Youngjae’s career as a member of GOT7 begins with him standing in the doorway of the dorm, open-mouthed and bewildered, staring at a fully- boy who looks like he’s barely thirteen. The mortified expression that immediately spreads across his face makes the boy look exactly like a deer caught in headlights (especially because his legs are so skinny: it’s really a wonder they can support his body).

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” the kid exclaims, scrambling to cover himself, but there isn’t much that can be done to fix the damage now.

Youngjae kind of wants to sink into the ground and never come back. For a few moments, he lets himself believe that this isn’t actually the right dorm, that he can just walk out right now and forget this ever happened, and yeah, maybe he did see this guy completely , but at least he’ll never see him ever again. Unfortunately, Youngjae has to force himself back into reality, and when he does, he finds that the boy is still standing there, still wearing nothing whatsoever.

“Um,” Youngjae says, and then stops, because there’s honestly nothing he could possibly say to make this situation better.

“Bambam!” an exasperated voice calls, saving Youngjae from having to diffuse the awkwardness himself. Moments later, the speaker comes into view, and Youngjae wants to disappear all over again. Staring in disbelief at the scene before him is none other than Im Jaebeom, famous among JYP trainees for already having debuted once before, for being stunningly good-looking, and for being scarily quick to anger.

Youngjae is confident enough in himself to unabashedly admit that he was, and still is, a huge fan of JJ Project. He admires the boys’ talent (even though truthfully, the rebellious, rocker image hadn’t seemed to suit them), and looks up to them as examples of the kind of performer he aspires to be. He had, of course, been vaguely aware that as a new JYP trainee, he would be alongside both members of the duo, but he had also hoped to make a good first impression. All hope has flown out the window for that, though, because here he stands, paralyzed in the doorway, with only the Bambam for company.

“Hyung!” Bambam turns quickly to face the elder, trying and failing to look casual. “What brings you here?”

“I live here,” Jaebeom deadpans, unamused. He seems entirely unsurprised that Bambam is utterly in the middle of the living room. “Could you kindly go put on some clothes?” Bambam saunters off, leaving Jaebeom pinching the bridge of his nose, muttering to himself, and Youngjae still standing in the doorway, trying not to hyperventilate.

“Um,” Youngjae says again. “I’m Choi Youngjae. I think I’m supposed to live here?” It shouldn’t really be a question, but after the events of the last five minutes, Youngjae is more than a little wary.

Jaebeom takes in Youngjae’s unsure expression and sighs sympathetically. “I’m sorry you had to see that. He’s always like that, though, so you’ll get used to it, I’m sure.”

Well, that’s – lovely. Youngjae hadn’t really known what to expect from the other members, but “casual ” certainly isn’t something he had ever considered putting on the list. “Oh,” is all he can think to say.

“Well, anyway,” Jaebeom continues, brushing the incident off like it was nothing. “Let’s get you settled in and introduced to everyone. It’s nice to meet you, Youngjae.”

“You too,” Youngjae says, the embarrassment of the past five minutes fading away, only to be replaced by an internal freak-out at the fact that he’s actually about to start living with one of his musical role models.

Less than thirty seconds later, Park Jinyoung is standing in front of him, positively beaming. “Hi, you must be Youngjae! It’s great to meet you!”

“You’re prettier in person,” Youngjae accidentally says out loud, instead of the Thank you, it’s nice to meet you too, Jinyoung-ssi he was planning to say.

Understandably, Jinyoung’s eyes shine with mirth as he thanks the red-faced Youngjae, laughing softly. Less understandably, Jaebeom suddenly looks like he’s been forced to swallow poison. Jinyoung doesn’t seem to notice, but Youngjae wonders what could be the cause of Jaebeom’s abrupt change in mood. Maybe he doesn’t agree that Jinyoung is pretty, Youngjae thinks, but then dismisses the idea as ridiculous, because in all honesty, anyone with eyes would probably agree with him. Oh! He must be upset that I didn’t say the same about him!

“Jaebeom-ssi looks really good in person too,” Youngjae adds hastily. Jinyoung tries desperately to smother his laughter with his hand as Jaebeom’s expression morphs into one of bewilderment.

“Thank you, I guess?” Jaebeom says, sounding more like he’s asking a question than making a statement. “Also, you can call me hyung.”

“Anyway,” Jinyoung cuts in. “Come meet the rest of us, Youngjae.”

They encounter the three foreign members first, which is unfortunate because the foreign members include Bambam, and Youngjae is still trying to recover from that particular traumatic experience. Luckily, he’s saved from having to maintain awkward eye contact with Bambam when one of the other two boys steps forward excitedly. “Hi! I’m Jackson!”

Youngjae can’t help smiling at Jackson’s enthusiasm. It kind of reminds him of himself, or at least himself when he’s not feeling slightly overwhelmed by an overload of new people. “I’m Youngjae,” he replies. “It’s nice to meet you.” Jackson looks delighted to hear this.

“I’m Mark,” the red-haired boy behind Jackson says quietly. His voice is very soft, but his smile is sweet and genuine.

“Hi!” Youngjae normally loves meeting new people, and the longer he’s surrounded by his future members, the more comfortable he feels.

“And you’ve already met Bambam.” Jaebeom gestures to the scrawny boy, who is currently trying to hide himself behind Mark. At being introduced, though, he sheepishly halts his fruitless attempts and offers Youngjae a grin.

“Hello again,” he says, his tone way too bright, as if he’s trying to compensate for the fact that Youngjae’s first memory of him will always be his stark- body. “It’s nice to, you know, meet you properly. In normal conditions. Wearing clothes and all.”

“Stop talking,” Jackson advises. “You’re making it worse.”

“Anyway!” Jaebeom interrupts so that the topic of Bambam and Youngjae’s unfortunate first meeting can be officially forgotten. “If you’re curious, Youngjae,” he continues, “Mark is the oldest out of all of us.” Youngjae tries to hide his surprise (Mark really doesn’t look like he’s older than Jaebeom, or even Jackson for that matter), but he’s probably unsuccessful, if the half-smile on Mark’s face is anything to go by. “Then it’s me, and then Jackson, and Jinyoungie after.”

“Don’t forget about me,” a new voice says, and a seventh person emerges from one of the bedrooms, looking a little disgruntled. “Why didn’t anyone tell me we were gathering in the hallway?”

“That’s Yugyeom,” Jinyoung says helpfully. “Our maknae.” He throws Yugyeom a look that seems vaguely threatening, in Youngjae’s opinion. “Welcome our new member, Yugyeom.”

“Hi,” Yugyeom says with a friendly smile. “I’m Yugyeom.”

“I know,” Youngjae says, wondering why this entire situation feels like an out-of-body experience. “Jinyoung-hyung just...you know, never mind. I’m Youngjae.”

“Welcome to the family, Youngjae!” Jackson says cheerfully.

And Youngjae looks around at the six boys he’s going to be living with for a long, long time, and wonders what exactly he’s gotten himself into.

~~~

Not that he’s specifically counting, but it takes Youngjae four days, eleven hours, and thirty-six minutes to realize that Jaebeom is truly a terrible roommate. For one thing, out of the short time they’ve officially been roommates, Jaebeom has spent a grand total of thirteen hours in their room. That in itself wouldn’t be a problem, though, because Youngjae would be quite content to have a room of his own, official or not.

The real problem is that during that one night when Jaebeom decided to actually sleep in their room, Youngjae woke up to find a very clingy, soundly asleep Jaebeom in his bed, squeezing the air out of his lungs. It’s not that Youngjae minds it so much as he’s afraid of what the reaction of the other members (read: Jinyoung) might be.

“Jaebeom-hyung,” Youngjae says one morning, after disentangling himself from the older boy’s grasp for the sixth time in the last two weeks. “I’m really starting to wonder what’s up with this habit of yours.”

“What habit?” Jaebeom tries to ask nonchalantly, but the effect is ruined by the district embarrassed blush spreading across his cheeks.

“You know,” Youngjae says, tilting his head slightly. “The one where you show up in my bed holding me like I’m the only thing keeping you alive while you sleep.”

“It’s just – I –” Jaebeom splutters incoherently for a moment. “It’s just a habit I developed in the JJ Project days.”

“Okay,” Youngjae says, gesturing to try and prompt a more meaningful explanation.

“I don’t really like sleeping by myself,” Jaebeom admits. “I got used to not being alone because a lot of hotels we went to would only have one bed.”

“So then why didn’t you just room with Jinyoung-hyung?” Youngjae asks. “Since he’s the one you actually want to share a bed with.”

Jaebeom chokes and collapses into a fit of coughing, his face bright red. “What are you talking about, that is definitely not true at all.”

Youngjae raises an eyebrow. “Really? Because you were still half asleep two days ago, but you definitely called me ‘Jinyoungie’ when you were snuggling into my shoulder.”

“That is – that doesn’t mean anything,” Jaebeom says, sounding like he’s trying to convince himself more than anything else. “I’m just more used to sharing a room with him.”

“Sharing a bed, you mean,” Youngjae corrects him, smirking.

Jaebeom groans and buries his face in his pillow. “And here I thought you might turn out to be less bratty than Bambam and Yugyeom, but no. All you maknaes are the same.” Youngjae just giggles at his dramatics, and with that, their conversation comes to a close.

But Youngjae isn’t willing to give up that easily. He still has questions, and he’s going to get answers.

“Why didn’t Jaebeom-hyung just room with Jinyoung-hyung?” Youngjae asks the room at large a few days after his unfruitful discussion with Jaebeom. “Not that I’m complaining or anything, but wouldn’t it have made more sense?” The aforementioned pair is currently sitting in Jinyoung’s room; they claimed to be discussing the group’s upcoming schedules, but Youngjae is no fool. He knows that in reality, they’re probably reading together, or doing something equally domestic.

Jackson and Mark are the only two in the room, and both look up interestedly at Youngjae’s question. “They agreed that you shouldn’t be left in a room by yourself,” Jackson explains. “But I had already called rooming with Mark ages ago, and Bambam and Yugyeom somehow managed to convince them they should room together, so Jinyoung told Jaebeom to room with you.”

“But,” Youngjae says, more confused than before, “Jaebeom-hyung has only slept in our room like, seven times since I got here. Which was three weeks ago.”

Jackson and Mark exchange a knowing look. “Well,” Jackson says slowly. “He is the leader, I’m sure he has his reasons.”

“I already know he was in Jinyoung-hyung’s room,” Youngjae says exasperatedly. “You don’t have to be all secretive. That’s why I’m asking why they didn’t just officially room together. I wake up in the morning to find Jaebeom-hyung clinging to me like I was a teddy bear or something, and I don’t want Jinyoung-hyung getting all angry and upset about it.”

“Who’s making Jinyoung-hyung all angry and upset?” Bambam asks, making his way into the room with Yugyeom trailing behind him. “I would ask to join in, but I think I’ve filled my quota for the week.”

“We’re discussing why the couple of the century didn’t room together,” Jackson informs him. “Youngjae is afraid of Jinyoung getting jealous.”

“Well, whose fault is that?” Yugyeom says, unbothered. “It was their decision to have different rooms. And anyway, it’s not like they’re together, so what’s there to be jealous of?”

“I mean, it’s Jinyoung-hyung,” Bambam says. “He likes being petty even when there isn’t anything to be petty about.”

Jackson laughs. “Don’t let him hear you say that, or he will have something to be petty about.”

“Wait,” Youngjae interrupts, because he feels like there was a detail in there that got glossed over. “Hold on. Time out.” He looks around at the others, bewildered. “What do you mean they’re not together?”

The four members look at him sympathetically. “You sweet summer child,” Bambam says. “I remember when I was just like you. Young. Innocent. Full of dreams.”

“He’s older than you,” Mark says quietly, but Bambam either genuinely doesn’t hear him or chooses to ignore him.

“I know it’s shocking, upsetting, and tragic,” Yugyeom says with a dramatic sigh, “but our dads are not actually together.”

“They just finish each other’s sentences, communicate with their eyes, sleep in the same bed, and generally act like a married couple,” Jackson says. “You know, like bros do.”

“I see,” Youngjae says, even though he doesn’t.

“You’ll get used to it, hyung,” Bambam says, patting Youngjae on the back reassuringly. “We’ve dealt with them since the Dark Ages, and we survived.”

“He means since the ‘Bounce’ days,” Jackson clarifies. “But the point is, they’ve always been like this, so don’t worry too much about them. I’m sure by the end of this decade, one of them will finally gather the courage to perhaps give the other an anonymous love letter.”

“Hmm,” Youngjae says. Based on what he now knows about Jinyoung and Jaebeom, that estimate does seem plausible.

“It’ll take time,” Yugyeom says with a heavy sigh. “But at least we all agree that they’ll figure out it’s mutual by the time they’re forty.”

Youngjae looks around at their resigned faces and decides that enough is enough. His mind is made up – he’s going to step up and do what the rest of GOT7 could not. “You know what?” he says, determination coursing through his veins. “Leave it to me.” He takes in the confused expressions of his groupmates and smiles. “Operation JJP starts now.”