Jiyong absolutely stills when he hears the words come out of YG’s mouth.  ‘Wait, what…’  As he slowly starts to register what the other is saying, he slowly starts to panic, his breath coming out in short, quick puffs and his vision getting a little bit dizzy.  ‘Everything’s moving around in such pretty circles,’ the boy thinks dazedly.  “Jiyong!” YG calls out sharply, noticing the younger starting to sway.  Leaping mightily (thankfully, he’s blessed with quick reflexes), he hurriedly catches the other as he falls, just in the knick of time.  Jiyong vaguely hears voices in his impaired state, but he can’t make what they are actually saying.  All he knows is that his world is quickly growing dim and that he feels as if he’s freefalling.  ‘Parachutes are cool aren’t they?’

“-ong?  Jiyong!”  

And then nothing.

It’s warm where he is, and it’s comforting.  Is this what a home feels like?

Slowly coming to, Jiyong attempts to gather the strength to pull himself up (gods he’s such a mess), but finds that all his muscles feel like jelly right now (whatever muscles he has really).  Trying to lift his arm is now one of Hercule’s great tasks.  His eyelids feel like solid lead.  However, the boy still struggles to show some form of consciousness, in case they are worried right now (even though the only person he thinks would actually care is Dongwook since they are friends on some level).  Actually, Jiyong isn’t sure what Dongwook thinks of him as, but he knows that Dongwook is his dearest friend (his only one to tell the truth).  And so he wages a war with his body, which seems to defy him at every part of the epic battle.

Eventually, Jiyong is rewarded with some degree of success, and, with all of his might and effort (and blood and sweat and tears), he manages to crack a single, light brown eye open.  A clean ceiling greets him, light welcoming and warm, and suddenly, all of his strength floods back to him.  Curling his fists experimentally, Jiyong’s small, thin, child-like fingers bundle around a soft, comfortable material, and, quite abruptly, the boy makes a shocking realization.

He’s in a bed.  Someone else’s bed.  Without permission.

Yelping, the leader quickly jumps up, ignoring the slight dizziness in his head.  He’s still in the clothing he wore before thankfully; someone had already gone through enough trouble, lifting him up, carrying him here, and kindly lending his amazing mattress- Jiyong doesn’t want to be even more of a burden that he already is.  Guiltily, the boy shuffles out of the room, fully intending to find this mysterious person and thank him a million times (and a million more, and maybe another million after that).  When Jiyong manages to navigate his way to a room with a large, flat-screen T.V., he hears some voices coming from the speakers and notices a person lounging on the plush sofa.  And not just any person, but Dongwook.  The man doesn’t seem to have taken note of Jiyong’s presence yet, so the latter merely stands there, debating with himself on what to say.

Finally making a decision a few minutes later (Dongwook seems to be very engrossed with the movie he’s currently watching), Jiyong softly clears his throat, getting the singer’s attention immediately.  Opening his mouth, his words fail to leave his throat as the man smiles widely.  ‘Oh gods, I bet I look like a dying fish right now,’ Jiyong cries pitifully, trying hard to speak, to say anything, before the older does.

“Jiyong!  You’re up!” Dongwook exclaims joyfully.  ‘Too late.’  The boy whacks himself on the head internally.  “I was starting to wonder if you would ever wake up!”

“S-Sorry for a-all the trouble,” Jiyong blurts out suddenly, a deep flush overtaking him from the neck up.  Dongwook merely waves him off.

“It’s fine- you were only out for a few hours, and my house was closest- couldn’t leave you hanging on the floor after all.  Plus, it was a great excuse to skip some training!”  The man gives a mischievous grin, eyebrows waggling a bit, and the younger can’t help but giggle a bit.  Stretching languidly, the former stands up from the couch, seeming to be a bit like a satisfied, lazy cat.  ‘As graceful as one too…’  “Anyways, now that you’re awake, though, we need to get back for your training, no matter how sad it is.  It’s almost lunch, so we can make it back just in time for you to eat before some training.  Tonight, instead of dancing with me,” he points at himself, “you’ll be dancing with your other members.”

Jiyong suddenly feels a bit faint at the notion, and Dongwook hurriedly catches him.  “Don’t pass out on me again, G-Dragon,” he scolds gently, patting the boy.  “They aren’t that bad, seriously.  Besides, you’re going to have to work with them sooner or later, so why not sooner?”  Processing his words, Jiyong gives a barely-visible nod, and Dongwook’s smile threatens to split his face in half.  “Good boy,” he cooes, a hint of pride evident in his tone.  “Now, c’mon, we’ve got to go.”  

The pair head towards the studio, Jiyong sweating bullets the whole time.  Dongwook sits with him during lunch today, making pleasant chat with him and fussing over how much he eats, much like Youngbae.  

“Gods,” the man had sighed.  “I expected that you didn’t eat much, seeing how you’re so bony, but you seriously need to eat more.  You’re only 15, and your body needs some substantial fuel to keep on growing”  The boy, uncomfortably reminded of the same lecture he’s gotten a gajillion times by Youngbae, tried to satisfy the older man by awkwardly waddling back to the counter and nervously getting more of everything that seemed healthy.  Needless to say, he doesn’t finish a lot of it, but Dongwook’s happy look makes it worth it.  “Hey, at least you tried,’ he says with a bright grin.  “Keep up the good effort and your body will adjust from its current malnourished state, and you might even get a growth spurt!”  Again, something Youngbae often said to him, just in a different, slightly more encouraging form.  Jiyong’s stomach tightens once more at the thought of Youngbae.  Youngbae, the kind, muscular, mother-esque man who cares for him.  Youngbae, a singer and dancer.  Youngbae, a member of Big Bang.  Youngbae, someone who will be watching Jiyong dance later today.  The boy nearly passes out.

To be honest, though, Jiyong’s getting very spoiled by all the delicious food around him, and he can’t help but wonder what would happen if it was all taken away one day.  The thoughts scare him immensely and he hurriedly focuses on drinking a bit of water, not wanting to imagine such a scenario playing out, even though he can.

It’s far too easy to consider the possibility of him out on the streets again, unwanted and unloved.  

When Dongwook is, at last, finished eating (Jiyong supposes he eats so much to maintain his Hercules body.  It could also just be that Jiyong thinks everyone eats a lot and it amazes him to think how so much food could fit in their bodies, since the pitiful amount he’s currently finishing already stuffs him and his little belly to the max.), he wishes the other good luck and gives a firm pat on the back, reminding Jiyong of the doom he is sure to experience this afternoon.

The time he spends in the studio seems rushed and anxious; it’s funny since the studio is typically when he feels most relaxed and comfortable- when he feels most in his “zone” as to speak.  He spends the hours here sweating nervously, dreading the dance practice, and trying to work- he fails epically on the last one, far too distracted to accomplish anything.  Frantic fingers constantly hit wrong keys, move things to the wrong places, and click wrong files, coordination lost to him.  When the time rolls by for him to go, Jiyong panics, the hours that went by feeling far too short.

Palms clammy and knees weak, he heads towards the dance studio at the pace of a snail.  Each step is as if he’s walking towards his imminent death, and the boy’s muscles are bunched up, ready to flee at any given time.  ‘You got this, you got this,’ Jiyong internally chants, not believing his attempt at encouraging himself in the least.  ‘C’mon, they’re not that scary, right?  Seunghyun’s just quiet, and Seungri’s just a bit…um…dramatic?  Daesung is super nice to you, and Youngbae bought you clothes!  See, they’re not that bad!’

Jiyong nearly passes out in fright when he spots the door coming up.  ‘Since when were they so scary and big?’  Taking in a deep breath (and almost choking on it), the leader creaks the door open little by little, peeking inside to see if anyone’s there.

Only Daesung and Seunghyun are in the room right now, chatting with each other.  Jiyong spots the extremely-cool-model laugh boisterously and Seunghyun chuckling.  Chuckling.  With a smile on his face.  And joking.

Do those words even go together?

‘He looks so- so nice.’

“Oh Jiyong!  Finally joining us, eh?  Welcome!”  Daesung’s tiny eyes are suddenly drilling into Jiyong’s startled, innocent ones as the former grins.  Yelping in surprise, the boy flies back and his wobbly legs give out on him.  “Jiyong!” Daesung cries out, eyes flying open to the farthest they can go, taken totally by shock.  ‘Didn’t this guy just pass out too?’ he thinks, rather worried at this point.  ‘Never mind, no time to think, Daesung!’  He leaps heroically, catching the boy by his stomach and wincing a little bit when the sharp ribs and bones dig into his powerful arm a bit.  ‘Oh gods, he definitely needs more flab.’

Jiyong blinks up at Daesung, and is caught in awe at the way the hallway light seems to perfectly illuminate the older boy’s face, creating deep, mysterious shadows and highlighting his warm eyes.  

“What’s going on?” Seunghyun rumbles, staring questioningly at Daesung from the doorway.  The maknae freezes up then, abruptly remembering his situation and jumping out of the older’s arms as if he were burned.  

“Sorry!” he squeaks, bowing repeatedly in a hasty manner and repeating the word, tears gathering up at the corner of his eye.  ‘Why, oh why, am I so embarrassing?’  Jiyong sobs.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Daesung tries to calm the overreacting boy, but the latter doesn’t hear him over his barrage of apologies.  Seunghyun, on the other hand, merely watches the situation unfold, utterly amused as his eyebrow lifts.  ‘Should I help him?  Nah, that’d be way too out of character.  Yup, gotta stay the silent, cool guy.’

Meanwhile, Youngbae and Seungri finally appear, just in time to see Jiyong blabbing as he bows so quickly that he looks like he’s having a seizure, Daesung failing to calm the boy down despite his best efforts, and Seunghyun simply standing there, a twinkle in his eyes.  ‘Wait, what…’ the two simultaneously think at the exact same time.  ‘The….Hell…’

“Oh, hello,” Seunghyun greets them, shifting his dark eyes over.  The two childhood friends sweatdrop at his calmness involving the chaos unraveling in front of him.  Head beginning to pound, Youngbae steps in between the pair.

“Okay, okay, calm down, Jiyong.  I don’t even want to know what happened,” he sighs, making Jiyong feel extremely bad.  Just as the boy is about to begin a barrage of apologies directed towards him, Seungri claps loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“Nice show everyone,” he says cheerfully.  “But can we start practicing?”  A quick glance at the clock tells everyone that a full 30 minutes had already been wasted, and that they’re behind schedule.  YG wouldn’t like that.  Neither does Seungri.  Unlike what appears to be the rest of the group, the teen really wishes to be completely ready for their approaching debut.  ‘Gods, these brainless idiots.’

One by one, the members of Big Bang file into the dancing room, and the two best friends within the group begin various types of stretches as soon as they get in, moving their arms from high above their heads to touching the ground smoothly.  Daesung and Seunghyun join in as well, and, hesitantly, so does Jiyong, feeling immensely awkward.  ‘They’re so graceful…’ he marvels distractedly, not entirely focused on what he’s doing.  ‘Hm…Seunghyun is stiffer though…Which is strange, since aren’t pandas supposed to be the ones that are really inflexible?’

When the boy notices the others finishing up, he hurriedly finishes up, scolding himself for his lack of an attention span.  As Seungri goes to choose the song, Jiyong nervously shifts his weight from his left foot to his right, and back again.  “Warm-up!” the panda calls, returning to his place, and music begins to resonate within the small room.  Jiyong can’t recognize the song, but there’s fast dance moves and lots of repeated steps, which he follows.  At the end of it, adrenaline is rushing nicely through his veins, and he feels unexplainably good, maybe even the slightest bit pumped.  The last thought goes away immediately, the little butterflies returning to his stomach.  He hopes they’re polka-dotted.  Jiyong likes polka-dots.

Next, they move on to the actual dancing, Jiyong completely helpless as he watches the others move so synchronized it seems as if they are one entity.  Luckily, Daesung notices him standing there fidgeting, and the former calls for a stop.

“Oh, yeah, sorry Jiyong,” he laughs apologetically, rubbing his head shamefully.  “Um, we’ll have to switch up the choreography a bit, Seungri.”  The addressed teen nods, and he and Youngbae begin to discuss, occasionally using their hands to express something and acting out several different kinds of steps Jiyong can perform.

“How good are you at dancing, Jiyong?” the manly mother calls as the two turn around; Seungri looks a bit skeptical, and Jiyong tries to ignore it.  He can’t.

“U-um…”  His face flames up, unable to come up with a coherent response- at this point, all the other members are glancing at him curiously, and it frightens him majorly.

“We need to know an idea of what you can do…Do you mind performing a bit?  Just some freestyle,” Youngbae asks, though it’s not really a question.  He puts on a random song, and Jiyong allows it to wash over him before beginning clumsily.  His feet trip over themselves and he’s shaking, and he’s pretty sure the others watching him and sighing deeply and that makes him trip even more.  ‘C-mon Jiyong,’ the boy encourages himself.  ‘Just imagine that you don’t know them…Remember, you used to do this in front of more people.’  And Jiyong does remember- he remembers the constant urge to just give up, he remembers the feeling of being an outcast, he remembers the tiredness and hunger and the everyday wish to do something better with his life; he remembers exactly what he doesn’t want to go back to.  He remembers YG’s compliments and hopes and Dongwook’s expectations, and suddenly, his resolve hardens and most of the butterflies leave him, subsequently leaving him with more strength.

More relaxed, his moves become a lot smoother, flowing into one another as he allows the music to take control of his body.  Closing his eyes for a few seconds, the others’ judging gazes disappear and it’s just him and the beat, the moves coming naturally and effortlessly as he performs them with ease.  Just like how it should be.  

When the song ends, the room erupts into enthusiastic applause, startling the boy.  Looking around, the boy is even more shocked to see that everyone has a certain look of awe and new-found approval, even Seungri and Seunghyun.  “That was amazing!” Daesung cheers, eyes crinkled joyfully.  “I didn’t know you could dance like that!”

Youngbae and Seungri, after giving out their own forms of thoughtful input and compliments, begin to murmur animatedly about the choreography again, though it’s a lot easier for them since they have an idea of what Jiyong’s capabilities are.  After about 30 minutes, in which Jiyong calms down from the exhilaration coursing through his body and stands awkwardly as Daesung takes it upon himself to help (more like re-teach again and again; Daesung has incredible patience) Seunghyun (who seems to have two left feet and knows it), they stop discussing.

“Hey Jiyong,” Youngbae calls.  “Can you come over here for a second?”  Obediently, the leader follows the instructions, shuffling over meekly.  Youngbae and Seungri go over the steps they had just planned out with him, taking him through the choreography step by step despite Jiyong stumbling just about every minute.  ‘Did this guy really just dance like that just a while ago,’ Seungri thinks, vaguely annoyed by now.  ‘Since the guy here has, literally, absolutely zero coordination right now.’

“Alright, let’s try this,” Seungri announces when they finish, Jiyong’s head still whirling, trying to take in all the new information ed upon him and figure out how to apply everything within a minute.  ‘That took a while.’  

Luckily, Jiyong is a fast learner and thinks quickly upon his feet, and so he manages to keep up with the rest of the members, albeit with quite a bit of difficulty.  They practice it again and again, to the point where the formerly forced moves come naturally to Jiyong.  

“Good practice, guys!” Seungri hollers when the last note finishes, sweat rolling down his neck as he chugs down half a bottle of water instantaneously.  The teen throws a towel over his shoulder and leaves with Youngbae.  ‘H-he looks like a hero,’ Jiyong spaces out, imagining the scene replaying in slow-motion.  ‘Just like on T.V…Especially since his back is kind of muscular…’

“Hey!”  Daesung snaps his fingers in front of the boy to catch his attention, and the latter yelps and jumps back like a frightened animal.  He looks like one too, with messy hair and wide eyes and an entirely fearful expression.  Daesung gets the sense of deja-vu, but shakes it off.  “We gotta go- the others are all ditching us!”  

“O-okay!” the maknae stammers out, hurrying to catch up.  Once at the dorm, the dynamics within the group don’t change.  Jiyong shuts himself inside his room, heart pounding, as soon as he gets in, and no one bothers to stop him.  Instead, they carry on as normal, but there’s one major difference that the leader doesn’t notice.

Seungri’s eyes follow him as Jiyong runs away, head tilted in curiosity, even as he continues chatting with Youngbae.  

 ...I think my extreme lateness for every chapter is going to be a thing...Oh gods, I .  In my defense, my schedule's going to start picking up and I was busy and I should really stop making excuses since it really was just me being lazy.

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Well, um, at least it's out?  :D  Okay, that was lame.  There's probably going to be a timeskip next chapter too because I'm not exactly sure what to write...

Thanks for all the super-nice reviews and the subsciptions and even the fact that you took time off your day to read this!  I appreciate it a lot!