Pair Off
The Days of Caffeine and Candy Kisses
Doojoon rubbed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair and sighed. He glanced at the clock and nearly winced at the time. He’d been studying since he’d come home, even eating dinner in his bedroom. Overall, it had been a pretty good day at school and at his lessons after school with the company. Better than any of the days last week, that was for sure. Last week he’d had a rough time with pretty much everything, and the pressure had been getting to him. This week he seemed to have a better handle on things.
That didn’t make him any less exhausted, though.
He knew his parents worried about him on nights like tonight. He’d come home and gone straight to his bedroom after saying hello. No further conversation, no smile, no attempts at hanging out with any of his friends. He just wanted to study and go to bed. Even good days like today could be tiring for a teenager whose world was essentially split.
A glance behind him told him his parents had gone to bed ages ago. There was no hint of light coming from beneath his bedroom door and the rest of the house was silent. His mother had probably come to say goodnight to him and gotten a mumble in response if he’d been that entrenched in his studies.
His dinner tray was still sitting where he’d left it after eating. Doojoon stared at it for a minute before shutting his books and packing them into his bag. He’d gotten a lot done.
For now, he’d wash his dishes and go to bed so his mother wouldn’t worry if she woke up later. He just had to be quiet while he scrubbed.
---
“Good work, good work. Keep practicing the rhythm and learn that song for tomorrow.”
Doojoon nodded and looked over the sheet music he’d been given by his vocal instructor. She was a task master most of the time and often assigned some pretty difficult things, but he practiced hard just the same.
As he left the room with his music and wandered down the corridor toward the cafeteria, Doojoon counted out beats absently with the fingers of one hand, eyes locked on the paper as he hummed and mumbled. He was so caught up in it that he didn’t pay attention to where he was going. The resulting collision was therefore unavoidable and sent paper scattering everywhere.
“Aish!”
“Sorry! Sorry!” Doojoon righted himself on the floor, getting to his feet quickly. Reaching a hand down to the figure still on the floor, he frowned worriedly. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry, it’s my fault. I wasn’t paying atten-”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Yoseob mumbled as he took the offered hand and let the taller boy pull him off the floor. He brushed himself off as soon as he was upright, oblivious to the look of shock on Doojoon’s face as the other boy registered just who he’d run into. “I should know better by now. You always walk through this hallway like that after vocal.”
It took several seconds for Doojoon’s brain to sputter back to life, and when it did he continued staring at the small boy with a very dazed expression. “Huh?”
Yoseob looked up at him and blinked. “Are you okay?”
“He’s fine.”
Both boys turned to look at the source of the deep voice, and Doojoon seemed to snap back to reality as Junhyung approached. The stoic brunette stooped to pick up several sheets of paper from the floor as he got closer to them, eyes scanning the pages in the process. “You’re both learning this one, too?”
“Huh?” It was Yoseob’s turn to look dazed now. “What do you mean?”
Junhyung held up the first sheet of music and arched a brow. “I was just assigned this twenty minutes ago. Kikwang said they gave it to him, too, and assigned us to the same vocal lesson time all of next week.”
Doojoon frowned, bending down to pick up the rest of the music and put it in order. Sure enough, it seemed that Yoseob had been carrying the same sheet music he had. “Huh.. Wonder what they’re planning.”
Yoseob scratched the back of his head. “I haven’t been assigned a partner or anything, so maybe it’s just random?”
“I don’t think so,” Junhyung disagreed and shook his head. “Kikwang checked around. So far he and I are the only ones assigned a partner, but there are rumors that they’re going to be gearing up for a new boy group next year.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s any of us. It’s probably nothing.” Doojoon said quietly.
“You just wondered what they’re up to and now you say it’s nothing?” Yoseob asked incredulously, eyes wide.
Doojoon frowned. “I just meant that whatever they have in mind doesn’t have to mean that they’re looking at us to debut.”
“Where’s Kikwang?” Yoseob asked, looking more than just a little put out by the whole thing. His attention was already off of Doojoon, which certainly irked the taller boy. “We’re supposed to go to dance practice soon.”
Junhyung shrugged. “Dunno. Probably looking for you, I’d imagine. Aren’t you two usually together?”
“Seobie!”
“See what I mean?” Junhyung muttered to Doojoon as the boy previously in question ran up to the trio and held up his music for his friend to see.
“I got a new song! And I’m paired with Yong Junhyung!”
“I just told him that,” Junhyung said quietly.
Kikwang’s focus was entirely on Yoseob as the boy grabbed the paper and looked at it. “See? They didn’t say why we’re partnered together though..”
“Yoon Doojoon and I have the same song, but we’re not partnered together or anything.” Yoseob grinned as he handed the paper back.
“Really? Does everyone have the song?” Kikwang asked, frowning.
“Nope. Just us four.” Junhyung spoke a little louder in an attempt to get the boys to look at him. It didn’t work.
“Nobody else has the song, and you two are the only ones paired together,” Yoseob mused as he removed a er from the back pocket of his jeans. “I wonder what they’re up to. Maybe they think you and Junhyung can help each other.”
“Pfft! As if!” Kikwang snorted as Yoseob unwrapped his er. “I don’t rap, so why would I need help there?”
“You’ve got to be well-rounded, remember?” Yoseob stuck the er in his mouth for a moment before withdrawing it, pointing it at his friend as he spoke again. “Maybe he needs your help in dancing?”
“I dance just fine, thanks,” Junhyung grumbled from their left, growing increasingly irritated with being ignored.
“Or dancing and singing at the same time. That could be it,” Kikwang glanced down at the sheet music and shrugged a shoulder.
“Hello? I’m standing right here, guys.”
Yoseob and Kikwang looked over at Junhyung in unison, eyes wide but innocent, as if they had no idea they’d just ignored him completely for a good two minutes solid. There was a brief noise as Yoseob put the er back in his mouth and let go, reaching for one of the stacks of sheet music Doojoon was still holding.
“Maybe they’ll assign you two together next week or something,” Kikwang shrugged but finally seemed to pay attention to everyone instead of just Yoseob. “Or maybe they won’t and just want to see how well you each do alone. It’s a complicated piece, vocally. Definite parts rapping and singing, so they probably want to see which one each of you is stronger with so they know where to focus their attention in the future?”
“I can see where they might feel the need for that,” Doojoon agreed, watching Yoseob as he looked through the sheet music. He’d often wondered if the boy carried the ers with him everywhere, and apparently he got his answer since he’d pulled one out of his pocket.
“We need to get to dance practice, Seobie,” Kikwang piped up suddenly, drawing his friend’s attention away from the music and onto his wristwatch.
Yoseob shoved the papers into his backpack and grinned around his er as Kikwang grabbed his arm and started tugging. While he was pulled down the hall, he waved at Doojoon and Junhyung. He could still be heard laughing at Kikwang’s complaints about his er after they rounded the corner.
Doojoon frowned, a little confused. “Are they always like that?”
“What? Off in their own world?” Junhyung asked, lofting a brow at Doojoon as he turned to look up at him. He seemed to think on it for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. Pretty much. You get used to it after awhile.”
Doojoon nodded, but he still looked confused. “Oh…” He mumbled, then looked down at his music distractedly and scratched the back of his head.
Junhyung watched him for a few seconds and then smirked. Well…. This was going to be interesting.
Caffeine & Candy Kisses is essentially the prequel to WIB, but about Dooseob instead of Junseung. I've gotten a lot of questions about that..
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