Saviors

46

The next few weeks they slipped into a regular routine. The members would get up early and go to practice, Jihoon would leave at four for therapy then come back at six on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He worked on the songs while the rest of the continued practicing. Then, at ten, they would all leave together.

Jihoon didn't like therapy. The lady, Mrs. Ji, was nice, but she asked too many prodding questions. Jihoon still wasn't used to telling a complete stranger everything about his life. She was sympathetic at times, and shocked at others. But, Jihoon did notice an improvement. He didn't have anymore nightmares, and he could handle small amounts of skinship from the other members.

Twelve weeks had passed, and their comeback date was nearing. Jihoon was a mess of nerves. He still hadn't completely managed to get over his stage fright. At least now, he was only going to therapy once a week.

   "Alright, you're done Seungkwan. You can go now." Seungkwan grinned at Jihoon then bounced out of the recording booth.

   "I did great didn't I?" He asked smugly. Jihoon chuckled at the younger boy's confidence.

   "Yeah. You did good. Can you call in Jeonghan Hyung for me?" Seungkwan nodded enthusiastically and ran out of Jihoon's studio. They were working on the last song of the album, and only around half the members still needed to record. Moments later, Jeonghan popped his head in.

   "You called?" He asked with a silly grin.

   "Yep. Ready to record Hyung?"

   "Of course!" The long haired pretty boy stepped into the booth and adjusted the mike. "Ready~" he sang. Jihoon smiled.

   "Alright. And~ go." He hit the button and Jeonghan began singing.

   Jihoon critiqued him and worked on some parts that Jeonghan had some trouble with, then, after 45 minutes of working, they finally got it finished.

   "Nice!" Jihoon smiled up at Jeonghan. "You can go Hyung."

   "Okay. Who do you need next?" Jihoon looked at his list of parts that still needed to be recorded.

   "Uh... let's go with S-Soonyoung Hyung." He muttered. Jeonghan smirked and nodded, then walked out of Jihoon's  studio.

   Jihoon was writing something down when he heard the door open and close quietly behind him. He had only one sentence left to write, so he didn't turn around. Jihoon soon felt something on his face, and his vision was suddenly dark. His head shot up and he strained against the person's grip, surprised. He tried turning his head, but the person held him in place.

   "Guess who!" A familiar voice called. Jihoon relaxed and felt his face heat up.

   "Don't do that Soonyoung Hyung, it shocks me." He mumbled. Soonyoung laughed and let go of his face. He stepped around Jihoon's swivel chair and leaned against Jihoon's desk. "Ready to record Hyung?" Soonyoung didn't respond, and just stared at Jihoon, who could tell that his face was getting gradually redder. Curse Soonyoung Hyung and his inability to blush. "Hyung?" Soonyoung shifted, slightly startled.

   "Yeah?"

   "You ready?"

   "For what?"

   "To record, obviously." Jihoon smirked at Soonyoung, who was flustered. Oh, so I can make him blush.

   "Oh yeah. I'm ready." He mumbled, still staring at Jihoon's face. He stepped into the recording booth, almost tripping over himself.

~

   Soonyoung leaned against Jihoon's desk and stared at him. Jihoon looked back at him with a bit of amusement in his eyes, but his cheeks were pink. He looks really cute right now. Soonyoung gawked at the way Jihoon's eyes sparkled with hidden laughter, and the way that he slightly cocked his head while waiting for Soonyoung to do something. What? What does he want me to do? Jihoon's face grew redder the more Soonyoung stared at him. Jihoon always got shy from a lot of attention. Jihoon looked down slightly, breaking eye contact with Soonyoung.

"Hyung?" He asked. Soonyoung jumped slightly, he was becoming unaware of his surroundings from looking at Jihoon.

"Yeah?" He breathed, still entranced by the sight of Jihoon.

"You ready?" Ready?

"For what?" He still stared at Jihoon.

"To record, obviously." Amusement lit up Jihoon's eyes as he bit back a laugh. Soonyoung stood up, feeling heat rise to his face. Oh yeah.

"Oh yeah. I'm ready." He walked to the recording booth, his eyes still on Jihoon. Soonyoung's heal caught on something, making him stumble. This time Jihoon couldn't hold back his laughter, and a snicker escaped. Ah Jihoon. What are you doing to me?

If it was even possible, Soonyoung's adoration of Jihoon grew in the last three months, making him completely enamored with the smaller boy. All the members were aware of it, except the beloved Jihoon himself. He knew something was going on, but could not figure out what.

Soonyoung got finished recording in a mere 30 minutes. When he finished, he stared at Jihoon, who was gawking at him slightly.

"Was it good?"

"O-oh yeah. It was great. You're done. Can you get Mingyu for me?" Soonyoung grinned and nodded.

He finished recording Chan's and Mingyu's parts before it was time for them to walk home. The members began walking home in the still dark, the silent group of 13 all staring at anything but each other. For some reason, no one wanted to break this silence, and feared that if they made eye contact, the other would talk. The reason for this, was at the back of the large group. Jihoon and Soonyoung walked hand in hand down the still street, not noticing anything, not even the rare silence their members provided them. They were in their own starry worlds.

Holding hands wasn't weird anymore for the two of them, they had gotten used to skinship over the last few months. Now it meant almost nothing to them, and they did it almost unconsciously. It was normal for them, so they made nothing of it. That was not the way it was viewed by the members though. So they kept their thoughts in their minds, and their words in their mouths. They preserved the silence, not wanting to shock the two out of their separate world and into reality. The precaution was unnecessary though, they noticed nothing.