“He’s not here!”

Seungcheol barely had an hour of sleep when Mingyu’s booming voice cut his precious dreams. With eyes still closed tight, he followed where the younger one’s voice came from, but he didn’t have to search far for within seconds, he could feel huge hands holding his shoulders.

“Hyung, he’s not here!” Mingyu asserted in a loud voice while shaking Seungcheol awake.

“What do you mean ‘he’s not here’?” Seungcheol grumbled, pushing Mingyu away with as much force as his half-asleep self can exert. “Jeez, Mingyu. The sun’s not even up yet. Let me sleep!”

It was only a few minutes past 4 A.M when Mingyu came barging in his room. Seungcheol arrived at the dorm he shared with three other members—Mingyu included—at around 3 A.M. He had stayed up late at the company, writing lyrics for their new songs to be released a month later for their 10th anniversary concert.

Everyone was busy preparing for ‘Shining Diamonds: 10 Years with Carats’. Jihoon, one of the hottest and highest-paid producers in South Korea, had made lots of new compositions like he always had since they debuted. Soonyoung, the co-owner of a dance academy with Chan, had already made new choreographies with the other Performance Unit members Chan, Junhui, and Minghao. The Hiphop Unit members, the unit who just released another mini album, all made their own self-composed songs for the concert. Jeonghan and Joshua had prepared a duet which they also composed themselves, and Seungkwan and Seokmin, who are not only famous singers but also famous comedians and DJs of their own radio show ‘Castella’, even prepared a musical skit to entertain their fans.

It was a grand concert, they said. Everybody was excited. Most of the fans, who have grown with Seventeen and have families now, already filed for their leave of absence at their companies and were set on having various fan projects to show their love for their idols. A lot of fans were said to be flying from all around the world to attend the 3-day concert series. The media were also fighting for press passes since getting one for Seventeen’s concerts became a messy battle ever since they reached the peak of their popularity at their 5th year with their title song ‘Together’, which topped charts all around the world.

Seungcheol heard Mingyu groan, and before he could push him away again, the younger had already dragged him off his bed, not minding the curses Seungcheol spat at him. With a loud thud, Mingyu dropped him on the cold floor of the living room. Seungcheol rubbed his eyes; the sudden shift from the dark room to the brightly-lit room was hurting his eyes. When he could finally see properly, he looked up and saw Mingyu towering over him with his arms crossed and his expression a mix of what Seungcheol thought of as gloom and fear.

“What on earth is your problem? Can’t you see that it’s still dark outside? This is a human rights violation! I deserve a good night’s rest, too, you know,” Seungcheol whined.

Mingyu ignored him.

“Hyung,” Mingyu said, his voice soft but firm. “I told you he’s not here.”

“Who? Tell me who’s this important missing person who made you literally drag me from my bed at such an ungodly hour! He better be imp-”

“Jeonghan hyung,” Mingyu blurted out, cutting him off. “He’s not here.”

Seungcheol raised his eyebrows at him, trying to process what the younger one had said.

“Don’t be overdramatic, Mingyu,” Seungcheol scoffed. He rose up from the floor and went to the kitchen to drink some water. “He must be sleeping in the other rooms and you just didn’t look hard enough, or maybe he’s out with his friends, or at the company, still practicing. You’re lucky I’m not