Mino smiled lovingly at his boyfriend who was intently looking at him, waiting for his reply. It’s not that he does not want to bathe with Taehyun, it’s just that ever since that incident, the only person he has allowed to bathe him is Seunghoon. Even his grandparents never dared to step into the bathroom while their grandson was bathing. Once, his grandfather came into the bathroom while he was bathing alone and he became so scared that he could only crouch in the corner of the bathtub and cry. Since that incident, he became very sensitive to his surroundings whenever he bathes. He had only allowed Seunghoon to be by his side when he bathes and till today, it still remained that way. He either bathes alone or with Seunghoon around.

Mino cleared his throat. His eyes made contact with Taehyun.

“I’m actually a little sensitive when it comes to bathing and I’m not comfortable with having people around me when I bathe.”

Taehyun moved his hands to touch his lover’s face. He empathises Mino for having to go through such a hard time alone. Now he understands that behind the strong and playful front that Mino puts on his face, lies a sad and unbelievable story of his own. It was a past that he knows Mino wants to forget, a past that he wished never happened between the both of them and a past which they had regretted so much.

“If you have anything to tell me, I’ll always be here, alright?” Taehyun comforted as he continues caressing Mino’s face.

“I think… I might have something to tell you, but I will tell you when I am ready to talk about it..” Mino smiled as he held onto Taehyun’s hands placed delicately on his face. He pulled Taehyun closer to him again, inhaling the sweet morning scent of his lover.

Taehyun already knew what Mino was referring to. If possible, he wanted to hear Mino’s side of his story. The side of story which he has never told anyone, except in his sleep.

Take as long as you want, darling. I won’t bring up your past if you won’t allow me.

“I want to stay like this until we wake up.” Mino whispered lovingly into Taehyun’s ears as he closed his eyes, treasuring the rare precious alone time the lovers have with each other.

“Me too.”

~

“Good Morning lovers” Seungyoon rudely barged into their room a couple of hours later, informing them that they have to get ready to go to work. It was already 11am and the members were slowly giving up their precious beds and were already washing up.

Mino immediately lifted his head up and checked the time against the clock on his bedroom wall.

“Give us five minutes, please?” He grunted while still half asleep. Taehyun was still sleeping soundly in his arms.

“At your command, lovers.” Seungyoon playfully teased as he closed the door behind him and left the couple alone.

“Good morning, Hyunnie.” Mino whispered into Taehyun’s ears, rubbing his boyfriend’s back. He loves giving Taehyun back massages and he had done this for a very long time, ever since they were dating in the past.

Taehyun squirmed in Mino’s hug, looking up at his boyfriend who was looking at him with such dear eyes. He groaned sadly at the thought of having to part with his boyfriend. He wanted to stay in bed all day long and just be in Mino’s arms with such a free mind.

After a while, Taehyun and Mino finally got up, following their routine morning kiss in Mino’s room.

“You two are showing your love openly, I see?” Jinwoo teased as soon as he spotted the lovers leaving the room together. “No more kissing secretly in the kitchen or in the toilet aye?”

“Good morning hyung! You look good today.” Mino changed the topic, complimenting Jinwoo who was already dressed in his outfit of the day and was busy cooling off his morning tea.

“Thank you Mino. I’ve always looked good, if you haven’t realised.” Jinwoo’s witty remark made the members in the living room laugh.

Mino entered the kitchen to get his usual cup of juice. “Good morning hyung!” Mino greeted his best friend who was pouring milk into his cereal bowl. “Man, you looked like you lacked sleep. Someone watched xx videos last night I see?” he teased Seunghoon.

Seunghoon nearly choked at Mino’s question. “I wished I had the time to watch those videos, chingu yah.” He snorted, taking his cereal bowl out into the living room.

“Then then? Why do you look so tired??” Mino curiously tailed his best friend out of the kitchen.

“Um… Dance steps. Yes, I was choreographing dance steps last night that I didn’t even realise it was nearly morning.” Seunghoon lied. Truth is, he could not fall asleep until the very early hours of the morning. He was tossing and turning in bed the entire night, thinking about how his best friend would react if he were to found out that his deepest darkest secret has been exposed to the person he has been trying to keep the secret from. At that point, he earnestly wished that Taehyun would keep it to himself, fearing that the worse might happen if Mino finds out that Taehyun had already known about his past.

“Psh, you’re always so busy choreographing that you don’t even think about your own health. Hyung, can you please take care of yourself? You’re making me worry you know?” Mino pouted to his best friend. He was really concerned about Seunghoon, noticing his dark circles forming beneath his eyes.

“Yah, did my aunt called you last night to nag at me or something?” Seunghoon joked.

“Hyung, can you not? I’m being serious here. Whatever, I’m going to bathe.”

 “Mino ya!” Seunghoon called out.

“Yes?”

“Sorry…”

“What for…?” Mino asked, wondering what was going on.

Seunghoon paused for a while. Sorry, for revealing your darkest past to Taehyun.

“Nah, nothing. Go bathe.”

With that, Mino smiled and walked away from Seunghoon and grabbed his towel.

“You’ll be fine, in the toilet, right?” Seunghoon asked, suddenly concerned and sounding like a caring mum.

“Hyung.” Mino whispered, pointing at the other two members who were engaging in their own conversation.

“They’re going to think that I’m a baby who can’t even bathe myself.”

“Oh.” Seunghoon mouthed the words, he immediately remembered that the other two members were in the living room as well. “Call me if you need me.”

~~~

The members made their way to the practice room as usual, laughing and joking together. Even though they were used to having cameras following them to and from everywhere they go, they felt much more comfortable without the cameras around. They could joke and laugh casually, not caring if their jokes were actually appropriate for broadcast or not.

“Good afternoon hyungs!” the members were greeted by a group of familiar voices behind them. The other team had returned from their vacation and were also making their way to the training centre. The trainees lives in the same building but they rarely bump into each other’s teams when they make their way to work because the individual teams had to coordinate with the timing of the camera crew who had to film them.

Taehyun’s good friend, Yunhyeong, hurriedly ran over to Mino and Taehyun who were interlocking fingers, walking all the way in front ahead of the members.

“Good afternoon” the young boy bowed at the couple, not noticing that they had their fingers intertwined.

“O…oh Hi, Yun ah.” Taehyun awkwardly greeted. He immediately pulled his hands away from Mino’s palm and immediately put his hands to his back.

Yunhyeong who did not notice anything unusual about the two casually talked to Taehyun, like as if they haven’t met for a very long time. Mino was left alone slightly behind them so he followed the two friends closely like a jealous lover, eavesdropping their conversation.

“… The sea was so pretty and the weather was so nice, we played-“

“What did you guys eat? I heard that they gave you guys meat!! Daebak!” Mino cut Yunhyeong off, interrupting the two friend’s conversation.

“Uh… Yeah, the meat was so good and we kept asking the ahjumma for refills.” The two friends walked further down, closing in the gap that Mino had created between them.

“Aish.” Mino complained childishly. He ran up to the two friends, interrupting their conversation again and purposely creating a gap in between.

“Then? Where did you guys sleep? On the floor? In the van? Beside the ocean?”

Yunhyeong turned his head slightly to answer Mino’s question. “We slept in the van hyung. It was pretty huge to accommodate all 6 of us.” He closed the gap once again, leaving Mino at the back.

In the end, Mino pulled Seunghoon who was walking behind him with Jinwoo and walked together with him.

“Hyung, walk with me. Someone ditched me.”

~

After they had marked their attendance through the video diary, the members settled down in their training room, waiting for their vocal teacher’s arrival. Mino sat in the studio on his own, perfecting the song he has been working on alone. The song was entitled ‘Olleri Kolleri’. With the vocal trainer’s encouragement and guidance, Mino wanted to compose his own solo rap for the first time.

Taehyun quietly entered the studio which was by the side of the training room and grabbed a seat beside Mino. He was so engrossed in catching up with his good friend that he didn’t realise that Mino was walking alone at the back earlier on, despite Mino interrupting them many times during their conversation.

“Nice beats.” Taehyun complimented, bobbing his head to the sound of the beats that Mino created. “Can I feature in it?”

“Nope, I want to record it solo.”

“Ah, okay. Are you going to let the president listen to it?”

“Yup.” Mino replied short, still bitter that he was left alone at the back by his own lover.

“Are you going to let the PD listen to it?”

“Yup.”

“Are you going to let the members listen to it?”

“Yup.”

“Are you going to let our vocal teacher listen to it?”

“Yup” Mino continued working on the beats without making eye contact.

“Are you jealous?” Taehyun teased his lover who was sulking. At one glance, he knew Mino was sulking and he knew exactly why. It was a familiar expression he gets from Mino every time he pays more attention to his friend than his lover.

“Yup.” Mino responded mindlessly. He immediately looked up, after realising the question. “No, I mean, no, obviously not.” He laughed. “Why would I be jealous? Psh.” He defended himself.

“I know you are.” Taehyun moved himself closer to look at his sulking and slightly embarrassed boyfriend. “You’re pissed because I let go of your hand and talked to Yunhyeong, right?”

“No. I am not pissed and I am not jealous.”

“Prove it then”

Mino cleared his throat. How do you want me to prove it to you here? With no privacy?

“No no wait.” Mino pushed Taehyun’s face, who was getting much closer to him, away from him as he rolled back on his chair. “It was your fault, for giving me the wrong idea from the very start. That’s why I always end up feeling like this when I see you two together.”

“What wrong idea?” Taehyun tried to recall if there were any instances where he had actually made Mino feel that way.

Mino rolled his eyes. “I don’t know if you’re pretending to forget or if you have really forgotten.”

“Forget what?”

“That night… The rooftop… The kiss…” Mino reminded Taehyun. He did not want to bring that topic up but somehow he was still angry after witnessing that entire scene right in front of his eyes. That was the only reason he has been doubting Taehyun’s friendship with the Team B member.

Taehyun laughed out loud. He could not believe that Mino was still harping over that little incident that he had almost forgotten. He looked up at Mino’s sulking face and laughed even louder, watching the older furrow his eye brows with his hands crossed stiffly on his chest.

“It’s not funny, okay. I was so hurt that night.” Mino glared at his boyfriend who was lost in his own world, laughing hilariously at him. “Yah…. So why did you kiss that boy?”

“Because we were dating that time, duh.” Taehyun answered, short, wiping his tears from laughing out too hard.

“Don’t lie. I bumped into him the day after that happened at the waiting room and he told me not to get the wrong idea and that you guys weren’t dating.” Mino retorted, looking straight ahead, not making eye contact with Taehyun.

“Because you were such a jerk at that time.” Taehyun answered. “I heard your voice shouting my name so I figured you were going to come my way. So well I kinda gave him.. a present?”

“Present? I never knew you give kisses to people as a present?” Mino replied sarcastically. “I was enthusiastically running to the rooftop that night, wanting to let you know my true feelings then you had to show that to me. Thanks.”

“Awww, are you mad?” Taehyun asked as he lowered his head to look at Mino who was angrily looking down.

“Don’t look at me.” Mino looked away. “I was so hurt, you know.”

Mino gulped. Taehyun was getting closer to his face and he couldn’t run away. Taehyun moved his head closer to his lover and gave Mino a sweet peck on his lips that lasted for a while, feeling apologetic at the same time. Mino widened his eyes and stared blankly at Taehyun who was brushing his messy hair away from his face after the short kiss.

“Sorry,” Taehyun apologised, earning a sheepish smile from Mino. As much as Mino was feeling rather angry at that time, he couldn’t deny how much he loved the feeling of Taehyun’s lips pressed firmly against his, embedding a lasting memory on Mino’s mind.

“EXCUSE ME.” Seunghoon cleared his throat as he stood by the door. “Wow, you two really express your love anywhere and everywhere these days. Why am I always the one who catch you two during your intimate moments? The other time was at the lodging with your hands moving around in each other’s pants and-“

“Hyung shhhhhhhhhh” Mino immediately turned and stood up to cover up Seunghoon’s mouth. “Hyung, do you want us two to get investigated by the two clumsy investigators again?” Mino asked, pointing to Seungyoon and Jinwoo.

Seunghoon removed Mino’s hands away from his mouth. “Then stop making love everywhere.” he brushed off his mouth area.

“This is not making love, hyung.” Mino argued. “Making love is when we’re both , on the bed, humping each other and making those kinds of sounds, you know? Like the ones you watch in videos every night.”

“Yah you…” Seunghoon scolded his best friend. “Look, even your boyfriend’s turning all red.” He shook his head

Mino turned to Taehyun and noticed that his lover was already blushing in his seat, covering his face which was already bright red. Taehyun fanned his face with using his wrists, from the extreme embarrassment and could clearly feel his face heating up.

Why did Mino have to describe ‘making love’ like that?

“You’re madly in love, Mino yah.” Seunghoon laughed. “Come out quick. I need to teach you guys a new dance step before our teacher comes.”

“Okay hyung, I’ll be out soon.”

“No more hanky panky.” Seunghoon warned before he lets the door close behind him, leaving the two lovers alone in the room once again.

“Someone’s turning red, I see?” Mino teased Taehyun.

“Go away.” Taehyun pushed Mino out of embarrassment.

“Man, I never realised you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed. So so so cute, I swear.”

Taehyun buried his face into his palms at Mino’s comments. He was so embarrassed at that moment, he wanted to hide himself inside a hole and never come out.

“Come, let’s go out. I’ll demonstrate to you what I told Hoon hyung when we’re alone, okay?” Mino teased.

Taehyun punched his lover’s shoulders, earning a loud “Ouch” from Mino. Mino deserves it, for making fun of Taehyun who was shyly blushing at his description of making out.

“Finally, the two lovers are out. Wow if you guys never revealed to us that you were dating, I would not have suspected anything man.” Seungyoon teased. “I would have gotten competitive, wondering why you two are always working so hard together all the time. You two are even busier than me who’s preparing for my solo debut.” He joked.

“What are you working on, though?” Seunghoon asked his best friend. “You’ve been working in the studio lately.”

“Ah, it’s just something I wanted to try. Our vocal teacher asked me to compose a couple of rap verses, so I wanted to try it out.”

“Wow Mino you’re so cool.” Jinwoo showed him a thumbs up sign. “You’ve earned yourself a number 1 fan!”

“Thank you hyung, but my number 1 fan is right here.” Mino pointed to Taehyun who was already seated on the floor with the other members.

Taehyun cringed at Mino’s cheesy comment. “I feel like I’m going to puke, just by listening to his cringe-worthy statement.” Taehyun joked.

“You say that, but you’re secretly liking it, right?” Mino teased his boyfriend.

“Do you want to die?” Taehyun asked Mino loudly in front of the members, showing up his fists and making the other members laugh at the lover’s love-hate interactions.

“Okay okay.” Seunghoon clapped, attracting everyone’s attention. “I’m sorry for interrupting your private conversation, love birds.” he announced, getting up from the floor. “I need to teach you guys this move before I forget.” The members got up and followed Seunghoon’s newly created dance steps meticulously as they get serious into training mode again.

~

It was almost 10pm and the members were already drained from training. They were having their short water break when the staff walked into the room as usual, with the schedule for the next day. After pasting it onto the mirror, she called the members to gather in the other team’s training room for an important announcement.

“Boys, listen up. Tomorrow, a teaser for our program will be released. Meaning, you guys will be on national television for 10 weeks once this series start airing. So please don’t be shocked if you guys suddenly get a surge of phone calls from your relatives, old friends, neighbours and whatnots - you name it. Tomorrow will be the first time that the faces of all you eleven trainees will be revealed to the public for the first time. Do note that the teaser will be broadcasted on Mnet’s YouTube channel as well, which means that everyone in this whole entire world will be able to watch.”

The trainees started talking among themselves, excitedly talking about the fact that they will appear on television for the very first time. The room was full of chatter, despite the staff waiting patiently for the boys to stop talking.

“I know you guys are excited, but appearing on television isn’t as fun and easy as you thought. Our company is known for all your famous seniors- Big Bang, 2ne1, Epik High, Psy, Lee Hi, Akdong Musician….” The staff started naming the singers under their label. “You boys will be anticipated greatly. We are expected to have a high viewer percentage solely for the teaser of this program. So let me repeat, all of you will be recognised outside. Every single one of you. Watch what you do outside and make sure you don’t pick up the media’s attention, get me?”

The boys nodded, excited at the thought of the of media exposure they were all going to finally get.

“Don’t get too excited yet boys. Tonight, I want you guys to let your family know about this and prepare them in case they are going to get tonnes of phone calls as well. Like I said, there are many people anticipating our program so be prepared, alright?”

“The next thing I want to tell you guys…” The staff flipped her notebook and jotted down some notes. “This Tuesday, on the 20^th, you boys will be going for a press conference. Yes, press conference- dark room, with the media behind their laptops, asking questions. You boys will be briefed on the details on the day itself. We will let you know what time to report at the headquarters and then from there, the van will bring you boys to the studio to style you guys from head to toe. Your hair, make up, clothing and accessories.”

The boys listened attentively, already excited about the events they have in store for them. Finally, they are getting nearer to their road to fame.

“From now till the 20^th, all of you will be in the centre of attention. Your teaser, including your dance practices will be shown to the public tomorrow. Then on the 20^th, you will have a press conference so this means that your faces will be on news portals, newspapers and on social media.” She emphasised.

“Finally, the day you boys are probably anticipating all these while. Your survival show series will start to run this Friday, on the 23^rd of August. It will be 45 to 50 minutes long, so let your family members know and tune in to it at 10pm. Get ready for everything, okay? You guys will be exposed more and more as time goes by but just be cautious of what you do. Never pick up the media’s attention and never answer any questions by them. Understand?”

“There will be female fans, no doubt.” The staff announced, making the trainees blush at the statement. “So please, always be cautious. Let’s stay safe alright boys?”

“Yes, we will!” the trainees nodded at the question.

“Let me repeat myself. Tomorrow onwards, your teasers will be broadcasted one after another simultaneously on YouTube and on television. Then, you will have your press conference on the 20^th and finally the official airing of the program on the 23^rd. Let your family members know, be prepared for everything and don’t get into trouble. Have I made myself clear?”

The boys answered and greeted the staff goodbye when they do not have anything else to ask. The room was filled with loud chattering among the eleven trainees, congratulating each other for their official television appearance with some of them proudly shedding tears at their years of hard work.

After a while, the members returned to their practice room to resume training for the rest of the night.

“Let’s win this thing, for real guys.” The members turned to Seungyoon who looked so determined with his hand sticking out to the front, waiting for the other members to come together and do the cheer. The members walked to him and placed their hands together.

“We will win this thing.” Jinwoo wished earnestly, placing his hand right at the top of everyone else’s hands.

“A, A, A, A” the members cheered on in unison as they hugged each other excitedly after the cheer. They were so determined to win that they will definitely not let anything stand in their way.

That night, after training, the members talked excitedly about appearing on television and how they wanted to be recognised in the public’s eyes and such. They were indeed just five innocent boys who were dreaming of standing on the stage together with their own group name embedded in their hearts as they sing passionately for the fans.

~~~

Morning came and as usual, the boys made their way to the training centre. Their teaser had been released at 7am that morning and they had already received phone calls from their family members, fellow friends and acquaintances. Seunghoon, Mino and Taehyun received phone calls from their friends overseas too through the company’s phone, congratulating and giving them words of wishes for the upcoming battles.

“Did your parents call?” Mino asked Taehyun who had just finished talking to his aunt. Even though he wasn’t very close to his aunt, she was the only one he could rely on because she had become her official guardian, whom he listed down in the company register. His aunt was really nice to him and she sends food to the members once in a while, but Taehyun never once had a long conversation because he fears that his aunt may be reporting about him to his parents.

Taehyun shook his head at Mino’s question. “It’s a good thing, I guess. I don’t think they even have time to watch it, because they don’t care.” He wasn’t sad at all. In fact, he was even happier because his parents weren’t messing with his life anymore after he finally found his own happiness.

Mino hugged Taehyun who was busy replying to texts on his phone. “I didn’t know I had friends in Seoul who remembers me.” Taehyun told Mino as he returns his lover’s hug.

“Now you have 4 new friends who will remember you for life and be with you throughout this entire journey.” Mino reminded Taehyun that he still have the members by his side and that they would support him till forever.

The members came into the training room after marking their attendance and surrendering their phones to the staff. It has been their daily routine to surrender their phones and they could only get their phones back at the end of the day.

“I’ll be back, I’m returning my phone.” Taehyun hurriedly ran out of the training room with his phone.

“Did his parents call?” Jinwoo asked Mino. The members already know that Taehyun was not very close with his parents. He once mentioned that he got ‘disowned’ by them but he did not seem to be affected at all. His heart was already tired of hoping that his parents would open up to him because that was how he has been living all these years without a single love from them.

Mino shook his head. “He’s probably glad that his parents never called. Because if they called, it means trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Seungyoon asked.

“Because they never called him while he was here and they never talked even when they were living together. So isn’t it weird if they suddenly call him now?” Mino has a point. Why would they suddenly call their son who appeared on national television? To congratulate him? No, they have never congratulated Taehyun even when he had scored first in the cohort during his final year exams.

“How are you guys coping with the sudden fame?” Seunghoon asked. “Must be nice to have friends from high school calling you.”

“I felt so famous suddenly.” Jinwoo answered. “Even this girl from my home town called me.”

“Wooo” The members teased. “What’s her name? Is she your girlfriend?”

“Seulbi.” Jinwoo blushed, revealing the name of his first love. The members could not stop teasing their oldest member who was smiling from ear to ear, grinning widely with his deer eyes lighting up.

The door of their training room opened, interrupting them of their short free time in the morning. “Good morning, my famous trainees. Ohhh, you guys are really getting so much attention, no kidding. The staffs at the call centre are so busy dealing with phonecalls, which was raging with fire from the media outlets, wanting to come here and get a scoop of you boys.” Their vocal instructor complimented, conveying a piece of information he caught on his way up. Taehyun came in shortly after behind their vocal teacher. The boys greeted and quickly took their seats as they began their lesson for that day.

~

It was finally lunch time and the boys were busy keeping their equipment and chairs back into the store room. A staff came into their room and looked for Taehyun.

“You have a phone call from overseas. Come with me, it’s connected to the main line.”

Taehyun left the room, dragging along Mino who was not doing anything. “Guys, see you at the cafeteria!” Mino called out.

None of them knew who the phone call was from. It could be from Taehyun’s friend who was probably in the same class as him or it could be from the one he desperately hope it wasn’t.

“Hello?” Taehyun picked up the phone and spoke to the caller at the other end.

“Hello?” he repeated again, after not getting any replies from the caller.

“Hello there, my son.” A familiar voice echoed at the other end. It was exactly whom he had continuously hoped it wasn’t. It was his father, who was on the phone talking through the loud speaker with the faint sounds of his mother’s voice laughing at the back.

“What do you want?” Taehyun asked. His voice full of coldness. He could sense that his parents wanted something. It wasn’t just a normal phone call to congratulate him, it was as if it was a phone call of death.

“Come on, my son. We haven’t talked for years, why are you so cold?” his father laughed hideously into the phone.

“Now you listen up young man. We sent you to Korea to start a new life. Don’t you remember how we forced you out of the country to leave that boy you were dating? Why is he there too? In the same team as you? Don’t tell me it was a coincidence. I won’t buy your lies.”

Taehyun stood by the phone, listening to the unpleasant voice of his father. He became scared, it felt like everything was repeating itself again, and that nightmare was coming back.

“I know you’re still there on the phone. I’ll go straight to the point so hear me out. If I can send you out of this country, I can send you out of that country as well. Leave that company at once and don’t go for that press conference. If I see your face on the news articles, you know what I’ll do to you and your company.”

Taehyun was scared, his hands was trembling and his eyes were wandering around the room in fear. He immediately put down the phone, not knowing what else to do. He did not want to hear it all anymore, he did not want to leave the company, he did not want the company to get affected, and he did not want to leave Mino again for the second time.

A/N: Hello my dear innercircle readers. Today is a very very very good day and a special for all of us, with Maetamong's first post for incles and with the teaser of winner's comeback soon! How can the day be more perfect!!!! So much love for the boys and I am so excited for what they have in store for all of us next year! (and the best part is, it's less than a month's time!!!!!!!!!!) I am so happy that I'm literally dancing to their music right now~ Fandom hugs to all the lovely innercircles out there! We have waited too long for this \ T_T /

ps: I think I have just made you guys hate my story a little bit because of the last part but...... Hang in there for the next chapter! ^-^