Forgotten

A Leader's Burden

Q: Now that Seungyoon is having a separate interview, share with us your first impressions of your leader.

Jinwoo: I always had an inferiority complex during our trainee days, especially when Seungyoon and Sungjoo (now UNIQ's leader) were so amazing. My first impression of Seungyoon was this warm child who seemed like he would succeed as an artiste. I still think he is right now *smile*

Seunghoon: We were both from survival shows, so he was kind of like a sunbae-nim to me initially. Like, you know, woah, someone who has already made it pretty big with all those commercials and drama. Upon first meeting, well, he turned out to be just a kid, playful and dorky. That came as a surprise to me but I'm glad to have met him.

Mino: Well, I'm the last to join the team after all. When I entered, it was hard to mix with the group as a latecomer. The first person I talked to and felt comfortable with is actually Seungyoon! I think the main reason is because he's so similar to Zico that I felt iike I had know him for a long time. *laughs*

Taehyun: Once upon a time, I thought Kang Seungyoon was the coolest man on Earth. I was so excited to be in the same team as him, really. And then, I thought he was a total goofball with a missing sock when I first met him. Now, he's just that annoyingly naggy mom whom you would wish to shut out forever but in the end, you would always return to him just because you know everything that he did was for your own good.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


The last thing Mino expected to confront after finding Seungyoon was B.I. and Bobby grabbing onto his search target, who seemed to be anything but fine.

Nor did Mino expect to see his leader fainting as he rushed to help his dongsaengs.

The moment Mino came into contact with Seungyoon's body, he understood why their maknae leader had been acting strangely for the entire day.

"F***! He's hot as hell!" Mino had cursed under his breath.

In retrospect, Mino found it a miracle that he was able to keep his cool as he called for an ambulance and informed their manager about the situation. He wondered how he could be calming B.I. and Bobby down when he himself was just as lost too.

Mino believed he could have gone on pondering about his unexpected display of calmness for the next few hours, had Taehyun not broken Mino train of thoughts with his sudden confession.

"I noticed that he was sweating more than usual after the rehearsal. I thought I would talk to Seunghoon hyung about it but I didn't say anything in the end! If only I did......"

They were in the hospital ward, waiting for Seungyoon to regain consciousness. The cheerful and strong leader now lay unconscious on a hospital bed, his complexion ghostly white.

The doctor had informed the members that Seungyoon had a severe case of tonsillitis, which could have been dangerous if his fever had gone any higher. The members had been sitting in the ward ever since then. 

Taehyun's self-reproach broke the grim silence that had haunted the ward for the past hour.

Seeing the youngest assuming the blame all by himself, Mino gave the maknae a comforting hug and said, "I should have realised something was wrong when he woke up at 5am with that hoarse voice. I'm at fault too."

As if a game of who-is-at-fault was ongoing, Seunghoon joined in the series of confessions as well. "I felt that something was wrong since this morning. I noticed he was less energetic than usual but I assumed that it was just due to a lack of sleep. How stupid can I get?"


"Stop it," Jinwoo said assertively before continuing on softly, "It's Seungyoon-ie. He would do anything to hide the fact that he's sick from us, and he did. It's hard to realise what was wrong with those small and nearly insignificant clues. We all know that."

At rare times like this, when Jinwoo would show his wise side as someone who had lived longer than the rest of the members, Jinwoo would always be right on point.

Knowing that Jinwoo was right, the others fell silent. After all, 'what if's would always remain as 'what if's. There was no point in thinking about it. Instead, the members were in deep thoughts about something else.

When did it start? 

When did we begin to forget?

When did we start to conveniently take it for granted?

When was the last time we remembered that Kang Seungyoon was only a 22-year old kid, our other maknae whom should have been cared for by us and not the other way round?

With unexpected chemistry, the four members mumbled quietly to themselves simultaneously, "Sorry we forgot what we should have remembered, Seungyoon-ie (hyung)."

Hey everyone, I have updated the interview section as promised! If you haven't noticed, the Q&A at the beginning of each chapter are, in fact, the fictional interview mentioned in the story. Just in case you thought that I have conveniently skipped past the interviews >.<

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Comments

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Ghad20
#1
Chapter 7: Awww amazing
If you're still there ... thank you
Ghad20
#2
I just found this I know it's old but I don't care I love it ♡
echristiela #3
This great story ..
sodaberry118
#4
Chapter 9: This makes me missed them so much. Wish they have a comeback soon. :)
SevenDaisies
#5
Chapter 9: I just love your creativity in making the song and this story as a whole
MixedSugaR
#6
Chapter 9: I'm glad I read this story. It contained the pains and the joy of being a leader and of having a team. Yes, being a leader is such a tough job, all of them want to stay strong for the team, to the point of over-exerting themselves, but as you depicted in this story, the other members are always there to share the burden. I can never imagine what these group idols are going through, but being together almost all the time creates a really precious bond that common people will never understand. I'm happy I got to read a story of the harshness of being a leader but also they can count on their members, which are more closer than a family.
NakaharaAi #7
Chapter 8: Your selfmade song lyrics is so deep and beautiful, oh i cry again. Thank you so much, thank you ~
NakaharaAi #8
Chapter 7: I read this while listening to color ring ~ and tears fall down. Such a beautiful story you make here. Thank you, authornim ~ im waiting your next masterpiece hehehe
kimminah89
#9
Chapter 8: Is this song real? or you made it up?
Sonita #10
Chapter 6: Yes, in reality most of the time I forget that he's also a maknae line in group... I hope he let his hyungs take care of him, too.