Caught
Where I Belong
“Hyunseung… Seungie. Wake up.”
Doojoon’s quiet voice broke through the clouded dreams lingering in Hyunseung’s head as he roused from sleep. Frowning groggily, he shifted his feet a little in preparation of sitting up and felt his knee bump into something. What was that? His eyes drifted slowly to Doojoon’s face at the end of the bed, obviously confused, and then his head turned to look for whatever he’d bumped into. As his vision cleared and the dark area beneath the top bunks started to come into sharper focus, he finally became aware of where his arm was.
And that what he’d bumped into was not a what at all, but a who.
And that who was staring at him in groggy recognition, obviously just waking up as well.
Doojoon watched in silence as Hyunseung’s eyes widened and the dancer practically yanked himself away from the rapper. Well, it was certainly not the way he’d expected to be waking them, but it clearly said something about them both. He wasn’t going to push, though. Hyunseung was making progress in his own way and at his own pace, despite Junhyung’s repeated attempts to hurry him along.
With a sigh, he patted Junhyung’s leg and straightened up. “Time to get up,” He stated on his way out of the room, leaving the two remaining members to sort out their early morning predicament on their own.
Junhyung sat up slowly, shifting his blanket back as he did so. At first, he’d been a little confused to see Hyunseung’s face so close to his own first thing in the morning. Then the memory of coming to bed the previous night had kicked in, and he was only surprised by the fact that Hyunseung had apparently kept cuddled close all night long. Whatever his hangup was during waking moments, apparently when he was asleep his social discomfort became nonexistent.
Rubbing a hand over his face, he took a deep breath in and focused his still-sleepy gaze onto Hyunseung. The smaller male was staring at him, clearly shocked by the position he’d woken up in.
Junhung scowled. “Relax, Seungie.”
When the dancer just continued to stare at him, Junhyung sighed and slid toward the end of his bed. “Hurry and get up or you won’t have time to eat.” He muttered, deciding that for once it would be better to just leave the other boy be instead of pushing him. It was only five in the morning, after all, and he’d been pushing him pretty steadily for weeks now. No matter how hard he pushed, Hyunseung seemed determined to open up only in his own time.
---
“Seungie, we’re here…” Shaking his shoulder a little, Junhyung looked down at the head resting on it and tried to ignore the stares of the other members. Kikwang was looking at them from his seat on the other side of Hyunseung, and the other three were halfway turned in their seats in in front. For quite possibly the first time in his life, Junhyung felt genuinely uncomfortable with the attention.
Maybe it was because the person sleeping on his shoulder wasn’t a girl for once. It could have also been the fact that there were currently five people staring at them, including the manager. Whatever it was, Junhyung felt a little uneasy about it.
Clearing his throat, he tried again, reaching over with a hand to shake Hyunseung again, a little more insistently this time. “Hyunseung-ah.”
Hyunseung frowned at the persistent shaking, but it served its purpose in rousing him the rest of the way. He lifted his head and opened his eyes, rubbing at the right one with the heel of his right hand. “Hm?”
Beside him, Junhyung shifted, rotating his shoulder as if it were sore or asleep. “We’re at the studio.”
“Music show, remember?” Dongwoon asked from his seat in front of Kikwang. He smiled a little at Hyunseung while Yoseob and Doojoon finally opened their doors and climbed out of the van.
Hyunseung nodded blankly and yawned, oblivious to Junhyung’s eyes on him, or Kikwang’s eyes on Junhyung. “Right.”
One by one they all climbed out, each grateful for the fall jackets they wore. While it wasn’t too cold yet, when it was this early in the morning in the fall, it was still relatively cool. Hyunseung shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and squinted around as they walked from the van to the building.
Yoseob stomped his feet a little once they were inside, looking around with wide eyes as their manager continued forward and the six of them were left with little choice but to follow after him. “It’s warm in here,” He mumbled, then ducked his head a little when Doojoon reached over to ruffle his hair.
“We got over the hard part, Seobie. We pulled off our showcase successfully and the filming for the music video finished last week. Focus on the warmth instead of looking at how big the place is.” The leader said quietly.
“I still think it’s weird that they’re waiting to drop our music video and album until after our showcase and all our debut stages on the music shows,” Kikwang insisted, scratching the back of his head with a bemused expression on his features.
“They know what they’re doing, Kikwang. Relax and focus on today’s performance.” Their manager reminded him with a firm but kind tone. He led all of them up several flights of stairs and down a hallway that was already showing the first signs of business for the day. Staff members and managers were moving from room to room, some with microphones in their hands and others with papers or talking on cell phones. Everyone seemed too busy to really notice the six boys following their manager down the hallway, but the boys all bowed respectfully just the same each time they passed someone.
It was a relief when they finally got to their own dressing room, at which point Yoseob seemed to start perking up a bit more. He and Dongwoon were the first ones up for hair and makeup, which left the rest to their own devices. Kikwang was predictable, wandering over to a table that held some food prepared by fans. He made a few excited and surprised remarks about how their fans were already doing such things, but ultimately settled down to eat in seconds.
Hyunseung drifted to a corner and practiced the choreography by himself, looking in a mirror to monitor his steps. Eventually he could be heard softly humming the songs to himself, completely ignorant of those around him.
Junhyung and Doojoon sat on a sofa, watching him. Even Yoseob was trying his best to watch while not moving his head as his hair was styled.
“Maybe it’s just when he’s on stage in front of fans..” Doojoon murmured, frowning thoughtfully as he watched the dancer progress fluidly through their choreography. Tilting his head to the side a little, he glanced at Junhyung. “You think?”
Junhyung sighed and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. “Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about the cat thing.” He groaned quietly.
Doojoon turned to look at him earnestly. “It’s not about the cat thing. I mean that charisma he had at the showcase. I just don’t understand why he’s so fierce and powerful on stage, but when he’s around us he just.. pulls back.”
Neither boy noticed the dancer halting his movements to turn his attention onto them. Yoseob and Dongwoon looked at one another in the mirror before Yoseob tried to get Doojoon’s attention.
“Think about it, Doojoon,” the rapper said calmly, still looking up at the ceiling. “How many times was he rejected? That can take a toll on a person. Not to the extent that the trainees have been trying to spread around, but-”
“Okay Yoseob is finished. Doojoon, you’re next.”
The interruption brought Junhyung and Doojoon’s attention off each other and onto their surroundings, at which point both boys’ gazes were drawn unerringly onto Hyunseung standing mere feet away from them. For one long, agonizing moment no one said anything. Even Kikwang had stopped eating and was looking between the three in sheer nervousness.
“Yah, hyung! Practice with me?”
Yoseob’s overly cheerful voice and the sudden hug he plagued Hyunseung with effectively startled the dancer’s hurt gaze away from the other two. He grinned at the older boy, both arms wrapped around his shoulders as if it were the most normal occurrence in the world. “Please?”
Hyunseung looked at him for a few seconds, eyes watering. He knew full well what Yoseob was doing. The kid was a quick learner and didn’t need to practice that badly so suddenly. It was a distraction. Still, he couldn’t seem to say no to the eager smile, and finally just nodded.
Junhyung had to swallow forcefully when Hyunseung turned his back on them and allowed Yoseob to lead him away.
“Damn,” Doojoon whispered.
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