fifteen

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

despite how rehearsal may have started off, all seven boys were stressed as hell.

jungwon and jake kept stumbling over moves and ni-ki kept trying to reexplain while keeping his composure.

heeseung and jay were struggling with mastering their facial expressions to fit the concept of the song, jay growing increasingly frustrated while claiming he looked like the "male roblox default head."

sunoo and sunghoon were fine for the most part, but sunoo's excitement for the whole performance was slowly morphing into anxiety and nerves, and the group being under all this pressure and stress that has only gotten worse the past three hours wasn't helping.

"take a deep breath, sunny, it'll be okay," sunghoon coos, an arm wrapped around sunoo's tensed shoulder.

regardless of his current state, sunoo's heart still chooses to flutter from the new nickname sunghoon called him, even if he didn't show it.

"hey guys, let's just wrap up for today, alright? we'll continue tomorrow," ni-ki declares, impatience and exhaustion laced in his tone. sunoo mentally notes to talk to him later.

"no need to tell me twice," jay exclaims, collecting his things before storming out of the room.

jungwon frowns, feeling responsible for the group's stress. as the leader, he should be a better influence and cheerleader in times like these, shouldn't he?

he didn't realize he had muttered that out loud to himself until a soft voice responded. "it's not your fault, wonie. we're all stressed out and that's okay," ni-ki explains.

this must be the caring side of ni-ki jungwon had heard sunoo mention once or twice; the one that can set the teasing and joking aside when really necessary. jungwon didn't realize he needed to hear those words. without hesitation, he snakes his arms around ni-ki's waist and plops his head atop his shoulder.

ni-ki stands frozen for only a few seconds until he eventually processes what's going on. a sudden wave of excitement runs through him and his arms are suddenly clamped tightly around jungwon in return.

"ow! you're hurting me, you beanstalk!" jungwon croaks, the mood ruined.

ni-ki releases jungwon with a huff. "great, you're starting to tease me like sunoo. i'm not that tall! you're just short."

jungwon rolls his eyes. "whatever, beanstalk."

the two make eye contact and ni-ki swears he can see the hint of a smile tug on jungwon's lips.

"are you idiots coming or not? heeseung called the van and it's here," sunghoon shouts from the front door.

"coming!" they exclaim in unison.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

sunoo never really spent any time on his balcony. maybe it's because he barely gets any time to himself these days. either way, he was grateful for a quiet moment like this.

the evening arrived in the blink of an eye. all seven boys needed a breather after a hectic practice, so they took to their rooms.

sunoo sat on one of the balcony stools, his guitar from home perched atop his right leg. he mindlessly strummed into the night, allowing his fingers to create a melody suitable to melt away his stress and worries.

"i think you're better than me," says a voice from behind him.

jay park sits himself onto the stool beside sunoo's. "it sounds great."

sunoo smiles, taking to heart the words of the person who inspired him to learn guitar in the first place. "thanks, jay. playing like this brings me serenity. today was pretty tough."

jay nods, attentively. "yeah. welcome to the idol life, i guess. sorry you had to experience the craziness."

shrugging, sunoo hands jay his guitar, gesturing for him to have a turn. jay gratefully accepts it, and he instantly begins to play a tune, his fingers effortlessly plucking each string with ease. sunoo can't help but gawk in awe. his inner fanboy was reeling at the sight of his inspiration playing beside him.

"can i ask you something, sunoo?" jay pipes up, still messing with the guitar a bit as he speaks.

sunoo nods. "of course."

jay focuses his eyes on the chords he plays. "are you and sunghoon a thing?"

if there was one thing sunoo wasn't expecting, it was that. especially at a time like this. and now that sunoo thinks about it...they really hadn't said anything to their members. the boss was one thing, but their group mates and best friends were another. they said they would go with the flow of things...does telling jay count as going with the flow? they were going to say something eventually anyways...

sunoo decides to go for it. "yeah, i guess so. we both like each other, so..."

jay smirks, mentally patting himself on the back for his outstanding gaydar. he now looks at sunoo, who sits with a little daydreamy look in his eyes. "i don't know how you could break that idiot's stubborn walls, but honestly, thank you. i haven't seen sunghoon as happy as he's been the past couple days in a while. i'm surprised you didn't wanna kill him after how cold he was to you."

"honestly, i did," sunoo admits with a breathy chuckle. "but i never judge someone without knowing their story first. i just waited for sunghoon to explain himself and then everything made sense."

jay hums in agreement. "you're a good person, sunoo."

"thanks, jay, so are you. i'm really glad to have met all of you."

jay hands back the guitar to sunoo. "alright, now we're getting too sappy. glad we talked, though! except next i need to talk to jungwon because what the actual fuck with that sexual tension between him and ni-ki, am i right?"

the two burst into laughter before saying their goodnights. sunoo's time being left alone doesn't last too long, because soon after, another figure enters through the sliding balcony door.

"what are you doing out here?" sunghoon asks.

sunoo sighs, contently. "just playing some guitar to relax. talked with jay a bit just now, too."

sunghoon takes jay's previous seat. "what about?"

"you. and me."

sunoo isn't sure if sunghoon would be upset by the fact that he told jay about them without his knowledge. fortunately for him, sunghoon didn't react. he simply hummed in acknowledgment. "i guess we were bound to say something to them sooner or later."

"jay went to go check on jungwon. i'm a little worried about ni-ki. he seemed really tense earlier," sunoo explains.

sunghoon shifts his seat closer to sunoo, wrapping an arm around the latter's shoulders. "we all were. it's a lot of pressure to have to prepare this quickly for the performance."

sunoo places his guitar down, deciding to then scoot into sunghoon's side, resting his head on the blonde's shoulder. being with sunghoon in this moment, sunoo felt safe and at home. being an idol like he's always dreamed of is one thing, but having someone like park sunghoon to share it all with is another, and he couldn't believe his luck to have gotten both.

now all that's left is to nail an amazing performance.