moonlight | rp discussion

Mod

Format: ( + pastebin )

Rating: General Audiences / Teen And Up Audiences / Mature / Explicit
Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage, Rape/Non-Con
Category: F/M, F/F, M/M, Gen, Multi
Fandom: Band Name (Band)
Relationships: Alphabetically First Character/Alphabetically Second Character
Characters: Character Name, Character Name | Stage Name
Additional Tags: use as desired
Language: English
Stats: Published: YYYY-MM-DDWords: X Chapters: X/X Comments: X Kudos: X Bookmarks: X Hits: X

title
username

Summary:


Summary here.


Notes:


Notes here.

(view spoiler)[

Body, if desired.

(hide spoiler)]

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Archive Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: M/M
Fandom: A-Prince (Band)
Relationships: Kwon Seokwoo/Woo Jungsik,
Characters: Kwon Seokwoo, Woo Jungsik, the others make a brief appearance
Additional Tags: Angst, Soulmates, Alternate Universe – Soulmates, Hanahaki Disease, Angst with a Happy Ending, Alternate Universe – College/University
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2018-02-05 Words: 2000 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 4 Kudos: 172 Bookmarks: 12 Hits: 1924

fate
ruination

Summary:


Fate is a more fickle friend than Brutus was to Caesar.
(or: what happens when your soulmate doesn't love you back)

Notes:


ahahahahahaha im back u cannot stop me

(view spoiler)[

When Seokwoo first meets Jungsik, it’s storming. He’s running across campus, trying to get to his next lecture without getting completely soaked (particularly because he’s carrying his laptop) — then he crashes into someone and everything stops.

Well. He stops. The person he just crashed into catches his bag before it hits the puddle on the ground.
“Hey… are you okay?”
Seokwoo looks up. His eyes widen — because he didn’t crash into just anyone, he crashed into Woo Jungsik. The youngest member of A-Prince. Seokwoo makes an unintelligible noise and runs away.

Partway through his next class, his arm starts hurting. It’s like it’s on fire — but it isn’t a bad pain. It’s weird. When it dies down, he glances at his arm — and his heart sinks. There, in neat black text, are the words Hey… are you okay?. Which means that Jungsik — the Jungsik, who he’s probably never going to see again (and even if he did, what good would it do?) — is his soulmate. And Jungsik doesn’t know that, because Seokwoo didn’t even manage to get something intelligible out of his mouth when he met him.

As it turns out, Jungsik is actually in one of his lectures — it’s not surprising that Seokwoo never noticed him, considering he sits up the back and wears a face mask and cap. Fate has decided that since Jungsik doesn’t know they’re soulmates, it’s just going to do its best to make Seokwoo suffer — the next day, he walks in late to the lecture and takes a seat at the back so nobody will notice him. It’s right next to Jungsik — and maybe nobody else can recognise him, but Seokwoo knows it’s him. Call it soulmate intuition. He doesn’t say anything, though, because he’s painfully awkward and the lecturer is speaking.

The next time he runs into Jungsik, he actually manages to speak. It’s pouring rain (again, this must be the wettest autumn they’ve ever had), and Seokwoo is holed up in the campus coffee shop, trying to write his essay that’s due in a week. The shop is full to the point of overflowing — except at Seokwoo’s table, because he’s friends with the barista and everyone knows that if they sit there uninvited they’ll never get good coffee ever again.

Jungsik doesn’t know that, evidently — though it occurs to Seokwoo that this is probably the first time he’s ever set foot in the place, since he seems to rush off again after every class. He comes over and taps Seokwoo on the shoulder, awkwardly. “Can I sit here?”
Seokwoo glances up, and he wants so badly to just say no. But his mouth has other ideas. “Yeah, sure. You can probably take the mask off, too, nobody’ll see your face if you sit here.” The way that this particular table is set up means that a pillar in the wall protrudes around it, tucking it into a corner and keeping it out of sight of the rest of the shop.
“So, what are you working on?”
Seokwoo curses fate and every other whatever that thought Jungsik would be a good soulmate for him. Let him work in peace, goddamn it. “Essay. For Ethics.”
Jungsik makes a face. “I haven’t even started that.”
They get along great.

Before he realises what the time is, they’ve spent almost three hours talking. He’s found out that Jungsik doesn’t get along with the other four very well — because, to quote him, ‘Boomer is okay, but I dunno, he’s kinda hard to talk to; Sungjae is too awkward to talk to; Taedong is Taedong; and Kisu is basically our dad.’ He’s found out that Jungsik doesn’t believe in soulmates, because he’s never found his — ‘and when everyone else has found theirs by the time they’re an adult but you’re still waiting, you kind of lose faith.’

Right before Jungsik leaves, he asks Seokwoo if he’d like to meet the other members of A-Prince. Since he apparently considers Seokwoo a friend.
And that hurts more than knowing Jungsik doesn’t believe in soulmates. Because then, there might still be a chance for them to become something. But he sees Seokwoo as a friend. Which pretty much means that the feelings that have slowly been creeping up on Seokwoo? They need to go, before he gets hurt.

The day that Jungsik said he’d take him to meet the other members, Seokwoo gets sick. It comes out of nowhere, a flu that leaves him stuck in bed for hours. He texts Jungsik to say he can’t make it — then stops replying because the light from his phone is only worsening his headache.

Seokwoo goes to class the next day, even though everything still aches and his throat still hurts. He doesn’t speak, because that hurts too much. He feels like throwing up.

He makes it through two and a half classes before he has to rush out of a lecture to throw up — but when he does, he doesn’t see his breakfast staring back at him. Instead, he sees a handful of delicate yellow petals. And because Seokwoo is a goddamn nerd he recognises them as being rose petals (which mean friendship, so Seokwoo’s as good as dead).

He doesn’t return to class — he asks his friends to send him their notes later, and goes straight to his apartment.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he has Hanahaki Disease. Everyone knows the stories about how if your soulmate doesn’t love you back then flowers start growing in your lungs, and the only cure is for them to love you back. Nobody believes it — the few people who do claim to have had it are written off as liars. Because how could your soulmate not love you?

The system works, they say. Seokwoo snorts at the articles about how soulmates are such a great thing — soulmates and Fate are the biggest joke since politics. He curls up on his couch, a bucket in hand, and tries not to think about the sharp jabs in his chest that have been getting progressively worse since the coughing started.

He wakes up choking, someone pounding on the door. By the sound of it, it’s Jungsik — but Seokwoo is incapable of moving to get the door, of speaking, of breathing. He can’t cough hard enough to dislodge the clumps of petals clogging his throat. When the build-up is enough that the petals push one another out, he coughs properly, dry hacking coughs that send chunks of flowers coated in saliva and blood into the bucket.
Jungsik is still at the door.

“Let me in! Seokwoo!”

With considerable effort, Seokwoo gets up and makes his way to the front door, taking care to keep all the petals out of sight. The last thing he needs is Jungsik finding out. “Stop yelling, I already have a headache.”

Jungsik looks at him. “No wonder. You look like you died. I was worried when you weren’t in class — you’ve never missed a lesson, not even that time when you had a fever.”
“Maybe I decided that I shouldn’t push my limits so often.” Seokwoo coughs, raising his hand to his mouth to catch the petals before they can fall out.
“Can I come in?” Jungsik looks awkward, standing just outside the door, so Seokwoo nods and steps aside. He lets the door swing shut behind them, and it probably annoys half his neighbours that he’s doing that again — but hey, he’s going to be dead soon, so it’s not like they’re going to be bothered by it for that much longer.

“How did you find time to come here?” Seokwoo asks, hoping that it’s not just a five-minute visit. Because even though Jungsik is killing him, Seokwoo can’t help but want to spend more time with the elder. He refuses to use the word soulmate.

“It’s my day off.”

Of course. Jungsik is too responsible to put Seokwoo before anything else — and as much as Seokwoo wants to feel put out by that, he’s glad that he’s not the number one priority in Jungsik’s eyes. It’ll hurt less when he’s gone.

Because he will be gone, sooner or later, and he doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt by it.

“That cough sounds like it’s something worse than a flu. You should see a doctor.” Jungsik is watching Seokwoo carefully, and Seokwoo begins to worry that he’s caught on.

Jungsik stays with him all day, and Seokwoo falls asleep before he leaves.

When he wakes up the next morning, he finds a note on the kitchen bench.

Seokwoo,

Go see a doctor, dammit. Whoever your soulmate is, they’re an idiot for not being in love with you. There’s a doctor who’s pretty much an expert on Hanahaki — he knows pretty much everything there is to know about soulmates, he explained why I don’t have a mark even though I’m pretty sure I’ve met my soulmate. Apparently when their words appear it’ll be the last words they ever say to me. So if he can know that kind of stuff, maybe he can also help you.

Jungsik.

The words I’m pretty sure I’ve met my soulmate stand out as if they’ve been bolded. Seokwoo collapses to the floor, lungs aching. The coughing starts again, worse than ever before. When he looks at the petals that he’s coughing up, they’re coated in blood — more so than yesterday. His chest hurts unbearably, stinging as though being shredded from the inside.

Then all of a sudden it stops. He remembers — Jungsik said he still has no words on his wrist, which means that Seokwoo isn’t going to die yet. He’s going to see Jungsik again. Fumbling for his phone, he finds Jungsik’s number and shakily presses the call button.

“Seokwoo?” Jungsik sounds worried.
“Can you come over, please?” Seokwoo struggles to speak, but he manages to get the words out. “It’s gotten worse, and I don’t have anyone else I can ask.”
“Hang on, I’ll talk to the manager.”

Jungsik arrives fifteen minutes later, having run the entire two kilometres between BD Entertainment and Seokwoo’s apartment as soon as he got the okay from their manager. “Seokwoo?” he calls, voice shaky. Seokwoo, still lying on the kitchen floor, can’t find the energy to reply. The door’s unlocked, and a few seconds later Jungsik is sitting beside Seokwoo, lifting him carefully out of the mess of blood and petals and setting him gently on his living room couch. “Do you think you can cope with a car ride? I want to take you to the doctor,” he says. Seokwoo shakes his head. “Stay,” he rasps, then coughs again. It’s easier than before, less painful — though whether that’s because it’s getting better or because the thorns have already destroyed his lungs to the point where he’s incapable of registering the pain, Seokwoo’s not sure.
One thing’s for certain — he should tell Jungsik about them being soulmates.

Initially, he was hesitant. But he had nothing to lose now, so he might as well. Rather than destroying his vocal cords even more, he grabs a piece of paper and a pen and begins scribbling an explanation.

(hide spoiler)]

pt 2. (view spoiler)[

As Jungsik reads it, he frowns. “Why didn’t you tell me that we were soulmates?”
Seokwoo writes down his explanation. Jungsik looks frustrated. “It wouldn’t have been a bother. It would have meant that we could avoid all this.”

They go see the doctor later that day, and the doctor pretty much says what Jungsik was thinking — Seokwoo is a damn idiot and he should have just told Jungsik to start with.

Things start changing. Not straight away, but they do change. For one thing, Seokwoo stops coughing up flowers. For another, Jungsik finally gets to introduce him to the other members of A-Prince — and he was fairly accurate in his descriptions of them: Boomer is fairly normal; Sungjae is weird; Taedong is… there are no words for it, Seokwoo thinks; and Kisu definitely seems like the group’s parent.

And Jungsik... well, Seokwoo's kind of biased, given that he's his soulmate. But he'd argue that he's the best out of all of them.

(hide spoiler)]

Mod

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: TEMPEST (Band)
Relationships: Park Dowoon/Park Minho
Characters: Park Dowoon, Park Minho, other tempest members make appearance, minor Park Dohyun
Additional Tags: Five Times, Romantic Comedy, Friends to Lovers, domestic idiots, listen i don't care what you say park-park couple is real
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2018-02-13Words: 42,069 Chapters: 5/5 Comments: 10 Kudos: 304 Bookmarks: 21 Hits: 389

Five Times The One Wasn't The One
(And One Time He Was)
parkdoswoon

Summary:


Dowoon has spent so many years trying to find his heart that he's never noticed the one protecting it all along.



Notes:


in honor of our maknae's solo debut today ~~~
stream TELL ME on youtube ~~~
and fuck everyone who says ariels are a dead fandom

Mod

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Fandom: GENESIS (Band), B.L.U.E (Band)
Relationships: Cha Seohyun/Han Donghyun
Characters: Cha Seohyun, Han Donghyun, ensemble GENESIS, ensemble B.L.U.E
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Fake Married, ugh help it's been like 2 years since they mced inki and i'm still not over them
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2017-12-27Words: 31,432 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 15 Kudos: 435 Bookmarks: 72 Hits: 592

for a moment
dongseolife

Summary:


It occurs to Seohyun, now that it's all over, that she might actually miss his snoring.



Notes:


still convinced they're like secretly married or something lmfao

Mod

Rating: Mature
Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Fandom: Blossom (Band), Asian King (Band)
Relationships: Cho Hyunkyung/Ku Hyunwoo
Characters: Cho Hyunkyung, Ku Hyunwoo, other Blossom members, other Asian King members
Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Future Fic, kind of
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2016-03-21Words: 60,381 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 30 Kudos: 740 Bookmarks: 321 Hits: 1071

lavender
harmonys

Summary:


┃"Don't forget me when you're famous," she says.
┃
┃"We," he says. "When we're famous."
┃
┃She smiles like she believes it.

Wherever Hyunwoo goes, there Hyunkyung will follow.



Notes:


listen on the nang & yam show hyunwoo said that hyunkyung was the most important person to him i-

Mod

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Fandom: Jinx (Band)
Relationships: Kang Sunhee/Son Jaehyung | Jason
Characters: Kang Sunhee, Son Jaehyung | Jason, Jang Jeongsu, Im Jaewon, background Jinx, Ascending Sun cast
Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Ascending Sun, lord please forgive me, praise kink, u cannot convince me that son jaehyung does not have a praise kink ok
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2016-03-21Words: 60,381 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 30 Kudos: 740 Bookmarks: 321 Hits: 1071

in the dawn
ascendingsunson

Summary:


"I thought that I would never meet someone like you."



Notes:


so in like two years they're gonna stop denying the dating rumors and get married right

Mod

Rating: Mature
Archive Warnings: Major Character Death
Category: F/M
Fandom: Jinx (Band), Ascending Sun (TV)
Relationships: Kang Sunhee/Son Jaehyung | Jason
Characters: Kang Sunhee, Son Jaehyung | Jason
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Multiple Lives, Slow Burn, fate, destiny, a horse, listen i know that warning tag is scary but the whole point is literally that they're reborn
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2018-01-23Words: 263,127 Chapters: 5/5 Comments: 93 Kudos: 923 Bookmarks: 702 Hits: 2073

in the fate that falls like stars
ascendingsunson

Summary:


┃He reaches out — and just as she turns toward him, just as
┃he's about to see her face, he wakes up.

Son Jaehyung keeps chasing the woman in his dreams, but maybe he's the one who was meant to be found.



Notes:


MY SUNSON MANIFESTO IS COMPLETE
yes the title is from you are my everything because i am actual ascending sun trash let me live ok

(view spoiler)[

I.
(1350s-1360s) post-yuan control
. not really sure where i was going with this one tbh
. but uh yeah as you can imagine.
. they meet they fall in love
. they are torn apart by the crazy political situation
. maybe jaehyung is killed or something idk
. yeah... jaehyung is killed (:

II.
(1440s) joseon under sejong
. jaehyung is a poet
. my name is jaehyung i am a poet
. i wrote this poem just to show it
. anyway he is a noble probably also but yeah
. sunhee is the daughter of a traditional chinese doctor
. is helping to try to make new developments with herbal medicine
. even though she probably shouldn't bc she's a lady
. they meet. they fall in luv
. and then they both have to marry other people
. at least no one gets murdered this time

III.
(1890s) korean empire
. doing this research i am understanding the anti-japanese sentiment a lot more
. they both work around the palace
. sunhee is a servant
. jaehyung is a guard
. anyway they find each other and things are greatish
. until the assassination of queen min
. in which jaehyung is killed

IV.
(1940s) japanese occupation
. he meets sunhee when he joins a resistance organization
. former gisaeng who ran away disguised as a man to join resistance efforts
. they share a lodging so of course he was gonna find out eventually that she's not a man
. after [excerpt] they never do see each other again in this life
. he spends years until he dies trying to piece things together and find her
. or at least find out what happened to her
. he never does find out what happened to her after the war or if she's alive
. she's dead. jaehyung got off alive this time

"This is the last time we're going to see each other," she says, tucking her hair
underneath her hat.

Looking into her eyes, Jaehyung knows it's the truth.

"But I—" But I love you, he doesn't say. "But how will I find you again?"

She takes his face in her hands, then, and kisses him hard. "I'll find you," she says.
"Trust me."

Jaehyung does.


V.
(2016) modern day
. the first time he sees her he isn't really seeing, well, her
. because he first sees her as the young version of the protagonist in prince hours
. he chalks dreams about star actress kang sunhee up to an embarrassing celebrity crush
. because everyone has one right ?? ha haha
. he ends up signed to b.d. entertainment and debuts as a member of jinx
. eventually he begins his little ventures into acting
. when he's cast for ascending sun they don't have a lead actress yet;
. they've been courting a couple actresses so far for the role, including kang sunhee
. shortly after his casting is announced, she accepts the role
. (it's funny, the director laughs, it's almost like she joined the cast just because of you)
. (except that would be ridiculous, right?)
. no one dies in this one except for jaehyung's character in the drama

It's only after they arrive in Jeonju that Kang Sunhee approaches him.

"Tell me," she says, "have you ever treated a woman to coffee?"

"No?" Jaehyung admits, unsure if she actually believes it or not.

She smiles, the million-dollar smile that's been the focal point of countless CFs, the
smile now directed at him — "Today can be your first time, then."

As it turns out, she had never intended to let him pay. (Let your senior treat you, she
had said, and then, when he protested, I'll let you pay next time.)

"If you're going to be kissing me tomorrow," she says, "I think we should get to
know each other first, don't you?"

The café they find in the hanok village is a small and cozy one, and Jaehyung loses
count of how many people have come and gone as they lose themselves in
conversation.

He learns that she had just returned from Canada when she received the offer for
the role, that she can't sleep on airplanes, and that she drinks her coffee black.
He's starting to see that Kang Sunhee, great celebrity crush of his life, is just a
normal person, and then—

"You're probably wondering," she says. "So I'll tell you that yes, I did take the role
because I heard you would be my costar."

If she notices him swallow his too-hot coffee too quickly, she doesn't show it,
because she just smiles again. "And, of course, I haven't come to Jeonju in a while,
so I thought it might be nice."

She continues. "I look forward to looking together."

(hide spoiler)]

Mod

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Fandom: Figure Skating RPF
Relationships: Kim Youngmin & Shin Yukyung
Characters: Kim Youngmin Shin Yukyung
Additional Tags: Fluff like tooth-rotting fluff First Meetings Awkwardness
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2018-02-06   Words: 1057   Chapters: 1/1   Comments: 13   Kudos: 62
Bookmarks: 32   Hits: 109

(all i want is to) fly with you
yukyuung


Summary:


all i want is to fall with you

When Kim Youngmin first lays his eyes on Shin Yukyung, he knows she's the one he needs to pair up with. But first, how do you convince a girl who doesn't know you exist that you're meant to be?

Notes:


ummmm they're married ?????? but yeah
tsundere v tsundere showdown; yukyung is Endeared

Mod

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M, M/M
Fandom: Figure Skating RPF
Relationships: Kim Youngmin/Shin Yukyung
Characters: Kim Youngmin Shin Yukyung Original Male Character cameos from other skaters
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe — Soulmates Slow Burn Getting Together kinda angsty with a happy slash bittersweet ending...? fuck soulmates basically the M/M tag is a cameo/side ship
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2018-02-06   Words: 100,457   Chapters: 2/2   Comments: 78  
Kudos: 102   Bookmarks: 32   Hits: 358

(what if we) rewrite the stars
yukyuung


Summary:


say you were meant to be mine

There's only one problem in the relationship between Youngmin and Yukyung, or at least one problem everyone says they have — Youngmin and Yukyung are, in fact, not soulmates.

But there's something more satisfying about enjoying what you've fought good and hard for.

Notes:


it's me again
this time on the angst train
kinda ???? they end up together
yukyung's soulmate is a good bean and youngmin's never shows up and he never wants them to lmao

Mod

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warnings: Major Character Death
Category: M/M
Fandom: Bravo (Band), Jinx (Band), A-Prince (Band), Adonis (Band)
Relationships: Gong Chanhee | Gonghee/Song Jaehyuk, one-sided Song Daehyun/Song Jaehyuk
Characters: Gong Chanhee | Gonghee, Song Jaehyuk, Song Daehyun, Jang Jeongsu, Son Jaehyung | Jason, Im Jaewon, Choi Chanyoung, Sin Taedong | GUN, Park Sungjae, Jang Kisu, Jeon Nara, Lee Dahee
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Models, ok that tag is to make this sound slightly better, Zoolander AU, jaehyuk is derek, chanhee is hansel, daehyun is matilda, taedong is mugatu
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2018-01-23Words: 263,127 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 93 Kudos: 923 Bookmarks: 702 Hits: 2073

odd couple
wizamore

Summary:


Jeongsu gives him a hard glare. "Why'd you have to come back to this town?"

"I wanted to create a new life for myself," Jaehyuk says. "I'm sorry I was born with this perfect bone structure, that my hair looks better done up with gel and mousse than hidden under a stupid hat with a light on it. All I ever wanted to do was make you proud of me, hyung."



Notes:


stop calling this a crackfic this is the most serious thing i've written in my entire fucking life

(view spoiler)[

The self-absorbed and dim-witted but good-natured Song Jaehyuk is ousted as the top male fashion model by the rising star Gong Chanhee, and his reputation is further tarnished by a critical article from journalist Song Daehyun. After his three roommates and colleagues, Son Jaehyung, Im Jaewon, and Choi Chanyoung are killed in a "freak gasoline-fight accident", Jaehyuk announces his retirement from modeling. He goes to the country to attempt to reconnect with his working class childhood friend Jang Jeongsu by helping them in the coal mines. Jaehyuk's delicate methods make him an impractical miner, and his family rejects him.

Meanwhile, fashion mogul Sin Taedong and Jaehyuk's agent Jang Kisu are charged by the fashion industry with finding a model who can be brainwashed into assassinating the new progressive-leaning Prime Minister of Malaysia, allowing them to retain cheap child labor in the country. Though Taedong has previously refused to work with Jaehyuk for any show, Jaehyuk accepts Taedong's offer to star in the next runway show.

Taedong takes Jaehyuk to his headquarters, masked as a day spa, where Jaehyuk is conditioned to attempt the assassination when the song "Mamacita" by B.L.U.E is played. Daehyun, feeling partially responsible for Jaehyuk's retirement, becomes suspicious of Taedong's offer and, tipped off by an anonymous caller, tries to enter the spa, but is thrown out. Daehyun tries to voice her concerns to Jaehyuk once he leaves, but he ignores her.

Daehyun follows Jaehyuk to a pre-runway party, where, upon being challenged by Chanhee, Jaehyuk loses to Chanhee in a "walk-off" judged by Jeon Nara. Daehyun receives another anonymous call to meet at a nearby cemetery. Daehyun and Jaehyuk find the anonymous caller is hand model Lee Dahee, who explains that the fashion industry has been behind several of history's political assassinations, including Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy and the brainwashed models are soon killed after they have completed their task. Park Sungjae, Taedong's tough henchman, and his aides attack the group, forcing Jaehyuk and Daehyun to flee.

They decide to go to Chanhee's home, the last place they believe Taedong will think to look. Jaehyuk, Chanhee, and Daehyun bond. Daehyun admits the reason he hates models is because he was bullied as a child for being overweight and developed bulimia, and that he believes models hurt people's self-esteem. Jaehyuk and Chanhee resolve their differences while partaking of Chanhee's collection of narcotics and participating in group sex with Daehyun and others. While recovering, Daehyun finds that he is falling in love with Jaehyuk, but Jaehyuk is falling for Chanhee. Jaehyuk and Chanhee break into Kisu's office to find evidence of the assassination plot, but they cannot operate his computer to find them. Taking Daehyun's words literally, that the "files are IN the computer," Chanhee physically takes the computer while Jaehyuk leaves for the show.

Daehyun tries to intercept Jaehyuk before the show, but Sungjae thwarts him. As Jaehyuk takes the runway, Taedong's disc jockey starts playing "Mamacita", activating Jaehyuk's mental programming. Before Jaehyuk can reach the Prime Minister, Chanhee breaks into the DJ booth and switches the music to Bravo's "Never", breaking Jaehyuk's conditioning. Chanhee and the DJ have a brief "breakdance" fight before Chanhee eventually unplugs the system, moments before Jaehyuk was about to snap the Prime Minister's neck. Expecting to reveal the hidden files, Chanhee attempts to expose the assassination plot by smashing Kisu's computer on the floor, thereby destroying the evidence.

Taedong attempts to cover up the incident, but Kisu steps forward and offers to turn over the evidence of the assassination plot after years of guilt for his complicity in the conspiracy. Taedong attempts to kill the Prime Minister himself by throwing a shuriken, but Jaehyuk stops him by unleashing his ultimate model look, "Jinx", that stuns everyone and causes the shuriken to freeze in the air in front of Derek's face and fall harmlessly to the ground. In Derek's rural hometown, Jeongsu is watching the event on TV, and proudly acknowledges Jaehyuk as his dongsaeng. Taedong is arrested, and Jaehyuk is thanked by the Prime Minister.

A few years later Jaehyuk, Chanhee, and Kisu are shown as having left the fashion industry to start "The Song Jaehyuk Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good and Who Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too". Jaehyuk and Chanhee now have a son named Song Jaehyuk, Jr., who has already developed his first modeling look.

(hide spoiler)]

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Archive Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: M/M
Fandom: Bravo (Band)
Relationships: Rasamee Charoenthammawat | Mimi/Daw Kadesadayurat, Yang Seojun/Nam Daehyun | Hyun, Yang Seojun/Yeo Wonsik | Phoenix, Gong Chanhee | Gonghee/Jong Kinam, Jong Kinam/Jang Hyukjae, Jang Hyukjae/Nam Daehyun | Hyun, Daw Kadesadayurat/Jang Hyukjae
Characters: Rasamee Charoenthammawat | Mimi, Daw Kadesadayurat, Yang Seojun, Yeo Wonsik | Phoenix, Jong Kinam, Gong Chanhee | Gonghee, Nam Daehyun | Hyun, Jang Hyukjae
Additional Tags: Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Minor Character Death, im not telling u if anyone important dies bc then u won't read it, oblivious!rap line, very oblivious!seojun
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2018-02-11 Words: 4529 Chapters: 4/4 Comments: 19 Kudos: 734 Bookmarks: 87 Hits: 9274

pain
bravo

Summary:


People fall in love. Pain and suffering will ensue.

Notes:


guess who's back with even more pain! me!
blame elyse she asked for it

chapter 1 (view spoiler)[ main ship/s: daw/mimi, daw/hyukjae, hyukaje/hyun
side ship/s: seojun/wonsik

“What flower would someone cough up if they were in love with you?” Wonsik asks. They’re playing Truth or Dare — except with octuples. And so far, they’ve each pulled at least two octuple-dares each.

Seojun starts, because he’s the one the question would be directed at if it was a single-person Truth. “Daisies. ‘Cause they’re pretty.” Wonsik already knew the answer, but he wanted to be sure. His heart sinks, and the handful of daisy flowers crumpled in his pocket feel heavy.
“Ratchaphruek,” Daw says, and Wonsik doesn’t miss the way Mimi smiles — wry, and far too mature for the innocent maknae they all know and love.
“Fringed iris,” Mimi says, the smile changing into a genuine one. Wonsik makes note of the fact that the Thai line are plant nerds.
Kinam’s is hydrangea; Chanhee eventually decides that while he does like gardenias, realistically chrysanthemum is the one that he’d expect them to cough up; Hyun says hibiscus. Hyukjae is uncharacteristically quiet as he answers with ‘yarrow’. After much pestering from Seojun about fairness, Wonsik adds his own answer — cherry.

———

Wonsik isn’t the only one who noticed Hyukjae’s quietness. After they wrap everything up and everyone else is arguing over who gets the first shower, Hyun comes over to him and wraps his arms around him. “You okay? That talk about Hanahaki… you looked uncomfortable.”
Hyukjae stays quiet for a few minutes, then as Hyun goes to leave, he speaks.
“Stay. Please.” After a few moments, once Hyun has returned to his previous position with his arms around the elder, he continues. “When I was a kid — I was thirteen — my brother got Hanahaki. He fell in love with his best friend, and the worst part was that he knew he didn’t have a chance because said friend was straighter than a ruler. A month before his fifteenth birthday, he died from choking on flowers.” He pauses for a moment. “I swore that I’d never let anyone else that I cared about die from it.”
Hyun almost laughs — but he doesn’t, because he’s not a horrible person. He does find it ironic, though, that Hyukjae doesn’t want anyone he cares about to die from Hanahaki and yet he’s causing Hyun’s suffering. The yarrow in his throat isn’t as bad as a bigger flower, he’ll admit that, but it’s uncomfortable and the roots strangling his heart are becoming a problem. He does leave then, hiding his quiet coughs as best he can. Hyukjae gives no indication of having noticed.

———

The next morning, Mimi is — for the first time ever — the last person out of the apartment. He’s pale and shaky all day, stumbling over the dance steps and struggling to keep up with the others. During breaks, he disappears to the bathroom.
When they get home, before he can get to the bathroom, Hyukjae heads him off.
“Who is it?”
“What do you mean, hyung?” Mimi looks as innocent as ever, wide-eyed and confused.
Hyukjae is unconvinced. He grabs Mimi’s arm and drags him into one of the rooms, still empty while the others muck around outside. “Kid–” He looks older, in this moment — like the exhausted twenty-five-year-old he is, rather than the child he often seems to be. “Mimi. I’m not stupid. You’re sick — and with the amount of time you’ve been spending in the bathroom, I think we both know that you’re not exactly being subtle about it.”
Mimi looks terrified. “Don’t– don’t tell him,” he whispers, quietly coughing into his hand and showing Hyukjae the result.
Hyukjae shakes his head. “Mimi. Don’t hide this from him.” His voice cracks as he speaks. “It’s not worth it. Please, just either tell him or get surgery.”

———

That night, Hyun finds Hyukjae staring at the floor in the living room, a bloody yellow flower held loosely in his hand.
“It’s not mine,” Hyukjae says, idly. His voice is scarily empty. “Do me a favour — talk to Mimi for me. He might actually listen to you.”
If he’s being honest, knowing that it’s Mimi who’s sick worries Hyun more. If it was Hyukjae coughing the yellow flowers, then only Hyun would be at risk of dying — but it’s not. The plant in his lungs stabs him, and he doubles over coughing. His vision is going dark at the edges, and he vaguely registers the sound of Hyukjae yelling for help.

———

When he regains consciousness, Hyun is lying in a hospital bed. His chest feels light, empty — when he thinks of Hyukjae, it’s as a friend.

He should feel bothered, but he can’t. He knows that logically, he would have done the same — particularly in Hyukjae’s place, with his experiences.

Hyukjae enters, yelling at Seojun and Wonsik to stay out and let Hyun rest for once.
“How are you feeling?” he asks
“Alive.”
Hyukjae looks apologetic. “I’m sorry — I know you probably hate me for not asking you if you wanted to get the surgery, but…” He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “I’d like to say that if you’d told me then I could return the feelings, but that would be a blatant lie. Even if I wanted so badly to save you.”
Hyun gets what he’s trying to say. “Sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologise, it wasn’t your fault.”
“It kind of was. If only the timing wasn’t so off, then none of this would have happened.”
“But it did. And honestly, that was way back when we were trainees.”

———

The next day, Daw gets sick. A bad flu, he says, and he stays at the apartment while the others go to practice. He spends most of the time hunched over a bucket, coughing up plants and blood. Just as his latest fit ends, the front door slams open and the older members barge in. In his haste to hide the bucket before Hyukjae comes in, he trips and falls, landing heavily on his ankle. There’s a definite snap, and his leg explodes in pain. He cries out — okay, that’s a lie, he swears very loudly, but it’s in Thai and Mimi would never rat him out — and Hyun rushes in. “Daw! God, what did you do?”
“–Ankle,” he manages to get out, as Hyun helps him to his feet and pushes the bucket out of sight.
“We’ll take you to the hospital, just hang on.”
He coughs again, but it’s less painful than the last few times — then the fit gets worse, and he’s falling, the world spinning around him. Pretty white flowers with purple and yellow decorations decorate the floor around him, their delicate petals marred with splashes of dark red. It’s not a good sign, but it’s a change from the smaller ones with their stabby branches. Daw is too disorientated to realise what the flowers are.

———

Mimi wakes up in a hospital bed with Hyukjae hanging over him. When the eldest sees that he’s awake, he calls for Hyun, who appears beside him not long after.
“Can you stand?” He gives a hesitant nod, and struggles to his feet. Leaning heavily on Hyun’s shoulder and trying to ignore the way his head is swimming, he makes his way in the direction they indicate, to another hospital room that smells of flowers.

Daw is lying in the bed, unconscious, far paler than Mimi has ever seen him. The bed is littered with blood-coated flowers, and as he moves closer Mimi realises what the flowers are. He falls to his knees beside Daw’s bed.
“Why didn’t you say something…” he whispers, feeling alive for pretty much the first time in quite a few weeks.

Daw wakes up, slowly, to find Mimi staring at him. Once Mimi realises that he’s awake, he smiles at him, and Daw doesn’t feel the tell-tale tickle in his throat for once. Mimi hugs him, smiling happily.

———

Meanwhile, sliding down the wall of the bathroom stall, Wonsik stares at the daisy poking through the skin on his palm, its tiny petals spelling doom. (hide spoiler)]

chapter 2 (view spoiler)[ main ships: wonsik/seojun, seojun/hyun
side ships: kinam/chanhee

Wonsik knows that he should do something about it. He’s started finding petals everywhere, particularly when he runs his hands through his hair, and while he’s stopped coughing, dozens of daisies find their way to the surface of his skin every day. Sooner or later, it’s going to be in a spot that isn’t easy to hide — or winter’s going to end and he’s going to stop being able to wear long everything.

It’s like the disease has realised it can’t kill him through making him cough, so it’ll simply rip his organs to shreds instead.

Whenever he sees Seojun, his heart feels like it’s being pierced over and over again by the roots of the plant, and Wonsik has to smile through the pain, act like nothing’s wrong, because Seojun sees him as a friend, a confidante, and Wonsik knows that Seojun’s been sick for the past week. He also knows what with — the dozens of hibiscus petals on the floor of the bathroom were fairly indicative the first time around.

And knowing this, Wonsik also knows that he doesn’t have a chance with Seojun.

———

He’s lost count of how long he’s been in here for — all he knows is that nobody’s going to come looking for him any time soon. Tucked in the corner of the cubicle, Wonsik grits his teeth as he attempts to sever the stem of the flower without ripping the entire plant out. He should really bring scissors everywhere he goes, but he’d figured that with a shorter practice he wouldn’t need to. Another flower breaks through the skin of his palm, and he tries not to yell. It hurts. Giving up on trying to break the stem with his fingernails, Wonsik bites through the stems instead and drags his hoodie sleeves back down. His hand is bleeding, but a few more minutes and it should stop.

He hears the unmistakeable sound of footsteps, then a cubicle door slamming and someone coughing. It’s probably Seojun.

When the coughing stops, the silence eerie, he holds the hoodie sleeve over his hand (thank god he wore black) and leaves the safety of the cubicle in favour of slamming open the other closed cubicle — and sure enough, Seojun is lying on the floor, surrounded by flowers.

———

When Seojun regains consciousness, he’s in a hospital. The group is gathered over him — but Wonsik is noticeably absent. Hyukjae is glaring at him, but also somehow managing to glare at Hyun at the same time, and Seojun’s first thought is how do they know?
“Wonsik found you lying on the floor,” Hyukjae says. “Unconscious. You were barely breathing by the time the emergency services got there.” He sounds calm, but Seojun can practically hear the words that he wants to say — you idiot, why didn’t you say something, we would have helped you.
“You should get the surgery,” Hyun says, then adds, “The doctors don’t think you have long enough left for anyone’s feelings to change.”
Seojun still feels as though Hyun hates him, even though he’s given a perfectly logical alternate reason. It still feels like a cop-out on Hyun’s part, like the elder can’t be bothered falling in love with him.

He doesn’t think he’s going to need the surgery.

———

Wonsik huddles in his blankets.
The flowers have spread even more — he can see the green lines under his skin where the stems are slowly working their way towards the surface. His arms are littered with scabs where he’s broken off flower heads.
He’s decided that he vastly preferred coughing up endless mouthfuls of flowers to this.

Seojun gets discharged from the hospital today — he knows, because he heard the others talking about it. Apparently his Hanahaki stopped on its own. Wonsik wishes he could be that lucky, but he’s been in love with Seojun since the group was formed, so he doubts that it’ll ever happen.

———

When Seojun gets home, the first thing he does is look for Wonsik. He hasn’t seen the other for almost a week.

The first place he checks is Wonsik’s room, because that’s the obvious one.

Wonsik is hiding under a pile of blankets that are far too hot and stuffy for the weather.
“Go away.”
“Come out. You’ll suffocate under there.”
“That would be preferable.”
At Wonsik’s last statement, Seojun pulls off the blankets. Then he reels backwards. “Why didn’t you say something?”
Wonsik laughs, bitterly. “You were too busy with your own problems.”

———

Seojun touches him, gently, and Wonsik can feel the way the flowers shrink away from him. It’s weird. He would have expected them to gravitate towards him, because a) he’s the cause of it, and b) he thought flowers grew towards the sun, not away from it. “How does it work?”
“I don’t know,” Wonsik admits. “I haven’t talked to anyone about it. Figured it just meant the disease had given up on trying to kill me the usual way.”
Seojun looks more serious than Wonsik had ever thought he was capable of. “You should have told me.”
“There was never a time that worked. First, we were about to debut–”
“You’ve had this since before debut?” Seojun sounds angry. “Then why didn’t you say something between debut and our first comeback? Or our second? Or any time between then and now?”
“You already had a crush on Hyun.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t coughing flowers!”
Wonsik shrinks away from Seojun, the accusation stinging. Before he can say anything, he feels a sharp pain in his chest. He feels his eyelids begin to droop, his breathing shallow and weak.
“Wonsik! Wonsik!” Seojun’s yells sound distant, although Wonsik can feel him shaking him–

———

A week later, Wonsik wakes up to Seojun asleep in the chair beside his hospital bed. The flowers are gone — but the feelings are still there. If it wasn’t for the various things hooked up to him, Wonsik would get out of bed and hug Seojun right then and there.

———

They’re ready for their next comeback, and in celebration of that (and also Seojun and Wonsik’s one-month anniversary) they’re having a party. Or, a version of a party that doesn’t leave them with hangovers, because a) Mimi is still underage and Hyun doesn’t trust the group to be responsible and b) they have a performance tomorrow. So, more like they stay up late and relax and play video games and talk.

Kinam sits in the corner, staring intently in any direction that isn’t Chanhee. The taste of chrysanthemums in his mouth makes him feel sick, and he excuses himself early, claiming that he wants to go to bed. He knows that Hyukjae will come check on him, so he coughs as quietly as possible and shoves the petals under his pillow. He’ll deal with it in the morning.

(hide spoiler)]

chapter 3 (view spoiler)[ main ship/s: kinam/chanhee
side ship/s: hyukjae/kinam

Hyukjae stares at the pretty blue flower in his hand and groans. They have a whole week of performances and interviews and god knows what else in store, they don’t have time for people to be getting sick — irrespective of circumstances. It does make things difficult, particularly because he shares a room with Kinam, but it’s fine, he’ll manage like he always has.

This time, it’s not as easy to convince himself that surgery is a good idea. The flowers are smaller, for one thing, and judging by the feeling in his chest he hasn’t even got an entire flower head yet. Sure, it’s entire flowers, but entire flowers means nothing when the flower in question is tiny. He’ll be fine.

He couldn’t be more wrong.

———

Kinam knows he needs to do something about this. It’s gotten to the point where he can barely get through a day without collapsing. From what he knows about Hanahaki — though it's mostly off the internet, so he doesn’t know how accurate it is — the flowers steal the air from your lungs and take your energy so they can grow and suffocate you. Which is bad news for someone whose livelihood involves extensive dancing and singing — two things that require functional lungs and a fair amount of energy.

And with their schedule getting busier and busier, their days are getting longer. By the time they get back to the dorm, he’s ready to collapse. And collapse he does, his legs giving out before he has time to get to his bedroom and sit down. As he falls, he vaguely thinks he hears Chanhee calling out to him — but he’s unconscious by the time he hits the ground.

———

Malnourishment, the doctors call it. Daw is looking at his feet, and Kinam gets the feeling that he knows what’s really going on. Sure enough, once the rest of the group has cleared out of the room, Daw comes over and whispers in his ear: “Talk to the manager about it. You don’t have to say who, but you need to rest.” It almost surprises Kinam that it wasn’t Hyukjae who approached him, but Hyukjae’s always been less observant about how Kinam’s doing — the only thing he ever seems to really notice is when his phone charger goes missing. Of course he wouldn’t notice this.

———

As it turns out, Daw isn’t the only one who noticed. Once they let him out of the hospital, Kinam is approached by Hyun, who more or less says that he’ll support him no matter what, and that he should tell Chanhee. Kinam decides he’s going to ignore him.

The disease progresses, and Kinam is put on hiatus until he, in the company’s words, recovers — or, in their manager’s words, ‘sorts his feelings the heck out’.

Hyukjae finally works it out, and one night, when they’re lying there in silence like they have for the last four years, he breaks the silence. “Sorry, for not realising earlier. I–” He’s doing that thing where he puts his hand on the back of his neck and looks guilty, Kinam can tell purely from the tone of his voice.
“It’s not your fault. Generally when someone’s hiding something, they don’t want people to realise.”
Hyukjae falls silent. Kinam isn’t sure why he’s being nice. Maybe it’s because Hyukjae has looked like he’s on the verge of falling apart for the past month — he hasn’t been nearly as energetic as he usually is, and he always looks drawn and tired. Or maybe it’s because he’s going to die anyway, it’s not as though acting out slightly is that big of a deal in the scheme of things.

———

Hyukjae wakes up before everyone else for pretty much the first time in years. He waits in the kitchen until Chanhee wakes up — before everyone else, as he always does — and then ambushes him.
“We need to talk.”
“About what?” Chanhee looks mildly alarmed — which is fair enough, seeing as Hyun is usually the only one who talks to people. Hyukjae is the irresponsible one.
“Kinam.”
“What about him?”
Hyukjae takes a deep breath. “You know he has Hanahaki — the problem is who he’s in love with.”
“Me?” Chanhee guesses, correctly reading Hyukjae’s tone.
“Well unless he knows someone else who loves chrysanthemums.” Chanhee looks guilty, so Hyukjae hastily adds, “It’s not your fault — he’s the one who refuses to actually communicate with you. I was just hoping that my telling you, I could get you to confront him about it. Because if we’re being realistic, it’s Kinam. He’s never going to do anything about it.”
Chanhee nods. “I’ll talk to him. I can’t promise that either of us can change our feelings, but I’ll try.”
Hyukjae smiles, genuinely. He has a feeling Chanhee won’t need to try very hard.

(hide spoiler)]

chapter 4 (view spoiler)[ main ship/s: kinam/chanhee
side ship/s: hyukjae/kinam

Chanhee doesn’t get a chance to talk to Kinam for the next week. They’re all busy — and he’s fairly sure that Kinam is trying to avoid him. Chanhee would do the same, if he was in his position. He worries, nonetheless, because he barely sees him. Even when they’re performing or practicing, Kinam is on the other side of the room to Chanhee, either sitting down or practicing alone since the doctor banned him from over-exerting himself.

He thinks Kinam might be falling out of love with him.

The next day, he feels something stuck in his throat, and when he coughs it out, Chanhee goes straight to Hyukjae. He has no intentions of dealing with this alone — he’s not stupid.

———

Between dealing with Chanhee and Kinam’s drama and his own condition, Hyukjae is being worn thin. It’s starting to show, in the way that he struggles with dance steps, the way his voice cracks and croaks and nobody knows if it’s from tiredness or something more. He looks like he’s aged years in the space of a few weeks, and he acts like it too.

He confronts Kinam, telling him that Chanhee is coughing flowers because of him and that instead of hiding behind a wall of emotionlessness he should actually do something. Kinam just says, “Look after yourself first.”

———

Kinam’s not trying to be hostile. He’s just tired. He can’t breathe properly, he’s alone — he just wants it all to stop so he can go back to being an idol like he wants to, rather than sitting on the sidelines because of some stupid crush.

Maybe it’s because he keeps calling it a stupid crush, or maybe it’s all his imagination, but Kinam swears there are less flowers every time he coughs. He’s getting more sleep, and he feels better — but it feels wrong. He remembers what Hyukjae said about Chanhee — it’s not true, right? It can’t be. Chanhee would never fall in love with Kinam.

Or so he thinks.

———

Chanhee collapses partway through the dance, legs folding beneath him like fragile paper sticks. He’s unconscious, crumpled on the floor like a ragdoll, and as they call an ambulance, Kinam realises, acutely, that this is all his fault.

If he hadn’t been stupid enough to fall in love, Chanhee wouldn’t have tried to help and wouldn’t have fallen in love back, and it wouldn’t be a problem.

———

Everything is falling apart, and that’s putting it lightly. Chanhee is in the hospital, Kinam refuses to talk to anyone, and Hyukjae is barely well enough to function. Maybe Wonsik’s being selfish, but he and Seojun managed to sort out their problems, so why can’t these three?

Mimi says it’s because he’s secretly worried about them — and Wonsik thinks that maybe that’s true for Chanhee and Kinam, but Hyukjae? The eldest is annoying at the best of times, and Wonsik doesn’t think he’s capable of worrying about him.

Until he sees him collapse in front of him, crumpling to the floor like an overgrown rag doll (a very fitting description, particularly with the state of his hair). And sure, Hyukjae may be Wonsik’s least favourite member, but that doesn’t mean he hates him.

“Wake up! Wake up, dammit!” The elder doesn’t stir, and Wonsik sees just how unnaturally pale he is, the dark circles under his eyes even more pronounced than usual.

He calls an ambulance. By this point, the emergency number is one of the group’s most commonly called numbers.

———

Chanhee is out of hospital, the flowers having finally stopped — and while the other members suspect that it’s something more than what Chanhee claims it is, he and Kinam are still only friends so far as anyone knows.

But it’s still hard for the group. Hyukjae is still in hospital, still hasn’t woken up, and the doctors say that his heart is failing. Hyun talks to Hyukjae’s family and finds out that a weak heart runs in the family. It doesn’t change much, but they all know that even if he does wake up, he probably won’t be able to remain part of the group. Heart problems aren’t conducive to long periods of intense exercise.

———

Hyukjae wakes up to doctors and nurses bustling around him, checking various machines and telling him not to move. Not that he can — there’s so many things stuck to him he’s afraid to lest he dislodge the wrong thing.

After what seems like an eternity, they finish taking all the stuff away. They bring the manager and Hyun in, and the doctor explains what happened.

———

Hyun hadn’t realised just how little care Hyukjae was taking of himself, too busy making sure Chanhee didn’t die. He feels guilty — he’s the leader, he should have noticed that the eldest was pushing himself too hard, should have noticed he wasn’t eating with the rest of them (because he was working, and not eating at all).

But he didn’t.

———

“So you’re just going to kick him out, then?” It’s one of a very small number of times that Hyukjae’s heard Kinam raise his voice. “He’s the reason the rest of us are still alive, and you’re just going to throw him out?”
The CEO shakes his head. “What good is a lead dancer who can’t dance?”

The whole group is gathered, along with the CEO and their manager, around a table in a meeting room, discussing what to do. Kinam has been arguing with the CEO for the past twenty minutes, trying to convince him to let Hyukjae stay in Bravo. The rest of them haven’t been able to get a word in edgewise — eventually Hyukjae gets sick of listening to them.

“Sorry to interrupt your productive discussion, but being the person who actually, you know, lives with this thing, I might know what I’m capable of and what I’m not capable of. So long as we’re not performing multiple hard songs in a row, I’ll be fine.” His father has been running to catch the train home most days for the last ten years, and he’s still alive.

They look up at him. “The doctor said you shouldn’t exercise at all.”
“Yeah, for the next month or so. Not forever.” Hyukjae rolls his eyes. “It happened in junior high school once — not as badly — and I recovered from that.”

———

Hyukjae’s hiatus goes for another month and a half, until he gets so sick of sitting around doing nothing that he shows up at practice two weeks before he’s supposed to.

Everything is going great. Nobody’s sick, nobody’s broken anything, their next performance goes perfectly. Practice sessions are just like they used to be — except now the younger four are being sappy romantic idiots in the corner during breaks, and the older four are trying to come to terms with the fact that in a few weeks Mimi’s going to be legally allowed to drink.

So naturally, something’s going to happen to ruin everything sooner or later.

———

They’ve been on stage for the past hour, performing. They’re all jetlagged and tired from dancing, but they push on nonetheless, because the fans are here to see them perform.

Kinam spares a second to glance over at Hyukjae, knowing that with the lack of breaks he’s probably going to need a rest soon. But the other refuses to meet his eyes. He tries to get over to Hyun, to ask him to pull Hyukjae aside and check on him, but the music’s starting again.

Three minutes later, he’s diving to catch Hyukjae before he hits the floor.

This time, he doesn’t wake up.

(hide spoiler)]