"But after doing it once, we'll head back to our flat right away."
"Yes! I like Suan-hyung the most, after all!"
I was relieved to see that Ryu Sunho had returned to normal.
He was definitely his best self when he was jumping around.
I swallowed my laughter and told him to turn on the music.
"Hyunggg, I think Jitae-hyung took the speaker with him," he replied with obvious disappointment on his face.
Tsk. Park Jitae, you unhelpful bastard. I clicked my tongue and suggested to Ryu Sunho the best alternative in our current situation.
"I'll sing it while I dance. Let's coordinate our choreography to my voice and then we can go."
"Suan-hyung, you're really the best!"
Looking at Ryu Sunho, whose mood was swinging from depression to mania in a matter of moments, I truly felt as if I was owning a dog.
I watched Ryu Sunho in the mirror as he got into position and began to hum the instrumentals.
.
.
I repeatedly spat out jagged huffs and puffs. After singing the song live while simultaneously dancing a highly technical choreography, it felt like I had gone through extreme hell.
Trying to sing while doing a backflip at the end was especially straining. I guess my stamina isn't up to par with my musical abilities, I thought as I urged Ryu Sunho to leave while taking heavy breaths.
I really, really like you, hyung, Ryu Sunho laughed happily as he picked up the bags.
"Stop being silly."
I answered nonchalantly as I turned off the lights and took my bag off Ryu Sunho before leaving the dance studio.
We passed the dance studio and walked down the corridor. I was collecting my breath as we waited in front of the elevators when—
"Ah, Suan-hyung! We forgot to turn off the camera!"
For a moment, I couldn't understand what he was talking about. When I tilted my head and stared at Ryu Sunho, he suddenly turned red and flung his head away. "The reality camera that was on the ceiling. I'll go turn it off!" he said before sprinting towards the dance studio.
Ah, shit. The stupid live singing…
I should've just ignored him and left. Why did I have to be so nosy?
I'd gone mad in the moment. I blamed myself as I slid my fingers into my hair. I could feel the sweat on my fingertips as I ruffled through and pulled on my hair.
They'll edit it out… right?
When we exited the agency building, the sky was already dark. It seemed like it was going to rain soon—the humid air and hazy clouds had hidden the moon, and only a small ray of moonlight escaped the flock of clouds.
As I walked the street leading to our flat with Ryu Sunho, I checked the time on my phone. The screen read 11 p.m.
The street that led to our flat was a large main street, and it was crowded with people who were enjoying their nightlife. Drenched in sweat among the vivid neon lights, we seemed to be the misfits. Every time we passed another road, I could feel the gaze of the crowd.
Oh, can they smell the sweat?
I raised my arms and sniffed myself, worried about the staring eyes. However, I couldn't smell any sweat over the thick winter jacket.
"Hyunggg, what are you doing? You suddenly started sniffing!"
Perhaps because we had spent so long being closely followed by the camera—although it had only been a day—I felt a little strange as I walked with him to the flat just by ourselves, without any cameras.
"It's nothing. More importantly, are you ready for school tomorrow?"
I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I was sniffing myself just in case I smelled like sweat. Instead, I changed the subject as if it were nothing.
"Not yet. I can do that when I get back to our flat. I did prepare my uniform and my backpack, though."
It seemed as if he were trying to say that it was no big deal and that I didn't need to worry about it.
Now that I think, he did say that his mother passed away. Had he taken care of everything by himself until he was this old?
Ryu Sunho's hand swung back and forth in time with his walking gait. It somehow looked sorrowful. I reached out and grabbed Sunho's hand.
"Hyunggg…"
'I want to give him at least something,' I thought as I looked around at the brightly lit storefronts.
"Let's go, Sunho!"
I dragged Ryu Sunho, who was put in a daze by the sudden hand-holding, into R Stationeries that was open until late. I glanced at the stack of baskets near the entrance and picked one up as I approached the writing utensils rack.
"Hyunggg, why are we here? Do you have something that you need to buy?"
"Suan-hyung?"
I ignored Ryu Sunho's questions and carefully examined each stationery as I began to place them in the basket.
I was already nosy once, so it couldn't hurt to do it twice.
I looked around at the notebooks and put multiple bundles into the basket. I picked up many different coloured pens and tested them one-by-one on the testing notepad, which was doodled on by other people, before placing them into the basket.
"Suan-hyung? Are you trying to buy them for me?"
Since I was continuing to ignore him as I shopped for stationery used in school one-by-one, even the densest person could probably tell.
Ever since I returned in time, Ryu Sunho made me pry needlessly. Something about him just seemed to catch my attention.
"Yeah. I wanted to do something for you, but this was the only thing I could think of…"
I slurred off my sentence to continue picking out stationery to place in the basket.
"Suan-hyung, you really are the Suan-hyung that I used to know, right? To be honest, it feels like you're a completely different person from before because you're suddenly so nice to me and are looking out for me…"
So I'm kinda wondering if you're sick or something, hyung. They say that people change just before they die. So I'm a little worried, he added.
"I'm not gonna die. I'm super healthy, and I am the Lee Suan that you knew. Don't say such weird stuff. Do you need anything else?"
I felt a little guilty. I was indeed Lee Suan, but I may not have been the Lee Suan that he was talking about.
Before I knew it, the basket was filled with stationery to the point where its weight made it difficult to hold with one hand.
The wrist that was strained while practising all day long as I supported Park Jitae's weight began to hurt once again because of the heavy basket.
"I'll hold it, hyung."
Just as I was staring at my visibly shaky wrist, Ryu Sunho's hand popped into my sight.
These are mine, anyway. I wanna hold it. He snatched the weighty basket off my hand, walked over to the cashier with his long legs, and placed the basket on the counter. He turned around once again and shouted, Hyung! Hurry over!
Ryu Sunho's voice echoed the stationery shop, from which the only sound being produced was the quiet background music. All the customers' eyes gathered in one place.
A group of people who looked like students were giggling amongst themselves while taking pictures with their phones.
Oh… right, we were drenched in sweat. Damn it, this is super embarrassing…
I felt my face flush red. I lowered my head and hurriedly walked—practically ran—over to the counter where Ryu Sunho was standing.
I quickly paid for the items and handed two big bags of stationery to Ryu Sunho. I swiftly left the stationery shop and began to run towards our flat.
"Hyunggg! Slow down a little! You're gonna fall if you keep running like that!"
Despite the fact that the street was quite crowded, Ryu Sunho's booming voice carried loudly across the heads of the crowd.
Ah… please, let's leave quietly.
If we get our pictures or videos taken like back then, people these days will post on their social media and tag us as something like street harassers or stationery shop harassers!
I quickly went up to Ryu Sunho and pulled him by his full arms. We continued to walk at a fast pace, close to that of running, until we arrived at our flat.
If we get labelled as harassers on social media, I'll never look at that doggy ever again.
"Suan, it's time to wake up."
Due to yesterday's overpractice, my whole body was screaming for help. I felt the sharp pangs of muscle aches like needles all over my body. My last memory was of me dragging my exhausted body back to the flat and lying down on the bed as soon as I had finished showering.
It seemed as if extensive amounts of exhaustion had racked up in my body and I had practically fallen unconscious similar to blacking out from overdrinking. I assumed that I fell asleep right away despite having lain on the bed in an uncomfortable position.
I could distinctly make out Seo Yoon-hyung's voice as he tried to wake me up, but I couldn't get up easily.
"Suan? You have to wake up. The sun is already up and shining outside."
Seo Yoon-hyung stroke my hair with his hand as if he were comforting a child, waking me up in a gentle voice.
Even though my brain was awake, my body didn't move as my conscience wanted it to. It felt like I had lead hanging from every part of my body.
"Suan?"
When I finally lifted my heavy eyelids after a long-lasted effort to wake myself up, I found Seo Yoon-hyung smiling warmly at me.
"Are you awake? You must be tired."
I nodded and tried to sit up; knowing that had only barely opened my eyes, however, I couldn't get up so easily.
I guess it's somewhat of a relief that my head would turn as I tell it to.
"I guess you're having a hard time waking up. It must be because you overworked yourself yesterday."
Seo Yoon-hyung stared at me worriedly and pulled my upper body up by my hand.
Before I knew it, my body had sat up and I was staring back at Seo Yoon-hyung.
This hyung is as strong as Park Jitae. Are all tall people as strong as they?
A sudden curiosity rose within me, so I began to do some light stretches. It felt as if I were getting pounded everywhere when I slowly raised my arm. I repeatedly made and un-made my fists, rotated my wrists, flexed my elbow, and rotated my shoulders in an attempt to relax my body that had stiffened while I slept. Then, I gently grabbed Seo Yoon-hyung's upper arm as he continued to watch me.
Hmm. His muscle tone doesn't feel too different from mine… is it his grip strength or his muscular strength that differentiates him?
Seo Yoon-hyung, who had been still even when I had touched his upper arm, flinched in surprise when I tried to check if he had toned chest muscles and jumped up onto his feet as he grabbed my hand.
"S-Suan?"
Judging from his face that was stained with shock, he seemed to have been taken quite aback. He let go of my hand.
We're both boys, anyway. It's not as if it's gonna wear off just because I touched it.
"Do you dislike my touch that much, hyung?"
I asked as I tilted my head, staring at his eyes that were widened in surprise.
"N-N-No! It's not that I dislike it… i-it's just…"
Seo Yoon-hyung didn't seem to be able to continue. He breathed out heavily and said, Stop teasing me and drink some water before coming out, as he fled the room.
Hmm, seems like that surprised Seo Yoon-hyung. I only touched him because I was curious.
When I looked around the room as I drank the water that Seo Yoon-hyung had brought me, I noticed that Park Jitae's and Seo Yoon-hyung's beds were empty.
I finished the cup of water and stretched my back. I approached their beds and rotated my ankles. After I had put down the cup, I repeatedly flexed and extended my knees and finally did a big full-body stretch. I picked the cup back up so that I could take it out.
With the cup in one hand, I stepped out of my room and into the living room. Oh Rion was reading a book on the couch.
I glanced at Oh Rion, who was immersing himself in the book, gave a short wave at the moving camera that was placed near the television, walked into the bathroom, and turned on the sink.
I quickly washed my face and picked up my toothbrush. I squeezed out some toothpaste onto it, brushed my teeth, and turned on the shower to wash my hair.
Since I showered before going to bed, I guess I can just give myself a quick rinse.
My body was still heavy, and it seemed like I'd be suffering from muscle aches for a while. I pulled out a towel and sloppily wiped the moisture off my face. I ruffled my wet hair with the towel and looked into the mirror, easily noticing the dark eye bags against my pale skin.
If I overwork myself like yesterday, it feels like I'd be stuck in a hospital getting an IV in no time…