A/N: If you were wondering, this is a chapter in response to Yearning, and while it's able to act as a stand-alone chapter, you might get a better understanding if you read the one-shot. This is also set in the recent era where the boys had ShowTime 2 in Japan. This is in Ren's POV, but still in third-person prose. I have not decided on a happy or sad ending, so we'd see how it goes?

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THE THREAD CAME LOOSE

'He said, 'I love you'.'

There were nights where Ren would just toss and turn and not fall asleep. Eyes fallen shut from weariness, his mind was active, spinning stories and facts and twisting them in all dreamscape fantasy. The boy hummed lightly, burrowing his face further into the plushies - he wasn't really a plushie person, but something to cuddle these nights away was very much appreciate. The boy felt a dip on the bed, but made no movement at all. Perhaps it was the beer, or the release of stress accumulated over the last few weeks. Despite his much-awake mind, his body was beaten down, tired, aching for rest.

He didn't knew how long it's been, but he could feel the lights dimmed, and the blanket covering his shoulders. Lips curled lightly at the JR's gesture, he knew he'd be well-taken care of when JR is around. There was no sound, no further movement, and he briefly wondered if the boy's fallen asleep. Ren could hear the even breathing, almost hear that light, steady thump of his heart beating in time with the ticking of the clock. Willing himself to sleep, he could finally feel his consciousness leaving, but at that very moment.

"...I love you."

The voice is soft, almost inaudible, and for a split second he wondered if he's heard it wrong. But he knew he hadn't.

He knew he wouldn't.

'He looked distracted.'

Choi Ren wasn't exactly a genius, but he ain't dumb either. Just because he messed up the multiplication table doesn't mean he's blind to his surroundings. Having mingled with s for so long, he knew them well - what would tick them off, what would entertain them, who's having a bad day...he wasn't called the mood maker for no reason. He's the mood maker simply because he was the one who balances the mood out in the team. And Minki's always prided himself for his observation skills.

Thus, it wasn't difficult to know that, after JR's third  stumble, something was wrong. Large eyes glanced over, his movements not stilling as long as the music played, something they've been trained to do, and arched a brow in question when JR looked back. It was ignored, however, and Ren knew the only time he'd get any answers were during the break. If he could get any answers out of JR in the first  place.

"You looked distracted," the brunet mumbled when he was close enough, hanging the towel around his neck.

"Was I?" the leader grinned, handsome smile plastered on his face, but it wasn't quite reaching his eye.

"What is wrong wit-"

"So you've been observing me throughout the practice?" JR quirked up, slinging the towel onto his shoulder as he widened his eyes in faux excitement, pitch a notched higher. The members turned, expecting something amusing to happen and just when JR inched closer in attempt to reach out for him, Minki retaliated. One elbow right in the guts, and JR was sent back squirming onto the floor, sympathetic shakes of their members and staff's heads casted upon him.

"Get lost."

He was angry - legitimately irritated, to say the least. "Washroom," he announced, flinging his brown locks away from his face before exiting the stuffy studio.  He was being serious, but to trust JR to ever be serious with him...

.

'He said, not to wait for him.'

Being the star pupil of Pledis meant that Jonghyun was always busy. Busy with practice, busy with monitoring the newcomers, busy writing songs, busy with meetings. Ren didn't even know when  JR started becoming busy with meeting people from the in-house production team, but eventually the days of seeing his best friend diminish day by day.

They used to spend summer and winter vacations stuck in the Pledis dorm together, with several other male trainees that came and went. No school, full-day trainings, and days of complaining the canteen food isn't as good as their mum's cooking came and went as well, and Ren found himself shooting a look to the door when the clock strike eleven.

Minhyun was already nodding off, slumping down the small couch, lanky limbs draped over his body. He grunted in displeasure when Baekho crashed into him, moving to shift himself into a comfortable position as he watched the flickering image on the laptop. "Yah," he groaned when Baekho snored, his thick skull landing on his shoulder not too gently, but after a short sigh Ren merely repositioned his body, not waking him up.

They've had a crazy day, after all. Exercise, vocal lessons, exercise, dance lessons, fast meals in between, more practices. His whole body felt aching sore, something he's gotten used to feeling since the last winter training schedule. Blame himself for lagging behind the rest in dance - well, he's got Minhyun being dragged down with him this holidays - but the extra training sessions were wearing him down.

11:10 PM. JR was not back yet.

The brunet pursed his lips into a pout, half wondering why the leader - his new position, handed to him wordlessly by the company and wide blinking eyes from the rest of the trainees - was running late again.

It's these silent nights that made him realised that he's drifting away from the first best friend he's ever gotten in the company. Probably still the one and only best friend that he's never going to admit to his face.

The worse thing? Minki knew that it wasn't just the busy schedules keeping him away from him, it was something else. The occasional tension in his palms when he grab his own waist, the slightest hitch of his breath when he called him out for it...Ren wondered what went wrong. And when. And how. And why...

And when he woke up in the morning, nicely tucked into bed as the groans of Baekho and Minhyun rang through the dormitories from the living room, he knew what he missed the most.

That lingering warmth, soaked in the blankets covering him from head to toe.

'He said, I'd catch you when you fall.'

Aron was known as the cheesy member, but Ren could never recall when did the cheesiest-member title went from JR to Aron.

Or when did JR ended up concealing  all those words,  all those childish moments, behind his perfect smile?

"Ouch," Ren let out a small whine, a sound he only made when there's no other trainees besides JR left in the smallest practice room in the whole of Pledis entertainment. There was two hands by his side, and the boy let himself be hoisted up.

"You've got to turn clockwise, like this, and land on that foot." His eyes trailed from Jonghyun's fingers to his own tired legs, and huffed, nodding. It wasn't like he's an idiot, but he just can't seem to get that damn moves right.

Or maybe he was an idiot.

"Minki-"

"Ouch!" Then, "Ah! I'm not doing this anymore! Time out!!"

"No time out till you finish this. Come on, songsaengnim will check on us in less than an hour."

Minki huffed yet again, but let himself be hoisted up. Sometimes he wondered how Jonghyun could lift him up so easily - they were almost of the same size, he was slightly taller, even, but that's how it's always been. Dusting his hands, he looked at the mirror with knitted brows, each huff making the steam condense upon the cool mirror in the stuffy green room. Softly, he mumbled some complains, almost inaudible, but Jonghyun heard it all. His lips twitched in annoyance when that high-pitched laughter rang in the room, but felt his tension ease when the familiar hand brushed his strands of hair.

"I'd catch you when you fall," he smiled, eyes shining as he said, "so let's go for one more round, okay?"

'I saw his smile before I heard his name .'

"Hi," he grinned, tilting his head at the dark-skinned boy curled in the corner of the room. Seeing wide eyes blinking back at him, he took another step forward, bracing himself, "my name's Minki. Choi Minki, from Busan." There was a small smile, genuine, and he nodded an acknowledgement before reaching one hand out, "and, erm, I'm new!"

He caught his bright smile, and for the first time he realized that he could actually be captivated by another guy's smile. "Name's Jonghyun," the boy started, and head poking further out of the blankets, manhwa book dropping from his hands, "welcome to Pledis, Minki."

"I can call you Minki, right?"