CHAPTER 1 (Mix and Match Episode 1)

21:30

- How can I be okay with this? – B.I. looks at the interviewer in disbelief. Director’s words are still ringing in his ears.

The following weeks prove to be hell on earth for Hanbin – his brothers, his family divided in two competing teams, the trainees driving him insane every time they practice their song or dance, it seems like they can do nothing right. Hanbin finds himself so angry with them, he is on the verge of shouting and crying every time Jinhyeong makes a wrong move or Chawoo stumbles while singing his part. B.I. is about to lose it, leader or not – he’s had it. There is nothing for him to hold on to, he realizes after two weeks go by in the studio. Of all the things he’s mad at their Director Yang HyunSuk for(from his sick love for survival shows and his unwillingness to let them debut with their six members who’ve been through hell together during their training days and WIN show) Hanbin hates the most how Director managed to separate him from Jinhwan. He never realized it before, but now that he thinks about it – when Jinhwan is by his side, it seems like he can do anything, move mountains, take on the world, but now…he is this close to losing it.

He isn’t the only one feeling the same – he’s seen Donghyuk’s tears, heard Junhoe slam doors here and there, leaving their practice room to get some fresh air, even Bobby and Yunhyeong can’t seem to bring themselves to be as cheerful as ever. But Jinhwan-hyung…Hanbin hasn’t seen him in forever. Their teams have been practicing in different rehearsal rooms; now they finish their practice at different times and go to the dorm separately. When Hanbin comes home, he either finds Jinhwan fast asleep, curled in his blanket or not in their room at all, his bed cold and empty.

Hanbin stops at the glass door of a different practice room than his own for a quick second to get a glimpse of Jinhwan, whom he misses more than ever before. Hyung looks weary, his smiling eyes are worn down with dark circles, he hasn’t been sleeping properly, the burden of being a leader that he never wanted or asked for is too much for him – B.I. can see it all. Hyung is too gentle, too kind-hearted, while being a leader requires having a stick up your to be a perfectionist; you have to shout at your members if needed, you have to make them stand up again and again despite every inch of their bodies hurting and do it over and over again until every move is perfect.

Bobby gives his all to cheer his favorite hyung up; he’s grinning with his cute bunny teeth while pinching Jinhwan’s cheeks – Hanbin knows he hates it but he can never say no to that smile. He feels his heart drop when he leaves the door and goes to practice with his team, hoping that by the time he reaches the door, Chawoo learns all his lines.

- What is it? – Jinhwan leaps to his feet from the chair looking towards the door with concern written all over his face.

- I think Hanbin lost it, - Yunhyeong says quietly peeking through their door to the corridor, where Donhyuk tries to reason B.I. to come back to their practice room, but their leader is resolute. He rushes through the corridor and Jinhwan follows him, waving off the cameras, asking not to film them right now – for once they agree, Hanbin seems to be in a very bad mood.

- Leave, -  B.I. says flatly when he hears the door creak open, - Please, leave, - he adds in a weaker, quieter voice.

- No, - Jinhwan replies softly as if talking to a child. He comes closer to Hanbin, who is now sitting on a bench in the end of the small room with dim lights, his hands covering his face. Jinhwan decides to sit down next to him lifting the peak of his cap to take it off. Hanbin’s hair is a mess. He was probably practicing endles