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The dorm was never silent. Someone was always doing something. Be that playing music, talking a little bit too loudly, or messing about in the kitchen, noise was always eminenting from somewhere.
Today it was Hyeongjun’s turn to be the loud one. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, guitar set up on his lap. He strummed against the strings, closing his eyes and letting the sound reverberate through him.
Guitar was easy. It was a time he could turn off the world buzzing around his head and focus himself. It was his passion and his one true love. Well, Jungsu was a close second in that category, but he didn’t want to think about that now. He didn’t want to think, so he played another chord.
Music came easily to him, it always had. He knew what sounded nice and what didn’t. So, he closed his eyes and let himself produce something beautiful. It was criminally easy.
“That sounds amazing, Hyeongjun,” Gunil commented from the kitchen. He was making instant noodles to share with Jiseok and Jooyeon. The pair was practically bouncing up and down as they waited for their snack.
Jungsu piped up from his place on the smaller armchair, not looking up from his phone screen. “It really does.”
Hyeongjun ducked his head as he felt a soft heat begin to settle there. “Thanks,” he mumbled, fiddling with his pick.
Jiseok hummed, peering past Jooyeon at the other guitarist. “It actually has a lot of potential, I think. Are you going to develop it more?” he asked curiously.
Raising his eyebrows, Hyeongjun turned to look back at him. “You think it’s really worth it? It was just a random rhythm…”
“Definitely, I loved it,” Jiseok declared with a wide smile. He called out to Seungmin who was just walking into the living room from the hallway. “Seungminnie! Would you be able to get Hyeongjun’s song notebook? He just wrote an amazing song.”
Seungmin nodded wordlessly, disappearing back into the hall. This time when Hyeongjun blushed, it had nothing to do with Jungsu. He never quite knew how to take praise, so he just nodded silently, lips sealed shut. He busied himself with the new ‘masterpiece’ he had apparently created. He ran over the chords, cementing them in his mind for when he had to jot them down.
The synth player returned a few minutes later, having been gone much too long to just be collecting a notebook. He was frowning down at a brown notebook, the cover decorated like faded paper. Seungmin flicked through the pages, one of his eyebrows raised. “What language is this supposed to be?” he asked. It wasn’t directed at anyone, but the words caught everyone’s attention.
Hyeongjun recognised the book in an instant. He had accidentally left it out on top of his song notebook, he remembered. His heart slammed to a stop as he tried to deposit the guitar off his lap and down on the couch as quickly as he could. He only had one thought in his mind: get that notebook.
Seungmin froze, staring at one of the pages. He squinted at the writing. “Jungsu-hyung, it has your name.” This caught the older’s attention, making Hyeongjun’s scramble suddenly twice as embarrassing. “E oo-eye-e-e-eye e-oo oo-eye Jung-”
The guitarist practically body slammed into Seungmin. The pair of them fell back against the wall, the notebook falling from his fingers. Hyeongjun leapt for it, holding the book closely to his chest. His cheeks burned and the backs of his eyes stung with tears. All he could do was curl up into a ball, the notebook at the center. All he he needed to do was protect it.
From his place against the wall, Seungmin blinked, realising his mistake a little bit too late. Gunil, Jiseok, and Jooyeon watched with wide eyes. None of them knew how to react.
Jungsu clicked off his phone, dropping it down onto the armchair. He sat up, eyes guarded. He ran his tongue over his lips, choosing his next words carefully. Leaning forwards, he studied the ball that was Hyeongjun. “uí i uì?” he asked slowly.
Slowly, Hyeongjun peeked out of his shell. He uncurled himself, his head still hanging low and the book still held in a deathgrip. He opened his lips to reply, but he hesitated. After taking a breath, he looked up with determination bubbling throughout him. “uuí,” he said simply. He let his eyes speak, doing his best to let his true feelings echo out. He needed Jungsu to understand.
And he did. Jungsu’s serious façade dropped in a second. He slipped off the edge of the armchair and sat on the floor with it agaist his back. His eyes shone, brilliant stars shining like a midnight sky. “iuué?”
“iuué,” Hyeongjun confirmed. His voice was breathless, still awaiting an answer to the unspoken question. He needed to know if Jungsu felt the same. His cards were - unwillingly on his part - placed face up on the table. All that was left now was Jungsu’s turn. “...è uie-eei éu èuiué-?” he began, before he was cut off.
Jungsu propelled himself forward, throwing himself against the younger guitarist. He wrapped him in his arms and let him burry his head in the crook of his neck. “iuué,” he whispered into Hyeongjun’s hair, free hand raking through the long black locks. “iuué Hyeongjun-ííie…” he trailed off, leaving the new words hang in the air.
Hyeongjun pulled back just enough to look the older in the eyes. “iuué?”
“è uie-eei èu ìu íuìi…?” Jungsu mumbled, brushed a hand through the guitarist’s hair and hooking a few stray strands behind his ear.
A small giddy smile pulled at Hyeongjun’s lips. “iuué iuué.” he pulled the keyboard player back into his arms, holding him tightly. He hid his head again, feeling the confused eyes of their bandmates on them. He wasn’t ready to explain this all to them.
But sure enough, he couldn’t hide away forever. “Uhm,” Seungmin started with a frown, “sorry, what the fuck is going on?”
The trio in the kitchen had abandoned their task (or maybe they had already consumed their food, Hyeongjun hadn’t been paying attention) and had moved into the main room. Jungsu peeled himself off Hyeongjun, sitting back against the couch with a sigh. He kept his and the guitarist’s hands linked tightly, leading his new boyfriend to sit with him. “I guess we should finally explain it all then.”
Hyeongjun held his notebook on his lap, resting their connected hands on top of it. He kept his eyes locked on them, not willing to face the judgemental looks of his friends. He nodded stiffly in response to his boyfriend. Jungsu squeezed his hand.
“I didn’t know either of you knew another language. It… isn’t one I’ve heard before either,” Gunil frowned as he raked his memory.
“No, I don’t expect any of you to know it,” Jungsu hummed. “Uh, the truth is Hyeongjun and I met a long time ago. Long, long before either of us joined JYP.”
Jiseok’s eyes widened. “Wait, what? How?”
“We attended a camp together when I was about twelve and he was eleven,” Jungsu explained. “I wasn’t… well liked at those camps. I was hiding from the other members of my cabin when Hyeongjun came across me. We talked and he actually convinced me to go stand tall and be proud of myself for who I am. Without his words, I wouldn’t have been able to survive those camps…”
Emotions glistened in Gunil’s expression. He sat down beside the keyboard player, dropping a hand onto his shoulder. “I’m glad Hyeongjun was there for you. I truly am, but can I ask why neither of you mentioned this before?”
Jungsu nodded, but before he could reply, Hyeongjun cut him off. “Neither of us mentioned it because the camps weren’t regular camps. We aren’t humans. We’re both anami and the camps were a place for young Anami to go to master their abilities away from the human world. Technically we weren’t allowed to tell you guys about it.”
“You’re not humans?” Jooyeon shrieked. Grabbing onto Jiseok’s shoulders, he shook him violently. “They’re not humans, ‘Seokie!”
“I know, I know,” Jiseok complained, trying to pry his friend’s hands off of him. “I have ears.”
“What are anami?” Seungmin asked softly.
Jungsu took this question, squeezing Hyeongjun as a thanks for the previous one. “Anami are people who have the abilities of an animal. Like, Hyeongjun is connected to rabbits, while I am connected to cats. We can shift into animal forms and have a few other smaller abilities.”
Without even being asked, Hyeongjun shifted into his other form. The transition wasn’t anything fancy, but it still made the other’s jaws drop. His body changed, replaced seamlessly with a small black bunny. Jungsu felt himself smile, lifting the bunny into his arms. He let Hyeongjun rest against his chest, nuzzling his head into his elbow. His fur was always incredibly soft, and Jungsu couldn’t contain his smile as he stroked his boyfriend.
“Well…” Seungmin started. His throat was suddenly dry and he coughed to clear it. “This wasn’t exactly what I expected to have happened today.”
“Can I pet him?” Jooyeon asked loudly. “Hyeongjun, can you hear me? Can I pet you?”
The rabbit squeaked, words seemingly forming from the sounds. “èìu iéu.”
Jungsu smiled softly, scratching behind the bunny’s ears. “Sorry, Joo. Hyeongjun says not now. He’s a bit overwhelmed.” He looked up, frowning at the way Gunil was staring at him. “What is it?”
The drummer paused for a moment, eyeing the other once more before speaking. “Can you shift into a cat like that too?” he asked.
Jungsu felt his cheeks burn. “U-uhm, yeah I can.” The nuggets both perked up, the prospect of seeing their friend shift into a cat exciting them. “But I won’t today,” the keyboard player added quickly.
“Aw, why not?” Jiseok whined, dropping his head onto Jooyeon’s shoulder.
“Honestly,” Jungsu started with a deep breath, “because I’m not comfortable in my animal form like Hyeongjun is. I mentioned that I was picked on at the camps a lot. It’s difficult to explain to humans, but anami have specific thoughts on different animal shifters. Stereotypes, pretty much. I was picked on for being a cat shifter, and I never quite got past that.” Hyeongjun nuzzled deeper into Jungsu, doing his best to show his comfort.
“Of course,” Seungmin nodded quickly. “We would never judge you, but we also don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. When you decide to shift, we will support that. For now, we won’t make you.” Jungsu let himself smile gratefully, carefully ignoring the other’s groans.
Gunil hesitated, raising his hand before asking his question. “Can I ask something else instead?” Once the keyboard player had motioned for him to continue, he asked, “what were you guys talking about earlier? That was an anami language, right?”
Pursing his lips, Jungsu tilted his head back. “Okay,” he said slowly, trying to figure out where to start.
Hyeongjun wiggled around, letting out a squeak to let everyone know he wanted to change back. Jungsu set him down on the floor again before he shifted back into his human form, immediately pressing himself to his boyfriend’s side. “We were speaking in a language called ‘ieueèeuì’, and yes, it’s the language of the anami. It’s one both animals and humans can use pretty easily regardless of form. Also, the sentence structure is pretty simple so it helps keep discussions short and sharp,” he explained.
Jungsu picked up where he left off as he linked his hand with Hyeongjun’s again. “You just so happened to read out a line in Hyeongjun’s diary about his feelings for me.” The guitarist blushed, leaning his head into the crook of Jungsu’s neck. “You didn’t pronounce the words correctly and ‘dislike’ and ‘like’ are very similar so I had to ask which it was. Hyeongjun… Well, he told me he loves me and I told him I love him.” The keyboard player hesitated, his heart echoing through him as it beat. “We both love each other in a not platonic way. We actually even decided to become boyfriends.”
“Shit,” Seungmin commented, running a hand through his hair. “You guys didn’t even say much. Wow, it really is a concise language.”
Hyeongjun peeked out, frowning slightly. “We said it differently than how Jungsu explained it, but essentially yes that’s what happened. All of it was covered in some way or another.”
Jooyeon was bouncing up and down again, excitement free flowing from him. “Kitty and bunny boyfriends!” he cried, throwing himself at the couple across the floor and flopping heavily onto their laps. They grunted at the impact, but still wrapped their arms around their chaotic maknae.
Jiseok squeaked out a congratulations to the new couple before joining the pile. Seungmin and Gunil shrugged to each other, moving closer in a more sensitive way. The cuddle pile was complicated but it still worked perfectly, much like their friendship.
Despite the chaos, Hyeongjun was glad the dorm was always noisy. He preferred noise with his five favourite people to silence alone - well, most of the time.