Black Whisper

Prolouge

Minjun P.O.V

I sat in the practice room with a sigh. I'd been a trainee for 6 years. It wasn't fair that I didn't hurt myself until right before my debut. The others asked what was wrong but I couldn't tell them the truth. They would be angry. They would be sad. They would hate me. That's why I sat alone and cried. I cried until there were no tears left to spill. The others had taken such good care of me. They'd been the best thing that ever happened to me. They were my friends. They were my family and they were all older than me. There were days when they stayed up with me all night when I couldn't figure something out. There were nights when I couldn't rest without one or all near me. Yet, here I was alone. I couldn't face them. I couldn't hurt them. We worked so hard to become an unstoppable team. Why did it have to be now? Why did everything have to break this way? It wasn't fair. I thought my eyes had dried but I was wrong. I began to tear up again as I thought about them. Xiao had watched me break and built me up again. Zane had held my hand when my dad died. And Kat. Kat was my peace. He was the air I breathed. They were everything to me. They were my lifeline. They were my safe place. They were my home and now I was going to lose them because of a stupid injury that should have never happened. I was lost without them. I needed them like I needed oxygen. They had stuck beside me through everything. They had given their everything to me. What did I have to show for it? Nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing. I laid down and closed my eyes. I thought about Kat's beautiful shoulder-length brown hair. Well, it was purple now but his natural hair was a golden brown. I thought about Xiao's quiet smile that he rarely showed. It was a smile only for me to see. He said I got to see it because I was special. I never really knew what that meant but I liked that it was mine and mine only. I thought about Zane's dark blue eyes and the pet names he only ever said in English. This was my team. We weren't perfect. In fact, we were all fucked up for different reasons. Those reasons were unspoken but we learned the boundaries we could and couldn't push. My heart broke the moment I heard Xiao's sweet voice flow through the air.

"Junie?" Another tear slid down my face. I wiped it away discreetly and sat up. I did my best to smile but my ankle felt like it was going to explode. He raised a brow, seeing right through me. He slowly walked closer to me. He leaned down and for a moment I thought I could physically feel his heart shatter. His voice was so soft, softer than I'd ever heard it when he spoke again. "Qin ài de." I smiled at the familiar nickname. He'd been calling me that for two years and in all that time, he'd refused to tell me what it meant. I'd asked the others but they didn't know either. I'd begged for him to tell me for a solid six months before finally giving up.

"It's not as bad as it looks, I promise." He frowned and wiped a tear I didn't know escaped.

"If that were the case, you wouldn't have cried. Don't try to lie and tell me you didn't. I can see how puffy your eyes are. How long have you been sitting here?" I sighed and looked away from broken eyes.

"About an hour. I didn't want to worry you. I mean, we debut tomorrow. You already have so much going on as our leader." He shook his head.

"Can you walk?" I hesitated before shaking my head. His frown deepened. "Come here." I obeyed and wrapped my arms around his neck. He wrapped his left arm around my back and his right slid under my legs. If it were under any other circumstances, I would say that this moment was too intimate but he didn't see me that way. He was just a leader taking care of one of his members. I knew that, yet it broke me. Just as he lifted me, Kat and Zane appeared in the door frame. It was Kat who spoke first. His eyes were darker than usual.

"What happened?" At Kat's words, Zane left his deep trance.

"He hurt his ankle. It doesn't look good and he can't walk." Zane frowned, his dark blue eyes turning a darker blue. I could tell by their faces. I smiled trying to reassure them but it didn't work. They were worried. They seemed just as scared as I did. I thought they would be angry but it wasn't anger that I saw from them in that moment. It was sorrow. My heart twisted to the point that I could physically feel it. Zane was the one to break the silence.

"Let's get him to the hospital." His normal sarcastic tone was replaced with sadness. I learned many things in that moment. For the longest time, I thought they'd only seen me as a broken piece of glass that they had to protect. I'd been wrong. Their voices, their eyes, their body language, all told me one thing. They genuinely saw me as their world. I couldn't help but smile despite the situation. My heart fluttered as I was carried to our manager's car. I hated my stupid feelings. There was something else I realized that day. I was just in love with Xiao. I was in love with all of them. I didn't know why or how but I was completely sure about my feelings. I loved all of them. I wanted all of them in the same way. That in itself had been the most terrifying realization of my life. Even more than when I heard my ankle snap. That day, I realized I was completely screwed.

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Thank you for reading the first chapter of Black Whisper. There is so much more to come. Stay tuned. Also, I'm pretty sure the story is going to break me into a million pieces but oh well. It's the price you pay when you're an author. Anyway, bye, everyone.

-Thea