✓ | he's in the group. (sunsun)

six.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

so he's real. kim sunoo is real.

park sunghoon stares in awe as the prettiest boy he has ever laid eyes on enters the audition room. his hair is parted center, it's fluffy too, sunghoon notes. his cheeks are dusted pink and he has a light glimmer of eyeshadow on that makes his eyes pop. he looks so cute and cuddly and sunghoon just wants to pinch his cheeks and—

"name?"

"kim sunoo."

"age?"

"twenty-one."

"height?"

sunghoon turns to whisper in jungwon's ear, who happens to be sitting right next to him. "doesn't manager have all of this written down already? why is he making him say all of it?"

jungwon shrugs. "i don't know. procedure? the others did the same thing. weren't you paying attention?"

no, no he was not. sunghoon was far too busy staring off into space and imagining the moment sunoo would walk through the door.

before he knew it, sunoo spoke again. "i'm singing only by leehi."

sunghoon's heart flutters. he loves that song. he can only imagine how perfect it will suit sunoo's voice.

and he's right. the words drip off sunoo's tongue like honey, the melody is sweet and his voice is encapturing. sunghoon rests his head on the palm of his hand, dreamily admiring sunoo's performance. jake nudges jay's shoulder and the two look at sunghoon with a teasing smirk. jay even sneaks a photo on his phone.

"he's amazing," heeseung says to jungwon.

the leader hums in agreement. "better than the video sunghoon showed us."

when sunoo finishes the song, sunghoon breaks into applause. the rest of the room stays silent and the boss flashes him a look. awkwardly, he stops clapping and sinks into his chair, clearing his throat as he does so.

sunoo, on the other hand, goes red, flustered. did the park sunghoon actually clap for him? he didn't imagine it? he isn't given much time to dwell on it because the manager sitting before him is already bombarding him with more questions.

"and now for the dancing segment. what have you prepared?"

perfect timing for sunoo's legs to feel all wobbly. a bead of sweat forms just above his brow. "a segment from stray kids's case 143."

luckily for sunoo, his best friend is the choreographer for the well known boy group. and luckily for sunoo, his best friend was able to teach him the dance to a tee. albeit his lack of confidence in his dancing, sunoo is sure he can't be that bad. it's all or nothing.

the music starts and everything goes well. sunoo counts each step in his head as he performs the chorus of the song he learned. but then it happens.

it's only one beat. hell, maybe less.

but for just that one beat, sunoo stumbles over himself. he recovers quickly, regaining balance and acting as if he hadn't just tripped over his own foot. either way, his breath is caught in his throat for the majority of the chorus up until the end of his performance. when it finally does conclude, sunoo shakily releases the breath he was holding in.

sunghoon saw it all. i mean, anyone with eyes did. and that meant everyone in the room did. but sunghoon has to give it to him, his recovery was smooth, and in his eyes, professional. besides, it was a minor slip up. if they disregarded that fact, sunoo was easily the best singer out of all the auditioners.

and the prettiest.

"thank you. you're free to go."

sunoo bows politely before he's out the door. he can't bare to spare a glance to sunghoon. he's still slightly embarrassed by his mistake. ni-ki is patiently waiting for him outside the door, a look of curiosity in his eyes. "well?! how did it go!?"

the two begin walking back to ni-ki's car. sunoo sighs, his eyes glued to his feet as they walk. "i messed up for a second during the dancing. i really hope it doesn't cost me."

ni-ki purses his lips together. he wishes he had a better idea of how hybe's audition selection process would go, but he's just as much on the outside as sunoo is. all he can do is throw an arm around his best friend's shoulder in support.

"cheer up, sun. you still have a fighting chance. but damn, i wish i saw your clumsy ass trip over your own feet. that sounds hilarious."

sunoo playfully shoves ni-ki's arm off of him, rolling his eyes as ni-ki snorts in laughter.

maybe ni-ki's right. he still has a fighting chance.

͙⁺˚*･༓☾

"sunghoon, i swear to god if you continue to pace around this room i will delete all the photos of sunoo from your camera roll," jungwon exclaims, his voice muffled, but loud enough to be heard from the bed sheets he's currently buried under.

the group was given the instruction to wait on a result by their boss. after the auditions had completed, they all discussed their thoughts and opinions. since it's their group, the boys still have a say in who they want to be their added member. but overall, the company has the final call.

of course, sunghoon insisted on sunoo. the other members backed him up, too. partly for his sake and partly because sunoo was just as talented as sunghoon claimed.

"i'm sorry, i'm sorry," sunghoon cries, flopping onto the bed next to jungwon's. "i'm just nervous."

jungwon flips over in his bed, now facing his panicking friend opposite him. "yeah, i can tell. but you shouldn't worry. i'm sure he'll get picked."

to sunghoon, jungwon doesn't sound very nervous. but he should be. because despite sunoo's incredible talents, sunghoon is still worried about one thing. and it wasn't the fact that sunoo had made a tiny mistake with his dancing.

it's his major crush on the guy.

in any other situation, having an innocent crush on someone like sunoo would be fine. but in a situation where sunghoon isn't allowed to be dating, let alone a man, is anything but fine. he worries that he could get not only himself but sunoo into some sort of trouble. no matter how much he's interested in sunoo, it's not worth ruining the boy's starting career.

so there's only one thing he can do. if sunoo gets into the group, he has to suppress his crush on him. for both their sakes.

too bad it's easier said than done.

"sunghoon? sunghoon? yah!! park sunghoon!"

sunghoon perks up, snapping out of his daydreaming. "h-huh?"

jungwon holds his phone in his hands, the light illuminating the shocked expression on his face. he looks from the phone into the curious eyes across from him before saying,

"sunoo's in. he's in the group."