Haruto sniffled into his pillow. His mind swirling with the negative comments he has seen online. None of them were anything about his physical appearance, but instead, they aimed for his ability to communicate and ability to write Korean lyrics.

The negative comments were all about his horrible pronunciation, and why YG would even recrute a Japanese rapper when he couldn't even write his own lyrics. Half of which is true, Haruto would have to admit. Haruto couldn't pronounce the Korean language as good as his mother language, but what do you expect from a foreigner? His low knowledge in the Korean language also caused him to struggle when it came to lyric writing.

But he shouldn't be sad. He was one of the final members who were going to debut. He should be happy. Him, Yedam hyung , Junkyu hyung and Junghwan were going to be able to debut with each other. He made it, but yet he felt unsatisfied.

Most of the time, it was Yoonbin hyung , and Hyunsuk hyung helping him through the lyric writing process. For such a younger age, Haruto has so much to say, but it's hard to get out into korean words when you have such limited knowledge of it, so with the help of the two rappers, he was able to get many of his messages out for fans. But ever since his duet stage with Jeongwoo, he's been running towards Jeongwoo for help a lot more. The presence of the same-age male made him comfortable to express himself more freely.

Although he gets along with Yoonbin hyung and Hyunsuk hyung , he finds it's easier to connect with Jeongwoo.

They laugh about the dumbest things together, even with a slight language barrier. The slight affection they give each other, and lingering stares are what Haruto craves for often. But now that he's without Jeongwoo, he feels empty.

He also is yet to know anything about the other trainees that are set to debut. He can't help but worry.

Haruto threw his legs over the side of his bed, and stood up. He stretched his long limbs, and made his way towards the kitchen.

He lived in the temporary dorms with the other J-team members, and was notified that he would soon be moving into a different dorm once all the trainees were finalized.

"Haruto? Are you okay?" A small Japanese male sat at the dining table. His eyes were filled with worry, and his hair was a curled mess on top his head.

Haruto glanced at Mashiho. His heartbreaking just at the thought that the smaller male might possibly not make it. His lips wobbled, and he shook his head with his eyes squeezed shut.

Mashiho set his phone down, his eyebrows scrunched in worry. He stood up immediately and rushed towards Haruto, "what's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?" Mashiho started to pat him up and down to check for injuries.

"N-no," Haruto sniffled. "I just, I just feel bad debuting without everyone."

Mashiho sighed in relief at the younger's confession. "You giant baby," Mashiho chuckled. "You had me worried for a bit. Here, sit on the couch with me."

Mashiho plopped down onto the black leather couch, and Haruto followed along simultaneously. Haruto placed his head on the smaller's lap, and curled himself into a ball.

"Ya know, it felt like just a few days ago that you were so tiny and could barely reach the ramen on the top shelf, and I had to do it for you. Now you're all grown and reaching it for me instead," Mashiho smiled at the thought. He threw a blanket over the younger, and ran his fingers through the younger's hair.

"Yeah," Haruto sniffled, "I remember those days."

Silence consumed them for a small while. They could hear the sound of mouses clicking away, and the keys on the keyboard clashing down as the other members played diligently in their rooms. "Why don't you call Jeongwoo, he seems to calm you down," Mashiho suggested softly.

"Because then I feel even worse," Haruto squirmed at the thought.

"Oh, Haru. I'm sure he doesn't even mind. In fact, he's probably very proud of you, like the rest of us are," Mashiho reassured.

Haruto hummed in reply. His mind was consumed with a heavy lingering feeling, and soon, he was out like a light.

***

He was dying. He was sure of it. Why was it so hard to breathe all of a sudden? Haruto has never had breathing problems, so why does his chest feel so constricted?

Haruto peeled open his eyes to be greeted with darkness. The clear balcony doors welcomed a shining moon, and the lamp right in the corner of the room illuminated light for only a small portion of the room. He groaned as he reached his hand up to scratch his chest, but instead, came in contact with flesh - flesh that definitely didn't belong to him. He yelped, and his once sleepy brain, was now fully alert.

It was another person.

It was Jeongwoo.

Haruto relaxed his muscles as he realized he wasn't dying of breathing problems, and it wasn't just some total stranger napping with him. The boy on his chest groaned before trying to rollover, but ended up rolling straight onto the ground.

Jeongwoo groaned, before shifting his weight on his elbows. "Haru?" he whispered in a daze.

Haruto hummed in reply.

"Why'd you push me off?" The younger slurred, and then pushing himself back onto the couch into his original position.

"I didn't," he groaned.

"Woah, deep voice," Jeongwoo commented, "but okay."

"Why are you even here?" Haruto asked.

"I'm offended," Jeongwoo said into Haruto's chest. "I came here to comfort you. Mashiho hyung called me and said that you were super duper sad, and so I came here after practice."

"Oh, thank you." That's all Haruto could reply with. He wrapped his arms around the smaller, and drew him up higher onto his chest, and tucked his head right into his neck.

"You smell nice," the smaller grinned.

"I hope I do, I just showered a while ago," he smiled tiredly.

A lingering silence surrounded the two. This was all Haruto needed to feel better. He just needed cuddles, specifically from Jeongwoo, and peace.

"Haruto," Jeongwoo said to regain his attention.

"Mhmm?"

"Why were you sad?"

"Because...because I want to debut with you," he mumbled. "And I'm sad that I'm leaving almost everyone behind."

Haruto started to tear up again at the thought. Gosh, he was such a crybaby. He couldn't help it honestly, he was a softie by heart, and was known out of the J-team members to cry the most.

"Oh no," Jeongwoo peeked up from his position. He resembled a small otter from that position. "You should be happy," Jeongwoo pouted.

"I-I I'm trying."

Jeongwoo glanced around Haruto's face, "there's more to this, isn't there?" he asked knowingly.

"Maybe," Haruto grumbled childishly.

"That's what I thought. Now, tell me," Jeongwoo commanded.

"No, I don't want too," Haruto shifted his head the opposite way from Jeongwoo's gaze.

"Tell meee," Jeongwoo poked his fingers along Haruto's sides, causing him to almost fling the smaller off his chest in surprise. He laughed loudly as Jeongwoo continued to run his fingers up and down his sides, and begging him to tell him.

"Fine fine, I'll tell you," Haruto giggled, "just please stop," he wheezed.

Jeongwoo stopped, and moved to the opposite end of the couch to give Haruto room to sit up and catch his breath.

"Tell me," Jeongwoo commanded once more.

"Okay, okay, jeez. Calm down," Haruto said with wide-eyes. "I was just, ya know, sad about not being able to speak korean that well," he molded his fingers together repeatedly.

"Haruto," Jeongwoo sighed with disappointment. "We've talked about this before."

"I know, I know, it just sometimes actually g-gets to me. Like even right now, I'm s-struggling to speak with you," Haruto hesitated at the word, 'struggle,' since he didn't really know how to say it properly yet.

"And that's okay," Jeongwoo reassured. He scooted closer, "you can speak two languages, Haru, that's absolutely amazing. And soon, you can start writing lyrics completely by yourself."

"But what if-"

"No what if's," Jeongwoo cut him off. "Look at it this way. If I went to Japan with you, I would be struggling with my Japanese so much. Much more than you are struggling now, Haru. The fans love you, and the rest of us do too, so just don't get caught up on the comments like that again, or else I'm taking away your phone, and calling your mom with the very little Japanese I know." Jeongwoo scolded Haruto.

"I think I understood most of that," Haruto stated with a slight questioning tone. His mind was trying to comprehend the speech that Jeongwoo just spat at him in one go.

Jeongwoo winced, "maybe I poured too much onto you."

"Poured?"

"It's just a saying," Jeongwoo giggled, and threw himself onto the taller to continue their cuddling session.

***

"Haruto! Jeongwoo!" Keita screamed as he dashed into the livingroom where the two were watching a movie.

"Ah! You scared me," Haruto placed his hand over his rapidly beating heart.

"Sorry, but guess what!" Keita beamed.

"What?" Jeongwoo asked curiously.

"Jeongwoo made it!" He flipped his phone over to show an edited photo of Jeongwoo underneath the words, 'FINAL TREASURE, 5TH MEMBER.'

"Oh my god," Jeongwoo dashed towards the phone to get a closer look. "This can't be real."

"Trust me, it is," Keita grinned for the younger one and gathered him into a hug. They swayed back and forth for a while as Jeongwoo took in the new information, but a sob suddenly broke through the air behind them. Jeongwoo and Keita broke apart to see Haruto sobbing on the couch.

"Why are you crying?" Jeongwoo asked as if the other grew two heads.

"B-because I'm so happy for you," he sobbed even harder.

Jeongwoo rolled eyes, "oh gosh, come here you big baby," and gathered the taller into his arms.