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“Can I sit in on your recording session?” Yeonjun asked, out of nowhere. Soobin paused, a bite of rice sitting on his tongue. He blinked a few times, Yeonjun chuckling as he managed to swallow, wiping his mouth. “Uh, the one this afternoon?” Soobin asked, taking a sip of water. His throat had just gone dry, which was never good for a recording day. He pushed his bowl of rice away at the thought, and drank more water. Yeonjun nodded. “Yup,” he said, mouth popping on the ‘p’.
Soobin averted his gaze, cleaning up his place. He could feel Yeonjun watching him, and he hated that he hesitated. It’s not that he didn’t want Yeonjun in the studio, hearing him sing without any filters, just him and a microphone and the instrumentals…yikes. Okay, so maybe he didn’t want Yeonjun in the studio. But be as it might, Yeonjun was his…something. They hadn’t defined it, but both of them knew that was just a protective measure. He puffed his cheeks out, walking his dishes to the sink. Yeonjun spun in his seat to follow the movement, standing up. “Soobin-ah, you’re allowed to say no, you know,” he called.
Soobin nodded, placing the dishes in the sink and starting to wash them. “I don’t want to say no,” he replied honestly. Yeonjun leaned against the countertop, crossing his arms. “But you don’t want to say yes, either,” he remarked. Soobin exhaled, drying his bowls and putting them back in the cabinet, before looking at Yeonjun. “You’re not allowed to say anything if I mess up,” he said quickly, cheeks burning a bit. Yeonjun let out a laugh, before moving forward to ruffle Soobin’s hair and poke his cheeks a few times. “I would never do that,” he cooed, scrunching up his face.
Soobin rolled his eyes, before taking Yeonjun’s hands and moving them away from his face. He walked past the older, giggling a little at the pouty face he pulled, before heading towards the dorms. Yeonjun followed him though, clinging onto his back and pressing his cheek between Soobin’s shoulders as he shuffled along behind him. Soobin giggled, grabbing Yeonjun’s hands clasped around his stomach, struggling to walk smoothly with the older attached to him in such a way. “Hyung! You’re making it hard to walk,” he laughed. Yeonjun only pouted more, and when they entered the dorms, three pairs of eyes stared at them in judgement.
Kai walked right up and pushed Yeonjun off of Soobin, taking the leader’s arm in his hand. “I need Soobin-hyung to help me finish writing this song,” he said at Yeonjun’s appalled glare. Soobin covered his smile as he looked at Yeonjun, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. Yeonjun huffed, crossing his arms. “You’re lucky I’m feeling forgiving today, Hyuka,” he said, before going and sitting on his bed, grabbing his phone. Soobin watched him prop himself up with pillows for a few seconds, before Kai pulled on his arm and he refocused his attention to his best friend.
They were only alone for half an hour before Yeonjun showed up, pouting even more and practically draping himself over Soobin, who was sitting on the couch. Soobin rubbed his back, but furrowed his brows. Yeonjun was acting weird, a lot clingier than usual, and a lot less hesitant to complain. Even Kai gave Soobin a look of mixed concern with a dash of annoyance. “Hyung, I’m trying to finish this,” he said gently. Kai stared at them unashamedly, raising his eyebrows in question. Soobin could only give him a look of confusion back as Yeonjun only whined in answer, voice muffled in Soobin’s shoulder.
Soobin reached forward enough to drop his pencil on the notebook, then he carefully stood up, pulling Yeonjun with him and forcing him to stand on his own. He leaned back a bit to examine his face, but he didn’t see anything noticeably wrong. He wasn’t pale, didn’t look overly tired, he just looked like his normal beautiful self. His lips were pushed out in a pout, and Soobin swiped a thumb over his prominent cheekbone. “Why are you acting so pitiful, babe?” The term of endearment made Kai groan and fall back against the couch cushions in despair. Yeonjun only pouted more, scrunching his eyebrows together adorably, before throwing Kai a glare. “I just want to spend time with you alone,” he said.
Soobin blushed, before sighing, taking Yeonjun by the shoulders and guiding him to the door. Thankfully, the boy went somewhat willingly. “You’re gonna be with me in the studio, and I’ll make sure to cuddle you lots tonight,” he promised. They stopped in front of the door, and Yeonjun exhaled, before nodding. “Sorry for bothering you,” he apologised. Soobin smiled, shaking his head and kissing his forehead. “Never bothering me, hyung,” he replied. Yeonjun rolled his eyes, playfully hitting Soobin on the shoulder. “Yah, stop being such a sap,” he said. Soobin giggled, before opening the door.
Yeonjun left swiftly, and when Soobin returned to sit with Kai, he blushed at his expression. “You should learn not to eavesdrop,” he said, before picking up the notebook and tossing out ideas before Kai could come back with a sassy retort.
Yeonjun wasn’t in the studio when Soobin arrived, but Soobin was a little early, so he attributed his absence to such. If he was being honest, he wouldn’t mind if Yeonjun just forgot and didn’t come. He was going to be so nervous with him watching and listening. But Yeonjun wasn’t forgetful, so Soobin resigned himself to accepting his fate. He bowed to his producers, before getting in the booth and putting his headphones on.
He lifted the mic, wondering if Taehyun had been in here last, before he did a few voice exercises. His throat felt good, and he sounded pretty clear in the feedback. He gave the thumbs up to his producers, who then loaded the track for their new song, “New Rules”. It was one of Soobin’s favourites, because none of them were troublemakers or punks, but one of his lines was in a higher pitch than he was used to. It stressed him out, and he wanted to get it over with and recorded as quickly as possible. Maybe if he hurried, he could get that part out of the way before Yeonjun arrived.
But no, of course his producers wanted to work up to that part, and so he was stuck recording his lines that were in his register. He enjoyed it, of course, he loved singing and hearing the songs he helped write come to life. His eyes closed, and his hands moved with the music, and he just sang until he was told to stop. Being in the studio was an entirely different world, and it was one of the most peaceful places Soobin could think of, at least when it was just him and his producers.
When he opened his eyes at some point, he blushed as he saw Yeonjun, sitting on a stool behind the producer’s chairs, arms crossed and a gentle smile on his face. Soobin returned the smile instantly, before he noticed that Yeonjun looked a bit different than a few hours prior. Now, his skin really did look pale, and he definitely wasn’t as hyper as Soobin was expecting to be. He kind of expected him to be insufferably obnoxious like he got sometimes, but he was…weirdly mellow. He was also dressed in a thick hoodie despite it not being that cold in the room.
Soobin felt his own expression drop a bit, before his producers got his attention again, and he looked at them. He nodded when they told him it was time for his high notes, and he allowed himself one more glance at Yeonjun before doing his warm ups. The older gave him another smile, and a thumbs up, but he still seemed way too quiet for Soobin’s contentment. But he was working, this was literally his job, so he pushed his concerns away for the time being. The music started, and he closed his eyes. His heart was racing a bit faster knowing Yeonjun was present, but he managed to lose himself in the sounds, and he sang as well as he was capable.
After a few takes, his producers played back what he had done, and he listened closely, before nodding. “I like the second version best, I think,” he said, before looking over at Yeonjun, still sitting obediently on his stool. “What do you think, hyung?” he asked, wanting to include him, and valuing his input. He stared at the older, and immediately felt worry wash over him at the delay. The producers even turned, looking at Yeonjun, who suddenly blinked, eyes widening. He jerked up straight, plastering a clearly forced smile on his face as he nodded, giving a few weak claps. “Y-yeah, no, it sounded great, I like, uh…whatever version you chose too,” he said. Soobin stared at his hyung, before taking off his headphones and leaving the booth. “Is it okay if we call it for the day?” he asked politely.
His producers nodded quickly, and Soobin bowed to them, before walking over to Yeonjun. He couldn’t do anything in front of them except gently touch his shoulder. “Ready to go back, hyung?” he asked softly. Yeonjun looked at him, before nodding, getting up off the stool. He seemed steady enough on his feet, though he did exhale heavily a few times. Soobin thanked his producers again, before walking out with Yeonjun. He kept his hands to himself until they made it up to the privacy of the dorms, where he rested a hand on Yeonjun’s back. The older went one step further though, and completely curled into Soobin’s side, locking his arms around his waist as they walked. Soobin furrowed his brows again, wrapping his arm around Yeonjun as they made it to their bedroom.
It was empty, blessedly, and Soobin quickly sat the two of them on his bed. Yeonjun didn’t let go, though, and Soobin felt himself become very worried. He lifted his free hand to feel Yeonjun’s forehead, and he panicked only slightly when he felt how hot he was. He then forced the older to sit up, prying his arms off of his torso. “Hyung, why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well?” he asked, catching Yeonjun’s gaze intently. Yeonjun pouted, pulling away a little and moving to lie down on Soobin’s bed. “I felt fine earlier,” he said. Soobin sighed, scooting over and brushing the older’s hair out of his eyes. He touched his cheeks a few times, before standing up to get some painkillers and water.
He didn’t get far though, before Yeonjun’s arm shot out and grabbed Soobin’s wrist. Soobin looked at the poor boy, with his wide eyes and sad expression, and damn, this was a side of his boyfriend (not boyfriend) he hadn’t seen before. “Have Beomgyu or literally anyone else get me medicine, I just want you to stay here and hold me, please,” he begged. And he literally looked like he was going to cry if Soobin said no, so he nodded, sitting back down on the bed and opening his arms. He didn’t quite know how best to comfort a sick Yeonjun, but if he wanted cuddles, that’s what he would get. Soobin had already been exposed, the entire dorm had. He was going to have to tell the company doctor, great.
He leaned back so that Yeonjun could situate himself almost entirely on top of Soobin, head nestled just below his chin, arms and legs wrapped around the taller like a koala. He felt Yeonjun exhale, fingers twitching where they rested on Soobin’s chest. “You’re so warm, Binnie,” he breathed. Soobin blushed, before grabbing his phone and sending a quick text to Taehyun. He rubbed Yeonjun’s back while he waited for his dongsaeng to arrive, listening to the sound of his breathing. It was a bit more shallow than usual, but at least it didn’t sound like wheezing.
When Taehyun walked in, he stopped, looking at Yeonjun, raising his brows in question. Soobin glanced down, running his fingers through the boy’s hair, determining him properly asleep. He communicated such to Taehyun, who nodded and walked in quieter. He sat the pills and bottle of water on the table, looking at Yeonjun himself. “I wondered if he wasn’t feeling well earlier,” he whispered. Soobin looked up at him, fingers still absentmindedly combing through the older’s hair. “He seemed fine this morning, hyper as usual,” he replied, equally as quiet. Taehyun shrugged, starting to leave. “I’ll let the doctor know he’s sick,” he said. Soobin shot him a grateful smile, before they were left alone.
He debated waking Yeonjun up and having him take the medicine, but the boy was sleeping so soundly against hm, he didn’t want to jostle him. He would wait a bit, and wake him up before dinner. He didn’t mind being his pillow, and he closed his eyes, deciding to get some sleep himself.