twelve

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

making an irrational decision at 2am because he can't fall asleep is where kim sunoo lies right about now. ever since dinner and his conversation with jungwon wrapped up, the gang had split ways to chill for the rest of the day. sunoo took it upon himself to hide in his room as he thought of ideas on how to approach sunghoon.

not only is he dying to know what's going on for his own selfish reasons, but he's also determined to fix their relationship for the well-being of the group. sunoo's just beginning to fulfill his lifelong dreams; he can't bare going into his first album release knowing him and one of his group mates have a dent in their friendship!

the only issue with sunoo's plan to think of what to say to sunghoon is...he can't think of what to say to sunghoon. even when heeseung came in to bid him goodnight he was still clueless.

now, sunoo sits wide awake in bed, his legs crisscrossed and his mind jumbled. would sunghoon even be awake at this hour? well, if there's any chance he's up thinking the same way he is, then sunoo is willing to take that chance.

in a pair of baggy worn-down sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt, kim sunoo strides in all his tired glory across the hall to the apartment complex shared by yang jungwon and park sunghoon. his knuckles tap against the wooden door frame too fast before his brain can catch up with his body and tell him to go the hell back to bed.

regret seeps through him moment by moment, and it's to his extreme surprise that the door is not only opened...but opened by nishimura riki.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾EARLIER THAT EVENING. . .

jungwon reenters the dining room, in which four out of the seven boys remain, bowls emptied and tummies full. jake sends jungwon an inquisitive look, remembering sunoo having been with him. "hey, where's sunoo?"

the latter flicks his chin toward the door behind him, gesturing to how sunoo chose to stay back. "i should probably go talk to sunghoon, though."

jungwon leaves begrudgingly, ni-ki's eyes pinned on him the whole way. once the shorter leaves, ni-ki turns to the others. "what's up with all of this drama? sunoo has hardly mentioned enough of it."

jay shrugs, focused on the cell phone in his hands. "beats me. feels like a childish fight between some toddlers," he scoffs, mostly uninterested.

from beside him, heeseung rolls his eyes. "hey, as much as i love hoon, it's definitely him who started it. i mean, how could he go from being whipped to being ice cold just like that?"

"bro's on his period," jay says.

"whatever it is," jake adds, "i just hope it's figured out soon. we've got to focus on the comeback."

ni-ki smiles, plopping into the seat next to jake. "and might i just say, you bring my choreography to life, mr. sim." jake snorts, shoving the younger's arm playfully, a blush tainting his skin from the sudden attention. ni-ki throws it back around jake's shoulder, a habit he has towards those he's grown closer to.

a throat clears from a few feet away. jungwon has reappeared in the doorway and his expression is unreadable. "uhm, sunghoon locked the door. do you still have the spare key, hee?"

heeseung excuses himself to his bedroom, in which he's sure the keys's on his desk. jungwon, meanwhile, awkwardly teeters back and forth on his heels, as if he's interrupted a gathering he wasn't invited to. ni-ki studies the leader's strange behavior, and he's suddenly intrigued.

"here it is," heeseung says, re-emerging into the dining area, spare key dangling from his hand.

before jungwon can thank him and accept the key, it's instantly snatched out of heeseung's hand by someone else. "let's go!" ni-ki states, twirling the key in his fingers.

"give it back, ni-ki," jungwon demands, his hand held out expectantly.

"i'm coming with you for moral support," the taller explains, as if jungwon should've known this prior.

if there's anything he's learned at this point in knowing nishimura riki, it's that the latter is insistent. he doesn't let things go easily. he teases like there's no tomorrow. he's a really good dancer. he's really pretty when he dances.

no. no he isn't. he's sunoo's best friend and he's a pain in the ass.

with a sigh of defeat, jungwon leads the way to the apartment adjacent heeseung's and ni-ki internally high-fives himself. once they reach the door, jungwon steals back the key to unlock it. but ni-ki doesn't care because jungwon's dainty little fingers just brushed against his skin and now he wants to victory dance.

"hoon? we need to talk," jungwon calls into the seemingly deserted home, the two letting themselves in. before they go any further inside, jungwon turns toward ni-ki, tilting his head up a bit to meet eye level. "sunghoon probably won't feel comfortable with you in the room while we talk, since you two still aren't very close yet. you're free to wait in the living room, though."

ni-ki expected as much, so he did as told, slumped on the couch playing games on his phone.

and that's how ni-ki ended up in their apartment.

he didn't expect them to talk for so long, and before he knew it, he had passed out on their sofa.

until a knock woke him up.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

"what are you doing in here?" sunoo asks, exasperated.

"sleeping until you woke me up! i was having the best dream," ni-ki replies.

sunoo rolls his eyes. "we'll talk later. but, hey, is sunghoon awake by any chance?"

ni-ki shrugs. "doubt it, but i don't know. why are you awake?"

"what's going on?"

as if he's been summoned, park sunghoon stands a little ways behind ni-ki, the light from the hallway illuminating his perfect figure. despite feeling confused on where they stand, sunoo allows himself to still think he looks kind of cute with bed head.

once his eyes completely adjust, sunghoon takes note of who he's talking to. his eyes go wide when he sees kim sunoo in the doorway. suddenly a bit embarrassed about his appearance, he combs his hair down with his fingers and approaches the doorway beside ni-ki. "what's going on?" he repeats.

"i was just leaving actually," ni-ki explains, awkwardly scooting past them. "later!" he adds before dashing down the hallway to find his own apartment complex.

now that it's just the two of them, the mood changes and sunoo remembers why he's here. he's hurt. he's angry. he's worried. he's confused. he just wants to know what's been happening.

"can we talk?" sunoo manages to spit out.

why doesn't anybody understand that sunghoon can't talk? he can't talk about what's going on anymore than he already has with jungwon. in fact, he didn't even talk to jungwon earlier when the leader came into his bedroom. he just shut him out until jungwon had finally, yet reluctantly, decided to let it go.

"i can't talk," sunghoon blurts back, his tone a bit harsher than he intended.

sunoo's taken aback by the outburst. now he's a bit angrier, too. he has a right to know why he's being treated this way. "why can't you? how come i don't get to know why you're being cold with me?"

a pang of guilt and regret strikes sunghoon's heart, hating how he's the reason the person he likes so much is upset. he shakes his head, slowly beginning to close the door. "it's too late, maybe we should just–"

"i thought you liked me," sunoo interrupts, his hand holding the door open with all his strength. his lip quivers and he sinks his teeth into it to control his overtired emotions. "i thought...i thought you liked me."

it takes everything in sunghoon not to break down the door, fall to his knees, and beg sunoo for forgiveness. it takes everything in him not to confess everything and tell him that he does like him (in more than just a friendly way) and that their boss is a homophobic, controlling piece of shit who holds the fate of their careers in the palm of his hand.

instead, all sunghoon does is stare at the ground and swallow his words. "we're just group mates. it doesn't mean we're friends."

sunoo is beyond confused at this point. he's never met someone so all over the place. "look, i get that you don't want to talk right now, but i hope you know that you're the most confusing person i've ever met. one second you're kind and the next second your a jerk. the first time we met, you were even...flirty, to be honest. and...and i didn't hate that," sunoo babbles on, his words coming out like vomit.

sunghoon, meanwhile, can't bare to look up from the floor, afraid that if he does, the tears welled up in his eyes could spill.

"if you've decided not to like me after your rollercoaster of emotions the past... almost two weeks, then okay. you don't have to like me. but i am in the group now and i want us to at least get along, even if it's civil. can we do that...please?"

at last, sunghoon finds sunoo's eyes, and he's torn to see them so full of hurt and desperation. this is all his fault. he wishes he could fix everything.

sunghoon takes a deep breath. "goodnight, sunoo."

that's all he says, before finally closing the door. sunoo is left in disbelief. he lowers his head and clenches his fists, begging his body to hold it together. he chooses to give in, hoping that maybe sunghoon's last words were a way of him accepting his proposal?

it stays on his mind up until the second his eyes close and he's fast asleep.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

"welcome back to ni-ki's dance class, folks. please sign in at the door."

"there's no sign-in sheet, dumbass," jay replies, tossing his bag onto the floor.

it's a few days later and the boys are back to practice. nothing changed much after sunoo's "talk" with sunghoon, but at least he wasn't avoiding him anymore. sunoo is, however, nervously anticipating how this rehearsal will go now that they "aren't friends" (according to sunghoon).

all seven boys are now gathered by the front of the room, standing before a mirrored wall. "let's get in places for the intro," ni-ki instructs.

sunoo takes his place, which happens to be diagonally in front of sunghoon. he can feel the latter's presence behind him and he wonders just how good sunghoon is at acting like nothings wrong once the music turns on.

it turns out, he's not so good.

sunghoon continuously finds himself stumbling over his own feet, forgetting a step, or missing a cue.

it gets to a point where everyone is concerned. "dude, that's the third time you've missed your line," jake exclaims, his voice mixed with worry and irritation.

"i'm sorry, okay? my mind is just a little preoocupied," sunghoon dismisses him, running a hand through his hair.

"well, un-occupy it, please," jay retorts.

"alright, alright. let's try again," ni-ki says, pressing play on his phone connected to the speakers.

sunghoon does okay up until the part where he interacts with sunoo. his eyes lock with sunoo's and he's reminded of how much redder and swollen they had been just a few nights ago. the memory causes him to slip up again.

heeseung throws his hands up. "dude! what is going on?!"

sunghoon groans, throwing his head in his hands.

"do we need to take a break?" jungwon suggests. "you're not gonna do any better if you don't chill for a second."

"well, you know what?! it's not my problem that everyone has to pick on the fucking gay guy!" sunghoon yells, his wall shattered.

the room falls silent. sunghoon huffs, before storming out of the room.

ni-ki blinks. "uhm, maybe we should take five."