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Woohyun tried to put this moment off as much as possible…
…but it came to the point when he and his bandmates could stand it no longer.He smelled, and he was actually greasy. His whole body felt like it was coated in grit that needed to be urgently scraped away. And so he turned on the tap of the shower and stepped inside.
The warm water felt good against his skin. He could practically feel the grim slip away from his body. But he could also feel something else fall away. He looked down and saw dark blue streams cascade down from his head, flowing along the curves of his body, and swirl around the showers drain. A pout formed on his face. His blue hair was quickly fading and with it, the new attention he had received from the fans.
He could remember it clearly as if it were yesterday, the rumors circulating when he went to the airport with a beanie on and hood drawn, the pleasantly surprised looks on the fans faces as he stepped out on stage and revealed his blue hair for the first time, the fan taken photos and accounts praising his new look, and the swarm of blue-haired fan art that his “girlfriends” made for his birthday. Now all of that would threatened to be nothing more than a memory preserved in those pictures and doodles as his hair faded more and more from the vibrant blue to a grey navy.
Now clean, he turned off the shower and stepped outside, wrapping a towel around his waist and using another to dab his hair dry. Woohyun sighed at the blue residue being left behind on the towel.
"What? Sad that you’re turning from a blueberry into a blackberry again?" Sungyeol teased as he brushed passed the elder (it was his turn for the shower).
"Yea," Woohyun muttered, dabbing his face with the towel and seeing more blue coming off.
"What’s wrong with black?" Myungsoo shouted from the living room.
"Nothing," Woohyun yelled back as he headed into his bedroom. And that’s what his problem was. There was nothing special about black, nothing at all.
As he was putting on a shirt and some sweatpants, he heard their front door opened, and before Sungjong opened his mouth, Woohyun already knew exactly who it was. Lately he had been coming in around this time every night.
"Hyung! Here again?" the maknae lamented because he knew that the leader’s appearance also corresponded with him relinquishing control over the t.v. remote.
"It’s not my fault that your apartment is the one with the t.v.," Woohyun could hear Sunggyu snap back. The main vocal quickly tugged on his shirt so that he could join the others in the living room.
"Actually it is," Sungjong argued back. "If you didn’t spend so much money on clothes, you could probably buy a decent t.v."
Woohyun walked in and saw Sunggyu sitting on the couch with Myungsoo (and leaving the maknae to sit on the floor). Even though the leader had a black hoodie drawn over his head, the silhouette was unmistakable.
"Yea but then I wouldn’t have an excuse to come over," Sunggyu retorted. He turned to face the visual next to him. "You like me coming over, right?"
And of course, Myungsoo smiled and readily agreed to whatever the leader had said. Sungjong scoffed and let the matter drop. The leader obviously played favorites, and Myungsoo was one of them. ONE of them. The other was standing behind them, hovering in the doorway. And Sunggyu turned around having sensed him. “Oh, Woohyunnie,” he said smiling. “Come join us.”
Woohyun walked into the room and sat next to Sungjong on the floor, but instead of facing the t.v., he was facing the leader. “Are you still preparing for your solo?” Woohyun asked his friend. Sunggyu chewed on his lips thoughtfully and nodded. And by that alone, Woohyun knew that the leader had a difficult day. “How did it go?”
"Well, I didn’t get to be in the studio for as long as I wanted today because I was in the salon for longer than I had anticipated," Sunggyu remarked, patted the top of his hooded head as he spoke. Woohyun’s eyes widened.
"Hyung, you got your hair done?" Myungsoo asked. "Let us see!"
"Okay, but don’t make fun of me," he threatened, narrowing his eyes on everyone until they nodded in assent. Heaving a heavy sigh, his fingers gripped the edges of his hood and he pulled it away.
"H-hyung?!"
Sunggyu laughed nervously as he ran his fingers through his recently clipped and vibrant red hair. ”I know. It’s red again. Samchon said that it should be my signature for my solos.”
"It looks good," Myungsoo tried to cheer the other up.
Sunggyu gave the younger a small smile and returned his attention to Woohyun. “What do you think?” the leader proposed it like an open question but his eyes were trained on the man sitting in front of him.
"Hold on," Woohyun begged as he got up and darted into the kitchen. Sunggyu looked at the other two who just shrugged in ignorance. But the three soon got their answer when something light was placed on the top of Sunggyu’s crimson hair. Woohyun walked around his hung until he was directly in front of him, smiling proudly. The other two were laughing. Woohyun then took Sunggyu’s cheeks in his hands and cooed "My little strawberry is back!"
Sunggyu grimaced and slapped Woohyun’s hands immediately off of his face. He then reached for the top of his head to remove whatever was there. Looking at it now, it was a leaf of dark green lettuce. Sunggyu glared at the main vocal who was now chuckling evilly. “I thought I told you not to make fun of me,” he growled. And to think that he had done it partially to cheer up his friend, who had been recently been wandering around the apartment like a sad ghost. Well, it did cheer Woohyun up, but at Sunggyu’s expense.
Woohyun stopped laughing and shook his head with a serious expression painting his face. “No, hyung. Strawberries are nice. I like them a lot!” He then gripped on the couch’s armrest and leaned forward, whispering, “And strawberries can be sexy too, especially when they’re coated in chocolate.” And at that Sunggyu swallowed hard.
"Blech! Do you even hear yourself?" Sungyeol retched, standing in the hallway, clothed in a towel. "Other people live here you know. And you!" he pointed to his leader. "You don’t even live here. Stop using our t.v. and get your own!" Then he stopped into his bedroom to put clothes on.
Woohyun turned towards the others, blinking in honest confusion. “What did I say?”
The maknaes shrugged, this time feigning their ignorance (it was better for them just to stay out of it).”You’re such an idiot,” Sunggyu retorted with a laugh as he munched on the lettuce leaf.
"I still don’t get it…"