Archive of Our Own

Jake, 1.

“You’re blonde!” Jake exclaims delightedly, running his hand through Ni-ki’s hair. The younger trainee - no, their maknae allows the attention, even leaning down to give Jake easier access. “Wow! You’ve never had this hair color, right?”

“No,” Ni-ki says, pushing his head back into Jake’s hands when he shows signs of stopping. Jake continues to stroke his hair, heart swelling at the way Ni-ki requests attention. “Does it look weird, hyung?”

“No, no, it looks really good on you,” Jake tells him, and he means it. The sandy blonde color suits Ni-ki well, making him look almost other-worldly. Fitting, considering their group’s new concept. “Do you like it?”

Ni-ki nods. “Your brown hair is good, too,” he tells Jake. “You look… you look so different from I-Land.”

Jake sighs dreamily. It’s mind-blowing to think that he can officially put the I-Land chapter of his life behind him; now, he’s no longer trainee Jake, but ENHYPEN’s Jake. He’s an idol now. “I can’t believe we’re debuting,” he says, sinking blissfully into a nearby sofa. “We’re gonna record and perform our own songs! We’re going to have lore!”

Ni-ki’s brow furrows. “What’s lore ?”

Of course, there’s no way Jake can allow Ni-ki to leave without briefing him on the concept of groups having lore within their music, even if he doesn’t yet fully understand the vaguely vampiric storyline BELIFT has prepared for them. Whatever; instead, Jake tells Ni-ki about EXO and their various superpowers, going on and on about theories and music video Easter eggs until the other boy looks sorry he ever asked.

As Jake finishes explaining why the Tempo music video contained foreshadowing for the storyline from the Obsession era, Sunoo walks out of the salon. “Hey, Sunoo!” Jake greets him cheerfully, failing to notice Ni-ki using this opportunity to sneak away to the van waiting outside. “Wait, they didn’t dye your hair?”

Sunoo shakes his head, yawning. “They said they weren’t gonna dye my hair yet,” he shrugs, touching his newly trimmed black hair. “Said they’d save it for a comeback or something, for impact. Bummer, but oh well.”

“Oh? Why’d you take so long in there, then?”

“Fell asleep in the styling chair,” Sunoo explains, sitting down on the sofa. Jake lifts an arm, allowing Sunoo to lean against his side. Jake is so excited at the prospect of having three little brothers - he can picture it already, all the future video compilations their fans might make of him being the best hyung in ENHYPEN. He’s so ready to save all of them to his phone and show them to his older brother. “Am I the last one out? Why didn’t anyone wake me up?”

“Hmm, no. Jungwon, Sunghoon, and Heeseung-hyung already went back to the dorm. It’s you, me, Ni-ki, and Jay left. Ni-ki just finished, but Jay hasn’t come out yet.”

“Jay-hyung isn’t finished yet?” Sunoo asks, sounding confused. “I could’ve sworn I was the only one left in the styling chairs when I woke up.”

Jake gasps. “Do you think they dyed his hair, too?”

“Ni-ki’s blonde, right? You and Heeseung-hyungie have brown hair… you don’t think they’d give him some crazy bright hair color right off the bat for debut, do you?”

An extremely vivid image of Jay with the same blonde-with-pastel-highlights hair as EXO’s Sehun pops into Jake’s mind, causing him to burst out in laughter. “Oh god, do you think they gave him rainbow hair?”

“ Rainbow - wait, no, imagine if they gave him gray hair, hyung!” Sunoo laughs along with him. “They’d finally make Grandma Jay a reality - ”

While Jake proceeds to lose his shit over the fact that, yeah, Jay acts more like a grandma than a grandpa, the salon door opens one more time. Out walks Jay himself, wearing a beanie and a supremely sullen look on his face.

“Jay-ssi,” they hear the stylist call from inside. “Please make sure to read the pamphlet I gave you, okay? Make sure to take care of your scalp.”

“Yes, noona, I will,” Jay replies, clearly dissatisfied but never forgetting his manners. “Thank you.”

He shuts the door behind him, the line between his eyebrows getting deeper. His face only clouds even more when he spots Jake and Sunoo. “Where’s Sunghoon?” he asks darkly.

“Uh… he already went home. It’s just us and Ni-ki here - hey, where’s Ni-ki?” Jake looks around and pats the sofa, as if Ni-ki might be hiding under the cushions. “Well, he went home with Jungwon and Heeseung-hyung already, so it’s just us.”

Jay’s shoulders sag in relief. “Oh, thank God. I just know Sunghoon’s going to give me so much shit for my hair if he was here.”

Jake lights up, realizing Jay’s hair is still fully hidden by the beanie. “What hair color did they give you?” he asks excitedly, jumping from the sofa. “Is it a cool one? Is it red? Do you have red hair?”

“I’d take red hair over this, honestly,” Jay sighs, then yelps as Jake gets close to him, attempting to yank the beanie off his head. “What the hell, dude?”

“We’re all gonna see it anyway,” Jake says reasonably, struggling as Jay grips his wrists and holds them far away from his head. “You might as well show us now - ”

In the blink of an eye, Sunoo springs from the couch and sneaks behind Jay, pulling the beanie off his head in one swift move. “Aha!” he exclaims triumphantly. “You’re - ” He pauses, blinking rapidly.

“ - blonde! ” Jake finishes for him, eyes widening in shock as he takes in the freshly bleached hair falling around Jay’s face in wispy locks. Jay flinches, his cover blown, and he releases Jake’s wrists as he sighs deeply. “I’m blonde,” he agrees miserably. “And they - ”

“ - and they gave you an undercut !” Jake gasps, reaching out to touch the fuzzy-looking sides of Jay’s head, before realizing it was only partially cut. “Well, not really, but kind of . But wow! You look so cool!”

Jay perks up, searching Jake’s face as if checking for any hint of jokes. “Really?”

“Yeah! You look…” Jake pauses, trying to find the best description. Jay looks like… “You look like a manhwa character! A really cool one! Makes you look all sharp and, um… hey, Sunoo, help me out here?”

Sunoo jolts, still standing behind Jay, the beanie forgotten in his hands. “Uh,” he says intelligently, eyes wide. “What?”

“Help me convince Jay he looks great,” Jake says brightly. “You really do, though, dude! I never would’ve guessed they’d choose blonde for you, but it suits you way more than I would’ve expected!”

The enthusiastic praise finally gets Jay to crack a smile. “You really think so? It doesn’t look weird?” he checks seriously.

“You look amazing,” Sunoo says absently, abruptly covering his mouth when both Jay and Jake turn to look at him. He looks inexplicably flustered under their gazes. “I mean - yeah, it suits you a lot. I agree with, um, I agree with everything Jake-hyung said. You look like a drama character for sure.”

“Sunoo, I said he looks like a manhwa character,” Jake corrects him. He grabs Jay’s shoulders and spins him around, holding his face and proudly showing him off to Sunoo as though he bleached his hair himself. “He does, right? He looks like the really cool second lead in a high school story!”

“Hey!” Jay snaps, looking at Jake over his shoulder. His cheeks are slightly red, as Jake is pleased to notice. A shy Jay is always a delight to see. “Why the second lead? Why not the main character?”

“People always like the second lead more,” Sunoo offers, and Jake opens his mouth to agree - huh?

“Jay, are you okay?” Jake asks instead, concerned. “Your face is getting super warm, dude.”

“Fine,” Jay says, sounding oddly choked up. He ducks away from Jake’s grasp, taking a few steps away. “I’m fine! Totally and perfectly fine!”

“Are you sure? You shouldn’t get sick so close to debut. Are you cold? Hey, Sunoo, maybe we should give him back his beanie - ”

“Oh - ” Sunoo snaps to attention, remembering the beanie in his hands. Oddly enough, his cheeks look flushed, too. “Sunoo, don’t tell me you’re getting sick, too? Did you fall asleep in front of the air conditioning or something?” Man, they haven’t even debuted yet, and Jake’s already out here doing the most in taking care of his new members. His mother would be so proud.

“I’m not sick,” Sunoo denies, then, as if to change the subject, pulls the beanie sharply over Jay’s head. He yanks it a bit too far down though, accidentally pulling it right over Jay’s eyes. “Oh, no, hyung, I’m sorry - ”

Jake laughs at the sight of Jay, face half-covered by his beanie. “Sunoo, what’s up with you?” he chides him jokingly. He reaches up to uncover Jay’s eyes, only to be surprised by what he sees.

“Let’s just go already,” is what Jay says, in the grumpiest tone he can manage, but his face is telling a wholly different story. The redness in his cheeks is still there, even more prominent than before, and despite the way he casts his gaze to the floor, the small, pleased smile on his lips is also clearly visible.

He kind of looks the way he does whenever Son Sungdeuk praises his dancing, or when Bang PD-nim singles him out for performing particularly well. It’s not like it’s weird for Jay to smile the way he is right now, he just thinks it’s a bit of a strange reaction to a few compliments from him and Sunoo -

Hey, and speaking of Sunoo, he’s acting strange, too. Since when was he ever shy about complimenting anyone? He sure didn’t react this way upon seeing Jake’s freshly dyed hair, which, to be fair, probably wasn’t as surprising as Jay’s blonde hair, but still -

It’s not until they’re in the van and on the way home that the proverbial lightbulb lights up in Jake’s brain, everything abruptly falling into place.

“Hey, Sunoo,” he whispers, gently pulling on his sleeve to get his attention. Sunoo stirs, having dozed off. In the backseat, the other two are asleep; Ni-ki is practically sprawled out over Jay, having commandeered his hyung to act as his personal pillow.

“Hyung?” Sunoo mumbles, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. “Are we home already?”

Despite himself, Jake feels warm after hearing that. Home . They’re officially a team together, and they’re going to practice and work and live together. As a group . Ah, Jake feels so blessed.

“Sunoo,” he asks, beaming. “Do you have a crush on Jay?”

In hindsight, asking the member trained in hapkido this question in such close quarters probably wasn’t the best idea.

-

Sunghoon, 2.

“Ugh,” Sunghoon groans, body aching in that exhausting but satisfying way. Practice was rough today; even if they’re already perfected Given-Taken ’s choreography, they’re also practicing choreography for all the other songs on their EP on top of it. Not that Sunghoon minds it, really - in fact, the long practice hours are basically routine to him at this point, as a former athlete and trainee. 

He stretches as he walks to the living room, nose wrinkling when he spots Ni-ki clinging to Jungwon when neither of them have washed up yet. Seven guys sharing one bathroom isn’t really ideal, but he supposes it’s a small price to pay for debuting in one of the most anticipated boy groups ever.

Sunghoon claims one whole sofa for himself, sighing happily as he sprawls out on top of it. He only plans on resting there for a little bit before pulling out his phone and goofing off, but he must have been more tired than he’d thought, because he ends up dozing without even noticing.

He only realizes he’s drifted off when he’s jostled awake by a very rude someone shoving his feet off the cushions, unceremoniously plopping down in the space they’ve made. “What the fuck,” he mumbles, kicking at whoever it is.

“Hey!” Jay protests, pushing back against Sunghoon’s legs. “Stop that! You were hogging the couch!”

“It’s my couch,” Sunghoon insists, refusing to give up on pushing Jay off. They have two couches, for God’s sake. “If I fall asleep on it, it’s mine! Get your own!”

Despite his clearly very threatening demands, Jay only laughs at him. “I already took a bath, don’t worry,” he assures Sunghoon, settling down so that he can allow Sunghoon’s legs to rest across his lap. Sunghoon, still grumpy, allows himself to be maneuvered. “If you’re tired, you should go to bed.”

“Mm, later.” Sunghoon digs around for his forgotten phone, squinting as he unlocks the screen. “I’m gonna hang out here.”

“Alright.” With that, Jay pulls his phone out, too. The two of them spend a few pleasant minutes in companionable silence, occasionally sending each other stupid videos they found through KaTalk instead of physically moving to show each other. Sunghoon’s busy laughing over a cat looking into its owner’s camera with the most appalled expression when Jay’s phone suddenly starts ringing. “Someone’s calling you,” Sunghoon says, rather redundantly.

“Yeah, no shit - ” Jay presses answer and holds the phone up in front of him, a perplexed expression on his face. “Mom? Why are you calling?”

“Oh, Jongseong-ah. You finally picked up,” his mom says, sounding mildly annoyed. “You know what this is about; I keep asking you to give me a tour of your dorm, but you keep putting it off. I knew for a fact you’d be done with practice by now, so I called. I need to know what it looks like, sweetheart.”

“But I already sent you pictures, though?”

“ Pictures won’t cut it, Jongseong-ah. I need to get a feel for the layout. It’s going to take you less than a minute, just walk me through the rooms. ”

“Tell her I say hi,” Sunghoon whispers, nudging Jay. Instead of just telling his mom, Jay decides to shove his phone right in front of Sunghoon’s face. “Mom, Sunghoon’s here. He says hi.”

“ Sunghoon-ah! ” Mrs. Park looks delighted to see him, but it’s all Sunghoon can do not to grimace as he scrambles to sit up and make himself presentable. She’d almost gotten a glimpse of him with a double chin. “ Hi there, sweetie! How are you doing? Are you resting right now? ”

“Hi, Mrs. Park,” Sunghoon greets her, flipping Jay off well away from the camera. He responds serenely with a peace sign. “I’m doing okay. We finished practice just a little while ago, so I was taking a nap.”

“ Aigoo, did Jay wake you up? He shouldn’t bother you if you’re resting .”

“Yeah, Jay woke me up,” Sunghoon says, pointedly looking at Jay. “He pushed me off the couch while I was sleeping so he could sit down.”

“ My goodness! Sunghoon-ah, put Jay back on the line so I can talk to him - ”

Sunghoon triumphantly hands Jay his phone back, already enjoying hearing Mrs. Park’s thorough chastising of her son. Jay clearly isn’t too bothered, though, only giving short, non-committal hums in response to all his mother’s reminders. Ineffective or not, Sunghoon still feels gratified. “ Now, before you make me forget, show me around your dorm already, ” Mrs. Park insists. “ I have this old painting just wasting away in the basement that would be perfect if you have any empty wall space you need decorated - ”

“Ah, Mom, no, don’t send us anything - ” Jay bickers with his mom as he starts to show her around the dorm, pushing doors open just enough for her to see inside. He thankfully doesn’t linger too long in the bathroom; Sunghoon had left it relatively neat after taking his bath, but he can’t speak for the others.

As he wanders around, his mom greets the other members that he passes by; she makes Jay stop in front of Ni-ki in particular, cooing at him and commenting on how big he’s gotten for a solid thirty seconds. Finally, Jay makes his way back to the couch, pushing Sunghoon’s legs off again .

“ Your dorm looks nice; it’s so roomy! ” Mrs. Park is saying. “ Kind of bare, though. I’m going to wrap up some things you can hang around the walls. Ah, ah, ah! Don’t try to talk me out of it, young man! You know your mom has good taste. I won’t send anything you won’t like .”

Jay sighs, though it sounds more fond than anything. “ Fine . I couldn’t stop you, anyway.”

“ There we go. I’m sure you’ll like everything I’ll send. Now, before I let you go, is Sunoo there? Kim Sunoo? He’s in your group, right? ”

Jay blinks, suddenly tensing up. “Why are you asking?”

“ Well, I’ve met everyone else in your group, but I haven’t talked to him . I don’t think I saw him while you were showing me around, either? ”

“Sunoo-hyung’s in the bedroom,” Jungwon pipes up from in front of the TV. Jay shoots him a warning glance, which he ignores. “He’s probably watching a drama on his bunk, so you might not have seen him.”

“ Oh, is that right? Can I talk to him? I just want to meet him, Jay-ah, I won’t embarrass you or anything .”

Jay looks conflicted, which Sunghoon thinks is a bit weird. It’s not like Jay’s had any issues with her meeting any of his friends before. “He’s probably resting, Mom,” he says, though he sounds unsure. Rude , Sunghoon thinks, affronted. Jay certainly didn’t have any misgivings about pushing him off the couch.

“ If he’s sleeping, then I’ll talk to him some other time. But if he isn’t, I want to meet him now. Don’t worry, dear, it’ll only be a minute. I just want to introduce myself to him, find out how he’s adjusting. I’m sure it’d make his parents feel good knowing their son had another adult he could turn to if he needed anything .”

Jay hums, still looking unconvinced. Sunghoon can tell that he can’t think of any more reasons to refuse, though.

“ Aish, just let me meet the boy, Jay-ah! I might start to think you’re trying to keep him to yourself or something - ”

“Alright, alright!” Jay gets up quickly from the couch, marching over to the bedroom in a huff. Sunghoon watches him push the door open, sticking his head inside. “Hey, Sunoo? Are you decent?”

Sunghoon frowns. How dare Jay shove a phone directly into his face and then have the audacity to make sure Sunoo was camera-ready? Where was that kind of bare minimum consideration for him? He shakes his head. Double standards .

He can’t hear Sunoo’s reply, but he must give Jay an affirmative, because he enters the room and closes the door behind him. “You know,” Jungwon pipes up, once he’s inside. “The more I hear her, the more I think that Jay’s exactly like his mom.”

“That’s Jay- hyung to you,” Sunghoon reminds him, but laughs along with Jungwon. “You think we could get Jay to coddle us if we all suddenly got sick or something?”

“ Here’s some chicken soup, dipshit ,” Jake chimes in, taking Jay’s spot on the couch. Rather than kicking him, Sunghoon nudges him gently with his foot as he laughs. “ I can’t believe all of you caught a cold, that’s so irresponsible of you - ”

Sunghoon mimes wiping something with a cloth. “ What? The water’s too cold? That’s because you’re a fucking furnace, moron. I can’t believe you’re making me sit beside you and take care of you, I’m not your mom - ”

Jungwon has tears in his eyes from laughing, but he makes a valiant effort to contribute an impression of his own. “ What do you - what do you mean the soup’s too salty? After all I went through to find the soup mix and make this for you - ”

“Yah!” Jay’s head pops out from behind the door, eyes narrowed. “I can hear you - ”

Jungwon scrambles to get away, running and jumping on top of Sunghoon as if hiding his face will make the rest of him invisible, too. “Agh!” Sunghoon yelps, Jungwon’s elbows pressing into his chest, but he does his sworn brotherly duty and hides him from Jay.

Jay looks at them with all the menace of a giant teddy bear, but before he can march out to throw hands, someone calls him from inside. Sunghoon can’t tell if it’s Sunoo or Jay’s mom speaking, but it gets Jay to retreat, making sure to glare at them as he closes the door.

“Is it safe?” Jungwon mumbles. Jake pats his butt reassuringly. “You’ve escaped the Jay,” he says solemnly. “Congratulations on living another day.”

Although the threat of Jay has passed, Jungwon and Jake don’t leave the couch, opting to stay where they are and gradually taking up more space as time passes. Fifteen minutes later, Jay and Sunoo still haven’t emerged from the room, which is odd, but maybe Jay’s mom had just really taken a liking to Sunoo and extended the conversation. Sunoo does seem the type to charm parents.

“You’re heavy,” Sunghoon eventually complains, attempting to push Jungwon off. Of course, instead of succeeding, he only manages to attract Jake’s attention. The other boy decides to lie on top of Jungwon, laughing loudly as the two of them groan under his weight.

They stay like that, a loud squirmy human sandwich, until Sunoo finally shuffles out of the bedroom. He stops in his tracks when he spots them. “What’s going on?” he asks, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“I’m being murdered,” Sunghoon wheezes out. Jungwon laughs directly into his face. “Call the police.”

Sunoo laughs, walking over to yank Jake off of the pile. “Oh no, and what a tragedy that would be,” he says teasingly, pulling Jungwon up when the younger extends his arms to be lifted, like a kid. “Park Sunghoon, nation’s penguin, killed by affection.”

“You don’t get to tease if you haven’t experienced being crushed by two sacks of meat - ”

“This sack of meat has a name ,” Jake interjects, sounding affronted.

“Sorry - a sack of meat and Jake.”

“Why were you in there so long, hyung?” Jungwon asks, taking a seat on the floor. He pinches Sunghoon’s thigh in retribution, making him yelp. Sunghoon sure is suffering a lifetime’s worth of abuse, here. “Did Jay-hyung’s mom interview you or something?”

Sunoo’s cheeks unexpectedly flush pink. “Um… Kind of? It felt like a welfare check, honestly. She asked me who drives us to practice or school, who makes our meals, what time we sleep. Stuff like that.”

“Oh, god,” Sunghoon laughs out loud. “You lied, didn’t you? You lied to Jay’s mom on your very first meeting!”

“I don’t think she believed me, though!” Sunoo is quick to add, looking embarrassed. Sunghoon can’t blame him - when mothers ask you what time you sleep, you never tell them the truth. “She looked a bit skeptical, but it’s not like I could tell her we sleep at like  2 a.m. most nights. Anyway, she made sure I saved her number on my phone so I could contact her if I needed to. She seems very kind.”

“Wow, you got Mrs. Park’s number?” Sunghoon exclaims, before grimacing at how that sounded. “That’s good. Speaking from experience, she’s the type who’ll drop everything and pick you up if you tell her you sprained an ankle or something. She’s basically a guardian angel.”

Jay walks out of the bedroom then, a pinched expression on his face as he locks his phone. “Hey, if we get any packages from my mom, don’t open it without me, okay?” he says. “Especially if it’s a big one.”

“Why?”

“Just… do as I say, okay?” Jay insists, before walking off without giving Sunghoon a satisfactory answer. He looks at Sunoo with a questioning gaze, but the younger boy just shrugs back at him.

In any case, his query is answered a couple of days later, when one such giant box is delivered to their door. “Whoa!” Ni-ki exclaims, immediately descending upon the package. “Jay-hyung, it’s from your mom!”

Like a bolt of lightning, Jay rushes out of the bedroom and yanks the package from Ni-ki’s hands. He sprints back to the storage room and locks the door behind him, leaving an extremely confused group of boys in his wake.

“What the hell was that about?” Heeseung asks, looking at the locked door with a concerned expression. “What could his mom possibly send that’s so bad?”

Sunghoon shrugs, equally perplexed. He marches over to the door, knocking sharply on the wood. “Jay, buddy? You alright in there?”

“Peachy,” comes Jay’s muffled reply. “I just need to, uh… check the goods. Don’t come in here!”

“Maybe she sent him underwear,” Ni-ki suggests, giggling.

“Maybe she sent a framed picture of him as a baby,” Jake counters. He starts looking around seriously. “I think it would look best beside the TV, really spruce up our living room a bit. Of course, it’s even better if she sent two , so the decor is symmetrical - ”

“All clear!” Jay shouts out. He unlocks the door and walks out with the box, its top half looking violated and ransacked as if some rabid animal and not Jay had gotten a hold of it. Thankfully, the items inside look unharmed. “Sorry, I just had to make sure Mom didn’t send anything, uh… weird. There’s stuff in here for all of you.”

“Oh, hella - ” Ni-ki runs towards him and grabs the box, while Sunghoon laughs at his random use of slang. “Who taught you to say that, Ni-ki?”

“Jake, probably. Aussie bastard,” Jay chuckles. Out of the corner of his eye, Sunghoon spots him surreptitiously pocketing what looks like a red piece of paper. Huh. Weird. Probably just a note his mom sent with the package.

Like Jay had said, there’s a gift for everyone - cute printed socks and longer joggers for Ni–ki, a new hoodie for Heeseung, and so on. Sunghoon feels like singing hymns of praise when he sees the stylish blazer Jay’s mom had gotten him. Without even trying it on, he can already tell it’s exactly his size. She’s truly too good for this world.

Everyone’s excited by their gifts, but Sunoo’s probably takes the cake. The younger boy’s eyes are shining as he looks at the large, expensive sketchbook that Jay hands him, accompanied by what looks like high-quality watercolor pencils. “Hyung,” he says, voice wobbling. “Hyung, this is too much. I couldn’t possibly take this.”

“It’s a gift from my mom, Sunoo-yah. Refusing it would only hurt her feelings,” Jay says gently. Sunoo continues to stare at the gifts, seemingly speechless. Sunghoon thinks his reaction is absolutely precious - no wonder Jay’s mom had liked him so much. “You have her number, right? I’m sure she’d be really happy if you sent her a thank-you message.”

Sunoo nods rapidly, holding the sketchbook against his chest. “Thank you so much, hyung. But how did your mom know I like to draw?” he asks, looking like he might cry. Jay just laughs fondly and ruffles his hair. “Mother’s instinct, I guess,” he says, to which Sunoo nods in agreement.

Later, Sunghoon lays out various turtlenecks and button-downs on his bed to see which ones he could pair with his newest blazer. Between Jay’s influence and his own efforts, Sunghoon’s appreciation and knack for fashion had grown exponentially. It’s really kind of amazing, how far he’s come in his own personal sense of style.

Jay whistles appreciatively as he passes by, on his way to the bathroom. “That one,” he says, pointing out the exact navy turtleneck Sunghoon had been eyeing. “ENGENEs would love that combo.”

“Right?” Sunghoon agrees, pleased. “Your mom’s an angel, for real.”

Jay rolls his eyes. “She really thinks she has seven sons now,” he says, attempting to sound grumpy, but Sunghoon knows him too well to buy it. “I have a feeling she’s just going to get even worse from here on out.”

Somehow, that just cheers Sunghoon up. It might be a bit silly, but it really is reassuring to know there’s such a kind adult looking out for them, even from afar.

Jay moves past him to leave the room, when Sunghoon hears the faintest rustling sound. He thinks he’s just imagined it, but a quick look reveals a small slip of red paper near the door.

Ah, this must be the note Jay’s mom had given him; it had probably slipped out of Jay’s pocket. He picks it up, fully intending to leave it on Jay’s bed, but through a brief glimpse, he spots Sunoo’s name amongst the other characters.

Huh , Sunghoon thinks. Did she mention us in her letter?

Curiosity gets the better of him; surely it won’t be too bad for him to read this, right? The moment he discerns that the contents are too personal, he decides, he’ll immediately stop reading. With this in mind, he starts scanning the letter.

A huge grin forms on his face by the end of it.

TO JONGSEONG: Make sure to give Sunoo this note along with his gifts. DON’T READ IT. IT’S A PRIVATE MESSAGE FROM YOUR MOM TO KIM SUNOO ONLY.

Dear Sunoo,

Hi there, sweetie! I hope you’re still happy and healthy when you get to read this. I hope you like the sketchbook and the pencils! It’s not much, just a little gift from me to make your stay there a little bit more fun. I had no clue what to get you at first, since I didn’t get to ask you what you wanted, but thankfully Jongseongie seemed to know a lot about your hobbies. He’s the one who suggested getting you art supplies, you know? My son seems to have a soft spot for you the size of the moon, and I can definitely see why. I hope you take care of my Jongseong and try to understand him even if he’s being difficult. He’s not perfect, but he’s a good kid at heart. I think you already know that, though. I hope I can meet you in person soon, Sunoo-yah. Take good care of yourself; don’t hesitate to contact me if you need anything!

Love, your second mom.

Ah , Sunghoon thinks gleefully, folding and tucking the note under Jay’s pillow.

The favoritism makes total sense now.

-

Jungwon, 3.

Sunoo kneels beside Jay’s bed, head lowered as if in supplication. “Why, why, why is he so difficult to wake up?” he cries. Despite the volume of his voice, Jay sleeps on. “Does someone drug him every night? How does this keep happening?”

Jungwon sighs. He’d left briefly to brush his teeth, hoping Sunoo could wake Jay up on his own this morning, but it clearly wasn’t happening. Somehow, Jay has managed to ignore Sunoo’s borderline yelling, frantic shaking from both of them, and his actual alarm clock. Even getting Ni-ki to lay on top of him had done nothing - in hindsight, he had probably just felt like a warm, weighted blanket to Jay.

“Do you think rolling him onto the floor would work?” Sunoo asks desperately. “Maybe the fall would activate his adrenaline or something.”

“I’d rather avoid bodily harm, hyung,” Jungwon says, although the idea is extremely tempting. They’re not running late yet; Sunoo and Jungwon have already learned to account for Jay when planning their morning routine before school. Today’s a particularly difficult morning, though; Jay had stayed behind at the company by himself to redo his parts for their coming Japanese release, Forget Me Not . It pains Jungwon to have to wake him up instead of letting him rest, but they can only skip so many classes.

“I want to let him sleep in.” Sunoo sounds upset, voicing Jungwon’s exact thoughts. “But we have a quiz in one of our classes today, and he hates making up for schoolwork.”

“Move aside, children,” Heeseung says, walking into the bedroom. For a guy who’s been up for an hour now, he still looks magnificently disheveled. “I got this.”

Jungwon looks on with a healthy level of concern as Heeseung approaches the bed, ushering Sunoo out of the way. Their oldest member pulls out his phone, scrolls for a bit, then places the speaker right beside Jay’s ear.

For a moment, Jungwon wonders what on earth Heeseung could possibly have on his phone that’s more effective than an actual alarm, but the moment he hears the familiar opening of Rainism , he immediately understands.

“I’M UP!” Jay screams, shooting up from his bed. He scrambles to get up, almost slipping in his haste to stand up. “I’m up, I’m up, I’m ready for practice, let’s go - ”

Sunoo falls over laughing, pointing at Jay and kicking his feet around as his face turns red. Heeseung calmly catches the hysterical Jay in his arms, holding him in place. “It’s okay, Jay, you’re in the dorm,” he says, stroking Jay’s back like he’s a frightened animal. “Shh, there, there.”

“Hyung?” Jay says, looking disoriented. “Huh? What’s going on?”

“Jay-hyung,” Jungwon steps forward, trying to be a second voice of reason. It’s not often he has to be the leader outside of official events, but Jay looks almost comically out of it. “Hyung, it’s okay. We have to go to school soon, so we woke you up.”

“School… oh.” Jay settles down, his gaze getting more lucid as he blinks and focuses on Jungwon. “Oh. Oh, right. Okay. School. Are we… are we late?”

“No,” Sunoo wheezes, stumbling as he gets up. “No, we have time. You should go shower, hyung. I’ll get you breakfast.”

“Breakfast, shower… right. Okay. I’ll do that.” Heeseung slowly releases Jay, allowing him to shuffle out of the bedroom like a zombie. “Where’s Rain-sunbaenim? Is he waiting?”

“He’s at his house,” Heeseung answers seriously. Jay nods, mumbling softly as he walks to the bathroom.

“Heeseung-hyung,” Sunoo says, still breathless from laughing. “How on earth did you think to do that?”

“One time, I was watching our live stages on my phone in our room while he was asleep,” Heeseung explains. “I caught him trying to do his center part in Let Me In ; I’m gonna be honest, with the way he was moving his neck, I thought he was being possessed at first.”

“Wait, is that why you asked to borrow my crucifix back then?” Jake’s head suddenly pops up in the doorway, a wounded expression on his face.

“Yeah? Why?”

“You were going to exorcize Jay without me? Who was going to shout ‘THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU ’ if I wasn’t there?” Jake pouts at him, holding his chest. “I’m hurt, hyung.”

“I have no idea what you just said, hyung, but I don’t think you’d be that helpful in an exorcism,” Jungwon says. “You’re more likely to scream than assist.”

“Screaming scares the demons away, Jungwonie,” Jake says, with the air of an adult explaining something to a toddler. “God, it’s like you haven’t learned anything from horror movies.”

Despite his shower, Jay doesn’t seem to have gotten any more alert. He chews on the toast that Sunoo made for him with a vacant expression on his face, zoning out so completely that Jungwon has to remind him to go and brush his teeth before they leave.

Somehow, they manage to leave the dorm without incident. “Look both ways when you cross the street!” Heeseung calls out as they go, wrapping a non-existent cardigan around his arms. Sunoo laughs at him; Jungwon rolls his eyes and decides not to comment on the milk stain on Heeseung’s lip.

They’ve managed to make it to the van when Jungwon suddenly realizes he’d left an important folder on his desk. “Crap,” he murmurs. “Hyung, I forgot something in the dorm. I’ll just run back to get it, okay?”

Sunoo frowns. “But Jay-hyung - ”

“I know he’s needy when he’s sleepy, but you can handle him!” Jungwon hastily pushes Jay into Sunoo’s arms, who looks completely at a loss on what to do with a hulking mass of sleep-deprived boy. Jay usually likes to make Jungwon act as his personal teddy bear, especially during trips to school, but surely Sunoo’s equally huggable, if not more. “I’ll be right back!”

Jungwon sprints across the parking lot and up several flights of stairs back into their unit, pushing Heeseung out of the way as he runs inside. “Aigoo, did Jungwonie forget something?” Heeseung coos, watching Jungwon rummage around on his table.

“I don’t know why you’re suddenly acting like a mother this morning,” Jungwon snaps, trying to make as little of a mess as possible. “But unless you can magically find my blue folder, you can drop the act.”

“You mean this?” Heeseung, miraculously, holds up the exact blue folder Jungwon is looking for. “You left it on the dining table. Also, rude .”

“Thank you!” Jungwon’s too relieved to make jokes. “While you’re at it, give me some allowance, too?” Okay, maybe not that relieved.

“Brat,” Heeseung sniffs, but he rolls his eyes and slips him two ten-thousand won bills. “You’re lucky I have spare change in these sweatpants.”

“For the love of God, please change out of those before I get home,” Jungwon says, ducking to avoid Heeseung’s swat. “You’ve been wearing those for two days!”

“I have not !”

“I have the pictures to prove it, but I also have a working nose - ” Jungwon runs out of the dorm before Heeseung can unlock his final mother form and throw a slipper at him. He carefully trots down the stairs; he passes by a vending machine in the lobby, and, after quick consideration, buys four cans of chilled coffee.

Their manager is tapping his foot as he waits for Jungwon outside the van, but he smiles fondly at Jungwon when he hands him one of the coffees. “It’s fine, we’re still on track,” he reassures him, ruffling his hair. “Good job as always, leader-nim.” Jungwon smiles gratefully at him, quickly climbing into the van.

“Oh, Jungwonie,” Sunoo looks relieved to see him. His arm looks uncomfortably twisted, owing to the fact that Jay’s gripping it tightly. “Here, you can take Jay-hyung now - ”

“Here’s some coffee for you, hyung!” Jungwon loudly cuts him off, dropping two cans in their laps. He sends Sunoo an apologetic expression as he escapes to the backseat. “Just for today, hyung,” he whisper-yells, when Sunoo looks at him with the facial equivalent of a distress signal. “Give him the coffee, he’ll wake up eventually!”

“Sunoo, are you even listening?” Jay asks petulantly, leaving Sunoo no choice but to pay attention to him again. Jungwon settles into his seat, stretching his legs and listening in on whatever it is that Jay’s going on about.

“ - I haven’t finished explaining your palm lines,” Jay says. Although Jungwon can only see the top of their heads, he can tell Sunoo is squirming. “So like I was saying, this line is the head line, and then below that is the life line - ”

“That’s nice, hyung - ”

“ - and then these ones are your fate and sun lines,” Jay concludes. “And then we have the mounds. This is the mound of Jupiter, then Saturn, then Apollo, then Mercury - ”

Sunoo twists around in his seat to glare at Jungwon. You should be the one sitting through this , his gaze seems to say. Not me!

Jungwon tries his absolute best to tell him, Deal with it, with his eyes.

“You have pretty hands,” Jay says absently, and that gets Sunoo to turn back and look at him. “Pretty fingers. You played piano, right?”

“Um…” Jungwon snickers at the way Sunoo’s ears visibly turn red. He hides his smile behind his can of coffee when Sunoo glances accusingly at him. “Yes. I played the piano, hyung. Look, Jungwonie got you coffee. Would you like some coffee?”

“Okay.” There’s a brief pause, before Sunoo cries out in dismay. “Hyung, no! What are you doing ? Use both hands when you’re opening it - stop, stop, give me that!”

“But I can open it with one hand,” Jay insists, and Sunoo’s head briefly ducks out of view, presumably to take the can out of Jay’s hand before any of it can spill on their uniforms. “I can totally do it, I’ll just be careful - ”

“Ah, seriously, hyung!” Sunoo cries. “Pull yourself together! Drink your coffee properly or so help me I’ll throw it out the window - ”

“Keep it down back there,” their manager says warningly. Sunoo and Jay both settle down, chastised. “We’re almost there, and I’m not going to drive home for clothes if either of you ruin your uniforms.”

“Sorry,” Sunoo and Jay say meekly. There’s visible movement as they shove at each other, aggressively bumping shoulders. Jungwon takes this moment to pull his phone out and discreetly film the two of them, delighted when he catches Sunoo whining let go of my hand, your palm is sweaty and Jay vehemently denying his accusations.

jungwon

hyung look

[attached video]

ㅋㅋㅋ

he was giving sunoo hyung a palm reading or something

and then he tried to open the coffee with one hand

i think he didnt want to let go of sunoo hyungs hand ㅋㅋㅋ

jake-hyung

HAHAHAHAHA

CAUGHT RED HANDED

LITERLLY

THIS IS GOLDN

wow jay must be rlly out of it to be acting like that

i kno sunoo was joking but did he actually take sleepn pills last nite?

he sems mor tired than usual

jungwon

 no i dont think so

he couldve asked manager hyung for some but he was already tired

so i dont think hed need any

hes probably just really tired this morning

jake-hyung

i see i see makes sense makese nse

ok keep me updated

good work detective

thts so funny ohmygod

jungwon

im so glad im not their classmate

jake-hyung

yucky yucky

theyr so cute and stoopid

jungwon

they are ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Jungwon would be a pretty shit leader if he wasn’t able to pick up on the burgeoning… whatever it is, between Sunoo and Jay. Being a teenage boy who almost exclusively hangs out with other teenage boys, Jungwon is pretty much predisposed to find the idea of two of his friends liking each other gross, but being that it’s Sunoo and Jay…

It’s just cute, kind of. Mostly hilarious, if he’s honest, but cute.

Granted, he’s clearly not the first to notice - and if Jake is to be believed and they’ve liked each other since around debut, then he’s also a little slow on the uptake. Jungwon had only realized that there may be something more than regular platonic friendship feelings between them a couple of weeks ago, when Jay had dyed his hair back to black.

No one was happier than Jay for the return of his black hair; although the blonde hair ended up being an iconic look amongst ENGENEs and non-fans alike, it was a bit of a touchy subject with Jay himself, since he detested all the maintenance and touch-ups that came with such a light hair color.

Despite this, a single throwaway comment of Oh, I liked the blonde though, hyung from Sunoo was enough to make Jay sulky for the rest of the night, and only an equally casual compliment of But you do look best with natural hair from Sunoo could bring his mood back to normal. Jake had been trembling nearly the entire night from suppressing his laughter at Jay’s obvious reactions, which is why Jungwon had approached him to ask about their two teammates.

“They like each other,” Jake had whispered in confirmation, a gleeful smile on his face. “And neither of them knows it’s mutual. It’s so stupid, oh my god. It’s better than TV. Better than Netflix!”

“Sunoo-hyung,” Jungwon whispers now. “Psst, hey, Sunoo-hyung.”

Sunoo turns around, an angry blush on his face. “What?” he asks, only to bristle and get even redder when Jungwon snaps a picture of him at that very moment. “ Jungwonie! ”

sunoo hyung had to babysit jay hyung all the way to school ㅋㅋㅋ , Jungwon types, before sending the picture to their group chat. Both Sunoo and Jay’s phones beep with the notification, the former looking scandalized after reading it. The beeps come one after the other as everyone sends laughing emojis in the chat. give him half of ur allowance jungwonie , Heeseung says, which Jungwon immediately shoots down with an angry emoji.

“Cute,” Jay remarks. Sunoo slaps him on the shoulder, but Jay only laughs. “You look like a platypus when you make that face.”

“Oh, Jay-hyung,” Jungwon pipes up, noting that Jay sounds a bit more alert. “How do you feel? Are you still tired?”

“I still feel like shit,” Jay grumbles, earning a half-hearted “ hey ” from their manager up front. “Sorry, hyung. But yeah, I had a headache from when I woke up, but I think it’s mostly gone now. The coffee helped, weirdly enough. Thanks, Jungwonie.”

“Yeah, thanks a lot , Jungwonie,” Sunoo adds, looking displeased. Jungwon laughs at his face - Jay’s right, he truly does look like a little platypus when he gets pouty.

Their manager sends them off with a stern warning to behave, making all of them laugh with his poor attempt at a strict expression. Jungwon skips forward to hug Sunoo from behind as they walk to the school, enjoying the way his hyung melts against him despite supposedly being mad. “ Sunoo-hyung ,” Jungwon whispers, his voice sugary sweet. “I’m gonna eat lunch with my classmates today; have fun eating with Jay-hyung!”

The vicious pinch to his arm is totally worth it.

-

Heeseung, 4 .

Heeseung prides himself on being the eldest in ENHYPEN; sure, he’s not the official leader like Jungwon is, or even the so-called life leader that Jay is, but being the eldest lends him a certain authority and experience that no one can refute. It means that, to some degree, his members will always look to him for his say on the matter, which is why he tries so hard to be mindful of everyone’s opinions and personalities so as not to abuse this power.

It’s midnight and Jake and Jay are bickering over who gets to use the stove first for a snack? Heeseung steps in to sort out a fair solution. Sunghoon, Sunoo and Jungwon get into an argument about hogging the bathroom for too long? Heeseung helps figure out a maximum period anyone can use the bathroom for themselves. Ni-ki feels lonely and misses his family? Heeseung personally contacts his mother and suggests a video call and some care packages. The look on Ni-ki’s face when the huge box from Japan had arrived on their doorstep without him expecting it is something Heeseung will treasure forever.

The point is, Heeseung prides himself not only on being the eldest in ENHYPEN, but on being the best eldest brother he can be to the six other boys.

Which is why he thinks K must be an absolute fucking liar .

“You’re shitting me,” Heeseung says, waiting for K to laugh and tell him he’s only joking. It doesn’t come, though - K only looks at him with growing amusement. “You’ve got to be kidding me, hyung. Sunoo and Jay? Our Sunoo and Jay? No way.”

“ You must be kidding, Heeseungie,” K counters, looking like he’s suppressing a laugh. “Are you telling me you’ve never noticed?”

Here’s how it had gone down: ENHYPEN had been ushered off to the filming site for their latest music video, Drunk-Dazed . Unbeknownst to any of them, K and EJ were waiting for them there, already dressed in uniforms and hiding amongst the other models to surprise them.

Ni-ki had been the first to notice them - Heeseung has probably burned and committed to memory the image of Ni-ki stopping in his tracks, rubbing his eyes as if he couldn’t believe what he’s seeing, and finally running to K at full speed while his overjoyed shouting filled the studio. The rest of the group had stood there in speechless shock until EJ popped out from behind K with a huge smile on his face, and suddenly it was like the I-Land finale all over again as they ran to hug the two trainees, laughing and shouting and dancing around in joy.

“We’re making a cameo in the video,” K had explained, attempting to stay upright with both Ni-ki and Jay hanging off of him. “I think we’re gonna be wolves. Or something. I don’t really know.”

Jake had gasped softly. “ Twilight ,” he whispered, before proceeding to monologue about how he wasn’t sure how happy he was about being on Team Edward in this case. Or something. Heeseung doesn’t know for sure because he’d trailed off into indecipherable English about halfway through.

Sunoo had been standing a bit to the edge of the group hug at first, seemingly shy around the two trainees. K had noticed him, though, and without warning proceeded to lift Sunoo and flip him over in the air, laughing as he screamed and flailed. “Why are you being so quiet, Kim Sunoo-ssi?” K had demanded, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Sunoo had clutched at his shirt after being set down and laughed until he was weak in the knees, needing to lean on K to stay upright.

He had leaned back a little too far in between laughing, and he would have fallen over if it wasn’t for Jay magically appearing and catching him by the shoulders. “Easy there,” Jay had told him with a fond smile, but Sunoo was too happy and couldn’t stop laughing. “Ah, K-hyung, look what you did. You broke Sunoo.”

“Oh! Looks like we’d better reboot him!” K had exclaimed, before proceeding to poke Sunoo repeatedly in the stomach and his waist. It would take a long time for Sunoo to catch his breath in between Jay and K tickling him like a baby, but nobody minded in the slightest; Heeseung doesn’t know if a happier film set could possibly exist anywhere else.

It’s after that impromptu tickling session that K had sought Heeseung out, slinging an arm around his shoulder. “How are you these days, Heeseungie?” K had asked, and Heeseung had found himself relaxing in his hold in a way he hasn’t for a while. Being the eldest of ENHYPEN was great, the best, even; still, there’s nothing like being in the presence of a reliable hyung like K.

They catch up for a while, with Heeseung mostly inquiring about K’s imminent debut (K shows him a picture of Taki being styled for a photoshoot, nearly asleep in the stylist’s chair). K inquires about their dorm, their schedules, and their overall condition. “Ahh, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to act young,” Heeseung sighs blissfully at some point, earning a noogie and an I’m not old, you brat from K.

Heeseung’s due last at the styling table, so he hangs out with K while he waits his turn. It’s then that K leans over to ask, “So, how are Sunoo and Jay these days?”

Heeseung frowns, a bit confused. Why would K ask about those two in particular?

Oh, wait - K probably knows that they’re in the same grade and class at Hanlim. Duh , Heeseung thinks, rolling his eyes at himself. “They’re doing fine,” Heeseung says. “They don’t get to attend classes as much as they probably should, but from what I can tell their studies are going smoothly. I’m pretty sure I saw Jay cramming an assignment a week ago, but that’s it.”

K looks at him strangely. “That’s not what I mean,” he says slowly. “I’m asking if there’s been any… development, between the two of them.”

“Development?” Heeseung repeats, perplexed. “What do you mean, hyung?”

“Like have either of them talked to each other about it, or…?” K prods, looking expectant.

“They talk everyday? We all live together, after all.” Heeseung is truly bewildered now. “...But I don’t think that’s what you’re asking.”

“Come on, Heeseung, stop playing dumb,” K laughs, punching him lightly on the shoulder. “You know what I’m asking.”

“I really don’t, hyung,” Heeseung insists. The way K acts as if it’s something he should know is worrying; what could possibly be going on with his members that he’s missed? “Is there something I don’t know about? Did either of them tell you something?”

K searches his expression for any hint of joking; finding none, he laughs in disbelief. “You’re really serious, huh?” he says, sounding awed. “I guess it makes sense, since it mostly started near the end of I-Land - well, no matter. I’m assuming most of the members don’t know either, since you don’t, so make sure you keep this to yourself, okay?”

“Is it something serious?” Heeseung asks, concerned. K’s request aside, if it’s something that concerns his teammates, he’s not sure if he could keep it a secret. If something’s bothering them, he’d need to talk to them about it.

“Lighten up, Heeseung-ah. It’s… well, you could call it serious, but it’s nothing you should worry about.” K looks around them, checking if anyone might overhear. Most of the members are still in styling or else congregated near there; even EJ is currently being held captive by Jake, trapped by said boy lying on top of him on a sofa. “Alright. Sunoo and Jay have crushes on each other.”

Heeseung blinks. “They have crushes on other… people?”

“On each other , Heeseung-ah,” K says patiently. “And as far as I knew, neither of them knew it was mutual. So that’s why I was asking you.”

And, scene.

…

Okay, so apparently saying and, scene doesn’t seem to work in real life.

Heeseung sits in the makeup chair in shock after that, so silent that the makeup artist taps him on the shoulder several times to ask him if he’s feeling okay. “I’m okay, noona,” he says weakly each time. “Just, um… practicing the choreo in my head.”

Look, you can’t fault him for being so surprised, okay? It’s just. It’s Sunoo and Jay. Jay and Sunoo. Their Sunoo and Jay. His Sunoo and Jay .

But they’re just babies , Heeseung thinks miserably, his mind conjuring images of Sunoo carrying Jay down the aisle. It’s too devastating to think about, so much so that he ends up being uncharacteristically clingy with Sunoo in between takes of their group dance.

“Sunoo,” he whines, hugging the younger boy from behind after finishing their final take. Sunoo, clearly confused, allows the affection anyway. “Don’t grow up too fast, please.”

Jungwon, who happens to be nearby, starts laughing. “A little early to be saying that, isn’t it, Heeseung-hyung? Your age is showing,” he says, like he isn’t a baby, too, and oh god . The image of Jungwon or Ni-ki developing crushes of their own - Heeseung can already feel his heart breaking into tiny pieces. Is this how his parents had felt when he refused to be carried around as a tiny, rebellious child? Heeseung hadn’t known how absolutely soul-crushing it could feel.

Sunoo laughs, too, clutching at Heeseung’s arms around him. “As expected of ENHYPEN’s caring mat-hyung,” he remarks cheerfully. “Don’t worry, Heeseung-hyung. We’ll stay nice and youthful so that you don’t get old too fast, either.”

Heeseung’s too caught up in his emotions to come up with any quips in return. The fact that Sunoo and Jay - two of his younger members, two of his friends, two of the people he’d sworn to protect and cherish - had developed feelings for each other unbeknownst to him -

It’s enough to make a guy cry. Forget being the best hyung in ENHYPEN - Heeseung feels like the shittiest friend in the world for never picking up on something that’s apparently been going on since I-Land. Motherfucking I-Land .

“Okay, break it up, this is getting weird,” Jay eventually says, one eyebrow raised as he approaches. Heeseung physically feels Sunoo lean forward almost unconsciously, smiling as Jay gently pries Heeseung’s arms off him. How could he have been so blind for so long? “It’s way too early in life and our career for you to be worrying about any of that, hyung.”

“Yeah, what’s up with you, hyung?” Sunoo asks, teasing but not unkind. “You were normal when we left the dorm this morning.”

“I think he’s going through a hormonal imbalance,” Ni-ki says seriously.

Jay gapes at him, clearly dumbfounded. “Who taught you that?” he shrieks, as everyone else including Heeseung loses their shit at Ni-ki’s unexpected answer. “Do you even know what that means ?”

“Sure,” Ni-ki shrugs. “It means Heeseung-hyung is going through puberty and - ”

“Jungwon, did you teach him that?!” Jay demands. Jungwon crumples to the floor from the force of his laughter. “No - ” he wheezes. “I didn’t - I didn’t teach him that, haha - I don’t know, maybe it was - heh - Sunghoon-hyung - ow - ”

“Actually, hyung, your mom taught me the term when I was visiting - ”

“My own mother ?” Jay looks horrified. “How - why did she - okay, you know what? Never mind. I don’t want to know.” He buries his face in his hand, carefully avoiding smudging his makeup. “Please don’t ever imply that Heeseung-hyung is going through… that.”

Heeseung sets aside the mortifying implications of Ni-ki’s knowledge and instead decides to pay more attention to Sunoo and Jay, now that they’re actually interacting. Could he really have missed something as major as the two of them having feelings for each other? Surely there was a possibility that K was wrong -

Okay, no. Sunoo has taken hold of Jay’s wrists, gently pulling his hands away from his face. “Cheer up, hyung,” he tells Jay, who still looks highly disturbed. “At least this means you don’t have to give Ni-ki the talk .”

“I was never planning on doing that,” Jay says immediately, looking scandalized. Sunoo laughs at his expression and starts playing peekaboo with Jay’s hands, hiding and then uncovering Jay’s face like he’s entertaining a child. Jay’s expression borders on exasperation, but at the same time, it’s full of fondness - so much affection that Heeseung thinks it’s impossible for even someone watching from the moon to mistake it for anything else.

Apparently, Heeseung has worse perception than someone on the moon.

“They’re so gross, aren’t they,” a voice pipes up beside him. Heeseung turns to see Jake sidling up to him. He looks at Sunoo and Jay the way a child might look at a worm; with a mixture of fascination and disgust. “You’d think they’d be more subtle in public but no - ”

“Wait, back up.” Jake knows? No fucking way. “You know they like each other?”

“Uhh, yeah?” Jake looks at him with the same expression K had, the one that implied Heeseung should already have been on this. “Hyung, we live with them, I’d be impressed if we could go one day without seeing the two of them make heart eyes at each other - ”

“Jake,” Heeseung says, despairing. “How long have you known?”

Jake looks at him weirdly. “Since… since around debut? Yeah, around that time, hyung,” he says slowly. Suddenly, he looks concerned. “Wait, have you known for longer? Have they liked each other before debut? Oh god, what am I talking about, of course you would have known before me - ”

“I didn’t know until today, Jake.”

“ - since you were literally roommates with them at some point, and K-hyung would’ve - uh, what? Excuse me? What did you just say?”

“I said - ” Heeseung wants to dig a hole in the earth and bury himself in it, never to emerge again. “ - I said that I didn’t know. Um. Not until today.”

Jake gapes at him. “ Lee Heeseung ,” he says, so appalled that he drops honorifics. Heeseung can’t even be mad. “What kind of blindness juice have you been drinking and how do I order twenty bottles of it? ‘Cos let me tell you, as cute as they can be sometimes, I’m getting sick of watching Jay scramble to find Sunoo’s coat for him everytime we go out - ”

“Wait, who else knows about it?” Surely he’s not the only one who never knew -

“Jungwon does,” Jake informs him, dashing all his hopes immediately. “I’m like ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent sure that Sunghoon knows, since we make eye contact a lot when Sunoo and Jay are being all sappy, but we’ve never actually talked about it. As for Ni-ki, well, I can’t get a read on him. I think he knows, but he never reacts to anything the two of them do, so I can’t tell.”

“So everyone, basically,” Heeseung says dryly.

“Everyone except Sunoo and Jay,” Jake says, giving him a thumbs up. “And it was funny to watch a couple of months ago, but at this point I kinda wanna hurry them along. Jungwon keeps telling me I’m not allowed to lock them together in a room until they confess, though.”

“Don’t do that,” Heeseung automatically warns him, alarmed.

“I won’t,” Jake promises, looking none too happy about it. “But you’re really serious, hyung? You never noticed?”

Heeseung sighs. Their staff call them over to refresh their makeup, so they trail a little behind the other members to avoid being overheard. “No, I really didn’t know. I - well, it’s not like I go around trying to see if any of you like each other, right?”

“It doesn’t really take a cross-examination to see the way Sunoo chokes on air whenever Jay wears a blazer, but I see your point, I guess.” Jake looks around to check if anyone’s listening, but they’re far behind the others. “Look, if you just… pay attention to them today, I’m sure you’ll notice way more. And then you can go into oh god I’m so blind how did I never see this mode after. Trust me! It’ll be fun… kinda.”

Jake claps him on the shoulder, a grave expression on his face. “Good luck, hyung! Report back to me and Jungwon later - and don’t worry, I won’t even tell him you were the last to know.” With that, he skips off to the stylists, immediately getting accosted with a comb and hairspray.

Despite the flippant way that Jake had talked about everything, Heeseung takes this mission very seriously. It’s one thing to hear about Sunoo and Jay’s supposed pining from someone else; it’s another to observe and confirm it with his own eyes.

Unfortunately, Heeseung discovers that once you know what to look for, it’s laughably easy to catch the two of them making heart eyes at each other at any given moment. Ten minutes in, Heeseung is already feeling sorry for his members for having lived with this knowledge for longer than a month.

It’s mostly subtle things - little actions that you could easily write off as just Jay taking care of Sunoo the way he would anyone else, or Sunoo teasing Jay the way he would do to the others. But then, that’s just the thing. The actions are the same, but the vibes are not.

Because there’s no way Jay would fix Sunghoon’s bangs with the same amount of softness and tenderness he’s showing with Sunoo, delicately moving each strand as if it’s his only chance to look at Sunoo’s face and he’s intent on making the most of it. Heeseung kind of wants to throw up at the clear infatuation on Jay’s face, only made worse by the sweet way Sunoo smiles at him the entire time. Forget Heeseung - Sunoo’s blinder than a bat on the moon for witnessing that expression up close and still thinking his crush isn’t returned.

Jungwon catches Heeseung looking at the two of them a little too intently at some point. “Let them be, hyung,” he says, amused. “I know they’re being a bit much, but we should appreciate that they’re trying to tone it down.”

“This is them being toned down ?” Heeseung asks, genuinely stunned.

“Oh, come on, hyung. You and I both know how much worse they can be.” Heeseung, in fact, did not know, but he appreciates that Jungwon has that much faith in his perceptive ability. “Are you sure they haven’t gotten together without us knowing?” Heeseung asks quietly, acting as if he’s known from the start.

“I mean, I asked Jay-hyung about it a few days ago, and he told me he doesn’t want to confess to Sunoo-hyung.” Damn, Jungwon had just asked him like that ? And Jay hadn’t even tried to deny it? “He said something silly like he doesn’t want to risk their friendship or the team dynamics over a small crush but - ” He breaks off, sighing. “Well, I couldn’t exactly push him or anything since I promised myself I wouldn’t interfere in their personal stuff, so I kept quiet.”

God, when did Jungwon become so mature? Heeseung would have to keep an eye on Ni-ki, make sure he didn’t miss him growing up. Knowing the boy, he’d probably manage to have a whole character arc on his own, and Heeseung isn’t about to let that happen. “I don’t know if Jay’s noticed, but this doesn’t qualify as a small crush anymore.”

“I know,” Jungwon sighs, shaking his head. “But, well. It’s their right to be young and stupid, I guess. Just like it’s Ni-ki’s right to eat crushed, uncooked ramen every night.”

All in all, Heeseung would say that he’s glad he didn’t find out about this any later - he thinks he might have died of shame if he’d managed to be oblivious for a whole year. But he supposes there’s a positive side to his late realization; and it’s that, unlike Jake or Jungwon who’ve known for much longer, he isn’t sick of watching Sunoo and Jay fumble clumsily around each other yet.

Which is why he’s able to watch on with fondness later on when Sunoo is doing a solo shoot in the fountain, professionally calm even after laying in the freezing water only to be bundled into a blanket burrito by the hovering staff. Even with the layers already wrapped around him, Sunoo keeps looking around as if waiting for something else; or rather, someone , judging by the way his entire face lights up when Jay approaches with another blanket.

“Oh,” Heeseung hears Jay say. “You’re already all bundled up.”

Sunoo sneezes violently. “‘M still cold,” he mumbles, and Jay lifts his arms to drape his blanket over Sunoo’s shoulders. Before he can get it around him, Sunoo skips forward into Jay’s arms, resting his chin on the other’s shoulder and closing his eyes. “‘M still cold ,” he repeats pointedly, prompting Jay to hastily wrap his arms around him.

“Aish, you act so spoiled,” Jay says, attempting to use his stern voice, but to Heeseung it just sounds like poorly suppressed amusement. He honestly thinks it’s kind of incredible of them to be pulling this in public without a thought as to who might see them. “Come on, you should get changed. Sanghoon-hyung’s waiting to drive you and the rest of the kids home.”

“Just us? What about you, hyung?”

“Well, the rest of us still have photos to take - ”

“I’m staying,” Sunoo says stubbornly. Jay pulls back to look at Sunoo, who’s sporting possibly the world’s saddest pout. “You guys won’t take long, and it’s gonna be too much of a bother for Sanghoon-hyung to drive back here for you guys.”

“You’re going to get sick if you don’t go home and warm up,” Jay says, equally firm. He must be the strongest man in the world for him to say no to the object of his affection like that. “You need to take a proper bath and put on lots of layers, so no more stalling.”

Sunoo looks fully ready to whine Jay and the surrounding staff into submission, so Heeseung, being the ever reliable eldest hyung that he is, finally steps in. “Listen to your hyung, Sunoo,” he says, brushing Sunoo’s wet hair off his forehead. His skin is shockingly cold; he involuntarily leans into Heeseung’s warm hand, then grimaces when he realizes he’s given himself away. “You’re more likely to get sick the longer you complain.”

“Hrmm,” Sunoo grumbles, displeased. Still, he finally stomps away to the dressing room, looking like a disgruntled ball of rags on legs. Once he’s gone, Heeseung claps a hand on Jay’s shoulder. “Hey, Jay-ah?”

“Yeah?”

“Easy on the heart eyes next time, okay? He knows he can get away with anything if you look at him like that.”

Jay chokes and stutters, face flushing visibly red even under all his foundation. Heeseung just laughs and lets him panic; there’s no reason for Jay to ever think that Heeseung’s anything but one step ahead of him, even when he’s not. After all, he’s ENHYPEN’s eldest hyung, right? Though it may not have been part of the job description, helping his members through their romantic struggles is part and parcel with the role, and Heeseung’s never been one to back down from a challenge.

-

Ni-ki, 0.

What, did you seriously think Ni-ki would be the last to know?

He’s young, not blind .

“Recap,” Heeseung says seriously. “When did each of us find out?”

Ni-ki doesn’t know why they called this group meeting, making such a huge effort to keep it a secret from the two members they’re talking about. Sunoo and Jay aren’t dumb; there’s no way they aren’t suspicious after being sent out on a ridiculous errand to restock their snack cabinet. At six in the evening. In the middle of promotions.

It’s a pathetic attempt to discreetly get them out of the dorm, but luckily for them the two members in question are lovesick teenagers who would jump at any excuse to be alone together, even if it means playing hide-and-seek in a 7-Eleven while looking for instant ramyeon. Ni-ki thinks it’s kind of funny, the way Jay, Park Jay, their poshest member who despised being made to do unnecessary errands, had practically run to the front door to throw his coat and shoes on. Sunoo had a bit more restraint, but only barely; by the time he was putting his beanie and mask on, he looked rather jittery, as if he couldn’t bear to wait a second longer to leave with Jay.

“Since before debut,” Jake says proudly. “Sunoo lost his shit when he saw Jay with blonde hair for the first time. And then he punched me when I asked if he liked Jay. That wasn’t a yes or a no, but come on; that was clearly a yes.”

“I’ve known since before debut, too,” Sunghoon pipes up next. “A bit after Jake, though. I don’t remember the exact date, but it was before our MV dropped. Oh wait, remember when Jay’s mom sent us gifts? That time she got Sunoo the watercolor pencils? Yeah, since then.”

“How’d you find out from that?” Jungwon asks, frowning.

“Oh, Jay had a note his mom had written to Sunoo; she said something like my son has a huge soft spot for you and then called herself Sunoo’s second mom. I think she meant for Sunoo to see it with his gifts, but Jay took it and hid it - I’m guessing that’s why he wanted to inspect the box before letting us see.”

“Ohhh,” everyone says in unison, remembering the violent way Jay had torn the box open. 

“Well in my case, I asked Jake-hyung about it a while back,” Jungwon offers. “I had my suspicions for a while, but I kind of knew for sure when Jay-hyung dyed his hair black again. We all know how much he wanted to have black hair again, but as soon as Sunoo-hyung mentioned he liked the blonde hair Jay-hyung got all sulky and moody.”

“I remember that!” Jake laughs. “Was that the time that Jay literally wouldn’t stop moping in a corner until Sunoo told him he looked good with black hair?”

“Yeah, he wouldn’t cheer up even after I found him the last bottle of corn juice in the fridge - ”

“In his defense, Jungwon, corn juice probably tastes like shit when you’re already upset - ”

“Okay, focus, focus!” Heeseung calls, clapping his hands together. “What about you, Ni-ki?”

“Wait, hyung, what about you ?” Jake interrupts, laughing harder. “You’re trying to skip your turn, aren’t you? Tell the truth!”

Heeseung sighs, looking displeased. “... Fine . I only found out after K-hyung told me back when we filmed Drunk-Dazed .”

Jungwon and Sunghoon exclaim, “You what? ” at the same exact moment that Jake falls over laughing, wheezing out, “What do you mean K-hyung had to tell you oh my god - ”

Heeseung looks off to the side, clearly embarrassed. “I get it, okay? I already know I’m stupid for not noticing earlier,” he says, looking more and more affronted the longer Jake laughs. “Alright, that’s enough! It’s not that funny!”

“It kind of is, hyung,” Ni-ki snickers. Heeseung glares at him, only for him to look innocently back. “What about you then, Ni-ki? Since when have you known?”

Ni-ki shrugs. “Since I-Land,” he says, prompting everyone to stare at him in shock. “What? K-hyung and I already knew about it from back then.”

“K-hyung told you about it but none of us?” Heeseung asks, incredulous.

“K-hyung didn’t need to tell me anything,” Ni-ki frowns. “I figured it out myself.”

“Ohh, sick burn!” Jake hollers, earning a glare from Heeseung. “Oops, I mean, how did you find out, Ni-ki?”

“I saw Jay-hyung wink at Sunoo-hyung back when Daniel was telling us about the ghosts he heard screaming in the building,” Ni-ki explains. Jake’s face brightens up with renewed glee. “And Sunoo-hyung acted shy around him after that. I think Jay-hyung thought he went too far with the wink because he didn’t approach Sunoo-hyung at all for a while. After that, I started watching them more and it was easy to figure out.”

“Oh, that is priceless ,” Jake says, looking delighted. “You’re telling me Jay winked at Sunoo? At the breakfast table? In front of God and everyone?”

“Yes, Jake-hyung, I believe that’s what Ni-ki just told us,” Jungwon says dryly. Jake narrows his eyes. “I’ll bite you,” he threatens. He sounds serious.

In truth, Ni-ki’s discovery goes a little further than that - and it’s something he doesn’t think he’ll share with anyone else, at least not yet. The full story is that sometime during the night, after Hanbin’s elimination, Ni-ki had shuffled back to his bed after having dozed off in K’s bed. He would have just fallen asleep like normal, but he’d noticed that Sunoo’s bed was unmade and empty.

That’s odd , he’d thought, resolving to stay awake until Sunoo was back; his hyung wasn’t one to mess up his sleep schedule for anything, especially when he was tired. Perhaps he’d been particularly upset by Hanbin’s elimination, which was understandable. Ni-ki had almost fallen asleep several times while waiting, but he wanted to be there for Sunoo when he came back; Sunoo had been exceptionally nice to him, and he was going to be kind to him right back.

Except he hadn’t needed to stay up, in the end - at some point in the night, the door finally opened the tiniest bit, enough to let in a curtain of light from the hallway. But Sunoo hadn’t been alone; Ni-ki recognized the soft, gentle voice of Jay, the tone he always used with younger trainees and anyone who happened to be feeling down or tired.

“I hope you’re not as sad now,” Jay had whispered, and even though those words weren’t for Ni-ki, he couldn’t help but feel comforted anyway, the way a small child might feel after hearing their parent promise they’ve defeated the scary monster under their bed. If he’d felt like that, he could only imagine how Sunoo had felt at that moment.

So, yeah. Ni-ki’s known this entire time, but even now he doesn’t feel the need to discuss or confirm it with anyone else. Anyone with working eyes could see just how much Sunoo and Jay cherished each other, even under the belief that their feelings may not be returned. Saying the two of them liked each other was akin to saying the sky was blue, or that grass is green, or that dipping your cereal in milk instead of pouring them both in a bowl was clearly the superior way of eating cereal. 

In fact, he’s more concerned with the implications of Sunoo and Jay getting together - how are cuddling times supposed to work, when they do? Is Ni-ki not allowed to approach either of them if they’re cuddling together? Would they insist on not sharing? Is Ni-ki allowed to refuse if either of them asks for their partner back when he’s snuggled up to one of them? These are the big questions that Ni-ki needs answers to, but his hyungs seem more interested in inane things like how do we get them to confess and does Sunoo really think we don’t know he put a daisy emoji for Jay’s contact name because wow, that’s dumb .

He doesn’t really know why they’re so hung-up on who knows and when each of them found out - in his opinion, none of that matters because the real important issue here is when will Sunoo and Jay realize their feelings are mutual? Ni-ki doesn’t have an answer to that, and he’s willing to bet neither of his hyungs do, either. He’s not interested in thinking about it too hard, though; that’s for Sunoo and Jay to work out between themselves, and for Ni-ki to ignore while he hogs as much individual time as he can with both of them.

When Sunoo and Jay finally return, they’re empty-handed. “Hey, where’s the stuff?” Sunghoon asks, pointing at their clear lack of any plastic bags.

Jay looks at him from where he’s helping Sunoo take his coat off. “Where’s the what?”

“The stuff? The stuff we asked you to buy? The whole entire reason you guys went out?”

Jay and Sunoo share a look, blinking at almost the exact same time. “Oh,” Sunoo says simply, like he’d forgotten. Ni-ki laughs at the affronted expression on Sunghoon’s face. “Oh? Oh? ”

“Ahh, it’s okay, Sunghoon-ah,” Jay says placatingly, toeing his shoes off. “We can ask manager-hyung to get some snacks for us tomorrow. I’m sure there’s something in the fridge I can make for you now - ”

“Hey Jay!” Jake greets them, nearly slipping on the floor as he exits the bedroom in his socks. “Do you have my Melona?”

“They didn’t buy anything,” Sunghoon informs him, crossing his arms. Jake’s mouth falls open in dismay. “You didn’t buy anything? But - but my Melona! I was looking forward to eating it!”

Jay sighs, reluctantly walking to the fridge. He rummages inside for a bit, before pulling out a single strawberry Melona. “I was saving this, but you can have it. Sorry.”

Jake grabs it quickly, as if worried Jay might change his mind. “Thanks!” he says brightly, always so easily appeased.

“And as for you - ” Jay says, looking at the still pouty Sunghoon. “Do you want me to make you some popcorn bread? We still have some bread and sugar in the pantry, I checked.”

Ni-ki watches as Sunghoon enthusiastically agrees, prompting Jake to whine and say he also wants popcorn bread. As he stands there near the kitchen watching them, Sunoo walks up beside him. “Sorry we didn’t get you your Pepero, Ni-ki-yah,” he says, patting Ni-ki’s head softly. “I promise I’ll buy you whatever you want at the vending machines tomorrow.”

“That’s okay, hyung,” Ni-ki says, resting his head on Sunoo’s shoulder. He has to bend his knees a little to reach it, but that’s okay. “Do you want to watch anime with me tonight?”

“Sure,” Sunoo laughs, moving to walk away. “I’ll just take a bath first, okay?” Before he can get very far though, Ni-ki pulls him back, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and pressing his face into the back of Sunoo’s head. “ Hyung ,” he mumbles, making Sunoo hum. “Hmm? What is it?”

“You have to promise you won’t get mad if I ask Jay-hyung to cuddle with me,” Ni-ki demands childishly. Sunoo hums again, this time sounding confused. “Mad? Why would I get mad?”

“No reason,” Ni-ki replies, feeling inexplicably pleased. Nice - he’d gotten a binding contract, sort of. Now there’s no fear of losing his cuddle privileges. “What did you and Jay-hyung do that made you forget about the snacks, anyway?”

“Oh, uh - ” Sunoo’s cheeks warm up just the tiniest bit. “We stopped by a cafe on the way to the convenience store, and we got some drinks. I guess we got distracted. Neither of us noticed the time until it got really dark.”

“Cute,” Ni-ki says out loud, laughing when Sunoo makes a noise in protest. Two full hours is a long time to be “distracted” - he knows for a fact that Sunoo isn’t the type to nurse a drink, always determined to finish it before all the ice melts. If they’d spent all that time at the cafe, just talking, well. It’s not really Ni-ki’s business, is it?

He makes sure to text K about it, later. Sunoo-hyung and Jay-hyung went on a date , he says, laughing when three dots pop up beside K’s picture within seconds of sending the message. Like a real date or a baby date , K asks.

Baby date i think. still a date though

There’s a longer pause before K texts back. Taki says pics or it didnt happen lol

“What are you laughing about?” Heeseung asks, sounding amused as he walks into the bedroom.

“Stuff,” Ni-ki says vaguely, making a point to turn his back to Heeseung as he continues laughing and typing. Hyung is it true you told Heeseung-hyung about the two of them

K is quick to reply. YES. is he there? tell him hi from me and tell him hes loser for not knowing

“Hyung, K-hyung says hi,” Ni-ki relays. Before Heeseung could say hi back, he pressed on. “He also says you’re a loser for not knowing earlier.”

To say the look on Heeseung’s face was anything short of immaculate would be a terrible, terrible lie.

-

Jay, 5.

When Jay wakes up, the first thing he notices is how quiet the dorm is.

This immediately puts him on high alert - the dorm is never quiet, not with six other guys who each have at least one noisy habit. Jake with his mobile games, Heeseung with his totally-necessary-and-not-annoying-thank-you-very-much vocal exercises, or Jungwon and his inability to stop knocking things over on purpose, just to hear what sound they make. In short, hearing no sound is absolutely alarming, and Jay would have rolled quickly out of bed had he not seen the note taped right in front of his face, under the bunk above him.

hi jay don’t panic when you wake up ( Too late for that , Jay thinks wryly). niki has a stomach ache and threw up a lot so we took him to the clinic. there’s food in the fridge. we didn’t want to wake you because you looked tired we’ll text you if (here, the handwriting becomes indecipherable. The whole note looks like it was written in a hurry). hopefully it’s nothing! see you, love jake

Jay frowns at the note, rubbing his eyes. He rummages around for his phone and unlocks it, finding several notifications from the other members. It’s already two in the afternoon.

so it turns out niki is fine lol , one of the messages from Jake reads. It had been sent a couple of hours ago. he ate some bad leftovrs frm the fridge lst night. nothing major yay! sidenote do NOT eat the beef stew in the fridge pls throw it out thx

There’s a message from Jungwon too, similarly informing him that the doctors had found nothing wrong with Ni-ki. Finally, there are a couple of selfies from Sunghoon in their group chat, showing him holding up a serene peace sign as Jungwon, Jake, and Ni-ki pose behind him. Jay laughs out loud when realizes they’re still in the clinic; he laughs even harder when he spots a doctor barely in frame in one of the shots, making a heart with his hands.

Heeseung and Sunoo aren’t in any of the shots, so Jay types a quick message to Sunghoon. hey, just woke up, sorry i slept thru everything. are you guys still at the doctor’s? where’s heehyung and sunoo

Sunghoon takes so long to reply that Jay just gets up, going through one of the most satisfying stretches he’s had in a long while. He’s already thrown the questionable leftovers out and is halfway through making himself a small serving of kimchi fried rice when his phone finally buzzes. nope jihoon hyung took us out to eat after the doc okayed niki , is Sunghoon’s reply. heeseung hyung and sunoo are at the company for lessons i think. they both left b4 niki woke up nd started feeling sick

Jay hums thoughtfully, turning the stove off. He wasn’t aware any of them were due for lessons around this time, but it’s not unusual for the members to request extra sessions especially during a break period. With Drunk-Dazed promotions newly finished, Jay had mostly been looking forward to sleeping in, but he supposes he should try to work in some more classes when he can. He’s been neglecting his lyric-writing; rap lessons would be good, too.

Sunghoon asks him if he wants anything while they’re out, and Jay sends him a request for spray oil for the air fryer. They’re nearly out, and there’s a significant backlog in Jay’s phone of snack recipes he wants to try while they’re free.

The dorm is blissfully quiet when it’s empty; Jay doesn’t think he’s ever had it all to himself, not since they all moved in. Not only is it quiet, the dorm is relatively clean, too; a hiatus means that many of the members have time to visit home, so a lot of the stuff that’s usually strewn out on their floors is currently crammed into suitcases or duffel bags. Jay himself isn’t going home this time around; this break unfortunately coincides with his parents’ business trip, so he’s stuck here unless he wants to cash out and have a staycation at some hotel by himself. Actually , Jay thinks, that’s not such a bad idea . He files the thought away for future reference.

Time passes sluggishly, and he’s just on the verge of feeling bored when he hears the front door be unlocked. He walks out to the living area just in time to see Sunoo walk in, wearing a face mask. The younger boy stops in the middle of taking his shoes off, looking at Jay in surprise. “Oh, you are up!”

“It’s like three in the afternoon, Sunoo, even I would be awake by this time,” Jay says, amused. “Did you just come from the company? Sunghoon said you had a lesson.”

“Mm-hmm!” He stumbles a little when pulling the last shoe off, but he waves Jay off when the older boy steps forward to help. “Heeseung-hyung is still at the company, so Sanghoon-hyung drove back to wait for him to finish. I would’ve waited, too, but I got tired, so I asked to go home first.”

“Have you eaten?” Jay asks, and Sunoo shakes his head. “I had some snacks, but no lunch yet.”

“You should’ve asked hyung to stop somewhere for food,” Jay nags, lightly flicking Sunoo’s forehead. He’s met with a cheeky smile. “I figured you’d be awake by the time I got back, and I was right! What did you have for lunch, hyung? Give me some.”

“Aish - I made kimchi fried rice, but I used up all the cooked rice. Your only options are ramyeon and… well, ramyeon with kimchi.”

“Ramyeon with kimchi, please.” Sunoo skips past him and straight to the bedroom, his next words coming out muffled. “Do we still have eggs, hyung? Can you put an egg in for me?”

For a moment, Jay considers saying no, but there’s no point in not indulging him. Besides, Sunoo gets so excited whenever Jay does something as simple as sprinkle chopped green onion on top of his food, so he figures he can do this much for him. “Yeah, we have eggs. Go wash up and change.”

Jay busies himself with making the food, taking kimchi out of the fridge to put in a plate for Sunoo. All the while, he bobs his head slowly along to the sound of Sunoo humming as he showers and changes, his cheerful voice carrying throughout the empty dorm.

“Here you go,” Jay says, setting the bowl and plate in front of Sunoo, once he’s at the table. As expected, Sunoo’s eyes go wide with delight at Jay’s careful presentation. “Wahhh, hyung, thank you!”

“Was it a vocal lesson you went to today?” Jay asks, sitting across from him. Sunoo shakes his head, but doesn’t clarify; Jay doesn’t press, seeing as his mouth is nearly full to bursting with noodles and kimchi.

Sunoo quickly finishes eating and goes to the sink to wash his used dishes, while Jay retires to the living room area and turns the TV on to mindlessly flip through channels. “Hey, Jay-hyung, where are Ni-ki and the others? Aren’t they coming home yet?” he hears Sunoo ask.

Jay checks his phone, but there are no new messages. “Sunghoon said that Jihoon-hyung took them out to eat after they left the clinic, and I think they went shopping after, since he asked me if I wanted anything. They didn’t say anything about what time they’ll be back.”

“Oh. I see.” They’re quiet for a while after that, settling into a familiar, companionable silence. Jay lands on reruns of old variety shows on KBS, setting the remote down and gradually sinking into the couch.

Sunoo goes off to the bedroom at some point, and Jay’s almost half-asleep again when he steps out and calls for him. “Hey, hyung, did you mean to leave that envelope on your bed?” he asks.

Jay snaps awake, blinking in confusion. Envelope? He doesn’t remember seeing an envelope, let alone even having one at all. None of them have any real reason to keep such things at the dorm. “An envelope? What are you talking about?”

Sunoo shrugs. “I dunno. There’s an envelope on your bed, but I don’t know what’s inside. I didn’t look at it, but I thought maybe you’d want to put it somewhere more secure? Or maybe you should have a look yourself.”

Perplexed, Jay stands up and walks inside the room. Sure enough, he finds an envelope waiting for him as he sits on his bunk, but it’s nothing like what he’d been picturing. Instead of a standard white envelope, it looks handmade, made from scented purple paper and held together by washi tape with a cute cartoonish corn print.

It looks like a better, fancier version of the envelopes he’d made for his letters on I-Land.

“What the - ” he starts, looking up at Sunoo for an explanation, before realizing that he’s alone. The bedroom door had closed without him noticing; perhaps Sunoo had left to give him some privacy to inspect whatever is inside the envelope.

Now curious beyond belief, Jay carefully opens the handmade envelope, making sure not to rip the paper or even the tape. The corn print makes him smile in spite of himself; when he finds out who this came from, he’ll be sure to ask where he could get some for himself.

Inside the envelope is a folded piece of white paper, made of the same, scented material. He turns it over his hands and finds, to his surprise, the following written in English: To Jay-hyeong, from Sunoo.

What’s going on? Jay wonders, now truly confused. Why would Sunoo pretend not to know who the letter was from, if he’d written it? Jay hasn’t had much opportunity to see Sunoo’s English handwriting, but it has the same feel as his Hangul; neat and cheerful, each letter carefully and perfectly shaped as if he’d spent a long time practicing each stroke.

It’s at that exact moment that Jay suddenly remembers a promise from long ago, a declaration made with conviction that he’d simply brushed off with a laugh. I’ll learn English and write you a note in English , Sunoo had said months ago, back when they were still trainees on I-Land, so close to the finish line that they could taste it. His stubborn face from back then forms in Jay’s mind, clear as day. And you’ll cry when you read it .

“You…” Jay trails off, laughing all on his own. He can’t believe Sunoo would actually make good on his promise. His handwriting looks practiced, as if he’d used a font for reference; Jay’s smile grows bigger when he realizes Sunoo writes his a ’s in double-storey form, instead of the usual single-storey a most people use for manual writing.

He opens it quickly, excited to see what Sunoo had written for him. A quick glance reveals the same pretty handwriting, but arranged into a series of one sentence per line rather than a paragraph like he’d been expecting. It almost looks like a poem instead of a letter.

Dear Jay-hyeong,

I promised you right? I will write you a letter in English and you will cry a lot when you read it! Here it is ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ are you ready?

Look at my pretty writeing first okay? I worked really hard to learn all letters! I’m good right?

I want to say thank you first for being the best hyeong to us all. Your really the best in many ways and I’m happy to be in the same group with you!

Kids like us can be hard to live with sometimes. But your hard to wake up in mornings so it’s just the same for us also ( ´ ▽ ` )

ENHYPEN would not be so good or complete without you hyeong. I’m so happy we can debut together. I don't think I can do all this without you.

You make the group happy and feel safe always. It’s not just me that you help, you know? All of us depend on you for many things and we are thankful. We are thankful to you every day.

On days that you feel sad, I hope you depend on us too. We are team, and team helps each other. You make us happy, so I hope we can also make you happy. We will be team for a long long looooong time, so be sure to take care of your self. Take care the way you take care of all us.

U are really one of the best persons I have ever met Jay-hyeong. I want you to never forget that. Your so kind, smart, talented, funny and everything else. I’m so lucky to know you.

Love, Sunoo.

P.S. Did you see? This is a 삼행시. Maybe read again?

Jay takes a moment to compose himself. Then another. Then another.

Then - fuck . He can’t stop the tear that springs up at the corner of his eye, nor the one that follows after that. Before he knows it, he’s buried his face in his hand, face split into a helpless smile even as he silently lets the tears fall down his face.

“Goddamnit, Sunoo,” he mumbles, laughing wetly. “Who the hell gave you the right to be so good with words in a whole other language? What the fuck?”

He haphazardly swipes at his eyes and cheeks, laughing at the hilarity of it all. Well, he supposes this is what he gets for doubting Kim Sunoo - he should know by now, better than anyone, that when Sunoo sets out to do something, he’ll do it .

He reads the letter through several times over, admiring Sunoo’s “pretty” handwriting like he’d been instructed to do. Once he feels like he can look at the message without wanting to tear up, he focuses on the postscript, the only part of the letter that contains Hangul.

This is a 삼행시, Sunoo had written. “ Samhaengsi ,” Jay murmurs. An acrostic poem? But how could it possibly -

Wait.

No way… he couldn’t possibly have. Right?

Carefully, he runs his fingers across the lines, tracing the start of each sentence.

Another message starts to form.

I… no way.

I… L… I… K… E… Y… O… U.

I like you .

“I like you,” spelled out on the edge of the paper, clear as day.

To Jay-hyeong, from Sunoo.

Sunoo liked him.

Sunoo liked him back .

For a solid second, Jay has no idea what to do.

Sunoo.. Sunoo just confessed to him. What should he do? Where’s Sunoo, even? Oh god, he’s outside, waiting. Fuck . How should he go about this? How does he face him? How can he tell him anything?

How can he tell him everything ?

Fuck it , Jay thinks, getting up. He doesn’t have a clue on what he’ll say, but it doesn’t matter. He’ll figure out.

He needs to see Sunoo now .

Jay walks over to the door, pulling on the handle to open it. Unexpectedly, it doesn’t budge. “Huh?” Jay frowns in confusion, attempting to turn the handle but failing to move it enough to open the door. That’s strange; the door locks from the inside of the bedroom, not the outside, so the only way it could be jammed like this is if -

“Sunoo?” Jay calls out, speaking into the door. “Sunoo, are you outside? Are you holding the handle?”

There’s a beat of silence, before a meek voice answers him: “Yes.”

Jay presses his forehead against the door, closing his eyes. “Will you let me out?”

“...No.”

“Why not?” Jay asks gently.

A longer pause this time. “I’m not sure,” Sunoo says, and his voice is absolutely heartbreaking to hear, small and fearful and hopeful all at once. Jay wants so badly to fling the door open and pull him into an embrace. “I’m scared of what I’ll see.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t - ” Sunoo breaks off. Jay thinks he can hear his forehead hit the door softly, like he’d leaned forward in frustration. “I don’t know if we want the same thing.”

“What do you want?”

“I - I don’t think I can say. I might just make everything worse.”

“Sunoo,” Jay breathes out. He thinks he might jump out of his own skin if he can’t see Sunoo right this very second . “Don’t you think it’s only fair I get to respond to you?”

He waits for what can’t be longer than a few seconds, but each one of them feels painfully slow, as if each passing second is physically being dug out of his bones. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, he hears Sunoo let go of the handle, and Jay can finally, finally pull the door open.

He doesn’t even get a chance to see Sunoo’s face because Jay pulls him into his arms immediately, tucking his face into the crook of his neck and breathing deeply. Sunoo’s hands, trapped between their chests, grasp at his shirt as if to ground himself; Jay hugs him tight, tighter than he could’ve thought possible. It feels strange; it feels good.

It feels like home.

“Hyung,” Sunoo says, voice shaky. Jay can feel his hands forming tiny fists against the material of his shirt. “Is this - I mean.” He laughs nervously. “Is this a pity hug? Is this - are you - ”

“I like you too, Sunoo,” Jay says, so quickly that it comes out all in one breath. “I like you so much I don’t know what to do with myself. I like you so much that I - ” He breaks off, laughing. It’s just - he’s so happy . He literally has no idea how to act right now.

Sunoo likes him. Likes him back . And he’d - Sunoo’d been the one to confess. Isn’t that sufficient cause for the giddy joy flooding his body right now?

Sunoo is still as a stone in Jay’s arms, but he isn’t pushing him away. So Jay holds him, stays right there and doesn’t move, and waits.

He’s made the mistake of making things complicated with Sunoo, before.

It’s still just a straightforward path.

This time, he’ll wait for Sunoo to reach out.

It takes a while, but it’s worth it; Sunoo slowly leans back, and he looks so fucking beautiful this close up. Jay thinks he could count every eyelash, count every star hiding in Sunoo’s shining eyes. “You’re serious,” Sunoo checks, a grave expression on his face, and Jay has to laugh, because of course that’s Sunoo’s first question. Of course Sunoo would still be questioning how far gone Jay is for him, because things can’t be simple for either of them, can they?

Instead of answering, Jay opts to show him; carefully, as if Sunoo’s skin is fragile, blush-tinted porcelain, Jay cradles his cheek and brings his face closer. He closes his eyes and draws upon every feeling, every butterfly, every sunset-colored emotion he’s ever associated with Sunoo and attempts to condense it all into a single, sweet kiss, pressing his lips against Sunoo’s forehead. Sunoo inhales and doesn’t exhale; for a brief, beautiful moment, it’s as if time doesn’t exist. As if nothing else exists.

It’s all about them.

Jay pulls back, heart thundering, but he doesn’t get a chance to say anything else because Sunoo doesn’t let more than two inches separate them before he’s leaning forward, closing the gap once more. Jay experiences for the first time the blissful feeling of Sunoo’s soft lips pressing against his, so sweet and earnest and good .

It’s chaste, nothing more than a dry press of lips, and it’s over way too soon. “Wait,” Sunoo gasps, leaning back. “No, no, I need a do-over. That was terrible .”

Jay cracks up, surprised. “Sunoo, that wasn’t terrible - ”

“But it wasn’t good, was it?” Sunoo insists, eyes narrowed, which just makes Jay laugh even harder. “Why are you laughing?”

“Why did you think our first kiss would be perfect?” Jay wheezes, even as his ears burn red from what he’s saying. “It’s us , Sunoo, I don’t think we’re capable of anything that isn’t a disaster - ”

“That’s not true,” Sunoo says, pouting, so Jay kisses him on the mouth once, twice, thrice in succession, until Sunoo’s cheeks are rosy pink. “No, you’re right,” Jay agrees, feeling too giddy to be contradictory. He brushes Sunoo’s hair off his forehead, looking at the spot he’s just kissed. “You’re very good at writing letters. You’re very good at singing, too. You’re going to be very good at kissing - ”

Sunoo whines, cutting him off. He frees his hands from between them and loops them around Jay’s neck, pulling him in for another kiss. Jay lets him do whatever he wants, lets Sunoo take the lead and lets him kiss all the air out of his lungs as if he doesn’t need any of it, as if he only needs Sunoo’s lips to live and breathe. It’s already better, so much better, and Jay can already see this becoming a problem in the future.

How is he ever supposed to stop, now that he’s allowed to kiss Sunoo?

“You’re - um.” Sunoo breaks away, a brilliant shade of red. He tries to step backward, but Jay doesn’t let him go, moving to wrap his arms around his waist. Embarrassed, Sunoo looks down. “Was that bad? Was that too much? Sorry, it was too fast wasn’t it, hyung - ”

“Sunoo, I literally have nothing to compare any of this to,” Jay reminds him gently. Sensing that Sunoo isn’t trying to escape anymore, he takes one of Sunoo’s hands, pressing his lips against his knuckles. The simple gesture makes Sunoo look up sharply, eyes bright. It’s adorable. “Anything’s perfect if it’s you.”

Sunoo’s mouth falls open slightly. “You can’t just say things like that with no warning,” he scolds him, shaking his hand free from Jay’s grip. Jay laughs when Sunoo ends up just resting his hands on his chest anyway. “That’s like - that’s illegal. Why are you so calm? Where’s all your mental turmoil? Are you telling me I’m the only one who’s been overthinking everything?”

“What if I told you I think about you way too much?” Jay says, smiling. He lifts one hand, tracing Sunoo’s cheek. His heart swells when Sunoo leans into his touch. “What if I told you I have this whole entire sappy playlist that I listen to when my feelings get to be too much and there’s no one in the world I could talk to about how I felt about you?”

Sunoo is silent for a moment. “Is it your mochimochi playlist? The one with the ice cream cover?”

In an instant, all the mushy, happy feelings inside Jay are wiped clean and replaced with abject horror. “ How do you know about that - ”

“None of your playlists are private, hyung.” Sunoo says, grinning cheekily. “Maybe I should have told you, but I really liked listening to your space adventures playlist. You have great taste in music.”

“Oh, god,” Jay groans, covering his face. “I’m deleting my account.”

“No, hyung, don’t - ”

“I don’t see how you could possibly know about that playlist and still think I don’t like you back,” Jay says, looking into Sunoo’s eyes. “The number of TWICE songs I put in there should’ve been a dead giveaway.”

Sunoo hesitates. “I hoped it might be for me,” he says quietly. “Or at least related to me. But I didn’t - I don’t…” He trails off, looking to the side.

Jay presses his forehead against Sunoo’s. “You know now, though, right?” he asks, waiting for Sunoo to meet his gaze. Eventually, he does. “You know I feel the same, right?”

It takes a while, but the uncertainty in Sunoo’s eyes eventually melts into something akin to wonder. “You really do like me, hyung?” he asks, one more time. Jay would answer him as many times as he has to.

“I like you, Kim Sunoo,” Jay tells him, plain and simple.

The smile that blooms on Sunoo’s face is so sweet, so lovely, that Jay has no choice but to lean in and kiss it off his lips.

-

Sunoo, 6.

After nearly four months of competing to debut, six months of being an idol, and sixteen English lessons at the HYBE building, Kim Sunoo finally realizes that Park Jongseong likes him, too.

On a warm afternoon in June 2021, at about 4:42 p.m. in their dorm, Sunoo is officially the last ENHYPEN member to know.