Jihoon- Woozi

Seungcheol- S.Coups

Chan- Dino

Soonyoung- Hoshi

Seokmin- DK

Minghao- THE8

Junhui- Jun

Jisoo- Joshua

Hansol- Vernon

________________

Jihoon parted ways with Seungcheol about an hour ago and although he decided to get some sleep he still hadn’t closed his eyes. He sat up in his bed clutching his phone in his right hand. Had his life been a cartoon he was sure that the phone would explode just from the sheer concentration of his stare. He seen the missed call and the text message from Soonyoung but Jihoon just couldn’t bring himself to call back. He couldn’t help but wonder just why it was that he decided to contact him. It was true that they were friends but Soonyoung also had rich friends that he could confide in, whatever the problem was. Did Jihoon hold a bit of a grudge against Soonyoung for being everything that he wanted to be, for having everything that he wanted to have? Of course. There was nobody in this world, if put in his position, who wouldn’t feel the same.

It’s just that Jihoon wondered what the problem could be. Soonyoung had everything, he even taught at his family’s dance studio. What else could he possibly want? What could go wrong? Jihoon sighed heavily and decided to just call Soonyoung and get it over with. He swore, if Soonyoung was upset that his pet fish had died then he was going to kill him. Jihoon called Soonyoung back and he only waited for two rings before Soonyoung’s relieved voice was heard over the receiver.

“Jihoon?” He asked and didn’t even wait for a simple ‘hello’ before he started his rambling, “I don’t know what’s going on or where you disappeared to, but they…” Soonyoung took a deep breath and sighed, “they shut down the dance program at our school.”

There was silence. Jihoon pinched the bridge of his nose as his lack of sleep finally caught up with him. On top of that Soonyoung had called him about something like that? Soonyoung didn’t need the dance program, his family had their own dance studio to work out of. Wasn’t Soonyoung being a bit too selfish?

“Oh.” Jihoon managed to bite out. He owed an explanation to Soonyoung, he knew that. But if Soonyoung thought he was going to get his sympathy, he would be mistaken. Soonyoung’s hopeless sigh was heard through the receiver, clear distress making its way into the phone call.

“One of their contributors pulled out and they don’t have sufficient funds anymore. I begged my father to help but he doesn’t think it’s worth it.” Soonyoung continued to talk and it seemed like he was so distracted by his problem that he forgot to hold the phone close to his mouth. “They pulled my group out of the competition today, without that program I can’t compete anymore. My group doesn’t even want to fight for it. They gave up.” Jihoon struggled to hear Soonyoung but he understood the gist of the situation.

“What are you going to do?” Jihoon asked and turned the volume up on his phone.

“The dance program was the only good thing at that school. Aside from you, of course.” Soonyoung mumbled and Jihoon suddenly understood where their conversation was going. “I don’t really want to leave, but my father agreed to send me back to my hometown to go to school.” It was silent. Jihoon didn’t really know what to say but Soonyoung seemed to have enough on his mind to make up for the both of them. “What happened to you?” Soonyoung asked.

Jihoon ran a hand through his hair nervously before answering. “My parents took me out of that school because they-” He stopped and just decided to leave the story up to Soonyoung’s imagination, “Nevermind, it’s not important. I’m sorry for not explaining earlier.” Jihoon muttered quietly, he realized that he probably would never give his explanation to Soonyoung. He still owed him something at least. Come to think of it, he owed a lot of people something. Jihoon eyed Seungkwan’s sleeping form across the room.

“That’s...okay.” Soonyoung sounded relieved. It seemed like he had already thought up his own scenarios in his spare time. “Honestly, it will make things easier. Now, I don’t have to feel guilty about leaving you behind.” Soonyoung spoke, his voice contained a smile.

“Yeah.” Jihoon yawned loudly and Soonyoung seemed to get the hint.

“It’s early,” Soonyoung observed. “I’m sorry. You should get some more rest. I forgot about your sleeping habits.” He laughed softly and Jihoon smiled quietly, happy to hear from a familiar voice for once, even if that voice happened to be Kwon Soon Young. “I miss you, we should talk again soon. Rest well, Ji!”

“Bye Hoshi.” Jihoon used his nickname, knowing that it would make his friend happy. He heard a happy chuckle from the other side of the phone and he knew that he was correct in his assumption. They both hung up after Soonyoung bid one last goodbye.

Jihoon sighed and flopped back on his bed. For some reason the phone call left a bad taste in his mouth.

“You talk really loudly.” Seungkwan mumbled from under his blankets. Jihoon raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes as his roommate emerged from under his blanket tomb.

“Sorry.” Jihoon apologized, although only half-genuine. Seungkwan rolled around in his bed for a few seconds.

“Who was that? Girlfriend?” He asked but when he saw Jihoon’s face he furrowed his eyebrows, “Boyfriend?” He guessed, but when he was met with silence Seungkwan only groaned and pulled the blankets up around his neck.

“It was my friend. He wanted to talk about something that was bothering him although it seemed more like a rant session.” Jihoon got under his own blankets as Seungkwan nodded with his eyes closed. “He’s dramatic sometimes but-” Jihoon suddenly stopped his words and Seungkwan looked over to his roommate at the sudden hesitation.

“But?”

“I miss him.” Jihoon said softly, letting the words spill out although they were embarrassing. His face burned at the confession but he was confident that Seungkwan wouldn’t run around the school telling everybody that Lee Jihoon actually missed somebody.

“Ah, homesickness?”

“Something like that.” Jihoon lay on his side and faced the wall, signaling to Seungkwan that their conversation was over and he needed sleep. He closed his eyes and fell asleep instantly, their unfinished conversation fluttering in his head.

. . .

All of Seventeen stood in a circle in the school’s Main Hall building. It was a magnificent building, a stark contrast in comparison to the red brick buildings. The Hall was the school’s pride, towering over all the other buildings with an intimidating elegance. The building stretched on left and right with careful construction, pointed tops at each end. Windows lined the whole place, from top to bottom, large ones that curved into a point at the top and small windows across the lower half. Gothic architecture somehow played a small part in the whole ensemble.

In the middle of the two main parts of the building was a section that pulled everything together. The entrance doors were small compared to the towering building but they suited the aura. Above the thick, oak doors were huge hand-carved doorways and tall marble support posts that were installed only a few years ago. Surpassing all that was a bell tower installed at the very top. The tower was no longer in use but it was such a nice sight that even Seventeen stopped to stare at it before they went in. The Hall was a place that students weren’t allowed to go, aside from special events of course.

The first Autumn celebration was one of those exceptions, and because Fall had already begun, the students of Seventeen were assigned preparations. A duty that only Seventeen would be able to know about. Seungcheol rubbed his red eyes and glanced up at the dimly lit area of the Main hall. The area would, without a doubt, be better lit up for the celebration.

“Could you repeat that?” Jeonghan asked and slipped on his glasses. He took a pen out of his uniform pocket and began to jot down notes.

“Decorations.” Joshua answered and pointed across from the main hall entrance where the stairs were. “Something to hang up over there. Nothing too over-the-top otherwise it might come off as-”

“Too much?”

“Right.”

“Do we have to discuss decorations right now?” Hansol complained, even he had his own notebook poised in his hands, although blank. “The headmaster made it clear that we would be in charge of where to hold the events. Shouldn’t we get that out of the way first? After we figure that out, we would know which rooms to decorate and to set up in.” Hansol made his point but then glared at Jeonghan and Joshua as they continued to work on without him.

“Hansol’s right. You, Jeonghan and Joshua, go check out the upstairs rooms and see if any of them are okay to use.” Seungcheol walked to the right towards the dining rooms. “Don’t bother going any further than the second floor, those are off limits. Jun, Minghao, come with me.” Seungcheol made it to the heavy wooden doors and turned around. “Seokmin, Wonwoo and Mingyu, I want you guys to plan out where we’re going to hold our performance. If we can’t find a place, we might need to head over to the auditorium.”

Seungcheol finished giving out orders and he held the door open for Jun and Minghao as they scurried through. They were both the newest members of Seventeen and Seungcheol wanted to include them as much as possible. Both of them transferred from their old school late last year and the headmaster immediately placed them both with Seventeen. Seungcheol figured it was because they came from China, but when he was given the opportunity to read both of their files, he thought otherwise. The headmaster had a knack for making their school look good. Wen Junhui’s name alone drew the attention of many people and Seventeen’s name was able to get a fit spot into many local newspapers both in Korea and China. Titles that said things like, “Wen Junhui, brilliant actor and intelligent student, accepted into Pledis Academy’s exceptional group SEVENTEEN.”

Seungcheol took care of them because he understood his duties, although they were the only few who got into the group without an audition. He stayed up late nights just to ensure that Jun and Minghao understood their songs and choreography. He also assigned Hansol and Joshua to help them with the transition from Mandarin to Korean, and he would often take them to Korean restaurants outside of school. It wasn’t easy but Seungcheol was proud of their improvement. Jun and Minghao had somehow managed to make his heart warm, especially during the summertime, when Seventeen spent most of their time together.

Seungcheol shook himself out of his thoughts and observed the old room they had entered. The dining hall was large and would ultimately need some improvements but they would get it done before their Fall show. The room was dusty from lack of use, but at least after they cleaned up he wouldn’t need to do it again. “It will do.” Seungcheol mumbled and both Jun and Minghao looked over in confusion at his mumbling. “We’ll need to contact the custodian to get the keys for cleaning supplies. Write that down.” Seungcheol said and he watched as they both wrote down what he had said, Minghao wrote it down in little notes and Jun flawlessly finished the sentence in no time at all. “Cleaning supplies.” Seungcheol repeated as he watched Minghao cross out the incorrect Hangeul. Seungcheol smiled in encouragement once Minghao got it correct, he observed the small grateful smile that Minghao gave him in return. Seungcheol wondered when he would begin to show his true self. “After that, we should check tablecloths, tables and chairs. We can’t trust the school to get that right, not after what happened last time.” Seungcheol mumbled and Jun nodded in agreement even though he wasn’t there at the time to see the monstrosity. Seventeen never stopped talking about that incident, so both Jun and Minghao knew about it. Last year, at the Christmas dinner, Seungcheol left table and chair arrangements to the school and instead of clean, white tablecloths they got old, re-used, stained yellow and red ones. Who knows where the red came from.

That was an obvious embarrassment to Seventeen, but since the school was in charge of the arrangements nobody knew who to blame. “Anyway, no matter how new the tablecloths look, send them to be cleaned.” Seungcheol said and Jun and Minghao nodded, their hands writing a mile a minute. “We’ll need a mic for the headmaster, if he shows up, and some music to play while the dinner is running. So, speakers, sound systems and equipment.” He let the thoughts run from his mind, before they cluttered up his head. “We need that for the performances too but we’ll get to that later. Hansol is more than capable of finding some students who know what they’re doing.” Seungcheol walked around the room and scanned the area with calculating eyes.  “Remember we need to obtain a rough count of all the families and seating placements with the student’s first and last name. We don’t need a bunch of Kims trying to figure out which table is theirs.” Seungcheol paused to think, “Since invitations were already sent out to families we should get a rough count by tomorrow evening. That being said, always be prepared for two extra guests.” Seungcheol sighed and rubbed his eyes again.

“Tired?” Minghao asked and smiled softly, his notepad only half as full as Jun’s. Seungcheol nodded and stretched his arms above his head to dismiss his concern.

“We’ll need extra lighting too…” Seungcheol noticed just as Hansol poked his head through the open doorway.

“Hey, they found an area for the performances. The place needs cleaning up but what room in this building doesn’t?” Hansol joked and walked in the room, Joshua and Jeonghan entered the room behind him.

“Oh good, that means the families don’t have to cross campus to get to the auditorium.” Seokmin chimed in as he followed the rest of the members in through the door. “Although that wouldn’t be the most embarrassing thing to have happened to us.” Seokmin bit his lip, “I still remember the look on their faces when they had to eat on those tablecloths.” Seokmin cringed as did the rest of the members.

“Don’t bring it up!” Wonwoo and Mingyu called out from the other room.

“Volunteers should be here tomorrow, on Sunday. We’ll get a head start with the cleaning. Joshua, you and Jeonghan are going to the chapel at ten right?” Seungcheol confirmed and both of them nodded.

“What?” Mingyu and Wonwoo exclaimed as they burst through the door and into the room. “They get to skip cleaning duty to go to church?” Mingyu asked and exchanged glances with Wonwoo.

“Actually, we were going to go to church tomorrow too.” Wonwoo nudged Mingyu.

“Oh that’s right, I completely forgot, my mom said I should-”

“No.” Seungcheol sighed. “Nobody gets out of cleaning duty except Joshua and Jeonghan.” He crossed his arms and the rest of them sighed.

“Now, on to decorations.”

. . .

It was late in the evening and Seungkwan and Jihoon sat on the bleachers, an ice cream cone balanced in Seungkwan's hand. They watched over the gym as the basketball game went on. It was pretty boring for the time being but Seungkwan seemed to be absorbed enough for his ice cream to melt down and over his hand. There was nothing else for Jihoon to do except watch people play basketball. Seungkwan had asked him to come with him and since Jihoon wasn’t doing anything anyways he decided to go. But, why did it feel like a bad decision?

Jihoon facepalmed as he realized just how boring the basketball game was. There was only one person scoring anyways, some guy named Yoonki. Or was it Yoongi? Jihoon noticed out of the corner of his eye, someone come and sit next to him. It wasn’t odd, since the gymnasium was pretty packed already but the guy was sitting a bit too close for his comfort.

“Hey, Mr. Ji.” The guy said and Jihoon looked over to see Haneul with a grin spread wide over his face. Had he been anybody else, that grin would have looked creepy but Haneul managed to pull it off. Jihoon didn’t reply back but he did nod in acknowledgement. He had a habit of being indifferent towards people, but it’s not like Haneul was his friend. “Seungkwan, do ya need some help?” Haneul asked and Seungkwan looked over in confusion.

“Huh? Oh, hey Haneul.” He mumbled and then went back to watching the game, he ignored the ice cream that continued to melt down his hand. Haneul chuckled in amusement. Now that he was there Jihoon had to pretend to watch the game, otherwise he would start talking to him. A few minutes passed with Seungkwan making little jabs at the players and Haneul cheering loudly for Yoongi even though it was clear that the MVP had no idea who he was.

“Hey!” Somebody called and Jihoon looked over to his right, across Seungkwan, to see Chan with a hamburger in his left hand. He waved sporadically with his right. Jihoon smiled, although he was happy to see Chan, he just wished that Chan was sitting next to him instead of Haneul. Instead, Chan sat right in front of him on the next seat down, his back resting half on his legs and half on Seungkwan’s. Seungkwan ruffled the boy’s messy hair and Chan glanced back to grin at him.

“Why does anyone even come to these games anymore?” A familiar voice said and Jihoon didn’t want to look to see who just entered the gym but he had to. He glanced over to his right and seen Hansol walk in with Joshua and the rest of Seventeen trailing behind them, everyone was there aside from Seungcheol.

“Who knows. It must be better than the field games though.” Wonwoo said.

“Guys!” Seungkwan yelled at Wonwoo and Mingyu. They both looked over and immediately began to walk in Seungkwan’s direction.

“Hey!” Haneul greeted Seventeen loudly and everyone who was sitting around the area immediately moved away to make space for Seventeen who began to climb the bleachers towards them. Jihoon groaned. Whatever escape plan he had made was now crushed. There was no way he was going to get out of there now. Chan looked up at all of them with an apprehensive expression but Jihoon placed his hands on his shoulders in reassurance. It had been him to save him from Seungcheol’s wrath that first day, after all. To Jihoon’s surprise, they didn’t spare one glance towards him or Chan, which made him wonder if that was better or worse than being acknowledged.

“Are you guys finished with ‘Seventeen business’?” Seungkwan asked Mingyu who sat next to him.

“For now.” He replied. Wonwoo had sat next to Chan while Hansol had sat next to Haneul. Joshua and Jeonghan were seated behind Jihoon, along with another handsome, bright kid that he still didn’t have the name for. Aside from that, the two international students were sat in front of Chan and Wonwoo. Jihoon felt like somebody was staring at him so he pulled his hat down further as if that would hide him from their stares. How did his and Seungkwan’s Saturday turn from a small two-person party to a twelve-person party? They all talked around him and Jihoon miserably sat in the middle of it all. He surprisingly felt more close to Chan than to anybody at that moment.

“Are you going to help us tomorrow?” Mingyu asked Seungkwan and Wonwoo turned around in his seat to assess Seungkwan’s dissatisfied face.

“Don’t tell me. It’s cleaning duty?” Seungkwan groaned, phrasing it in more of a statement than a question.

“Come on, you always help us. Besides, you should get used to this if Seungcheol accepts you into the group. One day it will be mandatory.” Wonwoo teased and Seungkwan rolled his eyes.

“I already am used to it, what do you mean?” Seungkwan laughed humorlessly. “I always help you two.”

Mingyu and Wonwoo shared a look. “Help” was obviously a term used loosely in Seungkwan’s vocabulary. “What about you?” Wonwoo asked and looked over to Jihoon. Jihoon hadn’t realized he was listening in, but he looked over to them and shrugged anyways. Damn it.

“Honestly. We’ll need as much help as we can get. Not a lot of people signed up to volunteer.” Joshua leaned over and spoke in Jihoon’s ear. Jihoon shuddered and gave some form of an understanding nod.

“We’ll be there.” Seungkwan sighed.

“Leave your laziness in the dorm this time.” Hansol called over to Seungkwan who rolled his eyes. “I don’t want you to fall asleep. Your drool really gets everywhere you know.”

“You brat.” Seungkwan reached over and attempted to swat at Hansol’s face. He gave up and angrily his melted ice cream cone. “Anyways, I can’t, my laziness and I have a clingy relationship.” Seungkwan pouted.

Jihoon tried to find any sort of connection between Hansol and Seungkwan as they bickered but Jihoon couldn’t see any sort of past behind their words at all. Haneul must have noticed what he was doing because he caught eyes with Jihoon and gave him a knowing smile. Jihoon avoided his eyes and faced forward again. In doing this, he realized that Chan had left and he looked around the area just in time to notice him leave the gym and Seungcheol to walk in. They both exchanged looks and Jihoon watched to make sure that he didn’t start anything. But, to Jihoon’s surprise, he held the door open for Chan and let him leave the building. Seungcheol scanned the crowd but Jihoon didn’t have enough time to look away. He caught eyes with him but he held too much pride to look elsewhere.

Now that he thought about it, their eyes had met like this before. As cliche as that sounds, their lives were probably meant to be tangled from the very beginning. Seungcheol made his way over, this time people nearly jumped out of his way in comparison to the others. He easily made his way over and sat in Chan’s empty spot, right in front of Jihoon. His back grazed Jihoon’s knees every so often, Jihoon took off his hat and ruffled his hair in frustration.

“Cheol, want to come to church with us tomorrow?” Jeonghan suddenly asked from over Jihoon’s shoulder. He leaned over to make sure that Seungcheol heard him. Seungcheol glanced back but shook his head. Jihoon didn’t know if that’s how Seungcheol acted when he was timid. If that was how he acted then there was no way Jeonghan would get the hint. They couldn’t have been dating yet, right? Jihoon could hear Jeonghan’s quiet sigh from behind him.

“Excuse me?” Jeonghan asked and tapped Jihoon on the shoulder. Jihoon turned around and Jeonghan leaned down to talk in his ear. “Can you ask Cheol if he wants to get coffee with me tomorrow? Sorry, I can’t yell anymore, my voice is sensitive.” He smiled brightly and touched his throat gingerly. Even his hair smelled good. Jihoon resisted the urge to curse out loud. He only nodded curtly and turned to relay the message. He didn’t hesitate, he just tapped Seungcheol on the shoulder. It was the first time he touched Seungcheol and it just didn’t feel right. Coups was real, no, Seungcheol was real. He was-

“What.” Seungcheol asked and he turned around to face Jihoon, his eyes cold. Jihoon completely forgot what to say as he looked at him. He was in such an intimidating position, staring down at Seungcheol, but why did he feel so vulnerable? Seungcheol regarded him with as much anger as he did that first day. He was almost glaring. Jihoon could feel the scratch of those burns under his sweater and he hardened his own eyes in response to Seungcheol’s anger. It was hard to believe he even tolerated his presence earlier that morning.

“Nevermind.” Jihoon mumbled and he stood up to leave. Like hell he was going to take orders from some spoiled rich kid that just happened to be his best friend's love interest. He awkwardly made his way past Seungkwan and Mingyu, Seungkwan called his name in confusion as he left. Jihoon made it outside and the cool Autumn air chilled his skin, the sun had just set and the sky took on a dim lighting. The many trees that surrounded the area let down their leaves as the wind shook their limbs. He pulled out his phone to check the time and noticed he had been messaged by Coups from earlier in the day. He ignored those and locked his phone.

He walked to the right from the gymnasium. He just wanted to take a walk, since going back to the dorms would be a bit too suffocating for him at the moment. It had been a full week since he made it to Pledis Academy and just knowing that fact was overwhelming. He missed his sister, his family, and yes, he even missed Soonyoung.

Aside from that he hadn’t had time to check the status of his new remix. If it was thriving and circulating or if it had been tossed aside like a few of his songs had been in the past. He didn’t hear anybody playing it aloud at Pledis Academy, not even in the dorms. It was weird, not hearing his own music. He might have sounded a little egotistical, but Jihoon got used to hearing other kids play his music at his old school. It just may have been the size difference of the schools but Jihoon hadn’t heard his own music once since arriving a week ago. Jihoon walked past the announcements board lost in thought when a flier caught his eye. It was bright orange and had the words “Fall Show & Autumn Celebration” printed at the top. He had heard about it before but he hadn’t seen the flier yet. They must have just put them up earlier in the day.

<>

Fall Show & Autumn Celebration

Students, our first Fall Show will be held on the 30th of October from 5 PM until 9 PM. Although invitations have already been sent out, please make additional arrangements for this time frame. Students will be released early to make preparations. Dinner will be held, as well as performances from SEVENTEEN. Family and Visitors are not allowed in the dorms. Please take note that this is for the safety of our students. All families will be welcomed in the Main Hall Building after 4 PM.

As this is our first Autumn Celebration, please make sure that information is relayed correctly so that this event will run smoothly. Thank you.

If you have any further questions about the show please contact Student Head, Choi Seungcheol.

Additional announcements will be made.

We hope to see you and your families there!

Happy Autumn,

SEVENTEEN

<>

Jihoon frowned. He knew that Seventeen was organizing the whole thing but he had no idea that families would be invited. Jihoon took out his phone and texted his mother.

To: Mom

_______

Did you receive an invitation

from Pledis?

_______

It took only a minute for Jihoon’s phone to start ringing and he answered.

“Hello?”

“Ji!” His mother’s voice rang over the phone and Jihoon cringed. He turned down the volume from earlier. Jihoon began to walk, leaving behind the bright orange poster.

“Hey.” He smiled. For some reason his mother’s voice made his heart stop. He really did miss his family.

“Jihoon, we got the invitation but I don’t think that-” She stopped talking and Jihoon listened closer, blocking out the heavy blare of the wind. He heard Min’s voice from somewhere in the background and he smiled softly at the sound. “Uh, sorry Jihoon but I don’t think we can go. Minseo is still sick right now. With how cold it’s been-” She started.

“No, it’s completely fine. I understand. What about dad?” He asked, and bit his lip. Jihoon had already expected that response, so it wasn't a surprise. He would have preferred if his mom went instead, but Minseo was more comfortable with her mother taking care of her. Besides, she knew the ropes, unlike his father who only knew when to change the sheets. He blamed his work but Jihoon knew that he never felt comfortable caring for Minseo since the day he had figured out she was sick.

“Jihoon honey, we talked it over but he just doesn’t want to miss any more days of work. You know your father.” Jihoon’s mother spoke softly and Jihoon stopped walking. If none of his family was going then-

“None of you are coming?” he asked and bit his lip to stop his voice from shaking with anger. Just once, couldn’t anybody stop to think about what it was that he wanted? Jihoon would have put up with his father if it meant that he wouldn’t be alone.

“Ji-”

“No, it’s-” Jihoon gulped and pushed down his selfishness. “It’s fine.” He sighed and then continued to walk, this time towards the dorms. “I understand. He needs to earn money to pay for Minseo’s bills, right? It’s worth it mom, I get it. I’m working hard here, and I just- I wished that one of you could have come but I’ll be fine. I doubt...I doubt anybody will go to it anyways. It’s just some show…” Jihoon’s evening shadow flittered across the ground with the remaining light of the sun, the darkness now consuming his pathetic form.

“Jihoon, we’re really sorry.” His mother spoke but her attention seemed elsewhere. Jihoon nodded.

“I know. I have to go now.” Jihoon said and his mother seemed like she wanted to talk more but he cut her off. “Tell Min I said hi.” He then took the phone away from his ear despite his mother’s protests. He pressed end and then he stuffed the phone in his pocket with suppressed anger.

“Seems like you have a lot of bad days.” Jihoon jumped at the voice that pierced through the silence. He looked back to see Haneul jog over to him, his footsteps light on the smooth concrete. “What is it?” Haneul asked with a ghost of a smirk on his face, almost like he was amused. “Your family can’t come to the Fall Show?” He asked, mock sympathy on his face. Jihoon just continued to walk whether Haneul followed or not.

“Something like that.” He muttered, his anger ebbed away.

“It’s a sad backstory isn’t it? Oh, I love those.” Haneul glanced up at the sky and stretched his arms out. “Let me guess. From what I heard you have a dying sister, an emotionally unstable dad who hits you and a supportive mom who only wants the best for you. Right?” Haneul tilted his head to take a look at Jihoon’s expression but before he could Jihoon reeled on him and gave a sharp slap to his face. Haneul’s steps faltered and he stumbled back a bit from the blow. He immediately held his red, burning cheek. Jihoon glared at him, his breathing heavy.

“Oh...” Haneul blinked away the tears and black spots from his eyes, “More accurate than I thought.” He smirked and his words edged into some kind of laughter that set Jihoon’s nerves on edge.

Jihoon turned and walked away. Haneul didn’t follow.

“Okay, I’ll leave you alone.” Haneul called after him. “But just know that you laid a hand against somebody who did nothing to you. If you take your anger out on me instead of those four, then what does that make you?”

Jihoon walked faster.

. . .

It was past midnight and Seungcheol peeked his head into Jeonghan and Joshua’s dorm room. Joshua was strumming lightly on his guitar and Jeonghan was watching music videos on his laptop. He knocked on the door and they both looked up from what they were doing.

“Hey Cheol.” Jeonghan smiled brightly and Seungcheol looked away quickly.

“Uh, I need to know if your families are coming to the show. I have a table reserved for Hong Joshua and Yoon Jeonghan but I need to know if we should make arrangements to share tables or not.” Seungcheol stared down at his clipboard that held all his notes.

“Yeah, my Mom and a few of my friends are coming from America so I should probably have my own table.” Joshua replied and looked over to Jeonghan who was fumbling with his phone.

“Jeonghan?” Seungcheol asked when he didn’t respond.

“No, uh, I mean, I don’t know.” Jeonghan sat up and looked between Joshua and Seungcheol. “I haven’t-” Jeonghan sighed and checked his phone again.

“It’s fine, I’ll ask again later. For now I’ll give you your own table. Tell me if plans change.” Seungcheol made a few notes and then left the room. Joshua watched Jeonghan with a concerned expression on his face.

“You can share a table with me if-”

“No.” Jeonghan interrupted coldly but he immediately apologized. “Sorry, I’m sorry. I just- I’m not sure if my parents...” He shook his head and stared at his phone screen. Joshua only smiled in understanding and went back to playing on his guitar.

Jeonghan looked at the most recent message he had sent to his father.

To: [Blank] Add+ contact name

_______

I am still maintaining my rank.

Seventeen is doing well. Take care of your health.

-Y. JeongHan

_______

message unread

Jeonghan checked the date below the message. ‘Sent one month ago.’ He opened a new message and tried to type but couldn’t bring himself to do it. His father must have gotten the invitation that the school sent.

But, would he have even bothered to open it?