Monday, April 16^th, 3:12AM

“What are you doing?! You can’t go out there…” Ae Shook whispered cautiously. Her face was taken with fear and worry that was directed towards the other who stood before the door. Unlike her, she was sitting against the wall of the small run down shack. Her body shook from nerves as a cold panic ran down her spine.

“Do you want to be stuck in here forever? We can’t hide like this for the rest of our lives!” Eun Hee shouted in a low voice. Not backing away from the door despite her friends warning. “I refuse to stay here any longer. I’m not a coward like you.” she faced the door, ready to take the handle.

As soon as she touched the doorknob, Ae Shook jumped up, grabbing the back of Eun Hee’s shirt. “It’ll kill you! Please don’t…”she begged desperately.

Sandeul watched the scene play out in front of his laptop with eagerness. Ear buds in his ears and a large blanket wrapped around him as he sat in the pitch black living room on the couch. The only light was from his laptop screen that played the movie he knew he shouldn’t be watching. Not because it was a horror, but because he should be asleep. He knew very well that the band had a stage performance tomorrow, or today, and a fan meet after that.

The time had escaped him until he figured that as soon as the movie finished, he’d go to bed and no one would know how late he had stayed up. It was a little past three am, and he barely felt tired. Mainly from the adrenaline the movie was giving him, but he was sure as soon as he got into bed, he’d fall straight to sleep.

“I don’t care! I’d rather die out there than in here! At least we have a chance outside. If it finds us we have no way to run in this damn shack!” she glanced back at Ae Shook as she spoke her words that had been filled bite. “I’m not going to do nothing. If that thing wants to kill me, I won’t go down without a fight.”

“But it’s dangerous…” she muttered, her eyes falling to the worn floorboards.

“You don’t think I know that?” Eun Hee stated, her tone going above a whisper. “I’m tired of running and hiding.”

Ae Shook released the other’s shirt. “I-I…”

The ebon haired girl faced away from the door, giving her friend a quick once over before scowling. “Are you coming with me or not?”

She turned her head away out of shame. “I don’t think I can…”

“You think or you know?”

When she turned back, Eun Hee had her arms crossed over her chest, waiting impatiently for an answer.

“I…” her words faltered away, confliction coming over her face. She bundled her hands, squeezing them occasionally as she internally fought with herself.

“We don’t have all night Ae Shook-ah. What are you going to do?” she pressed, her irritation showing clearly through her words.

“I’ll go!” the girl all but blurted, her breath going rugged for a second after.

Eun Hee smirked, uncrossing her arms to turn towards the door again. “Good. I didn’t want to have to leave you here.” Reaching near the fogged window on her left, she grabbed the knife she’d left there upon entering the shack.

A hand shot through the window, shattering the glass and grabbing her arm.

Hand’s clamped down on his shoulders and he let out a terrified screech. Hands going up to cover his face as his heart began beating rapidly in his chest, the earphones flew out of his ears while his body froze out of fear.

Laughter soon followed and the hands on his shoulders were removed. Finding it in him to move after he’d calmed; Sandeul took his hands from his eyes to turn his head and look behind him. From the light of his screen, he could see the outline of Sunwoo hunched over, gripping his stomach as fits of amusement erupted from him.

Immediately scowling he stopped the movie, closed his laptop screen, and tossed it carefully onto the couch. Sandeul let the blanket drop from around him as he got up onto the back of the couch, waiting a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before jumping over it effortlessly.

As soon as he could see the laughing brunette, he punched him in the shoulder.

“What was that for?!” he yelled, not regarding the rest of the dorm.

The rapper couldn’t speak, he attempted to but all that came out was obnoxious laughing that was beginning to get on the other’s nerves.

The lights were suddenly switched on, illuminating the once dark living room. Sandeul being momentarily blinded closed his eyes to avoid getting a headache.

“What is going on out here?!” Snapped a stern voice the duck recognized as Dongwoo. Opening his eyes, they fell upon three boys who stood not farther off. Chanshik wore a worried but tired expression, Jinyoung didn’t look like he cared what was happening but was up anyways, and Dongwoo was fuming with sleepy anger.

He felt embarrassed by the fact his scream had woken up Dongwoo, who was known for being unable to wake up even if you rung a gong over his head.

Sandeul frowned, than pointed an accusing finger at Sunwoo whose laughter had quieted. “He scared me while I was watching a horror movie!” aiming his expression at the rapper who shrugged it off with a smirk.

“Why are you up at three in the morning watching a horror movie in the first place?! You know we have a stage in the morning!” Dongwoo stated angrily. He could tell that his nagging mother bear side was coming out. Now he was regretting staying up. He turned his glare onto Sunwoo who stiffened slightly. Had he seriously thought he’d get away with making him yell like that? “And what gave you the notion, making him scream like that, at this hour, would be funny?”

“I—uh…”

“That’s what I thought.” Sparing another disapproving look between the two, he crossed his arms. “Now apologize, Baro.”

Sunwoo barely glimpsed at Sandeul. “Sorry.” he muttered unconvincingly. But he doubted that anyone would care since they were all half asleep.

“Go to bed.” he commanded. Watching over them as Baro hurriedly went into the kitchen than came out a second later with a water bottle. Sandeul reached over to grab his blanket off of the couch; not bothering to move his laptop since he knew no one would touch it anyways. When he was facing Dongwoo again, he noticed that everyone else had disappeared except the peeved bear. The room to Baro’s was closed, the light underneath the door turning off a second later.

Sandeul paced past, feeling Dongwoo’s stare on him even if he was barely awake. He walked into the shared bedroom, noticing how Jinyoung and Chanshik were already asleep in their own beds. When standing in front of his, Dongwoo climbed on top of the bunk, once settled, no more words were spoken.

He tossed his blanket carelessly onto his sheets than made his way back momentarily to the living room. Turning the lights off since no one else bothered to, of which was surprising knowing how Dongwoo was. Waiting a moment for his eyes to become adjusted to the darkness, he soon found himself back to bed.

He felt embarrassed about the whole situation, but it didn’t last for long. By tomorrow morning it would most likely be forgotten, either that or Dongwoo would nag him about how he shouldn’t stay up late on days where they had a schedule.

Still feeling ticked about the way Sunwoo had scared him, he began scheming of a way to somehow get him back while crawling into bed. When comfortably underneath the sheets, he sighed. Tiredness heavily taking him almost immediately; he knew as soon as he was lying in bed he’d feel tired.

Tomorrow was going to be a busy day, just like every other. But he enjoyed them, especially if they were meeting fans or preforming.

Closing his eyes, he let sleep take him easily.

Monday, April 16^th, 6:25AM

As soon as he opened the bathroom door after being showered and dressed, the smell of food quickly drew his senses and attention. Still drying his damp hair, he made his way towards the kitchen.

Waking up at six with only four or less hours of sleep hadn’t been easy, after practically being dragged out of bed by Dongwoo; he went about going through his daily routines. Normally he didn’t have that much trouble, even if it was insanely early, most of the time it only took him five minutes to pull himself out of bed. This morning it had taken twenty along with the rappers help. Even Jinyoung had been up before him, and everyone knew how he loathed mornings.

The shower had helped wake him up immensely, but he was sure after the performance and meeting with the fans, he’d take a five hour nap. Hopefully there was nothing else planned for today so his dreams of sleep weren’t destroyed.

He reached the small kitchen in a few more steps. It barely was big enough to fit two, let alone five along with their table which was vertical to the wall, not helping with the space issue.

Only one other person was here, not counting himself, and he easily recognized the burgundy colored hair and incredibly slim figure. He had no idea how Jinyoung was able to stay so thin even though they all ate so much. He’d never admit it to anyone, but he was jealous of that fact.

“Morning!” Sandeul chimed happily, moving up next to the other to peer into the frying pan. It looked like he was making vegetable omelets, making his mouth almost water.

“Good morning.” Replied the other much less enthusiastically, but still in good spirits. “I heard you had a hard time getting out of bed this morning.” His tone of voice was teasing, making the other frown.

“Sort of…” Sandeul trailed, scratching behind his ear unconsciously while the feelings of embarrassment showed its face, but quickly passed. He decided to change the subject. “What are you making?”

 Jinyoung was quiet for a moment, which caused him to question. Glancing to his profile, he didn’t appear indifferent; in fact his expression was fairly blank. “Do you know what today is?” he asked casually, his appearance not changing in the slightest.

“Monday, but how does that have anything to do with—”

“Do you know who was supposed to help make breakfast with me today?”

“Um…” mentally backtracking two nights ago when they designated cooks for this week he attempted to remember who had been picked.

When realization dawned over him, he went into minimal panic. “I’m sorry!” he all but blurted, recalling that he’d been chosen to make breakfast with Jinyoung this morning. It completely skipped his mind, causing guilt to rush in that he had made Jinyoung cook by himself. If he hadn’t of stayed up so late last night and gotten proper sleep, this wouldn’t have happened.

“Is there anything I can do?” he wondered, hoping that there was at least something so he didn’t feel completely useless. Jinyoung was probably shielding his anger underneath the calm face he always wore. He’d never show it unless someone did something stupid, which was a high probability with him.

Jinyoung glanced to him from the pan to give him a soft smile; he wouldn’t deny it made his chest feel strange. “You can put the plates out and place the rice on the table.”

Sandeul nodded once in affirmation, going to the cupboards, he brought out a stack of five plates, setting them carefully on the table. Chopsticks were already set in each place along with a few other bowls of which had tops over them. Glancing over to Jinyoung once, since he had his back turned, he leaned down near the table to grab one of the lids.

He got a two second look of some kind of meat before dropping the top back over the bowl when Jinyoung spoke suddenly.

“The rice is over here.” he stated, still not turning from the oven of which he was scooping an omelet out of a frying pan and onto a plate.

Unsure if the leader had seen him try to take a glimpse of the food or lift up the lid, he felt paranoid. “You don’t have eyes in the back of your head, do you?” Sandeul found himself asking while picking up the bowl of rice off the counter, taking note of how it was mixed with red and black beans.

“Of course not, why would you ask that?” he responded, treating the question as if it had been completely outlandish.

Sandeul had to catch himself before saying the real reason he asked the question. “I was just curious.” he stated while placing the rice in the middle of the table near the other bowls. Facing the singer once his eyes moved off of the table, he found them connecting with the others instead of the back of his head. He barely noticed that he was holding a plate of omelets in his hands; his brown orbs were so trained on his face.

For the longest moment they spoke no words, or made no movements. They only stared at each other until Jinyoung gave him a knowing beam and started towards him.

Not sure what to do, he remained frozen in place. While he was mesmerized by the smile on the leaders face, his brain completely shut off. It was as if his logical thoughts were running straight into a brick wall.

Jinyoung was soon before him, his expression unwavering by their closeness. While gazing dumbstruck at his complexion, he took notice of how soft his skin looked and how the corners of his eyes wrinkled just slightly while he smiled.

How such a person was even allowed to exist was beyond him. He’d always admired Jinyoung for, in actuality, everything. If there was a human form of perfection, he was convinced that it was him.

When he realized that he’d started speak, he zoned back into reality.

“I know you a lot better than you think.” he responded equably, holding the plate of omelets out for him to take.

Sandeul took it unthinkingly. “What’s my favorite color?” he blurted without regarding it.

“You mean colors?” he chuckled once, as if his question wasn’t even a challenge. “Red, black, and white.”  Jinyoung named off without a seconds hesitation.

“Favorite food?” he continued, still holding the plate of omelets even though clearly they’d been placed in his hands to put on the table. His mind completely disregarded it, instead was more interested in how much Jinyoung could remember about him.

Walking back to the stove, he replied effortlessly. “Kimchi pancakes.”

Sandeul watched for a moment as he switched the stove off than went to wash his hands. His mind began pulling up a multitude of questions, and as soon as Jinyoung had finished washing his hands, he opened his mouth to ask another. But this time, the singer turned while still drying off his hands to cut him off.

“Your favorite type of music are ballads, and for some reason you enjoy listening to sad music whether you’re happy or not.” he started, not giving the other any form of eye contact. Instead he remained focused on drying his hands with the towel. “You hate spiders, you’re allergic to cat hair, when we aren’t working you’re always watching movies or animations, you have a sister, and you’re always carrying pear juice where ever you go.”

He was honestly impressed, and if not flattered by how much Jinyoung could remember about him. There was also a feeling of pure happiness bundled inside him from him remembering those things about him, that he actually seemed to care about what made him who he was.

Placing the towel back on the rack over the sink, he turned back to Sandeul. His demeanor having grown smug, he took a few short steps to be in front of him once again. “And you eat literally anything edible in sight.” Taking the plate out of his hands, he placed it down on the table next to him, which Sandeul had been unable to accomplish.

At hearing the words, his appearance dimmed. “Isn’t that a little exaggerated?”

“Not really.” His reply was so care free he essentially felt offended.

Did he actually eat that much all the time? Eating was always something that made him feel better, and most food was so amazing, it was hard to pass up. But he wouldn’t eat anything; in fact he could be quite picky when he wanted to be. But still, he didn’t understand why the comment bothered him so. Was it because he felt as if this was how Jinyoung saw him? That all he wanted to do was eat?

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Sandeul turned his head to see Jinyoung smile lightly in a reassuring manner.

“I was kidding.” The singer told him kindly. Taking his hand off of him, he reached out to ruffle his hair affectionately. “Even if you did, I wouldn’t care.”

A blush crept over his cheeks, causing him to swat the other’s hand away and turn in the opposite direction. Luckily he didn’t have to face trying to come up with an excuse for his actions as three other bodies came into the kitchen.

“Is breakfast ready?” Sandeul recognized as Chanshik, asked with a faint hint of anxiousness.

“Yes, all by me.” he felt like that was supposed to be a jab at him, but he ignored it.

Eventually backing away from the others as they began to talk amongst themselves and sit around the table, he faded into the background and left the kitchen all together. Walking through the now empty living room, he pulled the towel from around his shoulders and tossed it into the washing machine as soon as he was near.

He lingered for much longer than he’d originally thought, staring idly at the machine. As much as he wanted to join them for breakfast, and he would, he felt unnecessarily provoked by the previous conversation. He wasn’t angry, he felt confused as to why he had felt himself blush when Jinyoung touched his hair. It wasn’t something new.

He was also unsure as to why he’d felt so excited about Jinyoung knowing so much about him, and why he felt hurt when he told him that he ate too much, even if it was a joke.

Normally their conversations resulted in fake play like this, and it never bothered him before. Why all of a sudden now, would it?

Shaking his head, he left the washing machine. It was probably because he was hungry and tired, the two weren’t meant to mix which could be why they had this effect on him.

He entered the kitchen to see Jinyoung and Chanshik talking animatedly with each other across the table while the other two devoured food like it was their last meal. Grabbing a glass of water before sitting down next to Sunwoo, but once he was, immediately began filling his plate before all of the food was gone.

Jinyoung had prepared for them vegetable omelets, beef with seasoned soy sauce, rice cooked in black and red beans, and radish Kimchi. It wasn’t an exceptionally special breakfast, but it was nice to have enough time to sit down with everyone and eat a meal together. Often times they had to eat alone when out of the apartment, and by the end of the day they were all so tired they’d barely even speak to one another.

It was good to see everyone look so ecstatic even if it was early in the morning.

“So, you want to tell us in more detail about what happened last night?” Dongwoo suddenly brought up.

Jinyoung and Chanshik’s conversation died down almost right after Dongwoo had aimed his words at the two boys sitting next to each other. Sandeul could feel the eyes of the other’s travel between him and the rapper. He’d nearly completely forgotten about what had happened, if Dongwoo hadn’t brought it up, he would have.

“I said I was sorry, isn’t that enough?” Sunwoo grumbled. Obviously irritated by the way he was brashly trying to pick up a piece of meat off his plate. It only continued to slip between the chopsticks. His eyes were trained on his actions and nothing else.

“That’s not answering my initial question,” he cut a portion of his omelet off effortlessly and picked it up. “If it was able to wake me up at three am, then I think there’s some explanation behind it.” Once finished, he placed the piece of egg in his mouth.

“I already told you what happened last night.” Sandeul added in a slight murmur, not wanting to give Dongwoo any sort of glimpse. He felt like if he looked at him, he’d burst into flames from the anger most likely splayed over his face.

“Refresh my memory; I wasn’t in the right mind to remember much.” he continued, causing Sandeul’s shoulders to sink. Why couldn’t he leave it alone? It was already embarrassing enough he’d screamed so late at night and woke the whole dorm up.

Dongwoo wasn’t good at letting things go, especially if they’d gotten on his bad side. It was like Sandeul could feel a lecture coming on.

He began unsurely after a quick mouth full of rice. “I was up—watching a movie…”

“At three in the morning.” he made sure to add. “I still don’t understand why...”

“Time got away from me!” he defended honestly, finally breaking to turn his eyes upon the other. Dongwoo’s expression was mixed between suspicion and uncertainty, but he let him continue none the less. “I figured as soon as I finished it, I’d go to bed and no one would have to know.”

Sunwoo suddenly hand his hand over his mouth. Sandeul pried his eyes from Dongwoo’s burning ones to see the rapper next to him trying to suppress laughter. The brunette elbowed him in the side for good measure and sent him a scowl that was completely ignored.

“None of this is even my fault, Baro is the one who decided to come out of nowhere and scare me!” he cried sensitively, trying to prove a point.

“I didn’t think you’d scream like that!” Sunwoo replied. His voice laced with humor.

“And what were you doing up?” both boys turned their attention back to Dongwoo, whom had questioned the brunette rapper.

“Getting a water bottle” he stated as if he was completely innocent.

Sandeul rolled his eyes as Dongwoo scoffed. He barely recalled Sunwoo getting one once everyone had been woken up, but scaring him hadn’t been required.

“It wouldn’t appear that way, and even if you did, making Sandeul scream like that was unnecessary.” he snapped in matter of fact. Sunwoo opened his mouth to speak, but the bear unremittingly continued before an excuse could be sputtered. “No one appreciated what you did, so don’t do it again, or there will be consequences.” Dongwoo stated firmly, breaking his eye contact from the two so that he could continue eating.

Sunwoo had the audacity to laugh after the threat. “And what would you do?” he interrogated, voice mocking.

All it took was a sharp glare from the other for Sunwoo to immediately go back to his plate. Not another word said on the subject.

Hopefully now it was officially dropped and the account wouldn’t be brought up again. Although, he still planned to take his revenge. After all, it was only fair, right?

“You two are ridiculous.” Jinyoung spoke up for the first time since quieting his conversation with Chanshik.

Both Sandeul and Sunwoo glanced up at the same time to frown at their leader, making him chuckle.

The duck was the first to break the stare, frown still over his lips as he ate his meal in silence. He had to admit, the flavors all mixed together so well; Jinyoung was an amazing cook. It didn’t surprise him in the slightest and it wasn’t something new, but he couldn’t help but mentally praise him for the food.

Was there anything he couldn’t do?

Out of everyone who cooked, and even his own dishes, Jinyoung’s food was always the most distinct. There was a lasting impression he tasted after swallowing every bite, it was sweet but nothing overbearing. He didn’t know what he did, but hopefully he’d never change.

“I hope it’s alright.” Jinyoung began again, breaking Sandeul from his thoughts of praising.

When he looked up to respond, the singer had his eyes already on him. It was as if his statement had been directed only to Sandeul. He was sure it wasn’t, but by the way his eyes searched his face for some sort of approval, his thoughts wavered.

“It’s great!” Chanshik spoke up first. Two nods of agreement from Dongwoo and Sunwoo followed.

Their eyes stayed on each other for much longer than necessary; he could feel his whole body beginning to burn as each agonizing second passed. Not understanding why Jinyoung hadn’t broken away yet or why he hadn’t either was playing over in his mind.

Was he waiting for a response?

He wanted to, but his mind was drawing a complete blank. Just a few seconds ago he had been telling himself how great it was, now with the chance to tell the creator of such amazing dishes, he was unable to think of a single word.

Only a moment later did the leader turn to Chanshik, giving him a soft smile and patting his head in a similar way he’d done to Sandeul.

The blonde haired boy returned the grin, than happily went back to finishing what was left on his plate.

Sandeul had also turned his eyes back to his own plate, but he could feel Jinyoung’s eyes on him.

Unable to finish with such pressure suddenly rising over him, he stood from the floor, grabbing his plate and water glass. Walking them to the sink, he managed to drink the entire glass in two gulps than placed everything in the sink.

After a curt bow of which he knew Jinyoung had seen, he left the kitchen.

It was like he was going to blow up; the pressure in his head was expanding even though he was alone.

What was going on with him? He didn’t even understand why he felt this way.

Everything had suddenly been too overwhelming for him to handle. Was it all because of the lingering stare that he had shared with Jinyoung? Or was it the weight of such a simple question forcing him into an uncomfortable state?

It was like he’d been overwhelmed, that things were happening too fast for his brain to compromise. The only thing he thought to do was leave before it got worse, but he didn’t feel any better even as he sat down on the couch.

Running a hand up over his face and threw his hair, he sighed shakily. Not sure what exactly was happening to him, but he didn’t like it.

Was he getting sick? Was that why his body had overheated like that?

He groaned. “I am ridiculous.” Leaning his head back against the couch, he shut his eyes. Now what was going to happen after abruptly leaving the table like that? Not even sparing any of them a glance, what would they think?

Would Jinyoung be angry with him? The thought alone made his heart tighten, he could deal with anyone else being upset with him, but Jinyoung was different. If he’d offended him, he always felt horrible beyond belief.

Though their leader was too modest, he’d reassure him that it was alright and there was no need to apologize. That was how he was, and it didn’t make him feel any better. He could tell when the words weren’t as honest as they were made out to be. Normally time would fix things, but it made the days between nearly unbearable.

There was a sudden sound of the door unlocking that caused him to reopen his eyes. He sat up straighter so that he was able to turn and watch as their apartment door opened, revealing their manager and a few others he didn’t recognize.

“Time to go boys!” their manager shouted through the apartment, her voice echoing off the walls making it impossible not to be heard.

Sandeul stood from the couch to head towards his room and grab his backpack. He brought it normally to put his clothes in so that they didn’t get lost, after all backstage could be a chaotic place. Even the dressing rooms could be filled with stampeding people, which made it easy for things to get misplaced.

Once he had his bag and threw a light coat on, he left the bedroom to walk out the door. One of the women with their manager walking with him to lead him through the hall and down the stairs of their apartment complex, even if it wasn’t needed since he knew where the car would be.

The whole time his mind was on what had happened this morning.

Sighing mentally, he was almost dreading seeing Jinyoung again. Namely out of fear he would be upset about what happened. He couldn’t see why he would be, but he’d been so vague with his actions. He’d left the table after he’d asked how his food was; making it seem like he hadn’t liked it.

Avoiding him wouldn’t do anything, even if it was tempting. Plus with a stage, there wasn’t a way he could.

He honestly had no idea what to do. There only seemed to be one option at this point, and it was wait and see what happened.

If he didn’t look at him or sit by him in the car, then at least he could put it off for longer and try to think of a way to fix things if they were damaged.

But if he did that, then Jinyoung might think he was ignoring him.

Closing his eyes momentarily as he walked down a flight of stairs, he reached up to grab his backpack straps and tug on them harshly.

What was he supposed to do?

What was there to do?

Since when did their relationship become so difficult? Why was he even worrying about it so much? If Jinyoung was mad, he could get over it.

He wasn’t being insensitive, it was true. The singer never held grudges; he was normally a forgiving person. Everything was probably fine and he was overreacting, which was something he did often.

That was it; he was overreacting, just overreacting. There was nothing wrong, and he was completely overemphasizing his current situation.

So the best thing to do would be to act natural, right?

I personally think the chapters get better as they go on... anyways, thank you for reading!

TBC...