Seokmin and Seungkwan are always joking around, but after one particularly emotional performance, their usual banter turns into a heartfelt moment that changes their relationship.
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As Seokmin and Seungkwan walked off stage, their smiles flickering under the dim backstage lights, the high energy of the crowd still hummed in their bones.
They'd just finished a particularly intense performance, one that had drained and exhilarated every member of Seventeen.
Seokmin, normally the first to crack a joke or lighten the mood, found himself silent.
Seungkwan, too, was unusually quiet, his head lowered and gaze distant as they both lingered behind.
They usually laughed it off when things got serious.
They were the designated mood lifters of the team, always ready with a quip or a funny face.
That was how they connected, through banter, through teasing, through the comfortable back-and-forth of best friends who had shared a lifetime of stages and dressing rooms.
But tonight was different.
"Hey,"
Seokmin started, his voice softer than usual as he finally broke the silence.
"You okay?"
Seungkwan didn't answer right away, instead looking down at his hands, which were still trembling slightly from the adrenaline.
When he looked up, his expression was unguarded, raw in a way Seokmin rarely saw.
"Honestly? I don't know. That performance, it just brought up a lot."
Seokmin shifted, momentarily caught off guard by Seungkwan's tone.
He knew Seungkwan better than most, but this was one of the few moments where his friend seemed vulnerable.
The usual quick retort he would normally have at the ready just didn't feel right.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Seokmin asked, an earnestness lacing his words that surprised even him.
Seungkwan's lips quirked up in a half-smile, but it wasn't one of his usual sarcastic ones.
"You don't have to do that, you know,"
He said quietly.
"You don't always have to be the one who cheers me up."
Seokmin's heart clenched.
He'd never thought about it that way before, always assuming that the best way to show Seungkwan he cared was to keep things light.
To make him laugh, to distract him from whatever might be weighing him down.
But now, with the two of them standing here in the dim light, Seokmin realized that sometimes, maybe what Seungkwan needed wasn't a joke or a funny face.
