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Park Jisung is a growing boy. Like any child in their golden age, he needs to be constantly supplied with nutritious food and multivitamins to further optimize his growth. That is exactly why he is stumbling into the kitchen at 3AM during a school night, eyes bleary, intention clear for one thing and one thing only: raiding the fridge and snack cabinets. He spent three hours yelling at his discord vc while playing rl craft like any normal kid his age. Scratching his stomach, his face lights up when he remembers that Jeno told him that he had just restocked the snack stash earlier this morning.
In the serenity of the night, wolfing down his second cup of ramyeon, he notices that there is a lump of blanket on the couch in front of the tv, a (strangely) large lump of blanket at that, and a pair of feet sticking out of it. The first thing that comes to his mind is what the fuck is this how I’m going to die? Catching a ghost sleeping on our couch? But the more rational part of his brain comes into play when he notices that the blanket moving up and down slowly, in a rhythm, as if someone’s breathing. Taking a wooden spatula as a precaution he walks slowly to the couch. I'm not going to die without putting out a solid fight- he stops when he realized that huh, what is this? There are two heads peeking out of the blanket on the other end of the sofa. The silver strands are unmistakably Renjun and the black one is definitely Jaemin's. He frowns, looking at Renjun's head settled on the crook of Jaemin's neck.
“Why are they like this…” he mumbles. It’s freezing cold. They’re gonna be cranky tomorrow. That couch isn’t built to slept on. He nags internally while he tiptoes to his room, taking an extra blanket to put over the two. Jisung freezes when Renjun stirs a little as he puts on the new blanket. When the other stops moving, he pats his head really softly just because and does the same to Jaemin sneakily (this will get him killed if the other was awake). He nods approvingly at his own action; a little giddy thinking about how he feels like a hyung taking care of the youngsters. “Cuties.” He whispers.
On the car to school the next day, Jisung catches Jaemin cracking his neck and stretching in his seat. “You okay, hyung?” he asks, pulling out one of his airpods.
“Yeah, I just slept wrong last night.” the older mutters, still massaging his own neck. The younger was about to mention the cute scene last night, it was already on the tip of his tongue, but then stopped himself. He didn't think much that night, he was tired, and sleeping with a full belly came easy. Now that he's fully awake and refreshed, he thinks about how weird it all was. Sure, Mark sometimes crashes at their couch, but no one in their right mind would do that. Especially not Jaemin. Since his injury he's always super careful with his body. Hell he's got a collection of ergonomic pillows to prove that. Also, Renjun? That hyung doesn't cuddle, ever. Sure he coddles Jisung, but he hates cuddling in bed as he deemed it to be 'too warm and suffocating'. Last night seemed pretty cozy for him.
Also, when he woke up this morning, the pair was already gone from the living room. Nothing indicated that they were really there in the first place. It made him question whether he was dreaming or it was the msg fume that went up to his head, but seeing Jaemin's state right now, he is sure that it was real. In the end, Jisung settles with, “Maybe your pillow collection need an update, hyung.”
Contrary to popular belief, Jisung equally likes to be babied by the older members as much as he likes to baby the elders. Mark's ears? top tier, Jeno's neck? very pinchable, Renjun's head? super pattable. But if he were to be asked the question of who his favorite hyung is, the answer would be Jaemin. He'll make sure to never tell him this, though (oh god imagine the smothering). He really like the other hyungs, they practically raised him to become the man he is today. Mark taught him resilience, and same as Mark, Donghyuck taught him how to be angry (but also how to open himself to people), Renjun helps him dream and think about the infinite, while Jeno guards him down when he feels far away. Chenle is basically his twin at this point. Now Jaemin is like all the hyungs in one person. He takes care of him, makes sure he eats, helps him with his homework’s but also plays games with him. Jaemin brought him everywhere when they were trainee (something shy, young Jisung was really thankful for). He is exactly what he'd think of what an older brother is if he ever had one.
He just really admires Jaemin. And he’s never seen him getting mad at anyone ever, ever so gentle and patient. His uncompetitive nature helps him get along and entertain everyone he's with. That is exactly why he is so surprised to see a fuming Jaemin walking out of Renjun's room, slamming the door shut. He paused his game and takes off his headset carefully, trying to listen to his surroundings. He can hear Jaemin walking to his room and shut his own door close. He blinks. When he got home from school earlier today, the dorm had been empty. Well, it’s not empty after all, clearly. Jisung stands up and opens his door wider, head peeking to see the empty corridor. He then walks on his tiptoes to Renjun's room, wanting to know what made the older so mad. He expected to see a similar expression on Renjun's face, maybe fuming, but he was not prepared to see Renjun curled up on his bed, facing away from him. He raises his eyebrows.
“Hyung?” he calls softly. He can see the smaller stiffens a bit when he calls him. What the hell is going on.
“Hm.” But the older is not turning to face him, so Jisung walks carefully to his bed, sitting on the edge of it.
He is actually very unsure of what he is doing right now. The two must’ve had a fight, that's the obvious. But he is very bad at consoling people. He never knows what to do when people cry in front of him, he would just give awkward pats on their shoulder and say ‘It’s okay’ on some occasions. So he just decides to lie down next to the older, picking at his nails.
A few moments passed and he feels the older is moving, turning to face him. He was ready to be kicked out of the bed or yelled at asking him what he’s doing. He was not prepared for Renjun to latch his arms and legs on him, face pressing to his arm, wet.
A normal Renjun would never be this clingy, so this is serious. Jisung's heart drops. So he just lies there, patting Renjun's arm across his stomach awkwardly. He can feel the older breathing softly.
"You're so bad at this, Jisung-ah." the older chuckles hoarsely. Yes, definitely crying.
The younger sputters, "What do you mean? I just want to lie down." He lamely lies. A couple of minutes of silence passed and he swears he could hear Renjun whispering a small 'thank you' but it was so faint and small that he's unsure of it.
“Do you want to order lunch, hyung?” is the only thing he can think of saying right now. He grimaced at himself.
Face still pressed to Jisung's arm, the older just shakes his head.
When the night rolls in, everyone is settled in front of the tv for a movie night (‘To strengthen our bond,’ Mark said, ‘Except if you pick The Kissing Booth again, Lee Donghyuck, because I am going to riot.’). Jisung had left Renjun's bed when Donghyuck came to visit the dorm, yelling that he is bringing pork feet. After that, he just returns to his room, thinking about what might have happened to Jaemin and Renjun.
None of the two came out of their rooms when Mark announced his arrival. Sitting on the farthest right of the bunch, he can’t help but to watch. Jaemin, sitting in between Jeno and Chenle while Renjun is again, curled on the single couch on the farthest left. They both have his eyes trained to the tv but it is so obvious that none of them are processing what’s going on on the screen.
During dinner earlier, it is obvious for Jisung that they both were avoiding each other. But the two also maintained to present their usual self, Jaemin silently preparing the snacks for the marathon and Renjun bickering with Donghyuck on god knows what. He is dying to tell this to Mark because he wants to help. He believes that Mark is capable of handling this kind of thing (as he had, multiple times before). So he pats the leader’s thigh on his left.
“Hyung.” He whispers. The older hums quietly.
He’s practicing his line in his head, So I think Renjun hyung and Jaemin hyung are fighting. I saw Jaemin hyung slamming a door today, he never does that. Renjun hyung is also has been really sad the whole day. I’m telling you because I want to help-
“What is it, Jisung-ah?” The youngest's mind short-circuited and instead of telling his practiced line to the leader, what comes out is just, “Nothing, I just want to pee.” He then proceeds to stand up, getting his butt slapped by the older, and flee to the bathroom.
Nothing changes for a week. He is surprised that both Renjun and Jaemin are this persistent in avoiding each other. But he is more surprised to see that none of the members seem to catch the situation. It makes him question himself again, whether they are really fighting or if he’s overanalyzing everything.
On Saturday they’re all attending a festival in Incheon. The waiting room is quiet as all of them are still waiting for the make-up and coordi staffs to come (they are late somehow for some reason Jisung didn’t catch). Mark and Donhyuck are sleeping on the long seat, shoulder to shoulder, head to head. 127's schedule last night really drained them.
Next to him, Chenle has his earphones on while scrolling on his phone. Don't know where Jeno went, but Renjun and Jaemin are being all friendly on the single-seat across the room. Jisung squints his eyes at the pair across the room. Since when did the two make up? Why is Renjun sitting on Jaemin’s lap when there’s a whole long seat next to them?
He holds his phone to his face as if he is reading something closely. In reality, he opens his phone camera to spy on the pair across the room. Through the zoomed-in screen, he sees Jaemin playing with Renjun's fingers, both whispering something to each other, giggling as if they have a funny secret to share.
Jisung frowns; I want to know funny secrets too. Also, their closeness right now makes him believe that he was not overanalyzing everything. They were indeed avoiding each other. He is just glad that the pair managed to make up by themselves. Jisung is also relieved that he didn’t snitch them out to the leader that night. Who knows what could’ve happened. Renjun might’ve killed him for ratting them out and he’d- HOLY SHIT WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
Jisung pulls down his phone at the speed of light, eyes saucers wide, looking at the pair. He blinks; looking around the room to see if someone also saw that. On his right, Chenle looks up from his phone, scrutinizing the younger. “Can’t believe your eyes can go that big, Jisung-ah.” He snickers. At this, the younger continues to blink, “Did you not see that?” he whispers. Seeing how serious the taller is, Chenle sits straighter, a bit worried, “No? See what?” Jisung frowns at himself, taking a glance at Renjun and Jaemin who are still in the same position, still giggling. He just saw the two kissed.
Renjun had been turning his head to pull the taller’s ear (for some reason) and deadas he saw Jaemin smiling sweetly and surged forward, pecking the smaller. On the lips. What the fuck just happened? “Dude, your face is red. You better not get sick on us right now. You okay?” Chenle frowns. The younger’s hands fly to cup his own cheeks. “Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just going to get a drink from the vending machine outside real quick.” He rushes the words out, standing up, almost face-planting to the floor because his feet were caught on Chenle's stupid big backpack on the floor.
He needs time to process this. Are they together like that? How long? Does everyone know?
“What’s up with him?” Jeno, who just enters the room asks Chenle.
Chenle leans back on his seat, sighing, “I think he’s going through puberty, you know how teenagers are.”
Jeno blinks, "You are literally a child."