"Okay, we'll stop here today and work out the rest hopefully by tomorrow. Dismissed!" Soonyoung announced, pushing the whiteboard to the side as the Performance Unit members filed out of the room, still discussing the recent choreography and possible adjustments for the lineup.

Taking a deep breath, Soonyoung reached for his water bottle, only to find that someone else's hand was already there.

"Here." Junhui smiled, handing the item over.

"Thanks." Soonyoung tried hard to control his voice, staring at his own hand to make sure that his hands didn't shake. Unfortunately for him, his body wasn't in the mood to listen to him, leading him to drop the water bottle.

Junhui blinked as the water bottle dropped to the floor near his feet, droplets of the liquid splattered onto his shoes.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, let me just-"

"It's just water, relax," Junhui laughed, but nonetheless stepped a little further away from Soonyoung, "I've had nastier stuff on them before."

"Gross."

The two oldest members of the unit fell into silence as Junhui stared down at the water droplets still clinging to his shoes, and Soonyoung's eyes darted everywhere around the room, anywhere and anything that was not Junhui.

Soonyoung didn't understand himself where and when tension had started to form between the two. During their predebut days Soonyoung would have argued that they were one of the closest members, but it seemed that since Minghao joined, Junhui had started to spend less and less time with him. It could even be before that, when Junhui grew closer to Wonwoo and Hansol, after being able to have conversations with the other members without needing someone to translate for him even once. Even when Junhui couldn't communicate as well in Korean, he was always able to convey his affection towards the others through skinship, which Soonyoung originally found slightly annoying with his constant clingyness; but now that it was no longer happening to him anymore, he felt just a little left-out, especially since Hansol seemed to still be continuously receiving and reciprocating Junhui's open show of affection.

Is it just me then...?

"Soonyoung. Hoshi. Great Leader Hoshi." Junhui called, waving a hand in front of Soonyoung.

"Huh? Sorry, did you ask me something?" Soonyoung blinked, a sheepish smile on his face.

"It's my turn to keep the hamster in our room, I just wanted to know if you're allergic or something."

"Oh, nah, it's cool-" Soonyoung stopped short, "What hamster? What do you mean your turn? Do I also get a turn?"

Junhui smiled with amusement at the sudden rounds of questions shooting out of Soonyoung's mouth, noting how endearing it was that his lips and cheeks seemed pouty by default, "It's a thing that's been going on among Jisoo-hyung, Wonwoo, Jihoon, Seokmin, Hansol and I, actually."

Soonyoung tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest.

"On the weekends when we had our day off, we went down to the pet shop and talked about how it'd be fun to have a shared pet and compromised on a hamster since it'd be the easiest to hide, move around, and it won't make loud noises." Junhui continued to explain as the two of them made their way out the practice room.

"Seems like an odd group of people... I didn't know you guys were that close. I mean, sure, Wonwoo, Hansol, and you..."

"What are you talking about? I'm close with everyone." Junhui joked, pretending to look hurt, "Jisoo-hyung and I used to teach each other English and Mandarin, Jihoon pretends he wants to be alone but is actually afraid to be, Seokmin is just really comfortable to hang around, you know?" Junhui's smile stretched wider, "Who says you must hang out with the same people all the time anyway?"

"Well, I guess that's true... Anyway, about the hamster thing, I'm fine with it."

"Great! Thanks, you're the best!" With that, Junhui zoomed off upstairs calling Jisoo's name, probably to get the hamster from him.

Soonyoung trudged up the stairs with much less enthusiasm. He didn't think that Junhui would be able to "move on" so smoothly, and it seemed that he had easily left Soonyoung behind in the process.

---

"So what is its name?" Soonyoung asked, watching as Junhui let the small furry creature climb onto his own pillow, the latter's eyes were wide and fascinated like a child's.

"We haven't thought about it yet, the guys left the task to me since I was the one who wanted to get it in the first place." Junhui explained, pulling out a random novel he had stowed away under his bed, flipping through the pages and muttering random words he came across, in the hopes that one of them would be a decent name for his new pet.

Soonyoung kept quiet as the pudding-furred hamster scurried off Junhui's pillow and climbed onto its owner's lap, its nose twitching excitedly at the familiar scent, running around in the space Junhui's crossed legs formed in an attempt to get the dancer's attention.

Still endorsed in finding a good name for the hamster from his novel, Junhui reached a finger down and smiled as the hamster nuzzled it with its nose. "Say, Soonyoung, what does this word mean?"

Soonyoung jumped at the question, it had been a while since Junhui needed help with Korean, from him, specifically. Normally he would ask Wonwoo or Seungkwan.

"Which one?" Soonyoung hustled over from his side of the room and looked down at the characters Junhui was pointing to, his eyes widened slightly at the word, "Sarang... I believe in Mandarin, you call it ai."

"You're right! It completely slipped my mind for a second, thanks!" Junhui laughed, taking the book back and staring at the word intensely, "I was hoping you'd explain it to me like when I asked what woojeong meant."

"Huh?" Did Soonyoung hear him correctly?

"So, Sarang, I guess that's your new name now." Junhui concluded, scooping the hamster up in his palms and staring at its large black eyes, "My Sarang." He whispered, cuddling the hamster to his chest before putting it back in its cage so that it could go about its own business while he and Soonyoung went to sleep.

Soonyoung swallowed as he watched the scene play out in front of him. Great, now even the hamster was higher than him in Junhui's social ranking. What was he to him anyway? Just a back-up translator aside from being his unit leader.

---

Soonyoung hung loosely off his position on the sofa arm, sipping his drink nonchalantly as Jihoon watched with an intense glare at the hamster running across the table.

"It sure likes to run."

Soonyong wondered if he should tell Jihoon that the hamster was really running away from him given his sharp glare that it could easily relate to a predator's, but kept his mouth closed as he saw Seokmin making his way towards them. As expected, the hamster immediately ran towards Seokmin's direction, and the smiling lead vocalist scooped it up from the table, cradling it comfortingly.

Soonyoung couldn't help but scowl slightly. Junhui and him both shared close friends, apparently, so why weren't they close anymore?

"Oh yeah, did Jun come up with a name for it?" Jihoon suddenly asked, watching as Seokmin sat down on the free end of the sofa, feeding the hamster sunflower seeds freshly bought by Wonwoo earlier.

"Yeah, uh, Sarang."

Almost simultaneously, Jihoon and Seokmin choked on their own spit.

"Really? Sarang?" Jihoon scowled.

"And you're okay with it?" Seokmin added with an awkward smile.

"What do you mean? It's not my business what he names his hamster- I mean, your hamster."

The two vocalists exchanged a glance.

"He didn't tell you?" Seokmin pressed on, still cuddling the hamster.

"Tell me what?"

Jihoon rolled his eyes and scoffed at the memory, "When we first passed the pet shop and he saw this furball in the display window, he immediately ran up to it shouting, 'Look, guys! Doesn't it look exactly like Soonyoung?! Oh my god, it's so cute, we have to get it. Get it with me, pleaaaase?'" Yup, leave it to Jihoon to make a convincing impression of Junhui.

Soonyoung wasn't sure whether to laugh at Jihoon's reenactment or just stare awkwardly at Junhui's reason for getting the hamster, plus indirectly calling him cute, and in addition, naming the hamster that resembled him "Sarang". So he did both.

---

"Hey, welcome back." Junhui called from his bed, holding the same novel from yesterday.

"Hey..." Soonyoung replied, a little bit unsure of how to face him with his new found information regarding the hamster's "background story". "Um... you know how you asked me what sarang meant?"

"Yeah?"

"I mean, there's no way you didn't understand what the word meant, right? We use it all the time with fans and lyrics..." Soonyoung fumbled, walking a little closer.

Junhui shrugged nonchalantly, "Like I said, it slipped my mind."

"Then what was that about wanting me to explain it the same way I did before with woojeong?!" Soonyoung blurted out, looking Junhui straight in the eyes for the first time in maybe years since drifting apart.

After a moment of silence, Junhui sighed, putting away his book as he sat up on the edge of his bed, motioning for Soonyoung to sit down next to him, "I was testing to see if you remembered."

"What?"

"I know it's not good to hang onto predebut memories since we've all mature and moved on, but I felt that you were the only one who openly offered help to me back when I wasn't so great at verbal communication with the others, I would even say you were probably my first friend." Junhui smiled a little sheepishly as he held Soonyoung's right hand in his left, "Maybe someone had asked you to take care of me, but I'm sure no one asked you to actually 'be friends' with me, if that makes any sense. I guess that was just in your nature though."

Soonyoung felt his mouth go dry. So Junhui had been having thoughts about their seemingly "lost" relationship as well. "But... you were the one who started to drift away..."

"I couldn't cling onto you forever. Besides, even I can tell when someone's getting annoyed with my constant need for skinship." Junhui shrugged, "Okay, to be completely honest... when you told me what woojeong meant, I kind of had doubts."

"What does this mean?" Junhui asked, pointing at the word, woojeong.

Soonyoung smiled gently, indicating to the two of them, "The feeling we are feeling right now."

"Doubts?"

"Friendship... I don't feel that towards you. It was probably just in innocent kid crush back then, but now I'm sure of it."

Soonyoung held his breath, not daring to believe what this was leading to.

"Not being in the same room with you is suffocating, seeing you getting along with other people and reminding me of the newly established distance between us unbearable, but at the same time I wouldn't dare get close again since I was sure you'd be annoyed and tired of me again." Junhui confessed.

Soonyoung waited patiently for the older boy to continue, but nothing came. Junhui lied back down onto the bed, and reached for the novel like their conversation didn't happen at all.

Pursing his lips, Soonyoung leaned over and took away the book so that his face was now hovering above Junhui's, "What does sarang mean?"

"Soonyoung?"

"Answer me."

Junhui gave a tired smile, raising a hand up to glide his fingers gently over Soonyoung's cheek, "The feeling I feel towards you."

The latter drew in a breath, grabbing Junhui's hand and holding it closer, nuzzling it gently, "Wrong. It's the feeling we are feeling now."

Ignoring Junhui's shocked expression, Soonyoung dived down and gave a peck to Junhui's lips, raising his head up a little too fast as he bumped against the top bunk.

Junhui laughed at Soonyoung's pained expression, sitting up to give soothing rubs to the bump that was slowly starting to form on Soonyoung's head.

"Let's not speak of that ever again."

"Of course." Junhui chuckled, pulling the younger boy into a tight hug, gently swaying at a comforting rhythm.

"Also, you better change that hamster's name."

"Aw, why?"

"...You don't need to call anyone else 'my Sarang', right?" Soonyoung grumbled against Junhui's shoulder.

"...You are honestly so cute."

"Shut up."

Thus, Junhui spent the next morning telling Minghao in Mandarin how Soonyoung was surprisingly the jealous and easily embarrassed type while the dance leader adjusted the lineup so that he would be at the very back during the chorus along with his other hamster friends. Of course, that was quickly rearranged as Junhui managed to convince Soonyoung to spare the others with his puppy eyes, prompting Soonyoung to put him in the center instead.