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"Try taking a breath between lines" Jihoon suggested as Seungcheol attempted to rap the same line for the 5th time in a row.
"I did," Seungcheol snapped in reply. The younger flinched slightly at the sound. In all the years the pair had known each other, Seungcheol had only raised his voice a handful of times, and never at him.
Jihoon looked at Seungcheol with a worried look. "Hyung?" he croaked.
Kye Bumzu, Seventeen's vocal trainer, noticed the sudden tension forming in the room, and stood from his seat. "Why don't we take a little break," he said as he walked out of the room, leaving the two to deal with their problems on their own.
A sigh could be heard coming from the sound booth. As Jihoon glanced over, he saw Seungcheol removing his headphones, and placing them over the mic stand. Looking closer, he noticed his hyung had a darker expression then usual. His eyes had deep bags, and his face was devoid of his usual light and charisma.
"Hyung?" Jihoon repeated, "Are you alright?"
Seungcheol mustered up a quick laugh, but it was strained at best, "I'm fine, Jihoonie."
Jihoon swallowed and nodded his head. Seungcheol definitely did not sound fine, but if the elder didn't want to tell him than he wasn't going to pry. To Seungcheol, Jihoon is and will always be his dongsaeng, which means he will always have that brave front on him no matter what. So instead, Jihoon just sat quietly as he watched his hyung lower himself to the floor in the sound booth, out of sight from the little window separating them. Jihoon sighed before forcing himself to look away.
Everything seemed fine for the moment until Jihoon heard a few choked sobs coming from inside the booth. He quickly sprang to his feet, and ran to the booth as fast as his little legs could carry him. As he yanked open the door, he felt his heart break in two, as he revealed a curled up Seungcheol lying on the floor with tears streaming down his face. The elder looked up to see Jihoon rushing inside, kneeling directly beside the overturned boy.
Jihoon frantically searched his hyungs body for any sign of an injury, not knowing what else could be wrong. Seungcheol doesn't cry much; sure there was that time when they had that bonfire, or when they got their rings back, but other than that Jihoon can only remember a handful of times when the older was actually crying. When he couldn't find anything wrong with the older, he re-positioned him so his head was over Jihoon's knees as he gently massaged his shoulders. Seungcheol stiffened under the youngers touch at first, but relaxed moments later. All was quiet in the little booth as Jihoon massaged his hyung's shoulders.
"What's wrong, hyung?" the younger asked softly.
Seungcheol sighed. "It's nothing, Hoonie. Don't worry about it."
The younger gave him a pointed glare. "This is not nothing hyung. If something's bothering you than I want to know. We're in this together."
Seungcheol laughed as he stared up at his dongsaeng. "You look like you're about to start crying."
Jihoon punched the older in the arm. "Yah! You were the one crying so shut up."
Jihoon pushed the older off of his lap and crossed his arms as he puffed out his cheeks angrily. The elder laughed at Jihoon's childishness as he sat up.
Seungcheol couldn't help but stare at the boy in front of him. He had been in love with Jihoon for so long that he doesn't even remember when it started. Perhaps he had always had these feelings he was just too young to notice it when they were first trainees? Or maybe it started recently. Whatever the case, he knew for sure that he was in love. But the younger probably didn't feel the same way.
"Thanks, Jihoon," he said as he pulled the younger into a hug. He knew Jihoon wasn't a fan of skinship so it was a pleasant surprise when he felt two thin arms wrap around his back.
"Will tell you what made you so upset now?" the younger asked cautiously.
Seungcheol sighed. How in the world could he say "no" to something as precious as Jihoon? "This walking piece of bubble gum is going to be the death of me" he muttered under his breath. He took a deep breath, and Jihoon watched as the leader's expression turned into that of a victim in a horror movie. "I'm scared," he said bluntly. "I'm scared to fail, that WE will fail." Jihoon nodded, he too had felt the same pressures being the teams composer, but he could only imagine the burden that must fall upon the leader. "I'm scared that I'll wake up one day and this will all be gone." Jihoon watched as a single tear fell from Seungcheol's eyes, and absentmindedly wiped it from his cheek. Upon realizing what he was doing, the younger pulled away slowly, only to be caught by Seungcheol's own hand. Seungcheol held the boys hand up to his cheek and leaned into it, "And I'm scared you will be gone," he whispered.
Jihoon smiled. Despite all of the warning signs and bells ringing in his head, he leaned in close and planted a chaste kiss on Seungcheol's lips before resting their foreheads together, "I'm not going anywhere."