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it's fifteen minutes to twelve and jaebum goes into jinyoung's room.
it's a random thought.
fifteen minutes to twelve and jinyoung wants jaebum beside him, and he wonders if jaebum would hug him while sleeping.
it's natural that the person you're the closest with would check on you before everyone goes to sleep. however, it isn't very normal to ask that person to stay. or at least, that's what jinyoung thinks.
ten minutes to twelve and jaebum talks about mark and how he should take care when flipping.
ten minutes to twelve and jinyoung starts thinking that jaebum could use his lips from other uses that don't include talking.
five minutes to twelve and jaebum starts talking about jinyoung's growth as a person, and how he's still as cute.
five minutes to twelve and jinyoung wants to show jaebum how he's grown in more ways than one.
one minute to twelve and jaebum starts getting up and is moving towards jinyoung to wish him a good night.
one minute to twelve and jinyoung is determined to keep jaebum with him, and only him.
ten seconds to twelve and jaebum pulls away from their hug.
two seconds to twelve and jinyoung says quietly, as jaebum moves to turn off the light in jinyoung's room, "i'm scared of the dark."
at exactly twelve, everything stops for a while. jaebum freezes and gives jinyoung a skeptical look.
"jinyoung-ah, when we shared a room, you were perfectly fine."
"but nowadays i get scared," jinyoung fakes, pouting.
jaebum softens when he sees jinyoung's pout.
"hyung, can you stay for the night?"
"hmm. jinyoung, you know i have youngjae–"
"and he just moved into the dorm. yeah, i know hyung. but youngjae's a big boy, he should be fine."
"you say that like you're not a big boy."
"hyung, can't you stay?"
jaebum sighs and goes out of the room, leaving jinyoung to his own thoughts.
a few minutes later, jaebum reappears, holding a cup of water. after putting down the cup, he climbs into the mattress and pulls jinyoung into a bear hug. "sleep well, jinyoungie, i'll be with you."
jinyoung smiles, closing his eyes. but there's a bit of guilt inside of him. he can't tell jaebum.
jaebum would laugh. jaebum would leave.
jinyoung wished he could tell him.
he wished he could tell him that it wasn't the dark he was afraid of.
•••
"hyung, hyung, hyung, hyung, hyuuuuung." jinyoung whines.
almost automatically, jaebum whips around to see what jinyoung wanted from him.
"fine. i'll give it to you when we get back to the dorm, okay?" mark says, laughing as he agrees to jinyoung's request.
jaebum's heart drops as he remembers that this isn't the JJ Project era. jinyoung has another hyung, mark. jackson didn't count, jinyoung called him by name.
jaebum remembers that jinyoung isn't only his. he sighs and stops himself from ruffling his hair.
they get back to the dorm from After School Club shooting, and jaebum sulks quietly in his room.
mark's so much better. he can do martial arts tricking and speak english. jinyoung probably liked mark more than jaebum.
maybe, jinyoung just adored jaebum because he was older. the fact that he was more mature. the idea of having a hyung.
jaebum goes out to take a shower and remembers it's jinyoung's turn to wash the dishes.
jinyoung stands and washes the dishes, humming a familiar tune. jaebum listens in for a while and recognizes it. it was their song, Hooked, from their days as a duo.
jaebum moves towards the bathroom and once he's done showering, he goes into his room, checking if youngjae's asleep.
as expected, youngjae's down and jaebum makes his way to jinyoung's room.
it became a habit to go and keep his favorite dongsaeng company, and help him with his fear.
he sees jinyoung's back facing him when he slides open jinyoung's door.
he tackles jinyoung and hugs him. jinyoung laughs at this.
"what was that for, jaebum-hyung?"
"so we can go to sleep and you can get rid of your fear of the dark, jinyoung. now go to sleep. i'll be with you, jinyoungie."
jinyoung smiles, closing his eyes. but there's a bit of guilt inside of him. he can't tell jaebum.
jaebum would laugh. jaebum would leave.
jinyoung wished he could tell him.
he wished he could tell him that it wasn't the dark he was afraid of.
jaebum, too, smiles when he sees jinyoung closing his eyes. when he's sure that jinyoung's asleep, he turns off the light and climbs back into the mattress.
he closes his eyes. but there's a bit of guilt in him.
he shouldn't have used jinyoung's fear as an excuse to hug him. but he can't tell jinyoung.
jinyoung would find it odd. jinyoung would leave.
jaebum wished he could tell jinyoung.
he wished he could tell jinyoung that he liked that jinyoung was afraid of the dark.
•••
"okay, last take! special video for youko and toudo viewers. your task is to write a message for a member."
this time, it wasn't the perspective of the company anymore. it wasn't scripted like, 'oh, jinyoung and mark should write for each other' or things like that.
yes, the company (well, mainly, their other producer, jung) liked pairing jackjae and markjin.
but the director said "write from your heart, who does it beat for?"
weird guy. using 2pm reference in heartbeat.
those words, of course, made jaebum, jackson and bambam do–well, at least it looked like it– the 2pm sunbaenim's heartbeat choreography.
damn jaebum and his dancing.
damn jung pd-nim and her trying to influence jaebum to write for jackson or youngjae.
damn himself.
after a bit, while everyone was writing, jackson muttered something about mark and "i'll kick your ass, i'll kick jinyoung's ass, i'll even kick my own ass" which to be honest, made jinyoung question jackson's sanity.
after everyone finished writing their letters, the cameras started rolling and jackson and mark started to speak in chinese.
after markson finished a few sentences, the seven of them would immediately react with 'dui'.
jackson reads his message and gives laughter to everyone with his cheesy jokes.
jackson ends his message to mark with, "one day, hyung, you'll see."
jinyoung reads his, hugging jaebum after.
to jinyoung's disappointment, jaebum writes to youngjae.
the reason why there's a sticky note outside jinyoung's locked door with jinyoung and mark inside.
•••
jaebum's a dumb shit, youngjae realizes.
youngjae's noticed that he wakes up alone, knowing that the mom and dad of the group sleep next to each other.
duh.
even the maknaes know.
suddenly, he wakes up to jaebum in his room, furiously writing on what he called his "fury book".
"hyung, just tell jinyoung-umma already."
"seeing you both beat around the feeling's bush is both stupid and tiring." youngjae buries his face in his pillow, not wanting to wake up yet.
"you say that as if it's that easy."
"it is, hyung! he obviously likes you too!" youngjae sighs, exasperated.
the door flies open the moment jaebum tries to open it to eat something.
"jaebum-hyung," jinyoung breathes, eyes wide.
"let's talk outside."
•••
jaebum has jinyoung pressed against a wall, breath ghosting on his exposed neck.
jinyoung gasps as jaebum kisses his cheeks, eyes and nose.
"you made me jealous, jinyoungie." he pauses.
"this is your punishment."
his kiss is deep and passionate, the types that leave you breathless.
he pulls away, regaining his breath.
"i like you, jinyoungie." a smile creeps up his face, proud of himself.
"i-i like you too, hyung." the blush on jinyoung's face is evident.
"i was actually afraid of you liking youngjae, not the dark."
jaebum laughs at that, resting his forehead on jinyoung's. "that's what i thought."
those were the last words uttered for a while.
•••
jaebum smiles as jinyoung finishes his lyrics for their next album.
the entire dorm erupts in cheers as jinyoung plays the song for them on his keyboards.
his fingers play on the keys, vocals flowing smoothly.
he steals a glance at jaebum and smiles slightly at the last line.
a secret, a promise, a lesson only they know.
rise up, be brave.
FIN.