✓ skz oneshots [inspired by skz songs]

grow up; hwang hyunjin

trigger warnings: stage fright, public humiliation 

i can do this. 

those were the only words that were echoing through hyunjin's mind as he paced back and forth backstage, hiding behind the drawn curtains. he was tightly holding a piece of slightly crumpled paper that had a speech written in a familiar times-new-roman-size-12 font.

i can do this. 

hyunjin wasn't one for public speaking. in fact, he seemed to hate it most of the time. why would anyone want to talk in front of a bunch of strangers? it made absolutely no sense to him. not to mention the fact that the strangers would judge the speaker so much. 

the blond boy himself had done that many times. previous years at the annual festival when he had not been mc-ing (a boy names lee minho had, instead), he had always found himself and his friends giggling (in a friendly way, usually) when he stumbled over his words or said something wrong. 

at the time, it had felt so fun, but now that hyunjin knew he was going to be on the  receiving end of it, he wasn't sure how he felt about it...

to be honest, he had no idea why the high school would make their most impressive alumni be the mc for the annual festival. every year since minho had graduated, he had been contacted by the high school, and he was the mc every year. this year, however, he had gone to japan for some reason, and hyunjin (being the second most impressive alumni, apparently) was the one who was forced to come. 

he didn't even know how he was impressive. he literally just got 98s, was the captain of their award-winning basketball team, the head of the student council, and the valedictorian of his year. 

he had no idea how that was 'impressive'. 

his parents always told him he was disappointing, so when this opportunity rolled around, they didn't let him turn it down. hyunjin's fear of public speaking was disregarded by them, and being the perfectionist he was, he just had to make sure his speech was perfect. 

i can do this, he chanted to himself once again. but as the curtains started to open, he wasn't so sure anymore. 

the curtains opened all the way, and the harsh light that was shining on him blinded him for a few moments. he blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to make sense of the crowd in front of him, and he found himself panicking when he couldn't recognize anyone. 

it's okay, hwang. get your shit together. you can do this. 

hyunjin gulped, but he nervously brought the microphone near his mouth and stuffed the script into the pocket of his blazer before doing his best to plaster a charming smile on his face. he hoped it would distract some of the audience, and thankfully, it did. what felt like thousands of girls (and a few guys) almost literally screamed when they saw his smile, and their voices amplified when he added a wink.