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Finals are on-going and Jaehyun's favorite roommate is a mess. Taeyong looked the opposite of his usual neat and collected self, with his unwashed hoodie and dark eyebags. He didn’t even bother showering and just grabbed his plates in one hand and a tumbler filled with coffee in the other.
Jaehyun felt sorry for him and had offered to clean their dorm unit as he accompanied him out. The other could only give him a half-defeated smile and a tight bear hug as thanks. Jaehyun totally didn’t mind though since his college’s finals finished ahead of Taeyong’s.
Taeyong is a multimedia arts student in his third year, while Jaehyun on the other is a first year in mechanical engineering. The younger happened to enroll late and applied to the university dorm at the last minute, which is how he ended up rooming with a junior instead of another freshman.
Their sunbae-hoobae relationship didn’t become an issue at all as Taeyong quickly took a liking towards his new roommate. Jaehyun was also on the same page, being nothing short of amazed by his hyung’s talent for the arts.
However right now, Jaehyun is a little horrified by his hyung’s room. The usually clean and organized room has paint splotches, papers, and hard boards everywhere. He starts cleaning by fixing the drafting board by the wall that was a little askew, deep cut marks left on the sides. He chuckles remembering Mrs. Lee ranting about how expensive it was.
He picks up the rest of the littered sketch drafts on the floor and stacks them properly on the foot of the bed so his roommate could easily sort them later. The study table is left untouched since Taeyong might have a creative messy way of organizing his stuff there at the moment.
He then proceeds to wipe the stain on the floor instead and notices a flap of paper sticking out from the bedside drawer. His head is prompting him to place it back properly and so he opens the drawer to find that it wasn’t just a piece of paper.
It was a graphic novel of some sort. Except that it has two familiar guys illustrated on it in a very steamy position.
Jaehyun puts it back and rushes out the door red faced and a little out of breath.
Johnny is staring at his cousin’s flushed baby face. His cousin Jaehyun who looks like the embodiment of the word adorable. He’d like to just look at him all day and spoil him with his love, but the constant projects he has yet to finish are starting to bother him now.
He has a paper on an art theory about those plump renaissance ladies he hasn’t even started, and a pair work with the devil-
“...HYUNG.”
“Yes?”
“Johnny hyung, I’ve been screaming at your face for a minute and you barely even moved.”
“Sorry, I blanked out. Okay. You now have my very very divided attention.”
“It’s Taeyong hyung.” Johnny snaps. His mind is now awake. God he needs a drink for this. He grabs the nearest soda and chugs it down.
“Alright. Did he do something to you?”
“Huh? No. He’s out right now for his project.”
“And we’re talking about him because???”
“Is he gay?” Johnny chokes on his Coke. This is not what he wanted his baby cousin to ask him in the middle of his mid-finals crisis. His poor baby cousin.
“Now why would you ask me that question.”
“You see I cleaned his room for him because I’m already done with finals and I wanted to help him a bit.”
“But don’t you like cook for the two of you right now? Isn’t that enough help already?”
“You know him. He’s always squeaky clean. But his room is shit right now. Plus, I really wanted to be a good boy for him so...” Johnny chokes again. He’s starting to think his finals dilemma is slowly getting to him because he’s hearing funny.
“He must’ve been really stressed and bothered with his finals so I cleaned. And then I found this R-19 gay fanbook in his drawer. It was Cherry’s 9394!”
“YOU WHAT.” Okay so he wasn’t hearing funny after all.
“I said, I found gay porno in his room so I’m asking you if he’s gay since you’re classmates and all.”
“Yes we’re classmates little one. We’ve shared classes together but that doesn’t mean we’re ‘ that ’ close for him to share his possibly kinky fantasies with me.”
Lies. Johnny is always subject to Taeyong’s horrific shit but he doesn’t tell Jaehyun any of that. He doesn’t need to expose his baby cousin to the horrors of the world. Nope.
Two nights later, the roommates are lounging on Taeyong’s bed watching an anime about handsome idols Jaehyun doesn’t like as much as the volleyball guys. But since he wanted to indulge his hyung, he readily agreed to accompany him in watching the series.
“Hey hyung, the music from this anime’s pretty nice. Maji 1000% love right?” Taeyong makes a humming sound to answer.
“Their idol culture seems similar to ours which is kinda cool. That reminds me, we’ve talked a lot about foreign artists before, but I never got to ask if you like any Korean idols.”
“I do like some of them.”
“Which are?” Jaehyun focuses on Taeyong’s face although the older’s gaze is still glued to the laptop screen.
“TVXQ and Big Bang. Mostly old groups though and a bit of the newer ones.”
“Ahh. Do you like EXO?” A momentary pause. Jaehyun notices Taeyong shift his gaze to the bedside table and then back to the laptop screen.
“Yeah… kinda.” Jackpot.
“I see.”
“Why the sudden question?”
“Well it’s because I have an extra ticket for the fansign event on Sunday and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me? We can eat out after. Kinda like post-finals celebration.”
He notices Taeyong smile a little too brightly from the side of his eye, but suddenly drop it back to a more neutral smile. Jaehyun already knows Taeyong can’t back down from his offer.
Jaehyun is stretching his legs trying to get his blood circulation going to hopefully wake him up. It’s 6am and Taeyong had been the one to drag him off his bed totally claiming he wasn’t even over excited.
There was already a line of fifty-something sleepy people to the entrance when they got there, and Jaehyun badly wanted to steal their blankets and nap. Some of those crazy camper fans had pretty printed looking blankets and he’s very jealous.
At least, Taeyong was kind enough to voluntarily buy him breakfast. If he could only get back sooner because he’s pretty close to dozing off again.
“Oh, Jaehyunnie! Is that you?” A girl with long blonde hair runs up to him with a handful of books. A black face mask is hiding half of her face but he knows who it is.
“Ahh. Hi Seungwan-noona. Good morning.” Jaehyun answers ruffling his hair to wake himself a little. He had met Seungwan when he signed up for EXO’s fanclub activities half a year ago and had bumped into her on a few fan events as well.
“You’re up early. Are you going for today’s fansign? Are you alone?”
“Yes and No. I mean, I’m here for the fansign but I’m not alone. I’m with Taeyongie hyung. He just went to get us food.”
“Taeyong? Funny. That kid said he wouldn’t go today when I asked him.” Seungwan murmurs.
“Yes noona?”
“Oh nothing. I must’ve mixed it up with another Taeyong since I know two people with that name.” Jaehyun finds it a little odd but he doesn’t prod. He changes the subject instead.
“Oh, are those Wendy-nim and Cherry-nim’s collaboration fanbook? ‘Cherry Flavor’ ?”
“Huh. Ah. These?” she motions to the books in her arms. “Yeah. I just got copies of these today. You read this kind of stuff?”
“Yes! I’ve been following Wendy-nim and Cherry-nim for a long time. I was really excited for their collaboration but I didn’t make it to the pre-order.”
“Oh. Then you can have a copy if you want.”
“Are you sure? I mean, it is a new fanbook. Are you really sure I can have it?” Jaehyun’s smiling really wide at Seungwan and his dimples are in full display. Fuck. She internally coos and ruffles the kid’s hair.
“Definitely! I still have more copies here. Consider it as my gift to you. I’m pretty sure Wendy and Cherry-nim would like that. Who do you like more though? You seem like you’d be into Wendy-nim’s style. Pretty illustrations and light fluffy stuff. Kind of like you.”
“Are you hitting on me noona?” Jaehyun smiles again and Seungwan loses it. Practically tackling the kid in a bear hug and squishing his cheeks.
“Me? I would never! You’re my pretty dongsaeng and I’ll just corrupt your innocent soul. But then again you’re also into Cherry’s stuff which is practically BDSM at most to be honest. You should actually stay away from it since it gets real kinky and-”
“Oh hi there Seungwan.” Taeyong’s voice suddenly breaks their little bubble and Seungwan pushes Jaehyun to her side.
“T..Taeyong! Hi.” Seungwan’s voice cracks and her forehead sweats a little.
“You know Seungwan noona hyung?”
“Yeah. She’s a friend.”
“You don’t call her noona?”
“Nah. We’re pretty close for formalities aren’t we Seungwan?” Said girl breaks into an awkward laugh and pats both Taeyong and Jaehyun on the shoulder.
“Yes we are! So as I was saying I didn’t peg dear Jaehyunnie to like Cherry’s stuff but I guess that’s good for you Jaehyunnie! Well I have to go now. Need to get back in line. See you Jaehyunnie! Bye TY!”
“You should put that in your bag now Jaehyunnie. Others may not be as welcoming to fanbooks like Seungwan.” Taeyong says coldly but he thankfully returns to his usual self after offering Jaehyun food. Perhaps the offending article in his hyung’s drawer may not actually belong to him then?
“Johnny hyung.”
“Yes Jaehyunnie?”
“Do you know Seungwan noona?” Johnny shrugs a reply.
“Yeah. She’s in some of my classes with Taeyong.”
“She seems to be pretty close with Taeyong hyung.”
“Okay.”
“She’s pretty and cool too. She gave me a fanbook when I saw her at the fanmeet last weekend.” Johnny chokes. He had already been exposed to Taeyong and now the kinky Canadian too? Great.
“Are you okay hyung?”
“I’m giving you my full undivided attention now and you want to talk about Seungwan? Don’t tell me you like her?”
“Psh. Of course, I like her hyung but not romantically. As I was saying, she gave me this fanbook from a long time fanartist I’ve been following. Actually, it’s a collab with another artist I was following too but whatever. The thing is, it’s the same artist as the one in Taeyong hyung’s drawer!”
Johnny just wishes he could kill Seungwan and Taeyong for subjecting his baby cousin to their horrific shit but he doesn’t tell Jaehyun any of that. Instead, he eats his ramen in peace while longing for his old quiet life with his cute baby cousin.
“Which is why I thought that since Seungwan noona’s close friends with Taeyong hyung, the fanbook might be noona’s, so I’ll ask her instead!”
Johnny chokes again but doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to further expose his baby cousin to the horrors of the world. Nope.
Jaehyun has never gone to the Architecture and Fine Arts building before but he’s pretty sure he’s on the right floor at least. He checks his copy of Taeyong’s schedule and peeks at Room 501 to see Johnny and Wendy sitting in the first row. There was no professor at the moment so he guesses they’re probably on break and goes right in.
“Seungwan noona! Johnny hyung!” Said people are shocked to find Jaehyun in their building let alone in their current shared class. Meanwhile, a group of girls (and a few boys) crowd by the door trying to sneak a peek at the cute kid who entered their room.
A few of the girls start whispering and took their phones out and Jaehyun’s not sure if he should be creeped out by the situation. He guesses arts students have their own quirks he doesn’t know of so he ignores them.
A girl with weird chopped bangs shouted something about Cherry Flavor which got Jaehyun’s attention. Seungwan immediately ran for the said boy and dragged him out the corridor, while Johnny dispersed the small crowd with his death glares before following the other two.
“Jaehyunnie! What a surprise to see you again so soon!!” Seungwan side hugs him as he pets the boy effectively distracting him from noticing the small crowd peeking at the door’s glass panel.
“Stop petting him Seungwan-ah.”
“I can’t help it. He’s cute. And I miss my other cute giant dongsaeng. He’s all I have right now so I might as well enjoy it.”
“Dude. You know Mr. Berry’s gonna flip again if he sees you getting your hands all over my baby cousin. You told me last time he got real pissed.”
“Mr. Berry?” Jaehyun asks confusion written all over his face.
“Just forget it Jaehyunnie. You shouldn’t have gone here. Some of the kids inside the room are a nasty bunch. They could’ve gotten their hands on you if we weren’t there.”
“But hyung, why would they even do that?” Jaehyun laughs totally unbothered by the earlier scene.
“Because they read nasty stuff and it has fried their brains.”
“Ya Wendy-ya! Youngho-ya! Why are you guys outside? Mrs. Jung’s already heading here.” a breathless Taeyong arrives at their party followed by said professor ten seconds later. Jaehyun, Johnny, Taeyong, and Seungwan all stand in silence.
“What are you kids doing out here? Get back inside..Wait. Yunoh?”
“Auntie!”
Jaehyun didn’t expect he’d have a small family reunion today. To be honest, he had no idea his cousin had one of their aunts as a professor. But then again, he also didn’t know that his said cousin is actually close friends with his roommate, and one of his co-fan noonas. Who knows what else he’s hiding, so he’s back at Johnny’s dorm room to interrogate him.
“So you’re not close with Taeyong hyung and Seungwan noona huh? You sure as hell didn’t use formalities with her. God, Taeyong hyung even calls you Youngho!”
“I’m just trying to protect you Jaehyunnie. You are my baby.”
“Hyung, I am your 20 year old cousin who has been roommates with one of your close friends for almost half a year and you tell me nothing.”
“You don’t understand. You have no idea that my close friends are actually nasty people.”
“Try me hyung.”
Johnny sighs. He tried to protect his baby cousin from the horrors of the world (aka Lee Taeyong and Son Seungwan) but it didn’t work. His pretty pouty cousin is now sulking on his desk chair refusing to listen to his excuses. And so he gives up and spills the beans.
The smell of Febreeze is the first thing Jaehyun notices when he gets back to their unit. He knows Taeyong’s back and so he heads straight to his hyung’s room without even bothering to knock.
“Taeyong hyung.” said hyung is slumped on the corner of his bed with an unreadable expression.
“If this is about Johnny then please go ask him instead of asking me.”
“I already did and I want you to know I’m not mad or anything. I understand you guys didn’t want to tell me because making ‘those’ kind of fanbooks is quite a shock for most people since you know it does get pretty nasty.” Taeyong gives him the stink eye but he continues anyway. “I’m not mad about that but I was hurt you didn’t tell me you guys were actually close friends. Not to mention you even liked EXO as much as I do. Like, how could you hyung.”
“We collectively thought it would be better to keep you in the dark about our double lives our friendship included. I solely blame Johnny for that one though. Besides, we didn’t even know if you’re into that stuff. Even your cousin doesn’t know! It also doesn’t help that he goes on about how precious of a kid you are so…”
“Hyung, I’m only two years younger than you guys. Three for Seungwan noona. Plus, I know those kind of things already.”
"But those are gay.”
“And I’m gay too so there’s no issue in that. I just really wanted to know if you’re even gay as well.”
“Just because I write and draw gay stuff doesn’t mean I’m one.” A momentary pause. Taeyong exhaled loudly and Jaehyun looked like he was gonna cry. He has had enough of this nonsense and takes Jaehyun’s face in his hands. “Of course I’m gay you idiot. God, you could’ve just asked Johnny about it.”
“I already asked him but he still wouldn’t tell me. I just really wanted to know if you’re possibly gay too because I really like you a lot.”
“As Taeyong?”
“Yes. And now that I know you’re Cherry, I like you even more.”
The both of them are mirroring each other’s wide smiles, and Jaehyun thinks it couldn’t get better. Until he remembers the steamy cover of the Cherry fanbook he found.
“So Cherry-nim, have you ever taken me as inspiration for some of your kinky fanarts?” Taeyong blushes hands covering his face. A soft yes comes out of his mouth, and Jaehyun wants to laugh at his cousin for thinking he was a precious baby. Because honestly, his Taeyong hyung who draws kinky rated fanarts is the one who looks so much like an innocent baby right now. He peels Taeyong’s hands away from his face and places it back to his own just like how they were a few moments ago when the other confessed he was gay.
“Will you show me which ones are inspired by me then?”
The end.
“So, your cousin isn’t as pure as you thought huh.”
“Shut it Wendy.”
“The disrespect. Tch. That should be Seungwan noona to you.”
“No way. Taeyong doesn’t call you noona either and you let him. So unfair.”
“That's because Jaehyun was there you idiot. Besides, I told you he was low-key kinky but you wouldn’t believe me. I could even tell he liked Taeyong a lot and you still wouldn’t listen.”
“…”
“So do you think Taeyong has him handcuffed by now or maybe he’s the one cuffing Taeyong?”
Johnny chokes and blames fandom culture for exposing his baby cousin to the horrors of the world.