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It’s one of those days where the group finally gets some rest after weeks and weeks of continuous practice-record-film routine. It’s needless to say that they’re making the most out of it: Chan is currently planning his next danceology, Hansol’s sleeping (that’s his idea of ‘making the most out of it’), Jeonghan and Seokmin are playing League, Seungkwan are out somewhere bowling, Seungcheol and Joshua are watching The Notebook in the living room and Mingyu and Wonwoo are probably somewhere in one corner of the dorm making out.
It’s a pleasant day: the weather is nice, so Myungho and Jun decide to go out, because, quote Myungho—one more day of being stuck indoors and he’s going to lose his mind.
The thing with Gangnam—with so many people there on a daily basis—it’s so easy to not recognize a certain person even if you know them through the crowd.
. . . Unless you’ve known and lived with that person for almost 10 years and spent time with them for almost half of your life, and Jun thinks this is exactly the situation they’re in now: as Myungho and him sneak up behind the bushes like two meerkats as they watch Jihoon smile, laugh, and hug this certain person they couldn’t make out who because of a stupid pillar inside the coffee shop building.
Jihoon wears a shirt and a beige cardigan that’s probably two sizes bigger than what he’s supposed to be wearing and Myungho and Jun feel like they’re going to die tomorrow as they observe Jihoon talk probably worth a whole week of speaking with the members and yet he so easily talks with this person like it’s the last conversation they’ll have ever.
“What does this mean, Jun,” Myungho says amidst his brain shutting down. “Jun, if Jihoon hyung smiles and laughs with this person so easily, what does this mean?”
Jun doesn’t take away his gaze at the man. “I’m thinking of something, but I don’t want to—”
His speaking stops as he creases his forehead and widens his eyes when they witness Jihoon lean in to someone, and he does , as he kisses the man in front of him which Jun and Myungho barely see the man, catching a glimpse of his royal blue hoodie covering what his face or what his hair looks like.
With a sound of a shutter at his side, Myungho turns to Jun who has his phone in front of him as he continues taking photos of Jihoon and his secret-lover like a paparazzi. “What?”
“Jihoon hyung’s gonna beat your ass.”
Jun shrugs. “If it meant getting ridiculous reactions from the other members, then my ass would gladly be beaten,” he turns his head again to Jihoon’s direction, continuing his creepy paparazzi actions again. “Good god, Seungcheol hyung will pass out when he sees these.”
—＊—
“Jihoon hyung is dating someone.”
There’s a beat.
The silence fills the room as the members look at Jun who’s proudly standing up with a shit-eating grin on his face once he utters those words.
Seungcheol clears his throat. “So, as I was saying, for the MTV performance I think we sho—”
“Did anyone not hear me?” His voice is a little bit louder. “I said Jihoon hyung is dating somebody. And I mean dating, dating somebody.”
Jeonghan snorts. “Okay?” he chuckles. “And I’m straight, married to a woman and raising a child.”
“Don’t you think it’s a bit too late for April fools?”
“You’re lucky Jihoon hyung’s not here right now,” Mingyu eyes the instruments at the back of the practice room. “Because if he was, those guitars wouldn’t be on the racks right now but on your lying face.”
Jun’s peeved. “I’m not lying! I mean it! Look,” he brings out his phone and desperately shows it to the person next to him, Seokmin, “Myungho saw him too, he was with me!”
“Yeah, yeah, whatev—”
“Ohmygod it’s true,” Seokmin’s eyes are the size of the timbits they’re eating as he points at Jun’s screen.
And then one thing leads to the other—and suddenly the members are forming a circle with the phone in the middle trying to look at the photos. The photos show enough of what they needed as proof—Jihoon was kissing someone in the photos, alright.
Then there’s a noise. A lot of noise actually, as the members react differently in their own ways: Hansol is slapping himself muttering the words this is a dream this is a dream this is a dream , Seungkwan’s choked out his water, Joshua fake cries and Jeonghan’s already illustrating out a theory on their whiteboard on who the man is.
He sees Seungcheol’s legs wobble as he whispers Jihoon, my son, he’s grown up now and Jun concludes he’s satisfied. “See! I told you guys! You really should believe m—”
His words are halted when they hear a slam on the door so loud that they all jump a little in surprise. They’re confused for a second, until Wonwoo breathes out with immense panic and worry in his eyes.
“Soonyoung.” he barely audibly says, and the air becomes heavy all of a sudden—because only a mere mention of a single name, and they all understand what it implies. “Holy shit, Soonyoung.”
—＊—
It’s no secret to everyone the feelings Soonyoung has for Jihoon—it’s common knowledge at this point, the same level as knowing the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The Performance Unit, specifically, will tell you that Jihoon is the only ever topic Soonyoung talks about on the daily in between breaks of their practices. He’ll tell you how beautiful the man was with his cropped top on that one performance, how hardworking he is, how pleasant his voice is—frankly enough, Soonyoung repeats the same words everyday like a mantra, and the Performance Unit’s have had it, but at the same time puts up with it regardless, because it is adorable, how Soonyoun gushes, in a way.
To keep it short: the members knew of Soonyoung’s feelings, then knew Jihoon was dating someone and forgot about Soonyoung having feelings for Jihoon in the middle of shock over the unexpected newly-found information and now Soonyoung’s mad and sad, probably, and they’ve fucked up.
So, yes, holy shit Soonyoung indeed.
Jihoon was in no way stupid—sure, he’s failed a few Chemistry tests in highschool (as a normal highschooler does)—but he wasn’t stupid to not notice the cold and definitely bad air around the group that he’s pretty sure all members is trying to hide from him, but alas—they’re the most obvious people to ever exist, and something must’ve happened somehow while he wasn’t with them because now Seungkwan, Seokmin and Soonyoung aren’t making the usual dolphin noises that they usually do but instead only awkward glances.
And god . . . Soonyoung. Oh, Soonyoung.
Sure, there’s a different, unsettling atmosphere lingering in the air right now with the group, but Soonyoung treating him differently is a whole entire thing. Soonyoung’s ignored him the entire day—and he emphasizes—Entire. Day. Yes, he answers sometimes: he needs to, of course, but it’s merely a nod or a shrug or a shake of the head and Jihoon is racking his brain off of what he’s done wrong that makes his boyfriend not want to talk to him. He doesn’t find anything, doesn’t know anything—and he doesn’t understand, because he was so sure they were good before. To hell with it, they even had this romantic, comfortable and fluffy coffee date in downtown Gangnam about two days ago when they had a day off. So why was he acting this way now?
When the recording at the studio ends, the members stand up and stretch their arms then move on to throwing the paper bags and food containers and other waste they’ve created.
Jihoon clears his throat, making the members glance at him. “Hey, after you’re done cleaning there—uh—Soonyoung will stay for a bit,” Jihoon asks— declares. “There’s some parts of the title track that I need to discuss with him.”
“. . . Sorry, can’t, dinner together with Seokmin today. Right?” he coldly says, turning to the mentioned man.
“Huh?—I mean—yes, yes of course! Sorry Jihoon hyung, we’re going out today . . .”
Jihoon’s pissed. Pissed and sad and worried at the same time because Soonyoung is clearly avoiding him and he’s definitely lying right now but Jihoon can’t bear to say anything. Instead, he purses his lips and nods. “Alright.”
He needs to know what’s going on.
Now.
—＊—
If Soonyoung won’t talk to him, Wonwoo will.
It’s pretty unbelievable, really, but Wonwoo’s someone that Jihoon relies on a lot, for all sorts of things. He seeks advice from him pretty frequently—they’ve shared a fair amount of rantings and me too, I feel exactly the same that they feel comfortable enough to share some pretty intense secrets (of course, except the fact that him and Soonyoung were dating—he isn’t ready to tell that to anyone yet) with each other.
“Tell me what’s wrong.” Jihoon looks at Wonwoo who was sitting on the studio’s couch.
Wonwoo sips coffee. “I don’t want to.”
“I wasn’t asking, I was telling you to.”
Wonwoo puts down his cup and slumps to the couch, sighing. “I feel like I’m not the right person to explain . . . this.”
“It’s about me,” Jihoon says, because he’s caught up with that already, “and for some reason, Soonyoung.”
He nods. “It is about you, and for some reason, yes, Soonyoung. I can tell you that much.” Wonwoo’s not looking at him when he continues. “But again, it’s better if you talk to him, or something? I mean I could, but I’m highly controlling myself right now and I might not stop once I start.”
“I give you permission to not stop once you start, so go.”
Wonwoo opens his mouth, then closes it. He sighs. “It’s just—Ji, the group knows you’re dating someone.” Jihoon widens his eyes. Is that the reason why Soonyoung’s mad at him? Because they’ve been exposed? How? Who saw? “And—I don’t know if you’re choosing to pretend to not notice or you’re just really that dense but Soonyoung likes you a lot, you know? Loves you, actually. And so, Jun and Myungho somehow saw you on a date and you kissing some guy—there’s a photo, actually—and like—of course we have no problem with it, congrats to you and whoever that guy is, but we kind of . . . ignored Soonyoung? So he’s probably jealous, and mad at us because we’re supposed to be consoling him but we were just kinda being stupid then and more shocked about you getting an actual significant other because wow, who would think that would happen, right? So yeah, we kinda just forgot.”
Wonwoo stops. Breathes. “I mean we’re not sure—but what else would be the reason why he’s mad other than that, right? So yeah, no one’s really bothering to talk about it.”
Jihoon blinks once. Twice. Thrice, then it takes a solid minute of utter silence as he tries to process everything Wonwoo said and something in his mind clicks .
“What was in the photo?”
“Huh? Well—you were leaning towards this guy and it’s obvious that you’re kissing him but we really can’t see who the mann is because it’s all covered by his hoodie,”
Jihoon closes his eyes and breathes the loudest sigh ever. Oh my god.
“Did Soonyoung see the photo?”
“Uhm . . . No? Also why are you asking about this?”
Jihoon feels like he’s aged about 30 years. He’s considering signing retirement papers tomorrow.
“Oh my god, Kwon Soonyoung, you are the dumbest person on earth.”
—＊—
As Jihoon now fully grasps everything and the mere, utter stupidity of the situation—the situation being his boyfriend not realizing that he was the one he was out with when he got caught on a date with someone, he’s determined to fix it now because he misses Soonyoung so much and would actually flip a Junhui, a Myungho and a desk if this misunderstanding lasts a few days more.
“Soonyoung will be staying, just for a little bit,” he looks at the members on the couch of Universe Factory as they get ready to go out as the recording session for today was over. “We still have a few things to talk about that we were unable to last time .”
Soonyoung doesn’t bat him an eye. “Can’t. Got dance practice with Ch—”
“I said ,” and he says this with gritted teeth and much emphasis, “Soonyoung will be staying .”
He sees Soonyoung gulps, and the others too—there’s a competition now, he’s pretty sure, as the members rush and hurriedly go through the door as fast as they possibly could. Soonyoung doesn’t move from his position on the couch.
Honestly, Jihoon doesn’t even know where to start. Should he just say it directly? Should he explain the situation first? Should h—
“Ji, Am I not enough?”
Oh, he’s thankful his boyfriend starts the conversation for him.
“I ca—”
“Am I . . . Am I not enough for you? Am I lacking something? Do you wish I was more reserved, quieter, calmer like you? You know I could easily try, Jihoon. You just need to tell me.”
No, no, and no. “Soony—”
“Do you find me ugly? Did you fall out of love? Did you find someone better than me, someone that makes you more comfortable than me?”
Again: No, no, and no. “Youngie ple—”
“You’re so unfair, Ji. You know we could’ve talked about this—you know we would have agreed on something. You should’ve talked to me first—but no, I had to hear it from the members myself. It’s so unfair. You’re so unfair. Ji, I know you’re too much of a good person to cheat on someone but—am I that unlikeable that you really did?”
“Please list—”
“And it hurts so m—”
“ SOONYOUNG ! Please listen to me first!” Jihoon shouts loudly that it stops Soonyoung, and he’s pretty sure it reached outside of the room.
“First of all, the answers are all no—baby, you will always be enough for me, and I’ve told you that many times,” Jihoon sighs. “Second—Soonie, you are the most likeable person on earth and I will never cheat on you and you’re the only one I’ll ever love, ever. ”
“But they said—they—they had proof! They had a photo, Hoonie.”
“You haven’t even seen the photo.”
“Why will I bother looking at it when I’ll just get hurt more?”
“Goodness,” Jihoon brings out his phone and throws it to Soonyoung, which he catches, though almost failing. “Look familiar to you?”
“Uhm—this . . . looks like the cardigan you were wearing the date we had four days ago—and the coffee shop too . . uhm, what— oh. ”
Jihoon rolls his eyes. “Right. Oh. ”
“You—I thought—I thought—”
“You thought I was cheating on you?”
“No—I mean—yes but—I’m sorry, Ji I didn’t—I didn’t know what to do these past few days,” Jihoon widens his eyes and immediately sits beside his beau once he’s heard a sniff. “I was so scared, Ji, I didn’t know how to talk to you—I was mad and sad and angry and I felt so lonely and I was being so stupid and petty and—”
“Shh, shh, baby it’s okay,” Jihoon cups Soonyoung’s two cheeks and turning him to face him. “It’s okay now, right?”
Soonyoung nods slowly, tears still falling in his eyes.
“Mhm,” Jihoon gives a peck to Soonyoung’s lips. “I love you so much, baby, even if you act so dumb sometimes.”
“H-hey!” He earns a light jab at the shoulder. “Can you like — shut up and kiss me already?”
“Oh?”
“We haven’t kissed for four whole days,” Soonyoung tugs on Jihoon’s shirt. “You have to—You have to make up for it right now.”
“That’s a lot of kisses I need to make up for,”
“So you better get to work right no w.”
Jihoon only hums and nods, patting his thighs twice to urge Soonyoung to sit there. He does, as he wraps his legs around Jihoon’s waist. “Hm.”
Oh, honestly, it hasn’t even been that long, but Jihoon always seems to forget how good Soonyoung tastes every single time. Amongst the strawberry taste, he still tastes Soonyoung’s salty tears — but it’s okay: he’s kissing the love of his life, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Nngh, I love you so much, Hoonie, you don’t even know.” His arms are wrapped around Jihoon’s neck. “I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you—”
Jihoon chuckles, kissing Soonyoung in the nose. “I love you too, dumdum.”
—＊—
“You think they’re okay? Ever since we heard Jihoon hyung shout, we haven’t heard anything after then.”
“Do you think they’ve killed each other?”
“No, they’re probably just making out,” Jeonghan says, earning a glare from everyone.
“Jihoon has a boyfriend, hyung.”
Jeonghan smiles and shrugs, seemingly knowing the situation—he’s Jeonghan, after all, and nothing gets past Yoon Jeonghan. “Soonyoung can be the boyfriend we’re talking about.”
“I don’t think so, Hannie hyung . . .”
(And when Jihoon opens the door for them in the studio and they all take a glimpse of the forming hickeys on Soonyoung’s neck, they realize that Jeonghan’s statement has been proven a fact.)