A/N: Prompt was possessive Jackson who wants to keep Bambam to himself because he's just too adorable and gets loved by many senior hyungs and noonas.

Jackson had been so intently focused on attempting burn a hole in the back of the female MC’s shirt with his eyes, he nearly jumped out of his skin when Mark tapped him on the shoulder.

“Jesus what are you, the grim reaper or something?” Jackson hissed while Mark only chuckled, shaking his head as Jackson clapped a hand over his heart melodramatically.

“You had that constipated look on your face again,” he informed Jackson, who immediately dropped the drama queen act and adopted an offended expression instead.

“Yah, I don’t have a constipated look!” Jackson huffed, only now realizing he’d been much too obvious again. He glanced back over towards his right, lip curling in distaste at the sight of the MCs still cooing over how cute Bambam was. Of course, the younger completely reveled in the attention, protests half-hearted at most as he batted his eyelashes expertly. The female MC melted completely, reaching over to pinch his cheeks.

“Okay, okay, we’re starting soon,” the PD shouted, interrupting Jackson’s would-be snarl. He immediately took this opportunity to yank Bambam back into place next to him, where he belonged. The younger appeared to be oblivious, shooting Jackson a confused looked at the tighter than usual grip around his waist but quickly shrugged it off; Jackson had been working out more recently, he was probably just getting stronger.

Thankfully, the backstage interview went without incident, greetings and ending statements made with the usual overzealousness and no mistakes. They soon found themselves back in their waiting room, the only filming left for the day the final declaration of today’s music show winner.

“Hyunggg I’m hungry,” Youngjae whined pitifully as he flopped on the couch, earning a sympathetic pat on the back from Jinyoung and a helpless shrug from Jaebum.

“Sorry, manager-hyung said no snacks today, we’ve been gorging too much lately,” Jaebum said gruffly, though his eyes were apologetic.

“But I’m hungry tooooo,” Bambam was next to join in on the whining, throwing himself onto the couch next to Youngjae. “I’m still growing!”

Jaebum only shrugged again, unable to respond before he was pulled away by one of their stylist-noonas to get his hair fixed. Youngjae and Yugyeom were called over as well, leaving Jackson and Jinyoung to fight for the empty spot on the couch.

Jackson, won, of course.

“Fine then, I see how it is,” Jinyoung huffed, glaring petulantly from his position on his . He stood slowly, lips already starting to form a pout as he stalked away to seek consolation from Mark who’d been watching from the side.

“Wait, Jinyoung-hyung, there’s room!” Bambam called out, causing Jinyoung to stop and raise a skeptical eyebrow. Bambam only grinned, scooting over to the side and lifting himself onto Jackson’s lap. Jackson’s arms naturally came up around his waist to steady him, hands warm and steady against the younger’s slim frame. It took no thought–this position was as familiar as breathing, reinforced by years of repetition.

“See?”

Jinyoung snorted, not even surprised at his fellow members’ antics as he shook his head, tutting while he walked away.

~~

“So who do you think is gonna win today?” Jackson asked as they were shepherded out onto the stage, voice raised slightly over the noise of the fans. When he turned back to see why he heard no response, however, Bambam was gone.

It took all of Jackson's self-control to refrain from rolling his eyes, irritation concentrated entirely into the furrow of his eyebrows instead. He was only too aware of their beautiful IGot7s armed with expensive cameras just waiting to snap an unflattering picture of him with his eyes rolled into the back of his head. It would no doubt spawn a dozen new memes by tomorrow, if not by the end of tonight. Jackson enjoyed the attention and always appreciated good humor, but he still wanted to hold onto that tiny shred of dignity he had left. If he even had any, that was.

Gaze concentrated, it didn’t take long for Jackson to locate that familiar t-shirt; Bambam was near the center of the stage, chatting animatedly with the MCs again.

Unfortunately, for the same reasons why he couldn’t roll his eyes, Jackson was prevented from marching right up to that flirty child and putting him into his place. He could see the headlines already: “Got7’s Jackson’s Rude Behavior at Music Show– Manhandling/Bullying Fellow Members?” JYP would slaughter him.

Although, it did make for good fanservice…

But when slim fingers went to pinch those fluffy cheeks again, Jackson had had enough.

Screw the cameras and fans.

“Yah, what are you doing, running off again?” Jackson asked with well-faked nonchalance as he came up behind Bambam, slinging a very purposeful arm around the younger’s shoulders.

“Ah, Jackson-hyung!” Bambam started, surprised by Jackson’s sudden appearance but immediately took it into stride. “We were just talking about you!”

“Oh really?” Jackson couldn’t help but to puff out his chest, slightly appeased by that statement.

“Yeah! I was just telling sunbaenims about that one time you were trying to teach me acrobatics and –”

The rest of Bambam’s words came out muffled as Jackson swiftly covered his mouth with a rough palm. That was not a story to be shared with strangers. Or anyone, really.

“Ah, looks like we’ll be starting soon, we better get back to our spots,” Jackson apologized with exaggerated reluctance, acknowledging the two bewildered MCs with a quick bow each before proceeding to drag a protesting Bambam back to their group.

“What was that for?” Bambam immediately spluttered as soon as Jackson released him. “We have five more minutes!”

“Don’t go running off every opportunity you get, okay?” Jackson dodged the question, brow creasing in an attempt to sound stern instead.

“But whyyyy you always drag me away! Especially recently!” Bambam accused, turning to his usual infallible way of guilt-tripping Jackson with a pronounced pout and puppy eyes. “What’s wrong with talking to noona and hyung? I’m just making connections, you do that all the time!” His bottom lip pushed out even further.

Dammit, that kid knows exactly how cute he is.

“That’s…different.” Jackson resorted to avoidance again, waving off Bambam’s complaint dismissively. But all attempts at being scolding had been abandoned, and he pulled Bambam into him instead.

“Just stay by hyung, ok?”

~~

Jackson knew if Mark was here right now, he’d be commenting on what he creep he was, watching someone sleep. But of course, Jackson’s never cared what others thought, so he continued to stare at Bambam’s sleeping figure from his seat on the side of his bed.

Well, okay maybe he did care a teensy weensy bit about what Mark thought, but that was beside the point.

Bambam was always so full of life, so overflowing with energy and enthusiasm that seeing him so still and quiet was almost bizarre. The rise and fall of his chest was slow and even, and the perpetual wide grin had softened into an almost imperceptible smile. But it wasn’t bad thing; he just looked so content, so peaceful and cozy all Jackson wanted to do was to protect him, to wrap him up in more blankets and to cuddle him.

Jackson traced a finger lightly over Bambam’s cheekbone, sliding past the plump cheeks and down the soft jawline. The baby fat was still so evident, but even so this Bambam was a far cry from the child he first met when he arrived in Korea. Back then Kunpimook was literally the baby of the group, the adorable and tiny boy from Thailand all the other trainees fawned over and coerced kisses from. Even though Yugyeom was really the younger one, his height and more mature appearance made the poor kid an object of envy instead.

Jackson remembered thinking “cute kid” at the time, and that was about it for first impressions.

But of course appearances were deceiving, and Jackson quickly learned that first-hand.

Kunpimook might’ve been small, but he held a passion within him that blazed more intensely than some of the most seasoned trainees. He exuded optimism and possessed a hard work ethic that showcased both his maturity and naivety. It drew people to him, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out he was born to be a star.

But beyond talent and likeability, the little boy managed to worm his way into one of the deepest parts of Jackson’s heart without him realizing until it was too late.

Not much changed as Kunpimook slowly grew into Bambam. They were really still the same person, and their dynamics never changed. Bambam still plopped right onto his lap as if he owned that seat, even when he became taller than Jackson himself. Old habits die hard, but in this case there were no such thing as old habits, only current routine. He still leaned on Jackson, still came to him first when the homesickness became too much or when he just had a funny new joke to try out.

But recently, a fear had begun to gnaw at the corner of Jackson’s mind. Bambam wasn’t becoming distant, not at all, but his circle was slowly expanding outside of Jackson and their members and JYP nation. Jackson knew it was a good thing– heck, he’d be quite the hypocrite if he thought contrary with his notorious track record. But still, every time Jackson saw Bambam flirting with a girl his stomach would drop. It didn’t matter if it was a sunbaenim who would never have any interest in him, because it would only be a matter of time before he came across a girl that did reciprocate, before he had his heart broken for the first time, before he got hurt by the cold reality of the unforgiving world.

Jackson knew he wouldn’t be able to bear it, couldn’t even imagine Bambam’s eyes without its current sparkle of curiosity and innocent optimism.  

But what scared Jackson most was soon Bambam would realize he needed Jackson less, and less, until he didn’t need him at all. That one day, Bambam wouldn’t need to rely on his hyung anymore, and would declare he no longer needed his protection or affection.

He was scared of his baby growing up.

Jackson knew he was being unfair by constantly pulling Bambam away, that he was being selfish in his wish to keep his dongsaeng to himself. Jackson was fully aware that his actions could only breed resentment, and if that happened he was only going to speed up the process of Bambam leaving him.

But Jackson couldn’t help it.

Jackson had been so deep in thought he didn’t notice that Bambam had begun to stir underneath his fingertips, perhaps sensing the tumultuous emotions raging beside him. He let out a soft whine, opening one eye blearily as he peered up at Jackson.

“Hyung?”

“A-Ah, sorry, did I wake you?” Jackson jolted out of his brooding, one hand coming up to run through his hair agitatedly while the other jerked away from Bambam’s face. “Sorry, just, uh, came to say goodnight. Go back to sleep,” he said hurriedly, standing in preparation to make a hasty exit.

Instead familiar fingers latched onto his wrist, tugging lightly before Jackson could take his first step.

“Just stay,” came the sleepy whisper. Bambam’s one open eye was already beginning to flutter shut, grip loose around Jackson’s wrist but somehow still clinging on stubbornly.

Jackson swallowed, debating, but a second sleepy whine from Bambam was enough to convince him.

“Okay, okay, coming,” Jackson relented. Bambam let out a satisfied hum as he allowed his hand to drop, snuggling back into his pillow as Jackson stripped off his outer clothing. Within moments he was sliding under the covers behind Bambam, carefully adjusting the blankets to cover the both of them.

Sensing the additional body heat Bambam quickly curled up against Jackson’s side, sighing contentedly.

“Love you,” he mumbled in English, shifting one last time before falling back asleep against Jackson’s chest.

An indescribable feeling of protectiveness suddenly surged through Jackson, so strong it was almost tangible. But as it washed through a new sense of peace took its place, crowding out all previous doubt with a new determination.

Jackson dropped a gentle kiss on the top of Bambam head, eyes sliding shut with a content smile on his lips.

His dreams were full of laughter that night. 

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