Mino walked down the stairs holding his chest. His legs were getting weak and he stood at the stairs. “What was that?” he asked himself as he slowly regained himself and dragged himself back to the practice room.

“Hyung!!!” Yunhyeong stood up. “What did you just……..”

“Sorry Yunhyeong ah. I.. I had to do it. I know we’re not in that kind of relationship.” Taehyun tried to explain to Yunhyeong who was still shocked.

“I just wanted to congratulate you for finally finishing your studies so that was the quickest thing I could think of. Besides, it wasn’t a kiss okay, it was a peck.” Taehyun lied.

“On my lips? Wow hyung, I never knew you were such an intimate kind of person.” Yunhyeong asked, feeling slightly puzzled.

“Yun ah.. I’m not gay... We have been buddies for a long time and I guess I got too comfortable….” Taehyun explained again.

Taehyun watched as his buddy sighed. “Don’t do this again hyung, or else our friendship is over. I’m going back to the practice room, see you tomorrow.” Yunhyeong replied, annoyed.

“Mmm. Good night Yun ah! Congratulations once again!” he shouted as his buddy walked towards the stairs. “… and sorry.” He mumbled.

Taehyun leaned back and watched the stars. “Do I really have to go this far to teach Mino a lesson?” he asked himself. “I’m only making use of my good friend and this isn’t going anywhere.”

He sighed and as he buried his face in his palms. “Am I doing it all wrong? Am I over-doing things?”  he asked himself again.

Taehyun closed his eyes and leaned back. He was lost in his thoughts. Now he was certain that he has made Mino change his mind about the whole “forgetting about the past” incident. “If Mino didn’t care, he wouldn’t have turned back and just left like that.” Taehyun muttered as he stared into the sky painted with stars.

He glanced at his watched and he realised it was getting really late. Taehyun sighed. “Am I taking this too far?” he asked himself while gathering his things as he stood up from the bench. “Hopefully he’ll be asleep so I don’t have to see his reaction.” he secretly wished as he made his way to the practice room.

~~~

Morning came and Taehyun found himself the only one sleeping in while the members were almost done taking turns washing up in the toilet that were specially for the trainees.

“Maknae yah, you’re up?” Seungyoon asked. “Go and wash your face, we have 2 days till the evaluation and we need to practice.” He continued.

Taehyun sat up and scanned through the room. No sign of Mino. He saw everyone else except Mino. “Where is everyone?” he asked.

“Everyone? We’re all here” Seunghoon asked as he glanced around the room. “Ah you mean Mino? He’s still in the toilet.” He continued after he realised that Mino isn’t in the room.

Taehyun got up on his feet and put on his shoes. “I better wash up and have breakfast” he said as he hurriedly made his way to the toilet hoping to bump into Mino.

He reached the toilet and sure enough Mino was there, still brushing his teeth. Mino looked at Taehyun from the mirror.

“Good morning” Taehyun greeted as he stood next to Mino. “Morning” Mino replied, not looking at Taehyun.

“Did you have a good sleep last night?” Taehyun asked again, looking at Mino.

“Not really.” Mino muttered, rinsing his face. “I’m gonna mark my attendance. See you later.” Mino replied as he took his toiletries and tried to leave the toilet.

Taehyun grabbed Mino’s wrists before he opened the toilet door. “Are you by any chance angry at me?” Taehyun asked, looking at Mino straight in the eye.

“No, why would I be?” Mino answered, avoiding eye contact.

“Don’t lie” Taehyun replied, raising his voice.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about but I really need to go” Mino struggled to get his hands free off Taehyun’s grip.

Taehyun let go of Mino’s hand and watched as Mino left the toilet. “Why should I care anymore?” he asked himself.

He quickly finished washing up and rushed to the waiting area to catch Mino who might still be marking his attendance, but Mino’s not there anymore. Taehyun switched on the camera and quickly said “Good morning, attendance checked” before he rushed off to grab a quick breakfast and headed to the practice room.

Taehyun entered the practice room while the members were all focusing on perfecting their dance steps individually in front of different sections of the mirror. Taehyun took the empty spot next to Mino and started warming up.

Mino who was practicing didn’t even glance at Taehyun who just joined the group for the individual practice. Slowly, he started to leave distances between himself and Taehyun to give Taehyun more room to dance and he was also scanning across the room to find another empty spot.

After what he saw that night, Mino wanted to distance himself from Taehyun. He realised what Seunghoon said was probably true, that Taehyun has probably changed too. Without him realising, he started distancing himself and avoiding Taehyun.

Taehyun who saw the change in Mino wanted to approach him but Mino was always avoiding him and giving him the reason that he needs to practice hard for this evaluation.

The day of the evaluation came and the teams made their way to the YG building as usual dressed in their performance outfits. Team A entered the room first followed by Team B and they were shocked to see the line-up of cameras.

“Whowww whats going on?” the members muttered to themselves. Somehow they were smiling because they figured that the presence of cameras means that they will be shooting something soon. The trainees nervously waited in the room for the arrival of the president.

When YG arrived, they greeted him and stood in front of him. YG announced about the new reality show that they will all be taking part in and explained the concept of the show where they would have to battle against each other for 3 battles and the winner would be decided by the viewers. They were also informed that the winning team would be called “Winner” after the end of the final battle and they would not be called Team A or Team B anymore.

After the announcement, the evaluation proceeded as usual. The teams showcased a dance and a song performance each and were evaluated by the producers, songwriters and the president. At the end of both performances, YG made his comment. As usual, he pointed out the weaknesses of each member and asked them to work on their weak areas.

YG glanced at Team A who were standing attentively. “Your team lacks unity. As you all know, Team A doesn’t have a leader. That’s the biggest problem.” he evaluated. “From now on, the leader is Song Mino.”

The members looked at Mino. They didn’t say anything but just nodded.

After YG left, the members got into their vans and headed home feeling a devastated as they received more criticism than compliments. At home, they discovered cameras installed in their rooms and the members were so excited they started talking the cameras which were recording them in the room.

They were exhausted that night so the members just stayed in their rooms and rested. Mino who was on his bed kept turning around, trying to fall asleep. He still couldn’t believe that he had become the leader of the group. He realised that he had more responsibilities now towards the team.

“I have no more time to think about relationship and stuff. I have a heavy responsibility now and I can’t let this affect the way I work. The president had entrusted the entire group to me so I’ll have to live up to his expectations.” Mino set his mind that night. He grabbed his phone and set his alarm. “Tomorrow will be a new start.”

Aaaaa, I hope I don’t bore you guys so much with this chapter update. I really love namsong’s WIN moments so I decided to write it like this. Do comment on how you guys find this alright! Next chapter will be up in a jiffy :)