AFTER STORY ONESHOT ;
PUZZLE PIECES // SEUNGIN

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Jeongin's eyes were closed, and his breathing was level. The young boy was dreaming peacefully with his head resting against his pillow; and Seungmin gently pulled the blanket up to the dark haired boy's chin. As he admired his partner in such a vulnerable state, the redhead began to feel sunlight pool in the center of his chest. Only half aware of the fact that he was even doing it, Seungmin reached out and gently tucked a few strands of hair behind the younger boy's ear. Inwardly, the older boy drew his bottom lip in between his two rows of teeth; nibbling on the skin for a few seconds as he kept his unblinking eyes locked on the dark haired boy.

After another brief moment, Seungmin stuffed both of his hands into his pant pockets and proceeded to exit their shared room; being sure to close the door behind him in a gentle manner, as not to wake the younger boy. It was still fairly early in the morning, and nobody other than himself and Woojin were awake in the hideout. Red was out on a mission that she chose not to disclose to the other members, Hyunjin and Minho were both still sleeping in their room, Jisung and Chan were asleep on their bedroom floor after a movie marathon with a pizza box in between them, and Felix could be found wrapped in Changbin's arms on the couch where they'd dozed off in the early hours of the morning.

At the kitchen table, Woojin was wide awake, just as he always was come six thirty in the morning. Normally, Seungmin wouldn't have been awake at such an early time, but he'd been stirred from his sleep by the need to use the bathroom, and after that, he hadn't been able to return to dreamland.

"You're up early today," Woojin noted, gently taking a sip of his coffee from the white mug in his hands.

"I couldn't get back to sleep," Seungmin replied, grabbing his own cup from the cupboard in order to pour himself some coffee as well.

"...is something on your mind, Seungmin?" The older male questioned, letting his gaze drift over to where the redhead was standing with his back turned.

The younger boy sat the coffee pot down, pausing for a few seconds before deciding that it was best to deflect the question with a humorous comment.

"What, did Red find a way to give you her powers?" Seungmin joked, just wanting to avoid the topic at hand.

"I'm being serious here," the older boy replied.

"You've been acting strange lately. The others have noticed it too, so don't even try to deny it."

"...I'm fine, Woojin," the redhead assured, though he wasn't quite sure if that answer was completely truthful.

As of late, things had seemed...Off. He felt different, though he couldn't pinpoint why, and it was becoming very stressful to not know why he felt that way. After all, he was accustomed to knowing all the details of everything in life. But, now, he wasn't even able to understand the basics of himself; so he couldn't help but to wonder how he would ever be able to feel right within his own skin until he could understand why his heart felt so odd.

"It's written all over your face that you're not," Woojin stated as soon as Seungmin turned around to face him.

"I'm completely fine, okay? There's nothing on my mind except...Well, except nearly everything, but it would be stranger if there was nothing on my mind," the redhead noted.

"Is it about Changbin and Felix again?" The dirty blonde haired boy asked hesitantly, hoping that the answer was no, because he didn't want to have to deal with more commotion about the duo; especially not from Seungmin.

"I already came to my final determination on the two of them," the younger boy responded lazily.

"Which was what exactly?" The older boy asked, sipping on his coffee once more.

"Phenylethylamine, a chemical that naturally occurs in the brain and is also found in some foods, such as chocolate, is being released in both of them. It is a stimulant, much like an amphetamine, that causes the release of norepinephrine and dopamine. I'd have to ask them questions to figure out how far along in the process that they are, but dopamine triggers the release of oxytocin at certain points, alongside serotonin and endorphins-"

"In terms that a normal person can wrap their mind around, please," Woojin cut the redhead off.

"Phenylethylamine is released when you are falling in love. It's responsible for the head-over-heels, elated part of love. Norepinephrine causes the effects of sweaty palms and a pounding heartbeat. Dopamine is a neurochemical that appears to be associated with mate selection. Dopamine triggers the release of oxytocin, which is sometimes called the 'cuddle hormone'. In both genders, oxytocin is released during touching. Serotonin can increase our dependence on another person. Your brain acquires a tolerance to the love stimulants and starts to release endorphins, which then leads-"

"Okay, one more time," the older boy cut the younger off, "can you say it in terms that a normal human being of average human intelligence can understand?"

Seungmin rolled his eyes.

"They're in love, Woojin."

"Hey, don't roll your eyes, smart ass. Not everyone understands it when you decide to speak like a school textbook," the older boy snapped.

"Besides; you could have just said that to begin with instead of trying to give me a science lesson."

"I did say that," the younger boy responded, "you were just too incompetent to absorb the information correctly."

"You know what-"

"Cool it, guys," Felix mumbled sleepily as he entered the kitchen, promptly getting in the middle of their argument so that he could get an apple in peace.

Sinking his teeth into the piece of fruit, Seungmin turned to the brunette in order to ask him a question.

"Felix, have you noticed lately that a large amount of endorphins have been released from your brain?" The redhead inquired.

The Australian began to chew a bit slower, and it took him a few seconds to swallow down the pieces of apple in his mouth. With an extremely confused look on his face, the older boy leaned his head forward a bit.

"...why would I be releasing dolphins from my brain?"

Seungmin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"I'm surrounded by idiots," he mumbled.

"He was asking if you're in love with Changbin," Woojin simplified the redhead's words.

"Well, yeah, of course I am. If I didn't love him, I wouldn't be his boyfriend," Felix answered with a blank expression as he took another bite of his apple.

"And Changbin?" The redhead inquired.

"Is he in love with you?"

"...well, I guess I can't speak for him like that, but I'm pretty sure he loves me. I mean, he wouldn't be with me if he didn't, right?"

"But, why are you suddenly asking all these questions about me and Changbin?"

" I was just confirming my general consensus on the matter," the younger boy stated.

Even though Felix only understood roughly half of what the redhead had said to him, he simply nodded his head and continued to munch on his apple, because it was simply too early in the morning for him to worry about Seungmin's nonsense.

"...but can I ask what it feels like to be in love?" The younger boy pursed his lips right after the final word fell from his tongue.

"What it's like to be in love?" The Australian raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Seungmin nodded his head in reply.

"Well," the older boy began, "it feels...Safe. For me, it was scary, and really nerve wrecking at first, because I was putting all my trust in someone other than myself. But, once I accepted what I was feeling, I felt like a new person."

"Putting all your trust in another person? That seems...Unnecessary, and quite frankly, ridiculous. Why would you ever want to put your trust in someone else when it's so much easier to keep all your trust in yourself; period?" The redhead gawked.

"It might be easier, but that doesn't mean it's fulfilling," the brunette commented.

"Without Changbin in my life, I'd feel like a piece of my puzzle is missing."

"...your puzzle?" The younger boy inquired curiously.

"Sometimes, it helps to think of your heart as a puzzle. It can make some circumstances easier to comprehend," Felix explained quickly.

"Your heart isn't a puzzle, it's an organ-"

Thankfully, before Seungmin could try and educate the brunette on the muscular organ located in his chest; Woojin covered his mouth with his right hand so that the Australian could continue on with what he was saying.

"See, if you think of your heart as a puzzle, then you can give the puzzle pieces their own respective labels. What I mean by that, is that you can give each puzzle piece a special correlation to something important in your life," the brunette explained.

"Mine, just for example, have things like my family, and you guys, and Changbin."

In order to make the older boy remove his hand from his mouth, Seungmin licked Woojin's skin. Immediately the dirty blonde haired boy pulled his hand away and rushed over to the sink to wash his hand off.

"Why does Changbin get his own piece when the rest of us members of Supernova are crammed together?" The redhead questioned.

"Because, Changbin is...Special. I love all you guys, but I wouldn't want to kiss you, or sleep next to you, or anything like that. The relationship I have with Changbin is something that I won't ever have with you, or Red, or Jeongin, or Jisung...It's a different type of love," Felix responded.

"...there's different types of love?" Seungmin cocked his head to one side lightly.

"Of course there is," Woojin grumbled as he dried his hands off on his shirt.

"There is," the Australian agreed.

"There's the kind of love that you feel towards your close friends and your family members, and there's love that goes into your favorite things, and then there's love that goes to someone that you're in love with. See, I love my mom, and I love Chan, and I love watching movies, but I'm in love with Changbin."

Seungmin stared blankly for a moment or two before he responded.

"Can we go back to the puzzle analogy?" He requested.

"Woojin, can you grab me a pen and paper, please?" Felix asked, figuring that if he were to show the younger boy what he was saying instead of just telling it to him that he might just understand it better.

The older boy complied with the request, and he grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from his room; promptly bringing it back into the kitchen where Seungmin and Felix were now sitting side by side at the table.

"Thanks," the blonde nodded, placing the sheet of paper in the space between himself and Seungmin.

He grabbed the pen, and drew a circle in the center of the paper. Or, at least, he eye balled it and drew it where he thought the center should be. It obviously wasn't perfect, but he wasn't aiming for perfection, and thankfully, Seungmin didn't bother to comment on it.

"Now, I know that's not what the heart looks like, but just pretend with me for a few minutes, okay?" The brunette raised an eyebrow as he looked over at the redhead.

"Alright," the younger boy agreed with a nod.

Thank God, the older boy said to himself.

"This represents my heart," he noted as he scribbled "FELIX'S HEART" across the side of the paper in sloppy letters.

"And these lines represent the barriers between the different parts of my heart. Are you with me so far?" The Australian asked as he drew lines across the circle in a haphazard manner.

"Yeah," Seungmin nodded his head in confirmation.

"It's like the different parts of the heart in actuality; the pulmonary artery, the left and right ventricles, the left and right atriums, the superior vena cava, the-"

"He gets it, Seungmin," Woojin interrupted, much to Felix's relief.

"Yeah, exactly like that," the Australian replied.

"So, this first piece here is representative of my love for my family. My parents, my sisters, my grandparents, cousins, -all those people," Felix spoke as he wrote "family" in the space between the two lines he'd drawn.

"...okay," Seungmin nodded in understanding.

"This next part is representative of my love for watching movies. It's a little bit smaller than the others, because movies aren't as important as the other things in my life, but they're still something I love. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," the redhead confirmed.

"This part is representative of my love for the members of Supernova. It's about the same size as the piece that has family written on it because you guys are like my second family, and I love you like family," the brunette explained.

"Okay," the younger boy replied, just to let the older boy know that he was still following along with what he had to say.

"And then there's this piece," Felix stated, pointing to the largest part of the circle that had yet to be filled in with anything.

"This part is representative of my love for Changbin. I'm in love with him, which isn't the same as just loving him. I know it can sound kind of confusing, but when you understand the direct variations of the two, it really puts things in perspective."

"...I don't think I understand that part yet," Seungmin stated.

"And that's okay," the Australian assured.

"You understand falling in love at your own pace. You might or might not be in love with someone right now, but either way; it's okay. Love comes when it comes, and you can't force it or manufacture it. You just have to wait and see."

The redhead nodded, though he wasn't quite sure why Felix was okay with him not understanding something. To him, not fundamentally having his mind wrapped around something was like torture. It wasn't often that he faced that type of problem, but ever since emotions started to intertwine among the members, and within his own heart and brain, he'd found that he was much less likely to comprehend the feelings of those around him...And it was scary.

"Okay, now I'm going to show you what I meant when I said that losing Changbin would be like a piece missing from my puzzle," the older boy stated.

"Grab me the scissors please, Woojin?"

"Am I the maid now?" The older boy mumbled as he plucked the scissors from one of the drawers.

"You're not a maid," the Australian laughed.

Silently, the brunette folded the paper in order to cut a piece of the paper directly out of the center. He took out the piece of his "heart" that had Changbin's name written on it, and he sat it aside. Then, he unfolded the paper and placed it back into its former position.

"What's different?" Felix questioned.

"...there's a hole now because you cut out a slice of the paper," the redhead noted.

"Exactly. A hole. It means that there's something missing. This is a visual representation of what my heart would feel like if Changbin were to disappear from my life," the Australian explained.

"So, what you're saying is that losing Changbin would be like removing your pulmonary artery from your heart?" Seungmin cocked his head to one side.

"...well, that's a literal way of taking it, but I'm pretty sure you got the gist," Felix shrugged.

Then, he turned to look at Woojin.

"...one more piece of paper, please?" He asked with a guilty smile.

The older boy didn't even bother to protest that time. Instead, he simply retrieved the paper and then went immediately to the backyard to get some training done before either of the two boys could ask him for anything else.

"Okay, now I want you to draw your own circle, fill in your own pieces, -just like I did. Then, you'll see what's most important to you," the blonde smiled, giving the redhead a quick pat on the back before he went into the living room to slip under the blanket beside of Changbin once more.

The redhead followed the steps. He drew the circle, filled in the pieces with people and activities that he loved, and then he gave the largest piece a few moments thought before jotting down the most important thing in his life. He then took the scissors, did just as Felix did, and cut that piece of the paper out.

So...This is what's most important to me? The redhead asked himself as he looked at the cut out piece of paper in his hand.

Thirty seconds went by of him simply staring at it; almost like he thought it would sprout legs and run away if he were to let it out of his sight for even a single second. And then he ran. He grabbed both the starting paper, as well as the section that had been snipped off it, and he bolted out of the kitchen, through the living room, and all the way to his and Jeongin's shared room. Jumping into the younger boy's bed, Seungmin shook Jeongin's shoulder in order to wake him up.

"Seungmin? What do you want?" The dark haired boy asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Is something happening?"

"Yes," the redhead nodded, quickly handing the younger boy the paper in his hand.

Jeongin looked it over, noting the piece of paper that had been cut out in the middle.

"...what is this?"

"It's a circular representation of the puzzle pieces of my heart written on paper in black ink," the redhead stated quickly.

Having just woken up, the dark haired boy found it hard to comprehend the situation; which wasn't anything new considering he was partnered with someone who possessed superhuman intelligence. Being confused around Seungmin was nothing new for him.

"I have no clue what that means," Jeongin replied.

"And how come there's a random piece missing from the middle?"

The older boy gently took the paper from the younger's hands and placed it on the bed. With his other hand, he placed the cut out section back into its original place.

"...it says my name," Jeongin noted, letting his gaze flicker up to meet Seungmin's once more.

"I feel as if I'd be missing my pulmonary artery without you in my life," the redhead stated.

"What's a pulmonary artery?" Jeongin asked.

"It's one of the components that make up the heart," Seungmin responded.

The younger boy gave it a moments thought. He was rather good at deciphering Seungmin's nonsense those days, so he was quick to put two and two together and was able to comprehend what the older boy was attempting to convey to him.

"...are you trying to say that a piece of your heart would be missing if I wasn't in your life?" Jeongin inquired.

"Precisely," the older boy nodded his head in reply.

Smiling, the dark haired boy threw his arms around Seungmin's neck and pulled him in for a hug.

"A piece of my heart would be missing if I lost you, too," Jeongin whispered.

The redhead brought his hand up to the back of his partner's head; stoking his hair gently. And in holding the younger boy close, the older boy came to realize why he'd been feeling so strange. It was because there was emotions flooding his body; ones that he never in a million years thought he'd be able to experience.

"...I feel as if phenylethylamine may be releasing itself in my brain."

"What's phenyle- whatever you just said?" The younger boy inquired.

"Phenylethylamine is a chemical that that's released as a stimulant in the brain when you're falling in love."

Jeongin pulled away from the hug in order to look directly into Seungmin's eyes. With a shaky breath, the younger boy moved his face closer to the older's; but he decidedly never touched his lips to the redhead's. Instead, he allowed his partner to close to minuscule gap between their mouths. It was gentle, but captivating, a mixture of innocence and somewhere near passionate desire. Mesmerized lips pressed together in that moment in the space time continuum; and it seemed as if it was the only moment that had ever mattered.

And as Jeongin's lips parted from his, and the younger boy rested his forehead against the older boy's, Seungmin realized that he could have been stripped of his superhuman intelligence and still have been the most brilliant person in the world...Because he understood everything now. And everything began and ended with Yang Jeongin.

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