LITTLE THINGS。jinhwan

一。

IKON were guests on happy together and they couldn't be more excited. it wasn't a common occurrence for a whole group to appear on the show. if they had known what was going to happen later, they would've put off starting the shoot as long as possible. when the shoot started, they were first greeted by the hosts. they were already familiar with jo seho who was one of the teachers on their school trip and park myungsoo who appeared on an episode of ikon tv.

yoo jaesuk then went on to explain the main theme of the episode, "close friendship". ikon was invited because they had to go through many things together and still stayed strong despite all of their hardships. after some basic small talk about the group's comeback and their new-found success, they finally got to a more interesting topic.

"jinhwan-ssi, despite being the oldest member, you are the smallest and also look like you'd be way younger than you actually are. from what i heard the members also tease you a lot because of your height. honestly, have you ever felt sad or even angry due to their words?"

jinhwan didn't even have to think for a second before answering.

"of course i have. how could i feel happy when others make fun of things that i'm insecure about? additionally, i used to get bullied because of my height a lot when i was younger, so it doesn't exactly bring back nice memories either. but most of the time i just laugh it off because i know they're just joking."

the members were honestly glad that the hosts started to talk about it, since their eldest hyung usually didn't share his thoughts with them. they couldn't help but feel sorry after hearing jinhwan's thoughts.

"we're sorry... it's just, you usually don't act like a hyung so we sometimes kinda forget that you're the eldest." junhoe tried to apologize, not knowing that he was getting them into even more trouble.

jinhwan was hurt by the younger's words. had they really not noticed how much effort he put into being a good hyung?

"how does he act then?", hyunmoo asked them curiously.

"sometimes he's really reckless. he keeps on going out and when he gets home he's really exhausted. we have no idea what he's doing." bobby stated.

but actually none of them thought that jinhwan was reckless, they were sure that he knew what he was doing. they were just jealous because jinhwan didn't spend as much time with them as he used to.

"oh really? jinhwan-ssi, were have you been going that you're really exhausted when you get home?" seho asked the oldest member.

"i've just been hanging out with some idol dongsaengs, and since they're younger they can be quite... energetic." jinhwan laughed at the thought of their silliness.

while jinhwan laughed happily, ikon couldn't help but feel hurt. it almost felt like jinhwan was cheating on them with other younger people.

"mind to tell us who said dongsaengs are?" jaesuk asked.

"the oldest one is seventeen's woozi, 1996 liner. then bts' jungkook and got7's yugyeom, both 1997 liners. then stray kids' felix, 2000 liner and the youngest is nct's chenle, 2001 liner."

the other members suddenly felt insecure. how could they compete against all those people? and jinhwan seemed to like them a lot too.

"ah, so that's the reason why you're usually exhausted." myungsoo understood.

they continued to talk about various topics, but ikon noticed how jinhwan was suddenly distant with them and he obviously tried to stay away from the members.

after the shoot ended and they had said goodbye to the hosts, they drove back home. jinhwan drove their car with hanbin on the passenger seat. bobby, junhoe and chanwoo sat in the second row and yunhyeong and donghyuk sat in the back. it was weirdly silent in the car. jinhwan was wearing a blank face and the others could almost feel the tension in the car. jinhwan didn't get upset often, but when he did everyone immediately noticed.

"hyung-" chanwoo started but was interrupted the second he started talking.

"what?" jinhwan said harshly.

"can we talk?" junhoe asked with insecurity in his voice.

"you're talking right now." jinhwan told him.

"hyung, why do you always go out to meet with other people when you can just hang out with us at home?" junhoe sounded genuinely hurt and jinhwan sighed.

"let's talk about this at the dorm and not while i'm driving." he decided and the others just nodded.