People ask me this question: 

Why did you join team A back then when you could have just continued your solo career?

My answer to them will be the same, forever and always.

Because everything I have prepared during my trainee years were all for the group’s debut. 

Because it only feels right when all five of us exist as one.

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Melancholic music resonated within the studio where the empty audience seats were waiting to be filled up by eager fans of various groups.

“Hey~ Nega obneun bami~ ireoke oereoun ji mwolasseo, nan mwolasseo…”

The passionate vocals of WINNER weaved words into beautiful melodies as they rehearsed for their live performance later on. Even though it was only the rehearsal, the five boys did not slack off in their dancing nor singing, exuding a charismatic aura rarely seen among rookie groups in the industry.

As the last song came to an end, the staff crew gave a small applause in appreciation of WINNER’s hard work.

“Thank you for the hard work! Please have some rest in your waiting room before the actual event starts!”

The group bowed respectfully to the off-stage staff crew before heading out of the stage.

“Whew! This stage is smaller than I thought. I think I stepped on someone just now,” Mino commented as he exited the stage.

Up ahead, the make-up artists were salvaging Jinwoo and Seunghoon’s make up from their incessant sweating. Jinwoo made a face in response to Mino’s comment and said, “Mino ah, you stepped on me thrice!”

“Mino must have been plotting to step on Jinwoo hyung since the beginning!” Seunghoon joked playfully, only to be elbowed in the side by Mino. 

The maknae-line duo, who were following behind, laughed at the comical duo’s antics. 

“Sometimes,” Taehyun smiled in exasperation as he continued, “It makes you wonder why these idiots are hyungs, right? Seungyoon hyung.”

Lost in his own thoughts, Seungyoon was oblivious to the fact that Taehyun was talking to him.

Damn, I’m feeling groggy and hot. Must be a fever. First, sore throat. Now this. Seriously, nothing’s going my way today.

When no reply came from the man beside him, Taehyun turned to face Seungyoon to find out the reason for his silence. To his surprise, he saw that Seungyoon was sweating more than usual.

“Hyung, are you okay? You seem to be sweating quite a lot,” Taehyun asked, his signature droopy eyebrows knitting together in worry.

A look of surprise appeared on Seungyoon’s face for a split second, after which the leader quickly reassumed his usual countenance. Wary of the sensitive maknae, Seungyoon could only hope that Taehyun did not notice the brief change in his expression.

“Hmm? Of course I am sweating! We just danced to three songs consecutively, didn’t we? You’re thinking too much,” Seungyoon reassured Taehyun with a smile.

Please just believe me. Please.

“Alright. If you say so.”

As though answering to Seungyoon’s mental pleas, Taehyun ended the conversation right then and went up ahead to join the others instead.

However, Seungyoon was not sure if this meant that Taehyun believed him, or that he simply gave up probing further. Taehyun was a rather sharp kid after all. Although whichever it was, Seungyoon was still relieved.

Well, it’s just sweating. That’s not enough for him to be suspicious of me, right?

Unbeknownst to Seungyoon, Taehyun was indeed suspicious of him.

That smile and those words, they were just like the facade which Taehyun himself used to hide under.

When it comes to Seungyoon, Taehyun would become even more sensitive, and the reason was simple: the two of them were just too similar.

They were just like mirror images of each other in terms of personalities. Even without words, one would be able to understand the other with ease. This time, like any other times, Taehyun knew that Seungyoon was lying. 

Yet, the suspicion was buried in Taehyun’s mind, though it did give him a nagging feeling which could not be cast away.

After all, it was only sweating. There was no way Taehyun could have pinpointed the exact problem with just that observation alone.

Maybe I’ll talk to Seunghoon hyung about it. He’s always quick at noticing these things.

While Taehyun was deep in his thoughts, the group of boys had reached their waiting room, as they waited for their make up and hairstyles to be touched up by their make up artists and stylists.

“Seungyoon, come have your make up done first. Most of your previous make up is gone already!”

“Yes, I’m coming,” Seungyoon obeyed the make up artist’s orders promptly as he made his way to the dressing table.

As soon as the make up artist started removing Seungyoon’s current make up so that she could redo the entire make up again, she noticed something was off.

“Seungyoon-“ she started but was cut off immediately by Seungyoon in a hushed tone.

“Noona, please pretend that you don’t know anything.”

“But you’re burning up! It’s dangerous for you to be performing with a fever!”

“Please, noona,” Seungyoon pleaded desperately.

The make up artist heart softened when she saw the desperation in Seungyoon’s eyes. She let out a sigh and gave in, promising to keep quiet about his fever on one condition: Seungyoon was to abstain from any form of practice before the actual performance - no singing, no dancing, not even humming.

Seungyoon gave the make up artist a grateful smile and accepted the condition readily. The make up artist could not help but smile in exasperation as she resumed her work in redoing the boy’s make up. The young leader was too earnest and sincere for her to handle, but she was still uncertain if keeping quiet was the right thing to do.

Some may call him stubborn, or even a workaholic. Even so, Seungyoon refused to be absent from any of WINNER’s performance.

WINNER had to be five.

If one were to be missing, the performance would not feel right. The members would be worried. The fans would be worried.

There was absolutely no way Seungyoon would allow that to happen just because of a mere sickness. Definitely. No way in hell.

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Hey guys! Sorry for the delay in the new chapter! I was rather busy with some events and all OTL Here's an insight into why our maknae leader stubbornly drags himself on stage!

*Note: I assumed that there are only two make up artists per group. The last time I watched Olleh TV, The Bigbang Show, the Bigbang members could only do their make up two at a time. So I guessed that there is no way a rookie group could have more make up artists than their super successful daesunbae-nim right?