hyunjin ~ scars

~ pt.2 ~

~~~~~~~~

With their last day off, they'd decided to release something fun and silly for STAY before they announced their holiday album. They were presently in the practice room, getting ready to film a part-switch version of Thunderous. The one they'd done for Back Door had been hilarious and STAY had loved it, so they wanted to do it again. Chan had switched parts with Hyunjin, Changbin with Seungmin, Han with Jeongin, and Minho with Felix.

They'd chosen to do it in just one take for maximum comedic chaos, and everything in the dance studio was full of energy,

Everyone that is, except Hyunjin. Seungmin noticed this while Chan and Minho were busy setting up the camera. They didn't need any staff in the room to film, as they thought they were just filming some quick, funny content for their fans.

Seungmin went over to his hyung cautiously. He too was conscious of how different Hyunjin had become since his hiatus, although he had yet to speak to the others about it. Gone was the goofy hying he loved to tease and joke around with, and whose talents always amazed him. The new Hyunjin never showed the bright smile Seungmin remembered fondly from the endless hours his ever-patient older brother used to spend going over choreography with him and helping him improve his dancing.

And even when he came back and went back to appearing in their content again, he was weirdly quiet and withdrawn. Like when they filmed for Mixtape: OH; all the others were constantly hyping up and encouraging him, but all they got in response were tiny half smiles and small nods. They thought Hyunjin would be happy, ecstatic even, to get back to their regular schedules, but that wasn't the case.

It was as if, Seungmin thought, someone had sort of turned Hyunjin down, like one would the volume on a TV. He was just...less of himself. Most of all, Seungmin had noticed noticed how Hyunjin didn't cling to the members anymore.

STAY knew Felix liked hugs, but behind the camera Hyunjin was just as bad; always flopping on top of someone or latching onto them for back hugs. It'd been... a really long time since Seungmin had seen him do that.

So when he went to him, he made sure Hyunjin saw him approach so he didn't get startled or anything. Not only had be been noticeable avoiding initiating physical touch, he had also been jumpy and tense whenever he was around the other members, especially the members of the maknae line.

He noticed the moment Hyunjin saw him because of how his body tensed a little and he started fidgeting with his fingers.

"Hyung? You... you okay?" he said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Yeah... just... still kinda tired I guess," Hyunjin said. His tone was casual, but he wouldn't meet Seungmin's eyes. The way he responded made Seungmin not want to push it so he just nodded.

"You excited?" he asked, putting on a smile in an attempt to lighten up the atmosphere. His hyung just nodded.

"Well, just so you know, you're doing Chan hyung's part, and I'm doing Changbin hyung's, so - just don't drop me at the end or anything, okay?" he chuckled. Hyunjin still didn't relax at all, but he did at least give a hum of acknowledgement. Seungmin decided to leave him alone for now. He hoped that dancing would cheer Hyunjin up at least a little. The only time he'd seemed at all like his normal self lately was when he was dancing.

The first part of the song went well, They only bumped into each other a couple times, and laughed all together when Jeongin tried to do Han's rap part in the second verse and ended up practically punching himself in the hand. The chaos continued when Minho started mimicking Felix's deep voice during the bridge, making Chan lose his balance from laughing so hard. Felix in turn went super over the top during Minho's rap part before the final chorus.