If I Were You (Stray Kids Lee Know X Female OC)

Ch. 26: The Trainee's Problems

"Hyung! Hyung!" A familiar voice calls out as Minho comes out of his practice room, and he turns his head towards the source just in time to see a familiar face.

"Oh? Sunoo!" His face lights up, and in the next second, his expression turns into that of surprise as the trainee gives him a hug and then pulls away in the next second.

"Congratulations on your debut! I saw the showcase online. You were really cool!"

"Really?" Minho asks back, still smiling as he looks at the boy before ruffling his hair. "Of course, I had to do well since I knew you were watching!"

"And you're even already doing so well with fan service, huh?" Sunoo teases him, and Minho laughs.

And then the idol gets an idea as he slips his hand into his pocket and then looks past Sunoo to see the dark night sky. "Have you had dinner yet?"

"Hmm? No. Why do you ask?"

Minho smiles as Sunoo looks at him curiously, and then he eventually shares the idea he just had. "Since I debuted already, how about I treat you to dinner today?"

Sunoo's eyes sparkle with excitement almost immediately at the idea, before he jumps and nods. "Of course! You're the best, hyung! You know you really did look awesome when you performed! I could really feel your passion as you sang and danced on stage!"

Once again, Minho just laughs as the trainee continues praising him as they walk to the cafeteria.

▪■▪

That night, Sunoo came home later again to his old family home.

That had been the case for the past several months for this specific trainee. Granted, at least it was for a much better this night, but for the others, well...

"You can't keep making mistakes like this. How are you ever gonna get high enough in the ranks to debut? Do better, at least."

That was the constant words Sunoo would often hear from the trainers. They would, of course, often come in many forms and many different tones, but the idea is almost always the same. And no matter how hard Sunoo tries or how late he stays at the practice room to try and improve, for some reason, it's just never enough.

Well, perhaps he could keep going at it if the problem only lied with his trainers, but he's 19 now. And if he really can't secure his debut soon enough, he might just...

Lose the support he used to constantly get from his parents.

Sunoo sighs as he makes it in front of the door of his house, before he slowly grabs the knob and turns it, wearing a smile on his face as he gets ready to greet whoever is still awake and waiting on the other side of the door.

"Oh? Sunoo! You're finally home!" His mother greets him with a smile as the boy stands at the treshold, waving and smiling like he just had the best day of his life... As always.

"Hey, Mom!" Sunoo greets her back, before he glances past her towards their kitchen to see that his father is also awake and wating for him, too. His brows rise, but his curiosity is distracted when his mother reaches him and he turns to the woman just as she calls him over.

"Have you had dinner yet? I prepared a little something to eat and we haven't eaten yet either, so why don't you join us?"

Sunoo blinks a few times at his mother, before he turns towards his father in the kitchen again, slowly sensing that something's up. "... What about Gyubin? Has he eaten yet?"