onlylee
can we meet up to practice tomorrow

onlylee
so gyuvin can catch up

ihoardsnacks5
omg u would do that for me 🥺🥺

belllrain
it's not for you

belllrain
it's so we don't embarrass ourselves cause of you

ihoardsnacks5
??? JONGWOO

belllrain
sorry 😘

hearts4junhyeon
who made seunghwan leader ⁉️⁉️⁉️

onlylee
??? mr choi did

onlylee
you were all there when it happened 😭

keititty
and for what 😒😒

onlylee
shut up keita you're like 4'0

keititty
AND I'M STILL BETTER THAN U

gymbro6000
guys

onlylee
I COULD LITERALLY SLAM DUNK YOU

keititty
AND I COULD CLIMB U LIKE A TREE

gymbro6000
guys

onlylee
WHAT ARE YOU???? A SQUIRREL????

keititty
YEAH

keititty
I'LL GIVE U RABIES

gymbro6000
GUYS 😭😭😭😭😭

hearts4junhyeon
MAKE WAY

hearts4junhyeon
GUNWOOK IS TALKING!!!!!!

hearts4junhyeon
seunghwan can't even listen to his team 🙄☝️

gymbro6000
thx junhyeon

belllrain
what do you need to say my son❤️

gymbro6000
what time r we practicing 😭😭

onlylee
oh yeah

onlylee
idk in the evening

keititty
BRO CAN'T EVEN PICK A TIME

keititty
WORST LEADER!!!!

onlylee
??? shut the hell up

belllrain
we can do like 7pm

ihoardsnacks5
ya sounds good

hearts4junhyeon
LOOK AT THIS

hearts4junhyeon
EVEN JONGWOO LEADS BETTER THAN U

belllrain
??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY "EVEN JONGWOO" BITCH

hearts4junhyeon
😘😘😘

belllrain
i hate you ❤️

onlylee
ok come at 7 or die

—

For some reason, Gyuvin was nervous. It had been a long time since he'd practiced properly with his group since the incident, and the choreography he already knew became blurry in his mind.

"Hey guys," he awkwardly said, poking his head into the practice room to see everyone else stretching.

He was immediately attacked with a hug from Gunwook, who was acting as if he hadn't seen Gyuvin in years (he was always in a good mood, so who could blame him?). "Hi buddy!"

"Come stretch," spoke a voice that could easily be identified as Seunghwan's. He always had such a calm voice that could put anyone at ease (maybe that's why he's the leader, but he still sucks at making decisions).

Gyuvin found himself being stretched out like one of those toys with long limbs on the floor by Junhyeon. "I'm not that flexible!" he managed to breathe out, his arms stretching as Junhyeon pulled him, his leg muscles feeling as though they were going to rip.

"No!" Junhyeon argued. "You need to stretch more!" His grip on Gyuvin's hands tightened as he pulled the younger towards him.

"Junhyeon!" another voice—Jongwoo's—shouted as he clapped a hand onto Junhyeon's back. "We're here to practice, not kill Gyuvin."

"Literally," Keita chimed in. "I think we've stretched enough."

Soon, the group got to work, teaching Gyuvin the rest of the choreography that he missed and fixing the formations to fit him in properly. All went smoothly for the most part, however Keita seemed rather off to him; maybe it was a lack of sleep, (a lot of the dancers never really slept well, as the studios were usually open all night) but Gyuvin had a hunch that it was because of something else.

Practice went on for what felt like over two hours, and everyone was swamped. Originally, Gunwook had left to go the bathroom, but it caused a domino effect, with Keita leaving next, then Gyuvin, then Junhyeon, and finally, Seunghwan. Jongwoo was left alone in the studio, telling everyone he'd catch up with them later.

Gyuvin tried to look for Keita, but he disappeared before anyone could have a chance to find him at all. Instead, Gyuvin caught up with Junhyeon, who was taking a trip to the convenience store for water and snacks.

In came Gunwook to the studio looking as pale as a ghost, however, it wasn't empty, as Jongwoo was still in there, sitting on the floor.

"Something wrong?" he asked, patting the empty spot on the floor next to him, to which Gunwook awkwardly accepted, taking a seat next to the older.

"Um," he started. "Please don't tell anyone."

Jongwoo smiled; it was a smile that could make anyone trust him in a heartbeat. "Secret's safe with me."

"Okay, well..." Gunwook trailed off, tracing the tattoo on Jongwoo's forearm with concentration. "Ita confessed to me just now, and I have no idea what to do."

"How do you feel about him?" asked Jongwoo, shifting his arm onto Gunwook's lap to make things more comfortable for the both of them. "I know that you're very close, but do you see him romantically or just as your best friend?"

Gunwook sighed, running his free hand through his hair. "Is it bad that I see him just as a friend?"

He could tell that Jongwoo wanted to laugh at how naive Gunwook was, but he kept it in, instead offering an empathetic smile. "Not at all. You can't control your feelings."

"Okay, but that leads me to my next point," Gunwook suddenly spoke after some silence, visibly choosing the words he wanted to say carefully in his mind. "I don't think I've ever felt romantically about someone, like, at all."

"Oh, I know someone who went through something like this," Jongwoo replied. He was only two years older than him, yet he had an old and wise mind that Gunwook envied. Sure, he was academically smart, but he often fell short when it came to emotionally related things like this.

Gunwook seemed rather surprised, finally looking up to make eye contact with Jongwoo. "So I'm not broken?"

Laughing softly, Jongwoo shook his head, placing a hand on Gunwook's back, rubbing it slowly. "Don't be silly, of course you're not broken."

"I just feel kind of weird," explained Gunwook. "'Cause everyone around me is getting into a relationship and I'm just like, 'why can't I do that?'" Tears suddenly filled his eyes, threatening to spill out.

"It's okay to feel weird, but honestly, Gunwook, I think you might be aromantic," suggested Jongwoo,  bringing his other hand up to pat the younger's head.

Gunwook made a face of confusion. "Aro... huh? I'm what?"

"Aromantic," Jongwoo chuckled. "It means you feel little to no romantic attraction, and that's okay. You don't need to have a partner just to 'fit in' or whatever. Platonic love is way more important in my opinion. You know Wumuti? He's aromantic, and he often says that it's a lot better."

"Oh," Gunwook said, looking as if he came across an amazing revelation. "I think that sounds about right, then. I don't really feel romance."

Jongwoo, with that same, caring smile, nodded. "In that case, I hope I helped."

He sprung up from the ground, pulling Jongwoo by the arm to make him stand up as well. "Thank you, Jongwoo, you did." Gunwook embraces the older tightly, a bright smile on his face. "I think I owe someone an apology, though."

"You do that," Jongwoo says, squishing Gunwook's cheeks with his hands. "If you need anything else, I'm here."

With a nod, Gunwook rushes to the door. "You got it!" he exclaims. "And you're way better of a leader than Seunghwan is!" Gunwook adds, leaving the studio with a gentle click of the door.

He had no idea where he was going. Keita hadn't brought his phone with him, with how Gunwook spotted it in the studio, so he only had his intuition (that barely works) to go off of. The memories he shared with Keita suddenly flooded his mind, thinking of how they've always been such close friends.

Gunwook and Keita had met in high school, and since then, they've become inseparable. For Gunwook's last birthday, Keita had gotten him a sun-shaped earring that matched his own, and Gunwook hadn't taken them off since; it was that sentimental to him. He felt absolutely awful for rejecting Keita, but he had no other choice, so the most Gunwook could do was hope that his friend would understand.

Turning the corner in the hall, Gunwook finally came across Keita, who was drinking from one of the water fountains. "Uh, Hey," he called out, causing the shorter to look up with a smile.

"What's up?" he asked, motioning for Gunwook to come closer.

Keita had a habit of acting like things he wanted to forget never happened, so it wasn't a surprise to Gunwook, yet he still let out a sigh. "Look, I'm sorry, really." He reached out to hold Keita's hands. "I just spoke to Jongwoo, and I think I just came to the realization that I'm aromantic. I know I should've spoken to you about it instead, but you know, I was scared and ran away from the situation."

"Hey, come on, don't cry, now," Keita said, bringing a hand up to Gunwook's cheek, wiping a stray tear away. "It's okay, I promise. You can't control how you feel, and staying best friends with you is more than enough, if you don't feel awkward about it, that is."

Gunwook let out a laugh, pulling Keita into a hug. "Stupid, I'd never feel awkward with you. You're my best friend, like you said." He gently patted the shorter's head. "I love you bro, platonically."

"I love you too," replied Keita, his wide grin being heard through his words. "Platonically."

"What's this?" asked a third voice rather loudly, ruining the emotional moment the two were sharing.

Gunwook almost jumped away from the hug, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the tears that were falling. "We're crying 'cause you're ugly," he said, laughing at Gyuvin when he made a face of offence.

"How dare you?" exclaimed Gyuvin, punching Gunwook's arm in a playful manner. "Can't believe this!"

"We can't believe you're that ugly either!" Keita said, adding fuel to the fire with a laugh.

Brushing off the sudden violation, Gyuvin placed his hands on Keita and Gunwook's shoulders. "Feel better soon, guys, okay?" he said, patting his two friends a few times before walking into the direction of the studio.

Making eye contact with each other, Gunwook and Keita burst into laughter. "That's the guy we advocated for?" asked Keita through laughs.

"Worst mistake of my life, trust me," Gunwook joked, clearly starting to feel better. "Should we head back too?"

Keita just nodded, linking arms with the taller as they made their way back to the studio, making jokes and giggling to each other.

Led by Seunghwan once again, practice continued, with Gyuvin managing to catch up with everyone in the span of a day. Although the formations were still not perfect, it was better than nothing, and everyone was left feeling good about the performance.

"Good job guys!" Seunghwan called out, walking over to the speakers to turn off the music. "Extra good job to Gyuvin, 'cause he worked his ass off to get us back on track."

Seunghwan's praise was followed by applause from the other members of the group, with Junhyeon giving him a tight hug (he also tried to pick him up, but Gyuvin was a little bit too tall to make it work, so Junhyeon settled for violently shaking him around instead).

Gunwook and Gyuvin left together, as their dorm rooms were fairly close to each other. He wasn't sure if it was his place, but Gyuvin had the worst urge to ask what had happened with Keita. Gunwook seemed to have picked up on it, though, so he began talking.

"Long story short, Ita confessed to me, I got scared, I spoke to Jongwoo, found out I was aromantic, apologized to Ita, and now we're all good." He spoke fast, but Gyuvin managed to keep up with his pace as best as he could.

"What the hell?" Gyuvin exclaimed. "I'm the third person to know about your discovery?"

Gunwook playfully shoved Gyuvin as they walked, with the latter doing the same back to him. "Hey, at least you're the only one who knows from our friend group! You're who I was thinking about telling after I made up with Ita."

"Aw, really?" Gyuvin cooed, wrapping an arm around Gunwook and pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

"Bitch, don't make me take it back!"

onlylee
next time we need to record our practice

onlylee
cause i'm sensing that some of you are not in sync with the rest of us 😒

hearts4junhyeon
ya it's u who's out of sync!!!

onlylee
??? what the hell

onlylee
kicking junhyeon out guys sorry!

hearts4junhyeon
ok fuck u 👿👿

onlylee
no but actually

onlylee
good job everyone

onlylee
we don't have too much time left so we have to make the most out of it

onlylee
i'll beg mr choi for some more class time

belllrain
yes please 😭😭

ihoardsnacks5
if we all gang up on him he'll have no choice 🔥

keititty
?? we are NOT threatening our teacher

ihoardsnacks5
WHO SAID WE WERE DOING THAT????

keititty
U DID??

ihoardsnacks5
KEITA IT'S NOT OK TO LIE

gymbro6000
he might be sick of us begging him 🤕🤕

gymbro6000
cause every day i'd bring up letting gyuvin back in

onlylee
ok but wouldn't he want the best for our performance

onlylee
he has to give us time 😢

hearts4junhyeon
if not we can just kidnap him and do what we want❤️

belllrain
we're not doing that 😭😭😭

belllrain
why do you guys have the worst ideas

hearts4junhyeon
ok mr smarty pants

hearts4junhyeon
what's UR idea ⁉️🤨

belllrain
idk asking him normally?

hearts4junhyeon
sounds boring

keititty
junhyeon

keititty
do u want to perform or go to jail😭😭

hearts4junhyeon
idk but we could totally pull a victorious and perform in jail

gymbro6000
WE ⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

keititty
THE FUCK DO U MEAN BY WE

hearts4junhyeon
WOWWW

hearts4junhyeon
HAVEN'T U GUYS HEARD OF "IF UR GOING DOWN SO AM I"

onlylee
normally i'm all for that

onlylee
but not about jail ????

hearts4junhyeon
ok haters 😒😒

ihoardsnacks5
how are u feeling ❤️❤️

gymbro6000
i'm all good ‼️ feeling sm better

ihoardsnacks5
omg thank goodness

ihoardsnacks5
i'm happy ur learning more about urself 🔥

ihoardsnacks5
i know it's a longgggg but fulfilling process

gymbro6000
ME TOO!!! i feel like i know myself so much better now

gymbro6000
and nothing is awkward with ita either

gymbro6000
living the life rn 🔥🔥🔥

ihoardsnacks5
hell yeah bro!!!

ihoardsnacks5
if u ever need anything i'm always here for u

ihoardsnacks5
i never want u to go through something alone

ihoardsnacks5
and i'm sure keita would say the same thing

gymbro6000
thanks gyuvin ❤️❤️ love u lots

gymbro6000
i'm so lucky to have the 2 of the bestest friends in the whole world

ihoardsnacks5
omg i'm 1 of them??? 🥺🥺

gymbro6000
no

gymbro6000
one is eumppappa and the other is ita

ihoardsnacks5
SHUT UP!!!

gymbro6000
lol

—

not the original ggang team but i wanted an excuse to bring in my favs from bp okay 😭😭