connected|chan

-four-

"Hey, Chan?" SeungMin mumbles softly, standing in the doorway of Chan's studio. His eyes fall on EunHye peacefully sleeping on the couch behind him.

Chan is oblivious to SeungMin's arrival. His headphones and loud music block out his voice. SeungMin quietly slips into the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. Swallowing hard, he wraps his arms around the older from behind.

"Holy fuck—" Chan jumps a good foot in the air as he rips his headphones off.

"You scared the shit out of me." Chan relaxes the moment he identifies the owner of the arms.

"I'm sorry—about everything—scaring you, getting snippy earlier, yelling at you during practice—all of it." SeungMin mumbles, his unnecessary actions had been weighing on him ever since practice ended. He fought with himself over how to apologize until he just gave up and opted to make it spontaneous.

"It's alright, Seung." Chan spins around in his chair as SeungMin's arms fall back down to his sides.

"I was out of line. You're my hyung—I can't treat you like that even if I am upset. You've given up so much for us and I shouldn't have expected you to give up even more." SeungMin explains his thinking as clearly as he can.

"Thanks, Seung. I appreciate it—really. I'm not mad at you. I get it. I understand what you were going through—so I don't blame you. Yeah—you were a bit impulsive during practice, but it happens." Chan can't hide his smile as he wraps his arms around SeungMin in hopes of returning the undeniable love between the two of them.

"Is she okay?" SeungMin glances back at EunHye.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. She's just tired. I'm assuming you guys put all the dots together—she had a meltdown this morning—that's why we were so late. Took awhile to get her calmed down." Chan follows SeungMin's gaze to her peaceful face.

"Was it over me?" SeungMin asks hesitantly.

"I'd be lying if I said you weren't part of it. She was upset with herself for not being able to make it. I'm pretty sure she was mad at me for telling her she couldn't, even though she already knew she couldn't. She was still bleeding. We had to get it under control before she could even think of leaving and that just pushed her over the edge." Chan lays it all out for SeungMin. He doesn't mind talking about it with them, but only when she isn't listening.

"Did you ask her?" SeungMin questions, trying to steer away from the conversation they'd been having.

"No—I didn't ask yet." Chan shakes his head.

"We leave tomorrow—you said you were going to ask her last night." SeungMin grows a bit concerned thinking about how critical it is for her to come tomorrow. If she can't, they won't have anyone to fill the role their performance relies on.

"I know. I know I said I was going to, but she was already so exhausted when I got there. I didn't want to drop something else on her that'd only increase her stress. I promise she'll do it. I'll ask her when I take her home." Chan sighs in defeat. He'd really gone over with asking her in mind, but she looked so defeated when he'd gotten there, he couldn't do it.

"When's that gonna be? She's gotta have time to pack if she's going. You still haven't packed yet either." SeungMin steals a glance at the clock above Chan's desk.

"Soon. I'll take her home soon." Chan promises, getting to his feet to start collecting his things.

"You're gonna stay the night with her again, aren't you?" SeungMin mumbles, his words just barely audible.

"Yeah—probably." Chan confirms softly, well aware it's the last thing SeungMin wants to hear, but not having the guts to lie to him.

"Make sure she gets enough sleep." SeungMin mutters before disappearing just as quickly as he arrived.