Chapter 2: History 

Daehyun let the back of his heat slam against the soft seat of the car, watching the lights of the city blur past. The van was empty except for himself and the manager driving it. After all the commotions of performing on stage, being a guest on a radio show late at night, and forcing himself to smile, laugh, and be energetic in front of the cameras, the silence of the van suddenly seemed lonely and deafening.

Solo work is hard. He had tried to squeeze out every bit of advice from B.A.P members who had solo promotions up to now but they all had a partner with them on stage. Yongguk with Jieun, Junhong with Yongguk, Himchan with his other MCs, and Youngjae with Sunhwa.

Just relax.

You get used to it after a while.

Try not to mess up too much. Haha.

 It has been two years after his debut and he was still taken aback by the blinding lights and the roars of fanchants echoing around him. Daehyun leaned against the closed window, raindrops sliding down diagonally across it towards his face.

The urge to escape from the quiet overwhelmed him.

“It’s raining,” Daehyun commented to no one in particular.

The new manager grunted, which was his usual response to anything, really. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist. Youngjae swears that he’s like a silent shadow, preferring to lurk in the shadows, quiet and unseen. Privately, they refer to him as the “scary ninja manager,” much to the chagrin of Yongguk, who actually gets along fine with the man.

Sighing, Daehyun flips open his new phone (courtesy of the CEO and Secret’s heavy insistence that their hoobaes get their own cell phones too), and scrolled through the contact list. He briefly paused at Youngjae’s name before deciding against calling. Youngjae was at his family’s home for the weekend, the same as the youngest two of the group. It wouldn’t be right to bother him just for a few minutes of conversation. Daehyun scrolls up until the “Q” section appears. Sunhwa had gotten hold of his phone and had renamed herself as “Queen.” She insisted that he put in the rest of Secret’s numbers for emergencies, although Daehyun was too shy to ask them personally. In fact, Himchan was the one who first put in Sunhwa’s number on there for him. The older boy named her “Weirdo” before she fixed it and retaliated by naming Himchan as “ert.”  So now he has “ert,” “Queen,” “Bagel Queen,” (Sunhwa first put in Hyosung’s number as “y, bagel hottie” but Daehyun forced her to change it into something less awkward for him to see)  “Queen of swag” (Hana), “Bbang’s lover” (Jieun), and “We love Bbang” (Yongguk).

Gotta love Han Sunhwa’s creativity.

Or lack of, according to Himchan.

Speaking of the two devils, Daehyun couldn’t remember when he got close to them. Granted, they’re in the same company and thus spent more time together but they’re not exactly the closest within the company. Sunhwa has Hyosung and the rest of Secret, Himchan hangs out with Yongguk, the older trainees, and his own friends, and Daehyun himself gravitates more towards Youngjae and the younger group.

But they’ve become an unofficial trio, sort of, though it’s not exactly acknowledged.

Daehyun leaned back against the seat and drifted off to sleep, phone still opened in his hands.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The first memories that Daehyun has of TS Entertainment was the heavy pressure of resentment against him.

He was new and had gotten barely a few months of training before someone had chosen him to be the sixth member of the new TS boy group. There were originally five spots available for the group and they made a new spot just for him, the newbie, the stranger.

That made some people angry.

Of course, no one said anything to his face, which was almost worst. Instead, he gets the casual, snide remarks and barely concealed glares of dislike from some trainees.

“He must have some connection.”

“Honestly, he’s not even that good. His voice cracks when he hits those notes and…”

“I heard he even stole Youngjae’s lines. I mean, Jae is like a backup singer now.”

Youngjae was close to his age and they are both deemed lead vocalists in the group. Though their positions are technically the same, Daehyun couldn’t help but feel bad whenever he was given significant parts that once belonged to the other boy.

“It’s all right, I was worried that I couldn’t handle the high notes, anyways,” Youngjae would reply good-naturedly, though Daehyun could clearly see the indignation and disappointment in his eyes when one of the producers told him that Daehyun’s voice suited the parts better.

Daehyun hated the feeling that he was stealing someone else’s moment, the role that they worked so hard for just to have it taken away. Normally, he would fight back and spit out a biting reply whenever he feels like someone was insulting him, but instead he kept quiet, ignoring the subtle taunts because he understood.

 The rest of the soon-to-be boy group members were not bad and at least treated him with respect, which he was thankful for. Daehyun wasn’t friendly with them yet, but they made some efforts to include him in conversations and games. But he wasn’t himself with them. He wasn’t this subdued character that kept quiet and stood on the side. His energy drained out after every practice, after every casual, snarky remark and occasional “accidental” bumps in the hallways.

One day, Youngjae and Yongguk had insisted that he join them in their baseball game with some of the other trainees, but he had hesitantly declined after seeing some of the others glare at him from behind the two boys.

This is why Daehyun ended up on the rooftop, because it was quiet and he can watch the boys playing baseball in the nearby field. It was pathetic, really.

Himchan found him there.

He moved so quietly that Daehyun didn’t even notice him until he thought he saw something from the corner of his eyes.

The older boy flashed him a smile and sat down beside him.

Himchan was supposed to be with the others in the field. Daehyun saw him carrying the bats with Jongup. Daehyun opened his mouth, stared, and then closed it again. He looked to the field again.

Why is he here?

“This spot has already been claimed, you know,” Himchan stated.

“What?”

“Someone else comes here.”

“You?”

Himchan laughed, “No, not me. A friend.” 

What kind of friend claims a rooftop? But then, Daehyun doesn’t know Himchan very well, neither. He heard that he was an uzzlang (a tidbit of info he gathered from female trainees gushing about Himchan in hallways when they couldn’t see him) and that he can play instruments (traditional? Guitar? He couldn’t remember). Other than that and the fact that they will be in a group and live together in the next few months, Daehyun didn’t know much about Kim Himchan. The silence between the boys stretched on for a while, until Daehyun could no longer suppress the questions threatening to bubble out of his mouth.

“Why…why are you here?” he asked softly, “Wouldn’t you rather be with your friends?”

Himchan sighed, stretching out his legs. He rolled his eyes towards Daehyun, who still wore a confused expression on his face. “I need a reason to be here?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I—”

“I find you interesting, that’s all.” Himchan replied bluntly.

Interesting?

Himchan snorted at the surprise that stretched across Daehyun’s face, “Yes, interesting. Intriguing. Amusing. Take your pick. Not quite enthralling, though. Don’t look at me like that, I’m not hitting on you, for goodness’ sake.”

   “I’m not that interesting.” Daehyun sputtered.

 Himchan scoffed, “You should be honored. I don’t find a lot of people interesting.” He leaned back, put his arms under his head, and closed his eyes.

  Daehyun shifted for a moment, not quite knowing what to do say to the strange young man beside him. Is he actually going to sleep?

“You might as well sleep, too,” Himchan said, eyes still closed, “it’ll be a while before she gets here.”

“Who?”

Seeing that Himchan wasn’t going to reply anytime soon, Daehyun leaned back as well, staring up at the slow moving clouds above. Birds swooped across the vast, blue sky and the distant roar of an airplane, flying to faraway lands he had only heard of, temporarily filled the air.

Daehyun closed his eyes. He imagined the people in the airplane looking out their small windows, down at the city. Perhaps they would see two boys lying down on a rooftop in the middle of Seoul.

Perhaps he would go where they’re going someday.

Author's notes: Chapter 1 is completly rewritten and chapter 2 is edited.