“God, I’m so tired,” Wonwoo dropped own onto the couch in the tiny rap practice room of the company. The clock showed 5 a.m. He just arrived from the last dance practice for the showcase, even though they had been performing just hours earlier.

“Then why didn’t you go to the dorm?” Mingyu asked, closing the door behind them. Wonwoo heard the lock snapping close a moment later. He had to suppress a grin.

Mingyu sat down on the armrest, “Why are you smiling?”

“Nothing in particular,” he waved it off, “I just thought it would be quieter here. And Jihoon and Soonyoung stayed as well.”

“But they are actually doing something.”

“I said I would practice my rap part for tomorrow’s recording,” Wonwoo argued.

“You won’t.”

Wonwoo laughed, “You’re right.”

His eyes were about to fall closed, when a thought crossed his mind and he was wide awake again. He pushed himself up on his elbows and regretted it immediately. Each and every single fibre of his body seemed to protest; trying to make him lie down and letting them rest from the hours of dancing.

“Why aren’t you at the dorm?” Wonwoo asked.

“I’m not tired,” Mingyu shook his head.

“You were the leader of your unit and your dark circles are almost like those of a panda.”

“I have coffee,” the younger lifted up his right hand in which he had his plastic starbucks cup with his self made iced Americano. It did indeed taste better since they started storing the coffee in another room.

“Stop drinking so much coffee, it’s not good for you.”

“You looked hot today, by the way. At the performance,” Mingyu winked, but did place the cup on the side table.

“Stop changing the subject,” Wonwoo said, “You were also very cute though.”

“Thanks.”

Wonwoo sat up entirely to pat the space next to him, “Come here.”

Mingyu moved over to sit next to him and slid his arm around Wonwoo’s waist. He rested his head against the elder’s.

“Hyung?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think they’ll ever find out?” his voice was low, like even saying these words would send off alarms all over the building.

“Eventually they will,” Wonwoo figured.

“But what do we do then?”

“Let’s think about that only once we have to, yeah?”

“Hm...”

Wonwoo almost heard how Mingyu mentally tried to reassure himself that it was the right thing to do. He imagined the younger gong though all kinds of scenarios in which someone, anyone, ran in on them and what would happen after.

“Don’t think, Mingyu-yah,” he whispered, his hand over the younger’s hair.

It was silent for a while. Just the sound of their breathing, gradually evening, and the constant ticking of the clock. Time was so precious these days. Each second in which Wonwoo had Mingyu to himself seemed like a gift. Each look, each touch, each kiss, it was all so rare. But this same rarity let all these small symbols of affection turn into a phenomenon. There is always a light in the dark.

“But hyung?” Mingyu tried.

“Yes, Mingyu?”

“What if this doesn’t work?”

Wonwoo blinked, “What?”

“Us?”

“Mingyu.”

“Sorry.”

“No, you don’t have to apologize,” Wonwoo said, “But we will work, whatever happens.”

“Already we barely have time together…”

The elder had to smile about how he had seemingly thought of something similar to him before.

“Even if it is like that. Even if we have no time at all. It won’t change anything about my feelings,” he tried to reassure Mingyu, “And even if one day you tell me that you can’t go on like this, I will wait until you’ve changed your mind and you come back to me.”

“I’ll never leave you,” the younger whispered and Wonwoo could hear him holding back tears.

“Me neither, okay? And I will never,” Wonwoo moves away slightly to look at the younger and cup his face, so he would surely look at him as well, “you hear me, never will I love anyone as much as I love you, Kim Mingyu.”

The younger chuckled, “You’re so cheesy,” but a tear escaped his eye.

Wonwoo wiped it away with his thumb and smiled, “I know.”

And he leant in to catch one of the scarce kisses from the other’s lips.

The following weeks were an emotional roller coaster ride. The nerves before the showcase, the adrenaline pumping through their veins and the immediate drop after the announcement of not having made it. Seeing their parents again after such a long time, performing for them, having made it at last. The amount of time spent on final debut preparations, the music video shoot. Wonwoo was surprised he was still able to walk upright, considering the amount of physical strain, mental pressure and lack of both sleep and proper nutrition. But he made it.

There he was, standing backstage of the first live show ever serving as a debut of a group, energized, motivated and holding onto Mingyu’s hand in the circle that formed when the group connected their hands. They were one, and they would never let each other down.

“We’ll be doing great, yes?” Seungcheol screamed.

“YES! FIGHTING!” everyone replied louder than him.

They were about to take their positions, when Wonwoo held Mingyu back by his arm.

“Us too, right?” he asked.

“We’ll be just fine,” the younger replied with a smile.

Wonwoo looked around and when the lights went out before the start of the show, he took the chance and placed a peck on Mingyu’s cheek.

“I love you, you know?”

“I know.”

“MINGYU! WONWOO!” Seungcheol’s voice was heard backstage over the chatters of their company-seniors hosting the show.

“Let’s go, before he rips our heads off” Mingyu giggled.

“Let’s be better than anyone has ever been before.”

Right now there was nothing else he could ask for. Everything he ever wanted was right in his hands that were damaged slightly by the effort of reaching out for them and making them his own to call. The One in eight billion by his side and the dream they shared. But these things were mere saplings, Wonwoo was now to defend, so they could grow into huge baobabs that would eventually engulf all of his little world and keep him safe.

AN: To celebrate the last day of the year, you now have the last paragraphs of this story. This was it. The end of a great year, I must say, I spent writing on this. A gret year for our fandom, may I add as well. I know this is even shorter than the previous chapter but there was nothing else to be said. This was, a little after I started workign on this, the point at which I wanted this story to end, bcause it marks a new chapter in their lives. I really enjoyed writing this story (with the exception of a few paragraphs in some chapters towards the ending) an I really enjoyed this style, the simplicity and the canon-style storyline. But I don't think I can really keep that up for much longer or else this story would grow boring and I am of the opinion that a writer should not start a new conflict at a very advanced point in the story, which would have been around now. The conflict I created early on is now over. 

I hope you enjoyed your time with this story (and maybe remember how it started) (and also got the reference to something else there at the end) and maybe, if there is one of you to continue this type of story, "Meanie as it might be behind the scenes", I would very much like to check out what you think might happen from this point onwards.

Lastly, I would like to thank you, dear reader, for reading this story, for sticking until the end. I want to thank everyone who subscribed to this story, voted it up and, to the very most, lft your views in from of comments. I love you for giving my words attention ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥