Chapter Text
Juhoon laid sprawl on the couch. A phone rested on his hand as he mindlessly scrolled through tiktok. Within the small, confined space of the studio room, Martin’s voice rang out. Repeated hums and melodies from the blonde filled the quiet room. Juhoon delved himself further into the couch, his neck sinking into the cushions of the armrest as he stretched out his stiff body from the lack of movement in the past hour. Relaxing once again from the well needed stretch, Juhoon turned his head with his eyes staring at the tall friend’s back.
They weren’t supposed to be in the studio that night–at least, Juhoon wasn’t–and yet, there they were. In the past hour and a half, not once did Martin’s back turn to face away from him, diligently working on new songs, his frustration growing by the minute with each mediocre sound he had no clue how to fix.
Juhoon had diligently and consciously followed the blonde along, walking right beside him, not knowing things were going to end up the way it had been.
He brought his hand to his stomach, feeling it rumble. The sound got drowned out by the music playing in the background but the hunger was still there. He took the phone on the other hand and swiped it over to the doordash app, full of expectation, only to find that the delivery had gone from a thirty minute delay to an additional ten.
Not once in his life did he ever regret choosing his friend over the rest of his members but that was the day things changed. Not only was he suffering from hunger, Martin, as well, was providing him with no entertainment to pass the time with.
Call Juhoon a narcissist, but knowing Martin, the guy would definitely drop everything to personally grab him dinner right away if he were to voice any complaints about it. The guy had a tendency to do some pretty extraordinary stuff for him when the situation calls for it. Martin was just that kind of guy. Yet, even with that knowledge, Juhoon chose to remain silent on his current state of concerns. After all, it was his own fault that he ended up in that dark and dim studio. Dejected, he quietly sighed, staring up at the ceiling, patiently waiting as the blonde concentrated on his work. The memory of what led up to that point replayed in his mind, still as fresh as a clear glass of water.
It was six in the evening when the group walked out of the large glass building. Having just finished their last photoshoot of the day, they gleefully skipped their way to the company car waiting for them on the street. Their schedule would usually be packed from day to night, so early leaves like that were rare, and they planned to spend what little free time they had with a well needed rest back in the comfort of their own dorm.
That was the case for most of the members. All except one. Martin lagged behind and stopped a step behind the rest of the members. “Guys, I’ll be at the studio tonight so don’t wait up for me,” Martin had said, catching their attention. The wind blew in his hair as the others stared at him. There was a sort of glimmer in his eyes as though waiting for the members to intervene, to give him any sort of attention for the hard work he willingly subjected himself to. Unfortunately for him, the group was too tired and way smarter than to boost his ego any further. The internet did enough of that for him.
“Yeah, ok.” James was the first to respond, not even a half second later as he turned his back on the tall blonde and continued with the pace he was walking at once again.
That gave Seonghyeon the leeway to escape and not get caught up in Martin’s plans. A little too cheerfully, he hummed, “Mmm, see ya.” He chased after James with much glee. Keonho, as well, easily waved him off with a cheeky “byee!!”, leaving a stunned leader behind as he sped up to catch up to the other two.
Martin was left there, on the concrete pavement, stunned and alone with no one but Juhoon to keep him company. “Wow… you guys… so heartless…,” he spoke into the air. Those guys were already too far away to hear his words. But seeing as Juhoon was still there, he continued. He clamped and raised his hands together to one side and bent one leg upwards dramatically. “No ‘don’t do it Martin! We love you!’. No ‘wow Martin, you’re so awesome and hard working!’. Not even a ‘you sure you don’t want to come join us?!’.”
Martin then went and placed both hands on Juhoon’s shoulders, squeezing them tight as he shook them back and forth. “Those guys! Do they have no ounce of sympathy for me anymore?!” Resting his head on Juhoon’s shoulders, he continued his rant. “This is why you’re the best, bro. You won’t leave me alone too, will you?”
Juhoon laughed, already used to his friend’s antics. Normally, he would be on Martin’s side but it was amusing seeing the big guy be dramatic. He also had no plans on accompanying the other in the studio when his mind had already settled on resting. Ready to head back, Juhoon placed his hands on top of Martin’s to shove them away. As he did that, he could feel the slight twitch of those hands—so slight, he almost missed it.
“Yeah, no. I’m out.” He smirked, giving Martin a pat on the back and headed towards the direction of the guys. He did feel kind of bad, but nothing beats chilling at home, and comfort was everything for Juhoon. “Good luck at work.”
It was later on, in the car, when the group settled by a 3v1 on a restaurant to order take-out from, that Juhoon no longer wanted to be included in the other three’s activities. It was a restaurant Juhoon had bad history with in terms of taste and presentation, which led him to hopping out of the car and into the studio.
Looking back on it, Juhoon realized whatever that restaurant was capable of whipping up, it couldn't have possibly been as bad as the treacherous hour and more he would have to spend waiting on his delivery order.
He had his earbuds snug in his ear so as to not disturb Martin from whatever was going on in his phone. But if was being honest with himself, those earbuds were dead silent, near slipping out of his ear. The video that played on his phone was paused a long time ago because his attention kept being drawn towards Martin. Blonde, messy haired, serious Martin. He can’t lie, even to himself, Martin did indeed look pretty cool when he wasn’t acting like a fool.
Juhoon actually found it pretty amazing how focused the blonde was. Even if he was bored out of his mind from the guy not having turned his back once to even talk to him, that kind of undisturbed passion for music was something Juhoon wished he could have. Sparks of admiration grew in him every time Martin showed the side of him that was passionate about music. But somehow even the little things like the mullet hanging on his neck, or the way he spoke, or his little gestures he does sometimes would catch Juhoon’s eyes. Not to mention him being blessed by genetics with his defined bone structure and the height which made him stand a head taller than everyone else in Korea.
While his gaze lingered on the blonde, Juhoon wondered if he’d ever reach that level of cool one day. He found himself thanking life for nerfing Martin’s by turning him into a foolish person. And as he silently watched over the other, drowsiness took him over, making him fall to slumber.
Juhoon’s eyes slowly opened up one after another after hearing a loud frustrated groan coming from the group's leader. While yawning and grunting, he stretched out his limbs. Reaching for the phone on his lap, he checked out the time and to his surprise, he’d been asleep for a good half hour.
He looked up at the source of the noise to figure out what was going on and caught Martin agitatingly ruffling his hair. “Mm?” Juhoon questioned, his voice still in the process of getting used to talking again. “Nothing good yet?”
The question seemed to have caught Martin by surprise because he suddenly froze on the spot with his hands still scrunched in his hair, mid ruffle. He spun his chair slightly around, just enough to be able to turn his head towards the other, releasing the grip on his head. “Ah, sorry. Did I wake you?” His usually raspy voice came out in a softer tone than normal.
“Yeah. It’s cool though.” Juhoon rubbed his eyes and sat himself almost upright, slouching against the armrest, knees bent up. With his vision clearer than before, even through the dim studio lighting, he could see it in Martin’s face that he was exhausted. The guy’s face looked like it was seconds away from actually steaming.
Martin let out another long exasperated grumble which sounded as though he’d been holding it in for a while. “Jjuuu…. “ he whined. He got up with a heavy groan as though he were fighting his body’s need for him to sit still and relax. His steps led him towards the couch and right in front of Juhoon. The cushion below Juhoon’s feet lowered as Martin’s knees sunk into it. The blond was on his knees in front of Juhoon, his arms stretched out to reach the other’s shoulders. Rattling them back and forth, he continued. “Everything’s mid, Jju. It’s all MID!! If I don’t get anything in by the end of the week, Ms. Park’s gonna chew me out. Aghhh!” Martin stopped for a moment and leaned his head on Juhoon’s left shoulder. “What should I do…”
Juhoon gently shoved Martin away from him to be able to look at him straight in the face. Their eyes met to which Martin’s drifted away for a split second before meeting with the other again. This time, he didn’t look away.
“Calm down, it’s not that serious,” Juhoon says, completely unfazed, before realizing that may have been insensitive. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth once again before Martin could protest. “...What I meant to say is… the song you give her doesn’t have to be mind blowing. Doesn’t she just need something, anything, to work with? Our comeback’s not due for another few months. You’ve got plenty of time to create better songs.”
“I know… it’s just–I’m usually better than this,” Martin sighed. “This whole week, it’s like I’ve hit a dead end.”
Juhoon raised one of hands towards Martin’s head leading to the younger lowering his head. Slowly, he ran his slender fingers though the hairs, fixing up the mess the younger made of himself. “You’re not in this alone, Martin. All of us are in this together. Just, uh, let us know beforehand and not last minute when we’re about to take a break. I’m sure Seonghyeon’s gatekeeping some cool beats in his MacBook.”
When Juhoon retreated his hand, he was met with Martin’s sulking face which only seemed to have gotten redder. It was almost as if he were in a trance, only looking downwards and unable to meet his friend halfway up. Using the armrest behind the shorter, Martin pushed himself backwards, now sitting crosse legged with his back hunched over, his elbows rested on his knees as his head was buried in the palm of his hands, covering his face. Juhoon wondered if his words had only made things worse.
“Yeah,” Martin finally said after a long exhale. He slid his hands slightly down his face, only revealing his eyes. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks bro.”
Even though the blonde seemed to have calmed down, his face showed no signs of it. The only thing calm about him at the moment would be his voice, but everything else, from the posture to his face, showed no signs of relaxation. Juhoon tried to think of anything that could possibly lighten up his friend’s mood but to no avail. Then all of a sudden, his phone vibrates, paving a way for him to change the topic.
Your doordash order has been delivered.
“Food’s here. Let’s stop thinking about this and eat.” Juhoon got up and rushed towards the door. “You must be hangry. Some food will cheer you up for sure.”