Boy's Planet added contestant: Bae Sangwon

Learning to trust and open up

Sangwon stayed in the infirmary for 2 days to let his hallucinations pass. Some trainees visited him but he would find himself freezing up every time they tried to talk, leading to awkward silence. His team also gave him changes of clothes and updates about the mission. This included telling him that interims were in 4 days.

Thankfully Sangwon had access to a tablet to learn the details of the choreography and vocals. Unfortunately, this method of learning wasn't very effective since he didn't have anyone to critique him and he was distracted half the time.

He also had some time to reflect and think about how to get back to practice as smoothly as possible. Knowing he had to tell his team something about his condition, he decided to start working his way there.

'It doesn't have to be a shameful, dark secret.'

'I trust Seungeon the most, I'll tell him first to gauge reactions. If it goes wrong... I don't know what else to do.'

After telling Nurse Hayoung that he was feeling better, Sangwon cautiously exited the infirmary. It was around 4pm so everyone should be practicing. He walked around the hallways and reached his room.

Sangwon stood in the middle of the empty room, taking it all in again. He put his pill bottle back in his luggage before noticing the wrapped box. Seungeon's birthday was the day before.

The weight in his chest grew heavier.

He held the present and sat down on his bed.

'How the hell am I gonna do this...'

Sangwon's told his friends before but that was after knowing their stance on mental illnesses. This is unfamiliar territory to him.

He decided to plop Seungeon's present on his bed before everyone returned from practice. Problem was he didn't know where his room was.

Sangwon walked into every room on K group's side of the dorms. He checked all the beds for Seungeon's name sticker. He finally found it after 20 minutes. He reached up to put the present on his bed before sitting on the floor, waiting.

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He didn't know how long he waited since he was absorbed in his thoughts. He snapped out of it when he heard someone's laughter echoing through the hall.

He took as many deep breaths as he could before the door opened. Dongyeol, Mingyu, Seowon and Seungeon were staying in this room. Seowon saw him first.

"Oh you're back! Are you ok?" he asked.

Sangwon sighed softly before answering. "Umm... yeah, I'm fine." He was shaking his leg and fleetingly looking at Seungeon, seeing how he was reacting.

No one was convinced but they didn't push.

"We're about to grab dinner, you could meet up with your group?" Mingyu suggested.

"... can I stay here a bit longer?" He didn't make eye contact with anyone. He couldn't.

"I'll keep him company and meet you guys later." Seungeon said. Sangwon didn't object so the others left the room.

"Happy late birthday." Sangwon said, tilting his head towards Seungeon's bed. Seungeon looked at him, confused and curiously. He climbed up to his bed to see a present.

"Thank you hyung." Seungeon said softly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, one on the floor, one on a bed. Both anticipating a difficult conversation.

"Seungeon, can I tell you something?" Sangwon said. He was fidgeting with his hands and legs.

Seungeon climbed down and sat next to him. In his lap was his gift. "What's going on, hyung?"