Bus Trip

“Did you see Cube’s notice on the bulletin up front, Sungjae-ah?” Changsub asked with a mouthful of food. They were sitting in one of Cube’s lounge areas specifically meant for trainee’s lunch breaks.

A month had passed since Sungjae had begun his special training with Changsub. In this small amount of time Sungjae discovered that Changsub was indeed a strict teacher but he did not hold it against him since it only helped to improve Sungjae’s lacking dance skills. Since his initial confession, it had been hard at first for Changsub to open up to him the way Sungjae wanted but eventually their relationship began to blossom to a true friendship when Changsub slowly started revealing his likes and dislikes and begun inviting him to hang out with the others without Sungjae having to ask himself. The respect and admiration he had for Changsub only grew with the new knowledge he learned about him everyday.

“No, I haven’t. What does it say?” Sungjae responded. Changsub had his food placed on one side of his mouth making his cheek noticeably plumper than usual. Sungjae watched as Changsub swallowed the remaining food in his mouth before answering his question.

“There’s going to be a Cube trip this weekend which states its sole purpose of creating a bond with all the trainees gathered. We’ll be spending the night there for two days and they’ll have activities that everybody can participate in,” Changsub explained.

“Ah, really! That sounds exciting. How far is the place that we’ll be staying?” Sungjae asked.

“That’s the bad part….it looks like it will be pretty far. We have to get up reaaaally early to go by bus to get there.” Changsub replied back, his voice hesitant about this piece of the information and Sungjae knew why. It interfered with his sleeping schedule and he now knew that a sleepy Changsub was a grumpy Changsub. He had had the misfortune of running into the sleepy slash grumpy Changsub in his first week of training with him.

“Ah, I see. Well, you could always sleep on the bus,” Sungjae said.

“Yeah, I guess.” Changsub didn’t seem too pleased with that idea, a smile trying to crack on his face but failing in the end.

“It’s only two days. You’ll be fine, Hyung. I believe in you.” Sungjae said, trying to lift Changsub’s spirits up.

“You’re right.” Changsub said, trying to convince himself by saying it himself.

The week passed by in a blink of an eye and before he knew it, it was already the day of Cube’s trip. Sungjae was eager for what the trip would bring but also a little anxious. He knew that Changsub wasn’t as excited as he was about this trip but he was convinced that he could change his mindset about it. He was outside with all the other trainees, waiting alongside the curb for the bus to arrive. Changsub was nowhere in sight though, which made Sungjae worried. While looking for Changsub, he spotted Eunkwang further in the back and ran up to him.

“Hyung, have you seen Changsub hyung?”

Eunkwang eyes opened wide and turned his head around looking behind him and then back to Sungjae, shaking his head.

“No, I haven’t...I hope he didn’t oversleep….he probably did…” Sungjae heard Eunkwang muttering to himself. Sungjae had the same feeling as Eunkwang.

“Maybe one of us should run up to check before the bus arrives,” Sungjae suggested.

“Good idea!” Eunkwang said.

“I’ll go,” Hyunsik said, turning around on his tracks to head back to the dorm. Sungjae hadn’t even noticed that Hyunsik was standing behind him the whole time.

Five minutes passed and then ten minutes but still no sight of either Hyunsik or Changsub. Just when Sungjae was about to head up himself he saw the doors open. Hyunsik was dragging a Changsub that did not appear to be fully up yet. His eyes were half slit and his feet were dragging on the ground. Sungjae sighed. He knew it. A few minutes later they arrived along with the bus. Hyunsik held up a sleepy Changsub on his right side. Sungjae made his way to his left side, grabbing Changsub’s arm to help Hyunsik tow him onto the bus. All the trainees had already lined up and were entering the bus.

“Changsub, you up?” Sungjae whispered to him but all he heard in return were grunts.

“Looks like he’s going to continue his sleep on the bus, huh?” Hyunsik said, smiling his cheery smile, his eyes hidden behind his eyelids.

“I feel sorry for his seatmate,” Eunkwang said with an uneasy smile.

Sungjae looked at his hyung with sympathy in his eyes. He knew his hyung would have a hard time waking up for this. He should have thought to make sure he was up on time. They were the last to enter and take their seats. Most of the double seats had been taken so they were forced to sit with trainees they did not know yet. Sungjae, on the other hand, got lucky in that no one wanted to sit next to a person who looked like they were being dragged from the dead, so a female trainee immediately volunteered their seat to Sungjae and Changsub. He sat Changsub down carefully and then sat down beside him. He leaned Changsub’s head against the window and relaxed back in his seat trying to get comfortable. The door closed and they were on their way.

According to the schedule that was released by Cube the bus trip would take at least 2 hours and at most three, depending on traffic. Sungjae yawned. He was still tired and exhausted from last night. Changsub and himself had had their dance training the night before. Now that he thought about it, it was probably why Changsub was sitting comatose beside him. Knowing his hyung he probably stayed up later after their training to work on his own training. He sighed.

An hour passed and it looked like they were making good time. Sungjae was beginning to become drowsy with no one to talk with to keep him up and nothing to do to keep him distracted so he decided to close his eyes and maybe catch a small nap before arriving. As he was just beginning to doze off he suddenly felt something hit him on his shoulder and then stayed there. Opening his eyes, he looked to his shoulder to see his hyung laying against him, eyes closed and fluttering with whatever he was dreaming. Sungjae heart began to do little heart flips in his chest and a large smile crept up to his face. He lifted his hand up to pat his hyung’s head, quietly soothing him to sleep more. As he was doing so though he spotted a trainee watching him. At that moment, he didn’t know why but he snatched his hand back from Changsub’s head. Looking up and around trying to act casual, he looked back at the trainee and smiled his most friendly smile. All this time his mind was on overdrive. He should be happy. His hyung was leaning on him and he was definitely the most happy person on Earth right now but the moment he spotted someone watching him he felt embarrassed which then led to him being confused. Why should he be embarrassed about caring for his hyung? What did it matter if someone saw? He spent the remainder of the bus trip contemplating these questions but coming up with no answers in the end.

Today was the yearly Cube bonding trip which unfortunately was mandatory for all trainees. He had tried to get out of it by any means necessary but alas here he was sitting inside a bus at 5 in the morning waiting for the remainder of the trainees to come onboard. It wasn’t like he was against the idea of this trip. He just didn’t see the reason why he had to attend. Afterall, he wasn’t here to become an idol. He had made it abundantly clear many times before, his dream was to become a producer but somehow he had been scammed into receiving the same training as all the other trainees. He concluded that he needed to separate himself from the rest of the trainees in the eyes of the evaluators before they tried to place him into a group. He wasn’t going to be scammed again. He scoffed at that idea.

He sat comfortably in his seat, watching as the last four trainees came onboard. One of them looked to have been dragged from his slumber against his will, eyes half closed and mouth slightly hanging open. He didn’t blame the guy. If he had it his way he would be sleeping in a cozy bed too, dreaming of creating hits after hits and making all the money that came with it.

Ilhoon chuckled to himself at the sight of the two trainees struggling to drag him onto the bus. The other trainee, who came on first before them, surveyed the seating arrangement, his eyes darting from side to side. Ilhoon too turned in his seat to see what he saw. All the double seats had either been taken or had a single trainee seated. By the looks of it, they would have to separate individually which did not bode well for the trainee sleeping soundly in the other two’s grasps. Just then, a female trainee sitting across from him stood up and volunteered her seat for two of them, most likely to avoid being seated with the passed out trainee.

The taller one with the help of the other sat the sleeping trainee next to the window seat making sure his head was placed against it. The taller one then sat beside him, laying back in his seat trying to get comfortable. The other two trainees, looked around for a seat, with one deciding to take a seat next to him. Ilhoon didn’t have a problem with it but he made sure he had the aisle seat. He did not want the window seat. The last trainee sat beside the trainee sitting behind him. With everyone seated, the door closed and the bus driver started the long drive to their destination.

For the first hour, Ilhoon read a book silently to himself. His seat companion had introduced himself as Hyunsik. He seem like a reserved quiet type of person which Ilhoon actually preferred. At least he wouldn’t be bothered while he read his book. Midway through his reading he heard a thump and so lifted his head to find the source of the noise. Turning his head he found that the sleeping trainee had finally managed to bother his companion by falling onto his shoulder. Ilhoon laughed to himself, ready to enjoy the scenery that would take place beside him, but then he saw a huge smile appear on the taller’s face and his hand lifting to pat his head in the most affectionate way. He couldn’t stop watching after that until the taller turned his head in his direction. The taller then slapped his hand back to his side seemingly out of embarrassment. He watched as the taller then turn back to him and smiled a friendly smile but he couldn’t hide the slight blush starting to form on his cheeks and the deep red showing in his ears.

Ilhoon returned the smile back and nodded his head at him. Either they are real brothers or someone has some hidden feelings for the other, Ilhoon thought to himself. He would have to find out the truth to this matter. If there is one thing Ilhoon likes, it solving a good mystery and he had just found one that pique his interest. He spent the rest of the time on the bus devising plans on how to expose the taller’s secret.

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Back again with another chapter. Hope you guys like it. Ilhoon has finally been introduced. Hope I did a good job in portraying him haha. Hopefully I plan on introducing Minhyuk in the next chapter. :) Enjoy.