"Sunwoo, let me out. Please." Haknyeon said for the 4th time. Sunwoo reached towards the chair but immediately drew his hand back. "No. Let him suffer a little." He shook his head then quietly laughed as he left his shared room. He sat down in Eric's shared room then Eric started up conversation. "Sunwoo, what did you need with Haknyeon?" Sunwoo didn't give him an answer, so he proceeded to ask again. "What did yo-" "You do know I'm not going to answer you, right?" Eric winced a bit at his tone then went back to scrolling through his Instagram feed.

Everyone had gone to bed and most of the members were asleep, except Sunwoo. He quietly got up from his bed then walked over to the closet that held Haknyeon. He put his ear to the door and listened for his breathing. He let out a sigh then put a hand to his mouth as he looked back towards the beds of his sleeping members. He quietly sliped back into bed then found it easier to sleep.

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"Breakfast is good as usual, Chanhee. If being an idol doesn't work out, maybe you can become a chef." Juyeon quipped. "Hey!" Chanhee yelled as he flicked a piece of egg at Juyeon. After eating, everyone helped clean up then got ready to head to their practice room. "Wait, where's Haknyeon?" Sangyeon asked. Everyone looked at each other then Jacob piped up. "I'll look for him." Sunwoo wanted to go with Jacob to make it easier to find him, but he decided against it. "It's just a small joke." After a while, Haknyeon joined them and they made their way outside and into the respective vans.

During their warmup, Sunwoo found himself looking towards Haknyeon often. He noticed Hyunjoon whispering something to him then watched Haknyeon smile. "Such an idiot..." He turned back to face the front and followed the rest of the warmup. "Sunwoo, you're misstepping. It's left right, push the air down. Once more." Changmin said. Everyone was trying not to make their staring obvious as they practiced their own moves. "Right." Sunwoo said flatly. After many run throughs, Changmin was finally pleased with Sunwoo's performance.

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Sunwoo watched Haknyeon and Changmin pass by his shared room and head into Changmin's. He began plotting another way to trick Haknyeon into making a fool of himself. "This is perfect. Now to wait for him to leave the room."

He calmly walked over to Haknyeon who was busy on his phone. "Haknyeon!" Sunwoo called out as he approached Haknyeon, smiling. "Yes?" "Do you mind holding this for me? I'm afraid I'll lose sight of it while I go get the other half." "No." "He just...said no?" "But Hak-" "No." He watched Haknyeon get up and walk away. Sunwoo went after Haknyeon and ended up back at his room. After a short debate, he finally asked, "What do you mean no? You were always willing to help me out." "I'm tired of constantly being messed with. At this point, I was being bullied by you. Well, no longer. I won't let you push me around anymore and that is final." He felt Haknyeon shove him then watched as he had the door slammed in his face.

"Bullying him? They were just jokes. Right?" Sunwoo thought. He went through the list of things he had done to him over time. "Does he hate me now...? Maybe I should apologize." He got up from the edge of the bed, only to sit back down. The door opened and Younghoon walked in. "You look...troubled." "I'm guessing everyone is coming back now? It's that late already..." Younghoon simply nodded then went into their closet to pick out his outfit for tomorrow. "Did Sangyeon get mad at you?" Younghoon asked after a while of silence. "No." "Then who?" He noticed Sunwoo remained silent then assumed it must've been Changmin. Changmin had been harsher lately and he was sure everyone but Changmin himself had noticed. "Well, whoever it is, apologizing is the best thing you can do."

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"Are you afraid of me or just avoiding me? Either way, don't. We're a group and we have to act like a unit. One loose screw could ruin everything." Sunwoo's eyes widened at the older's words then he gave his honest reply.  "I wasn't trying to. I just didn't know how to approach you after all of that. Sorry." "I didn't realize you were really affected by my mischievousness..." he thought to himself.

"Haknyeon." Sunwoo found himself calling after Haknyeon who was exiting the practice room. "Yes?" "Do you want to...get something to eat?" He watched Haknyeon make a few facial expressions before nodding.

"You haven't tricked me into doing anything for a while now. Are you sick?" Haknyeon asked. "No. I just...They don't entertain me anymore." he lied. "Oh." "How about that coffee shop over there. It isn't too crowded, so we won't be noticed." Sunwoo followed Haknyeon then found seats in a corner. He patiently waited for Haknyeon to come back with the menu. "You're more quiet around me now, Sunwoo. Are you sure you're okay?" Sunwoo rubbed the back of his neck then looked at the menu to avoid making eye contact. "Hello, earth to Sunwoo." "I'm fine. Stop asking." he snapped then regretted doing so as Haknyeon's face fell. He watched the older's mouth move but he couldn't quite hear what he said.

Sunwoo leaned over to take a piece of Haknyeon's cake but immediately retreated as the older raised a knife. "Calm down. I just wanted to try it." "Then you should've ordered some." Sunwoo shook his head then smirked. "At least I won't end up looking as big as a pig." He heard the sound of a chair scraping and a clinking as the fork collided with the plate. "Haknyeon?" By the time he realized what had happened, Haknyeon was already out the door.

a/n: don't forget to vote, share and comment! is the story progressing like how you thought it would? 🤔