Desire | Woosan

Part 12 | Sunrise

Seonghwa arrived at the practice studio in the afternoon after spending some time playing games at home. A few of the members including Hongjoong had been at the studio since the early morning so he was starting to feel guilty for not showing up right away.

He walked in the doors and could already hear music playing from the practice room. His footsteps echoed in the quiet hallway as he came closer, and he could hear the voices of the members as they counted the steps. Seonghwa leaned his ear against the door to listen until the music stopped before turning the handle and opening the door. Peering into the room, he could see Yunho, Jongho, Mingi, and Yeosang discussing the choreography and what they could improve based on their latest run-through. As usual, Yunho was politely leading the discussion. They all looked up when they noticed Seonghwa enter.

Seonghwa smiled apologetically and nodded a greeting to them. The members greeted him back, looking happy to see him though they had every right to be a little annoyed he showed up so late.

"Oh hyung," Yunho said with a smile. "Did you sleep in this morning?"

Seonghwa nervously tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. "No, actually I visited Wooyoung earlier. Then I went home to be lazy for a while,"

"Figures," Jongho teased, still catching his breath. "We've been here practicing since dawn and you've just been playing Animal Crossing all afternoon,"

Seonghwa blushed in embarrassment since he was completely right. How could they know him so well? "I had important stuff to do..." he muttered jokingly. He glanced around the room and suddenly realized someone was missing that he expected to see there. "Where's Hongjoong?"

Yunho placed his hands on his hips and glanced at the door. "I think he's in his practice room. He joined us earlier but then said he needed to get some work done on his own,"

Yeosang breathed a sympathetic sigh. "He was here when we all got here so who knows what time he woke up this morning. He really needs to stop working himself so hard,"

Seonghwa nodded in understanding. As usual, Hongjoong had gotten there the earliest. As well as practicing the modified choreography with seven members, he was also working hard to write lyrics for their next album. Seonghwa always admired his work ethic but also hoped he could learn to give himself a break sometimes.

"I'll check on him," Seonghwa told them starting to walk backward toward the door. "Maybe I can convince him to come back,"

"Tell him we get more work done when he's not here," Jongho teased with a straight face. The other members giggled alongside him.

Seonghwa snickered. "I'm sure that'll go over well," he said sarcastically.

As the other members jokingly suggested other things he should tell him, Seonghwa tried to hide his smile as he turned around and exited the room, closing the door behind him. Looking down the dark hall, he could see one room where the light was shining under the door. Even the room looked lonely. He walked up to the door and took a breath before giving it a gentle knock.

"Hongjoong-ah?" he called cautiously. "Are you in there?"

A faint groaning could be heard from inside, but it was definitely Hongjoong's voice. Should he not have bothered him?

"Come in," Hongjoong called after a moment. His voice sounded exhausted. Seonghwa was almost positive he had woken him up after he had dozed off at his desk.

He turned the handle and opened the door slowly. Inside, Hongjoong was slumped in his computer chair, staring at his monitor's screensaver as different colored patterns danced across the screen. It didn't look like much work was getting done at all.