Chapter Text
There is an expression, be careful what you wish for.
By now, they are used to the kinds of questions they’ll get asked at Q&A’s. Inoffensive, non-controversy causing bubble-gum sweet questions that they’ve probably been asked one hundred times over. Ten feels for Taemin, who has been doing this longer than any of them. At this point, his hyung could probably answer these questions whilst asleep.
“Hey, hyung,” Yukhei calls out to him, throwing a long arm around his neck. They’re back in the house they’re renting, and someone allowed them to have bottles of wine. Yukhei’s cheeks are a little flushed, his eyes glassy, and whoever said it was a good idea to let these boys drink was going to be in trouble tomorrow, but that isn’t Ten’s problem. He’s too busy squirming around when Yukhei hauls him down onto his lap, arranging him so that he’s settled between his legs.
They’re gathered in Taemin’s room, having been sent up to “bed” a while ago, though no one had listened to that order.
“How come you didn’t want to body swap with me?” Yukhei asks, breath tickling his earlobe and Ten wriggles. “You said Kai hyung because he’s tall, but I’m tallest, right?”
Ten pats his arm fondly. “Yes, Yukhei, you are the tallest,” he says sagely and Yukhei whoops with pride, snuggling up against Ten’s back like an oversized koala.
“I said I wanted to be you, Yukhei,” Taemin says. Besides him, Jongin is curled up against his side, head down and eyes shut. Ten admires their friendship greatly. The two of them care for each other a great deal, and one of the nicest things to come out of this super group is an opportunity for two good friends to be able to spend some time together. When coming from a group as big as NCT, Ten is constantly surrounded by friends all of a similar age to himself, and he forgets sometimes what it must be like for Jongin and Taemin, working in two different groups.
He can already tell how much SuperM means to Taemin; with his hyungs away serving, the man must be missing some group-based companionship.
“Because Lucas is so manly and strong,” Taeyong adds, from where he’s spread-eagled on the floor. He’s quite drunk. Mark, as his roommate for the night, is giving him rather resentful looks.
Baekhyun drains his glass and sets it down to the side. “I think everyone has had enough for one night,” he says wisely, then hiccups. Taemin wriggles to the side, and Jongin’s head thunks against the wall. He moans softly, hunching over and clutching at his stomach.
Everyone turns to look at him, concerned. “Is he ok?” Mark asks worriedly. “Did he drink too much?” Taemin turns to his friend and feels his forehead.
“He only had one glass of wine. He’s really hot.” Ten unconsciously fans himself with his shirt. He’d thought it was just him who thought it was getting warm in here.
“Jongin ah,” Baekhyun says, touching his bandmates shoulder, “You ok?”
“Dizzy…” Jongin mumbles and Baekhyun and Taemin coo sympathetically. Ten averts his eyes as Taemin leans over and puts his lips to Jongin’s forehead, instead occupying himself with dragging Yukhei’s lanky body to his feet.
“Why do you need to do that, you’ve already said he feels warm,” Baekhyun is bickering.
“Goodnight, hyungs,” Ten adds in as Yukhei tries to wind himself around him like a snake.
Taemin and Baekhyun come to the door with them, where Mark and Taeyong are already waiting. “I’ll keep him here tonight,” Taemin says. Ten blinks. Jongin is supposed to be rooming with Baekhyun. “I’d feel better if he’s where I can keep an eye on him.”
Ten waits for Baekhyun to say something, but the leader only nods. For a split second, he and Taemin seem to be having a silent conversation, and a spike of unprovoked jealousy runs through Ten’s stomach. He shivers suddenly, tummy rolling.
“Let me know if you need anything,” Baekhyun says and Taemin nods, shutting the door. Baekhyun turns to the four of them. “To bed, children, chop-chop.”
Ten starts to walk and trips a little. Mark casts him a worried wide-eyed glance. “You ok?” he asks in English.
“I’m fine,” Ten says thickly, but his stomach feels jumpy. “Just tripped.”
“Markie, I’m tired,” Taeyong says into the younger man’s shoulder and Mark rolls his eyes. Baekhyun sees them to the doors, ushering them inside with little finesse. Ten and Yukhei are in the room opposite Taeyong and Mark, and Ten waves to Mark.
“Good luck,” he says, gesturing to where Taeyong is currently wrestling with trying to get his shirt over his head. Clearly, he is enjoying and making the most of his time not having to be a leader responsible for a group. Mark gulps.
“Pray for me,” he says, and shuts the door.
Ten sighs, and then has to take a moment because his head starts to spin. He braces himself against the door frame, bowing his head and waiting for it to pass.
Yukhei is already getting changed for bed, trying to clumsily undo his shirt buttons. “Come here,” Ten says, stepping forwards to help him. His vision swims for a second and he clears his throat, sniffing.
“Are you alright?” Yukhei asks him, “You look a little sweaty.”
“Oh wow, thank you,” Ten snorts. He gets the last of Yukhei’s buttons undone and starts to help him with his belt.
“I know why you picked Jongin hyung and Taemin hyung today,” Yukhei says suddenly and Ten freezes for a split second before resuming helping him with the clasp of his belt.
“It was a stupid Q&A question, just drop it,” he says.
“It’s Jongin hyung, right? You like him. You like them both.”
Ten swallows as his stomach turns again. “Of course I like them, they’re my hyungs.”
Yukhei gives him an unimpressed look. “You know what I mean.” He winces when Ten yanks on his pants a little too roughly, pushing him back onto the bed in order to help pull them off. As he kneels down, Ten is hit by a violent throbbing in his temple.
“Yukhei-”
“Johnny hyung told me what happened.”
Ten stops what he’s doing, shivers racking down his arms and legs. “Did he now?”
“Um, yeah…”
“Then did he also tell you that everything is fine between us now and we’re still good friends?”
“You don’t have to be ashamed,” Yukhei says quickly, and Ten’s stomach lurches violently.
“I know that,” he grits out, “Do you think I don’t know that already, ah-” He breaks off as his vision swims and he thinks for a moment that he’s going to pass out.
“Hyung?” Yukhei sways forwards and grabs his arms to steady him. “Ok, uh, let’s get you to lie down.” He helps Ten onto his bed and eases him down onto his side. Ten shuts his eyes tight as he waits for the dizziness to stop, and he can faintly hear a tap running.
Yukhei returns to his side with a glass of water and he helps to support Ten’s head as he drinks from it. “God…” Ten groans as the spinning finally stops.
“Do you need me to get Baekhyun hyung?” Yukhei asks nervously, face pale, but Ten shakes his head.
“I’ll be ok,” he croaks, feeling anything but. “I’ll be ok, Xuxi, I just need to sleep.” Yukhei crumples a little, and he sinks onto the bed besides Ten, nuzzling at him.
“Maybe it was something hyung and I drank?” Ten mumbles, thinking about how drowsy Jongin had looked back in Taemin’s room.
“Hyung?”
“Mm?”
“Do you fancy Jongin hyung?”
Ten groans and feels Yukhei press closer to him in apology. “Why does it matter?” he asks.
”Because it’s important to you.”
Ten shakes his head. “It isn’t,” he lies. “Just drop it, Xuxi, it’s nothing.” Yukhei stays next to him in his bed, climbing it’s to make sure he’s ok. The truth is that Ten doesn’t really mind; he’s glad of the contact right now. Whether he meant too or not, Yukhei has grazed a raw nerve.
He and Johnny had made a go of it and had ultimately come out of the relationship deciding that they were better off as friends. Johnny considered himself to be a straight man, and that was ok, but it didn’t mean that Ten hadn’t been hurt by the breakup when it initially happened. The fact that they hadn’t told anyone about their relationship, and yet everyone seemed to know when they broke up was a real kick in the teeth. Promotions for WayV were a blessing because they kept Ten busy, and Johnny was touring with 127, which reduced the number of people questioning why two guys who’d been so close suddenly weren’t as close, but it still sucked. Sometimes Ten wonders that if they’d just stuck with sleeping together and hadn’t tried to be boyfriends as well, or better yet, had just kept from bumping uglies altogether, things might not have changed between them.
But he’s moved on. Seemingly not to bigger and better things though, because now he’s plagued by not one but two bandmate crushes. Taemin is everything that Ten aspires to be. Sexy, smart, confident, successful. Taemin is walking proof of everything that hardwork and dedication can get you in their chosen profession; with over ten years of industry experience under his belt and still nowhere near thirty, but still incredibly humble and dignified no matter what has been thrown his way, Taemin is somewhat of a living legend amongst the artists of SM. Ten isn’t quite sure if he’d like to be Taemin or be with Taemin.
And Jongin.
Jongin truly is a one of a kind. He’s gorgeous, in a way that defies the meticulous beauty standards that their industry forces upon them. He’s all sharp angles but soft features, boxy and beautiful with a smoky seductiveness about him that people can’t help but be drawn to.
He’s somewhat of a rebel; his history of dating has labelled him as an anti-hero heartbreaker without meaning too – unlucky in love but never because of something that he did. He is a champion of the fans when he gets with a new woman, and their sweet darling when the relationship is inevitably broken up, because he said fuck this to the no dating rule and went ahead and did it anyway which people admired him for.
And yet, he’s also lovely. He’s funny and kind and cute, hardworking and a great listener. The other day, he showed Ten a video of him playing with his niece and nephew and Ten was instantly struck with a broodiness and a craving for a child, and he didn’t even have a womb. Jongin is so humble with all of them, especially Mark and Yukhei, who it’s clear think the sun shines out of his ass. Ten doesn’t think the sun shines out of it, necessarily, but he certainly thinks about Jongin’s ass a lot.
He hadn’t actually meant to list of his crushes in the Q&A today, but he thinks he got away with it. Jongin and Taemin see him with affection in the way he imagines one looks at a small child; with pride and an urge to nurture and mold them. Ten knows that nothing will ever come of his lust for either of them; he’s been there, done that, has the T-shirt and can confirm that sleeping with a bandmate is as messy as it’s always made out to be. If anything, he’s going to use SuperM as an opportunity to learn from two men that he greatly admires and nothing more, no matter what his hormones tell him.
His head throbs and he groans weakly, screwing his eyes shut against the pain. He’s never experienced symptoms like this all at once before. He hopes he isn’t getting sick; they have a busy few weeks of promotions lined up, and no one can afford to not be performing at their best.
His limbs feel achy, and he must have started to make pained noises because Yukhei sits up and starts rubbing his arms. “I should get hyung,” Yukhei says, and Ten shakes his head.
“Leave it, Xuxi, it’ll be fine,” he says, as he’s rocked with another wave of pain running through his arms and legs. He swallows the gasp of pain at the feeling, and squeezes his eyes shut. “Let me know if it gets worse,” Yukhei mumbles, clearly unhappy with the turn of events and Ten promises he will. He decides to wait the pain out as long as he can, hoping that if he just sleeps, it’ll be gone by the morning.
*
The next morning, he’s awoken by a shifting against his back. Ten doesn’t think anything of it, still half asleep. Distantly, he registers that there isn’t any more of that pain he was feeling last night. His limbs feel normal and his head isn’t throbbing. In fact, he feels really refreshed.
And hard.
He shifts in the bed, sensitive groin rubbing against the rough fabric of his boxers. He doesn’t remember getting undressed last night, but perhaps Yukhei did it for him when he fell asleep.
Speaking of Yukhei, the younger boy seems to have wound himself around Ten during the night. There’s an arm slung tightly around his waist, dangerously close to his crotch, and Ten wonders if he can get up without waking him so that he can go to the shower and take care of this.
He’s not embarrassed by getting erections around the other boys; it’s natural and in a group as big as NCT, even when they’re in their subunits, it’s hard to find alone time. He’s just glad that in SuperM, this is happening around someone he knows and not Baekhyun, or, god forbid, Taemin or Jongin.
He moves a little, and the arm around his waist tightens. He hears a soft, sleepy sigh and then a voice which is way too high to belong to Yukhei says, “Hey, Nini? You feeling better?”
Nini?
Ten freezes as the arm around him moves down to his groin and finds his erection over his boxers, giving it a squeeze. “This seems to think you’re feeling better,” the voice hums pleasantly, thumb fondling the sensitive head of his prick through the fabric, and Ten lets out a strangled breath.
“Yukhei-?” he gasps and the hand around his dick pauses for a moment.
“You weren’t dreaming of our Lucas, were you? That dirty talk about being fucked by the rest of the group must have really got you going. Have I really lost you so fast?” A series of small kisses are placed on the back of his neck, and Ten instantly springs into action.
“What the fuck-” he snaps in English, shoving the hand away and shooting out of the bed. “Yukhei, what the he-” He chokes off as he stares at the bed where Taemin is sitting, blinking at him with a surprised look on his face. “H-hyung what the hell-?” he stammers. His voice is gruff with sleep, a little bit deeper.
Taemin sits up as well, looking confused. “Were you actually having a sex dream about Yukhei?” he asks, throwing back the covers and Ten wheezes despite himself. Taemin is only in a pair of tight grey boxers. He can see his dick, half hard under the fabric. He stares.
“W-why are you in my bed?” he whispers, “Where did Yukhei go?”
Taemin looks even more confused. “He went back to his room last night with Ten, remember?” he says. What? “You were acting weird and sick, so I told hyung I’d keep you here tonight to keep an eye on you.”
“B-but I’m Ten,” Ten says and Taemin blinks.
“Jongin, are you feeling ill still? Come here.” Before Ten can protest, Taemin is grabbing him by the wrist and hauling him onto the bed. He puts his lips to Ten’s forehead and Ten squirms. “Hm, you’re not hot anymore. Just hard.” Taemin’s hand rakes over his chest and Ten shrieks. “Jongin, what the fuck?”
“Why do you keep calling me Jongin?” Ten asks desperately.
“Because you are?”
“I’m really not.”
Taemin gapes at him. Suddenly, he smirks in a way that Ten has only seen on fan-cams and in his perverted dreams. “Oh, I see,” Taemin says. He sits back and rolls his neck, pouting with his bottom lip pushed out. “Do you want to be my daddy, is that it?”
Ten chokes. “Hyung, what the fuck?!”
“What the hell has gotten into you?” Taemin snaps, “Do you not want to play?”
“I’m Ten!” Ten yells.
Taemin folds his arms. “Ok, no,” he says, “I know that we have experimented with roleplaying in the past but there is no way that I am pretending that you’re our bandmate. The dirty talk I can do but that’s just weird, Nini.”
“But I really am Ten,” Ten says, and then pauses. His voice is still a lot lower than what he’s used too. Normally after he’s talked for a few minutes, it warms up and then returns to its usual higher pitch. He looks down at himself. His skin looks darker, his chest more contoured. He looks like-
Ten slaps his hands to his face and feels his nose. It’s flatter and wider than what he’s used to, not with the little ski jump at the end.
“Where’s the bathroom?” he croaks. Taemin points, staring at him like he’s lost the plot, and Ten stumbles towards the bathroom. He whacks on the light and stares at himself in the reflection.
Except he’s not looking at himself. Staring back at him is Jongin. Ten cautiously approaches the mirror, and the Jongin in the reflection moves with him. Ten waves his left hand and the Jongin in the mirror does it too. He shakes his right hand and the Jongin in the mirror does it as well. Absently, he tries to lick his elbow, stick out his tongue and flicks himself on the nipple. The Jongin in the mirror does all of this, including the pained little wince afterwards when his chest throbs.
“Jongin, you’re scaring me,” Taemin says, appearing beside him. He’s put on a shirt; it’s Jongin’s shirt and Ten screams, then realizes that not five minutes ago, Taemin had been trying to fondle Jongin’s dick and he screams again. “What’s going on, why are you screaming?” Taemin asks, and he actually does look afraid.
Ten takes a deep breath. “Hyung, I think something has happened,” he says and Taemin nods. Ten tries to process his words but he comes up with nothing.
“Jongin, please talk to me,” Taemin begs and he looks so sad. Ten takes a deep breath.
“Ok…Ok, so…I’m not Jongin hyung,” he begins, “I’m Ten.” Taemin’s mouth gapes a few times and then he shakes his head, speechless and ready to turn away. Ten grabs his wrist. Taemin cries out and Ten immediately retracts his hands; Jongin is a lot stronger than him clearly. “Hyung, it’s me, it’s Ten. I-I think hyung and I might have swapped bodies.”
Taemin’s face screws up. “If you’re just making fun of me-”
“I’m not,” Ten says quickly. “I swear, I’m not. Hyung, I promise you, I’m Ten.”
Taemin is making a constipated face. “Jongin…” he says, and then stops, at a lost for words.
Ten turns back to the mirror and inspects himself again. “This is crazy…” He passes a hand over his lips. They’re Jongin’s lips, plushy and soft. His jaw is Jongin’s square jaw, his flat nose, his hair, dyed and a little rough from the bleach.
“Jongin, you look crazy,” Taemin whispers. He looks really sad. “Are you… are you ok? Do you need me to get someone?”
“Hyung, I’m telling you the truth, I’m Ten.”
Taemin shakes his head. “I’m getting Baekhyun hyung,” he says suddenly. “Stay here, don’t… don’t hurt yourself, please?”
He leaves the room, and Ten turns back to his reflection as he hears the door shut. “Whoa,” he murmurs and that’s Jongin’s voice. “This is crazy,” he repeats. He sticks his tongue out again, and then turns to the side and inspects his body. Jongin really is in fantastic shape, all hard contours and firm muscles. His (Jongin’s) eyes rake down to the bump of his cock beneath his boxers, and he realizes just how inappropriate he’s being. Resting the urge to look, he goes back into the room and starts rooting around for something to wear. Taemin had walked away with his shirt from last night, so Ten scans through Taemin’s suitcase.
He searches through underwear and socks, when he feels something hard and cool. Picking it up, it takes him a second to realize that it’s a vibrator. He screams again and throws it back down, then grabs the first ratty T-shirt he finds and pulls that on over his head.
Just as he’s trying to stuff everything back into the bag, the door opens and Taemin returns, this time with a very tired looking Baekhyun in tow. “Taemin says you’re acting weird,” Baekhyun says. He looks exhausted; there are dark circles under his eyes. “This isn’t funny, Jongin, either you’re joking around and it needs to stop, or your delusional because you’re still ill.”
“I’m not either of those,” Ten snaps, getting to his feet. He notices Taemin eying up the bag he’d just been going through and then his cheeks flush bright red, and Ten knows that he knows he’d found the vibrator. He sniffs and folds his arms. “I’m Ten.”
“Jongin,” Baekhyun sighs, in a way that is far too practiced and parental. “Come on, stop fucking around.”
“I’m not,” Ten insists, “I’m Ten, why won’t either of you listen to me?” Baekhyun opens his mouth to answer when Ten cuts him off. “Wait,” he says suddenly. “If I’m telling the truth, then surely Jongin hyung is in my body, right? He’ll be down the hall with Yukhei.”
“I’m not waking up Ten and Yukhei to join in on your stupid prank,” Baekhyun snaps, but Ten simply pushes past him. It’s easy, and he decides he likes the strength aspect of this body before he’s out the door and pounding down the corridor. He can hear Baekhyun and Taemin behind him, arguing amongst themselves as he stops outside the door to his and Yukhei’s room.
“Jongin,” Baekhyun barks but Ten ignores him, hammering on the bedroom door.
“Jongin, baby, please,” Taemin begs, “Come back to the room and stop playing, this is ridiculous.”
Ten ignores them, banging on the door. He continues to do this until it opens, Yukhei looking sleep rumbled and like he’d just woken up. He most likely had. “Morning, hyungs,” he yawns, scratching his head, “Is it PT time already?”
“Yukhei, is Ten in there with you?” Taemin asks, and Yukhei looks over his shoulder. “Yeah, he’s asleep. He had a rough night, I think he had whatever it was you had, hyung.” He looks at Ten, or in this case Jongin, as he says this and Baekhyun makes a noise.
“He hasn’t left the room all night?”
“No,” Yukhei chirps, crying out when Ten shoves past him.
“Jongin!” Baekhyun yells, barreling in after him. Taemin follows on his heels and Yukhei just stands there blankly holding the door open.
Ten’s body is asleep on the bed, right where he’d nodded off last night. He looks very peaceful, Ten thinks, as he shakes himself awake.
“What’s happening?” Yukhei asks and he hears Taemin say,
“Jongin’s lost his mind.”
On the bed, Ten’s body stirs and rubs his face into the pillow, groaning softly. “What time izzit…” he mumbles, before sitting up and blinking himself awake. He looks at his four bandmates standing around him, all looking very confused, and then his eyes settle on Ten, or in this case, Jongin.
He screams and leaps out of the bed.
“What the fuck?” he shouts.
“Ten, calm down-” Baekhyun begins.
“What the fuck, who are you?” the body of Ten screams.
“I’m Ten,” says Ten calmly, “Who are you?”
“What the fuck,” the Ten body repeats, “What the fuck?”
“Jongin,” Taemin suddenly says quietly and the body of Ten stops his ranting to look at Taemin with wobbly eyes.
“Taemin?” he asks and Taemin sucks in a breath.
“Oh, come on,” Baekhyun snaps, “You’re in on this too?” Jongin, in Ten’s body, gets to his feet and staggers into the ensuite, much the same way that Ten did. He looks at himself in the mirror, body shaking.
“Oh my god,” he keeps saying, “Oh my god.”
“Can someone please explain what’s going on?” Yukhei asks. He’s ignored. Ten follows Jongin into the bathroom.
“Hyung,” he says quietly. Jongin turns to face him and Ten winces. It’s a weird (literal) out of body experience for him, seeing himself looking so panicked and afraid. Suddenly Jongin lunges for him, gripping him by the front of his shirt.
“What did you do?” he screams, clawing at Ten’s face, his own face, “What the fuck did you do, change us back!”
“I don’t know how this happened!” Ten shouts back. He grabs Jongin by his skinny wrists, easily holding him still and it occurs to him that the muscles on his own body have nothing on Jongin. Yukhei, ever the faithful, pushes them apart and drags a still scrapping Jongin back into the bedroom.
Baekhyun is pinching the bridge of his nose between his hands, looking like he’s praying to the gods for strength. Ten watches sadly as his own little body struggles against Yukhei’s bigger form. Whilst Ten is by no means unfit (there’s a reason he’s always put in open shirts for promotions), he is tiny and he knows he can’t compare when it comes to sheer mass with people like Jongin and Lucas. It’s something he’s bonded with Taeyong over; they’re wiry and proud of it.
Taemin, who has been very quiet all this time, steps forwards. “Nini,” he says quietly, and Jongin stops struggling. Taemin cups his face and looks him deep in the eyes. Ten’s chest hurts at seeing an image of himself and Taemin looking at one another in such a way, like lovers would.
Taemin’s thumb strokes tenderly across one of Ten’s (Jongin’s) cheekbones, and then he pulls away, turning to Baekhyun. “He’s telling the truth,” he says quietly, “That’s Jongin in there.”
“Of course it is,” Ten snaps, hurt. “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you guys, we’ve switched!”
“But how?” Baekhyun asks. He looks dumbfounded. “How is that even possible?”
“Oh my god, this is like that TV show!” Yukhei says suddenly. “The one with the man and the woman and they swap bodies.”
“That’s really not helping, Xuxi,” Ten says sadly.
“I’m just saying-”
“Ok,” Baekhyun interrupts. “This is insane, I hope you both know this.”
“What do we do?” Taemin asks. He’s clutching Jongin’s wrist, and Ten’s skin prickles.
“I don’t know, I’ve never known this to happen before,” Baekhyun replies. Yukhei already has his phone out.
“Ok, I’ve got good news and bad news,” he says.
“What’s the good news?” Jongin asks.
“There’s lots of stuff on the internet about this.”
“And the bad news?” Taemin prompts.
“It looks like stuff like this is only known to happen in the world of fiction.”
“For fucks sake,” Baekhyun groans.
Yukhei ignores him, blissfully in his own world. “I’ll do some more research into this,” he says, “I’m hungry, can we get breakfast?”
Ten stares at him. “You want to eat at a time like this?”
“Food helps me think.”
“Ok,” Baekhyun announces. “I’m going to take Ten to my room and find him something to wear. Taemin, you stay here with Jongin and make him dress like Ten. Yukhei, you…you do you. Get uber eats as well, I think the best thing for now is to stay as far away from anyone else till we figure out what’s going on.”
“What do we tell Mark and Taeyong?” Taemin asks. Jongin’s sitting on the bed with his head in his hands.
“Don’t say anything for now,” Baekhyun says firmly, “Mark will have an aneurism if we tell him.” Ten smacks Yukhei on the arm as he follows Baekhyun out.
“That means you,” he says, and mimes zipping his mouth shut.
Baekhyun doesn’t say anything to him as they go down the corridor to the room he was supposed to be sharing with Jongin. Baekhyun holds the door open for Ten to follow him inside, and then locks it behind him.
Baekhyun’s bed is still unmade, but Jongin’s is immaculate, clearly not having been slept in. “I need to talk to you about something,” Baekhyun says suddenly, and his voice is incredibly somber. Ten turns and sits down on Jongin’s unused bed, waiting. Baekhyun takes a seat opposite him and clears his throat. Ten has never seen him so serious. “Taemin mentioned to me that he woke you up in a rather,” He clears his throat, “Interesting way.”
“You mean when he fondled my dick?” Ten says and the corners of Baekhyun’s mouth dip.
“If that’s how you want to put it,” he sniffs. “I need you to not talk about what happened, ok, with anyone. Not Yukhei, not Taeyong, not Mark. No one in your group, not your friends. Not with anyone.”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Ten asks bluntly and Baekhyun shakes his head.
“No, I don’t. Which is why I know you’re smart enough to not let this get out.”
“Hyung, I’m gay,” Ten snaps. “I was sleeping with a member of my group for almost a year. I’m not an idiot.”
Baekhyun sucks in a breath. “I had a feeling,” he says quietly and Ten snorts. Everyone has fucking feelings these days, he thinks. “They’ll be grateful,” Baekhyun continues. “Taemin is a bit spooked right now, but he felt really bad about what happened. I don’t want you to think he violated you on purpose or anything like that, he genuinely believed you were Jongin.”
“No hard feelings,” Ten mutters as Baekhyun gets up to start looking through Jongin’s bag. “I mean, this whole situation is pretty fucked up isn’t it.”
“You’re telling me, kid,” Baekhyun replies, “Come here and pick out what you want to wear, I’ll tell you if it’s ‘Jongin’ enough.”
*
Ten looks pretty smart, if he does say so himself.
That’s both him in Jongin’s body, and Jongin is his body. Baekhyun had given him loose-fitting long sleeve and slacks because Ten point blank refused to wear a blazer at half past eight in the morning.
Taemin, on the other hand, had given Jongin some ripped jeans and a simple T-shirt to wear. Yukhei nods his head when Ten and Baekhyun come downstairs to join them, a piece of toast caught between his teeth as he types away frantically on his laptop.
“How much did you order?” Baekhyun examines the breakfast bar, which is covered on all surfaces with food. There’s toast, pancakes, pastries, puddings, eggs, bacon, rice. Lucas hands Ten a plate from the cupboard.
“Just enough so that we won’t get hungry. Eat up, hyung,” he chirps happily.
Ten grumbles under his breath, putting the plate down and reaching for a sachet to make a coffee. Jongin looks up from where he’s peeling an orange. “Don’t do that,” he says. Ten bristles. It’s weird hearing his voice be so sharp. And was his voice always that high?
“Why not?” he asks, proceeding to make the coffee anyway. He settles for an Americano; it’s too early for an espresso, even by his standards.
“I don’t like coffee that much,” Jongin says, “You at least have to put lots of milk and sugar into it.”
The machine whirs and spits out a stream of dark steamy coffee. It gurgles to a halt and Ten picks up the mug, blowing on it. He makes a ‘cheers’ motion with Jongin, who glares for a split second, and then shrugs. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he says.
Ten takes two big gulps. It’s so bitter, it makes his taste buds recoil and he shudders at the taste.
“Told you,” Jongin says, smirking slightly, and Ten has never wanted to punch himself so badly.
“Great, so I can’t even drink coffee now?” he mutters. Taemin sinks down onto the chair besides Jongin and pinches his earlobe.
“Stop being a brat, everyone is frustrated,” he says.
“So,” Yukhei announces around a mouthful of bacon. “I’ve been doing some reading.”
“Did you find anything useful?” Baekhyun asks, joining Ten on the other side of the breakfast bar with a bowl of fruit and yogurt in hand.
Yukhei swallows and picks up his phone. “According to the internet, there’s a few reasons this could have happened. Have either of you been struck by lightning?” he asks, expression somber.
Ten waits for the punchline. “You’re not joking,” he deadpans and Yukhei shrugs.
“I can’t rule out the possibility,” he says sagely, face completely serious.
“Neither of them has ever been hit by lightning,” Taemin says kindly.
“Ok, were either of you given any suspicious items? Necklaces, rings, mystical glowing jewelry?”
“No, Yukhei,” Jongin says, running his hands through his hair.
“Did either of you wish you could be the other person?”
“I mean there was that dumb interview question yesterday,” Ten says. “Maybe that?”
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Baekhyun points out, “We all said people we would want to be. Like, why hasn’t Yukhei woken up as me if that was it?”
“I wouldn’t mind that,” Yukhei says dreamily and Baekhyun gives him a look. “I mean,” he coughs, “It does say that it could be a weird quirk of the universe.”
“So Ten and I have swapped bodies because ‘the universe felt like it’?” Jongin snaps. He’s approaching the end of his patience. Taemin rubs his arm. “This is such bullshit.”
Ten has a response burning on the top of his tongue, but he’s cut off by Yukhei clearing his throat. “Um, Ten hyung,” he says shyly, and everyone turns to look at him. Yukhei’s ears are red. “You don’t think it has something to do with…what we talked about last ni-”
“No!” Ten says quickly, “No it doesn’t, leave it alone.”
“What were we talking about last night?” Taemin asks. He looks at them suspiciously. “What were you two talking about?”
“Nothing,” Ten insists when they hear a cough. Ten squeaks. Jongin drops his orange peel and Baekhyun gulps.
“No one says anything about any of this,” he reminds them. “Everyone act natural.” Everyone nods frantically.
A few moments later, Mark stumbles in. He looks sleep warm and rumbled, tousling his hair. “Hi,” he chirps when he sees them, “Taeyong hyung is just in the shower.”
“Come in, we’ve got breakfast,” Baekhyun says. Mark wonders in and instantly his brow creases.
“Are people fighting?” he asks, “Something feels wrong.”
Jongin stares at Ten. Ten stares at Jongin. Taemin sighs like he’s done with both of them. “No one’s fighting, Mark,” he explains, “Jongin and Ten have just had a mix up, that’s all.”
Yukhei squawks at that and Ten makes a face. Mark nods seriously.
“Should they talk about it?” he asks, “When people used to fight in Dream, I’d make them talk about it-”
“We’re dealing with it,” Jongin says, and then smiles at Mark. Ten had never realized how deep his cheeks creased up.
Taeyong comes in a few minutes later. He’s got a towel wrapped up on his head, and he greets them in English. “How are you feeling?” Yukhei asks, prodding his skinny thigh with his toe when Taeyong passes him.
“Very delicate,” Taeyong says. He turns to look at him over his shoulder and puts a finger to his lips. “I’m sensitive,” he whispers dramatically.
“What are we doing today?” Mark asks, “It’s rehearsals for the Ellen Show, right?”
Yukhei starts to choke on his mouthful and Ten feels a bit sick. It hadn’t even occurred to him that they were going to need to perform, that he was going to need to perform as Jongin. Across the room, Jongin has gone very pale. “Ten hyung, are you ok?” Taeyong asks, “You look how I feel.”
“Yes,” Ten and Jongin say at the same time. Taeyong squints at who he thinks is Jongin. The real Jongin coughs.
“I’m fine,” he says quickly, “Haven’t eaten much. Low…low blood sugar.” He stuffs a slice of orange into his mouth, and then balks at the taste. Mark and Taeyong frown at him.
Ten makes a face at Baekhyun who shrugs helplessly. This is insane.
They send Yukhei off to distract Mark and Taeyong as they need to plan their next move. Ten can overhear him saying, “Hey Mark, Taeyong hyung, look what I can do with my thumb-” and he blinks.
“He really is something else,” Baekhyun murmurs in wonder as he leads them out and down the corridor to the games room where they’ll be out of earshot. Ten shrugs.
“What do we do?” Jongin asks, his voice wavering on hysterical. It isn’t a good look on himself, if Ten may say so. “I don’t know any of Ten’s parts.”
“Let’s not worry about that for now,” Taemin says, squeezing his shoulders. He seems to be remarkably calm at a time like this. Ten supposes that Taemin has had to see and handle almost every situation under the sun throughout his time as an idol; however, he doubts very much that anything has scraped the surface of the supernatural like this. “Look, we don’t know how long this might last,” Taemin rationalizes. “This could all be over with by tomorrow morning, so we can’t panic, ok? Let’s think about this logically. We know the group dances, right, we just have to work on your positions. If anyone says anything about why it’s a bit sloppy, we’ll tell them that you’re not feeling well.”
“And have them get pissed at us for not saying something sooner?” Jongin grouches.
“It’s better than the truth,” Taemin replies levelly.
“And the others?” Ten asks doubtfully, thinking of Yukhei miming having his thumb removed. Mark had looked fascinated, whilst Taeyong looked appropriately done with him.
“Don’t tell them,” Baekhyun says again. “The less people in on this the better. We have to be careful though, we can’t have you two slipping up answering for each other.” He looks pointedly at Ten. “Until this is over, you have to be Jongin, and you have to be Ten,” he tells each of them respectively.
Ten nods. His little slip up earlier was enough to remind him to catch himself. How hard could this be?