Kris had never seen Jongdae in a fouler mood before. It had only been a few weeks since they had been told which group they would be in, but Kris had observed enough of Jongdae to know at least a few things about him. The latter was warm-hearted and kind, always speaking in a soft tone, as if he were too shy to utter a word. It wasn't until much later that Kris found out Jongdae had had a phobia of public speaking.

When Kris had gone to call Jongdae for dinner (as instructed by Yi Xing), he certainly was not expecting to witness the last moments of what appeared to be a tantrum. He had been just in time to see Jongdae hurl the last of the remaining pillows and blanket onto the floor before curling into a ball from which Kris could now hear muffled sound of crying coming from.

Even as he approached the crying boy, Kris was careful to not step on any of the mess on the floor, which proved harder than he expected. He hesitates for a bit, but Jongdae's hair, trying to get his attention. And it worked. Jongdae uncurled himself and threw himself into Kris's arms, barely coherent explanations streaming out of him before Kris could even ask for one.

"K-Kris hyung... I... I... Mandarin is so hard and I-I... I lost my temper and... I'm so sorry, hyung." Jongdae choked out from between sobs. Kris could barely understand the hysterical boy, but he concludes that Jongdae must have had a really frustrating time with Mandarin and had thrown a tantrum.

Still, one thing didn't make sense to Kris. Sure, Jongdae's roommate, Yi Xing was at the SM dance studios most of the time to practice, but there were 3 other Chinese members in the dorm: Luhan, Tao, and himself. Jongdae could have gone to any of them for help and they would have given it to him gladly. So what had prevented him from doing so?

"Jongdae... you could have just asked Luhan, Tao or I for help. Why didn't you?" Jongdae did not answer him, instead opting to look down at the bed, keeping silent. Kris sighs, and spoke again, this time in a softer tone.

"Jongdae, if you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help you." Jongdae looked up to him briefly before lowering his head again. Though it took more than Kris would have liked, this time, Jongdae replied.

"I... I was ashamed to." He admitted in a small, timid voice, his cheeks were red in embarrassment of what he had just confessed.

Of course, Kris thought, the truth dawning on him. You were stuck into a project and made it to the final decision along with many others which had trained for more years than you, after which you were put into a group which would be promoting in a different language and country, of course you wouldn't ask for help. Asking for help meant admitting that you were at a lower position than the person you pleaded for help to. This had been drilled into their heads by their instructors by the time they had been a SM trainee for a month.

"Jongdae... Jongdae! Look at me." Jongdae looks up at Kris's words, staring at Kris with wide eyes. Kris couldn't help it anymore. When he had been given the job as a leader, he had rejected it. But SM was persistent that Kris be the leader and finally, he had accepted. Now he understood why.

"Jongdae, from now on, if you have any problems, don't be ashamed or afraid to ask for help. We're a group now, and we're stuck together. We're your second family and we will do our best to help you, okay?" Kris manages to say in a surprisingly assuring but firm voice. And it seemed maybe a bit sudden, but he engulfs Jongdae in a hug anyway.

Jongdae smiles timidly, and Kris feels him nod soundlessly. Kris lets go of him and returns the smile as he helps Jongdae to walk over the mess he made, making sure that he told him to tidy it up later to which he receives another nod.

"Now, let's go down before Yi Xing starts shouting."

~

First chapter up and done =) I feel so proud of myself...

Please don't mind the shortness of this... I feel so bad xD

Oh yeah, these chapters are in NO PARTICULAR ORDER, ok? Just the order in which I got the ideas ^_^

Hope you enjoyed the read! Feel free to comment below with what you think about it!