So, it’s been a few weeks since Jihyo has left the greco-roman team and decided to let his beard grow free. To add to the situation, the Hyun brothers decided to join and so did Sooyoung and Seungwan. Now, Seungwan wasn’t much of a problem, Jeongyeon understood the boy, but the smaller one also didn’t care much for it regardless. Adding insult to injury, Nayeon and Mina joined the movement and now Jeongyeon has had it with all of them. He was sulking in his room all morning, Seungyeon just laughed at her brother, Sujin had to be stopped from mocking their younger sibling, she could get relentless when she wanted to.

Tzuyu was at the shelter with Jihyo all morning, and both decided to drop by the Yoos together, it had been a while since Jihyo was there, and Tzuyu conveyed Sujin’s message that the women missed him. And that was what brought us to everyone gathering at the Yoo residence for a good laugh, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Once Jihyo did arrive, Seungyeon and Sujin were thrilled, which Tzuyu loved because that left him alone to play with the dogs, without having to entertain the women. Mama and Papa Yoo were off working, it was just the kids this time.

“Sujin, get over here fast!” Seungyeon screamed for her sister as soon as she opened the front door.

“What?” Sujin groaned, not very willing to leave the couch. “It’s just Tzutzu, we see him everyday.”

“Sujinnie, get your up and come here. Hyo came to visit.”

With that, they hear something clatter, a squeak, feet thumping and a very disheveled Sujin pops her head on the hallway, a cheshire smile spreading on her lips once her eyes land on Jihyo. Our jigglypuff lovechild, then, remembers the reason he had been avoiding meeting the Yoo sisters, these women never failed to make sure they thoroughly abused his cheeks and exhausted their compliments repertoire, which made him a lot flustered. Despite being in the public eye for most of his life and getting famous for his skill as a wrestler, Jihyo has never grown accustomed to receiving compliments from those close to him, sure, many people praised his skill, but when it came from people close to him, he was utterly useless.

“Sujinnie, stop before Hyo faints.” Seungyeon laughed, and this was as far as she was going to try and help.

“That was one time!” Jihyo whines.

“Please let him live, we still need him alive to get Jeongyeonnie out of that room.” Tzuyu asks halfheartedly from where he was playing with the dogs.

“Oh yeah.” Jihyo seems to remember why he was there. “What’s up with him. Tzu said he has been sulking in his room lately.”

“Well, we don’t really care, to be very honest.” Sujin answers truthfully. “But Tzu gets sad when he is like this and we care for Tzutzu.”

“Thanks.” Tzuyu, still not looking away from the dogs, quips.

“Alright, I’ll go up there, then.” The shorter boy decides.

“He might want to throw you out of the room as he throws a fit, though.” Seungyeon ponders.

“You forget I’m a wrestler.” Jihyo laughs. “I’ll let it slide because you are all worried about Jeong.”

The women are about to protest when they see the look on Jihyo’s face, it tells them he will get mad if they keep talking and that he did get upset about them forgetting the skills he worked so hard to build. Jihyo isn’t a violent boy whatsoever, but he does take pride in what he worked so hard through the years to achieve, and saying things like ‘you might be thrown out’ not only makes him feel like his skill is nothing, but also puts in doubt his relationship with one of his best and oldest friends. Sure, Seungwan is his bestest friend among all, but they have been together since the womb and are mostly brothers at this point. Nayeon and Jeongyeon are also Jihyo’s best friends, they just came around a little later.

Getting to the room itself, Jihyo could already tell Jeongyeon was spending too much time in there, sports competitions have entered their summer break, they lasted all year long and this break was to make sure the kids wouldn’t exhaust themselves with everything they were expected to do, between studies, extracurriculars and sports. Jihyo didn’t have to worry about sports for now, but he was definitely about to ask Sana and Mina to train him. The room was emanating a dirty feeling, our baby owl could already smell the stale air filled with sweaty teen boy, and he was really reconsidering entering the place. But Sujin was right, they didn’t care that Jeongyeon was being sulky, they did care that he was making Tzuyu sad and that was not going to remain as it was.

“Yoo Jeongyeon, you have thirty seconds to open this door, or I will kick it in.” Jihyo declares from the hallway.

No answer, so he tries to open it, only to find it unlocked. So much for kicking it in, but he didn’t really want to make a mess, Tzu would be sadder if the room was ruined. The thing about everyone not wishing for the younger boy to be sad was because they all knew he was the nicest and most caring kid ever, his stoic looks may project a heartless and impersonal aura, but he was just so sensitive and caring not even Yeri had been able to prank him and not apologise profusely right after. Jeongyeon was sitting by the window looking at nothing, the curtains were drawn, only a small sliver of light getting in.

The room looked, smelled and felt dirty, the hairs on the back of Jihyo’s neck were already standing and he had a cold feeling twisting at the base of his spine, telling him to not go in further. But this is what best friends are for and he was going to get Jeongyeon to snap out of it right there and then. Nayeon would have just got in, guns blazing, and made a scene, effective, but not Jihyo’s style at all. Now, he slapped the light switch and Jeongyeon flinched, a reaction is good news.

“You know, I’m gonna say this once and you are gonna listen. You are going to get your together, clean this room and air it out because it stinks and then shower.” Jihyo said it slow and coldly, the exact voice nobody ever wants to be at the receiving end of. “Then you are coming downstairs and apologising to Tzu because you have been neglecting him, even though he comes all the way over here. Then you are going to apologise to your family for being a brat. Finally you are going to be every dream Tzu has ever had about his boyfriend because you have neglected him long enough.”

Jeongyeon merely gulps, Jihyo is their little angel, he is the most patient after Seulgi, and the loveliest little ball of sunshine, to have him be this cold and unforgiving, one has to have messed up really bad, which Jeong has, but was hoping that things never got to this. The reason? He was feeling less of a man because Jihyo and Dahyun decided to grow their beards and all he had were sideburns that took forever to grow at all. It might be silly when mentioned like that, but Jeongyeon’s grandpa always told him manly men were big, strong and hairy.

It might be something one grows out of, but grandpa Gong (mrs Yoo’s father) was Jeongyeon’s hero, grandpa Yoo had passed when he was too little to remember, so he was left with only one grandfather growing up. The old man never really had a beard himself, but he had hairy arms that always felt safe to little Jeongyeon, once he did become a teenager, able to grow facial hair, the boy was disappointed to learn he couldn’t be the manly man his grandpa always talked about. And having Jihyo and Dahyun who were younger grow full beards was a blow he was not ready to take.

“I’ll go downstairs, come once you are finished here and make sure you spend the rest of this weekend treating Tzuyu like the prince he is, and we won’t have any problems. Keep doing this, and I’ll come back with Nayeonnie so we can have another conversation.”

Jihyo, then, leaves the room to go back downstairs and spend some time with Tzuyu and the Yoo sisters, it’s been a while. The threat he just made might seem useless for those who didn’t know himself or Nayeon that well, the older boy was known to be a happy fool most times, and only those really close to him had gotten to see the fear inducing serious Nayeon. Mina might be the one in command, but even he feared his boyfriend once the serious side came up, nobody ever wanted to be on the wrong side of Nayeon nor Jihyo, most definitely not both of them at once. Not that Jeongyeon wasn’t as frightening as them when needed, but right now he was the problem, and nobody was putting up with him anymore.

Jeongyeon does as he was told, he knew he was doing wrong by Tzuyu and his family, if swallowing his feelings was what he’d have to do, he’d do it. There would be more opportunities for him to wallow in his sadness and disappointment, right now he would have to push it down and get moving because Jihyo was right and he hated having his best friends mad at him. The wrestler knew the reasons behind his friend’s attitude, but Jeongyeon had to see the things his grandfather told him came from someone who lived in a world that doesn’t exist anymore, from a man who lived in a completely different context and it shouldn’t be taken to heart like Jeongyeon was doing, even if it came from his grandfather.

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I was reading the other day, and it’s been a while since an honestly good fic came up. I’d like to suggest it:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22752835