In the empty men's washroom, Jihoon stood by the sink, rinsing the bite mark on his arm under a stream of cold water.
The skin around it was already turning a blotchy red, the shape of Taeyeon's teeth perfectly imprinted like a seal of emotional violence. He let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head.
"Sooyoung wasn't wrong," he muttered under his breath, eyeing the wound with a wry smile. "This one's on me… literally."
Truth be told, Jihoon had done it on purpose.
He'd poked the bear—well, the bunny, in Taeyeon's case—knowing exactly how she'd react. Or rather, knowing that she needed to react.
After nearly a year of being around her—sharing meals and hobbies—he'd gotten good at reading her tells.
Not just in this life, but the one before, too. Her patterns, her pauses, her forced smiles—they were like deja vu carved into his memory.
Taeyeon wasn't the kind of person to lash out right away. No, she was the quiet kind.
The kind who held things in until the pressure built up, slow and silent, like a balloon expanding past its limit. Until, inevitably, it popped.
And in the K-pop world, when someone popped… it didn't just mean a breakdown or a tearful apology on camera.
Sometimes it meant disappearing from the spotlight altogether. Sometimes it meant collapsing backstage. Sometimes… it meant losing someone entirely.
Jihoon had seen it. He'd lived through the echoes of those who smiled for the cameras and sobbed in the green room minutes later.
Depression wasn't rare in the idol industry. Neither was burnout. It lingered in the background like bad lighting—always there, always ignored.
Because to the companies? Idols weren't people.
They were products. Polished, perfected, and packaged to sell.
Especially in a place like SM—where artists were sculpted like statues, flawless and cold. If the diamond cracked, you didn't fix it.
You just tossed it and looked for a shinier one.
"Still... didn't expect her to bite me like a rabid chihuahua," he winced, inspecting the bite again.
"But hey, gotta admit—her teeth are impressively aligned. She should consider modeling for a dental clinic."
He was too deep in his own little world, lost in thought, until—
"Is your hand okay?"
The voice came from behind, and Jihoon nearly jumped out of his skin.
He turned sharply to find Jessica standing at the doorway of the gents, arms crossed, casual as ever like she hadn't just shattered centuries of gendered bathroom protocol.
"YA! Jessica Jung! Are you nuts?!" Jihoon shouted, covering himself with his uninjured arm like she'd caught him naked. "This is the men's room!"
Jessica raised an unimpressed eyebrow, pointing a toe toward the floor tile that marked the bathroom threshold. "Relax. I didn't even cross the line. Technically, I'm still outside."
"Still a perv move!" Jihoon grumbled.
"First you hoard scandalous pics of your members, now you're creeping at the door of the men's room? Are you collecting red flags like Pokémon cards?"
Jessica rolled her eyes dramatically and leaned against the frame. "Please, if I wanted to be a pervert, I'd at least have taste. I just came to check on you, you big baby."
She pouted a little as she looked at his arm, genuinely concerned. "Taeyeon really overdid it though."
"I mean, yeah, it was a photo of her in her bra, but she was still wearing underwear. It's not like she was stark naked."
Jihoon gave a sheepish shrug. "Still… we pushed her. She was embarrassed. And honestly, if the photo had been of you in your underwear instead... I'd probably be in the hospital by now."
Jessica let out a soft snort. "I wouldn't do that to you."
Jihoon smiled as he stepped out of the washroom, drying his arm on a paper towel.
He raised an eyebrow at her, amused. "Really? You're the most savage to me out of everyone, and you say that with a straight face?"
Jessica frowned unconsciously as she looked at the wound again. Jihoon laughed and reached up with two fingers to smooth out the wrinkle between her brows.
"See? Look at that. You say you wouldn't hurt me, but your face is scolding me already."
Jessica blinked at the gesture, then her expression shifted. A playful glint lit her eyes.
"Wanna test that theory?" she said, voice lowering with a mischievous tone.
"I've got some photos on my phone. Of me. Just for… research purposes. Wanna see if I'd bite like Taeyeon did?"
Jihoon's face turned tomato red, the color draining from his thoughts as quickly as blood rushed to his cheeks.
He stammered, wide-eyed. "Y-YA! Are you here to finish what Taeyeon started?!"
Jessica smirked but said nothing.
"I-I'm outta here!" Jihoon shouted, waving his hand like he was fending off a ghost. "I can't afford to mess with any of you! Not when you're all still armed with any teeth!"
And with that, he bolted down the stairs like a man being chased by his own poor decisions.
Jessica stood by the doorway, watching his escape with a mixture of amusement and something she couldn't quite name.
She stared at the floor where he'd just been, then let out a little sigh. Her foot tapped the ground once, like a reflex.
"Babo," she muttered under her breath.
But even as she said it, her lips curled up ever so slightly.
After getting back home, Jihoon found himself where he'd been spending more time than he ever expected: in the kitchen.
The clatter of pans, the hiss of oil, and the gentle rhythm of chopping filled the apartment like a quiet symphony of domesticity.
It wasn't something he ever imagined he'd be doing—especially not voluntarily.
But life had a funny way of preparing you for things before you even realized you'd need them.
He'd picked up cooking during the filming of 'Your Name', back when Haesook—whom he half-jokingly, half-seriously called "Mom"—started mothering him both on and off set.
She insisted no grown man should survive off instant ramen and convenience store kimbap alone, so she dragged him into the kitchen between scenes and force-fed him culinary wisdom between her lectures on life.
Jihoon, ever the reluctant apprentice, eventually learned how to make simple dishes.
Nothing five-star, but at least edible.
He never thought he'd actually use it. Until Jieun started living with him.
At first, it was awkward.
Cooking for someone else felt weirdly intimate.
But over time, he grew used to it—found it kind of comforting, actually.
His dishes weren't anything to write home about, but hey, they were decent, and definitely healthier than eating out every day.
Plus, Jieun hadn't died from his cooking yet, so that was a win.
While he was bent over the stove, concentrating on not burning the kimchi pancakes, a cheerful voice rang out from the living room.
"Oppa!"
Jihoon flinched slightly, almost flipping the pancake onto the floor.
He leaned halfway out of the kitchen, holding a spatula like a sword, his brow furrowed. "What now?"
From the couch, Jieun turned around with the biggest grin plastered across her face. She was curled up like a cat, a snack in one hand, her feet swinging off the edge like she had zero worries in the world.
"Oppa! Guess what! I got punished at school today!"
Jihoon froze. "Wait, what?"
She beamed like she'd won the lottery. "Yup! Teacher made me stand in the hallway!"
"…Why do you sound proud of that?" Jihoon asked, stunned. "Should I be calling your school or calling a shaman?"
"Listen, listen!" she insisted, completely ignoring the sarcasm. "So I was told to stand outside, right? But then teacher asked me to sing a song for the class."
Jihoon narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "As… a punishment?"
Jieun nodded like it made total sense. "Yeah! So I sang. And danced a little too. And everyone clapped! I think I crushed it."
Jihoon just stared at her, expression flat. "Let me get this straight. You got in trouble… and turned it into a fan meeting?"
"Pretty much!" she chirped.
He pointed his spatula at her like it was a gavel. "YA! Do you even hear yourself!? You want me to come over there and knock some sense into you?"
Jieun burst into giggles, completely unfazed. "Hehe! Even teacher smiled a little at the end. I think she liked my performance."
Jihoon sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "Unbelievable. My cousin turns public shaming into a stage debut. What's next, detention turns into a dance showcase?"
"If it comes with snacks and applause, I'm totally down," she called back cheekily.
Jihoon rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help smiling as he flipped the pancake and muttered under his breath, "This kid's gonna give me high blood pressure before I hit my thirty…"
Then, just as he was plating the food, she called out again, voice bursting with excitement.
"OPPAAA! I decided—I wanna be a singer in the future!"
[Author's Note: Heartfelt thanks to Wandererlithe for bestowing the power stone!]