Chapter Text
It's been three months now since 3 women in their 30s broke into Enhypen's dorms. It was just shared recently through media but without disclosing any details. The break in only happened in heeseung, sunghoon, jay and ni-ki and they particularly only got into riki's room at first.
The maknae was peacefully sleeping after a tiring day until he was startled awake by the feeling of hands caressing his hair and face. He was freaked out when he opened his eyes and saw three very familiar women. They always follow them everywhere he can't forget their faces even if he wanted to.
"Hello Riki! Surpriiise!" The woman who touched him said with a creepy smile.
Riki was rendered speechless at their brazenness. He stealthily got hold of his phone that was next to him under the blanket and clicked the turn off button 5 times to have an SOS message sent to their manager and the other members. But then the woman who was still at his door noticed and jumped into his bed catching the phone. When the two others understood what he did they all glared at him sinisterly.
"I'm hurt Riki yah. How could you do this to us when we went through so much to come see you here." Said the woman who took his phone.
"We even came to you first before the others because you are special to us. But this is how you're treating us." The woman who has been silent until now talked with disgusting aegyo. Then continued looking at her friends. " Sanhee you stay here and do what you want. Ryui and I will go see the others before we get caught."
Riki was trembling as he was left alone with his aggressor. He can hit push her or hurt her but he's an idol, one wrong move and his career is over even if he's the victim here some people just don't care. But he still couldn't let her do what she wanted as she tried hugging him, he kept wrestling with her to stop her. And then he heard a scream from Sunghoon that surprised the woman. Riki took this chance to run out of his room and went to Sunghoon's, he found him very angry and too close to lose his nerves and fight those women. But fortunately, their manager Yuki came before Sunghoon hit anyone. He brought security with him and afterwards they called the police and all the other members woke up and gathered at the dorm downstairs while some staff members where checking for any hidden cameras or dangerous things left by those women.
The members were very shaken up from what happened, though most of all Sunghoon and Riki who witnessed that horror first hand.
Belift decided it would be a hassle to change dorms and just promised them to up the security and never allow such a thing to happen again.
It has been 3 months now since that break in occurred, everyone has mostly gotten over it even Sunghoon and Riki, or so they all thought, because Riki is anything but over what happened. He still gets really vivid nightmares about that night, his sleeping schedule is all ruined now because he was too afraid to fall asleep and now even if he wants to sleep he’s unable to do so. That’s why he spends every night playing video games until very late at night, then gets a couple of hours of sleep, and gives his hyungs a hard time waking him up for their schedules.
Tonight he was as usual playing video games but accidentally forgot his door open, so when Jay went to get a cup of water at 4am he saw light emanating from Riki’s room. He frowned as he silently made his way to the room and saw Riki immersed in his game. He turned the light on finally getting the maknae’s attention on him.
“What in hell do you think you’re doing playing games until 4 in the freaking morning?! Is that why you never wake up when we call you in the morning until we drag you out of your bed?” Jay whisper yelled in a scolding manner.
“Hyung.. I’m sorry I just couldn’t sleep and wanted to pass time.” Riki whispered back apologetically.
“Of course you wouldn’t be able to sleep if you’re playing! Now turn this off and go to sleep right away! We’re gonna talk about this more in the morning. Don’t think you’re off the hook just yet.” Jay said firmly letting go of the whispering.
Ni-ki complied and Jay finally left, but he still couldn’t sleep until another two hours or so later.
This time it was Sunghoon who came to wake him up and he didn’t even bother calling him he just straight away grabbed his arms and yanked him up. And when he opened his eyes Sunghoon chuckled. “There you go. This method is quite effective. Now go wash up and get ready before Jungwon storms up here in his scary leader mode.”
Riki made an effort to laugh at the joke and then just moved on autopilot to get his morning routine done. He almost forgot about Jay catching him up last night until he made it to the dinning room downstairs and saw the glares Jay and Jungwon gave him.
He gulped and sat down to start eating.
Not even two bites in, Jungwon cleared his throat and looked straight at the maknae.
“Ni-ki. Jay hyung told me he found you playing video games at 4am. Have you been doing that everyday? Is that why you can’t wake up in the morning?”
Ni-ki bit the inside of his cheek preparing himself to twist the truth a little bit. “Not everyday.. it’s just some days when I can’t sleep.. I.. I’m..” And then he just stopped talking not knowing what to add.
His hyungs all sighed including Yuki-nim. Then Heeseung the reliable hyung spoke to him very softly. “Ni-ki yah it’s unhealthy for you to stay up late playing video games. As idols we already get barely enough sleep so if you get any less sleep than that that’s gonna mess up your health, your body and your mind. Do you promise to not do that again?”
Ni-ki felt really embarrassed and guilty too so he just nodded quietly.
The other members all nodded contentedly after him but Jungwon still wasn’t done.
“This better be the last time Ni-ki. You’re not a kid anymore you should know what’s right and what’s not by yourself. Your messed up sleeping schedule is not a matter that affects you alone. It’s affecting the whole group! How many times did we go late to our morning schedules this month? Did you even realize that? Not to mention your sloppiness during our latest dance practices. Get yourself together. We’re already busy and stressed enough on our own we don’t need more things to worry about.”
Riki would be lying if he said these words didn’t hurt him. Hell, he even feels the sting in his eyes. He’s not even one to cry often but his tears are threatening to fall down now. But he can’t allow that to happen, he swallowed it down and in a small voice he apologized. “I’m sorry.. I’ll make sure to not inconvenience you anymore from now on.”
Jake and Sunoo winced at the words. Riki was their maknae they hate to see him sad or hurt and now the way he said these words made it feel like he thinks of himself as burden to them and not as their beloved dongsaeng they’d do anything for. Everyone felt that Jungwon’s words were too harsh but no one commented on it. Jungwon was second to last youngest in the group but also their leader. He had to assume great responsibility from a very young age, and they know how stressed he’d been lately and how he’s always the one who gets scolded when Enhypen is late to their schedules. So even if they felt bad for Riki they felt even worst for Jungwon and thus decided to just focus on their food and not say anything to make matters worse.
Their comeback is approaching, they are now in the phase of going through details both in recording and choreography. This day in particular was dedicated to dance practice. They’ve already learned both choreographies for Outside and Bad Desire and they’re also practicing Loose’s choreo because they are gonna promote the Korean version too. Riki although sleep deprived made sure to stick to his words and not inconvenience his hyungs so he used all the focus he had to execute steps perfectly and not make any mistakes. But after 8 hours of practice with a body that barely had 2 hours of sleep it was only normal to slip up. And that couldn’t happen in a worst situation than this. They were in their, God knows which, run of Bad Desire, and it was Jungwon’s part, the one that came right after Ni-ki’s. The maknae was on the floor, needing to coordinate with Jungwon’s steps so they wouldn’t collide. But a sudden wave of dizziness hit him, weakening his hand, and he collapsed right as Jungwon moved forward. Jungwon stumbled over Riki’s long legs and would have hit the floor face-first if not for the elbow he sacrificed to break the fall.
Everybody’s movements halted for a few seconds and then everyone was rushing towards the two youngest members as a staff member went to stop the music. Jungwon was clearly in pain and he was clutching his ankle not even caring about his bloodied elbow. Riki felt his ears ringing and only when it ceased did he register the sting he felt on his left leg where Jungwon collided into him. He heard Jake asking him if he was okay and nodded still in a daze as he watched the others circling Jungwon and assessing his injuries in worry.
The leader was barely standing with the help of Heeseung and Jay when he looked down at Riki with a scary glare and yelled at him.
“Are you out of your mind? How can you make such a mistake?! We cannot afford any delay in our schedules but now because of you I’m injured and god knows how long that will take to heal! This is all because you were being childish and preferred playing games until ungodly hours instead of sleeping like sane human being! This is exactly what I meant when I said you’re affecting all of us! And you literally just apologized this morning and promised not to inconvenience us anymore but here we are now!”
Heeseung saw the tears threatening to fall from Riki’s eyes and tried to stop Jungwon before he said something he would regret. “Hey Jungwon I think you’ve made your point clear enough let’s just get you checked up by the doctor now an-“
“No! He needs to get some sense knocked into his head! I did not sign up to babysit a kid when I joined I-land to debut!”
Sunoo in an attempt to stop Jungwon, looks at Riki and in a scolding tone says “Ni-ki you messed up big this time. Apologize to your hyung for hurting him.”
Riki looked like a baby in that moment, Sunoo wanted to drop the act right away and hug him but he couldn’t afford to enrage Jungwon further.
“I- I’m sorry Jungwon hyung.. I really didn’t mean for this to happen.. I.. my hand just suddenly slipped and I couldn’t react fast enough to avoid you.. Please forgive me..”
“What is this apology even going to do for me now? If you had been responsible from the start this would’ve never even happened. Yo-“
“Jungwon that’s enough! You’re gonna regret this later so better stop now.” Sunghoon stepped in unable to watch this cruelty unfold before his eyes any longer and Jake dropped to his knees next to Riki hugging him tightly.
Jungwon just scoffed and then said “Of course he’d become like this. You guys coddle him too much and this is the result. He’s become a spoiled brat now!”
Sunghoon wanted to retort but Sunoo grabbed his sleeve and shook his head. Jay and Heeseung quickly rushed Jungwon outside to stop him from adding anymore hurtful words.
The doctor examined his ankle and elbow. Thankfully, neither injury was serious, he just needed to ice his ankle for a few days, and he’d be able to dance again in at most five days. As for his elbow, the doctor cleaned the blood, bandaged it, and instructed him to change the dressing every day until it healed.
At the practice room Riki broke in tears in Jake’s hold the second the doors closed behind Jungwon, Jay and Heeseung. It wasn’t a sight they often see as Riki rarely cries and especially this hard. They tried their best to comfort him until he stopped crying. Sunghoon helped him stand and then they decided to leave but Riki said he wanted to stay a bit more and alone. They refused at first but he was so stubborn so they had no choice but to accept in the end after making him promise not to overdo it and to comeback early.
Riki kept dancing and dancing and dancing until he couldn’t feel his limbs anymore. He doesn’t even know how he’s come to be in the position he was in right now. Draped on the floor with his bangs sticking to his forehead and his shirt drenched in sweat. The pain on his shin more imminent now after he ignored it for so long. He didn’t even realize so much time has passed until one of their managers popped his head into the room and told him he was there to drive him home.
Back at the dorm he only found Jay there as the others were already downstairs for dinner. Jay offered to wait for him to wash up so they could go together but Riki politely refused saying he wasn’t hungry, he was just too tired and only wanted to sleep. Jay reluctantly left after making sure Riki would be okay by himself.
Even after such a draining day he still couldn’t sleep, but this time it was also because he was scared. He’s alone in their dorm. What if some crazy saesang breaks in again. And worse what if some armed thief comes in now. He tried pushing away these thoughts but then memories of earlier creeped in. He doesn’t know how he’ll be able to face Jungwon from now on. He knows he fucked up but still his leader’s words hurt so freaking bad. Did he really have to be that harsh..
He was so lost in his thoughts until he heard the front door’s lock clicking open and panic hit him. It wasn’t until he heard Sunghoon’s voice that he realized it was just his hyungs coming back from dinner.
He continued tossing around in his bed feeling his eyelids grow heavy steadily until sleep engulfed him.