Sunwoo notices Qiang working harder than necessary
Qiang sighed and glanced at the clock. It was nearing midnight and he had been up since four the morning before. They had an early practice and then he had vocal and rap lessons. He had Korean class as well and the past two hours he had been sitting in the small studio trying to write out lyrics.
It was not coming easily. He could speak Korean with minimal issues. But when it came to writing in Korean, he was terrible. He would mix things up or switch something around accidentally. He wasn't turning these in; these were just his rough drafts and he would write it out formally when it was ready.
Which meant he could write out the notes in Chinese, but he needed to practice and get more used to the writing. His years in Korea had done nothing to help him get the hang of writing in Korean. He huffed in frustration, tearing the page out his notebook and crumbling it up and throwing it behind him. It fell to the ground with the 20 other paper balls he had already thrown.
He was very well aware that part of the reason this was so difficult was because he was exhausted. But he needed to at least have the draft done today to be able to use the rest of the week to write it out as a finished draft. Without the million scribbles and cross outs. He rubbed his hands over his face, sinking down in the cushioned chair. He had a feeling he was going to be here all night.
He jumped a little when his phone started vibrating violently on the desk. He answered without checking who was calling. "Hello?"
"Hyung, you were supposed to be home an hour ago. We agreed on early nights this week." It was Sangyeon and Qiang internally groaned. They had all collectively agreed to be home early this week to get proper rest. Promotions were picking up heavily for their debut and they wanted proper rest to be prepared for them.
They only had a few weeks left for promotions but were well on the way to working on their next album. Which was why Qiang was sat here in the small room trying to do his part. He couldn't help but feel like this was one of his biggest shortcomings. Sangyeon and the others could have had this done in thirty minutes. But because it wasn't his first language, he was struggling and it usually took him a little longer to be able to turn lyrics in.
He hated falling behind or being behind schedule. Which was why he was working so hard to get this done. His deadline was the beginning of next week. "I'll be home soon, promise. Just working on my lyrics for the new stuff." Sangyeon sighed on the other line and Qiang frowned. He hated making Sangyeon worry about him when he already had so many other things to fret over.
"You know one of us is more than happy to help you with it." Qiang sighed, denying he needed any help. "I'm almost done! I swear. Just another half hour or so and it'll be ready." Sangyeon only said he was timing him and would come himself if Qiang wasn't back in the next two hours before hanging up.
Shaking his head and smacking his cheeks a little in hopes that it would give him some magical burst of energy, he sat back up and leaned over his notebook. Before he knew it, another hour had passed along with more crumbled papers piling up behind him. He banged his head on the desk, frustration completely taking over. He was never a scholar; he could acknowledge that. Why he struggled with this so much was beyond him.
He yelped a little when he heard the studio door fly open and spun around. He narrowed his eyes at a tired looking Sunwoo. "Why aren't you home?" He asked and Sunwoo only scoffed. "I could ask you the same thing." Qiang didn't say anything, eyes briefly glancing over at the crumbled paper balls. It was a good thing he never tried out for basketball because not a single one had made it into the garbage can. "You're terrible at sports," Sunwoo comments, sitting down on the other chair.
Qiang narrowed his eyes at the young boy. "Sunwoo-ah, go home. It's late." Sunwoo merely grinned at him and shook his head. "I'll go home if you come with me. I don't like the dark and it's dark outside. I can't walk alone. I'm too young. Someone might take me." Qiang snorted, "who? The shadow people?" Sunwoo shrugged, "you never know."
"Sunwoo, seriously. I'll call you a cab or something but go home." Sunwoo sighed, glancing at the notebook on the desk with all the scratch outs. "I never understand how you can speak Korean like a native but you can't write it. Writing is the easiest. Let me show you." He picked up the pen and wrote out the verse Qiang had been trying to for the past hour.
"See? Easy." He smugly grinned and Qiang only rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Sunwoo's smile fell as he saw just how stressed Qiang seemed. "Hyung, I don't mind staying to help. At least until we have this part done." His voice was softer now and it made Qiang feel guilty. He was the oldest and supposed to take care of them; not the other way around.
"Okay," was all he said and it took 20 minutes for the two verses to be done. "I know you have more, but it's late and I know Sangyeon called because he called me too. We have 40 minutes to go to the convenience store and get to the dorm. Work on it tomorrow." Sunwoo stood up and Qiang stood up with him. Sunwoo had helped him a lot so, he could finish tomorrow.
"Why do we need to go to the convenience store?" Sunwoo only smiled at him, tossing him his hoodie. "I was forced to stay and help you. You owe me food. And snacks." Qiang flicked the back of his head and Sunwoo glared at him. "You were not forced." Sunwoo only snorted, closing the door behind them. "Basically was. How could I leave you when you looked so tired and pathetic?"
"YAH!"
