Horror
When Seungmin returns, it's not really Seungmin. That is all Jeongin knows for certain. He tries to talk about it with Felix, who always listens to everything he has to say with his full attention and never tries to discredit him for no reason, but even Felix's replies are like 'people change when they take trips like these' and 'when you travel, you learn a whole lot of new things'. They're not satisfying answers.
Seungmin sits on the couch tapping away on his phone as he's playing a game or maybe researching the regeneration rate of octopi - one can never know with Seungmin - while Hyunjin occasionally feeds him a spoonful of ice cream from the tub he's devouring while watching his weekly drama episode… but it's not Seungmin.
He can't say why, can't pinpoint exactly all the things that are off about his friend, but they're there and they're glaringly obvious, even though no one else seems to notice them.
One time Seungmin sits with him at the kitchen table, leafing through his notes while he is eating breakfast, and as long as he doesn't look up it's like nothing changed. But when he does look up, Seungmin isn't Seungmin and the silence is stifling, oppressive and loud. Silence has never been anything but comfortable with Seungmin.
Another time they stand in the kitchen together, Jeongin filling his bowl of cereal, Seungmin pouring a glass of juice, when suddenly something thuds loudly behind him. He turns around only to see the box of juice lying on the floor just next to him, Seungmin looking down at it in the same confusion as he feels.
"What…?" He starts without ever finishing the sentence. Seungmin frowns and shrugs, looking around before looking back at the box.
"I don't know," he says, walking over to pick it up. When he straightens, there's a disgusting smirk on his face, except Jeongin blinks and it's gone again, Seungmin looking at him in worry instead. "Are you alright, Innie?" He asks, bringing up his free hand as if to touch him, but Jeongin ducks away instantly.
"Stomach ache," he says, and flees the premises. When he comes back to the kitchen half an hour later, Jisung has eaten the cereal he made and Seungmin's already off to get ready for his day. Jeongin pours a handful of cereal into a bowl and eats it dry, staring into the depths of oblivion.
Over the next few days, he keeps a close eye on Seungmin, but nothing happens that he can put his finger on, and so he can't bring his conclusions to any of the others. Instead, he takes up the space between the arm rest and Jisung every night and lets his boyfriend drape himself all over him whenever he wants to where usually he'd sit next to Seungmin because they're equally unlikely to reach for each other.
It's Hyunjin who frowns at him one night and puts a hand on his arm before he can leave the room. Hyunjin is always gentle, so he barely feels the touch, but he pauses anyway, looking around the room to see if he forgot something and then at Hyunjin.
"You alright?" Hyunjin asks him, like he's acting oddly. Though he presumes maybe he is. "You've let Jisung cuddle you for the last five days without protest. Did something happen? Did you guys have a fight? Are you sad?"
Hyunjin's gaze is worried, his fingers briefly tighten on Jeongin's wrist. He feels warm, cared for, it sends a shiver of discomfort down his spine.
"We're fine," he says with a grateful smile anyway, because Hyunjin's concern is genuine and he could never brush it off as something unwanted. "I just felt like he deserved some cuddles after those harrowing deadlines."
Hyunjin's frown eases and he nods, a small smile blooming on his features now. "The best gift you could give him, no doubt," his friend says warmly, and Jeongin nods. He knows Jisung would agree. His boyfriend has voiced his delight every single night for the past five days, after all. Has tried, too, to get more cuddles once they're in bed together. Jeongin still can't sleep while holding on to someone, but he lets Jisung drape over him in whichever way he wants once he's gotten comfortable.
"Thank you for checking," is what he tells Hyunjin. "You're a good friend. We're fine, though."
Hyunjin's smile is beaming, warmth and delight all in one. "Okay," he says, curling fingers around Jeongin's hand and squeezing once. It's their kind of hug, because Jeongin doesn't really enjoy physical affection with many people. His boyfriend, of course. His mother, reluctantly. And then Felix. Because Felix has known him since he was a baby, which means Jeongin has known Felix since he was a baby, and they've learned each other's do’s and don'ts so intricately that Felix always knows when he can and can't touch.
He runs his fingers briefly over Hyunjin's wrist, slightly up his arm, the most retaliation he can give, and then pulls away to continue on into his room.
"What took you so long?" Jisung immediately pouts, already bundled up under the covers and curled up into a little ball just to preserve his body warmth. Jeongin rolls his eyes but smiles, and walks over to the bed to kick Jisung's butt. Literally.
"Get up, you heathen. Go brush your teeth. I'm not sleeping with your stink breath next to me." Jisung laughs, reaching to capture his ankle in one hand and then rolling over to press a kiss to his leg. He shakes it like there's something disgusting sticking to his skin. "Ew. A cockroach. We should call pest control."
Jisung's laughter only gets louder, though his ankle is let go of and his boyfriend crawls out of bed after all. "Can I get a kiss?" He asks. Jeongin purses his lips and frowns.
"Once we've brushed our teeth," he compromises, and nods his head in the direction of the door to get his boyfriend to move.
Five minutes later, Jisung kisses spearmint freshness onto his tongue until they're both breathless with it, and piles on top of him entirely once he's comfortable.
"I love you," is whispered to him almost reverently, just like it is every single night. He breathes out a smile and moves his hand to the first part of his boyfriend he can reach, which turns out to be a thigh. He pats it gently once, twice.
"Me too," he agrees easily, because he's never been stingy with his words of affection, no matter how uncomfortable they sometimes make him feel. Knowing it makes his loved ones feel good is enough for him. "Now go to sleep."
Jisung chuckles right above his ear, then shifts around until he can nuzzle close and settle down to sleep.
—
"He's just acting so… not Seungmin."
The silence on the other end of the line is telling of Minho's scepticism on the subject.
"And what, pray tell, is so not Seungmin about it?"
It's gotten to a point where it's been grating on him and he's got no one to talk to. Jisung can't keep a secret like that, Hyunjin would worry and try to figure out what was wrong by just asking Seungmin, and Felix continues to offer nothing but reassurances that this is just what happens to people sometimes.
So he's had to think real hard about who in the rest of their friend group he could go to. He chose Minho because he says the wildest shit all the time, but he also knows Seungmin better than perhaps anyone else. They're like Felix and him, after all, Minho and Seungmin. Friends for so long they've got a map of each other's ins and outs drawn in the utmost detail.
Minho, aside from that, also knows how to keep a conversation between the two of them, no matter what it's about, and whatever Jeongin has to say about Seungmin won't change his friend's behaviour in regards to Seungmin.
Chan is too similar to Hyunjin in that he would worry and try to fix things, whereas Changbin is dating Seungmin, so if he hasn't noticed by now, nothing Jeongin says will change that. Basically Minho is his only viable option, which means he’s desperate to formulate it right so that he can convince Minho of the truth of his words.
“He’s just… acting weird. Sometimes he glares at me. Other times he’s unnaturally still. I just feel like- Like he’s not himself. He even threw the juice box on the floor a few weeks ago”
"Are you sure you didn't just knock it off the counter without realising?" Minho inquires sceptically, which has him instantly frowning and half-pouting at his reflection.
"I had my back turned! I was pouring myself a bowl of cereal!" He protests, which has Minho immediately backpedalling a little.
"I was just saying." The words sound like Minho's holding his hands up in surrender, or at least one because the other one's probably holding his phone. "You do knock things over a lot."
"Maybe so, but I didn't knock over this bottle. I would have known."
"Hm.”
It’s clear Minho isn’t convinced, but Jeongin isn’t sure what other ways he has to convince him. After all: there is nothing really wrong with Seungmin. No list of strange occurrences that he can unroll and relay to his friends to help sell his opinion. All he has is glimpses of a face that isn’t entirely Seungmin’s and his friend’s easy smiles every time they pass each other in the house.