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Jaebum did not know what Jinyoung's problem with him was.
They got along like they always had - because they had to for the sake of all their careers, and because despite their differences, they were similar enough where it counted: both of them were invested in all senses in their group, both of them enjoyed reading and arts and staying in and other things the other members considered either boring or too fancy, and both of them were willing to put aside any differences and work hard for their dreams.
After their rocky start during JJ Project Jaebum thought they had come to understand one another and even become friends in the whirlwind that was living and working with the other five members of GOT7. It was just that lately Jinyoung had been acting like usual in front of cameras, but totally giving Jaebum the cold shoulder in situations where they were not required to interact in order to keep their public image. First Jaebum had ignored it, thinking he must have again upset Jinyoung with something tiny he said or did or didn't, but when the petty singer did not come to confront him about it within a few days, Jaebum was growing concerned. Jinyoung knew how to hold a long feud over the stupidest of things, but he never did it silently, always being loud to complain and point out any wrongdoings or not-doings to the point it annoyed the hell out of the poor soul he had set his mind on torturing.
Which was why Jaebum found himself intensely glaring at the annoyingly perfect curve of Jinyoung’s ear while the younger boy was working in the kitchen, refusing to acknowledge Jaebum in any way although Jaebum had just asked him to make another cup of noodles for Jaebum while he was making one for himself. Jaebum counted to ten in his head, telling himself to be calm and patient like he had fought so hard to become after the countless times he had lost his temper before, and got up from where he had been sitting comfortably on the sofa to drag himself into the kitchen, too hungry and tired to deal with Jinyoung’s antics.
Trying to not step on Jinyoung’s toes any more than he apparently already had, Jaebum walked around the younger boy to fetch his favorite noodles from the high shelf where Jackson always complained he could not reach (which was precisely why they were stored there), but Jinyoung sidestepped just as Jaebum was reaching into the cupboard, intentionally getting into Jaebum’s way although the younger boy of course acted like he did not do it on purpose. And despite it all Jinyoung was still not looking at Jaebum, keeping his eyes focused on the seasoning package he was opening instead. Jaebum could not stop the sigh of exasperation that left his lips, but he refused to back down now that he had already gone through the trouble to get up from the sofa. He had anyway only gotten up because Jinyoung had kept ignoring him, so Jaebum found it fair to step up too close to Jinyoung, getting on his toes so he could reach his noodles over Jinyoung’s shoulder without having to touch the prickly boy. And just because Jinyoung had been getting on his nerves for days now and Jaebum was feeling a bit petty and childish as the other boy’s silent treatment was starting to wear on him, Jaebum blowed lightly on the shell of Jinyoung’s ear before he stepped back again, his noodles in his hand.
It seemed it was what was required to get Jinyoung’s attention, because the reaction was instant.
Jinyoung whipped his head back, staring at Jaebum accusingly. One of Jinyoung’s hands came up to cup the thin shell of his ear protectively, and Jaebum was pretty sure the younger boy was flushing, probably from annoyance. “What’s wrong with you?? Why would you blow on my ear?”
Jaebum feigned disinterest, surprising himself by dropping his eyes from Jinyoung’s immediately although he had yearned for days now for the younger boy to look at him, like, really look at him with his own emotions in his eyes and not that actor’s mask Jinyoung had recently played so much in front of the cameras. It hurt something inside Jaebum’s chest that this was the only way Jinyoung would look at him now, with anger burning in his eyes. He told himself he did not care, but really, he did.
“Nothing, and I didn’t, you were in the way so I guess I just accidentally breathed into your general direction, so, sorry about that, I guess.” The words were out of Jaebum’s mouth before he could stop them, spilling venom in their wake, falling all too easily in this familiar push and pull of them even though the voice of reason in the back of his head was screaming at him that he was only making matters worse.
“Screw you, that wasn’t an accident.” Jinyoung spit before turning his head back around, fingers rubbing on the shell of his ear like Jaebum’s breath was still annoying him on it or something, and Jaebum felt the urge to do it again out of spite, but at least he could hold himself back from this much. An unwanted voice in his head told him he would much rather bite Jinyoung’s ear than blow on it, but that voice was quickly shoved to the back of his mind as Jaebum tried to firmly ignore the thought ever appeared to him.
Jaebum leaned back on the wall a bit further away from Jinyoung, waiting for the water Jinyoung had put in the kettle earlier to boil so he could finish making his junk food, eat it and get to sleep. Tomorrow would be another day, and Jaebum would have more energy to deal with Jinyoung’s bullshit, but he was way too tired to do so now. Jaebum ripped the cup noodle packaging open with more force than required. Jinyoung was back to ignoring him where he was choosing chopsticks, the only change from earlier being that he kept touching the ear Jaebum blew on occasionally, and his posture was tenser than before. Jaebum did not know what he felt, but it was not even the sick feeling of joy one got when doing something hurtful to another person in the haze of anger. It was just a mix of apprehension, regret, and something else that was suspiciously close like yearning, so it was another thing Jaebum shoved to the back of his mind, never to be analyzed further, like a lot of other things he felt because of Jinyoung. Always because of Jinyoung.
Jaebum was spacing out, staring into nothingness somewhere past Jinyoung’s shoulder, hearing the water kettle go off and Jinyoung pour water into his bowl, but he did not react, intending to wait until Jinyoung was done and out of the kitchen so they would not have to fight any more than they already had today.
This plan was however ruined by who else than the petty Jinyoung, who decided the most reasonable and adult thing to do in the situation was to pour the extra water in the kettle into the sink , when the younger boy very well knew Jaebum also needed some for his own noodles.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Jaebum shouted, rushing over to Jinyoung and grabbing his hand to right the kettle and stop the younger from pouring all the water away. Jaebum was tired . He was not going to wait another three or whatever minutes for another kettle of water to boil.
The glare Jinyoung threw him was petulant, and he yanked his arm out of Jaebum’s hold, pretty much throwing the kettle onto the counter. “Oh, did you need water too? Sorry, I guess.”
Jaebum rolled his eyes, but when Jinyoung tried to get his cup of noodles and leave, Jaebum was quicker. He crowded Jinyoung against the kitchen counter, getting uncomfortably close, hands on either side of Jinyoung’s hips to not allow the younger boy escape. For a moment Jinyoung was startled, wide eyes blinking at Jaebum in surprise, before anger flared back into them and the younger boy tried to shove at Jaebum’s chest to get him to step back, but he did not succeed. Jaebum was not letting Jinyoung evade this argument, not anymore. They needed to sort this out, or it would affect the whole group sooner rather than later, if not in any other way then at least because it was driving Jaebum crazy to have Jinyoung acting towards him like this.
“What is it, Jinyoung?! What have I done? Just tell me so that I can apologize or make it up to you like you know I would if I just knew what I have done wrong, and then we can go back to normal.”
At least this outburst got Jinyoung to look a little like ashamed instead of just righteously petty and angry, and the younger boy averted his eyes from Jaebum’s as he dropped his hands from where they had been pushing at the older boy’s chest, admitting some sort of defeat.
“I don’t want to.” It was barely a mumble, but Jaebum was close enough for Jinyoung’s breath to fan against his chin, so he heard it.
“You don’t want to what? Tell me? Jinyoung you’re going to have to, because I’m not a goddamn mind reader, and I’m tired of you avoiding me like this.”
The look in Jinyoung’s eyes when he lifted his chin to face Jaebum again was piercing, and something he did not want to name hurt in Jaebum’s chest. “I don’t want to go back to normal.”
The words and the intensity of Jinyoung’s gaze upset Jaebum’s focus enough for the slightly shorter boy to be able to shove him back, and Jinyoung made it to his cup noodles before Jaebum could react, the older boy’s brain running the words through over and over again, trying to make some sense into them. Finally realizing Jinyoung was quickly making his way towards his room where Jaebum definitely could not go to have this conversation slash argument unless he wanted to wake the maknaes up, Jaebum took the couple of running steps it took to catch up to the other singer, stopping him with a hand on his elbow. “Wait!”
Jinyoung turned to face him, but probably only because if he yanked his arm out of Jaebum’s grasp now, he would probably spill his food.
“What do you mean by that? Jinyoung please, we can’t go on like this, you know it will affect the whole group.” It was dangerously close to begging, and Jaebum was using the group as a (very valid) excuse, but Jaebum was getting desperate and Jinyoung was so, so confusing. Jaebum needed to know what was wrong to somehow make this right, even if he did not know if he could.
Jinyoung was meeting his eyes earnestly now, and he seemed to be weighing his next words carefully, because he was chewing on his full bottom lip the way he tended to do when he had to say something that was not easy for him. “It will affect the group anyway.”
Jinyoung’s answer brought really more questions than any real answers, so Jaebum grasped Jinyoung’s other arm too, willing the younger boy not to escape. Jinyoung had dropped his gaze again, his eyes flickering everywhere else but Jaebum, which was impressive considering that Jaebum covered a big chunk of his field of vision.
“Jinyoung, please.” Jaebum did not know what he was asking for, but it got Jinyoung to look at him again with desperation and hopelessness that surprisingly matched Jaebum’s swimming in his eyes.
Jaebum could have counted Jinyoung’s eyelashes from how close they were, but he would not. Jinyoung was as handsome as ever up close, but then again, Jaebum already knew that. Jaebum had known that for many years now, known the way Jinyoung’s lips glistened when he had just licked them and the way those eyes crinkled into that true, beautiful smile Jaebum had not seen for days now, and many other things Jaebum did not want to admit. He just wanted Jinyoung back, the Jinyoung who joked with him, was tired of the maknaes with him and laid on the opposite ends of the sofa reading books in silence with him. Jaebum wanted them to be okay, because he knew that was the most he could get, and he had long since learned to be fine with that.
“It’s… Jaebum, I can’t, okay? I just can’t. I can’t keep acting like it’s enough when it’s not, not off camera, not 24/7 and always, okay? Just leave me be.”
Something in Jinyoung’s sentence snagged in Jaebum’s brain, and Jinyoung seemed to realize he had said too much too, because his eyes suddenly widened before he tried to back away, but Jaebum did not let him go yet, desperate to get to an answer. “Wait what? Not enough? What do you mean?”
“Ah, fuck. Never mind, okay? It’s nothing. Forget it.”
There was panic in Jinyoung’s eyes, and Jaebum knew he was onto something, getting closer to the truth, to the real reason why Jinyoung was avoiding him. The thought of what it could be was an excited thrill in his stomach Jaebum tried to squash from being too eager too early, when nothing was confirmed yet and Jaebum might very well be wrong about how to interpret Jinyoung’s choice of words.
“It’s not nothing, Jinyoung, it very clearly isn’t. C’mon, spit it out.”
Giving up the struggle, Jinyoung slumped, his eyes resigned when they met Jaebum’s, and Jaebum briefly wondered how those black pools could portray so many different emotions with very little changes in Jinyoung’s face.
“I like you, okay? That’s why I can’t stand you being all friendly and nice with me when you don’t mean it like I’d want to, and why I don’t want to go back to normal. Are you happy now? See, it’s definitely going to affect the group because now that you know it’s going to ruin everything-- ”
Jaebum firmly silenced Jinyoung with a kiss onto those lips he had been secretly dreaming of for years now, thinking his crush was unrequited. Jaebum was all too happy to note that Jinyoung melted into the kiss easily, kissing eagerly back, all teeth and tongue and frustration and feelings held back for too long a time.
The kiss was broken when Jaebum tried to step closer, forgetting about the noodles Jinyoung was holding and thus getting slightly less than boiling hot soup on both of them, and they broke apart with yelps and shouts of alarm. Staring into each other’s eyes for the longest of moments Jaebum wondered if this was it, if that was all he would get and Jinyoung would now shut him off again, when Jinyoung suddenly burst into laughter, his eye whiskers appearing as he lifted his free hand to cover his open mouth and tried to set the noodles down on the sofa table with the other, almost knocking them over in his haste. Jaebum joined his laughter, relieved that Jinyoung was smiling and laughing with him again, and absolutely delighted that Jinyoung did not seem to be running away from this situation anymore, a fact only confirmed by Jinyoung stepping up to him when the younger boy had managed to balance the noodles down on the somewhat full sofa table. Amusement sparkled in Jinyoung’s dark eyes, and Jaebum felt his stomach drop with something very different than dread when Jinyoung hooked one finger around a hoop of the older boy’s jeans, pulling his hips just a bit closer.
“I think you need to change, you have soup all over your jeans. Let me help you.”
Surprised by Jinyoung’s sudden change in attitude but definitely not complaining, Jaebum allowed the younger to lead him into his room and lock it behind them for good measure although they both knew Youngjae was sleeping over in Mark’s room playing computer games later into the night than they would like.
It was kind of weird, falling into bed with Jinyoung so soon after Jaebum had thought their relationship had been ruined forever, but then again, it was not. It felt so natural to tug on Jinyoung’s clothes, trying to get them off in his haste while Jinyoung was hurrying to do the same to him. It felt long awaited to roam his hands freely on Jinyoung’s body, enjoying the curves and plains the younger boy liked to keep hidden. It felt right to be buried deep in Jinyoung’s body, to have Jinyoung scrape his fingernails down his back so hard it hurt and to hear Jinyoung say his name like a curse and a prayer at the same time.
Jaebum found out that night that Jinyoung’s ears were very sensitive, and that the younger boy totally got off on Jaebum biting lightly at the shell or sucking at the lobe, and Jaebum was all too happy to oblige, worshipping every centimeter of skin Jinyoung revealed for him.
It took about a week for the others to realize what had changed between Jaebum and Jinyoung, and the reactions varied from Jackson and Yugyeom cheering and collecting money from Bambam, Youngjae and Mark, and Youngjae declaring that he was moving in together with Mark into Jinyoung’s room (Jackson complained loudly about this, not happy his boyfriend was moving away from the mess of their room) and that Jaebum could send his things and sheets over once they would be completely disinfected from any bodily fluids the new pair might have gotten on them.
Jaebum was stuck with three loads of laundry while Jinyoung laughed, only agreeing to help when Jaebum promised to suck him off in the laundry room.
Best deal Jaebum ever made.