"Hyung, why did you choose me?"

The laundromat room was as empty as it could be at this late hour, two washing machines churning along the way in the brightly lit room. The room was warm considering the end of winter leading into spring, the only source of ventilation, an opened square window hanging high in the corner. Hyunbin sat on top of the counters, long legs tucked towards his chest as his lanky arms wrapped around them in place; his voice was soft, hooded eyes staring straight ahead. The giant, towering figure of 187cm cramped itself into a ball, and Minhyun could see the boy doing that again, index finger and thumb picking at the skin around his nails. The elder let out a long drag of air, crossing his legs as he rest the back of his head against the white walls. 

"...well..." 

He dragged out his answer, voice wavering in the air, fading behind the churning of the old-styled washing machines. The YG K+ trainee shot a blank look at Minhyun, a crestfallen look that made Minhyun reach out his hand in mild apology at the small teaser, rubbing his back gently. He kept his smile up, encouraging as always - or as much as he hoped would be - and shook his head when Hyunbin looked away again. 

It's a question he had asked himself several times over the last two days. Two days, and three more to go; Minhyun haven't felt such stress weighing down on him in the span of 48 hours since the first evaluations, and he thought he would have suffocated under the expectations of everyone around him and on the net. Day one had been half-eventful, with them quickly deciding the roles, and then rehearsals started. Hyunbin had been a little of an inexperienced dancer ( Seongwoo would disagree, telling him not to wrap his words in beautiful colors to downplay the urgency of the team situation. Minhyun would then laugh, patting his same-aged friend without further comments to diffuse potential tensions from unraveling itself. ), and while he acknowledged that, the Pledis trainee wanted to believe in his own judgement. 

He put together a team he thought would work best; he brought on a main vocals, a center, a balance, a leader...and then, there's Hyunbin. The brunet couldn't remember the exact role he picked Hyunbin for, but when reality didn't quite matched up to his envisioned expectations, tension had arise. It's partly why he wanted Jonghyun on the team, because he needed a leader for the first group mission. Someone who can pull together his ideal team by action; it's not an easy task to befall upon his group leader, but Minhyun could only trust Jonghyun and no one else. It's their first group mission and it's where first impressions get tested, and talents start to speak for itself, and group chemistry, examined. Minhyun had expected some kind of run-ins regardless, but he made an effort to pool together the best people that he could work with - that could work with one another. 

It didn't stop the tense atmosphere in the training room after Hyunbin's avoidance nature to something he could not do well, to the slow-pace of Jaehwan's learning against ticking time, to Daniel's slowly chewed on tolerance in light of Jonghyun's many chances. Even Seongwoo, as much as he liked to mixed his jabs and smart remarks within bright smiles, seemed to have taken a toll with trying to match up everyone's pace. 

To Minhyun, it's equally a struggle to keep up with his own performance while hoping for the team - the team he hand-picked himself - to not fall apart. 

( He guessed in that aspect, he and Hyunbin were quite the same. They're both wanderers, picking up the remaining parts of the team, one way or another. )

Group work was never easy. For a debuted idol like him who had been doing group work for the last five years, living in the same dorms and sharing the same dreams, could still be met with hiccups along the way when it came to forming proposals and putting together an album. Their last two album was created with sweat, tears and endless bounds of time, amid the differences in music preferences and lyrical judgments. They knew each other for over six years, and yet their discussions could span days, their songs revised tens and even possibly, hundreds of times.

A temporary group like this, mashing people from different backgrounds, different strengths and weaknesses, and different personalities to create a perfect stage, was definitely ten times more difficult. They barely had the time to fully get to know one another, of each other's preferences to reach a common understanding, and they had to practice their own lines and then come together to make a cohesive stage. It's hard, Minhyun realized one day as he sat on the wooden lacquered dance floor, that perfection was out of reach. That his only hope was that neither of them would mess up on the actual stage, that at least, they could give the illusion of doing well. But this was a thought better left unsaid; and he very much rather spend his limited time encouraging his team mates that they could do better, they could do it, that they were doing great. To put aside his own ambitions for perfection for a goal more attainable, more satisfactory.

Jonghyun did an extremely good job however, like how he expected. Always checking up on s condition, always making sure the team was up to task and ready for the day's schedule, always busy helping anyone in need. And he was patient, very much so with the slower learners in their group. Too much, perhaps. He had always been someone to give second chances, third, fourth, and more. Jonghyun's faith in this temporary group was akin to his own faith in him, and Minhyun found that both aspiring and yet, unbelievable. He could sense Daniel's mild displeasure at the end of day one because of that, because Hyunbin needed a whip, not a pat on his knee, and ticking time was another added cause of friction.

Seongwoo shared the same thoughts, even if he tried to brighten the group spirit with his silly antics and exaggerated expressions, his occasional body gag movements and quick-witted comments. But the patience worn down on his pursed lips were a clear sign of the building unease. Everyone wanted to do well, that much Minhyun understood, so he wouldn't blame him for feeling anxious, albeit just a bit. The learning pace and disparity was a cause of concern, and the boys knew that themselves.

Jaehwan coped with his weakness by putting in twice the effort. The embarrassment of being called out during their first dance session with the mentor had only spurred the main vocals to work even harder, sacrificing dinner time and break time for another round of practice. In a sense it was great, Minhyun thought, because he offered Seongwoo and Daniel a needed distraction. A willing participant ready to learn and have his dance moves evaluated by his teammates, while Jonghyun could focus on Hyunbin. 

Hyunbin.

Eyes landed on the giant beside him once more, the trainee having remained in his position and not moving one bit since earlier on. The true disappointment within the team didn't come from the pace of learning; it came from the avoidance of his sensitive personality. Hyunbin fared worst after being chided by their dance instructor, and Minhyun could see it in his wavering orbs - embarrassment, shame, guilt. Deep down, Minhyun believed that the team's youngest wanted to do well, but when his mind doesn't align to his actions, it's tough. It's tough for the boy, and it's equally tough for the team. But he just can't bring himself to berate the boy any more than he did with himself.

Hands reaching out to hold onto Hyunbin's intertwined fingers, Minhyun gave a tight squeeze so that he would stop picking at the peeling skin around his otherwise pretty fingers. He noticed the bad habit the first day into their new group dorming; he's always distracted with his hands, raising them to the light to take a look - it didn't take a genius to figure out what Hyunbin was busy with. Signs of anxiety ate into their group maknae subconsciously with every wrong turn taken, every mistake highlighted at practice and every soft groan of fellow members when they have to start from the beginning again, and manifested in action of picking at the skin of his fingers. Minhyun's orbs ran over the pink, raw skin, lifting Hyunbin's fingers with a small, concerned frown, before lowering their hands again.

He didn't let go. There was a strong whirr from one of the washing machines, before the clothes started spinning again in the opposite direction. The singer stared at the clothes, and then spoke up.

"I was scouted off the streets." 

The elder of the duo stared ahead as Hyunbin turned his gaze. Smile graced his lips for a split moment at the recount, Minhyun couldn't stop the soft chuckle from slipping past his lips at the memory.

"I was fourteen, fifteen...? In my second year of high school. I still remember that day - I went to a chicken skewers store with my friends for the first time in two years. I've never been there before, never had interest in chicken skewers, but I went that once. And that's all it took to be noticed by the casting director. I took his name card, talked with my family, prepared an audition song and came up to Seoul. Somehow, I passed the auditions, and somehow...I'm here."

The brunet removed his hand from Hyunbin's own, fingers threading within themselves as he dropped them on his lap. Hyunbin adopted a new position, crossing his legs; their knees bumped together in the process, but neither pulled away. The younger's long eyes stared right at him, waiting, listening. It's odd, like their roles have been reversed, because Minhyun was always the listener in the team, and Hyunbin tend to fill the quiet air with his endless stories and lame parodies, the same way he did every meal break with Seongwoo following suit and giving him random tips. But now, it's his turn to speak, to share his little story.

"It was really hard at first. I know nothing about dancing, or singing, besides that at the noraebang. I travel to Seoul every weekend, and every holidays. I missed a lot of memories I could have made with my friends, but I don't regret it. I don't regret learning the stage and falling in love with performing. Before I knew it, I wanted to become a singer. For a long while after being a trainee, I asked him the same question too. Director-nim, why did you scout me? What makes you think I can do it?"

The elder took a pause to catch his breath, hopping off the counter to pull the clothes out of the washing machine into the dryer, both his and Hyunbin's without a word. Eyes blinked slowly as memories coming to mind. 'Because you stood out to me,' the casting director had said with a proud father's smile before patting him on the shoulder. He never quite understood what he meant then, not even when he made his debut a few months later...until now. Hyunbin stood out to him when he was making his decision on the site of filming. Maybe it was the model's towering height, or nice visuals to match, but something stood out to him. Something about the boy with lanky limbs and awkward movements, something memorable. Minhyun had wondered if Hyunbin would stand out on stage the same way he stood out to him? All that, he mentioned briefly in the interview. His gaze turned towards the taller male beside him when he returned to the previous sitting spot. The model faced him all the same, but with confusion written on his knitted brows and small, pouty frown. The brunet didn't say the reason in the end, no. Not to Hyunbin directly, his silly-sounding reason.  

Maybe with his luck, his interviews would all be snipped away with the click of a button, the same way his screen time was in the last five years as a veteran idol. The brunet was as much of an amateur as the other trainees on the show, and he could feel it in the way his mental strings were pull taut to be more conscious, more humble, more considerate. Some trainees had already built a character for themselves, an image to last in the audience's mind, but him...he's just Hwang Minhyun. He's just a boy who wanted to sing, wanted a stage. That however, was a long story for another day. Instead, Minhyun continued.

"...I think I sort of understand him now. I'm not a casting director, but... You'd do well, Hyunbin-ah. I have confidence in you. Maybe even better than me when I started. Because you already love the stage, that's why you're here, right? You had passion for rapping in your audition...that, was probably your motivation in coming here, no?  Even if there's no rap parts for this song, a stage is a stage. Jonghyunnie's words might have been harsh this afternoon, but he believes in you. That's why he's willing to teach you from scratch and go through everything, step by step. Seongwoo, Daniel, even Jaehwan...they're worried because this is our first real test. But they appreciate your efforts this evening, you know that?"

Reaching out to pat their group youngest on the knee, his grin widened as Hyunbin cracked a small, albeit faltering smile. Minhyun believed in compliments and encouragement, especially to someone who was beaten down on their knees by criticism and bogged down with their own guilty conscious. Hyunbin knew what he did - avoidance - was not the right move, and he's trying to pick up pace. And Minhyun wanted to spur him on, the way he would as a team mate, hyung and friend. 

"Thank you, hyung. It's just, I'm kind of...sorry to everyone. Because of me..."
"Mm. We know. That's why you have to work harder, Hyunbin-ah."

A hand raised to lightly ruffle the younger's hair before flattening the ends again, Minhyun nodded firmly. Jonghyun had went off in the afternoon when Hyunbin wandered away, and it was probably the worst sub-zero scenario for the team since the beginning. With only few days to spare, the long training hours was wearing all of them thin, physically and mentally. The biggest problem for them all was the lack of sleep - Daniel was falling ill, Hyunbin couldn't focus, and even he himself knew how bad the consequence was with an unclear mind and worn body. But not a single one of them had blamed Hyunbin for slowing down their pace. 

           "Why did you guys pick Hyunbin? It doesn't seem like he could do it?"

He's heard the phrase from Jonghyun and it bothered him - them - about it. The comment might have been out of concern (as Minhyun gave with a benefit of doubt), it was something better left unsaid. While their leader held it well, with his trademark awkward laughter and a brief comment of 'we can do it, there's still time', Minhyun knew that there was frustration underlying in his tone. He doesn't consider himself a saint and he had his frustrations with the team's progress. It's a question he asked himself before and sometimes he felt was an elephant in the room during shared practices and Hyunbin messed up the step once again.  Yet he was irked by the statement, because Hyunbin was a member of his own team. And the raven's progress should be of no one else's concern besides theirs, to put it bluntly. 

Judging from the younger's apologetic expression, Minhyun wouldn't be surprised if the YG K+ trainee heard the same thing as he wandered the corridors or curled up outside the training halls during break time. The vocalist might not be of most help in the dance department, but he hoped against all hope that Hyunbin proved them wrong, for his own sake. 

At the end of the day, he wanted to put faith in his team member, because even if Hyunbin wasn't the most talented dancer...he still believed that he was a passionate performer based on first impressions. Based on the many other impressions through shared practices for class C-D-F and now, in Sorry Sorry. Hyunbin was an unpolished gem, he had thought - and he held onto that even now. There was a loud beep, the dryers whirring to a stop and Minhyun dropped his hand after giving Hyunbin a squeeze on his shoulder. 

"And you did well today. Really. Don't think too much about it, got it? Now, let's head back before Jonghyunnie file a missing persons report."

There was an amused glint in his eyes at the joke, both knowing how their team leader can be a little bit of a worry wart (Dongho would disagree, because Minhyun was the nagger of the team). Minhyun took comfort in the straightened back as Hyunbin hopped off the counter, like a child who felt better after received a compliment. And he was, in his eyes, a giant child who needed a little push and encouragement in his baby steps. It reminded him of his first months in Pledis, where he would slow down the class because of his numerous mistakes. What was an embarrassing incident now became part of a fond memory to recall upon - he hoped that Hyunbin too would some day look back upon all these in the same way too.

The route back to their room was quiet as most rooms had started to turn their lights off, but they opened the door of their room to Jaehwan's guitar and trot-ish singing, to Jonghyun making himself comfortable on Hyunbin's bed for VIP view of their main vocals. The showers ran as a pink-haired person was no where to be scene, and Minhyun swiftly side-stepped to drop his basket of clean laundry as a flying packet of gummy bears went straight for Hyunbin's chin.

"Hyunbin-ah! Catch! Snooped it off Daniel's bed just now, eat it before he comes out of the showers!"
"What?! I can hear you from here!!"
"Too late, we ate it all!!"

Seongwoo's warning was a tad too late as Hyunbin scrunched his face before sweeping the fallen candy packet off the ground, Minhyun's laughter ringing softly in the background before he assumed a squatting position on the floor, packing his clothes away after folding them neatly. Daniel's voice broke out through the door of their shared bathroom, and Jaehwan couldn't help but let slip an oddly high-pitched chuckle, easily infectious and soon, two more were joining him. Minhyun paused briefly in his actions to shake his head, before his eyes locked onto the model's own.

Part of the reason why Hyunbin hid away in the laundromat was the worry of facing his teammates after thinking he disappointed them, Minhyun realized. It's the insecurities that ebbed at his confidence and made him seek a hide out, even if it's just for another while, to prolong the inevitable, possible confrontation. But there was none. No pointed fingers, no rising aggressiveness in their comments, and the previous hints of awkwardness past Jonghyun's chiding session had faded away, like it never happened. Because every one of them had chosen to overlook the hiccups in their practice for the bigger picture. And it's not difficult given their easy-going nature ( another reason why he picked s, because he held high hopes that their personalities could work together ).

Minhyun shot him a smile and a wide one bloomed on Hyunbin's features, long eyes narrowing into slightly upturned crescents as he dumped his clean laundry in front of his locker, unwrapping the strawberry gummy in his hands in a squatting position. 

The bathroom door slammed open as the air stilled, and Daniel walked out his usually fluffy pink hair wet and sticking at all the odd angles; the boy's eyes roamed from Hyunbin and Minhyun and eventually landed on Seongwoo, who was busy stuffing himself with potato chips that he grabbed from Daniel's locker.  Jaws dropping from the pink-haired male, he pointed with mock horror on his face.

"...hey! That's mine!"
"Technically, it's Jisung hyung's, no?"
"He gave it to me! And it's the last pack too."
"Well- oh, it is?"

Daniel paused to look at Hyunbin again just as Seongwoo gave a laugh and stuffed his mouth with another chip. Moving forward after clicking his tongue once in disapproval, Minhyun didn't miss the moment where Daniel lightly ruffle Hyunbin's hair nonchalantly, but no doubt with much affection. Minhyun found himself letting out a long drag of air he unconsciously held, a chuckle slipping at his silly self for worrying too much as Seongwoo's dramatic yell of 'nooo' echoed in the air, Jonghyun hurrying to hush him in case they wake other people up. Jaehwan stiffed his chortling laugh, before mumbling a series of repeated 'what what what' as the two grown trainees struggled at the packet of chips, hugging his guitar and rolling further into his bed.

It's surprising to see this scene unfolding in the span of two days, but it reminded the elder that hours of practice had made them closer through shared hardships. That beyond their frustrations and mild clashes in work behavior, strengths and weaknesses, they found a common ground to co-exist in harmony, and no words needed to be said about that. No words except...

"...watch out, don't throw the bag or the chips will-!"

The brunet covered his face as Hyunbin, who somehow had the back of chips in his hand, tossed it in a arc over Daniel's head. The opened back of chips rolled, and before Jonghyun could muttered an 'uh-oh' in his 2D voice, a couple of chips fell from the bag onto the ground, flavor powder and shattered chips landing on the otherwise spotless floor that he has cleaned just two hours before. Minhyun let out a deep sigh, pinching his nose; Daniel immediately jumped into Jaehwan's bed, hugging his same-aged friend alongside a Seongwoo struggling to keep in a laugh; on the other, Hyunbin managed to hide himself with some success behind their petite-framed leader, who was now conveniently giving his best innocent, smile.

Breathe in, breathe out. It's going to be three long days over the remaining week.

But Minhyun already knew right then, that it was going to be one of the most memorable week, ever.

---

a/n: the initial idea sounded better in my head...; v ; but i'm not truly satisfied with this piece actually, even though i've been working at it for a few days now. there's a part two that i was hoping to do but that would be posted separately, as the two can be read as a standalone, and hopefully that one turns out better. please leave me any comments you have! ♡ sng