It's almost 2 months since I last updated. I'm sorry it took this long :(  Anyway, here it is. Hope you guys enjoy it!

The basis: Donghyuk's IG account (the focus of which is obvious with the chapter title)

In which Junhwe has a lot to say about the way Donghyuk handles his sns account.

Shout out to KingKoong! Thank you for the idea! ♥

Edit 4/23: Corrected errors and changed some word choices

When he started dating Donghyuk, Junhwe knew he can never have Donghyuk’s attention all to himself. They will never have the kind of relationship where just one call or text and the other will leave everything behind and come flying. Forget the fact that he and Donghyuk are practically living together, and technically being in the same idol group also means they’re in a very reachable distance for about 80% of the day. It’s all about the close company they keep aside from each other. Namely, the best friends.

Oh, boy.

Once upon a time, in the days of yore when he and Donghyuk were still dancing within all kinds of unresolved tension, he was often suspicious of the very close relationship between his boyfriend and a certain rapper named… who was it again? Ah, Bobby. From Islands, or something.

...Okay, that was uncalled for. If Donghyuk can hear how he addresses his beloved hyung right now, he’d be banned from his room again. But anyway, the point is Junhwe always knew Bobby-hyung will be the main person he’ll be sharing Donghyuk with. Like, if both he and Bobby-hyung ask Donghyuk to hang-out, Donghyuk will no doubt go to Bobby-hyung unless a force of nature prevents him from doing so. No, Junhwe’s not exaggerating.

And he gets it, okay? Those two are like platonic soulmates, brothers by choice, best of friends, the perfect hyung for the dongsaeng and vice versa. Junhwe truly understands because it’s the same for him and Jinani. And though their relationship with the two hyungs had been a main problem and hindrance before, it isn’t the case now.

But there’s a moment. Alright, moments, when Junhwe can’t help but be suspicious once again. And this may sound childish or even hilarious to some, but most of those moments had to do with their public Instagram accounts.

“Can he like, chill with all the Bobby-hyung posts in his IG?” he grumbles as he leans his back on the bed frame, throwing his phone on the fluffy rug. “It’s not like his life revolves around the hyung.”

He feels something poke his head so he glances upward to his left to see Jinan’s foot. He grimaces and shoos the hyung’s foot away with the pillow on his lap.

“I think you’re the one who needs to chill.” Jinhwan tells him with a slightly teasing tone. “You’re acting like his posts with Jiwon is a new thing.”

“Oh please! The things he puts there are all within expectation.” he retorts, grumbling under his breath again before turning to his side to look at the mat-hyung on the bed. “But the way he’s handling his account… it’s as if he’s Bobby-hyung’s fansite or something.”

Jinhwan takes his eyes off his phone to give him a 3-second deadpan look.

“A Bobby fansite.”

“Yeah. A freaking fansite.”

Jinhwan laughs out loud. Junhwe lets him, waiting patiently for the hyung’s amusement to die down so he could prepare for an eventual retort. He can feel the disagreement coming.

“You’re exaggerating.”

As he’d thought.

“No, I’m most certainly not exaggerating! Listen to me hyung. I’ll explain.”

He sees Jinhwan open his mouth to shut him off so before that could happen, he spills out the explanation he brewed in his head for the past days to justify his disappointment.

It’s all collected in bullet points in his head, narrated in a firm tone that should boast utmost confidence of his statements: the number of Bobby posts against those about other iKON members, the same ratio against the posts about Donghyuk himself, the type of pictures Donghyuk posts when it’s about his favorite hyung, etcetera.

“And you know that iKONCERT one? Where he captioned it as a beautiful memory?” he scoffs, shaking his head. “Of all the pictures he chose, why is it the one where Bobby-hyung’s abs are out in display? Was he saying the abs are the beautiful memory?”

He frowns when Jinhwan snickers loudly at his words.

“Maybe that’s the first group pic he saw in his phone.”

“He has lots of full group pics, hyung.”

“But not all are from an iKONCERT.”

“Hyung, that’s not the point.” he clicks his tongue and raises up a knee to rest his arm there. “The point is, he’s too biased with his posts. He clings to Chanwoo too but he never posted a pic of him. Same with Yunhyeong-hyung, Hanbin-hyung. You.”

“And you.” Jinhwan adds in with a soft snicker. Junhwe groans at that because the hyung is clearly messing with him now. Then the comfortable smirk on the Jinhwan’s lips drops a little as he pokes him with his toes again.

“What do you actually want Donghyuk to do, anyway?”

God, Junhwe hates that question. What does he want his boyfriend to do? A lot.

First of all, he wants Donghyuk to cut down his Kim Jiwon fanboy bromance posts. He gets that it’s heartwarming and cute for the fans but there should be a limit. Second, he wants to see balance in the ratios he pointed out in Donghyuk’s IG; more posts about the other members, for example. Third, he wants to see at least one or two posts about him there. Junhwe doesn’t care if it’s a diss post, as long as he has some presence in his own boyfriend’s personal SNS.

But all those things are just his own selfishness, which is why he hates being asked what he wants Donghyuk to do about his own Instagram account.

And thank the heavens Jinhwan-hyung understands him enough to not push him to answer. Still, the mat-hyung settles with an advice about opening it up with Donghyuk.

“Don’t do it as if you’re accusing him, though.” Jinhwan sighs and he goes back to his phone. “Admit you’re jealous of Jiwon-ah, then calmly talk things through.”

Junhwe groans again. “I’m not jealous.”

“You called Donghyuk a Bobby fansite and complained about the Bobby abs post.”

“...Fine.”

--

Stalling isn’t an ideal method, but it’s not like Junhwe’s doing it on purpose. (At least for the most part.)

Variety show meetings, individual recordings, and the family bonding times aside, it’s rare for Junhwe to catch Donghyuk completely free to talk about conflict-prone things. And by free, he meant Donghyuk having a completely positive aura - the type of disposition wherein Donghyuk is in such a pleasant mood that they can talk about anything and he’ll just take it in a stride. Usually, they’d exchanged rather harsh criticisms about their skills when it’s like that, because there’s a low chance for both of them to mull over each other’s words negatively. Funnily enough, the relationship talks are often done in the opposite way. This is one of the rare times he’s actually aiming for the right timing. The hyungs, especially Jinhwan, had never been impressed with that.

Jinhwan also told him the longer he delays, the harder it is to speak out. The hyung is currently reminding him of that with his So Done™ look thrown at him while the whole team feasts on their dinner of delivered chicken wings and jajangmyeon. Junhwe discreetly rolls his eyes at the mat-hyung’s silent demand. Yeah, it’s bad to glare across the table just because Donghyuk happens to be taking a picture of his and Bobby’s portions of the food. He frowns at Jinhwan but the hyung just drums his fingers on the table in impatience. Fine.

Junhwe waits when everyone’s done. After Yunhyeong coaxed Chanwoo into helping him wash the dishes, he clears his throat loudly, inwardly doing a fist pump when Donghyuk finally sets his eyes on him.

“Dong--”

“Hey, so Battleground in a bit, yeah?”

And Bobby decides to interrupt with his toothy grin directly aimed at Donghyuk.

Goddamit.

He scowls and immediately looks away, already knowing Donghyuk would choose Kim Jiwon. Hanbin, who’s at his side busy tearing up tissue, asks him offhandedly what got him so tensed up. Junhwe doesn't want to answer that and Jinhwan thankfully saves him by blurting out “indigestion”.

He risks a peek at the cause of his misery. And like salt on the wound, he sees Donghyuk smiling like the bright sun that he is towards their main rapper. Junhwe contemplates standing up to pull Donghyuk away and lock themselves in his room.

But then,

“Sorry, hyung. I don’t feel like playing games tonight. How about you just play with Hanbin-hyung?”

Bobby has no problem waving off the apology before he animatedly challenges their leader. Said leader stops his tissue paper-tearing and accepts with a bluff of having a high score the last time he played. Jinhwan takes advantage of it to challenge both of them. Chanwoo’s complaint of being left out carries through the room while he washes the dishes. Yunhyeong slaps the dish towel on the maknae’s back and scolds him to focus on the chore.

Meanwhile, Donghyuk is staring straight at Junhwe, a soft smile on his face; his aura pleasant and welcoming. Junhwe suppresses a giggle.

Wow, did Kim Donghyuk just turn down Bro-For-Life-And-Beyond Kim Jiwon? For him?

Looks like he’ll get out of their talk unscatched.

--

Okay. Unscatched is a huge overstatement. Judging by the disappointed and tired stare Donghyuk’s throwing at him - completely different from half an hour ago, Junhwe should prepare for a walk out scene any moment now. Seems like finding for the right timing and right mood doesn’t give a big advantage.

He feels awkward sitting on his desk chair, waiting for Donghyuk to say or do something. Donghyuk finally breaks the silence by sighing, clicking his tongue, and then shaking his head before moving to get into a more comfortable sitting position on his sheets. There’s a pause then he kicks off Junhwe’s bolster pillow, the item falling down in front of Junhwe like a dead body. The action somehow makes Junhwe feel ominous, so he gulps and starts going over the things he said in his head. Maybe he should have held back half of it.

“You sounded very passionate about my Bobby-hyung posts.” Donghyuk states with an eyebrow raised.

Well, how else is he going to convey how affected he is? Not that Junhwe would say that right now.

“N-Not really. Just stating facts.”

“Also a fact is you not commenting or even liking any of my posts but you don’t see me sulking and complaining about it.”

...Okay. Fair enough.

“...I commented on your Obang post.”

“Yeah. How thoughtful of you to be jealous of Obang.”

Junhwe winces, annoyance quickly climbing in. He’d hoped Donghyuk won’t go this route even though the ideal atmosphere for their talk’s completely gone, but alas.

“How thoughtful of you to be jealous of Bobby-hyung too.”

He huffs and lifts a hand to massage his temple, a switch being flipped on. Then before he can think more,

“Yeah. Quite thoughtful of me, right? So thoughtful for feeling neglected just because you treat your Instagram like a blog of your lovey-dovey relationship with your beloved Kim Jiwon. I’ll be more supportive of your romance from now on.”

Hurt flashes on Donghyuk’s face as soon as Junhwe’s done with his retort. Regret is fast with knocking sense into him, so he opens his mouth to immediately apologize.

“S-Sorry…”

Donghyuk didn’t so much as frown or even shrug his shoulders.

And as expected, Junhwe gets the walk out scene he dreaded, with a bonus of a final scathing glare that most definitely says “Do not talk to me”.

--

“Donghyuk slammed his door shut last night. I felt it through my walls.” says Jinhwan during their brunch. The hyung’s tone is careful.

Junhwe groans to himself and slacks his posture on the table, pushing his bowl of cereals away.

“I let my mouth run too much and ended up accusing him.”

Jinhwan grimaces.

“Well,” the hyung puts a big piece of strawberry on his bowl. “The sooner you fix things, the better.”

Junhwe knows.

But by now, he knows sooner doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right timing, and even if it is the right timing, he might still just make things worse (case in point: last night). So what does he do? He stalls again. It’s not the best idea but how can he even try to explain himself when Donghyuk practically grabbed breakfast outside the dorm so they wouldn’t cross paths? And even now when the whole team is in the practice room, Donghyuk successfully occupies himself with things that don’t need any interaction with him. The message to him is still as clear as last night.

Of course, that leads to the other members picking up that something happened between the two of them. Again. With Donghyuk sending silent warnings against any form of meddling, they chose to steer clear. Chanwoo isn’t as deterred though. Not minding Donghyuk’s close proximity during a short break, the maknae walks up to Junhwe and gives it to him straight.

“Say sorry already.”

Ignoring the urge to defend himself for the assumption that it’s his fault (which is true), Junhwe sighs and spares his boyfriend a glance.

“I’d want to, but I’m not allowed yet.”

Donghyuk turns toward them a bit, meeting his eyes for a moment, before turning around and walking off as if he didn’t hear anything. They both watch him go to Yunhyeong and Hanbin before Chanwoo faces Junhwe again.

“At least he knows now that you want to. That’s a start.”

Junhwe just gives out a depreciative laugh.

--

But what good is a start if he just continues stalling? Junhwe wouldn’t want to disturb team harmony for tomorrow so he decides for himself to apologize before the day ends. An hour before dinner seems a good time so he makes it his goal for the day. In between extra vocal practices, he polishes up his explanations in his mind while hoping Donghyuk would let him talk by then.

Yet Junhwe doesn’t have to ask because Donghyuk beats him to it.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have walked out like that last night. I should have responded better too.”

They’re back at his room again. Donghyuk came knocking on his door and Junhwe had readied himself to blurt out the apology he practiced in his head. Now he stands slack-jawed as he watches his boyfriend sheepishly play with the rings on his fingers.

“Honestly June, I don’t see anything wrong with the amount of Bobby-hyung posts in my IG.” Donghyuk starts explaining. “There’s no meaning behind it other than showing I work and hang out with him a lot.”

Junhwe sighs, feeling instantly gloomy. Somehow, he expected Donghyuk to say that.

“Also, why would those posts matter when you and I know the truth. We’re each other’s.”

Junhwe’s heart skips a beat.

Donghyuk isn’t done. He lets go of his rings and instead, starts playing with the hem of his shirt.

“But I thought about what you said, and I realized…” They lock eyes for a moment. “...If you upload lots of photos and video clips of you hanging out with Jinani-hyung or even Yunhyeong-hyung, like the way I did with Bobby-hyung, I won’t feel great about it too.”

That is exactly what Junhwe wants Donghyuk to know. Yet hearing the disheartened tone in Donghyuk’s voice doesn’t make him feel relieved.

“What I’m saying is, I get where you’re coming from so I’ll consider your feelings first before I post something next time.” Donghyuk heaves his shoulders before fully meeting Junhwe’s eyes. Then with a nervous bite of his lip,

“Please tell me we’re okay?”

Is he serious about that question?

The urge to pull Donghyuk close and taste his lips is strong, but Junhwe controls himself by turning around for a moment. God, he didn’t expect to feel this touched and consumed of adoration. Guilt is still there though, so he holds on to it to properly end this talk.

“June…?”

He turns to face Donghyuk again. “We’re okay.”

Stopping Donghyuk from playing with the end of his shirt, Junhwe holds his hands tightly. “Of course we’re okay. You didn’t have to apologize because I’m the one who should say sorry. You’re right; sns posts don’t matter.” he rubs circles on Donghyuk’s skin with his thumb. “I’m sorry.”

His boyfriend softens his gaze at that, a relieved smile forming on his lips before he steps in to wrap his arms around his torso. Junhwe embraces Donghyuk back. He gently runs his fingers through Donghyuk’s soft strands to comfort him.

“I’ll post a photo of us one of these days.” Donghyuk says as he looks up to him from his chest, still smiling. “I’ll think of something nice. A cute concept maybe?”

Junhwe smirks, finally relieved that all the tension is gone. “Geez, just post whatever selca we took. No need to think of a concept because we are the concept.”

He doesn’t drop his smirk even when Donghyuk stops smiling and pinches him through his shirt.

“You know a better concept? A selca of you and Bobby-hyung. Since you’re bothered by hyung’s abs, you can work for those too then do a shirtless selca together. Imagine the news articles about it.”

The expression on his face must have been so weird because Donghyuk starts laughing out loud. Junhwe lets him have his fun first before silencing him with that kiss he badly wanted.

.

.

.

“Hey, man.” Bobby sits beside him. Junhwe looks up from his phone to see the hyung smiling in a subdued way, a respectable distance between them.

“So, I heard.” Bobby clears his throat. “If there’s something you need to tell me, I’ll listen.”

Junhwe takes a moment to look at the hyung, his eyebrow raised. Okay, first: the rapper heard what? He’s going to assume Donghyuk told Bobby about their fight since nothing else would cause this conversation. He asks himself if there’s indeed something he needs to tell the hyung in regards to it, but there’s nothing.

The way Bobby is looking at him with an encouraging yet determined gaze though, as if the hyung is bracing himself, makes Junhwe feel he has to say something.

“Umm.” he shifts his eyes a couple of times. “We’re cool.”

Bobby’s air immediately relaxed. “Really?”

“Yeah, hyung. It’s not like you’re purposely getting in between me and Donghyuk.”

“Oh, hell no. I’m not doing that stuff.” Bobby laughs and shakes his head. “Donggu’s my bro.”

“I know.” Junhwe snickers at himself. “Though I still tend to be jealous. Sorry.”

“Wait, wait.” Bobby smiles a bit. “Didn’t I tell you not to say sorry? This is why we’re like this. If you want to yell at me because you're jealous, just do it.”

“Uhh, I can’t do that because you’re a hyung.”

“But you yell at Jinan, Hanbin and Yunhyeong for small matters...”

“...Hyung, the difference is you’re my boyfriend’s best friend and his favorite hyung.”

“Oh.”

There’s an instant pause at that. Junhwe averts his eyes away again to look around for help. No one’s there except for Jinhwan and Chanwoo, and both are pretending they aren’t tuning in. Ugh.

Bobby suddenly clears his throat. “Well, you’re my favorite iKON member, so does that count?”

“Umm.”

What’s Junhwe supposed to say to that?

They’re interrupted with the sound effect of a camera app shutter and an overly familiar laugh. Junhwe groans as he and Bobby turn their gazes towards Donghyuk, who's gleefully standing a few meters away from them. A plastic bag full of snacks is looped around his arm, making Junhwe wonder when and how did Donghyuk enter the practice room without being noticed.

“#OurBobbyAndJune, #AwkwardConversation, #CutieAwkwardCouple.”

“Don’t post the pic with those freaking hashtags.” Bobby whines.

“So it’s okay to post it without the hashtags?”

Junhwe glares. “Donghyuk.”

“Fine, I won’t. I’ll just keep it to myself.” Donghyuk practically giggles as if he’s given free tacos. Junhwe would have grinned at the adorable image if not for the trolling.

“Seriously, Donghyuk. Stop.” Bobby stands up. “I’m outta here. My mission’s done anyway.” He turns toward Junhwe, making him flinch a bit. “Let’s talk over drinks later, yeah?”

“S-Sure hyung.”

“Sweet! I’ll go do some music then!”

Thankfully, Donghyuk didn’t follow up with another joke. They watch as their main rapper pulls Jinani and Chanwoo with him. Junhwe waits for them to leave the practice room before kicking Donghyuk’s leg in revenge. His boyfriend just sticks his tongue out before placing the plastic bag on the bench, wrapping his fingers around his arm. Junhwe raises his eyebrow.

“What?”

“Come on. Let’s take a selca together.”

Selca? That’s out of nowhere. He grumbles but still lets Donghyuk lead him to the wall-to-wall mirrors.

“In case you’re wondering, I did hear some of your conversation with Bobby-hyung.” Donghyuk admits as he scans through his app filters. “You’re sweet.”

A blush creeps on Junhwe’s cheeks so he clears his throat. “I would have appreciated that if you didn’t go overboard with the teasing.”

“I’m just helping with your crush on each other.”

“We do not have a crush on each other. It’s called mutual respect.”

“Sure.”

Junhwe rolls his eyes. He waits for Donghyuk to say another quip but instead, Donghyuk gestures towards the mirror, showing him that he’s going to take a picture of their reflection. A soft smile is already prepared on his boyfriend’s lips.

“I’m not gonna smile.” Junhwe announces with a pout.

“That’s fine. I still love you.”

That almost made him drop the pout.

After that, Donghyuk asks him if he wants to see the photos. Junhwe shrugs and tells him it’s fine that he doesn’t. He trusts Donghyuk to take good pictures and besides, Donghyuk will probably send it to him later after he’s done deciding on the best one out of the 7 he took.

But instead of their private chat, Junhwe sees the photo in Donghyuk’s Instagram. Accompanied by a solo shot and filtered with pinkish rustic hues, Donghyuk hashtags the post as #ItsSpring.

Setting aside that his boyfriend finally posted a picture of the two of them, Junhwe focuses on the lone hashtag. Spring huh? Is that the concept Donghyuk came up with?

Spring - the season of love. Perfect.

(He regrets pouting now.)

.

.

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