Title: Pre-Concert Spelunking
Fandom: BtoB
Rating: G
Length: 789 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: None
Summary: Even after all this time, after knowing these guys for over ten years, Eunkwang could still teach Peniel something new in Korean.


Eunkwang stood on the stage in the venue they'd be performing in, and just... looked. It was large, and it was going to be full. Not an arena, not yet, but still, a large place. It looked intimidating, and not quite....

"Are you okay?"

He turned to look at Minhyuk, lips twitching. He wanted to smile, but he couldn't, not yet. "Why do you ask?"

"You look... nostalgic. Or melancholic, I'm not sure."

"Is that even a word?" Eunkwang asked.

"Yes. What's going on?" Minhyuk asked.

Eunkwang shrugged and turned back to the seats. "This place is."

"Is?"

"Going on."

Minhyuk laughed. "I know something's wrong, you aren't making any sense."

"Lies. I always make sense," Eunkwang protested.

"You don't make sense when you're stuck in your head," Minhyuk said. "Which means I need to grab Sungjae."

"No. He and Peniel are napping," Eunkwang said. "Let them be."

"You spoil them."

"It's my job."

"It's your job not to let them get spoiled," Hyunsik said, stepping onto the stage. "Wow, this is a good place, huh?"

Eunkwang smiled wryly. "It is," he said. "I'm going to check on the others." He strode off the stage and out of sight.

Hyunsik leaned close to Minhyuk. "He knows that the only person to check on is Changsub, right?"

"Who's also asleep," Minhyuk agreed, grinning at him. Then the smile faded, and he looked after Eunkwang. "I thought he looked nostalgic or something, but it's worse."

"Worse how?" Hyunsik asked.

Minhyuk shook his head. "I don't know. Something's definitely not right, though. I don't know why."

Hyunsik eyed him, and then smiled. "You'll figure it out," he said. "And we'll help make it right."

Minhyuk knocked their shoulders together, and then they headed backstage. Pretty soon, they'd be getting ready for the concert.

Eunkwang sat on the couch in the green room, the only one not taken up by sleeping friends. He leaned his elbows on his knees and stared at the floor between his forearms, not even sure why he felt so... breakable. Fragile. Like the wrong word would break him.

He didn't even know what the wrong word might be, so he couldn't tell them not to say it. He hadn't felt like this in... so long he couldn't say when, how old he was, nothing. He had no idea. He didn't have a reason to feel this way, in fact. He had everything he'd ever dreamed of, when he auditioned to become a singer.

BtoB had been the answer to all his dreams for ten years. Good friends. Fans. Awards. His name known throughout Korea. Success by any measurement. He got to sing on stage with his mother, his inspiration and muse. He served his country faithfully and came back to a career he'd worked on and loved, to friends who'd kept his place for him.

So why did he feel so... fragile?

"You're so far in your head, we'd have to spelunk to get you out," Changsub muttered, just as Minhyuk and Hyunsik stepped in. Changsub sat up. "What are you thinking about?"

"Spelunk?" Peniel muttered. "How in the hell do you keep coming up with words I don't know?"

"It has to do with caves, not music," Sungjae soothed. "Go back to sleep."

Peniel snorted and elbowed him. "Did you just call Eunkwang's mind a cave?"

Changsub grinned. "Dark, scary, with branches and bats? I thought it fit."

Sungjae tried to stifle a laugh and failed, forehead pressed to Peniel's shoulder, shaking them both with his laughter. Oh, no, Peniel was laughing as well, just quieter. Eunkwang smiled, something small and genuine.

"You're not going to deny it?" Minhyuk said, sitting next to Changsub.

"Isn't that pointless?" Eunkwang asked. "I suppose I could, if I wanted to get hounded relentlessly. It seems a waste, though. Mostly because it's true."

Hyunsik sat next to him. "It's true? Dark, scary, full of bats?" he asked, amused.

"Well, I get lost in there a lot, so I guess it must be dark and full of branches," Eunkwang said.

"Bats?" Hyunsik asked.

"Have you heard some of his ideas?" Peniel asked breathlessly.

"Some are good, though," Changsub said.

"Who's side are you on?" Minhyuk asked.

"I'm not on a side," Changsub said, and Eunkwang had to laugh at the long-suffering quality of his voice. "I'm here to cause as much chaos as possible."

"You do that," Sungjae said, and snickered. "So we've determined that Eunkwang's mind is a cave, and no one wants to spelunk after him."

"Oh, but we did," Minhyuk said, and grinned at Eunkwang. "He's not spiraling anymore. Successful trip, guys."

Eunkwang could only smile and shake his head, and give thanks yet again for these friends.