ILYNTB || Jeonglix

twenty-five

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"Changbin Hyung. We need to talk."

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The stocky man glanced at who was speaking to him. He couldn't even muster a hello. He just scoffed and shook his head before returning to his punching bag.

Jeongin knew it was too much to ask for Changbin to listen right away considering how badly he wounded the older's pride by punching him square in the jaw in front of his (ex-)almost boyfriend.

"C'mon, Hyung. I really need to talk to you!" Jeongin demanded attention. He needed to make sure that he could get through to the shorter man. If he couldn't then he would have to beat it into him.

Changbin scoffed at his attempt to compel him into listening. "I'm sorry to tell you, kid, but I'm not going to listen to anything you say."

As the older turned to face Jeongin, he was met with another fist to the cheekbone. He would have matching bruises by the end of the day.

"What the fuck is wrong with you—"

"What the fuck is wrong with you!? I came down here to have a polite conversation! I simply wanted to tell you how badly your behavior is effecting Felix." Jeongin stated, moving out of the way as Changbin tried to throw an overly aggressive punch at his face.

The older was stronger than the taller, and they both knew it. Changbin spends about 40 hours in the gym a week. His main focus has always been to build muscle. But Jeongin was more agile. He did more work with his body weight and movement than the older did. He didn't carry as much weight, nor the same amount of aggression.

Jeongin knows that if he gets hit only a couple times, he's done. He also knows that if he just gets Changbin to commit and move towards him he can possibly get him to the floor. Jeongin was surprisingly good at grappling, so he just had to hope that Changbin's short and stocky build would make it harder for him.

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"You're such a little ass!" Growled Changbin as he tried to get Jeongin off of him.

Jeongin had him pinned to the ground, but he wasn't exactly pinned. Jeongin simply had him in an arm bar. If the older moved at all, Jeongin would simply elevate his hip and possibly break his arm.

"I'm not an ass, you are. Now listen or your arm really will be broken!"

"Fine, I'm listening! God!"

"Why do you mess with Felix's emotions?"

"I thought you were going to be telling me something important, not interrogating me—fuck!" Jeongin elevated his hips ever so slightly, causing Changbin to slam his hand on the ground multiple times to get him to release. "Tap, fucking tap!"

"Answer the question."

"Okay? Because he's easy to mess with? Because no matter how much I fuck with him he always comes back?"

"That's a bullshit reason." Jeongin scoffed. If Changbin had any feelings for Felix at all, then maybe he would feel even a bit bad about putting the older in an arm bar. But there didn't seem to be any reason at all.

"Felix has just finally seen that he doesn't need to pine over you."

"Okay, good for him?"

"Changbin hyung, he's scared of being left."

Changbin scoffed, his brow furrowing. Why was this his problem? Why did he have to worry about how Felix was feeling? Felix wasn't his problem. Never had been never would be.

"Hyung! You might not care about him, but he cares about you, damnit!" Jeongin was about done with dealing with the older. "I don't care if you hate Felix or whatever, but if you care about the group, if you care about Stray Kids, you'll suck it the fuck up and be a part of the group!"

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It took a long while and a lot of shouting, but eventually he knocked some sense into Changbin (both literally and figuratively).

The two walked away from the training facility quietly, one with a few new bruises decorating his arms and cheek bones, the other seeming fairly unscathed, just a little red in the face.

When they arrived at the dorms, the two were created with the rest of the group trying to calm down the crying Felix in the center of the living room.

"Innie promised he wouldn't leave Lixie!" He whined, still dressed in Jeongin's hoodie, and still holding onto the lilac cat plush he had been sleeping with.

When the rest of the group stopped watching the boy throwing a tantrum and focused their attention on what was behind him, the little became confused. What could possibly be more important than him at a time like this.

The pastel haired boy turned to face Jeongin, his tear streaked cheeks on display, his lips pink and pouty, and his eyes glossy. There was a short moment where Felix didn't even realize what he was looking at. Only when Jeongin opened his arms for Felix to run into did he understand that he hadn't been left alone.

He wasted no time getting into Jeongin's arms, giggling softly when the caregiver lifted his feet off the ground to hold him in a bridal style.

"Innie came back!" He chirped, still giggling as his cheeks were peppered with gentle kisses.

"Of course I came back. I would never leave my Kitten alone!" Cheered Jeongin in between kisses.

While watching the two interact, Changbin started to realize he had been looking at things the wrong way. But he still had long while till he fully understood Felix or headspace. But today was the day he'd start trying.

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As time passed and the group discussed the "battle" between Jeongin and Changbin, Felix only grew more and more tired. The little eventually just tugged on his caregiver's sleeve, a soft him escaping from behind his lips.

Jeongin was also involved in the conversation, so he didn't really notice Felix becoming sleepy. At least not until his sleeve was tugged on. When he assessed Felix's state he gave a silent nod and turned back to the group.

"Sorry guys, Felix is tired." He told them, scooping the little up into his arms, knowing that he was exhausted from such a long day in his headspace.

Their night routine continued as usual. Jeongin brushed their teeth and fixed Felix's hair before dressing him in his pajamas and putting him in bed. Only after Felix was tucked in did Jeongin change. They then cuddled up to each other, Felix's head on Jeongin's chest, and Jeongin's arms around Felix's waist, and fell asleep. Tonight, however, Felix had a question.

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"Can we go on a real date tomorrow?"

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