A result of my frustrations after Mix and Match because there were a lot of people who wanted to drop Dongdong out for Jinhyeong and Hongseok. Set after Mix and Match and before debut. Friendship!JunDong

It was in the middle of the night when Junhwe woke up feeling thirsty. Rubbing his face and straightening his hair for a bit, he went down from the double decker bed with less noise as possible. The last thing he wanted was for Hanbin or Bobby to wake up and bug him for his noise the next day.

He successfully reached the kitchen, immediately taking out his mug and fishing out the cold water from the fridge. With a couple of big gulps, he finished drinking the water with a satisfied sigh. That's when he noticed the dimmed light from their dorm's mini balcony.

Junhwe raised a brow. The light there wasn't usually opened, which meant someone's there doing who-knows-what in the middle of the night. Curious, he carefully placed his mug on the dishwasher and took silent steps towards the glass sliding door of the balcony. He peeked first. Sitting on the floor, legs raised and his arms crossed on his knees, was Donghyuk.

Normally, Junhwe would have left Donghyuk there and go back to sleep. But something caught him off guard about his team mate. There were tears on Donghyuk's face.

Junhwe gulped as bewilderment and slight panic rose inside him. Did something happen that made Donghyuk secretly cry? And in freaking 2 am for crying out loud. He wracked his brain rewinding the events of the day, but he can't see any reason why.

The lack of answers bothered him so he carefully opened the sliding door and stepped into the balcony. Donghyuk whipped his head in surprise towards him then looked down to quickly wipe his eyes.

"Junhwe. What are you doing here?"

Junhwe rolled his eyes and closed the door, standing beside Donghyuk with his hands on the pockets of his pants.

"Yah, I should be the one asking you that. The hell are you doing here crying in the middle of the night?"

Donghyuk chuckled lightly then shook his head, still no intentions of getting back in.

"This . So you really saw me crying here huh? It's ok, you can go back in. Give me a few more minutes."

To emphasize his point, Dong gave him a smile - the usual kind he gives out when he's trying to be strong. Junhwe contemplated doing as he said and leave him alone. Every one of them needed a time for themselves anyway.

But again, it's the middle of the night. Mix and Match is over, and so far there’s nothing in their situation that should make Dong break down like this.

Groaning, Junhwe scratched his head and plopped himself beside Dong. He ignored his friend's surprised face.

"Spill it out. Did something happen? Did I offend you again?"

Dong chuckled again. "So you're actually aware of how you can be quite offending sometimes. Good for you Goo Junhwe."

"Yah! Don't change the subject. I'm asking you what's wrong."

"Nothing really." Donghyuk let his legs lay down on the floor, his arms crossed in his chest. "Everything suddenly got to me, I guess."

Junhwe raised a brow at him. "What do you mean?"

"You know, the fact that we're going to debut...that I can show our debut album to my dad soon...that I can help umma with our living...stuff like that."

"So those are just tears of joy?" Junhwe asked, not convinced. He knows when Donghyuk cries out of happiness because there's always a smile on his face. There was none when he first saw him there.

Donghyuk glanced at him, stared for a few seconds, then shook his head. A wry smile was on his face.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"Of course I don't. Just spill it out man. I can't sleep at this rate."

"Alright, alright. Since you insist, listen carefully Goo Junhwe."

Donghyuk sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a moment, before opening them again.

"It's me ok? That's my problem. I feel like I don't deserve to debut. I thought showing my improvements should be enough, but it looks like people are still unconvinced. They don't like my tone no matter how stable I am. They don't say anything about my dancing either. And even if they voted for me, I felt like they only did it because they're attached to Team B. I feel useless."

Junhwe widened his eyes at Donghyuk. So he was actually affected about all of that? He was used to Donghyuk just nodding in determination every time the team reads the feedback regarding their performances, regardless of a positive or a negative response. No one openly becomes depressed about it, but it looks like Donghyuk endured everything more than the rest of them.

"You know better than to let yourself get swallowed by those comments." He stated in a slight scolding tone. "Seriously. Just ignore them."

Donghyuk nodded with a helpless smile. "I know. I just needed to get this out of my system. I'm sorry."

Junhwe sighed too, letting a few moments of silence between them. He contemplated before wrapping an arm around Dong's shoulder. Donghyuk tensed and looked at him incredulously.

"Yah, what is this? Why are you side hugging me? Are you really Goo Junhwe?"

"Aish. Shut up." Junhwe rolled his eyes but didn't pull away. "Just listen for a minute."

"You're not useless Donghyuk. You're far from it. Those so-called fans might not see it, but for us you're an essential part of iKON. Your dance and singing improved by tons, and we do the best harmonies in the group. Yeah your voice is thin, but your tone is needed for balance."

He tapped Donghyuk's head lightly. "You know that right?"

"Yah...seriously, are you really Junhwe? Hearing those things from you feels so weird I don't know if I should be happy or afraid."

Junhwe glared at him and tried poking his head again but Donghyuk avoided it. Genuinely smiling, Donghyuk nodded at him.

"Thanks Junhwe. Hearing compliments from the main vocal is an honor. I feel really better now."

"You speak as if you're not the main dancer in our group. Aish."

Despite his irritated face, a small blush appeared on Junhwe's face. It's rare for Donghyuk to actually call him a main vocal since their usual interactions are retorts. Well, it’s also rare for him to act affectionate either but no one else is there and unless Donghyuk wants him to tell the hyungs about his crying episode, Donghyuk would shut up about the hug.

Knowing that the issue is resolved, Junhwe pulled away and held Donghyuk's arm as he stood up.

"Yah, let's get in already. I'm even wearing this awful jeans you gave me but I still feel cold."

Donghyuk laughed lightly then stood up too, knowing that Junhwe’s just being sarcastic and he actually loved the jeans he gifted him during their manito game.

"If you hate them so much you can just give them back to me you know. I can probably wear them better than you anyway."

"Says the guy who wears coats and hats during summer."