Chapter Text
Heeseung couldn’t for the life of him remember how this whole “Jake’s wife” nonsense had even started. All he wanted was a chill tour stop in Saitama, not a soap opera. Day one? Total banger. He was riding a high, and Engenes were screaming their lungs out, Japan style—loud, proud, and a little unhinged. So, yeah, he thought things were off to a stellar start.
But after filming Makemate with Jungwon and Ni-ki back in Korea and losing track of Jake for, like, a week and a half, the anxiety was creeping in like an unwanted guest. The concert adrenaline was his only saving grace, keeping him sane. The catch? Back at the hotel, the eerie silence of his room—because apparently things were going so well that each member scored their own space now—left him alone with his spiraling thoughts.
One question haunted him: Was the universe out to get him for just being himself? Okay, drama queen much?
“I’m telling you, it’s gotta be karma. Or maybe Jake hyung’s finally breaking free from some twisted Stockholm syndrome—” Sunoo started, his voice dripping with mischief.
“Let’s just go with karma,” Jungwon interrupted, letting out a sigh so weary it could’ve powered a wind turbine. This was June 11th in Saitama, post-concert, and the vibes were… off.
It was weirdly quiet without the ‘02s around. Heeseung’s hotel room felt like a library, and not the fun kind with secret trapdoors.
“Do you think they, like, have friendship pow-wows or something?” Sunoo mused, eyes sparkling with curiosity. “You know, I saw this show once where girls would sprawl out on the floor, spilling tea about life, love, and their boyfriends—”
“Sunoo hyung, wanna try it?” Ni-ki chimed in, way too eager for someone who’d been glued to his Switch all night.
“Hell yeah!” Sunoo grinned.
So Jungwon, ever the ringleader, grabbed their hands and yanked them onto the bed—no floor for them, because Jay would have a meltdown if he got his precious sheets dirty. Jungwon had his own room, but did that stop him? Nope. Heeseung rolled his eyes but didn’t fight it, letting himself be shoved next to Sunoo’s head while Jungwon basically yeeted Ni-ki to his other side. They ended up in some chaotic Tetris formation, heads forming a circle of bleached and dyed hair. The ceiling? Riveting. Oscar-worthy, even.
“So… you think they’re out there talking shit about us?” Sunoo asked, voice laced with suspicion.
“Nah, not shit exactly, but they’ve gotta have thoughts,” Jungwon said, shrugging like he’d cracked the code to the universe.
“Jake hyung would never talk shit about me,” Ni-ki scoffed, his Switch’s faint music punctuating the room’s silence like a heartbeat.
“Obviously, ‘cause you’re Ni-ki,” Sunoo teased, giving him a playful nudge. “But like Jungwon says, he’s probably got opinions about… Heeseung hyung.”
“Yah, Kim Sunoo!” Heeseung barked, shooting him a glare.
“Sorry!” Sunoo squeaked, throwing up his hands in mock surrender.
Heeseung huffed, his heart doing that annoying thing where it sank. He couldn’t believe Jake was dodging him even in Saitama. What had he done to deserve this? How long had Jake been acting so… distant? They were supposed to share a room during tour stops, for god’s sake! Why was Jake pulling this vanishing act? And an emergency meeting with the ‘02s? What even was that? A trio of dorks plotting world domination? Was it so wrong that Heeseung liked knowing exactly where Jake was, what he was up to, and who he was with?
…Okay, fine, it sounded a tad obsessive, but Jake never seemed to mind! Or so Heeseung thought until this whole mess.
And no, he wasn’t sweating Jay and Sunghoon’s relentless teasing. When the Makemate episode aired, he’d hoped they’d watch it together, all cozy-like, but nope—Jake ditched to crash at Sunghoon’s family’s place. This was right after they got back from the Philippines, fresh off filming the last En-o-Clock ep before its break and hustling through Fatal Trouble promotions. They were running on fumes, and on their one free night in ages, Jake just… peaced out? Excuse me!?
The worst part? Jay spilled that the original plan was to hit up a new Chinese restaurant and chill at his family’s place—classic ‘02s vibes. But then Jay got suckered into a last-minute appearance at a rock concert for some artist he’d collabed with, so that fell apart. Jay bailed, leaving Heeseung to deal with Sunghoon, who was zero help in tracking down Jake. Fan-fucking-tastic.
During the Makemate shoot, Heeseung lost contact with Jake for a whole day because even Jungwon, Mr. Reliable, had no idea where his boyfriend was. Turns out, Jake was off grabbing food with a Stray Kids member, leaving Heeseung a nervous wreck on set. No one knew how much that messed with him. So, when the episode aired and Jake still chose to ditch the dorms for Sunghoon’s place to do… whatever, it felt like a cosmic slap in the face.
“Not even if you bribe Sunoo to call me, I’m not helping you, hyung,” Sunghoon had smirked.
“You know I could get Sunoo to dump you, right?” Heeseung fired back.
“Oh yeah? How?”
“He liked me first.”
“YOU KNOW DAMN WELL—”
Anyway, Sunghoon’s jealousy was the only thing keeping Heeseung’s spirits up. Jay jetting off to Japan first? Total betrayal. Sure, Jay teased him, but he had some loyalty after seven years of friendship and was actually useful. Sunghoon, though? That guy lived to make Heeseung’s life harder, thriving on his misery like a gremlin. Sick bastard.
Well, sue Heeseung for giving a damn about his boyfriend’s safety!
“Look, I get it, I love when Sunghoon checks on me, but damn! What’s with needing to know which bodyguard’s with Jake hyung?” Sunoo exclaimed, throwing his hands up. Ni-ki cackled, finally tearing his eyes from his Switch.
“Sunoo, he got filmed at the airport the other day, at the departure gate after security! That’s not supposed to happen. A sasaeng’s stalking him,” Heeseung growled, his protective instincts flaring.
“I already reported it to the protocol team!” Jungwon jumped in, ever the voice of reason. “They’ve upped his security, hyung. You gotta calm down.”
“Calm down? I’m not calming down ‘til I know there’s no creep after him,” Heeseung shot back, stubborn as hell.
“And did you tell him that?” Ni-ki asked, standing up with a grimace, rubbing his neck from their awkward Tetris setup.
Heeseung frowned, still sprawled on the bed, glaring up at Ni-ki. “How? He won’t even talk to me.”
“Didn’t you guys share plane seats?” Jungwon asked, flipping onto his stomach to better witness Heeseung’s meltdown.
“Yeah, but he slept through most of the flight, and when he was awake, he had his earphones in. He did sleep on my shoulder, though,” Heeseung said, a goofy little smile creeping onto his face at the memory of Jake’s head nestled against him. Pathetic. The bare minimum had him swooning. Where was his dignity? Lost in the Sim Jaeyun vortex, that’s where.
A loud knock on the door snapped him out of it, and Heeseung muffled a dramatic scream into his pillow. Sunoo bolted to answer, giggling like a gremlin. “Password!”
“Heeseung’s a simp!” came the cheeky reply.
He wasn’t even shocked when Sunoo nodded, flung open the door, and Sunghoon and Jay strutted in like they owned the place. Heeseung didn’t care; he shot upright like he’d been electrocuted. “What’s up with Jake?”
“He said he was tired, so he went to his room right after dinner,” Sunghoon shrugged, already on a mission to find Sunoo’s right shoe while the blond slipped on his left. In seconds, Sunghoon was dragging Sunoo out like a man on a mission.
“No fucking during tour dates! You know the rules!” Jungwon yelled, his face pleading as Sunghoon reached for the door.
“What is this, the Olympics?” Sunghoon scoffed before vanishing.
“He’s so nasty,” Jay muttered, looking genuinely grossed out. “Anyway, Jake hates you,” he dropped casually, like he was reading the morning headlines.
Heeseung froze, brain short-circuiting. What the hell did he even do?
“Jake hyung does not hate him,” Ni-ki said, rolling his eyes and hunting for his Nintendo case, clearly over the day’s romantic soap opera. The sex talk was the final nail in his patience’s coffin. “He just wants Heeseung hyung to chill the hell out.”
“Ni-ki, not swearing,” Jungwon scolded. “And yeah, he doesn’t hate you. It’s just… like Sunoo hyung said, maybe he’s fed up with your… overprotectiveness.”
“That’s it, everybody out!” Heeseung declared, hauling himself up to open the door to the hotel hallway.
“Hyung, it’s not that deep. You two need some space anyway. You don’t get it—I’m traumatized!” Ni-ki whined as Jungwon shoved him out, dragging him away.
Dramatic ass kid.
“You good?” So Jay lingered in the hallway, turning to face Heeseung, who slumped against the doorframe with a heavy sigh. “I was joking—he doesn’t hate you.”
“I sure hope not,” Heeseung muttered, clicking his tongue. “It’s not like I’m having that rough a time… yet. We’ve had no-contact periods before because of schedules. But this is the first time he’s dodging me on purpose—or at least the first time I’ve noticed.”
Running his fingers through his bangs in a dramatic flair, he caught Jay eyeing him for a second before chuckling softly. The guy was clearly thrilled to not be in Heeseung’s shoes. As if Jungwon, the baby leader, had time for this kind of melodrama. Heeseung scoffed. Jake just loved making him squirm sometimes.
“Why don’t you rewind to the last month, hyung? Think back a few weeks,” Jay suggested, all cryptic like he was dropping wisdom bombs.
“Huh?” Heeseung blinked. “We were totally fine in Manila two weeks ago.”
“So fine that Ni-ki had to crash in my room after hearing you two,” Jay threw out, smirking like the menace he was.
Heeseung just shrugged, unbothered.
“I’ll throw you a bone this once, man. I can’t deal with two useless members before the comeback. We’ve got too much on our plates, and I’m scared Jungwon’s gonna go bald at 20,” Jay said, sighing like he was carrying the world’s burdens. “You thought you were good because Jake let you think that. But he’s been off since we shot the comeback short film.”
Heeseung’s eyes went wide, his eyebrows practically hitting the ceiling. He crossed his arms, staring at Jay like he’d spoken in tongues. “What? What happened?”
Jay shook his head. “That’s for you to figure out. I’m not your therapist. Night, hyung. Think about it!” He flashed a smug grin and sauntered off, leaving Heeseung by his door, staring at the carpet with a vein pulsing in his forehead from overthinking.
---
It all came crashing down at the soundcheck the next day.
Saitama day two was hours away, but they had the soundcheck first, where lucky (or loaded) Engenes got a more laid-back, up-close vibe. Heeseung was actually feeling okay by then. After a sleepless night, courtesy of Jay’s mind games, he’d gotten a late-night knock on his door when he’d already braced for a miserable concert.
“I can’t sleep, and I hate bombing a show because of it,” Jake had mumbled, storming in and diving under the covers, avoiding Heeseung’s eyes. Heeseung didn’t call him out, just slid in beside him, wrapped him up, and grinned like an idiot when Jake nestled into his neck like it was nothing. He might be acting weird, but he was still Heeseung’s clingy puppy.
That’s why Heeseung was riding high when they hit the arena for the soundcheck. Jake had woken up next to him, even planted a sweet good-morning kiss before heading to his room. He sat next to Heeseung in the van and nagged him about sunscreen—classic Jake move, since Heeseung always forgot. “Don’t skip it, baby.” Baby! That had to mean something, right? Jake was back to normal.
Spoiler: assuming that was his first mistake.
Right before they were cued for the soundcheck, Jake grabbed his hand and yanked him into a bathroom, sneaky as hell, probably with Sunoo and Jungwon running interference.
“I noticed something funny at breakfast, baby,” Jake said the second they locked the door, his tone teasing but with an edge.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Heeseung raised a brow, trying to play it cool but secretly thrilled to be cornered by Jake in a bathroom. Romantic, right?
Jake stepped closer, looping his arms around Heeseung’s neck like the past few weeks of weirdness never happened, letting Heeseung hold him by the waist. It was enough to convince Heeseung everything was fine and dandy again.
“I was looking at our Insta pics, and I saw the number of people you follow changed,” Jake said, his voice deceptively light.
Heeseung blinked, slow as molasses. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah, it’s not rocket science. You only follow the members, the official account, and a couple randos,” Jake pointed out.
Heeseung wished he’d clocked the seriousness sooner, because maybe then Jake wouldn’t have zeroed in on the signs and banners at the soundcheck, ignored those fans, and they could’ve had a drama-free concert. But no—he was too busy melting under the kisses Jake was peppering across his face, the kind he hadn’t gotten in weeks, to process the words or the slight venom in Jake’s tone.
“…So you started following Jiwon-ssi?” Jake asked.
Who?
Jake’s eye-roll said it all—Heeseung’s clueless face must’ve been comedy gold. He’d been in a blissed-out haze from the kisses, eyes half-closed, totally missing Jake’s lead-up to that bombshell.
“Sooha?” Jake clarified, his tone sharper now.
Oh. Heeseung had to dig deep in his brain. Post-comeback short film, he vaguely recalled getting Jiwon’s socials. But honestly? He was more focused on getting back to the dorms with Jake, who’d dipped early after his scenes, than whatever Jiwon or the managers were yapping about. If he followed her, it was pure politeness—he’d bet his life on it. They had some meatier scenes together this time, and ghosting her seemed rude. Being an idol wasn’t always a party.
“I think I followed her, yeah,” Heeseung said, brushing it off, leaning in to kiss Jake’s neck. But Jake dodged, locking eyes with him, all business. Heeseung frowned, caught off guard.
“Why?” Jake pressed.
“Why’d I follow her?”
Jake nodded, unrelenting.
Heeseung glanced around, totally lost, like he was on a prank show. He probably looked dumb as hell. “Uh… she asked me to? I don’t know, I don’t remember.”
God, he really said that?
“Heeseung… can I ask you something else?” Jake’s voice was calm, too calm.
Heeseung froze. Jake dropped his arms from his neck. Where was his baby? The sweet nickname Heeseung lived for? Gone, along with Jake’s easy smile and relaxed vibe. When Heeseung nodded for him to go on, a shiver hit him. Jake was all business now, like a soldier sizing him up, ready to act based on whatever Heeseung said next.
“Did you guys have that kiss scene?” Jake asked.
Oh, shit.
So that’s what this was about.
Heeseung’s eyes shook like he’d seen a ghost. He should’ve listened to Jay and never gotten comfortable. When he nodded, words failing him, a cold dread gripped his chest. He briefly considered lying but knew it’d backfire. Jake’s tight smile was the worst thing he’d ever seen, which was saying something. Heeseung swallowed hard. Jake nodded back, stepped away, and flashed that smile again.
“Baby?” Heeseung tried, voice small.
“Let’s go, hyung! We’re holding up the soundcheck!” Jake chirped, bolting out before Heeseung could grab him.
And that’s when it hit the fan. The problem had been simmering for weeks, but for Heeseung, it didn’t get real until Jake decided to play dirty and, well, punish him.
At the soundcheck, he was a pro, keeping it together for the fans—because that’s the idol life. His energy was on point through the songs, but Heeseung? He struggled when they paused to read the signs. That day, Engenes had apparently held a secret meeting and decided to go all in on one theme:
Jake, marry me!
Will you marry me, Jake?!
Be my husband, Jake!
I’ll be your wife, Jake!
Jake, be my wifey!
Wifey? Excuse me? Where was the decorum? The shame?
Heeseung barely glanced at his own signs, and he felt bad about it later—those were his fans’ efforts, after all. But he was too busy drowning in jealousy over the flood of proposals for Jake, the screams every time his boyfriend so much as breathed, and the attention he was soaking up. Heeseung thought he might keel over right there if Jake leaned into it, but luckily, Jake just laughed adorably, cheeks pink, acknowledging each sign with his signature charm. That was Jake—perfect idol, always appreciating his fans. Meanwhile, Heeseung? He was rotting in petty jealousy because he’d never seen Engene go this hard for Jake specifically. And yeah, it was getting under his skin.
Then came the concert, and Heeseung lost every ounce of media training he’d ever had. Mistake number two: assuming Jake would let the “wife” thing slide. Oh, how wrong he was.
Heeseung kind of lost it. Or at least, that’s what he gathered from the other members’ mocking glances after he rudely interrupted Sunghoon—yes, Sunghoon—when the guy wouldn’t drop the topic. On stage. Under the spotlights. With every eye on them. Heeseung’s fake smile must’ve been hilarious, because the others ragged on him about it for the rest of the night.
Here’s how it went down:
During concert ments, Heeseung usually half-tunes out his members’ chatter. He tries to listen, especially if it’s his turn to jump in or they’re on a serious topic, but it’s tough when he’s got someone barking directions in his earpiece or he’s busy waving at Engenes on his side of the stage. That night in Saitama? He was locked in.
And who else but Sunghoon, that bitch, to stir the pot?
“So, who’s Jake’s wife?” Sunghoon asked, grinning like the devil himself.
The crowd lost it, screams shaking the stage. Fans were jumping, waving arms, desperate for Jake’s attention. Heeseung bit the inside of his cheek so hard he tasted metal. Turning to greet a fan with his face on a sign, he caught sight of the chaos’s source and nearly choked.
Jake, on one knee, on stage, flashing a grin that could’ve lit up the arena. It was quick, just a few seconds, but Heeseung saw it clear as day. If any Japanese fansites caught the vein bulging in his neck or his knuckles whitening around his mic, he had no idea how he’d explain it later.
“But you have to ask my mom. Please wait~” Jake teased, all playful and cute.
Motherfucker, you have to ask ME! Heeseung’s brain screamed.
The members started ribbing Jake, but Heeseung didn’t hear a word. He just stared blankly around the arena, like, what the actual hell? Jake was right next to him, tossing him a few glances, but Heeseung’s incredulous glare didn’t faze him. Jake just laughed with Jay and the others, ignoring him completely.
It was supposed to be Heeseung’s turn to speak, so he moved on autopilot, raising the mic to his lips—then lowering it, unsure. He didn’t need to say anything in those few seconds while the members kept joking; the script gave him leeway, and his earpiece gave the green light. But he stole another glance at Jake, who didn’t look back, just nodded for him to go on.
Oh, really?
Heeseung gripped the mic so tight it might’ve cracked. “Sorry to kill the vibe, but…” he started.
Was that Jungwon’s laugh? How did his face look? No clue. He doesn’t even remember what came next, or what he said. Idol Heeseung was on autopilot, saving his ass.
When the concert wrapped and they were backstage, ready to head to the hotel, Jake was in the bathroom again. Heeseung found himself surrounded by five cackling hyenas.
“Nah, hyung, your face!” Ni-ki wheezed, doubled over.
“Not gonna lie, the whole topic was annoying,” Sunoo said, catching his breath from laughing so hard, shooting Sunghoon a look. The jerk just smiled innocently. “But your smile? You were like—” Sunoo froze, hands up, eyes wide like a spooked deer.
Jungwon and Ni-ki collapsed on a couch, howling. It was obviously exaggerated—Heeseung didn’t do that—but to his bandmates, who knew the real tea, it was comedy gold.
Jay smirked quietly, chuckling but at least having the decency to hide it for his own sake. Because Heeseung, slouched on that couch while they waited for Jake, looked ready to combust.