It doesn’t take two weeks for him to feel like cursing at Dok2. It only takes one.

He’s dying again (he’s always dying) but today it seems like he’s having an off day. He’s finally practicing with the others and he keeps screwing up the same move every time. He knows they’re all being patient with him but even he’s getting angry with himself. They have an evaluation with YG in three days—he can’t be ing up this much right now.

He can’t look Hanbin in the face, he keeps looking everywhere else. Finally after screwing the move up for the seventh time in a row Hanbin stops the music. Everything’s quiet then, and Bobby feels nerves unsettle his stomach.

“Bobby hyung,” Hanbin starts, and his voice is so calm and composed but Bobby can feel the irritation seeping off of him, “you know we have that evaluation in three days, right? You should have the moves down by now even if they don’t look perfect.”

Bobby isn’t sure what he’s supposed to say. Hanbin’s right, of course. He should have the moves down—he thought he did yesterday. But his brain’s frying today and he can’t get anything right.

“We need to practice this as a group, but we can’t do that because you keep screwing your moves up.” Hanbin’s sitting on the floor, where he always is when he monitors them. Bobby feels terrible, and for the first time he gets the full effect of Hanbin’s wrath.

“What do we do about you?” Hanbin asks, and Bobby’s not sure if he expects an answer or if it’s just a rhetorical question. “You’ve been doing pretty good until today. But now you look worse than you did two days ago.”

Bobby finally spares him a glance, and he wishes he hadn’t. Hanbin’s glaring at him, looking completely unimpressed, and Bobby worries that he’s regretting bringing him into the team. He isn’t really ready for this, is he? He’s not going to be able to make it work.

Bobby surprises himself by sinking down to the floor and kneeling, apologies tumbling from his lips. “I’m sorry, I know I’m holding everyone back, I apologize, I’m so sorry.” There’s a waver in his voice that isn’t normally there, and he thinks that he’s never felt more sorry towards anyone than he feels right now.

“Hanbin,” Jinhwan interrupts, “let’s not do this right now, okay?”

“Do what?” Hanbin replies, but it’s clear that he knows exactly what Jinhwan means.

Jinhwan doesn’t answer, he just stares at him, and seconds stretch out as they speak to each other through gaze alone. Bobby finally sits back up and feels terrible for everything, because he’s the source of all the tension right now.

“Let’s go outside for a break,” Jinhwan finally suggests, “it’ll be good for everyone to get some air.”

Hanbin doesn’t answer, just sits against the mirror stewing in aggravation. But he doesn’t tell them not to go, so Jinhwan tells everyone to get up and head outside. But when Bobby meets his gaze, Jinhwan shakes his head.

Ah. He’s just giving them space, then. Bobby’s both grateful and terrified of being alone with Hanbin right now. Things have been so good lately, are they finally about to splinter? He waits as everyone leaves the room, sitting where he is and not looking at him. When they’re finally alone Bobby doesn’t say anything, assuming that Hanbin will speak first. But he doesn’t, so they both sit there in silence, and Bobby’s sure his stomach’s going to punch its way out of his body.

Finally Hanbin stands up. “Come with me.”

Bobby follows without question, leaves the room behind him, wonders where they’re going. He’s surprised when Hanbin leads him into the bathroom, confused about what he’s doing. But as soon as Bobby’s inside Hanbin shuts the door behind him and locks it, and Bobby’s entire body is on pins and needles from the tension.

But a second later Hanbin pushes him against the wall, hands tight on his skin, and he covers Bobby’s mouth with his own, the kiss aggressive and needy and brought on by equal parts desire and excess negative energy that needs to be blown off. Bobby doesn’t hesitate before following along, his hands resting on Hanbin’s arms, standing back and letting Hanbin lead the moment. A few seconds later Hanbin finally pulls back, but his hands stay where they are, cupping Bobby’s cheeks.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” he says, catching Bobby off guard, “but you know that I have to, right? I have to make sure you’re ready, and you’re not ready, and if you’re not ready then no one else will be ready.”

Everything suddenly clicks into place and Bobby realizes why he’s so snappy. “I know,” he replies, “this is all on you, how I do is on your shoulders.”

“Not just you,” Hanbin says, “everyone. I have to make sure everyone is perfect, and with you continually screwing up, you’re making it really hard for me to do my job.”

“I’m sorry—” Bobby tries to say, but Hanbin cuts him off.

“You don’t have to apologize. Just do better.” Hanbin bites his lip and Bobby can see it in his eyes. He’s trying to stay composed, trying to stay calm. Bobby can’t blame him for nearly snapping, not with the pressure he’s under. The words are direct and if he weren’t so concerned for Hanbin they’d feel like a knife in his gut, cutting him open.

But they’re valid, and no matter what—he can’t take them personally. The criticism is valid. He has to do better.

“I promise I will,” he replies, and he doesn’t know how he’s going to hold himself to that promise but he doesn’t really have a choice. He has to do better. That’s all there is to it. “Should we get back to the room? Can we run through it one time before the others come back?” Bobby suggests, hoping that maybe that will help.

But Hanbin doesn’t move to the door, and instead he just wraps his arms around Bobby’s back and leans against him, embracing him tightly. Bobby’s surprised and isn’t sure if Hanbin is doing it because he feels guilty for snapping. But he tightens his own arms around Hanbin’s back and leans his chin on Hanbin’s head.

“We don’t have to run through it again,” Hanbin says, “you know the moves. Going over it again on your own won’t help you remember them, because they’re already in there. You’re just thinking too much. Stop thinking and just feel the music, and the moves will come to you automatically, you’ve done them so many times.”

Bobby doesn’t see how that’s possible—he has to think about the moves.

But it’s like Hanbin can read his mind. “When you rap, are you always thinking about your lyrics? Or do you just let them come to you with the beat?”

He rarely ever thinks about his lyrics when he’s rapping. He just knows them, and they come, but rapping is different than dancing. It’s a whole different language.

Hanbin reaches out and cups his hands against Bobby’s cheeks again, looking him right in the eyes. “I know you can do this. Dancing is still new to you, but you’ll get it. You’ll stop thinking so much when you dance, and you’ll learn how to feel it instead. Even if I have to beat it into you.”

“Please don’t,” Bobby says without thinking about it, “I’m already really sore.”

Hanbin’s eyes widen in surprise at his joke and Bobby could bite his own tongue off at the moment. They’re having a serious talk about his shortcomings and all he can do is joke?

But Hanbin’s mouth breaks into a grin a second later and he can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of him. That laugh feels like it breaks the tension and suddenly they’re both smiling at each other and Bobby wonders if maybe he’s just been so preoccupied with learning everything that his brain just got overloaded, and all he needed was a soft and meaningful moment with his favourite person.

Before he can think better of it Bobby presses soft fingers against Hanbin’s cheeks and holds him in place and kisses him, and a second into it Hanbin pulls him closer, kissing him back. When they finally part Bobby feels a million times lighter than he’d felt earlier. He’ll do better this time, because Hanbin believes he will. Hanbin’s opinion is the one that matters most to him right now.

“Let’s go back,” Hanbin says then, and presses a quick kiss to his lips before pulling away. Bobby follows him to the training room, surprised to see the others back already. He notices Jinhwan watching them and Bobby smiles at him in a reassuring way. Jinhwan smiles back.

They retake their positions and Hanbin queues up the music and this time—Bobby does it perfectly, and everyone smiles, even Hanbin.

Even though Bobby’s tired and sore, he’s still in the studio with Hanbin at two in the morning, working on music. It’s a different atmosphere when they’re here together, and unlike dance practice, Bobby doesn’t feel so out of his element. Even though Hanbin’s a better composer than he is, Bobby can still offer ideas and help Hanbin flesh out his own.

They’re writing lyrics for a song, and Bobby watches as Hanbin handwrites their ideas into his notebook. Bobby’s not sure which one of them has worse handwriting, and he can barely make out Hanbin’s scratches. Hanbin turns to the next page and Bobby hears a sudden intake of breath that sounds concerning, and he isn’t sure what to expect as he looks at him.

Hanbin’s got his eyes closed and Bobby wonders if there was a bug, but when he looks down at the desk he can see something written on the page that is definitely not in Hanbin’s handwriting. Curiously he looks closer and feels confused when he reads the message.

go to sleep u nerd!!!! work can wait!
u better listen to me kim hanbin!!
sleeeeeeeeeeep nerdboy

He looks at Hanbin, who’s finally opened his eyes again. Hanbin glances at him and Bobby can see that he’s got tears in his eyes.

“He always used to do this to my notebooks,” Hanbin says, his voice scratchy with repressed emotion, “he used to pick random pages and leave me notes.”

Suddenly it hits Bobby—the note is from Seungjae, written before everything went downhill. He reaches out without thinking, closing the notebook and sliding it away before scooting his chair beside Hanbin’s and putting an arm around his shoulders. Hanbin doesn’t say anything, just sits in silence, trying to hold his emotions in check. Bobby can see that he’s got a choice to make right now—he can either distract Hanbin from the situation (which is probably what Hanbin wants, since they’re up late working) or he can force the subject and make Hanbin deal with those hurt feelings.

“Have you talked to him since he was cut?” Bobby asks, because it’s clear to him that Hanbin needs to talk about Seungjae. Because it’s easy to keep your back someone who’s hurt you, but then you get reminders that there were a lot of good times, and a lot of good behaviour, and it brings the hurt back full force.

“No,” Hanbin replies, “well, not really.”

What do you mean?” Bobby asks, confused at the uncertain answer.

“I haven’t talked to him, I was told to block his number.”

“But you didn’t, did you?” Bobby asks, and he wonders if Seungjae has messaged Hanbin.

“Not at first, no,” Hanbin replies, “but then I got this message, and—” Hanbin can’t continue the sentence, he stops and in a breath, like he’s trying to stop himself from crying. Bobby hasn’t seen him like this since that night.

“What message?” It can only be one of two things, can’t it? A heart felt apology, asking for forgiveness that Hanbin isn’t in the position to give, or a vitriolic message of anger and hatred.

Hanbin unlocks his phone and opens the message, offering it to Bobby. On one hand Bobby’s not sure he wants to read what’s surely personal. On the other hand, Hanbin is offering it to him during a moment of need. He can’t turn it away.

He takes the phone and reads the message and wishes he’d never asked. It’s a long message full of blame, pointing the finger at Hanbin for things out of his control. It’s hateful and spiteful and Bobby feels like crying himself after reading it. He lays Hanbin’s phone back on the desk and turns to him, pulling him into a hug.

“I’m so sorry, Bin,” Bobby says, kissing his forehead and not caring if the camera sees it, “I’m so sorry.”

“You know what’s really stupid?” Hanbin chokes out, and Bobby waits for him to go on. “I actually thought I was over it, you know? I thought I was done being sad over him. But then I see this and it’s like, all I want to do is try again. I want to talk to him and apologize for things that aren’t my fault. It’s so stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” Bobby replies, “you miss him, and that’s okay. You were together for a long time, you joined on the same day, right? You went through a lot together, you have so many memories with him in them, and those will always be there. It’s only natural to miss that.”

“But he was so mean at the end,” Hanbin says, “and all it takes is one stupid little message and I feel like my heart’s on overdrive, I can’t stop thinking about him.”

Maybe it’s the way he worded the sentence, but suddenly it hits Bobby like a slap in the face.

“You had a thing for Seungjae, didn’t you?” Bobby asks, and he’s surprised to find that it doesn’t make him feel weird. Just sad at how it ended.

“I didn’t really realize that I liked guys until I met him,” Hanbin answers, his voice barely above a whisper, “nothing ever happened, of course, but yeah, I had feelings for him.” Hanbin’s never admitted it to anyone—not even Jinhwan. He’s not sure why he’s admitting it now. Maybe because someone finally saw it and asked.

“It hurt, seeing him with a girl, didn’t it?” Bobby asks, and Hanbin nods.

“I knew he was straight, as much as I didn’t want it. But it mostly hurt because he didn’t tell me. I mean, I know I would have lectured him if he did, but still, I thought we told each other everything, and he never told me, and I’ve never felt so hurt before in my life.” Hanbin’s barely holding onto himself, tears threatening the corners of his eyes.

Bobby doesn’t know what to say, he just holds him. He wishes he could do more, but there’s really nothing more to do. But Hanbin clings to him with desperate hands, and Bobby rubs his back and vows that he’s never going to let anyone hurt him like this again.

Hanbin seems to regain a bit of himself then and he pulls away. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be talking about this with you.”

“Why not?” Bobby’s surprised at the comment.

Hanbin gives him a confused look. “Well, you can’t want to hear about my feelings for someone else, can you?”

“I want to hear about everything going on in your head,” Bobby says, and he means it, “I’m not jealous, you had Seungjae before you ever met me. How could that possibly make me mad?” Hanbin just shrugs. “I mean it though, you can tell me anything. You need someone to talk to, you can’t keep stuff like that to yourself, you’ll go crazy.”

Hanbin nods but doesn’t say anything. He feels better, finally getting the admission off his chest. It feels nice to tell Bobby things like that, to know that he can. He finally sits back, but reaches for Bobby’s hand and holds it tightly.

“Thank you,” he says, smiling, “I appreciate that. I never even told Jinhwan about those feelings.”

“I’m glad you told me in the end,” Bobby says, “you wanna keep working or do you want to go back to the dorm?”

Hanbin thinks for a moment, and for once he decides to listen to Seungjae’s old teasing advice.

“Let’s go back, the song isn’t going anywhere.”

Bobby squeezes his hand and feels good about the moment. The admission probably took a lot out of Hanbin, especially if he’d never told anyone. It feels nice to be so trusted. He stands up and waits as Hanbin saves their progress and turns off the computer monitor. Hanbin grabs his hand again as they leave, and they walk home together, hand in hand. They don’t talk, but they don’t need to.

They get in together and head for their room, and Bobby can’t wait until the cameras come down. He wants to sleep next to Hanbin again, wants to hold him in his arms during the night. But for now they have to keep to separate beds. They undress and lay down, and as his eyes adjust to the darkness Bobby can see that Hanbin is looking at him, the same way that he’s looking back. He wonders if Hanbin’s got the same thoughts running through his head about cameras.

But then Junhoe tosses in his sleep and starts snoring, and for some reason it makes the both of them collapse into giggles loud enough they wake Junhoe up.

No matter how tough things get, Bobby’s still going to sleep happy every night.
 

The evaluation in front of YG has Bobby a little confused at first, but that’s because he’s not terribly familiar with him. He watches their team performance with critical eyes (to the point that it’s an uncomfortable reminder of Hanbin’s own hawkish gaze) and at the end he offers criticism and a bit of praise (barely praise, to Bobby’s ears).

But the second the CEO leaves them alone everyone breaks into relieved smiles, and no smile is bigger than Hanbin’s.

“Congratulations, hyung!” Hanbin beams at him, giddy smile popping up right in front of him. “You survived your first evaluation!”

“Did I?” Bobby replies, still feeling like his stomach’s about to shoot up out of his throat. “He barely said anything positive to me.”

“You actually got off pretty good,” Hanbin says.

“Trust us, Bobby, Hanbin and I have heard enough over the years to know when he’s satisfied. He knows you’ve only been training for two weeks, so it’s not like he was expecting miracles.” Jinhwan adds, coming up and slinging an arm around Bobby’s back.

“It probably felt like he was picking you apart, but you’re new so he has to. He just wants to make sure you’re ready for the showcase, because if you’re not then he’s going to look stupid for signing you.” Hanbin explains.

“I guess. Honestly though I barely even remember what he said I need to work on.”

Hanbin grins at him. “Don’t worry, I remember everything. We’ll work on polishing you up together.”

“If he didn’t think you were working out, he’d have said as much,” Jinhwan says, “but the first thing he said was okay, that looked good, and honestly that’s a pretty high compliment.”

The others laugh but Bobby still finds the whole thing confusing. But then Hanbin gets his attention again and tells him not to worry, and Bobby knows that he has to trust him. Jinhwan is right—if perfectionist leader Hanbin is happy, and if Jinhwan is happy, then Bobby needs to follow their lead and be happy too.
 

Bobby’s sitting outside on Sunday night, having a quiet moment to himself after a long week. He’s supposed to have a phone call with his mom in ten minutes, and he’s looking forward to it. He hasn’t had much time over the past week to talk to his family, and he misses his parents. The homesickness hits him at random moments, but usually he’s been too busy to think about it much. He’s feeling it now, though.

He hears footsteps behind him and waits to see if they’ll pass, but they don’t. They come right up to the table he’s sitting at and he looks to his side, only to see Jinhwan, who smiles at him.

“You have a minute, or do you want to be alone?” Jinhwan asks, and Bobby feels touched that he does.

“I have a call in ten minutes with my mom, so I have a bit of time.” Bobby smiles back at him.

Jinhwan sits down next to him. “I just wanted to check on you and ask you how you’re doing,” he starts, “I know it’s been a crazy few weeks for you.”

“It’s good,” Bobby replies, “definitely crazy and intense, but it’s good, overall.”

“How are things with you and Hanbin?” Jinhwan asks.

“They’re good,” Bobby says with a smile, “we’re happy.”

“I know he can be demanding during training, and I know you’re not used to that, so I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay. If he ever does anything that upsets you, I want you to come and talk to me about it, okay? Not just because I’m older than you, but I know Hanbin. I know his quirks. And I also know that he really likes you, and he doesn’t want to do anything that hurts your feelings. But he has a job, and he has to do it.”

“I know,” Bobby replies, touched at Jinhwan’s concern, “I don’t hold any of his scolding against him.”

“Okay, but if it ever gets to be too much, promise me you’ll talk to me?”

Bobby nods, and then realizes that he’s not offering just because he’s concerned about him. Jinhwan is also concerned about Hanbin, and he wants to make sure their relationship stays strong so Hanbin will be okay.

“He’s never had a relationship before, Hanbin,” Jinhwan tells him, “you’re his first.”

Bobby thinks it’s cute, and he also feels happy that Hanbin let it happen. “It’s cute that you’re getting all protective,” Bobby teases.

Jinhwan grins at him. “We’ve been through a lot, and I haven’t seen him as happy as he’s been with you in a long time. You’re really good for him, Bobby. I just think about last year, and how stressed out he was constantly. It might not seem like it to you, but trust me when I say that Hanbin is much kinder lately.”

“You’re welcome!” Bobby teasingly replies.

“Don’t it up, okay? I like you, so I don’t want to have to kick your if you hurt him.” Jinhwan tries to be as serious as possible, but Bobby can’t help but laugh at his warning, which makes Jinhwan grin.

“I promise I won’t anything up,” Bobby replies, “I like him too much. Plus if I up then I’m gone, and that would be counter-productive to my life.”

Jinhwan just smiles at him. “I know we barely know each other still, but I’m not just here for Hanbin. I really do want you to feel like you can talk to me if you need to, okay? Things are only going to get harder, especially when they officially announce you as a member. If that gets messy, well, just know that we’re here for you. All of us, but Hanbin and I especially. Don’t worry about being a burden if things start bothering you.”

“Thanks, hyung. I really appreciate you looking out for us. I know it can’t be easy when you have so many other guys to worry about, so thank you.”

Jinhwan shuffles closer and puts an arm around Bobby’s back, hugging him. “I’m really happy we found you, Bobby. It feels like you’re supposed to be here, which is weird to say. You have big shoes to fill, but I get the feeling that you’ll fill them. We’ll all make sure of it.”

Bobby knows he’s talking about Seungjae, and it feels good to hear Jinhwan say it. Because despite the problems he caused, Seungjae was important to their team, and his synergy with the members was excellent. Bobby knows he’s got work to do, but he’s getting there. They sit together for another few minutes until it’s time for Bobby’s phone call, but he asks Jinhwan to stay for a bit, so he can introduce him to his family. He feels like he owes Jinhwan that much for helping him out.
 

Two weeks later and Bobby’s sitting in the most important studio at YG—the one that belongs to Teddy Park. He and Hanbin are going to be working on a song with Teddy, and as excited as Bobby is for it, Hanbin is ten times more excited. He’d admitted to Bobby that Teddy has always been one of his biggest idols in the music industry, and that he’s nervous about getting to work directly with him. He wants to impress Teddy, and Bobby thinks it’s the most adorable thing.

But while they’re waiting Bobby is browsing around on-line, unable to keep himself from reading articles about the group. YG finally sent out a press release a week ago, announcing that they had selected a replacement for Seungjae. The show they’d been filming all summer, titled Mix & Match, had finally started airing a week ago.

Bobby’s been reading comments about it, and also reading discussions about who fans are hoping Seungjae’s replacement will be. By now it seems that many Team B fans have heard about his friendship with Hanbin (thanks to Woosung posting a picture of the three of them hanging out together on his Instagram account) and so far it seems like the majority of fans are hoping that he’s the replacement.

Of course there’s pushback from angry fans of Seungjae’s, but Bobby understands where they’re coming from. He’d be upset too. But Hanbin’s fans are the most vocal about expressing their support of Bobby coming into the group, and Bobby thinks it’s cute that they seem to want him not so much because of his skill—but because he’s Hanbin’s friend. That kind of loyalty is wonderful to see, and it touches Bobby’s heart to think that they care that much about Hanbin’s happiness.

Teddy finally joins them and Hanbin’s excitement seeps into Bobby, gets his own heart rate up. Teddy queues up the music for the track, explains what he envisions them doing with it. It’s supposed to be their anthem, the song they’re going to use to introduce Bobby as a member of the group. But it’s also going to introduce their group—iKON. Bobby’s in love with the name, thinks it has a great ring to it.

The music is great, it’s going to be easy to write strong lyrics for it. Hanbin slides his chair right next to Teddy at the computer, asking questions and making suggestions about changing a few things with the beat. Bobby’s shocked to watch him. Minutes ago and Hanbin was frazzled with nerves, and now he’s talking to Teddy like they work together all the time.

But more impressive to Bobby is that Teddy doesn’t brush off anything he says—instead he makes adjustments and fiddles with sound bites and adds in beats that Hanbin suggests. Hanbin comes up with the chorus right away, and Bobby is hit with a rush of gratitude that they managed to find each other this summer, and that he somehow wormed his way into this spot. There’s something special about Hanbin, he’s impressive in a way that Bobby hadn’t expected him to be at first.

And now he’s Bobby’s, they chose each other, and soon everyone is going to get to see how well they work together. 
 

It’s the end of October and they’ve just sent the vocalists home to await the results of the voting. It’s just Hanbin and Jinhwan and Bobby now, left at the dorm, and they walk around together, disabling the cameras.

The reception to Bobby joining the group was better than they had expected. Many fans welcomed him openly, grateful to Bobby for having established himself as Hanbin’s first friend outside of YG. The response of fans at their fan meets was overwhelming to the point that Bobby cried at the first one, moved by their support. It had surprisingly been easy to be on stage with the group, performing and playing games and interacting with the fans. Sure, he screwed up a few times during songs, but Hanbin had just laughed at him, making fun of him after the fact. Fans had called it cute and charming, and after some checking around on-line, he was pleased to see that a lot of fans actually thought that he and Hanbin made quite the perfect pair together.

The three of them go out to dinner at Bobby’s aunt’s restaurant, and she’s elated to see them, proud of Bobby for his choices, and proud of Hanbin and Jinhwan for accepting him into their tight knit family with open arms.

It’s a nice dinner, relaxing after all the stress of the summer. All they can do now is wait for the results.

That night is the first night that Hanbin and Bobby take advantage of their roommate status, as Hanbin crawls into Bobby’s bed. They’re too exhausted to do anything more than kiss each other, but that’s enough after everything else. Falling asleep together and knowing they’ll wake up next to one another is all either of them have wanted for weeks.

Bobby sends his prize money back to his family, keeping none of it for himself. His parents pay off their debt and his father is able to quit his second job. Jiun buys his girlfriend the fancy engagement ring and Bobby has a pending sister-in-law now.

Robbie comes to visit him for a week, and Hanbin sweet talks their manager into letting him stay at the dorm since it’s half-empty. Bobby’s a little worried about having him here, about merging his two lives together now. But Hanbin and Jinhwan treat Robbie like their own friend, and it eases his nerves.

They don’t get the chance to talk by themselves until the second day he’s there. Bobby takes him for a tour of the YG building along with Hanbin and Jinhwan, but he leaves them in the studio to do some recordings and takes Robbie outside. They wander across the street, up to roof of the neighbouring building where he’d met Hanbin once.

“So, you’re really doing the idol thing, huh?” Robbie says, still in disbelief.

“Yeah, pretty wild, isn’t it?” Bobby replies, because really—it’s such a shift compared to where his life had been going a few months ago.

“You must really like Hanbin,” Robbie teases, “joining his idol group.”

“It’s not just for Hanbin!” Bobby replies, “it’s for my future too.”

“Sure. Whatever you say. If you were that desperate for a piece of we could have found you a hot dude stateside, bro. You didn’t have to come all the way to Korea.” Robbie nudges him, grinning at him.

Bobby just shakes his head. “Wow, you.”

“No thanks bro, I’m straight.” Robbie says, and it makes the both of them laugh. Bobby’s grateful that Robbie’s not bothered by it. He’d never told him about his attraction to guys, and he’d been worried that Robbie might have been upset about the secret. Instead he’d gone out of his way to be friendly to Hanbin and didn’t act bothered when they got close. Bobby couldn’t really ask for more.

But now as they sit together, on the cusp of vastly different futures, he wonders when the next time will be that they’ll see each other again? It’ll be difficult to talk, what with the time difference. Robbie will be busy with university, while Bobby will be busy training and preparing for debut. This week together might be the last time they have quality time together for a long while.

It hits him then, that he’s losing Robbie, in a way. Not entirely, but in day-to-day life. Robbie was always the first person he’d call to talk to about things, the first person he’d share things with. But it won’t be like that anymore, and it hurts to realize it.

But he’s got new people to share things with, new friends, new family members. That’s just the way of life—you lose people, but you gain people.

“Hey, bro?” Bobby waits until Robbie looks at him. “Thanks for talking me into auditioning for the show. I wouldn’t have any of this if it wasn’t for you.”

Robbie grins back at him. “Damn right you wouldn’t. You’d still be back in hole ia, working some crappy job while trying to save money for school. And you’d be single.”

“True on all counts,” Bobby replies. “It’s so weird to think about what life would be like if I hadn’t taken that chance.”

“You happy, bro? Like really happy?” Robbie asks him, and Bobby doesn’t even have to give it a second thought.

“Never been happier.” Despite the hard work and stress, it’s true. He’s never been happier.

Robbie nods and looks across the street, eyes on the YG building. “Good. I miss you, but as long as you’re happy, then it’s okay. Just make some hype music with your group and make some coin then come visit me sometime, cool?” 

Bobby remembers their talk, back in LA at the audition, about vastly different desired outcomes from the show. He’s already halfway towards his own plans of supporting his family. “I’ll come visit you in your beach house and throw you a party when I’m rich, promise.”

Robbie looks back at him with a grin. “That’s all I can ask for, bro.”

Before Bobby has the chance to say anything back he can feel his phone buzz and he glances at the screen. It’s a message from Hanbin. Bobby opens it and reads it, grinning at the message.

“You wanna go meet G Dragon?” Bobby asks, and Robbie looks at him with an excited expression.

“For real?!”

“Yeah bro, Hanbin said he’s at their studio. Hanbin’s kinda his favourite trainee, so he stops by a lot.” Bobby’s met him once, briefly, and was surprised at how similar they seemed.

Robbie’s already on his feet. “Damn, if he’s GD’s favourite then you need to keep him happy. If you guys end up making GD kinda money then you can buy me that beach house.” Robbie grins before heading for the stairs, and Bobby follows, and he thinks again about his admission of a few minutes ago.

He’s really never been happier.