Jaejin emerged from his room with his fringe swept down and his hair combed in his default boyish hairstyle. He had a pair of branded, square sunglasses perched on his nose. Just as he was about to stroll towards Hongki’s room, Hongki wheeled out. As usual, Hongki looked stunning with his eye-catching jacket, dazzling headphones and loud hat.

Jaejin awkwardly walked Hongki to the stairs where they stared at each other. Jaejin scratched the back of his head sheepishly and muttered,

“I guess we have to do this quite often eh? Do you mind, hyung?”

“Uh I guess… I was hoping you don’t mind the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble, really. I enjoy it….no, I meant I enjoy working out with the extra weight in my arms.”

Jaejin bit on his lip in embarrassment and lifted Hongki off his wheelchair speedily to avoid the awkward silence. With his hyung just within such a short distance from him, his heart started pounding against his ribcage. He crossed his fingers and hoped that Hongki would not be able to feel his crazy heart rate through his chest. He can’t help but remember the episode in the morning. Did Hongki feel the same way too?

After settling Hongki into his wheelchair, Jaejin automatically went behind and pushed Hongki out, along the gorgeous pavement towards his car. With Jaejin’s help, Hongki sat in the front seat while Jaejin moved into the driver’s seat. The journey there was awkward with little pockets of chuckles and laughter but it reminded both of them of their hey days when they had just started out as FTISLAND – how they used to talk late into the night about everything under the sun, how they would fall asleep and wake up next to each other, how they used to share their deep dark secrets, how they comforted each other when one was in distress. After a 30-minute long ride, they reached the studio. Jaejin helped Hongki down and walked into the studio.

They found the studio silent and dark. Evidently, none of the other casts were there yet. Jaejin found the light switch and flicked it on, revealing a spacious yet empty practice studio. The only property that could be seen was a ladder at the end of the room that was used in recent rehearsals.

“Looks like the other casts are not here yet. I guess I should start warming up,” Jaejin announced awkwardly, his voice reverberated throughout the studio.

“Sing something from your musical,” Hongki prompted.

Jaejin’s heart skipped a beat when that thought passed his mind. He fluttered his eyelids several times while swallowing a big gulp of saliva. His cheeks and tips of his ears started to turn to bright red as the feelings of panic, anxiety and embarrassment tugged at Jaejin’s heart. He took a long, deep breath, calmed his nerves, closed his eyes and let the notes and words flow out of his mouth.

When he was done, he opened his eyes slowly, afraid of seeing Hongki’s unsatisfied, judging look. In contrast, what he saw was Hongki’s megawatt smile and twinkling eyes. Hongki raised his hands and applauded. The sounds of applause resounded in the almost empty studio. After they faded, Hongki wheeled himself towards Jaejin and stopped a few feet away from him.

“That was brilliant, Jaejinnie. Never knew you improved so much. Good job,” Hongki commented, almost in awe. “But you’re right, there’s just this part where you need to tweak. After that, it should be perfect.”

A satisfied grin crept up Jaejin’s face. His ego was apparently majorly boosted by his favourite hyung’s comment. This new surge of confidence somehow messed up Jaejin’s mental wiring and caused a string of words that he would never have dared to say to slip out of his lips.

“Teach me, hyung,” he delivered the statement teasingly, completed with a playful wink. What happened next was sure to make Jaejin regret his impulsive words.

Hongki advanced forward with lightning speed, causing Jaejin to stumble towards the wall. There was this mischievous look in Hongki’s eyes as he stared almost seductively at Jaejin with a little, devilish twist at the corner of his lips. Hongki stretched out two fingers and slid it along Jaejin’s toned torso, up and down, until he found Jaejin’s diaphragm.

Hongki’s gesture sent shivers down Jaejin’s spine. Adrenaline starting pumping through his blood vessels and his breath quickened once again. The playful smirk on his face was completely wiped off, now replaced by a flustered, clueless expression. He could not stare into Hongki’s speaking eyes any longer. His eyes darted across the room for something else to focus on.

Hongki, increasingly enjoying sending his dongsaeng into this flustered state, continued to lock his gaze on Jaejin’s face and revealed his sharp canines in an evil laughter.

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” Hongki taunted, knowing fully that it would send Jaejin’s heart banging against his ribcage. But strangely, he found it extremely amusing and interesting. He never knew Jaejin was so bothered by his presence, not in this way. But now that he knew, he wasn’t going to let it rest at that. Hongki’s soul returned to his body instantaneously; all thoughts about Jonghoon seemed to have evaporated into nothingness.

What followed were a couple of nervous tries, awkward laughs, getting into work mode, several of formal tries, duets with Hongki subbing in as ChoA, comfortable exchange of advice, pockets of smooth conversations, teasing, happy smiles and boisterous laughter. Ah, just like the good old days.

In the midst of one of their boyish laughter, ChoA, Ryeowook, Luna and other crewmembers entered the studio with surprised looks on their faces, obviously surprised at Hongki’s presence. Everyone exchanged their polite greetings and a few bro-fists.

“Hongki-oppa, what brings you here? How are you feeling?” ChoA, a fellow FNC artist, asked.

“Ah, Jaejinnie approached me for help for a song in the musical. This kid’s serious about this,” Hongki said while rubbing Jaejin’s back in circles. He then turned to Jaejin and they shared a comfortable smile with each other. There wasn’t any awkward feeling or uneasiness between them now.

“Ah, our Jaejin-sshi has worked hard! Let’s have a listen,” Ryeowook challenged with a friendly smile on his face.

Jaejin daringly accepted his challenge and shot Hongki a look. Hongki nodded at him and mouthed the words “You can do this!”. Both of them took a deep breath, and soon, two melodious yet complementary voices saturated the air in the studio. It was a breathtaking moment.

JJ: We’re soaring, flying. There’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach.

HK: If we’re trying, so we’re breaking free.

JJ: You know the world can see us, in a way that’s different than who we are.

HK: Creating space between us, till we’re separate hearts.

JJ & HK: But your faith, it gives me strength, the strength to believe

JJ: We’re breaking free!

HK: We’re soaring~

JJ: Flying~

JJ & HK: There’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach. If we’re trying, yeah we’re breaking free.

JJ: Oh we’re breaking free

HK: Ooh~

Thunderous applause sounded throughout the studio for what seemed like eons. Hongki and Jaejin smiled at each other with glee and joy.

I nailed it! I did it! Jaejin exclaimed in his heart. Another rush of adrenaline rushed through his body yet again, this time from sheer joy and happiness. He couldn’t believe what he just did, with Hongki. It was a magical moment, so surreal, so precious. He secretly wished for time to standstill, as long as it could. It felt so right, he swore to god, they did feel something for each other.

“That was the most beautiful rendition of the song I’ve ever heard of!” ChoA exclaimed. “Hongki-oppa and Jaejin-oppa, your voices are a perfect fit! I don’t think I could do a better job than this.”

Hongki and Jaejin stared on at each other with wide grins on their faces. None of them wanted to let this moment go. This might be the start of something new.

So sorry for the late update everyone >~< Been busy with school and all T^T Hope you're satisfied with this long chapter~ <3 If you wanna listen to Jaejin's version of Breaking Free (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp_6WItfvi4)! I really liked his voice in it~ Kyaaaa I spazz over my own HongJae moments! Do you? hehe :)