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An alarm rings in his room, one that Sangyeon very much knows isn’t his own.
“Might as well wake up with me,” Jacob says as he turns the lights on in their room. Jacob, who even amidst his terrible bed head, looks effortlessly charming with his customary soft smile. He’s pushed the curtains open, revealing the rising sun. With a quick yawn and a very irritated (well as much as he can muster) expression, he complies to the younger’s request.
They take advantage of the two open restrooms. Once he steps out, finishing his morning routine, Sangyeon’s hands are filled with a large cup of coffee. “This feels very counterproductive.” The younger waves him off.
“We’re out of RedBull. And this,” he gestures at the older’s very fatigued state, “ is why we don’t talk to ourselves alone in the living room,” he chides, brushing past to wake the rest of the members. “Change and wake Sunwoo up.”
Sangyeon flushes red at the realization that he’d been seen last night, but does as he’s told. The evening was weirdly sentimental so he’d laid down in the dark empty living room, save Sunwoo who’s graciously a deep sleeper, and verbally realized what today was; his, no their, debut. After years of training, switching companies, and preparation, the day had finally come.
After chugging the disgusting liquid, he returns to his room and pulls on a plain sweatshirt and joggers. As he slides his long coat over the back of the sofa, he looks around the living room. Haknyeon and Hyunjae sit next to each other, half asleep, and fortunately dressed to leave.
Honestly, there’s no way he could do all of it alone.
The leader rushes down the hall and forces the door open. The moment he turns the lights on, Juyeon stirs a little before sitting up and Younghoon throws the blanket over his head. However, expectantly, Sunwoo doesn’t move. Juyeon shuffles down the ladder, gives Sangyeon a small wave, and brushes by him. The leader pulls the blanket away, to Younghoon’s disdain, but it effectively wakes him up.
Through the walls, he can hear Jacob switching between screaming Kevin’s name and the lyrics to baby shark. He’s pretty sure everyone is up at that volume. In the time they’d train together at the company, Jacob had become the easiest to lean on, not just because he was so emotionally consistent or the one closest to his age, but just that they simply worked well together.
He patters back to the living room, where even amongst all the commotion, Sunwoo is asleep. The leader shakes the younger’s figure numerous times and what he thinks is a very aggressive manner. Then he results to playing their debut song as loud as possible, mentally apologizing to their neighbors. The semiconscious members in the room groan upon hearing it. A pillow on the couch ends up landing on Sunwoo’s head. Only then does the rapper barely open his eyes.
“Debut day,” Sangyeon declares. The younger blinks a few times as if the words are barely registering, and if he’s being completely honest, he can barely believe it himself. “You can’t be late.” He pulls the younger’s arms up, forcing him in a sitting position. The moment his arms stretch out, Sangyeon knows that he’s awake enough to handle himself.
When he turns around, the living room is saturated with more people. Eric and Chanhee have, gratefully, joined the small pile of boys on the couch. In the kitchen, Hyunjoon, well dressed, as per usual, drinks his morning tea. Unfortunately, his roommates are absent. He sees Changmin pad slowly out of their room. With the now open door, Kevin’s name and the screams of a surprisingly in key children’s song are heard more loudly.
“Morning,” the dancer mumbles.
Sangyeon checks his phone; the managers will be here in less than 15 minutes. Jacob, ever the responsible person he is, steals the words out of his mouth. His voice rings a simple message; that everyone needs to hurry up. Kevin is being pushed towards the nearest restroom.
“Sunwoo’s awake, but barely,” Sangyeon says. The two eldest members stare at the boy owlishly blinking under his covers.
“He’ll be fine,” Jacob assures. The leader knows he’s right, but his stomach flutters nervously at the possibility of something wrong.
“Please don’t kill your throat,” he says, “The last thing we need is your voice to be shot.”
“Yes, me and my three lines thank you for your concern,” Jacob laughs, “If anything we should be worried about you, hotshot.” His hands smoothen out what Sangyeon is pretty sure are nonexistent wrinkles on his sweatshirt. The leader holds onto the other’s hands, stopping the useless movements.
“Yet, they’re still angelic,” he states. To Jacob’s credit, he doesn’t immediately cringe at the line, but he does try to slap him over the head. Sangyeon means the compliment. While yes it could pertain solely to the man’s voice, but he can’t help but think how angelic so universally describes Bae Joonyoung. He’s never seen him angry, and he swears he’s the most selfless person he’s ever met. Visually, he’s undoubtedly and simply beautiful. His features are so soft but strong, so much like him. And those eyes. He loves the way the corners crease whenever he smiles. Unfortunately, that isn’t his current expression. Instead, the younger stares at him inquisitively.
He escapes Sangyeon’s grasp to squeeze his cheeks and shake his head playfully side to side. “You doing okay up there, Leader?”
Sangyeon brings Jacob’s hand to his lips, kissing it briefly. “All good,” he reassures. The amusement in the younger’s eyes, however, wavers, replaced with blatant confusion tinged with embarrassment.
He’s slightly relieved when the front door opens, breaking the moment. In the foyer, their manager waves them downstairs insistently, and a quick headcount tells him that everyone’s there, to his relief. As the miniature army of twelve boys slowly files out of the dorm, the leader watches Jacob, chattering excitedly about performing onstage, wrap his arms around Changmin and Eric, who seem to also still be as groggy at the rest, but become slightly brighter with the other's presence.
And Sangyeon can’t help but smile fondly.