of diagnostics and theorems thereof; [1/1] ; b1a4 - gongchan/sandeul (gongdeul?)
Title: Of Diagnostics and Theorems Thereof (aka the success and failures of 'Operation Fix Sandeul's Face')
Pairing: Gongchan/Sandeul (tentatively gongdeul!?)
Rating: G
Wordcount: ~3000
Summary: Sandeul is expressive, Baro finds it hilarious, Jinyoung is a good leader, CNU tries to be the mature one, and Gongchan, well, Gongchan is the magnae and what are magnae for but taking care of the hyungdeul?
Notes: BASICALLY, B1A4 ANONS ON kpopficsmeme ARE SUCH ENABLERS IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY. Everyone who's written for B1A4 already, this is all your fault. This started off as like, a crack drabble or something but then Gongchan insisted on being cute and this happened /)_(\ Still not-so-secretly shipping Jinyoung/Baro (Jinro?) lol. We're going to find out more about them and I'm going to regret ever writing this, I just know it. This is because of Sandeul's extremely expressive predebut videos, by the way. His voice though ♥!
"Jinyoung, Dongwoo, good work. Dongwoo, I want a little more emotion, get into it more." Their vocal instructor nodded approvingly at them, before moving down the line. "Chansik, I want to hear some more confidence out of you. The rest will come with practice. Sunwoo, good expression, we'll work on your pitch tomorrow."
The boys glanced at each other, their eyes eventually settling on the same person their vocal instructor had previously passed over and was now regarding curiously as well. "Um, what about me," said person spoke up, raising a hand hesitantly.
Beside him, Sunwoo snickered. Dongwoo shot him a look, and he quickly hid it behind a hand. Their vocal instructor looked pained. "Junghwan. Your voice is good as usual," he said slowly, "but do you think you could tone down your, ah, expressiveness?"
Sunwoo broke out into full bodied laughter. Chansik couldn't help a small smile, Jinyoung joining in the giggles. Only Dongwoo managed to maintain a serious expression, as Junghwan frowned. "I thought being expressive was a good thing," he said seriously.
The instructor sighed. "Junghwan, have you ever looked in a mirror?"
Junghwan stared back blankly. "Yes? Lots of times?" Sunwoo just laughed harder. Junghwan elbowed him not-so-subtly in the side.
"When you're singing," Sunwoo managed as he caught his breath, massaging his sore ribs.
"Why should I?" Junghwan wanted to know.
"Just do it, man. You'll see."
Junghwan sighed. The vocal instructor looked like he wanted to sigh. He dismissed them instead.
-
"It's not that bad," Chansik reassured him on the walk back to their dorm.
"What's not that bad?" Junghwan asked irritably. Sunwoo hadn't stopped laughing since they'd left the practice room, and it was getting on his nerves. Dongwoo had suggested Jinyoung use his leader powers to get him to stop, but Jinyoung had cheekily retorted that he didn't have to since they hadn't debuted yet. "Besides, you have to admit it is pretty funny," he said.
"Your face," Chansik said after a moment. Junghwan stared at him, hands self consciously brushing the area by his eyes. "No, not that," Chansik clarified.
Jinyoung caught up to them, slinging an arm over Junghwan's shoulder. "Don't worry about it," he reassured him. "I'll tell you when we get back."
"Okay?" Junghwan didn't sound particularly reassured.
-
"You want me to sing?" Junghwan asked dubiously.
The five of them were sitting in their room, a video camera in Jinyoung's hand. Sunwoo seemed to have finally gotten over his giggles, Chansik apparently having said something to him on the way back. Dongwoo was hovering at the back, watching the whole procedure nervously. Junghwan definitely didn't feel reassured.
Jinyoung nodded. "Yup! It's the easiest."
Junghwan frowned. "What should I sing?"
"Whatever. Something you like." Jinyoung shrugged, powering up the video camera. "Whenever you're ready!"
Junghwan eyed him a little doubtfully, but nodded anyway, coasting his way to an opening high note easily. It wasn't hard for him to lose himself in the song; a love song, but Junghwan had always been the sentimental type, and he still thought about that girl in third grade who he'd briefly 'dated' sometimes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sunwoo holding back laughter again, Jinyoung tossing a slipper at him in irritation. He sang the last verse, fiddling nervously with the hem of his shirt. Jinyoung seemed pleased with the results, snapping the camera shut.
"Okay, that's good. Now gather around, and Sunwoo just... go away."
Sunwoo muttered something about abusing leader priveleges as he went to amuse himself, Jinyoung pulling out his laptop. Dongwoo was still hovering at the back, only standing at his full height now, it was more than a little nervewracking. Junghwan thought about telling him to stop, but Jinyoung had grabbed him and shoved him in front of the laptop. "Watch," he ordered.
"B2ST sunbae?" Junghwan questioned.
Jinyoung made an irritated noise in the back of his throat. "Just watch," he repeated.
Junghwan shut up and watched. They'd watched this performance before, he didn't really see what was so special about it. When the video player closed, Jinyoung quickly flipped open another. Chansik and Dongwoo had both settled down around them to watch as well-it was something they did a lot as a group, especially on evenings when they were too tired to do anything else. Junghwan didn't understand what he was supposed to be watching for that was different this time.
Jinyoung flipped through a few more videos, before plugging the video camera into the laptop. "Now watch," he said, sounding a little too proud for having done nothing but hold the camera. Junghwan stared skeptically at the screen, as his own face only zoomed in way too large to be comfortable appeared, before slowly zooming out to an acceptable distance. Jinyoung's filmtography skills could use some work. Or whatever they were called.
Junghwan still didn't know what he was supposed to be looking for. "I still don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for," he said.
"What," Jinyoung deadpanned. "Don't you see the difference?"
"Um, they're debuted artists and we're not?" Junghwan ventured.
Jinyoung tsked exasperatedly, Sunwoo choosing this moment to pop back in. "Has anyone ever told you that your face is hilarious when you sing?" he asked, dodging cheerfully back out the doorway when Jinyoung tossed his other slipper at him.
"It's really not that bad," Dongwoo cut in before more damage could be done. "We just need to... work on it a little."
And that was how "Operation Fix Sandeul's Face" began.
("That makes it sound like it's broken," Chansik pointed out.
Jinyoung shrugged. "When he's singing? It might as well be."
"That's a little harsh," Dongwoo sighed.
Junghwan focused single-mindedly on quartering potatoes and wondered if it was possible to disappear yet. He was more than a little glad that Sunwoo had gone out for a jog.)
-
It wasn't that bad, Junghwan decided. But mostly because Dongwoo tended not to make fun of him. He just held up a mirror, and told him to stare at it and sing, occasionally interrupting just when Junghwan was really getting into it.
"You have to, um, express it through your voice, not your face," Dongwoo said, peeking surreptitiously at his hand.
"But I am," Junghwan groaned. They'd just come back from dance practice and Jinyoung had sat the two of them down in a corner and told them to "fix it", and Junghwan was ready enough to collapse after dance practice on any day. Chansik was watching them from the corner, head bent to his math homework.
Dongwoo sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe try not to express it through your face at all? Like a robot."
"Does a robot even have a face?" Junghwan wondered aloud.
"It does now."
-
A week in, Jinyoung declared progress too slow and decided to take matters into his own hands. "I've done research, it'll be fine," he declared, and proceeded to dump the contents of his bag onto the floor. Junghwan raised an eyebrow skeptically when what came out was a three inch binder.
"Listen to this. 'Facial expressions are used in music performance to communicate structural and emotional intentions. Exposure to emotional facial expressions also may lead to subtle facial movements that mirror these expressions. By helping connect with the song's true meaning, the audience's listening pleasure can be increased. This can be done-'"
"That's great," Junghwan interrupted, "but how is any of that supposed to help?"
Jinyoung frowned at him, and then flipped through a few pages. "It's proper research," he said. "Anyway, 'avoid exaggerated emotions that give your audience the impression you don't really feel the meaning of the song deeply and are trying to overcompensate with phony outward gestures.' There! See? That's your problem."
"But I'm not exaggerating," Junghwan said helplessly. "Look hyung, thanks, but I don't think this is helping. Dongwoo hyung was more helpful."
"Nice effort," Chansik commented, when Junghwan escaped for a walk. "But he's right."
Jinyoung crossed his arms and frowned at him. "Be a good magnae and just listen to me," he said.
"Dongwoo hyung's nicer," Chansik said, and quickly ducked out of the room before Jinyoung could retaliate.
-
So his face looked strange when he was singing. Sure, he still didn't see it, but it'd come in time, right? Like when he switched from glasses to contact lenses. Even he thought he'd looked awkward with those glasses, looking back at that now.
Junghwan poked his face experimentally, stretching his mouth this way and that. It wasn't his fault his expressions just came through stronger on his face-he'd always been bad at hiding his feelings, and his feelings just came out strongest when he was singing. If he was happy, he smiled. If he was sad, he frowned. If he was surprised, he looked surprised. That was just how it was.
"Still thinking about it?"
Junghwan looked up, blinking in surprise when Chansik fell in step next to him. "A little," he admitted.
Chansik shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Don't think about it too hard," he said. "Maybe you just need to feel less."
Junghwan frowned. "Feel less? What do you mean?"
"I don't actually know," Chansik admitted with a sheepish laugh, jamming his hands deeper into his pockets, shoulders a little hunched over.
Junghwan sighed, a little breath of air escaping before he could stop it. "I never thought it'd be this complicated to be a singer," he said quietly.
"Things usually are," Chansik pointed out.
"I wish they weren't," Junghwan said wistfully.
Chansik smiled. "Hang in there, hyung. You'll get it, I'm sure."
-
"So, have you fixed it yet?"
Junghwan blinked blearily in the darkness, staring at a blurry face. "Sunwoo?" he whispered.
"Obviously," Sunwoo said. "Who else? The others are asleep, by the way. Jinyoung hyung told me you walked out on his carefully prepared lesson plan, but since it's hyung, I doubt it was that carefully prepared in the first place."
"No, he was well prepared," Junghwan said cautiously. "I just didn't think it would help me."
Sunwoo snorted. "It's hyung, after all. So, did it help at all?"
"Not really," Junghwan said. He paused, before adding, "Chansik said something though. Something about feeling less."
"What does that even mean?" Sunwoo wondered aloud.
Junghwan shrugged under the covers. "No idea," he said.
The two of them fell silent, listening to the others' breathing. It was Sunwoo who broke the silence, a nervous cough punctuating the effort. "Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for laughing at you the other day," he said.
Junghwan laughed quietly, eyes crinkling into a smile. "It's alright. Did hyung tell you to?"
Junghwan could hear Sunwoo shift uncomfortably. "How did you know?" he asked. Junghwan didn't say anything. "Yeah. Something about how Dongwoo hyung brought it up to Jinyoung hyung and Jinyoung hyung. Well. Yeah."
"It's alright," Junghwan repeated quietly. "It's alright."
-
Junghwan stood awkwardly in the practice room, trying to school his expression to keep the disappointment off his face. They'd been dismissed earlier, but he'd been called to stay behind. Something he wasn't used to.
"Junghwan..." Their vocal instructor sighed, clearly as at a loss as Junghwan was himself. "What do you think about when you sing?"
Junghwan shifted his weight and clasped his hands tightly behind his back. "It depends on the song," he answered cautiously, wondering where he was going with this.
"What about the one you just sang?"
Junghwan thought back to it, running over the lyrics in his head. It was a love song, but almost everything was a love song. A sad love song, about a love you wouldn't be able to see again. "Saying goodbye to someone. Like when you're graduating from elementary school and your friends go to different schools, or when someone moves away."
The instructor considered him for a moment, tapping his pen thoughtfully against a stand. "What if you think about something different? Just enough until you can control your facial expressions, and then go back to whatever you were thinking before."
Junghwan nodded. "I'll try that," he said. "Thank you for the advice."
-
It was advice, but it wasn't helping. Junghwan sat on the floor of the dance studio, frowning to himself. He jutted out his lower lip, opened his eyes wide. Puffed out his cheeks, and then popped the air out of them entirely. It looked silly. He sighed.
"Still working on it?"
Junghwan nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned, wondering when Chansik had shown up in the doorway. "Didn't you go back already?" he asked.
Chansik shrugged, walking over to sit next to him. "I did," he said. "But I thought you'd be lonely, so I came to keep you company. You're still working on it?"
Junghwan nodded, biting back a sigh. "I think I see what you meant though, about my face. Maybe you're right, about feeling less."
"Did I say that?" Chansik sounded surprised, melting into a smile at Junghwan's expression. "I thought about it, and I've decided that you need to find something you feel more about than singing."
"But I like singing," Junghwan said. "I've always liked singing."
"Then just find something you like more than singing." Chansik said it so simply, Junghwan couldn't help but nod.
"Something I like more than singing," he repeated, and wondered if that was even possible.
Chansik nodded, and slid a little closer to him. "Do you want to try again?" he asked.
"Yeah," Junghwan said. This time, when he looked in the mirror, Chansik was smiling encouragingly at him. He opened his mouth, and sang.
-
They went back to Dongwoo staring despondently at a mess, Jinyoung and Sunwoo curled up on the couch with a blanket stuck between the two of them, the coffee table upended and popcorn scattered across the floor.
"What happened?" Junghwan asked, cautiously picking his way around a discarded mug.
"Welcome back," Dongwoo said. "It turns out they don't like horror movies nearly as much as they said."
Chansik laughed. "I'm not surprised," he said, lining his own shoes neatly in the entrance way.
Dongwoo sighed, shepherding the two of them to their bedroom. "We'll clean up in the morning. It's already pretty late. They wanted to wait for you two, you know, since we have tomorrow off anyway. What were you even doing?"
"Finding something Junghwan hyung likes more than singing," Chansik supplied helpfully, Junghwan already having disappeared into the room to change into pyjamas.
Dongwoo raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Why?" he asked, untangling the blanket from Jinyoung and Sunwoo's clutches in an attempt to spread it on top of them instead.
Chansik shrugged. "So his feelings show less when singing."
"And? Did that work?"
Chansik smiled awkwardly, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Maybe," he said with another shrug, before heading into the room as well.
"Maybe?" Dongwoo repeated to himself, before shaking his head, giving up on extricating the blanket and grabbing another one instead.
-
"Ow. Ow ow ow ow." Sunwoo groaned, cricking his neck to the side. "Ow," he said once more for good measure.
On the other end of the sofa, Jinyoung stirred, opening his eyes sleepily. "What, shut up, it's too early."
From the kitchen, Junghwan laughed. "Not really. It's already ten. Sleep well?"
"No," Jinyoung said pointedly, rolling over to bury his face in a cushion. "Now leave us alone, I'm going back to sleep."
"No you're not," Sunwoo grumbled, tossing a throw pillow at Jinyoung's head. "If I'm getting up then you are too. Besides, the leader's supposed to set an example."
"I'm not leader yet," Jinyoung said-or at least, that's what it sounded like he said. "If I'm leader then you're Baro and he's Sandeul."
Sunwoo stared at him, a sudden realisation sending another throw pillow at the older boy. "Hey, that's not fair! You're the only one without a stage name."
"We're supposed to be getting used to them anyway," Dongwoo pointed out from somewhere behind the couch. Sunwoo peered over the top to look down at him. "So we don't slip up when we're on air, right?"
"Speaking of being on air," Jinyoung began slowly, clawing his way to an upright position and swivelling his head to stare at the kitchen, "how's that going?"
Junghwan shrugged. "Alright," he said.
"You're smiling," Jinyoung pointed out.
"And blushing," Sunwoo added.
Jinyoung kicked at Sunwoo from across the couch. "Shut up, you're not helping, Baro."
"And you're being a lousy leader," Sunwoo grumbled, kicking back. "Abusive leader."
"Neither of you are helping," Dongwoo cut in.
"Shut up," Jinyoung and Sunwoo said in unison. No sooner were the words out of their mouth, than they crossed their arms and glared at each other. Dongwoo sighed.
Junghwan decided to leave them to their squabbling and go back to the bedroom.
"Hey," he said quietly, shutting the door behind him.
"Hey," Chansik replied, putting down his pencil. "They're finally awake?"
Junghwan hummed an assent, pulling a folding chair from against the wall, sitting down next to Chansik. "Took them long enough," he said. "I don't think Dongwoo hyung's told them about the pictures yet though."
Chansik giggled, corners of his lips twitching upward in a grin. "They're cute. After we debut, we should accidentally leak them to the fans."
"You're thinking ahead," Junghwan commented. "Speaking of debut, we were talking about that, did you hear?"
"Do you want me to call you Sandeul?" Chansik asked. "Shinwoo hyung's right you know, the more we practice the less likely we'll mess up. Right, Sandeul hyung?"
Junghwan made a face. "It sounds weird," he said. "Does that mean I should call you Gongchan?"
Chansik laughed. "It does sound weird," he agreed. "I think we should work on one thing at a time though, don't you?"
"Sounds good to me," Junghwan said, scooting his chair a little closer. "So, should we work on it?"
"Why not?" Chansik asked cheekily. Junghwan just smiled, and reached for Chansik's hand.
Omake/Epilogue/whatever
"Oh my god it's fixed." Sunwoo stared at him, Dongwoo rescuing the mug from his hand before it dropped completely from his limp grasp.
Junghwan crossed his arms and frowned. "You make it sound like it was broken," he said.
"Wait wait wait, do that again?" Jinyoung said, sliding in from the kitchen. "Something about it being fixed?"
Junghwan rolled his eyes, and stuck his tongue out at Jinyoung. "I told you hyung, it was never broken in the first place."
"You mean, "Operation Fix Sandeul's Face" is a success?" Jinyoung said. "My first real work as a leader is a success?"
Chansik met Junghwan's eyes from across the room, and laughed. "Well, we're working on it," he said.
"See, I told you they'd figure it out themselves," Dongwoo said smugly.
It was Junghwan's turn to smile. "We're working on it," he repeated. "But I think it'll be alright."
Sunwoo looked between Junghwan's and Chansik's smiling expressions, Dongwoo practically glowing, and Jinyoung's mildly confused face. "Wait, is there something I'm missing here?"
Jinyoung cuffed him on the shoulder, shooting him as withering a glance as he could manage. It was about as intimidating as a puppy dog in a flower dress. "Who cares, now we can move on to "Operation Fix Baro's Singing", and that'll take a lot longer," he sniped.
In the ensuing scuffle as Sunwoo whined about being the rapper for a reason, Dongwoo was the only one who noticed when Chansik walked over to Junghwan, their hands slipping into each others' for a brief moment, before disappearing out the door, ostensibly for some peace and quiet.
He always did think that things tended to work out in the best of ways.
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Pairing: Gongchan/Sandeul (tentatively gongdeul!?)
Rating: G
Wordcount: ~3000
Summary: Sandeul is expressive, Baro finds it hilarious, Jinyoung is a good leader, CNU tries to be the mature one, and Gongchan, well, Gongchan is the magnae and what are magnae for but taking care of the hyungdeul?
Notes: BASICALLY, B1A4 ANONS ON kpopficsmeme ARE SUCH ENABLERS IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY. Everyone who's written for B1A4 already, this is all your fault. This started off as like, a crack drabble or something but then Gongchan insisted on being cute and this happened /)_(\ Still not-so-secretly shipping Jinyoung/Baro (Jinro?) lol. We're going to find out more about them and I'm going to regret ever writing this, I just know it. This is because of Sandeul's extremely expressive predebut videos, by the way. His voice though ♥!
"Jinyoung, Dongwoo, good work. Dongwoo, I want a little more emotion, get into it more." Their vocal instructor nodded approvingly at them, before moving down the line. "Chansik, I want to hear some more confidence out of you. The rest will come with practice. Sunwoo, good expression, we'll work on your pitch tomorrow."
The boys glanced at each other, their eyes eventually settling on the same person their vocal instructor had previously passed over and was now regarding curiously as well. "Um, what about me," said person spoke up, raising a hand hesitantly.
Beside him, Sunwoo snickered. Dongwoo shot him a look, and he quickly hid it behind a hand. Their vocal instructor looked pained. "Junghwan. Your voice is good as usual," he said slowly, "but do you think you could tone down your, ah, expressiveness?"
Sunwoo broke out into full bodied laughter. Chansik couldn't help a small smile, Jinyoung joining in the giggles. Only Dongwoo managed to maintain a serious expression, as Junghwan frowned. "I thought being expressive was a good thing," he said seriously.
The instructor sighed. "Junghwan, have you ever looked in a mirror?"
Junghwan stared back blankly. "Yes? Lots of times?" Sunwoo just laughed harder. Junghwan elbowed him not-so-subtly in the side.
"When you're singing," Sunwoo managed as he caught his breath, massaging his sore ribs.
"Why should I?" Junghwan wanted to know.
"Just do it, man. You'll see."
Junghwan sighed. The vocal instructor looked like he wanted to sigh. He dismissed them instead.
-
"It's not that bad," Chansik reassured him on the walk back to their dorm.
"What's not that bad?" Junghwan asked irritably. Sunwoo hadn't stopped laughing since they'd left the practice room, and it was getting on his nerves. Dongwoo had suggested Jinyoung use his leader powers to get him to stop, but Jinyoung had cheekily retorted that he didn't have to since they hadn't debuted yet. "Besides, you have to admit it is pretty funny," he said.
"Your face," Chansik said after a moment. Junghwan stared at him, hands self consciously brushing the area by his eyes. "No, not that," Chansik clarified.
Jinyoung caught up to them, slinging an arm over Junghwan's shoulder. "Don't worry about it," he reassured him. "I'll tell you when we get back."
"Okay?" Junghwan didn't sound particularly reassured.
-
"You want me to sing?" Junghwan asked dubiously.
The five of them were sitting in their room, a video camera in Jinyoung's hand. Sunwoo seemed to have finally gotten over his giggles, Chansik apparently having said something to him on the way back. Dongwoo was hovering at the back, watching the whole procedure nervously. Junghwan definitely didn't feel reassured.
Jinyoung nodded. "Yup! It's the easiest."
Junghwan frowned. "What should I sing?"
"Whatever. Something you like." Jinyoung shrugged, powering up the video camera. "Whenever you're ready!"
Junghwan eyed him a little doubtfully, but nodded anyway, coasting his way to an opening high note easily. It wasn't hard for him to lose himself in the song; a love song, but Junghwan had always been the sentimental type, and he still thought about that girl in third grade who he'd briefly 'dated' sometimes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sunwoo holding back laughter again, Jinyoung tossing a slipper at him in irritation. He sang the last verse, fiddling nervously with the hem of his shirt. Jinyoung seemed pleased with the results, snapping the camera shut.
"Okay, that's good. Now gather around, and Sunwoo just... go away."
Sunwoo muttered something about abusing leader priveleges as he went to amuse himself, Jinyoung pulling out his laptop. Dongwoo was still hovering at the back, only standing at his full height now, it was more than a little nervewracking. Junghwan thought about telling him to stop, but Jinyoung had grabbed him and shoved him in front of the laptop. "Watch," he ordered.
"B2ST sunbae?" Junghwan questioned.
Jinyoung made an irritated noise in the back of his throat. "Just watch," he repeated.
Junghwan shut up and watched. They'd watched this performance before, he didn't really see what was so special about it. When the video player closed, Jinyoung quickly flipped open another. Chansik and Dongwoo had both settled down around them to watch as well-it was something they did a lot as a group, especially on evenings when they were too tired to do anything else. Junghwan didn't understand what he was supposed to be watching for that was different this time.
Jinyoung flipped through a few more videos, before plugging the video camera into the laptop. "Now watch," he said, sounding a little too proud for having done nothing but hold the camera. Junghwan stared skeptically at the screen, as his own face only zoomed in way too large to be comfortable appeared, before slowly zooming out to an acceptable distance. Jinyoung's filmtography skills could use some work. Or whatever they were called.
Junghwan still didn't know what he was supposed to be looking for. "I still don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for," he said.
"What," Jinyoung deadpanned. "Don't you see the difference?"
"Um, they're debuted artists and we're not?" Junghwan ventured.
Jinyoung tsked exasperatedly, Sunwoo choosing this moment to pop back in. "Has anyone ever told you that your face is hilarious when you sing?" he asked, dodging cheerfully back out the doorway when Jinyoung tossed his other slipper at him.
"It's really not that bad," Dongwoo cut in before more damage could be done. "We just need to... work on it a little."
And that was how "Operation Fix Sandeul's Face" began.
("That makes it sound like it's broken," Chansik pointed out.
Jinyoung shrugged. "When he's singing? It might as well be."
"That's a little harsh," Dongwoo sighed.
Junghwan focused single-mindedly on quartering potatoes and wondered if it was possible to disappear yet. He was more than a little glad that Sunwoo had gone out for a jog.)
-
It wasn't that bad, Junghwan decided. But mostly because Dongwoo tended not to make fun of him. He just held up a mirror, and told him to stare at it and sing, occasionally interrupting just when Junghwan was really getting into it.
"You have to, um, express it through your voice, not your face," Dongwoo said, peeking surreptitiously at his hand.
"But I am," Junghwan groaned. They'd just come back from dance practice and Jinyoung had sat the two of them down in a corner and told them to "fix it", and Junghwan was ready enough to collapse after dance practice on any day. Chansik was watching them from the corner, head bent to his math homework.
Dongwoo sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe try not to express it through your face at all? Like a robot."
"Does a robot even have a face?" Junghwan wondered aloud.
"It does now."
-
A week in, Jinyoung declared progress too slow and decided to take matters into his own hands. "I've done research, it'll be fine," he declared, and proceeded to dump the contents of his bag onto the floor. Junghwan raised an eyebrow skeptically when what came out was a three inch binder.
"Listen to this. 'Facial expressions are used in music performance to communicate structural and emotional intentions. Exposure to emotional facial expressions also may lead to subtle facial movements that mirror these expressions. By helping connect with the song's true meaning, the audience's listening pleasure can be increased. This can be done-'"
"That's great," Junghwan interrupted, "but how is any of that supposed to help?"
Jinyoung frowned at him, and then flipped through a few pages. "It's proper research," he said. "Anyway, 'avoid exaggerated emotions that give your audience the impression you don't really feel the meaning of the song deeply and are trying to overcompensate with phony outward gestures.' There! See? That's your problem."
"But I'm not exaggerating," Junghwan said helplessly. "Look hyung, thanks, but I don't think this is helping. Dongwoo hyung was more helpful."
"Nice effort," Chansik commented, when Junghwan escaped for a walk. "But he's right."
Jinyoung crossed his arms and frowned at him. "Be a good magnae and just listen to me," he said.
"Dongwoo hyung's nicer," Chansik said, and quickly ducked out of the room before Jinyoung could retaliate.
-
So his face looked strange when he was singing. Sure, he still didn't see it, but it'd come in time, right? Like when he switched from glasses to contact lenses. Even he thought he'd looked awkward with those glasses, looking back at that now.
Junghwan poked his face experimentally, stretching his mouth this way and that. It wasn't his fault his expressions just came through stronger on his face-he'd always been bad at hiding his feelings, and his feelings just came out strongest when he was singing. If he was happy, he smiled. If he was sad, he frowned. If he was surprised, he looked surprised. That was just how it was.
"Still thinking about it?"
Junghwan looked up, blinking in surprise when Chansik fell in step next to him. "A little," he admitted.
Chansik shrugged, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Don't think about it too hard," he said. "Maybe you just need to feel less."
Junghwan frowned. "Feel less? What do you mean?"
"I don't actually know," Chansik admitted with a sheepish laugh, jamming his hands deeper into his pockets, shoulders a little hunched over.
Junghwan sighed, a little breath of air escaping before he could stop it. "I never thought it'd be this complicated to be a singer," he said quietly.
"Things usually are," Chansik pointed out.
"I wish they weren't," Junghwan said wistfully.
Chansik smiled. "Hang in there, hyung. You'll get it, I'm sure."
-
"So, have you fixed it yet?"
Junghwan blinked blearily in the darkness, staring at a blurry face. "Sunwoo?" he whispered.
"Obviously," Sunwoo said. "Who else? The others are asleep, by the way. Jinyoung hyung told me you walked out on his carefully prepared lesson plan, but since it's hyung, I doubt it was that carefully prepared in the first place."
"No, he was well prepared," Junghwan said cautiously. "I just didn't think it would help me."
Sunwoo snorted. "It's hyung, after all. So, did it help at all?"
"Not really," Junghwan said. He paused, before adding, "Chansik said something though. Something about feeling less."
"What does that even mean?" Sunwoo wondered aloud.
Junghwan shrugged under the covers. "No idea," he said.
The two of them fell silent, listening to the others' breathing. It was Sunwoo who broke the silence, a nervous cough punctuating the effort. "Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for laughing at you the other day," he said.
Junghwan laughed quietly, eyes crinkling into a smile. "It's alright. Did hyung tell you to?"
Junghwan could hear Sunwoo shift uncomfortably. "How did you know?" he asked. Junghwan didn't say anything. "Yeah. Something about how Dongwoo hyung brought it up to Jinyoung hyung and Jinyoung hyung. Well. Yeah."
"It's alright," Junghwan repeated quietly. "It's alright."
-
Junghwan stood awkwardly in the practice room, trying to school his expression to keep the disappointment off his face. They'd been dismissed earlier, but he'd been called to stay behind. Something he wasn't used to.
"Junghwan..." Their vocal instructor sighed, clearly as at a loss as Junghwan was himself. "What do you think about when you sing?"
Junghwan shifted his weight and clasped his hands tightly behind his back. "It depends on the song," he answered cautiously, wondering where he was going with this.
"What about the one you just sang?"
Junghwan thought back to it, running over the lyrics in his head. It was a love song, but almost everything was a love song. A sad love song, about a love you wouldn't be able to see again. "Saying goodbye to someone. Like when you're graduating from elementary school and your friends go to different schools, or when someone moves away."
The instructor considered him for a moment, tapping his pen thoughtfully against a stand. "What if you think about something different? Just enough until you can control your facial expressions, and then go back to whatever you were thinking before."
Junghwan nodded. "I'll try that," he said. "Thank you for the advice."
-
It was advice, but it wasn't helping. Junghwan sat on the floor of the dance studio, frowning to himself. He jutted out his lower lip, opened his eyes wide. Puffed out his cheeks, and then popped the air out of them entirely. It looked silly. He sighed.
"Still working on it?"
Junghwan nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned, wondering when Chansik had shown up in the doorway. "Didn't you go back already?" he asked.
Chansik shrugged, walking over to sit next to him. "I did," he said. "But I thought you'd be lonely, so I came to keep you company. You're still working on it?"
Junghwan nodded, biting back a sigh. "I think I see what you meant though, about my face. Maybe you're right, about feeling less."
"Did I say that?" Chansik sounded surprised, melting into a smile at Junghwan's expression. "I thought about it, and I've decided that you need to find something you feel more about than singing."
"But I like singing," Junghwan said. "I've always liked singing."
"Then just find something you like more than singing." Chansik said it so simply, Junghwan couldn't help but nod.
"Something I like more than singing," he repeated, and wondered if that was even possible.
Chansik nodded, and slid a little closer to him. "Do you want to try again?" he asked.
"Yeah," Junghwan said. This time, when he looked in the mirror, Chansik was smiling encouragingly at him. He opened his mouth, and sang.
-
They went back to Dongwoo staring despondently at a mess, Jinyoung and Sunwoo curled up on the couch with a blanket stuck between the two of them, the coffee table upended and popcorn scattered across the floor.
"What happened?" Junghwan asked, cautiously picking his way around a discarded mug.
"Welcome back," Dongwoo said. "It turns out they don't like horror movies nearly as much as they said."
Chansik laughed. "I'm not surprised," he said, lining his own shoes neatly in the entrance way.
Dongwoo sighed, shepherding the two of them to their bedroom. "We'll clean up in the morning. It's already pretty late. They wanted to wait for you two, you know, since we have tomorrow off anyway. What were you even doing?"
"Finding something Junghwan hyung likes more than singing," Chansik supplied helpfully, Junghwan already having disappeared into the room to change into pyjamas.
Dongwoo raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Why?" he asked, untangling the blanket from Jinyoung and Sunwoo's clutches in an attempt to spread it on top of them instead.
Chansik shrugged. "So his feelings show less when singing."
"And? Did that work?"
Chansik smiled awkwardly, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Maybe," he said with another shrug, before heading into the room as well.
"Maybe?" Dongwoo repeated to himself, before shaking his head, giving up on extricating the blanket and grabbing another one instead.
-
"Ow. Ow ow ow ow." Sunwoo groaned, cricking his neck to the side. "Ow," he said once more for good measure.
On the other end of the sofa, Jinyoung stirred, opening his eyes sleepily. "What, shut up, it's too early."
From the kitchen, Junghwan laughed. "Not really. It's already ten. Sleep well?"
"No," Jinyoung said pointedly, rolling over to bury his face in a cushion. "Now leave us alone, I'm going back to sleep."
"No you're not," Sunwoo grumbled, tossing a throw pillow at Jinyoung's head. "If I'm getting up then you are too. Besides, the leader's supposed to set an example."
"I'm not leader yet," Jinyoung said-or at least, that's what it sounded like he said. "If I'm leader then you're Baro and he's Sandeul."
Sunwoo stared at him, a sudden realisation sending another throw pillow at the older boy. "Hey, that's not fair! You're the only one without a stage name."
"We're supposed to be getting used to them anyway," Dongwoo pointed out from somewhere behind the couch. Sunwoo peered over the top to look down at him. "So we don't slip up when we're on air, right?"
"Speaking of being on air," Jinyoung began slowly, clawing his way to an upright position and swivelling his head to stare at the kitchen, "how's that going?"
Junghwan shrugged. "Alright," he said.
"You're smiling," Jinyoung pointed out.
"And blushing," Sunwoo added.
Jinyoung kicked at Sunwoo from across the couch. "Shut up, you're not helping, Baro."
"And you're being a lousy leader," Sunwoo grumbled, kicking back. "Abusive leader."
"Neither of you are helping," Dongwoo cut in.
"Shut up," Jinyoung and Sunwoo said in unison. No sooner were the words out of their mouth, than they crossed their arms and glared at each other. Dongwoo sighed.
Junghwan decided to leave them to their squabbling and go back to the bedroom.
"Hey," he said quietly, shutting the door behind him.
"Hey," Chansik replied, putting down his pencil. "They're finally awake?"
Junghwan hummed an assent, pulling a folding chair from against the wall, sitting down next to Chansik. "Took them long enough," he said. "I don't think Dongwoo hyung's told them about the pictures yet though."
Chansik giggled, corners of his lips twitching upward in a grin. "They're cute. After we debut, we should accidentally leak them to the fans."
"You're thinking ahead," Junghwan commented. "Speaking of debut, we were talking about that, did you hear?"
"Do you want me to call you Sandeul?" Chansik asked. "Shinwoo hyung's right you know, the more we practice the less likely we'll mess up. Right, Sandeul hyung?"
Junghwan made a face. "It sounds weird," he said. "Does that mean I should call you Gongchan?"
Chansik laughed. "It does sound weird," he agreed. "I think we should work on one thing at a time though, don't you?"
"Sounds good to me," Junghwan said, scooting his chair a little closer. "So, should we work on it?"
"Why not?" Chansik asked cheekily. Junghwan just smiled, and reached for Chansik's hand.
Omake/Epilogue/whatever
"Oh my god it's fixed." Sunwoo stared at him, Dongwoo rescuing the mug from his hand before it dropped completely from his limp grasp.
Junghwan crossed his arms and frowned. "You make it sound like it was broken," he said.
"Wait wait wait, do that again?" Jinyoung said, sliding in from the kitchen. "Something about it being fixed?"
Junghwan rolled his eyes, and stuck his tongue out at Jinyoung. "I told you hyung, it was never broken in the first place."
"You mean, "Operation Fix Sandeul's Face" is a success?" Jinyoung said. "My first real work as a leader is a success?"
Chansik met Junghwan's eyes from across the room, and laughed. "Well, we're working on it," he said.
"See, I told you they'd figure it out themselves," Dongwoo said smugly.
It was Junghwan's turn to smile. "We're working on it," he repeated. "But I think it'll be alright."
Sunwoo looked between Junghwan's and Chansik's smiling expressions, Dongwoo practically glowing, and Jinyoung's mildly confused face. "Wait, is there something I'm missing here?"
Jinyoung cuffed him on the shoulder, shooting him as withering a glance as he could manage. It was about as intimidating as a puppy dog in a flower dress. "Who cares, now we can move on to "Operation Fix Baro's Singing", and that'll take a lot longer," he sniped.
In the ensuing scuffle as Sunwoo whined about being the rapper for a reason, Dongwoo was the only one who noticed when Chansik walked over to Junghwan, their hands slipping into each others' for a brief moment, before disappearing out the door, ostensibly for some peace and quiet.
He always did think that things tended to work out in the best of ways.
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