Seungri wakes up to a face full of Jiyong’s hair.  A few tendrils are stuck to his lips, and he sputters a bit to get them out.  They’re still spooned together, and Jiyong’s clutching at the arm that’s still wrapped around his waist.

Seungri flails around a bit to get free and then pushes his way to the other side of the mattress.  He just needs some space.  He tried to roll over several times throughout the night, but Jiyong’s grip on him hadn’t budged.  Maybe they should invest in getting Jiyong his own stuffed animal to sleep with.  Or maybe Hyung will donate his ugly panda to the cause.

But wait.  If he’s still here with Jiyong, then that means…

Seungri looks down at himself and feels a sharp spike of panic.  It didn’t work.  They’re still swapped.  But that can’t be right because Seungri wished them back.  He held the rock in his hand and wished them back.

He scrambles out of bed, ignoring Jiyong’s mewl of protest when he dislodges the covers from both of them.  Jiyong doesn’t get up, though.  He just rolls over and pulls the covers back up around his chin.

Seungri tries to stroll casually out of the room, but inside, his blood is pounding.  What if they’re stuck like this?  What if they can’t ever switch back?

Thankfully, Daesung’s already out of the room when Seungri barges in – he tends to be an early riser.  But Seunghyun is still in bed, head resting heavily on the pillow.  Damn it, Seungri doesn’t want to be the one to deliver this news – Seunghyun was already so pissed at him last night – but he thinks he’s in over his head now, and he’s starting to freak out.

“Hyung.”  He pokes at Seunghyun’s shoulder.  “Hyung.”  But that’s no use.  Seungri should know better by now.  Seunghyun and Jiyong take turns being the hardest to wake up.  He’s seen Seunghyun sleep through thunderstorms, the banging of pots and pans, and even Daesung attempting to serenade the entire neighborhood with trot.  The guy just doesn’t budge.

Except this is kind of an emergency, and it really can’t wait.  He shakes Seunghyun’s shoulders as hard as he can, rocking him back and forth.  “Hyuuuung,” he whines.  “Wake up.”  Seunghyun frowns in his sleep and tries to bat him away, but Seungri just keeps shoving at him.  “It didn’t work.  I’m still you.”

Finally, Seunghyun slits one eye open, and at the sight of Seungri still in his body, he jerks awake.  He sits up and scans Seungri frantically, as if he’s hoping that he got it wrong, but then he groans and scrubs his hands over his face. 

And then Seunghyun snaps accusing eyes Seungri’s way.  “Why didn’t it work?”

“I don’t know!” Seungri huffs.  “It’s not like I’m an expert on magical rocks!”

“Are you sure you made the wish?”

“Of course I’m sure!”

“Well, did you mean it?”

“Yes.  I –”  But then he stops.  Because did he mean it?  Sure, there are a couple downsides to being Seunghyun, but on the whole?  He likes it.  He feels validated, like he’s worth something.  Not like the maknae who always gets shoved around and overlooked.

At his hesitance, Seunghyun’s accusing look morphs into full on frustration. 

“I’m sorry,” Seungri says.  “I couldn’t help it.”

“Whatever.  I’ll make the wish this time.”  Seunghyun rolls up to his feet and heads over to the desk.  He gets the rock in hand and closes his eyes as tightly as he can.  He’s concentrating so hard Seungri’s afraid he might strain something.  When Seunghyun opens his eyes back up, they’re still in each other’s bodies. 

Seungri tries to keep his hopes up.  “Like I said before, it wasn’t immediate last time.  Maybe it’ll switch us back the next time we wake up.”

“So we have to go through another day like this?” 

“I guess so.”

Seunghyun looks like he’d rather do anything else.  Then he sighs and runs his hand through his hair.  “Okay, fine.  But if that’s the case, there’s something we have to do first.”

That ‘something’, as it turns out, is a quick, impromptu lesson on how to rap.  They’re standing in the middle of the floor, bouncing from side to side, doing these dope new hand gestures Seunghyun just taught him, rapping Seunghyun’s part to “La La La.”

And that’s how Daesung finds them.  He just stares at them for a bit before sliding in to get some fresh clothes.  “Sorry.  Carry on.”  He closes the door carefully behind him.

The second day goes by much better than the first.  Seunghyun does well with the choreography they learned yesterday, and Seungri manages to make it through their voice lesson without Jiyong checking to see if he has a fever.

The first real problem doesn’t happen until lunch.  They’re all sitting together around a table, and Seungri’s happily munching away at his food when Seunghyun takes his tray away.

“Hey!  I was eating that!”

Seunghyun shakes his head.  “You’ve had enough.  You’re on a diet.”

“But I’m hungry,” Seungri whines.  He’s barely had anything.

A weary look pulls down on Seunghyun’s face.  “You’ll get used to it.” 

When Seunghyun notices the others watching them, he explains, “Hyung asked me for help.  I’m keeping him on track.”  They seem to accept that easily enough and go back to eating their own lunches.  Seungri pouts and tries to sneak another bite, but Seunghyun slaps his hand away.

As they head to the next leg of practice, Seungri whines uselessly at Seunghyun the whole way.  “I’m so hungry.  Hungry.”

Finally, Seunghyun snaps and pulls them to the side so the others won’t hear them.  “I know, okay?  But we have promotions to do, and I have to be careful.”  Seunghyun looks down at the floor and worries at his lip.  “Look, I know you think I’m lazy, but I have to work really hard to keep off the weight.  It’s not easy for me.  And Hyunsuk-hyung said if I don’t keep it off, he’ll drop me, so…”  Seunghyun looks away, ashamed, like he hates that he had to admit that out loud.

Seungri swallows around the lump in his throat.  He knew Seunghyun had been big before and that he’d struggled to lose weight, but he hadn’t given it much more thought than that.  He never even considered that his hyung was still struggling with it.

“Yeah, of course.”  Seungri feels like he should say more, but he doesn’t know what.

Seunghyun nods his head and shuffles away, a vulnerable slump to his shoulders, and Seungri watches on, feeling like a total tool.

He finally stops stalling in the hallway and follows after.  When he gets to the door of the practice room, Jiyong’s waiting for him.  He tosses Seungri a banana and winks before slipping back into the room.

Seungri looks down at the fruit in his hand.  His tummy’s still rumbling, and he really wants to stifle it, but Seunghyun’s humiliated words keep circling round and round his head.

He dumps the banana in the trash on the way in.

When they get back to their dorm that night, Seungri settles in for a quiet night in.  Seunghyun, Daesung, and Youngbae are all sitting around the TV, sifting through DVDs, trying to pick out a movie, so Seungri sinks down on the couch, planning to join them.

A moment later, Jiyong plops down beside him.  “Let’s go out.”

“Go out?”

“I wanna go to a club.”

A club.  Seungri’s never been to a club before.  He’s still underage.  He feels himself grow excited at the prospect.  “There’s alcohol at clubs.”

Jiyong’s lips twitch in amusement.  “Yeah, you drunkard.  So let’s go get you some.”

A club, he thinks again.  Where there’s booze and chicks and more booze.  That sounds awesome.  “Okay.”

He takes his time getting ready even though he doesn’t need to; Seunghyun’s such a good-looking guy, so much so that Seungri kinda hates him for it.  He makes sure to brush his teeth so his breath smells good, and then he douses himself in Seunghyun’s cologne.

When he heads back out into the common area, Seunghyun is waiting for him.  “You can’t go to a club,” he says, as if it’s obvious.  “You’re not old enough.”

Seungri pulls out the wallet he found by Seunghyun’s bed and flashes him his own ID.  He smirks.  “Really?  ‘Cause this right here says I am.”

Jiyong picks that moment to come out of the bathroom and head their way.  “Are you ready?”  Jiyong’s jeans are tighter than the baggy ones he usually wears, and if Seungri’s not mistaken, he’s wearing eyeliner.

Seunghyun’s still scowling, but Seungri ignores him, smiling wide.  “Yep!”  His hyung’s probably just jealous that he’s not the one going this time, but he can get over it.  He and Jiyong go clubbing all the time.  It won’t kill him to sit this one out.

Seungri follows Jiyong to the door, and right before he exits, Seunghyun tells him, “Don’t you dare do anything stupid.”

Pfft.  Hyung worries too much.

The club is amazing.  The music is thumping, lasers are flashing, and there are girls in miniskirts as far as the eye can see.  This must be paradise.

Girls keep looking over at him and checking him out, and Seungri puffs up at their attention.  “‘Sup ladies.”  He smirks as they giggle and start whispering to each other behind their hands.  This body is truly wasted on Seunghyun; he doesn’t take advantage of it nearly enough.

So yeah.  It’s paradise.

Except here’s the thing about clubbing with Jiyong: he’s the worse wingman ever.  Every time Seungri starts chatting some girl up, Jiyong tugs on his arm and hauls him elsewhere.  Jiyong finally pulls him over to the bar.

“Buy me a drink,” he says.

“Buy your own,” Seungri says back.

Jiyong looks surprised by that.  He’s standing there with his hip cocked, one hand resting daintily on it, his eyebrow arched at Seungri’s response.  And then the sass leaves Jiyong’s posture as he sidles up to Seungri and latches onto his elbow.  He bites down on his lip and looks up at him coyly through his eyelashes.  “Are you really not going to get me a drink?”

Seungri cracks up laughing because really, Jiyong’s absurd to the point of being cute.  “Yeah, okay.”  It’s Seunghyun’s money in the wallet he’s got, so what the hell.  Man, though, Seunghyun’s such a er if that always works on him.

Seungri flags down the bartender and asks Jiyong what he wants.

“My usual,” Jiyong says breezily.

“What’s that?”

Jiyong looks at him for a moment before shaking his head in fond exasperation and then ordering the drink himself.  It sounds fruity, whatever it is.

The bartender waits for Seungri to order next, but he totally spaces out because he’s never allowed to drink, and he doesn’t have the first idea about what he should get.  He knows Seunghyun likes beer and stuff, but he doesn’t remember what kind.  He’s saved by Jiyong, who grins and shakes his head again, then places the order for him.

The bartender gives Jiyong something red with a cherry in it, and then he slides a short glass over to Seungri.  There’s a dark liquid inside with three ice cubes and a little straw.  He gives it a tentative sniff and then takes a drink.  His nose scrunches up.  “Wow, that’s strong.”

Jiyong just gives him a weird look before ushering him away.

A little while later and a few more drinks in, they’re out on the dance floor.  Jiyong’s swiveling his hips and running his hands over his body, and Seungri’s checking out a girl over Jiyong’s shoulder.  She has sultry eyes and luscious dark hair that falls nearly all the way to her waist.  And she’s looking right back at him.

Jiyong finally notices where he’s looking and scowls.  “Why do you keep flirting with everything that moves tonight?”

Seungri shrugs.  He doesn’t get what the big deal is.  This is a club.  Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do?  “I’m just having fun,” he says, rocking to the beat.  “What’s the problem?  I’m single, aren’t I?”

Jiyong flinches, and then he looks away.  “Yeah.  You’re single.”

There’s something odd about his expression, but the girl behind Jiyong shoots him this smile that’s to die for, then starts backing away, gesturing for him to follow after her, so whatever moodiness Jiyong’s going through can wait. 

“Hey, uh, I have to go to the bathroom.”  He doesn’t wait for Jiyong to respond.  His eyes are fixed firmly on the siren stringing him along.

The girl, he discovers, has friends.  Really hot friends.  He winds up on one of the plush sofas in a darkened corner of the club with them, one under each arm while a third leans in really close, hanging on his every word.  They laugh and simper as he tells them all about what it’s like to be a rapper in the hot new idol group that just came out.

One of the girls swirls the tip of her finger along his bicep.  “You’ll have to make sure you get us concert tickets.  So we can come see how amazing you are.”

Seungri flashes her his pearly whites.  Did he mention how much he loves clubbing?

The girl on his right kneads her fingers into his thigh.  “I’ve never kissed anyone famous before.  What’s it like?”

Seungri’s eyes flick down toward her painted red lips.  “I don’t know, you tell me.”

She giggles and presses in, sliding her lips sensually over his.  Seungri’s giddy at the feel of her.  Her lips are soft, and she smells so good, and she’s a couple years older than him so she probably has experience. 

He smiles when they pull out of the kiss, but his smile disappears when he sees Jiyong standing in front of them, stricken.  Jiyong’s hands are balled tightly at his sides, and he looks like he might cry.

Is he really that upset about Seungri breaking off on his own?  “Hey, Jiyong.  How’s it going?”

He’s just about to invite Jiyong to join them when his hyung spins on his heel and marches toward the exit.  Seungri watches him walk off with a dumb look on his face.  Jiyong gets all the way out of sight before Seungri realizes that he should probably chase after him.  He has no idea what’s going on, but Jiyong looked really upset, and Seungri would be a jackass if he doesn’t at least try to figure out why.

Seungri extricates himself from the girls and hurries to catch up, but by the time he tears out of the building, Jiyong’s already ducking into a cab.

“Jiyong!” he calls out. 

Jiyong’s head whips around to look at him, and Seungri recoils at the betrayal that’s stamped all over his face.  Jiyong’s lower lip trembles, and then he shuts himself inside the cab.  Seungri watches as the car drives off, leaving him alone and confused on the sidewalk.

What just happened?

It takes a bit for Seungri to catch his own taxi, but he finally does, and he directs the driver back to the dorm.  It’s extremely late by the time he gets home, and nearly all the lights are out, all except the one filtering out of his room from where the door’s ajar. 

He nearly ignores it and heads to the hyungs’ room instead – surely Jiyong hasn’t fallen asleep, yet – but the soft cadence of whispers gives him pause.  He pads over toward his room, quiet enough not to draw attention to himself.  He half-expects to see Seunghyun and Daesung; those are the two who should be in this room, after all, but while Seunghyun is there, it’s not Daesung he sees through the crack in the door.

Jiyong is sitting on the mattress beside Seunghyun, elbows on his knees, head in his hands.  “I’m so stupid,” Jiyong whispers bitterly, and Seungri hides himself behind the wall so no one will notice he’s there.  He’s careful just to barely peek inside.

“You’re not stupid,” Seunghyun responds, so much aching warmth in his voice that Seungri feels it in his stomach.

Jiyong pulls his head up out of his hands.  His face is splotchy from where he’s been crying, and his eyes still look damp.  “I thought he liked me.”

Seunghyun’s face scrunches up like he’s in pain.  “He does like you.  You’re his best friend.”

Jiyong lets out a soft, humorless laugh.  “Friend,” he spits.  There’s a tremor in his lip followed by a sniff.  Jiyong wipes stubbornly at the new tears trying to gather in his eyes.  “I thought it was more than that.”

“It is more,” Seunghyun says, a fervent hand folding around Jiyong’s knee.  “It’s…special.”

Jiyong snorts.  “What would you know?”

Seunghyun presses his lips tightly together, like he’s forcing them to stay shut so the wrong words don’t pour out.  He looks so damn frustrated that he’s not allowed to say what he wants to say.  Finally, he wraps one arm around Jiyong and gently rests Jiyong’s head in the cradle of his shoulder.  He murmurs tenderly into Jiyong’s hair, “I know more than you think.”

Seungri eases away and presses his back flat up against the wall, mind racing at what he’s just seen.

Oh.

He feels like such an idiot.  How did he not see?  It seems so obvious in hindsight.  All the smiling, the touching, the way Jiyong was at dinner, at the club…it all fits together like a well-made puzzle.  And Jiyong wasn’t jealous over the fan the other day; he was jealous of her.  Because he thought Seunghyun had taken an interest in her.  And their talk on the roof…

She’s not my type.  You know that.

, Seungri’s so damn dumb.  Jiyong had practically admitted to him that he didn’t like girls, but he’d been too clueless to pick up on it. 

So the guy Seungri idolizes is gay.  That’s okay, he guesses.  Seungri can roll with that.

Only now Jiyong’s crying, and it’s all Seungri’s fault.  He ed everything up.

Seungri jumps when the bedroom door is pulled open a little wider and he’s met with Seunghyun.  Seunghyun’s face hardens, and he gently pulls the door shut behind him.

“Hyung,” Seungri whispers, desperate to explain, to apologize, to somehow fix all this.  “I didn’t know.”

Seunghyun’s eyes zero in on Seungri’s mouth, and his jaw clenches angrily.  Seungri wipes self-consciously at his lips, his heart dropping down to his stomach when he sees his hand stained with lipstick.

“Get out of my sight,” Seunghyun nearly growls, low enough so Jiyong won’t hear.  “I don’t even want to look at you.”

Seungri swallows.  “But Hyung –”

Seunghyun’s glare slides over him before he brushes past him, striding toward the kitchen to pluck a bottle of water out of the fridge.  On the way back, he doesn’t so much as glance Seungri’s way. 

His jaw is still locked up in anger, but the moment he opens the door, the hard expression melts away.  For Jiyong, Seungri realizes.  Those soft, kind eyes are for Jiyong.  Seunghyun shuts the door behind him, and for the second time that night, Seungri’s left all by himself.

Frustration and the need to do something well up inside him.  He wants to burst in and come clean, to tell Jiyong what really happened so he’ll stop being so hurt, but he’s afraid if he tries anything like that he’ll just make everything worse.  And Seunghyun made it real clear that he doesn’t want anything to do with Seungri just yet.

Seungri trudges to bed feeling absolutely awful for the mess he’s made.  He wants more than anything to take it all back, but the wishing rock is out of his reach.