Should've Held Onto You (CHA EUNWOO)

11 - Pact

"We need to have a family meeting," MJ told Dongmin, whose already confused look turned even more confused.

Sighing, Dongmin entered the room, taking a seat beside me on the floor, and I hated that I blushed. "MJ hyung, what are you going on about now?"

We all gathered in a small circle, with Dongmin to my left, Minhyuk to my right, and on Minhyuk's right, continuing around, was Sanha, Bin, Sumi, JinJin, and MJ. MJ put a hand on Dongmin's left shoulder, and Dongmin slightly laughed.

"What is this, guys?" He chuckled, turning his attention to me. When he noticed my somber look, his smile dropped immediately. "Hey, what's going on?" His expression and voice turned worried in an instant, and my heart was beating fast again. I know he cared, he just needs to understand that we're worried he'll let the fame take over.

"Ok," JinJin began, "We know it's been only one day, but.. This whole day you've been hanging out with practically complete strangers and leaving us in the dust. We may be overreacting, but we need to talk about it and what we want to make sure doesn't happen."

For a while there was silence, and Dongmin's face was unreadable. I held my breath. Was he mad? Maybe we were overreacting, I mean it had only been one day. God, did I just like ruin this group of friends? Was it my fault? AGH, SAY SOMETHING LEE DONGMIN!

Another minute passed.

"You're right."

We're right? Did I just hear him right?

He brought his hands to his face. "God, I'm sorry. I didn't even realize.. Ugh.. Is it really that easy for me to get swayed? I'm really sorry guys, I know I've let you down. I promise you it won't happen again. You guys have done so much for me, and I need you all. Please find it in your hearts to forgive me." He stood up and bowed, looking at us with hopeful glances.

"Of course we can forgive you," JinJin smiled back at him. "But we're making a pact."

"A pact?" Dongmin asked, sitting back down with a raised eyebrow.

Sanha nodded. "Mhm, this won't happen again. We won't forget where we came from."

"From now on, we're going to ground each other. It doesn't matter how, but we need to make a conscious effort to remember what came before Astro. We need to remember who got us here and why we're here. We need to continue to work our hardest. This could've happened to any of us, and it could've been worse, but we're all best friends. We need to work hard to get the farthest we can, but we also need to work hard to stay grounded. So everyone, hands in," JinJin said, putting his hand in the middle of the circle, followed by the rest of us. "We promise to stay friends forever and support each other, bettering ourselves everyday and each other, and we promise to work as hard as possible and remember the simpler days."

"Ne!" We all nodded together.

"For Astro?" JinJin asked.

"For Astro!" We all raised our hands up, and a weight was lifted from all of our shoulders.

Dongmin shook his head. "Really guys, I can't tell you how awful I feel. The whole debut thing went to my head for a second. And all the attention.. It's no excuse for anything I've done in the past two days."

"You're right," Bin spoke, glaring at his friend, "It's not."

"Bin-ah-" Sumi started, trying to get him to sit back down, but Bin shook his head.

"You left Miyeong the other day for people you've never met before," Bin approached Dongmin, who sat beside me in silence.

Standing up, I pushed Bin back a little, as he looked really angry. "Hey, no, it's fine. Everything's worked out now."

"Really? Because that's not what I remember you saying to me that night. I remember something like, 'It feels like there's no time for me.'" What could I say? He's right, that's how it felt, and I agreed at the time. But now, everything was working itself out, and all I wanted was for us to be happy and friends again. But what could I say? I'm not a good liar. Bin's attention turned from me back to Dongmin. "Do you even care about her anymore?" At this, Dongmin narrowed his eyes. "She's done so much for you. You've known her forever. There's no way you appreciate her if you ignore her."

Dongmin stood up, and so did Sumi, trying to pull Bin back by the arm, but when Dongmin stood up, it only encouraged Bin.

"Excuse me?" Dongmin asked, giving a scoff. "You're just mad that she's always liked me more than y-"

"Hey!" Minhyuk shouted, standing between the two, arms out and a stern look on his face. "This ends here. I don't care what it is, you two are friends and have been forever." I'd never seen Minhyuk so serious, but I really did appreciate it. "So man up and apologize to each other and.. move on from here."

They were both still glaring at one another, and I wondered which would crack first.

"You guys are best friends," I pointed out, "Nothing can change that. Don't let anything change that. Please."

Dongmin averted his gaze from Bin's spiteful glare for one second to meet my own pleading gaze. Sighing, he stuck out his hand to Bin, his expression lightening up. "I'm sorry, Bin. You're right, there is no excuse. I'm a terrible jerk for what I did, I know. But.. I hope you can find it in you to forgive me, and we can work towards something better."

With a hesitant nod, Bin shook Dongmin's hand, but he didn't apologize. "Let's go watch a movie, then."

We all exchanged confused looks before looking at Dongmin who shook his head and gave a smile, signaling that he didn't mind before he made his way over to the TV they had set up. Sumi, Sanha, and MJ all followed.

"Are they okay?" I whispered to Minhyuk and JinJin.

Minhyuk frowned slightly. "Yeah, they'll just.. ignore it. They bickered a lot when you left, actually, over y-"

"Minhyuk," JinJin stopped him mid sentence, shaking his head. Whatever he was about to say, I wasn't supposed to hear, and I knew it by the way JinJin called him by his real name. I could see why JinJin was the leader of Astro, he had a leadership aura about him that made you want to listen. "They always do this, nowadays," JinJin continued, "Argue and then forget about it. A lot of times, no one even apologizes, so I guess this is a good step. Usually, they don't hold grudges, it's just like.."

"It never happened," Minhyuk finished.

"Yeah."

"Hm," I looked at the two who were already happily talking to one another about what movie we should watch. I couldn't help but feel like there was a deeper conflict I couldn't detect happening, and it seemed like everyone knew what it was but me. Being their friend since forever, it was a little frustrating, but I was determined to find out.

What were they keeping from me?

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A/N

QOTU- Who's your bias in Astro? Who's your bias wrecker?

AOTU- My bias is the one and only Cha Eunwoo /insert drool here/ (I actually hate myself) 😂😂. My bias wrecker is.. drum roll.. Park mothafuckin Minhyuk. I mean how couldn't he be though?