Chapter Text
It was like he was firewood, hungry for a spark. Ohyul was hard on himself ever since his trainee days, and Ryul knew that better than anyone. He never stopped caring for any of their members, especially Ryul. Somehow, without either of them noticing, Ohyul always drifted toward him. Whether it was sitting beside him in the practice room, or basking in the silence at the end of a long day, Ryul had grown so used to it that he never paused to question why.
Until one day, he did.
The spark he'd been searching for had been right infront of his eyes all along, quietly waiting for him to notice. It wasn't loud or overwhelming; but rather calm, patient, and gentle. The kind of warmth that would settle beneath his skin before he even realized it was there. Before long, that tiny spark had turned into something much more dangerous - a flame that he couldn't bring himself to extinguish.
But he couldn't let Ohyul know.
He couldn't let anyone know.
One careless confession could ruin everything they'd spent years building together; their dream, their future, and LNGSHOT itself. The risk was just simply too great, no matter how desperately Ryul's wished things would be different.
So Ryul did what he thought was best - He held back.
Every time he caught himself wanting to stay a little closer, to linger in Ohyul's warmth for a while longer, he made himself step away. He stopped the words before they could even escape, telling himself that distance was better than honesty.
Even if it meant giving up the warmth he'd spent so long searching for.
The days after that felt... quite strange.
Nothing had changed... and yet, everything had.
The dorm was still loud. Practice still dragged on for hours on end, leaving everyone too exhausted to do much more than collapse onto their beds afterward.
Only Ryul had changed.
Or maybe... he'd finally realized that he had.
He found himself pulling away before he could stop himself.
Whenever Ohyul sat beside him, Ryul made up an excuse to move. Whenever Ohyul would suggested somewhere to eat, Ryul would say he wasn't hungry. Whenever their hands brushed by accident... Ryul would pull away first.
Ohyul had just.. never seemed to notice. Or maybe he did.
He just never said anything.