You Rock My World

Joongie?

Hongjoong sprinted but just barely grazed the handle as the door slammed in his face. Unable to slow his momentum, he crashed into the wall, falling back on his heels. He winced and leaned back onto the railing behind him for support.

What happened in there??

He knew the air was tense but he never thought Seonghwa would fight like that with someone from another group. It wasn't like him.

He hadn't caught any of it from the couch so he had no clue what they were talking about. He almost wished he'd gone to check on Jisung so he would've had a chance.

But Felix had needed him. Or at least someone.

But now Seonghwa needed him. And here he was, in the stairwell, with a sore tailbone and a lot of confusion.

He knew he should give Seonghwa a little space but his heart ached just thinking about his sad expression as he walked by.

He couldn't just do nothing. It was time to help.

He slowly made his way up to his feet and moved to open the door. But the handle didn't turn.

He glanced at the handle and remembered he needed his key card. Laughing at himself, he dug in his pocket to pull it out.

But it wasn't there.

Panicked, he searched again, rifling through every one of his pockets a thousand times. But it wasn't there. He didn't take it with him.

He sighed, remembering the comm system and went to press the button but the door opened before he could. He turned in surprise to see Yunho and Mingi popping their heads in.

"Hi," he managed, not sure how else to respond.

"Hi," they said in unison.

Hongjoong went to move past them but the stopped him before he could.

"Ah ha, very funny. I have to go check on Seonghwa—"

"Are you...okay, hyung?" Mingi asked, so sincerely it hurt Hongjoong's heart.

"Yeah, yeah of course I am! What makes you say that?"

Mingi looked at the ground.

"Well...it's just—we saw Seonghwa hyung and..."

"...connected the dots," Yunho finished.

Hongjoong realized what they were thinking and quickly shook his head.

"Oh—no, no, no! He didn't—we didn't—I'm fine! He just got into it with one of the members of Stray Kids—I'm okay!"

Their expressions quickly shifted to concern at his statement.

"Someone from Stray Kids fought with Seonghwa??" Yunho asked.

"Is he going to get in trouble?" Mingi followed up.

"No! I think Bang Chan settled it—he won't take any action."

"What happened? Was he being mean to Seonghwa?!" Yunho's eyes flashed with anger Hongjoong had never seen before.

"No—I don't think so! Well—I'm not really sure, I didn't hear any of it—which is why I need to go talk to him! So please," he begged, looking up at the two of them.

The nodded to each other and stepped aside. Hongjoong smiled gratefully and rushed inside, heading straight for his room. He saw Wooyoung sitting outside, his back to the door.

"—though you're not responding, I know you can hear me. It's okay, hyung. I'm here for you."

Hongjoong felt his heart warm at the sight. Wooyoung saw him and started to move out of the way but Hongjoong stopped him. Instead, he sat down next to him, putting an arm over his shoulder. Wooyoung turned to him in surprise and Hongjoong just smiled, giving him a tight squeeze. He held a finger to his lips to tell Wooyoung not to say he was there.

Wooyoung nodded, continuing to talk to Seonghwa.

"Hyung, I know you don't want to talk right now and that's okay. I'll be waiting out here, whenever you're ready."

Just then, Wooyoung stood and nodded at Hongjoong. Hongjoong realized his plan and smiled. The three younger members made their way to Yunho and Mingi's room and closed the door.

Hongjoong listened to Seonghwa's shaky breathing as the hallway went quiet. It took everything in him to not break open the door and sweep him up in his arms. Seonghwa wanted to be alone. So he'd let him.

After a few minutes of sitting outside the door, Hongjoong's mind wandered back to the events of that night. Specifically, his revelation.

That Seonghwa had a crush on Minho.

Though he'd been certain this was what he'd been hiding—and he honestly thought it was kind of endearing—the fight between them had entirely changed his mind.

Seonghwa must have known Minho before they'd gotten here.

Maybe he'd been a trainee at his old company and they'd never gotten along? Or maybe they met at the rock festival? With the number of times he and Seonghwa had bumped into each other in that big hotel, it was certainly possible he'd also bumped into Minho.

He just wasn't sure why Seonghwa never told him.

How long had he known Minho was Lee Know from Stray Kids? When he did his research?

No. Otherwise he wouldn't have reacted so much when he saw him at dinner. That must have been when he realized.

So he'd known someone they'd been chatting with all week from his past and he couldn't tell Hongjoong?

It just didn't make sense. He thought Seonghwa trusted him. He thought they told each other everything. He knew Seonghwa was pretty guarded but he'd let Hongjoong in before.

So why was this different?

Just then, he heard the lock click and felt the door move behind him. He jumped to his feet and turned around to see a puffy-eyed Seonghwa.

"Joongie?"