Mino was silent for a while, dumbfounded and shocked that Taehyun had already found out about the cause of his injury. He looked up at Taehyun who was still standing at the kitchen entrance and looking at him. He politely gestured to Taehyun to take a seat beside him.

He cleared his throat as soon as the maknae settled into the seat next to him without uttering a single word. Taehyun had a serious expression on his face and Mino knew that Taehyun was definitely offended that he wasn’t told about the situation much earlier. Mino didn’t know how he should start the conversation with Taehyun regarding the matter. For some reason, the air in the kitchen felt so tense within a matter of seconds.

“I thought we were supposed to share everything with each other?” Taehyun broke the awkward silence. “I thought we promised to not have any secrets between us but why is this something that only you and Hoon hyung can talk about when in fact it concerns me too?” his voice was shaking as he carefully let out the thoughts that has been dwelling in his head over the past few minutes.

Mino went silent again. He wasn’t expecting Taehyun to react that way to something he thought he was considerate of doing. He thought that keeping it from Taehyun would probably be the best for the two of them in their relationship because he didn’t want Taehyun to have feelings of guilt over his pain. Furthermore, he didn’t expect his injury to be that serious, which was why he decided to bury the whole incident behind him with only Seunghoon knowing all about it.

“Who am I to you? Do you not trust enough me to share this kind of things with me?” Taehyun asked again, avoiding eye contact with Mino. “I’m disappointed in you.” he immediately stood up as he tried his best not to break down in front of Mino and walked out of the kitchen.

“Taehyun ah!” Mino called out to Taehyun but was unable to run after the maknae because of his injured leg. “Let me explain, at least.” He muttered after realising that Taehyun was already too far to hear him.

He sank back in his seat in a daze. Taehyun’s cold expression of hate and anger towards him was clearly lingering in his mind and he hated himself even more for making Taehyun feel that way. He loathes everyone who makes his lover angry but that day, he was the one who was made Taehyun that way.

“Disappointment.” Mino muttered, recalling the words that Taehyun had said to him. The words pricked through his heart but was unable to do anything about it except to just thoughtlessly laugh at the whole situation.

“That’s right. I’m a disappointment to everyone around me, that’s why my parents left me and went to heaven without bringing me along.” he lay his head on the table that was full of empty cans

“You’re a disappointment, Song Min Ho. You’re a disappointment to the team. What kind of leader can’t even perform for the first battle?”

He mumbled to himself with his head glued onto the table top, shedding lonely and painful tears which no one knew about. He hated himself the most that day after everything started crumbling right in front of him. All he wanted was for people around him to understand his considerations but even so, the person he loved the most couldn’t seem to understand him well.

 

“Get up, Mino. We are leaving in 30 minutes.” Seungyoon announced to Mino who was still in his bed. “Everyone’s already washed up.”

Mino opened his eyes and his head was hurting from the drinks last night. He closed his eyes for a while and recalled the unexpected incident that happened between him and Taehyun the night before and then immediately sitting up at the thought of something.

“Who brought me in?” he asked himself. “I definitely fell asleep on the table after all those crying and .”

He quickly got up from his bed and made his way out of the room where the other members were busy getting dressed and having breakfast. He settled on the couch with his towel in his hands while waiting for Jinwoo to finish washing up. He looked around the house but there were no sign of Taehyun. Taehyun’s room door were left ajar and he wondered if Taehyun was probably still sleeping.

“Is Taehyun up?” he asked Seunghoon who had just left the kitchen.

“He just left. He said he needed to check out something at the studio so he’s going there first.” Seunghoon explained.

“Eh? He left?” Mino asked, bewildered.

“Yeah, he left about 10 minutes ago.”

“He really left?” Mino asked again, he couldn’t believe what he heard.

“Yes, he left.” Seunghoon laughed awkwardly. “Why are you looking for him? Oh, you need to bathe right? I’ll help you today.”

“Did he say anything?”

“He said he needed to check something urgent in the studio, I told you already.” Seunghoon repeated himself. “Go bathe, Jinwoo is already out.”

Mino was speechless. It seemed that Taehyun was still angry with him after finding out about his injury last night. He was starting to feel dispirited knowing that his lover was still angry at him even though his day hasn’t started. Taehyun left without even helping him to bathe.

“Did you guys talk it out?” Seunghoon asked Mino who was washing his face.

“No. He just said what he needed to say and left me like that. Honestly, I’m still in a daze, seriously. How can a person change so much in a few minutes?” Mino could not understand Taehyun’s reaction.

“I mean seriously, he didn’t even let me talk and he told me that he was disappointed in me for keeping it from him. Rationally speaking, I was actually trying to protect him. Isn’t that it?” Mino was still worried about his relationship with Taehyun.

“Is that why he left early?” Seunghoon guessed. “We were all shocked that he wanted to leave early. Usually no matter how urgent he is, he would wait for us.”

“I’m guessing that’s why. Ah, hyung my life is so messed up in just a day.” Mino complained, washing the foam off his face.

“Another thing, hyung. Did you bring me in after I fell asleep in the kitchen?”

“You fell asleep in the kitchen? Gosh, how much did you drink last night?” Seunghoon asked, evidently shocked.

“It wasn’t you?” Mino asked Seunghoon at his best friend’s shocked reaction. Seunghoon shook his head at Mino’s question.

“If not you then who?”

Seunghoon simply shrugged his shoulders and Mino gave a loud sigh.

 

The remaining team A members arrived at the studio and were greeted by their mentor, Taeyang, who had arrived way before their scheduled training time.

“How’s your injury, Mino?” Taeyang asked Mino who was busy looking around the studio for Taehyun.

“Pretty bad. I can’t participate in the first battle.”

“I heard. We’ll work hard to perform on behalf of you, alright boys?” Taeyang asked the members and they enthusiastically agreed.

“By the way, hyung. Did Taehyun arrive yet?” Mino asked.

“Yeah, he’s in the studio. He arrived the earliest so I asked him to work on some beats to include in the original song we have for the dance. How’s the altered dance, Seunghoon?”

Mino wanted to approach Taehyun who was working but he was afraid to approach Taehyun for some reason. He wanted to use the excuse of asking Taehyun who brought him in while he was sleeping but the thought of getting rejected and ignored by Taehyun stopped him.

The team started practicing for their dance after Seunghoon was done explaining to Taeyang about the modified dance steps. Taehyun was called out from the studio to join them for practice and as expected, he didn’t even bat an eye at Mino and wasn’t in his best mood that morning. Taehyun was definitely angry, Mino thought.

 

It’s been two days since the cold war between Taehyun and Mino started. Taehyun ignored Mino whenever Mino wanted to talk to him and pretended to be busy every time Mino approached him. They didn’t even talk when they have dinner together and the other two members, aside from Seunghoon, were starting to notice the sudden change in the lovers.

Even the responsibility of bathing Mino was pushed to Seunghoon after Taehyun told Seunghoon that he didn’t want to bathe with Mino anymore without stating the reason why. As much as Seunghoon wanted to know, he tried his best to keep himself out of the lover’s quarrel with hopes that they could settle it on their own.

During the break, Jinwoo and Seunghoon were tasked by Taeyang to buy some snacks from the convenience store nearby. Seungyoon and Taeyang were left in the practice room with Mino who could not move much because of his injury. Taehyun had left the practice room to refill his bottle in the nearby water cooler and the camera crew were also having their short break.

“Yoonie, come with me for a while. I got something to give you guys but it’s in my studio upstairs. I need a hand.” Taeyang requested for assistance from Seungyoon since Mino couldn’t carry heavy things since Mino’s ankle was injured. The two left the practice room leaving Mino alone in the practice room.

Mino was playing with his phone when he heard the sound of the door click from someone entering the practice room. Mino looked to the left and realised that Taehyun had just entered the practice room and was walking across the room to get to the studio.

 “Taehyun ah.” Mino called out to Taehyun who was nonchalantly walking across the room.

“Mm.” Taehyun answered Mino but he didn’t even turn to look at Mino.

“You refilled your bottle?” Mino asked the obvious.

“Mm.” Taehyun answered again without batting an eye at Mino and continued walking.

“How are you these days? I haven’t talked to you for two days and I really missed you. How’s the process of creating the beats going?” Mino asked with full of sincerity even though the maknae was acting indifferent towards him.

Taehyun stopped walking at Mino’s question. He still did not turn to look at Mino but he was silent for a while. He looked up and his feet was plastered onto the ground with Mino’s question lingering in his thoughts.

“What do you care? You never share things with me anyway.” Taehyun blurted an answer Mino did not expect. After not talking to Taehyun for two days, he thought that maybe Taehyun might have missed talking to him just like how he had missed talking to his lover but he was wrong.

“I care about you.” Mino fought his tears but still managed to answer his boyfriend sincerely.

Without replying Mino, Taehyun stormed back into his studio and slammed the door angrily. Mino could only watch as the door slammed hard, as if portraying the doors of Taehyun’s fragile heart that has been closed to him.

“Oh, where’s the rest?” Seunghoon came in shortly after and Mino wiped his face with his towel to prevent the tears that were forming in his eyes from spilling out. He was scarred from the younger’s attitude towards him and was regretful that this had to happen in their relationship. He wished he was a little braver to let Taehyun know earlier but his heart wouldn’t allow him to. He didn’t want to see Taehyun feel guilty for something he should not be guilty about.

“They went to take something upstairs.” Mino explained to Seunghoon.

“Taehyun too?”

“He’s in the studio.”

“He didn’t come out?” Seunghoon sat beside Mino and was as concerned as Mino about their relationship. “You want me to talk to him? I can’t watch you two openly ignoring each other.”

Mino shook his head. He didn’t feel like talking about Taehyun at that point and he was just way beyond sad that Taehyun seemed ignorant about the personal matter between the two of them.

A while later, Taeyang and Seungyoon who went to take something came back into the practice room carrying two huge boxes. They settled the boxes onto the floor and Taeyang gathered the members for a quick announcement before the break ends.

“We bumped into the president and he told me to let you guys know that he wants to meet you guys at 8pm tonight to check on your progress. Seunghoon, can you let Taehyun know that I need his beats by 3pm today? So we can have a listen to it before we let the president hear it.” Taeyang announced.

“Now?” Seunghoon clarified.

“Yeah. Tell him to finalize the beats and combine it with our current song so you can start practicing for a bit. Thanks.”

Seunghoon took a quick glance at Mino who was beside him and got up to deliver the message to Taehyun. Mino watched Seunghoon from afar as his best friend made his way to the studio to talk to the younger. He wished he was the one who was given the task of relaying the message instead but at the same time he was scared that he might get rejected again by Taehyun’s cold attitude.

“Maknae ya, Taeyang hyung needs the beats to be completed by 3pm. He wants you to insert it into our song as well.” Seunghoon opened the door slightly and talked from outside the door.

“Noted, hyung. I’m already done actually. Can you help me listen to this and tell me if it’s okay? I’ve been working on it but I haven’t gotten anyone to listen to it yet.” Taehyun invited Seunghoon into the studio who was only standing by the door.

Seunghoon listened to the 5 minutes’ track and nodded his head in approval, pleased at the final product of the beats that the younger was entrusted to. “I’m already getting ideas in my head on how I’m choreographing the dance. You’re the best, Taehyun ah!” he praised.

“I’ll convert it and give it to Taeyang hyung in a bit. Thanks hyung.”

“Anyway, can I ask you something?” Seunghoon immediately asked after clearing his throat.

“About Mino hyung? I don’t really want to talk about it.” Taehyun took the headphone from Seunghoon and put it around his neck.

“Look, I am not here to interfere in your relationship because I know that this is just between you and Mino. I don’t really want to do this but I feel like I have to do something about this. I don’t know, maybe it’s my nature to see the people around me happy so it really pains me to see you two avoiding each other like that.” Seunghoon started explaining even though Taehyun didn’t budge at all. He was still working on his computer and ignoring Seunghoon who was beside him.

“I’m not defending Mino just because he’s my best friend, but trust me, he thinks about you a lot more than you think. I’ve told you once right that he would do anything to just see you smile, right? He kept it from you because he didn’t want this to escalate bigger. He wanted to put it all behind him because you came back fine so he wanted to let it pass just like that and I had to respect it.” he further explained, ending with a sigh.

“I know both of you definitely have something to say to each other. The more you keep avoiding each other like this, the more matters will get worse. I hope that you give Mino a chance to hear out what he wants to say because I know that you guys need each other the most at this stage.”  Seunghoon got up after saying what he wanted to say and glanced at Taehyun who seemed unaffected by his words. It was as if the words weren’t meant for Taehyun and he didn’t even react to it at all.

“Don’t forget to pass the beats to Taeyang hyung by 3 today. We’re meeting the president at 8 tonight and come out when you’re done. We’re practicing the second part of the dance.” He reminded the younger and left the room to start the practice with the remaining members.

Taehyun was left thinking about Seunghoon’s words after the studio door closed. He mindlessly clicked on various folders on his monitor to avoid getting affected by what Seunghoon had said earlier on but he found his vision slowly blurring from the tears accumulating on the brim of his eyes. Seunghoon’s words had definitely hit him like a bullet through his heart but he only pretended to be ignorant about the matter.

I’ve missed you too, Mino. I missed us.

 

In the meeting room, the members of Team A were gathered around the president as they watched their president bob his head to the song they have interpreted and remixed to be used for the first battle in a week’s time.

“Good.” The president simply commented as soon as the song ended. “Who remixed this?”

“Me.” Taehyun raised his hands, earning a nod of approval from the president.

“Well done. I like it. Have you come up with the dance?”  he pointed to Seunghoon.

“Yes, we’re altering the dance a little to fill up Mino’s spot.” Seunghoon regretfully explained.

“How’s your ankle now, Mino?” the president shifted his attention to his injured trainee.

“I don’t feel the pain now but I still can’t do any vigorous activities.” Mino explained.

“I saw your medical record and the doctor adviced you to rest, right?” The president clarified. “I’ve thought about it carefully and I decided to change the leader to Seungyoonie for now.” He casually informed the members, immediately gaining the attention of all five of them who instantaneously looked at him in shock especially Mino who hung his mouth open in disbelief, hoping that they had heard it wrong.

“When the captain is injured, the ship can’t steer.” He gave an analogy. “It wasn’t easy coming up with this decision either but after monitoring Seungyoon over the years, I think he’s got the leadership skills that can guide the team for this battle. So follow the lead of Seungyoon for now, tentatively. After which, we’ll see how the situation goes.”

“Any questions?”

“No, sir.” The members replied and the president left the room, leaving the meeting room with a gush of heavy air.

Even though it was a decision that heavily concerned the team, Mino was the most affected out of them all. He felt like his world was taken away from him at that very moment- his status, his happiness, his physical health and the thing he was saddest about, his boyfriend.

Not caring about the cameras that was filming him, Mino buried his head in his arms and sobbed loudly. His heart sank and he was seriously affected by the sudden change in leadership. The other members ran up to him with empathy and patted his back to give him the comfort he needed.

Despite being cold towards Mino for a few days, Taehyun was the first person to pat Mino on his back. His heart dropped along with Mino’s at the unfortunate news that was bestowed upon him. All the feelings of anger and dissatisfaction that he felt over the small matter were suddenly replaced with feelings of regret and empathy. His heart broke seeing Mino at his lowest point.

“I’m going to the washroom.” Mino raised his head with tears still flowing down his cheeks. He got up from his seat and was still sobbing as he left the room and walked through the corridor. The members looked at each other with uncertain feelings. Even Seungyoon who was appointed as the new leader couldn’t properly suit his emotions to the situation. He was just as confused as anyone else.

“Taehyun, go accompany him in the washroom.” Seunghoon instructed Taehyun who was gathering the stationaries and papers that Mino had used to record down the details of the meeting.

“Me?” Taehyun asked.

“Yeah. Go follow him.” Seunghoon instructed again and Taehyun complied without saying anything. The members stopped the cameramen from following Taehyun to the washroom, explaining that they needed to give Mino some privacy in dealing with the situation.

Taehyun arrived at the nearby toilet and noticed a locked cubicle. He could hear sobs from the cubicle and was certain that it was Mino in there. He paced back and forth the toilet a couple of times, trying to find the right words to say to Mino after two days of avoiding him.

“Baby?” Taehyun called out. “Mino?”

“Leave.” Mino replied in between his sobs. All Mino needed was a shoulder to cry on but at that point he didn’t want to look at Taehyun. He was too disappointed in himself that he needed to be alone even though his boyfriend was right outside his cubicle.

“You can cry on me, I’ll give you my shoulder.” Taehyun sincerely comforted.

“I’m really a disappointment, am I?” Mino asked Taehyun whose ears were pressed onto the cubicle door, trying to listen to Mino. Taehyun bit his tongue, recalling the familiar words he said out of anger in the kitchen the other night. He didn’t know how to respond to Mino’s question because he was the one who said it to Mino with his own mouth.

“I don’t want this person who is a big disappointment to you give you anymore burdens.” Mino sobbed harder, curling himself on top of the toilet bowl and crying his heart out. He didn’t like how weak has become to be crying over something like this but he couldn’t help it. Everything happened so quickly in front of his eyes to the point where he could not be strong for himself anymore. He felt like he had lost everything in an instant and the only way to express his bottled up emotions was to cry.

Hearing Mino’s reply, Taehyun felt even worse than Mino. He was probably not the best person to soothe him at that moment because he has hurt Mino over the past few days. He wished that he hadn’t reacted that way and had given Mino a chance to explain himself instead.

“Sorry.” Taehyun mumbled, crouching onto the floor with a heavy heart. He felt very sorry for Mino in that state but he was even more sorry that he couldn’t do anything about it.

“Is he okay?” Seunghoon came into the toilet just in time and Taehyun immediately pointed to the cubicle where Mino was in.

“Chingu yah, we’re going back. We’ve decided to end practice early today.” Seunghoon announced despite Mino’s cries.

“Don’t worry about me. Just continue practicing, I won’t be joining you guys for the dance anyway.”

“Yoonie wants us to go back because we’re too distracted now. Come out, we’ll walk home together.” Seunghoon informed.

“Oh.” Mino exclaimed, remembering something. “He’s the leader now, I forgot. We’ll have to listen to him.”

“Don’t say that. It was the president’s decision and we can’t do anything about it. You need sleep, Mino yah. You’ve been too sensitive these days.”

“So are you on Yoon’s side or mine, hyung? Go on and change sides, I don’t care anymore. Everyone’s leaving me and I got used to it already.” Mino sobbed even harder. He was trying to hold it in and let it out through an argument but it was biting him back. He was hit by a wave of emotions which he possibly did not expect. “Even Taehyun left me.”

Seunghoon looked at Taehyun who was listening to the two friend’s argument and Taehyun looked away. Feeling guilty over his overly sensitive reaction to something which seemed like a small matter was definitely something he had to bear for a while, especially when something like this happened to Mino during the period where they were having their cold war.

“Stop talking like a kid who’s undergoing puberty. You’re 21 this year, gosh.” Seunghoon affirmed. He knew his best friend too well and talking nicely will never work on him when he is in a sensitive state. The only way to talk sense into his head is when he has calmed down and able to think rationally. Even though his words may seem harsh, he did not really mean it. “Get out or I’ll call the security to break the door open.”

Seunghoon and Taehyun heard the sound of loud whining following the sobs from Mino. Seunghoon told Taehyun to hide in the available cubicle and leave only when the both of them leaves so as to not add on to Mino’s rage. Mino came out shortly after with his face all swollen from the excessive crying earlier on.

“Breathe some clean air first.” Seunghoon adviced and gestured to Mino to wash his face in the sink. Mino’s sobs weren’t going away easily as he was still sobbing even after washing his face. He looked into the mirror and tidied his now red face while Seunghoon watches him from his side.

“Feeling better?” Seunghoon asked.

“I don’t know. Where’s Taehyun?” Mino looked around. “He came in just now.”

“I think he left with the rest.” Seunghoon lied.

Mino sighed, dropping his shoulders and rested his palms on the sides of the sink. He looked into the mirror and sighed again, obviously dissatisfied with something.

“He said I was a disappointment.” Mino suddenly confessed, struggling to hold his emotions in.

“Taehyunnie? Just now?”

Mino shook his head. “That night in the kitchen. Am I really a disappointment, hyung?”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it. You’d probably say things you don’t mean when you find out something that your boyfriend is hiding from you, won’t you?”

“But he won’t even talk to me. He won’t even look my way. He won’t even let me explain. He won’t even let me apologise. I see him every single day at home and during practice and it kills me because I miss him like crazy.” Mino burst out in a surge of tears. He was sincerely confessing from the bottom of his heart about how lonely it had been to only be able to see his lover from a distance and not being able to talk to him.

“It’s so frustrating, I feel like I don’t know myself anymore. Everything is crumbling in front of me that I don’t know if it’s worth it to continue this journey here.” Mino stopped sobbing after Seunghoon offered him some tissues. “How different would it be if you didn’t find me in the bath tub that day?” he suddenly asked.

“I told you not to talk like that, didn’t I?” Seunghoon scolded. “Please be thankful that you are here today. Stop bringing up that incident over a petty argument. Let’s go home, I’m tired talking to you.” Seunghoon walked out of the bathroom and Mino followed suit, apologising to his best friend and trying to win his heart back.

Taehyun couldn’t hold his tears back anymore after listening to Mino and Seunghoon’s conversation from the cubicle. He heard what Mino was going through and his heart ached. He regretted acting as such towards Mino who was trying to accommodate to his feelings. He was selfish and regretful for his attitude.

 

“We’re back.” Seunghoon greeted the other two who were talking on the couch.

Mino walked in and rolled his eyes childishly at Seungyoon who was trying to ask Mino if he was okay. He immediately went into his room and locked the door after informing the rest to not disturb him. He felt a little better after the walk back home with Seunghoon but he still didn’t feel too good about the things that have been going on around him.

“Leave him.” Seunghoon told the other two members. “We can talk to him tomorrow.”

“Where’s Taehyunnie?” Jinwoo asked, noticing that Taehyun didn’t come in with them.

“He’s walking back home, I just gave him a text.” Seunghoon explained.

“Things are not good between the two of them, isn’t it? It’s so obvious.” Jinwoo leaned his body closer to the other two members and whispered to them, afraid that the camera might pick up their conversation.

“It’s just a lover’s quarrel. They’ll make up in a few days.” Seunghoon responded.

“Aigoo, poor Mino. He’s probably got so much going on these days right?”

“He’ll be fine. He’ll return to his normal self in a few days, trust me.” Seunghoon adviced, hoping that things would go back to the way they were.

 

“Guys, let’s talk.” Jinwoo announced as soon as the staffs, filming crew and their mentor left after their practice session ended. It was the first day with Seungyoon as the leader and Mino was being as childish as he could- pin-pointing every single detail that Seungyoon made and calling him with the nickname ‘leader’ all day long.

Mino’s childish behaviour was making them all at the edgy especially when Mino went from all depressed the night before to someone who could not accept the fact that his status had been changed. He disrupted the members a couple of times during the dance practice when Seunghoon kept going to Seungyoon for opinions on the altered formation.

The five members were the only ones in the room and they gathered in the middle of the practice room, all eyes on what Jinwoo was about to say to the team. They were obviously tired from training so everyone was whining and acting up when they were forced to suddenly gather after practice.

“First up, as the oldest hyung, I have to say something about the change in the team leader. All these while, I’ve been following the flow and being carefree about almost everything but this time I can’t. All these while I’ve been avoiding things when I don’t want to face reality but I think that attitude in me has to go. I hid myself after embarrassing you guys during the battle at JYP and I didn’t even bother to apologise. I’m not gathering you guys to officially apologise but I want to also give my two cents on the things that have been affecting our relationship and teamwork recently.” he started off.

“I know the change in leadership has been physically and mentally challenging to accept for you, especially when you’ve done a great job in being our leader for the past few months while you’re here.” He pointed to Mino. “I understand that it’s unfair for you that your status was simply changed overnight because of your leg injury. I know that, but face it, we need a leader to guide us along and keep us in track for our preparations. I know you’ve been monitoring us even when you were injured but we need someone to physically train with us so we can seek opinions on the changes to the little details. Since you don’t train with us, you don’t possibly know these things because you’re only watching us from far.”

“I’m in no position to say all these to you but as the oldest hyung, I need to make sure that the team is communicating well without any ill feelings or misunderstanding. We’re all as confused and shocked as you and I know you are affected the most because it was your position we’re talking about.”

“I’ve trained with Yoonie for a long time and even now, I think that he is able to bring himself and the people around him well. He wasn’t a leader back then but he was always giving his opinions and speaking up for all of us when we get into trouble, even though no one told him to. He was always driving the team to greater heights and I’m pretty sure even if you ask the trainees next door, they would say that Seungyoon was a responsible person. He’s responsible for his friends and he still is till today.”

“I’m not taking sides because I’ve known him for a long time or if I’m sharing rooms with him, but I honestly think that we should give him a chance to show us how he could lead all of us. I know we’re all very sensitive over the battle and with the change in leadership and stuff, but let’s not let this matter change our friendship. Let’s not let this distract us from winning this battle.”

“The president always emphasised on our teamwork because we can’t seem to communicate during our training but the past 3 to 4 months while you guys were here, you changed the way we communicate and you made us discover the sides of our members which we never actually knew about. I don’t want this to change the way things are, Mino. Afterall, the president is still undecided, so who knows, maybe when your ankle is completely healed, you’ll be appointed as the leader again.”

Jinwoo looked up and glanced at every member who seemed to be in deep thoughts about his words. “I am not saying all these specifically to Mino but to all of us. If we have a problem with anyone in this team, we’ll have to talk it out. Okay?”

“Next, Mino and Taehyun. It’s too obvious that you guys are not on talking terms these days. I won’t ask what it is that you guys are quarrelling over but tonight, you’re spending the night in the practice room. We’re going back home without the two of you. So make up before we come back tomorrow.”

Mino and Taehyun looked up at Jinwoo in shock. It doesn’t make sense that the whole team was leaving them in the practice room just to for them to make up.

“Hyung!” Mino exclaimed. “This is not right.”

“I’ve discussed with the leader earlier on and he agreed. You two need to make up before things get worse.” Jinwoo explained.

“But hyung! Seriously, we can just talk in our room.” Mino tried to express his dissatisfaction. “Yah, say something!” he glared at Taehyun and signalled to him to make Jinwoo change his mind.

“Since it’s the leader’s decision then I can’t do anything about it.” Taehyun mumbled.

“That’s right, Taehyun. We’re leaving it to you two to make up, okay? See you tomorrow then.” Seungyoon got up and encouraged the two. “It’s for the best, guys. It’s for the team and our friendship.”

“Goodnight.” The members grabbed their belongings and walked towards the exit.

“Hyung, you too?” Mino asked Seunghoon in disbelief.

“My name wasn’t included in the ‘stay in the practice room list’ so I can go home.” Seunghoon happily chuckled. “By the way, he said make up, not make out, okay?” Seunghoon whispered before leaving the lovers.

“We’ll get the staff to turn on the aircon again for you two. And we’ll let them know to not let you take your phone for tonight since you’re staying in the practice room.” Jinwoo waved before shutting the two in the practice room and locking the door from outside.

“Man, they’re mean. Was locking the door even necessary?” Mino rolled his eyes, already too tired to think. He lay on floor while staring at the ceiling.

“I’ll stay out here and you sleep in the studio.” Mino instructed to Taehyun and turned his body to the side.

“I want to talk.” Taehyun mumbled softly. “I miss you.” He boldly confessed without hesitation.

“Yeah, after seeing me at the lowest point then you start to miss me. I thought you didn’t care?” Mino replied bitterly.

“I’m sorry for over reacting. I should have given you a chance to explain.”

“Yeah. Tell me about it.”

“I know you’re still mad but after everything that has been going on, I want to be by your side and I want to be there for you, no one else. I’m sorry, okay? So much happened lately and I can’t help feeling guilty over what has become of you now. Because of me, you can’t participate in the first battle, you lost your leadership status and you have to suffer-“

“You see? You see what you’re doing now? This was exactly why I kept it from you.” Mino immediately sat up and faced Taehyun. “You get what I mean? I knew you’d feel exactly like this because things were going downstream for me. I didn’t tell you about it because I didn’t want you to feel like you were responsible for it, which in actual fact you weren’t, at all. I only needed you to know how much I love you and that I care about your feelings, is that so hard to understand? There are reasons why people keep things to themselves because they care for the other person. It’s not because they are selfish but because they want to protect the other person. You totally got me wrong, young man.” Mino blurted out after defending his feelings. It was the truth, he didn’t want Taehyun to feel the way that Taehyun was feeling now.

“Do you get where I’m coming from? It’s not that I don’t want share it with you because I was ignorant but because I didn’t want you to feel the way you are feeling right now. The pain I felt was nothing to me compared to the amount of love I have for you so what more do I have to prove it to you to make you believe that I really love you and I wanted the best for us?”

Mino was finally relieved to have spoken his mind after being wrongly ostracised by his own boyfriend. It was unfortunate that Taehyun found out about the incident but it was definitely something that he could not avoid. Maybe he was being considerate from his point of view but Taehyun interpreted it wrongly. He looked up at Taehyun who was intently gazing at him and his anger disappeared.

It was the look on Taehyun’s face that he has been longing to see even though they bump into each other every day. His heart melted at the younger’s soft gaze on him and he surrendered the pent up frustration he had. He was definitely intrigued by the younger’s way to make him feel better. He didn’t need anything else from Taehyun, he only needed sincerity in Taehyun to make him feel better.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t understand you.” Taehyun spoke. “I’ve missed you too and I love you.”

“I haven’t felt this in a long time, you know?” Mino confessed, looking away. “The feeling of being abandoned by someone you love to the point where I wish that I had disappeared from this world the day I decided to drown myself.”

“Shh.” Taehyun put his finger on Mino’s lips. “Hoon hyung wouldn’t like it if you say that again.”

“You knew about it too?” Mino asked.

“I was in the next cubicle when you were crying the other day. I heard everything you two were talking about. And I heard it too when you asked your parents why they didn’t bring you along when they went to heaven.” Taehyun murmured, his eyes fixated on Mino’s dark eyes.

“And I’m glad they didn’t bring you along with them.” Taehyun softly confessed.

“You heard.. what?” Mino was confused. “So it was you who brought me in?”

Taehyun simply nodded. “We’ll talk about this another day, shall we? Let’s do better in the future. I promise that I’ll be more understanding and considerate of your feelings.”

Mino sighed. “We’ll help each other out, okay? I’ll try to do better too. Just promise me not to show that side of you ever again. It breaks my heart, baby.”

“Sorry.” Taehyun looked into Mino’s eyes with empathy. “I promise, I won’t.”

Taehyun stood up and carefully pulled Mino up, leading him into the studio.

“What are you doing?” Mino asked in confusion as soon as the studio door was closed behind them.

“The studio is sound proof.” Taehyun smiled, “And there’s no surveillance camera.”

“I’m not in the mood for this.” Mino pretended to sulk. He felt like Taehyun was playing with his feelings again and he has to admit that he was definitely weak for Taehyun.

“But I am.” Taehyun smirked, immediately cupping the older and crashed their lips together with his eyes closed. It has been a while since they expressed their love for each other and they would definitely not want to miss an opportunity like this.

Mino held Taehyun’s head and returned his lover’s soft kisses, allowing Taehyun to dominate his tongue. He could feel Taehyun’s sincerity in the kiss and he realised that Taehyun missed having a private time together as much as he did. He rolled his tongue around Taehyun’s wet mouth, creating open mouthed kisses and tilting their heads from time to time to catch their breath.

Taehyun tightly hugged Mino around his waist as Mino leaned in, pressing Taehyun against the wall. Taehyun felt secured in Mino’s arms with all sorts of emotions were downing over him, causing him to shed a tear in sadness and happiness.

Indeed, the lovers definitely needed each other the most during this period. Who were they kidding when they decided to declare the cold war between themselves? They realised that they couldn’t live without each other’s warm embrace and encouraging words to help them pull through their stressful trainee life.

“I’ve missed us.” Taehyun murmured.

“I can’t live without you, ever. I don’t want to live without you by my side.” Mino confessed.

“Promise me that you won’t leave me? Promise me that you won’t have negative thoughts when you are having a bad day? And promise me that all your problems will be mine. We’ll go through our hard times together.”

“I promise, baby.” Mino replied with a smile. “For you, a thousand times over.” he leaned in to smooch Taehyun’s puckered lips and played with his tongue again, at the sensual kiss with his lover.

Feeling the growing lust, Mino carefully trailed his hands around Taehyun’s waistbands and immediately going for Taehyun’s hardening member without hesitation, earning a groan from the younger while they were still clashing their tongues. Mino grazed his fingers on the tip of Taehyun’s sensitive and pushed the younger onto the couch, making them both fall with Mino laying right on top of Taehyun’s body.

“You keep making me want to do things to you.” Mino mumbled in between their kisses with his hands still fiddling with Taehyun’s leaking .

“Do it.” Taehyun replied with a grin on his face. “Do what you want to do to me.”

“I love you, baby.” Mino whispered.

“I love you more.”

 

“Good morning!” Seungyoon greeted the lovers who were sitting in the studio side by side in front of the monitor and working on something. The three members came for practice a little earlier than usual to check on the two members who had spent the night in the practice room.

“You guys are all washed up already?” Seunghoon asked. “We were hoping to catch you sleeping on the floor or something!” he joked.

“We got up early today. Morning, guys!”  Mino greeted cheerfully along with Taehyun who just realised that the members were already at the door after taking his headphones off.

“So you guys made up already?” Seungyoon wondered.

“You can say that.” Mino laughed, diverting his attention back to the monitor.

“Have you guys eaten?”

“Yeah. We were the first to reach the cafeteria, even the cafeteria ahjumma was shocked.” Taehyun chuckled.

“What are you guys working on though?” Seunghoon curiously asked.

“The song that I’ve been working on for a while now. I’ve decided to name it ‘Olleri Kolleri’.” Mino proudly boasted as he blasted the song out loud for the members to hear. “If the president likes it, he said he might let me shoot a video.”

The members left shortly after to greet Taeyang who had just arrived for practice as usual, leaving Mino and Seunghoon alone in the studio to check out something that Mino wanted to show him.

“You two sure made up fast. We should have left you alone sooner if we knew it was all it takes to make you two talk to each other.” Seunghoon laughed. Mino only smiled, probably concealing something from Seunghoon.

“Why are you smiling? You’re smiling more than usual today, chingu yah. Did you guys made up or made out? Something happened last night, right? That’s why you were up so early.” Seunghoon curiously asked as usual, not hiding his curious instinct.

“Is it that obvious?” Mino chuckled, playing along with Seunghoon.

“YAH! Really? You guys finally did it? Like seriously, you guys did it here? In the freaking studio?” Seunghoon exclaimed excitedly with his hands covering his mouth, looking around the small studio to look for traces of their late night activity. “OH my gosh, you really did that thing couples do?” he was almost jumping out of joy at his wild imagination.

Mino didn’t say anything. Instead, he only looked at Seunghoon with a biggest smile on his face. He obviously looked happy for some reason but Seunghoon could not figure the reason behind his smile.

“What does that smile mean? Did you or did you not do it?” Seunghoon asked again.

“For me to know, for you to find out?” Mino simply confessed.

“I’m going to assume you two did it!” Seunghoon shrieked before skipping out of the studio with full spirits.

“What’s up with Hoonie hyung?” Taehyun who entered the studio shortly after, asked Mino who was still smiling and chuckling.

He simply shrugged his shoulders and went back to his work with a huge grin still plastered on his face.

 

Before they realised, it was already a day away to the first battle. 2 weeks of endless practice with continuous setbacks for the team was really not easy for them especially when they were determined to win the battles. It was physically and mentally draining having to juggle between “I am tired” and “You have not practiced enough” but they still managed to push each other through the tough training. The young boys spent most of their time in the training room and sometimes don’t even have the energy to go back to the dorm. That was how much they have been pushing themselves for the battle.

Even though they had a couple of issues going on while preparing for the battle, they overcame it together just like how Jinwoo had adviced them. They realised the power of communication and didn’t hesitate to openly share their views even if it was a negative view. It was all part of the learning process and they don’t have ill feelings towards each other as time passes.

“Yo yo yo. Are you guys ready to rock tomorrow?” Their respected senior comes in with a swag and greeted the boys.

“Yes, we are!” the boys responded enthusiastically but somehow they didn’t seem quite energetic.

“You guys are tired, aren’t you?” Taeyang asked with a slightly concerned voice. It was evident in their voices and their worn out look that they were too exhausted to even have a proper conversation.

“Help yourselves to some iced Americano I got on my way here.” Taeyang announced, handing a paper bag full of beverages for every one of them. The boys immediately hurried over to pick out a cup of beverage from their senior who have been helping them so much. They gathered on the floor together with Taeyang to have a short conversation before resuming their practice.

“It’s hard, isn’t it?” Taeyang asked, earning nods from each one of the boys.

“Just have fun tomorrow and don’t even think about winning. I know that winning is they key but don’t forget to be yourselves and have fun. Because seriously, if you’re not having enough fun, how are you going to earn votes from your fellow judges, am I right? Don’t let it pressure you.” he adviced the members.

“The judges will be your seniors and we have all been through what you guys have been through. We want to see your most natural self and whether you guys are having fun. If you are satisfied with your performance, then even if you lose, you won’t regret it. Do you know why?”

“Because you’ve done your best?” Seungyoon guessed.

“Yeah, exactly. When you are satisfied with your own performance and you’ve shown everything you have prepared, then what do you have to lose? Go get some strength and rock the stage tomorrow, okay?”

“Yes!” the Team A members excitedly replied after getting words of encouragement from their senior who has been helping them a lot for the past two weeks.

“Let’s hold on to this mind set and prepare for the next few battles. Let’s just have fun and show them what we’ve got.” Seungyoon encouraged.

“I really wish that you could join us for the first battle.” Jinwoo expressed his regrets towards Mino who was still in the process of recovering.

“We have two more battles to go for me to participate in, don’t worry. I’ll fully recover and rock the next two stages with you guys!” Mino enthusiastically raised his fists. “Let’s win all the battles and debut under the name, ‘Winner’. We’ll secure the name ‘Winner’ together.”

The members put their hands together and chanted, gaining energy from each other and encouraging one another to give their all on stage for the upcoming and future battles.

“A, A, A, A, YEAH!”

Xx.

 

 

A/N: HELLO ALL! So this marks the end of my official first fic that I started working on. A thousand apologies for dragging this story for more than a year now because I realised that I created too much plots and I had to keep bringing it forward to the next chapter to finish up what I started. And not forgetting that I took forever to update since April, because I was really busy and I kept writing and deleting many times to properly write something that is satisfactory to me.

I hope this has been a wonderful read to all of you and I am truly truly grateful for all the comments, messages, feedbacks, support and kind words that all of you left since my first chapter which also encouraged me to write different kinds of other stories here on AFF (and even participating in a namsong fic event for the first time).

I'm not as good as other authors out there but you guys have no idea how much strength you’ve given me to continue writing even though it’s been over 20 chapters already (I’ve never expected to drag it this long, sorry ><). I really want to thank all of you who have been with me since the start of this story till the very last sentence of this chapter with your continuous support and comments after every chapter. And with every support and comment from y'all, I am always encouraged to write more and explore other themes.

To be very honest, I felt like I’ve ended this story on a slightly shorter notice since I honestly expected to write all the way till the end of WIN until they debuted. But since I have achieved most of the plots I wanted to include in the last 27 chapters, I decided to just end it here. I hope the ending isn't too disappointing for all of you, if you were expecting more.

I am so attached to this particular story because not only is it the first story that I worked on but WIN was also the first show that got me into Winner (I bet it’s the same for many of us here too). And from the comments and support I got here, I got braver and tried writing more stories during my free time too so I am very very thankful to everyone, seriously.

I will be back (hopefully) with a new story some time, depending on my free time and mood. I would like to explore new types of stories and themes so it would be nice if you guys could suggest a theme in the comment box (if you want to :p) that perhaps you would like to see from me in the future? As you all probably already know, till today I don’t have a platform where I can openly ask about my opinions on my stories so I can’t really communicate with all of you, except here. :( So if there is a theme that I find interesting, I might just challenge myself for my next fic or something.

Thank you for everything once again wonderful people, I will look forward to your comments and feedbacks! See you in my next fic, folks! (Whenever that is!). For now, I’ll be finishing up my ongoing rated fic, so stay tuned! :D