As Jaebum walks through the stone arch into their house, Yugyeom storms up to him followed by   BamBam trying to stop him and a pouty Youngjae. 

“Hyung! I can’t take it anymore! Where is Jinyoung hyung?!” Yugyeom questions him hostility in his eyes. Bambam pales at what the maknae had done. 

“Yeah hyung, we’re not saying it’s your fault. We just miss him is all.” Youngjae said pouting and looking down  hiding behind the two giant maknaes.

“Hyuuuung, where is Jinyoungie eommaaaaaaa?!~” Yugyeom then proceeds to whine about to burst into tears.

Jaebum hadn’t had the time to answer at their sudden outburst thinking how much the boys had been affected by not having Jinyoung around. Jinyoung enters the archway and all boys look at him. He’d been a couple steps behind Jaebum after fixing his untied shoelace.

“Yah are you kids giving Jaebum hyung a hard time?” Jinyoung asks sternly. He looks at the dumbstruck faces of the three boys and it made a smile spread across his face.

“EOMAAAAA~!” It had been Bambam that had first run into his arms. “We missed you!!” giving Jinyoung a big hug. 

“Hyung! W..where have u been?!” Youngjae follows joining the hug. 

The boys then let go of him and he looks at Yugyeom. Yugyeom was still frozen on his spot until Jinyoung;

“Yugyeom-ah?” 

Yugyeom burst into tears and runs into the elder. His huge frame smothering the little of Jinyoung. 

“Hyuuuuung! Mianhae Eomma! I won’t tease you anymore! I’ll listen to you! Please don't leave!” Yugyeom says. 

Jinyoung suddenly had his heart break once again. But this time it was because of himself. How he hadn’t thought of how the others would feel with him suddenly walking away from them; from their lives. His tears start to fall too albeit being quieter than the younger’s.

“M…Mianhae Yugyeom-ah… I wont leave.” Jinyoung says dressing the maknae’s hair, head perched in his shoulder.

Jackson sees the reunion and joins in also crying without even knowing the reason why the other two had been crying first.

They entered the living room and Jinyoung spots Mark.

“Mark hyung!” Jinyoung runs up to the elder to give him a hug. Mark hugs back. Jaebum had unconsciously started glaring and catches himself and stops. ‘I didn’t even get a hug’ he thinks bitterly.

And so when the food had arrived, Mark had tried to sit next to Jinyoung but Jaebum would’t have it. It’s just that he can’t  let himself see Mark and Jinyoung getting closer than they already are.

Jinyoung looking oblivious as to what Jaebum and Mark were doing so he just sat there.

======================================================================================

After a couple of week of hanging out again, Jinyoung had learned to just explicitly show his affection for Jaebum. He knows he got rejected already but now that Jaebum know and he still wanted Jinyoung as a friend it’s just easier. Jinyoung had learned to call Jaebum nicknames; Jaebummie, jagiya, yeobo, oppa(a/n: yea ikr! Jinyoung you bastard!) etc. he’d seen the flustered stoic expression in Jaebum’s face but he doesn’t disagree with whatever Jinyoung calls him. 

One time, Jaebum had answered, “Ne~ Jagiya!” when Jinyoung had asked him to help him put away and do the dishes. Jinyoung looked at him incredulously. Then suddenly starting from his neck to his face he turned full red, biting on his bottom lip. Jaebum had smiled teasingly until his gaze stayed on Jinyoung’s lips. The bottom lip had turned red from the pressure from his upper teeth. Jinyoung looks at it thinking it looked like strawberries. It was so red and flushed. That’s the start of Jaebum’s habit of looking at Jinyoung’s lips.

A week later, while watching a movie, Jinyoung had laughed, and Jaebum, while on the process of looking at Jinyoung’s lips, saw how his eyes crumple when he smiles or laughs. This made Jaebum smile as well. Suddenly Jinyoung’s laughs and smiles gets too contagious for Jaebum and so he starts smiling more. 

Everything about Jinyoung suddenly seemed to get his attention. Although Jaebum only noticed this when Jackson calls him out on it. 

While at the living room watching a movie just at noon lazying around, Jinyoung smiles at a cheesy pick up line a man gave the girl (a/n: yes, a mafia gang watches chick flicks when Jinyoung says he wants to watch it.) Jaebum watches him smile silently, trying to contain a laugh so it comes out low. 

Jackson was looking every where but the TV. He’d wanted to watch an action movie so he’s been sulking and refusing to watch. He catches Jaebum looking at Jinyoung and his eyes soften. He then finally looks at the TV after studying the scene for a while. 

After the movie Jackson suddenly perks up.

“That movie was so funny.” They all look at him with confused expressions. They know if Jackson sulks his pride prevents him from enjoying things he’d been so against.

“But you know what’s funnier..” he continues now with everyone’s attention. “Jaebum hyung looked like he would say the cheesy lines to Jinyoung cause while Jinyoung was looking at the movie laughing, Jaebum was looking at Jinyoung like he was his world or something.” Jackson says ending with a laugh.

Everyone grins and looks at Jaebum with knowing expressions.

“What.” (—__—) Jaebum just deadpans as if nothing happened.

Jaebum then pondered about it. He does remembering smiling like an idiot because Jinyoung looked so genuinely happy. Sudden;y he realizes that he’d been staring at Jinyoung’s face too much recently. It’s just the man had such nice lips. The way his eyes crumple while smiling. His expressions just draw Jaebum in. When he pouts when he doesn’t get what he wants. His nose, his lips(again). Jaebum suddenly feels proud that someone like Jinyoung would like him. Proud when Jinyoung would call him endearing nicknames. And then he remembers what Mark had told him.

“…I mean have you seen Jinyoung? The man is perfect. I thought ‘Jaebum would be stupid not to realize it soon’…”

He realizes that now. Jinyoung is perfect. He’s proud to call him his friend. 

After Jinyoung came back into their lives now more comfortable than ever, Jaebum just always has the urge to spoil the man. Listening to his every whim and request. Maybe he’s scared that Jinyoung would walk away again from them, from him, and he would just let it happen(again).

One time at school, while reading at the roof during break, Jinyoung suddenly talk about how it would be so cool to have flower petals kept in a book. “It would make the book smell nice and it would dry the petals and you would be able to keep it forever.” Jinyoung had said and started ranting about how much he loves flowers “actually”. 

So the next day Jinyoung finds a rose on his table, and it happened every other day after. Overtime he gets a flower, Jinyoung would smell it and smile to himself. It made Jaebum content with how small things seem to make Jinyoung’s happiness.‘Jinyoung is such an easy friend to have.’ he thinks as he just smiles into his arm.

‘What is happening to me?’ Jaebum suddenly thought. Something had changed. 

It used to just be hi thinking of how as much as Jinyoung had been a good friend, he can only see Jinyoung as a friend. But recently, although still seeing Jinyoung as a good friend, a little thought in his brain surfaces. ‘Is it really that bad to have him as more than that?.’ but he swats the thought away. Not feeling disgust, more frightened of what the answer might be. 

=============================

They were at the Im’s residence, Jinyoung had learned to collect al the flowers he’d been getting and put it in a vase at Jaebum’s house. ‘This house needs life.’ was his reason on insisting on keeping it there.

The boys were watching TV and Jinyoung was on a table attending to the flowers. He’d been playful and put one behind his ear jokingly asking the boys,

“Yah! Eomma is pretty yes?” Jinyoung asked laughing at how nonsensical it sounded even to him. The boys laughed until they heard a little ‘yea’ from Jaebum. They stopped to look at him looking like nothing had happened and proceeded to laugh again. Jinyoung hadn’t heard Jaebum as he continued to tend to the flowers.

Jaebum wasn’t able to take his eyes off of Jinyoung. The white rose left behind his ear seemed to compliment his dark hair and milk skin, brown eyes and pink plush lips. 

                                                                                      (     ^_^)                  _____\_/_____

                                                                   (        ^_^)                                  |                      |

                                                    (-_—       )  (        ^_^)                              |        TV         |

                        _*_                                                                                       |___________|

( *  ㅍㅅㅍ )    _|___|___

                     |             |

The others had continued watching TV but Jaebum stayed watching Jinyoung’s concentrated face. And finally after a long time he’d finally had the guts to admit it to himself. The answer to the little question that in the corner of his brain that he refuses to surface.

‘Seeing this everyday for the rest of my life wouldn’t be bad at all.’

a/n:

@jbnoona : lol finallyyy... haha someone probably slapped him while sleeping. XD

@sehijaudaun : Lol MArk is the only one that can do that to Jaebum. Others would immidiately greet their deathbeds XD...

@BxbTrash : Let the tears out haha... Also yes IKR! someone puck the man awake! XD

@Leena-shi : IDK does he? XD XD XD