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It's hard to hide anything in a dorm with three bunk beds and a singular curtain separating one from two other. It only gets worse when you understand that not only the group mates, but also the manager can hear whatever is happening in any of the "rooms", if you could call them like that.
Unfortunately, Won-woo can't always keep the perfect idol mask on. Practice after practice, new tiktok trend after another, mistake after mistake and he's laying on his bed, shivering from the lack of air due to his stuffed nose and urge to stay unnoticed.
He can't let but sob quietly, hoping that everyone would be dead asleep at three in the morning. He chokes another sob down when he feels a shift over himself, followed by a deep, sleepy groan. Fuck.
Won-woo turned to face the wall when Joo-hyoung got down from the bed, shakily exhaling only after he heard the bathroom door closing with a squeak. He let himself breath while he could, abruptly stopping when the toilet flushed and Joo-hyoung was supposed to be halfway at the bed.
What he wasn't expecting, though, was that the weight didn't go up – it centered at his feet. He felt how the mattress bent just the slightest where Joo-hyoung was sitting, awaiting something while Won-woo was choking.
— You can breathe, Won-woo. No one sleeps without breathing. — his voice was barely above whisper, making sure nobody hears what he has to say to his band mate. It made Won-woo hiccup from how gentle Joo-hyoung was with him and how carefully he had placed his hand on his hip.
Won-woo took a deep, quick breath in and slowly let it out before sitting up on the bed and nonchalantly wiping the tears off his face. He was careless with it, trying to look as if he didn't cry for the last hour and a half, dehydrating himself even more.
Joo-hyoung took a good look at Won-woo's condition and sighed, a small smile confusing the latter at the sight of it. He looked to the side, checking if anyone had woken up – he could see a small part of the other so-called room behind the curtain. Luckily for his own mental state and image in others' eyes, nobody besides the two of them was up.
— Won-woo, look at me. — Joo-hyoung's voice was a bit firmer now, trying to get Won-woo's attention. It worked, as the latter looked at Joo-hyoung's silhouette in the dark, barely lit up by Yu-bin's night-light from behind the curtain.
Mere moments passed before Won-woo felt a soft hand touching his left cheek, thumb gently swiping the remaining tears away. The same process was repeated on the other side, hands remaining in their place and cupping his face.
— Hyung... What are you doing? — Won-woo didn't sound annoyed or angry. In fact, he felt rather comfortable in Joo-hyoung's hands. He knew that he could rely on him not only because he's older, but because he understands him.
Because he knows how hard it is to debut, let alone doing so twice.
Joo-hyoung didn't answer to Won-woo's question. Not with words, at least – Joo-hyoung hugged Won-woo instead, letting his head bump onto his chest, while one of his hands was caressing his back with the other one in his hair.
— It's gonna be okay. You finally debuted, right? — Won-woo could hear the reassuring smile in Joo-hyoung's words, but couldn't see it. He slowly and almost shyly hugged hyung back, not letting his guard down. He was more than grateful for his help, but his guilt didn't let him openly cry or thank him.
That was when Joo-hyoung started to gently scratch Won-woo's nape, nose pressed onto the top of his head.
— We're always here for you, no matter what happens. I'm always here for you. — while the first sentence was louder, the second one was more clear. Joo-hyoung's voice was airy and soft, yet it left a great impression. Won-woo could only imagine how Joo-hyoung felt right now, with him in his embrace.
Won-woo's breathing sped up, until he eventually pushed himself closer to Joo-hyoung and let himself crack open. He was quiet like always, but now he had someone who could hold him closer and reassure him that everything will get better. Now he had someone to whom he could open up, even if the initiative would probably be needed from the other side.
Now he had Joo-hyoung.