Chapter 44: Bunny Ears
Henry and Joshua had just arrived at the practice room when they noticed their teammates acting unusually noisy. It wasn’t clear what they were all so excited about, but the moment Henry appeared, the entire group fell silent. Everyone lined up neatly, their eyes seemingly fixed on Joshua—but in truth, they kept sneaking glances at Henry.
Finally, Lucen suddenly smacked Lucian on the head and ran toward them, with the other trainees following close behind.
Behind them, Lucian shouted, "No, please don’t!!!"
"Reporting to the leader, Lucian dared to say you were offbeat!" Lucen raised his hand high, like a well-behaved student reporting to his homeroom teacher.
Joshua couldn’t help inhaling sharply, secretly admiring Lucian’s courage.
No—Lucian wasn’t brave at all. Because the moment Henry started walking toward him, Lucian looked like he could barely breathe.
Henry was tall—taller than all of them.
They were all idol trainees, so none were short—the average height was over 1.7 meters—but Henry was different. His height had to be at least 1.85 meters!
Moreover, his features were sharp and cold, with piercing black eyes and brows that always seemed to furrow slightly, making him look even more intimidating.
Lucian thought that with a face like Henry’s, if he ever went debt collecting, he wouldn’t even need to say a word—just standing there would be enough to scare people into wetting their pants!
"I... I..."
"Focus on your training."
The cold voice cut through the air as Henry walked right past Lucian.
Lucian’s eyes widened, and then his body immediately went limp, collapsing to the floor like a puddle of water. The group surrounding Lucen burst into laughter, mocking him. Still, none of them dared to mention the bet.
Henry was right there—ten lives wouldn’t be enough if they admitted they had used him as part of their wager.
"Joshua, come here."
Joshua had been watching Lucian when his name was suddenly called. He stiffened slightly, straightened his back and asked softly, "What is it?" Still, he quickly stepped forward—perhaps Henry wanted to discuss something about the choreography.
"Give me your hand," Henry said calmly once Joshua approached.
Joshua blinked, puzzled, but instinctively extended his hand toward Henry.
Then Henry suddenly took out disinfectant and ointment, efficiently rolling up Joshua’s sleeve. Henry narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw the long scratch marks on Joshua’s arm. Feeling Joshua trying to pull away, he said in a low, steady voice, "Don’t move—unless you want it to hurt."
Joshua obediently stayed still at those words.
Henry was sitting on a chair, so Joshua turned to lower his gaze and look down at him.
He could see Henry’s hand, holding the cotton swab, was steady—no matter how slowly it moved, it didn’t tremble. His movements were gentle, so gentle that Joshua could barely feel them at all, entirely at odds with the taut veins bulging along Henry’s forearm and hand.
In fact, if Joshua leaned down a little, he would surely notice the tiny beads of sweat forming at the tip of Henry’s nose.
"Was it because Justin woke you up?" Henry asked.
He remembered that on his first day stepping into Room 202, Luther had blocked the door and warned him that if he came back later than 11 p.m., he might as well sleep outside. Back then, Henry had thought it was just Luther’s problem.
"It’s my problem," Joshua replied softly.
"I think your dancing is already solid enough. You should focus on vocal practice today—don’t sweat right after applying medicine," Henry reminded him as he packed away the ointment.
Joshua thought I barely sweat even after training all day, but decided it was best to follow Henry’s advice for now.
"Henry, thank you," he said, glancing at the white bandages wrapped neatly around his arms, finding it oddly amusing.
Henry looked at Joshua’s sparkling eyes and asked, "Where’s your dimple?"
Joshua blinked, confused, then instinctively lifted the corner of his right lip and tilted his cheek toward Henry.
It almost looked like he was waiting for a kiss. A strange sound seemed to echo in Henry’s head—no, that was just his thought running wild.
Henry fixed his gaze on Joshua’s dimple, his deep eyes unreadable. After a long moment, he finally turned and walked back toward the team.
"Leader, why are your ears so red?" Lucian’s familiar voice rang out again.
Joshua heard it too, instinctively reaching up to pinch his cheek.
That afternoon, since their concept had been finalized, Mrs. Angelia’s staff called them over to pick up props and try out which suited them best.
Most of the props turned out to be various kinds of headpieces.
Lucian insisted on dragging Joshua along, carrying a box in his hands, his eyes sparkling. "I bet there’s something sexy in here, right? Like a bunny outfit or something—like those girls who—"
Smack!
Joshua practically used the fastest reflexes of his life to slap a hand over Lucian’s mouth, his face full of exasperation. "The hallway cameras record audio too," he hissed. "And your voice can probably be heard from the other end of the corridor."
Lucian chuckled, his warm breath brushing against Joshua’s palm. Joshua immediately pulled his hand back and shook it off.
"Joshua, are you ticklish?" Lucian asked, grinning.
By then, they had returned to the practice room. The moment they stepped inside, Lucian could feel Henry’s gaze on him.
He instantly fell silent. He didn’t even know why—Henry hadn’t said or done anything specific, and he treated everyone fairly—but Lucian always felt like Henry paid him particular attention.
As soon as the others saw them return, they all rushed over. Lucen opened the box with a cutter, looked inside, and went quiet.
"Are we supposed to wear something this cute?" someone muttered.
Lucian peeked over his shoulder. "Cute? It’s supposed to be sexy!"
Joshua was curious too. "Are there any nail polishes in there?"
The moment he said that, everyone turned to look at him. Joshua blinked, confused. "What?"
"These must be Mrs. Angelia’s gifts for you, Joshua," Lucen said, then plopped a headband onto Joshua’s head. It had black bunny ears—one standing upright, the other flopping down.
Joshua tilted his head slightly, his wide, round eyes filled with confusion.
Lucen and Lucian dramatically covered their mouths and shut their eyes, as if blinded by some holy radiance.
"Joshua, I swear, you could post your first picture on your official account right now!" one of them exclaimed while snapping photos nonstop.
Joshua instinctively reached up to touch the bunny ears. Seeing everyone so excited, he quickly struck a pose.
Lucian shouted, "That’s it, Joshua! Perfect!"
"Aaaah, smile—make it a bit more seductive! Yeah, that ’I don’t care’ kind of look!"
"Joshua, try this one too!"
"What the hell is all this noise?! Joshua, are you planning to come back or not?!"
A sharp voice boomed from the doorway. Everyone turned for a brief moment, then promptly ignored it.
Luther had just walked in, and the first thing he saw was Joshua surrounded in the middle of the room. Five of the seven trainees were crowded around him, snapping pictures from every angle, while Joshua was striking poses like a total pro.
Lucian exclaimed, "Not a single pose repeated! Joshua, you’re a natural-born fashion model!"
Joshua started to feel so embarrassed by all the praise that his face heated up. When he saw Luther approaching, he quickly waved his hands and said, "Alright, alright, that’s enough. No more pictures! Just remember to send them to me later!"