⤷「without you.」
@lgcseojin
"Hey Park.”
The last few days hadn’t been easy. They were rushing, preparing, giving last-minute tips to each other about how to deliver the best performance possible. Yonghwa had taken to calling Seojin by his last name since their first Future Dreams season two practice session. In the beginning, he was only teasing, eyes playful as he rolled onto his friend during the break time. As the performance date approached and stress gathered, the friendly energy faded a little, replaced by them focusing more on the song than each other.
There was even one night when the cameras were turned off and the hallway was empty, Yonghwa found himself shoving Seojin into the wall, hands on his collar. “You better take this seriously,” he pushed the words through his teeth. “Your dream is not on the line, but mine is. I know you don’t care about the outcome of this competition but I really fucking do!” It was too dark to see Seojin’s expression and Yonghwa pushed himself off of the other trainee without saying anything else.
Truthfully, he was taken aback, by his own level of aggressiveness. He had always thought of himself as...gentle and nurturing. Perhaps his acting had finally gotten to a point where he could even fool himself. Or, a more likely case, he was putting too much pressure on himself and it was driving him insane. Just a tad.
Back to the present, the count down for their song was near the one minute mark. There was not a lot of time for much else, so he simply wrapped his arms around Seojin’s shoulders. “I will treasure this song,” Yonghwa said sincerely, tightening the embrace. This felt therapeutic and he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. “Our last stage together. After this, we walk our separate ways. You are going to be in a great band one day, Seojin, perhaps sooner than you think.” He lowered his voice for this part, so it wouldn’t be caught by the cameras nearby because Seojin’s choice might not be public knowledge yet.
“You have an amazing voice and I am proud of everything you’ve achieved and everything you will achieve.” Yonghwa pulled back, but not entirely separate them. He rubbed his thumbs along the back of Seojin’s neck, a gesture meant to soothe. “As for me, I will try my best to be a good idol and...learn to carry on without you.” Yes, he may or may not have put his hand on his forehead for that last bit for dramatic effect.