two

"what if, what if we lost our minds?" -youth, troye sivan.

——

the last note faded into silence.

for a moment, no one moved. the room that had been full of noise for months suddenly felt strange without it—just the faint hum of equipment and the sound of someone's sigh.

mingyu was the first to speak. "that's it, right? tell me that's it."

"that's it," woozi said quietly, leaning back in his chair. his voice sounded tired, but there was a faint smile tugging at his lips.

seungkwan threw his arms in the air. "we did it! face the sun is officially done!"

everyone cheered—loud, messy, exhausted cheers. hoshi started clapping off-beat, dino joined in, and soon the whole studio felt alive again.

jeonghan slumped against the couch, hair falling into his eyes. "i don't care what anyone says, i'm not touching a microphone for at least a week."

"a week?" jun laughed. "you'll get bored in two days."

"no," jeonghan groaned, "i'll just text woozi and annoy him until he blocks me."

"i already have you muted," woozi said dryly.

the room erupted in laughter.

when the noise died down a little, scoups glanced over at him. "you're not staying here again tonight, are you?"

woozi looked up from the monitor. "i might. i still need to—"

"no," hoshi cut him off immediately. "no more studio. we're going out. dinner. drinks. celebration."

"you guys go ahead."

"hyung," dino said, leaning forward. "you haven't gone out with us in weeks. come on."

minghao added quietly, "you need a break too."

woozi sighed, running a hand through his hair. he could already feel the argument slipping out of his control.

"fine," he muttered. "but just dinner."

jeonghan grinned. "we'll see about just dinner."

the restaurant they picked was tucked away in a quiet corner of seoul, one they'd gone to since their trainee days. it wasn't fancy, but it felt like theirs.

they booked the whole place—one long table, dim lighting, the smell of grilled meat already filling the air.

"this feels unreal," mingyu said, pulling out a chair. "no cameras, no schedules, i miss this."

"don't jinx it," seungkwan said, already reaching for the side dishes. "the manager might call any second."

woozi sat at the end of the table, half-listening as everyone talked. he watched as hoshi tried to flip the meat and almost dropped it. jun laughed so hard he choked on his drink. jeonghan leaned across to steal something from vernon's plate, pretending innocence when caught.

"yah, hyung!" vernon protested.

"sharing is caring," jeonghan said, smiling sweetly.

even woozi couldn't help but laugh.

the food came and went. so did the drinks. at some point, scoups started giving a small speech that turned into a toast.

"to us," he said, holding up his glass. "to everyone who worked until they couldn't see straight, to every late night, every song, every memory. we did it."

"to us," they echoed, glasses clinking.

woozi felt warmth spread through his chest—not from the drink, but from the moment itself. he looked around the table, at faces he'd spent half his life with, and for once, the world felt still.

this was his family. his everything. and he'd do anything for them.

he leaned back, exhaling softly.

minghao nudged him. "you okay?"

"yeah," woozi said. "just... tired."

"the good kind?"

woozi smiled faintly. "yeah. the good kind."