Seokmin and Seungkwan were both absurdly good at singing, Jisoo was perfect at acoustics, Jihoon was the man to look for with regards to arrangements and composing. Truly they were the best team ever. If that didn't include himself.

Jeonghan sometimes wondered why he was accepted as part of the Seventeen family. He didn't have any special talents. He could sing, but it dulled in comparison to the better vocals in the team. He couldn't entertain, not in the way Seungcheol could lead the team nor how Seokmin and Seongkwan could make everyone laugh. Sure, he had good visuals - at least he thinks so- but there were many on the team with good visuals too, the cute Dino, dream tree Mingyu and all his maknaes .

And so he spends his time sitting by the wall of their practice studio, his legs stretched out or tucked in, pondering silently, trying to come up with a valid reason as to why he should belong.

Jisoo comes round with his laptop and scrolls through videos of foreign singers, knowing that it irked Jeonghan that he didn't know the lyrics and could not sing along, but strangely today, the boy showed no response. He only to looked dully at the screen, as if even more saddened by the performance on the laptop. It was a while later that he got up and left, puzzled as to why his best friend was acting that way.

Hoshi and the performance team started practising and them being the performance team, cracked many stunts that would normally have had Jeonghan - seated where he was now, his favourite spot on the floor by the wall- laughing and clutching his stomach. It was a contagious laughter too, something that went like " Ahuhhuhhuh" in that unique pitch of his. Yet today it was silent from his side of the wall, only the guffaws of laughter emanating from the other boys could be heard. It missed that unique ring of Jeonghan. Jeonghan curled tighter into a ball and rested his chin on his knees in defeat.

Soon it was time for the hip-hop team to rehearse. The beats of the boys emanated cool swagger and filled the studio with stage presence. They would normally have made Jeonghan bounce animatedly, bobbing his head in a way that would make his hair wriggle slightly, his ponytail in constant motion. Seungcheol kept looking worriedly at Jeonghan, who was normally his number one greatest fan, and wondered if he was losing his charm. Especially if the other boy could put his head down in the middle of their performance- in despair? Or boredom?

Jihoon's harsh critiques and everybody doing a great job at vocal practice didn't help Jeonghan at all either. Especially when he couldn't hear his part at all, merely a harmony in the background, another voice in the song. Seokmin's jokes did nothing to lift the corners of Jeonghan's lips and even Jihoon turned exceptionally nice, after noticing Jeonghan's fallen face, which was not Jeonghan at all, their angel who was always like a piece of sunshine that warmed, that they could rely on. 

Everything was just out of place and wrong. And every single one of them felt it. Of course, since Jeonghan was, you know, in Hyung Line, only another hyung could solve this problem. And of course, it had to be Seungcheol. So as softly as possible, he plopped himself down onto the floor next to Jeonghan and they sat like that in silence for a bit, Seungcheol trying to frantically wave the other members (who were trying to eavesdrop) away because they could totally be seen on the mirror opposite from them.

" Hyung," Jeonghan stated softly, brokenly. Seungcheol stopped, startled, because one, he's never heard and tone from the ever bright, ever angelic Jeonghan and two, he's never called him hyung before, like never, since they are born on the same year. It only showed how insecure he was feeling then. " Why am I in Seventeen?" 

That question caught everybody off-guard because they never really thought about it. Jeonghan was just part of Seventeen and there was never a need to question it. It was almost like asking why your mom was your mom. But since they were forced to think of it, the answer was bright as day, as bright as every single one of Jeonghan's smiles.

" I can't sing that well, I can't dance exceptionally well, I can't do all the awesome stuff like Jihoon or Hoshi and let's admit, visual-wise there are many more who are just as good looking. So why me? I can't rap, neither can I-"

" Jeonghan, shut up."

" I-"

" Seriously, shut up. You can't sing? You wouldn't be chosen to be in the vocal team then. Sure, you're not always the main vocal, nor can you compose like Jihoon does. But hey, if everyone in Seventeen were geniuses, we wouldn't be a team, we'd be a freak show. If our song lost its harmony, do you think it would sound just as nice? " When Jeonghan didn't answer but still looked unconvinced, Seungcheol sighed.

" If you need it in technical terms, you're in Seventeen because you CAN sing, dance and charm everybody's pants or skirts off. But take a look at them," he waved his hand to show him the members who were now shifting sheepishly in their spots at being caught eavesdropping. " They're here cause they felt something was not right. We're here cause we care. We care because you're part of Seventeen, our big family. Who else can smile as brightly as you? Who else can laugh at our lame jokes? Who else can bother making coffee for someone when you don't even like coffee, feed someone although you're hungry, tolerate infinite skinship and not get annoyed by our whining? Who else but Jeonghan? If you need it in technical terms, you're in Seventeen because you CAN sing, dance and charm everybody's pants or skirts off. What's more,"  Seungcheol leaned into his ear and whispered words that could only be said between them. 

" Who else but Jeonghan can love me for who I am? And mind you, I think you're the most gorgeous person in Seventeen. No- scratch that, in the world."

Jeonghan brought fingers to his eyes to dab at the tears threatening to roll off his cheeks and leaned into Seungcheol's embrace, with a wobbly smile. This seemed to signal a gigantic thirteen-member group hug and Jeonghan laughed breathlessly at the feeling of being in by quicksand. Seungcheol pulled back and looked at him for a full minute before grinning and hugging him again.

" Now there's the smile I first fell in love with."