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Putting on a light brown puppy ear headband that a fan had given him, Sungchan walked to the center of the stage. Adjusting the headband, Sungchan struck a pose, flexing his muscles as the fans screamed, losing their minds. Enjoying the shouts of fans, Sungchan didn’t notice Eunseok and Anton approaching him from behind. Sungchan jerked away, knocking his headband off as Eunseok and Anton wrapped their arms around him, manhandling him back toward the table. Laughing, Sungchan let them manhandle him back to the other, none of them paying attention to the crowd.
Thunk! Sungchan stumbled, looking around confused, as something collided with his ankle. Looking down, Sungchan noticed a water bottle rolling away. Shrugging, Sungchan sat back down at the table, letting Sohee put a new pair of puppy ears on him.
Walking off the stage, Sungchan yawned; the fan meet had been fun, but now he was just exhausted. “Chanie, you should keep the puppy ears. They are cute,” Shotaro said, reaching to teasingly tug on the puppy ears on Sungchan's head.
“Mhm,” Sungchan hummed, nodding his head and accidentally knocking Shotaro’s hand away.
“Do you guys want to go out to dinner? I am really craving some tonkatsu,” Wonbin asked, leaning against Anton.
“That sounds good,” Sohee happily agreed.
“Yeah, let’s do it,” Shotaro agreed.
“You guys go ahead. I’m going to go to the dorm and sleep,” Sungchan said, waving the others off.
“Are you sure?” Eunseok asked, side-eying Sungchan.
“Yeah, I’m exhausted,” Sungchan dismissed, picking up his pace.
“Hyung, are you sure you don’t want to have dinner with us? We can order and eat the dorm if you want,” Wonbin asked, climbing out of the van.
“Yeah, I just go to sleep. You guys go out and have fun,” Sungchan insisted, heading for the dorm building.
“Alright, let us know if you change your mind or want us to get you anything,” Shotaro said.
“I will,” Sungchan responded, heading into the dorm alone.
Sungchan made his way up the elevator and into RIIZE’s dorm. Kicking off his shoes, Sungchan made his way to his room, closing the door behind him. Deciding not to shower, Sungchan quickly changed into pajamas and flopped on his bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
Sitting up in bed, Sungchan yawned, stretching out his shoulders. Pushing off his comforter, Sungchan climbed out of bed and shuffled his way out of his room. “Hey, hyung,” Sohee greeted.
Sungchan grunted in response, continuing his journey to the bathroom for a shower. Perplexed by Sungchan’s lack of reaction, Sohee turned to Shotaro and Wonbin with a questioning look and asked, “Hyungs, what was that?”
“I don’t know. Chanie has been acting weird since last night,” Shotaro commented, staring at the now shut bathroom door.
“Do you think something happened at the fansign to make him uncomfortable?” Sohee asked.
“I saw a fan throw a water bottle on stage. Maybe that made him uncomfortable,” Wonbin said, worrying his lip between his teeth.
“I didn’t see that, but that probably freaked him out. We should keep an eye on him,” Shotaro said.
“Yeah, I’ll let the others know,” Sohee agreed.
It took Sungchan a couple of days to notice, but the rest of RIIZE had been acting differently toward him. Not necessarily in a bad way, but in a way where it seemed they were paying more attention to him and treating him gentler than usual. Not to say that RIIZe didn’t normally pay attention to him, but now it was dialed to eleven all the time. Like when Sungchan mentioned that his shoulder was hurting after messing up one of their dances in practice, and Shotaro immediately offered to give him a massage. Or when they had been discussing their lunch plans and Sungchan mentioned he wanted dakgalbi immediately, all of them instantly agreed, even Eunseok, who had just been saying he didn’t really want chicken moments before. There were other little things as well, like buying Sungchan his favorite candy when one of them ran to the convenience store or carrying his bag to and from practice every day for him. Sungchan wasn’t sure what caused this sudden change, but he also wasn’t going to question it.
As the days went on and a full week passed with RIIZE doing basically everything for Sungchan. He knew he had to talk to them and figure out what was happening. At first, he thought it was just them being nice since he had been more tired lately, but now he was concerned that there was something more going on and that the members were hiding something from him. Opening the RIIZE group chat, Sungchan messaged, ‘Hey can all of you talk over dinner tonight?’
Immediately, the chat was bombarded with messages agreeing and asking Sungchan if he was okay and what he wanted for dinner. Overwhelmed by their enthusiastic responses, Sungchan clicked off the chat only for a private message from Shotaro to pop up. ‘Chanie I just wanted to check in and make sure that you are okay.’
‘I’m fine. I just wanted to talk to you about something’ Sungchan assured before shutting off his phone.
Sitting at the kitchen Sungchan waited for the others to settle down before starting the conversation. “We need to talk about this past week or so,” Sungchan began.
“We do,” Shotaro immediately agreed.
“I want to start off by saying I’m not sure what’s been going with you guys, and I’m not complaining about the fact that you seem to be more affectionate lately. I’m just confused and was wondering, did something happen?” Sungchan said, looking at the others expectantly.
“We wanted to help you, hyung,” Anton said.
“Yeah, we know you are having a rough time, so we wanted to show you how much we love you and make things easier for you,” Sohee agreed, nodding his head emphatically.
“That’s really sweet, but I’m not having a hard time. I mean, like, I have been tired lately, but no more than other times when we have a busy schedule,” Sungchan explained.
“Really?” Wonbin asked, looking at Sungchan in surprise.
“Yeah,” Sungchan insisted.
“Then why have you been acting so weird if everything is fine?” Shotaro demanded.
“What do you mean?” Sungchan asked, tilting his head in confusion as he tried to think of what they were referring to.
“Since the fan meet, you have been more withdrawn and keeping to yourself,” Sohee said.
“I have?” Sungchan asked, trying to figure out what they meant.
“Yeah, we first noticed right after the fan meet. Instead of going out with us for dinner, you went back to the dorm and locked your door. And then the following day, you didn’t leave your room and just in general haven’t been as present as you usually are,” Eunseok explained.
“I tried to cuddle with you the other day, and you rejected me,” Shotaro chimed in.
“Guys, I am really touched that you are concerned, but I promise you I am okay. Like I mentioned, I have just been tired with how busy we are lately,” Sungchan reiterated.
“If you are sure. But just know that if you are having a hard time, we are all here for you,” Shotaro insisted, giving Sungchan’s hand a squeeze.
“I know,” Sungchan promised, giving them all a reassuring smile.