Chapter 5: Living the Dream, Part 2

~Time skip: About 5 years~

Kiseop rolled out of bed, stifling a yawn before raking his fingers through his hair. “Yah, hyung, it’s already eight,” he called out, opening the door as he snagged a fluffy pillow off the ground. He picked his way through the messy room before shaking the still-asleep, blanket-wrapped lump on the bed.

Soohyun started awake mid-snore, yelping out in shock before smacking Kiseop across the arm. “Go away,” he moaned, in a way that made him sound like a five-year-old again. Irritation flitted through Kiseop as he caught sight of the time that glared up at him from the glow-in-the-dark clock that stood on the small bedside table.

“Yah hyung … we were supposed to meet the others an hour ago … get up!” the final word in his sentence was punctuated with a well-aimed pillow-strike to Soohyun's head. A grinning Kiseop fled from the scene, his bare feet ‘thudding’ loudly on the floor as a loud bellow resonated from the power-vocalists room.

Twenty minutes later, Kiseop dribbled the orange ball around the empty court, his eyes shifting from the netted hoop down to the brunette that stood in a half-crouch under it. “You’re late,” an accented voice called out as a deeply tanned, dark-haired boy dropped his bag onto the concrete before jogging up to join the pair that had paused their ‘game’.

“Mianhae … Alexander-hyung … but where’s Eli?” Soohyun asked, rising from his half-crouch to speak to the older man. “He’ll be a couple minutes late,” Kiseop cut in; the basketball in one arm and his eyes glued to the plastic-covered screen of his phone. “Well … we might as well wait, right?” Alexander said, and the two others nodded in agreement before they took refuge under a small tree.

They continued their conversation, commenting on meaningless topics as their banter flitted from the ahjussi who’d raised the price of his pork ramen by twelve won, and the woman who lived above Xander’s apartment who’d gotten some kind of dog that barked, howled and whined all day and all night.

“It’s so annoying!” Xander complained, leaning back tiredly just as his phone rang. “Ah … excuse me,” he muttered, as he slipped it out of his pocket, and scrambled to his feet at the sight of the number.

Just as the older man disappeared around the trunk of another tree, Soohyun crawled away from Kiseop, his low voice instantly telling Kiseop that he’d gotten a call as well. A second later, Kiseop’s phone started buzzing, and the number that flashed across the screen in neon blue made his reel internally before he shakily accepted the call.

“Yeboseyo?” he said, and the familiar voice on the other side of the line calmed him down slightly. “Yah, dongsaeng; you have to be at the company building in an hour … so I suggest that you clean yourself up before coming here,” ‘Tiger-ssi’ said quickly, and without even waiting for Kiseop to acknowledge his words, ended the call.

Kiseop unfroze, staring at the small phone in his hand before shaking his head like a dog ridding itself of water and looking up, just in time to see both Xander and Soohyun return to the tree.

“Mianhae, dongsaengs … I’ve got to go now,” Xander said, his eyes flicking from one face to another nervously before; “Oh, well I’ve got to go too …” Kiseop and Soohyun said in unison before stopping abruptly to stare at each other. “Let’s just … go … shall we?” Xander cut in softly, before he turned sharply and left the two others standing there.

-              -            -

“Annyeonghaseyo,” Kiseop greeted his vocal instructor with a low bow before he was pulled aside by the man. “We’ve already evaluated your progress, and you’re going to meet the rest of your supposed members before you go to meet the president, alright?” he said, his words tripping over one another as he sped through his sentences. Kiseop barely had time to nod before he was ushered by another man, this one dressed sharply in a crisp black-and-grey suit, into a room.

He sighed before righting himself, almost instantly recoiling at the sight of the four other men in front of him. “Ah-Annyeong,” he greeted quietly before he caught sight of both Soohyun and Xander. “Hyung … what’re you doing here?” he asked softly as he approached them, carefully keeping himself from meeting any of the other people. “I don’t know … I was just asked to come here,” they shrugged.

Kiseop swivelled around, looking carefully from the long-haired boy that was looking aimlessly at the ceiling, to the obvious maknae that was seated on a chair, his back poker-straight, his hands folded in his lap, and his black hair covering his eyes as he stared at the ground.

The door opened again, and another boy entered, this one, muscular, and what appeared to be the definition of masculinity. “Eli!” Xander hollered out excitedly, as he leaped onto the younger boy; the brunette holding the extra weight rather easily before Alexander eased off him. “You were asked to come here too?” Soohyun asked; his voice sceptical as the boy nodded.

“Hey … I wonder how many members there’re gonna be in the band,” Soohyun said, his question sending the four of them into deep thought. “Well, there’re already six of us here … maybe we’re just waiting for the last one?” Eli suggested, just as the door was opened and the ‘final’ member was led in.

“Annyeonghaseyo, you should really get to know each other before … you know …” the well-dressed man said, before he deposited the boy that forced Kiseop not to visibly recoil in fear.

“Err … annyeonghaseyo, Kim Kibum ibnida,” the black-haired introduced himself nervously. “Annyeong, I’m Kevin,” the bone-thin boy smiled, looking even more feminine that any guy Kiseop had ever met before. “Annyeonghaseyo … Kiseop ibnida,” he said quietly before Eli, Soohyun and Xander introduced themselves. Finally, they all turned their attention to the youngest boy in the room.

“Ah-Annyeonghaseyo … Dongho ibnida,” he said quietly, his words mumbled before the awkwardness in the room was raised a notch. When Kiseop felt like the discomfort in the room was at its peak, the door opened, and warmth flooded in.

“Come on, we don’t really have all day, you know

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