OT7, finally.  Friendship, pre-ship, potential ship, established ship.  Yugyeom remains alone, but don’t feel too badly, because Yugyeom’s the true star (MVP) of the chapter.  

__________

I’m a guardian angel.  Please, I beg you, before you send the little men in white coats after me, believe me when I say I’m not crazy.  I can hear voices.  Okay, on second thought, I realize that sounds crazy but — and this but is important — it’s true.  I promise.  Angels can’t lie.  (At least I don’t think they can.) 

I didn’t always hear voices.  It happened two weeks ago, during dance practice, I fell and hit my head.  I out, and the next time I opened my eyes, I was already in the Emergency Room.  After running a multitude of tests to check me out and over thoroughly, the hospital deemed I was fit and fine enough to return back to the dorm.  Nothing wrong they said.

Except the very next morning I got the surprise of a lifetime when I realized that I could read people’s minds.    

It freaked me out at first.  Seriously wouldn’t you be freaked out too?  I’m still not sure the rules and how it all works, but it seems like if I’m in the same room or a close enough vicinity to that person, I can read their thoughts.  I’ve taken to wearing headphones often these days.  Music and podcasts are my best friends and saving grace.

I’ve heard quite a few things, some of which are definitely classified as T.M.I.  Like how Jackson spends every morning in the bathroom calling himself y in the mirror and spending an enormous amount of time self-praising all — and I do mean, all —  his body parts. 

What’s my most favorite “secret” I’ve learned?  

Mark and Jinyoung hyung like each other, as in boyfriend-dating like, as in I-really-want-to-see-you- like.  (Again, really, honestly, too much information for my no-longer-so-innocent mind.)

The truth is Mark and Jinyoung have always been close, I know that, all the other members know that.  Maybe that’s why the pair of them remain completely clueless that they both like each other, because they use the friendship-skinship rules of GOT7 to cover up their true feelings and thoughts.  

This is where I come in, but first, let’s go back to the whole guardian angel thing.

Honestly I’m not sure if I’m a guardian angel, but being a guardian angel sounds much better in my head than thinking I’ve become some weird freak of nature that needs to be studied scientifically.  So yes, I am a guardian angel.  I just wish I had some kind of spiritual guide to help me along.  You know one of those super quirky types that fall in love with and get distracted by simple human inventions like the light switch or elevators, or maybe one of those mysterious types that never fully answers your questions and instead speaks in circles and riddles.

With this power, I choose to do good and make Markjin real.  I want my wings (or at least for my sanity, to stop hearing things), and I think this is the perfect way.  Good karma and all that.  Make Markjin happen and I’ll stop hearing voices.  It’s totally plausible, right?  I mean I can hear voices, so anything’s possible at this point.  

Besides I’ve already tried falling and hitting my head multiple times and all that did was give me a massive headache.

—

Romantic cliches are cheesy but they work for a reason, right?  My plan is simple: get Jinyoung to fall for Mark.

Literally.

Well, sort of.  

See I’ve got this whole thing worked out in my head, and it’s going to be brilliant.  I’ll get Jinyoung to fall, well almost fall, because Mark’s going to be Prince Charming and save the day, catching Jinyoung and sweeping him off his feet.  

Cue birds chirping and angels rejoicing and all that jazzy fluff stuff.  

The question is how to make it happen.  Jinyoung isn’t particularly clumsy or anything, and timing is important.  It takes two days before I come up with a foolproof plan.

Nothing can go wrong.

I arrive at the dance practice room ten minutes before the others are scheduled to come and pull out my secret weapon.  A banana peel.

I’ve watched a dozen plus cartoons and it always always works.  Everyone arrives, minus today’s two main players.  Sweet.  This is working out perfectly.  

Trying my best not to look too conspicuous, I walk toward the doorway and oh-so-casually drop the peel.  Jackson, Youngjae, and Bambam are sitting on the sofa chatting away and joking while Jaebum’s on the computer.  I take a few steps back to lean against the back wall.  I don’t want to be too far away, because I want to admire the beauty of my plan in action and see true love blossoming right in front of my eyes.

It’s going to be so beautiful, really.  I may even shed a few tears.  (Also I better be someone’s Best Man at the wedding.  Just putting that out into the universe now and everything.)

Just as I see the soon-to-be-official couple enter, Jinyoung first — I’m seriously thinking I need to work on schooling my facial features to not spoil things — I hear Bambam say that he forgot something and see him rush toward the door. 

“Noooo!” I exclaim, but it’s too late.

“AHHHHHH!” Bambam yells out, flailing his arms and landing on his with a loud thud.  

Well, crap.  

Jinyoung and Mark are the first to reach Bambam and help him to his feet.  Bambam complains that he’ll have trouble dancing properly and keeping up with our choreography because he’s injured. 

I think it serves him right for foiling my ingenious plan.

But that’s totally not a guardian angel thing to think, so I head toward my friend and try to make him smile.

—

Compliment the one you love.  That’s like the most basic thing, right?  This is going to be super easy.  

Since we have the night off, we’re heading out to eat together.  Jinyoung lost in paper, rock, scissors and had to shower last.  We’re all in the living room waiting for him to finish getting dressed.  

I’m sitting next to Mark on the couch, only half paying attention to the conversation that surrounds me (out loud and silently) when I see Jinyoung enter the room.

Yes, finally. 

“Hyung, you look nice.  Doesn’t Jinyoung look great in that shirt and those jeans?” I ask, but I make sure to pointedly stare at Mark the longest, hoping he’ll recognize and seize this great opportunity that I’ve so kindly created for him.  

I can feel it, I’m one step closer to getting my wings.

Jinyoung, though, looks confused at my announcement and gives me a slightly embarrassed smile.  It’s kind of cute.  No wonder Mark hyung likes him so much.

“Hey, are you listening to me?  Hyungs!  Doesn’t Jinyoung look extra nice tonight?”  Come on Mark hyung, here’s your opening.  Take it, takkkkkke it!

Mark thinks Jinyoung always looks amazing.  Tonight’s no exception.  Jeans, sweats, hideous stage outfits, a paper bag; it never matters what he wears.  

I glare at him, because seriously, why is he thinking those thoughts and not saying them to Jinyoung hyung’s face?  It’s totally true that saying.  You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.  Well, I’ll just see about that.  I’m determined to make this work.  I step not-so-accidentally on Mark’s foot.

Mark speaks all right, he says “Ouch,” just as Jaebum pipes up to say, “Yes, Jinyoung looks nice tonight.”

Mission failed.  Again.  This is so much harder than I thought it would be.

—

Another day, another disaster.  

I tried writing a secret admirer love letter.  It sounded pretty good too, I even quoted that Shakespeare guy and a few other flowery lines that didn’t actually make much sense to me but sounded pretty enough. 

That plan failed spectacularly.  I’ve got our coordinoona thinking that one of our company managers likes her.  I’ll worry about fixing that later, because I’ve got more pressing concerns to attend to like the fact Markjin needs to happen.  

These voices in my head will be the death of me and, or cause me to become crazy whichever happens first.  I’m learning way too much and there are just some things — re: a lot of things — I don’t need to know.  I’m way too young to handle this responsibility!

My members keep looking at me weirdly, because they’ll say something and I ignore them because I think I’m just overhearing their thoughts and then I get scolded because I didn’t answer them, and it’s just this big huge mess.

Something needs to happen, and soon.

(I really don’t want to die, or go crazy.)

Back to the drawing board and the proverbial square one.  I need to look up more romantic comedies to watch late at night.  For ideas, you know, not because I secretly started liking them or anything.

Hmm, I should make some popcorn…

—

A romantic dinner for two.  I see that all the time in the movies and on TV shows, it’s the perfect setting for someone to confess their feelings.  I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier.  I’m a little disappointed in myself.

My plan is to cook Mark and Jinyoung hyung dinner.  I don’t actually know how to cook, which means they’re going to have to share a pot of ramyun.  It’s totally going to be romantic though, because I managed to sneak away and buy a few candles and a red tablecloth.  I need to think of some, what do they call it?  Mood music.  

The day of Operation Make Markjin Real starts off well.  I’ve got the hyungs (excluding Jinyoung and Mark of course) and Bambam to agree to go out to eat with me.  

It’s an hour before the magic is set to happen, when I hear Youngjae comment that Jackson doesn’t look that great.  

To be honest, I’m still more focused on my picture perfect plan so it doesn’t fully register in my mind.  I need to run through my time schedule and everything and double-check that Jinyoung and Mark hyung still plan to stay at the dorm.

“Hyung, Jaebum hyung,” Jackson says and wait, why does his voice sound like that?  I turn and see him go lie down (collapse) on the sofa.  “I’m not feeling so well.”

No, no, no, this is not good.

Jackson sees that I’m looking at him.  “Yugyeommie, hey.  I’m sorry I don’t think I can go out with everyone tonight….”

“Jackson hyung, you can’t get sick!”

“I’m sorry?” 

Later I’m sure I’ll feel bad about my outburst, but at the moment, I’m narrow-mindedly focused on my one goal of the night: Markjin.  “You’re going to ruin everything,” I whine, just as I see Jinyoung enter the room.  As soon as Jinyoung sees Jackson on the couch, he rushes over to him.

“Jackson, what’s wrong?”  He does the total mom-thing of checking for fever by using the back of his hand.  “You don’t look so good.  Jaebum hyung, help me, will you?  Let’s get Jackson to bed so he can rest comfortably.”  Jinyoung helps Jackson to sit up, he’s in total caretaker mode.  “Here lean on me, I’ll make you some porridge in a bit, okay?”

A few minutes later, I’m all alone in the living room.  Not caring that I’m acting like a misbehaving toddler, I stomp my feet in frustration.

—

At this point, two weeks and three more failed plans later, I’ve decided enough is enough. 

I might be the maknae and they’re the hyungs and they may very well kill me later, but hey, I can hear their thoughts so I can make a run for it before they can catch me and my legs are longer too, so I’ve got a fighting chance.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to survive, at least until I can figure out how to fake a passport and leave the country. 

“What’s going on, hyung?” I ask Jaebum when I see him standing at the doorway to the room I share with Bambam.  I’ve just gotten back from finishing up my plan, so I’m feeling nervous and anxious and really, really excited because this time I think it’s going to work.

I know by now, you’re probably getting tired of my false confidence and you may even be rolling your eyes at me, but trust me, okay?  Just once more, that’s all I ask.  

“Come out to the living room,” Jaebum tells me and then leaves again, not waiting for my reply.  He knows that I’ll follow anyway.  He’s the leader and he’s my hyung.  

When I enter the living room, I see Jackson, Youngjae, and Bambam are there too.  Jaebum motions for me to stand in front of the TV.  

“Before I tell you what this is all about, where are Mark hyung and Jinyoung?  I thought they said they were going somewhere with you, but I didn’t see them return.  They need to be here for this.”

“They’re a little preoccupied.”

“Occupied doing what exactly?” Bambam wants to know

“I locked them in the practice room.”  I might as well tell them now, because they’ll soon find out anyway, since my plan’s going to be super successful.  

“You what?!” Jaebum yells, and oh boy, I forgot how scary he can be when he’s upset.  “Why did you lock them in the practice room, Kim Yugyeom?

“Well, it’s a long story,” I start and Jaebum glares at me.  I notice Youngjae shifts a little closer to Jaebum and places a hand on his thigh. 

“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Youngjae suggests.

I sigh.  This could take a while.  But I see the faces in front of me, and well, they asked for it.  Since I can read their minds, I already know they plan to sit me down intervention-style to talk about my weird behavior lately.  I just want one of them to be in my position and then see how they handle it and react.  

I get no respect.  (Where’s Aretha when you need her?)

“I can read people’s minds.  I’m a guardian angel.”  No reaction.  Okay, then.  “It happened after I hit my head, the next day I woke up and I could hear what everyone was thinking.  I heard Mark and Jinyoung hyung thinking that they both liked each other, and so I thought I would help them get together.  You know do a good deed, and in return, I can get my wings.”

All four of my friends exchange worried glances with each other.  They say nothing, but that’s okay because I can hear their private thoughts.

It’s a lot of cursing and freaking out that this is way worse than they thought and that their precious maknae has finally gone crazy.

I’m offended. 

“I’m not crazy.”

They look at me like I’ve just grown a second head or a third eye.  

“I’m not crazy,” I reiterate.  “I’m not making this up.”  I can see (and hear) that they’re still non-believers, so I go in for the kill.  “Jackson hyung, every morning I hear your thoughts while you look in the mirror.  I know all about your self-praise you’ve got going on…”

Jackson sputters.  “Hey, you need to be confident in yourself first!”

Bambam can barely control his laughter.  Youngjae and Jaebum hyung look a little worried.  Nice.

“Youngjae hyung, why do you look so concerned?” I ask, my voice taking on a sweet syrupy quality.  “I know you and Jaebum hyung are dating.”  There I said it.

“Wait, what?  Since when?” Jackson yells out in surprise and Bambam says, “Holy crap!  Spill that tea, Yugyeom.”

“If you want I can tell them all about what you and Youngjae hyung were doing late last night?”  I know I’m pushing it, but it’s kind of pissing me off that everyone thinks I’m crazy delusional.  What I just said is a total bluff though, because I slept with my headphones on last night so I could finally get a decent night’s sleep.  They, however, don’t know that.

“Okay, you win.  You can shut up now, if you know what’s good for you,” Jaebum says.  And since I can hear Jaebum’s thoughts, I wisely shut up.

Survival skills are essential after all.

—

One hour earlier…

I get Mark and Jinyoung hyung to come back to the dance studio with me, claiming I need help in locating my most prized possession.  

“So, what are we supposed to be looking for again?” Mark asks as he and Jinyoung step into the practice room and walk toward the center.

I stop at the doorway.  “I didn’t lose anything.”

“Wait, what?  So then why are we even here?” Jinyoung questions me.  

“I needed to get you two alone, so that no one else can mess up my plans.  And this is what I came up with.  It’s brilliant and you’ll thank me later.”  I lay my hand on the doorknob.  I know I’ll need to make a fast exit.  “The short story version is that I can hear voices.  I’m an angel and I need my wings.  And how I’m going to get my wings is for you two to stop being so oblivious and you know actually talk about feelings and stuff like that.  Jinyoung hyung, Mark likes you.  Mark hyung, Jinyoung likes you.  See, simple like one plus one equals two.  Okay, now, I’m going to go and you two talk things out and uh, yeah… bye!”

I don’t know why I worried earlier about needing a quick exit strategy since I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen my hyungs look so shocked.  They’re going to be frozen in place for a good five minutes I bet.

Shutting the door, I place a chair beneath the doorknob to keep them locked in.  There’s a lock on the outside door — don’t ask why — and I use that for an extra safety measure as well, so that my plan can succeed.

—

I’m still in the living room, being asked countless questions by my members.  But now, it’s more like a conversation between friends than the earlier intervention atmosphere.  After I fill them in on all my previous perfect plan attempts and how each of them had a hand in ruining almost all of them, they’re full of laughter and joking amongst themselves that they totally could do a better job.  

I don’t mind the teasing though, not much at least.  They’re not thinking that they need to lock me up anymore, which is a relief.  

After recounting my final, final plan, they sit and stare at me in complete and total silence.  I bask in the glow of them being struck in speechless awe over my matchmaking skills.  

It’s a moment to savor.  

Then Bambam speaks up and destroys it.  “So basically, what I’m getting from all this, is that out of GOT7, only the three of us,” he stops to point to Jackson and me and then finally to himself, “that we’re not dating or getting any kind of action?”

Youngjae turns to Bambam in disbelief.  “That’s what you’re getting out of Yugyeom’s whole entire story?  That’s your most pressing concern?”

“Hey, now, you’re getting… well, okay I rather not think about it too much, but still…”  Bambam looks at me and grins.

Uh-oh.  Bambam’s smiling like he’s up to no good.

“Wanna make out?”

I snort.  As if.  My lips are precious, thankyouverymuch!  “No, thank you.  You’re not my type.”  (Side note: if I had long hair like a girl, I would totally do the hair flip thing right now.)

Bambam shrugs and gives up.

Jackson turns to Bambam and shoots him an offended look.

Oh, yes, yes this will be good.  Now it’s my time to smirk.  I barely keep myself from rubbing my hands in glee.  

“Bambam, what about me?  Why didn’t you ask me?” Jackson pouts.  Yes, Jackson hyung pouts.

“Gah, don’t act like such a kid hyung!”

Bambam’s one to talk about acting like a kid.  Honestly, now.

“Okay, then,” Bambam gives Jackson his full undivided attention, shifting closer and closer.  Youngjae and Jaebum hyung look curious to see what Bambam will say next.  “Hyung, do you want to go back to my room and make out?” Bambam asks in his best attempt at a seductive voice — which he totally fails at — and attempts to leer at Jackson.  Then Bambam bursts out laughing and sticks his tongue out at Jackson, thinking he’s been particularly clever or something.  

“I’ll think about it,” Jackson replies as he stands and walks away without a backward glance.

Ah, man, Jackson hyung’s got major major swag.  I have so much to learn from him.

Bambam’s mouth hangs wide open.  Jaebum helps Youngjae to his feet and leads the way to their bedroom.  They’re trying to keep their laughter to a minimum but they’re not doing that great of a job.

“Yugyeom,” Jaebum yells back to me, “we’ll talk more later.”  Then I hear a door closing and I’m left alone with Bambam.

Speaking of Bambam, he’s doing this really funny thing, he’s looking at me and then turning to stare in the direction of where Jackson walked off, then back to me, then back to Jackson’s direction.  He’s going to give himself a headache or get dizzy or something.

“Yugyeom.”

“Yes, what?”  It’s been a long day.  True love takes a lot of energy to make happen.  I’m exhausted.

“Was Jackson hyung serious?”

“How would I know?”  Sure I’m being a little evil, but why not?  Can you blame me?

“Because you can read people’s minds!  Wait, don’t read mine though.  Read Jackson hyung’s mind and tell me if he was serious or not….”

“I don’t want to,” I say and walk away.  

Bambam follows me the entire way, begging.

Perhaps now I’ll get a little respect

What you want….

Baby, I got….

What you need…

—

Back in the locked dance practice room, current time…

The lights are out and the only sound coming from behind closed doors is a hot and heavy make-out session.

Back in GOT7’s dorm, Yugyeom gets his wings.

FIN

__________

I had a couple of requests for Markjin and I tried (omg I tried) to make this more Markjin oriented, and I tried to make this into a more serious story, but all that did was give me a headache.  Sometimes you just need to go with what feels right, so I bought my one-way ticket and boarded the rom-com (extra emphasis on com!) train and didn’t look back.

Not my usual style of writing, in that I wrote in first person and created a bit of a conversational piece, breaking the 4th dimensional wall.  It definitely won’t become a habit, but I think it hopefully worked well with this chapter.

Comments are lovely and appreciated.  Let me know your thoughts!