note: double update in one chapter, peeps.

“Why the frown, clown?” asked Youngjae from the dining table, startling Yongguk as he had not seen the singer-guitarist there.

Yongguk scratched his head. “Are the others still sleeping? CEO Kim had a talk with me.”

Youngjae paused as he was about to reach for his glass of water.

“Oh? Is everything all right?”

Yongguk sighed, pulled out a chair and slouched down across the table from the younger man.

“’Suppose? He congratulated me on finally having ‘tamed’ the brat,” he snorted because it was definitely him who’d done such things. “He said he heard we went over to Juniel’s place a few weeks ago. He congratulated me on that too, saying we could use her for… publicity…”

Youngjae eyed Yongguk, his eyebrows slowly forming a perfect imitation of the leader’s frown.

“Well, that’s just stupid,” said Youngjae. “Only duffers would use manipulation as a tool. Those things never end well,” he rolled his eyes, scoffing, “I mean, come on, humanity, when are you ever gonna learn from your own history?”

Yongguk stared at him blankly as Youngjae began to complain in that intellectual way of his.

“Why the crack are you quoting Walrus Buffet?” a sleepy voice grumbled from behind Youngjae, “it’s not even noon.”

Youngjae whipped around as Yongguk straightened. Zelo rubbed his face tiredly, walking past them into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water.

“Did you just call Warren Buffet a walrus?” The singer-guitarist raised his eyebrows. Youngjae then said louder, so that Zelo could hear, “Anyhow, I appreciate your knowledge. It’s comforting to know that people around me aren’t utter nitwits.”

They heard Zelo snort from the kitchen.

None of them had quite adjusted to the less aggressive version of their bassist. They still waited, convinced that any moment, the kid might explode and revert back to his more grouchy self. None of that had happened yet, and a few of them found themselves anticipating the blow; they’d rather get that over with, than wait around on the edges of their seats, not knowing when they’d wake up dead.

As for Yongguk and Youngjae, they were wary the kid might explode but hopeful that he had not.

Zelo walked out of the kitchen, yawning, slumping down on the chair furthest from the two. That was already an improvement in itself, considering how the kid never sat around with any of them before. He usually rarely ate and spent even less time during meals if the members were all there.

The bassist seemed to have not noticed the shift in his own attitude, and they all decided it would be best to keep him in the dark.

As Yongguk and Youngjae were attempting their casual conversation with Zelo, Yongguk’s phone rang.

“Yeah?” said Yongguk, accepting the call.

Youngjae mouthed over the table, asking who it was. The leader mouthed Himchan’s name back, and the singer-guitarist nodded. Zelo watched absently, half his mind drifting off somewhere else as always. He turned the empty glass over in his hands, mulling his thoughts over.

How could anybody tell? or more specifically, How could Junhee tell which was Junhong and which was him?

Zelo wanted to know, and he wished somebody could give him some answers. Those questions swirled around in his head, ever-present, since the beginning of time, but now- now Zelo was finally acknowledging them. He’d tried to brush the questions away, all those years of not being Junhong… but how could he be sure that the years without Junhee, the years he’d messed up his life, were the years he was Zelo? What if it’d always been just Junhong?

More scarily, What if there had never been a Junhong? What if there was only him?

The idea was so horrifying that Zelo shuddered and shoved it away. It was driving him on edge, the reality of it all, lurking in the shadows, hiding in the edges of his vision.

“Right, so,” Youngjae’s voice cut through Zelo’s mind.

He jerked, looking up to stare at the older members on the other end of the table.

“Dinner,” Yongguk butted in, looking slightly wary. Zelo frowned; it wasn’t even noon.

“Right,” said Youngjae, shifting in his seat to smile at the bassist. “Uh, Zelo? Himchan and Jongup’s coming back in a few hours, and we’ll be going out for dinner.”

Zelo blinked, not understanding why the two were even telling him this. They never told him anything, he just did whatever they did like it wasn’t ever an option. He waited bemusedly, as they stared back at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to say something.

Youngjae turned to Yongguk, who gave him a weird look, before turning to Zelo.

“Uh, they’ll be coming over with Juniel and her manager,” Yongguk said at last, rushing the words as if they would be less flammable that way.

“It’ll be fun,” Youngjae quickly commented. “Right?”

“Yeah. Everything will be fine,” replied Yongguk, as if trying his hardest to convince himself than the others.

Uncomprehending, the bassist glanced at the time. “Is today Tuesday?”

The two looked taken aback. “Uh, yeah. Why?”

Zelo stood up. “Nothin’.”

--|--

“What are you two doing in here?” Himchan nagged the moment Jongup and Juniel pushed open the closet doors. The keyboardist turned to Juniel. “I thought you said you were going to shower?”

Jongup glanced at Juniel, who looked like a trapped animal, one leg dangling out of the closet, the other still wary whether she should come out at all.

“Uh,” said Jongup helpfully. “She was making up for the talking, earlier.”

Juniel nodded fervently.

“Okay?” Himchan blinked. “In there?”

“It’s a nice thinking place,” Jongup defended, feeling a bit silly, but felt that it was worth it when he saw the grateful smile on Juniel’s face.

“Okay,” said Himchan sighing. “You two, come out. And, uh, Juniel? Do you mind getting ready? We’ll be going out in a few hours with manager Yoon.”

The two obediently slid out of the closet, stumbling slightly. As they made their way back to the living room, manager Yoon, who was checking his phone turned to eye the three young ones.

He asked, “I thought you said you were going to shower?” then he turned to Jongup confusedly, “Did you get lost?”

“Uh,” said Jongup eloquently.

“Jongup just came out of the closet,” said Juniel, hearing Himchan giggle at the statement. Jongup flushed red.

“What?”

Juniel repeated, “He just came out of the-“

“They literally were inside the closet,” Himchan explained between laughter. “Apparently, they were making up for the talking.”

“It’s a nice thinking place,” Juniel defended, “Jongup agrees.”

Manager Yoon sighed his tired sigh and shook his head.

“Okay, never mind,” he said. “Dreamy, it’s noon. You either go shower now, or watch your show and then shower.”

Juniel quickly dashed to the sofa, flicking on the TV.

Manager Yoon sighed again, shaking his head, stood up and disappeared into the kitchen.

Curiously, Himchan plopped himself down onto the single armchair.

“House Raid?” he asked skeptically.

Jongup sat down beside Juniel, staring at the screen.

“Who are they Raiding today?”

“No idea,” said Juniel with a shrug. “Oh, look. That’s Niel’s place.”

“Who?” Himchan asked, squinting at the screen.

“Niel… we sang together once,” murmured Juniel, then, “is that tattoo guy sleeping?”

Jongup stared at the show, as six boys ran around trying to clean up the place and shoving things inside cupboards to make their dorm look more presentable.

“Hey, I remember him,” Himchan said. “We met him on stage. The smiley one.”

Jongup searched for the smiley one, recalling the kid who Himchan had asked who BAP was contending against. “Oh, right.”

“That’s Chang… Changhyun? We used to go to the same school,” murmured Juniel dully. “He was really kind…”

Jongup and Himchan whipped around to the girl. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Juniel mumbled distantly, leaning back in her seat. “He’d always show up with sweets when people were mean to me.”

Jongup watched as Juniel smiled to herself. “Is he, was he the boy? The one you talked about?”

Juniel’s face was unguarded as she continued to watch the show. “No…” she said, as if not even conscious she was speaking. “They were… from the same year, though.”

Himchan exchanged a meaningful look with Jongup. After a few minutes, interrupted by Juniel’s chuckles at the comical parts, Himchan asked to nobody in particular, “I wonder if they really didn’t warn them before visiting? Or are they just acting?”

Jongup shrugged.

“I hope they gave a notice…” Juniel mumbled, her eyes never off of the screen. “If they ever come here, I’ll put fake insects everywhere. Maybe even real snakes,” she giggled to herself. Himchan watched her amusedly. “I wanna scare them.”

Jongup gave Himchan an astonished look; they didn’t expect Juniel to be a mischievous person. Her image to them had always been quiet, untouchable and as flat as their television screen even. Now, they felt as though they’d done the right thing by befriending her. She was so much more than a girl inside people’s TVs.

 --|--

As Youngjae slumped down on one of the bean bags, he commented, “I never knew you watch House Raid.”

Zelo merely grunted.

Yongguk answered for th