Morning arrived and Jihoon woke only to find himself alone on the bed in an unfamiliar room. It took him a while to recall that he is currently Seventeen’s manager and is sharing a room with Seungcheol. While he was busy gathering his thoughts, Seungcheol entered the room, already dressed, looking like he is about to leave.

“Good morning,” the older said with a warm smile.

“Good morning.”

“We are heading to the company building to practice, so you might want to wash up and have breakfast soon.”

Jihoon felt around the bed for his phone, eyes still bleary as sleep has not left him completely. He saw that it was 9:30am and damn he is so not a morning person. He gave the taller a nod before crawling out of bed and walking groggily to the bathroom. Seungcheol let out a small laugh after the bathroom door closed, cause man that boy is so cute he just wants to hug him.

“Hyung, what are you laughing at?” Jeonghan asked, staring at the bathroom then back at him.

“N-nothing,” Seungcheol coughed once to cease his laughter.

“Oh right, Jeonghan, you and the kids can head to the practice room first. I’ll wait for Jihoon and bring him there soon after.”

“Mm okay, sure. See you,” Jeonghan shrugged and beckoned the other members to head down first.

 

 

“Where’s everyone?”

“I told them to head to the practice room first. Here, this sandwich should hold you till lunch.”

Jihoon felt awkward and guilty, not because he is alone with Seungcheol, but because he is supposed to take care of them, like how a manager should, but instead he's the one being taken care of. Maybe he is just not cut out for this job.

“Thank you” is all he could say.

 

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When they both entered the practice room, Seungcheol went straight to join the other members, while Jihoon went to greet the other manager of Seventeen.

“Hello. My name is Lee Jihoon.”

“Hello! I’m Kim Seokjin, but you can call me Jin.”

The other was strikingly handsome, dark brown hair swept across his forehead, and shoulders so broad making him look all the more attractive. Why are Korean men so handsome?

“I heard that you’re from Maxiolem,” Jihoon eyes shot opened at the last word, mouth gaped.

“It’s funny cause I’m from there too! Though my family moved to Earth when I was twelve.” the older chuckled.

Jihoon was still in shock to register anything that was just said.

“Don’t worry, they don’t know about this,” the older whispered while gesturing to the members of Seventeen. “Only you and the Vice-president.” He smiled. Jihoon regained his composure after hearing those words.

 

“Anyway, let’s move on!” the older laughed a little, “I need to brief you on your role as a manager.”

“Basically, just protect them from fans, especially those sasaeng fans, and get them to their scheduled work place on time. Simple! Oh! Also, their well-being is a priority! Eat well, drink well, sleep well!”

Jihoon nodded his head in agreement, it is simple, I guess…

“It’s a great thing that you are staying with them, because there was once a fan broke into the dorm to steal their underwears and even tried to get in their beds! Man that was shocking!”

Woah, kids these days are scary.

“Here’s this month’s schedule. There’s nothing much though, since they’ve just finished promotions for their previous comeback. It’s just mainly practices and a music festival at the end of the month.”

Jihoon took the paper from Jin and read through it before folding it into his pocket.

 

 

A couple of hours passed, and Jihoon found out that Jin was also born in Loxsyn, his home country, and that the older is from a family of magicians which explains how he was able to move here. Loxsyn is one of the leading kingdoms in Maxiolem, known for their military strength and wealth, many kingdoms dare not go against. Of all the beautiful towns in Loxsyn, Aematine is where Jihoon resides in, while Jin was from a port town called Bayrilt.

The seven were still practicing with occasional breaks in between, it was already 2pm so the two managers decided to grab them lunch before anyone passes out. The two headed down to the nearest Chinese restaurant and bought nine bowls of noodles for takeaway. On their way back to the company building, a familiar blond-haired male was spotted leaning against a dashing red sports car in front of said building.

 

“Jihoon!” the man waved excitedly at the sight of the pink-haired male.

“Soonyoung…” the younger said with a somewhat surprised but relieved expression on his face. “Jin hyung, sorry, I’ll be up soon. Can you carry all these up?”

“Yeah sure! Take your time,” he smiled and greeted Soonyoung with a nod before going in.

“Soonyoung, you know him?” raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but not really. I only saw him a few times when I visited Yeon Soo hyung, and when I found out that he’ll be working with you.”

“Ahh… anyway what are you doing here?”

“To check up on you of course! Also, I’ve missed you!” the blond grinned and embraced the smaller, “so how’s adapting to life on Earth? Peaceful right?”

“It’s pretty alright I guess,” he said while wriggling out of the embrace. Honestly he missed the other too, as he is the only familiar in all these foreign.

“Have you made any new friends?”

“No.” Jihoon winced at that word, hoping that this talk will end soon.

“Seventeen members?”

“No.”

“The manager??”

“No! Look Soonyoung, you and Chan are all the friends I need! I don’t need anymore.” Jihoon shouted but regretting it instantly. He didn’t mean to yell at him but he’s still sensitive on the topic.

Soonyoung let out a heavy sigh, not pushing the boy any further, “Okay okay. You’re having lunch now right? Go on and eat before it gets cold. I’m staying around here, so drop me a text if you want to come over.”

“Sorry…”

“Nah… I’m sorry too. See you around ‘kay?”

Jihoon simply nodded his head and watched Soonyoung drive off before going into the building.

 

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Jihoon’s head was filled with thoughts and memories throughout the whole day. His life spent in captive and darkness, filled with deaths and torture. It’s a miracle that he’s even alive. Days he spent killing countless of people he’s been made to. His heart was dead, ice cold, without feelings or mercy, as trained. He escaped the torturous hell, but continued killing as a job, as a freelance assassin, it’s the only thing he knows.

It was until he met Soonyoung. Man was he loud and annoying, always rambling on about anything and everything, but somehow the boy found it comforting, a distraction from all the darkness inside. When he was older, he accepted a job offer as an underground assassin squad leader under the King’s direct command, his teammates accepted him, his awkwardness, and even tried to pry his icy heart open with cheesy lines, which proved successful as he laughed for the first time in forever. He also thought about how this kid, Chan, just came up to him fearlessly with all smiles every day, claiming that he is a fanboy of Jihoon. Heck, he even had friends in the kingdom’s army, in the market, and even within the castle.

It’s all so laughable, how his life became so colourful in a couple of years despite his childhood. Oh how much had he learned to open up to the people around him, until they started dying. War broke out with Pumacros, a neighbouring kingdom, south of Loxsyn. Citizens were caught up, soldiers were falling, it was chaos. Jihoon thought that he was accustomed to all these, but he was so wrong, especially not when they are people he knew; his friends.

His squad was sent to infiltrate the opponent’s castle and steal a certain document that could end the war with Loxsyn’s victory. A four-men cell, Suga, Jungkook, Jimin and himself entered, with only Jihoon returning, document in hand, eyes dead with no emotions once again.

The war ended with Loxyn’s victory, and Pumacros a vassel nation of Loxsyn. However, the walls in his heart were up again, higher than before, refusing to let new people in. I mean like less friends, less dying and less heartbreak right? Ha. It was until a year later when Soonyoung decided to drag Jihoon to Earth, to where he is now.

Even with his mind all messed up, he still kept his poker face, not a hint of emotion in front of Seventeen and Jin. “Do not let your emotions show Jihoon. It’s a weakness and people will take advantage of that.”

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

The night creeps in by subtle degrees while Seventeen continued dancing. Their moves were smooth, beautiful, and synchronized. It was near perfection. It was soon midnight and they have perfected the dance. Their dance instructor dismisses them with praises and a day off for their hard work. All signs of tiredness were washed away from their faces and excitement took over. It’s been a while since they had a day off. Elated kids ran back to their dorms, preparing to make full use of their 24 hours.

 

“Jeonghan-ah, let’s catch a midnight movie!” Joshua nudged the other’s arm.

“Now?”

“Yeah! If we hurry, we can make it for the 1.15am show.”

“Okayy! It’s been so long since we’ve went on a date.” The long-haired spoke softly and hooked arms with the other.

Both of them giggled and hurriedly changed into clean, non-sweaty clothes and headed to the cinema immediately.

Watching the couple leave, Hansol and Seungkwan wanted to go out too.

“Seungcheol hyung! We’re going to play at the Han River for a bit! Any of you want to come with?” Hansol shouted across the living room. Seungkwan almost shot him a death glare for inviting the others, but their relationship is not open yet, so he controlled himself.

“It’s okay, you guys go ahead and have fun. I’m going to rest. Don’t stay out for long though!” Seungcheol sure did notice the deathly aura seeping out of Seungkwan.

“Minghao and I are sleeping soon too. Have fun!” Jun shouted from his room. Seungkwan sure is glad that he has hyungs who can read the atmosphere.

 

Seungcheol was the last to shower, allowing the others to go first, being the gentleman he is. When he returned to his room, Jihoon was already lying on the bed, wearing an oversized tee with basketball shorts, which for some reason looks so darn cute on him. The older sat on the bed, cross-legged, facing the younger, causing him to look back at the older with a questioning look.

“Are you ok?” the older started.

“Huh? Why?”

“You seemed kind of down and out of it the whole day since lunch,” the older was looking straight into the younger’s eyes, worry filled in his own.

There was silence. Jihoon didn’t know what to say. Did he slip up? Let his weakness show?

“The other members didn’t seem to notice though, and your facial expressions were normal throughout, but I just had a feeling that something’s not right,” the older continued, “if there’s nothing wrong then it’s fine,”

 

Jihoon slowly sat up facing the older, gaze never tearing away.

What is this guy? How? Even though we just met.

Indeed, how.

How did he see through his perfectly masked emotions?

How did he pass through his walls like they’re not there?

How was he able to sway his heart so easily?

Why does he feel like spilling out all his sorrows to this man whom he barely knew?

 

“But if there is something, you can always talk to me, I’m all ears.”

If it’s him, it’s fine right?

Suddenly all those years of bottled up frustrations and sadness came gushing out, a few tears escaped the younger’s eyes without him realizing it. The younger blinked, shocked at his tears, started wiping them away frantically, but to no avail. Tears just kept streaming down his face, his mind wasn’t keeping up with his body, his emotions.

Seungcheol was shocked to see Jihoon suddenly crying, unsure of what to do, he decided to pull the smaller to his chest and hand running through his hair, hushing him to calm down. The hug only made Jihoon involuntarily let out a whimper, followed by louder cries that were muffled by his chest.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m here, I’m here.” But the boy couldn’t stop crying.

Seungcheol holds the boy tigher, burying his nose into Jihoon’s neck, whispering words of comfort, rubbing little circles into his back. That night, Jihoon fell asleep in Seungcheol’s embrace. It was the first time he cried in front of someone, in the embrace of someone.

 

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Author's Note

Hello guys! First of all thank you guys for subscribing! :'D I'm so happy and honoured as I do read some of your works and I love them sooo so much!

Secondly, this chapter came fast because I was already halfway through it when I posted the first chapter. Subsequent chapters will be slower due to work and school :( sorry!

Lastly! The storyline! HAHA sorry it's starting to get kind of dark. The next chapter will be the full detailed flashback of Jihoon's past so please anticipate it! I'm trying to add more jicheol moments in so please pardon me if there are like awkward fluffs in the middle of all the darkness. heheh

Also, my friend told me that my naming sense is weird. HAHA WELP. The reason, guys, is that I'm a nerd. LOL. Science nerd. They are all modified drug names that I learnt.

For example: Maxiolem - Meloxicam (analgesia); Loxsyn - Synulox (antibiotic)

HAHAHA anyway thankyou for reading, subscribing and commenting! I really appreciate it! Critical constructive comments are always welcome! :D