The EXO members decide to have an intervention with Jongin about his behavior around a certain member. {for the ask.fm anon who wanted jealous!kyungsoo}
"Jongin, we need to talk."
Those words are always anything but reassuring. The last time the dancer heard those words, his mom delved into a long story about the ecosystem and the circle of life, only to end up telling Jongin at the end that his pet goldfish had died and she flushed it down the toilet before he could say goodbye.
"Um. Okay," Jongin replies, staring at Junmyeon with an unsure look in his eye. It doesn't help that all the members – well, almost all of them – are waiting for him in the living room, eerily somber looks on their faces. Even Baekhyun has a straight face, and Baekhyun's the type of guy to laugh when a character dies in a movie, so that's saying something.
"What's this about?" Jongin asks slowly, taking a seat on the comforter, away from the couch where most of the members are sitting.
"The members and I have noticed something lately, and it's really starting to worry us," Kris starts, eyebrows furrowed in frustration. Or maybe confusion. Jongin isn't quite sure actually – Kris' eyebrows always look like that. Maybe it's his thing.
"Okay...?" Jongin says, eyebrow raised. "But where's Kyungsoo?" Shouldn't he be here for this too?
"This is about Kyungsoo."
Jongin feels his cheeks heating up already, and he knows this conversation won't be any good for him. It's not really a secret that he likes his hyung more than he probably should, although he was hoping he could try his best to hide it. It's hard though, hiding your feelings from someone so close yet so far.
"We tried to ignore it, but it's just gotten too obvious, Jongin. It needs to stop."
Jongin frowns both in confusion and embarrassment. "What needs to stop?"
"Your puppy act," Kris deadpans. "The puppy act needs to stop around Kyungsoo."
That just causes Jongin to frown even deeper now. "What are you talking about, what puppy act?"
"You know, following him around, doing everything he asks, staring at him like he's a piece of meat you want to devour." Kris looks just as uncomfortable as Jongin at that point.
"I don't..." Jongin starts, but he doesn't know what to say. "I'm not... a puppy..."
"You're whipped, Jongin," Baekhyun says simply, trying to dumb it down even further for Jongin and the rest of them so they can get this conversation over with. "It was cute and whatnot at first, but now it's just pathetic. You two aren't even dating and you're this–this–"
"Eager?" Jongdae offers from his side.
"Ew." Baekhyun scrunches his nose up at the involuntary mental images popping up. "Not the word I was really looking for, but whatever, it gets the point across."
"Why do you guys... care...?" Jongin asks hesitantly. After all, this really is none of their business.
"Because we're around you two more often than we'd like, and it's becoming unbearable," Kris deadpans.
"What Kris means to say," Junmyeon interrupts, giving Kris a warning glance before continuing, "is that we just want you to spend more time on yourself. We know you like Kyungsoo a lot, but maybe you should... think more about what you want to do too."
But I want to be with Kyungsoo, is all Jongin can think. But knowing his members wouldn't like that answer, he instead asks, "What do you guys think I should do then?"
"Maybe just start by hanging around Kyungsoo less often. Give both of you guys some room to breathe and relax. That's not that hard, right?"
Jongin doesn't answer, instead letting a frown settle onto his features. Easier said than done.
Jongin takes the members' advice and lets Taemin drag him out for a game night after practice, like they used to when Jongin was still a trainee. His other school friends are there, to his surprise and even theirs.
"Wow, long time no see," an old friend says as he greets Jongin with a big hug. "Taemin said you've been busy, but I didn't believe him."
Jongin laughs. "I was busy." Just not always work, Jongin adds mentally, recounting all the times he passed up hanging with Taemin to go shopping with Kyungsoo instead or watch a movie with Kyungsoo at home. He feels a little bad now, thinking of all the times he's neglected his friends.
"Too busy to pass up games with your friends?" Taemin scoffs, handing him a controller. "That doesn't sound like our Kim Jongin."
"Maybe the fame's gotten to his head."
His friends all laugh, and even Jongin can't help but chuckle. It's not fame, but something else – something he's supposed to not be thinking about.
Shaking his head, Jongin clears his thoughts of Kyungsoo and how the older is probably at home washing dishes, in need of his help or companionship. He remembers his members' voices telling him to give him room to breathe, and puts on a smile as he yells at his friends to get him a Coca-Cola.
Tonight he will have fun, even if his definition of fun now revolves around someone back home.
It's past ten when Jongin gets back into the dorm.
"Where were you?" Kyungsoo asks the moment he steps into their room. His book is left abandoned on his bed as soon as he sees the dancer walk in. "Curfew was an hour ago. I had to cover your ass when the manager came in."
"I was out with Taemin," Jongin replies, trying to keep his cool as Kyungsoo eyes him suspiciously.
"Why didn't you tell me? I spent all day trying to get the members to tell me, but they wouldn't say anything." Kyungsoo's eyes narrow at the dancer. "Unless you're lying."
Jongin's eyes widen. "What?! Why would I lie?!"
"I don't know," Kyungsoo snaps, and Jongin steps back, definitely not expecting that. Kyungsoo rarely ever snaps at him. Sure, maybe once or twice when he's tired and Jongin acts a little too excited for him to handle, but not out of nowhere like this. "Maybe you don't want to tell me where you were really going because you were afraid I'd tell."
Jongin blinks. "Why would I be afraid you'd tell someone I was going out with Taemin?" It's not a hidden fact that he's best friends with the man anyway.
"Oh, really?" Kyungsoo asks, crossing his arms impatiently. "Tell me the truth, Kim Jongin. Were you out on a date?"
That knocks the living breath out of the dancer. "W-What?" he exhales, unable to even comprehend what is going on. Part of him is hurt that Kyungsoo would ever think he'd go on a date – much less even have a date to go on – without telling the man. Jongin texts Kyungsoo telling him what he eats for lunch when the older is not around; he's definitely bring up something like this if it came up.
"Were you out on a date?" Kyungsoo asks, glaring holes into Jongin's skull. "Don't lie to me, Kim Jongin. I know you better than anyone else."
Jongin knows that all too well. "I wasn't," he argues weakly, too confused and tired to even comprehend what's going on anymore.
Kyungsoo, apparently, is not convinced. He scoffs – scoffs! – at Jongin, turning his head away for a moment before looking back at Jongin. "Fine," he sniffles, eyebrows furrowed. Jongin wants nothing more than to walk over and kiss those fine lines away, but he refrains. "Whatever. I don't care. Go on your stupid dates without telling me. See if I care."
Jongin watches, dumbfounded, as the older exits the room, pushing past Jongin as he goes. What just happened?
A couple of days pass like this. Kyungsoo is eerily cold to Jongin, both inside and outside of the dorms, and it's to the point where even the people around them notice. Jongin has never had so many pity glances thrown his way by the stylist noonas before.
At first, Jongin didn't think it was going to be a big deal. In fact, the next morning at breakfast, he woke up early to help the man make breakfast. His efforts – and really, it takes a lot of effort to get Jongin up in the morning – were shot down the moment he stepped into the kitchen. Kyungsoo barely even spared him a glance as he walked out of the kitchen, already finished cooking.
It only got worse from there on. His usual spot beside Kyungsoo in the van was replaced by a confused but definitely not reluctant Baekhyun, and he couldn't help but flinch when he saw the two sharing earbuds the way he and Kyungsoo are supposed to.
Five days later and countless attempts of talking to Kyungsoo, Jongin finally goes back to the source of the problem.
"Why did you call a meeting again, Jongin?" Junmyeon asks, rubbing his eye tiredly. He looks just as worn out as the rest of the members, and Jongin would feel bad for keeping them up this late but this is the only chance he has to talk with all of them, since Kyungsoo is already asleep. Plus, this is kind of their fault, so they need to fix it.
"Yeah, I need my beauty sleep," Kris says from the side, where he's leaning against the wall divider between the living room and the kitchen and trying not to look half-dead.
"Because Kyungsoo is ignoring me, and I feel awful, and you guys need to help me because this is all your fault."
"How is this our fault?" Baekhyun mumbles, eyes drooping.
"You guys told me to distance myself from Kyungsoo, and I did, and look what happened!"
"Yeah, but you didn't even really distance yourself," Jongdae points out, head knocking against Baekhyun's shoulder. "All you did was go out with Taemin for a day. That was the longest you went without approaching him."
"But I haven't talked to him in almost a week," Jongin says, exasperated. Surely the members had to have noticed by now.
"Yeah, but you've been trying to," Sehun speaks up from his position sprawled across the couch, Yixing and Minseok sitting on his legs that are taking up almost all of the space left. "So in the end, you didn't really listen to us."
Jongin lets out a huff of air in frustration. "Still! It worked! We barely even talk anymore, and he just avoids me whenever I try to talk to him."
The members are quiet for a moment, sharing knowing glances that make Jongin want to rip his hair out. This is not the time to be keeping secrets from Jongin!
"What happened, anyway, after you got back from hanging out with Taemin that day?" Baekhyun asks slowly.
"Uh, I got home and Kyungsoo attacked me with questions," Jongin answers, not finding anything weird about that part. Kyungsoo has a tendency to worry, especially when it comes to Jongin.
"Were any of his questions weird or something?" Baekhyun presses on.
Jongin frowns. "Well, yeah, I guess. He thought I was lying to him," Jongin mumbles, still resentful at the thought that Kyungsoo would even think Jongin could lie to him. "He thought I was out on a date or something."
It happens so quickly that Jongin isn't even sure what to make of it. Baekhyun and Jongdae look at each other, Sehun fidgets in the couch, Yixing and Minseok cover their mouths, Kris bangs his head against the wall, Junmyeon looks at Kris worriedly then back to Jongin, Tao starts to wake up from his half-sleep mode, Luhan lets out a long sigh, and Chanyeol's lips start curving out into a big grin.
Then they all laugh. It's brief, probably because they're all exhausted from both work and this talk by now, but it's still loud and obnoxious and Jongin is tempted to throw a pillow at all of them because they're going to wake up Kyungsoo at this rate.
"What a plot twist," Jongdae hums, and Baekhyun nods from the side.
"At least now he has a reason to be whipped," Baekhyun murmurs.
"Please stop with the side comments," Jongin begs. "I need help, and this really isn't doing much."
"Just talk to him," Kris speaks up.
"I've tried though," Jongin whines. As if he didn't already think of that day one. "But he keeps avoiding me."
"Don't worry – we'll take care of that," Kris deadpans. "Just make sure he stays in your room tomorrow morning." Jongin is afraid to ask. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to sleep, and if any one of you interrupts me, I will not hesitate to feed you to Ace."
No one argues with Kris' logic – or lack thereof – as they all go back to their rooms, Jongin the last to go. He really hopes whatever Kris has planned works, because he can't go another day without his hyung.
The next morning, Jongin is awaken by an angel. An angry angel, but an angel nonetheless.
"Jongin! Jongin, wake up," Kyungsoo hisses, nudging Jongin with his cold foot.
"Wha–?" Jongin opens one eye, then another before blinking several times to get rid of the blurriness. Is he still dreaming?
"One of those idiots locked us in," Kyungsoo mutters, crossing his arms. "I swear, when I find out who, he better be ready for my frying pan."
So this is Kris' plan. Jongin, somehow, isn't surprised. "Oh. Um, well, maybe it was an accident?" he tries anyway, just to try and make small talk as he runs through how he can go about talking to Kyungsoo about the whole 'date-but-not-really' thing.
"Who accidentally jams a door locked?" Kyungsoo snaps, turning to glare at Jongin, who cowers into his sheets. Kyungsoo's eyes soften for a moment before turning cold again, and it happens so quickly Jongin actually wonders if he imagined it.
"Hyung..." Jongin starts, sitting up again as Kyungsoo starts to pace back and forth in the room, grumbling to himself. "I think we should talk."
Kyungsoo stops walking and turns to glare at Jongin. "Talk about what?" he sneers. "What is there to talk about? I thought you didn't want to tell me anything anymore."
Jongin frowns. "I never said that," he mumbles, looking down at his hands.
"You may as well have, not telling me about your date and lying to me!" Kyungsoo exclaims, throwing his hands up in frustration and ruffling his hair.
"It wasn't a date," Jongin cries for the umpteenth time that week. Kyungsoo just stares at him, disbelief clear in his eyes. "Hyung, trust me, it wasn't a date. Why don't you believe me?" His voice is so pleading and desperate that Kyungsoo's shoulders sag a little, and Jongin can tell he's making progress.
"What else am I supposed to think, though, Jongin?" Kyungsoo asks, walking over to sit on his own bed across from Jongin. "You never keep secrets from now, and suddenly one day you don't get back until after curfew without telling me or texting me a single thing all day."
Jongin's bottom lip juts out as he immediately feels remorseful. He knew he should have stuck to his guts and never listened to his members that day. "I'm sorry," he says softly. "The members thought it'd be good for me."
Kyungsoo's head shoots up at that. "What?"
Jongin ducks his head in embarrassment now. He doesn't know how to go about explaining this situation without making his already obvious crush on Kyungsoo even more glaring. "They just, uh, thought we could use some space. Apart."
Kyungsoo's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Why would they think that?"
Jongin bites on his inner cheek before mumbling, "Because they think I'm around you too much."
It's silent for a moment, and Jongin peeks up through his eyelashes to look at Kyungsoo. He immediately averts his stare back down to his hands when he sees the older looking at him though.
Finally, Kyungsoo's quiet voice breaks through, "And why is that?"
Jongin frowns. He really thought it was obvious, but he guesses not. "Because... I like you," he sighs, playing with his fingers. "And that's another reason why they thought I should back off. Because you don't... never mind." Jongin plops back down onto his bed and throws a pillow over his head, wanting to just suffocate and pass out right there. Anything is better than this.
It's quiet again. A couple of minutes pass before they hear the door unlocking, followed by an alert Junmyeon asking, "What happened? Why was the door slammed in? Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine," Jongin hears Kyungsoo's answer in a low voice.
Jongin isn't sure what happens next, but he hears the door close again. He peeks out from under his pillow, and with a heavy heart and great disappointment, sees the empty bed beside him. Kyungsoo left, just like that.
Not wanting to get out of bed anymore, not even after the scent of food wafts into his room and his stomach growls in protest, Jongin stays there. He doesn't even move to get his iPod, because music only reminds Jongin of Kyungsoo.
Time passes, and Jongin doesn't know how long it is before the door opens and closes again. He wonders who it is, and hopes it's not Kris because he might punch the leader if it is. There's a soft clang beside him, and Jongin peeks out to see a tray of food being placed on his night table.
"You should eat, Jongin," Kyungsoo's soft voice comes.
Jongin doesn't answer. He wonders how long he needs to stay still to convince the other he's asleep.
"Come on, I know you're hungry," Kyungsoo coaxes on, placing a hand on the edge of Jongin's cover. "I made your favorite."
It's tempting, just like everything about Kyungsoo, but Jongin doesn't budge.
A few moments pass before Kyungsoo says, more hesitant this time, "I talked to the members at breakfast." Jongin raises an eyebrow at that, but continues to listen. "I told them to leave you alone, and to keep out of our business. What we do shouldn't be their concern."
Jongin almost sighs. He shouldn't be ignoring Kyungsoo; even if the older doesn't like him back, they're still good friends. He and Kyungsoo clicked from day one, and some stupid one-sided love shouldn't stop that from working out. He's being unfair and childish, two things he knows Kyungsoo hates. It's just that a broken heart hurts, and Jongin doesn't know if he's ready to face the culprit so soon.
"Besides..." Kyungsoo starts slowly. "I think it's cute when you hang around me."
Wait, what? Jongin's eyebrows furrow. Surely Kyungsoo means that in a friendly, totally platonic way, right?
"Because I... like you too," Kyungsoo admits with a long sigh, as if he's been waiting to let out this breath for longer than Jongin can imagine. "I thought it was obvious, but maybe I'm harder to read than I thought."
Jongin is having his own little mini-party under the sheets now, his heart magically fixed. So caught up in the fact that Kyungsoo likes him back, he forgets he's still under his blankets.
"Will you come out now?" Kyungsoo's voice interrupts his feels-fest. "Because I can see you squirming under your sheets, and it's starting to get annoying."
Jongin doesn't need to be told twice; he all but throws the blankets off his bed in his attempt to pull Kyungsoo into a big hug. Kyungsoo, startled, almost falls back, if it wasn't for Jongin's arms tugging him closer. Jongin burrows his head into the crook of Kyungsoo's neck, taking in the older's body warmth as the singer combs his fingers through the dancer's hair.
"Hey Jongin?" Kyungsoo finally asks after a moment of them just enjoying each others' embrace.
"Don't ever listen to the members' advice again."
Jongin laughs and nods countless times as he holds Kyungsoo even tighter. In the background, the cracking sound of a whip can be heard, courtesy of Byun Baekhyun.
