He pouted again. Of course he was an idiot, he had never denied it. “She’s smarter than us. The sooner we accept it, the better.” The store was practically empty, and with his hat and mask, there were no issues when he got their breakfast and returned to his car. Hamin smiled at the grabby hands and gave him the coffee he wanted so much before placing the bag of food and his juice on the console between them. “Now that sounds like a warning that the worst is yet to come.” He shook his head as he started the car once again and drove out of the parking lot and into the road again. “I should get a cat myself. Dahye has been mentioned wanting one, she also thinks Seungyong could use a pet, and there no better time than the present. Should I get Shinigami a real friend?”

The idea of Shinigami getting along with Anju and Bomi was adorable, so he was willing to give it a try. If anything were to happen, they could always just step between the animals and try to prevent a bigger fight; everything would probably work out just fine. “Sure, I’ll pack a few things when we get back. I don’t need much, do I? I’m sure you have a spare for everything I need anyway.” Daehyun never bothered packing much of his own stuff whenever he visited Hamin, usually relying on the other having a spare toothbrush, spare clothes and spare chargers. He had stayed at the leader’s place numerous times before and he had rarely ever been disappointed.

Once the door was closed and she checked her phone to see she still had some time, Saeun got up and made it to the bathroom to wash her face. They needed to talk about this, but she wasn’t sure it was something they should before she went to Japan for a month. They just really had the worst timing, but she couldn’t find it in herself to regret it. Dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie, she made it to the kitchen and smiled at the sight of him in his kitchen, as if those months had never happened. “You remembered,” she said as she accepted the juice, taking a seat at the table. “Thank you.” The sweet taste and the sound of his chuckle washed away any awkwardness and made he feel more at ease. “Is your neck alright? That chair is nice for a while, but it isn’t made for sleeping. I can get you a painkiller.”

“Why would I not remember?” He wondered, visibly confused. They had spent so many nights and mornings together at one point and he could pretend that he forgot everything she had ever told him but truth be told, Daehyun remembered almost everything that had ever happened between them. Sure, there were a couple things he had wanted to forget about and thus managed to cross out of his memory, but the most important things were still locked in the back of his mind. “You’re welcome.” As the seconds wet by, the awkwardness slowly started to fade. Things between them were different now but he didn’t feel like there was any hostility involved; if anything, it felt like they were old friends reconnecting after months of not speaking. It didn’t feel like there was still any love involved, but spending the morning with Saeun was still as pleasant as it used to be when they had been dating.

Daehyun was lucky that Hamin had to focus on what he was doing, because that comment would have gotten his ass beaten. He had an incredibly taste, it was only a matter of seeing the people he adored to see that he, in fact, had impeccable taste. “Shinigami is smarter than us and has sharp claws. I don’t see you having claws to defend yourself.” Truth to be told, it would be easy for them to fight the cat, but they had to admit she would hurt them as much as possible before they could even touch her. The times she had to go to the vet was just a proof of it, and the scar he had on his arm. “That’s good. I’ll bring that.” He smiled at his best friend before getting out of his BMW and into the store.

The idea of spending a few days with Hamin, the cat and the dogs didn’t sound so bad. It would be like the old days where they spent hours on hours together and never got tired of each other’s company. The only worry on his mind was that the pets most likely wouldn’t get along too well. “I like the idea of speding a few days at your place but I don’t think Shinigami is gonna be too fond of the dogs and I don’t want to risk it. I think Dahye would kill me if she returned and her dogs were missing.” Chuckling, he shook his head at the imagery. “But I mean, maybe they would get along and it would melt her icy soul at least a little bit. I believe there’s a cute kitty in there somewhere, you just gotta find it.”

“If you-” Had it really been that bad for him? It seemed he was ready to run out of the apartment, and probably had only stayed because he had wanted to be polite and wait for her to wake up. “The coffee machine is still plugged, if you want a cup. I- I’ll join you in a moment.” She wanted to get dressed, she just didn’t feel comfortable with leaving her bed in the moment, not with him in the bedroom. She didn’t regret it, she had wanted it, but she couldn’t help feeling sad at seeing it hadn’t been the same for him. “I’m afraid I can’t offer anything else.” Her fridge was empty since she was leaving for a while, and she had planned to order breakfast instead. She didn’t even know what time it was, or if she was running late to get ready.

The entire situation felt strange. While he didn’t regret any aspect of the night before, Daehyun couldn’t help but wonder if it had been the right decision to make. The atmosphere surrounding them felt weird and awkward and he could tell she felt uncomfortable by the way her voice shook slightly when she spoke. “Thank you.” He smiled at her, for the first time in months, and slowly walked out of the bedroom. On his way out, the brunet gently patted her head like he used to do when they were still together. Daehyun didn’t have to think about it, it just happened. It seemed old habits really were hard to let go of after all. “You don’t have to offer anything else, you know a cup of coffee is all I need in the morning.”

“They’re your youthful mistakes. Own up.” Not that Seungyong was one to talk, since he’d been keeping busy blocking out everything he’d done between moving in with his father and graduating school; it had been an ugly, if fun, time of his life, that he wouldn’t want to repeat. “I cringe every time I think about our debut, but at least the song was halfway decent, looking back.” It had been so long that now everything about it felt dated, and not in a good, charming way; a few more years down the line, and his view would shift. “You don’t forget I’m busy.” Seungyong always was, to a point where he was often told that he was overworked. “And you do complain a lot, but it’s fine. We get along anyway.”

Shrugging, he wrapped his hand around his still cold water bottle. “Maybe we’re gonna stick with the concept and start recording songs for video game franchises now, who knows? That’d be a huge ass plot twist if you ask me.” Daehyun was only joking, but if it was to happen, he would just do what he was asked to do without much resistence. After all, Atlas Records had made many things possible and the least he could do was to give back as much as he possibly could. “Ah, enlisting, yeah.” Nodding, he sighed quietly. The mere thought of joining the military was rather unpleasant and while he had always known that he would have to do it one day, it was something he tried not to think about too often. “I haven’t really considered my options yet. I’m still only twenty-five, so enlisting is a problem for future Dae.”

Growing up in a family of seven children was hard.

Being quiet for a moment she then smiled slightly and looked at the floor analyzing the drawings her friend had done “I can promise it, because I’m sure I can make it happen for us.” Her smile grew as the statement left her lips, she was sure that if she led all her energy towards it happening, things would end up that way, she could lead them to a successful debut and she was positive about it “You know what they say, nine or none.” She lifted her eyebrow on his direction and reached for his shoulder shaking him slightly “Can you imagine if our comebacks align someday?” She began saying changing the topic and the mood to a much lighter one, Beam was one to day dream constantly and it always involved her being around her loved ones, she was one to have her head on her clouds but her feet on the ground at the same time “Are you going to pretend you don’t know me?” She pouted joking.

Talking to Beam was pleasant. She always seemed to listen to everything he said and always took him seriously, never really making fun of his words. She was very respectful and even though their friendship was still very new, Daehyun had quickly grown fond of the LARK leader. Making new friends was stressful and often times quite scary but Beam had always seemed so genuine that befriending her had just come naturally. “You should keep that optimism, it’s going to help you a lot in your career and private life.” He himself had always been a realist-- others called him pessimistic but he just always tried to keep his expectations low so that he couldn’t be disappointed as easily. Over the years he had gotten a little bit better at being optimistic but it just wasn’t in his nature. “That’s a nice saying. Do you tell your members that as well?” Daehyun imagined she was a kind leader who was always there for the others whenever they needed a shoulder to cry on; after all she had already offered to listen to his issues many times although they weren’t in the same group or even company.

contrary to how the words might have sounded, san was not about to quit the search, determination pushing him to turn his attention back towards the laptop screen. living on adrenaline and making little tasks into competitions was what got it through life. “how would you feel about broadening the location radius? the neighborhoods might not be as nice as in gangnam but it might be good to have more distance from the company.” despite his tone carrying it as a question, moonsan did not wait for an answer, clicking away to scroll past some more apartments. “i live in the outskirts of seocho-gu, you can see the banpo hangang park through my window in the distance, it’s okay and like thirty minutes tops from atlas. makes for a nice drive since manager doesn’t always pick me up.” words passing his lips felt like an announcer speaking in the metro, stable and mindless as eyebrows furrowed in concentration towards the content he went through.

Truth be told, he missed living in a dorm with all of the other members. While they had surely gotten on each other’s nerves countless times, at the end of the day they always had fun together. Now he often felt a little bit lonely which was why he opted for a smaller apartment but the longer he lived there, the more he realised that a little more space wouldn’t hurt. “Living in the dorms was a little bit stressful at times but in hindsight, I prefer living with people. I used to share my room with two other members but it was fun. We had a lot of fun times there.” He wondered whether he was the only one that missed the old times-- for some reason everyone else had seemed to move on without any trouble. Maybe it was because he was the youngest in the group-- or maybe he just had issues with letting go. 

Spending time with Daehyun was something he loved dearly, laughing at the younger’s reaction. “Of course I have taste! I have high standards, too!” He knew every song, title tracks and B-sides, and was known for dancing them on variety and concerts. It was expected of him as the brother of two of their members, and he was more than happy to hype them up. “The things she would say about us.” Like how ridiculous they were behind closed doors, nothing like the Mon:star members they were on the stage. “She can still murder us in our sleep, what are you even talking about?” That worked, and luckily there was one right in the corner. Carefully, he drove into the parking lot and stopped the car. “Sandwiches and a salad to share? Two bottles of waters and, do you want juice or coffee?”

“I would like that.” Sometimes he felt like he was a burden on his best friend but everytime he saw Hamin suffering like this just from being alone, he realised that it was probably the exact opposite. When they were younger he had annoyed the elder any chance he got with all of his problems and issues, though Hamin had never told him off for it. It had felt like he truly liked the role of the group’s leader and he did a very good job at embodying it which was another thing Daehyun really admired about him. Many times before had he wondered what it would have been like if he had debuted later and was put in another group as the oldest member or the leader even; it probably wouldn’t have worked out in the slightest.

word count: 1,007

Giggles bubbled up from her throat when he tripped, pulling him closer to her, if that was even possible. Although a bit nervous, there was a feeling in her chest, exciting and warm. Her hands reached to take the coat off his shoulders, realizing she didn’t really know what to do, but she did what felt right. She sighed deeply at the moment the back of her legs found the bed. “I want this.” It was important for her that he knew this wasn’t an impulsive decision, but something she had wanted for a while, and that she wasn’t going to regret it no matter what happened.

He noticed her hands shaking slightly, so he took them in his own to try and calm her nerves just a little bit. They just stood there and smiled each other for a solid few seconds but it didn’t feel like a strange situation in the slightest; they were so familiar with each other and yet it felt like they didn’t know who they truly were because they never had the chance to get to know each other more than on a surface level. Doing what they were about to do probably wouldn’t be the best for the dynamic between them but in that very moment, it was what both of them wanted, so maybe there was no harm in it after all. 

“there is one four bedroom apartment near kukkiwon,” a few quick clicks around pinned tabs revealed sleek corners of the expensive apartment, professionally taken pictures reflecting off of moonsan’s lenses. “but if it’s four bedrooms- is it really an apartment or one of those house complexes, you know.. it’s also not furnished, so that’s a different headache.” thinking out loud, moonsan sat back in hid little space he occupied on the floor, resting his back against a wall. knees cracked deliciously, as he extended his legs to rest the laptop between them. “so you gonna tell me who peer pressured you into big apartment hunting?” for a moment, wook deviated the conversation. for a single, little moment, selfishly looking for a small distraction. 

A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he ran his fingers through his hair, rubbing his eyes straight after. Staring at his laptop screen for so long had taken a toll on his eyes for sure, but massaging them didn’t really seem to help either. “It also was a lot easier when I moved out of the dorms three years ago. I was rushing because, as always, I was procrastinating moving out and one day they were practically kicking me out of the dormitory, so I just took the next best thing. And that thing turned out to be this shitty studio apartment-- and of course I have procrastinated moving once again, so that’s why I’m still here.” It was way too small for the two of them and even though it was sufficient for one single person, it was difficult to live in such a cramped space long-term. It wasn’t like Daehyun was a trainee anymore either, so most of his friends didn’t understand why he was still living like he was.

“There’s no way it will. They’ll try to bring in some fresh air with it, maybe appeal to a different demographic, and then switch back to what you’ve been doing.” Of course, he could be entirely wrong in his assessment, but he truly couldn’t imagine it sticking. “You’ve got a variety, though. I mean—you’ve covered aliens, a school concept, sports, organised crime—I’m unsure what more people could ask for. We’ve had a lot less variation than that.” Not that he was complaining, but he had never noticed a lack of variance with Mon:star’s releases. Perhaps he was just biased, though. “No, we absolutely do need a plan. I’ve got obligations here, if we don’t get back in time—and besides, a walk that long? You’d start complaining.”

Nodding, he agreed with his friend’s assumption. The whole thing seemed like a fun little thing to try out once, just to see how the fans will respond to it. He couldn’t imagine a weird superhero concept becoming something Mon:star would have to stick to long-term; at least he really hoped that wouldn’t be the case. “Imagine if we did have to stick with it too, that would be a disaster. Maybe I would have to enlist early.” Daehyun was obviously just joking, but there were certainly a lot of concepts and songs he would prefer for his group to perform instead of the upcoming one.

“a no-emotion, no aegyo. blah blah blah,” a yawn stifles her string of words, and she hides it behind the guise of her palm. the initial presumption holds true — the monstar boy had always been a piteous joke unveiled in front of her eyes the second she saw him inside the lineup. “yet, you’re the tenth member of iota? some edgy bad boy you are.” there’s contempt in her tone, grim enlightenment that forces a grin that paints mystery along her face and it’s her words that paint him as a walking contradiction — a lack of authenticity she sketched out from the beginning. “son yeseul, snc’s manager. perhaps, it’ll do you better to know staff — and maybe, you’ll figure out how to stop creating inconsistencies inside your story.” 

Her words barely made any sense to him. It seemingly sounded like she was just bored and was looking for an easy target to annoy, trying to get some sense of entertainment out of it. “Well, that’s the first time anyone has ever labeled me as the bad boy mystery of the group, maybe I should stick to that concept?” A chuckle escaped his lips, though his eyes still mirrored the utter confusion he was met with upon listening to the older woman speak. He truly wondered whether she had ever seen anything Mon:star ever put out that was not a music video-- probably not, he thought to himself.

kingmonstar   surprise!

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