#era.simonsays

Halfway through their Mario Kart round, the front door of their apartment unlocked. Materializing in the doorway of the living room, with a bag of takeout in her hand and a smile on her face, was Yen.

Asa almost dropped his Wii controller. Changkyun did a double take. Yen smiled at the rapper, tucking a strand of her hair behind her shoulder and narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. Asa frowned. He knew that look. It was Yen’s smolder. A look she reserved for photoshoots and cute boys only. 

“Hey,” She held up the takeout bag. “Brought you guys some food.”  “We have some already.” Asa responded shortly, focusing his attention back on the game. Asa noticed that on the bottom half of the television screen, Changkyun’s cart wasn’t moving. He looked to his friend and realized that he was still googling at Yen. Unbelievable. 

Asa paused the game and heaved himself up off the couch. Changkyun started to get up too, but Asahiko motioned for him to sit down. “I’ll get you a plate, bro. No worries.” Asahiko gave a strained smile before exiting the living room, dragging Yen with him by her shoulders. 

“Hey!” Yen whisper-yelled, wiggling herself free once the pair were concealed by the kitchen wall. “Why are you trying to kick me out?” “Why are you trying to steal my friend?!” Asahiko responded, crossing his arms. “Can’t I just have one thing to myself?” “You’re being selfish, Koko.” Yen frowned. “You know how much I like I.M... Can I please stay for like, ten minutes?” “How did you even know he was here?” Asa interrogated. Yen licked her lower lip hesitantly.  “Eli said something, didn’t he?” “He might have let something slip, yes.” Yen affirmed.  Asahiko felt like screaming. Yen was his best friend, but he just wanted to have a life separate from his group mates. Was that too much to ask for? Clearly. He grabbed a plate from the cupboard and started shoveling takeout noodles onto the plate silently, taking his annoyance out on the lo mien. 

Yen clicked her tongue, puncturing the silence. “So, can I stay or...”  “Fine! Fine, you can stay!” Asahiko threw his head back in exasperation, letting his chopsticks fall against the plate. “But only ten minutes, okay?”  “Promise. You’re the best, Koko.” Yen grinned, hugging her friend tightly.  “Yeah, yeah." Asahiko fought off the blush that threatened to bubble to the surface of his skin as the two exited the kitchen carrying plates of food. 

He should have known that ten minutes in Asa time was completely different than ten minutes Yen time. They were nearing the forty five minute mark and Yen was still sitting on the couch in between the two boys, chatting up Changkyun. 

“Hey, you want a try?” Changkyun asked, holding out the controller for Yen.  “She doesn’t really play-” Asahiko started. “I’d love to!” Yen accepted the remote, giving Asa a deadly glare. “I’m just not very good...”  “No worries, I’ll help you if you need it.” Changkyun offered, a small grin on his face. Yen giggled. Asa gagged. 

Yen was trying to select her character, but her hand was shaky. Asa knew she was doing this on purpose to look cute or whatever. He was tempted to grab the remote out of her hands and select the player for her, but Changkyun beat him to it. His hand came out to cover hers, guiding her hand to the character she wanted.  Asahiko felt his stomach twist painfully, and it wasn’t from the greasy food. He knew this feeling. It’s only applied to Yen once, when she suggested that Cal be her first kiss instead of him. 

Jealousy.

The feeling didn’t go away. Changkyun’s hand remained on Yen’s controller, his fingers just ghosting over her own, helping her control the cart throughout the whole round. 

He hated how they whispered to each other before throwing some sort of projectile at his kart, then laughed together like they were best friends. He hated how they would occasionally say the same thing at the same time and react like it was the funniest thing ever, like they were best friends.  He hated how Yen had no problem shoving Changkyun or physically interacting with him, and how Changkyun would retaliate. Like they were best friends. 

When it was time for Changkyun to head out, Asahiko eagerly lead him to the front door. The sooner he got Changkyun away from Yen, the better.  “You know, I should go too.” Yen stood up from the couch, following the two to the front door. “I’ll walk you out.” She offered to Changkyun. “Oh, thanks. That’s sweet of you.” Changkyun smiled, opening the door for her. He turned to Asahiko and patted his shoulder. “I’ll see you later, man. We gotta hang out more often.” “Yeah, I agree.” Asahiko smiled thinly. He raised a hand in farewell as the two headed down the hallway together towards the elevator. He closed the door as quickly as possible, as if the wooden door could block out the intrusive thoughts he was having. 

Teo pulled himself up to full height, replaying the footage that he just recorded. The other two gathered around, observing the shot. Eli didn’t think it was so bad, but Teo deleted it the moment it was finished.

“Yeah, Asa’s right. That was a little too seductive.” Teo critiqued. “I’m looking for more like… Wistful and reflective energy.” “Like… Like I’m in a drama?” Eli clarified. “Exactly. I want you to look effortlessly cool and sentimental.” Teo explained with excitement in his tone. Eli nodded, fighting back his own complaints. He wasn’t as excited about filming this video as Teo was, but he didn’t want to rain on his friend’s parade. There are very few things that Teo talks about non-sarcastically, and photography and videography were two of those things. In fact, if it was up to Eli, they wouldn’t be shooting their own music video at all.

While Teo was shooting footage, Eli looked off into the distance fondly, thinking of other episodes Triptych TV could have come up with. Like going indoor rock climbing, or zip-lining, or going to an amusement park. 

“Perfect!” Teo’s exclamation scared Eli out of his daydream. “That was exactly the look I was going for! Perfect!” The vocalist repeated, rewatching the footage with pride. 

“Alright, that’s a wrap here, then.” Asa clapped his hands together. “For the rest of the video, we just need to dig up some old videos from our trainee days, and we’re golden!”

The rest of the night, the boys searched through their old videos from when they were trainees. Eli scrolled through his camera roll, occasionally stopping to look at old photos of him and his trainee friends. 

One specific video caught his eye. He didn’t even need to click on the video to know which one it was. In the thumbnail was Soyeon, smiling up at the camera. It was the day they went to the beach with the other trainees. 

“Soyeon-ah,” Daehyun’s voice called out, walking over to the girl crouching next to a tidepool. Soyeon looked up, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight, a smile stretching over her face. “You look pretty right now.” Daehyun from the past complimented her. Soyeon wrinkled her nose and shook her head, a chuckle escaping her lips. “What about us, hyung! Do we look pretty?” A voice called from far away. The camera angled upward, revealing Calvin and Yeetai posing dramatically on top of some rocks. Daehyun’s laugh got cut off as the video ended. 

“Dude.” Asa’s voice critiqued from over Eli’s shoulder. The leader jumped, not expecting the younger boy to be directly behind him. The Japanese member shook his head sympathetically. “You’re still not over her, huh?” 

Daehyun exhaled, looking down at the paused video. Asa sighed too before gripping the elder’s shoulder in comfort. “Hey man, don’t force yourself to move on. It never works out, trust me.” Asa advised, the melancholy in his tone made the young man seem weathered. 

Daehyun let out a short chuckle. “What do you know about love, huh?” Asahiko rolled his eyes and shoved Daehyun’s shoulder playfully. “Hey, I’ve been around the block a few times.”  “You’re a virgin, Asahiko.” Teo called from the hallway. “You’re a bigger virgin!” Asahiko hollered back.  “You both are massive virgins.” Daehyun settled, shaking his head, laughing at his groupmates. 

The boys had finally put together a collection of videos that they felt were sentimental to them. Daehyun decided on keeping the video of Soyeon in. Nearly all of Teo’s videos included Nia and Zim, as they were basically attached to each other’s hips during their trainee days. Most of Asa’s included Saito and, to no one's surprise, Yen. 

They pieced together their new footage with the old footage, weaving their past and present together in one 3-minute music video. When the boys had finally completed editing, they uploaded it to YouTube, waiting for their fans to react to the surprise video.

For the most of promotions, Teo has been treating Asa like a dog that he needed to train. Teo kept nagging Asahiko about everything from precisely what to say in interviews to when he could do his laundry. At first, Asa just thought that Teo was anxiously projecting, but then he realized that he didn’t treat Eli like that at all. It took almost all of promotions to realize that Teo didn’t trust Asa with anything. So, he decided to rebel. 

It was perfect. During their interview at SBS, Asa cut off Teo’s line to make a dumb innuendo about their song ‘Lips’. The interviewers and Eli thought it was funny, but it made Teo’s ears turn red with annoyance. Once the interview was over and they left the building, Teo approached Asa.

“What the hell was that about? Did you forget your lines?” Teo asked. Asa rolled his eyes. “No, dude, I was showing my personality. You know, the one that you forget I have?”  “I don’t forget you have a personality.” Teo said defensively, furrowing his eyebrows. “When have I ever said that?” “Oh, you don’t need to say it. The way you treat me like I’m a child explains it all.” Asa snapped. Okay, maybe that was a little out of pocket, but the adrenaline in his body from finally getting Teo into an argumentative mood inspired him. "Guys,” Eli tried to intervene. “Dude, don’t even try to defend him.” Asa looked over his shoulder at his leader. “You don’t always gotta take his side.” Eli raised his arms in defense. “Yo, I’m not trying to take anyone’s side.”  “What’s the deal with you today? You’re being so sensitive.” Teo snapped. “Sensitive or just fed up?” Asa arched an eyebrow.  “Whatever, man.” Teo shook his head. 

There was no more time to argue, the boys had reached the parking lot. Outside were a ton of fans and fansites, shouting encouraging things to the members. Asa waved politely, pulling a small smile for his fans. He had a feeling that any pictures that were taken of him would show his true feelings either way, but it was worth the effort to try to hide anything.

“So,” Eli pivoted in his car seat, looking between his two members. Asa opted to sitting in the far back of the car so he had enough room to glare angrily out the window in peace and quiet. Teo, who was listening to music and gesturing aggressively with his hands in a silent argument with the dialogue in his head, sat next to Eli. The whole car ride had been silent until this moment, the tension in the SUV was starting to suffocate Eli.

“Are we going to talk about this like adults or angrily think up comebacks to arguments in our head the whole way home?” Eli asked. 

“I didn’t do anything wrong.” Teo protested.  “Okay, well, that’s not what I was looking-” Eli started. “Of course you don’t think you’re doing anything wrong.” Asa chortled dryly. “You’re perfect.”  “I never said that.” Teo leaned forward, twisting his body around so he could glare at Asahiko behind him. “Stop playing a victim, you always do this.”  “How? How do I always do this? You treat me like shit compared to how you treat Eli, how do you want me to react? With gratitude?” Asahiko seethed, his eyebrows furrowed together. “Yo-”  Eli’s words were cut off again by a fuming Teo. “Maybe if you actually contributed something to the group instead of pulling whatever the fuck that was today, maybe I’d treat you with more respect!”  “Maybe if you trusted me enough with roles I would contribute more!” Asa shouted. “Maybe if you showed that you could handle more roles, we’d give them to you, but you’re just don’t have the skills yet!” Teo groaned. He realized the weight of his words when Asahiko’s expression turned stony.  “Dude.” Eli muttered under his breath, shaking his head and closing his eyes.   “I didn’t mean it like that.” Teo said quietly, the anger leaving his system instantly, as if a cool cloth was thrown across his neck. “Asahiko, you know I didn’t mean it like-”  “Whatever.” Asahiko shook his head, putting his headphones back in and pulling the hood of his sweatshirt over his head, tugging the strings. 

Teo and Asa didn’t talk for the rest of the day. Twice, Eli tried to coax Asa out of his room to come eat dinner with them. Both times, Asa cranked his music louder, drowning out the pleads from his leader. 

“Has he come out of his room since this afternoon?” Teo asked quietly as they passed his door, heading for bed. Eli shook his head. “Not that I know of.” Eli responded. “He hasn’t eaten yet?” Teo felt a pang of guilt. Eli shook his head, leaning against his own door. “He’s a big kid, he can feed himself.” Eli reminded Teo. “We’ll talk about this in the morning. Night, Injung.”  “Night.” Teo said quietly. Eli pursed his lips and closed his bedroom door, leaving Teo alone in the hallway. 

The singer looked at Asahiko’s door with a somber glance. How was it that Asahiko went from being the one person he wanted space from to being someone that Injung missed so much? All that was separating them was a wooden door, yet Asahiko seemed so far away.

A wooden door and your bitchy attitude. Injung said to himself. He sighed before hurrying back to the kitchen.

“Asa?” Teo whispered harshly, rasping his knuckles on the door.  “Sleeping.” Asahiko responded, clearly not asleep.  Teo hesitated. “I made you apology udon.”  "I don’t like apology udon.” Asahiko responded, his voice sounding closer to the door on the other side. Injung took in a deep breath. “Could you try it? For me? I’m sorry for what I said. You’re right, I should work with you to help build you up. You’re talented, Asahiko. Really, really talented. Without you, Tromme would be nothing. I mean that. I-” Injung inhaled. He’s never emotion dumped on Asahiko before. He wondered how he was receiving this apology. Based off the silence, Asahiko probably had moved away from the door, blocking out Injung’s ramble. “Look, just... The udon is getting cold and I don’t want you to be hungry tonight. I’m gonna leave it outside if you-” 

The door opened slowly, Asahiko poked his head out, eyeing Injung first, then the udon. He reached forward and took the noodle dish from his older member. “I’m sorry for exploding on you.” Asahiko looked down at his noddles rather than at Teo’s face. “I should have just been honest from the get-go.”  “It’s okay. I forgive you.” Teo nodded. Asahiko looked up at Injung, a small smile on his lips before picking up the chopsticks Injung put in the bowl. Asahiko lifted up a bunch of thick noodles, blowing on it gently before holding it up for Teo.

“Apology udon?” Asahiko grinned, inching the noodles closer. Injung smirked, leaning his head away from the noodles. “C’mon, man, accept my udon!” Asahiko chuckled, flying the noodles around like an airplane.  Finally, Injung gave in and slurped the noodles off the chopsticks.  “Good?” Asahiko asked. Teo nodded, giving him a thumbs up. “Great, I slaved over it all night.” Asahiko said sarcastically, helping himself to noodles.  “You-” Teo laughed, ready to banter with Asahiko. However, a bleary-eyed and half-asleep Daehyun appeared in his doorway. He looked between his members and then at the bowl of noodles in Asahiko’s hands.

“You guys are eating noodles without me?” Eli asked, rubbing his eyes. “Yeah...” Injung drew out.

“Hey, it’s not all so bad… You could uh…” Nia licked her lips, trying to think of some comforting words. “Well, you could be in…” 

“Yerin, I appreciate the effort, but you’re actually making things worse.” Injung raised his head, but his eyes were still closed. “The first televised performance we do... The first professional fancam of us... And we look like we belong in Santa’s sweatshop.” 

“I don’t know, my ass looks pretty good in these pants.” Asahiko appeared from behind another curtain, wearing the same outfit as the other boys, but in blue. Yen, who had barely been holding it together before, had completely lost it when she saw Asahiko. The idol doubled over in her chair, laughing so loud, the staff members around them jumped.

“Yours are easily better than mine.” Daehyun protested, not sure why the others were complaining. Red and blue didn’t stick out as much as bright yellow. “TROMME to stage in ten!” A staff member called out, causing other members of HBH staff to scurry around, getting last minute preparations finished. The countdown let loose a cage of butterflies in Eli’s stomach.

“Oh god, oh sweet god.” The leader murmured to himself. The two other members looked between themselves and the girls, unsure of how to react to their own leader freaking out.

“Hey, man, the outfits aren’t that bad, relax.” Asahiko chuckled, gripping his leader’s shoulder, but Eli didn’t loosen up. “Not that… What if I forget the dance steps? Or my lines? Or what if I can’t find the camera? What if I ruin everything for Triptych by bombing this performance?” Daehyun spiraled. The other members exchanged looks of concern.

“Hey, bud,” Eunha stepped forward, taking on the task of trying to calm the giant yellow crayon down. “Don’t worry about that stuff, okay? You’re not going to forget anything, and you’re going to give a great performance. Also, who said your success is what makes or breaks Triptych?” She teased. “We’re in this together.”

“But S.O.T totally carries.” Yen piped up. 

“Micha.” Yerin scolded. “What, I’m being honest?” The maknae shrugged.

Yen’s teasing loosened Eli up a little, a small smile tugging at his lips. Behind him, a staff member approached.

“We’re heading to the stage now.” They warned. With that statement, the boys stood a little straighter. It was time to be professionals. 

“You guys got this!” Zim affirmed positively. “We’ll be cheering for you guys!”