Having a pet is not just a pet. You treat them like family and care for them as if they were your own children. Now imagine having to give your child to someone to take care of, no longer having them for yourself. No longer seeing them, or being able to hold them closely.

“Nora can’t stay?” Jaebum said in a low voice that probably wasn’t heard by anyone there.

“JB-hyung, I’m so-“ the manager interrupted Youngjae, “Don’t worry Jaebum-ah, Nora will be being taken care of safely.”

You could say Jaebum’s smile was not genuinely real, or content with this decision, but who would be when your daughter is being separated from you. Though, his smile wasn’t angry as well, Jaebum understood that Youngjae’s allergies made his dongsaeng’s life difficult. His constant sneezing and itchy, watery eyes. Mostly since both were to become roommates. Jaebum had no problems rooming with Youngjae, he felt sort of relieved. Since Youngjae was only a trainee for 7 short months, while everyone else had years, Youngjae had become a loner since he had only trained very hard in his dancing to debut once he was told he would. Youngjae didn’t talk to many of the other members, not that he was completely shy, he was, but the reason was because he focused too much on perfecting his dancing, and sometimes Jaebum would greet him and talk to him. Youngjae liked how Jaebum was nice and tried to get him to join him and the others, although Youngjae would decline. Therefore, since Youngjae didn’t exactly bond with others as much, Jaebum felt the need to protect and guide Youngjae, as he also sees his younger-self in Youngjae.

 Jaebum seems strict and scary, but Youngjae had come to know that he indeed was soft and kind. Debuting and becoming each other’s roommates was a relief for both of them. But, now that the rest of the members and the manager saw what Nora would do to Youngjae’s allergies, both of them felt a little confused. Confused on Jaebum’s part, sure he was sad that Nora was leaving, but he never would blame it on Youngjae. Now Youngjae on the other hand, he did hear Jaebum’s sad voice, and he certainly didn’t miss the look Jaebum gave to the floor when he heard the manager’s news. Youngjae felt guilty, and sad. He knew it was easy to blame himself for Nora’s leaving, but Jaebum didn’t chose to.

Now when Youngjae heard Jaebum talking about Nora in an interview, “We couldn’t keep her because one of the members has allergies,” then in another interview, and another. Then finally, Youngjae had the urge to answer himself, “I have allergies so JB-hyung couldn’t keep Nora in the dorm.”  Maybe he just needed to let it out. He felt he had let it out, whatever it was, perhaps the guilt.

Jaebum had never made Youngjae feel guilty about Nora’s leaving, they were like they always were; laughing, joking, and smiling. Jaebum would always cling to Youngjae and Youngjae to Jaebum. Jaebum would continue to hug Youngjae at night because they shared the same mat and blanket and were squished, not because Jaebum liked cuddling at night, is what Jaebum would say to himself. The two had a bond together, a calm and safe feeling to be together. Although then, Jaebum found out some information that stayed in his head for a while, or a long while.

“Did you ever raise cats Jaebum-sshi?” Asked one of the cat owners at the filming location for their Identify album.

“Yes I have,” Jaebum smiles at the thought of his Nora.

“Really? Where is your cat then?” She continued to her cat from head to tail.

“Ah. One of our members is allergic so I had to leave her with one of our company’s staff member,” he replied as he started caressing another cat nearby, his face neutral.

“Huh? If you bear with the allergies for about three months, it should be fine after. I was like that too,” she said with a surprised face, probably showing that Jaebum’s member could have gotten used to his cat like she had.

Although he didn’t say much, he did later on, in the interview for their Identify USB Special Interview:

“’.. it should be fine after. I was like that too.’ After I heard such words, I thought ‘sigh, if only he had endured it for a while.”

Although Youngjae hadn’t heard or saw this, it didn’t mean Jaebum didn’t think about it a lot. After their promotions for Stop Stop It Era, things started to change. Sure they had become roommates again after a break from the high temperature in their room, but then things changed after, not only things but also his thoughts and feelings.