Jaebum is beyond exhausted after a long day of filming for JJ Project’s comeback promotions, but he musters up as much energy as he can to go visit Jackson. It’s been a couple of weeks since Jackson and his friend Mark arrived in Seoul, and, tired as he is, Jaebum is anxious to see his friend again.

Jaebum texts him, asking about his whereabouts, expecting him to be back at the dorm by now, but to his surprise the other boy says that he’s still in the practice room. Double checking the digital clock at the top of his phone, Jaebum sees that it is indeed five minutes past two in the morning. He personally knows how much hard work goes into being a trainee, but this seems a bit much. And now Jaebum’s got to go see Jackson, if only to drag him back to the dorm and make him rest.

Jaebum briefly considers enlisting Jinyoung’s help, but the other boy looks dead on his feet so he decides not to trouble him. There’s something he wants to talk about with Jackson privately anyway.

Pushing open the door to the practice room, Jaebum spots five figures dancing under the fluorescent lights. He’s not entirely sure, but it looks a bit like they’re having a dance battle. Jackson is dancing front and centre, of course, with Youngjae and someone he doesn’t recognise cheering behind him. Dancing opposite him is a taller trainee with that trainee from Thailand cheering him on.

For a minute Jaebum forgets why he came, and he just stands bay takes in their performance. Jackson hasn’t been in training long, but he’s a natural dancer and his confidence and stage presence makes up for any technical shortcomings. The tall trainee – what is it Yugyeom? Jaebum thinks he remembers Youngjae mentioning a Yugyeom in his texts – is definitely going to be the official dance machine of whatever group he’s assigned to.

“Children, children! It’s so late to be making so much commotion!” Jaebum shouts in his grandfather voice, clapping to get their attention.

“Hyung, hello!” Most of them stop dancing and bow in greeting, but Jackson just bounds over to Jaebum like an excited puppy and pulls him into a sweaty hug, spinning him around.

“Jaebum! It’s been too long!” Jackson shouts into his ear. Jaebum should probably pull away and try to set a good example for the young ones, but for now he puts aside sunbae/hoobae etiquette and hugs Jackson back with a laugh. He’s missed his energy and charm.

Seeing the confusion etched on some of their faces, Jaebum tries to recover the situation.

“We know each other from school,” he says vaguely.

“Anyway, it’s pretty late; you kids should probably head back to the dorm.” As if he said a magic spell, most of them start yawning, rubbing their eyes and stretching.

“Jackson, I want to talk to you when you’re done packing up.”

“Uh, I don’t think I should leave Mark alone,” Jackson says with furrowed brows.

“Mark?” Jaebum instinctively turns to the one unfamiliar face in the room. The other boy raises his hand and bows slightly.

“Yeah, you see, he still doesn’t understand Korean.” Jackson walks over to Mark and throws his arm around Mark’s shoulders.

“I don’t speak Korean,” Mark says with a shrug.

“Very good, Mark. Youngjae, English!” Youngjae looks up with a start.

“I don’t speak Korean,” Youngjae repeats in English. Jackson laughs his signature high-pitched giggle.

“Aren’t my students the best?” Jackson heads over to Youngjae, Mark in tow, and throws his other arm around the younger boy. Youngjae is already flushed and sweaty from jumping around, but Jaebum thinks he gets even redder and sweatier. He narrows his eyes at the sight; this is precisely the sort of thing he wants to discuss with Jackson.

“Alright then, bring Mark along. If he doesn’t understand Korean then he can’t eavesdrop anyway. But we need to talk.” Jackson blinks before speaking to Mark, presumably relaying the message. Mark nods and goes to gather his stuff. Youngjae is staring at him with pleading doe eyes. Jaebum wonders what he should say to get him to leave, but the other trainees save him the trouble.

“Are you coming, Youngjae-hyung?” The Thai one calls from the door, Yugyeom standing beside him.

“You should go with them Youngjae. You probably haven’t eaten, right? Why don’t you take them to that restaurant Jinyoung and I took you to. My treat.” Jaebum takes a few bills out of his wallet and puts it in Youngjae’s hand. Jaebum pats Youngjae on the shoulder, raising his eyebrows. Youngjae’s eyes flicker to Jackson beside him – Jackson who still has his arm around him – looking like he wants to refuse, but he just nods his goodbye to Jackson before turning to leave. Jackson is staring at him with an eyebrow cocked, like he has no idea why Jaebum sent Youngjae away. Jaebum just smiles blandly and motions for him to get his stuff.

He doesn’t see any sign of Youngjae and the others by the time they leave the building, but Jaebum still exercises some caution and takes Mark and Jackson on one of the more roundabout ways back to the dorm.

“So, Jackson,” Jaebum drawls as they walk, “It seems like you and Youngjae are getting on well.” He sees Jackson stiffen and pause his steps in his peripheral vision.

“Yeah, we’re cool,” Jackson says shortly.

“You looked a bit more than ‘cool’ to me.”

“I’m sorry; did you want me to ignore him?” Jackson sneers.

“No, I didn’t. I also don’t want you to give him false hope and stop him from getting over you by continually flirting with him.” Jaebum stops walking and turns to glare at Jackson, utilising his full height to loom over him. Jackson steps up to him, unfazed.

“I wasn’t flirting; I’m like that with everyone. And if I was being my usual self with everyone but him, he’d notice and be hurt.”

“But what you’re doing is still going to hurt him in the long run!”

“So what do you want me to do then?!”

For a long moment the two just glare at each other, neither backing down nor giving way. Then Jaebum turns away and screams his all frustrations into the air. It’s bad for his voice, but he doesn’t know what else to do, he has no argument to counter Jackson’s. Bending over, Jaebum rests his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. For a long time Jaebum’s huffing and two dogs barking in the distance are the only sounds in the air.

“If you’re acting like this does this mean Youngjae still…still likes me?” Jackson’s voice is so timid and hesitant his question is almost carried away in the breeze.

“Yes,” Jaebum sighs.

“But it’s been three years?”

“I know.” Jaebum straightens, running a hand through his hair.

Jackson is just standing there, looking lost and confused. Mark is right behind him looking even more lost and confused, eyes moving to look at Jaebum and Jackson in turn.

“Look, I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt Youngjae intentionally. I just wanted to let you know that Youngjae still has feelings for you and to be mindful of that, and I lost my temper,” Jaebum sighs.

“I get it; you’re just looking out for him. I just didn’t think he’d still…you know.” Jackson shrugs helplessly, face screwed up in discomfort.

“…Do you like him back?” Jaebum asks softly. It’s a shot in the dark, but one that pays off judging by the look on Jackson’s face.

“No,” he gapes.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Jackson says, blinking rapidly.

“Well, could you like him back?”

Jackson throws his head back and sputters with eyes as wide as plates. For a moment he says nothing, instead he paces in a circle while waving his arms.

‘Oh.’

“Hyung, I know you’re working hard on your comeback, but getting rest is important too. Sleep deprivation can be just as detrimental to brain functions as excessive drinking or even mild head trauma!” Jackson continues to ramble on. He’s in full bluffing mode and Jaebum doesn’t know if he wants to laugh or cry. He’s spent three years being so focused on Youngjae’s feelings that he hadn’t noticed Jackson’s.

Jaebum gets so lost in the shock of his discovery that he spaces out for what could be minutes or hours. He tries to make a plan of action, or at least an outline, but his mind remains blank.

Eventually he blinks back into consciousness to see Jackson lightly panting in front of him. Mark is staring at Jackson, looking like he has something he wants to say, but he remains silent. Jaebum breathes in the cold, night air and slowly releases it before he speaks.

“Alright, it’s really late now; we should head back to the dorm.”

Jackson nods, looking a bit surprised. He turns to Mark – Jaebum catches him smoothing out his expression before Jackson can see it – and gestures him forward with his head. Then the three of them are heading back in perfect silence.

After Jaebum bids them goodbye, he starts to agonise over what to do next. Should he tell Youngjae or hide it from him? Should he push Jackson towards Youngjae or should he get him to suppress or redirect his feelings? Maybe he should get a second opinion. He’s not told anyone else about this mini-drama for years, but things are getting a bit too sticky to deal with on his own now.

‘Jinyoungie, I need your help.’

It’s late as and Mark is exhausted from a long day of Korean lessons, dancing lessons, and martial art tricking lessons, but his mind is too active to let him rest. His roommate has no such problems. He has half a mind to throw his pillow at Jackson and wake him up, it is his fault he’s lying awake instead of getting a bit of rest before having to get up for another tiring day. The finer details of his conversation –argument really – with Jaebum went over his head, but he saw how prickly Jackson got after Jaebum mentioned Youngjae’s name and he knows what the word ‘likes’ means.

Mark originally intended to bring it up right after Jaebum left, but Jackson immediately jumped into the shower. After spending fifteen minutes trying to figure out what he would say to Jackson, Jackson returned from his shower and flopped onto his mattress, asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

And now Mark is sitting in the dark, thinking of how Jackson has been acting around Youngjae since he returned to Korea. He had been aback by the huge bouquet of flowers Jackson bought for Youngjae shortly after they arrived, only to find out that it was just a belated graduation gift and that’s apparently a thing that’s done in Korea. Nobody else seemed to think it was weird so Mark let it go then, but now it’s driving him mad. Did Jackson only mean to congratulate a good friend and fellow schoolmate or did he take advantage of a local custom to slyly hit on Youngjae?

Mark closes his eyes and lets out a sigh. Even if he tries to talk about it with Jackson, the other boy would probably just shutdown the conversation like he did with Jaebum. And it’s not like he can talk about this with anyone else, so for now all he can do is stand back and watch Jackson and Youngjae. Turning onto his stomach, Mark forces his mind to be blank as he takes deep breaths until he finally falls asleep.

“Jaebum-hyung, isn’t this too much?”

Although he was young Park Jinyoung was never naïve about how difficult the idol industry can be. Even after winning his audition, even after debuting with Jaebum-hyung, he never let himself get too comfortable. He enjoyed every minute of singing and dancing and performing with the other boy, and he basked in it as if it were his last. Maybe he got too relaxed after their comeback because he did not see this coming at all.

“What were we lacking as a duo to make them reassign us to a new group?”

Ever-considerate Jaebum nudges at him to finish eating, but Jinyoung can hardly even stand the sight of food right now. It’s probably delicious, but trying to eat anything just makes him feel even more nauseous. It’s not like Jaebum isn’t mostly just picking at his food too.

“Well, on the bright side, at least Youngjae and Jackson are going to be in the new group with us,” Jaebum says around a bite of his ramen.

Jinyoung knows Jaebum is just trying to be optimistic to make him feel better, but he doesn’t want to feel better, not right now. Now, he just wants to be upset about having the rug pulled from under his feet.

“Speaking of Youngjae and Jackson…”

Jinyoung looks up after the other boy has remained silent for a long time. Jaebum is sitting across from him, looking even more uncomfortable than he was moments before.

“Yeah, what about them?”

“They’re…Um, you see they…”

“They what? Are they Sick?”

“No.”

“Dying?”

“No!”

“Then what?”

“They, they like each other.” Jinyoung blinks.

“Okay.”

“No, I mean they like each other.” Jaebum waves his hands in a circle as if that means anything.

“O…kay. Why is this a problem?” After the bombshell that was just dropped on them, Jinyoung is surprised his hyung can be bothered by anything else right now, especially something that’s such a non-issue.

“How is it not a problem?” Jaebum just restrains himself from exploding. He sits back in his chair and takes deep breaths, hands clenched on the table. Jinyoung gently pats Jaebum’s hands until they relax.

“Is this about your dongsaeng complex?”

“My what?”

“You’re very protective towards Youngjae, and that’s great, but at times it can be a bit…much. Like, what is the problem with him dating Jackson? From what I’ve seen and heard, Jackson seems to be a decent guy. Is he secretly a serial killer or something?”

“No,” Jaebum says slowly.

“Then let it go, hyung. Jackson isn’t a terrible person and you can’t have objections about the two of them dating because they’re going to be in the same group. That would be very hypocritical of you,” Jinyoung says with a pointed look at their hands. Jaebum smiles sheepishly and drops his head. Jinyoung reaches out and pats him on the head.

“Your baby’s grown up, and that’s not a bad thing you know.” Jaebum takes hold of his hand and removes it from his head, but doesn’t let go of it.

“This new group doesn’t have to be a bad thing either. Let’s look at this as a new chance to be better and succeed.” Jinyoung still has his reservations, but he can’t help the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

“Alright,” he says softly.

“Good,” Jaebum smiles.

“Thank you. Without Jaebum-hyung I’d probably be lost.”

“Good thing you’ll always have me,” he grins.

“So cheesy,” Jinyoung scoffs as he takes a bite of his ramen.

Jackson’s birthday falls on a Sunday, but he spends most of the day working anyway. Technically they have most of the day off, but being assigned to a group just made Jackson all the more determined to work harder. He’s one step closer to debut, but there’s lots more steps to go. All the fencing training he did in the past has built up his endurance, and he takes full advantage of this as he dances in the practice room. He’s not alone; the rest of the newly-formed GOT7 are with him, though Yugyeom and Youngjae are the only ones currently dancing with him. Mark is practising flips on the other side of the room, Bambam is stretching in the corner, and JB and Jinyoung are outside taking a water break.

After the music stops, Jackson flops onto the ground on his back. He’s sweating enough to make the floorboards underneath him grow mould, but he couldn’t care less. The bright fluorescent lighting is suddenly blocked as a towel falls onto his face. Jackson doesn’t bother to move until water is poured onto his face and he suddenly can’t breathe.

 “Jesus Christ!” He jumps up, coughing and sputtering. Before he can say anything else, a cake is stuck right under his nose and the sounds of the six others singing happy birthday to him fills the room. Even though his nose is still burning from someone’s water-boarding attempt, Jackson is touched.

“Happy birthday, Jackson! Make a wish.”

There are several things that immediately jump to mind, but looking at the six beaming faces in front of him, Jackson knows which one to choose. Mumbling under his breath in Cantonese, Jackson makes his wish and blows out the candles.

“Since you’re the birthday boy, you get the first and biggest slice of cake,” JB says as he retrieves a knife and paper plates.

“Shouldn’t the whole cake be mine?”

“Jackson-ah,” JB says pointedly, gesturing with the knife.

“Oh my God, Jaebum-hyung, are you really threatening my life because of cake?” Jackson asks, leaning back with a hand on his chest.

“And you’re all just going to let him do it?” Jackson asks the other five.

“Well, with you gone,” Bambam starts, “We’d get a bigger piece,” Yugyeom finishes.

Mark, the bastard, just smiles.

“Now, now, none of that. There’s no ‘murder’ in ‘team’,”

“I’d protect you, Jackson-hyung,” Youngjae says shyly.

“You two are the only ones I can count on.” Jackson wraps an arm around Youngjae and Jinyoung. “For being such loyal supporters, your slices will be almost as big as mine.”

“Awww Jackson-hyung, don’t be like that.” Bambam hugs Jackson on the left.

“Yeah, Jackson-hyung, we were only joking.” Yugyeom cuddles him on the right.

“Who says you get to delegate cake slices?” If JB waves the knife around any harder it’ll slip out of his hand and kill someone.

“I’m the birthday boy; of course I get to cut the cake!”

“Calm down, everyone! We’ll decide who cuts the cake the same way we decide everything.”

Whoever came up with rock, paper, scissors has indeed left behind a great legacy. At times like these, Jackson wonders if they had an idea how widespread the game would become.

“But whoever wins still has to cut me the biggest piece because I’m the birthday boy, right? Without me, there would be no reason to have cake.” Some might say he’s being repetitive, but Jackson is going to fit for his right to the biggest slice.

“Alright, Jackson.”

After several rounds of rock, paper, scissors it’s decided that Youngjae will cut the cake.

“Make sure my piece is the biggest, Youngjae,” Jackson says with a wink. Youngjae laughs, but nods his head and obliges. Jackson expects him to cut himself a similar sized piece, but he instead divides the rest of the cake evenly; how boring. Actually, his slice of cake is a bit smaller than the rest. Does Youngjae just not like cake? Even if he doesn’t like cake in general, Jackson doesn’t see how he could not like this cake, it’s so moist and delicious.

“Come on, eat.” Jackson can’t stand to watch Youngjae pick at good food. He picks up a piece of the cake off Youngjae’s plate and holds it up to his mouth. Youngjae’s eyebrows jump in surprise, but he opens his mouth and lets Jackson feed him. There’s a weird moment where Jackson still has his fingers in the other’s mouth and they simply stare at each other, but then they blink and the moment is gone and Jackson is pulling his fingers out.

“Mark, pass my water bottle.” Jackson the remaining icing off his fingers.

“Here.” Mark hands him his water bottle with a strange look on his face. What’s his problem? Jackson goes back to eating his cake.

After they’ve all finished their cake, they warm up before going back to practice. They’re all a bit reluctant about dancing after having their treat, but Jinyoung tells them that they’re working off all the fats and sugars that laced the cake.

“You should dance the longest, Jackson. After all, you did get the biggest piece.” Jinyoung ducks behind JB before Jackson can catch him.

At around 8pm JB signals the end of practice, arguing that it’s better for them to take advantage of the day of to rest for the next day. Plus they could do something fun for Jackson’s birthday.

“I don’t really feel like doing anything in particular today. Maybe watch a movie,” he shrugs.

“Well, that’s what we’ll do then.” JB claps his hands and that’s their cue to gather their stuff and head back to the dorm.

“Can we get something to eat before we watch a movie? The last thing we ate was the cake and that was hours ago,” Jinyoung moans as they’re heading out.

“And the slices weren’t that big to begin with,” Bambam adds.

“I could eat,” Mark pipes up.

“Alright, what should we eat then? Me, I’m in the mood for something spicy,” JB says.

“Me too, that’s the best thing when it’s cold,” Yugyeom agrees.

“I’m Thai; I’m always in the mood for something spicy.”

“Um, are you guys forgetting something? I, the birthday boy if you’ve forgotten, can’t eat spicy food.”

“We don’t all have to eat together though. We’re together all the time anyway. We can split up to eat and then meet up back at the dorm,” Mark says.

“I suppose we could do that,” Jackson concedes.

“Alright, see you at the dorm,” JB says, leading Yugyeom and Bambam away.

Jackson is somewhat surprised to see Youngjae staying behind, he loves spicy food. Maybe his stomach is acting up; maybe that’s why he was picking at his slice of cake earlier.

“So, where should we go?” Mark asks.

“Uh, well, Jaebum-hyung and Jinyoung-hyung showed me a place not too far from here where the food is cheap and delicious.”

“Great, those are my two favourite words. Lead the way, Youngjae.”

“So, was the cake my only present? Cause it was great, but I wouldn’t turn my nose up at anything else you bought for me,” Jackson says to Mark in English.

“With what money?” Mark snorts. “Do you have any idea how much that cake cost?”

“Alright, I’ll remember this attitude when it’s your birthday. Youngjae, you got me a present, right?”

“Uh, it’s not much but yes,” Youngjae turns and says in slightly halting English.

“That makes you my favourite person right now,” Jackson beams. Releasing Mark’s waist, Jackson clings to Youngjae’s left arm like a manhwa character.

“Forget Mark, he’s not been treating me right anymore. Come on, Youngjae.”

They continue walking for a full five minutes before Jackson realises he hasn’t heard a word from Mark, not even a comment about how cold it is, which is all he complains about to Jackson these days. That’s quiet even for Mark.

“Hey, Mark, are you dead?” Glancing behind him, Jackson doesn’t see anything of Mark, so he lets go of Youngjae and turns around fully. Still nothing.

“Where the hell did he go?” For a very irrational second Jackson worries that maybe Mark did die and they didn’t notice. Maybe he suddenly had a heart attack and is lying on the cold, hard ground, clutching his chest in pain. But just then his phone pings and he sees a text from Mark.

“ ‘Was gonna pay for dinner but realised my wallet was missing. Heading back to JYP to look for it. Get kimchi jigae for me. Be right back~’” Jackson reads aloud. He expects Youngjae to continue walking, but the other boy just groans and shakes his head.

“Come on, Youngjae, it’s not getting any warmer and I’m not getting any less hungry.” Jackson nudges his arm, jolting him into action.

It’s not much longer until they arrive at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that’s empty save for an elderly couple and a lone businessman.

“Well, we know what Mark wants, what are you having?” Jackson asks.

“They have really good jjajangmyeon, it’s what I got when I first came here, and Jinyoung-hyung recommended it.”

“And would you recommend it to me?”

“Yeah, it was delicious, and it’s Chinese-based so you should like it. I want something spicy, so I’m going to get jjamppong.”

After they decide what they’re going to order, a slightly awkward silence descends over the two of them. It’s like that first study session after Youngjae’s failed confession all over again; they can’t even look at each other. What feels like an hour – really it’s been 15 minutes – passes before it hits Jackson that Mark isn’t coming back.

“Have we been set up?” he blurts out. Youngjae chokes a bit on his food, barely keeping himself from spitting his soup in Jackson’s face.

“Did you know?” Jackson sounds much calmer than he actually feels.

“No, I was a little suspicious at first, but it wasn’t until Mark-hyung disappeared that I figured it out,” Youngjae coughs.

“So, what do we do now?”

“Finish eating?” Youngjae shrugs helplessly. His face is a bit red and he’s got a piece of green onion stuck to his front teeth; Jackson can’t help but laugh. Youngjae follows suit and it’s like they’re laughing away the awkwardness of the situation. They still don’t talk much afterwards, but the atmosphere is definitely more relaxed. Even though it’s his birthday, Jackson ends up paying for both of them. It’s a perfectly normal thing to do as the older one, but it also makes the whole thing feel more like a date, which is apparently what it’s supposed to be, but still.

They take their time on their way back to the dorm, neither in any kind of rush to get back. Glancing at Youngjae’s profile through the corner of his eye, Jackson wonders why he’s being so hesitant when he already knows Youngjae likes him. Taking a quick breath he reaches his hand out to grasp the other’s, hitting Youngjae’s thigh instead. Before he has time to question why, he feels a hand lightly bump the side of his face.

“Oh, sorry,” Youngjae chuckles nervously.

Realising what he just tried to do, Jackson chuckles as well before rolling his eyes and taking Youngjae’s outstretched hand and holding it between them as they walk back. Undeterred, Youngjae simply manoeuvres their hands so that his arm is wrapped around Jackson’s back and Jackson’s arm is wrapped around himself in a one-armed hug. Their joined hands are resting on Jackson’s other arm with their fingers laced. It’s not exactly a comfortable position for either of them, but he just rolls his eyes again and lets Youngjae do it. Jackson supposes that even if he’s not too bad at this sort of thing Youngjae will still be awkward enough for the both of them. Somehow he doesn’t mind.