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⇒ JYP Building- 3racha Studio
9:30pm

With fingers wrapped around his keys to the studio, Chan took a deep breath before sliding the correct piece of metal into the lock, exhaling deeply upon noticing the absence of either of his members or manager in the small space. He ruffled his hair as he made himself comfortable in the seat at the computer, the bright screen of the device forcing his eyes into a squint. A slight headache formed to the back of his head as he studied what the others had worked on since his day's absence, and he could only be thankful for their ambition without the presence of their leader. "Well, at least I don't have much to do..."

"Oh you have a whole fucking lot to do," a loud voice disrupted the older's mumble, his head perking quickly to the side and eyes going wide at the recognition of the two members behind him. His heart dropped as he watched how Jisung's arms were folded sternly against his chest, and how Changbin wore the most unamused, disappointed, and demanding expression on his face; his arms, instead of finding refuge on his clothed pecs like the other's, were prepped intimidatingly to his side, and his head shook as his mouth parted to speak.

"Chris you better get to explaining right now. And apologize too! Do you know how many times we had to lie on your behalf today?" The shorter groaned with his words, running a hand over his face. "I assume you forgot about the fucking meeting we had with management! A meeting, Chris. An important meeting like that where they discussed some of our plans for the rest of this year!"

Gulping thickly, Chan twisted himself in the chair to more comfortable face the two, fingers fiddling childishly with the paws of his sweater. "I- I must have forgotten-"

"How the fuck could you forget something like that? We have to travel for a conference in two weeks, Chris. We have to complete the album before come back and you've just been so freaking lackadaisical for the past few days," Jisung's voice almost cracked as he tried his hardest to maintain dominance while scolding his leader, scoffing and biting his lip before continuing. "We had to say that you had a cold and you were stuck in bed and so much other shit. Staying out like that is risky and unacceptable and you know that. I mean if you had informed someone or something like that, but for fuck's sake we thought you were missing!"

Chan only poked his tongue against the inside of his cheek in response, eyes stuck in a gaze at the jumbled-up wires underneath the table where their recording devices were. He continued to play nervously with his fingers, and even though his pride sort of wanted to push a few sentences and swears past his lips to demand respect as the eldest, he remained quiet, reminiscing on every word uttered from the others.

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes with a scoff, both the younger males made their way to the sofa after closing the door behind them, prepping their elbows against their thighs and cupping their faces in their palms, eyes in a steady glare at the older. "This is your chance to explain," Changbin started, sighing with his words. "The least you can do is tell us where you were and why. Tell us that you did nothing to tarnish JYP's name, because you know how he gets, and you'll not be the only one in trouble."

Clearing his throat, Chan finally spoke up, voice raspy and mind solely focused on lining up those words in such a way that his affiliations with a dear boyfriend would remain unknown to the others. "I- I only spent the night at a friend's house, and I was too caught up to send any texts or call... so I said I'd explain everything when I got back. I'm sorry for not informing-"

"The night? Chris, you were out for the entire day too," Jisung interrupted without hesitance, voice holding a readable level of irritability, his derisive attitude brewing a bit of annoyance in the older. "It doesn't really make sense to lie right now."

Gulping thickly, Chan bit on his tongue before continuing, twisting his neck slightly and sighing at the sensation. "I spent the night and my friend's house, and I didn't leave in the day because people- people could have seen and come up with rumors or scandals. I wanted to avoid all of that, so I stayed in. But I am sorry for breaking the rules and risking the company's name like that. And I thank you two," he outstretched a hand, pointing at the males with his words, "For covering up for me. I appreciate it, and I promise I won't put you through it again."

"You're making it so difficult to stay mad... why are you so humble," Changbin joked, finally breathing out with a low chuckle. "We're glad that you understand and accept your wrong, and yeah, you're welcome. And whoever that friend is that we don't know, they must be special. I hope that they can really keep a secret though."

"He- They are, special... I guess. And yeah, they can keep a secret."

-

⇒ Sunshine Apartments
12:30pm

"Uhm... hello," Seungmin spoke softly, an awkward smile spread on his face as he held up the clean, plastic container with both hands. Throat going dry as he looked up slightly to lock eyes with the other's, the boy nipped at his lower lip anxiously, praying that the male would say anything with that sweet voice that'd rearrange his jumbled thoughts into something sensible.

"Seungmin, how are you?" Hyunjin attended to Seungmin's silent prayers with his welcome, legs shifting his body to the side and a hand reflexively outstretching itself to the inside of his apartment to justify his next phrase. "Come in."

Seungmin hesitated before nodding, leaving his shoes at the door, the plastic container still in anxiously firm grip. "N-nice place," he spoke lowly, Hyunjin humming in response. "I just came to return your bowl and say thank you. The cookies were really nice."

Smiling satisfactorily, Hyunjin plopped himself onto an empty spot on his sofa with a smile, motioning his arm to the living room to indicate that the other could make himself comfortable. "I'm glad you enjoyed them," he spoke again, smiling even brighter as Seungmin claimed a seat to the opposite end of the same couch that he was sitting on.

"Well, as I already told you yesterday, my name is Hyunjin, and I moved in like two and a half weeks ago. I don't have many friends in the area, and you seemed liked a cool guy at the first few glances, so I thought why not try to befriend you?" He giggled awkwardly, cheeks forcing to remain stretched into the most uncomfortable, shy smile that perfectly mirrored that of the younger's. "I'm twenty, and I work part time at a café not to far from here..."

"Ah, nice," Seungmin spoke softly, leaning forward to rest the bowl against the coffee table before relaxing and fiddling with the paws of his sweater just as before. "Well... I'm Seungmin... twenty as well... and I work shifts at E-Mart," he thinned his lips into a soft smile, eyes gazing blankly at the chocolate ones not so far from him, practically losing himself in the features that he had only subtly adored the day before.

"Nice, nice," Hyunjin fought to keep decent conversation going, nipping harshly at his lower lip and bringing hand to stroke some rebellious blonde strands further up his forehead. "So uhm... I think it's safe to assume that you like 3racha?" He felt a slight sting in his chest at the mouthing of the question, internally hoping that the other was simply misunderstood, or at least not in so deep as to be as brainwashed as the stereotype predicted.

"O-of course. Who doesn't?" Seungmin chuckled nervously, the colonies of hypocrisy and guilt in his conscience growing restless at the troubling question, sending up their cries of distaste and discomfort as a feeling of pure anxiety and nausea in his stomach. "They're so inspirational, you know? Hard work, great music. Just uhm... all-rounded young men..."

Gulping thickly, Hyunjin pursed his lips with a sigh, one hand prepped to the top of the couch while the other laid stagnantly against the armrest and eyes gazing down blankly at the carpet beneath his feet while his head performed some slow, almost unnoticeable nods. "I see," he muttered almost inaudibly, sighing again before looking up, that time with a smile stretched up from one side of his lip.

"I understand what you're saying, just that they're not really my type, but I respect your interest." He paused again, this time to think over a rather invasive yet essential question, the hope that once lived in his heart before the confirmation of the male's love for the boy band still lingering at the door, praying that the response to the question would be unprejudiced or at least justifiable. "But uhm, I hope you don't find me too forward or anything like that, but I have to ask, are you- are you homophobic?"

Seungmin looked around before responding, lips pouting while his mind fought to compare the consequences of his "yes" or "no" response to the inquiry. The comparison of a receipt outlining shame and another outlining peace of mind were printed and thoroughly analyzed in his head. But alas, the boy's poor, blinded trend of thought could only see and take note of so much on those dim lines produced by their printers.

And it thought that it was fair, the end of its comparisons. It thought that all fears of being outcasted by the blonde for his true sexuality would be erased as soon as he would mumble a "yes" or at least nod his head. It thought that suffocating, life-long shame would follow after even thinking twice about saying "no"- about even contemplating a second time about kicking out those tribes of hypocrisy abiding in his conscience.

But that was only because the printers that produced those receipts both had a different brand of ink; one with fear and the other with reasoning. They were so improperly monitored that it was not noticed that the one assumed to have the dimmest layout of ink was actually the brightest, but was held and read in darkness, whereas the other, the dullest yet most persuasive of the two, seemed much brighter as it was read and analyzed in the presence of the light that the boy's heart shone so resiliently.

So such misreading lead to the ignorance of the endless list of promises of receivable freedom and happiness that was printed on the "dimmest", but to the adoption and growth of the one that only held one line- one lie, "Peace of mind". But what is peace that merely lasts a minute? What is peace if the feeling subsides as soon as one is left alone to reminisce on all decisions- all possible outcomes of if they had made another decision?

Distress, as well the tormented continuation and growth of the very things that momentarily masked themselves as the missed, needed, wanted feeling of peace.

But of course, all of that was hardly made out in the dark where it was read, so Seungmin was unfairly left with one choice, one sentence, maybe, and one gesture. Nodding, he sucked in a deep breath as he parted his lips to speak, the drop in expression on the blonde's face making his words flow out with a crack in his voice. "I-I don't believe in same sex relationships," he tried to smile with the lie, the same inhabitants of his conscience only settling when his tongue audibly verbalized his thoughts, thus fueling more words out to ease his own internal torment. "I think that it's wrong, you know? Like why-"

"I get your point, Seungmin," Hyunjin forced a fake smile across his cheeks, sighing before standing from his seat. Stretching to fake a bit of tiredness, he rubbed both hands over his eyes, his sudden steps towards the front door making the other feel a bit bad and unwelcome. "Anyways, it was nice having you over, but I kind of have to sleep before work."

"You work on Sundays?"

"I just have to sleep, Seungmin." The blonde spoke a bit sterner this time, already opening the door and watching as the younger padded his way in the said direction. "Have a good rest of the day, and I hope we can spend more time getting to know each other in the future."

"Thank... you?" Seungmin could hardly finish his sentence before the door was closed softly yet hastily in his face, pout growing further downwards as he walked the few steps over to the door of his own apartment. "I hope he's not- I hope I didn't- fuck..."

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