~ time skips ~

the four boys arrived at one of their favorite spicy food restaurants. they felt a little out of it since shownu wasn't there with them.

"i feel bad for shownu hyung." changkyun kept on repeating. the others were getting tired of changkyun saying that.

"let's get rid of the negative thoughts for now and just enjoy this meal, alright?" minhyuk asked, annoyed. changkyun nodded, covering his face with the menu out of embarrassment.

"what we should be talking about is the show." jooheon started another conversation. "how do you think the reaction would come out to the audience?"

"well, since we filmed the first episode today, the reaction will somewhat be interesting." kihyun replied. the members looked at him, then burst out with laughter. "what?"

"hyung, you thought today was the first episode?" changkyun asked, laughing. "today, we only filmed the intro!"

kihyun felt embarrassed and looked down at the ground. changkyun didn't feel so bad after all.

"don't forget to pack some for shownu hyung." kihyun nagged jooheon, who was packing their leftovers. jooheon just tilted his head and rolled his eyes, tired of his nagging.

"obviously, that's what i'm doing." jooheon packed the last container and put it in the bag with the other boxes of leftovers. kihyun paid for the food, and all of the boys left the restaurant.

"back to what i was saying at the dorm." minhyuk started to talk. "we can start drama with the other team, and then that'll make it more interesting, right?"

"like what?" jooheon asked.

"i don't know, like a girlfriend scandal. we can use y/n-"

"woah, don't bring her into this. hyungnim wouldn't be happy if that happened. once he finds out that we started the rumor, it's game over for us."

a thought popped into kihyun's head. why is jooheon being so overprotective of y/n nowadays? he thought. he was a little jealous himself, but not too jealous to the point it would drive him nuts.

"let's just go with the flow, shall we?" he suggested, a little irritated. minhyuk sensed his irritation and immediately dropped the subject.

"i hope shownu hyung is sleeping, though." changkyun said. "i would love to debut before i die."

the others laughed at his joke and continued to walk home.

"hyung?" kihyun called, as he and the others entered the dorm. they all found a sleeping shownu on his bed.

"cute." changkyun mumbled, smiling. kihyun put shownu's dinner in the fridge, and the four other members separated in their ways. jooheon plopped onto his bunk and searched the internet on his phone.

suddenly, y/n popped into his head; he remembered how she looked earlier in the warehouse and decided to check up on her.

hey y/n, you popped up in my mind. how are you? you seemed sad earlier today.

jooheon impatiently waited for a response, refreshing his messages, hoping she responded.

a couple of minutes later, she responds.

yeah, i'm fine, thanks for checking up on me!

i was just a little sad because i got into an argument with my dad, and i felt sorry

did you guys eat yet?

he sighed in relief that she was feeling better.

that is good to hear. yes, we all ate except for shownu. minhyuk and changkyun got him a little mad, so he is napping right now. we just had tteokbokki. did you eat yet?

it only took a while for the two to start having faster reply games.

: yes! i cooked myself some gimbap. my dad is at the company, so i might as well do something productive while i'm home alone

: that sounds delicious! make sure you're safe!

: thank you!

: i should also remind you that you all need to meet up with the other group in the practice room at ten tomorrow morning. they'll be giving you guys your first compact mission

: compact mission? what is that?

the production group thought of it. they are like little missions you guys do for fun

: that sounds sweet!

: bad news, though. you need to work with the other group. i still don't know what you guys will do, but that is pretty much the gist of it

: aigoo, that's a shame

: anyways, my dad just came home. i'll hopefully see you tomorrow?

: yes! bye y/n!

: bye, jooheon!

he turned his phone off and thought about that compact mission. he shook his head, a little shocked but mad at the idea of working with the other group. although they all weren't on good terms, they'll definitely have to pull a fake front in front of the cameras, to prevent themselves from beating each other up while being filmed.

"oh, you guys are home?" he looked to the right of him to see shownu, who has woken from his nap.

"had a good nap, hyung?" jooheon asked, chuckling. shownu nodded. "we saved some food for you to eat in the fridge."

shownu nodded again and stood up from his bed, walking to the kitchen to eat. jooheon shook his head and smiled; he was happy that he was living with the people loved the most, who he considered more like his actual brothers.