In the next few days Jinyoung's turned from red to purple and blue then the next few days to green and yellow, and finally he was without pain a little more than a week after the incident.  Jackson was down right morose about it, and when he thought back on it he thought he remembered that he’d stopped hearing Jackson’s voice about halfway through practice.  Jaebum doted on him more than any of them could remember ever happening, Jinyoung included.  It was better than even the time back during JJ Project days when he’d gotten mad at Jinyoung and slammed a door in his face just as the younger was reaching out to stop it.  For about three days Jaebum had followed him around and done everything for him.

This time, Jaebum was even more dedicated to it, barely letting anyone get close to him, least of all Jackson.  They all knew it was because Jackson had told him to stop and Jaebum hated it when someone knew better than he did.  Jinyoung knew Jaebum was apologetic because even with all of the younger boys and himself cooing ‘Hyung’ at him for a few days he never once got mad.  

Though he couldn't really say it to Jackson on account of Jaebum's possessive apologies, he hoped that he could tell he wasn't mad.  While Jackson would probably have avoided Jinyoung out of guilt even without Jaebum hovering, Mark was the opposite. He waltzed right up to Jinyoung a couple days after even though Jaebum was wrapped around him like a bubble, said he was sorry, and went on his way.

A few days after things finally returned to normal he got called out of practice by one of the Suits.  He barely saw the man unless they were having an evaluation so his palms were sweating by the time he knocked and entered the room. It just couldn't have been a good thing so he was terrified.

The man looked bored on the other side of his desk, barely looking up from his papers when Jinyoung entered.

"Park Jinyoung," the man's lip curled. Jinyoung suddenly had a flash of memory from a previous meeting and concluded that he was screwed, this man didn't like him at all.

"Sir?" He asked politely bowing his head a second time.

"I hear you have some greed for choreographing."

.

Jinyoung couldn't help the blush of his cheeks, "A-anything I can do to help, Sir."

"Actually you should be asking for help," the man smirked, finally looking up at his face.

Jinyoung's mouth went dry, "I'm sorry?"

"The trainers and I were trying to figure out if it was worth it to keep you in this group..."

His heart stopped, he swore it, "I'm sorry?" he could hear himself asking again.

"You're not really... Putting up the same numbers as the rest of them, you know Jinyoung?  Even Youngjae is doing better and he's only been here a few months."

Jinyoung felt like he was slipping out of himself, like he was sinking down through the floor, "I'm trying my best..."

A sweet smile slide over the man's face, "And that's really the sad part, isn't it? We're worried you won't make it."

He was dying right? He was sure of it. He couldn't leave them now, not now, they didn't know how much he needed them. They didn't know how amazing they were.

"Anyway, why don't you do the choreography for Follow Me."

"But sir, it already has choreography," he pointed out, too far gone at this point to realize he was being rude.

"Did I misspeak?  Choreograph Follow Me. You've got until Friday, now get out of my office, Jinyoung, before I come up with some other way for you to prove it to me."

He was already calculating as he numbly got up and headed back to the practice room.  That meant he had three days.  Three days.  Would they get rid of him if they didn't like it?  He didn't regret protecting Yugyeom, not in the slightest, but now he was wondering if there was a better way to have done it.

As soon as he got into the room he could feel the attention switch to himself closest to the door. He wondered what he looked like because Bambam and Yugyeom who had been closest were instantly at his side.

"Hyung what's wrong?" Yugyeom asked, arms slipping around him carefully, fingers spreading wide over his shoulder blades in a way that always made him feel protected.

He was slightly grateful despite it all for the affection from Yugyeom because the boy had been acting painfully shy around him since he'd helped him get rid of his frustration that day. Before he could answer the taller boy though, Bambam cut in.

"Are you sick? You don't look so good..."

At this point the rest of them were shuffling over and he shook his head trying to control his expression. "I'm okay, I'm okay, he just told me I have to choreograph a new dance for Follow Me..."

"But we already learned that dance," Mark mumbled uncertainly.

Jinyoung nodded, "They want me to redo it."

Jaebum's eyes flashed with anger but whether it was for the sake of them or the managers still in the room he took a moment to calm himself, "How long did they give you?"

"Three days," he whispered softly.

This time Jaebum wasn't going to hold back but Youngjae touched his arm gently and pulled his face down in an expression that always made the older laugh and Jaebum sighed and turned away from him.  "I'll let you out early today, you go work on it in the room across the hall. Do you need any help?"

"No, I'm okay, thanks Hyung," he nodded, patting Yugyeom's arms gently.

Yugyeom took the hint and detached himself, but before he could get away Mark was in front of him, smile easy, "Hey, when you're ready let Jackson and I know, we'll work in some flips."

Jinyoung gave him a small smile and nodded, "Thanks Hyung..."

Mark’s hand came up to touch Jinyoung’s arm gently, his toothy grin soothing as Jinyoung heaved a soft sigh and moved himself to the room across from them.  He put the song on repeat and laid himself out of the floor with his eyes closed for a little while, imagining moves.  An hour later he started dancing, piecing together a routine, videoing himself with his ipad so that he didn’t forget what he’d done.  

Before he knew how much time had passed Mark was coming into the room, watching him for a moment before he came over to put a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his focus.  “Hey Jinyoung, it’s time to go home,” he smiled softly.

Jinyoung’s brow creased and his eyes searched behind Mark for the clock, “No way, it’s not that late~”

Mark chuckled softly and wrapped an arm around Jinyoung’s shoulders to steer him towards the benches so he could grab his things, “Jaebum’s already made us practice a couple extra hours to give you more time, we’re all exhausted, it’s time to go home.”

“But I’m not even close to being done, I’ll come home later,” Jinyoung argued, turning away from Mark only for the older to reach around and hook both hands around his waist, stepping into his back.

Mark’s wide eyes looked at him through the mirror of the room, a slight smile on his face, “Jinyoungie, look how exhausted you look,” he pointed out.

The younger’s eyes dragged over his reflection, sweaty hair falling in his eyes, shirt soaked, “But Hyung-”

Mark smiled and turned his head to kiss Jinyoung’s cheek, “You’re all done.  You can work on it at home if you want, after you eat something.”

Jinyoung huffed but he let Mark lead him out of the room and back over to the group of them waiting for the manager to bring the car around.  He could feel Jaebum’s eyes on the side of his face and into Jackson and Bambam’s conversation about what they should have for dinner.  He couldn’t deal with Jaebum’s perception just yet, not when he was panicking already.  

When they had gotten home and eaten Jinyoung immediately began working again, dancing in the hallway of the dorm so that he’d have enough room for all the movements without kicking anyone out of their rooms.  The next day went much the same, group practice, and then Jinyoung holed up in the side room for all of their individual practice.

When Mark came in again to fetch him he looked over at him curiously, "Why's Jaebum Hyung sending you in?"

Mark laughed a little, "Are you saying you don't want me to come get you?"

Jinyoung rolled his eyes a little and wiped his face off with a towel, "You know what I mean."

"He said you'd er another hour out of him if he came in," Mark admitted with another chuckle.

Jinyoung looked over to Mark guiltily, "What if I asked you to learn it tonight...?"

Mark bit his lip and thought about that for a minute. "Don't you still need flips? You're not done are you?"

"I didn't want flips.  You'll be tired enough as it is, so I'm done."

Mark nodded, "I thought you had a whole other day?"

Jinyoung shrugged a little, "I'm... Paranoid.  I need it done."

Mark watched Jinyoung for a moment, assessing him before he nodded, "Let me go see."

Jinyoung gave Mark a weak smile and sat back down to wait for the verdict. He pushed his emotions to the back and focused on the task at hand.

It wasn't long before the rest of the group shuffled in, looking tired but determined.

Jinyoung could have kissed them all, the weight on his shoulders was instantly lessened and he sprung to his feet.

"I'll run through it once and then start breaking it down, okay?"  He was diligent in teaching them, with infinite patience, and he encouraged them endlessly.

It was about three in the morning when they started falling asleep, but they knew the dance so Jinyoung didn't care any more. When he had to step over two sets of arms to run through the dance again he finally gave up, realizing Mark was the only one still standing.

The room was like a sauna from the heat and sweat they had worked up all night but Mark was still smiling, watching Jinyoung through the mirror.  Jinyoung turned back to look at him and have him a small smile in return.

Mark held out a hand for him as he moved to sit against his bag on the wall.  Jinyoung sat down and let Mark position him, pulling the younger's back against his chest.  "I know you might not sleep, but, let me hold you, so you don't feel lonely."

Jinyoung let out a soft laugh and relaxed back into Mark's arms but as he sat there his chest got tighter and tighter until he was gasping for breath, clutching tightly to Mark's arm around his stomach.

Mark didn't ask, just held him a little tighter, freeing one arm to rub Jinyoung's arm as he leaned in to kiss his temple.

Jinyoung did eventually fall asleep, cradled against the eldest's chest, wondering how he could possibly have felt alone surrounded by all of them sacrificing for him like that.

-

When he woke up it was to the tired and achy groans of Bambam and Jackson. One of their dance instructors was standing in the doorway curiously and from the way Jackson was rubbing his thigh he had probably been hit by the door when it swung open.

"What are you all doing in here? It smells like one of you died," the man laughed.

"That's the smell of hard work," Jackson fired back, sounding affronted, though he was grinning a little.

"What's this I heard about a new dance?" He asked, glancing over to Jaebum who had just been shaken awake by Bambam.

"You didn't know?" Jackson asked, confusion etching over his brows.

"I got an e-mail about it last night, something about you guys showing it off today."

Jinyoung's eyebrows furrowed, "Tomorrow?"

"Today."

His heart was up in his throat again before Jackson laughed, "Guess it's good you made us stay, huh Jirongie?"

Jaebum's sour mood swept over them so strongly that the three of them looked over to the leader. "It was planned for tomorrow, did everyone get the e-mail?"

The instructor shrugged, "Yeah, I guess so.  I'm early, but they'll all be straggling in. You've got a couple hours maybe."

When Jaebum began to frantically wake the other members the instructor's face clouded with confusion again.

"You guys ready for it...?"

"Yes Hyung," Jaebum answered quickly, "We just didn't know the time today."

"That makes eight of us," he shrugged, "It's the first I'm hearing of it. Fighting."

Jinyoung watched him leave the room and avoided Jaebum's searching gaze, turning instead to wake Mark up.

It ended up being about an hour and a half before everyone was gathered, everyone including JYP himself.

Jinyoung thought he might die. He wondered if the president would say it right in front of everyone or if he would let him down with dignity in a separate room. Jaebum would be pissed that he hadn't told him.

He got so nervous that he puked but he felt better after. If this was going to be the last time he could dance with them he was going to make it memorable.  He danced so hard he thought he might pass out, but they all fed off of his energy and put in just as much as he was.

In the end he didn't really think it was him that made it memorable, they had all come together in some sort of beautiful mix that he couldn't describe, more on point than they'd been in practice even.   Jinyoung refused to watch any of the audience too closely when they finished, despite the applause of the couple dance instructors in the room.  He turned away to get himself some water and ignored the eyes he could feel on him.

He stayed over in the corner until most of them left the room, including JYP himself, and Jinyoung realized that he hadn’t ever seen the man who’d told him about this in the first place.  He turned back to look through the remaining people and sensing him come out of his gloom, Jaebum's eyes were already on him, searching curiously.

Jinyoung offered him a slight smile and Jaebum gave a curt nod in return that had the others rushing over to talk at him excitedly as one of the instructors took Jaebum aside. He wondered, unable to focus on the chatter of the other boys, if Jaebum was being told they were going to be Got6.  That wasn't what they'd do, they'd delay debut and find another boy, a better boy. A boy who would fit in with them better. A boy who--

Then there were warm hands on his cheeks in the middle of all the commotion and Mark's face appeared in front of his. A smile pulling uncertainly at his lips as he leaned in to touch his forehead against Jinyoung's, "You okay?"

Jinyoung's gaze flickered to Jaebum and then back to Mark, "No..."

Mark nodded a little and he pulled the younger into a tight hug, his cheek pressed to Jinyoung’s head, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Jinyoung shook his head, his hands weakly coming up to Mark’s sides, “No…”

“I kind of figured,” Mark chuckled softly and rubbed his back gently, “Let’s see if we can go home, you’re exhausted.  You’re shaking.”

“No I’m not,” Jinyoung protested, pulling back from Mark to hold out his hand and was slightly startled to find his fingers were in fact trembling.

“Good news, Jinyoungie.”

Jaebum’s voice by his ear startled Jinyoung and he jumped slightly, turning to look at him with a slightly guilty expression, putting his hands on his hips to hide their tremble.

“Hyung says he wants us to use your choreography instead,” Jaebum grinned, eyes searching Jinyoung’s face for his reaction.

Jinyoung mustered a smile, but he could see it didn't satisfy Jaebum, "That's amazing!"

Jaebum's smile took a slightly strained tilt and he rounded them all up, "Let's head home, it’s been a long couple days.”

Jinyoung tried to avoid him, but that was hard to do when you rode in the same car to the same dorm and Jaebum was only just inside the door when he was ordering them all to bed early.

"You'll have to get used to sleeping when you can anyway, I know it's early but we didn't sleep last night so you have to get some now," he advised and there wasn't much protest, all of them were beat.

When Jinyoung tried to join the mass movement towards the bedrooms Jaebum's hand caught his wrist quickly, "Where do you think you're going?"

"To bed?" He answered lamely, a blush rising to his cheeks already.

"Jinyoung, you know it kills me, I waited, didn't I? Talk to me."

When they had first started working together it had taken a couple melt downs from Jinyoung for Jaebum to learn how he dealt with stress.  Jinyoung hunkered down and immersed himself in the work so heavily that he could forget about the deadline or issue until it was resolved. Jaebum had wanted to talk it out and instead caused Jinyoung to dissolve into panicked sobbing a few times until he learned not to talk about it until it was over.

Jinyoung knew this was bigger than just this choreography challenge though, that it wasn't over, and his eyes glossed over just thinking about it. "Hyung, it's okay, it's over," he lied softly, tugging on his hand.

Jaebum tugged harshly on Jinyoung's hand and the younger bumped against him before Jaebum turned him to look at him, "Jinyoung, it's eating at me, I need to know what's wrong."

Jinyoung stared at Jaebum wide eyed for a moment before he looked down, sighing softly before he whispered, "I... They don't think I'm making the cut."

"What...?"

"They don't-"

"No, I ing heard what you said," Jaebum snarled, and in seconds his bag was crashing into the front door.

Jinyoung was so startled by the outburst, his gaze caught on the bag on the floor, that his tears dried before they fell and he didn't see it coming when Jaebum pulled him into a hard kiss.

When Jaebum leaned back from the kiss he was panting harshly and his own eyes were glossy as his fingers turned gentle on Jinyoung's cheeks, caressing softly as he touched his forehead to the younger's.   "I love you," he breathed quietly, "I love you forever.  For always."

Jinyoung knew it was the only promise that Jaebum could give him, and so he started to cry. Though Jaebum was the leader he couldn't go against the production staff, and if they wanted Jinyoung out, he would be out.

Jaebum's breath hiccuped and he turned away, "Jinyoungie, don't sleep alone tonight, okay?"

"Okay Hyung..." He mumbled, voice thick from his crying, "Where are you going?"

"Out," Jaebum answered, giving him another sweet kiss before he kicked his bag out of the way and headed out the door.

Jinyoung didn't know how long he stood there crying, it could have been minutes, but his head was throbbing and he couldn't breathe through his nose any longer so it felt like an eternity before Mark was at his side.

The elder guided him into his bathroom without a word, starting the shower and made sure it was nice and warm before he nodded to Jinyoung.  When Jinyoung made no moves toward the shower Mark stripped him himself and guided him into the shower.  He watched Jinyoung stand under the water, prompting him in his deep gentle voice for a moment still until he nodded, stripped as well, and climbed in to help him.

Jinyoung tried to comply with Mark's words, he really did, but it seemed like so much /work/, and he just didn't have it in him. He felt like he was being crushed under the weight of looming possibility.

When Mark had finished with his own shower too he turned off the water and stepped out with the younger, toweling him off first before he dried himself as well.  He smiled brightly at Jinyoung and leaned in to give him a quick kiss.

"You smell so much better now," he teased Jinyoung gently, peppering soft kisses over Jinyoung's cheeks.

There was a pregnant pause as Jinyoung tried to respond, his voice cracking a little as he answered, "You too."

Mark chuckled softly and cupped Jinyoung's cheeks, "Can I stay with you tonight?"

"Please," he whispered softly.

Mark just smiled and tossed the towel over Jinyoung's head to dry his hair more.

"Hyung..." Jinyoung started, voice uncertain as he stared at their feet.

"Yeah, Jinyoungie?"

"I'm sorry you keep having to come get me..."

Mark's movements paused and the towel slid back from Jinyoung's face around the back of his neck, "I'm not.  I like being with you."

Jinyoung blinked as Mark used the towel to pull him closer, nuzzling against his lips as Jinyoung chuckled weakly, "Smooth, Hyung."

"I know! That was a good one right~?" He laughed, body rocking back with it, but when he calmed he leaned back in, tugging on Jinyoung's ear as he leaned in close, "I mean it though."

Jinyoung let out a soft grumble, "Hyung... Thank you though."

Mark shook his head and tugged the younger back into his room, "Get dressed, and brush your teeth, I'll be back."

Jinyoung nodded and moved to pull boxers and a tank top on before getting ready for bed.  When Mark came back in also dressed for bed Jinyoung was laying down already so the elder simply climbed in with him.

Mark wrapped himself around Jinyoung and snuggled in with him, giving him another few kisses on his cheek.  It wasn't until he had woken himself up a couple times with his own snores that he realized Jinyoung was not sleeping.

The elder shifted softly with a small noise, "Jinyoungie...?"

"Mn...?" He asked, staring off into the dark of his room.

"Why are you awake...? What're you waiting for~?"

"Jaebum Hyung... I still haven't heard the door open back up."

Mark sat up slightly and looked down at Jinyoung.  When he didn't see any tiredness on his face he sat the rest of the way up and pulled Jinyoung's head and shoulders into his lap, "Then I'll wait up with you."

So Mark waited up, his fingers trailing patterns through Jinyoung's hair and over the back of his neck. He waited until Jinyoung fell asleep finally around 4 in the evening and was still awake waiting for Jaebum when he came home with dinner around 7.

Jaebum called them all to dinner and Mark woke Jinyoung up gently with a soft kiss. They hadn't eaten since the snacks they'd had in the morning before their performance so they were all starving and once the food was gone they all returned to their rooms to sleep, still exhausted by the long hours they'd put in the past two days.

Mark returned to lay with Jinyoung, who slept willingly this time, knowing everyone was at home and safe in bed even if he himself wasn't safe at all. He knew that at the very least in the hearts of his fellow members he was safe, and in Mark's arms his position wasn't dangerous at all. He was home and he was loved.