You Rock My World

I'm not that shitty

Hongjoong's expression softened and he took Seonghwa's hand in his.

"Yeah, only if you're ready."

"I'm sorry it took so long. It's really not a big deal...I just needed to work through it on my own first."

He swallowed, still not confident he wanted to tell Hongjoong. But it was eating him up inside. To know how patient Hongjoong was being when he was hiding things from him. But seeing how much Hongjoong trusted him...keeping Minho a secret hurt more than telling him the truth.

"It's just...there's someone—"

Just then they heard the door open in the stairs a few floors down, and both jumped at the sound. They'd forgotten where they were. Hongjoong turned back to Seonghwa and laughed, causing Seonghwa to smile for the first time since they'd entered the stairwell.

"Sorry—that surprised me," Seonghwa said, brushing a piece of hair out of his eyes.

"It's okay, it surprised me too. I kind of forgot other people use this thing."

Seonghwa noticed Hongjoong's eyes were still staring at him, waiting for him. Waiting for the truth. But he was distracted. The person was heading up the stairs, towards them.

He decided to look over the railing to see who it was.

"Oh, hey Seonghwa! Do you know where I can find Hongjoong? I heard him working on a track earlier in the studio and I didn't want to bother him, but it was really, really good. Do you think he'd want to work on it with me?"

It was Chan, and he'd paused on the third level, his arms crossed over the railing as he spoke.

Hongjoong rushed over to Seonghwa's side, stepping on his tiptoes to see over the edge.

"I'm right here, actually. You really think it's good?"

Seonghwa smiled at the innocent joy spreading across Hongjoong's face. He always looked so cute when he got excited about something.

"Yeah, mate! You've really got talent! So, would you want to come down to the studio with me?"

"Yes! Of course! But—"

Hongjoong looked over at Seonghwa, his eyes flashing with concern. He had been waiting so long for Seonghwa to tell him. And he clearly wanted answers.

"Can he come a little later? We were just discussing new material," Seonghwa asked for him, and Hongjoong gave a thankful smile.

"Well...I've gotta meet with Changbin and Han in a bit to work on the tracks for our new album so I've only got a bit of free time. I guess we could meet up tomorrow if that still works for you?"

Seonghwa knew they were going over JYP's notes from practice all day tomorrow and that he and Hongjoong had decided to put together something special for the members later that night. He would be too busy to meet up tomorrow. And besides, he might lose his spark if he waited too long.

"Why don't you just go? We can talk later," Seonghwa smiled and Hongjoong shook his head.

"It's okay, you come first. I'll stay."

Seonghwa could see the emotion behind his words but he knew this was a big opportunity for Hongjoong. He turned to Chan.

"He'll come with you now then. We'll just chat tonight."

"Awesome! Sorry I've got such a crazy schedule. Hardly leaves time to sleep, you know?" Chan smiled and Seonghwa and Hongjoong both nodded. Being a leader was a difficult task.

Hongjoong moved to go down the stairs but stopped, looking back at Seonghwa.

"Go! It's fine. I promise we'll talk later."