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Jin sighs, tapping his foot impatiently. He wished he had a watch to tap too, as he watches Jungkook and Taehyung across the lobby, engrossed in their conversation with a group of dancers. Jin had been waiting for them to finish their conversation for nearly ten minutes and was reaching the end of his patience. They'd been in the practice room since before the sun rose and it was well after lunch-time. He needed food.
He looked over as Taehyung's loud laugh echoed in the room, unable to resist smiling. They were still busy, in the midst of preparing for their next release and as they got busier it was rarer for the members to have the energy to laugh. It had been a good morning, though, even if Jin personally felt ready to collapse. His maknae's had enjoyed the chance to show off their dance moves in a way they hadn't been able to for awhile now. He sighed again at the thought - as much as he wanted to, he wouldn't go over there and tell them to hurry up. They'd been in such a good mood today and he didn't want to ruin that.
"Excuse me?"
Jolted from his thoughts at the sudden question, he spun around until he was faced with three vaguely recognisable people. All three pairs of eyes widened and there was a flurry of bows.
"Sunbae-nim, I'm so sorry for disturbing you." The shortest boy said as they straightened up.
"Oh, its alright." Jin replied, waving a dismissive hand. "Are you some new trainees?" He asks kindly. He recognises them enough that this seems the most likely option. He isn't sure, though, when the tallest boy blushes brightly.
"Oh, uh, no, we're not." The shortest boy replies, obviously the designated spokes-person of the group.
Jin narrows his eyes slightly, giving them a proper once-over. The shortest boy has dark hair and is wearing a stylish leather jacket. The tallest boy is very pretty, with long-ish hair. The third boy has fluffy hair and a shy smile and is undeniably cute. They all look pretty young. Jin's sure he's seen them somewhere before.
"Well, what did you need?" He asks instead of demanding who they are, then. If they've got into the building through the private entrance - as they must have done, to get into this lobby - then they're allowed to be here, at least.
They all shift on their feet, seemingly nervous about asking a senior artist for something, but knowing it would be rude to back away now. Jin thinks its adorable - his maknae's haven't been this polite in going on seven years and the TXT kids are loud and bold and following much too closely in Jungkook's footsteps to be nervous about speaking to them anymore.
"We're looking for Yeonjun and Beomgyu, from TXT?" The shortest boy speaks up again. It sounds almost like a question; he's obviously a bit nervous, although trying not to show it.
"Ah, are you friends of theirs?" Jin questions. They'd gotten to know their only junior group members fairly well over the last year - admittedly, some of them more than others - but Jin had never really heard them talk about their friends. They were all so busy it was difficult to meet up with family, let alone friends, regularly, however, so Jin wasn't surprised he had no idea who these kids may be. He thought they must be familiar to him because he'd seen them in some pictures in the kids' dorm.
"Ah, yeah." The shorter boy scratched his head. "I'm sorry to disturb you sunbae-nim, they were going to meet us down here but Yeonjun texted a few minutes ago that they were caught up in dance practice and couldn't leave and that we should make our way up to their practice room. But we don't want to get lost and we thought you - " He cut off his rambling, blushing lightly.
"We thought you were one of the staff, sunbae-nim." The cute one with the fluffy hair interrupted before the short one could continue his stammering. "We're sorry to disturb you about this." He continued unflinchingly. He finished with a bright smile and Jin thought he might have melted a bit, although the attitude surprised him slightly.
"Ah, its alright kiddos. I'm waiting on my maknaes, who seem to have forgotten that I exist." He turns a pointed stare to where Taehyung is now gesticulating wildly. The three boys follow his stare and blink at the sight of his two maknaes, involved in a heated discussion with the dancers. "In fact, why don't I show you up to TXT's practice room?"
The shortest boy and the tallest boy exchange a glance, although the boy with the cute smile replies immediately.
"Thank you, sunbae-nim." He bows again. "But won't your members wonder where you are?"
"It'll serve them right, if they even realise I'm gone. Let them think I abandoned them." He mutters vindictively.
'If you're sure, sunbae-nim. We wouldn't want to inconvenience you." The short boy says again.
"I'm positive. Come on, we'll take the lift." He waves them in the right direction. There is no way he's taking the stairs, TXT practice on the seventh floor.
As they shuffle into the lift, the three of them staying huddled together nervously, Jin decides its time he makes friends. Even if he's pretty sure these kids are about ten years younger then him.
"I'm pretty sure you know my name, but I don't know yours." He says confidently. They'd called him sunbae-nim, they were likely to be trainees somewhere and it was pretty obvious they knew who he was.
The three of them exchange another quick look.
"I'm Seo Changbin, sunbae-nim. And this is Hwang Hyunjin and Yang Jeongin." He indicates first the tall boy and then the boy with the cute smile.
"Ah, its nice to meet you all." He greets cheerfully. They stand in slightly awkward silence for a minute as the lift rises slowly to the right floor. "How did you meet Yeonjun and the others?" He asks, both curious and unable to stand the silence. They all looked so uncomfortable.
The lift dings before any of them can answer question and Jin leads them confidently down the corridor. The practice room is down a number of hallways, but it doesn't take long before a thumping bass can be heard.
"Sorry, they've been meaning to update the soundproofing." He rolls his eyes.
"Its alright." Changbin responds with a small smile. "And Yeongjun and I met through a mutual friend. We're all the same age, so he thought it would be nice to introduce us all."
It took Jin half a second to remember the question he asked but he was quick to smile at the answer none-the-less.
"Ahh, you're a 99-liner." He said with realisation. Not quite as young as he'd thought, although he ruefully admitted he'd guessed based mainly off the boy's rather diminutive height. He should have known that didn't mean anything. "What about you, Hyunjin-ssi, Jeongin-ssi? How old are you?" He was pretty sure they were younger.
"I was born in 2000, sunbae-nim." Hyunjin answers; the first time he's spoken at all. Jin thinks he must be shy. "Innie's an '01 baby."
Jin returns the small smile the tallest boy sends him, feeling rather endeared.
Before he can say anything else, the door to TXT's practice room appears.
"Ah, this is it." He says with a sweeping arm gesture, as if the music blasting from the room wasn't enough evidence.
They all sweep into thankful bows.
"Thank you sunbae-nim."
"Thank you, we really appreciate the help."
"We're so sorry to have disturbed you, sunbae-nim."
Jin once again waves the mix of thanks and apologies away, instead deciding to open the door. He's brought their friends up to them, the least the brats could do was say hello.
Nobody looks over at his entrance, too busy staring at their feet as they try and work their way through a dance move. Jin lets out a dramatic sigh.
"No respect for seniors here." He murmurs mournfully to the three boys following him into the room. They look at him with wide-eyes, not knowing how to reply. Jin doesn't try the awkward silence route again and instead goes directly to the speaker. He gives no warning before he turns it off, enjoying the surprised spluttering that erupts from the five boys whose dancing has been interrupted.
"Uh-uh." He shakes his head at them disapprovingly. "You've got lovely friends coming to visit and you're going to spend that time dancing and swearing at your hyung?" He tuts.
There's another round of surprise noises, until one of them decides its a good idea to look over at the door.
Hyunjin waves awkwardly.
"Changbin!" Yeonjun says enthusiastically, bounding over to them.
They all take a step away.
"You're disgusting, Junnie." Changbin says frankly. "Do not get near me until you shower."
Yeonjun visibly deflates with a dramatic pout, flinging himself onto Soobin's back as the leader comes to stand beside him.
"Sunbae-nims, its nice to see you again." He says, bowing slightly.
Jin blinks in surprise. Sunbae-nim?"
Changbin shakes his head with a smile.
"Seriously, Soobin-ssi, I said to call me hyung last time." He assures.
"Sunbae-nim?" Jin whispers to himself.
When Taehyun turns to look at him, he thinks he should feel embarrassed. However, all he feels is confusion. He raises a questioning eyebrow at the younger boy.
"They're Stray Kids members, hyungs." Taehyun says quietly. "They debuted a year before us."
Jin blinks in surprise. He's heard of Stray Kids, of course. They've performed at multiple award shows and are making quite a name for themselves internationally. He just hadn't realised these three were members of said group. He feels a bit stupid now. That's why he'd recognised them.
"It's ok, hyung." Taehyun pats him consolingly on the shoulder.
Jin sighs, looking at the huddle of boys that has moved further away from the door. Beomgyu has wrapped himself around Jeongin, who seems to have given up complaining despite how sweaty the other boy was. Changbin was back to pushing Yeonjun away, although he wasn't having much luck. It was a funny sight, considering how much taller Yeonjun was then Changbin and Jin chuckles as Yeonjun used his longer reach to finally wrap an arm around the shorter boy's neck. Soobin was fluttering his hands around anxiously, saying something Jin couldn't hear. Kai was stood a bit further back, laughing at them.
He was surprised to see that Hyunjin had scuttled around the group and made his way over to them, although Taehyun didn't seem to be.
"Hey hyung." Taehyun greeted.
"Taehyunnie." Hyunjin greeted with a bright smile. He was obviously more comfortable around the rookie group and Jin smiled, although he felt slightly sad that younger groups (not that he'd know that was what they were at first, he thinks to himself ruefully) were so nervous around him. Not that they really knew him, he had to admit.
"So you're part of Stray Kids?" Jin asks after a moment of them standing there in comfortable silence.
Hyunjin nods.
"Yes, sunbae-nim. We're under JYP." Hyunjin elaborates.
"Ah, right. How many of you are there?" He asks curiously. He only has a vague impression of the group in his head.
"There are eight members, sunbae-nim." Hyunjin, thankfully, doesn't seem offended by the questions, even though the obviously imply Jin has no idea who his group is. Its a bit late to pretend anything, though, considering he'd actually asked them if they were trainees not that long ago. That was a massive sign he didn't know the group.
"A pretty big group, then." He says, to which Hyunjin shrugs. "What are your other members doing today?" He asks politely. He's also genuinely curious. When his group split up, unless they're visiting family or some friends that they don't share, they usually pair up, simply for the familiarity. He knows other groups who are similar, although he's also talked to a couple of idols who can't wait to get away from the group-mates they spend nearly every second with. He's interested to see what this not-quite rookie group do.
"Um." Hyunjin's brow furrows as he thinks. "Seungmin's meeting his mum somewhere, I think. My leader, Chan-hyung and Felix caught the train to the coast early this morning. They miss the beach and this is apparently the perfect weather." Hyunjin rolls his eyes.
"Oh, are they from a coastal region?" Jin asks curiously. Taehyun snorts, although he tries to cover it up. Hyunjin, at least, is polite enough not to laugh at whatever error he's made.
"Ah, no, sunbae-nim. Felix and Chan-hyung are from Australia." Hyunjin explains.
"Ahh." Jin makes a nose of realisation and hopes his ears haven't turned red. Its not something he would have known, but its still kind of embarrassing. "What about your other members?" He pretty sure there are another two.
"Minho-hyung dragged Jisung off to the mountains." Hyunjin says with a dramatic sigh. "We may never see them again."
Taehyun snorts again, although he doesn't try and cover it up this time.
"Are they not very good hikers?" Jin asks curiously.
"Its not that - well, not really." Hyunjin tries to explain. "Its just that neither of them have much of a sense of direction and they're both scared of heights. So I don't really know why they decided hiking up a mountain was a good idea." He says with another eye roll.
"No, it doesn't sound like the...brightest idea." Jin has to say in agreement.
"Jisung likes to pretend he's not scared of anything and Minho-hyung likes hiking. I think he's forgotten that mountains go up though."
They all startle at the new voice, to see that Changbin has escaped Yeonjun, who has joined Beomgyu in smothering Jeongin. Soobin is still fluttering beside them, looking undecided on whether he should help Jeongin or give up entirely.
Hyunjin and Taehyun are giggling at Changbin's words and Jin smiles at the cuteness. Its nice to see young idols making friendships so easily. It had taken him a good couple years to find good friends in the industry - outside of BTS, obviously - and it was the same with all of his members. They'd been too invested in their career, too shy or too quiet to make any close friendships at first. He remembers the relief he'd felt when Yugyeom had reached out to Jungkook and pulled their maknae into a large circle of idol-friends, something their youngest had desperately needed. Its good to have friends that understand all your hardships.
He grins around the room, catching Soobin's eye. The young leader smiles back at him, wrapping an arm around Kai's shoulder. The maknae grows more and more each day - Jin keeps thinking he's got to stop soon, but he's always surprised when he see's the younger. Soobin has obviously given up on reigning in his other group members and begins dragging his maknae in their direction, leaving Jeongin from where he's collapsed to the floor with the two taller boys piles on top of him.
Hyunjin and Taehyun are talking quietly to each other, Changbin stood beside them but watching the pile on the floor with fond, if slightly exasperated eyes.
Jin smiles softly at the heartwarming scene. Suddenly, he misses his members and remembers his maknaes are downstairs. He wonders if they've realised he's no longer missing.
As much as he misses them, he hopes they have. The brats deserve to worry about where he's disappeared off too.