Yuho – [Are you practicing well? I’m in the 3rd floor office]
Yeomin – [Huh? Why are you there?]
Yuho – [I have to film and send acting videos for an audition]
Yeomin – [Until when will you be there]
Yuho – [10 o’clock? Maybe later]
Yeomin – [You’re working hard tooㅜㅜ Hang in there]
Yuho – [Yeah you too]
He naturally thought he’d ask to eat dinner together. Yuho started to panic when Yeomin ended the conversation just like that. And eventually he revealed the purpose of contacting him first.
Yuho – [You’re eating dinner later, right?]
Yeomin – [ㅇㅇ Wanna come?]
Yuho – [Yeah contact me when you eat]
Yeomin – [ㅇㅇ See you later]
Yuho – [ㅇㅇ]
Yuho easily achieved what he intended. When it was such a trivial matter. The time he hesitated felt like a waste.
Yeomin – [Hyung pork cutlet nom come down]
Yuho received Yeomin’s contact at mealtime and headed to the dance practice room.
“Yuho. You came?”
“Hello. Yeonghyeon-ssaem.”
As soon as he entered the practice room, Yuho greeted Yeonghyeon and headed toward Yeomin. The pork cutlet that was the dinner menu had already arrived and everyone was in the middle of eating.
“Hyung. Hurry and come.”
“Yeah.”
Yeomin had already settled in one corner of the practice room and was setting up containers of pork cutlet for two. Yuho immediately sat down in the seat across from Yeomin. Then Yeomin opened the lid of the disposable container as if he’d been waiting.
“Yuho hyung. Enjoy your meal.”
“Yeah. You too.”
Yuho immediately started eating.
But Inhan’s figure wasn’t visible anywhere in the practice room. He must have gone to the restroom. Yuho tried not to act hasty and focused on his meal.
“By the way, Inhan went to Taylor hyung’s studio. He said he’d just sleep there for a bit and come back.”
As if anticipating that Yuho would look for Inhan, Yeomin first revealed Inhan’s whereabouts.
Yuho’s chopsticks stopped in midair for a moment. At the same time, a doubtful suspicion arose in Yuho’s mind.
Yuho asked Yeomin, trying to act calm.
“Did you by chance tell Inhan I was coming?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“No reason.”
“Inhan’s on a diet, you know.”
This time too, Yeomin added an excuse on Inhan’s behalf.
“Yeah. I know that too.”
Yuho answered calmly and moved his chopsticks again to continue eating.
“Then I’m going up.”
After finishing his meal, Yuho stood up and told Yeomin. More than half of the pork cutlet Yuho had been eating remained.
“Why did you leave so much? You like pork cutlet, hyung.”
“I guess I ate too much for lunch.”
Yeomin asked worriedly, but Yuho made excuses and reassured Yeomin.
“Huh. You’ll be hungry later though.”
“It’s okay. See you later at the dorm.”
“Yeah. Do well with your acting practice.”
“Yeah. Don’t overdo it either.”
Yuho returned to the 3rd floor office.
An impulse arose to stop by Taylor’s studio where Inhan was, but he didn’t act on it.
Even if it was true that Inhan was avoiding him, he couldn’t demand to know the reason.
Because it was Yuho himself who had pushed Inhan away, telling him to be different.
After that, Yuho continued practicing his lines in the office. While doing so, he clenched his fists several times to keep from crying.
***
[7SPOT_OFFICIAL ⓥ @7SPOT · 3 hours
[Broadcast] Today at 7 PM!
#SevenSpot Yeomin & Inhan will appear on NBS <Music Count>!
Our ONESPOTs, let’s watch ‘To The Top’ first stage live together
#7SPOT #Yeomin #Inhan #yeomin #inhan
#MusicCount #WatchLive #ToTheTop #tothetop
It was the day of Inhan and Yeomin’s unit debut stage.
Yuho spent all morning going in and out of his chat window with Inhan on his phone, and eventually sent Inhan a message first.
Yuho – [Congratulations on today’s unit debut I’ll look forward to the first stage] 9:23 AM
The reply from Inhan came back very briefly an hour later.
Inhan – [Thank you] 10:35 AM
The conversation didn’t continue further.
“I’m going to see the guys today, so you’re going too, right, hyung?”
Raulie asked Yuho out of the blue while eating lunch at the dorm.
Yuho hesitated to answer for a moment. He wondered if it was right to go looking for him first when it was clear Inhan was avoiding him.
“Yeah. Of course I have to go.”
But he soon gave a positive answer. Yuho thought he should stop running away from Inhan now.
The time Yuho and Raulie arrived at the broadcasting station was 2 PM.
Yeomin and Inhan had finished the dry rehearsal early in the morning and were waiting for their turn for camera rehearsal.
“Yuho hyung!”
Spotting Yuho entering the waiting room, Yeomin ran over in one breath and hugged Yuho. Yuho also spread his arms and hugged Yeomin back.
Inhan looked away from the sight of the two for the first time. He even thought it was funny that he only now realized that strangely irritating feeling was jealousy.
“What? Without even contacting us?”
“It’s a surprise.”
It was Raulie who answered Yeomin instead of Yuho. Yeomin asked Raulie with a dissatisfied expression.
“But why did you come empty-handed?”
“Suhyung hyung told me not to buy anything and come.”
“Just coming is enough for Yuho hyung, but you should have come with your hands full.”
“This guy, even when I come.”
At the suddenly continuing fight between same-aged friends, Yuho slowly backed away. The waiting room was already overflowing with all kinds of snacks sent by fans.
“Hyungs. You came?”
Inhan, who had been receiving makeup, belatedly greeted Yuho and Raulie.
Inhan’s face that Yuho was seeing for the first time in a week looked noticeably gaunt. Raulie changed targets and picked a fight with Inhan.
“Hey. Did you lose a lot of weight?”
“I was getting rid of all my muscles.”
“Yeah. You were too threatening.”
“It was because of the drama.”
“Have you been well?”
Yuho spoke to Inhan. Finally Inhan’s gaze turned toward Yuho.
“I’ve been well. You look like you’ve lost some weight too, hyung.”
“Yeah. A little.”
“Yuho hyung has been busy lately preparing for drama auditions. You need to take care of yourself.”
Before Yuho could continue speaking, Raulie interjected into the conversation. Inhan’s gaze also returned to Raulie.
“That’s good. What about you, hyung? Any new news?”
“None, you bastard.”
“Don’t lie. You’re doing a web variety show this time.”
“Why are you asking when you know? You’re annoying.”
Raulie continued his catch-up talk with Inhan, and Yuho stood awkwardly waiting for the two’s conversation to end. That’s when Yeomin picked up a snack box and spoke to Yuho.
“Yuho hyung. Did you eat? Do you want to eat some of this?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“I’ll eat it.”
Yuho refused in one breath, but Raulie readily accepted the offer and headed toward Yeomin.
“Ah. Not you.”
Yeomin only said that, but sat side by side with Raulie at the table and started sharing snacks.
Inhan, who had finished his makeup in the meantime, went and sat on the sofa in the back. And he spoke to Yuho.
“Hyung. Why are you standing there? Come sit here.”
Inhan patted the seat next to him and called Yuho.
“Ah. Yeah.”
Yuho obediently headed toward Inhan.
Yuho was relieved by Inhan’s attitude that was no different from usual. Yeah. This is Jung Inhan.
“We’re seeing each other after a really long time. Right?”
When there were times we didn’t see each other even longer. Yuho started the conversation with pointless words. Inhan immediately responded.
“Right. We haven’t seen each other for a week.”
“I heard you came to the dorm on Sunday.”
“Yes. But I had something urgent so I left without seeing you, hyung.”
The meaningless conversation ended quickly. Feeling like they would only exchange useless conversation and part ways like this, Yuho decided to hurry and bring up the main point.
“What was it you were trying to say that day?”
“What?”
Inhan asked Yuho back, puzzled.
“The day I did a live broadcast with Unseong hyung, that day you said you had something to tell me. What were you trying to say then?”
“Ah.”
Inhan realized and immediately gave Yuho an answer.
“I was going to say that I probably won’t be able to go to the dorm for a while.”
“……Why?”
Yuho was taken aback by Inhan’s unexpected answer. Inhan added an excuse nonchalantly.
“I think I’ll be busy because of unit activities now.”
Yuho found it hard to accept Inhan’s words. No matter how busy he was, he wondered if stopping by the dorm once or twice a month was really that difficult. Yuho tried to stay calm and said to Inhan.
“You could have said something like that anytime.”
“Still. Since you asked me for once, I thought you might be disappointed if I said I couldn’t do it.”
“I’m not the kind of person who gets disappointed over things like that.”
Yuho answered, welling up with emotion. What kind of mindset is it to act disappointingly every time when you know it will be disappointing? Yuho found Inhan cruel.
“I know. You’re not that kind of person, hyung.”
When you don’t know anything, you always say you know everything. Yuho was upset and shut his mouth tightly. Inhan stared at Yuho like that and then changed the subject to ask a question.
“What about meals? Are you eating well?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you wearing multiple layers of clothes?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re still not applying lotion well, right?”
“No. I apply it well.”
“That’s a relief.”
Saying that, Inhan smiled with satisfaction. And he continued speaking.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t get sick and stay well.”
Inhan’s words felt like a farewell. Yuho couldn’t understand why Inhan was saying such things to him.
“Why?”
So Yuho asked Inhan for the reason.
“Why are you saying that? Are you not even going to worry about me anymore if I get sick?”
“As if.”
“Then why are you talking as if we’ll never see each other again?”
“Is it okay for me to worry?”
At Inhan’s question, Yuho was at a loss for words for a moment. Like this, nothing had changed from before. No, it had gotten even worse. Inhan was now even being careful about worrying.
“Hmm? Is that okay?”
“……Yeah.”
And Yuho was still being swayed by Inhan’s every word.
“Worrying is your freedom.”
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“I can’t be nothing in front of you anymore.”
But now Inhan wanted to change that situation.
