It has been a few weeks since Hyuk was accepted/forcefully recruited by Hyde. He is slowly learning the songs by heart (he writes the chords on his left arm during gigs with a sharpie) along with the other must knows of a fully pledged member of the band.

 

HOW TO SURVIVE HYDE: An incomplete guide by Han Sanghyuk

  Do not piss off Leo at all costs. No. Just don’t do it. Ken is the best. At everything. Even when he is not. Don’t question it. If in doubt, ask Ravi. No one else but Ravi. Everything is about . Even when it is not. Don't ask Hongbin to explain #4. Always be on N's good side. Good fortune will follow. Drinks are free. Passing out is optional but prohibited until the third song of the last set. Don’t make eye contact with anyone who isn't from the VIP seats.' Avoid B.A.P and BlockB after 11pm mark. If you get mugged, just shout "Crayon Pop!"

 

Everything is sailing smoother these days. Hyde plays in Fly To The Sky  every Saturday night. Other gigs and bookings are limited to weekends since Ken and Hongbin had nine to five day jobs. Ken is a pharmacist and Hongbin… well, this week Hongbin is a barista in some coffee shop. Last week, he  was a sales representative. The week before that he was an office secretary. You get the gist.

 

Since Hyuk just graduated from high school and isn't particularly sure of what he wants to take in college (or if he wanted to go to college in the first place), he decided to take a year or two off. which means he is free to practice with Ravi and Leo on weekdays.

 

Leo owns an acupuncture and tattoo shop which opens from one in the afternoon to six in the evening. Which means Hyuk's bass lessons are conducted during weekdays in the midst of Leo's needles, inks and piercing guns. And since Ravi is a freelance graphic artist, which translates to he is technically unemployed ninety percent of the time, he also jams along with them with his cajon which is a permanent fixture in Leo's shop ever since it opened when he was nineteen.

 

N has internship in his father's company and other rich boy things so he can't bother Leo supervise. It is then that Hyuk learns the most since he is encouraged by Ravi's friendly pep talks and at the same time scared to death by Leo's breathing.

 

During these weekdays with his mentors, Hyuk noticed that Ravi was the only person that Leo doesn’t seem to have murderous intent upon in the band. Well, that would be understandable to Hyuk since Ravi is in his opinion the only chill one in the bunch. But then again maybe we could account his being high half of the time for that. But still, Ravi was the least likely to be an ex mental patient even if his piercings still scare Hyuk sometimes.

 

Whenever Hyuk had questions, whether it be about the song they are playing to  what Hongbin meant when he says "If you know what I mean." , he asks Ravi.

 

Today, his question was plain and simple.

 

"What the is happening?"

 

"What do you mean what the is happening?" Ravi was quick to clarify.

 

You see, it is a Saturday afternoon and they are at N's studio. Hyuk has practiced and perfected all the songs that they were going to play all week long. By now, Leo should be listening to him play as Ravi half soberly steps on the pedal, Ken singing along, N sipping on some flavored milk and Hongbin lazily chording his way through the song as he spews yet again another related joke.

 

But none of that was happening.

 

"Why aren’t we practicing? I mean, we practiced all week. But isn’t it supposed to be grill time at this moment? Where is Ken? Why does Leo look like a stepped on puppy and not an angry lion? Why is N binging on Monster energy drink instead of banana milk? And why is Hongbin laying like a log on the floor?"

 

Ravi heaved a big sigh and sat on the couch parallel to Hongbin's pretend dead body. Hyuk follows him and 'gently' kicks the lump of human body that was their keyboardist so that he could pass through and sit on the space that was being patted by the drummer.

 

"Here, little one."

 

Hyuk tries not to roll his eyes at being called little one. N expressly mandated that Hyuk be called "little one" since he is the youngest. But he knew that it was a plot to make people forget that N was the shortest among them, not that Hyuk minds since N bought him  a Nami action figure as a welcoming gift.

 

"Do you see our bandmates and our manager?"

 

"Three of them. Ken is missing. Where is he?"

 

"All in good time, child. What you see right here, right now..." Hyuk glances at the scene before him. Was Leo pouting to himself? N was chewing on the table.

 

"Why won’t senpai notice me!?" Hongbin was now wailing.

 

"…is the depression train."  Hyuk just looked at Ravi as he sipped on one of N's banana milk cartons. He probably wouldn’t notice anyway since he was busy sinking his teeth on the poor table.

 

"Now that you mentioned it. They look depressing. Has the carpet even been brushed in a year? Hongbin is rubbing his face on it. He's gonna get pimples." And then the said keyboardist proceeded to roll on the floor, speaking in garbled  Japanese. Hyuk only understood senpai, thanks to his manga and anime. On the bright side, Hongbin will not have pimples. It is scientifically proven that he has genes for perfect skin and perfect everything. Only mortals like Hyuk get pimples.

 

"You're supposed to ask me why it's called the depression train. And I know that we look like a bunch of kids but you still have to call us hyung." 

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