Rehearsals ended late and Youngjae is the first to shower while Jaebum lays on his bed scrolling through his phone. Jaebum receives a message from their manager reminding him of the unit song he'll do with Youngjae for their upcoming tour.

Jaebum sighs, he knows they'll have to do it sooner and not later. The concert is nearing and both of them still haven't talked about what kind of song they want to make. It's stressing Jaebum out but mostly it's his feelings for the younger that's making everything else even harder.

The things is, Jaebum has been harboring a very big crush on his bandmate for a long time now. Youngjae the cute little ball of sunshine in their group is able to capture the heart of their chic and sexy leader without even trying.

"What's with the frown?" Youngjae asks as soon as he's out of the shower and he sees the older frowning in front of his phone.

Jaebum doesn't even realize his frown, he looks at the younger and his face softens but he heaves a sigh. "What's wrong?" the younger asks as he dries his hair with a towel.

"The unit song Youngjae." The younger's eyes widen.

"Oh shit we totally forgot about that," he says with a bit of panic in his voice.

"I know and we should probably start working on it."

"Sure! How about now?"

Jaebum nods before he drags himself towards the bathroom "Let me just take a quick shower."

"Okay."

"So what will the song be about?" Youngjae asks.

Jaebum really couldn't get his shit together, especially with the close proximity he has with Youngjae (with the two of them sitting face to face on Jaebum's bed and with only a few inches between them).He steals a short moment to look at the younger, admiring him.

Every time he looks at Youngjae he feels a very strong emotion to protect the younger, to protect his smile and keep him safe from everything that's out there to hurt him. Damn he's whipped. For most of his days with the younger he wears his heart on his sleeve, however today his heart seems to be in control and he couldn't do anything about it. Thus blurting out whatever nonsense without even thinking twice.

"I want to protect you."

"Oh! That's a good one!" The other exclaimed excitedly as his face lights up with idea. "Something like protect you from
things that will hurt you so you be well always, right?" The younger says as he scribbles in his notebook, Jaebum watches him as he does. He's still too preoccupied with what he just blurted out.

"What do you think?" He shows Jaebum what he has written. Jaebum, who has finally come back to himself, takes the notebook from the younger to read what has been written on it.

"You're well right
It's been a while
Have you been eating well?
I've been eating well
Be careful of colds
And don't be sick"

"I like it," the older says although he means it his tone, not much. Youngjae notices this of course.

It's silent for a while with the two of them staring at nothing but more like Jaebum staring anywhere but Youngjae and Youngjae staring nowhere but Jaebum. Youngjae frowns upon noticing the older's daze.

"Hyung you seem a little bit out of it today? Are you okay?" Youngjae says as he moves closer to the older, placing a hand on his forehead.

"You don't seem sick, something wrong?" He says with full concern in his voice that Jaebum's heart aches.

Jaebum can't seem to speak mostly because he feels so intoxicated with the younger as if he's under a spell. He just want his feelings to leave him alone, to rid all these emotions in his chest.

"I'm okay Youngjae, I was just thinking." He finally says.

"About what?"

"Just stuff, don't worry about it. Let's just work on this song okay?" He says before placing both of his hands on the younger's shoulder as if reassuring him that he's totally fine.

"We can work tomorrow?" Youngjae suggest but the determined look on the older clearly tells him the answer.

"Or we can finish it today, we won't have enough time if we delay this even more."

Jaebum suddenly stands, startling Youngjae a bit. "Just give me a sec," he says before heading to the bathroom.

Jaebum splashes water on his face, as if it'll change the way he feels for the younger. He looks at himself on the mirror. "Man up and don't screw up. Finish the song and it'll be okay," he says to himself. He walks out the bathroom hoping for the best.

Youngjae's eyes immediately finds him once he's out of the bathroom "Let's get started?" Jaebum asks the younger to which he nods a yes.

"Hyung..." Youngjae hesitates but Jaebum gives him a look that shows interest in what he has to say, so he does continue. "I actually planned to make a ballad for our unit song. Since a ballad song will fit our voices better..." Youngjae's voice trails after that, Jaebum finds it cute.

"Let me hear it then," Jaebum says smiling at the younger. Seeing him be all shy and small like this tickles his heart strings a lot.

Youngjae, on the other hand, looks confused and surprised. "I know you have something prepared," Jaebum says as he gives the younger an expectant look.

Youngjae flips through his notebook until he finds a certain page before handing it to the other.

"Here," he says as prompts Jaebum to take the notebook, "chords," he adds.

Jaebum looks at the chords written on the notebook, imagining how it'll sound like but obviously it's not that easy.

"I can play it for you." Youngjae scoots over beside Jaebum. "I have a piano application on my phone," the younger explains before he starts playing the chords.

"I really like these chords," Jaebum says after Youngjae finishes playing.

Youngjae beams with happiness from the compliment and Jaebum's heart does a somersault.

"Don't ever lose that smile," Jaebum is positive he said that to himself but the way the younger reacted makes him doubt it.

Youngjae blushes, but then his face drops. "Ah lyrics," he says more to himself but Jaebum is close enough to hear it laced with a certain emotion he doesn't want to name.

"No, that's actually for you. I like you smiling so keep that smile for me okay?" Jaebum says before of course regretting it.

"Wah, you must be really sick right now," Youngjae says jokingly and the two of them laugh at their silliness. Did he just flirt with Youngjae? Jaebum doesn't know but he won't complain and he probably won't stop, unless Youngjae tells him to.

"Yeah I must've been bitten by a love bug."

"That's great!" Youngjae suddenly says and it's obvious how he tries to sound excited about it.  "More inspirations for you then," he adds but his voice small and fragile as he say it. This gives Jaebum a bit more hope and confidence in himself that maybe Youngjae is jealous and Jaebum couldn't get any more happier about it.

"I can really feel all the inspiration coming in," Jaebum says ecstatic.

For the rest of their song writing session, Jaebum is able to come up with good lyrics. How can he not when his inspiration is sitting right in front of him, Youngjae on the other hand is quiet and just agrees with whatever Jaebum has to say. This makes Jaebum worried.

Youngjae is currently scribbling on his notebook while Jaebum takes his time to admire the younger other than that, Jaebum couldn't deny that the younger is acting a bit off compared to how he is earlier. So he takes this time to ask the younger.

"Youngjae is something wrong?" Jaebum says so suddenly it takes Youngjae by surprise and the first thing he does is to hide his notebook. This makes Jaebum raise an eyebrow "You got something there?" he asks.

Youngjae looks at him and there's something he can't name in his eyes. In fact the younger looks like he might cry any time soon. Jaebum backs off.

"Hey I won't pry if you don't want to. I just want to let you know that you can tell me anything okay?" he says softly as he subtly moves closer to the younger, he then places his hand on Youngjae's shoulder to comfort him.

"Okay hyung," Youngjae says but the way his voice hesitates after tells Jaebum that there's something he wants to say, so he continues to rub on the younger's shoulder hoping that it'll give him courage to continue with what he wants to say.

At this point, their song is almost complete however, Jaebum feels there's still something missing. Then Youngjae shows him what has been written on his notebook.

"If it ever gets hard, you can come back to me
I am here like always, here for you
I will never leave"

Jaebum is at loss for words. It's painful but beautiful, just like how he feels for the younger. No matter how much pining and waiting he does, it'll always be worth it if it's for Youngjae. So maybe, just maybe what he's about to do next will also be worth it, it might be painful at least it's worth it.

He looks at the lyrics once more, reading it aloud.

"If it ever gets hard," he says slowly before looking up and locking gaze with the younger. "you can come back to me," he says with every words directed at the younger.

"I am here like always," he says this time he holds Youngjae's hand, "here for you," and places it on his chest making sure Youngjae feels his heartbeat. "Youngjae I will never leave," he says before realizing the tears on the other's eyes.

"Jaebum hyung what are you doing?" Youngjae says, his hand still on Jaebum's chest while his other hand desperately tries to dry his tears.

"Youngjae I really, really want you to be well," he says firmly as he look at Youngjae in the eye as if it'll engrave his words to the younger's mind, "I don't want you getting sick, I don't want you to lose your smile, I--," he takes a deep breath, "I really like you Youngjae, and for a long time I have been."

Youngjae is quiet for a while and Jaebum feels every passing second a stab in the heart as silence engulf both of them, it's painful he needs to say something, "It's okay if you don't feel the same way, I just really want to get this off my chest. I hope things won't change between us," Jaebum says and he feels his eyes fill as tears attempt to spill, he bites his lip to keep his tears at bay.

"No," Youngjae says as the hand that is once placed on Jaebum's chest finds its way to Jaebum's hands, he holds his hands with his firmly never wanting to let go. "This will change things between us," he says before he starts crying. That kind of cry where his tears keep on spilling all over the place, his hands let go of Jaebum's as he tries and fails to wipe his tears away.

Jaebum cups the younger's face, his thumb wiping his tears away as he tries to make him stop crying, he doesn't understand the situation but seeing Youngjae cry is a million times more painful than getting rejected. He'll do anything if it means to stop the younger's tears.

"Jaebum hyung," Youngjae says in between sobs. It's hard to hear him like his, his voice out of breath and he's desperately catching air. Jaebum hugs him, his hand running along the younger's back, soothing him, hoping he'll stop crying.

"Youngjae why are you crying?" he whispers.

"Hyung I really like you too," Youngjae says and his voice gaining volume as he does that he almost screams the last word before turning back to a now very loud sobbing. Youngjae breaks away from the hug, "I thought you liked someone else and I was so sad," he says muffled as his sobs are making it hard for him to speak clearly.

Jaebum, upon realizing what Youngjae said, smiles. Even at a time like this, Youngjae seems adorable for him.

Jaebum, once again, cups the younger's face "There's just you," he says before placing their foreheads together, "and only you, silly."

"Now we have a song to finish remember?" Jaebum says, the air around them much lighter than it is earlier.

Youngjae with his throat dry and his snot filled nose only nods in response. "Let me first get you water, seems like you need to be rehydrated first," but before standing up he steals a kiss from the younger.

That moment when his lips find Youngjae's is one he'll never forget, it's feels like at that moment he's invincible and that with Youngjae by his side he can do anything.

"I hope that'll keep you from crying," he says with a wink. Not long after that he comes back with a glass of water in hand.

"Hyung, it's 1:31," Youngjae says when he sees the time on the wall clock of their hotel room.

"What about it?"

Youngjae scribbles something on his notebook, before giving it to the older.

"131
i luv u"

—

y'all don't know how many times i cringed after that last part 🤧🤧🤧🤧 anyway i hope you liked this and thank you so much for checking this out and reading it 😊😊 i'm quite satisfied with this (?) ig but i've been delaying this a lot so here it is (finally). and i originally didn't plan to add angst here (bc i suck at writing angst??) but there's angst and i did my best so yea ❤️❤️