul stared as he gasped, open mouthed, at the sight of the two walking off holding hands. It was completely unfathomable, but it appeared Kyugeum had been right while the said male was celebrating his victory with a -shaking penguin dance next to him because it meant the maknae had to treat him to dinner.

Jangsuk caught the suspicious duo, who couldn't even manage to get to the building without squabbling again over holding each others' hands, almost the instant they stepped off the elevator. He had heard it ding open and stepped into the hallway to investigate with a wary eye, easily catching quietly arguing duo as Jinsung blamed Sangjeon for being too lazy to take the stairs, and Sangjeon swore up and down that Jinsung had been the one that suggested it.

“What're you guys doing here?” he asked half-amused, causing them to practically jump clear to the ceiling as Jinsung clutched at his chest in surprise and Jangsuk smirked at them, "Did you come to spy on Taechul and Haeyeon?” By now, the staff had noticed the particular friendships and relationships that had developed between the boys, and even had a betting ring on who liked who between most of them (making sure to keep it away from Yongwon). Jangsuk had, in a moment of stupidity, bet that Sangjeon and Haneul were going to end up a couple due to their constant bickering while Dojung swore that Sangjeon had a massive crush on Haeyeon, Haneul had a crush on Kyugeum, and Jinsung was desperately denying his crush on the extremely forward Taechul.

Now that he spotted these two here, he was pretty sure Dojung was going to win the bet; these two didn't even look like they wanted to even be together like this. Mentally cursing his bad luck and bad decisions as he eyed the two nervous and stuttering males who were desperately trying to explain their presence, he continued on, “Never mind, I just remembered that I don't care. You're here for Haeyeon and Taechul, right?” trying to hide his grin as he then practically forced the protesting males into the room.

Taechul blinked in surprise when Jinsung and Sangjeon were thrown into the dance studio they had been practicing in, then quickly switched off the music while Haeyeon caught his breath and stared in confusion. Much to the amused shock of the two dancers inside the studio, they watched in silence as Jinsung jumped up and tried to break out of the room that Jangsuk was holding shut with a grin. “JANGSUK HYUNG, LET US OUT!” he roared angrily, reaching out to punch the glass before Taechul managed to stop him.

“Woah, Jinnie, you'll hurt yourself if you do that!” he cautioned playfully, not letting go of Jinsung's clenched fist and even going so far as to lace their fingers together as he grinned knowingly, “What're you guys doing here? Wanted to come see us practice?” Jinsung was so adorably predictable by now that Taechul could only chuckle as the smaller male grew flustered and shoved him away. Meanwhile, trying to avoid Jinsung's violent swings at Taechul, Sangjeon made his way across the room to sit against the far wall, trying not to stare at the slightly sweaty Haeyeon in his black tank top and well-fitting sweatpants, practically beating himself up for letting Jinsung talk him into this.

While Taechul continued teasing Jinsung as to what caused the two to come visit, Haeyeon was left to awkwardly approach the brooding Sangjeon, who hid his face in his knees when he noticed the dancer approaching. “U-Um, so... Did you two come to practice too?” he asked shyly with a sheepish grin as Sangjeon cursed his own stupidity and the obliviousness of the older male.

“Nope, not to practice,” he mumbled quietly to himself, keeping his head down as he could feel Haeyeon was watching him. He didn't want to drag this out any longer than it needed to last because really, he just wanted to get the information they came for and be done with it since part of him hoped that maybe they were dating, because then he could finally let go of this weird thing he had with Haeyeon. He didn't think it was a crush. How could it be a crush? Sure, Haeyeon was really attractive; even blind people would know that. But the fact remained that they were so horrifyingly incompatible that Sangjeon just wanted to be rid of this forever because they just never seemed to ever work out. It would never work out between the two of them since Haeyeon was so obviously uninterested, and yet he still stared at the male and turned red every time they made eye contact. Sangjeon knew it was stupid, but he couldn't help it.

“O-Oh,” Haeyeon didn't know why Sangjeon wouldn't look up at him, but he wanted to know if the younger male was okay and what was going on with him. And it was especially hard for him to approach and feel comfortable around Sangjeon because he always seemed to be angry, and Haeyeon didn't want to incur his anger any more than he always seemed to unknowingly make without even trying. Haeyeon had tried to make friends like the rest of the others, but even after four months, it was pretty hard when the orange haired young man looked directly at him because Sangjeon had such an intensity and frankness in his stare that it was hard not to feel nervous for Haeyeon.

“We wanted to spy on you and Taechul,” Sangjeon was going to regret giving this information up later, but he needed to know for his own sake as he abruptly cut Haeyeon off. “Are you two in a relationship?” he asked flatly, trying to keep any emotion out of his tone and his expression. He didn't really know what he felt about the potential for Haeyeon and Taechul to be in a relationship, but he knew he needed to know for sure, without any of the sneaking around and wondering like the way Jinsung seemed to be proposing. Ridiculous, it really was in Sangjeon's opinion; the best way was to be honest, after all.

Haeyeon blinked with shock written all over his face, completely taken aback by the question as he could only babble out incoherently, “A-A-A-Are...what?” Why was Sangjeon asking this? Why did it matter to him? He knew that Jinsung and Taechul were very slowly forming some type of relationship, anyone could see that, but it didn't make sense that Sangjeon would also be interested in the information.

“You guys went out in the hall together and-” Sangjeon tried to explain before Haeyeon laughed nervously and interrupted him with a shake of his head.

“N-No, that's... I'm.... I'm not doing so good at singing,” Haeyeon admitted sheepishly, blushing and burying his head in his hands as he mumbled,“I'm too embarrassed to sing loudly. M-My voice is... Bad...”

Sangjeon sighed as he risked to glance at Haeyeon, almost mad at himself for feeling relieved that the two weren't in a relationship after all. This was all too complicated for him, as he had never felt anything close to this for anyone before. He'd never felt like he wanted to just genuinely help someone, to make someone smile. But with Haeyeon, all he could think about was how badly he wanted the older male to feel comfortable around him, and he thought perhaps this was his chance - to help someone have the chance to be able to smile and be comfortable without being afraid of everyone else.

Then an idea came to him as Sangjeon smiled lightly, it was so perfect, he didn't know why he didn't think of it earlier since everyone was well aware of Haeyeon's current singing predicament. “Yah, hyung, have you heard me sing?” he asked jokingly, laughing when Haeyeon looked up and nodded sheepishly, a faint smile on the older male's face.

“Y-You're not that ba-bad,” Haeyeon tried to reassure him in vain, earning only more laughter from Sangjeon, who was more than aware of his horrible singing voice. Much to either the dislike, disgust or just amusement of everyone in the dorm, their main rapper simply liked wandering through the apartment belting out ballads, which would sound okay if he used his normal deep voice. The problem really came from Sangjeon's pitiful attempts to hit the high notes, ending up sounding like an animal dying a slow and painful death that often sent one or more of the members in a panicked frenzy to try and shut him up with anything on hand.

So Sangjeon rolled his eyes, grinning as he remembered yesterday evening when he nearly got hit with a lamp by Jinsung, “You don't have to lie to me, hyung. I have a really bad singing voice." And he laughed again, his nose crinkling up when Haeyeon tried yet again to reassure him that it wasn't as bad as he made it sound, but only got waved off by Sangjeon immediately afterwards. On the other hand, Haeyeon couldn't help but smile back shyly, surprised that Sangjeon was, for once, laughing so easily with him instead of intensely staring or just looking away from him. “Anyway, come with me. I have a plan, but you have to promise not to laugh,” Sangjeon then jumped up and brushed himself off as he spoke up again, waiting for Haeyeon to follow.

Jinsung was too busy trying to fight Taechul's bear hug off as they were against the wall to notice Jangsuk had left, but Sangjeon had seen his face disappear. The orange-haired male figured he'd lead Haeyeon to the recording studio and see if he couldn't get the older boy to feel a little more confident about his voice before their next lesson by showing him what it sounded like, and what modern technology could do. Maybe that would do the trick since Sangjeon really did feel comfortable there (when Zian wasn't around), double with the fact that practically no one would be there either besides the two of them. And luckily, the studio was empty since Zian usually preferred to work from home to avoid the flirtatious manager who liked to push his buttons, and Sangjeon took Haeyeon into the back where music was produced and edited.

“This is my station, pretty neat huh?” he asked lightly as he powered up the machines, then grinned over at Haeyeon. “Now, we're going to go sing, okay?” he grinned mischievously as he slipped out of his vest and began shoving a reluctant and very much surprised Haeyeon into the recording studio.

“E-eh, b-but,” Haeyeon protested weakly as he tried to push back gently, only earning more laughter from Sangjeon who was thoroughly enjoying their moment together. But it wasn't much, honestly, but still worth it. Haeyeon was still completely oblivious and he was still extremely conflicted about his budding interest in the handsome male, but it was a start at least after four months of just being avoidant like they always had been. And Sangjeon couldn't deny that he felt strangely comfortable when it was just the two of them, like it was natural for them to be like this - they really never had a moment like this before since either one of them would be busy or they wouldn't have the chance to really interact this closely before. The thought made him blush, which actually didn't go unnoticed by Haeyeon, who had been keeping a closer eye on Sangjeon since his suspicions started to sink in in the last few moments.

“Come on, we'll both sing,” Sangjeon reassured gently, setting up the microphones and showing Haeyeon which angle to sing at to make it sound just right as he prepared the studio and passed the other male the lyric sheet for one of their songs that had been composed already. And even through the stuttered and half-hearted mumbles that Haeyeon was making, Sangjeon simply patted the ex-swimmer on his back and slipped back to his station without another word. Then once everything seemed to have calmed down and Haeyeon had surrendered himself to the task of singing, the younger male counted down as he slipped his headphones on, smiling reassuringly and giving Haeyeon a thumbs up right as the music started.

Haeyeon really did start off shaky and nervous, stumbling over the words and stuttering uncomfortably as he frowned and worried about all the mistakes he might make in front of people, overly concerned that he'd embarrass himself and ruin the entire performance that it affected his voice even more than before when he was practicing with Yoonae. “Yah,” Sangjeon barked in true Zian-poleon fashion, giving Haeyeon with his normal intense stare, the one that made the older male squirm and blush, unable to do anything but look away. “Stop thinking so much. It's just you and me. I'm the only one here, remember that,” he reminded softly then as the stare faded away just as quickly as it came, then grinned and began belting out Haneul's lyrics at the top of his lungs, so awful and off pitch that Haeyeon couldn't help but smile back.

It was true, the only other person in the room was Sangjeon, and if Sangjeon could sing like that without fear... Haeyeon knew that he could at least try. He had been trying his entire life to do what he could to get to his goals, and since he had already accepted the last goal was something that he couldn't do any more, he had moved on. And what he needed to try now was to just try to sing because now his entire career and practically life hung on this. He had failed himself before, he couldn't fail himself again.

So Haeyeon swallowed his nervousness and looked directly at Sangjeon with a flicker of determination in his dark eyes, blocking out all his worries by focusing on the younger male's face as they exchanged smiles, and began singing his lines again. This time, his voice came out smooth and husky as his mind focused entirely on the music, sending him into that same one-track mindset that he always had when he was still swimming; power in every and here, strength in every note, making his voice confident and almost sensual. Sangjeon's face practically caught on fire as he stared back at Haeyeon with an opened mouth, almost unable to stop as the words flowed out between the two and captured them momentarily in their own little peaceful bubble of just them.

And then Haeyeon's lines ended and the spell was broken, causing Sangjeon was running out of the room to catch his breath.

Haeyeon gulped nervously as he blinked, all the embarrassment and shame rushing back to him as he sighed. He had seen how red Sangjeon turned, and he was beginning to worry that maybe the person Sangjeon had a crush on was.... Him. And to be honest, he didn't know what to do about that.

But luckily before he could even think of what to say or even do, Sangjeon had quickly scurried back into the production room and was working intensely to put the voice over the music, then replay it for Haeyeon to hear - he just couldn't linger on how Haeyeon sounded then as they stared at each other, he had to get things done for now. And once that was finished, he gestured for Haeyeon to come back in, and played it for the both of them.

“Th-That's really me?” Haeyeon asked in near awe, daring to glance at Sangjeon as the younger male stared down at the controls, unable to look up and meet his eyes as he nodded. “I-I sound... Pretty good...” Haeyeon could only whisper out breathlessly, not wanting to brag or sound arrogant, but just genuinely surprised at how nice his voice actually sounded.

“Y-Yeah, you do,” Sangjeon breathed out again, slipping his vest back on as he switched the machine off, making sure to keep his face turned away from Haeyeon's because really, he didn't even know how he was going to handle even looking at him right now. “Just... Imagine you're only singing to one person, and I guess you'll be fine,” the rapper mumbled quietly, then promptly exited the studio without waiting for Haeyeon as he was too upset with himself to face him again for at least a few hours. There were just too many things going on in his head right now, and he didn't need the cause of most of them to mess with his mind and heart any more at the moment. “Anyway, hyung, I'm going to catch a cab back to the dorm. See ya,” he said almost off-handedly, waving off Haeyeon's protest that Dojung would be picking them up soon as he quickly rushed out of the studio.

Things were just going fine between them...

The next day at vocal practice, Yoonae was almost completely floored by Haeyeon's transformation as it seemed he had discovered his confidence over night. He still needed to work on his vocal control and learn to hold the notes just a bit better to be able to clean up and really polish his singing, but Haeyeon was actually singing out for once instead of the mumbles and humming he had done before.

“Wow,” she commented breathlessly with a relieved smile dazzling her features as he finished up his lines and smiled nervously over at her for reassurance. “Haeyeon, that was amazing,” she complimented warmly, reaching out to squeeze his hand reassuringly as he blushed under her compliments, sheepishly looking away from her.

“I-Is it really?” Haeyeon asked shyly, unable to help but feel a little uncertain at this sudden praise. Sure, he had sounded nice in the studio last night when it was just him and Sangjeon, but he knew the younger male could have used auto-tune or something to make it sound so nice because it still didn't even seem possible to him that he could really sound just that... Good to be able to be worthy of Yoonae's kind words.

Yoonae beamed at him now as she laughed softly, happy they had finally had a breakthrough, “It really was, Haeyeon. You have a lovely voice,” she complimented again, before ordering him to sing it from the top, to which he happily obliged, feeling a rush of pride and happiness course through himself. He didn't want to keep disappointing Yoonae nor anyone else, especially Sangjeon, and he felt happy knowing he was showing signs of improvement. He knew he could do it, this was the same thing he had went through as a child when he had started swimming. Now, he just had to do it all over again, but now that the first and hardest obstacle was over, Haeyeon had a much brighter hope that maybe... Things weren't so suffocating to him any more.

Meanwhile Haeyeon continued to sing for Yoonae, the other boys were sitting around awkwardly in the waiting room trying to entertain among themselves. Taechul was simply chuckling and grinning to himself as he was tucked away neatly in the corner of the room with his phone, while Jinsung was trying to figure out what happened with Sangjeon and Haeyeon. Haneul and Kyugeum on the other hand, were simply trying to figure out just what was going on between those two they had pegged to be in a relationship.

“They're still sitting so close,” Kyugeum murmured with a wide-eyed look, earning a curious look from Taechul who didn't seem to know what was going on as he raised his eyes from the corner as he always did once in a while to check on everyone else. Then with a little secret sign only known to the two of them, Haneul motioned for Taechul to join them, to which the leader eagerly crawled over and sat with them as his phone was put away. At the subtle nod that Haneul made, he followed their gaze to where Sangjeon was pouting and getting annoyed with Jinsung, who was grinning teasingly and poking him in the cheek as he teased the younger male for his too-obvious crush on Haeyeon in the midst of his curious yet awkward interrogation in Korean.

“What's going on guys?” Taechul asked in a quiet whisper, cocking his head while Haneul and Kyugeum exchanged looks and raised eyebrows, suddenly feeling a little nervous about telling the leader since he made his interest in Jinsung so obvious.

After a few moments of just silently staring at each other, Haneul spilled the beans as he blinked and with a grave expression, announced quietly, “Jinsung and Sangjeon are in a relationship, hyung."

Taechul probably never laughed so hard in his life.