"And a one...and a two... and a three.. start."

Seungcheol’s P.O.V-

I was awoken by my phone ringing. I groaned and reached for it, wincing slightly at the bright light. It was Hyemi?

“Hey Seungcheol… do you mind letting me talk to Hoon? He isn’t answering the phone and I’m a bit worried. He usually always answers. Mind passing the phone to him?”

I had a bad feeling coming up as she explained her reasons. When I told her that he wasn’t here she totally flipped.

“W-What?! I told you guys to watch him! I told you guys not to leave him alone! Why would you let him leave? Ahhh… Hoonie! What are we going to do? Last time this happened he didn’t come back to school until a week later and when he did you could still see bruises! P-please Seungcheol.. please find him okay?” I pretty much jumped out of bed and got ready before asking for an address. That is when she realized… she didn’t know it. She didn’t know where he lived. ! How was I supposed to find him?! Ugh… Maybe he is fine. Even though that is what I told her… no one believed it. I struggled to go back to sleep. I was worried for the reckless boy. I awoke the next day and practically pushed everyone into the van. We needed to get to the school fast. They all followed as I pretty much ran into his practice room. He was standing in front of the mirror and was getting ready to dance. We all saw the bruises on his arms as well as the hickeys on his neck. Blood was evident in the corner of his lip and you could see the slight black-eye he had. He turned to look at us blankly before turning back around and walking up to his stereo to put a CD in. Before I could even speak, the door opened and BTOB came in. Remembering how Hoon felt about them, I knew this wasn’t going to end well. When Hoon saw him I could practically feel the anger radiating off of him. “Omo Hoon are you okay? Did you get into a fight?” Ilhoon rushed to his side and gently placed his hand on Hoon’s shoulder. It stayed there for a second before the boy roughly pushed his arm away. “Can I help you all? I wanted to practice and you are interrupting.” He really doesn’t care if he is disrespectful to them huh? “Ah… really? We heard you were practicing here and wanted to drop by. It is interesting how you practice even when you are so good.” I noticed the tone in Peniels voice but ignored it. “In the future I would appreciate it if you didn’t. Also, please don’t refer to me by my first name. I don’t recall us becoming close so don’t act like we are. It is annoying.” He glared hard at the amused boys who simply smiled. “I have a feeling we will become close in the future. Anyways we look forward to hearing you all sing. Good luck Hoon, Seventeen!” They each raised their fists before we bowed (except Hoon) and watched them leave. “Hoon you shouldn’t be rude to them! They are the judges after all.” Hansol gave him a worried look before looking to me. I looked at my watch. We still have time before we need to head out. Hoon rolled his eyes and started the music. It was upbeat and his body jumped into it right away. I caught myself smiling. We heard the door open once more and turned to see a man. He looked a bit older than us. He was smiling and held up his finger to his lips. He slowly walked towards the boy who had his eyes closed. I saw him grin as he stopped the music, causing the boy's eyes to shoot open. We were expecting him to yell or something but instead, he threw his arms around the boy and they both crashed to the ground. “Woah take it easy Hoon.” The once cold hearted boy snuggled his head in the others chest while smiling. Is this really Hoon? I felt something weird in my stomach and nearly gasped. I’ve read things like this in fanfics. This feeling… great. “I missed you…” Hoon's voice was so soft it sent chills down our spine. “I missed you too Hoonie. Now get up. I think your friends are getting the wrong idea.” They both looked at us but Hoon rolled his eyes and got up, helping the unknown man up by his side. “They aren’t my friends. They’re idols.” The man slowly nodded his head before turning to us and bowing. “Hello, it is nice to meet you. My name is Mark. I’m Hoon’s close friend.” We all bowed but I simply stared at Hoon who was staring cutely at the boy. Cutely? Oh god… he is a dude. This is going to be bad for our group. We introduced ourselves and soon Hoon started the music up again. We were all even more shocked to see his friend jump into it as well. They danced perfectly in sync with each other. Like it was like seeing two Hoons. As the dance got even more complicated, we were in awe at how the boy was able to keep up with Hoon. I saw Hoon grinning as they danced and slightly smiled. He seems to actually be enjoying life right now. They both did y body rolls and Hoon even slowly lifted up his shirt. Dino was sitting down, clapping like a seal. God.. he is such a fan. Mark went behind Hoon and rubbed on his chest while Hoon lustfully bit his bottom lip. What the ? I wanted to look away but… I couldn’t. They broke contact at last and soon continued side by side. Soon enough they were both done and were on the floor, smiling. “You have gotten better. But what is this I hear about you singing?” He sounded amused and I slightly chuckled at how Hoon groaned. “It is for this stupid contest. I need the money. Speaking of that… It is about time I go. Don’t wait for me after it okay? I have somewhere else to go after.” Was he talking about the place from before? He is going back?! After how they beat him? Idiot! We followed him to the stadium and sat in our places. We watched many people perform before us and soon enough it was the vocal teams turn. They got up and gave a great performance which caused many of us to sing along

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xm3xGJcSDo

Then it was our turn. We all got up and sang our hearts out

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=afmFS_zjXZg

but… Hoon was still on my mind. I was worried about him. He was so reckless. Hopefully his friend cares for him.. We finished our song and watched the performance team do their song.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8uHQrbP9IY4

Hyemi went up and blew us away with another great performance and soon.. it was Hoons turn. His fans were screaming as usual as they watched him get up on stage. His band looked so serious and charismatic. Hoon gently grabbed the microphone but before they could even start, Mark screamed ‘I LOVE YOU HOON!’ like a crazy fan. The boy stared at him with a murderous glare before it turned into a softer one and he let out a soft chuckle. He soon turned serious again and closed his eyes to let the music start.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb-TchPrjCQ

It had an interesting start to it and I was still amazed at the voice that escaped his lips. I understand why he refuses to sing but…. it is still crazy. Throwing your dream away for someone else? Why would you want to live like that? Does his sister know about it? Does she know how much pain he is in? I felt a nudge and turned to see the others signalling to look at Jeonghan who was staring at the boy with lovestruck eyes. I slightly hit him and gave him a look but he only blushed and leaned towards me. “His voice. I recognize it. Remember that song I always sang? The one that I auditioned with? I didn’t remember the name of the singer and all history of the song was taken off the internet. I am positive it’s Hoon’s song. The voices match up. It would be hard to forget a voice like that.” As he spoke the pieces of the puzzle came together. It would make sense for the song to be taken down but… since I didn’t hear the original song I can’t fully say it is him. I looked back at the band who was in the middle of a guitar solo. Hoons powerful voice came back in and he sang beautifully. His long note was so powerful and amazing. Soon, the song came to a close. Everyone clapped for the boy who simply stood while the other contestants came back up for the judging to begin. Unfortunately, our performance team got eliminated. I guess they were a bit relieved that they wouldn’t have to make another song. We were all walking off the stage when I saw Hoon at the end of the hall with his phone raised to his ear. We were about to yell his name when his body slowly slumped down to the floor. Feeling something was wrong, I rushed to his side. He looked so tired and sad. Was something wrong with his sister? I slowly kneeled down in front of him and hugged him without saying anything else. It was obvious the boy needed comfort. I didn’t know what happened on the phone but… he needs a friend. He gently pushed me off and got up, walking out the building. We all slowly trailed behind him and watched him walk in the busy streets. We watched him walk to a bridge and stop in the middle of it, turning to face the water and letting his arms rest against the pole. I felt nervous. I have also read things like this in fanfics. Don’t do it Hoon. Don’t be stupid. Hoon soon kept walking but was staring up at the sky. The street lights reflected beautifully on him. Where is he going? He kept walking until we got to a small stand. An ahjumma and her grandkids were trying to sell their food to the passing people. “Hoon!” We all witnessed Hoon kneeling down and hugging the kids with a grin on his face. He got back up and grabbed an apron, bowing to the woman who smiled kindly to him. He is helping them? What is his relationship with them? They made food and sold it to plenty of people. That was when music started playing from a nearby stand. One of the kids started dancing frantically and we all smiled. Even Hoon chuckled. He took his apron off and went to the little girl, smiling softly and holding his hand out. He danced cutely with her and followed her lead. He even let the girl scold him when he ‘messed up’. It was so cute. I guess Hoon has this side to him as well. He played with the kids some more and even colored with them. I guess he was there to babysit? A guy came by him and handed him what looked like beer. H-Hey he isn’t supposed to be drinking that! Hoon grinned happily and thanked him for the drink before opening it and taking a couple sips. One of the kids went behind him and started playing with his hair. They even went as far as to give him ponytail in the front. Hoon was acting like a kid and we loved watching it. It was nice to have a break from his cold act. I honestly wish he could just be like this all the time. About five minutes later, Hoon got up and left the family. He kept walking and walking in the dark streets and I could swear I heard him whistling a tune. We all secretly hid when we saw a group of guys approach the boy. Hoon gave them something and it seemed they gave him something back in return. Hoon what are you doing with your life? He bowed respectively to the men before turning around and walking back. We made eye contact and I was expecting us to be scolded but he simply ignored us and kept walking.

Hoon’s P.O.V-

I knew those idiots were following me. Don’t they have other things to do though? I mean isn’t their schedule packed? I heard commotion up ahead and was going to ignore it when I saw a car upside down in the corner of my eye. Immediately, my body was drawn to it. My hands slightly shook as the beaten car brought back memories of the accident. Blood was dripped onto the ground and many officers were guarding it. I felt it getting harder to breath but I couldn’t look away…

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Umma I am going to become a big star and am going to buy you guys a large house okay? Just wait!” My sister was beaming with happiness. She had just found out she was accepted into an audition program and now she was on her way to see her favorite idol group perform live. I smiled softly at her. I was always fond of my sister. She was adorable and small. She didn’t annoy me like normal little siblings. She was rather obedient and shy. My parents chuckled at her words and smiled softly to each other, their hands entwined together. We were driving past a rather busy street. It was a green light and no one was in front of us so we didn’t slow down. As we drove past, we heard beeping and next thing we knew… our car was upside down and blood was running down our heads. A car was on the run from the cops and ended up slamming into us. As we flipped I could only hear the sound of glass breaking and screaming. My eyes could only see shaking and the slight image of the fear in my families face. Then it was all black. When I finally woke up, I turned to my side to see my sister knocked out. She had cuts all over her body and blood was painting the floor. I tried to call out to someone but my voice was too sore. I looked up to see blood splattered on the front window and felt my heart sink. A-Are… are they okay? M-Mom? D-Dad?? I tried to move but yelped at the immense pain in my back. I couldn’t move. Not by myself. I felt myself becoming more and more light-headed as the sounds of sirens got louder and louder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hoon are you okay?” I felt my legs become jelly and slightly fell back. I was in shock. I felt coldness surround my body. I felt alone… Closing my eyes, I took a long, shaky breath. Be strong Hoon… be strong. I felt someone place their arm over my shoulder and their hand gently rub my arm. It was as if they were… comforting me.. It took everything in my power to tear my eyes away from the car and walk away. Seungcheol’s warm hands were now gone and were replaced by the cold winds. As I walked down the dark streets, thoughts filled my mind. Why did they have to leave me? Why am I all alone? I can’t do this by myself… I’m dying on the inside. As I thought of my sister, I felt tears swell up inside. She is always cooped up inside her room. She is never allowed to leave and no one besides me visits her. She… she never had any friends. None that cared that is. Now that I think about it…. she hasn’t called me in a while. Or sent any requests. Is she really okay with me singing? Is she up- “Hoon!” My thoughts were disrupted when I heard Mark call my name. What is he doing here? He jogged up to me and smiled softly. “What are you doing out here? You don’t live in this area.” I smiled towards him and shook my head. It isn’t like I could tell him I sell drugs and stuff for money... “I see you’re hanging out with your friends. Ah… right.. they aren’t your friends.” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck while I just gave him a look. “I forgot to say, you did a pretty good job singing today. Didn’t know you had that talent. Shame you’re letting it go to waste..” He knew all about me. More than Hyemi did. I didn’t completely trust him though. I didn’t tell him anything either… he figured everything out on his own. “It would be stupid to pursue it. Dreams like that.. they’re bull.” He grinned at me and only shook his head. He leaned over a bit and looked at the idols who stood in silence. “I’ll be taking Hoon now if you don’t mind. We have LOTS to talk about.” I noticed the slight tone in his voice and frowned. What’s up with him? He roughly grabbed my wrist which made me slightly hiss at the pain but he only smiled and kept walking. He obviously sees the bruises on my body.. he just chooses to ignore it. When he found out I got abused by… him.. well he decided he didn’t want to be a part of it. He pretended it never happened. Blocked the bruises out. He wanted nothing to do with it. Can’t really say I blame him. He is a good guy… I owe a lot to him. As we were walking his smile vanished. “Why didn’t you tell me she was getting surgery.” His voice was deeper now and I internally groaned. It was only a matter of time before he found out. “It didn’t concern you.” I heard him scoff and tighten his grip on my wrist. “Doesn’t concern me huh? I’ve known you how long and you still don’t trust me. I thought you would at least tell me things like this. You know.. I was wondering if you would ever tell me that you sell your body and do errands for money but I guess you only tell people you trust that. Like those idols? Don’t forget Hoon.. she is like a sister to me too. I- You know what.. forget it. Come find me when you decide to trust me.” I watched in silence as he walked away from me, disappearing into the crowd. My wrist was red from his grip and now it hurt like hell. He is a good friend.. I’ll give him that. And.. I really did miss him. I missed him so much... But he is not someone to trust. Not even close.