Kyungsoo finally dates Joohyun.

-0-

Ji Hye makes her way into the dance studio quietly, waving as the girls see her in the mirror. They don’t do more than smile, finishing up their routine for SM Town. A bag of tteokbokki dangles off her wrist. She probably shouldn’t, but what the company doesn’t know won’t hurt any of them. It’s not like they won’t burn off the calories in time.

“Unnie,” Yerim squeals, glomping the older girl. Ji Hye would be grossed out by the sweat, if she wasn’t heading for her own practice in an hour. Ji Hye’s members are still in the dorm, wasting away their free hour while they can.

“Yerim-ah,” Ji Hye laughs, patting the teen’s back. “Working hard, I see.”

Ji Hye’s close to the Red Velvet members, if only because she had been the youngest female sunbae they knew. She tries to help them out as much as she can, since she known how tough it is to debut. She might have said she’s the closest to them.

Except, you know, she’s not.

She shoots the leader a grin, watching the elder girl smile back tentatively. Ji Hye knows that since news got out that she’s dating Kyungsoo, Joohyun doesn’t know how to act around Ji Hye. It’s awkward enough, frankly; Ji Hye is younger than her by three years, but Ji Hye debuted two years before Joohyun. They’re still trying to figure that out, so Ji Hye calls Joohyun unnie and Joohyun calls her sunbae. It’s a strange compromise, but it works.

“What brings you here?” Wendy inquires, not quite suspicious, but almost.

Ji Hye smiles serenely. “Can’t come by to see my favourite girl group?” she teases. Wendy looks away with a guilty laugh.

“Unnie, don’t you have practice?” Sooyoung asks, dragging Ji Hye to the small table to the side so she can place her smuggled goods on the table.

“Soon,” she answers. Ji Hye hands out the chopsticks to everyone. “Dig in!”

They hesitate. She understands why. They’re worried about the calories and their diets. Ji Hye should too, but it’s not like any of them are in the red zone.

“It’s fine,” she assures them. “I promise you won’t get in trouble. If they find out, you can blame me,” she adds.

That seems to calm them down enough. It’s only one takeout order of tteokbokki. They won’t die. She, Sehun and Jongin used to sneak in food like this all the time (although they usually had to sneak in through the window).

Once the others are sufficiently distracted by food, she turns to the leader. “Joohyun unnie, can I talk to you?” she asks pleasantly, her tone light.

Joohyun freezes, as do the others. The air around them is filled with tension. Ji Hye would like to be ignorant, but she knows why. This is why most people avoid the elephant in the room rather than stab it with a penknife.

“Um, sure,” Joohyun replies slowly. She’s not meeting Ji Hye’s gaze. EXO’s maknae should probably feel guilty about making an elder so uncomfortable, but… well, have you met Ji Hye? She feeds off of others’ discomfort.

“Alone, please.” Ji Hye keeps the serene smile plastered on the face. The two youngest members of Red Velvet share a look of wide-eyed worry.

Joohyun takes a deep breath and frowns slightly. “Whatever you want to say to me, you can say in front of my group members,” she says firmly. Ji Hye respects her more for that.

Ji Hye glances at the other members, who are suddenly more interested in the tteokbokki than anything else. She shrugs, leaning against the wall since the seats are taken.

“Yeah, okay.” The apprehension on Joohyun’s face increases. “I just wanted to talk to you about Kyungsoo oppa.”

There’s a collective blanch from the other members as Joohyun pales slightly. Ji Hye doesn’t know what’s going on, but she knows the tension could be cut with a spoon.

Ji Hye smile is just the slightest bit sharper as she continues. “It’s not that I don’t like you, unnie. I do, really. But the thing is, I like Kyungsoo oppa more. So if you hurt him…” She trails off.

The set of Joohyun’s jaw is stubborn. That just makes it very hard for Ji Hye to dislike the elder. “So what?” she shoots back.

Ji Hye tilts her head, regarding the leader coolly. “I can make your life hell,” she finishes. “And it won’t just be me. The rest of us – EXO – will too. Not enough to get you kicked out of the company, but enough.”

It’s so silent Ji Hye can actually hear the whirring of the air conditioning. They’re probably shocked she has the balls to actually threaten their leader in front of them. She’s younger, sunbae or not, and that shows Ji Hye either cares a lot about Kyungsoo or has very little respect for Joohyun. Ji Hye is leaning towards the latter. Joohyun seems to feel the same way.

A flush is high on Joohyun's cheekbones, but it’s obvious it’s from anger, not embarrassment. Ji Hye is unaffected, wondering what the leader will do next.

“Listen here, Song Ji Hye,” Joohyun says lowly, without sounding menacing. “What happens between Kyungsoo and I is our business. I don’t care if you’re or if you’ve known him longer. That doesn’t give you the right to threaten me, little girl.”

Ji Hye’s lips twitch before she grins. She actually lets out a laugh and Red Velvet is appropriately annoyed. What kind of nut job laughs after Joohyun had just turned full leader on them? Song Ji Hye, apparently. Sooyoung and Yerim share a look, privately wondering if all that time surrounded by males had damaged their poor sunbae’s psyche.

“Good,” Ji Hye says once her laughter dies down. “You pass the test.”

“What test?” Joohyun sputter indignantly, rage making way for confusion. “What the hell just happened?”

Ji Hye grins, patting the elder on the shoulder. “I’m just kidding, unnie,” Ji Hye chortles. She pouts playfully. “I would never threaten you! I like you too much. Not as much as Kyungsoo oppa, obviously.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

Joohyun blinks at the younger girl. “I don’t get it,” she states with a shake of her head.

Ji Hye grins cheekily. “Do you really think we’d stand for our Kyungsoo dating a wimp? Of course not. Me and the guys wanted to see if you’re right for him.” She makes a finger pistol and points it at her. “You passed! Of course, with the news out, it’s not like we could stop you from dating even if we wanted to…”

“Hold up,” Seulgi interjects, a rice cake hanging off her chopsticks. “It’s not because you like Kyungsoo oppa?”

Ji Hye blinks, making a vaguely disturbed face. “What are you on?” she demands. “Ew – I mean, not ew,” she hastily amends with a glance towards an amused Joohyun, “but, no. He’s like my mom!”

“Most people would say brother,” Joohyun says drily.

Ji Hye rolls her eyes nudging the leader playfully. “I’m sorry, have you met Kyungsoo oppa? He nags more than my own mother does. You should hear him in the mornings.” She makes a face. “Ugh, wait. Bad mental image.”

Seulgi is so very, adorably confused. “But… on EXO Next Door – ”

“Seulgi-yah,” Ji Hye says gently, “you’re an idiot. Kyungsoo oppa and I are just very good actors.”

Seungwan nods. She very much remembers the pranks Ji Hye had used to play back when they were both trainees. “I remember,” she pipes up. She cracks a smile. “Remember that time with Eun Jungie?”

Ji Hye lets out a wistful sigh. “Yeah, good times.”

Joohyun regards the entire thing with amusement, no longer angry at their sunbae. “Do I have your blessing to date your member then?” she asks jokingly.

Ji Hye nods. “Most definitely.” She turns serious quickly. “But seriously. Don’t break him. I have to live with the guy. One is enough.”

“Oh? And how is Baekhyun oppa?”

“Mopey,” Ji Hye answers cheerfully, “which is probably why he came up with the idea of threatening you.”

Seungwan quirks an eyebrow while the maknaes of Red Velvet look aghast. “You didn’t do the same thing to Taeyeon sunbae, did you?” Sooyoung squeaks.

“Definitely not,” Ji Hye replies with a shudder. “She can be pretty intimidating.”

Joohyun crosses her arms, a smile tugging at the edges of her lips even though she tries to look stern. “So you’re doing this because I’m not intimidating?”

“I’m doing this because you’re technically my hoobae, unnie,” Ji Hye replies with a crooked grin. The leader and her age mates give her an unimpressed look. “Hey, when you’re the maknae out of ten, you’ll try to get your kicks whenever you can.”

Yerim and Sooyoung nod sympathetically, only to stop and quickly return their attention to their tteokbokki when their unnies look at them.

“Oh,” Ji Hye says suddenly with a pleading look towards Joohyun. “Please don’t tell Kyungsoo oppa. He’s going to kill me.”

“Maybe I should,” Joohyun teases with a twinkle in her eye. “Serves you right for playing a prank on me like that.”

Ji Hye’s eyes widen comically. “No, you don’t understand. He’ll tear me apart!” She clasps her hand in front of her, going for pitiful. “Won’t you do your favourite sunbae a favour?”

Joohyun laughs. “You’re not my favourite sunbae.”

Ji Hye looks faintly tearful, but mostly resigned. Seriously, if Kyungsoo finds out, he’s going to rain unholy hell on her. Joonmyun would let him too.

“Don’t you have practice to get to?” Seulgi reminds the female EXO member drily with a glance towards Joohyun. All of them glance reflexively at the clock on the wall, a string of curses leaving Ji Hye’s mouth when she realises she has ten minutes to get to the dance studio her group is practicing and look like she hadn’t just been threatening the latest addition to their family.

“Ji Hye,” Seulgi reprimands, sounding more exasperated than angry.

Ji Hye steals one more bite of tteokbokki and hugs the two maknaes. “Gotta scram,” she says. She’s nearly out the door before she turns around and tackles Joohyun in a hug. “Welcome to the family, unnie,” she exclaims with a noisy kiss to the leader’s cheek. “Now you’re practically my sister-in-law!”

Ji Hye bounces off before the others can react.

“What…?” Sooyoung says, her chopsticks hanging from her lips. She blinks, looking up at her unnies. “What just happened?”

Seungwan rolls her eyes. “Ji Hye happened,” the elder replies drily. She turns her amused gaze to her leader, who looks a little shell-shocked at Ji Hye’s sudden attack. “You’re not really going to tell on her, are you, unnie?”

Joohyun merely smirks, heading to her bag.

Ji Hye does get in trouble with Kyungsoo for her little stunt, but she makes sure she doesn’t go down alone. She drags Baekhyun, Jongdae, Chanyeol, Jongin and Sehun into the pits with her. It’s not fair that she takes the blame while her co-conspirators cackle at her misery.

“This is all your fault,” Baekhyun grumbles with a glare towards her. She, Baekhyun and Jongin are elbow deep in soap and dirty dishes. Kyungsoo had decided to make a feast for the ten of them… then leave an unholy amount of dishes for the three of them to deal with.

“Hey,” she protests. “At least we’re not doing laundry.”

The three of them pause and collectively shudder. Well, she thinks happily, that’s Chanyeol's, Jongdae's and Sehun’s problem, not hers.

Jongin pouts, handing her a slippery plate to rinse. “I thought Joohyun noona liked you enough to not tell,” he sighs.

Ji Hye shoots him a crooked grin, hip checking him. “I guess threatening her might have something to do with that.” She turns to Baekhyun and hip checks him too. “But it was funny.”

The elder actually cracks a grin at that. “If you only you had the balls to do that to Taeyeon noona,” he cackles.

Ji Hye pales at the thought. Yeah… no.

-0-

I don't know Red Velvet (I think you can tell) and I don't know if Kyungsoo really is dating Irene, but I like the idea of Ji Hye threatening any girl her members are dating. Also, Kyungsoo.

-cries at baby squishy being off the market-