I'm Also A We // Hyunlix

Pulling Strings

Hyunjin nods. "What if I don't love him the way he deserves to be loved?" The way he loves me, Hyunjin thinks deep inside himself where even Changbin can't hear him.

Changbin doesn't reply immediately, which tells Hyunjin that he's thinking about the answer, not shooting back with halfhearted reassurances. They both watch Jeongin get up from his seat, likely heading towards the restroom in the front. That's how long it takes for Changbin to take a deep breath. He reaches over to ruffle Hyunjin's hair. "There's so much noise in that pretty little head of yours that you don't even see how much love you have in your heart."

Hyunjin blushes, ducking his head.

"Na ah," Changbin croons, pulling Hyunjin's face back up with his fingers underneath his chin. "I mean it," he says when he's sure Hyunjin's meeting his eyes. "You don't see your own feelings in the mess that is all of us, but I do, Hyunjin-ah, ok?"

Hyunjin doesn't believe him, not fully, and Changbin can tell. Hyunjin groans, rubbing his face.

Changbin slips away, back in his seat from one moment to the next, and he looks down at where Chan is still sleeping peacefully curled up next to him. Hyunjin sees so much tender fondness in his face that it tugs at his heart, and it makes something inside him restless, itching under his skin.

He gets up and makes his way down the rows of seats to where the restrooms are.

The sign on the door shifts from red to green, and Jeongin pulls the door back, opening it enough for Hyunjin to see him kick a few pills down the sink in a last-minute gesture as if he only noticed now that some had spilled to the side.

His eyes widen when he turns and catches Hyunjin's gaze.

"What was that?" Hyunjin asks, keeping his voice low and glancing to the side to see if anyone is close enough to hear. He's not sure what he just witnessed.

Jeongin straightens up, his jaw getting that determined tension. "The suppressants."

Hyunjin lets the words sink in. He's never asked Jeongin how the suppressants worked. If they were injections or pills. If it was a one-time thing that could only be undone with some kind of antidote or if... He has his answer now.

He swallows, fighting the same sudden tears he can see shining in Jeongin's eyes before his conscious mind catches up and he understands what this means. "How long until they stop working?" he manages to ask.

"About a month, maybe two."

Hyunjin swallows again, his throat dry. He nods, not able to speak. "Why?" he finally does ask, because he can't not, needs to know for certain.

Jeongin evades his eyes, shrugging, which for Jeongin likely means that he's been thinking about it for weeks now, carefully weighing all the pros and cons. "I belong to you guys too. And I want to—," he takes a breath, and Hyunjin wishes he could slip over and feel the whirlwind of complications he can see on his face. "I want to be a part of you, too."

o

LA is what it's always been for them. Sunshine and palm trees and an endless array of vans, hotel rooms, and the long and strangely bare hallways of event venues.

With the eerie calm from the plane gone, nervousness starts to rise.

Felix stays close to him and Hyunjin lets him, and it helps to focus on Felix's nervousness rather than his own.

Si-woon and Kate are among the staff that accompany them, so they remain vigilant, relaxing only when it's just Chunghee and some of the other staff who have been with them for a long time. They've all made up their minds about Kate, don't trust her at all, but they're unsure about Si-woon, who seems so eager and almost clumsy in that eagerness.