Hyunjin Oneshots <3

Bullied

After debut, Hyunjin expected for all of his pre-debut problems to go away. From the weird lingering glances that adults sent his direction, to the way the other trainees treated him like a close friend, only to speak nasty rumors behind his back. He was keen to it and he knew all that they said about him because they weren't necessarily sly about it- but Hyunjin decided to leave it alone because there wasn't much he could do about it.

He would mind his business, ignore them, and keep training in the multiple dance and vocal classes. He hadn't found his niche quite yet- but even if he was a little clumsy at it, dancing made him feel free. Of course, he was nothing compared to the seasoned trainee dancers who had been at it (Hyunjin was scouted on the street, afterall. He had no formal training.) but he still enjoyed the movement of it.

When he debuted with stray kids- it was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders because the survival show was the single most stressful event of his life. Even if the other trainees had told him not to worry because he was the 'visual,' he was also a hard worker and wanted to be seen for that rather than his face. His face was just the thing that drew them in to see the real him.

Of course- none of his issues could be solved so easily because even months after debut and working on their comeback, Hyunjin still experienced the salty attitude of the trainees. He continued to get specialized training classes on top of schooling and a busy comeback schedule, but Hyunjin was okay with the extra work. It meant he could ignore the trainees to get his job done.

That was- until he was no longer jam packed with work to actually notice.

It was a break between their comebacks and since they were a hit among their target audience- and surprisingly, North America- they were promised more time as a group together until the contract expired. Hyunjin had four years to make the most of his guaranteed time with the group.

Hyunjin liked the way their group worked compared to the others- how they were self produced. It helped them bond better. Even he and Jisung had grown fond of each other when they were at each other's throats pre debut. They could still use some work- but they were much better than what they had been.

It was needless to say that Hyunjin was doing pretty good for himself- minus the fact that he was still ignoring the jabs being thrown his way. He ignored it, until he couldn't.

He had been at the vending machine straight across from the trainees dance room when they were released from class. Normally he would have joined them- but he had a practice dance session with Minho Hyung and Felix and momentarily left to get a drink during their break.

"Look who it is," a voice startled Hyunjin from his thoughts on how to remember the sequence Minho taught them, and he turned back to see the two trainees that always buzzed around him like unwanted mosquitoes. He would have left- but his drink was still vending, so he patiently waited for the slow machine to accept his payment and ignored them.

"Wow," the second trainee- a foreigner called Parker- huffed. Moving to lean his back against the machine next to Hyunjin so that he couldn't possibly ignore him. "Look at him, Chul, he's pretending that we don't even exist."

"He's let debut change him," Chul settled in on his other side with a sneer. "You forget about us just because you left us behind? You think we're lesser than you?"