Off-Screen (무대아래에서) | Haobin

Interlude: Hao POV Part 2

Hanbin's been acting odd ever since Hao told him he likes men. He didn't reduce the amount of skinship he does with Hao, which is a relief, but there are moments when he looks at Hao and he seems worried, or maybe upset. It's hard to say what's going on inside his head because the moment Hanbin notices Hao's watching him his expression brightens and he turns back into the bubbly, happy Hanbin that Hao knows well now.

Hanbin looks deeply upset when Hao finishes performing Over Me for the other trainees. Hao finds his face in the crowd, searching for his approval because Hanbin helped choreograph the bridge with him, and the concern in his expression immediately triggers Hao's insecurity. Did he screw it up that badly? His teammates were effusive in their praise of his choreography for the bridge, and even Kuanjui, who's bar is quite high, praised his performance during practice. Hao strains his memory to see if he missed something crucial that Hanbin taught him when they were working on the bridge together, but nothing comes to mind.

Embarrassed, but not sure why he should be embarrassed, Hao ducks his head when Hanbin catches up to him after the Masters release them from rehearsal. He's ready for Hanbin to gently criticise him based on his expression before, but instead Hanbin loops an arm around his shoulder and leans in close enough to Hao's ear that it sends shivers down his spine.

"You were so good that it shocked me. I thought, oh shit, I'm going to lose to this guy."

Is that why Hanbin seems so worried when he looks at him lately? It has nothing to do with his big gay reveal? He's finally marked Hao as his rival, too?

Hao smiles from relief and a little pride. Yeah, he's Hanbin's rival now, officially. He shot up to second place after their Tomboy performance, and he intends to keep that spot. He wants first, but honestly he's never been so happy to be in second before. If anyone's going to beat him it should be Hanbin. He's good enough, and Hao kind of loves him. Maybe. Just a little bit. He'd be happy for him if Hanbin won first at the end.

It's so confusing to want to defeat your rival and also wrap them in a warm blanket and make them tea.

"No... No way."

"Mmm." Hanbin nods. "That's what I was thinking. You beat me in the Dual Position team rankings, remember? You're making me nervous, Hyung."

Hao hides his wide smile at that. Alright, Hanbin can look as worried as he wants, if that's the reason.

---

There's a sticker on his door.

Why is there a sticker on his door?

"Uuuuuh.... what?" Ricky starts to laugh, looking around at the other trainees in the Over Me dorm. They all just came back together from practice. Ricky's eyes land on Hao. They're the only two from Yue Hua in the dorm, the only two who recognize this code. Ricky switches to Mandarin, which is not going to exclude Kuanjui, but Jay and Jeonghyun stop paying attention and go into the dorm ahead of them. "Hao, have you been bad?" Ricky whispers.

"Shut up," Hao begs him. His eyes dart meaningfully to one of the many cameras in their dorm room. Ricky nods, but he doesn't stop smiling.

"Alright, alright."

Kuanjui's interest is piqued, though, and he shoves himself between the two of them, looping his arms through theirs.

"What is it? What is it?" he asks in Chinese.

"It's nothing. Ricky loves teasing me, that's all," Hao grumbles.

Ricky nods to the sticker on the door handle and waggles his eyebrows at Kuanjui. Annoyingly, Kuanjui seems to understand without any other explanation.