CONNECT |Enhypen's 8th member|

Chapter Sixteen: A Day Out

The next morning, the twelve I-Lander's gathered downstairs to hear about their next mission. "Chemistry test?" Sunoo read aloud.

There were two songs: 'Flicker', and 'Dive Into You'. Heeseung, being in first place got to choose not only the song, but the six members who would join him.

"I'll choose...K hyung, Jake, Jungwon, Sunghoon, and Daisy."

She nodded in acceptance—she had a feeling he would choose her. After an eventful bout of Rock Paper Scissors, team Flicker was given the large practice room and began discussing parts.

"I personally want part two," K stated. "I think Heeseung would fit part one well."

"Ah...okay," Heeseung replied uncomfortably. Daisy pursed her lips, feeling the tension in the room. K essentially assigned everyone's parts without much say from everyone else, who found themselves intimidated by the eldest I-Lander.

Well, except for Daisy. She'd already butted heads with him before, so she was less afraid of speaking her mind. She didn't want to cause issues though, so she remained quiet as they began practice.

They began learning the choreography with K remaining in the lead, everyone else following closely behind even when they had disagreements about moves.

"Oppa, the windows aren't quite right. Can you move to the left a bit?" K glanced back at Daisy and then in the mirror, adjusting slightly.

"Here?"
"Yeah, that's better."

She felt the other boys' eyes on her and shrugged in their direction. When they finally took a break, Jake and Jungwon approached her. "How can you talk to hyung so easily?" Daisy hummed in response to Jungwon's question, tapping her finger to her chin.

"When we were in the 'DNA' team, there was some conflict with K oppa and Niki. I helped defend Niki and talked to oppa about his tone when speaking to us." She turned back to them, running a hand through her hair. "You kinda have to just say what you think, as long as you say it respectfully."

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"You're still here?"

Jake turned to his girlfriend's voice from his place in the center of the practice room. "It's nearly 3am, you should rest." He shook his head, taking a sip of water and slightly forcing a smile.

"I'm alright. I wanna make sure I don't hold our team back." Daisy frowned, walking over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"No one thinks you're holding us back. Heeseung oppa chose you because he knows you're capable, just like the rest of us do too."

Jake's smile dropped as he leaned his head into the crook of her neck, her arms wrapping around his waist as he did so. He'd felt pressured lately as he became more and more aware that others had more training than he did.

"I'm really worried," he admitted. "And I miss home. I miss my mom. I don't wanna let her down."

She squeezed his shirt in her hands, pulling him closer. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I wish I could take your pain away or say I know what it's like, but I don't." She pulled away to cup his cheeks in her hands.

"But what I do know is that you won't let anyone down, Jake. I've only known you for a few months and I care so much about you, so I know for a fact your mom must love you more than you can comprehend. You've gotta take care of yourself, though. Neither of us wants our Jake to collapse in exhaustion, so let's go to bed okay?"

He smiled just a bit, making her smile back. "Okay," he agreed, walking hand in hand with her toward the staircase. "Why did you come down here anyway?"