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“If I hear you talk about Jeongin one more time, I’m leaving this room.”
Changbin was joking for sure, nothing Hyunjin hasn’t heard before, but he dutifully pretended to zip his mouth up and stopped speaking, regardless. It’s not like he didn’t know that the older member had a point, too. He was perfectly aware of how much he’s been gushing about Stray Kids’ resident youngest and vocal, Yang Jeongin, a lot more lately. That in itself was saying something, since he was also pretty sure he’s been going on about Jeongin for quite some time now.
It only took a few seconds before Hyunjin opened his mouth again, “you were there, too. You saw how cute he was. Don’t deny it.”
Even just bringing it up made him remember the situation all over again. They were practicing all together before Chan suggested that they take a break for a while, which meant their usual downtime shenanigans could begin. For Hyunjin, it consisted mainly of resting on the floor with Jeongin in between his arms, both still sweaty, but too used to the position to really care. It was comfortable, after all.
It didn’t take long before Jeongin was dragged up by Seungmin to sing, which was easily supported by the rest of the members; even Hyunjin, although he missed the touch immediately. Let the younger ones play and entertain the rest, why not, right? Jeongin would inevitably start singing trot songs, one way or another—there was no stopping him when it came to his passion, which was exactly what he did.
Complete with cute little actions and facial expressions that were supposed to be funny, but Hyunjin found it cute all the same.
“Jeongin’s always cute,” Changbin agreed as if reading Hyunjin’s thoughts, before rolling his eyes at the pleased expression that was on the younger boy’s face because he did so. “I just don’t talk about it for—how long has it been?—fifteen minutes straight though.”
At that, Hyunjin sheepishly took a look at the time on his phone to confirm what was already said. Who knew time could fly so fast? They’ve been alone in their dorm room for a while now, being the only members of the room to get back from practice since the rest still had vocal training to do. He knew that he’s been talking Changbin’s ear off the entire way back home and also during the entirety of the time they’ve spent so far. Still, a part of him felt like fifteen minutes wasn’t even enough to express his thoughts about the youngest.
“I can’t help it,” Hyunjin said, close to whining. “Jeongin’s literally the cutest thing I have ever seen in my entire life.”
“I know. We all know. I’m pretty sure half the JYP building knows, even those who don’t even know who you two are. You like Jeo—” Changbin began to say, getting interrupted only by Hyunjin throwing a pillow at his face. He was about to retaliate and throw it back, the continuation of his statement halfway out his mouth, before realizing that the door was opening to reveal the room’s last two members, Jisung and Jeongin himself.
Hyunjin was safe, for now.
“I’m so tired,” Jeongin immediately complained, dragging out the syllables as he made his way to where Hyunjin was lying down, flopping down next to the older boy. “I just want to sleep forever.”
“You say that every day,” Hyunjin replied with an amused tone, arms already enveloping the younger boy as he did so, heart fluttering when the youngest didn’t push him away. Jeongin never did, really, but that also came with how most of the members did the same so it was a small victory. Instead, the younger boy adjusted himself into a more comfortable position, back touching the other’s chest.
Jeongin yawned, “I mean it every day.”
From across the room, Hyunjin was aware of the looks the other two members were giving them—him, specifically—but chose to ignore it in favour of leaning his head against Jeongin’s hair. It was during moments like these where he was most tempted to do something, anything, to further show his affection towards the other boy. There was only so much he could do without outright divulging his feelings, though.
He knew it was obvious. Painfully obvious, even, that even the most oblivious of people picked up on it. Every other member of Stray Kids knew. It was safe to say his crush on Jeongin started even before the group was even formed; hearing him sing for the very first time just struck a chord in his heart that never stopped. He has always been interested in the younger boy, took his time getting to know Jeongin, and overall just fell a little deeper each day.
It was beginning to reach a point where there was no way Jeongin didn’t know, as well.
If he did know, the younger boy hasn’t said anything. Hyunjin wasn’t exactly expecting a rejection—he had his self esteem to thank for that—but he did have his doubts. Jeongin was everybody’s favourite, being the team youngest and all, and everybody had their own special way of showing it. He was definitely used to the attention and love he got from everybody else, which made Hyunjin think that his own actions rarely ever stood out, even when he wanted them to stand out.
Jeongin catching on to his feelings himself would save Hyunjin the trouble of actually confessing, which was still something that made his heart pound just thinking about it.
So overall, Hyunjin accepted things the way they were.
That meant trying his best to spend time with the younger boy in any way possible, but also doing his best not to make his feelings too apparent. He was overall torn between wanting Jeongin to know and not wanting Jeongin to know; sometimes wishing the youngest would make the first move instead, but what did that say about him? It was a weird mix, something Hyunjin didn’t dwell about too often. He knew one thing was for sure, which was that he liked Jeongin, and left it at that.
The day things started becoming just a bit different had to do with one Felix Lee.
Just like how everybody knew about Hyunjin’s crush on Jeongin, they also knew that the older boy was overall clingy to everybody. Clingier with Jeongin, that was for sure, but still clingy to a certain extent that made it clear he enjoyed randomly leaning on people or hugging them. That was exactly why he was seated in the living room with an arm wrapped around Felix, who had his own arm wrapped around Hyunjin’s torso.
It was also the exact scene Jeongin chanced upon seeing the moment he walked out of the room.
“Jeongin!” Hyunjin called out immediately. His left arm still wrapped around the boy next to him, so he used his free hand to gesture towards the couch. “Come sit with us! We’re about to watch this movie called—“
His statement was interrupted by Jeongin practically making a beeline for the empty space next to him, sitting down immediately. Before Hyunjin could continue his statement, he ended up further surprised by the way Jeongin wrapped his arms tightly around his torso as well, just a little bit above where Felix’s arm fell. The action made his heart beat a little too quickly for a while as he willed it to slow down.
With Jeongin so near, the younger boy was bound to hear it.
“What’s the movie about?” Jeongin asked, unfazed by everything as he leaned his head on Hyunjin’s chest, eyes glued on the screen, blissfully unaware of the blushing mess he caused Hyunjin to be. He accepted being touched just fine, but for him to actually initiate close—very close—contact? Maybe it was the older boy’s lucky day.
Finally snapping out of it, Hyunjin eased his free arm around Jeongin’s thin frame.
“Well, the name’s Zootopia, so I’m guessing you can tell there’s animals involved, as you can also see on the screen,” he tried to joke, but knew most of it came out in a flurry of nervous words. Hyunjin was only ever nervous when he was faced with JYP himself, so just what was Jeongin doing to his poor heart now? The younger boy hummed in reply, and didn’t say anything else.
Until Felix laughed loudly at a funny scene, head unconsciously leaning to rest on Hyunjin’s shoulder.
There was no way Hyunjin imagined the things that happened afterwards. He was hyperaware of everything ever since Jeongin sat down, which meant he was clear on things being real, at least. He didn’t miss the way Jeongin’s arms tensed around him the moment Felix’s head hit his shoulder, or the way Jeongin moved just a tiny bit closer to him on the couch, as if their already touching bodies could get closer.
Hyunjin had no idea what was happening, but he could get used to it, for sure.
After the movie, both Felix and Jeongin fled the scene as quickly as possible. Felix because he had to use the bathroom a good half hour ago; Jeongin? Hyunjin didn’t know. He just knew the younger boy detached himself as quickly as he left. He was concerned at first, but by the rest of the day, Jeongin seemed to be acting the same. Cute as always, smile bright and blinding, laughing whenever someone tried to get too close to him, Hyunjin included.
The day after the events that transpired, Hyunjin found himself on the same couch, in the same position with Felix, watching yet another movie.
Similar to the day before, Jeongin appeared from their shared room, which made Hyunjin immediately offer the younger boy to watch a movie with them again. He was hoping it would be a repeat of yesterday, where Jeongin was the one clinging to him for a change, but that wasn’t what happened.
“I have s-something to do,” came the quick reply from the younger boy, who glanced at the two for a split second before turning away from the scene to head back inside the room he just came from. There was barely even a smile on his face, which was always a surprise to see, but it was an even bigger shock that Jeongin left in such a hurry. Was something wrong?
The possibility made him frown and turn towards Felix, “did you see that? He looked upset about something.”
“Maybe he’s jealous and snapped,” Felix said, eyes not leaving the television screen as he spoke, which made Hyunjin frown further since he didn’t think Felix even saw what happened. Still, he kept his eyes glued to the screen even as he unwrapped himself from the other boy, gently pushing Hyunjin off of him as well. “I’m good with being left out of a lover’s spat, thanks. Go get him.”
Was that really the reason?
Hyunjin being touchy with the other members? Nothing new.
Jeongin brushing him off? Definitely a problem.
There was no denying the discomfort on Jeongin’s features, a rare sight to see and even rarer to see directed towards him. If jealousy really was involved, Hyunjin couldn’t help but feel torn between two emotions yet again; worried that Jeongin really did think something was happening between him and Felix of all people, but also happy. That meant Jeongin also felt something, right? Something, anything, he’ll take what he can get.
Either way, the older boy figured he had to do something. So he got up from the couch and headed towards their shared room, surprised to find Jeongin occupying the top bunk of their shared bunk bed for once. It was technically his rightful bed in the room, but he’s also almost always on Hyunjin’s bed, even at night. Something was definitely up, and Hyunjin was glad that Changbin and Jisung chose that day to work on 3RACHA stuff.
“Jeongin?” Hyunjin called out when the younger boy didn’t acknowledge him entering the room. He got a muffled what in response, which shouldn’t have been as cute as it was since that also meant Jeongin had his head buried in a pillow, but Hyunjin was a weak boy.
He sighed and headed towards the bed, taking a few quick strides before he stopped next to it. He was tall enough for his line of sight to fall directly on the top bunk, but Hyunjin decided to climb a few steps for the sake of leaning over Jeongin. The youngest really did have his head buried in a pillow, which was concerning, still. He stayed in that position, waiting to see if Jeongin will look at him then.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Almost immediately, Jeongin’s head shot up with a look of panic of his features.
“No!” He said a bit too loudly, before clamping his mouth shut as he realized his sudden outburst. Hyunjin was a bit taken aback at first, but soon the shock made way for something else as he finally got a good look at the other boy. Jeongin’s face was flushed, the pinkish hue reaching all the way down his neck, even highlighting his ears. There was worry in his eyes, though, which made Hyunjin forget all about teasing the youngest for now.
“Are you upset about something, then? Do you want to talk about it?” Hyunjin tried asking again, but was met with only silence as he watched Jeongin think. The younger boy was nibbling at his bottom lip in a way that distracted Hyunjin just a little bit. Really, only a tiny bit, since he was still fully aware of the moment Jeongin took a deep breath and spoke again.
“It’s a little stupid, but can I ask something?”
Jeongin’s voice was soft as he asked. He was nervous about something, Hyunjin could definitely tell, by the way his eyes refused to settle on just one spot. The older boy nodded, before deciding that if they were going to end up discussing things, he needed a better position. He climbed the rest of the way up the bed, which seemed to shock Jeongin some more as the younger scrambled to sit up and make space.
They ended up sitting across each other, with the blankets bundled around Jeongin’s legs, his hands twisting them as each second passed. Another nervous tick, Hyunjin noted, but didn’t comment about.
Instead the older boy smiles as warmly as he can, “you know you can ask me anything.”
“Am I—“ Jeongin began to say, before pausing, the blush on his face growing darker.
“Are you?” Hyunjin repeated with a teasing tone, which apparently didn’t help since Jeongin let out a frustrated huff in response.
The younger boy took a deep breath again, before finally asking, “am I your favourite?”
Was he what? Hyunjin’s mind went blank at the question. Favourite what? Member? Person? Friend? The answer was probably a big yes to each one, although he also couldn’t bring himself to ask what Jeongin meant just yet. He was half distracted by the way Jeongin looked when he asked, as if it was some big secret he didn’t want to share, cheeks still pink and just so cute. Finally deciding on a proper response, Hyunjin chuckled before he answered.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Hyunjin said, which was true. “But the answer is yes.”
It must have been the right answer somehow, since Jeongin visibly relaxed.
“Not Felix?” The younger boy asked, as he began chewing on his lower lip again. Instinctively, Hyunjin’s hand reached over to cup the younger boy’s jaw, essentially stoping the movement. It was distracting to begin with to see the way his teeth—braces and all—graze against his lips. It had an even worse effect when it was done paired with Jeongin still blushing. Even more so when Hyunjin desperately wanted to know why he was blushing to begin with.
Although he might have an idea.
Instead of answering Jeongin’s question—a big fat no, of course, he didn’t need to face Changbin’s wrath—Hyunjin tilted his head to get a better look at the younger boy.
“You should stop that. Your lips might bleed.”
Although he still looked flustered, Jeongin was able to pull away from Hyunjin’s touch.
“Please don’t do that,” he said, in the same tone that was usually reserved for when he found the member’s touching to get a bit excessive. It was a tone used on Jisung or Seungmin a lot, but never Hyunjin. The realization made Hyunjin frown, before the frown made way to become a pout instead. He put on his best pitiful face as he spoke again.
“Why? Am I no longer your favourite?”
It was a bold assumption that he was ever Jeongin’s favourite, but a correct one as the younger boy adopted a look of panic on his features again. Jeongin caught his lips between his teeth again for a second before letting go, a nervous chuckling slipping out of him instead.
“You are,” the younger boy admitted, which did more to Hyunjin’s heart than he could take. He already spent an agonizing few minutes being on Jeongin’s bed yet not near Jeongin at all, which was absolute torture. Touching his face didn’t count. The older boy eventually gave in to his whims and leaned over to tackle Jeongin down on the bed, which earned him a yelp of surprise, but no attempt to push him away was made.
Hyunjin grinned playfully as he looked down at the younger, now trapped between his arms.
“Why were you doubting my feelings?”
Instead of an answer, Hyunjin watched as Jeongin froze under him. The only thing that moved were the younger’s eyes, which followed a steady trail from Hyunjin’s eyes, down to the older boy’s lips, then back up again. They’ve been that close before—even closer, for sure—but Jeongin had never reacted like this. Like something Hyunjin would do, actually, if he were in the same position. It took way too long for that lightbulb to flash in his head.
“I like you,” the older boy ended up blurting out, still staring down at Jeongin.
The reaction he got was one he would remember forever and ever, for as long as he lived, and will always have the title of cutest Jeongin moment ever. It started with the younger boy’s eyes widening, followed by his jaw dropping, then the blush that never really went away making itself obvious again, a beautiful pink over his cheeks. The moment ended with the biggest shock of all.
Hyunjin would like to say Jeongin kissed him.
Instead, he got an ear splitting scream that made him almost hit his head on the wall in his quick attempt to get away. Hyunjin didn’t get very far, since after Jeongin finished screaming, the boy ended up pulling Hyunjin back in for a hug. It was definitely because he wanted to hide his face, but Hyunjin let it go, as the older boy couldn’t help but laugh as he hugged back. He fixed their position a bit so that he was partially on his side, with Jeongin still clinging to his chest for dear life.
“Was I supposed to take that as a positive response?”
He felt the younger boy nod against him.
“Are you really surprised?” Hyunjin couldn’t help but sincerely ask, which was met with another nod. “Really? Wow, I thought I was the most obvious guy on the planet. Changbin said everybody could tell. How oblivious are you, baby?”
The nickname slipped out easily, something he’s always called Jeongin, but the reaction he got to it was far more pleasing than usual. Maybe it had something to do with the rest of his statement, but Jeongin merely buried himself closer to Hyunjin in an attempt to further hide his face. Hyunjin let the action go, arms already enveloping the other boy tighter in a hug that felt like second nature to him now. He couldn't help but plant a kiss on Jeongin's head, which earned him a muffled squeal.
Things were perfect, and it would have stayed perfect, had the door not swung open that exact moment to reveal Changbin and Jisung, with Felix in tow.
The Aussie boy at least looked apologetic, “I tried to stop them.”
Changbin was grinning widely, “are we finally free from hearing Hyunjin pine over Jeongin? Does that hug mean they’re finally together? Jisung, tell me it’s true!”
“It’s true alright,” Jisung replied in an equally playful tone, gesturing wildly towards the bed where the other two boys still laid. “Look at these two. They grow up so fast!”
“I’m a few months older than you,” Hyunjin commented without much bite, despite how the two ruined the moment. He had a smile on his face that just wouldn’t go away, which didn’t make him threatening, either. The moment wasn’t completely ruined, anyway, as the youngest member finally emerged from hiding his face to point a finger at Changbin.
Jeongin pouted, “you told me you didn’t know who Hyunjin liked!”
“I’m not a snitch,” came Changbin’s quick reply. Followed by a genuine sounding, “I really thought it was obvious, Jeongin.”
The two ended up bickering a bit, none of which Hyunjin paid much attention to. His mind was occupied by the boy in between his arms, ridiculously cute even if all he could see was the back of Jeongin’s head at that point. He would grill Jeongin about the younger’s feelings one day, but for now, this was enough. He had confessed, not in the way he ever imagined, but maybe even a bit better. There was a dumb grin on his face that he couldn’t wipe off even if he tried.