july, 2019

the boys had always been extra careful of avoiding anything that'd accidentally upset the girl — they'd waited so long for her to even speak to them, why would they screw it up with their sensitive, boyish feelings?

that's what Misaki wondered as she watched the boys' faces — YeonJun and BeomGyu, to be exact — drop yet again when her foot slipped from the angle they'd previously adjusted it to.

"no, Mia. not that,"

as nice as he'd tried to sound, YeonJun failed oh so miserably. that was something she caught on easily about the eldest — once he was truly upset, the world would know.

even her, the last person he'd ever want to be visibly upset with.

we all have our days, though.

the boy came up behind the girl, leaning down to fix Misaki's angle as she silently winced from the throbbing pain she felt.

unbeknownst to the five surrounding her, Misaki'd almost carelessly sprained her ankle the night before, however felt too drained to go and get it checked out, even if it'd only take five minutes.

she'd been practicing endlessly after hours when the boys were all sound asleep, trying to make sure she wouldn't be the reason the group got an overall negative result in their comeback evaluation from the dance teacher.

the girl was on the brink of passing out when she'd decided to call it a night, standing up to leave— when she fell. her feet had given out from under her, her right ankle falling to the opposite side.

ouch. she'd almost cried from the pain.

but she sucked it up — refusing to let her weaker, vulnerable side show to the boys she wanted to seem nothing but cool to.

and that's where she stood in the present moment, slyly squeezing her eyes shut to try and alleviate some of the pain, knowing she'd succeeded in her mission when none of the boys brought it up.

...........

or so she thought.

"you got it?" YeonJun asked before BeomGyu could say anything, his eyes glancing down to the boy still crouched in front of the girl.

she softly nodded, a small smile on her face. "thanks,"

"alright, from the chorus," SooBin called out, the members all softly huffing as they felt the exhaustion catching up to them.

the song that'd been dug deep into their brains sounded through the speakers yet again, Misaki only able to wonder when she'd get a break from it.

the questionable part came up faster than she'd anticipated, her foot bending a noticable fraction smaller than the boys' had. the music stopped again.

Misaki couldn't restrain the huff that sounded from her mouth as she rubbed her hands over her face, wishing to do nothing but scream at her reflection for not getting it right — again.

the boys were nothing like the girls had been, she also realized awfully quickly. maybe it was because she was the leader, given charge of the practices even though she'd hardly any leadership experience before being given the role. it seemed so much easier then — the five had all agreed to never get upset at one another for something so small, like a choreography mistake, because they were all destined to make one at some point or another.

the boys seemed ruthless compared to the rules they'd set. they frequently scoffed at eachother's mistakes, loudly complaining over one another. she felt trapped, as if she'd get kicked to the ground if she did anything besides what they expected her to do.

YeonJun turned around to look at the girl, wiping the thin layer of sweat forming on the lower part of his face. "Misaki,"

"i know, i know. i'm sorry," she said, quickly bowing in apology to the boys. "i don't know what's.. wrong with me,"

it must have been a tough day for all of them, she thought as she heard a slight scoff from behind her. she lowered her head as a frown ghosted at her lips, bowing it yet again. "i'm sorry,"

"stop saying that."

Misaki refused to lift her eyes to meet YeonJun's, softly bowing again.

"and stop doing that."

you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. YeonJun's voice had turned into pure venom – something Misaki hated more than onions.

and she absolutely despises onions.

it took a lot to get her to cry. at one point in her life, she'd nearly convinced herself she'd lost all ability to shed tears because of how many she'd previously lost.

her theory was proving to be wrong, and it was all because of YeonJun.

tears were quick to fog her line of vision, Misaki attempting to blink them away before they could notice.

it was as if he'd been the male version of Bomi all along.

BeomGyu softly gasped, hesitantly beginning to step towards the girl before he stopped himself. Misaki noticed, rapidly shaking her head no before moving out of the circle they'd created around her, grabbing her bag before sprinting out of their practice room.

the boys watched with open mouths as they tried to run after her, however all stopped when SooBin said so. "no. there's nothing we can do, let her cool off for a second,"

Misaki internally sighed out of relief when she'd yet to hear a stampede of footsteps trailing behind her. she hoped they'd given up, all agreeing to not come to her until she did them. the girl approached the only place she felt completely comfortable in the entire building, opening the door to find her two favourite staff members eating their takeout while laughing.

Ara softly gasped at the girl's appearance, "Mia! aren't you supposed to be at-"

JiSu was quick to cut his best friend off, "that doesn't matter, hoe! she's crying," he slammed the box of food on the table, running to the girl. "what's wrong, baby? what'd those nasty boys do to you?"

Misaki softly chuckled as the male brought her to his embrace, resting her cheek against his chest as she let the tears fall freely. she quickly felt Ara come beside her, the girl smushed in the middle like the cream of an Oreo.

the trio stayed like that for a few minutes before JiSu felt a few taps from the girl, signalling she was okay. the two looked at her before moving out of her personal bubble, returning to their respective seats as Misaki took her own. Ara handed her the portion they'd left over for her, Mia smiling in response.

she ate a bit before pushing the container away from herself, hesitant to look up at the pair as she knew they awaited a response.

"...so?" JiSu said, tilting his head down to look at the girl. "what's up?"

Mia sighed, knowing she'd never be able to keep anything from these two. "i may have... maybe.. might've hurt my ankle last night, but that's not the point," she quickly spoke, cutely, nervously, giggling when she saw the we'll talk later look the pair gave her.

"i kept making the same mistake in our choreography and the boys got mad at me.. i know i'm definitely overreacting about it but, i feel like.. them being mad at me even once will make them not like me at all," she paused for a second, going to play with the pluto on her necklace. "and if they don't like me, i'll never feel comfortable in the group. i really want to feel comfortable with them, though. i know it's hard for them and for me but.. i really like them as members,"

though she'd made little to no progression, Misaki's undying wish since debut had been to finally grow closer with her members. promoting as six didn't feel right when they'd all bunch up and play around in a corner while she stood off to the side with the staff members, watching them from afar.

in her mind, that's how the boys wanted them to be.

in her mind, they hated her.

and she hated herself for not being able to get over herself and just talk to them — but maybe she'd never be able to do that.

"we go in and if she's here, we apologize immediately, got it?"

"but what if-" SooBin was quick to slap the side of his hyung's head, giving him a warning look as the eldest reluctantly complied to the leader's words. he knew he was right, Misaki had been a part of them from the beginning, she was in this for life — even if she made dumb mistakes at times.

the leader unlocked the dorm's front door, opening it to a quiet home. he hummed as he wondered if the girl'd come home, but the shoes in the entryway gave him the answer he'd been hoping for.

the boys all followed in sliding out of their outside shoes before walking into the home, the five pairs of eyes subconsciously scanning around for the girl as they advanced deeper inside.

"found her," TaeHyun quietly said, standing over the backside of the couch. the boys quickly piled into the living room, eyes finding a sleeping Misaki on the piece of furniture. they softly smiled, nodding before wandering off, going to do their own things for time to pass.

another half hour passed before Misaki slipped back into a conscious state of mind, her ears registering a different show than what she'd fallen asleep to. that can only mean one thing.

the girl slowly opened her eyes, sitting straight as she rubbed her face to wake herself up. BeomGyu heard a small amount of movement from the other couch, his eyes softening as he saw the figure in front of him.

"hi, Mia," he softly spoke, shocking the girl.

her hands moved away from her face, eyes trailing towards the owner of the soft voice. she quickly returned the grin he gave her, "hi,"

the boys had quickly caught onto the small noises coming from the living area, four moving figures catching Mia's eye. her breath hitched in her throat, panic flashing in her orbs.

"we're not here to yell, please don't worry," YeonJun said, his voice softer than earlier. she felt like the oxygen in her lungs had been purified.

she softly nodded her head, watching as the boys sat at relatively close proximities with her.

SooBin took the lead, "hyung and noona told us you're hurt," he spoke, Mia cursing at the two in her head. her expression must've given it away, thanks to the soft chuckles that sounded from the boys.

"don't be mad at them. Mia, why didn't you tell us?" SooBin softly said, gentle giggles laced through the first sentence.

she looked down, softly shrugging afterwards.

"we know you're not that comfortable around us yet.. but we're still supposed to take care of you. you know that, right?" YeonJun said, feeling the most guilty out of the five.

Mia softly nodded, eyes still on the ground. she took a deep breath in, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment before she let them go, preparing herself to speak. "i.. don't want you to worry about me," she messed up a word while she spoke, but the boys couldn't care.

she was speaking to them.

they could figure out what she was saying at a later time.

"i didn't think the... hurt?" she said, signalling her ankle.

"injury," SooBin said, the girl nodding as a smile played at her lips.

"the injury, was that.. bad?" she quickly paused again, shrugging as she didn't care anymore, she just needed to say what she needed to say. "but it hurts.. a lot. and i didn't want to make members fall behind, so i.. went through it. i didn't mean to make a fight, i'm sorry," she said, bowing her head to apologize for the nth time that day.

the boys softly smiled at her words, all realizing this had been the longest ongoing conversation from the girl. sure, it wasn't dealing with anything ideal — but it was still something.

"we're all very sorry for getting mad, Mia," the eldest said again, the girl softly nodding in understanding, silently accepting the apology.

♡♡♡♡♡♡,  完成!
+ request from yangardenz !!
thank u chae for the req, i hope the
route i took for the chapter doesn't disappoint
too bad :')
+ don't be a silent reader.