pandemonium

Name: Byun Taechul
Age: 22
Previous Profession: Model

Another member of the anticipated boy group Pandemonium has been released today in the form of Byun Taechul! Yes, ladies, you heard right. The extremely popular and extremely handsome model is soon going to be serenading you to sleep. Popular among fashionistas and fan girls alike, Taechul will certainly bring lots of fans to the group with his charismatic personality and handsome looks. We're starting the final count down, everyone! Only one member left to reveal and Pandemonium will be ready to debut. Are you as excited as we are?

"Byun Taechul is well known for his good looks, but he's a versatile performer and a corner-stone in Pandemonium. With his charming voice and charismatic dancing, he's sure to make you fall for him. Although one might worry that he's just a pretty face, he's an integral member of Pandemonium."

One month later...

Taechul knew that he was supposed to already be recording, but his phone just wouldn't stop ringing. And he knew exactly why.

His dad was calling him, probably to try and convince him to quit again - as always since that was practically the only reason why his dad would even call him nowadays. And really, that was only one of the many points that they didn't have in common, to the point that Taechul sometimes wondered how in the world they were really son and father when he didn't even feel that they were family.

So he didn't want to answer the phone and have to talk to his father or have to listen to the man tell him he was disappointed in his choices or about the company when he had recording to worry about. But Taechul couldn't just not answer the phone because despite all the stuff his father put him through, he really did feel as if he owed the sometime stone-cold man at least the fact that he got this far in life - he had been living off the man's money for the first eighteen years of his life of course.

But that didn't mean relations between father and son felt any better or closer as Taechul sighed in defeat and pressed the answer icon on his phone. "Hey appa," he said softly, making sure that the rest of the group were occupying themselves as he wandered away from the recording studio so no one would eavesdrop on his conversation. He knew that basically everyone had their family issues - he didn't need to bring his up because really, it wasn't really that bad, anyways. His dad just thought his dreams were stupid, no big deal right? Most parents disapproved of their children's dreams when they weren't exactly like what was expected of them, but he supposed that most parents didn't have a pack of lawyers going after everything he wanted to do. Nevertheless, his father seemed pleased that he answered the phone.

"Taechul, I've been trying to call for hours," his father reprimanded sharply, but Taechul knew he wasn't really upset by it as much as when he had decided to audition for Pandemonium. And at least he had answered the phone the phone this time because last week after his father threatened to sue the CEO of BossX for fradulent contracts, Taechul ignored him for a whole two days. "I wanted to call to tell you that the lawyers found a loop hole in the contract. I could have you out of that silly boy band in a matter of minutes and back to something more sensible for a man your age now, Taechul. You're twenty-two now, it's time for you to go to a business college and there are several esteemed ones here in Korea," he continued on steely, not even caring if his words angered Taechul as it always did every time this conversation came up.

But even if his father couldn't see him, Taechul tightly smiled to the wall and pretended he wasn't angry at all as he laughed lightly, the only sign of physical irritation showing was that his hand was actually running through and ruining his impeccably combed hair. "Oh, really? Well, I have to go. I'm supposed to be recording right now for my silly boy band, since I actually want to be a part of it," he cut off his father's words, sounding quite cheery and warm as he always did before instantly hanging up the call and letting out a deep sigh that he had been holding in the entire time.

Taechul was really quite tired of his father acting like this, and it was beginning to wear on his impeccable manners. Why was it that his father still thought that he had sway over him, already a 'man' his father called him at twenty-two? Didn't that mean he got to make his own decisions now that he was an adult? And of course, his mother on the other hand would always say that they were always trying to do the best they could for him- blah, blah, blah. Only if doing the best for him was shackling him to a dry and joyless CEO position that he could already see his thirty-year old self drinking himself to oblivion every night because that was the farthest from what Taechul wanted to do.

Even if what Taechul wanted to do meant that he had to face a Chinese dictator that morning with a cheery good morning as he entered the studio that was thrown back into his face almost instantly with a spare newspaper, he would be more than willing to put his heart and soul into it to achieve his own goals and dreams.

“ARE YOU STUPID, YOU ___?!” The scream practically echoed through the entire building as Zian screamed at Taechul for the thousandth time later that day, wielding his infamous newspaper in one hand and in his other hand, his secondary weapon, a Chinese fashion magazine as a weapon as he viciously assaulted the much larger male in the recording booth. Helpless against the producer as unlike some of the other members who would try to bat away the Zianpoleon, Taechul could only nervously cower and try to block his head from the attack, all the while stumbling and backing away from the countless whacks.

Dojung, who had been standing around idly and secretly checking Zian out while the recording had been going on before Zian deemed Taechul's memorization skills so poor that he had went in for the assault, picked up the tiny Napolean and pulled him away from the leader of the group. Then, he shot a devilish grin and winked at Taechul as Zian squirmed furiously and continued to shout out obscene words in his embrace. “Oh, Zi-zi, deep breaths. We wouldn't want you to have a heart attack now, would we?” he purred out softly as he more or less carried the tiny Zian out of the studio, quietly arguing with the angry little fashionista as Zian angrily insisted that he was not someone to be dragged around. As the two left the floor, the members could faintly hear a string of Chinese curse words directed at Dojung while the manager chuckled softly, commenting that it didn't bother him one bit that Zian was hitting him in the with his newspaper.

When they were gone for sure, Taechul sighed deeply as he flopped down in one of the comfy black sofas scattered around the studio and ran his hand through his hair dejectedly again for the second time in the day, not even caring by now that it left his normally sleek and perfect hair in a tousled bedhead state instead. His father calling him again had been the least of his troubles really as the greatest obstacle for him at the moment was the fact that he had been having problems memorizing the lyrics for the past few weeks. It just seemed like every time he stepped into the studio, the lyrics just flew out of his head in the midst of all of the other things swirling in his head, whether that be worrying if everyone ate at least something healthy before they passed out last night, or if they all had gotten their morning coffee - which meant that he would always get screamed at.

So after a few minutes to himself, taking deep breath and smoothing down his hair again, Taechul then arranged his usual smile back on his face and stepped out while the others were busily chatting and memorizing lyrics, all of them laughing or joking together about Zian and Dojung. “They're totally doing it,” Jinsung commented smugly, smirking at Sangjeon who just laughed disbelieving and shook his head.

“I can't picture it. Dojung is but he's not that ,” he responded with a quiet snort, only noticing Taechul when the leader in an eerie silence, sat down besides them without even saying anything when he would have usually interrupted their conversation with at least something erted and a knowing smile. So instantly picking up on the absence of anything sensual from the leader, Jinsung eyed him warily while Sangjeon jumped up and slipped away at the triple threat's warning glare, gesturing for Haneul and Kyugeum to follow.

Haeyeon for once, wasn't left in the dark as a moment of realization dawned on his expression from where he was already waiting outside the studio door, walking over to the other three as they were also waiting to get their recordings done for the day. “Come on everyone, we can get it done without Zian-hyung,” he mumbled softly, leading them with a gentle touch into the studio to give Taechul and Jinsung time to chat.

“Forget the lyrics again, pabo?” Jinsung asked quietly in a grumble as Taechul sighed and scooted over to sit next to him, still keeping the mask of a smile up despite the emotions churning him up inside and showing his obvious worries that were written across his handsome features. Now even more unnerved by the silence that Taechul had given him, Jinsung inspected said male carefully, immediately slipping into his usual scowl as soon as he noticed the bags under the leader's eyes and the obvious exhaustion he was suffering from. It had been silently acknowledged by everyone in the group that Taechul had recently been working really hard, and even though he toughed it out and pretended everything was okay like always, Jinsung had noticed his exhaustion first.

Blinking away the weariness that threatened to settle onto his shoulders, Taechul then let out a light laugh before reaching over to ruffle Jinsung's hair affectionately in his usual habit, the smile on his face relaxing into a more genuine one than the strained one that Jinsung could now recognize instantly. “It's nothing, Jinnie~” he cooed softly before daring to lean over to rest his head on Jinsung's thin shoulders, now smiling to himself even more. A few months ago, Jinsung would have punched him in the head for such a gesture, probably blushing and showering even more acts of violence on the taller male. Instead, now Jinsung merely shrugged roughly to show his irritation at the skin ship and at Taechul's tough act, scowling even deeper.

“You haven't been sleeping,” he mumbled lowly, careful to sound neutral because he just knew Taechul would love thinking he was worried about him, especially since the older male just seemed to have a superpower of some sort of read him like a book. And yes, sure, Jinsung was worried, and he wasn't sure how he could hide it any longer. He couldn't deny that he was worried about the leader since anyone with two eyes could see Taechul worked too hard for the rest of them, and he wasn't the type to let people know he had reached his limit even when he didn't even realize it himself that he was now running practically only on fumes.

Now with his dark eyes glimmering with amusement, Taechul couldn't help but smile in a growing contentment from just having someone to relax with, even just a bit to let out a nearly invisible bit of steam inside of him. "Worried about me, Jinnie?” he asked softly, not even bothering at all to hide that he was pleased at the thought, his faint smile becoming more of his usual knowing grin.

Jinsung scoffed and sputtered in response, unable to help but to turn a little pink and turn away at Taechul's words and his proximity even after all these months of having to already endure the ByunTaechul's constant teasing. “I'm not worried about you,” he growled out as he jerked his shoulder again, earning a chuckle from Taechul who only loved it even more when Jinsung played tsundere and hard to get. Because to him, it only made it more cute and fun that Jinsung was so easy to get flustered.

“I'm worried about... Your health,” Jinsung lamely tried to continue, blushing even deeper at his stupid response as Taechul simply closed his eyes and nodded slightly, no words needed to pass between them. They simply mutually understood that they worried and cared after each other as the two oldest members of the group; there wasn't a need to make a big deal of it.

So they sat quietly for a moment together, neither of them really sure what to say since there were so many things on their minds, but so little ways to express it. Jinsung wanted to help Taechul in any way he could, but he felt helpless as the leader was reluctant to actually admit he needed some help - and besides, there were times that Jinsung couldn't help but think that they were different as different could come. Taechul meanwhile, wanted to be the strong leader - now that he had accepted the position, it was his duty to always remain the strong pillar of strength that the others could lean on. There was no reason to burden the others with his own problems when they were all struggling so hard with their own, and he especially didn't want to cause trouble for Jinsung, not when he had gone through so much that made Taechul's problems pale in comparison.

Considering that Jinsung was now working on his own solo, a deeply personal one, Taechul didn't feel as if he had a right to invade even deeper than what Jinsung wanted to tell him. From what Taechul was able to hear and glimpse at it, the song itself was about being unable to let go of a past lover, being trapped in those feelings and trying to let go. Taechul heard him singing it despite the fact that Jinsung had tried to keep it hidden, and he knew at least a little about the suffering that Jinsung had been going through - though not enough to even compare just how terrible Jinsung had to feel in the past to what measly troubles that Taechul had instead. He didn't want to bring his own troubles down on Jinsung's head when he couldn't help Jinsung at all, only making the male worry even more about him when he should be worrying about himself instead. “I just can't remember the lyrics,” he finally admitted quietly, though continuing to smile lightly to reassure Jinsung, “But it's okay, I'll get it with more practice.”

Jinsung, who had been in charge of writing a lot of the lyrics, nodded in understanding. He had once struggled with remembering lyrics, so he knew how hard it could be when the words just seemed to slip out of one's mind like sand through fingers. “I could help you, you know,” being very careful to keep his voice absolutely nonchalant and disinterested, but actually eagerly wanting to help Taechul as much as possible - it was the least he could do for all the leader had done for them. “We can't have our leader screwing it all up for us,” he added as a hasty second thought so that he didn't sound so stupid and... Childish for so quickly bringing it up.

Almost instantly, it was like as if the sun burst through the clouds as Taechul could only grin and set his hand on Jinsung's squishy, soft thigh, giving it a small squeeze that earned a ferocious glare from said male. “Oh, I wouldn't want to screw it all up,” he remarked teasingly, knowing fully well that Jinsung wasn't offering just because he was worried about the group, he knew the triple threat too well by now for just that to be the reason. So with his whole personality back in full force, Taechul hummed contently as he traced his nails up Jinsung's leg slowly and quite sensually, testing how long it would take the violent male to take a swing at him - which wasn't long as he only got about halfway up his thigh before Jinsung squawked and slapped him on the back of the head.

“Yah, Byuntaechul-hyung!” he roared furiously, earning content giggles from Taechul as the now recovered ert jumped up and scurried off with Jinsung hot on his heels.

It was an incredibly rare day at the dorms; Jinsung and Taechul were the only ones home as everyone else had either schedules to attend to or were taking the extra time to work on their solos even more. One might think that would make things easy-going and relaxing since it was just the two of them, but when it was just Taechul and Jinsung home alone, it is rarely a calm event. While Jinsung desperately searched for the take-out pizza menu, growing more and more frustrated by the second, Taechul couldn't help but happily stalk and assaulted him with snuggles from behind.

“ING BYUNTAECHUL, STOP!” Jinsung swore angrily in English, trying to shove Taechul off of his back as he was suddenly hugged from behind for the thousandth time that day.

“But Jinnie~ I'm sleepy. Come be my pillow?” he whined softly, nuzzling his head into the crook of Jinsung's neck as said male squirmed and flailed and tried to hit Taechul, but no avail as his arms were pinned to his sides by the grinning leader. “You're so soft,” Taechul commented contently as he attempted to tug Jinsung with him toward the room.

“NO, STAPH IT, YOU BYUNTAE!” Jinsung screeched like a banshee, kicking the taller male's shins repeatedly as he wiggled out of his grasp and pushed Taechul away furiously. He was silently cursing himself for the fact that his face was burning red with embarrassment as the leader smiled back at him like a satisfied cat; or tiger, as he liked to consider himself. “I'm hungry, damn it,” Jinsung grumbled lowly, turning away from Taechul to continue rifling through the drawers.

“After you eat, can we sleep together?” Taechul asked innocently with a playful smile, barely containing his laughter when Jinsung stiffened and whirled on him with a sharp glare. “Relax, I meant nap. What were you thinking, Jinnie?” he asked teasingly, dodging Jinsung's half-hearted slap easily before continuing on, “Mm, just cook something. You know Youngwoo-hyung threw away the menus." Feeling a bit more daring as he usually did, Taechul then wrapped his arms around Jinsung's waist again and rested his head on the smaller male's shoulder, grinning when Jinsung didn't flail and attempt the smack him away. This was what he considered progress.

Though eventually, Jinsung sighed and slapped Taechul away as he crossed the kitchen to look through the cabinets, growing more and more irritated by the second. Ever since Youngwoo had sabotaged all of efforts to make some familiar and tasty food, he had to practically scrap his cooking and come up with new things to make with all these healthy foods filling up the place instead, eventually deciding on making some spicy chicken and rice with plenty of mumbling grumbling since he certainly wasn't about to eat any vegetables. And if that wasn't bad enough for him, of course he couldn't even cook in peace as the hyper Taechul spent his time either pinching and molesting Jinsung or dancing a little too close and singing awkward Super Junior lyrics.

“Because I naughty, naughty~,” he sang into Jinsung's ear, surprising the triple threat to the point that he nearly burnt his finger that the shorter male yelped and shot the leader a warning glare. In response, Taechul simply grinned cheekily and danced along to the song that he was alternating between humming and singing, stepping forward to pinch Jinsung's rear and then dancing away before said male could hit him with the ladle he was using.

“YAH! BYUNTAECHUL!” he shouted again, a snarl rising up as he couldn't do much else besides shake the ladle warningly again and kick at Taechul angrily before turning back to the stove with a huff. This only served to earn even more giggles from Taechul, who smugly winked and purred out a compliment that Jinsung was pretty adorable when he was angry.

At those words, Jinsung rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, but he couldn't help but let a smile appear on his face at Taechul's antics.

“Just take it in the , just take it in the ,” Taechul continued to sing, this time purring the words out right against Jinsung's already pink ears, almost giving their owner a heart attack as he spun around.

“THOSE AREN'T THE LYRICS!” he screeched in protest, nearly at his wit's end with the older male and deciding to vent out his anger by throwing a plastic bowl at Taechul. The leader easily ducked it and after cheerfully putting the bowl back on the table, feigned innocence and asked if Jinsung was sure, which resulted in the triple threat declaring that the leader was no longer allowed to listen to Super Junior, which only made Taechul sing worse lyrics in Engrish - he had found another way to purposefully got under Jinsung's skin, giggling quietly to himself as Jinsung only got more and more flustered the longer this went on.

FInally when all of the cooking was finished, Taechul managed to pester Jinsung into feeding him his lunch since really, the younger male was about ready to just do whatever he could to get Taechul to shut up as the leader complained that he was too tired to actually eat it himself.

“I feel like you're taking advantage now,” Jinsung muttered under his breath as he reluctantly shoved another bite of chicken into Taechul's waiting mouth. The older male simply smiled and winked as he chewed contently, almost getting another bowl thrown at him when he started to once again refer to Jinsung by annoying pet names like honey and darling.

“Ah, jagiya~ Don't be mad at me,” Taechul cooed out before laughing quietly at the skewed face Jinsung responded with, thoroughly entertained with his adorable reactions to the natural flirting nature that was so easy to use against the triple threat.

Jinsung just rolled his eyes and scowled as he continued to curse under his breath and looked away with a blush of pink across his cheeks. “Idiot, you're such a damn pabo too,” he grumbled again, but his words held no actual force behind them as he shoved another bite into Taechul's mouth to shut the ert up. “Anyway, are we going to work on your lyric memorization today or not?” he asked almost hesitantly before Taechul smiled and waved the suggestion off disinterestedly.

“Not yet! You promised you'd be my pillow.”

Jinsung scoffed to hide his darkening blush, rolling his eyes again as he admonished in defense, “I promised no such thing!” and smacked Taechul's grabby hands with his chopsticks as the erted older male reached out to pinch his thigh under the table. But as always, Taechul wasn't to be deterred by any means once he had set his mind to something and still managed to cop a feel, grinning from ear to ear like a smug cat as Jinsung swatted repeatedly at his hands.

“Yah, why do you do that?!” Jinsung growled under his breath, trying to hide his now obviously unhideable embarrassment as he jumped up and moved away from Taechul, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting for an answer.

Taechul blinked in response, tilting his head and asking innocently, “Why do I do what?” Of course he knew what Jinsung meant, but it was really just too cute when he was flustered and annoyed; the leader couldn't help but to tease the lazily dressed male because he was just way too easy to rile up at times.

Jinsung didn't seem amused as he snorted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes once more, “Why do you always touch my thighs like that?” Suddenly, this earned another very cat like grin from Taechul as the older male suddenly stood up and began stalking slowly towards him, amusement flickering through his deep brown eyes.

And like that, the situation was him again as Jinsung took a step back, suddenly a little nervous by the sudden change in demeanor. “H-Hey, why are you smiling like that?” he asked hesitantly, but Taechul didn't respond and just crept closer and closer. Jinsung, in a moment of panic as he couldn't deal with both this creeping sensation of what the leader was doing and his own flustered self, bolted towards the living room and away from Taechul.

But Jinsung was short and Taechul was too fast, so suddenly he found himself tackled and laying sprawled on the couch, with the leader maneuvering him so that he could use the smaller boy as a pillow. “I'll tell you after we nap, Jinnie,” he mumbled softly with a faint smile, overcome with sleepiness as he snuggled into Jinsung's small frame. It didn't take long for Taechul to fall asleep, leaving Jinsung to lay there awkwardly and try not to think too much about this entire situation as he bit his lip almost nervously.

Jinsung couldn't help but run his fingers through Taechul's hair softly, an instinctive and comforting gesture he had developed years ago when a certain lead singer would pass out drunk or high on him. But for all the similarities Taechul had to Andy, he had a million differences.

Taechul and Andy were both charismatic and social, a natural leader who gravitated people towards them, but where Andy had been self-destructive and gave easily into temptation, Taechul took good care of himself and minded his body quite well. Andy had been reckless and irresponsible, often even headstrong and blind to the criticism of others, while Taechul was obviously very perceptive to how everyone was around him and looked out for everyone like a mother bear. When Taechul fell asleep using him as a pillow, it was because he overworked himself, not because he needed to escape from reality.

Jinsung had always known deep inside that he had unconsciously compared Taechul to Andy time and again over the course of these past months, but it wa only now that hat it was completely unfair to Taechul. He had thought, at first, that he only enjoyed being around Taechul because he reminded him so much of the lover he had lost; a selfishness that made him feel a deep-seeded guilt. Jinsung had been so preoccupied thinking he had failed Andy and that it was his fault he overdosed, spending too long blaming himself, as if he could have prevented it if he tried hard enough.

Although he had fond memories of Andy that left his heart aching every time he was reminded of the lead singer, Jinsung knew there was nothing he could have done to save Andy from himself; he had done all he could and it was still wasn't enough in the end. He had already told himself that he would move on, and it was time that he reminded himself again that there was no way he could continue to remain stuck in the past like this.

Jinsung's phone vibrated in his pocket at that moment which jolted him out of his wistful thoughts, and with a sigh, he carefully pulled the device out to check the name on it.

It was his father.

Jinsung's eyes instantly softened at the familiar name, a silent sigh slipping out as he cursed his pride and his bad attitude in secret. He hadn't spoken to his father since in that moment of rash anger right before he left for Korea, he had told the man that he hated him, but now he questioned himself if he really hated his father the way he had so angrily spat at him before. Now matured and with the passing of time to soothe his broken and shattered heart, Jinsung ached to answer the phone and hear his father's voice, to tell the man that he was alright and that he was sorry for the stupid things he said because really, he didn't mean them.

But he didn't want to wake Taechul up, not when the leader was finally getting his well-deserved rest in several long and exhausting weeks. He could apologize to his father another time, Jinsung knew he would understand because his father had always been an understanding person and had always cared deeply for him; Jinsung knew he would be able to apologize later, when he had more time. He wanted to be able to debut first, so that he would be able to show his father that he had grown and gotten over his funk. And, secretly, Jinsung was afraid. What if his father didn't forgive him yet? What if things were awkward between them? They were both hot-headed sometimes and definitely that was where Jinsung got his stubbornness from, so what if they only fought more? He wanted to wait for a bit, just to make sure he would be able to apologize properly and didn't just somehow screw it all up in a blind moment of anger or annoyance. He would debut and get his act together first, impress his dad and the rest of the world with how well he was able to pick up and get everything together in his life again. And then, Jinsung thought as he began drifting off to sleep with a content smile appearing on his face, everything would be okay.

Taechul woke feeling well rested for what felt like the first time in months, surprised to find his head buried in Jinsung's chest and Jinsung's legs somehow tangled with his own. They were wrapped up awkwardly on the tiny couch considering that the leader almost didn't fit on it thanks to his height, almost making it impossible for Taechul to slip away without dragging the smaller male with him. But the triple threat slept like the dead, so he didn't really have to worry about waking him up by the movement.

“Taechul stop moving,” Jinsung then suddenly grumbled quietly, startling Taechul not only for the fact that he had actually managed to wake the younger male up, but also at the fact that Jinsung had called him by his name. Every other time the leader had accidentally disturbed the heavy sleeper, he had referred to him as Andy. That was, for the last five months that Taechul had to wake up Jinsung, it had always been this 'Andy,' which had actually left Taechul feeling a little upset despite his cheerful smile that he always wore. He might not know who Andy was, but considering by the fact that he was only mentioned when Jinsung was half-asleep meant that he was someone who didn't want to be reminded of. So the fact that Jinsung called him by his name brought a genuine smile to Taechul's face as he reached out and gently ruffled Jinsung's soft hair.

He wanted to let Jinsung continue sleeping, more than happy to sit at the foot of the couch and practice memorizing the lyrics on his own while the panda-eyed boy slept and mumbled next to him. But before he could try to wiggle his way away, Jinsung sat up a few moments later and stretched, revealing a teasing sliver of his stomach under his loose black tee-shirt. “Well? Go get those lyric sheets,” he commanded, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he stared levelly at Taechul for a moment.

“You're so cute when you're being bossy," Taechul hummed out softly, grinning at the smaller and sleepier male before he was then up and grabbing the lyric sheet from the coffee table. Which is how the two ended up sitting together on the couch after some soft mumbling and grumbling from Jinsung, with the leader carefully maneuvering the two of them to his pleasure, seeing as the triple threat was easier to manipulate when he was sleepy. So in only a matter of moments, Jinsung was slouching over and yawning cutely between Taechul's legs with the older male's head resting casually on his shoulder. “It's easier for both of us to see the lyrics this way,” he insisted sweetly, only earning a shrug from Jinsung in return as he got to have a warm and comfortable backrest at least.

Jinsung knew tricks for memorizing lyrics, techniques that he had perfected over the years from having a musical career. The first thing was that Taechul had to write them out (though their position made it fairly awkward), and then repeat them out loud several times one stanza at a time, and actually somehow found himself agreeing with the leader that he should get a reward if he learned all the lyrics in the next hour. “Yeah, I guess an incentive is a good idea. What do you want, Hi-Chews?” Jinsung asked in a soft grumble, rubbing his eye with his palm as he was still quite sleepy.

Taechul smirked as he responded cheerfully, “Oh, something like that." He may have bad memorization skills, but it was because he had never been taught tricks or actual techniques to make it easier; which was why Jinsung was almost amazed at how quickly Taechul began picking up on the lyrics and once he understood what to do, took it it as naturally as a fish to water. So when the hour was up, he had successfully memorized all of his lines and Jinsung beamed at him, for once not scowling or glaring or looking like some gruff thug type that he usually tried to appeared as. Quite pleased with himself and glad that he had accomplished what he had set out in time, Taechul beamed right back as he reminded Jinsung with a playful poke to the triple threat's cheek, “Reward time!”

Jinsung could now only nod as he asked, “Okay, what do you want?” Sighing silently to himself, he began to get ready to stand up and go grab his wallet, fully expecting to run to the corner store to buy Taechul some Hi-Chews because of course, Tae-C (he still rolled his eyes at the stage names) wanted Hi-Cs.

But before he could even move, Taechul had reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back down onto the couch with a mischievous grin slipping across his playful features. The leader then placed his hand on the back of Jinsung's neck and pulled the stunned male closer so that the two of them were almost nose to nose. “You said whatever I wanted, right?” Taechul purred out, winking as he leaned closer and closed his eyes.

Jinsung, heart beating in his ears, suddenly got a grasp on what was happening and squeezed his eyes shut, subconsciously surrendering to what he knew was coming. He figured he'd be mad about it later and be completely embarrassed, but...

“OH MUH GUD!” Kyugeum's signature shriek that nearly shook the building caused Jinsung to jerk away a little with eyes wide like a deer in headlights, but Taechul's hand held him in place where they were less than an inch away from each other. His eyes snapped over to the leader's grinning face, narrowing when the older male simply sighed and chuckled, pressing his face into the crook of Jinsung's neck.

“I guess this will have to do for now,” he mumbled quietly, giving Jinsung a wink before pulling away and hopping off the couch with relative ease and the grace of a tiger to approach the shouting Kyugeum, who was now rambling and running around like a chicken without a head.

“SO IT WAS TAESUNG ALL ALONG!” Kyugeum continued to screech, unable to get over the fact that he had really just walked in on that just out of sheer luck that he got to the dorm faster than the others.

Taechul, though a bit let down by the fact that the situation hadn't ended up how he wanted, simply smiled and rubbed calming circles into the blond's back, mumbling random reassurances to the nearly hyperventilating rapper while Jinsung huffed and stormed off to their room, his face flaming red and his scowl returning in full force.

Well, Jinsung thought, at least Taechul knew the damn lyrics now.