Jiyong reacts to the truth about as well as Seungri expected him to.  “What?” he says, dumbfounded.

Seunghyun rushes to explain, “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true.  I’m Seunghyun, and he’s Seungri.  He made a wish on this stupid ing rock to be me, and now we’re stuck in each other’s bodies.”

Jiyong looks back and forth between them.  Seungri can tell he doesn’t believe a word of it, no surprise.  “Are you guys just really committed to this prank?  It’s not even funny.”

“It’s not a prank,” Seunghyun insists.  Now that Seunghyun’s on this road, Seungri lets him have at it.  “I really am Seunghyun.  Think about it.  You heard him rap the other day.  It was bad.  Really, really bad.  I wasn’t even that bad when you met me back in middle school.”

“Hey!” Seungri protests.  It wasn’t that bad.

Seunghyun dismisses him with a shake of his head.  “See?  It’s me.”

Jiyong looks him over, unimpressed.  “Or maybe that was just part of the prank.  Maybe he was bad on purpose that day so you guys could use it as a reason to try and trick me.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t’ve made myself that bad.  I have some pride, you know.”

Seungri sulks.  He needs to find a new group.

When Jiyong’s still not convinced, Seunghyun tries a different tactic.  “Haven’t you noticed anything off lately?  With the way we’ve been acting?”

Jiyong shrugs his shoulders.  “Not really.  I mean, I guess Hyung’s been acting pretty weird lately, but he’s always weird, so how would I even spot the difference?”

Seungri snickers toward Seunghyun.  “Jiyong has a point.”

“Jiyong-hyung,” Seunghyun corrects.  “No more talking down to him.”

Jiyong’s lips twitch in amusement.  “You guys really are committed to this.”

Seunghyun sighs in rising frustration.  He waves his hand insistently at Seungri.  “He can’t rap, I had to make him give you my gloves, and he looks like an idiot when he tries to smoke.”

Seungri’s ego has been bruised enough.  “Well, what about you?!  You at dancing!  You made me look so bad.  And smoking’s bad for you.  I only did it ‘cause your body made me.  It gets all twitchy if I don’t.”

“My body?  Let’s talk about your body.  It pops wood at the weirdest times.  A shampoo CF comes on, and I get a .  And I can’t do anything about it ‘cause I don’t want to touch your ing !”

“Well, I don’t want you to touch it either!”

They both glare at each other, chests heaving from their outburst.  Out of the corner of his eye, Seungri can see Jiyong standing there, watching them, like he’s watching a movie or a play.  He doesn’t look any closer to being convinced.

“As fun as this has been,” Jiyong says.  “Can we stop now?  I’m getting hungry.”

Seunghyun tilts his head back and groans.  Seungri can commiserate, but really, his hyung should’ve known that Jiyong would never take this seriously.

Seunghyun searches the ceiling as he takes in a deep breath.  When he tilts his head back down, his eyes are filled with purpose.  He closes the remaining distance between him and Jiyong and folds his hand gently around Jiyong’s bicep.  Jiyong’s gaze darts down to where Seunghyun’s touching him, then lifts back up to his eyes, unsure.

Seunghyun his lips before speaking earnestly.  “I would do a lot of things for a prank.  I’d pretend to be bad at rapping or smoking or whatever else.  But I would never hurt you.”

Jiyong in a little breath at Seunghyun’s words.

“The other night, when you two went to the club, the things he did…come on, Jiyong, you know me.  Even if I didn’t want you, I wouldn’t rub it in your face like that.  I wouldn’t do that to you.  Me, Seunghyun, I wouldn’t hurt you like that.”

Seungri stands up straighter at the change in Jiyong’s face.  Jiyong still doesn’t believe, but it look like he wants to.  Like he wants to believe that Seunghyun really, truly couldn’t hurt him.

Seunghyun presses in closer and wills Jiyong to believe him.  “It’s me, Jiyong.”

But Jiyong still looks unsure.

Seunghyun tenderly holds Jiyong’s gaze.  The exchange feels so intimate now that Seungri almost feels like he should step away. 

“Remember when we were kids?” Seunghyun whispers.  “You used to come over to my house, and my mom would cook us food.  Remember the day you moved away?”  Seunghyun leans in and murmurs something in Jiyong’s ear, so low that Seungri can’t hope to hear.

Jiyong’s eyes widen and his lips part, and then he turns to Seunghyun with tentative eyes.  “Hyung?”

Seunghyun smiles sweetly at him.  “Yeah,” he says.  “It’s me.”

Now that Jiyong actually believes them, they start at the beginning and fill him in.  They tell him everything, about the rock and the club and Seungri’s newfound skills at matchmaking. 

Jiyong gets a bit upset at that last part.  “Wait, so I’ve been dating Seungri?”

“Pfft.  No.  Of course not.”  Seungri waves him off.  “Well…maybe a little.”

Seungri hides behind Seunghyun when Jiyong takes a menacing step toward him.  “What were you thinking?  Were you just trying to with me?”

“I was trying to apologize!” Seungri insists.  “I didn’t know you guys had a thing going on, and Seunghyun-hyung got really pissed at me about the club, and I was just trying to fix it.”

“By becoming my boyfriend?” Jiyong asks, incredulous.

“Yes,” Seungri says.  “Hyung was too stupid to do it himself so I did it for him.  I don’t see what the problem is.  You guys wanted to be together.  Poof!  Now you’re together.  You’re welcome.”

Jiyong tries to take another step toward him, but thankfully, Seunghyun holds him off.  “Trust me, I know.  I want to kill him, too.  But he’s in my body, and I’d really like it to be in one piece when I finally get it back.”

Jiyong huffs, but he stands down.  He stands there for a bit, hands balled at his sides, but then his whole body seems to droop.  His expression turns inward, and Seungri frowns.  What’s wrong now?

Jiyong seems to grow smaller, defeated.  “So…it was Seungri all along.  The only reason we’re together is because of him.”  Jiyong swallows heavily and averts his eyes.  “I guess this means you’re not really my boyfriend after all.”

Seungri’s jaw drops.  “Of course he is.”  Seungri worked hard to get his hyungs together, and he’s not about to let them it up.  He’s invested.  Seungri nudges Seunghyun’s shoulder.  “Tell him.”

“Shut up,” Seunghyun hisses back at Seungri.  “I was gonna.”  He gives Seungri a brief, annoyed look before gazing back over at Jiyong.  “Seungri only did it ‘cause he knew I wanted it.  Okay?  I do like you.  And I do want to be your boyfriend.”

“He likes your ,” Seungri adds, helpfully.  Seunghyun shoots him a look, and Seungri shrugs innocently.  “What?  You do, don’t you?”

Before Seunghyun can comment on that one way or the other, Jiyong snaps them back to attention.  “Okay, so what now?”  Seungri’s relieved to see he doesn’t look insecure anymore.

“What do you mean?”

“How do we get you guys switched back?”

Seunghyun turns accusing eyes Seungri’s way, and Seungri slumps.  “I don’t know.  I’ve tried wishing again and again.  Seunghyun-hyung’s even tried wishing.  Nothing works.”

Jiyong places his hands on his hips.  “Well, you better figure out something that does work ‘cause I want him back in his body.  I’ve waited a long time for him to be my boyfriend, and now I want to take advantage of it.”

Seunghyun snickers.  “I thought you wanted me for my personality.”

“I do,” Jiyong agrees.  “I just also want you for your body.”  He narrows his eyes at Seungri.  “So give it back.”

Seungri groans.  “Why does everyone keep acting like I know the secret key to this?  I don’t.  I really have tried everything.”

“Well, what made you make the wish in the first place?”

“I don’t know,” he huffs.  “I was just tired of being the maknae.  I was tired of being overlooked and pushed around.  All you guys ever do is bully me!  I work harder than anyone, but does anyone ever notice?  No!  You guys just mock me instead.”

Seungri deflates as soon as the words are out of his mouth.  He shouldn’t have done that.  Even if he is in Seunghyun’s body, he’s the dongsaeng, and Jiyong’s aware of it now, and the only thing his outburst is going to get him is more grief.

Except that’s not what happens.  Jiyong’s eyes turn understanding.  “I didn’t realize you took all that seriously,” he says.  “I only mess with you ‘cause I like you.  You’re my favorite dongsaeng.”

Seungri’s won over by that in spite of himself.  He’s looked up to Jiyong for so long, he can’t help feeling a grudging happiness at being called his favorite.  Maybe he really does have Stockholm syndrome.

“You could be nicer to me,” Seungri pouts.  “Sometimes.”

“Okay,” Jiyong coos.  “I’ll be nicer to you.  Sometimes.”

Well, at least that’s something.

“I’m actually kind of relieved to find out you guys are in each other’s bodies,” Jiyong says after a moment.

“Why’s that?” Seunghyun asks.

“I was getting worried I was developing feelings for Seungri.”

The way Jiyong says that sounds an awful lot like an insult.  “Hey, you said you’d be nice to me.”

Jiyong laughs.  But then he sends Seungri a kind look, and Seungri forgives him.

They don’t get any closer to figuring out how to switch them back.  Jiyong tries everything Seungri’s already tried, including going into research mode on his computer.  He even tries to wish them back himself.

The sun goes down, and the night grows late, but they don’t come up with any answers.  Jiyong finally comes up with the idea of going to visit the actual wishing rock, the one that the pebble came from, but it’s too late to go right now, so they decide to put it off till tomorrow.  Jiyong gives him the rock back, and Seungri tucks it into his hoodie pouch for safekeeping.

Daesung and Youngbae are home, now.  They’re in the living room watching TV together.  Jiyong and Seunghyun sink down on the couch to watch with them.

Seungri goes to the kitchen to get a snack.  As he’s munching on some chips, he sees Jiyong lean just a tiny bit closer to Seunghyun, and then he watches with narrowed eyes as Jiyong creeps his hand over to Seunghyun’s and starts playing with his fingers.  Seunghyun smiles to himself as Jiyong touches him.

Seungri frowns.  He doesn’t think he likes where this is headed.  His mind races with thoughts of Jiyong and buttholes and Jiyong wanting a  in his butthole, and then he shoves his way up to his feet.  He marches over to them and plops himself right down between them.

Jiyong and Seunghyun turn toward him with bewildered looks.

“No,” Seungri whispers.

“What?” Jiyong says.  “We didn’t even do anything.”

“No,” Seungri says again.  He stares straight ahead at the TV screen for the rest of the movie and keeps them separated through the whole thing.

At one point, Jiyong slyly tries to reach around Seungri to get to Seunghyun, but Seungri slaps his knuckles.  “No.”

When the movie’s over, and it’s time for bed, they all take turns brushing their teeth.  When Seungri enters Seunghyun’s room to sleep, he stops when he sees Daesung making himself comfortable on Jiyong’s bed.  He feels a tiny prickling of dread at what this undoubtedly means.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, just to make sure.

Daesung fluffs his pillow.  “Jiyong-hyung said he’s sleeping in Seungri’s room tonight.”  Then he laughs.  “I feel like we’ve been playing musical beds lately.”

Seungri doesn’t stick around to laugh at Daesung’s joke.  He makes a mad dash for his room and finds it locked.  His hand works uselessly at the knob as he listens to his hyungs cackling on the other side of the door.  Oh god.  What if they do stuff? 

Jiyong cracks open the door just a sliver.  “What do you want?”  He gives Seungri a devilish look.  “The adults are busy.”

Seungri glowers at him.  He’s heard that before, just in a different context, and he didn’t like it very much then, either.  “Keep your butthole away from my .”

Jiyong bursts out laughing.  He laughs so hard his shoulders shake with it.  “You’re so full of yourself,” he snickers.  “Trust me, I don’t want your .”

Seungri looks at him suspiciously.  “I mean it.  Stay away.  You do not have my permission.”

Seunghyun comes up to stand behind Jiyong.  “Oh, you mean like you didn’t have my permission when you took my body out and tried to pick up chicks at the club?”

Seungri’s mouth snaps shut.  He hadn’t thought about it like that.  He tilts his chin up and looks down his nose at them.  “Obviously, that was wrong, and I’ve now learned a valuable lesson.  So stay away.”

Seunghyun chuckles at him.  “Relax,” he says.  “We’re not gonna do anything, I promise.”

Seunghyun turns and walks back over to the bed, and Seungri looks down at Jiyong for confirmation.  “Don’t worry,” Jiyong says.  His eyes trace down the full length of him and then back up.  “I’m waiting on the real thing.”  He tosses Seungri a wink and closes the door back shut.

Seungri trudges back to bed, finally certain that his body isn’t about to be violated.  He tucks himself into bed and waits for someone to shut the light off.  Neither Daesung nor Youngbae get up to do it, though.

Finally, Youngbae turns over on his side to face Seungri.  “Hey, Hyung, is everything okay with Seungri?”

Seungri looks over toward him, curious as to why Youngbae’s asking about it.  “What do you mean?”

Youngbae shrugs.  “He’s just seemed a little off lately.  Quiet.  You guys seem like you’ve been bickering a lot lately so I was wondering if you knew anything.”

Seungri gazes at him, and then he looks further over to where Daesung’s listening intently as well.  They both seem concerned.

“Oh.  Yeah, he’s fine.  Just stress, I think.”

His hyungs seem to accept that.  Youngbae rolls back over onto his back, and Daesung gets up to turn off the light.

“I hope he feels better soon,” Youngbae says.  “I kinda miss the guy.”

Seungri closes his eyes.  He suddenly feels warm.

Seungri can’t sleep.  He has a headache, and his nerves feel frayed and exposed.  He finally realizes it’s because he hasn’t had a cigarette all day.

It takes a minute to find Seunghyun’s pack.  He almost lights one up in the kitchen, but then he remembers how much smoke bothers Youngbae and decides to go outside instead.  It’s freezing, even with him bundled up in his coat and gloves. 

As he takes his first couple drags, he wonders if they’ll be able to switch back tomorrow, if the original rock will make any difference.  He still has the smaller rock tucked in his hoodie from earlier.  He pulls it out and gazes down at it.  How could such a tiny thing make such a big mess?

It’s weird.  He wished for this swap so fervently, but now, it’s hard for him to dredge up those desperate feelings.  He wanted to be older, he remembers.  More popular.  Hotter.  While he got those things, he also learned that being his hyung isn’t as easy as he initially thought it would be.  Seunghyun has his own set of hardships. 

His teeth have worked up a good chatter when a girl in a big purple coat and a dark wool hat comes up to him.  He’s surprised to see another person out on the street this late.  Her gloved hands fly up to cover .  “You’re Top,” she gushes, eyes sparkling excitedly.

Top.  T-O-P.  That’s him.  “Let me guess, I’m your favorite.”

The girl blushes and shakes her head.  “No, sorry.  I like Seungri.  But you’re cool, too.”

Seungri feels so touched his heart might burst.  The girl starts digging through her messenger bag before pulling out a slightly squished chocolate bar, and then she laughs.  “I wish I had something for you to give him, but he probably wouldn’t want this.”

She’s about to tuck the candy bar back into her bag when Seungri’s hands dart out to stop her.  “No, I do!  I mean, he does.  He’ll love it.”  A fan gift.  His very own fan gift.

The girl looks embarrassed and unsure, but she lets Seungri take the chocolate out of her hands.  “Okay, if you say so.”  Then she starts backing away.  “It was nice meeting you!  I can’t wait to tell all my friends.”

Seungri stares down at the candy bar in his hands.  It’s not Gucci like Jiyong sometimes gets.  But it’s his, and that’s all he really cares about right now.

He doesn’t want to be Seunghyun anymore.  All he’s done the last couple days is exchange one set of problems for another.  Maybe he’s not the best looking or the most talented.  Maybe he can’t sing as well as Daesung or dance as well as Youngbae.  But that doesn’t mean he’s not special.  It doesn’t mean he can’t still make his mark.  Their group is just starting out; he’ll have plenty of time to show everyone what he’s truly made of.

He tucks the candy bar away and focuses on the wishing rock.  He’s done being someone else.  He doesn’t want to be anyone but himself. 

He thinks about the hundreds of times he’s tried to wish himself back, thinks about whether or not he truly meant it then.  He’s not sure, but now the yearning for it fills him up, a yearning far stronger than the one that fueled his initial wish.

He folds his hand around the rock and closes his eyes.  I really wish I was me again.

When he opens his eyes again, he’s back inside the dorm.  He’s sitting on his own mattress with Jiyong at his side.  He looks down at himself and then starts patting at his face.  It’s him.  He’s back in his own body.

Jiyong’s looking at him curiously.  Seungri’s so relieved to be back in his own body that he’s having trouble putting that relief into words.  “It worked.  I’m back.”

Jiyong looks him over.  “Seungri?”

Seungri eagerly nods his head.  He’s back.  And everything feels right.  Like a misfiring cylinder rediscovering its spark. 

Jiyong chews on his lip.  “So if you’re back in your body, then that means…”

No sooner have the words left Jiyong’s mouth then the door bursts open.  Seunghyun pauses in the doorway, chest heaving, coat flung off somewhere along the way.  “Jiyong,” he breathes.

Jiyong scrambles up to his feet, and Seunghyun takes a long stride across the room to reach him.  They meet in the middle of the room, gazing at each other searchingly for one tense, aching moment, and then Jiyong breaks out into a smile.  He throws himself into Seunghyun’s arms, and Seunghyun catches him, holding him tightly against his chest.  Seunghyun groans in surprise when Jiyong pulls his mouth down into a kiss.

Seungri watches them and grins.  It’s like his babies are all grown up.

His hyungs keep kissing.  And kissing.  And really, now, shouldn’t they need to break for air soon?  It looks like Jiyong’s trying to eat Seunghyun’s face.

Seungri clears his throat, then does it again because the first time apparently wasn’t loud enough.  “Um, guys?”

His hyungs finally break away from each other.  Seunghyun’s ears are red, and Jiyong’s wearing a smug look on his face. 

“So,” Seungri begins, pulling himself up to his feet.  “If this whole idol thing doesn’t work out, I think I could have a career in matchmaking.”

His hyungs look wholly unimpressed.  So ungrateful.

Seungri hooks a thumb over his shoulder.  “I’m gonna go sleep in Hyung’s bed.  You guys can stay here.”  He looks at the way Jiyong’s still clutching at Seunghyun’s biceps.  “Um, use protection.  And if you could wash the sheets when you’re done, that’d be great.”

Jiyong lets go of Seunghyun long enough to smack Seungri upside the head.  Seungri cackles and bows his way out.  The two of them start making out again before Seungri’s even shut the door, and once the door is shut, Seungri recoils from it, scandalized at the sound of Jiyong’s moans.

When it happens again, Seungri hurries into the relative safety of the other bedroom.  He shuffles his way to Seunghyun’s bed where he collapses on it, face first.  He stretches out as far as he can, one foot dangling over the edge of the mattress, a contented hum settling in the back of his throat.  His own bed.  That’s one perk he’s really keen on keeping. 

Maybe he can.  If his hyungs keep shacking up in his room like this, maybe he’ll just claim this bed as his.

For now, though, Seungri’s back in his body and in a bed of his own.  Success. 

The next day, Seunghyun and Jiyong are sickeningly sweet with each other.  Seunghyun follows him around like a puppy on a leash, and Jiyong barely takes his hands off him.  It makes Seungri feel a bizarre sense of happiness that it all worked out for them.

While Seungri’s waiting for Jiyong to get out of the shower so he can take his turn, he loiters around the living room with Seunghyun.  And then he thinks of something that was mentioned the day before, and curiosity gets the better of him.

“Hyung?  How did you get Jiyong to believe you?  About us being switched?”

A secret smile hides in the corner of Seunghyun’s mouth.  He shrugs.  “I just told him something only I would know.”

“What was it?”

Seunghyun chuckles.  “None of your business.”

“Aww, come on.  Tell me.”  Seungri doesn’t know why he’s so curious; he just is.  “It was something about the day you moved away?”

“The day Jiyong moved away,” Seunghyun corrects, but his words stop there.

“I can keep a secret,” Seungri insists.  “I’m going to keep your secret,” he points out.  He knows it would be bad if anyone finds out about his hyungs and their relationship.  He’ll have to help make sure that doesn’t happen.

Seunghyun looks over at him, considering.  He looks at him so long that Seungri’s just about to give up, but then Seunghyun presses his lips together and shyly looks down at his lap.  “He kissed me.”

“What?”

“He kissed me,” Seunghyun repeats.  “It was just on the cheek, but...we were both really sad that he had to move away.  I hugged him goodbye, but then he planted one on my cheek.  Then he got really embarrassed and ran away.  We were both just kids.”  Seunghyun chuckles.  “We never brought it up after we got back in touch.”

“Wow,” Seungri says.  “This is like the plot to a drama.  You should sell the rights to this.”

Seunghyun snickers.  “Shut up.”

And then Seungri thinks of something else.  “Whatever happened to the wishing rock?”

“I threw it away.  It’s caused enough problems.”

When Jiyong comes out of the bathroom, Seungri goes in, and when he gets back out, fresh and clean, there’s a shirt hanging on the knob of the bathroom door.  It’s Jiyong’s.  It’s the one Seungri really wanted to borrow.

Seungri smiles and pulls it on.

When they leave for practice, there are fans waiting outside the building just like usual.  Way more for Jiyong and Seunghyun, also like usual.  But Seungri pays it no mind this time.  Instead, he focuses on the smaller group that’s cheering just for him.  He takes extra time, talking to each of them and making them laugh.  He smiles when a girl holding up a sign for Jiyong giggles at his joke and asks him for an autograph, too.

Seungri does it eagerly, but as he’s signing his name, he sees a tiny movement out of the corner of his eye.  The back of Jiyong’s hand is brushing subtly against the back of Seunghyun’s.

Seungri nearly squawks, ‘cause what the hell does Jiyong think he’s doing?  He’s going to get them caught, and their group is going to disband before they can even really start, and why the hell is he so reckless?

Seungri hurries and hands the fan her autograph and then rushes over to his hyungs.  He shoves in between them and then slings an arm around each of their necks.  The fans around them squeal excitedly while Jiyong just looks annoyed at the interruption. 

But whatever.  Jiyong just doesn’t know what’s good for him.  They’ll never manage to keep this relationship a secret if it’s left in his hands.

That’s why they need Seungri.  He got them together, and now he’ll make sure they stay together.

He’s the true, unsung hero of this story, after all.