five

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

almost a week had passed since ni-ki had gotten that call. with every passing second, sunoo had been practicing the song he planned to sing for his audition. ni-ki claimed it to be perfection already, but sunoo felt he still wasn't good enough.

a couple days into the week, he had finally received the email that explained the details of his audition. him and five other candidates were to privately audition for the head of hybe and enhypen's manager. and to top it off, enhypen themselves would be there, as well.

the thought of having to sing and dance in front of enhypen made him nervous, but what made him most nervous was singing and dancing in front of park sunghoon. stupid, right?

he wasn't sure why he was so scared. technically, sunghoon had already heard him sing once. but then again, sunoo was singing thinking nobody else was listening. this time, he'd be face to face with sunghoon's captivating eyes. the same eyes that found his on stage that night...

"ugh, get out of my head!" sunoo shrieks, grasping his hair in his hands. he sits behind the counter at work, hardly able to focus on anything but the audition he has the next day.

it's funny how much he's admired enhypen for the long while he has been a fan of them, yet he never really chose a favorite member, or focused on any of the members really, for that matter. he honestly just loved their music. but now, park sunghoon has somehow made it to the top of his "bias list" and he won't budge.

"you okay, dude?"

sunoo's co-worker, daniel kim, eyed him for his strange behavior. he had just approached from the back room to see sunoo practically yanking his hair out and a costumer witnessing the act as they walked in (and lowkey debated on walking right back out).

sunoo nods, a slight blush tinting his cheeks from embarrassment. "yeah, sorry. just thinking about tomorrow."

he had told daniel all about it. daniel is around his age and one of the only co-workers he works shifts with. he'd consider them good friends, even if they haven't hung out outside of work.

"don't be nervous, you got this! you're way too talented not to get the spot."

sunoo appreciates the words of encouragement, but it was still hard to accept it. it's him and five other talented people. what are the odds he will truly get the spot?

"do you know who you're up against?" daniel then asks, taking the spot next to him behind the register.

sunoo shakes his head. "i have no clue. what if they're trainees? they probably have a way better shot than me if they are."

that's another thing sunoo has been stressed about. he has never been signed to any label, therefore he has never been in any type of training. some are in training for years before debuting. yes, sunoo can sing. and he isn't the worst dancer, a lot of that being thanks to ni-ki having helped him with dancing for as long as they'd been friends. but is that enough?

"so what? didn't one of the members only have, like, nine months worth of it? he still made it in the group. plus most idols are better at one thing than the other. you don't have to be perfect! you'll grow as you go on."

"i guess...but still, someone's got nine months over me."

daniel crosses his arms. "dude. you're kind of being a negative nancy right now."

sunoo knew he was. but he's an overthinker, he can't help it sometimes. eventually, it was time for the two to close up shop. he'll just have to dwell more on his unrealistic anxiety later 🫶.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

"so who are the people auditioning?" jake had asked that night.

the five boys are eating dinner in the dorm, courtesy of jay wanting to cook for them. their conversation is limited, for all of them are tired from the day and chose to eat in an exhausted silence. jake, however, broke it and decided to stir up some small talk.

jungwon, being the leader of the group, had pulled his phone out to look at the email that had been sent directly to him. it has the list of auditioners for the next day, along with their schedule for the day, too. the boys are excited to see the auditions, and even though they had mixed feelings in the beginning about getting a new member, they decided to come to terms with it. the more the merrier, right?

plus, nobody could deny how much sunghoon's mood had shifted that week. sunghoon can't lie, he'd been really upset with the idea at first. especially because of his boss's homophobia that never gets passed sunghoon's last nerve. but then he remembered kim sunoo. suddenly, all he can talk about is the boy he heard singing in the bathroom. and to his luck, sunoo is one of the ones auditioning. and he is definitely the one sunghoon is rooting for.

"doesn't matter who's auditioning. kim sunoo is the best option," sunghoon replies, matter-of-factly.

heeseung shakes his head, sighing. "bro, be for real."

"you've seen the videos i've showed you, right?!" sunghoon exclaims, defensively.

"only five million times," jay adds.

jungwon butts in, the list finally pulled up on his phone. "okay so there's five other guys. one of them has been a trainee for two years now. he goes by k. also someone named lee geonu, who's been one for ten months. there's another named hanbin, one named nicholas, and one named ta-ki. that's all the information we're given."

the boys are aching to know more, but all they can do is wait what will feel like a lifetime before tomorrow to find out.

that night, sunghoon goes to bed with his mind wide awake. he feels like seeing sunoo had been a fever dream. hell, they barely met for five minutes. what if he had just made up sunoo's voice in his mind? what if the person he winked at in the crowd was someone else? sunghoon feels like he's going crazy. he's never been infatuated with someone before. honestly, he's never been in love. he's still young and in a business where not only his dating life, but his sexuality is frowned upon.

at least he has the safety of his own mind to dream about it.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

"i'm really doing this."

"you're really doing this."

"..."

"what?"

"i can't do this."

ni-ki shakes sunoo by the shoulders. "snap out of it, sun!! don't let the bad thoughts rot your brain."

the two stand outside of the infamous hybe building. actually, it's very famous. and that scares sunoo. he shouldn't be here.

"stop thinking things, i don't like when you do that," ni-ki says, worriedly, once he notices sunoo hasn't replied to his previous outburst and is staring mindlessly at the large building before them.

with one final deep breath, sunoo straightens his posture and brushes his fingers through his fluffy hair. "okay, i'm ready."

ni-ki grins, patting sunoo's back. "that's the spirit! now, let's go! i'm dying to meet enhypen's choreographer."

the building is a lot less intimidating on the inside than on the outside. the vibes seem lighter and that relaxes sunoo's nerves a bit. but damn, is this place a maze.

"ah, auditoners in the room at the end of the hall," ni-ki says, reading aloud a sign placed in the middle of the corridor.

the boys follow directions until they make it to where they need to be. sunoo fears he'll sweat through his shirt. ni-ki gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. at last, the two step inside.

as expected, five other teenage boys are scattered across the room, practicing. one side of the room's walls are made up of mirrors. two boys are doing a dance routine in front of them. sunoo thinks they look flawless. his dancing is nowhere near that level.

ni-ki chooses to hang with sunoo as they wait. he helps sunoo practice some last minute dancing skills as well. at last, the first auditioner is called.

"nicholas? do we have a nicholas?"

the boy called nicholas makes his way into the room next door to complete his audition.

"well, this will be a breeze," ni-ki says.

eight minutes later, the boy called nicholas practically kicks the door open. his face is beat red and he storms out of the building in fury. sunoo's heart plummets.

ni-ki blinks. "or maybe not."

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

"kim sunoo?"

saved the best for last? more like saved the scared-est for last. all the other auditioners had gone. the others came out pretty expressionless, so sunoo could only guess as to why the first guy was so angry.

"good luck, sun! you got this! fighting!"

here goes nothing.