05. Wimp

Nichkhun was distressed. He hated "crying".

Didn't like looking at it, talking about it, doing it.

I guess you could call him a stoic man, but he really wasn't. He just disliked tears, especially on his close friends.

The first person to see Chansung cry was Nichkhun, and it was after a concert when Chansung got hit in the face with a set of glowsticks.

Antis...

Chansung had ran off stage after 2PM's part had finished and dashed into the bathroom. Taecyeon wanted to go after him but Nichkhun held up his hand.

"Don't worry about it. Chansung will be fine," Nichkhun said, biting his tongue because he kind of felt like he was doing something horrible by stopping Taecyeon. But he knew he wasn't.

Chansung needed to know there would be antis, especially since the Jay scandal.

Haters left and right. One just had to stand up and not back down.

Chansung was the youngest, and though he didn't want to be seen as a baby, Nichkhun knew he was pretty shaken up by Jay's leave. Probably even more so than the other members.

Minutes passed quickly. It was nearly the end of the concert and Chansung had still not returned from the bathroom.

Nichkhun was beginning to worry. He saw a familiar look in Taecyeon's stubborn eyes. Taecyeon wanted to go to Chansung, and Nichkhun predicted that the second he was out of his sight, Taecyeon would hurry on over to where Chansung had been moping.

Acknowleding this, Nichkhun sneaked away from the group. Without much of a word to anybody who passed him in the halls, he walked into the mens' bathroom.

Taking a quick glance at the stalls, he knew that only one person was in the bathroom.

"Chansung," Nichkhun said loudly. "Get out of that stall and talk to me."

No answer.

"Seriously. Get out of there. You're making everyone worry."

"You don't care..." Chansung suddenly spoke from behind the stall door. "You don't care...do you?"

Nichkhun cocked one head to the side.

"You don't care about Jay, or how he feels, or anything!" Chansung cried, slamming one fist onto the side of the stall. It rattled and shook as Chansung's anger bounced off the metal.

Nichkhun cautiously moved closer to the stall. "Stop it, man. Can we just talk about this later..."

"Talk about this later...? So Jay isn't important is he. He's just someone you can push aside for later, huh?"

Nichkhun knew this was getting ridiculous. He began to tug at the stall's door handle. "Stop being such a wimp about it, okay?"

The stall's walls rattled again with Chansung's rage.

Nichkhun had hit a sensitive spot.

"Why don't you leave me alone? Just leave me like you left Jay," Chansung spat bitter words.

He stopped mid-breath. The words stung like the needles on blood donation day.

Nichkhun softened, taking note of his fellow group mate's emotionally hurt position.

"Don't say that," Nichkhun said. "I cared about him as much as you did, and you know that."

Nichkhun drew a hand to his heart, having a quick flashback on the pain he felt during the days when Jay had been so criticized by the public. Jay would always keep a special place in his heart, no matter what.

The endless months of training and tears and blood don't just fly out the window in a year. And he knew Chansung knew that.

"Please come out," Nichkhun tried once more. There was a sniffle and the moving of limbs.

Chansung unlocked the stall door and pushed it open with his arm. He walked out with his stage make-up half-melted off his face. Nichkhun laughed, but quickly regretted doing so when Chansung sent a threatening stare at him.

Nichkhun tried to compensate with a childish smile, which Chansung almost immediately broke down from.

"I care about you," Nichkhun said. "And I care about Jay, and about the other members, and our fans..."

He placed a hand on Chansung's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "And you know how upset I was when Jay left...it was like someone tore off my arm...or something."

Nichkhun could tell Chansung was about to cry again, which made him wince. Oh, not again...

He was ready to try to stop the younger boy from bursting out. What if someone walked in on them? Would they think Nichkhun made him cry?

But before Nichkhun could do anything, Chansung dug his face into Nichkhun's chest with tears exploding once more from his eyes.

And the two stood their for almost a minute; they didn't utter a word. Only the soft sounds of Chansung's pain echoed off the bathroom tiles.

Nichkhun placed a hand on Chansung's back, making an awkward attempt at comforting his friend.

"Please, no more tears."

hi guys, author here! What do you think of me writing more oneshots and whatnot instead of actual stories? I mean...I never seem to finish them anyways...literally. If you check, I have not finished any of my stories, except for a poster shop. LMAO. failllll..

I really need to improve my writing... I hate how half my story always end up being dialogue. Like...ew. haha.