Summary: The 2020 HBH Trainees ring in the New Year together, Kyungchul is asked to be the leader of HBHT20.
Series: NEW DECADE [HBHT20]
Genre: Comedy
Pairing: None
Word Count: 1.1k
Warnings: Recreational use of marijuana.
Kyungchul felt absolutely ridiculous right now.
There he was, sat on a sofa in the corner of HBH’s New Years Eve party surrounded by his fellow labelmates and seniors. He tried to keep up with conversation, but about halfway through a lengthy rant by M.H, the leader of Vice, the edibles had kicked in.
Kyungchul had consumed a gummy edible right before he entered the company party with Rushi, Haeun, Longwei, Sanghoon, and Jiah. Rushi and Longwei had made it clear that they didn’t think they could get through another company party without a little something extra in their system, so they bought a ton of edibles last weekend and offered them to people with similar stances on HBH parties.
Kyungchul thought it would be harmless. Just take a small gummy and relax a little through out the party. Before he knew it, he’d be back in his dorm, having the best sleep of his life.
However, whatever Rushi and Longwei picked up must have been a higher milligram dosage than he was used to, because Kyungchul was having a very very hard time concentrating on the thread of conversation between Vice’s M.H, Triptych’s Nia and Eli, and Promise’s Jimin. They had all sought him out at the start of the party and pulled him aside to talk. Unfortunately, Kyungchul wasn’t really sober enough to contribute.
“And honestly, being a leader was scary at first.” Eli retells, focusing his attention on Kyungchul. “But I really relied on my members. They got me through.”
“I was the leader of HBHNG. It’s a great honor to be a predebut leader.” Nia said with a comforting smile. The rest of his seniors looked at him with proud expressions, like he had just told them that he got into an Ivy League. Kyungchul blinked a few times.
“Wait... what?” Kyungchul asked, his own words sounding muddled.
“Never mind, you’ll see.” Jimin shook her head, a knowing smile still on her lips. The looks he was getting from his seniors were starting to freak him out a little. Kyungchul managed a small smile back and stood up.
“Uh cool. Hey, I’ll see you guys later. I’m gonna go find my friends.” He said hastily, bowing to them individually before setting off.
It was hard walking through the dimly lit event hall stoned, but he managed to locate the one person he wanted to chew out.
Rushi was grinding in between Longwei and Haeun on the dance floor, totally unashamed. When the Chinese trainee spotted Kyungchul, she motioned him over with a bright smile on her face.
“Feeling good yet?” She asked over the sound of the music. Kyungchul nodded his head at first, but then he shook it side to side.
“How many milligrams was that edible?” He asked.
“Uh... I don’t know,” Rushi looked over her shoulder at Longwei, exchanging a confused look with him. “Maybe like, fifteen milligrams?”
“Fif-” Kyungchul covered his face with one hand, unsure whether to laugh or cry. His body seemed to agree with laughing, and soon he was gasping for air, laughing his ass off like it was the funniest thing he’s ever heard. The other three started laughing too.
During their laughing fit, Haeun grabbed Kyungchul by his shirt, pulling him towards her. Now the four of them were dancing practically on top of one another, laughing and having fun. Kyungchul felt whatever confusion and discomfort he experienced earlier melt away. He was having such a good time with him and his friends. He didn’t want the feeling to stop.
A few songs later, the music suddenly cut and the sound of feedback filled the room. The four trainees separated, their hands over their ears. Hak Bonghwa tapped the mic again.
“Hello! Welcome to the tenth annual HBH New Years Eve party!” Hak Bonghwa said. Everyone around them clapped, so the stoned trainees clapped along too.
“It’s amazing how only a decade ago, our company was made up of only seven male trainees and five staff members. Now, at the end of the decade, we are boasting three of the most successful groups in the industry, and have the most well-known trainee project in the country!” Hak Bonghwa stated confidently. The room around them exploded in cheers. Not too far off, Kyungchul saw Jiah, Sanghoon, Kitae and Kijung chanting and bumping their fists “HBHT20! HBHT20!”
“Yes, yes. This past month, the trainees who have made the cut for HBHT20 have been announced. Fans around the world are anticipating the arrival of our company’s future! However, we still have to elect a leader for the new era of HBH. The one who will lead the future of this company to greater heights. And I think we all have someone in mind that will do this job flawlessly.” Hak Bonghwa stated.
Something in Kyungchul’s stoned brain clicked together. He recalled the conversation he had with his seniors earlier that night. They kept talking about leadership...
“Oh fuck.” Kyungchul said under his breath.
“Lee Kyungchul,” Hak Bonghwa called out, a smile on his face. “Please come over here.”
Rushi shoved Kyungchul forward, silent roars of laughter shaking her body. Of course she thought this was funny, but Kyungchul was downright terrified. How was he going to face his boss and the whole company being as fucked up as he was right now?
Somehow, Kyungchul made it to the front of the room, taking his spot next to Hak Bonghwa.
“Lee Kyungchul, ever since you started training at this company in 2016, you have shown nothing but dedication and excellence.” Hak Bonghwa complimented. “In the practice room, you are a friend, a teacher, and also a fierce competitor. You have participated in Produce X 101 to prove to the world that you are a force to be reckoned with. You have brought honor to this company, and myself and the staff members of HBH all agree that you will be the future face of this company.”
Hak Bonghwa paused for the applause to pass over. Kyungchul hoped he didn’t look as near to passing out as he felt. If he did, Bonghwa didn’t acknowledge it.
“If you so do accept, it would be an honor to have you lead the next installment of HBH Trainees.” Hak Bonghwa posed. The whole crowd in front of them seemed to be holding his breath.
“Uh...” Kyungchul took the mic from the founder’s hands clumsily, looking out into the sea of familiar faces. His brain was about ten minutes behind everyone else’s. He paused to try to form the right words. He swallowed hard before speaking into the microphone. “Let’s get it.”
“Lets get it!” The trainees in the crowd echoed back with glee. The rest of the audience clapped and hollered a few straggled ‘let’s get it’s. Hak Bonghwa clapped with pride, a happy smile on his face.
Kyungchul bowed to the crowd, wondering what the fuck just happened.
SUMMARY: It’s Saturday morning after Rushi’s Friday Night Mixer. Hoyong suffers from his first ever hangover. He gets advice from Saito, a veteran trainee.
GENRE: light humor, coming-of-age if you squint.
PAIRING: implied jiah x longwei, alluded kijung x bian.
WORD COUNT: 0.7k
WARNINGS: hangover, mentions of underage drinking, implications of a one-night-stand/hook up.
Hoyong knew something was wrong when he woke up feeling like a piece of chewed up gum. His throat was dry and his head felt like someone smacked him with a frying pan. He reached for his phone, checking the time. It was nearly noon. The vocalist rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Usually he was an early riser. Waking up past nine o’clock was a rarity for him. He rubbed his scalp, trying to put the pieces of last night back together.
Rushi called the boys, telling them to come down the hallway to the girls dorm. They arrived in the girls dorm, took a few shots as a group. Kyungchul stood on a chair and made a speech to all of them. He remembers drunkenly running down the hallway with Daisuke, Kotori, and Seolhee. He remembers climbing into his bed and passing out.
Everything else in between those major events were fragmented blurs that made some sort of sense, but not really. Hoyong has never drank that much in his entire life, and now he realized why. The hangover wasn’t worth it.
As Hoyong padded out into the hallway, he passed Longwei coming back from the kitchen with a plate of breakfast food. The Chinese trainee gave Hoyong a mischievous grin once he saw the dark circles under Hoyong’s eyes.
“Oh, Hoyong. You’ve finally become a man, I see.” Longwei teased.
“Shush, hyung.” Hoyong frowned, rubbing his temples.
“Taehyung managed to make hangover eggs without burning the kitchen down. I suggest you grab some before the twins eat it all.” Longwei informed the younger before dipping into his room. When Longwei’s door opened, Hoyong swore he heard a female voice. Before he could hear more, Longwei closed the door behind him.
In the kitchen, Kijung and Kitae were sitting at the kitchen island, digging into some eggs. Taehyung leaned against the fridge, sipping on a Gatorade.
“Good morning, Hoyong.” Taehyung smiled knowingly. “Eggs on the stove, Gatorade in the fridge, and Tylenol in the cabinet.”
“Thank you, hyung. You’re a godsend.” Hoyong said thankfully, grabbing himself a plate of food and sitting down next to the twins.
“Your first hangover, hyung?” Kijung asked, squirting some sriracha on his eggs. Hoyong arched an eyebrow at Kijung.
“Have you ever been hungover?” Hoyong asked the younger boy in surprise. Kijung narrowed his eyes, giving an offended scoff.
“Of course I have.” The eldest twin said defensively.
Kitae rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Kijung. This was your second time drinking.”
“Yeah, with you.” Kijung snipped at his brother. “You don’t know what I do on the weekends.”
“Uh... Daydream about Bian?” Kitae suggested sarcastically. The twins launched into a bickering conversation. Hoyong would have made them stop arguing, but he wasn’t in the mood to play peace maker.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to.
“Twins, please. Mind the volume or take it into another room.” Saito stretched, walking into the kitchen. Saito grabbed a plate and helped himself to some eggs, thanking Taehyung through a mouthful of food.
The twins, who looked up to Saito greatly, ceased their bickering. Saito ruffled Hoyong’s hair in a brotherly way as he sat next to him on a stool, digging into the breakfast. The five trainees changed the subject to what each person remembers from the night before, which everyone concluded wasn’t much. Their laughter and conversation died when something caught their attention in their peripheral vision.
Standing in the hallway with her hair messy and her makeup smudged around her eyes was Jiah. Hoyong realized that the sweatshirt she was wearing over her outfit from last night belonged to Longwei. She gave a silent head nod in a form of greeting before making the walk of shame to the door.
When the door closed behind her, Saito shook his head in amusement. “And so it starts.”
“What do you mean, hyung?” Hoyong asked curiously.
Saito swallowed his bite before continuing. “Every year, trainees always end up hooking up with each other. It’s become normalized, but it can also get in the way of what matters, you feel?”
The five trainees nodded silently.
“Just... Don’t catch super strong feelings towards fellow trainees, okay boys? It ruins everything when people get too invested in their love life and not training.” Saito advised. He gave Kijung a wink. “That means try not to think about Bian too much. At least, not until you debut.”
“Ooh!” Kitae chuckled, pointing at how red Kijung’s ears got. Hoyong smirked, hiding his grin behind his bottle of Gatorade.
Sanghoon felt hands clasp his shoulders. He turns around to see Jiah smiling at him with a proud expression on her face.
“You’re telling me this whole time, I could have just pelted you with styrofoam darts?” Jiah teases. After the Mix+Match performance, Sanghoon was praised for his growing confidence, something Jiah had been trying to help him with since they started training together.
“Shut up,” Sanghoon rolled his eyes. “If you were on the other end of that Nerf gun, you probably would have found a way to make it fatal.”
Jiah chuckled but didn’t object.
“There you are!” Hanjae appears, breaking away from his evaluation team, still dressed in his stage outfit. “Sanghoon, that was phenomenal! You’re a star! You’re probably one of the more popular contestants now.”
“Nah, bro.” Sanghoon insisted. “You hit those notes. That shit was fresh. People are bound to recognize your talent.”
“Thank you,” Hanjae accepted the compliment with a smile. “But don’t let your confidence fade once you get offstage. Take the compliment like I did.”
Jiah snickered, shoving Sanghoon with her shoulder. The rapper sighed but nodded his head reluctantly.
“Thank you, Hanjae. That was really nice of you to say.” Sanghoon said meekly.
“See, progress!” Hanjae grinned in satisfaction before turning to Jiah, a slightly smug look on his face. “I told you, positive affirmations are imperative to character development.”
Jiah rolled her eyes. “He got where he is today by being open fired on.”
“Yes, but positive thoughts can go a long way.” Hanjae tried to reason, giving Jiah an exaggerated doe-eye look.
“I’m positively thinking about you going a long way away from me.” Jiah bantered.
“Lying isn’t good, Ji.” Hanjae scolded lightly in a joking manner.
“Alright, that’s enough of you two tonight,” Sanghoon interjected quickly before Jiah could start a border-line flirtatious banter war between the two of them. He was ready to hit the hay and relish in his successful performance alone. “I’ll catch up with you tomorrow, bye!”
