Chapter 2

"Another session of training done." Donghyun announced soon after their second session of their training for their concert next week. Haruka, like the day before, was just watching them, making some notes on the side, along with his rude remarks. No one really knew what he was writing, and no one, except for Minwoo, dared to ask. And when he did...

"Personal notes..."

That was the only answer he got. Seeing that asking Haruka would not get him anywhere, he didn't press it. As soon as the training session was done, Haruka left the practice room.

"Is it going to be like this every time?" Youngmin asked in an irritated tone. Donghyun sighed.

"I don't know. It's hard to see through him, and he doesn't seem to open up to us..." the leader replied.

"I doubt he would, anyway." Kwangmin shrugged casually. "I don't like him at all. We are better without him."

"Kwangmin! He might hear you!" Minwoo said in a hushed tone.

"Let him hear us." Youngmin hissed. "He should know he is not welcomed as one of us. We tried to be nice yesterday, and this is how he treats us." He marched out of the room angrily, followed by Jeongmin and Hyunseong, who seemed to both not care much about the current situation. 

"Youngmin-hyung is sure angry... I've never seen him like that..." Minwoo said with a frown. "I'm worried..." Donghyun patted his shoulder.

"Minwoo, don't lose your focus. If you worry now, you will not be able to focus on practice. I'm sure we will be able to solve it." The youngest nodded.

"I'm afraid i will have to agree with Youngmin." Kwangmin said suddenly. "That Haruka guy is just here to trouble us. I don't think he will ever be one of us." He said as he walked outside. 

"Donghyun-hyung..." Minwoo began nervously. "What should we do...? Do you think talking to Misashi would make a difference?"

"Maybe... But would he listen?"

"I don't know, but... But I don't want him to feel unwanted. Maybe that is why he is like that to us..." Minwoo said turning to Donghyun with a glint of hope in his eyes.

"You know... That may be true..." Donghyun nodded in agreement. "Good thinking, Minwoo. But who will talk to him?"

"Well, it's either you or me. I doubt the others would agree-"

"Hey. I never said I don't want to help." Hyunseong walked in, holding three cans of soda. He handed each of them a can. "I don't know about Jeongmin, but we have been talking a while ago, and I'm willing to help."

"Thank you, Hyunseong-hyung." Minwoo smiled gratefully.

"Okay then. Let's go look for him." the three left the practice room, looking for Haruka. They couldn't find him anywhere. Deciding that Haruka might have returned to the practice room, they went back. Approaching the room, they heard a very familiar music track. "Bounce" The three peeked in carefully, and much to their surprise and amazement, Haruka was there, practicing the choreography. His moves were carefree, like Donghyun's. He danced to the beat,imitating Donghyun's moves precisely, but as soon as the first part was done, his moves mixed up, and he stopped-Well, more like tripped over his own feet.

"Damn..." he muttered in a perfect English accent. Reaching out to stop the playing music, he picked up his notepad and scribbled something down. "I'll never reach that level..." he sighed, lying back on the floor, arms open wide, staring at the ceiling.

"What is he tying to do...?" Minwoo whispered.

"I don't know what he is up to, but I can say Donghyun has a rival now." Hyunseong smiled, glancing sideways at Donghyun.

"Well, I can't say he's not good at it. I'm impressed."

"But if he can do as good as Donghyun-hyung, why doesn't he train with us?" Minwoo asked with a puzzled expression.

"Let's ask him." Hyunseong said. "Nothing is wrong with being straight forward." Seeing that haruka was busy with his notes, he walked in casually, pretending that he hadn't been there before. "Oh, Misashi-san, you are here."

"Un..." Haruka uttered, scribbling something down. He seemed too busy to notice who walked in, but not that busy to notice that Hyunseomg actually wanted to sneak a look on his notes. By reflex, Haruka threw himself up from his lying position and did a swift backflip, landing a few meters away from the older idol in a crouching position, still writing. Hyunseong, on the other hand, was amazed.

"Did you just do that...?"

"Un..." Haruka replied quietly, eyes glancing up at the older guickly before going back to what he was doing. Hyunseong crouched down to Haruka's level.

"That was pretty cool." he said with a grin. Harukadropped his pencil andlooked up at the older idol in surprise. 

"What-"

"Who taught you?" Hyunseong asked quickly. Haruka's facial expression changed into a frown. 

"...An old friend taught me..." Haruka replied in a whisper. Seeing the expression on Haruka's face made the older feel a bit at fault for asking that question. For a spilt second, Haruka looked so fragile and soft. It was the perfect chance to get him to open up.

"I see... I have been meaning to ask, why aren't you training with us?"

"That's none of your concern."

Or maybe not the chance Hyunseong was waiting for. Haruka got up, face holding that cold expession he had when he first met the band members, and walked out of the room. Barely, the duo outside had time to pretend they were not there in the first place, and Minwoo evaded being knocked down by Haruka's rushing figure. As soon as he was away, Donghyun turned to Hyunseong, who was still crouching on the floor.

"I think that was too straightforward, don't you think?" the leader asked with a knowing laugh. 

"Unfortunately, yes. Yes, it was..." he nodded with a sigh. "I thought I almost got him. Too bad."

"But have you seen his movements? He's amazing. Must have trained hard." Minwoo commented excitedly. "I wonder if he would do that again if I asked." 

"Don't be such a child." Donghyun ruffled his hair, messing it.

"Hey, now I have to do my hair all over again." Minwoo whined in a vain attempt to fix his hair back. Losing hope, he excused himself and went to the bathroom. He needed a mirror urgently. Luckily for him, before going in, he caught a glimpse of Haruka's figure. He didn't have enough time to see what it was, but he knew Haruka was applying something to his face.

'It must be what keeps his face so pale...' was the first thought that came to Minwoo. Haruka was as pale as a ghost, so the first possible thought would be that he's using make up, for no human can actually have such a ghosly complexion. He tried to act normal and walked in.

"Minu-san, what happened to your hair?" Finally, a non-criticizing conversation started by Haruka! Minwo felt like laughing at his own thoughts, but replied normally nevertheless.

"Ah, Donghyun-hyung messed it up, so I came to fix it again." he explained. He thought that maybe, just maybe, he can ask haruka to help him. Much to his own surprise, haruka spoke first.

"Would you like me to help you?" the black-haired idol asked. Minwoo smiled and nodded.

"That would be nice, thank you." Haruka stood in front of him and started fixing his hair.

"Don't move, okay?" he murmured, earning a nod from Minwoo. After several minutes, haruka was done. "There. Is this good enough?" Minwoo checked himself in the mirror then turned back to Haruka with a smile.

"Yes. Thanks a lot, Misashi-san!" Haruka muttered something that Minwoo failed to hear. "?"

"C-call me H-Haruka..." he repeated nervously, fiddling with his fingers. The brunette smiled at Haruka.

"Hai, Haruka." then he put his hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to be so nervous. We are band mates, after all." he said before walking past Haruka, returning to the practice room. Haruka looked at his own pale hand with a confused expression.

"Band mates, huh...?" he murmured to himself. He shook his head and left the bathroom after checking his face for the last time. He returned to the pactice room just as they were about to start again. Picking up his notepad, he started scribbling down whatever he was scribbling before. It wasn't this that the memebers of BOYFRIEND, except for Minwoo, were curious about, but it was the reason Minwoo seemed so happy when he came back. Donghyun shrugged. Minwoo was going to tell them, anyway. 

"No way!" Hyunseong exclaimed after Minwoo told him, Donghyun and Jeongmin of what happened between him and Haruka at the restroom. 

"He did. I don't really know why, but he sounded different. He was nice." the youngest said.

"Hmm... We might as well try to talk to him again." Jeongmin added with a nod. Hyunseong nudged him. 

"So I get you are on the 'Let's all get close to Haruka' side now?"

"Probably."

"Now, will we be able to convice the twins?"

"I'm not sure." Donghyun shook his head. "I think convicing Kwangmin might be easy, but I don't know about Youngmin..."

"It might take longer time to convince him than to befriend Haruka." Hyunseong said with a mocking laugh. "Anyway, are we done for today? I'm hungry."

"You have eaten  three cups of instant ramen." Jeongmin commented.

"That was before our practice. Practice makes me hungry." Donghyun face-palmed as the two started arguing back and forth.

"I'm going to talk to Manager-nim. Minwoo, make sure they don't end up with an eatig contest."

"Count on me." Donghyun nodded and left the practice room. It was almost 7 p.m. They were so focused on practice that they didn't notice the time. Passing by the changing rooms, Donghyun heard a faint singing voice that he didn't recognize. 

"Could that be...?" He tip-toed to the room and stood beside the door, listening quietly. "Misashi..?" he called as he walked into the room. The black-haired-shirtless-idol ceased singing and turned around with a quiet yelp of surprise.

"Oh, it's you..." he commented blankly, turning around to pick up a black hoodie. "What do you want?"

"Nothing, just thought I heard you singing..." Haruka stopped moving for a second or two, but shook his head and proceeded to slip the hoodie on. Hyunseong, who was passing by, strolled into the room and smiled slyly as he reached out and poked Haruka's side. By reflex, Haruka gave out a little scream and fell back on the ground, arms tangled in his hoodie. Hyunseong laughed loudly, as did Donghyun. Haruka glared at the two before his facial expressions started to loosen a bit. For a reason he didn't know, unlike the day before, seeing them happy made him feel...happy? It was a strange feeling, but whatever it was, he liked it.

"Are you okay?" Hyunseong asked in between his laughter, offering his hand for Haruka to help him up. After getting his arms out, he took the older's hands, getting back on his feet.

"Hai. Arigatou Gozaimasu." Haruka bowed politely. "Excuse me. I'll be leaving now."

"Oh, you won't be coming with us?" Hyunseong asked. Haruka shook his head.

"No. I don't want to-"

"It's no trouble, Misashi-san." the leader cut in quickly with a reassuring smile. "I'd be really happy if you join us."

"Donhyon-senpai..." his eyes travelled to his feet before looking up again. "But, I'll just-"

"No, I am the leader. I say you are coming with us." the eldest memeber demanded. "And that means you come with us." Haruka, seeing that he couldn't possibly change Donghyun's mind, just nodded slowly. Donghyun smiled. "That's better. Let's go now. You two inform the others that we are leaving. I'll speak to manager-nim." he said and left the changing room. Haruka folded his outfit neatly and put it in his bag while Hyunseong changed his clothes. It took a while for Hyunseong to realize haruka was staring at him.

"Misashi-san?" he called, but Haruka said nothing. Instead, he walked up to him and poked his toned stomach twice, then poked his own stomach twice.

"I don't have those..." he murmured with a pout. Hyunseong laughed and slipped on his shirt, then swiftly wrapped one arm around Haruka's neck, grinning and he rufled his hair.

"Nah, I've seen yours, a little more training can help." He laughed. "One day, your muscles will be like mine." he said proudly, poking Haruka's stomach playfully. "Now, let's go find the others, bro"

"Bro...?"

"Yep. C'mon." They both walked out of the room. Haruka didn't  bother to think of shoving the older's arm away from his neck. What really puzzled him was that feeling that bubbled deep inside his heart. Having hyunseong that close reminded him of a similar scene that replayed in the back of his head, over and over. And to be honest, it took him a great effort to hold back from breaking down into a sobbing mess.

'I have to forget them.' he thought. 'They betrayed me... I can't fall into the same trap again, but...' he glanced at Hyunseong. 'But he looks happy... I can't bring myself to destroy it...'

"Yo! There you are!" Hyunseong called suddenly, almost deafening Haruka. 

"Hyung, I think Misashi-san needs air." Kwangmin pointed out. Hyunseong quickly let his arm loose.

"Arigatou Gozaimasu..." the black-haired idol said quietly. Jeongmin, who was accompanying the younger twin, stepped out from behind Kwangmin. Haruka blinked twice then pointed to him. "You are here? I didn't see you." Now Jeongmin would most likely keep his cool in most situations, but not when someone is mocking him for his height. 

"Misashi-san, mind your manners." he stated blankly. Haruka shrugged and twirled a lock of his hair coolly. 

"Whatever, shorty." he muttered, walking away from them. "I'll go look for Minu-san." 

"Do we have to put up with him?" Jeongmin asked in irritation. "I don't think I will tolerate him for long."

"Weren't you on our side two hours ago?" Hyunseong asked in disbelief. Jeongmin rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, I'll be waiting in the van." he walked away.

"I'll go with him too. Excuse me, hyung." Kwangmin said with a sly chuckle, following his fellow band mate. Hyunseong watched him leave with a betrayed expression. 

"I think I'll go look for Youngmin on my own then..."