Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Drum major, is your band ready?”

The crowd goes silent. The band holds their breath and calm their racing hearts. All eyes on the person on the podium.

With precise movements, the drum major executes the trademark salute.

The crowd goes wild. The drum major turns towards the band. Their hearts beating louder than the crowds’ deafening cheers.

“With the salute of the drum major, you may begin your show!”

One.

Two.

One and,

Two and…

-----

Kijoong remembers the first time he watched a marching band performance. When he was a young boy (his father took him into the city, to see a marching band) he fell in love with everything about a marching band; the synchronised formations, the harmony of sounds, the movie-like music, the flashes of colours and the adrenaline of the crowd cheering on the band.

When he entered high school, he joined the school marching band and experienced all those himself. He remembers learning to play the horn and falling in love with the sound of it. His school never won any competitions, but he enjoyed his experience being in the band.

He enjoyed the experience so much that he decided to join a marching band when he entered college. He was luckily accepted into a college that had a marching band (not that he made this a priority when writing his college applications… of course not) and the first thing he did during orientations was applying to join the band. He was excited to start his college band experience, not knowing how different it is from a high school band.

After being in the band for a month, he realizes things are not always as grand and glamorous as he thought it would be.

“I’m not saying the formation is lousy, I’m just saying the trombones need to be in the center at this part because they’re the main melody.”

“And I’m saying I’ve thought about it, but they need to be on the right for the formation to be perfect! They can still be heard from there!”

Kijoong watches as Seyong and Euijin continue arguing about the formation. As the drum major, Seyong is in charge of creating their formation. However, Euijin as the conductor has the power to make any adjustments to it if he feels that the overall sound is not balanced.

The band is still waiting in formation ever since Euijin requested to talk to Seyong. The assumed short talk turned into an argument and no one is making any attempt at stopping it. Since they haven’t been dismissed by Seyong, the band are just fooling around while waiting in formation.

Kijoong looks around the field.

Over his left he can see the lower brass sections. Heedo plays one part of their music and in doing so, hits the back of Kanto’s head with his trombone. Kanto turns around to give a glare in which Heedo just shrugs in response. Kanto turns to the front just for Heedo to hit the back of his head again. Furious, Kanto turns back around.

“You want me to stuff you in this tuba? I’m sure you’re skinny enough to fit in it. If not, I’ll make you fit,” he threatens.

Heedo puts his hand up in defence. “Hey, it’s not my fault that my position here is an ideal spot for my trombone to hit the back of your head.”

Kijoong watches as they glare at each other. He thinks one of them can just move away from each other but now they seem to be laughing. Kanto playfully nudges Heedo and they both move back in position. Kijoong is not sure about the relationship between the two.

“Listen to me when I’m talking to you!”

“Ow!”

Kijoong peers further to the left where the cry came from. He sees Casper rubbing his shin while looking at Z-uk confusedly.

“Why did you kick me? Did you ask me a question or something?”

That seems to be the wrong thing to say. Z-uk’s face morphs into one of anger and he puts down his euphonium. Seeing Z-uk putting down his euphonium Casper quickly puts down his euphonium as well and starts to run. Z-uk starts chasing him around the field while yelling “I’ve had it with you and your attitude!” Kijoong is surprised by how fast Casper could run. He looks around to see if anyone else is watching the chase, but no one seems to even notice the spectacle that was happening.

The drumline, Kijoong notices, have something else going on. The snares and quads are standing in attention as usual, since they have the discipline master Junhee among them. The bass drums behind them, on the other hand, are tossing their sticks to each other.

Sungjun tries to throw his stick over Taeeun’s head to Hangyul but it flies further and Timoteo at the end of the line ends up catching it. Kijoong thought the section leader would tell them off but instead he signals Sungjun to throw his other stick over so Kijoong thought wrong. Sungjun throws the other stick but this time it ends up hitting Taeeun in the face.

Sungjun, Hangyul and Timoteo stifle their laughter and Taeeun let out a soft hiss from the pain. The trio quickly shush him and sneak glances at Junhee in case he notices what they were doing. From his position Kijoong saw that Junhee actually snickered when Taeeun got hit by the stick before going back to his poker face. He is surprised to see the usually strict discipline master finding humour in the smallest of things.

At the corner of the field, the colour guards are also doing various things. Kijoong could see Feeldog and Sunghak balancing their flags on their forehead. Rayoon is hyping them both up and acting as a commentator.

“Two-times champion Feeldog seems to be very stable and can be seen sporting a smirk, meanwhile newbie Sunghak, though doing well for a newbie is starting to look a bit shaky aaaand it has fallen! Feeldog wins again!”

Sunghak scoffs. “I think you have an advantage because you have a lower center of gravity. You know, cos you’re shorter.”

Suddenly Kijoong hears a shout from the other end of the field. He turns to look for the source of it but doesn’t see who it was coming from. It sounded like Casper. Slightly worried, he turns to the person beside him, his section leader Gunwoo.

“Did you hear that? Should we do something?” he asks.

Gunwoo sighs and closes his eyes. “Don’t worry, it’s probably just Casper. You’ll get used to all this mess after a while.”

Kijoong ponders on that and understands why Gunwoo has such a blank empty look in his eyes half the time.

“Fine! We’ll go with your formation then!”

Kijoong’s thoughts were disrupted by Seyong’s shout. The drum major proceeds to throw the drill book to the ground creating a loud sound which made the band go quiet. Euijin looks startled by the action. Time seems to stand still. Kijoong turns to look at the only person with a high enough authority that can do something about the situation; their president Onejunn.

Noticing his staring, Onejunn lets out a sigh. “Don’t look at me kid. I might be the president but they’re the drum major and conductor. They know what’s best for the band. They’ll figure something out. They always do.” Absent-mindedly, he pats his tuba like how one would pet a kitten.

As if on cue, Euijin goes back in formation with his trumpet and Seyong climbs the podium, calling the band to attention. “We’ll start back from the part after the drumline solo.”

Everyone snaps into attention and goes back to serious mode. Heedo takes a small step to the right where he’s supposed to be (where his trombone won’t hit Kanto, but don’t tell him that), Z-uk and Casper get back in line with the latter rubbing the back of his head which seems bruised, the bass drums have their own sticks in their hands and the colour guards are posed ready to move.

Seyong turns on the metronome and the band marches to the next formation.

 
-----

 “Jungha!”

“Yes!” “Yes!”

Seyong looks up from the drill book in surprise hearing two voices answering at the same time. Then he remembers that there are two Junghas in the band.

“Uhh, not the one Ungjae dotes on but uhh, Daewon’s Jungha.”

A chorus of ‘ooohh’s ring out across the field.

“Wuuu boyfriends~!” Rayoon sings.

“Since when was Jungha Daewon’s wow did I miss a memo,” says Timoteo with a hint of glee.

“Ungjae and Jungha I know, but Daewon and Jungha? I thought they were only bros,” Kanto muses.

Jungha (Daewon’s Jungha) puts down his tuba and lets out a sigh. “I am not Daewon’s, whatever that’s supposed to mean. We have been friends since high school. Ask Lee Geon, the three of us have been friends since our school days.”

“Well, now that the issue is up, we should figure out a way to differentiate the two Junghas. Anyone has any suggestions?” asks Seyong from his podium.

“We can call them Onejung and Twojung. Just like how we have a Onejunn and the Three Juns in drumline,” Suwoong cackles at his own joke.

“How many times do I have to say it is four Juns! Junhee, JunQ, Junyoung and Sungjun!” Sungjun blurts out. Everyone knew of the Three Juns in drumline, but they always forget him. And no, just because his name ends with Jun instead of begins with Jun doesn’t make him any less of a Jun, thank you very much Suwoong.

“The drumline also has two Kyus. Junkyu and Moonkyu,” JunQ mutters under his breath.

Junhee who heard him is confused. “Who’s Moonkyu?”

“Nevermind.”

“Do you really need to differentiate them? You’re only gonna call out people in the formation and Jungha’s in pit. Obviously you’ll only call out the other Jungha,” sighs Onejunn who just wants to get the issue over with.

“Well, Pit Jungha thought I was calling him earlier on, so yes, we do need to differentiate them,” Seyong counters.

The Jungha being mentioned is flustered over the mishap. “I’m sorry. It was a habit after being called out by Junhee a number of times when I was in drumline.”

“That’s okay kid don’t worry about it. So how about we call Hwang Jungha, Hwang?” Seyong’s face lights up as if he came up with the most brilliant idea ever.

“No, there’s a really prominent Hwang from the marching band next door so I can’t brain that,” objects Moonkyu Timoteo.

“Also, one of our instructors is called Hwang Chiyeol so Hwang’s a no-no for me,” Onejunn adds.

Seyong visibly deflates at the objections. “Okay, I’m out of ideas.”

“We can always call Lee Jungha something else, you know,” Feeldog pipes up.

“Cutie Jungha!” Ungjae immediately blurts out.

Lee Geon scoffs. “Then the other Jungha would be? Sexy Jungha?” he adds with a laugh.

“Brilliant! I love it. So Cutie Jungha and Sexy Jungha it is,” Seyong concludes. “Sexy Jungha, make sure you check the diagonal line at the next drill.”

(Sexy) Jungha just blinks. “…yes sir,” he mutters.

“Okay, we’ll have a five-minute break and then we’ll go through the whole thing. This is our first run through for the first song, so let’s be serious alright?” Seyong turns off the metronome and dismisses the band for the break.

Everyone walks off the field and sits down under the shade with their water bottles. Surprisingly, no one is talking and the atmosphere is quiet. Kijoong finds this odd for the whole month he’s been in the band the atmosphere has always been lively and everyone would always joke around with each other. It’s one of the reasons he likes the band so much.

Kijoong takes his water bottle and sits down next to Raehwan. He has taken a liking to the flutist as he was the one who helped him around when he first entered the band. Curious, he asks “Hyung, is it just me or is everyone a bit quiet right now?”

Raehwan finishes drinking and puts down his bottle. He smiles at Kijoong before putting his arm over the younger’s shoulders and pulling him close to his side. Kijoong’s mind is suddenly reminded of the time his uncle pulled him into the same position to tell him the history of his tomato farm. He feels stuffy and sweaty but he doesn’t want to offend the elder so he doesn’t say anything.

“Good observation kid (doesn’t help the uncle image Raehwan). Everyone is quiet because they are getting in the zone. Seyong mentioned that this is our first run through right? We have a belief that if the first run through goes well, then the following practice would go well too. After all, if the first time is already good, the next 50 times would only get better.”

Kijoong nods in understanding. He suddenly feels nervous as he realizes how important this first run through is. As if sensing the change in his mood, Raehwan pinches his cheeks and says “Don’t worry too much! Just do it as you’ve practiced and you’ll do fine.”

“Okay band let’s set!”

Kijoong doesn’t have any time to think too much as Seyong gives the order to get in formation. Everyone gets up and goes into formation. Kijoong stands in between Lee Geon and Gunwoo. The first formation is a huge circle where the colour guards form a smaller circle inside with the drumline in the middle of it. In the middle of the drumline and at the very center of the field is Feeldog, the main colour guard for the intro.

From Kijoong’s position he can see the colour guard posing elegantly with a calm look on his face. He admires how composed Feeldog is even when he has the pressure of being the main focus of everyone from the beginning.

Seyong climbs on the podium and stands noticeably straight. “Okay everyone, this is our first run through. Let’s do our best! Band in!”

He claps once.

“OUT!”

Seyong gets ready to conduct. Everyone focuses on him and holds their breath.

One.

Two.

One and,

Two and…  

Chapter Text

“I want the grape one.”

“I want the grape one too.”

There is only one left. Kanto and Suwoong both look at the last bottle of grape-flavoured glucose. The band always ordered more grape flavours than the orange one, but no one likes the orange one. It tastes like cough medicine.

Suwoong and Kanto both glare at each other. Neither one seems to back down. It looks like a battle would commence. JunQ who took the second last grape one quietly but quickly runs away from the scene, hiding his bottle. There were cases where it was three-way where two people would fight for the last two, and JunQ is not taking any chances. Especially seeing how Suwoong and Kanto are glaring at each other.

Out of all the band members, Suwoong and Kanto are the least expected members to be fighting over the grape glucose. Suwoong would always get one from his many admirers and Kanto is usually scary enough to win one. But Suwoong is stubborn and is used to getting what he wanted, so he is not backing down.

Jeup sitting nearby the cooler sees the icy exchange and gets in between the small flutist and the scary-looking tubist. Tubist? Tubaist? What an odd term… Jeup muses to himself. Well, a saxophonist is odd too, a voice that oddly sounds like Lee Geon counters in his head.

“Suwoong-ie! Here you can have mine, I haven’t opened it. I can take the orange one,” Jeup offers, holding out the bottle.

Suwoong looks at the offered bottle while pouting and slowly takes it. “Thank you Jeup-hyung…” he mumbles. He's happy that he has a grape glucose, but he is slightly upset that he didn’t manage to win one over Kanto. Jeup compares Suwoong’s face to that of a child who was given a chocolate smaller than the one he wanted.

Seeing as it was solved, Kanto takes the last grape glucose from the cooler and proceeds to drink it with a roll of his eyes. Jeup lets out a sigh of relief. A hand pats his shoulder. He is met with the proud face of his section leader Rockhyun.

“Good work Jeup.”

Despite the solved conflict, one person feels upset. Sungjun finishes his glucose and slams it on the floor.

“How come Suwoong gets away with it free? When I had to fight for the last grape glucose no one offered theirs," he complains. "I even had to wrestle Hojung for it! Everyone knew how that went down...”

-That one time during bandcamp-

It was a hot day. Practice was torture and everyone was just waiting for Seyong to give them a break. They were going through this one section of the drill where everyone changes formation and Seyong has been checking it over and over again.

Then the familiar honk of a TMON van sounded and everyone turned their eyes on the cooler being loaded down from the van. The cooler containing the chilled refreshing glucose in it. The regular delivery man, Kim ByungSu (known affectionately as KBS) props open the cooler and everyone gulped seeing the icy vapour coming out from it. KBS waved goodbye at Seyong, entered the TMON van and drove off.

Seyong could feel the band's distracted state and called for attention.

“I know everyone is dying to rest and drink up those cool glucose so here’s how we’re gonna do it. The sections that march this section perfectly will be let off to rest. The others would have to do it again until they get it right. Are we clear?”

A hand shot up.

“Yes Z-uk?”

“Can we be evaluated individually?" he enquired. "I don’t want to get dragged by Casper."

Casper laughed in disbelief. “What do you mean? I’ll do it perfectly in one try!”

Seyong sighed. He could understand Z-uk’s situation. Casper is by no means lazy, but he can be a bit... slow. “Fine, euphoniums are evaluated individually. Other sections are not exempted. Any objections?”

The field was quiet. Seyong takes that as a no and that everyone was too tired to care. Timoteo broke the silence with his cheerful "Nope~!" peeking from behind his bass drum.

Seyong clapped his hand twice. “Alright, then let’s do this.”

With newfound resolve, everyone put their game face on. Grape glucose was on the line, for their whole section too. All the section leaders threatened firmly reminded their sections to do well.

Raehwan gathered Suwoong and Marco and huddled together. "Okay there's only three of us so we better pass quickly," he looked at Marco. "Marco, no funny business okay? You're still grouped with flute even if you're playing the piccolo so don't make me pull a Z-uk and ask for individual evaluation."

Marco pulled the Marco eye smile™. "Don't worry about me hyung," he brought down his hand in front of his face and did the Marco-serious-face-change™ "I'm always serious about glucose."

Timoteo addressed the drumline. “Let’s do it perfectly alright. I won’t let us go until Jun gives his approval.”

The drumline loudly protested against it. Junhee was their snare center and discipline master for a reason. He was a beat maniac and is never fully satisfied with anything, be it the formation or the beat. Rumour has it he has a metronome for a heart, and many find it highly plausible.

Junhee just smirked and said, “Just get the beat right and stay in line then we’ll be fine.”

The drumline sighed and resigned themselves to their fate. Sunghak gave a sympathetic pat on Sungjun's shoulder as he passed them. “It’s alright. Some days you win, some days you lose. Enjoy your orange glucose,” he adds with a wink.

The beat started. The band marched. Seyong observed the whole formation. “Make sure everyone turns on the third beat. Make it sharp. Again.”

Everyone moved back to the starting position. The beat started again. The band marched again. “Alright, tuba can go. The rest, again.”

Onejunn, Kanto and Jungha cheered. Kanto mocked a salute to Heedo when he passed him by on his way to grab the grape glucose. Heedo made a face at him.

The band repeated the formation again...

“Flute, you’re good to go.” Marco cheered the loudest.

And again… “Trombone, okay.” Heedo looked smug and made sure to look at Kanto.

And again… “Horn, you guys pass.” Kijoong whooped in delight.

And again... “Casper! It’s on three not after three. Again!”

This went on until there were only a few sections left. The drumline, saxophone and Casper. The number of grape glucose was decreasing.

“Come on Jun let us go already!” complained Sungjun.

Junhee was unrelenting. “Taeeun was not on beat during the last part.”

“Oh my god-“

Sungjun was interrupted by Seyong announcing that there was only four grape glucose left. It was down to the drumline and saxophone (and Casper, but no one expected him to pass anyway).

The beat started again. The drumline, saxophone and Casper marched. When they finished, everyone held their breaths. "Casper now you're turning too early. Sangil, you were slightly late."

Jeup wailed knowing that they might lose the grape glucose. The drumline held their breath seeing as they had a chance to pass. Seyong looked at Junhee. “Junhee, it's your call.”

“…okay.”

“YES!”

“FINALLY!”

The drumline put down their instrument and sprinted to the cooler. A few purple colours were sparkling between the orange. The three Juns were super fast and each snatched one. Hangyul and Taeeun were too tired to run and gave up. Timoteo didn’t even try. Sungjun and Hojung were still running.

One last grape glucose.

Two hands grabbed it at the same time.

Sungjun and Hojung looked at each other.

Sungjun made his most threatening face. “Let it go Hojung this is mine.”

Hojung didn’t back down and instead gripped the bottle even harder. “I believe we grabbed it at the same time. This is mine as much as it is yours.”

“Hojung-ah I’m older.”

“Then you’ve had more grape glucose in life, hyung.” Hojung smirked. Sungjun felt a vein pop. ‘This brat…’

Still holding the bottle, Sungjun cleared his throat. “Fine. Let’s settle this fairly. Let’s have an arm-wrestling match. Whoever wins get the glucose. Are you up for it?” Sungjun proposed and flexed his arm to taunt the younger.

Hojung flexed his own arm. “Challenge accepted. May the best muscles win.”

Lee Geon overheard the scuffle and came over. “Do my ears deceive me or is there a challenge? What are we betting on?”

Sungjun flexed his arm. “A clean-cut arm wrestling.”

“Alright, the bets are on!” Lee Geon went around and informed the members about it and took their bets.

“Hojung’s getting this one.” Timoteo confidently said while sipping a grape glucose he somehow miraculously had. Everyone suspected he had a really good friend saving him a bottle all the time but they're not sure who. (Kijoong is quite sure it's a certain big-eyed colourguard but that is a story for another time.)

“Nah, I’ll bet on Sungjun,” said Onejunn.

“I’m betting on Sungjun too,” Rayoon agreed. “I saw his posts on Instagram when he went to the gym and he’s buff.”

Chan scoffed. “Do you not know that Hojung joined the Musclemania competition and won?” he asked. Junhee sitting beside him was already scrolling through his phone to look for the picture. Finding the picture, he showed it to Rayoon.

Rayoon’s eyes widened. That's some... really solid abs. And quite a small speedo. “Okay I take it back I’m betting on Hojung.”

Hojung and Sungjun grabbed each other’s hands. A small crowd gathered around them, Lee Geon in the middle refereeing the match.

Kijoong was amazed at the excitement of everyone. “Is it really a big deal to get the grape glucose? It’s just a drink.” he wondered.

Junyoung laughed. “It’s more than just a drink Kijoong. If you give a grape glucose to someone, that’s basically like saying “I love you”. Here, let me show you. Casper!” Jun called the man who finally passed.

“What’s up man?”

Junyoung handed him his grape glucose. “My stomach doesn’t feel too good. Here, you can have it.”

Casper brightened up and took the bottle. “I love you too man!”

Junyoung turned to Kijoong. “See?”

A huge cheer erupted from the crowd. Some were cheering in joy while some looked defeated. Money was passed around.

“And we have our winner!”

 ---

“I never knew Hojung was such a strong person. I guess grape glucose gives you strength you never knew you had," Onejunn sighs recalling the bet. "Made me lose 2000won too.” 

Timoteo laughs. “Don’t be fooled by his baby face. He’s really competitive too.”

Raehwan then walks by, an unopened bottle of grape glucose in his hand. “Where’s Suwoong? Didn’t he say he wanted this?” he asks, lifting the root of all the conflicts. Sungjun huffs indignantly. “He already got one!”

Seeing the opportunity, Gunmin quickly interrupts, “I want a grape glucose Raehwan-hyung!”

Raehwan looks at Gunmin’s bright smile and hopeful face and then at the bottle in his hand. The delicious, cool, dripping with condensation grape paradise. Way more delicious than its orange abomination counterpart.

“Umm, you know what, I haven’t had a grape one for a while so yeah I think I’ll take this.” Raehwan then proceeds to run walk away quickly.

To say that Gunmin was hurt is an understatement. He feels betrayed by one of his beloved hyungs. He knows Raehwan is popular, but to think that Raehwan played favourites with his dongsaengs… let’s just say Gunmin is gonna sulk for a few days.

Rockhyun pats his back and consoled him. “It’s okay Gunmin, one day you’ll find your grape glucose hero.”

Gunmin pouts and hugs Rockhyun. “Hmph. From now on you’re my favourite hyung.” Rockhyun just laughs and hugs him back.

“Ahem.”

Gunmin and Rockhyun separates and see Heedo. He's holding two grape glucose in his hand. He hands one to Gunmin. “Here.”

Gunmin’s face lights up. “I knew I could count on you best friend!” and hugs Heedo. Heedo just smiles in response.

What Gunmin didn’t know is that the extra bottle was meant for Kanto.

---

Heedo and Giseok went to the cooler to take the glucose. Giseok took an orange one and Heedo took two grape ones.

“You’re planning to give that to someone?” Giseok asked.

“Yeah. That lotus face.”

Giseok laughed. “What is it with you and Kanto…”

 ---

Giseok shakes his head in disappointment seeing that Heedo failed to give the glucose to Kanto. “Oh well, good thing I actually enjoy the orange one.”

Hangyul and Kijoong sitting on each side of him turn their heads in surprise. “You really like the orange one?” a wide-eyed Kijoong asks.

“Yeah, it’s not bad. Of course, the grape one is nice too but the orange one has a unique flavour to it.”

Hangyul scoffs. “If by unique you mean a vomit aftertaste, then yes, it’s quite unique.”

Giseok is oddly offended. “Hey don’t diss the glucose. You brats better be thankful that I don’t fight over the grape one.”

Kijoong grins. “Thanks for having a weird taste hyung.”

“Who has a weird taste?” Daewon comes over and sits beside Kijoong. In his hand is a bottle of orange glucose.

“Hyung, you like the orange one too right?” asks an eager Giseok.

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice and tangy.” As if proving his point, he takes a sip of the drink.

Hangyul and Kijoong both hug Daewon.

“You are a rare specimen hyung.” “Bless the orange lover.”

Giseok throws his hand up in the air. “I can’t believe the disrespect.”

And the band continue their endless days of practices, fighting over grape glucose and exchanging 'I love you's in between.

Chapter Text

"One more time!"

Junhee sighs and feels whatever little energy leave his body. Seyong decided to check a particular section of the drill today and as it is, the drumlines didn't need to move. On any other days, it would be a blessing but Junhee was barely hanging on to his consciousness.

He had a rough week as it was hell week for his course. He had two reports to send and a presentation on 'the importance of having a sense of humor' all in a week. He had sleepless nights and was only running on caffeine and energy drinks. He would absolutely love to sleep the whole weekend off but as fate would have it, he had band practice. And he couldn't miss it because he had a reputation as a discipline master to uphold.

So here he was, barely awake, drumming the same section over and over again as Seyong checked the colour guard.

"...-hyung. Jun-hyung!"

Junhee woke up from his sleepy state. Taeeun was calling him but he didn't realize it as he was not awake.

"Were you sleeping? Seriously?" asked JunQ.

"He was sleeping and still slayed the diddle. I aspire to be this amazing," said Sungjun with an amused face.

"Sorry," Junhee looked guiltily at Timoteo. The section leader merely gave an understanding smile and nodded. Junhee slapped his face in an attempt to stay awake. Good thing it seems like Seyong was about to give them a break. Seyong puts down his drill.

"One more time!"

Maybe not.

-------

One more time turned into five more times before Seyong gave them a break.

Junhee put down his snare under the shade with the rest of the drumline. Practice today was comparatively lenient. The rest of the drumline were already walking to the resting area.

Junhee trudged to the area. He briefly register seeing the colour guards practicing around the field. While walking, his thoughts wonder around thinking about what he should have for his dinner.

'Should I order chicken? The delivery might take a while though. Maybe Donghun has some cup ramen...'

"LOOK OUT!"

Junhee is jolted out of his thoughts and feels a huge pain on his head. He registers seeing a cute face filled with fear before blacking out.

-------

"...do you think he'll kill me?"

"Probably. You might consider moving out. He might send some people out to hunt you."

"Nah don't listen to him. I mean, would this cute face do anything hurtful."

Junhee hears some voices talking and slowly opens his eyes, getting hit by the bright lights. He blinks a few times to adjust his sight.

"Oh I think he's coming to."

He sees Daewon and the cute face he saw before blacking out. With the lights shining behind them, they looked like angels. Still slightly dazed, Junhee blurted out what came to his mind.

"Is.. is this Heaven?"

As if breaking the heavenly atmosphere, Sungjun's face comes into view. The lights seem to fade out as well.

"Is this heaven? Did Park Junhee seriously asked that?"

Junhee looks at Sungjun's face and sighs. "Must not be Heaven since you're here."

"Are you feeling alright Junhee?" Daewon asks.

Junhee could feel a throbbing at his temple. "My head hurts. What happened?"

The cutie's face changes to one of guilt. Junhee recalls that he's one of Chan's friend, Hayoon or something.

"I'm really sorry. I was tossing the flag and missed it and you walked into the trajectory of it and it hit your head. I'm really really sorry I should've paid more attention to my surroundings," he rambles guiltily.

On any other occasion, Junhee would probably get angry at the incompetence but today he is just tired. So he just softly sighs and tells the cutie "it's okay."

Sungjun makes a surprised noise. "You're not angry? Park Junhee, the strict discipline master is not mad?"

"I'm tired Sungjun. But, I am starting to get a bit annoyed with you."

Sungjun stands up. "And that is my queue to leave. See you on the field Daewon."

Hearing the world field Junhee starts to sit up. His head still throbs but he needs to get up. Daewon put a hand on his shoulder and gently but firmly pushed him back to lie down.

"I need to get back to practice, I'm fine," Junhee protests.

Daewon stays firm. "Your head was hit quite badly and I know for a fact that you didn't get enough sleep this week. So no, you are resting here until practice ends."

Junhee knows how stubborn Daewon can be for the sake of the band members' health so he gives up. "Okay. But you guys should go back to practice."

"Are you gonna be okay?" Hayoon asks.

Daewon stands up. "He'll be okay, but you should stay here Rayoon, in case anything happens."

Junhee and Rayoon both protest at that.

"I'll be fine-"

"Feeldog would get angry-"

"I said, Rayoon you stay here. Feeldog would understand. Bye Junhee, don't strain yourself," Daewon goes out of the infirmary and gives a cheeky wink to Rayoon.

Silence washed over them.

"Again, I'm really sorry for this," Rayoon starts.

Junhee shifts a bit to get into a more comfortable position. "I told you it's okay. It was my fault for not paying attention anyway."

"Also, I'm sorry you have to play babysitter for me. God knows I can take care of myself."

Rayoon (not Hayoon) laughs a bit. Junhee thinks he looks much cuter smiling than worrying. "It's okay, I guess this is Daewon's form of revenge to me."

Before Junhee could ask him about it he gestures towards Junhee. "Do you want anything? Water? More pillows?"

Now that Junhee thinks about it he notices how fluffy the pillow was. He feels sleepy again. He shakes his head at Rayoon.

"Nah, I'm just gonna sleep for a while. Sorry I can't keep you company for long." Not knowing how tired he was, Junhee dozes off as he finished talking.

Rayoon watches the injured man fluttering his eyes before it closes completely. He looks really peaceful sleeping.

Realizing that he was alone watching his crush asleep, Rayoon feels his face heating up.

You see, Junhee was a very attractive man. Sharp facial structures with a catlike smile, a lot of people had a crush on him. What stopped most people, Rayoon included, was his cold demeanor. He is, first and fore most, the band's discipline master. Being a discipline master, he was very strict and his sharp glare scares everyone. Rayoon remembers seeing Seyong making a panicked face when he was late. If even Seyong is slightly afraid of Junhee, you can imagine how everyone else feels.

Despite this, a lot of people still had a crush on Junhee. 'There's something about him that gives off a princely aura' an anonymous admirer of Junhee confesses.

For Rayoon, he admires the way Junhee is dedicated to the band. He might have watched Junhee practice the snare too many times to be considered healthy.

In fact, it might also be reason Rayoon missed his flag. He was practicing the routine when he saw Junhee trudging along and then he ran his hand through his hair and Rayoon might have exerted a bit too much force on the toss which resulted in him missing it and here we are. Thankfully none of the other colour guard caught him about it.

Except maybe Daewon. That cheeky wink means he knew. Rayoon contemplates if he was being too obvious but he didn't think so. Daewon was just too observant.

Rayoon watches the slow rise and fall of Junhee's chest while he sleeps blissfully. Realizing he's staring a bit too long which was creepy, Rayoon looks around to think of what to do. There's nothing much at the sick bay, just a lot of medicine supplies and bandages.

Rayoon stares back at Junhee. Not knowing what to do, he rests his head on his hands and props his elbows on the bed. He can faintly make out the sound of the band from the field. He closes his eyes and pictures himself doing the routine in time with the music.

Seems like Seyong is still stuck on that one section. The same section keeps on repeating and without realizing it, Rayoon falls asleep, dreaming of his routine and a familiar cat-like grin watching him from the stands.

-------

Junhee wakes up a few hours afterwards. He wakes up to the sound of silence. The band has stopped practicing by the sound of it (or lack of).

He slowly pushed himself on his elbows before noticing a head of blonde hair by his side on the bed. Only then did he remember Rayoon was left to take care of him.

Said blonde was sleeping on his arms crossed under his head on the bed. Junhee observes how he had his mouth slightly open and a trail of drool was dribbling out onto the sheets. Despite this, Junhee finds that the colour guard looked like a soft baby.

Realizing this the stoic snare center feels heat rush to his face. 'Stop it Junhee you barely know the guy except for the fact that he's friends with Yuchan. Yeah he's sorta cute sleeping right now and his hair looks really soft I wonder if I could run my hands through- wait STOP IT JUNHEE'

Getting lost in his thoughts Junhee slapped both hands to his face. He slapped himself so hard that it made a really loud smack. Peeking through his fingers he sees Rayoon stirring awake. He buries his face further into his hands.

Rayoon wakes up and see Junhee hiding his face in his hands. Worried that Junhee was hurt he started. "You're awake oh my god I fell asleep I'm so sorry are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Do you feel like throwing up?"

Flustered over Rayoon worrying over him Junhee waves one hand dismissively while the other still covers his face. "I'm fine it's nothing really. I was just trying to freshen myself up," he says and proceeds to lightly tap his face with his palms.

Rayoon doesn't look convinced but he doesn't say anything. A few beats of silence passed.

Junhee decides to break the silence. "Looks like practice is over."

Rayoon looks at the clock hanging on the wall. It was 6:45. "I think they're wrapping up. Want to go join?"

Junhee contemplates the option. He could join but there was a high chance Sungjun and the drumline would tease him, especially appearing with Rayoon. Besides, its not like he needed to go back to the field anyway. Someone would bring his snare to the band room and there was nothing he needed to announce to the band as the discipline master.

He shakes his head. "Nah, I'm just gonna head back to the dorms." He sighs thinking of his still undecided dinner.

Rayoon sees the brunette's resignation and is hit with guilt once again. "I'm really sorry again for this. Is there any way I can redeem myself? 100 pushups? Five laps around the field?"

Junhee laughs at the blonde's anxiousness. Junhee could just give him some penalty but that would be an abuse of his power as the discipline master.

"I told you, it's okay. It was partly my fault as well."

Rayoon still had that guilty look in his eyes. Junhee's stomach rumbled. An idea came across Junhee's mind.

Without thinking twice he blurts out "...but if you do want to make it up to me, you can buy me dinner...?"

Junhee sees the tip of Rayoon's ears turning red and his eyes become wide. Realizing the implication of what he just said, he feels heat travel to his face.

"I didn't mean to- what I meant was have dinner with me- wait no. Argh never mind just forget I said anything okay," Junhee hides his face with his hand.

"No no no, it's okay I get it. I'd love to have dinner with you. You know, as compensation. It's the least I could do."

Junhee notices his ears were still red and his voice got softer towards the end. Still, he won't say no to free dinner (with a cute guy to boot).

"Okay. I'm heading back to the Alpha dorm. You?"

"That's great! I'm staying at Gamma so our blocks are side to side. Is The Rain café okay for you?"

"Sure, it's up to you anyway since you're paying," Junhee snickers.

"True. I'll pick you up at 8?"

"It's a date."