5 Conversations From The JUMP Group Chat During Yuto's NYC Trip
Title: 5 Conversations From The JUMP Group Chat During Yuto's NYC Trip
Author: thanku4urlove
Pairing: Keito/Yuto
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Implied sexual content, mentions of alcohol, mentions of Elvis Presley, mentions of my cousin Peter
Genre: Humor
Summary: While Yuto is in New York visiting Keito, some of their moments are shared through the group chat.
A/N: Formal apology for saying I was gonna post yesterday and instantly forgetting but!! Keito graduated!!!! Congratulations to him!!!!! I am so very proud. Now he just needs to return to Japan and give all of JUMP hugs and I will be happy. Also a second formal apology to my NYC-dwelling cousin Peter for putting him in a fic without his knowledge love ya dude
This chapter can also be read on AO3 here! (x)
Another banner by the great ryosukekoibito! she can't be stopped
1.
Hikaru woke to his phone buzzing. Groaning, wishing his phone had been turned on silent, and begging this to be something actually important and worth waking up for, he scrambled around on his bedside table for the device, squinting blearily at the lit-up screen. He was sick, feverish and phlegmy, and had been in the middle of a much-needed nap.
To his annoyance, it wasn’t even a phone call. The other members were sending messages to the member-only group chat, the buzzing incessant. Still, it could be something that needed addressing--Yuto was currently in New York with Keito, having landed a couple of hours ago, so who knew what shenanigans they were getting up to--opening the thread to read.
It had all started with a selfie Yuto had sent. It was a very dark photo, only from the nose up, with his face barely visible. His hair looked wet by the way it was stuck to his forehead, and he had his hand up over his head, holding up three fingers. He’d sent a text under the photo.
Yujikuu: someone tell inoo we’re up to 3 times already
Hikaru knew what he meant, and the rest of the members did too.
Yabunbun: How??? Already??
Yujikku: we’re not old men like you are, Yabu
Daikingu: You guys are so cute.
Kurusuke: they are so not cute. they’re animals. where the fuck is the romance?
Yujikku: Keito puts the fuck in romance
That was as far as the texts had gone. Hikaru actually snorted at that, about to send a reply--something that appreciated Yuto’s humor, but also told all of them to leave the group chat alone so he could go back to bed--when Inoo replied instead.
Inoteri: that literally makes no sense
Yuyaseba: ...that hurts my feelings a little bit Kei
Sabonen: Okay literally every single one of you is disgusting everyone stop
Hikaru found himself agreeing with Chinen. He didn’t want to be awake anymore--his congestion had his headache returning--but he wouldn’t be able to sleep if his phone kept going off. He didn’t want to silence it though, for fear of missing something actually important or work related.
Pitan: Listen. I love every single one of you. But if any more texts are sent to this group chat I am going to block all of you
Pitan: I need to sleep
Another text was sent seconds later, but it was from Yabu, so Hikaru could forgive him.
Yabunbun: oh yeah guys hikaru is sick again we need to let him nap.
Yuyaseba: okay
Daikingu: OK!
Kurusuke: ok
Sabonen: ...all of you are dumb stop replying you don’t need to say ok
Inoteri: …………………...ok
Hikaru took a deep breath, reminding himself that he loved his friends. He did.
Yujikku: Keito says he loves you and he hopes you feel better soon!
Yujikku: Okay actually full disclosure it’s midnight here and Keito is asleep but if he were awake that’s exactly what he would say, so I know that even though I said it he means it with his whole heart.
And, somehow, Hikaru could feel that yes, Keito did. So he sent back a green heart emoji, and went back to sleep.
2.
Practice the next day was casual. They were mostly doing dance work, going over choreography they’d already learned and fine-tuning it a little bit. It was difficult with HIkaru sick and Yuto gone, so they were taking things slow, willing to practice for practice’s sake, with anything they gained from it coming as a bonus. Yamada was mid-turn when all of their phones went off at once, the sound loud and distracting and nearly causing him to lose his balance.
“Someone want to check that?” Takaki asked after a moment. “It was to all of us. It might be important.”
Yamada was closest to the front, so he jogged to the front to retrieve his phone. There was one new message in the group chat.
“It’s from Keito.”
“It’s nearly two in the morning there.” Chinen said, a frown on his face. “What are he and Yuto doing?”
“Read it!” Yabu encouraged, but Yamada couldn’t.
“It’s one of those audio text messages.” He said. “Hold on.”
He cranked up the volume on his phone, gesturing for the group to come crowd around him. Once they all had, he tapped the message to begin playing it.
“-and I love him so much and he-” It was Keito’s voice, incredibly slurred and almost upset. They all looked around at each other in surprise, but Keito was cut off by Yuto speaking.
“Because you have to call him first! He’s busy.”
“I’m busy.”
“Everyone is busy.”
“Everyone.”
Yuto was drunk too. They were both drunk. Thankfully, by the lack of background noise, they were probably both inside somewhere.
“But I miss Yamada and I love Yamada and he should call me anyway, even if he is busy.”
That made the group burst out laughing, listening to drunk and whining Keito. It was touching, too, to hear Keito say that about him, Yamada unable not to smile.
“And anyways, didn’t you know-” Yuto started, but that was where the message ended.
“...should we respond with something?” Yabu asked.
“I mean, it didn’t sound like they meant to send that.” Inoo pointed out, and Yamada had to agree. The message had begun and ended in the middle of a sentence, none of them had been addressed, and from the sound of it, the two of them weren’t holding up the phone or trying to talk into it. Drunk Keito was probably just fumbling the device, and had accidentally sent it.
They tried to go back to practice, but their phones all went off again about fifteen minutes later, and again Yamada grabbed his phone, pushing play.
“-just pick him up and wear him all around like a little Chinen backpack.” Yuto was saying.
“Could do that with Yabu too, probably.” Keito said. “He’s not small, but he’s small.”
“Oh. Oh! You don’t know! Yabu got all into boxing and stuff and now he’s muscle man and like…” Yuto’s voice lowered to a whisper. “It’s weird.”
There was a long silence, followed by a snort of laughter from Keito. Then they both became lost to giggling, still laughing when the recording stopped.
They got three more recordings from Keito to the group chat, all of them obviously accidental, all of them talking about the various other members of the group. It was cute to listen to, and nice to know that even when they were so far away, and on a trip that was meant to be for the two of them as a couple, that the other members were still in their thoughts, as drunken as those thoughts might be.
“And I love Takaki.” Keito was saying, his words slurred, each one with heavy emphasis.
“You know what I love?” Yuto asked, an obvious grin in his voice.
“What?” Keito’s interest was completely genuine.
“Your butt.”
They were both lost to giggles again, Yuto in the middle of beckoning Keito closer before the recording ended. They didn’t get any more messages, and finally got an explanation for them over eight hours later.
Yuto: We ended up going to a bar with Keito’s roommate! Bob is really cool. Except then we drank too much and had to walk back to Keito’s dorm room in the snow
Keito: Yuto practiced his english all night. It was so cute.
Yuto: I learned that Keito is my bae. And yeet is my favorite word now
Yamada knew that his English wasn’t great, but he was pretty sure that none of what Yuto had just said made any sense.
Yamada: yeet?
Yuri: Use that in a sentence.
Yuto: I’m going to yeet a hug right into you when I get home.
Inoo: ...why does that sound sexual
Keito: That isn’t really right, but we’ll work on it.
3.
The next day, the group chat was flooded with pictures. By the look of things, Yuto and Keito were spending the day being typical tourists, and while Chinen hadn’t been to New York City in years--and wasn’t particularly willing to do a plane ride that long maybe ever again--seeing all of the photos actually made him miss it a little bit.
They were going around to all the tourist stops: the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Times Square. They got coffee, went to restaurants, and bought stupid souvenirs. The pictures sent to them were a complete hodgepodge, with artfully shot pictures of Keito, cutesy couple photos, and dumb selfies or videos.
They were being adorable, and unmistakably a couple, their hands trailing after each other, Yuto even taking a photo kissing Keito’s cheek. It was definitely riskier than Yuto would act in Japan, despite New York being a big city, and a place that they could still be recognized. But Yuto had always toed the line when it came to plausible deniability, even putting euphemisms about Keito into JUMP and 7 songs, so Chinen wasn’t too surprised about it.
Besides, the two of them looked so happy that Chinen couldn’t bring himself to say anything about them being careful, and the sentiment seemed shared, the group chat full of nothing but cute and positive reactions.
While Yuto was taking pictures of the sights and the scenery, Keito was taking videos of Yuto going up to strangers and practicing his English. Some people were kind and some people were rude, but the biggest problem seemed to be getting people to stop at all to allow him to talk to them. The videos were very funny, Chinen lying in bed and watching them.
The most recently sent one was definitely the best, Yuto going up to a man to ask him a question. The guy he stopped was shorter and dressed in a bulky coat, his bald head shiny on the top, with darker skin and glasses. He was walking a small dog, and was talking very quickly into his cell phone. When Yuto tried to talk to him the guy leaned fully away from him, his expression startled, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
Chinen couldn’t help a burst of giggles, replaying the part a couple of times, pausing the video and screencapping the man’s startled face. He sent the screencap to the group chat.
Yuri: This guy is my hero.
That got a lot of amused reactions, Yabu sending the photo back with a different caption.
Kota: Me when I get out of bed and see myself in the mirror
Yamada joined in too, and then the whole group was doing it.
Ryosuke: Me when people pick me up
Kei: Me when old men tell me they love me on national TV
Yuya: Me when old men kiss you on national TV
Hikaru: Me when people text the group chat and I fell asleep with my phone on my pillow
Daiki: Me when Ryosuke calls me short
Yuya: Me when Yabu leaves his underwear in my apartment
Ryosuke: Me when Daiki exists
Yuto and Keito, seemingly too in love to notice their shenanigans, didn’t see the messages or respond until later.
Keito: Don’t make fun of Peter. He was nice and the place he told us to go for dinner was yummy.
Chinen couldn’t resist sending the photo one final time.
Yuri: Me when my name is Peter and some weird Japanese guy asks me what restaurant to go to.
Yuto just sent back a different crop of the same screencap; a zoom-in of the man’s dog, the name ‘Sadie’ on its collar, with an identical, shocked look on its face. Chinen burst into giggles again.
4.
Yuto knew he should be asleep. It was after midnight, and he was laying in bed, a sleeping Keito curled around him. It wasn’t that the day hadn’t been fun and fulfilling, because it had; they’d visited some more of Keito’s New York City friends, Yuto wanting a look at what Keito’s normal days here looked like. They were nice people, if not a little eccentric, and they’d played games and had a good time.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t comfortable, because he was. His situation was nothing less than ideal: he’d found himself a cozy dip in the mattress, with just the right amount of blankets over him and Keito asleep next to him, one of his legs thrown over one of Yuto’s, an arm across Yuto’s chest, his head against Yuto’s shoulder. Yuto had heard other members complain sometimes about how clingy Keito could be in his sleep, but to Yuto, who could never-and would never, he thought-get enough of Keito touching him, it was perfect. He himself had also been called clingy, so he figured it worked for them.
Keito looked so peaceful, so cute in his sleep, and since Yuto had his phone in his hand, he decided to take a picture of his boyfriend. His photo editing apps were enough to adjust the picture, and when Keito’s face was visible despite the dark room, he sent the picture to the group chat.
Yuti: look. Look at him. How did I get so lucky?
The responses were lackluster.
Ryo: Yes Keito is cute we all know this
Inoo: how are you not sweating to death???
Takaki: Some people like to cuddle you know
Chii: Yuto, I know you’re having a sweet ‘in your feelings’ moment because for you it’s like 2am, but over here it’s three in the afternoon
That was true. He hadn’t accounted for the time difference; his own internal clock was so thrown off he didn’t really pay attention to what time it was anymore. He suspected that’s why he was still awake. While his body was in New York, his brain definitely wasn’t. It wasn’t quite still in Japan either. Somewhere in Europe, maybe. Or in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Yuti: Nobody here is appreciating the serene beauty that is my sleeping boyfriend and I am highly offended
Hika: Drooling Keito, majestic as always.
Daiki: It is nice to see sleeping Keito pictures in the group chat again. I’ve missed it.
That made Yuto smile. It was hard to see Keito being cute in any capacity and not take photos of him, and as a result Yuto had a lot of pictures of Keito-sleeping or not, but still-that he would send to the rest of the members.
Yabu: Why are you still awake? What did you do today?
Yuti: We hung out with Bob again! He’s staying with another of Keito’s friends, this girl named Megan
Yuti: and I got recognized!!!
Inoo: !!!!!!!!!
Hika: Took you long enough. I thought you were supposed to be some japanese idol or something.
Yuti: I AM
Yuti: Megan’s girlfriend Kelsey likes anime and stuff so she’s seen the Assassination Classroom and Full Metal Alchemist live-action movies. She knew some of our songs that she liked and had them on her phone.
Yuti: She’s a Yamada fan.
Chii: Of course she is
Inoo: Of course she is
Daiki: Of course she is
Takaki: Of course she is
Hika: Of course she is
Yabu: Of course she is
All of those identical responses were sent within the same minute, and Yuto had to work to hold in a laugh.
Ryo: Hey!! Stop.
Ryo: Also I am grateful so tell her thank you for me.
Yamada sent something blushy emojis along with the messages, and that had Yuto laughing too.
Yuti: Apparently Bob and Megan had no idea. They were shocked! So we sang and did some dancing and we all watched some music videos. Keito was so embarrassed!!!!
Yuti: Megan said she didn’t have a favorite because she didn’t like boys and Bob said that Mr. Sapp was his favorite because they look kinda the same
Hikaru sent back a photo of him doing his Bob Sapp impression, but Yuto had to admit that the impression Bob had done earlier that day might have been better, though his opinion might be swayed by the similarities in skin tone, head shape, and the broad shoulders. He wished he’d gotten a picture.
Yuti: So I promised them that I would give them concert tickets if they ever came to Japan to see us, and long story short they’re planning a trip to Japan now
Takaki: They seem nice
Yuti: Yeah! They are
Yuto did quite like the friends of Keito’s that he’d met. There were more, but these three were the ones that hadn’t gone home for the holidays.
Yuti: We played this game called Never Have I Ever
Yuti: Keito and I had never had brownies with drugs in them, but none of the others had ever been in a long distance relationship, so there were some things we were able to find common ground on.
Yuti: Though all of them had made out with someone in the back of a limousine at one point or another, which I was surprised about, I was sure Keito and I had that one
Inoo: You know it kinda sounds like you played this game backwards
Inoo: You’re supposed to say things you haven’t done but that you think other people have done
Inoo: Example: never have I ever played a detective in 8 different drama productions.
Ryo: ...hey!
Daiki: Or: never have I ever released a solo single
Chii: never have I ever released TWO solo singles
Takaki: never have I ever kissed Arioka Daiki
Yabu: never have I ever won an acting award
Hika: never have I ever won TWO acting awards
Ryo: …never have I ever been MEAN to my fellow bandmate Yamada who never did anything wrong
Inoo: All of those were nice things though? Like achievements and stuff?
Chii: Except kissing Daiki probably
Daiki: hey!!!! My lips are very soft
Chii: Sure they are
Daiki: Don’t make me kiss you. Cuz I will.
Yuto let out a laugh at that, unable to help it, and Keito shifted. Yuto couldn’t help a curse, whispering it under his breath, but Keito didn’t wake up. He just shifted again, snuggling a little bit closer, nuzzling his face into Yuto’s chest and letting out a sigh. Yuto’s heart seized at the action, at how precious it was, and he couldn’t help himself, pressing a kiss to Keito's forehead.
Yuti: Hey, I’m gonna go to bed now. Trying to contact us tomorrow will be futile because we’re going to be in bed all day probably
Ryo: gross
Yuti: Hey man I know it was just a guess for a bet but now Inoo’s number feels like a challenge
Yuto laid his phone down-despite the new explosion of texts he got after saying that-and snuggled down into the blankets. Keito shifted again, pulling Yuto closer in sleep, and Yuto kissed him again, letting his eyes close.
5.
Keito watched out the window as the plane took off, snapping a quick photo and sending it to the group chat. After five wonderful days, Yuto was going back to Japan.
Keito: I’m sending him back to you.
He added a heart emoji, and he got a couple back from other members. He felt sad, but didn’t want to cry in the airport, wrapping an arm around himself instead and watching the airplane until it disappeared. His phone buzzed in his hand.
Chinen: check your email!
Frowning curiously, Keito did. He had a new message from a Yuto-but he knew it couldn’t have been Yuto, must have been Chinen or something-the subject line reading ‘Come Home’.
The email didn’t have anything in it except for an attached video, and Keito couldn’t help but smile. The group were all standing around Hikaru and Yabu, who were sitting and holding guitars; it looked like a song, a recording sent to him from the remaining members of the group.
He and Yuto had recorded a song together two days ago, when hanging out with Bob, Megan, and Kelsey. He’d brought his guitar with him to Megan’s apartment, in case they wanted to sing. They’d ended up singing JUMP songs, something Keito hadn’t anticipated, but Megan and Kelsey had asked questions about his relationship with Yuto, and Bob had brought up the songs they sent to each other. So they’d recorded a song to sing and send to the rest of the group.
It was something fun and festive, ‘Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me’ by Elvis Presley. Elvis was one of Keito’s dad’s favorites, so he already knew all the words. He pulled up the lyrics on his phone to give to Yuto, Yuto reading the first two lines before his face burst into a huge smile and he threw his arms around Keito and laughed.
“I don’t need a lot of presents to make my Christmas bright! I just need my baby’s arms wound around me tight.”
They sang and recorded the whole thing, Keito playing a simple guitar accompaniment, Yuto needing to look at the lyrics and mispronouncing some of the words, much to Keito’s amusement. They only did three takes, not wanting to bore the others with the recording process, and ended up sending the second one; the first one had too many mistakes, and the third one went completely off the rails, everyone laughing too hard to sing as Yuto brought out his Michael Jackson impression.
JUMP, apparently, had sent one back. Keito hit play, and began laughing almost immediately. It wasn’t nearly as festive as the one he and Yuto had sent, but it was still pretty good.
Hikaru and Yabu began to play their guitars, and instead of singing the Japanese version, an interestingly pronounced version of Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver began. They’d modified it too, changing any and all locations in the song to “Tokyo” instead.
“Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong! Tokyo, Tokyo, take me home…”
Then, instead of saying “country roads” another time, Hikaru said “airport!” in a squeaky, high pitched, and rushed voice, and everyone laughed, Daiki’s eyes closing as he leaned on Yamada in amusement, who had his nose scrunched up in mirth. They took turns throughout the song being silly, singing the chorus a couple of times just to give all of them a chance to do something dumb, and Keito loved every second of it. The song ended in a loud raucous guitar strum from both Yabu and Hikaru, the two of them baring their teeth and leaning over their instruments as they stared each other down. Yabu looked about to win, but he leaned forwards too far and fell out of his chair instead, the group collapsing into laughter again.
“We love you Keito!” Daiki shouted into the camera, Inoo letting out a cheer that was taken up by everyone else. After some stray yells of “We miss you!” and “Come back soon!”, the recording ended, Keito left staring at his phone screen. He was so happy, so touched and amused and homesick all at once, wishing he could have jumped on that plane with Yuto to visit them all.
Despite how lovely it had been to spend the week with Yuto, so romantic and spontaneous after how much he had missed seeing his boyfriend, Keito felt that he missed the other members just as much. He loved them with all of his heart, so blessed to have them all in his life. He told himself that he would make it through, that he would be seeing them all again soon. But for now, these messages and phone calls and recordings were what he had. So he smiled to himself, and pressed replay.