Chapter Text
It all started with Jeongin coming back to the dorms alone. He figured walking back home alone would give him time away from his members. It's not like he does not love his hyungs, but sometimes they overwhelm him too much and Jeongin feels like he cannot breathe.
He wants to reciprocate their affections but he feels too shy to do it as well, especially in front of the cameras. That's why he would push them away whenever they get too close.
This especially applies to Hyunjin, who likes to squish his cheeks, hugs him from behind, lean his head on Jeongin's shoulders or tries to kiss him whenever he has a chance.
Others may or may not notice, but Hyunjin holds a special place in Jeongin's heart and that's why he does not push him away like he does to Changbin or Seungmin. He is rather pliant towards Hyunjin, which could or could not be because of his crush on the said dancer.
But Jeongin does not know what to do with his feelings, he does not dare to tell Hyunjin the truth, and it does not help that he is not very expressive in terms of his love language.
He is glad that the route is clear on his way home. He would be much more overwhelmed if he were to encounter any fans while he is trying to find time for himself. Jeongin was humming to "Ice.cream" when he saw an old lady pushing a cart that is twice the size of her across the road. It seems like her back is going to bend in half if she continues pushing, so Jeongin runs up to her.
"Hello, let me help you push the cart," Jeongin offers as he takes over the cart handle from the old lady's hands.
"Thank you, my dear. I have come a long way and it's been a journey to carry this cart of mine," the old lady replies to him with a sweet smile.
"Where are you going? I can help you with this to your destination," Jeongin continues to offer as he feels responsible towards his actions that he has already started.
"Not far, you can just help me carry this to the top of the staircase there," answers the old lady.
When they reach the top of the staircase, Jeongin turns to the lady to ask if she is sure that she can continue on her journey and finds that she is staring at him, her eyes twinkling.
"You are such a sweet boy. As a thank you gift, I will give you something. What do you want, my dear?" asks the lady.
"No no, it's okay. I am just on my way home and it's nothing." Jeongin refuses with a shake of his head.
"But I insist," says the lady but Jeongin continues to refuse her.
"Well, since you refuse to name something, I will just give you what you need. When you receive what you need, then the gift will leave you as well," says the old lady, "but I don't know how it will work for you." she quietly mumbles as she places her hands on Jeongin's and says something in a language that he does not recognise, then he feels warmth seeping into his hands for a moment.
Weird, he thought, but he takes it as the lady was praying for him or something, if he had to guess from her gestures.
"Well, I guess, thank you." Jeongin says as he looks up to smile at the lady but to his surprise, there is no one there. No cart nor the old lady. Jeongin was standing alone at the top of the staircase.
Jeongin then decides it is better to go home and forget about this encounter. It is either he is dreaming about what has happened because he is too tired or he is going crazy because he is too tired.
Everything is normal for Jeongin until the next morning, where he realises that something is wrong with him.
As usual, Jeongin wakes up early to wash up and have his breakfast. He goes out to the kitchen to grab a glass of water first and finds Minho already making breakfast for them.
He is not surprised, Minho is the only one who wakes up earlier than him in their dorm. He knows for sure the other dorm is still sleeping with and he chuckles to himself as he thought of Hyunjin waking up early. It will never happen.
"Good morning, Hyung." Jeongin greets Minho as he grabs a glass from the shelf.
"Morning I.N ah, come eat the pancakes I have made. See how they compare with Yongbokie's," says Minho and Jeongin's body immediately sits on the table, his right hand moves to grab a piece of pancake and he is shoving it in his mouth, without him thinking of what to do.
Jeongin is stunned to say the least, and Minho is too, because Jeongin does not eat anything until he has finished washing up but this morning is different.
"I didn't mean eat now, I.N ah but thank you for your enthusiasm. I really appreciate it." Minho tells him with a grin and Jeongin nods. He tries to process what just happened and cannot come up with anything so he decides it's his body moving because he is still abit sleepy and leaves the kitchen to wash up and forget about what happened.
The next time it happens, Jeongin is fully awake and functional. He is watching a movie with Seungmin and Felix in their living room while eating the cookies that Felix baked for them. Then Seungmin, bless his soul, decides that he wants to bully Jeongin so he asks him to go and get a glass of juice from their fridge. This is a routine for them, Seungmin will ask Jeongin to do something, Jeongin will say no, then Seungmin will do it himself, either because of Jeongin's rejection or because Minho tells him to do it himself from wherever he is.
However, this time, Jeongin moves before Seungmin can finish his sentence, "Jeongin ah get me a glass of orange juice fro....you are getting it for me?" Seungmin asks with disbelief. Felix looks at him with raised eyebrows and Minho comes out from his room to see what is happening.
Jeongin is shocked as well. How did his body decided to move without his brain processing it? Something weird is definately happening to him. He tries to say something to his hyungs, regarding his body or his weird encounter the previous day but nothing is coming out of his mouth. It was like someone closing his mouth with their hands, he cannot say anything.
Jeongin thinks he should go look for the old lady that he met yesterday, it seems like his problems starts with her. He tells his members that he needs to go out for a moment and leave immediately, not caring if he does not have a mask on to disguise himself.
However, his plans fall short when he meets the members from the other dorm at the lift. He forgot that they were coming to visit them today, a rare day where they all can rest.
"I.N ah where are you going?" Chan asks as he looks at the Jeongin who looks like he wants to run away.
"Umm just out hyung, I will be back," Jeongin tells them as he moves past them but, "Aegi ah, go later, we got fried chicken so come eat with us first," Changbin says and Jeongin's body comes to a stop and he turns back to follow his members.
Everyone looks at him for a moment as he follows what Changbin said but no one says anything.
"Good job dongsaeng for following hyung's words," Chanbin tells him while patting his head. Jeongin can only look at him with sad eyes because he neither can tell them or stop his body from obeying what other says.
"Innie, are you okay?" Hyunjin asks him when he sees Jeongin's expressions and Jeongin can only nod.
When they reach their dorm, everyone becomes loud as they pass around the plates for their fried chicken and glasses for their sodas. Jeongin hopes no one says anything while they are eating.
"I.N ah, Valentine Day is coming soon, do you want to do a V live together with me?" Jisung asks as he chews through his drumstick.
Jeongin nods, "why not hyung? Since we told Stay we will do it together."
"Oohh, is it the kissing couple?" Changbin jokes as he grabs his third piece of chicken wing, Jeongin notes.
"No, Jeongin did not kiss Han for sure, it was only Han's dream," Hyunjin says from Jeongin's side while pressing his whole body more against Jeongin.
"Who says!? Jeongin definately kissed me!" Jisung shouts at Hyunjin, while pointing a finger at him.
"But Jeongin denies it and we did not see it," Seungmin comments and Felix nods in agreement. Jeongin sees Chan looks at them fondly while Minho looks like he wants to airfry them.
"Okay then, why don't we show you now?" Jisung says and Jeongin looks at him in shock. Please, no, not what he is thinking.
"Jeongin, kiss me," Jisung looks straight at Jeongin to tell him and Jeongin's body moves involuntarily. He wills his body to stop but it's not stopping. It's not like he doesn't like Jisung but he is shy to show his feelings and he definately does not want to kiss someone else in front of his crush.
Jeongin's hands are now on Jisung's cheeks and Jisung is looking at him with wide eyes. It's like he cannot believe Jeongin is doing what he told him to. Jeongin cannot see how the others look now but he cannot hear anything at all, it is too silent.
As he leans his head closer to Jisung, Jeongin hears a sharp inhale from behind him. His head is going closer, he can feel Jisung's breath and he closes his eyes. He cannot look, he waits for his lips to press against Jisung but it did not happen, "Stop Jeongin," comes a voice from behind him and Jeongin turns around to see Hyunjin looking at him with a hurt expression, like Jeongin just crushed his heart and threw it away.
It seems like Hyunjin only realises what he said, his eyes widen and he immediately left the room to go in the direction of Jeongin's room.
"Umm," Jisung coughs as he pushes Jeongin abit. "I did not think that you would do that," he laughs in an awkward manner.
"Well, you asked for it," Minho tells Jisung pointedly.
"I.N ah, you should go and follow Hyunjin," Chan tells him and Jeongin finds himself nodding but his body is not moving involuntarily because what Chan tells him was not a command.
Jeongin knocks on the own bedroom's door as he waits for Hyunjin to open the door for him.
"Hyung, are you okay?" Jeongin asks him as he takes note of how Hyunjin goes back to lying in his bed after opening the door.
"Jeongin, do you like Jisung?" asks Hyunjin and Jeongin is shocked for a moment.
"No, of course not hyung. If you are talking about just now, it was just a prank, I just wanted to scare him abit." Jeongin tells him.
"Oh okay, well you didn't just scared Jisung, I think you scared me too," says Hyunjin. The both of them stay in silence for a bit, neitheof them know what to say even though they have alot in the minds.
"Innie, I have something to ask you. But I don't know if I should as well." Hyunjin gets from the bed to stand in front of him.
Jeongin looks at him, thinking if he should tell Hyunjin the truth of his feelings. For sure he does not want some unknown force making him do things he does not want to do.
While Jeongin is racking his brains for what to do, Hyunjin has a determined look in his eyes.