“Jongdae we’ve been in China for all of three minutes, why are you trying to call Junmyeon?”

“It’s been ages since we last spoke,”

“It’s been five hours,”

“Exactly, now hush it’s ringing.”

Yifan shakes his head with a sigh as Jongdae sidesteps him, hurriedly plugging a finger into his ear to block out the almost deafening babble in the airport. Jongdae presses the phone tightly into the side of his head, straining to listen for Junmyeon’s voice to finally pick up the other end of the line. He watches Yifan busying himself with herding everyone together as they try to make their way out through the crowd. The line is still ringing and Jongdae huffs impatiently, struggling to hide his pout when Yifan turns to make sure he’s following the group. Gripping his phone more tightly, Jongdae wonders if he’s being irrational, trying to call so soon but he can’t help it. He sees Yifan’s hand ghosting over his trouser pocket where the bulge of his phone is obvious, almost making to pull it out a couple of times before seeming to think better of it.
Jongdae grins, wondering which of the K members Yifan is obviously itching to call and files away the information for future reference.

“Hello?” the line finally picks up and Jongdae beams at the sound of Junmyeon’s voice

“Hyung!”

“Jongdae? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Separation is hard.

-

“It feels so weird having only six people around the table now.”

Jongdae grins through his mouthful of food as he stares at the Line message that pops up on his phone screen. The device is balanced rather precariously on his lap under the table and he struggles to type out a reply and simultaneously attempt to aim the food into his mouth.

“Ikr, it’s way too quiet now!”he smiles as he presses the send button, staring intently at the bright screen, eagerly awaiting the next speech bubble to pop up below his own.

“Jondgae you’re supposed to be looking at your food not your crotch.”

Luhan’s voice jerks Jongdae out of his reverie and his heart nearly skips a beat as he snaps his head up. The grin plastered on Luhan’s face spreads to his crinkled eyes and echoes in his tone.

“I’m sure Junmyeon would love to know the details of your every movement but-”

Jongdae feels blood rushing into his face and nearly drops his phone. He narrows his eyes and promptly chucks several grains of rice from his bowl in the general direction of Luhan’s head. He cheers internally at the shriek Luhan gives when some of them land in his hair.

“We’re just catching up,” Jongdae mutters with a scowl.

He shoots a glare at Yixing who’s failing miserably at concealing his helpless giggling behind his hand. Despite the amusement in his eyes, Yixing swallows back his laughter at the dark look thrown his way and instead turns to help his friend clean himself up.

Jongdae huffs out a deep breath and stabs his food with his chopsticks. His other hand is clutched very tightly around his phone, knuckles almost white at the force of his grip. His heart is still thundering against his chest and he gingerly loosens his fingers from the death grip they have on the device.

He peers up tentatively, but everyone else is too occupied with their food to notice anything. Yixing is still picking out stray grains of rice from between Luhan’s bronze locks, grinning at the pout on the latter’s face.

Jongdae opens his mouth, wanting to speak to Minseok, but he finds the elder blowing air teasingly into a sleepy Zitao’s ear. The youngest whines and shakes his head sluggishly, dangerously close to face planting into his plate of food. Beside him, Yifan grunts at the commotion and swats Minseok away before pulling the half asleep boy to lean against his shoulder, droopy eyes now almost completely closed. Minseok chuckles and shakes his head, amused at the reprimanding look Yifan is trying to give him. He passes a comment slowly and Yifan actually cracks a smile at his stilted attempt at Chinese, gently correcting his mistake. Just like that, despite the limited words from Minseok’s part, they fall into a somewhat easy conversation, speaking over the snores Zitao is breathing into Yifan’s shoulder.

Jongdae presses his lips back together and drops his eyes back onto his food with a small shrug. He pushes the pieces of chicken around the plate; his appetite is gone.

His attention is snatched back to his phone a few moments later when the screen lights up again with a new message.

“Jongdae? You still there?”

A smile breaks across Jongdae’s face and he hastens to reply,

“Sorry, Luhan was being a . How’s it going on your side Joonma?

“Not much, just got Sehun out of Jongin’s headlock. Same old (and respect your seniors!)”

“Now there’s something I don’t miss haha”

“But I miss you all already! :(”

“Pftt so sentimental! It’s just for a little while”

“Shut up Chenchen. Anyway I have to go, they’re at it again. I’ll talk to you later!”

Jongdae grins and keys in a final response before locking his phone and stuffing it into his pocket, feeling lighter.

Luhan, hair now rice-free, is smirking at him again. He throws Jongdae a dramatic wink and Yixing sniggers beside him, playfully nudging him with his shoulder. Jongdae huffs out a long suffering sigh when he remembers that he’s rooming with both of them.

-

Their rooms are, for the most part, identical to the ones in Korea; bunk beds on either side of the room with a small nightstand beside each one. It’s late and they’re all eager to savor every possible minute of sleep they can get before the cycle of back to back schedules starts once again. Luhan and Yixing immediately settle in on the set of bunk beds to the right, Luhan eagerly clambering to the top bed the second he’s shed his clothes for his sleeping pants and baggy t shirt. Yixing follows suit, slumping down on his own bed with a tired, but happy sigh as he pillows his head with an arm.

Jongdae sits on his own bed on the other side of the room, pulling on a rather shabby pair of pants as he settles down to sleep. The faint trace of a smile ghosts across his lips as he silently watches Luhan dangle an arm over the edge of his bed to hover above Yixing’s face teasingly. The latter raises an arm to swat the taunting hand away, quiet laughs tumbling from their lips as they play their little game.

It’s easy to see how happy they are to be back in their own country. It’s evident in the ease with which they laugh, free instead of strained. The knot of tension had bled out from their shoulders the moment they had touched down and they finally breathed in China; the first time in a very long while.

Right then, it’s as though the dark rings below Luhan’s eyes were never there; as though the tired lines on Yixing’s face have faded away.

Jongdae smiles because it’s great to see their smile fully reaching their eyes now. It’s easier too, he thinks, when you’ve got your best friend with you. They had been inseparable from the very beginning, Luhan and Yixing.
They all quiet down when the lights are turned off, mumbling out ‘goodnight’ to one another before letting the silence fall, heavy in the darkness.

The stillness lasts for a few moments and Jongdae is only seconds away from sleep when there’s a quiet rustling of sheets from the other beds. He catches the whispers that inevitably carry across the room.

“Hey Xing?”

“Hmm?”

There’s a short pause and Jongdae thinks Luhan might have fallen asleep.

“We’re finally home,” he murmurs quietly, his tone filled with wonder as though he can’t quite believe it.

“Finally,” Yixing echoes, a content lilt in his sleepy voice.

The whispers stop after that and Jongdae pulls the sheets tighter around himself, knowing just enough Chinese to understand what was said. He ignores the twinge in his chest when he thinks of the thousands of miles between himself and his home. Home is across the sea, home is familiarity, safety; then thinks his ‘home’ is probably busy telling the youngest two off while trying to maintain a frown but Jongdae shakes that thought away because he can’t think such things and keep it together at the same time.

‘It’s just for a little while’ he reassures himself, echoing his own words to Junmyeon.

It takes a long time until he finally falls asleep.

-

“So I was thinking,” Jongdae starts casually and Junmyeon raises an eyebrow warily– that’s never good.

Jongdae notices the look on his face and raises his hands up in defense, “Just hear me out!”

Junmyeon heaves a sigh, sitting down on the edge of his bed and nods.

“Seeing as we’re splitting up again and I’m going to be in China for a while, I thought it’d be a good idea to make full use of our new phones. To help us keep in touch better!”

“I thought we were going to use Skype as usual? And texts…”

Jongdae throws him a look as though he’s just said something extremely stupid and Junmyeon falters.

“That’s not good enough hyung; we need something more efficient and convenient.”

His face splits into a grin, “Which is why-” he lunges forward, chuckling at Junmyeon’s yelp when he neatly snatches his phone out of his hands, “-I’ve got just the thing!”

The screen lights up and the password page shows up requiring a 6 digit code. Junmyeon grins smugly from his seat, leaning back on his hands.

Jongdae pauses for a moment before the corner of his lips lilts upwards and he keys in a set of numbers and successfully unlocks the phone. Junmyeon’s mouth drops open, dumbstruck.

“120408,” Jongdae says, shaking his head fondly, “of course you’d use our debut date as a password.”

Junmyeon splutters, flushing fiercely and Jongdae begins to browse through the phone menu.

“What are you doing?!” Junmyeon shoots up and tries to make a grab for his phone but Jongdae holds him off, keeping it just out of his reach as he swipes a thumb across the screen, clearly sure of what he’s doing.

“Jongdae-”

“I’m just downloading a couple of new apps!”

“That’s like the fourth one!”

“Yep, just have to find the last three-”

“You’re going to use up all the memory!”

“It’s for a good cause!”

“Kim Jongdae, give-”

“All done!”

Jongdae beams as he holds out the phone to Junmyeon, looking incredibly pleased with himself. Junmyeon narrows his eyes as he takes the device and inspects the damage. He flips through the menu and gawps at the cluster of colorful icons cluttering the screen.

“I don’t even know what any of these are,” Junmyeon says, not knowing which to go on first.

“It’s simple!” Jongdae says brightly, shuffling over to Junmyeon’s side to look at the screen with him, “Line and Kakao are chatting apps, Facetime is for video calls- yes all of them are necessary,” he adds, guessing Junmyeon’s thoughts. Junmyeon purses his lips and points at another icon on the screen.

“So what does Snapchat do?”

Jongdae’s eyes crinkle and he looks positively delighted. Junmyeon determinedly forces back the smile edging around his own lips.

“I’ll show you.”

He takes the phone again, tapping in something quickly before handing it back. He turns away, his back to Junmyeon, and pulls out his own phone. Junmyeon can see Jongdae raising his arm in front of his face and he’s curious but he waits patiently.

Junmyeon’s screen lights up as a notification pops up and he opens it eagerly. ‘Press and hold to view’ he reads and when he follows, his screen is filled with a picture of Jongdae’s grinning face and a caption underneath that says “Tadaa!”

Junmyeon chuckles and looks up to see the real life version of Jongdae’s grin. He looks back down at his phone but the picture has disappeared. Frowning, he presses the notification again but nothing happens.

“The picture’s gone!” he exclaims in dismay.

Jongdae laughs, his smile widening at Junmyeon’s confusion.

“There’s a time limit,” Jongdae tells him, “You have like ten seconds to see it before it disappears.”

“Seems kind of pointless,” Junmyeon mutters, examining his phone.

Jongdae gapes at him indignantly, “It’s not pointless! We can send quick snapshots to each other to keep up now!”

“But if it’s going to disappear then it’s a waste of a perfectly good picture!”

“Please, it’s never a waste if it’s my face.”

Junmyeon scoffs, though there’s a laugh bubbling in his chest and he exits the application, turning off his screen. Jongdae whines in protest but Junmyeon pushes him out of his room, shooing him away.

“But hyung, it’s handy and fun!”

“It’s a distraction.”

“You’ll cave eventually!” Jongdae clings to the doorframe now and Junmyeon works on prying his fingers off, “You can’t see your best buddy off to China and not miss me-”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Junmyeon grins devilishly as Jongdae gapes and he pries the last of Jongdae’s fingers from the wooden frame before pushing him out.

“Use the apps!” Jongdae yells before Junmyeon pointedly shuts the door in his face with a smug smile.

Junmyeon turns and falls onto his bed with a sigh. His phone is lying on the comforter next to him and he stares at it pensively without touching it. He throws a careful glance back at the door; making sure it’s still closed securely and that Jongdae isn’t trying to sneak his way back in. Sitting up, he takes the phone into his hand and opens it up to find the myriad of colorful new icons staring up at him again.

The corners of his lips curl up fondly and he finds himself inevitably clicking on the first icon to start figuring out how to use it. After all, Jongdae’s right.
He can’t see his best friend off to China and not miss him.

-

There is a flurry of action in the M dorms, the members all awake bright and early at six AM to get ready for the morning schedule. There’s a dash for the shower, members racing eagerly for the hot water while others blink blearily, stifling their yawns as they pull on articles of clothing haphazardly.

Jongdae and Minseok bustle around in the kitchen to put together breakfast before they leave the dorms. Cooking for six people is quite a chore so they split the tasks between them to move more quickly. It had been a unanimous decision to let Minseok and Jongdae be in charge of kitchen business, preferring not to go through a kitchen fire scare again. The sharp utensils are also out of bounds. The pair very much prefers safety over hot showers.

The other members filter into the room one by one, dropping down onto the chairs around the dining table and doing their best to fight off sleep.

When breakfast is ready the pair in the kitchen loads the plates and bowls onto their hands and move out to where the members are sitting, their faces instantly lighting up at the sight of food. They’ve all lived together long enough to know each other’s preferences and particularities when it comes to food so they all try to cater to each other’s wishes.

They make several trips to from the kitchen to the table, placing the small portions of rice with different side dishes in front of the respective members who nod their thanks appreciatively. Zitao likes having a hard-boiled egg with his rice and Yixing is content with some stir-fried vegetables and sesame oil to top off his portion.

There’s one dish left in his hands, and Jongdae looks around the table to see who hasn’t gotten their portion yet. Everyone has been served though and Jongdae looks down at the plate in his hands, confused. The steaming Omurice on it looks rather out of place.

He looks back up and meets Luhan’s eyes, not sure what to make of the look that he’s giving him.

“Jongdae-ah,” he says quietly, trying not to attract the others’ attention from where they’re busy with their food, “Junmyeon is the only one who eats that for breakfast.”

Luhan gives a pointed nod and Jongdae looks back down at the plate, feeling disconcerted.

“Oh…right…yeah.”

He looks a little lost, unsure of what to do with the steaming plate of food before he finally decides to set it down by his own spot at the table.

Right. Junmyeon isn’t here now.

Jongdae keeps his eyes lowered on his food so that he doesn’t have to see the concerned sidelong glances Luhan is throwing at Yixing.

-

It’s late when Jongdae finally gets back to the dorms from hours of individual vocal training. His throat hurts from the exertion and he wants nothing more than to collapse onto his bed and sleep. It’s dark inside save for the dim slivers of light that bleed through the crack at the foot of the bedroom doors. He can see that the light in his own shared bedroom is also still on and he hears movement on the other side of the door when he reaches it.

He twists the knob and stops short when he steps inside, completely taken aback by the scene in front of him.

Luhan is balanced on the edge of the bottom bunk bed, grunting heavily as he tugs at the mattress from the top bunk, struggling to move it without falling himself. Jongdae’s own mattress is already on the floor and he throws a bewildered look at Yixing who’s leaning against the bedpost idly as though this is all completely normal. Yixing flashes a cheerful smile at him before darting backwards quickly to avoid being crushed as Luhan finally hauls the mattress off the bunk to the floor with an almighty thump.

Luhan clutches at his back with a groan, trying to blow his unruly hair out of his face. He finally spots Jongdae, rooted to the ground looking completely baffled.

“Oh, you’re back!” he pants, beaming. Luhan then turns again, struggling to align the mattresses next to each other in the tiny cramped space on the floor between the bunks.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jongdae finally manages.

“Feng shui,” Luhan huffs, wheezing at all the heavy lifting.

“For balance,” Yixing pitches in brightly, watching Luhan with interest but not offering to help, earning himself a glare.

Jongdae is completely lost, opening his mouth to say something but closes it a moment later, thinking better of it. He shakes his head helplessly and waits until Luhan finishes.

“It’s good for the energy flow in the room,” Luhan says solemnly once he’s done cramming the mattresses into a somewhat neat row. The floor can’t even be seen anymore.

“Uh, I don’t think that’s how it wor-“

“Don’t question me.”

Jongdae clamps his mouth shut abruptly, choosing not to puzzle over Luhan’s motives any further. He feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to find Yixing patting him gently with a smile. Yixing seems completely unperturbed by the rooming renovation, clambering over the obstacles on the floor to reach the dresser across the room without a word.
Jongdae shrugs his shoulders wearily, the wave of exhaustion making him sway on his feet and he’s too tired to think any more of it.

He strips out of his clothes to slip into his sweats and drops down onto his mattress, sighing at the cushiony feeling. Luhan flips off the lights, leaving on a very dim nightlight. He settles down in the middle and Yixing sidles up to his side, half on his own mattress and half on Luhan’s as he leans his head against his shoulder. He falls asleep in a matter of seconds.

Jongdae makes sure to keep himself in the middle of his own mattress, turning on his side and burying his face into the blissful softness of his pillow. He’s just about to tug up the comforter properly when he feels Luhan nudging his leg with his foot.

“Come on,” Luhan whispers, beckoning him with his head. Jongdae stares at him blankly.

When Jongdae doesn’t move, Luhan huffs and makes a grab at Jongdae’s pillow to drag it closer to his. Jongdae yelps hoarsely at the jolting movement, and stares at Luhan in confusion. He feels cold fingertips trailing down his arm until they find his hand and Luhan links one finger with his own.

“Balance, remember?” Luhan says gruffly, looking away awkwardly. Jongdae feels baffled for a moment before it dawns on him with a jarring force and everything makes sense. It’s not about ‘balance’ at all.

Jongdae shifts a little closer to where Luhan is laying and the latter turns to him with a warm smile and his eyes speak the words that he doesn’t say. Luhan threads their fingers together properly and squeezes; a little gesture of comfort. It’s enough to alleviate a little bit of the heaviness in his chest that’s been weighing him down. It soothes the dull ache of loneliness, even if just a little.

Jongdae says nothing, hoping the tight squeeze he gives back is enough to convey his sincerest thanks. The soft smile he gets in return tells him that Luhan got the message.

They lay in silence for a while as Jongdae gratefully soaks up the moment, then he turns to look at Luhan affectionately.

“Told you, you were doing the feng shui wrong.”

Luhan pinches his palm and Jongdae tries to swallow back his cry so as not to wake Yixing up. They both shift on the mattress to settle down and Luhan disentangles their fingers but that’s okay because Jongdae falls asleep feeling warm and light.

-

Throughout the week, Jongdae seems almost glued to his phone. He never lets it out of his sight, throwing glances at the screen every few seconds just in case he gets a message or a call. The device has become an extension of his hand and the others are always likely to find him with his head bowed as he chats on Line with Junmyeon.

Some of the members have even walked in on him snickering as he takes a picture of himself with Snapchat. It has come to a point where they have to call his name several times to get his attention away from his phone. He seems somewhat distracted during dance practice too; his eyes focus, more often than not, on the table at the corner of the studio where his phone lies among the members’ possessions.

The second Yifan calls a break, Jongdae dashes to snatch up his phone and forgoes drinking in favor of having more time to type out a message to Junmyeon. They don’t even have to try and guess who he’s talking to – probably never even had to in the first place, really.

Yifan purses his lips and folds his arms pointedly but Jongdae doesn’t even notice him, fingers flying across the keypad. Yifan decides to end their break time there and Jongdae keys in the last few words, not seeming to notice the glare burning holes into his head. The other members move to resume their positions idly and Yifan waits until Jongdae is done. The person in question taps in the final letters, before setting down the device and looking up at Yifan cheerfully.

He skips past him, taking his place in the group formation and calls out, “Well? You coming, duizhang?”

The others snigger and Yifan bristles as he stalks to his own position, eyeing them all darkly.
.


Later that evening, when they’re back at the dorms, Yifan asks to speak with Jongdae. They settle down on the couch in the living room and Jongdae fidgets a little apprehensively. He’s not entirely sure what Yifan wants to talk to him about though he might have a small inkling of a clue.

Yifan straightens up stiffly, schooling his face into what he must think is a stern expression except he looks so obviously uncomfortable it’s almost comical.

He laces his fingers together on his lap and turns to Jongdae.

“Now, look, I understand that splitting up with the others is hard and we all miss each other,” he starts, “but we have to concentrate on our own activities and bring our full focus to the table.”

Jongdae flushes slightly and it clicks where this is going. He ducks his head as Yifan goes on after clearing his throat, “So what I’m trying to say is, I understand the need to contact them frequently but you need to find a balance to foc-“

A light flashing by Yifan’s lap on the couch catches Jongdae’s eye and he raises his head to look back up at Yifan incredulously.

“Did you just get a Snap?”

Yifan chokes mid-word and his eyes widen before he scrambles to recompose his expression.

“No,” he says, a little too quickly.

Yifan must have noticed the devious grin stretching on Jongdae’s because he makes to reach down and grab his phone but Jongdae surges forward impossibly fast and snatches the device away from his fingers.

“Oh my god, you totally just got a snap,” Jongdae cackles gleefully at the phone screen, dancing out of reach from Yifan’s flailing arms, “I wonder who it is…“

Yifan scrambles up from the couch with a curse but Jongdae dashes to the other side, creating a barricade between them.

“Dammit Jongdae, give it back,” Yifan growls, darting from one side of the couch to the other while trying to figure out which direction the other will turn to.

Jongdae grins and swipes the screen to open up the app, making sure to keep an eye on Yifan’s movements to dodge away if need be.

“Give it-!”

“Oh my god it’s-”

Jongdae stops moving as he gapes at the picture that fills the screen when he opens up the new Snap. He’s greeted by a pair of puppy eyes and dramatically pouty lips slightly concealed by the fingers forming a V-sign in front of them.
Jongdae’s eyes zone in on the short caption attached to the picture: “So tired! Miss you hyung! ;3;” and then the picture disappears from the screen when the seconds run out.

Jongdae’s gape morphs into a wide grin, looking like a little boy on Christmas morning. His little hunch back at the airport had been spot on and he pats himself on the back.

“-Chanyeol. You’re snapping Chanyeol, oh my god duizhang!” he drawls out the last word delightedly, his tone teasing and dripping with glee.

Yifan’s face is twisted between looking frustrated and distraught as he finally lunges forward and yanks the phone right out of Jongdae’s hands. The latter is still beaming, looking far too pleased with himself at the discovery.
Yifan takes one look at the screen and chokes out a strangled noise of despair.

“Dammit, you used up all the seconds, now I can’t see it! You know it disappears once you’ve opened it!”

He’s half whining, looking truly upset. His brows are tugged down on his forehead irately as he runs a hand through his hair roughly.

Jongdae smirks in amusement at Yifan’s hissy fit, endearing in its own way, though he doesn’t mention that.
“Easy there, princess,” he says cheerfully, a glint in his eyes, “I print screened it anyway, for all your viewing purposes.”

The angry expression melts away immediately and Jongdae almost laughs at how comical the relief Yifan’s trying to hide looks.

“Oh,” he mumbles, bowing his head in a futile attempt to hide the flush that has spread all the way down his neck and up to the tips of his ears. Yifan fumbles with his phone, flustered. He shuffles his feet sheepishly and clears his throat, the perfect picture of awkwardness.

Jongdae laughs, making sure to burn this scene into his memory. Leverage,he thinks, pleased.
Yifan struggles to recompose himself, clearing his throat.

“My point still stands,” he says stiffly, trying to recover, “you need to spend less ti-”

Jongdae claps him on the shoulder as he saunters past him with a giant grin plastered on his face, successfully leaving behind a spluttering Yifan with a reprimanding speech that dies on his tongue.

In his room, Jongdae pulls out his phone and opens up the Snapchat app. He poses for the camera with an obnoxious V-sign in front of his face and snickers as he types in a caption: ‘Yeol snapped this to Yifan! Yeol and Yifan omg!’ He sniggers as he sends the picture off, anticipating the reply.

He only waits for a few minutes before his screen lights up with a notification and Jongdae opens it up eagerly.
‘Yeah, I guess I kind of figured that,’the caption reads over a picture of Junmyeon’s straight face.

Jongdae frowns and sends a pouty picture, ‘They Snap each other, Yifan uses Snapchat, isn’t this interesting?!’

The picture Junmyeon sends back is blurry but Jongdae makes out his crinkled eyes as he hides his smile behind his hand, ‘I suppose so!’

Jongdae sighs, shaking his head at the lack of enthusiasm. He wonders what Yixing and Luhan’s reactions would be and he feels a grin creeping back onto his lips. He sets off in search of them when Junmyeon send another Snap; a stern expression and explicit instructions not to tell the others.

Jongdae trudges back to his room and drops his phone onto his bed with a scowl.

-

They’re scheduled for a jam packed week of several different interviews, starting off the first day with a Yin Yue Tai interview. They settle down on the cushioned chairs with Yixing, Jongdae and Minseok sitting in front while Yifan, Tao and Luhan sit behind them.

The host begins with all the usual questions about the upcoming comeback, asking what the concept is about, how the music will be, if there will be dancing, how promotions will be done. Jongdae shifts in and out of focus, keeping a steady smile on his face but tuning out most of what’s being said as Yifan and Minseok do most of the talking. He only understands half the Mandarin that’s being said anyway.

The sudden vibration coming from his pocket jerks him out of his dazed stupor and he hopes it wasn’t too noticeable. He almost shudders in relief that his phone is set on silent, having forgotten to turn it off before they entered to the studio.

It’s probably a message from Junmyeon, wishing him luck for the first Chinese interview in a long time. He must have mixed up the time zone differences and Jongdae fights back a fond smile.

His hand is ghosting subtly over his trouser pocket where his phone is tucked away and he curses his luck at being put in the front row, directly in front of the camera and the host. Jongdae fidgets a bit in his seat, itching to read the message, too impatient to wait for the two minute break they’ll get later on.

He’s in the middle of devising a plan to maneuver his phone into his jacket sleeve and find a reason to raise his hand to his face when the conversation catches his attention. The host is asking about how it feels to be in China once again and how they’re coping now that they’re separated from the K members again.

“Well it’s rather quiet in the dorms now, not waking up to twelve faces every morning,” Minseok starts solemnly. He catches Jongdae’s eye and the grin that creeps onto his face makes Jongdae swallow nervously.

“We miss each other a lot,” Minseok says, flitting his eyes towards the host before turning them back to him, “our Jongdae misses his other leader hyung very much.”

The other members chuckle as the host ‘aaaw’s’ and Jongdae goes beet red. He bows his head, flushing fiercely and forcing a very strained smile as he grits his teeth.

The host asks what they do to keep in touch and Minseok is positively beaming when he raises his mic again, “We usually call or use applications on our phones to send pictures; we use Skype sometimes too. Jongdae is actually very good at these things; he’s always using them very often throughout the day, he keeps up well with the K members.”

Jongdae can feel his face burning, suddenly feeling too hot for his t-shirt and jacket. Minseok is grinning wickedly beside him and Jongdae wants to kick him but they’re not sitting around a table for this interview so there’s no way he’d go unnoticed. He opts, instead, for letting out a short laugh and slapping Minseok’s thigh, making sure to pinch it hard. His smile is a fraction more genuine when Minseok tries to muffle a yelp.

Unfortunately, the host still wants to hear Jongdae’s take on this, probing him to share his thoughts with them. He pointedly looks away from the gleeful glint that returns to Minseok’s eyes, even as he massages the pain on his thigh.

“Ah um,” Jongdae clears his throat and says stiffly “we try our best to stay in contact with the other members, so we use whatever means we can to talk to them.”

He hears a quiet snicker in the background and feels his leg itching to kick someone in the shin. Pursing his lips he goes on, “Junmyeon hyung is very busy but he manages to make time to keep in touch with all of us. We’re good friends so it’s nice that we are able to catch up often during the day,” he sniffs, cringing internally and hoping against hope that none of the K members are watching this.

“You guys send lots of pictures too, don’t you?” Minseok adds, looking like he’s trying hard not to cackle.
Jongdae feels like he could fry an egg on his face.

“That’s so…we don’t…forget the K members’ faces,” he retorts lamely, a second away from burying his face in his hands with embarrassment.

The host gives a nod and an understanding smile; Jongdae dips his head a little, speaking more softly, “It’s hard being so far away; we miss them very much.”

The device in his pocket feels like it’s burning against his skin. The other members have fallen silent as they listen.

The host looks like she wants to probe a little further but Minseok pipes up with a new topic and she lets it go, turning to him enthusiastically. When she’s directed her attention to Yifan, Minseok leans into Jongdae and bumps him gently with his shoulder. Jongdae smiles; it’s how he knows Minseok never means any harm with his affectionate teasing and bumps him back.

The host calls for a short break and Jongdae turns to Minseok with a grin, “You know, she seems pretty keen on the K and M being apart topic,” he starts with a nod towards the host, “maybe I should mention all those selcas you send to Kyungsoo, I bet she’ll be interested…” he trails off, satisfied with the way Minseok’s face floods with color and narrows his eyes at him.

Jongdae pulls out his phone from his pocket quickly before they get back to the interview and finds a Line message waiting for him; from Junmyeon, as predicted.

‘Good luck for your interview! Hope you’ve practiced your Mandarin, don’t worry you’ll do great! Fighting!!~ ”
He can almost hear Junmyeon’s cheering voice in his head and Jongdae beams at his phone before putting it away, feeling energized and ready for the rest of the interview.
-
‘So Sehun is giggling all over the place at some comments Zitao’s making about the interview, sounds like it was fun!’ 

They’ve just arrived at the dorms when Junmyeon’s new Line message pops up and Jongdae scours the place as he types a reply, hunting down Zitao’s location to strangle him.

‘Yeah, it went great! ^^' Jongdae types begrudgingly, trying to infuse some enthusiasm and cheerfulness in his words.

‘I’ll do my best to take some time to watch it then! Maybe I’ll get a few pointers from you guys. We just got home now so I couldn’t watch it live.’

Jongdae chokes on his own spit, remembering his corny and botched attempt at maintaining his dignity with a flaming face.

He fumbles with his phone, his hand made up of five thumbs as he struggles to type out a reply hastily.

‘Aaah it was nothing special really! Pretty boring stuff hahah just the usual questions about the comeback and all that!’

‘But Sehun says it’s really worth watching…’

Jongdae breathes heavily, fingers hovering over the keys as he ponders what to reply before deciding to wing it.

‘You should probably wait for the Korean subtitles then, since it’s all in Chinese,’he types, half hoping Junmyeon will forget all about the show when he’s busy with his own schedules.

‘Aah you’re probably right… I’ll watch it another time then..’

Jongdae fist pumps in triumphant relief and moves to hunt Zitao down but then his screen lights up again with another message, ‘Goodnight then, Jongdae ah! Make sure you get enough rest ~’

Jongdae smiles.