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Jaemin knows, as soon as he receives the text from his father, that the meeting he’s just been summoned to isn’t going to be an enjoyable one. To be fair, meetings with his father rarely are, because they almost always involve kind but firm reminders about how he needs to comport himself in a more dignified way, as is appropriate for the son of the president of “one the most technologically advanced countries in the world.”
But this meeting is guaranteed to be even less fun than usual, since it comes on the tail end of Jaemin being rescued from a recent kidnapping attempt.
That isn’t to say that the kidnapping itself wasn’t scary – it was, and Jaemin isn’t likely to stop having nightmares about it any time soon – but his parents have become even more intensely overprotective than before ever since it happened. Jaemin supposes he can understand it, because he’s sure if he had children and they got kidnapped, he would be even worse. But as a twenty-three-year-old man who just recently graduated college, being on the receiving end of the new over-the-top safety measures has been irritating at best.
There are three men he doesn’t recognize in his father’s office when Jaemin walks inside, and he can’t help flinching involuntarily when he sees them standing there, lined up in their neatly-pressed suits. The therapist his parents hired to help him process the kidnapping has told him that it’s normal and understandable for someone who’s experienced what he has to have this kind of reaction to unfamiliar men, but he’s still a bit embarrassed by it.
“Jaemin-ah,” his father says, standing up and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right?”
Jaemin waves him off quickly, not wanting to expose the details of his trauma in front of these strangers. “I’m fine, I just suddenly felt a little cold.” Entirely out of the blue, the man standing between the other two wordlessly removes his suit jacket and holds it out to Jaemin, who stares at it for a few moments in stunned silence. When he looks up, he finds that the man’s unbelievably handsome face is entirely stoic, except for the faintest hint of pink in his cheeks.
“Um, thank you,” Jaemin finally says, taking the jacket and draping it over his own shoulders. It’s warm and smells incredibly good, and Jaemin decides that there are worse things in the world than accepting an offer to wear a hot guy’s clothes. He clears his throat, turning back to his father. “So, uh, who are these people?”
Jaemin’s father smiles at him warmly. “They’re your new bodyguards. From now on, at least two of them will accompany you during the day and guard your room during the night.”
Jaemin blinks a few times. “What?” He eyes the men again, and sure enough, they all look pretty strong and muscular – it’s particularly obvious for Mr. Jacketless, whose muscles are practically straining against the sleeves of his dress shirt. Still, while the men, especially Mr. Jacketless, are objectively nice to look at, it feels like a bit too much. “Don’t you think three bodyguards is kind of excessive?”
“Be respectful, Jaemin,” his father reprimands him. “The Lee brothers are ranked military officers, and they’re highly recommended for their ability to work as a team.” Given that context, it makes more sense that his father hired all three of them together, but Jaemin still kind of wants to complain purely on principle. He bites his tongue, though, because his father isn’t done speaking yet, turning to the bodyguards and addressing them next. “Why don’t you all introduce yourselves so Jaemin can get to know you?”
With a sharp nod, the first man steps forward. “Lee Minhyung, Major General,” he says. He doesn’t smile, exactly, but his eyes are warm and his tone is friendly, and Jaemin feels strangely at ease in his presence. “You can just call me Mark, though. Minhyung is a little too formal.”
Jaemin cocks his head. “How old are you?” he asks.
“Just turned twenty-seven a few months ago,” Mark says, which is older than Jaemin was expecting based on his looks, but makes sense, considering his high rank.
“I should probably call you Mark-hyung, not just Mark, then,” he says lightly. He’s pleased to see the corner of Mark’s mouth twitch upwards, like he’s fighting a smile. Mark is going to be fun to be around, he can already tell.
Mr. Jacketless is up next. “Lee Jeno, Brigadier General,” he says. He doesn’t necessarily sound unfriendly, but unlike his brother, he doesn’t allow a single trace of emotion to be visible on his face.
Jaemin is more than a little intrigued by this man – Jeno – who’s so handsome but seemingly cold, yet willing to offer someone he’s never met his jacket just because they shivered slightly. “And how old are you, Brigadier General?”
Unsurprisingly, compared to Mark’s lengthier answer, Jeno’s response is short and to the point. “Twenty-five.”
“Well,” Jaemin says, inordinately delighted by the fact that Jeno is two years older than him, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Jeno-hyung,” He’s beyond satisfied to see that Jeno’s cheeks have taken on the slightest tinge of pink once more, and decides that he’s going to make it his goal to see how else he can break Jeno’s emotionless mask. Flirting shamelessly, he thinks, is definitely already at the top of the list.
The third man, the tallest of the three but also the youngest-looking, speaks up last. “Lee Jisung, Lieutenant Colonel,” he says. His control over his expression is significantly worse than that of his brothers, because he looks a bit anxious and very shy. Instead of being worried by it, though – which probably should have been his reaction, considering Jisung has been hired to protect him – Jaemin just finds it incredibly endearing.
“Hi, Lieutenant Colonel,” Jaemin says, fighting the urge to pinch his cheeks and coo at him. “You must be the baby of the family, am I right?”
Jisung looks flustered at being called out, but he nods bashfully. “I’m twenty-one.”
Jaemin smiles, feeling a somewhat parental desire to coddle him. “Then I guess I’m your Jaemin-hyung now,” he says.
“O-Oh, I couldn’t – I mean, it’s –” Jisung stammers, and he’s just so adorable that Jaemin has to take pity on him.
“That goes for all of you, by the way,” he says, turning to look at the other two brothers too. “If I really have to go everywhere with three bodyguards from now on, then at the very least you need to address me informally. You’re absolutely banned from calling me ‘Sir,’ effective immediately.” As he says it, he catches Jeno’s eye and is once again struck by how badly he wants to make the middle Lee brother lose his composure. He has to actively remind himself that his father is still in the room, and therefore he shouldn’t mention anything about how, in an ideal scenario, he would be the one to call Jeno “Sir” instead.
“You got it, boss,” Mark says, interrupting Jaemin’s increasingly inappropriate train of thought, and Jaemin hastily tears his eyes away from Jeno to find an amused smile tugging at Mark’s lips. He has to grin in return, feeling significantly less apprehensive about his new security detail now that he knows at least one of the brothers is willing to joke around with him.
“Thin ice, Mark-hyung,” he warns playfully.
Mark’s smile grows. “My bad,” he says. “I’ll be sure to watch myself from now on.”
“Me too, boss-hyung,” Jisung chimes in, his smile timid but sincere, and Jaemin actually laughs out loud.
He turns to Jeno, hoping he’ll have something to add too. “What about you, Jeno-hyung?” he asks, playing up his indignation and batting his eyelashes in an attempt to earn sympathy points. “Are you going to bully me like your brothers are?”
There’s the faintest flicker of amusement in Jeno’s eyes, almost imperceptible but obvious enough that Jaemin is sure he isn’t imagining it. “I wouldn’t dream of it, boss,” Jeno says, completely deadpan.
Jaemin means to pout at him, but Jeno somehow manages to maintain such a gravely serious expression that Jaemin is suddenly stuck with the most outlandish thought possible – Oh my god, he’s hot and sweet and cute and funny, I need to marry him – and he can only collapse into borderline hysterical giggles instead. Fortunately, no one else seems to notice the slightly nervous edge to his laughter – Mark looks somewhat endeared, Jeno still has a hint of mirth glittering in his eyes, Jisung seems amused, and even Jaemin’s father looks pleased by their easy camaraderie.
He really likes the Lee brothers, Jaemin decides. Maybe having them as his bodyguards won’t be so bad after all.
~~~
Mark has only been working as a bodyguard for a week and a half, but he’s already wondering what exactly he’s gotten into by agreeing to be a member of Na Jaemin’s personal security team. It isn’t that Jaemin is particularly reckless or difficult to protect, but he’s certainly unlike both of Mark’s brothers, despite being exactly between their ages and also well on his way to becoming a little brother figure to Mark in his own right. Where Jeno and Jisung have generally always been fairly soft-spoken and shy, Jaemin is unapologetically loud and outgoing, and he’s much more playful than either of the younger Lee brothers, too – but none of that is what stands out to Mark the most.
The real point of concern is the fact that Jaemin happens to have a crush the size of Jupiter on the middle Lee brother, one that’s blatantly obvious to everyone in the world except the actual object of his affections. It’s quickly become a source of exasperation and amusement for Mark, and although there’s a small part of him that worries a little about Jeno getting caught up in a workplace romance, he’s very much aware that his brother quite clearly returns Jaemin’s feelings, no matter how hard he tries to hide it – and he also knows that Jeno, shy and reserved as he is, absolutely won’t do a thing about it unless Jaemin makes the first move.
So he thinks he can’t be blamed for indulging Jaemin when he curls up against Mark’s side during his free time to ask not-so-subtle questions about Jeno’s interests and give long-winded, impassioned speeches about how attractive Jeno looks in his outfit of the day. After all, even though playing matchmaker isn’t exactly what he signed up for when he took the job, it’s entirely in the interest of Jeno and Jaemin finding happiness together, and that’s what ultimately matters most to Mark.
And so the days go by as Mark, Jeno, and Jisung acclimate to their new roles, slowly but surely figuring out how they fit into Jaemin’s daily life. But Jaemin isn’t the only person to fall under their purview, Mark comes to learn, because Jaemin is a social person – and once acquainted with him, it doesn’t take long to get acquainted with his friends too.
It starts out as an unassuming day, with Jisung taking on morning duty in Jaemin’s room while Mark and Jeno scope out the hallways and perimeter of the house, as is their normal protocol. The first sign of something unusual going on is the sound of mellow piano music floating through the air as Mark and Jeno make their way into Jaemin’s bedroom after their security check is over.
Once inside, they’re met with the bizarre sight of Jaemin sitting in the middle of his bed with his legs folded, his back straight, and his eyes shut, breathing deeply through his nose. Jisung is hovering by the edge of the bed, looking like he’s caught between laughing and having an aneurysm.
“Good morning, Jaemin,” Mark says tentatively. Jaemin’s only acknowledgement of his presence is a small nod in his direction, so he clears his throat and adds, “Uh, what’s up with the meditative vibes in here?”
“I have to mentally prepare myself,” Jaemin says solemnly, still not bothering to open his eyes or shift out of his lotus pose in any way. “Hyuckie is coming over.”
It’s a woefully lacking explanation in that it isn’t actually an explanation at all, and Mark is about to point that out, but Jeno beats him to it. “Who’s Hyuckie?” he asks, his brow furrowed, and Mark has to hide a grin. Jaemin probably can’t quite hear it in Jeno’s tone, but to Mark, it’s clear that his brother is valiantly trying to curb his jealousy over Jaemin referring to someone – a person who could be literally anyone, by the way – so familiarly.
It’s somewhat amusing and not very surprising that the sound of Jeno’s voice is what finally gets Jaemin to open his eyes and turn off the music. In fact, he takes it a step further, scooting over to the edge of the bed so he’s closer to Jeno before pouting exaggeratedly and batting his eyelashes at him. Mark personally thinks this is overkill, but it’s not like Jaemin is aware of how down horrendous Jeno is for him, so he’s probably just doing whatever he can think of to get a reaction out of someone who seems to be perpetually stoic.
“You’ll have to stay close to me, hyung,” Jaemin says, his eyes wide and earnest for no discernible reason. “Hyuckie is my worst enemy in the world.”
There’s a brief pause, during which Jeno stiffens, immediately looking alert and on-guard, and Jisung cocks his head in confusion. For his part, Mark is fairly certain Jaemin is just messing with them, but it is their job to be as cautious as possible, so he asks, “And you just happen to know that your worst enemy is planning to show up at your home today?”
Jaemin’s previous faux-innocent expression vanishes, replaced by a cheeky grin. “Well, he’s also my best friend, to be fair. Lee Donghyuck is his actual name, but he’s a pretty famous TikToker, so you guys might know him as Haechan.”
“Oh, I’ve seen some of his stuff!” Mark says, a spark of recognition igniting in his mind. “He does all those dance challenges and sings, right? And he does collabs with a couple of other guys, too. Junnie and Lele, or something.”
Jeno stares at him blankly – unsurprising, since he’s never gotten into TikTok the way Mark and Jisung have – but Jisung nods in agreement and Jaemin’s face lights up. “Oh, he’s going to be so insufferable about the fact that you know who he is already,” Jaemin says, sounding far too gleeful about it. “Please tell him that you find his content over-the-top and annoying, it’ll be so funny to see him get mad and sulky about it.”
Mark shakes his head, feeling an odd mix of fondness and exasperation. “But I don’t find his content over-the-top and annoying.”
“Yeah, he’s really talented,” Jisung says. “And so are Junnie and Lele.”
“You guys all know these people?” Jeno asks, still looking confused.
Jaemin juts out his bottom lip a little again, and Mark thinks he’s probably seconds away from cooing at Jeno like he would a puppy – an apt reaction, really, considering how much Jeno resembles a lost Samoyed right now. “Don’t worry, hyung,” Jaemin says, his smile somehow both mischievous and genuine. “We can watch some of his TikToks together before he gets here, if you want.” Mark is about to be impressed by the smooth delivery, but then Jaemin seems to lose his nerve, because he hurriedly adds, “Or Hyuckie will just whine about you not knowing who he is and I’ll laugh at him. Either one!”
For whatever reason, Jeno glances at Mark like he’s seeking approval before answering. Mark figures it must be a product of Jeno being apprehensive about Mark’s reaction to him falling for the person they’ve been hired to protect, which is an understandable but unnecessary concern – Jeno may be the middle child, but he’s still Mark’s baby brother, and it isn’t like Mark would ever begrudge him any source of happiness. So he gives Jeno a discreet but firm nod, silently encouraging him to go for it.
A small but sincere smile blossoms on Jeno’s face as he turns back to Jaemin. “Sure, you can show me some of them.”
Jaemin’s face absolutely glows in response. “Okay!” He turns to Jisung for a moment. “Jisungie, you know what Hyuckie looks like, right? Could you let him in when he gets here?”
Jisung nods immediately. “Of course, hyung,” he says, and then he’s out the door, presumably to go wait by the front entrance of the house.
“And what excuse are you going to use to get me out of the way?” Mark asks, his tone light and playful.
Jaemin grins mischievously. “Well, someone has to check all the windows in the room, or something like that.”
Jeno suddenly starts shifting his weight restlessly, glancing between the two of them almost guiltily. “I can do it,” he says, and both Mark and Jaemin stare at him in bewilderment.
“But you’re watching TikToks with me,” Jaemin says, frowning. “You promised you would.”
There wasn’t actually any kind of promise involved, as far as Mark can remember, but the guilt-tripping has its intended effect anyway, because Jeno looks suitably chastised. “Well, as long as Mark-hyung doesn’t mind,” he says, still looking strangely uncertain as he meets Mark’s gaze, and Mark offers him the most reassuring smile that he can, privately wondering what led Jeno to become so skittish all of a sudden.
“I can handle it, I promise,” he says. “You two enjoy yourselves.”
And they certainly seem to, Mark notes with some satisfaction as he wanders from window to window, double checking that they’re all locked and secured. Jeno never actually sits on Jaemin’s bed – some odd rule related to self-discipline that he’s made up for himself, no doubt – but he’s leaning so close to Jaemin that their hair is tangled together, and his eyes are practically hearts as he mostly watches Jaemin’s face rather than the videos Jaemin is showing him.
Mark’s survey of the windows has just finished and he’s just returned to Jeno’s side by the bed when the sound of approaching footsteps starts growing louder. The next moment, the bedroom door flies open as a vaguely familiar, very melodic voice floats through the room. “Honey, I’m home!”
Glancing over, Mark finds an overwhelmed-looking Jisung trailing behind the person Mark has known up to this point as Haechan the TikTok celebrity. Bafflingly, said celebrity is wearing sunglasses inside the house, and also holding a massive cat plushie in his arms.
Jaemin heaves an incredibly put-upon sigh. “Hyuckie, darling, you really shouldn’t have,” he says, even as he eyes the plushie with interest.
Donghyuck smirks. “Who said this is for you? A little birdie told me you got a hot new bodyguard.” His eyes slide over to Mark and Jeno – it’s hard to tell which of them he’s looking at, but Mark is pretty sure it doesn’t matter to Jaemin, who one-hundred percent thinks Donghyuck is ogling Jeno, based on the way his eyes narrow at his friend.
“No one told you to buy my bodyguard gifts,” Jaemin says, crossing his arms. “And anyway, he’s on duty right now, so he can’t walk around holding your little plushie anyway.”
This doesn’t appear to faze Donghyuck in any way, because he just drops the plushie casually into Mark’s arms. It’s incredibly entertaining to watch Jaemin’s mild hostility fade away into satisfaction when he realizes that Donghyuck wasn’t actually looking at Jeno. At Mark’s side, Jeno also slumps a little, which Mark assumes is from relief at not being the target of Donghyuck’s flirtations.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Minjae,” Donghyuck says dismissively. “I’m sure these grown-ass men are able to handle holding a plushie and protecting you from little old me at the same time. And I know you know I did actually get it for you, so you don’t need to get your panties in a twist.”
“Like I need help protecting myself from you,” Jaemin scoffs, but his tone and expression are playful now, and both he and Donghyuck seem happy to banter back and forth for a while longer.
“Well, anyway,” Donghyuck finally says after what must have been at least half an hour of bickering between them, during which time Jisung has almost drifted off to sleep twice, Jeno has glanced longingly at the cat plushie no less than fifteen times for reasons unknown to Mark, and Mark has decided to name the plushie Snowball in honor of the name he picked out as a child for any future pets even though it isn’t actually his. “Let’s start Boom Boom time?”
Jeno is the first to snap to attention again, clearing his throat to ask, “What’s Boom Boom time?”
Jaemin opens his mouth to explain, but Donghyuck gets there first, much to Jaemin’s visible annoyance. “Oh, that’s adorable. You’re like a cute innocent little puppy.” He smiles sweetly. “Let’s just say that if you’re an ass man, you’re really going to enjoy the show.”
Despite Donghyuck’s words doing absolutely nothing to quell Jeno’s befuddlement, it’s clear that Jeno does in fact enjoy watching Donghyuck and Jaemin filming the Boom Boom challenge together, if only because Jaemin looks beyond elated to be shaking his butt for the camera. Still, he seems wary and hesitant when it comes to actually posting it on Donghyuck’s account, which Mark is sure is at least partly because of Jeno’s possessive side that he tries – and often fails – to keep hidden.
“Are you sure you don’t need to double check whether it’s okay for the president’s son to be, ahem, showing off his body like this?” Jeno asks, which, to be fair, is actually a valid concern. “It isn’t going to cast a poor reflection on the president or anything, right?”
“Wow, what a stick in the mud,” Donghyuck says, raising an eyebrow. “You know, you’re lucky you’re hot, because yikes.”
“Fuck off, Hyuckie,” Jaemin says, predictably jumping in to defend Jeno without hesitation. Mark kind of loves him for that, because anyone who’s willing to stand up for his brothers even in the most harmless of situations is the best kind of person in his mind. Jaemin turns his usual wide-eyed pleading look on Jeno as he reassures him, “Hyung, I promise it’s okay. We have blanket permission to film TikToks together because it makes the administration look more ‘in touch with the youth’ or something.”
It’s apparently enough to appease Jeno, who nods and lets the issue go. “You guys should totally film a challenge with me soon too,” Donghyuck says, eyeing Mark, Jeno, and Jisung one at a time as the video uploads. “I bet you’re all pretty quick on your feet, right?”
“Jisungie is the best dancer,” Jeno says. His tone is nonchalant, like he wants everyone to believe that he’s just trying to shift the attention off of himself, but Mark knows – and he suspects Jaemin might have realized it too, if the tiny smile on his face is anything to go by – this is really Jeno’s way of expressing his pride in their little brother.
Donghyuck grins, undeterred. “Him being the best dancer doesn’t make you a bad one, but nice try, handsome.”
Jaemin clears his throat pointedly, his arms crossed as he side-eyes Donghyuck hard. “I’m sure Jeno-hyung is perfectly capable of deciding for himself whether he wants to do a challenge with you.” He turns to Jeno, his expression immediately softening into a significantly sappier one. “Do you want to, hyung? I’m sure you’ll be really good at it.”
A hint of pink rises in Jeno’s cheeks. “I guess I can try,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck as Jaemin beams at him.
“Amazing,” Donghyuck says, clapping his hands together and interrupting Jeno and Jaemin’s staring contest – and Mark is being generous with that description, because it was really just them gazing at each other. “Best dancer Jisung, you better join too. And Mark-hyung, you’re doing it too because I say so.”
Mark can sense when he’s up against a man who’s too much of a force of nature to be trifled with. “Sure thing,” he says instead of trying to resist. “I’ve been thinking about doing something like the Rover challenge.”
There’s a mild flare of panic in Jeno’s eyes and one of excitement in Jisung’s. Jaemin and Donghyuck have twin expressions of thrilled delight on their faces. “We’re totally filming it next week when we’re all out on Lele’s yacht,” Donghyuck declares. “Come prepared!”
(All three of them do show up prepared in the end, mostly because Mark and Jisung already knew the dance, and Jeno learned it too after Mark planted the idea of giving Jeno one-on-one dance lessons in Jaemin’s head. And so everyone gets something out of it – Jeno and Jaemin get to watch each other do body rolls every day for a week, Jisung gets to make a new friend after meeting Donghyuck’s collaborator friend Chenle, and Mark gets to spend the evening caught in a three-way flirtation with Donghyuck and his cute friend Renjun.
In other words, in Mark’s book, it’s a resounding win overall.)
~~~
Being the youngest of three brothers, Jisung has always generally experienced being cared for and protected, rather than being the one to do those things for other people. This is why, when he learned that he and his brothers were hired as bodyguards for the president’s son, Jisung was significantly more apprehensive about it than Jeno and Mark were. Terrified by the prospect of messing up somehow and leaving their charge vulnerable, Jisung fretted for days before their first meeting with the president and his son.
Upon actually getting to know Na Jaemin, though, Jisung has rapidly learned that he really never had anything to worry about. For the most part, Jaemin is essentially another older brother to him – one who’s thoughtful like Jeno, playful like Mark, and more physically affectionate than both of them combined, and who also has no reservations whatsoever about babying and coddling him in a way that neither of his real brothers have done since before he was a teenager.
But unlike with his brothers, both of whom Jisung loves but has never felt any particular need to keep out of harm’s way because they’ve always been able to do it themselves, Jisung discovers that despite their respective ages, there’s something about Jaemin that brings out a kind of protectiveness in him. When he sees the way Jaemin is constantly looking out for others, unfailingly selfless and caring, it makes him want to ensure that Jaemin is always comfortable and happy and safe – not just because it’s his job, but because Jaemin deserves it.
Unexpectedly, it turns out that Jaemin being happy correlates very heavily with Jeno being present in the room at any given time. Jisung thinks it’s fascinating to watch his big brother, who has no romantic experience whatsoever, be completely oblivious to the embarrassingly huge crush that Jaemin has on him, and even more amusingly, be embarrassingly unsubtle about the fact that he returns Jaemin’s feelings. The cherry on top is that Jeno also refuses to do anything about it because he’s seemingly under the impression that Jaemin has his sights set on Mark instead, but continues to get sulky and jealous whenever Jaemin and Mark have any kind of interaction with each other.
The strange, entirely made-up unrequited love story is usually free entertainment for Jisung, but sometimes, he ends up getting dragged into it by virtue of the combined facts that Jaemin is incapable of keeping his hands to himself and that Jeno’s jealousy tends to appear regardless of who’s on the receiving end of Jaemin’s PDA.
On one such occasion, Jaemin decides that he needs to be draped against Jisung’s side while they watch one of Jisung’s old dance performances together so that he can easily hug him and pinch his cheeks and coo over how he’s only gotten even more adorable over the years. When Jisung eventually manages to extricate himself from Jaemin’s hold, he walks over to the couch where Jeno is sitting with his arms crossed, his gaze following Jaemin as he heads over to cuddle with Mark instead.
“What are you so grumpy about?” Jisung asks, eyeing Jeno’s slumped form and protruding bottom lip as he sits.
Jeno lets out a little huff, which only makes him look and sound even more like a petulant child. “I’m not grumpy.”
Jisung raises an eyebrow. “And I’m Son Heungmin. Don’t you think you should at least put on a better poker face before you start saying absurd things that clearly aren’t true?”
“I think Chenle and Hyuck have been a bad influence on you. Since when are you such a brat?” Jeno grumbles, but there’s no real heat in his voice. He sighs heavily before continuing, unprompted this time, “Do I come across as someone who doesn’t like cuddling and kisses and things?”
“Well,” Jisung says, considering it for a moment. “When you’re on the job, definitely yes, you’re absolutely unapproachable. When you’re just being normal, it depends, because you still have a resting bitch face sometimes which is probably intimidating to people who don’t know you’re a ball of marshmallow fluff. And when you’re all mopey and dejected, you do look like you need to be wrapped up in blankets, but somehow Jaemin-hyung never notices when you’re like this.”
Jeno makes a startled, somewhat panicked sound. “What? I never said anything about Jaemin.”
Jisung rolls his eyes, mildly exasperated. “You didn’t have to. You do know I could see you glaring at me earlier the entire time Jaemin-hyung was cuddling me and kissing me on the cheek every three seconds, right?”
“What – I wasn’t – !” Jeno splutters indignantly. “I wasn’t glaring at you.”
“You’re literally doing it right now to Mark-hyung too,” Jisung points out, unfazed. “Just throwing out ideas here, but what if you just, like, told Jaemin-hyung how you feel?”
Jeno sighs and shakes his head. “I can’t do that to them,” he says, sounding resigned. Across the room, Jaemin leans his head on Mark’s shoulder and giggles at something he said – probably some anecdote about Jeno as a kid, Jisung thinks. “They make each other happy. I would never get in the way of that.”
Part of Jisung wonders whether he should either straight up tell Jeno that he’s an idiot, or inform Mark that his attempts to make it easier for Jaemin to woo Jeno are being grossly misunderstood, but he ultimately decides that it really isn’t any of his business. The three of them are grown men – surely they can sort it all out eventually.
He holds on to that hope when, a while later, Jaemin comes bounding over to seat himself on Jeno’s lap and latch onto Jeno’s arm, despite there still being plenty of room on the couch. Yeah, Jisung thinks as he watches Jaemin reminding Jeno about their planned trip to the gym later and fussing over whether Jeno has eaten enough today, while Jeno just lets Jaemin chatter away with the softest, sappiest, most disgustingly adoring look in his eyes. They’ll figure it out someday.
~~~
Jeno didn’t mean to fall for the man he was hired to protect. But in all honesty, he challenges anyone who meets Na Jaemin to try and avoid falling for him at least a little bit. After all, he knows all too well that he isn’t even the only Lee brother to do it, leave alone people outside of his own family.
And Jeno adores his older brother, would never want to get in the way of his happiness, so he does his best to avoid being alone with Jaemin out of respect for Mark. It’s not that he’s afraid of losing control or anything – he’s more disciplined than that – but the fact is that the more one-on-one time he spends with Jaemin, the more impossibly enamored he becomes and the worse his inevitable heartbreak will eventually be if and when Mark and Jaemin ever turn their flirtations into an official relationship.
Staying away from Jaemin is difficult, though, and not just because Jeno is literally paid to be with him at all times. Somehow, it feels like Jaemin chooses to be with Jeno over Mark sometimes, which is all kinds of confusing because it never fails to get Jeno’s hopes up, and he’s forced to remind himself that Jaemin is probably just nervous or shy about the prospect of being alone with Mark for too long. It seems a bit out of character for him, given that he has no qualms with draping himself all over Mark when other people are around, but Jeno can understand why everything might feel more daunting when there’s no one else present besides his crush – after all, he experiences something very similar with Jaemin.
So Jeno resigns himself to silently pining away while doing everything he can to keep Jaemin safe and happy at all costs. Most of the time, it isn’t too complicated of a goal, because Jaemin mostly goes along with whatever Jeno or his brothers determine is best for him, and all three of them are more than sufficiently trained to deal with any physical threats Jaemin might face.
But that isn’t the only type of problem that Jaemin has to deal with. He’s already been kidnapped before, a fact Jeno is intimately aware of since it’s the reason he was hired in the first place. And that experience has had lasting consequences for Jaemin and his overall well-being, which are harder for Jeno to handle – because physical threats are easy enough to fight off, but when the enemy Jaemin is battling is his own mind, there’s only so much Jeno can do to help ease the pain.
He’s on night duty in Jaemin’s room on a particularly stormy night, thunder rumbling and lightning crackling across the sky every so often, and Jaemin tends to sleep restlessly when it’s raining as it is, but tonight is especially bad. It’s nearing two in the morning when a cry from Jaemin’s bed shatters the silence. “Stop it – s-stop – help!”
Rationally, Jeno knows there can’t be anyone in the room – he’s been watching the windows all night, and Jisung is standing guard right on the other side of the door – but his blood runs cold anyway at the distress in Jaemin’s voice, and he still rushes to the bed just to make absolutely sure that Jaemin is safe.
Jisung seems to have had a similar reaction, because he bursts inside a moment later, just as Jeno is tugging the covers off a thrashing Jaemin and trying to calm him. “Hyung, what happened?”
“A nightmare, I think,” Jeno says, breaking his self-imposed rule of never sitting on Jaemin’s bed so that he can cautiously place a hand on Jaemin’s shoulder. “Jaemin-ah, wake up. It’s just a dream.”
Jaemin’s eyes fly open, and he looks around for a few seconds, his eyes wide and terrified, before he all but throws himself into Jeno’s arms – Jeno just about manages to catch him and hold him steady. “J-Jeno-hyung,” he hiccups, curling up in Jeno’s embrace. “They came b-back. And they – and Mark-hyung was g-gone, and Sungie was gone, and you w-weren’t there, and th-they got me again.”
“They didn’t,” Jeno says, stroking Jaemin’s hair gently. “I promise you they didn’t. Jisungie and I are both right here, and Mark-hyung is right down the hall. None of us are gone, and you’re safe with us.”
Jaemin doesn’t stop trembling, but his breathing evens out a bit as he snuggles deeper into Jeno’s chest. “You’ll protect me, hyung?” he asks, his voice heavy with sleep.
Jeno faces a few tense moments of internal struggle to keep himself from kissing Jaemin’s forehead comfortingly. “Always,” he says instead. “We all will.”
“Will you be okay?” Jisung whispers as Jaemin’s eyelids begin to droop again.
Jeno nods. “I think so. I’ll text you if we need anything. But maybe you should wake Mark-hyung up and let him know to be on guard too, just in case.”
“Okay.” Jisung departs with a supportive squeeze to Jeno’s shoulder, and Jeno is left holding a half-asleep Jaemin in his arms in the middle of Jaemin’s bed.
Jeno takes a few moments to smooth out the crease between Jaemin’s eyebrows, wishing he could entirely eliminate the tension Jaemin is holding in his whole body. “A good night’s rest should help,” he says, mostly to himself, and he moves to tuck Jaemin back under the covers so Jaemin can sleep comfortably.
When he tries to disentangle himself from Jaemin, though, Jaemin clings to him even more tightly. “Stay with me, hyung,” he mumbles. “Please stay.”
Jeno’s traitorous heart stutters in his chest. He selfishly wants nothing more than to say yes, but it feels too much like he’s taking advantage of Jaemin while he’s in a vulnerable state. “Jaemin,” he says hesitantly. “I can go get Mark-hyung if you want.”
Jaemin makes a soft noise of protest. “Jeno-hyung,” he insists. “Just want Jeno-hyung.”
And for all his self-restraint, for all his constant reminders to himself that he doesn’t want to be the kind of person who competes with his own brother for someone’s affections, Jeno is only human, and he’s half in love with a man who’s desperately asking him to stay in his bed tonight. Ultimately, he’s helpless to do anything but agree. “Okay,” he says. “I’ll stay.”
He carefully lies on his back and holds Jaemin close to him, allowing Jaemin to lie half on top of him with his cheek resting on Jeno’s chest, right above his heart. “Thank you,” Jaemin says with a quiet little sigh.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Jeno says softly, rubbing circles into the small of Jaemin’s back with his thumb. “I’ll always be here for you. I promise you that.”
There’s a stretch of silence before Jaemin breaks it again. “I don’t dream about it a lot,” he murmurs. “But whenever I do, it always feels so real.”
Jeno’s heart aches for him. He wishes more than anything that he could take Jaemin’s pain away, but he can’t, so he settles for squeezing Jaemin’s waist lightly instead. “I’m sorry,” he says, the apology feeling hollow and inadequate on his tongue. “I wish you never had to experience any of it.”
Jaemin sniffles quietly. “Everything that happened that day was so scary. And it was worse because I should have expected it, but it was such a surprise to me. They told me it was a possibility, because I’m in the public eye. But you never really think it’s something that can actually happen to you, until it does.”
Jeno shakes his head, even though Jaemin can’t see him with how they’re positioned. “Nothing about what happened was expected, and it definitely wasn’t your fault,” he says firmly. “Anyway, now you have us, and we’re never going to let anything like that ever happen to you again.”
“I know.” There isn’t a trace of doubt in Jaemin’s voice as he says it, and Jeno feels a little swell of happiness at the knowledge that Jaemin trusts them – trusts him – so implicitly. “I know I’m always safe when you’re with me, hyung.”
It’s such an intimate, heavy moment that Jeno decides that he can forget Mark, forget his self-discipline, forget everything, and allow himself to slip up just this once. He tightens his hold on Jaemin slightly and presses a feather-light kiss to the top of Jaemin’s head. “That’s right,” he whispers into Jaemin’s hair. “And I promise I’m going to be with you for as long as you let me.”
~~~
The day starts out as a normal one – just another mundane morning of getting escorted to work the same way as always, Jisung and Mark leading the way in front of Jaemin, and Jeno a solid, reassuring presence at his back. Things have been calm and uneventful for weeks, and there’s no obvious reason for any of them to be on high alert.
Making that assumption, of course, was their first mistake.
It happens so quickly that Jaemin doesn’t even realize what’s going on until it’s over. One moment he’s walking towards his office building, and the next, the air is filled with a cacophony of screams and a series of loud bangs, and Jaemin is being tackled to the ground by Jeno. He braces himself for impact as he hurtles towards the pavement, but Jeno’s arms wrap around him and cushion the fall – he still lands on his back, but lightly enough that there probably won’t even be any bruising.
“Jeno-hyung, what –” Jaemin tries to ask, but Jeno is literally completely on top of him, covering his entire body and still holding him tightly, keeping him pressed against the concrete.
“Are you hurt?” Jeno’s frantic voice cuts through the terrified, hysterical clamor in the area. “Jaemin-ah, answer me. Did they get you?”
“I’m fine,” Jaemin says, his voice muffled by Jeno’s suit jacket. “I’m fine, I promise. What – what happened?”
Jeno finally lifts himself off Jaemin, and they both sit up. Jaemin looks around, his heart racing as he takes in the sight of a group of pedestrians huddled next to one of the buildings nearby, of ambulances pulling up, and most importantly, of Mark and Jisung pinning a masked man to the ground, a handgun lying a few feet away from them.
“Shooter,” Jeno says, panting hard. “Mark-hyung clocked the assailant right before the gun was up, which is lucky because you probably would have at least gotten nicked otherwise.” He stands and tugs Jaemin to his feet. “Come on, we need to get you off the street, in case there are others.”
Jaemin exhales shakily, nodding. “Okay, where do we go?”
“Your office building for now,” Jeno says, placing a hand on the small of Jaemin’s back and guiding him towards the door. “An area with no direct outdoor access, and out of the line of sight from any of the surrounding buildings.”
Given the circumstances, Jaemin isn’t quite in the right state of mind to be making any significant observations about his surroundings. But if there’s one thing he’s always hyperaware of, regardless of the situation, it’s Jeno – and even in his frenzied state, he can tell something is wrong. “Hyung,” he says, swallowing hard around the lump of fear in his throat, “why are you walking like that?”
Jeno hesitates for a moment too long. “Like what?”
Jaemin stops short, takes a deep breath, and turns to look Jeno in the eye. “Don’t lie to me,” he whispers. “Not about this. Why are you walking like that?”
And Jeno, who’s so good at hiding his emotions behind an expressionless mask, who’s so good at pretending that he isn’t affected by things even when he is, looks at Jaemin with undisguised pain in his eyes. He’s using his free hand to hold his side, and Jaemin knows what he’s going to find even before he looks closely at it.
“It’s okay, Jaemin,” Jeno says softly. “It’s going to be fine.”
But Jaemin doesn’t think he can believe that, because there’s a bullet buried in Jeno’s abdomen and blood is pouring out of the nasty-looking wound there. He feels like throwing up, but he can’t tear his eyes away from the horrific sight, either. “Hyung,” he says, his breathing shaky and uneven. “Jeno-hyung, we h-have to, we have to stop the bleeding, we have to get someone –” He breaks off as Jeno lets out a soft hiss, pressing down harder on his wound in an attempt to stem the flow of blood.
Jaemin’s eyes sting with tears as he desperately tries to stay calm. “We have to get help,” he says insistently. “You c-can’t stay like this, we have to do something.”
Jeno shakes his head. His arm is still wrapped around Jaemin’s waist, but with each passing moment, it feels increasingly like he’s trying to support himself instead of being Jaemin’s support. “Need you to be safe first. That’s my – our priority, always.”
“No!” Jaemin does his best to hold back his tears as his voice rises hysterically. “No, your life is the first priority! I don’t care if I’m safe or not, I care if you’re alive!” And either those words are enough to convince Jeno to stop trying to be some kind of martyr, or Jeno is in so much pain that he’s too faint to say anything, because he doesn’t protest anymore. His hold on Jaemin is considerably weaker now, and Jaemin has to wrap an arm around him instead to support his weight.
“Help!” Jaemin cries out, attempting to move towards where the police are handcuffing the shooter. “We need medical attention, someone got hit!”
By some stroke of luck, he’s heard right away, and the next moment, he and Jeno are surrounded by paramedics and a distraught Mark and Jisung. “Hyung, what happened?” Jisung asks, his face paler than Jaemin has ever seen it.
Jaemin swallows around the massive lump in his throat. “H-He got me out of the line of fire,” he says numbly. “But – but he put himself in it instead.”
Mark places a hand on Jaemin’s shoulder and squeezes gently, though his eyes are fixed on his brother, who’s being lifted onto a stretcher. “It’s not your fault, Jaemin-ah. Remember that this is our job. We take the hits ourselves if we have to, so that you never do.”
“It’s not fair,” Jaemin says hoarsely. “It’s not fair, he can’t – he c-can’t – what if he –” he breaks off, unable to complete the thought.
Before Mark or Jisung can say anything to that, one of the paramedics walks over to them, addressing them together. “We’ve managed to stabilize him temporarily, but there’s some organ damage and he’s losing a lot of blood, so he’ll need to be operated on and receive a transfusion as soon as possible.”
“I need to go with him,” Jaemin blurts out. “I need to be in the ambulance with him, please, I-I have to – I can’t –”
The paramedic nods sympathetically. “One person can accompany him in the ambulance, but the others will have to ride to the hospital separately.”
Jaemin looks at Mark and Jisung pleadingly – it’s selfish of him, he knows, so incredibly selfish to not let either of them travel to the hospital with their brother, but the thought of being apart from Jeno for even a single second prior to him being placed on the operating table makes him feel physically ill. But the two of them seem to know that too, because Mark just inclines his head and Jisung wordlessly steps aside to let Jaemin pass.
“We have to answer a few more police questions anyway,” Mark says in response to Jaemin’s unasked question, sounding so off-kilter and unlike himself that Jaemin worries that he might be in danger of passing out. “We’ll be there as soon as we can, so just stay with him and – and keep him awake, okay? Don’t let him – he has to stay awake, no matter what.”
“I will,” Jaemin says, his eyes stinging. “I promise, hyung.” He gives Mark and Jisung quick, tight hugs before climbing into the back of the ambulance and sitting down at Jeno’s side.
Jeno is extremely pale, in stark contrast to the bright red stains covering his hands and shirt. “Jaeminnie,” he says faintly when he notices Jaemin there, and Jaemin lets out a strangled sob. He’s wanted to hear Jeno call him that for so long, but Jeno doing it for the first time under these circumstances is like a punch to the gut.
“J-Jeno-hyung,” he says, his voice strained. “Don’t – don’t talk too much, okay? You have to conserve your energy so you can stay awake. Promise me.”
Jeno gazes up at him, his eyes slightly unfocused, and Jaemin cups his cheek with a trembling hand. “Jaeminnie,” Jeno sighs, leaning into Jaemin’s touch. “I’ll promise you anything. Promised to keep you safe, too. And – and you are. So even if I go –” Jaemin tries to cut him off with a wounded noise of protest, but Jeno presses on anyway – “even if I go now, I’ll have no regrets. As long as you’re okay.”
“I won’t be,” Jaemin hisses, wiping at his eyes furiously with his free hand. “You have to know that. If you’re gone – how could I possibly be okay if you die?”
Jeno’s lips curl into weak but fond little smile that only makes Jaemin tear up even more. “Don’t cry, Nana,” Jeno murmurs, reaching up to brush a tear off Jaemin’s cheek, and the first-time use of another one of his nicknames has Jaemin’s heart aching painfully. Jeno lets his hand linger on Jaemin’s face, and Jaemin places his own hand over it, keeping Jeno’s palm pressed to his skin. “So pretty,” Jeno says softly. “Too pretty to be crying over me.”
Jaemin sniffles, glaring at him. And even though Jeno’s eyes are a bit glazed over, the affection there is unmistakable and devastating, and suddenly, Jaemin can’t hold himself back anymore. In a fit of brazen emboldenment, he leans in and places a kiss on Jeno’s mouth – nothing drawn-out or heated, just a brief but firm press of their lips together. “Of course I’m crying, dumdum-hyung,” he says fiercely when he pulls away. “You think I’m going to let you die on me now? I won’t! You aren’t allowed to leave me, hyung, I forbid you. I only just had my first kiss with you, and – and I haven’t even married you yet. So you have to stay with me.”
Unfortunately for Jaemin, the timing for his sudden confession is far from ideal, because any response Jeno might have had is put on hold as the ambulance arrives at the hospital and Jeno is wheeled into the emergency room without delay. Jaemin is left to pace the waiting room, frantic with anguish and worry and terror that something will go wrong on the operating table.
He manages to keep himself from actually breaking down into tears for at least half an hour – but when Mark and Jisung come running into the waiting room together, twin looks of anxiety and panic on their faces, he can’t hold back anymore. He collapses in Mark’s arms, crying his heart out as all the events of the day start to sink in all at once.
“It’s okay,” Mark murmurs, stroking Jaemin’s back comfortingly, even as his own body is wracked with quiet sobs. Jaemin can feel it as Jisung sits down on Jaemin’s other side, wrapping his arms around the two of them too and sniffling quietly. “Jeno is strong. He – he’s always been the strongest out of the three of us.” It’s the only thing they can cling to in reassurance besides each other, so Jaemin repeats it to himself over and over until he eventually drifts off to sleep.
He wakes up an unknown amount of time later to Jisung shaking his shoulder. “The operation was successful,” Jisung says, his face covered in tears but his eyes bright. “The doctors said he’s going to be fine, hyung. He’s okay.”
Jaemin is on his feet immediately, his heart racing and his head spinning, positively dizzy with relief. “Is he awake? Can I – can we see him?”
Jisung winces, biting his lip worriedly. “Well, they said family only...”
“I’m family,” Jaemin says – declares, really – as he walks briskly towards the room number he was given when they first arrived at the hospital. “I’ll tell them we’re married if I have to, they’re going to let me inside.”
“Hyung, you’re the president’s son,” Jisung says, scrambling after him. “You can’t just claim to be married out of nowhere.”
Jaemin brushes the concern aside – it’s a problem to worry about later. “I can and I will,” he says, determined now. “I’ll say it was a private wedding, we wanted to keep it out of the public eye, whatever.” He looks at Jisung intently, tears starting to well up in his eyes again. “Jisungie, please, I-I have to see him. He was – he got shot because of me, and I need – I need to see that he’s okay.” Jisung sighs and nods, silently conceding, and Jaemin pulls him in for a hug. “Thank you.”
And so they inform the medical team in charge of caring for Jeno that Jeno’s husband would like to go in to see him, and miraculously, they’re let inside without any fuss. Mark is already there, one of Jeno’s hands clasped in his own, but Jaemin only has eyes for Jeno, who’s lying on the bed in a hospital gown, looking pale and exhausted but alive.
“Jeno-hyung,” Jaemin breathes, and then Mark is stepping away so Jaemin can replace him at Jeno’s side, tears clouding his vision as he cups Jeno’s face. “W-Will you really be okay?”
“Jaeminnie,” Jeno says, his voice hoarse but his tone unbearably tender. “You’re here.”
Jaemin chokes out a laugh that turns into a sob halfway through. “Where else would I be?” He brushes his thumb across Jeno’s cheek lightly. “I told them I wanted to see my husband.”
Jeno gazes at him, his eyes full of unmistakable longing and hope. “But you only just had your first kiss with me,” he murmurs. “You haven’t even married me yet.” And Jaemin has to let out a watery laugh at that, because even when he was about to lose consciousness, Jeno somehow managed to remember everything Jaemin said to him.
“I guess you just have to get well as quickly as possible,” Jaemin says, suddenly flooded with giddy anticipation, “so we can fix that.”
Jeno’s smile is small, but it’s the most beautiful sight Jaemin has ever laid eyes on. “You really want me?” Jeno asks. “Not –” he breaks off, and Jaemin could swear his eyes flicker over to Mark, but that would surely be absurd, because everyone knows Mark is the older brother Jaemin never had and nothing more – “not anyone else?”
Jaemin leans in and pecks his lips softly. “It’s only ever been you.” He kisses Jeno again, lingering a little longer this time, before taking a deep breath. “I-I love you, Jeno-hyung. And I was so scared that I would lose you before I got to say it.”
“I’m sorry,” Jeno says, taking Jaemin’s hand and kissing it gently. “The last thing I wanted was to scare the man I love and leave him without letting him know how I feel too.” Holding his abdomen with a soft groan, he leans up to kiss Jaemin once more. “Because I love you too, Jaemin-ah.”
There’s still a long road of recovery ahead, and considerations to be made related to the propriety of a bodyguard dating his charge, and a thousand other things to worry about. But for now, Jaemin allows himself a moment of pure happiness, knowing that Jeno is alive and well and loves him back – so even though things aren’t perfectly okay now, Jaemin believes that they surely will be someday.
(And yes – eventually, Jeno and Jaemin finally get to turn their fake marriage into a real one.
Jeno is dizzy with happiness and adoration and love as he watches Jaemin get walked down the aisle by his parents, and when it comes time to exchange their vows, he tears up listening to Jaemin promise himself to Jeno for this lifetime and all the ones to come.
And when it’s his turn, he takes Jaemin’s hands and, with a smile on his lips, pours his heart out. “Jaeminnie, you told me once that I wasn’t allowed to leave you because you hadn’t married me yet. But now here we are, getting married, so it’s my turn to tell you that I’ve never wanted to leave anyway. And I know you don’t want me to take a bullet for you ever again, but I can’t promise you that, and I’m sorry. What I can say is that I promise to always, always do whatever I can to live for you. Because in this lifetime, and in every lifetime that follows, I know I’m meant to be here, by your side, keeping you safe and happy for as long as you’ll let me.”
They seal their promises to each other with a kiss and two beautiful gold rings, and as Jeno stands in the wedding hall with an arm wrapped protectively around his husband, he knows that despite the path fraught with danger that they walked to get here, he’ll never regret any of it. Because it all brought him here, to the one place he’ll always belong – Jaemin’s side.)