Someday, our stories will meet in harmony...Maybe we’re already there.

“Okay, bye ahjussi. Ah-ahjussi! I have to go,” Woohyun tried to speak over the voice on the other line, but Jungyeop was still rambling on, wishing him luck and giving him small advice. Woohyun looked about himself nervously. He felt as if everyone in the long line was listening into his conversation (which was far from the truth but…), so he spoke the next part in a low whisper, “Yea, I love you too. Bye!” He then hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was embarrassing, it was good that he called the old man. He felt less nervous now, less jittery after having heard from a voice so familiar, so comforting.

However, that feeling didn’t last for much longer. He felt a hot pricking at the side of his neck. Someone was standing next to him, gaze piercing his skin. Woohyun slowly turned his neck to see who this new threat was. “Huh?”

He couldn’t help but to let out a small gasp in surprise. It was a boy around his age, and just a shade shorter. That paired with his overwhelming smile quickly downgraded this person from a ‘threat’ to ‘harmless’ (although if the smile were a bit wider, it would quickly upgrade the man from ‘threat’ to ‘verified psychotic killer’).

With his sharp eyes, the boy looked down at the number in his hand to the one plastered across Woohyun’s belly. His number directly followed Woohyun’s. He raised his head and greeted Woohyun, “I guess this is my spot. Hi.”

Woohyun gave a small wave with his hands still tucked into his coat. “Hey.”

The boy then started peeling off his coat, which was strange, both the action and the coat. It was still early morning, and the sun hadn’t warmed up yet, and the coat, well, the best way the Woohyun could describe the coat was that it was a blue marshmallow with way too many (and random) patches sewn on. “Can you hold this?” he asked, handing over the coat to Woohyun.

“Sure,” Woohyun replied with a shrug, taking the coat with both hands and wrapping them around them tightly. The warmth and feeling finally began to seep back into his fingers. He had no idea when he had lost it in this bitter cold.

“So are you here by yourself?” the other strangled out the question as his chin was tucked down, eyes watching carefully as he pinned the number onto his stomach.

“Ah…yes.” Woohyun was a bit taken aback by this attempt at small talk. Weren’t they already competing against each other? Shouldn’t they be sizing each other up instead? ‘Have you auditioned before?’ ‘What style of music do you sing?’ Those were questions that Woohyun had been ready to answer (and also had witty, cocky comebacks prepared). But this boy with one question, already demolished the cool and confident front that Woohyun had wanted to put on today.

True, Woohyun hadn’t come alone. He had Howon, but…Howon wasn’t the support that he wanted today. Woohyun felt like he was on his own. And for the first time, it scared him.

“Me too,” the other answered his own question happily. Woohyun looked over at him and saw bright grin back on his face. “But my parents are coming later when I get up closer to the front.”

Woohyun sniffed and averted his gaze from that too bright face. “That’s nice,” he huffed.

“It is, but it’s also kind of embarrassing you know,” the other continued, not picking up on the fact that Woohyun was now trying to ignore him (or maybe he didn’t care). “They’re going to be so loud. They even made posters,” the boy said with a slight whine.

No, I don’t know, Woohyun thought to himself, and holding back the words by biting his lips. He only let out a strangled noise which he hoped sounded agreeing, or pleasant, non-hostile. The other still had that smile on his face, so Woohyun supposed it was fine.

“Thank you,” the boy said with a short bow as he took back his coat from Woohyun’s hands. But before Woohyun could stuff his hands back into his coat pockets, the boy extended his hand towards Woohyun. “My name is Jang Dongwoo.”

Woohyun took the hand into his own and shook it. “Nam Woohyun.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Dongwoo chirped, shaking their hands with more enthusiasm. Then suddenly the smile faded from his face. His body suddenly and violently shook, causing Woohyun to step back in surprise and look the other up and down. “Ah, I’m getting nervous, aren’t you?” Dongwoo asked, expressing his nervousness with ever fiber of his being. He kept bouncing on the balls of his feet and moving his limbs as if he could actually shake the nervousness off of him.

Cute, the thought caught Woohyun off-guard and so did the smile forming on his face. Rival or not, something about Dongwoo put Woohyun’s own anxious heart at ease. The boy was likable. He had a fierce face like a lion, but immediately after he smiled, Dongwoo was as docile as a young lamb. He was non-threatening. Woohyun felt like they could easily be friends, but…Make friends and scope out the competition, Woohyun couldn’t get the latter of Howon’s advice out of his head. And he already had scoped Dongwoo out and analyzed him. Dongwoo’s strength was obviously his innate likability. He’d pass the first round easily, charming the judges with his smile as he had just charmed Woohyun. He’d be the loveable contestant that would go farther than he should, relying more on his popularity rather than talent. Which is a pity, because Woohyun was planning on being that contestant. The bastard.

Woohyun sighed at his own pettiness. He should be focused on the ‘making friends’ part. He should be focused on enjoying the moment, relishing the fact that he’s finally going after his dream and that Dongwoo (who is oblivious to Woohyun’s internal dilemma) is just a kind soul that he met along the way. Dongwoo, he probably had the same dream after all. They should be comrades.

For now Woohyun would allow himself to be friendly. They both hadn’t even been picked for the show yet. Afterwards, he’d figure out how to deal with a friendly rival.

“Yea, just a bit,” Woohyun agreed, joining Dongwoo in the ‘nervous jitters dance’ and added, “Waiting is the worst.”

“I know. I just want to go right now. I’m ready!” Dongwoo exclaimed, crouching down into a runner’s position, getting ready to sprint off as soon as the gun fires. “I’m ready!” He then sprung up and began running in place.

Woohyun laughed. “Where do you get all that energy? Do you run on batteries?” he asked, turning Dongwoo around so that he could check out the other’s back jokingly for a battery pack. Dongwoo giggled, turned around, and shook his head. Then Woohyun held out both of his hands to the other. “I could use some more energy. Give me.”

“Right? I have too much,” Dongwoo admitted, also pretending to hand some of his energy over to Woohyun. “So I have a hard time staying still. And this line…ah it’s killer!” he lamented, jumping up and down.

As he watched the boy trying to dispel his excess energy, Woohyun almost felt bad, and he could relate. This waiting game was slowly killing him too. They both had to wait all day for just one moment, just a few minutes long, maybe several minutes if they were lucky enough to be what the judges were looking for. And if Woohyun dwelled any longer about how those few minutes would forever change his life, for the worse (because Sunggyu would’ve been right and he would have to give up on this dream) or for the better (he becomes a star, even just for a brief shining moment), Woohyun would lose his mind and end up messing up the audition because of crippling self doubt. He needed a distraction. They both did.

“Let’s play a game,” Woohyun suggested.

“Hm? Like what?”

Several rounds of rock-paper-scissors later, and both boys had bright red foreheads, which was okay because their bangs would cover the marks. It probably wasn’t the brightest idea, but hitting each other in the forehead as a punishment seemed to knock some sense into the both of them. There were worse things than waiting for an audition, like losing brain cells.

Woohyun was ready to give a hard flick to Dongwoo’s forehead after winning the last round. Dongwoo, on the other hand, kept squirming and avoiding Woohyun’s finger. Now he had his arm around Dongwoo, holding him in place, getting ready to hit it. The two had gotten quite close (literally) in a short amount of time. But men typically grew closer after hitting each other, and now that they had both hit each other several times already, they were naturally becoming fast friends.

“Woohyun-hyung! Woohyun-hyung!”

“Hm?” Dongwoo turned his head, looking behind them. “Someone’s calling for you.”

“Must be someone else,” Woohyun responded. He put his hand on Dongwoo’s cheek to turn the head back towards him. “Stop trying to avoid me. Come here,” he beckoned with an evil chuckle on his lips. He raised his hand to the other’s forehead. “I’m going to hit you harder now for lying.”

“No. I really think it’s you,” Dongwoo insisted and ducked out of Woohyun’s hold. He peered around the line, searching for the source. Once he caught it, his eyes grew wide. “He’s coming over here. Oh—L? Do you know L?” he asked whipping his head back towards Woohyun, jaw unhinged.

Woohyun furrowed his eyebrows. “L?” he repeated. He then stuck his head out, trying to look for this mysterious letter of a man. To his surprise, there was someone in a suit with a frantic look on his face, but it melted into relief once his gaze met Woohyun’s. He ran up to the duo. Oh, it’s Myungsoo. Woohyun had forgotten about his old dongsaeng’s new name…and with everything that he had going on, he had forgotten about his old dongsaeng altogether.

“Woohyun-hyung! I’m glad you’re here,” Myungsoo said as soon as he caught up to the other two in line. All of the other contestants in line were starting to congregate around them, watching and whispering. Myungsoo was oblivious to it all. His eyes were fixed only on Woohyun.

“Oh, Myungsoo-yah,” Woohyun tried to play off knowing a celebrity coolly, but his voice betrayed him by quivering slightly. The stares were starting to pierce him, making him increasingly self-conscious. “What is it?”

Myungsoo dropped his gaze and his face grew red at the use of his real name. He rubbed the back of his neck as he revealed sheepishly, “I, uh, um…am hosting the show.”

“What?” Woohyun blurted out. Of course Myungsoo was the host. Myungsoo who already had everything that Woohyun wanted, already had this show before him too. Some people truly do have all the luck. But Woohyun tried hard to mask his envy and put a smile on his face. “Congratulations!” he cheered. His eyes then darted around to the crowd closing in on them and on Dongwoo, his new friend, whose jaw looked like it was about to fall off. “Well, I don’t want to hold you back,” he mumbled to Myungsoo, hoping to get the other to leave. They said ‘hi’ to each other. What else was there to say between old, now detached acquaintances.

“Hyung! I need your help.”

Apparently a favor. Woohyun turned his attention back on the other, confused. “How can I?” he asked.

“I, um, need to interview people,” Myungsoo answered quietly, clasping his hands together, his wide shoulders shrinking.

“Don’t the PD-nims find the people for you,” Woohyun pointed out.

“Ah, that, yea. But…” Myungsoo bowed his head, eyes fixed on the ground as he was explaining himself, “I have a script too. But I’m still nervous. It’s my first time hosting…I don’t really know what to do. And then I saw you in line.” He lifted his gaze as soon as he mentioned Woohyun. His eyes were pleading. “I’m sure if I ask them, they’ll let me.”

“Really?” Woohyun asked nervously. The whispers surrounding him were growing into a loud murmur, and Dongwoo’s presence was hot on his back. This was a of luck, wasn’t it? A shooting star across Woohyun’s dreary sky. But why didn’t he feel like he deserved it?

“Hyung, it would be good for you too! You’ll get airtime,” Myungsoo insisted. Woohyun pulled his attention away from his fellow contestants finally and focused on the man in front of him, who all the sudden seemed less impressive than before. Less of a man. He was just a boy like Woohyun. No, he was younger than Woohyun. Myungsoo was whining now, “Please hyung. You…you’re the only person that I know here.”

Myungsoo, even after all of these years and going through a string of fortunate events, he was just like that boy still, who preferred to color by himself in the corner than play with the other orphans. He was still shy, in spite of being into the spotlight.

“Okay,” Woohyun gave in. Myungsoo immediately smiled in relief. But then Woohyun robbed it away after he raised one finger in the other’s face. “But under one condition.”

“Anything. I’ll do it,” Myungsoo immediately yielded.

Woohyun reached behind him, hoping that he was grabbing the arm of the right contestant, but judging by the puffiness of the coat he’d grabbed onto, it was. He pulled Dongwoo in between them. “You have to interview my friend, Jang Dongwoo, too. It’ll be a joint interview,” Woohyun listed out his condition.

“Of course. Done!” Myungsoo didn’t even hesitate, or look at Dongwoo. He was just relieved that his job had just gotten easier. “Thank you, hyung,” he said as he walked away to ask the PD about the interviews.

After seeing the model walk away, Woohyun puffed out his cheeks and let out a deep breath. This was his shooting star, the way for him to get noticed, not to mention a way to waste time before the audition. He needed to grab onto to it, like he was grabbing onto Dongwoo’s arm right now. His grip tightened. Why was he getting even more nervous than before?

“Woohyun-ssi, you didn’t have to invite me,” Dongwoo spoke in a quiet voice. Woohyun looked over and dropped the other’s arm. “Why? I mean, my grateful. Really happy. You’re the best!” Dongwoo exclaimed, giving the other a thumb’s up probably because he saw Woohyun’s worried expression. “But why?” Dongwoo asked.

Because he didn’t want to go alone? That was part of it. But there was more to it. “I just got lucky. I might as well spread my fortune,” he answered. He knew exactly what it was like to see people get lucky; he knew what envy felt like all too well. He thought many many many times, ‘Why isn’t it me? Why is it never me?’ So this time it wouldn’t just be ‘him.’ It would be ‘Dongwoo’ too.

Dongwoo’s sunshine-like smile returned to his face. “You know, most people would hoard it, get an edge on the rest of the competition,” he teased.

“Yea but…I like you,” Woohyun reasoned. “You seem like a good person. You’d do the same for me, right?” He narrowed his eyes on the other while waiting for the answer.

And Dongwoo didn’t even wait for a second to answer. “Eh, of course. I like you too.” He then shivered. “Aish, this is getting kind of weird for a first meeting. Why do I feel like we just confessed to each other?”

Woohyun was fully prepared to make it more awkward without any shame. He wrapped an arm around the other’s shoulder. “Dongwoo-yah, let’s survive this together!” he cheered and slightly shook the other.

And Dongwoo was more than okay with it. His smile grew brighter.

“Okay!”

Eventually, Woohyun was pulled from a line by a staff member, who said that the interview was now set up. Woohyun made sure to pull along his new friend with him. And as soon as they reached the corner of the lobby where Myungsoo was conducting the interviews, the model caught sight of them and waved them over. “Ah, sir, this is them. Nam Woohyun-ssi and…” Myungsoo introduced the duo to the PD as they approached, but he failed to remember the other name.

“Jang Dongwoo,” Dongwoo filled in the blank for him, not the least bit discouraged.

But Woohyun grew increasingly so. The PD only had his eyes on Woohyun, and with his body, he shut Dongwoo out of the conversation. “L-ssi says that he knows you,” the PD asked Woohyun.

“Yes, we grew up together for a bit,” Woohyun answered and shifted over a bit to include his friend back into the conversation.

“I never revealed this on television before. Seriously never,” Myungsoo emphasized. “But I’m adopted. Woohyun-hyung and I were at the same orphanage together.”

The PD looked pleasantly surprised. “Is that so?”

“Yes, sir,” Woohyun replied, wondering if it was something he should’ve been proud of.

“And did you get adopted as well?” the PD probed further.

Woohyun sighed, not knowing just yet how he felt about the possibility of using his sordid past for others’ entertainment…or to get himself ahead in the industry’s game. The truth would out though, eventually. “No, sir. I just left the orphanage recently,” Woohyun responded in a murmur.

“To pursue your dream of becoming a singer,” there it was. The PD had found his sob story in Woohyun. His eyes lit at the prospect of it. Whereas Woohyun was still in doubt about whether this was a good idea or not. He had planned on passing the audition (and maybe winning the competition) with his talent and, of course, his charming smile. But he didn’t think of this.

“Ah—“ Woohyun opened his mouth, about to object. After all he didn’t really leave the orphanage to pursue his dream, Jungyeop-ahjussi had more or less kicked him out. He hadn’t really thought of pursuing this dream until recently, until he saw more worth in himself.

But now the PD had excluded Woohyun from the conversation as the man turned to the model and clapped him on the back. “Good job, L-ssi. Great find!” he praised. He then looked at the staff members surrounding them. “Let’s prepare the interview.”

“Wait, sir!” Woohyun called after the PD, grabbing at Dongwoo’s puffy coat again (good thing he didn’t seem to mind being manhandled by Woohyun) and jogged after the PD.

“What is it?” the man turned around and asked, obviously irritated.

Woohyun cleared his throat and said with as strong as a voice as he could muster (because this guy kind of scared him), “I want my friend to join me.”

“Why? Was he at the orphanage too?” the PD looked at Dongwoo with hope.

But Dongwoo didn’t have the answer he was looking for, “Ah, no.”

“Then we don’t need him,” the PD dismissed both of them and returned his work.

Woohyun was about to follow him and ask him again, and maybe have Dongwoo smile this time. That would win him over. But a tug on his coat held him back. Dongwoo had grabbed him this time, to stop him. “Don’t worry about it. I appreciate you trying,” Dongwoo insisted.

“Dongwoo…” Woohyun began. He really wanted to share this shred of luck he had, but it turned out to only be enough for him. The staff was already summoning him for the interview.

“Woohyun-ssi, are you ready? We need to put a mic on you,” a woman said, coming up and pinning a microphone to the collar of his coat. Woohyun shot a nervous look over to his friend.

“Go. I’ll be fine,” Dongwoo tried to ease his worries. He waved as he stepped back. “Good luck! I’ll see you later!”

After Dongwoo left, the next few minutes were all a blur. Several hands were on him, making him ‘camera ready,’ whatever that was. And the last set of hands pushed him down to sit next to Myungsoo on the staircase in the lobby. It was an odd setting, but it was probably to show that the model was ‘mingling’ with the contestants and welcoming them like a good host. However, Myungsoo didn’t even say ‘hi’ to Woohyun when he sat next to him. His eyes were glued to the script in his hands, and his lips were moving as he read it.

Without thinking, Woohyun placed a hand on the other’s knee. And once Myungsoo looked up at him and Woohyun started thinking again, he quickly removed his hand. It probably wasn’t a good idea, even though they had shared a past together. But then Myungsoo’s blank stare turned into a warm smile. “Thanks for doing this,” he spoke lowly.

“It’s really no problem,” Woohyun responded with a nervous chuckle. “I should be the one thanking you.”

Myungsoo shook his head and returned his gaze to his lap. “You’ve always been a good hyung to me.”

“Ha!” Woohyun sputtered into a laugh, but he couldn’t help it. Myungsoo had to have been lying. “That was for barely a year. To be honest, I’m surprised that you even remembered me.”

“How could I not?” Myungsoo sounded offended. His soft tone grew louder, argumentative. “That was the hardest time of my life! I can’t remember my birth parents, but I remember the abandonment…and you. You helped me.”

“How?” Woohyun asked. He was sifting through his own brain for an answer, but he couldn’t recall much. Mostly of how quiet Myungsoo was, and lonesome. Of course, Woohyun remembered the ease Myungsoo had gotten adopted too.

“Hm,” Myungsoo hummed, beginning to recall memories from years past. “When I first got there, I couldn’t sleep, but you slept with me every night.”

“True but…”

Myungsoo must not have heard Woohyun’s quiet objection because he continued, “You also brought me snacks. You played with me…and other than ahjussi, you’re the only one that I can remember from that place.”

The memories started to slowly seep back in. Woohyun remembered now, not everything but most things. And they weren’t necessarily good things. He didn’t have the heart to tell Myungsoo that they had to share beds because beds were sparse and they were small (and Myungsoo used to sleepwalk then. Woohyun would have to wake up and catch him, whenever Myungsoo wandered off). Jungyeop also had entrusted Myungsoo into Woohyun’s care. Woohyun, who’d been there since birth, had unwillingly become the orphanage’s welcome wagon. It was a role Jungyeop had forced on him. And so back then, Woohyun had found Myungsoo to be annoying and a pain in his side. He still felt sorry for that boy, as he was at the age when he was learning how to sympathize, and so he still took care of the small boy, grudgingly. But these, these weren’t fond memories for Woohyun. Not in the slightest. But they were for Myungsoo.

“How can you remember all of that? I can’t even. It was so long ago,” Woohyun joked, trying to lighten things up, feeling slightly guilty for not valuing Myungsoo in the same way that he valued him.

Myungsoo shook his head and smiled as he replied, “You don’t forget something like that.”

For Myungsoo, the memory of a hyung who helped him through a difficult time in his life, that was a treasure. He had held onto tightly, shut in within his heart for safe-keeping. Even for Myungsoo, who had everything, who could have easily forgotten them and submerged himself in his new life, he still held onto the orphanage. It was still a part of who he was. It was a small part, but it was still there nonetheless. A small part of him was still that shy boy who looked to Woohyun for help.

“Oh right,” Woohyun mumbled, unsure of what to say next. His eyes darted to the crew, wondering why they hadn’t given them any directions. The widened as soon as they caught sight of the red light of the camera. The crew had been filming this entire time. Myungsoo must have wondered what was wrong and followed his hyung’s gaze, releasing a soft ‘oh’ when he saw it too. The model stiffened and gazed back at Woohyun, looking surprised and lost. Woohyun decided to help him out once again. He leaned back onto the staircase, relaxing, hoping that the other would follow. “Ah, yes I was a good hyung,” he bragged. “Hey, do you remember the slide in the backyard?”

“Yes!” Myungsoo exclaimed, becoming easily immersed in their conversation again. “It was really big.” He spread his hands in the air to emphasize his point.

Woohyun shook his head. “I’m taller than it,” he revealed.

“No way.”

And they kept talking like that for a while, reminiscing about days gone by. Woohyun updated the other of their old ‘home’ (it was weird to call it that). They eventually must’ve said something or enough to please the PD because he was giving Myungsoo a sign to wrap the interview up.

Woohyun had expected the other to wish him luck or say that he’d be watching the audition closely, but what came out of the younger’s mouth pleased him far more. “So I see that you brought a friend with you today,” Myungsoo said, nodding over to Dongwoo who was watching the interview. And Woohyun was surprised to find his new friend still there. He’d expected Dongwoo to return to his spot in lie, but he must’ve waited so that they could return together.

Woohyun’s smile grew bigger. “I didn’t really bring him, but I met him in line,” he admitted.

“Really?” Myungsoo asked. “But you too seem so close already?”

Woohyun nodded and replied without any shame, “I guess some people are fated to meet each other. Right, Dongwoo-yah?” He called out loudly to the other. The cameraman was now forced to swing around and record Dongwoo’s reaction. And in spite of his refusing words, Woohyun had never seen Dongwoo’s smile so wide. “Aish, why are you being like this? Why?” Dongwoo chided while laughing.

“Because you like it,” Woohyun retorted with a cheeky smile.

After awhile, the two had bantered so much back and forth that the PD ‘decided’ to have Myungsoo interview Dongwoo too. In the end, Woohyun was really appreciative for this opportunity, not only that he and his friend were put in the spotlight, but because he saw himself in a new light. He never saw himself as a true older brother before, although he had two new dongsaengs now. But he more or less acted like an annoying little brother to Sungjong. And to Sungmin, Woohyun was more like a role model. He was distant. But to hear that he was a helpful hyung, well, that was new. He liked the sound of it.

And the next time superstar L would come into his little convenience store, Woohyun would be sure to give him lots of free service as a thank you and because that’s what a good hyung would do.

And while he was thinking of how to be a better hyung, he had forgotten all about his own. He found Howon in the line where Woohyun should have been. The frantic look on Howon’s face vanished into simple eye roll (which seemed exaggerated because he was now wearing a mask and all Woohyun could see were his eyes) as he put his phone in his pocket and walked up to the younger. Woohyun then filled him in on the interview, almost forgetting to introduce Dongwoo and reveal how he knew Myungsoo in the first place.

After he finished, Howon lowered his mask, whistled lowly, and lifted his eyebrows. “Congrats, Hyunnie. You just made yourself a character. I’m impressed.”

“Huh?”

“I know how these shows are,” Howon stated clearly. He pointed to Woohyun. “They’ll make you the protagonist from rough upbringings. A diamond in the rough just like Kim Myungsoo. A nice guy. You’re even making good friends with your rivals.” He then gestured over to Dongwoo, who was blankly staring at the two of them. When he noticed that Howon meant him, Dongwoo snapped out of it and pointed to himself. Howon nodded.

“Dongwoo isn’t a rival,” Woohyun retorted.

“Yah!” Dongwoo objected, not wanting to be taken lightly.

Woohyun turned to Dongwoo. “I mean, you’re more like a friend. Not rival,” he assured the other.

“Same difference,” Howon interjected. “Or at least it is to the production team and the audience, it will be.”

“Whatever,” Woohyun was tired of arguing and put the matter to rest. He didn’t want to start thinking about how T.V. would twist his life’s story. It’d be better if he was in the dark. So he changed the subject, “Hey, what’s with the mask?”

Howon seemed to forget that he was wearing one. He pulled it up over his mouth again as he surreptitiously looked from side to side. “There’s too many people here. You could contract a cold very easily,” he explained.

“Oh, that’s true,” Woohyun accepted. He then pouted and held out both of his hands, batting his eyelashes as he begged, “Howon-hyung, can I have it? I need to protect my voice.” He forced out a cough to make himself look more pitiful.

“Hm…no,” Howon pretended to think before he denied the younger. Woohyun’s frown turned into a real one, which made Howon laugh. He ruffled his dongsaeng’s hair.

Woohyun slapped the hand away and tried again, “B-but. My voice.” He spoke hoarsely, rubbing the front of his neck.

“Then save it,” Howon retorted and put a finger to his covered lips, signaling to the other to shut up. He chuckled at his own joke and then told them, “I’m going to go into the auditorium to find a seat and watch the auditions. But before I go,” he paused to put both of his hands on Woohyun’s shoulders. Woohyun was a bit taken aback by the sudden skinship. Their relationship was still somewhat awkward, especially since Howon was barely even touching him now. Howon cleared his throat before he continued (he must’ve realized how sudden this was too), “Don’t forget to clear your head before you go onstage. Just be in the moment. Remember to breathe. Try your best. And mostly importantly, have fun.” After he finished, he patted the younger’s shoulders and nodded. He then walked off.

Woohyun sputtered into a laugh. “Was that a pep talk?” he muttered under his breath. He caught himself thinking, Sunggyu-hyung would’ve given a better one, which then turned into: did hyung tell him to say that? What would’ve he said? What is he doing now? I wish that hyung was...

“Woohyun-ah,” Dongwoo interrupted his thoughts.

“What?” Woohyun asked while turning to his friend.

Dongwoo wasn’t even looking at him though. His eyes were fixed on the path that Howon had just walked down. Woohyun looked behind him to see if the elder was still there, but he wasn’t. There was no one. “Was…was that Hoya? Lee Howon?” Dongwoo asked with disbelief lining his voice.

Woohyun shrugged. “Yea…do you know him?”

Dongwoo shook his head and laughed, “What kind of orphanage did you grow up in? L? Hoya? Wow.” He was blinking fast as if to try to make himself wake up back to reality.

“Ah, no,” Woohyun answered while softly chuckling at the silly notion that the three of them met at the orphanage. “I met hyung through a friend here. What about him?” Then he suddenly remembered why exactly he knew Howon, or to be more precise, why Sunggyu knew Howon. “Oh! Were you a fan of his idol group?” he asked his friend, while nudging him, fully prepared to mock him for like boy groups even though it was years ago when they were both just children. Regardless, it was an odd feeling to stand next to a fan of his hyung, especially of Howon who still seemed very un-celebrity like in his eyes. He didn’t glisten like L did. Maybe that’s why his idol group failed, Woohyun thought with a slight laugh, which caught in his throat as soon as he remembered who else Dongwoo could’ve known. “Hey…did you know about…”

“Ah, that’s right. He was an idol,” Dongwoo cut the other off. He then finally met the other’s gaze. “I’m more interested in what he did afterwards,” he revealed. Woohyun cocked his head in confusion, silently asking for further explanation. He felt silly for asking Dongwoo what Howon did. After all Howon was his hyung. He should know. But Dongwoo filled him in without judging the other at all, “He works at a record label over in America.”

“Really? I didn’t know that,” Woohyun spoke lowly. Now his eyes were searching fruitlessly for Howon.

Dongwoo tapped his shoulder to get his attention back. “Nam Woohyun, who are you?” he asked in a light tone, but he was serious about the question.

Woohyun shrugged. “Just me. Who are you?” he turned the question around.

Dongwoo stepped back and put both of his hands on his hips. “I am Optimus Prime!” he exclaimed in the deepest voice he could muster. Woohyun broke out into a laugh. “I sounded just like him, didn’t I?” Dongwoo praised himself.

Woohyun shook his head. It was a horrible imitation. But there was one thing that he couldn’t deny: Dongwoo had a way of diverting his attention and putting him at ease. He seriously hoped that this friendship would last beyond this line.

After nearly a day of waiting, Woohyun was finally here. He was at the end of the line. It was his turn to audition next. Dongwoo had wished him luck, but he then left to prepare himself for his own audition. The tension tightened in Woohyun’s heart. It grew tighter when Myungsoo came up to him, with cameraman in tow, and wished his old hyung luck. Woohyun tried his best not to mind the camera, but the red light kept flashing in the corner of his eye, demanding attention. If he couldn’t handle this one camera all of the sudden, how would he manage the audition?

Clear your head. Just be in the moment. Remember to breathe.

Woohyun closed his eyes and took in a long, deep breath. He then felt a tap on his shoulder. Woohyun opened his eyes and looked over. “Are you ready to meet the judges, hyung?” Myungsoo asked.

Woohyun put a weak smile on his face. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

The doors opened. Woohyun walked slowly onto the center of the stage. He slowed down so he could search the crowd, so that he could find that old man in a mask with thick eyebrows. That shouldn’t be hard to find. Woohyun squinted. He thought he saw Howon in the back of the theater. Before he could know for sure, Woohyun picked up a familiar voice in the crowd.

“HYUNG! Hyung over here!”

Woohyun’s eyes whipped over to the right. Sungmin was jumping up and down, waving with both arms to get his attention. The waving only became more frantic after he realized that Woohyun had seen him. Woohyun chuckled to himself when he saw Sungjong drag his brother back down into his seat. His aunt and uncle were there too, with signs, with embarrassing signs wishing him luck, with his name in big letters for the whole world to see that they were here for him, that they were his family.

Woohyun picked up his pace and made it to the center of the stage. Once there, he pulled the microphone away from the stand and introduced himself, “Hello! My name is Nam Woohyun. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He was surprised at how still his own voice was. It was a good sign. Cheers rang out from his ‘section.’ He chuckled into the microphone. He lowered it once he heard his own laughter fill the theater. He was embarrassed, but he must’ve done something right. The judges were smiling brightly back at him. They didn’t seem scary in the slightest.

Woohyun could easily recognize them all. This season of My Star had done well in recruiting bigger names to be the judges. Closest to him was Ju Hyunmi. She was Jungyeop’s favorite trot singers, and her songs were some of the first Woohyun had sang. Somehow seeing something as familiar and warm as her smiling face, which decorated those old CDs and audio tapes, it made Woohyun feel like he was in the presence of an old friend. He couldn’t say the same for the rest.

Yoon Sang was sitting next to her. It was hard not to be intimidated by him, especially with that small smile on his face. Who knows what he was truly thinking about.

The final two judges were elected to be there by the younger audience. However one was not lacking in talent or clout. Ali was looking at Woohyun with interest. He had caught her eye. Woohyun would have to try his best to maintain that interest and work upon it. There would probably be a good chance that she would be his coach later on.

But every year, one coach would be elected because the audience would think it’d be ‘entertaining.’ The one sitting at the end of the table with an amused smirk on his lips, he was the rogue coach for the season. Woohyun had more to say about his colorful wardrobe than talent or ability to coach properly. This man, Woohyun wouldn’t care if he impressed or not. Plenty of other things were worth more to him than the opinion of Kim Heechul.

“So I heard that you know our host, L?” Hyunmi started the small talk. She nodded over towards the side of the stage, where Myungsoo was. He must’ve stayed close to watch the audition.

The smile on Woohyun’s face widened. “Yes, Myungsoo-yah lived with me at the orphanage for a few years,” he replied.

A soft gasp was picked up by one of the microphones. Ali was now blushing that her reaction had been caught by the audio and now film as the cameraman focused on her. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she apologized.

“It’s alright,” Woohyun dismissed, waving his hand in the air.

“What do you do now?” Yoon Sang interjected, shifting the focus away from his fellow judge. “L-ssi is a model and you…” he left the question hanging in the air.

“I work the night shift at a convenience store,” Woohyun answered. He saw a lot of frowns forming in the crowd, and ‘aws’ fill the room. Woohyun smiled more brightly to show that he was, indeed, fine. “Don’t feel bad. I have a lot of fans myself. They call me the Flower Boy of the store. All the high school girls love me,” he bragged. The audience laughed.

Well, all except for one. There was a scoff, and Woohyun didn’t have to guess who it was. He already knew. “Oh, you made Heechul-ssi upset,” Ali pointed out. “What do you think of Woohyun-ssi?”

Heechul leaned back in his seat and pursed his lips in thought. “He’s handsome but in a rustic way,” he concluded. “He looks more like he’s from the country than the city.” ‘Oooh’ from the audience echoed in the theater. Heechul grew flustered. He turned towards the audience and tried to explain himself, “That’s still handsome.” He gestured behind him to all of that, which was Nam Woohyun. Heechul then brought his hands to his chest and said, “It’s just that I’m more refined.” He turned towards Ali, who first put him into this situation. “Right?”

Ali, in turn, posed the question to Woohyun. “What do you have to say about this, Woohyun-ssi?”

“Heechul-ssi is right,” Woohyun at first agreed. But then a cheeky smile overcame his face. “But the prettiest flowers grow in the countryside, not the city.” The audience laughed, entirely on his side, and Heechul looked at him with narrowed eyes, shut lips, and his pen tapping furiously against the side of the table. Woohyun had rendered Kim Heechul speechless and decided to take it as a win.

“Okay,” Hyunmi was more than willing to put an end to this ‘small talk’ and precede with the auditions. “What will you be singing for us today, Woohyun-ssi?”

“Oh,” Woohyun emitted as he tried to swallow the lump quickly forming in his throat. He’d been so caught up with the talk and charming the audience that he’d forgotten all about the song. He cleared his throat while he set his feet firmly on the stage.

Have fun.

That’s exactly what Woohyun had planned on from the beginning. Singing was fun for him, like a sport. And he wanted the audience to play along with him. He knew exactly how to goad them to play. It was the same way that he’d get Sungjong to open up to him. It was the same way that he’d probably got Sunggyu to be his friend: by annoying them. By annoying them until they grew to like it. He’ll do the same here.

“I’m going to sing Moon Jooran’s ‘Men Annoy Women,’” he announced, and the audience immediately sputtered, laughing. The corner of his mouth lifted. He already had them where he wanted them. “So I hope that you don’t mind this boy annoying you for a few minutes.”

The performance went spectacularly. There were moments that his voice could have been steadier or stronger, but it didn’t matter. He felt on top of the world. He couldn’t take the smile off of his face. Not only did he enjoy it, but the audience seemed to as well. He didn’t even urge them to clap along, but as soon as he clapped his hand to the beat, they followed along. They were just as immersed into the song as he was. Some were even mouthing the words as he sang them, men and women...and judges. Even his evaluations went just as well.

“To hear a boy in his 20s sing that song doesn’t annoy a woman, but it does make her want to increase her medication,” Hyunmi joked. “I’ll pass him into the next round.”

“I found it very…cute,” Ali was next, but somehow was still caught off guard. “I’m sorry. I’m still a bit shocked by it.” So she turned to the audience and asked, “For such a guy, even if he’s annoying, it would be okay, right?” The theater responded with a resounding ‘yes.’ Ali giggled as she finished, “Woohyun-ssi…it’s a pass.”

Yoon Sang leaned on his elbows against the table. His face was more stern than the woman, probably not as taken by Woohyun’s ‘charm’ as they were. But Woohyun appreciated his comments the most: “For your age, your voice is mature. You’re lacking some technique, but it’s nothing that can’t be improved. I think that there’s a lot of potential here. Pass.”

After Yoon Sang’s comments, all eyes were on the last judge. Heechul looked around and complained, “Why do I have to go last?” He then waved the boy off. “You were great. Pass. Pass. Pass! Next customer please!”

He passed. He passed the auditions with full support from all of the judges (sort of). His heart was beating excitedly, hammering against his ribcage. He was running on a high. After throwing some hearts to his kind audience, he ran off the stage. He was prepared to run back into the theater and up to his family, but pair of arms held him back. It was his first hug since he passed the auditions, and he didn’t expect it coming from this person.

“Congratulations, hyung!” Myungsoo exclaimed, tightening his hold.

Woohyun pat the other on the back. Of course, he had to be congratulated by the host first. It was still a show after all. “Thanks, but I should…” he tried to wiggle out of the other’s grip as gently as he could.

“Oh, right.” Myungsoo let go of the other. “Dongwoo-ssi is up next.”

Dongwoo? In all of the excitement, Woohyun had forgotten all about him. He whipped around to see Dongwoo practically sprinting up to the microphone with hurried steps. He’d been anxious to perform since this morning, so Woohyun wasn’t surprised by his lack of patience now that the end was in sight.

Red, Woohyun caught the red light out of the corner of his eye. His reaction to his friend’s performance was being filmed. He was officially part of the show now. The competition had started for him ever since he stepped off of that stage. Woohyun set his jaw, gritting his teeth. He’d have to learn how to not mind the camera.

Roaring laughter from the audience brought him out of his thoughts. Dongwoo must’ve said or done something funny. He was bent over in laughter, and others had joined in. It was like Woohyun thought: Dongwoo could easily charm the public.

But there was one thing that he didn’t take into consideration: Dongwoo was talented, incredibly so. He didn’t excel Woohyun’s vocals, but Dongwoo pretty much beat out Woohyun in every other aspect. He could dance. He could rap. He was performing a song by some American artist that Woohyun had never even heard of. Dongwoo was a threat.

“Jang Dongwoo, who are you?” Woohyun accidentally muttered out loud. No wonder why Dongwoo had been offended earlier when Woohyun said that he wasn’t a rival. By the looks of it, Dongwoo was going to be his biggest competition.

Then came Dongwoo’s evaluations. The judges were just as enraptured with him as they had been with Woohyun, Heechul even more so. “You dance like a fish in water,” the idol commented.

“Eh?” Yoon Sang was the first to react.

“Is that an insult?” Ali chimed in.

“No, no, no,” Heechul emphatically denied. “I meant to say that you dance gracefully and naturally like a fish in water. You belong on stage. Besides you look like a…a…” He snapped his fingers as he was searching for the right word. And when he had it, he clapped his hands together and exclaimed, “A piranha!”

Hyunmi laughed at her fellow judge’s odd comment. “What do you have to say to that?” she directed it towards Dongwoo.

“Ah yes, I will take a big bite out of the competition,” Dongwoo joked, baring his large teeth to the audience as he pretended to bite the microphone.

But Woohyun felt it. He felt Dongwoo nipping at his heels already. And then a few seconds later, he felt a bone-crushing hug. “We passed!” Dongwoo cheered, jumping up and down and bringing the other to hop in excitement with him. “We passed! This is great!”

Woohyun hugged him back. “Yea, it’s great.” He hoped that his voice didn’t betray him.

After being briefed on what the future held for them on this show, Dongwoo and Woohyun were let loose to celebrate and go home. Woohyun traipsed into the lobby with his head hanging down, lost in thought, still processing the events from the day. He then looked at the paper in his hand. It was his schedule. What he should prepare for. What would happen if he continued to be on the show. It was his future for (hopefully) the next several months, all boiled down onto one piece of paper.

“Woohyun-ah!”

He lifted his head and searched for the source. “Au-auntie?” he stammered as his family approached closer to him. His aunt enveloped him in a hug. “Wh-what are you all doing here?” he’d been meaning to ask since he laid eyes on them in the theater. And the feelings that he felt back then washed over him again.

His aunt pulled away and cupped his cheeks. “Woohyun-ah, you were amazing! I’m so proud!” she exclaimed. She then stepped aside for her husband to hug the boy as well.

“I filmed it, if you want to watch,” his uncle revealed, after giving him a short hug.

His wife chimed in, “We already sent it to oppa.”

Woohyun blinked in surprise. “You did? Umph,” the wind was knocked out of him as Sungmin squeezed his sides tightly.

“He’s already busy showing it off to the kids and bragging,” his aunt responded.

“Really?” Woohyun, he didn’t think that so many people would care about his success, especially to care enough to brag about it to others. This is it, he found himself thinking again. This is what it feels like to belong, to be in a family. It was still unfamiliar to him. His chest grew warm, and his eyes grew hot and wet. Tears were welling, threatening to spill over. But he won’t cry. He couldn’t. He was 20, a man. Men don’t cry.

Then Sungjong came up and gave him a very weak hug. “Hyung, you were daebak,” he said before letting go. And Woohyun let go too. The tears were now streaming down his cheeks, and he couldn’t stop. Sungjong looked at the rest of his family and asked, “Wh-what? What did I say?”

Woohyun pulled his dongsaeng back in and gave him a proper hug. “Thank you,” he said with a broken voice. It had meant a lot to him. Everything did.

Howon fiddled with the mask on his face, unsure whether he should break into this tender moment. He wanted to pass on his own well wishes to Woohyun, but this didn’t appear to be the right time. It was probably time for him to leave. After all, it seemed like the boy had a ride home.

Then he felt a vibration in his pocket. Howon smirked underneath his mask. He had been wondering when he’d get another message.

(45 minutes ago) Sunggyu: What happened? Is it time?

(30 minutes ago) Sunggyu: Why aren’t you responding?

(25 minutes ago) Sunggyu: I know you read these messages.

(now) Sunggyu: What happened? Tell me.

Howon had planned on doing a video call with the both of them, but seeing how the boy was busy, Howon decided to fill in his friend finally.

Hoya: He made it. The kid was phenomenal. He’ll make it far on the show. Looks like he’ll have a lot of screen time.

Sunggyu: That’s great!

Sunggyu: Once you’re done there, let’s take him out.

Howon lifted his gaze from his phone’s screen. Woohyun was still crying as the four people lead him out of the lobby. Howon chuckled to himself. He should be happy, but why is the kid crying like a baby? He returned his gaze to his phone and typed out his response.

Hoya: Looks like he already has plans with his family.

Sunggyu: I thought he was an orphan?

Hoya: Apparently, he’s not as lonely as we thought he was.

His cellphone didn’t vibrate again until he was behind the wheel of his car, about to drive home.

Sunggyu: Good.

It had been nearly 24 hours since he passed the auditions. His life was already quickly changing. First, he quit his job. He had to now that his time would be devoted solely to the show now. However, he still needed to do the shift for tonight. His last shift, hopefully. Second, as a congratulatory gift, he’d been gifted with a cellphone and was added onto a ‘family plan.’ It wasn’t even a hand-me-down or an outdated model either. It was the latest model, with a decent data plan. It was new. Woohyun had something brand new and it was all his. He felt the tears welling up in his eyes again, and he swiftly put the phone back in his pocket. He wasn’t going to cry over this too. He’d been getting too sentimental lately.

However, with all the changes and new things in his life, there was one thing old that he was going to hold onto. One really old thing, Woohyun joked to himself as he pushed the button next to Sunggyu’s door.

Woohyun waited outside the door for a good five minutes, constantly hitting the button, until Sunggyu finally noticed that he had a visitor and answered the door. “I didn’t think you’d come because you’re a big star now,” he signed his excuse. He stepped aside to let the younger in.

“The competition hasn’t started yet,” Woohyun responded, signing right back at the other. “But tonight is my last night at the store.” He then began dancing in celebration, but quickly noticed that the other wasn’t as joyful as he was.

“Congratulations,” Sunggyu signed with a straight face. He plopped onto the couch and averted his gaze from the younger. He was distancing himself for some reason, leading Woohyun to wonder what exactly Howon had told his friend. What had he meant by the truth? What had Woohyun done wrong?

Woohyun jumped onto the couch next to him. Sunggyu whipped his head over and glared at the younger. Woohyun smiled and spoke, now that he had the other’s attention, “Oh, that’s right. Hyung! Give me your number.”

“Huh?” Sunggyu thought he’d read it wrong.

“Jjang!” Woohyun announced as he pulled out the phone and presented it to the elder.

Sunggyu smirked and took the phone from the other. “Welcome to the 21st century,” he mumbled under his breath with his usual hoarse voice. He sounded tired. He typed in his number into his phone and threw it to the other after he was done. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” Woohyun signed as he tucked the phone back into his pocket.

When he lifted his gaze, he was surprised to see that Sunggyu was still staring at him. His mouth was opening and closing like a fish in the water. He had something that he wanted to say or ask. But Sunggyu settled to speak through his hands instead, “So when do you start?”

“The end of this week,” Woohyun replied. “That’s when I get my coach.”

“Okay,” Sunggyu let out. He dropped his gaze while he nodded. He sighed and lifted his head again. “So now that you’re going to have a coach, I guess, you don’t need me anymore to mentor you,” he signed.

Woohyun tilted his head. “Hyung, what are you saying?”

“You’ll be taking their advice now,” Sunggyu explained. “It wasn’t like you were taking mine anyway but…”

Woohyun swatted down the other’s hands. He didn’t want to see it anymore. He didn’t want the other to finish. It was nonsense. When hadn’t he listened to Sunggyu’s advice? It was really only once. Was once enough for Sunggyu to lose faith in him? In their relationship (whatever it was now)? Woohyun was starting to have doubts of his own. “I thought you said that I wasn’t like your clients,” he argued. “Just because I don’t need you like that, it doesn’t mean that I don’t need you at all.”

Sunggyu raised an eyebrow. “Do you really?” he challenged. “You have a family. You told me you didn’t. I…” he then dropped his hands and huffed. He stopped, but he wasn’t done yet. Woohyun just sat there, arms crossed over his chest, refusing to move or to speak until Sunggyu finished. Sunggyu gave a slight whine, urging the other to speak with a wave of his hand. Woohyun shook his head. Sunggyu sighed. He realized that the other could wait all night for him to finish, so he finally did, “I thought you were alone.”

“They recently took me under their wings. I have two dongsaengs and an aunt and an uncle,” Woohyun confessed. He then looked the other up and down. Sunggyu’s posture was still different than usual, more stiff, guarded. “Why are you getting so worked up?”

“I’m not. I have a family too!” Sunggyu snapped back with words and signs. “I have parents and a sister. I have a niece and a nephew!”

Now it was Woohyun’s turn to sign this with a straight face, “Congratulations.” He was still confused. The elder’s answer was no real answer at all. Woohyun only had more questions. It must have showed on his face because the other only grew more flustered.

“I just thought you were alone,” Sunggyu repeated, still trying to give the other an appropriate response. “And that you, Hoya, and I were…Forget it,” he spoke the last phrase. He brought his hands to his lips in thought and looked away.

Woohyun crawled over closer to Sunggyu on the couch. He reached for his hands, encircling his fingers around the other’s wrists. “No. Don’t forget it,” he objected, not caring whether Sunggyu had read him or not because he would see his point soon enough. Woohyun flailed Sunggyu’s hands in the air, trying to make signs with them. Right as he was about to make the elder say how stupid Woohyun thought that he was being in the moment, Sunggyu pulled his hands out of the younger’s grip and pushed him away.

“Fine!” Sunggyu yelled. He glanced quickly at the other, nervous, and sighed heavily before answering. It was something that he didn’t want to say out loud, so he signed his response, “I guess, I thought that I knew more about you than I actually did. I told you some really personal things and…it’s unfair.” So that was it. Sunggyu was questioning the status of their relationship, their closeness. Woohyun couldn’t fight back his smile. It was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one with insecurities. Sunggyu continued, “All I really know is that you’re a cashier, you were orphaned, and you have two friends: Sungyeol and Sungjong.”

“Dongsaeng,” Woohyun corrected. “Sungjong is one of my dongsaengs.”

Sunggyu sighed. “See. I know nothing.”

Woohyun chuckled softly. If he was curious. Why didn’t he just ask? Woohyun wasn’t the only one who was allowed to ask questions in this relationship. He could give answers too. “I’ll tell you everything,” he promised.

Woohyun spent the rest of the night telling his life’s story to Sunggyu, including the things that happened to him in Seoul that Sunggyu wasn’t aware of. He was careful not to leave out any detail. Jungyeop was the first person that he talked about, the man that basically raised him. Then he mentioned Myungsoo and his jealousy towards him. He revealed his rebellious stage and how that kept him from being adopted, even by the family that recently took him in. Woohyun told Sunggyu silly stories from high school, his crush on his sunbae on the soccer team, his dismal grades but wide circle of friends. He tried to tell the other everything until Sunggyu told him to shut up before he’d miss his shift.

Woohyun was afraid that he said too much because Sunggyu’s face had been blank most of the conversation, just listening and barely reacting. The elder just nodded and soaked in all of the information given, not even interrupting Woohyun to make a snarky comment or the chide the other. It was odd. But Sunggyu revealed how much it meant to him when he was seeing Woohyun to the door. “Thank you, Woohyun-ah,” he spoke, leaning against the open door. He smiled sincerely. “Good luck on your last shift.” He reached over to ruffle the younger’s hair before pushing him out the door.

Woohyun stared at the door for a few moments, grinning dumbly, before he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets and headed off to work with a happy tune on his lips.

What Sunggyu didn’t understand was that what they talked about, Woohyun thought was more important. Woohyun knew his past. He lived in his past, harboring all of the hurt that he suffered in his early years and never quite getting over it (which was mainly why he wasn’t happy being forced to rehash it all on camera). With Sunggyu, it was one of the few times that Woohyun talked and thought about his future. He felt like he finally had a future, rather than aimlessly wandering around in the dark. Sunggyu gave him some light. And Woohyun wasn’t going to extinguish what little light he did have.

There was one last thing that was on Woohyun’s old schedule left to do: breakfast with Sungyeol after his shift was over. Never of them particularly wanted to go because of what happened the last time that they were there and because of Woohyun’s ‘help.’ But they decided that it was the best way to bid farewell to this part of their lives, and, even in the slightest, there was a chance that Heeyeon realized that she liked Sungyeol back. It happens all of the time in dramas, right? The heroine’s heart often needs a jumpstart, a sudden confession, for their love to go into full throttle. And dramas are partially based on real life, aren’t they? Or at least that’s what Woohyun told Sungyeol as he pushed his despondent friend through the doors of the restaurant.

They sat at their usual table and began with their usual conversation. While they were talking about their night shifts, Sungyeol’s spirits seemed to lift. He had apprehended a criminal last night. It was just a petty thief, but that meant that there was one last thief on the streets. He was a hero in his own right, keeping the streets clean. Woohyun noticed how Sungyeol voice grew louder as he recounted how he chased the thief down several alleyways and finally outwitted him, pinning him to the ground with a professional wrestling move. Woohyun was pretty sure that at least half of the story was an ‘elaboration’ of true events (as Sungyeol himself liked to put it. Woohyun liked to call it ‘a complete and utter lie’). But the elderly crowd surrounding them didn’t know that, and even a few came up to the table to thank him for his services.

Woohyun didn’t know when he realized it, but when he did, he was grateful that Sungyeol was too immersed in his story to notice. The water pitcher appeared suddenly on their table, a lot later than it should’ve been. And they had been sitting there for almost 15 minutes now. He had seen no one approach the table or take their order. They were being ignored. Woohyun looked at his friend pitifully as he filled his own glass with water. Sungyeol was being rejected yet again, and he had no idea. The police officer was grinning brightly while talking to the table of old men behind them, grandpas that they had gotten to know over time. Woohyun had wished that Sungyeol wouldn’t figure it out and forget all about Heeyeon. But the fact soon became ignorable.

“Here’s your meals.” They hadn’t even ordered yet, but dishes were being placed in front of them and by girl that neither of them had never noticed before. Woohyun wondered how they could’ve missed that fierce and icy expression before. But Sungyeol must’ve been blinded by his infatuation with Heeyeon, and Woohyun was too distracted by his friend’s embarrassingly obvious crush.

Heeyeon never came. Not even within their sights. It was like she disappeared, which was strange because she normally served their side of the restaurant. But she was neither here nor there. Not since they entered the place, not when they were eating their meals, not even after they left. She was gone.

Sungyeol sighed heavily as he picked through the dish in front of him. He had lost his appetite. “I’ve always been the one who liked more,” he mumbled lowly, a stark difference from his proud boasting before. What he was saying now was for Woohyun’s ears alone. “I’ve always been dumped...or rejected.” He stabbed at his plate shaking the table. He spoke through gritted teeth, “Girls say that they want a guy who’d go all in. But when I do, they say I’m overdoing it. I’d go all in, and they just take it all away.” He finally gave up on eating, slunk down in his seat, and stared up at the ceiling completely listless. “Ah,” he groaned and shut his eyes tightly. “I’m used to it. I’m going to be stuck with unrequited love until the day I die.”

Woohyun didn’t know what to say. He felt partially responsible. He should’ve kept his mouth shut. He should’ve discouraged Sungyeol. But would that have changed things? Woohyun didn’t know that either. This was just the way things turned out. He just patted his friend on the back, telling him to keep his strength and hope. He also paid for their meals that day. It was a small price to pay for his friend’s broken heart. Or maybe it was the cost for closure?

Gyu-hyung: Good luck today. Don’t mess up.

Woohyun: Thanks. I’m nervous.

Gyu-hyung: Don’t throw up.

Woohyun: haha I’ll try not to.

Woohyun: Anything else?

Gyu-hyung: Burn your chest and cool down your head.

Woohyun laughed to himself as he read the text message. Sunggyu must’ve felt pressure for something ‘cool’ to say, or did he always sound like one of those cheesy teachers from movies? Did it matter? Woohyun felt more at ease as he was sitting in the corner of the waiting room. Today was the second round of auditions. The first round was to get onto the show. This round was to appeal to the judges alone, to get them to choose you for their team. And by the end of today, Woohyun would have his coach.

Yoon Sang was his first choice. Their styles were similar, and Woohyun could even learn how to compose songs from him. He could grow as an artist under Yoon Sang’s tutelage. Hyunmi and Ali were tied for second. Under them, he could probably learn how to express his emotions better. They would treat him gently too. Woohyun could grow as a singer with their guidance. But Kim Heechul, he doubted if there was anything that he could learn from that idol. He was a man more famous for his variety skills and even more infamous for going off-key. Anybody but him. Seriously any god damn coach but him.

“Hey.” Woohyun lifted his gaze from his phone and looked over to see Dongwoo sitting down next to him along the wall. “And once again, we wait,” Dongwoo joked, hitting his head slightly against the wall.

“Who do you want as a coach?” Woohyun asked, eyeing his friend carefully. Dongwoo, he had a completely different presence when he stood on the stage. He was stronger, more confident. He even looked taller. But now, sitting alongside the wall with their shoulders touching, Dongwoo was just his little friend again, unthreatening.

“Me? Humph,” Dongwoo grunted as he closed his jaw tightly in thought, setting it. “Ali’s pretty,” he admitted with a laugh. “But any of them would do. I could learn from them all. But…” he held off from finishing that statement.

“But what?” Woohyun nudged the other.

Dongwoo hung his head, feeling ashamed for saying this, “I was a little disappointed to see that there wasn’t somebody more of my style...whatever that is.” He ended by crumbling into his usual laughter, deflating his own disappointment.

“I don’t think Nicki Minaj is available,” Woohyun joked.

Dongwoo’s laugh grew louder. “How did you know?!” he exclaimed.

Woohyun shrugged and replied in a serious tone, “Didn’t I say that we were destined to meet? I must’ve known you in a past life. I only need to look at you in the eyes, and I can tell exactly what you’re thinking.” But even Nam Woohyun couldn’t say all of that without breaking his stoic face. He could barely get out the last few words through his growing giggles.

“You always say such weird things,” Dongwoo said through his bursting smile. “Oh, right!” he suddenly exclaimed. “What about you? What coach do you want?”

“Yoon Sang,” Woohyun picked up his serious tone again. “I could learn a lot from him.”

Dongwoo nodded. “Good fit,” he muttered in English. Woohyun shot the other a look out of the corner of his eye. His friend had an odd habit of spitting out random English phrases, and it still caught him off guard. “But,” Dongwoo began and faced the other. “Wouldn’t it be good if we were on the same team? If we survived together like we said the other day? It would be nice to have an ally through all of this.”

“Eung,” Woohyun assented. He dropped his gaze so that he could pick up Dongwoo’s hand within his own. He gave the hand a squeeze. “Let’s fight to the end together and be the last two standing. Fighting!”

“Fighting!” Dongwoo exclaimed back, shaking the other’s hand in the air.

“Umph!” A body slumped down against the wall and pressed against the other side of Woohyun. Woohyun slowly craned his neck and smiled at wait he saw. Myungsoo looked exhausted. If it weren’t for the layers of makeup covering his face, there probably would’ve been dark circles sinking down to his cheeks.

“You tired?” Woohyun needlessly asked anyways.

Myungsoo’s eyes were already shut tightly as he nodded. “And hungry,” he confessed.

“I’ll go get you something to eat,” Dongwoo offered and got up from his spot before anyone could object. His light feet had already carried him across the room.

So Woohyun turned his attention to the host next to him. Myungsoo appeared to be falling asleep right there. Woohyun shook the younger lightly. “Yah, you can’t sleep,” he chided. “Don’t you have to interview the other contestants? I don’t want them to think that you favor me.”

“But I do,” Myungsoo answered honestly, lifting his eyelids slightly to stare at the other. He closed his eyes again and settled against the wall. “I’m tired of interviewing. I need a break...and food.”

There are some people who gain energy from others. Merely having a conversation with some could lift their low spirits. Woohyun could be classified as one of those people. Even if it was a pleasant encounter with a stranger, Woohyun would feel rejuvenated and refreshed. Daily interactions with people were as important to his health as a multivitamin.

But for others, talking to people, especially strangers, was draining. It would take extra energy for them to break out of their shells first before they even could begin the conversation. And now, looking at Myungsoo’s tired and reluctant face, Woohyun wondered if the model was one of those.

Myungsoo at least didn’t fare well in new situations, which was why he kept coming back to the one thing that was familiar to him: Nam Woohyun.

However, Woohyun was starting to mind Myungsoo less and less. The envy in him had died down into a low simmer, especially after seeing the model almost fall asleep before their day even began. Myungsoo’s life wasn’t as appealing as it was before.

“Hyung, can you just talk to the camera for me?” Myungsoo asked, pointing lamely towards the cameraman next to him. “I don’t wanna interview anymore,” he grumbled.

Woohyun looked into the lens of the camera with his mouth agape. “How long has that been there?”

“Hm?” Myungsoo looked up at the other. “It’s been filming you ever since Dongwoo sat next to you.”

“Oh.” Woohyun’s eyes were still fixed on his own reflection in the lens. It had only been a day, but had he already gotten used to the camera’s presence? Nope, not now especially after he noticed it. His body grew rigid almost immediately, his back straight up against the wall. Had it caught his conversation earlier? It had to have. That thought sent shivers down his spine, but he tried to cover it up with bravado. “Oh, yes, I’m Nam Woohyun, and I’m going to amaze the coaches with my performance. Just you watch. They’ll be fighting over me soon,” he ended the cocky statement with nervous laughter, undercutting it all. “Nam Woohyun, fighting! L-ssi, fighting!” he exclaimed while shaking the host next to him a bit more roughly than before, bringing a smile to the younger’s tired face. He wished the other ‘fighting’ again before shooting a smile at the cameraman until he walked away. Woohyun sighed in relief. But he couldn’t rid himself of this thought: what was his image going to be?

Gyu-hyung: Nam Woohyun, fighting!

Woohyun’s performance wasn’t perfect, but he was singing a difficult ballad song. And he hoped that when his voice shook, it would be attributed to him immersing himself in the sad song rather than nerves. Woohyun hoped that it was the former too.

In the end, it seemed to be okay because the judges still praised him, saying that he was ‘going to make the decision hard for them.’ Woohyun hoped that meant he was the top contender. Things seemed to be going well so far.

And then it was time. All of the contestants were lined up on the stage in front of the judges. Myungsoo was standing in the center between them. He was brightly smiling and was standing up perfectly straight. He was L, essentially Woohyun came to realize that the other had compartmentalized his life.

“Now we split up everyone into teams,” Myungsoo announced to the camera. “The coaches deliberated about this for hours, and got into some heated arguments.”

“Why are you looking at me?” Heechul reacted defensively, looking around at his fellow judges who were also side-eyeing him.

But Myungsoo shrugged and continued, “And now to announce the teams.” He stepped aside and read off of the card in his hand. “First member of team Ali, Choi Hyojin!”

The names were being called off one by one. Ali was the first to have her team of four fully assembled. She had chosen all girls. Hyumi was the next to collect her team. Woohyun was surprised. The trot singer had gathered a group of strong and emotive vocalists. He could’ve fit in seamlessly amongst them. He was slightly disappointed that he wasn’t chosen, but, then again, she wasn’t his first choice. There was a spot still available on Yoon Sang’s group, who had been assembling contestants with distinctive vocal colors. Woohyun’s was distinctive. He had a memorable voice. He could be on that team! Unfortunately, there was only one spot left, and there were three contestants still on the stage: him, a girl whose voice sounded like she swallowed helium, and Dongwoo.

If he was on Yoon Sang’s team, it meant that he would walk this journey with Dongwoo at his side. They both shot each other nervous glances. Woohyun unconsciously reached down to hold his hand (or did Dongwoo’s hand wrap around his). He needed this support.

“So two of you will be on Heechul-ssi’s team and the other Yoonsung-ssi’s,” Myungsoo announced as he walked up to the side of the remaining three contestants. Woohyun shot his head up, seeing that only two contestants were behind Heechul’s seat. What those two had in common, Woohyun didn’t know. They already appeared to be a rag-tag group of misfits. But there were two places. The only way that he and Dongwoo would be on the same team together was if they joined the worst team. Woohyun swallowed hard. Please not him. Please. “So? Who will it be?” the host interrupted his thoughts. Myungsoo stepped closer to them, aligning himself at Dongwoo’s side. “Jang Dongwoo?”

“Ah! Yes?” Dongwoo stammered. His words were loud and terse as adrenaline was coursing through his veins. He could never handle all the waiting and anticipation.

Myungsoo frowned in pity as he asked, “There’s a chance that you and Woohyun wouldn’t be on the same team. How do you feel about that?”

Dongwoo tilted the microphone towards his mouth. “Honestly? I’d be sad. Woohyun always says that we were fated to meet, so I hope that our destiny doesn’t end here,” he joked as he squeezed Woohyun’s hand. “But we’ll support each other no matter what. Yea!” He ended his statement, nodding emphatically at Woohyun who nodded right along.

“Now how do you feel about Kim Heechul?” Myungsoo posed a question that Dongwoo hadn’t expected.

At a loss, he looked to his friend for an answer, but Woohyun decided to keep his opinions to himself and just shrugged in reply. Dongwoo spoke quietly, apprehensively into the microphone, “Ah, he’s nice?”

“Hopefully he’ll still seem ‘nice’ to you because he’s your coach!” Myungsoo exclaimed, gesturing over to Heechul who had his arms wide open, ready to accept his new member.

“Really?” Dongwoo stuttered step in his spot, unsure of where to go, or what to say.

“Hey, you little fish! Swim over here!” Heechul shouted from his seat and waved for Dongwoo to come over. So he did. Dongwoo ran off the stage and leapt into Heechul’s open arms, who had been ready to accept his new member but not prepared for the force that was Jang Dongwoo.

Two spots left, there are only two spots and two of us, Woohyun’s brain whirred as he watched Dongwoo meet his teammates. There’s still a chance...

“Woohyun-hyung, why don’t you swim with them too?” Myungsoo suggested, nodding over to the group. Woohyun looked over and raised an eyebrow. “You’re on the same team.”

Oh ! Yay!

After the selections, the filming was over and the contestants were lead into their team’s practice room. It was well equipped with several instruments, a mirror walled for choreography, and sound equipment. Unfortunately, it was also decorated with Heechul’s signature flair. Woohyun thought that so much red should never been in a room all at once. It hurt his eyes, and it was making him even more upset, like he was a bull being provoked.

Luckily, Dongwoo was by his side also taking it all in. “Artistic,” he muttered in English again.

“You could say that,” Woohyun huffed as he entered the room. He made a bee-line for the piano and sat down at the bench. He could at least try to compose on his own. It would be a clumsy effort, but practice was still practice.

He saw Dongwoo out of the corner of his eye pick up some drumsticks and sit behind a drum set. He was pretending to play them, mouthing the sounds as he did. Woohyun laughed. Maybe even in this room, it would still be fun. And that’s the main reason why he wanted to stay with Dongwoo. He wanted to make sure that he still had fun throughout the competition.

“I’m glad we’re on the same team,” Woohyun said, spinning around on the bench to face his friend.

Dongwoo grinned so wide that it may have literally reached from ear to ear. “Me too.”

“Fishy!” Woohyun whipped his head to look at the doorway. Heechul was standing there. With a jaunty step, he walked inside the practice room. “And....Woohyun-ssi!” he remembered after a long pause. Woohyun immediately frowned. The first team meeting hadn’t started on the right foot. This didn’t bode well for their future practices. Heechul walked up to the piano. There was a smile on his face but his eyes were sharply glaring. “You look happy to see me,” voice thick with sarcasm.

“I’m happy,” Woohyun denied, forcing a smile onto his face. But it felt tight and rigid, fighting to keep the corners of his mouth down. I’m happy for this opportunity and for Dongwoo. Nothing else.

“You’re lucky that this isn’t an acting competition,” Heechul remarked. He then scoffed, “Look, I’m not too keen on working with you either. But I picked you two for a reason.” He turned opening up the conversation to Dongwoo as well.

“Why?”

“Because you’re going to be good friends and make good television,” Heechul responded, leaning against the piano. “I sacrificed half my team so I could get you two. Those other two will probably get knocked off soon,” he spoke bluntly. Woohyun felt a fire building in his gut. He gritted his teeth and gathered his hands into fists. Those contestants dreamed to be singers just like he did, but Heechul was treating them like mere pawns. And he and Dongwoo were his more prized pieces. “There’s no way the audience is going to vote you off until near the end. Even if you mess up on stage. People love a bromance, and I’m going into the finals.” Heechul rubbed his hands together, relishing in his own brilliance. Woohyun looked over at Dongwoo, whose face was oddly blank. Neither of them didn’t know how to take this news. But Woohyun was pretty sure that the fire inside of him was fueled by anger at and hatred for the man in front of him. The fire was red-hot like the walls of this room. Heechul must’ve sensed Woohyun’s burning gaze. He faced him, totally unfazed by the angry face staring back at him. “Well, go practice. I have to go get the other minnows.”

Woohyun didn’t release his gaze, piercing through the man’s back, until Heechul turned down the hallway to pick up the other two contestants on their team. Once out of sight and earshot, he huffed, “I can’t believe we’re with that jerk.”

“Yea but…” Dongwoo started to object, but he held it in after Woohyun shot him a stern look.

“But what?” Woohyun goaded him.

“He’s the only one with real dance experience,” Dongwoo pointed out. “And he knows a thing or two about stage presence.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Woohyun challenged. He couldn’t help but to let out a slight chuckle. “He’s known for being lazy.”

“True. But that’s also his trademark. Image. It’s an image,” Dongwoo quickly corrected. “You don’t get that far in the business by being lazy.”

Woohyun shot a glance at the door, only to see his coach standing there, ushering the two minnows that he had used to bait him and Dongwoo in. Woohyun’s heart dropped. The contestants seemed like good people. They deserved a better coach. All of them did. Woohyun turned to Dongwoo and whispered lowly, “I hope you’re right.”

Gyu-hyung: Who’s your coach?

Woohyun: Kim f***ing Heechul

Gyu-hyung: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Gyu-hyung: Watch your language.

Woohyun: Sorry.

Woohyun: I was paired with Sir Kim Heechul.

Gyu-hyung: When does this air? I can’t wait to see the look on your face.

Woohyun: Never. This show never airs. I burned the film.

Gyu-hyung: You know, I’m going to find out and watch it over and over and over again.

Gyu-hyung: And it’s not that bad. You can learn from him.

Woohyun: What? How to be an ?

Gyu-hyung: Any lesson that you take away from him will be a valuable one. Even if it’s just that.

So what did he end up learning from Kim Heechul during the first weeks of the competition? Not much. He learned more from the vocal coach that Heechul had brought in from his company. So his technique was getting better and his voice stronger, but Woohyun still needed more. What he really needed was a mentor because right now he felt lost with his head barely above the water.

However, Heechul’s ‘little fish’ was cutting easily through the waves, swimming easily and coming out on top of the competition. Dongwoo had taken first in the public vote for two weeks straight. Whereas Woohyun, in spite of glowing reviews from the judges (and only jokes from Heechul), every time he was in the middle of the standings. Woohyun didn’t know what he was doing wrong. His voice was improving. He was handsome and sweet. Whenever he was with Dongwoo or Myungsoo, which was often, a camera would stick to him like a thorn in his side.

But things started to slowly click in his brain. The camera was never on him when he was by himself. Heechul would only supervise his rehearsal once, purely out of obligation. His “coach” would barely watch, eyes glued to the screen of his phone. He claimed to still be listening and would give few remarks. But it was obvious. Heechul was disregarding him. And as a result, the public was too. Woohyun was being overlooked in the competition. He wasn’t getting the attention that he thought he deserved, that he needed.

Or at least he wasn’t getting it from there. His family supported him, and Jungyeop called him before and after every performance. Even Howon would text him comments about his stages, what he did right and what he could improve. And then there was Sunggyu. Obviously, the man couldn’t give him advice (probably much to his chagrin. He always seemed to enjoy telling Woohyun what to do with his life). However, he could still text, and texting he did. Sunggyu would send several screenshots to Woohyun of him on the show. Embarrassing ones, taken when he’s sliding into a high note or blinking or the one time he (sort of) picked his nose on camera. All of them had a “special” little comment attached, Sunggyu’s failing attempts at jokes. But all of the texts still managed to make Woohyun smile in spite of the content. Why? Because it meant that Sunggyu was monitoring his shows closely, very closely.

But the smile would soon fade as these thoughts began to seep into his mind. What if Sunggyu could hear? What if he was able to give him advice even now? What would he say? Would I listen to it? To Woohyun, Sunggyu was a crutch, propped up in the corner of his room. Although he was fully able to walk on his own now, sometimes he would lose strength and wobble, making him think to use his old crutch. However, he couldn’t get stronger that way. He wouldn’t be able to live that way. He wanted to be self-reliant, his own person. And so he had to put Sunggyu in the corner to collect dust.

“Are you sitting behind a piano again?” Heechul complained as he leaned against the side of the piano. “How about this time we add fireworks? We could have two streams of fire blasting behind you at the highlight like BOOM!” he suddenly shouted, throwing his hands to each side of Woohyun to emphasize his point.

Woohyun rolled his eyes. It was a singing competition. He didn’t want to win with flash. He wanted to win with his voice. “No,” Woohyun shot down the suggestion. “My voice is flashy enough to win first place this week. I picked a good song this time.”

“Even Though I Loved?” Heechul repeated with a scoff. “Another sappy love song?” “Yes,” Woohyun retorted. “The vocal coach thought it suited me.”

“You know, for a man who passed his auditions acting cute and throwing hearts, you’re kind of depressing,” Heechul remarked. Woohyun clamped his mouth shut, grinding his teeth against each other before he could say something that he would later regret. Thankfully, Heechul got off from the piano. “Whatever. I’m going to check up on Dongwoo. Yah! Fishy!” He left as he called out to his other disciple, walking to the other side of the practice room where Dongwoo had been dancing.

Woohyun huffed and turned his attention back to the keys in front of him. He couldn’t practice now. He was too agitated. He’d strike the keys too hard, and he’d sing the notes with like he’d strike the keys, short and powerful. But it was supposed to be soft. He needed to calm down.

Over the past few weeks, he developed a good coping mechanism for dealing with Kim Heechul. Step one, ignore him. Step two, read the comments posted on the show’s forum.

Although he was ranked in the middle of the contestants, he still had quite a few fans to his name, and they liked to comment frequently on the forum, giving him words of strength. With each word he read from his fans, he felt the corners of his mouth pick up into a smile and his heart warm up. His mood was quickly improving. There was one comment that made him laugh: “Nam Woohyun is handsome enough to be in an idol band.” That comment lead to a rousing conversation about if Nam Woohyun was in a boy band, what would it be like. Woohyun chuckled to himself as he read: “He’d be the main vocal and the visual.”

Him? The visual? Imagine that, thousands of girls flocking to his group because of him, because of his looks. That was an ego boost if ever he needed one, which he did.

He then thought back to the former idol he knew. Lee Howon with his pot-belly and stubble, it was laughable to imagine girls praising him for his looks. Or even Sunggyu, if he had been an idol, what part of him would the fan girls worship? Probably something odd, like his hands. Woohyun’s laughter grew louder and he drew the attention of his fellow teammates. But he couldn’t help it. He suddenly had a mental image of his hyungs in full make-up and sparkly outfits. How did they even manage to debut with those looks?

They weren’t the visual. The laughter caught in his throat and his eyes went wide. That sentence repeated over and over and over again in his frantic mind. They weren’t the visual. They weren’t the visual. His fingers furiously swiped and typed against the phone’s screen, his eyes searching. They weren’t the visual. Sunggyu’s f***ing ex was.

The face. The smug face of a man with milky-white skin, large eyes, and a straight nose. Long, black hair brushed against his light brown eyes. It was the face of the old idol band. A face attached to a profile. The face of a man who robbed his hyung of his hearing and his future with one push.

Jiyu. He was one of those celebrities with an obvious stage name, one that matched his white complexion, and a dropped surname. A celebrity, that was probably what irked Woohyun the most about him. Jiyu was still a celebrity. There were people out there who still liked him, gave him jobs, when what he really deserved (in Woohyun’s opinion) was to be locked in the stocks and publically shamed. Too bad stocks were passe and that this man still had a handsome, youthful face. There was no doubt in Woohyun’s mind that Jiyu was banking on that face alone. All he had to do was read the roles Jiyu had acted in: kingka, playboy chaebol, a model , and (surprise, surprise) an idol singer. Woohyun took solace in the fact that these were minor roles on cable channels and that his last acting job was three years ago, hopefully fading into distant memories already.

It was some small solace, but it wasn’t enough. Woohyun got up from the piano bench and hurriedly grabbed for his things. The bench almost toppled over in his haste, but he couldn’t care for it. There was only one thing on his mind.

He pulled out his phone as he marched out of the practice room, casting off the curious glances from his teammates and coach.

Woohyun: Let’s meet up.

Gyu-hyung: What’s wrong?

Woohyun: Nothing. I feel like seeing you.

Gyu-hyung: Okay ^^ Let’s get coffee.

“What’s wrong?” Sunggyu asked him as soon as he met with Woohyun outside of the coffee shop.

“I told you. It’s nothing,” Woohyun signed back. Sunggyu looked at him curiously before walking into the shop. Woohyun sighed and followed closely behind. He tapped the other to get his attention. “You don’t believe me.”

“You haven’t come to see me in awhile. We just text,” Sunggyu responded. Woohyun stopped dead in his tracks as the elder walked up to read the menu better. They’d regressed. Woohyun had placed his crutch in the corner, all but forgotten. Still they regressed, talking just through messages again. Woohyun watched the elder mouth the words of the items as he read the menu. Maybe ‘regress’ wasn’t the right word. It felt comfortable to be with the other. He still felt close with him, secure, even though they hadn’t seen each other face-to-face in weeks. But something about their relationship had changed.

Woohyun pushed that all to the back of his mind and stepped up next to Sunggyu. “I’ve been busy,” he excused himself.

Sunggyu gave a small smile, but it wasn’t happy. “And you have Dongwoo now. You guys seem close,” he signed, huffed, and returned to reading the menu board. Sunggyu was feeling left out again. Woohyun was starting to realize that it was the thing that the elder hated the most.

“Hyung,” Woohyun spoke. Even though Sunggyu was deaf, Woohyun felt as if he needed to hear this, “you’re still my best friend.” Was that what they were? It was odd to say it out loud, the idea that Woohyun had been toying with for awhile. But if they were best friends would hinge on what Sunggyu did next.

His smile turned into a genuine one. “Friend, can you order me an Americano? Thanks,” he quickly signed before pressing a credit card into Woohyun’s hand and rushing off to grab them a table.

Woohyun guessed that made them best friends.

They certainly did act like it. After some casual conversation about how their week went, Sunggyu started to make fun of Woohyun’s ‘childish’ tastes because the younger had order a caramel macchiato instead of one of the more bitter drinks. Woohyun snapped right back saying that he’d drink bitter beverages once he reached Sunggyu’s old age and loses all of his taste buds. That lead to some glaring, (a comfortable) silence, and then soft laughter. Even after prodding at each other’s weak points, they couldn’t stay mad at each other.

So Woohyun thought it to be a good of time as any to finally bring up this issue: “Hyung, about Jiyu…”

“Ah so that’s it!” Sunggyu exclaimed, cutting off the other. His hands flew into quick signs, “You looked him up. To be honest, I thought we were going to be having this conversation a lot sooner.”

“You’re not mad?”

Sunggyu shook his head. He spoke this time, “No, I expected this from you. From what you told me about Sungyeol and Sungjong, you have a way of butting into people’s love lives.” He scoffed. “Yah, do you think you’re Cupid or—”

Woohyun put his hand over the elder’s, signalling that he was interrupting the other, as he spoke, “You’re not mad at Jiyu? For any of this? He ruined your life, but…you protected him.” He pulled his hand away and leaned back into his chair with both hands in his lap. “You’re always protecting him. Shouldn’t you hate them?”

And that’s what truly bothered Woohyun about all of this: Sunggyu’s calmness. How Sunggyu didn’t seem to react when Woohyun brought this sensitive matter up. How Sunggyu didn’t react initially. He just let Jiyu go after all he did. And Woohyun knew that Sunggyu wasn’t that much of a saint to be so kind. There was a devil in his hyung too.

“Of course, I’m mad,” Sunggyu responded. That made Woohyun feel slightly better. He wasn’t feeling angry alone. “And I’ve already gotten my revenge on him. I’m happy and successful. He’s a actor stuck in two-bit roles. What’s better revenge than that?” Sunggyu smirked and then remarked, “Hyung’s cool, right? I’m not petty at all.”

Woohyun scoffed, “You were a lot cooler before you said that.”

“Is that so?” Sunggyu asked through a few laughs. He then paused and cast his gaze downwards at his mug. He chewed on his lips, maybe at an attempt to eat away at the words forming on them. There was something he wanted to say, but wasn’t.

Woohyun felt his heart quicken. He cleared his throat and rubbed at his chest. Damn caffeine. He had been drinking too much of it recently in order to stay up during those late nights practicing. Now his heart was pacing two times faster than it was before. I should stop. Sunggyu’s next words helped to fix that, slowing his heart down (or stopping it altogether).

“But I can’t hate him.”

“Why not?” there was a slight, frustrated whine in Woohyun’s voice. He couldn’t understand.

“At the expense of sounding horribly cliché and overly romantic and just gross,” Sunggyu began with a small smile and laugh. He looked up at the ceiling and in a deep breath before finishing his answer, “He was my first love. With him, I learned what love was, how it felt. So I can’t completely hate him. A man takes his first love to the grave.”

When his eyes finally fell back onto Woohyun, the younger was ready with a retort, “That wasn’t love.”

The smile didn’t leave Sunggyu’s face. If anything, it grew wider. “It was for me.”

Distracted. That’s how Woohyun could describe his week following that. He was distracted during his performance for My Star, suddenly wondering “what is love?” during his love ballad. He didn’t know. He thought he did, but his conversation with Sunggyu had just subverted everything he had once known. And his performance was the worse for it. Luckily, the public was also distracted. Yoon Sang had called it an ‘interesting’ rendition of the song, thinking that Woohyun’s confusion was intentional. And based on that opinion, the audience voted more for Woohyun than ever before, landing him in second place for the first time and beating out Dongwoo who’d dropped below him.

It wasn’t a sweet victory though. It was pure luck (or it was in his mind).

And right now, as he was singing the song of his choice for next week’s performance, Heechul was distracted, sitting in his usual chair and playing with his phone.

Woohyun didn’t even go onto the second verse. He stopped suddenly and asked, “Well, what do you think?” It was his first time discussing his song choice with Heechul before the vocal trainer. Woohyun thought that perhaps his relationship with the idol would become better if he put more effort into it. It wasn’t until now that he realized his plan had backfired. They both needed to put in effort, and Heechul was still slacking.

“Good. You’re always good,” Heechul replied in a distracted voice. He looked up from his phone, gazing Woohyun directly in the eye for the first time since he started singing. “Are we done?” He didn’t even wait for Woohyun to respond. He tucked his phone into his coat and stood up from his chair, preparing to leave.

“Why do you hate me?” Woohyun’s question stopped the idol in his tracks. Heechul turned around. Woohyun took this opportunity to step closer to the other and square up his chest. Woohyun wasn’t afraid of the idol. He knew that plenty were, but Woohyun was too irritated to be afraid of Heechul’s erratic temper. “You’re putting a lot more effort into Dongwoo,” Woohyun pointed out. “Is it because you think I’m going to lose?”

Surprisingly Heechul smiled (he really was unpredictable). “I don’t hate you. You hate me,” he retorted. Woohyun opened his mouth to object, but Heechul raised a finger, pointing at the other and shoving his words back inside. “Don’t deny it. You don’t respect me. I’m not going to waste my time giving advice to people who are just going to disregard it.” His expression softened even more. “But Dongwoo, that kid listens to me. He wants my advice.”

“I want it too,” Woohyun fought back.

Heechul shook his head and waved his finger. “No, no you don’t,” he denied. “You want praise.”

Woohyun frowned. “That’s not true,” his voice was slowly losing strength as he was losing the argument as well. When did Kim Heechul, a well known narcissist, suddenly become perceptive?

“Look. We both know you can sing. And we both know that I can’t give you much advice on how to improve there. You know technique better than I do. You’re a natural,” Heechul admitted.

Woohyun was taken aback. That was the most praise he’s ever heard from Heechul. “Really?”

The idol rolled his eyes. “I don’t need to be Kyuhyun to know that,” Heechul retorted. “But you’re stubborn. You want to do what you want, and you can’t do that if you want to make it as a singer.”

That would make two people now who thought Woohyun shouldn’t become a singer. How much longer until there was one more, or a whole crowd of people shooting down his dream. Maybe there already are. Woohyun hung his head. After all, he hadn’t won first place since he joined the competition. Maybe there were more than just two people who thought he couldn’t make it as a singer.

“Huh?”

Heechul stepped closer to him and patted the younger on the shoulder. His voice was as gentle as his hand, “But I’m stubborn too. Stubborn people also stay in the business, especially if they’re just as shameless as us.” He gave a hard pat and a wink to the other. The idol then cleared his throat, as the atmosphere was growing too ‘warm and fuzzy’ for his liking. He turned around and was making his way out the door.

“Really?” Woohyun raised his voice, calling after his coach.

Heechul spun around and continued to walk backwards. “The real reason that we can’t get along is that we’re too much alike,” he stated.

“Pbft!” Woohyun sputtered. “I’m nothing like you, hyung. I can sing,” he teased. It looked like their relationship was going to be built on honesty. The more brutal, the better.

Heechul stopped again. “Aish. Disrespectful punk,” he cursed. “I can sing too. I’m a world famous singer! People in Antarctica know my name. The penguins sing my songs!” He argued and stomped out the door.

Woohyun chuckled at that, and right as he was about to turn his mind back to his song (maybe he had made the wrong choice), he heard a voice from the entrance. “Come to me when you want to be a performer,” and then Heechul left him with that parting statement.

Woohyun left the practice room soon after. He had lost all confidence in his song choice. He needed a change. He could sing more than sappy love ballads, and he had. But the audience must’ve forgotten about his audition. It was time to remind them who Nam Woohyun was.

But who was Nam Woohyun? The Woohyun at the beginning of the competition was different than the one here now. He’d grown. He’d changed. After all, he was at the age when his character was still in flux, but it was settling, slowly but surely. Sure, he was still the ‘annoying kid’ at heart. He’ll always be. But he was also something else. What? Woohyun needed to figure out.

Maybe taking an early night and eating with his family (which he hadn’t done in weeks) would help.

But Woohyun never made it to the Lees’ door.

“I haven’t seen you around lately.”

Woohyun whipped his head around and saw Sungyeol walking down the hall to greet him. He was still in civilian clothes, which meant that he had the night off. Woohyun grinned. He’d missed this. “Yea, you’re probably pretty lonely without me,” he teased. But then he dropped the smile and sincerely apologized, “I’m sorry. The competition has been taking up a lot of time.”

Sungyeol batted away the apology with a wave of his hand. “Eh, don’t worry.” He then leaned against the wall. “I’ve been watching you and voting every week.” Woohyun chuckled in disbelief. “Seriously! I have!” Sungyeol insisted. “But I haven’t been voting for you.”

Woohyun frowned and hit him in the arm. Sungyeol winced, muttering “It’s just a joke. A joke.” So Woohyun apologized, and while he was rubbing the pain away from Sungyeol’s arm, the cop also revealed something else, “Also I haven’t been missing you that much.”

“Jerk.”

“No, I’m actually seeing somebody.”

“Really?” Woohyun was in disbelief. The last time he’d spoken to Sungyeol, the cop was still despondent, dragging his feet down their building’s halls and murmuring like a zombie who feasted on love instead of brains. Sungyeol, though, nodded proudly. “Heeyeon noona?”

“No, Solji noona,” he corrected.

Woohyun stared blankly at the other. “Who’s that?”

Sungyeol moved their conversation into his apartment, away from “prying eyes and curious ears” (or so he said. And no one in their building was more at fault of that than Lee Sungyeol). But Woohyun quickly understood why the cop wanted to do so. Sungyeol was practically gushing, the details of his love spilling out from his lips like sticky-sweet honey. His smile was tearing at the edges of his lips. Every ounce of Lee Sungyeol showed that he had fallen in deep. It would’ve been embarrassing for him to tell this story anywhere else than the comfort of his own home.

So who was Solji? She was Heeyeon’s unnie by a few years and the owner of the restaurant that they boys frequented. They had never seen Solji because she was trapped behind the kitchen doors, cooking every bit of food that they ate (and it suddenly made sense why Sungyeol’s portions always seemed larger than everyone else’s). She had used Heeyeon as a scout, gathering information about the cop that had caught Solji’s eye ever since he first walked into her establishment. It wasn’t like Sungyeol had much competition for the owner’s attention, not with all of the grandfathers with granddaughters Solji’s own age. Unfortunately, Sungyeol had mistaken Heeyeon’s scouting as interest and fell for the waitress. Then he brought Woohyun in so that his own friend could act as his wingman, but then Woohyun messed everything up, forcing Sungyeol into a premature confession.

And thank God that Woohyun did.

Because if it wasn’t for that, Solji wouldn’t have been forced to confess either. Sungyeol had gone into the restaurant once more without Woohyun, just to make sure that Heeyeon was avoiding him and wasn’t sick or visiting her grandmother or in the bathroom with constipation (Sungyeol had made up a lot of excuses for her absence). That time, Heeyeon was there. She’d seen the cop come in and walked straight into the kitchen, only to bring out a shy Solji.

Solji was ashamed at first. She always had thought that she was a proactive woman, not afraid to confess or tell a man her honest feelings about him, even if it was just to say he looked nice that day. But there was something about Sungyeol that made her inexplicably shy. She wanted to talk to him but didn’t know what to say. The words weren’t there, and her thoughts flew out of her head. So she stayed behind the safety of her kitchen doors. Sungyeol might’ve been a cop, but he stole her heart against her will.

However, it didn’t take much for Solji to break past her shyness. Once the two began talking, the words came to her easily. “It was like talking with you,” Sungyeol blurted out. “I mean, it felt natural.” By the end of it, they were already ‘arguing’ (loving spats) with and ‘insulting’ (veiled compliments) each other.

They were honest. They put everything out there and took it all. They fell in love.

After listening to it all, Woohyun whistled lowly, “You move on pretty fast.” It’d only been a few weeks, but Sungyeol was already in scarily deep.

“There’s no point dwelling on someone who doesn’t want you,” Sungyeol became suddenly insightful. “Heeyeon didn’t like me like that, and there’s nothing I can change about it. But Solji, she likes me…a lot.” He ended with a shy grin and giggles.

“So you’re only dating her because she likes you?” Woohyun asked. He was concerned by how quickly all of this was happening.

Sungyeol shook his head furiously. “No, not at all,” he responded. “She’s pretty, smart, funny, cute…it’s hard not to like her.”

“You like her too?” Woohyun just wanted to make sure, even though Sungyeol’s glowing aura should’ve been enough of an answer.

“Yea, imagine that,” Sungyeol remarked with a snort. “Two people who like each other equally. It’s sad how rare that is.”

It truly is. Woohyun reached over the table and patted Sungyeol’s shoulder. “You’re a lucky man,” he said.

“I know.” There was the giggling again. Soon Woohyun would have to tell him to stop before he does it in public. But for now, it was okay. For now, it was cute.

Then Sungyeol changed the direction of their conversation, “Have you thought about dating? I don’t know much about your scene, but there has to be somewhere you could meet people like yourself.”

Woohyun chuckled and rolled his eyes at Sungyeol’s awkwardness. “There is,” Woohyun admitted. “But I don’t know if I’m ready.”

“Will you ever be ready?” Sungyeol asked.

Woohyun slid back in his seat. He had a point.

What was there holding him back now?

However, Sungyeol’s love life wasn’t the only change recently. Woohyun didn’t know when it happened or why, but it had changed. The dynamics of his relationship with Sunggyu had changed. Sunggyu was no longer a crutch. Woohyun could walk fine on his own now. But, was Sunggyu stumbling now, looking for support? The texts were more frequent now, and there were a few short video calls too. Howon had gone back to the States for work. Was that the reason? Was Sunggyu being crippled by his loneliness? The random texts at 3 AM would make it seem so.

Gyu-hyung: Can’t sleep. Are you awake?

Gyu-hyung: You’re probably asleep.

Gyu-hyung: Sorry for bothering you.

Woohyun: No, I’m up. Still practicing. What’s up?

Gyu-hyung: Nothing.

Gyu-hyung: Just want to talk.

Woohyun: Hold on. I’ll call you in a bit.

Suddenly, Woohyun was reminded of the old man who used to come to the store just to buy cup ramyun and a beer, just for human interaction. Woohyun was there for him then, unintentionally. But he could be there for the man now. Woohyun could be his crutch now. Even with the chaos that was his life right now, he wouldn’t mind supporting the other, not at all. He knew what it was like to feel neglected. He knew what it was like to want to be needed. But he was needed now.

And that’s how he ended up at Sunggyu’s door the next day. He had no idea if the elder would be in. But something drove him to be there.

Luckily Sunggyu was.

“What are you doing here?” Sunggyu asked as he opened the door.

“Please. You were begging me to come over last time,” Woohyun signed, slightly worried that the other hadn’t immediately let him inside.

Sunggyu shook his head. “No I didn’t.”

“You never come over anymore, Hyunnie,” Woohyun mimicked the other, grinning proudly afterwards.

“I didn’t say it like that,” Sunggyu denied, but he still stepped aside to let Woohyun in. Woohyun, as usual, went straight for the couch. Maybe it was unconscious. But it was like he wanted to settle himself in so that Sunggyu would have a hard time making him leave. Also the couch was really comfortable.

Sunggyu followed him, but didn’t sit down. “So what’s wrong?” he signed.

Woohyun sat up straight. “Do I always have to come to you with a problem?”

“No, but there always seems to be a problem with you,” and after signing that, Sunggyu left the living room for the kitchen. He soon returned with a drink for the both of them. Against Woohyun expectations (hopes), after handing over the drink, Sunggyu sat in the arm chair and not next to him on the couch. Woohyun must’ve looked as agitated as he felt because Sunggyu quickly signed, “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what, hyung?” Woohyun argued. He slammed the drink onto the coffee table. He glared at the man across from him. “I don’t really care for how you’ve been treating me recently. I know you’re old but I’m not a child. Hell, you act more like a child than I do and…” his rant stopped in his throat. He’d just notice that he was yelling, his hands were in fists, and Sunggyu was looking him in the eye. The old man didn’t even know what Woohyun was saying. Sunggyu wasn’t even bothering to read his lips. Woohyun slid over closer to the arm chair. He raised his voice as if that would help, “Hyung, are you even listening to me? Reading me?” It didn’t. Sunggyu held his gaze. Woohyun huffed and unclenched his fists, lifting them to sign (or to flick the other off). But Sunggyu grabbed his wrists before he could.

Without dropping his gaze, Sunggyu placed Woohyun’s hands back down. “I know. It’s written all over your face,” he said.

“What?” Woohyun’s eyes searched Sunggyu’s face, as if the answer was written all over his face.

Sunggyu squeezed the other’s hands. “Every time I see you, you look like you’re on the verge of telling me something. Tell me,” he urged. Woohyun was at a loss. He couldn’t keep the other’s gaze, so he dropped it, looking at the hands. It was odd not to use them right now. But Sunggyu could still understand him. He’d always had. Maybe it’s time. Woohyun opened his mouth to speak. But Sunggyu must’ve not noticed and continued to talk, “It’s Heechul, isn’t it? It’s obvious, even on the show that he favors Dongwoo. And that…that must be hard for you.”

Well, Woohyun had been meaning to talk about that too. He raised his head. “Really? You can tell all of that just by looking at me? Eh, you’re lying,” he combatted.

“No,” Sunggyu denied shaking his head. “You’re an open book. An easy read.”

Woohyun lowered his head again and barely moving his lips he muttered, “Hyung, if I were an easy read you’d know that…”

“Hey!” Sunggyu yelled. He lifted one of his hands off of Woohyun’s and used it to force the younger’s chin up so that he could see the other’s face. “What are you saying?”

“Hyung’s a liar,” Woohyun pronounced loud and clear.

The elder slapped the other on the cheek (lightly) and pulled both of his hands into his lap. “But I was right this time, wasn’t I?” Sunggyu cheekily responded. “Woohyun-ah, there are more important things in life than Kim Heechul’s opinion. Yes he’s a professional, but you’re a talented kid.”

Woohyun pouted. “You don’t know that. You haven’t heard me,” he argued.

“True, but I see how people react to you. And that’s enough for me to know,” Sunggyu explained. “You’re really good.” Woohyun perked up. “But even if you’re really good, there will be always some reason why people don’t like you or like you best. You’ll have to get used to that if you want to be in the industry. I know it will be hard, but…” Sunggyu swallowed before continuing. All of this unaccustomed talking was making his mouth dry. “You’ll have people like me…o-or your family...people that will always be there to support you.”

This was new. This was the first time Sunggyu had outright said that he supported Woohyun’s dreams. The first time Sunggyu said that he believed Woohyun could become a singer. He grinned widely. He couldn’t contain himself and wasn’t going to. “Okay,” he responded, got out of his chair, and sat on Sunggyu’s lap, slinging his arms around the elder’s neck. His words had meant more to Woohyun right now than he probably could have known.

“W-wait. What are you doing?” Sunggyu blubbered. Woohyun felt the man stiffen in his arms.

Woohyun pulled away, but still remained in the other’s lap while he signed, “Hugging. You must not do it enough. You keep asking me what I’m doing every time I try.”

Sunggyu dropped his gaze for a second as he tentatively put his arms around Woohyun, loosely and barely holding him. Woohyun took this as a sign that he could resume hugging the other, and so he did, tightly while resting his head on the other’s shoulders. “No…it’s just…what is it this time?” Sunggyu stumbled into that question.

Woohyun pulled away just barely enough so that the other could read him. “I need it,” was the only way Woohyun could phrase it. Sunggyu’s lingered on his lips for much longer than Woohyun had been speaking for. And they were still there. And they, Sunggyu and Woohyun, were close, closer than they’d ever been before, close enough to...

"I know.” Sunggyu threw his head back. “Who hugs for this long anyway? Get off,” he whined as he wiggled in the other’s hold.

"Nnnngh!" Woohyun grunted, gripping the other tighter.

"Woohyun-ah…" Sunggyu whined again.

Woohyun pulled away again, removing his arms. "Just five minutes, hyung?” he begged while signing, his lower lip protruding with his deep pout. “It feels nice. Doesn't it?" he tried to persuade the other. “Please?”

“Okay.” Woohyun could barely believe his ears. He thought that he misheard that hoarse whisper until he felt Sunggyu’s arms drawing him back into his embrace.

Utterly content, Woohyun dropped his head back onto Sunggyu’s shoulder and closed his eyes. He could tell that they both needed this: human interaction, a warm body pressed up against their own, seeking comfort, fulfilling a want to be needed.

Woohyun snuggled in closer and loosened his grip. Lately, he’d been cutting back on the caffeine, afraid of what it was doing to his heart, but he didn’t stop his late nights in the practice room. He was exhausted mind, body and soul, which is probably why he needed this so badly. And now, in Sunggyu’s blanket-like embrace, Woohyun was finally feeling rested...or was he finally resting?

Sunggyu shook him lightly. "Yah, are you sleeping? You can't do that here." Woohyun ignored the elder’s scolding and laid still. Sunggyu’s fingers rapped against his back. "Aish…You didn't go to sleep at all, did you?'

Woohyun scarcely moved his arm and made the gesture for ‘a little’ before returning back to his original position. When he was settled back in, he felt the other’s chest shake. Sunggyu was laughing.

"Silly, you need to sleep,” he chided.

Woohyun put his finger on Sunggyu’s lips. What he really needed right now was sleep and silence.

"Not on me,” Sunggyu argued. “I have a bed. You can take a nap there.” He started to loosen his arms and squirm in his seat.

"Nng,” Woohyun grunted as he held on tighter and position himself so that it was nearly impossible for Sunggyu to get up. “Don't wanna. Don't wanna move. Hyung's comfy.” There was no way that Sunggyu could tell what he had said, and maybe that was for the better.

"Fine. I'll just have to…" Sunggyu began as he hooked his arms under Woohyun’s legs and around his back. He was going to try to carry the other. This is going to be interesting. Sunggyu tried to sit up once. He tried again. He tried for a third time. He failed and sunk back into his chair. "Let you stay here,” he finished with a worn out voice.

And so Woohyun did, and he fell asleep with a smile on his lips.

He has to go soon. He has to meet with his coach. He has to practice.

“Hyunnie, Woohyun-ah.”

Woohyun opened his eyes just a crack. Where was he? “You have to wake up,” someone urged him. Who was it? “Yah!” Woohyun was shaken awake. His heart was racing faster than it should have been, even for someone who was woken up roughly. But...I hadn’t had any caffeine, and I...The answer was right in front of him, the man trying to peel his eyes open. It was Sunggyu. It was because of him.

Woohyun realized that it wasn’t the caffeine. It was Sunggyu.

“Sorry, Sorry. Sorry,” Woohyun apologized several times as he sprinted into the practice room. He staggered slightly inside, still drowsy and high of his sudden enlightenment.

Heechul glared at him from his chair. “You’re late,” he coldly stated.

“I know. I’m sorry, but hyung!” Woohyun exclaimed as he jumped right in front of Heechul. The idol was startled, not used to this sort of enthusiasm being directed towards him. Woohyun chuckled and revealed, “I have an idea.”

Heechul had a smile on his face, a genuine one. He tucked his phone into his pocket and he leaned forward with his hands on his lips, intrigued. “Tell me about it.”

Who was Nam Woohyun? He was just a boy who was falling in love with Kim Sunggyu. And next week, for his performance, he was going to confess.

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Comments

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NK7_NiKi #1 Apr 10, 2023 06:10:33

Chapter 8: So adorable & sweet😍

sillhouette31 #2 Aug 20, 2022 17:23:11

Chapter 8: This is beautiful! I really enjoy their journey! Also i love woohyun and sunggyu character here, it's like the closest copy of the real them. Thank you for writing such a beautiful story<3

Zd7394 #3 Dec 11, 2020 21:28:37

Chapter 8: Like it😭😭😭

Zd7394 #4 Dec 10, 2020 22:59:18

Chapter 7: Finally gyu can hear
Sooo good😍

Zd7394 #5 Dec 10, 2020 21:19:17

Chapter 7: This chapter is really long
If you wrote it in 4 chapters it would be easier
😅🙈

Zd7394 #6 Dec 6, 2020 21:46:29

Chapter 6: They finally confessed 👏🏻

Zd7394 #7 Dec 5, 2020 16:59:46

Chapter 5: Oh god
My heartbeat was faster
Can't wait for next one

Zd7394 #8 Dec 5, 2020 13:57:15

Chapter 5: Why every chapter getting longer?😅😂

Zd7394 #9 Dec 4, 2020 22:03:02

Chapter 2: I knew that
It's nice first meeting

Zd7394 #10 Nov 29, 2020 08:53:01

Has so cute poster
Like it