「ㅤEIGHTH PAGE。

「ㅤ게임제로。 story begins !!
page EIGHT
dongha can't fall asleep.
 
the light snoring from his only roommate is inadequate in lulling him to sleep, and only serves to keep him awake with every passing hour. he always thought he could sleep in any place, granted he'd been 'trained' to nap in the symphony of sounds in the trainees' dormitory, but it seemed like soohyun's loud noises were not the only cause for his insomnia. 
 
he'd touched yimin — yijun — for the first time that morning, like a friendly gesture that dongha always showed to his friends; but yimin's reaction is anything but welcoming.
 
did the maknae hate him for being soohyun's roommate? there was definitely something between them; the hour-long car ride supported dongha's theory that they were either dating, or just really close friends. maybe soohyun's being unfriendly to him because of that, too.
 
dongha's mind is in a turmoil; in these two weeks, he'd tried every workable way to bring himself closer to soohyun, to engage in a normal conversation with him, but the main vocalist merely responds with less than five words, and a bleak of silence that rendered the conversation a futile attempt. 
 
i'm counting on you to bring them closer, seulgi had told him when he approached her a week ago. i trust you. you're friendly enough. and you're a guy; you'll know them best.
 
and if the apparent hatred towards him was insufficient, he's shouldering the burden of bringing a group of contrasting personalities together. wasn't that the job of the leader?
 
but it occurs to dongha that hongseok, too, was a vessel with punctures in its underbelly — evidence of him sailing on rocky terrain and sustaining injuries in the process. soohyun completed hongseok's notorious duo, so the leader would probably take soohyun's side if dongha were to rake up a fuss about the alienation. 
 
dongha is no clean slate too; while he may have secrets of his own, they pale in comparison to the youngest member's, who seems as if he'd suffocate from bottling up his thoughts.
 
but, well, at least he's building up a stable relationship with the female manager, who constantly breathes down his neck about his messy work desk and grumbles as she sweeps up the loose sheets of paper that scatter on his bed.  it's a fortune to have someone who cares for you, dongha had read in a book before, and he even considers the young manager his surrogate mother, one who fitted into the shoes of his birth mom. 
 
his mother... is she still hooked onto alcohol? dongha knew she was in good hands, but he has the constant fear of not being around when his mother sinks into intoxication again. the reason for his uncertainty is simple — he, the person who'd stuck to her for twenty years, and who understood her the most, has not the freedom to pull the beer bottles away from her clutches. 
 
and, while the worries weigh in his mind, oh dongha falls into a sleep, one that his spiritual exhaustion so needed.
 
LAYOUT BY HEEBUMDAE
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nephesh
#1
Happy belated Christmas and happy anniversary for this fic!
Meowrr
#2
Chapter 17: This is so sad omg, whoever that is I felt compelled to hug the air out of him atm ;w; ♡
nephesh
#3
Chapter 17: it feels like jiwoong to me. maybe the extremely long training time and then his pale skin description. i could be wrong though. poor kid has a long way to go.
hiikyoung
#4
Chapter 17: Poor guy. This one seems less "traumatic", but it feels very real. Who hasn't experienced this feeling?

I'm going to guess...Hajun or Dongha?
hiikyoung
#5
...not crazy, right? There was a layout change? O_o;;
nephesh
#6
Chapter 16: i managed to gain access earlier so why not lmao anyways.
Hajun... /hugs/ like what hiikyoung said, there's definitely a minor (major?) grudge and it fits jiwoong's personality and eight-year background right. he doesn't want to mess up a lot, but in return it goes to people who aren't supposedly blamed to. but hey, you can't hold bad feelings for days and expecting yourself not guilty, right? i can see both of them getting closer from that on, because you need some kind of bait to gain something. sacrifices. the house analogy; the happiest are also the saddest? but i know hajun's not afraid of getting hurt, it's just that his supports are very lacking (from the team itself; one man for themselves), so that's good for him.
moving on; i... love the details you'd given to seonha in this chapter. his health, the food, the insults, and all... makes me happy, really. and for the first time, it's a very calm ending (but don't tell me this is a 'good before the storm' thing, okay?! XD) that actually sets contrasts to the argument between the older members. this being added with the fact that both of them are very secretive. People fight like they bond, i guess. the group definitely is catching up with each other, closer in a sense of interaction. baby steps, but it's there. thank you, again, for your updates!
hiikyoung
#7
Chapter 16: Jiwoong...Jiwoong, Jiwoong, Jiwoong.../shakes head/ It's an interesting dynamic. They're both lead dancers and sub vocals. Though arguably on paper, you might consider Jiwoong the more talented since he's a bit of a triple threat and a visual. However, poor Hajun. Trying to keep that colorful, happy front must be tough (nice imagery btw). You have to wonder if Jiwoong's lashing out is due to his feeling of inadequacies (I highly suspect so). Not being a leader, being the second youngest but also being the longest trainee...wow, this part focused more on Hajun, and yet I'm getting more insight into Jiwoong. Kekeke. Anyhow! Hajun is going to be one of those characters who eventually snaps, huh? Please no...#protectHajun2016.

It's nice to see Yimin opening up to someone outside of Soohyun. I wonder what they fought about? What's interesting is it's Yimin and Seonha. And yet this doesn't surprise me. Both so quiet, with so many secrets. I can imagine they have an understanding between each other. It's wonderful to see them happy though. So much of this story so far doesn't show happiness: only sadness and hardship (not complaining! :D ). That ending was remarkably cute though. Yay~! I hope this opens them up to the others eventually. I think these boys are too much of 'islands unto themselves' than a team.

Thank you for the update. You do it so consistently. :)
nephesh
#8
Chapter 16: its 1.30 am already but thank you! i'll get the full comment in 18 hours.
hiikyoung
#9
Yassss...

I'll give you a proper comment once I get to my laptop!!
curiously
#10
Chapter 15: i get so excited when i see your updates jfc you have no idea i hope it's not jiwoong's excerpt
but as far as i know, he's the only one with a sibling unless yimin has some too... but somebody's
dad died and he was informed so so so much later. that makes me so sad and upset. like, isn't it
also the eldest child's duty in korea to help take care of the funeral process and whatnot? okay maybe
i'm getting carried away but it's always the child who holds their parent's picture during the funeral
march. WHY DIDN'T THEY LET HIM KNOOOOW. i'm talking to myself at this point but i know it was probably
so he can focus on his debut and training. but still mf. good lord i need a doctor to control the emotions i feel inside.