For the next three days of staying inside, Jr was on the edge of verbally and physically attacking anyone who asked him if he was alright, or ‘do you need anything?’ even though he knew they were just trying to help. He was fed up and even more stressed than before as all he had been doing for those days was think; think about all the possible great things that could happen and also the terrible things that could result from his next actions. He had enough of looking at his bedroom ceiling for hours on end, enough of being fussed over and enough of getting numb legs from lying down all day.  Things had to change but the only way he could do that was to get out of his bloody room.

Stumbling into the living room, trying to force his legs to work again, he plopped himself down onto the sofa where Baekho frowned towards his new guest.

‘If you dare tell me to go back to bed, I swear to god I will plant this fist into your thick head,’ stated Jr as the grogginess in his throat began to clear ever so slightly, raising his now clenched fist.

Realising Jr’s bad mood Baekho decided to look back towards the TV and continue watching the shopping channel, something of which made Jr even angrier as he definitely didn’t want to buy a non-stick pan.

‘The others left for practice half an hour ago.’ Baekho stated his eyes still fixed on the TV.

‘Thank god for that.’ Slipped out Jr’s reply without thinking receiving a swift hit against the side of his arm by a slightly annoyed Baekho.

‘You shouldn’t be so happy, Aron is going to get you to come to practice later on today,’ smirked Baekho grinning widely as he could sense Jr freezing up next to him. ‘You never know it could be good to get out and actually do something other than sleep all day.’

‘You are beginning to sound like Aron,’ Jr huffed and began to stand, his weak body up feeling his muscles stretch at the sudden movements. Making it into the kitchen Jr looked for the closest thing to eat, grabbing a banana and bottle of water from the fridge. Leaning on the counter opening the bottle the front door opened from the right hand side of the room. Knowing who the intruders were going to be, Jr kept his head down, only lifting it at the sudden warm embrace from a very enthusiastic Ren.

‘I am so glad you are up, I thought you were going to become the mattress if you stayed there all day,’ Ren stated with a humming noise as he gave Jr one final squeeze before letting go and walking over to sit next to Baekho and Aron in the living room. Looking towards the door, Jr was met with Minhyun looking back and as their eyes connected gave a little smile as he approached the elder still leaning on the counter.

It was the first time seeing Minhyun in the last couple of days and it only occurred to Jr how much he had missed the younger’s presence and smile he would give him which would make ever ounce of worry disappear for a small moment of time.

‘Are you ready to come back to practice or do you need more time?’ Minhyun softly spoke as he reached forward and held onto Jr’s hand the elder’s knuckles with his thumb. It was the first time for a while that Jr felt his calmest, like his old self. Not pulling away from Minhyun, Jr gave the younger a little nod and smile as Minhyun smiled back and turned around dropping Jr’s hand as he made his way towards the living room. From the instant that Minhyun let go, Jr could already sense his worries return as the warmth left his hand, missing the softness and security that came with it.  

Voicing the thoughts in his head Jr whispered to himself ‘I have missed you.’

‘I have missed you too,’ replied the soft voice of Minhyun’s who obviously head the elder’s confession, startling the other.

Making their way into the practice room Jr had to admit that he missed the place. Although he hated the incredibly long hours that they would spend in the room, he did however miss the fun times they had spent there during they trainee years and great performances they had achieved after a long day of practicing. He loved the outcome of hard work and the fact he could live those moments with friends who would understand the struggles and dedication they put into their work. But somehow today Jr was worried to let down his fellow members. The fact he had missed so much practice time in the past few days worried Jr and the fear of disappointing the members was slowly creeping in.

Freezing in the middle of the room Jr waited patiently for the other members to put their bags down at the side of the room as he fidgeted with the base of his top, something he had done for many years whenever he was anxious.

‘Do you think he is ok?’ Minhyun whispered to Aron as he glanced over to Jr standing in the middle of the room voiced laced with worry.

‘I am sure he will be fine in a while,’ Aron spoke as he rummaged around his bag and pulled out his bottle.

Despite missing practice Jr managed to get most of the dance correct however as he had missed much of the new choreography Jr decided to give the others some of his parts to ease the load of learning new moves.

‘I’ll do the step to the left and forward to the middle,’ Ren stated as he began practicing his new moves.

‘But wouldn’t it easier if I do that as I am already in that position?’ countered Minhyun as he began to demonstrate.

‘But I want to do that move; it is not like you are not going to be in the front at any point.’

‘I do not want to be at the front, I am just saying that it would be easier and less messing looking. And anyway, you got the last part where you do that jumpy thing in the front,’ voice rising in volume toward the end.  

The argument continued for a couple of minutes as the others watched on as they began to get slowly frustrated the more Minhyun and Ren argued over a simple routine.

Jr simply had enough, between dealing with his own stuff he didn’t want to deal with stupid argument like this, however he really couldn’t stand the two argue over a stupid routine.  Raising his voice – a bit too loudly for Jr’s liking – he directed his statement towards the arguing two, ‘not everyone can get both things they want,’ this got their attention and a soft chuckle was heard behind Jr. Turning around he saw Baekho with a grin on his face.

‘Yeah you would know. Who is it today? Ren or Minhyun?’ laughed out Baekho as Jr stared on in disbelief turning around to glance at the other two who looked back with wide eyes and unvoiced questions.

No this can’t be happening.