Chapter Text
Jaehyun slumps into the plush car seat with a sigh. Today was a long and gruelling day. With their comeback approaching next month, his workload seems to have skyrocketed. It’s a welcome kind of tiredness yet he wishes he had just a few more moments of reprieve.
The members had left a couple hours earlier. After a morning of intense recordings and an evening of nonstop dance practices, they had all but dragged their feet to the car. Jaehyun had watched them go, cheering them on in a futile effort to pump some energy into them. Now, alone in the car, he tries to breathe that same energy into himself. The meeting with their manager had gone quite well but the long discussion had left him drained. All he wants now is a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, he still has a job left to do.
For their upcoming comeback, they all shot a video each, monologuing from the perspective of their characters. A task they need to complete tonight is write subtitles for their respective clips. They’re all a few minutes long but editing in captions always takes a while. Jaehyun wonders how much persuasion will it take for the guys to get the job done. He’s tired but he knows they are exhausted, too. Even Woonhak’s endless energy had dimmed by the end of their practice.
He wonders if he can do something to liven things up, later... Maybe a barbecue lunch would help them cope better with all the comeback stress? Then again, Taesan prefers to stay at home to recuperate and barbecuing at home isn’t an option.
He will have to think about it. There has to be some fun but low-energy consuming activity they could all enjoy together.
As the car rattles over a speed bump, his eyes wander to the magazine sitting next to him. He’d picked it up earlier from the visitor’s lounge at HYBE. It was a random catalogue about freshwater fish in South Korea. He had immediately asked the reception if he could take it home – ignoring the weird looks the lady had shot him for the request. He just hopes Leehan will like it. Usually, Leehan listens to podcasts about fish and marine biology but sometimes, Jaehyun has seen him parsing through booklets, too.
After another twenty minutes, he’s finally hopping out of the car and standing in front of the dorm building. He quickly wishes the driver goodnight, thanks him for the ride and proceeds inside. The first thing he notices is the darkness shrouding the lower house. Frowning, he climbs up the stairs and unlocks the door to his part of the house that he shares with Woonhak and Taesan.
Weirdly enough, there is no one in the living room. He tentatively calls out their names, placing the magazine and his bag on the couch. No reply comes forth and he tiptoes to Taesan’s room. Wincing at the slight creak as he nudges the door open, Jaehyun peers through. There, lying on the bed, sound asleep, dead to the world, is Taesan. He’s breathing deeply, peacefully and it puts a smile on Jaehyun’s face.
He looks to the other side and surely enough, Woonhak mimicks Taesan as he sleeps soundly on his own bed, the blanket fallen gracelessly to the floor, no doubt an effect of their maknae’s restless sleeping.
With a smile still on, Jaehyun carefully enters the room and picks up the blanket. As he is piling it on top of Woonhak as gently as he can, he knows that he won’t be able to wake either of them up to get the subtitles done. It would be cruel do so, really– they look so cute right now, blissfully in slumber, lacking the tight lines of stress he views on their faces these days.
As he turns around and shuts close the door behind him, a yawn ensnares him, reminding him of his own urge to sleep. He cannot do so yet, he knows. There is work left to do. Maybe he could write the subtitles in on Woonhak and Taesan’s behalf?
With that thought in mind, he slowly makes his way down the house, intent on recruiting atleast the other three for help. But it soon becomes clear that he won’t be doing any such thing.
The lights are out on the lower floor–something he’d noticed before but is only now realising the meaning of. Leehan, Riwoo and Sungho had opted for an early lights out, too, going to bed after eating what seems to be takeout. Jaehyun eyes the empty containers lying on the kitchen counter with some measure of surprise. For Sungho to have allowed the boys to let the trash be as it is, is a testament to the eldest’s fatigue.
He shakes his head, sighing again but he collects the empty boxes and carries them in pairs to the rubbish bin in the opposite part of the house. The clean-up is short and swift. He places the magazine on the small table and then, he’s exiting the dorm and locking it back up in no time. Another silent climb up brings it back to his part of the house.
The decision is made before he can think things through. He will do all the subtitling required himself. It’s a small, petty kind of job anyway. There is no need to bother his members. He knows just how valuable their rest is right now. His heart warms a little, knowing they are all resting tonight. They need it.
And he knows he needs it, too. He isn’t one to neglect his own wellbeing but some small sacrifices need to be made from time to time. He’s boynextdoor’s leader, isn’t he? He can do this!
He changes into more comfortable clothing and takes a seat on his bed. Propping his laptop on his legs, he gets to work. Earphones blast music into his ears – a high energy playlist full of rock, pop-rock and metal music. He needs the false rush of energy, the induced adrenaline to make it through the night.
At some point, he gets up and makes himself some instant coffee which he chugs in four sips. Then, he’s back to typing, his eyes stretched wide to keep the sleepiness from pulling him in.
Two hours later, he sends in the email to his manager–knowing the clips will be posted on their social media by the time they get up tomorrow. Feeling a faint thrum of satisfaction at a task accomplished, he leans back into his pillows. A yawn overcomes him once more and this time, he allows sleep to tug at his eyelids, allows his limbs to go loose, allows his mind to fizzle into blessed nothingness. Sleep claims him instantly.
“Jaehyuni-hyung! Get up! We’re gonna be so late because of you, hyung! Get up!”
Jaehyun blinks awake, immediately covering his eyes, protecting them from the rude sunshine coming through his open window. Woonhak is sitting at the foot of his bed, fingers frozen funnily near his heel. The intention is clear–the maknae was about to tickle torture him into wakefulness.
“Yah, Woonhak-ah,” Jaehyun mutters, his voice a bit hoarse. “What have I told you about yelling at me when I’m asleep?”
Woonhak grins at him, fluidly retracting his hand as if it was never there. “That I shouldn’t do it?”
“Exactly,” Jaehyun nods, rubbing aggressively at his eyes. “You never listen to me, do you?”
Woonhak gets up as Jaehyun sits slowly, shrugging with a sheepish look on his face. “We can’t afford to be late, hyung. I can’t let you oversleep. Sorry.”
Jaehyun makes a shooing motion, “If anything, I’m undersleeping but go, get lost. I need to get ready.”
“Okay, but don’t take more than fifteen minutes!” Woonhak says. “And oh, there’s no breakfast left for you – you didn’t wake up the first time Taesanie-hyung came to get you. So, you can eat something at the HYBE building itself?”
Jaehyun nods, stretching his arms. He feels just the slightest prick at having to wait for food but he’ll get over it. It happens sometimes – they’re growing boys and they eat a good share of food for breakfast. Besides, he did sleep past their usual morning call. Woonhak throws him a goofy salute on his way out and it gets a chuckle out of him.
His eyes feel strained, even as he washes his face and fully wakes himself up. A headache is dully forming but he hopes it goes away after he’s eaten. He dresses himself quickly, trying his best to not look as tired as he still feels. He ended up getting only four hours of sleep and that’s not much steam for him to run on.
Still, he’ll manage. He always has.
With a smile on his face, he leaves his room and meets the faces of the five people he loves with his whole heart. They’re his team, his people, his friends.
But that doesn’t stop him from rolling his eyes when Taesan teases him about sleeping in.
“Shut up, Han Dongmin,” Jaehyun says with a roll of his eyes.
“Or what, hyung?” Taesan asks, clearly in a cheeky mood today.
Jaehyun lets the mischievous smirk slowly pull at his lips, a manic sort of glint in his eyes that he’s honed to perfection.
“Or I will...” he pauses for effect, “... I will hug you!!”
Taesan’s eyes widen in horror as Jaehyun makes a grab for him, ready to smush the tall boy into a tight embrace but Sungho breaks them up with an exasperated look. Jaehyun knows he’s amused though, the phoney, the way his lips are pressed to keep the laughter at bay. Woonhak and Leehan have no such qualms, as they snicker from the sidelines while Riwoo shakes his head fondly at them, inching closer towards Taesan to finish what Jaehyun had started.
And if none of them quite notice the lingering eyebags or the slouch of his shoulders, he doesn’t mind. Being with them alone is energizing. Besides, he’s good at hiding his struggles, always has been, so he doeen’t get offended when they joke about his beauty sleep or his laziness or his love for his bed. He takes it in stride and teases them in turn. He doesn’t mention the subtitles or the way he felt genuine relief at watching them all sleep that night.
And when Leehan thanks him quietly for the magazine, he treasures the warmth that floods his heart and keeps going.