Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Felix

Their day had been tough. Dance practice and vocal lessons back to back with little to no time to catch their breath. It came to no surprise to anyone that Hyunjin was feeling extra cuddly after such a long day and no one batted an eye when he draped himself across Felix’ back as soon as they got home. For once, all of them were left off at the same time, and even Bangchan must have felt the exhaustion rippling through his whole team, seeing as he hadn’t decided to stay longer at the company, but had accompanied all of his kids back home. Once they were inside the safety of their dorm, they let loose and it seemed like they let themselves relax for the first time in a while.

It was Changbin who suggested movie night as a way to spend some quality time with the whole group. Soon, most of them were showered and cuddled up in the living room with one of their favorite animations running as more of a background noise than anything else. Some still found it in themselves to strike up a conversation (Changbin and Chan), some were just leaning back and enjoying the movie (Minho with Jisung in his arms and Seungmin and Jeongin curled up next to him) but two particular blondes were feeling way more clingy than usual. Felix was sitting on the couch next to Jeongin with Hyunjin sitting on the floor between his legs. The taller had curled his arms around Felix’ legs and settled them over his shoulder as if in an awkward hug and was leaning his head onto his knee. He was trying his hardest to stay awake and focus on the movie in front of him, but as soon as the Aussies talented small hands had found their way into his blonde locks that task got a hundred times more difficult.

Felix was trailing his fingers through his hair absentmindedly, winding some strands around his fingers and curling them into little balls before he let them fall back down Hyunjin’s head. Slowly, he went all over the older’s head, massaging here and there and coaxing Hyunjin to lean his head back more so he could reach the front of his fringe and gather all of his hair up into a makeshift ponytail. Looking down, he saw that Hyunjin had closed his eyes in content and was enjoying the soothing touches all over his scalp. Softly and slowly as to not hurt him, Felix began to braid the luscious locks into one beautiful, long braid. The hair, still slightly wet from the earlier shower, was staying in place and giving the taller an almost ethereal look, surrounding his face in soft waves. Delicately, Felix started to extend his touches to Huynjin’s ears and neck, giving him one of his signature massages. After a few minutes, the older had become putty in his hands, his head lolling back and giving Lix the opportunity to soothe his fingers over his facial features. To his credit, Huynjin only startled once as Lix began to draw soft shapes on his cheeks. His eyes opened in shock, but he quickly composed himself when he saw the freckled face he loved so much look back down on him. His lips curled into a grin and he closed his eyes again, letting his best friend continue the caresses on his skin. Felix chuckled softly and let his fingertips trail over Hyunjin’s cheeks, nose, eyebrows, forehead and back down to his chin to begin their journey again.

The two were so engrossed into their own little world that they didn’t even notice the other’s leaving to go to sleep, one after another. At some point, maybe thirty minutes into the movie, maybe three hours, none of them could tell, Felix shoulder was jostled. “Hey,” Chan was standing next to him, the TV switched off and everyone else disappeared, “It’s late. I think you two should go to bed and continue this tomorrow, hm?” The leader squeezed Lix’ shoulder and reached his fingers up to trail it through the others blonde strands. “Do you want me to carry him to bed or…?” with a tilt of his head he pointed down towards Huynjin, who seemed to have floated off to dreamland. Felix smiled, showing his teeth. “No, it’s okay, hyung. He has to go brush his teeth still and I know that he’ll hate himself tomorrow if he doesn’t do it now. I’ll take care of him.”, smiling, Chan leaned down to press a kiss into his fellow Aussie’s hair and nodded. “Alright, I trust you to bring him to bed safely. Sleep tight, you two. I’ll see you tomorrow.”, with a final squeeze of the shoulder, the oldest left to his own room.

With a heavy sigh, Felix pulled his fingers out of Hyunjin’s hair and stood up to kneel in front of him on the floor. Slowly, he tapped the other on his cheek in an effort to wake him, “Hyunjinnie… it’s time to go to bed. Wake up, you can’t sleep here.”
A small groan escaped Hyunjin’s throat as he slowly blinked his eyes open. It took a few seconds for him to focus on Felix in front of him, but as he did, he heaved himself up with a small, irritated sound leaving his lips. “What… what time is it? Where did everyone go?”, lost, his eyes trailed around the room and landed on Felix with a questioning gaze. Felix couldn’t resist and cooed a little, “Jinnie, it’s late. Everyone has gone to bed. Don’t you think we should go too?”, as the other began whining at the prospect of having to stand up and get ready for bed, Felix took the older’s hands into his and pulled him up into standing, “C’mon, I’ll cuddle you when were in bed, hm? How does that sound?”
A big, luminous smile spread over Hyunjin’s lips at the idea of getting to hold Felix for such a long time and he practically jumped at the offer. “Really? We can cuddle the whole night?”
Suppressing a full-bodied laugh as to not wake the other’s, Felix nodded and shot him another big smile. “We can cuddle all night once Jinnie has brushed his teeth and washed his face.” That seemed to do the trick. The older squealed and almost flew into the bathroom and through his bedtime routine in order to get into bed sooner. Once the two of them were safely tucked away in Hyunjin’s bed under the thick, comfy covers, Felix slung one arm around hyunjin’s middle and began to run his other hand through the soft blond locks once again. Hyunjin hummed in happiness, “I love it when you do that, Lixie.” Lowly, Felix chuckled and nodded. “I know you do, baby. Now go to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow, Little Star.”, softly, he pressed one last kiss to Huynjin’s temple and watched the older drift off to sleep.

And if he whispered, “We love you, Little Star,” into the comfort of the dark room, then that was only for him to know.

Chapter Text

Minho

Hyunjin was exhausted. A bone-deep exhaustion had settled into his body over the past few days. He had spent sleepless nights tossing and turning, worrying about everything and nothing, his thoughts racing. So, after two days of constant fidgeting and restlessness, he decided to go where he could be alone and let his feelings out in the only way that he felt comfortable with; the practice room.
He had been dancing for the past hours, room darkened with only a few lights on, trying and miserably failing to get his brain to quiet down by powering his body through dance routine after dance routine. His legs were feeling like jelly, but he couldn't stop. If he stopped, his thoughts were going to get the better of him and he would most certainly break down. In a way, letting his body suffer felt slightly less worse than having to admit defeat and letting his dark thoughts take over. He hadn’t felt like this in a long time and even though he knew that his coping mechanism was as toxic as it could get, he couldn’t stop.
Absorbed and concentrated on battering his body through the dance moves to “Easy”, he completely missed the movement in his peripheral vision. The door to the practice room had opened and closed quickly, letting a certain dancer into the almost black-out dark room. Slowly, as to not startle the younger, Minho moved over towards the black leather couch and settled down, keeping his eyes on Hyunjin the entire time. A blind man could see that the younger was dead on his feet, but Minho let him finish the choreo before he decided to speak up.

"You're a giant. Put those long limbs of yours to use." His voice rang through the now silent room as he got up and walked over towards Hyunjin standing in the center of the room, who had whirled around at the sound of the familiar tone. “Hyung? When did you come in? Can you leave? I’m trying to-“ “Absolutely destroy yourself, I can see that. Move over.”, the older didn’t give the taller another chance to talk back, getting into position and tipping his head into the direction of the computer. “Restart the song, I’ll show you what I meant.”, with a slightly agitated face, Hyunjin walked over towards the sound system and restarted the song, following along to the beat. He really wished he had it in himself to object to the other’s orders, but his mental state was still fragile as all hell and he couldn’t risk starting to sob while in an argument with Minho. That would be humiliating.

After they had finished the choreo, Minho moved Hyunjin into two positions that he thought could still use some work. But even to his ears his critique sounded made up and artificial. There was nothing there to criticize when the younger had already run through the song hundreds of times and perfected every move to a T. Nodding along to Hyunjin executing the move excellently, he clapped his hands and sat down cross-legged on the floor. “Okay, good job. Now come here and rest. You’re not fooling anyone, I can see that you’re ready to topple over and go to sleep on the spot.”, he patted his thighs as an invitation for Hyunjin to lay his head on. The black-haired man crossed his arms and scowled, cocking one hip out to the side, “No. I told you I wanted to be alone I’m not coming over to rest-“ “You’re not? Well, I guess I’ll have to go get the tissues then, because as far as I’m concerned, I’m showing you these videos of my cats now. You know what happens if you don’t get over here right this instant, Hyunjin-ah.” The taller whined but gave in after a few seconds. He knew that his Hyung would make good on his promise, seeing as he took it as a personal offence whenever someone didn’t want to see the newest pictures or videos his mom sent him of his fur babies. Still scowling, Hyunjin made his way over to Minho and laid down with his head in the older’s lap, facing away from his stomach. He tried to focus on the phone screen in front of him, still distracting himself from the dark thoughts clouding his mind.

After some time spent watching Minhos cats fight over the last piece of catnip, Hyunjin had finally lost the battle. The thoughts were becoming too much, swirling into the front of his mind and making him feel dizzy. He couldn’t take it anymore. His wavering voice rang through the otherwise silent practice room: "H-hyung... what if... w-what if it's not enough?" "What do you mean?", Minho hit pause on the video and looked down into Hyunjin’s eyes. The older wore a mask of nonchalance but the younger knew that the slight pinch of his eyebrows meant that he was worried. If even just a little bit.
"What if they... if they hate me now? For what I did back then? What if my apology is not enough? What if -", Jin’s eyes had glazed over and Minho knew that he was on a one-way train to spiral-town. Softly, he grabbed Hyunjin's hand and gave it a strong but measured squeeze. "That's a lot of What-ifs, Hyunjin-ah.", the younger let out a broken sob. "I-I don't want to g-go, Hyung. I-I n-need you, I-I can't d-do this alone", "Hey, hey. Hyunjin, look at me.", the brown-haired man lifted his hand to Hyunjin’s head and grasped his long black hair in a slightly mean hold. At the sudden pain, Hyunjin’s shut eyes shot open and revealed a panicked look. "Sit up," the older dancer commanded, his order leaving no room for discussion. Soon, he had the black-haired man turned around, perched on his lap with his face in his neck. The taller was full on sobbing, tremors wracking his body and tears wetting Minho’s shirt, hands grasping the older's back and arms as if looking for something to hold onto. Minho had his arms firmly wrapped around Hyunjins waist, keeping him close and safe.

After a few minutes of letting him cry out all of his sorrows, Minho leaned back to look up into Hyunjin's face. Snot and tears were dotting his cheeks and the cupid’s bow of his full lips. Without thinking about it too much, Minho lifted his hands up to wipe the worst of it away with the sleeve of his shirt. Then, he began in a soft voice, "Hyunjin-ah... listen carefully, because I’m only going to say this once. If you really think that our fans are just going to let you fall like that, you don't know them at all. They're stronger than you think. They will support us no matter what and I have no doubts that they'll be there for you the second you decide to come back with us. They have our backs, even in these situations. So please," he lifted a finger to tilt Hyunjin's chin up and press a small kiss to his jaw. "Believe me when I say that. And you must know how much we, as Stray Kids, love you as well. You don't have to guard your feelings and worries like this, work yourself down to the bone like this. You can always come talk to us, we’re here for you. Now please stop crying, it makes you look ugly."

A small, wet laugh escaped Hyunjin’s lips and he balled his hands into tight fists to press them into his eyelids and wipe away the fresh tears. "B-But-", Minho rolled his eyes in the good-natured deadpan way he often did. "No buts, baby. If you're afraid of feeling lonely when you’re at home, you know we're just a call or text away. And I'm like eighty-eight percent sure that Chan-hyung is gonna be up your ass everyday about how you feel anyway. That man is not sleeping well these days either. None of us are, Jinnie. And-", Hyunjin had opened his mouth as if to retort, "before you try to apologize, it’s not your fault. We'll worry about you anyway, you are family. You should be used to it by now, honestly." Lifting the corners of his mouth into a lopsided grin, Minho made eye contact with a still teary-eyed Hyunjin. He raised his hands to his face and gave Jin’s cheeks a good old squish until his lips poked out in a pout. "C'mon, you big baby. Show me those teeth, smile for Hyung~", whining low in his throat at the abuse to his face, Hyunjin scrunched up his nose, "O con't when yor doing dos hyoooong...", with a shake of his head, Minho let his hands fall down to his sided and chuckled as Hyunjin immediately broke out into a small, shy smile, showcasing his slightly crooked tooth. "There you are. That's my crunchy dongsaeng~", again, as if to pinch his cheeks, the older lifted his hand to Jin’s face. This time, though, the younger was faster, springing up to his feet and pointing an accusing finger at his Hyung. "No! I won't let you mistreat my face any longer!" Minho quirked an eyebrow at Hyunjin's antics but got to his feet as well, walking over to the computer to disconnect the younger's phone. "Alright then. But we're going home now. Hyung is tired and I won't let you ruin our collective sleep schedule any longer. Get your things," and like the obedient dongsaeng he could be when he wanted to, Jin gathered his stuff into his bag and soon joined the older at the door. “Hyung?”, Hyunjin had his gaze pointed down towards the floor, avoiding eye-contact. His cheeks were still carrying a significant blush from his earlier crying session, but if Minho had to guess, the younger was also feeling shy about what he was about to say, “Yes, Hyunjin-ah?”

With a quick swipe of his tongue over his bottom lip, his signature nervous habit, Hyunjin lifted his gaze and asked, “Did you mean what you said earlier?” Minho tilted his head to the side in a show of faux-confusion. “What did I say earlier?” The black-haired man bit his bottom lip and quickly delivered a swat to the older’s bicep. “You know what I mean. About… h-how you said you l-love me” Minho snickered. “Oh, you mean that. Yeah, of course, Hyunjin-ah. I know I don’t say it often, but I do. We all do. Come here,” he opened his arms for a hug, which the younger accepted right away. Arms slung around his waist once again, Minho whispered: “You’re enough, Hyunjin. Don’t ever doubt your worth like that again. I know what the voices inside your head are telling you right now but I’m telling you, they’re wrong. And you know better than to not believe me, hm?” Hyunjin nodded into Minho’s shoulder and with an even smaller voice, whispered: “Thank you, Hyung”

Minho hummed, deliverd a small pat to the younger’s back and took a step back. “Alright, enough crying for today. Let’s go home.” Hyunjin wiped away a stray tear that had stolen its way down his cheek and smiled. He nodded and took Minho’s outreached hand in his, reveling in the feeling of the warmth enveloping his cold fingers. “Yeah, let’s go home, Hyung.”

Chapter Text

Jisung

Hyunjin had felt it since the morning when he first swung his legs out of bed; today was going to be a good day. The sun was shining, no clouds in sight, he had gotten a decent amount of sleep last night and actually felt rested and, to top it all off, they finally had one free day without schedules. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one in a good mood and lowkey celebrating that fact, either: the others were bustling all around the dorm, smiles on their faces and laughter echoing through the halls. Once Hyunjin had made it to the kitchen, he found Chan and Minho squabbling over the stove, faux-fighting over who got to stir the eggs in the pan, both with high-pitched voices and speaking in third person: “Channie wants to cook the eggs today! Minho did it yesterday!” “Nuh-uh, Minho is gonna do it, Channie-Hyung should go sit down and have some cereal!”

Felix, Jisung and Changbin were bee-lining through the kitchen, all seemingly with different tasks on their minds, but aiming towards the same goal: filling their table with tableware and left-overs from the past few days in order to put together some kind of early brunch (miraculously, it was still before noon). Jeongin and Seungmin were already sitting at the table, both with bowls of cereal in front of them and their phones in hand, chewing slowly and oblivious to the ruckus going on around them. Hyunjin paused in the entryway and leaned against the doorframe, just taking it all in. These 7 dorks were his family, and he was so glad they had found each other.

“Oi, Huynjin-ah! Why are you just standing around like that? Come have some breakfast!”, Changbin had spotted him from the fridge where he was trying to reach a bowl of japchae from last night that someone had dared to put on the highest shelf. Hyunjin was pulled from his daydreaming and just sent the older a teasing smile, “You sure you don’t need help there first, Changbinnie-Hyung?” That answer got him a loud “OOOOOHHH” from Jisung and a slightly reprimanding “Hey, hey, hey” from Chan. Changbin sent him the stink-eye from where he was standing and growled, “Well you certainly woke up in a good mood today, huh?” In an effort to de-escalate the situation, Minho came over from where he had finished plating the eggs and reached into the fridge himself to retrieve the offending dish and place it on the table. “Alright, enough fighting for this early in the morning, come eat, kids!” Those were the magic words that got all of them to shut up, sit down and dig into their make-shift brunch. Hyunjin settled down next to Seungmin with the younger on his left and Felix on his right, who seized the opportunity and enveloped the taller in a good-morning bear-hug, sending him one of his signature bright smiles that lit up his entire freckled face. Hyunjin couldn’t resist and booped Felix’ nose before the two of them picked up their chopsticks and got to eating.

After a few minutes of only munching and chewing sounds filling the room, Jisung lifted his head as if he had just had the idea of the century and said, with adorably full cheeks, “Are we gonna watch Finding Nemo later? Hyung, you promised!” The rapper directed his gaze towards their leader, who rolled his eyes fondly at his dongsaeng, “Finish chewing before you speak, you rascal. And yeah, I don’t see why not. Hyunjin, that was your idea from last movie night, right? Are you still feeling up to it?” Hyunjin’s heart grew warm at Chan’s attentiveness and he slowly nodded, swallowing his bite. “Yeah, I haven’t seen that movie since I was a kid. I really want to re-watch it, Hyung.” Chan sent him a small smile and let his eyes wander around the room. “Everyone else alright with that?” A chorus of agreeing noises filled the kitchen and Hyunjin felt giddy at the prospect of getting his wish granted.

The breakfast/brunch ended quickly with all of them feeling full and sated for the time being. Seeing as they had the whole day to themselves for once, they decided to just laze around and do nothing for a while. Every member had their own hobby that they turned to during their downtime, be it Seungmin with his books, Minho with the games on his phone, or Jeongin and Felix playing some rounds of Among Us, which Hyunjin joined after some time spent browsing through social media. The dorm was humming with a quiet but warm energy, spreading comfort and an overall good atmosphere that had been scarce the previous days. Like this, the day passed in a slow but comfortable haze, time was ticking like thick honey. It seemed as if even the God of time was on their side and had decided to make this day feel as long as it could possibly get.

At some point however, after the sun had settled beneath the horizon and had let the moon and the stars come out to play across the canopy, Chan went through the dorm and collected all of the members for the promised movie night. Soon, everyone was gathered in the living room, bowls of popcorn and chips draped across their laps. Hyunjin was sitting on the couch, squished between Minho and Felix with Jeongin and Changbin sitting at their feet. Seungmin, Jisung and Chan were sharing their smaller couch, placed a little to their left. After some initial ruckus over the distribution of the snacks and drinks, the eight boys settled down and the screen was filled with the glittering opening credits of ‘Finding Nemo’.
As the movie was progressing, Hyunjin was having a great time snuggling up to Minho and letting Felix worm their legs together, several pairs of hands settling into his hair and playing with the now jet-black strands. Everything was fine and dandy in the world and Hyunjin patted himself on the back for his morning intuition having come true, when-

“Hey, Hyunjin”, slightly annoyed at the other for disrupting the quiet movie atmosphere, Hyunjin turned his head towards Jisung, who was looking at him with a wide grin. His favorite part was just about to come up and he didn’t want to miss it, so he hissed “What, Jisung?”
The slightly younger male was already cracking up with whatever he was about to say, holding his stomach, “Do you have a name?” getting even more irritated at that question, Hyunjin was about to tell Jisung to shut up, when the black-haired man said, “Or can I call you…”

“… Mine?”

Hyunjins eyes widened and his mouth fell open in disbelief. That idiot had waited the whole movie for this moment to sync up his bad pick-up line with that one scene; Hyunjin was impressed and disappointed at the same time. A few seconds passed in which no one dared to say anything, before Jisung couldn’t hold back anymore and started laughing out loud, tears gathering in his eyes, “Oh my gosh, you should have seen your face!”, he cried while pointing at Hyunjin, who was now badly masking his own smile behind a scowl. What Jisung thought was hilarious, Hyunjin knew he could outdo easily.
“Well Jisung.”, he began, very much aware of the fact that everyone had at some point joined in on the laughter and was now paying attention to him even more so for speaking up, “Have you been covered in bees recently? I just assumed, because you look sweeter than honey.”
The room erupted into laughter and “oooh”s and “aah”s from the rest of the members. Now it was Jisung’s turn to look baffled. His eyes were wide with disbelief, his mouth hanging open in shock. It took Seungmin hitting his shoulder for him to come back to his senses, shaking his head slightly with a sly smile on his face. “Oh, now you’re in for it. I’ll have you know I was looking up pick-up lines all day yesterday to get a good one just for this one scene; I’m about to destroy you.” Felix, who had been laughing just as much as Jisung before, if not more, was trying to gather himself and huffed out an amused, “This is going to be so good”

Jisung sat up straight, turning his body to face Hyunjin and giving him all of his attention. The movie had receded into the back, now merely supplying background noise for what was about to be the pick-up line battle of the century. “Alright, Hyunjin. You must be a campfire.”, Jisung continued, his eyes taking on that glint he got whenever he got ready to take on the role as dedicated stand-up comedian of the group, “because you’re super hot and I want S’more.”
The others cracked up, leaving Huynjin no choice but to break out into a huge grin himself. “Disgusting. I don’t even like marshmallows, how dare you forget”, he turned his nose up to the ceiling, faking offence. “But I am indeed hot, I’ll give you that. Here, I’ll do you one better.”, he sniffed. He turned his head and made eye-contact with Jisung who looked at him with a challenging gleam in his eyes. “You must be a high test score, because I want to take you home and show you to my mother.”
This time it was Jeongin’s turn to screech, screaming, “Lies! That’s unrealistic, Jisungie-hyung wasn’t even good in school!”, which made the other shoot out of his seat and attempt to lunge over the coffee table in order to reach the younger, “Yah! Respect your elders!” Chan pulled him back by the sleeve of his sweater, sitting him back down on the couch. He was displaying a big grin as well, mumbling under his breath “And I thought STAYs and I were bad with our pick-up lines…”, as he slung an arm around Jisung to keep him fixed to the spot and inhibit him from attacking any other members in the room. Jisung composed himself quickly and announced loudly, “This is my last one. And I’ll take you out with a bang, Hwang.”, suggestively, he wiggled his eyebrows and cleared his throat, “Even though it pains me, I’ll admit that you’re right. You do look great and all, but do you know what would look even better on you? Me.”
The Cheshire cat grin adorning Jisungs lips was the final straw; Hyunjin gave up and pretended to have been shot in the heart, desperately clutching at his shirt and reaching one arm out as if in dire need of help, “I have been romanced! Somebody call 911, it’s poisoning my body!”
Changbin was laying on the floor, having given up on the strength in his arms to hold him up and was laughing into the carpet, Seungmin was grinning ear to ear, Chan’s melodious laughter was joining the chorus of screeches from Jeongin and Jisung, while Felix and Minho pretended to perform emergency CPR on Hyunjin.
After a few seconds, the black-haired male sat up, ran a hand through his hair and huffed, smile never having left his face. “I give up. You win this round, Jisungie. Congratulations.” He leaned back into the couch and watched in content as the younger got up, Chan lifting his left arm up as if he had just won a wrestling match. “Nobody doubt my flirting abilities ever again!” Jisung proclaimed proudly with an accusing finger pointing at Hyunjin, who could only scrunch up his nose and stick his tongue out in retaliation. A warmth had settled in his chest for the second time that day, making him feel happy and giddy, loved and content in the presence of his members. After all, what was a friend group worth if you couldn’t fire progressively worse pick-up lines at each other as a form of entertainment?

Chapter Text

Bang Chan

Hyunjin couldn’t sleep.

It wasn’t like that was a rare occurrence – but most of the time, he would at least find something to occupy himself with when he laid in bed like this. Either a book, videos on YouTube or pictures of Kkami that he would scroll through until either sleep finally took him or the sun would peek over the horizon. Tonight however, he had left his phone in the living room to charge (which he now immensely regretted) and he hadn’t yet had the chance to buy himself a new book to read. So, unfortunately, he was left to his own devices, which meant; laying in bed and staring up at the ceiling, alone with his thoughts.

And, like most nights when he couldn’t sleep, those thoughts weren’t the nicest. He knew that he wasn’t alone with this, that the other members felt similarly way too often, but it seemed that tonight of all nights, everyone had fallen into bed and succumbed to the exhaustion immediately upon returning home. He couldn’t even pick up on any clicking sounds, which meant that no one had stayed up to play computer games – which was definitely a rare occurrence.

Sighing and lifting his hands to rub over his face, he sat up and slowly, as to not disturb Seungmin’s and Minho’s well-deserved slumber, got out of bed. Laying around like this wasn’t going to get him anywhere accept that dark place in his mind that he had no desire to revisit tonight. Instead, he chose to make himself some tea with honey, the oldest trick in the book to (hopefully) lull him to sleep. Grumpily, he trudged into the kitchen, carefully maneuvering through the dark halls. He didn’t want to wake himself up more than was necessary and left the lights off.

Before he could reach the kitchen, however, he noticed a dim glow emanating from the living room, casting the hallway in a grey light. Curious as to who had stayed up this late, he peeked trough the open door. When he saw the silhouette sitting on the couch with their back facing him, big headphones on and slowly bopping to the beat, he couldn’t help himself and sighed, shaking his head fondly. Of course, their leader hadn’t yet gone to bed, instead opting to stay up and get some more work done. Sometimes Hyunjin wondered if Chan would ever go to bed on his own without one of their members forcefully dragging him into his bed or laying on top of him to cuddle him to sleep. It seemed as though fate was telling him that that was going to be his job for tonight; and at this point, Hyunjin would love nothing more than a few good snuggles.

Dedicated to get both him and Chan to sleep, he tip-toed over into the kitchen and prepared two cups of tea with a generous spoonful of honey stirred in. Carefully, as to not spill any of the hot contents, he made his way back into the living room, where he found Chan still fully engrossed in whatever he was doing on his laptop. Slowly, Hyunjin set the cups down on their coffee table, taking a seat on the couch next to the older. At that point, Chan had removed his headphones and was looking at the younger with poorly masked concern in his eyes.

“Jinnie? What are you doing still up?”, he whispered. Hyunjin smiled a tired smile, propping one elbow on the back of the couch and facing Chan fully. He shrugged, “I couldn’t sleep. You know how it is.” He pointed at the older’s laptop. “Why are you still awake, Hyung? Working on any new songs?”
Chan nodded, “I had this one beat stuck in my head the whole day and I’m trying to see if I can get anything out of it.” He lifted his arms over his head, stretching his back and indulging in a big yawn. Hyunjin smiled and cooed over the leader’s adorably scrunched-up face. “Well, do you think you got it all out of your system yet? I made us some tea and I don’t want it to get cold…”, he was well aware that that was a weak argument and if Chan was really not done with his work for the day, he would shoot Hyunjin down instantly, continue working and ignore the tea until it was freezing cold.

But it seemed as though several lucky stars had aligned tonight and were shining onto Hyunjin, granting him his wishes. Chan leaned back, a knowing smile on his face. “I think I might be. Let me just save this and then we can try drowning our loud minds in tea. Did you put honey as well?”, shifting his focus back onto the file on his laptop and promptly saving it, Chan shut it down and put it to the side. Hyunjin chuckled and nodded. “Of course, Hyung. Who do you think I am? An amateur?” Chan joined in on his quiet laughter and grabbed both cups from the table. “Alright then, oh wise Tea-Maker. Let’s see how you did.” Smiling, Hyunjin tucked his legs under his butt to get comfortable and took a sip of the hot beverage. It had cooled down just enough for it to be drinkable, but Hyunjin made a face anyway, fanning his tongue immediately after setting the drink down again.

Chan chuckled and took a swig of his own. His eyebrows shot up as if impressed and he hummed. “Very nice JInnie. The balance of tea and honey is just right.” When he saw that Hyunjin was still pretending to have burnt his tongue, the leader cooed. “Aw, did Jinnie drink too fast? C’mere.” He opened his arms for a hug and Hyunjin dove into the leader’s embrace, tucking his head under his chin and shuffling closer. He may be taller, but he had always been good at curling into the other member’s hugs when needed.
Chan wrapped his arms around Huynjin’s shoulders and crooned at the younger’s behavior. “It’s alright baby, it’ll get better soon”, he pressed a few kisses into the younger’s hair and rubbed his nose into the crown of his head. “Hmmm, I like your shampoo, smells really nice”, he commented absentmindedly, which made Hyunjin laugh a little embarrassedly. “It’s Felix’. I stole it from him ‘cause mine was empty.”

Chan hummed, “I knew it smelled familiar. Hey, can you pass me the tea? Gotta make sure to drink it while it’s still hot.” Grumbling, Hyunjin pressed himself up and away from Chan, grabbing their teas and handing the older his cup while he repositioned himself so he could fit his head onto the leader’s lap and hold onto his own tea. After a few minutes of silence with Chan running his hands through Hyunjin’s long, silky black strands, the younger’s eyelids began to droop. With a heavy tongue, he asked, “Hyung?”
The leader made a noise of assent to signal for him to continue, “C-Can you… Can you sing me that lullaby you sang for ‘Lix that one time?”, Hyunjin was whispering, feeling shy about his preposition. He knew that Chan didn’t often sing any of them to sleep, but he had once overheard the other softly singing to Felix after the younger had had an especially rough day. The tips of his ears were turning red, but he hoped that Chan wasn’t able to tell in the darkness.

Chan snickered softly, endlessly endeared by the other’s request. “Of course, baby. You mean the one that goes Rock a bye baby on the treetop?”, Hyunjin broke out into a huge grin as he heard the familiar melody. Chan nodded, took the cup from Hyunjin’s hands, and put both mugs back on the coffee table. He pressed a kiss onto the younger’s forehead and swept a few unruly locks of hair away from his face, smiling down on him. In a soft and smooth voice, he began:

“When the wind blows the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall
But Channie will catch you, cradle and all.”

Soon, Hyunjin’s eyes were dropping closed. He concentrated on Chan’s velvety voice, which worked like a charm. It was as if he had entered a trance-like state, his limbs becoming heavy and warm, his mind feeling oh so floaty. This was what he had so desperately waited for the whole night and it turned out that all he ahd needed was his leader singing to him.

“Baby is drowsy, cozy and fair
Channie sits near in his rocking chair
Forward and back his Jinnie he swings
Though baby sleeps and he hears what he sings…”

The leader was observing Jin with a soft look in his eyes, fingers rubbing slow circles into his scalp and sweet notes escaping his lips. It only took a few more seconds for Huynjin’s breathing to even out, his body going completely limp in Chan’s hold. The leader smiled and pressed one last kiss to his nose, and then slowly, as to not disturb him, lifted him off the couch and carried him back into bed. He carefully put him down and swaddled him in his blanket, making sure that even his toes were tucked in comfortably. “Good night, Little Star.”, he whispered into the quiet room and left, crawling into his own bed and falling asleep the second his head hit the pillow.

Chapter Text

Changbin (+Minho & Chan)

It wouldn’t have been a big deal if the others just weren’t so dang keen on making it a big deal.
“You could have gotten seriously injured, Hyunjin!”
“What were you thinking?!”
“You should be thanking all of your lucky stars that it’s just a little stretched out and not sprained.”

You see, Hyunjin had had this idea for a specific portion of their newest choreo stuck in his head all day. He couldn’t just not try it out after the other members had left to go home. And how was he supposed to know that the cleaning lady had just swept through the practice room during the short ten-minute break he took? The floor hadn’t been wet or anything, and it wasn’t like he could have seen with all of the big lights turned off, anyway…

“You could have just turned the lights on, you big dummy!” an exasperated Minho had scolded him the second he had found Hyunjin on the floor, curled into a ball and whimpering. “Gosh, what am I going to do with you… Changbin!”
The two older men hadn’t yet gone home, choosing to get a refreshment from the vending machine in the hallway outside, when they heard a commotion in the practice room, accompanied by Hyunjin’s short scream as he fell on the slippery floor. Alarmed, Minho had peeked his head through the door to check on him and found the younger on the ground, cradling his left foot. Immediately, he had rushed over to his side, delivered his short scolding speech and was now trying to get a good look at Hyunjin’s ankle.
The younger was swatting at Minho’s insistent hands, sitting up and pouting. “Stop it, Hyung. It doesn’t even hurt that much, leave me alone…” In the meantime, Changbin had found his way over to the two and was looking down at Hyunjin with disappointment in his eyes. “Were you trying to dance with the lights off again?” The silence that followed and the way that Hyunjin was avoiding eye contact was telling Changbin everything he needed to know. “You have to take better care of yourself, Hyunjin.” Changbin sighed. “This is like the third time something like this has happened. I’m calling our manager so we can get you to the hospital and get your ankle checked.”

At that, Hyunjin’s head shot up and he shook his head frantically. “No, Hyungie, please! We can just put some ice on it, it’s just a little irritated… I don’t wanna go to the hospital…” the last part was mumbled into his chest, his head hung low in shame. Minho exhaled sharply and shook his head. “At least let me see what it’s looking like. Then we’ll decide what we’re going to do, hm?” Sniffling, Hyunjin nodded and gave in, lifting his hands away from his ankle and letting Minho inspect it. His fingers were gently trailing over his calf, slowly and carefully removing the shoe and sock before examining it. The skin around the delicate bone was red from the impact to the floor, but other than that it didn’t look too bad. It had started to swell a little bit, so Minho took the cold drink he had purchased earlier and pressed it gently onto the reddened spot. “See if you can move your foot, Jin,” he inquired softly, watching the younger’s facial expression like a hawk when he started to rotate the ankle slowly. Hyunjin scrunched his face up in pain for a second, but the rotation of the foot didn’t seem restricted.

Changbin was squatting down next to Minho, observing Hyunjin as well. “I swear, I’m gonna get Chan-hyung to order a ton of bubble wrap online and never let you leave the house again without you swaddled in it.” Hyunjin whined in response, pouting up at the older. He took the can from Minho and pressed it to his ankle himself. Minho sighed again, retracting his hands and looking at Changbin, “Think you can carry him outside to the car? I don’t think a trip to the hospital is necessary, let’s just get him home to rest.” Changbin grunted in assent and got up, squatting behind Hyunjin to slide his arms under the younger’s armpits and hoist him up into standing. At the exertion, he grunted playfully and reprimanded, “Why you gotta be so tall?”

Hyunjin chuckled and teased back, “Why you gotta be so tiny, hyung?” The smirk on his lips was soon replaced by a surprised squeak as Changbin snatched him around the waist and tipped him back, his other arm sliding down his body to curl behind his knees and pick him up bridal style. “I may be small, but these biceps can easily bench-press you, you tall glass of water.” Hyunjin was floundering, securing his arms around Changbin’s shoulders as to not risk falling. He was staring at the older with wide eyes. “You know, I could probably walk by myself… you don’t have to carry me.”

Changbin chuckled. “And risk you being clumsy and worsening your injury? I think not. Hold tight, it’s not gonna take long.” At that, Hyunjin sighed in defeat and tilted his head to the side right into Changbin’s neck. The older began the trek down the hall and towards the elevator. Minho had collected Hyunjin’s forgotten bag from the floor and was trailing behind the pair, phone in hand. “I’m texting Chan to let him know what happened. Be ready to get your ass whooped, Jinnie.”
Pitifully, Hyunjin wailed from his spot on Changbin’s shoulder. “It’s really not that bad! You make it seem like I broke my foot or something!” Minho shrugged his shoulders and sent the younger a glance. “With how careless you were that might have happened, Hyunjin. You seriously have to start paying more attention to your surroundings-“ “Hyung, I think he gets it,” Changbin interrupted him, not unkindly but with a firm voice. Hyunjin was hiding his face in his shoulder now, wallowing in shame and struggling hard to push down the few tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. He refused to lift his head the whole way down but began complaining when Changbin moved him into the back seat of the car that was waiting for them outside. “I don’t wanna get yelled at by Chan, I did nothing wrong! It was an accident!” he sniffled, barely being able to hold back the traitorous tears.

Minho had fled into the front seat, leaving Changbin to deal with Hyunjin’s small tantrum. Sighing but with a soft look in his eyes, Changbin wrestled the younger sideways into the seat, sitting down next to him. Then, he delicately lifted the injured leg onto his lap, beginning to pet his knee comfortingly. “Don’t cry, Jinnie. Chan-hyung isn’t going to be mad at you for long, he can never be mad at any of us for longer than, like, twenty minutes.”, smiling, he reached out his left arm and took one of Hyunjin’s hands in his, pressing a soft kiss onto his knuckles. “He’ll know you didn’t purposely hurt yourself. Also, look at Minho-hyung and I. We’re not mad anymore.”

A snort sounded from the front seat, “Speak for yourself” the older muttered. Changbin shrugged and then whispered conspiratorially, “I’m not mad anymore. And if you promise to be good and tell Channie-hyung what happened so he can also not be mad at you, I’m going to get you ice cream for dinner.” At that, Hyunjin’s pink cheeks bunched up into a smile. He wiped away the rest of his tear tracks with the sleeve of his sweater and gave a quick squeeze to Changbin’s hand. “Okay, hyungie. I promise.” In the front seat, Minho rolled his eyes and scoffed, “You’re too soft on him, Changbin.”

After the short drive and a piggyback ride up the stairs, the trio had finally arrived back at the dorm. It only took a few seconds for the hallway to be filled with the rest of the members, bombarding them with questions about Hyunjin’s wellbeing with some more-or-less serious accusations thrown in-between. The only person who wasn’t saying a word was Chan, who was standing behind everyone with his arms crossed over his chest. Once Changbin had gotten his shoes off his feet and was venturing further inside the dorm, he spoke up, “Sit him down on the sofa. Also, someone get an icepack and a glass of water.” Then he turned around, leading the way into the living room.

He sat down on the sofa first, gesturing for Changbin to set Hyunjin down next to him. The younger nodded and did so dutifully. Hyunjin had grown very quiet, not a peep making its way over his lips. He knew that Chan was disappointed; he could see it in his eyes. They had taken on an unusual steely stare, mustering Hyunjin and trailing down his body towards his foot. “Let me see that.” Hyunjin shifted to the side so that he could pull his leg up onto the couch and arrange his foot into Chan’s lap.
Minho came into the room with an icepack in one and a glass of water in the other hand. He passed both to Hyunjin and then left the three others to their own devices. On his way into his room, he rounded up the other members who were hovering in the door frame to eavesdrop on what was about to happen.

Wordlessly, Changbin had settled down behind Hyunjin, supporting his back with his chest and enveloping him in a half-embrace. Chan took the icepack from Hyunjin’s hands, nodding at the younger, “Drink. You’re probably dehydrated.” Doing as he was told, Hyunjin leaned back a little into Changbin and began sipping the water. The leader lifted the injured ankle carefully and turned it side to side, examining the damage. After deeming it non-life threatening, he set the foot onto his lap and tenderly pressed the icepack onto the swelling spot. Finally, he lifted his gaze and made eye contact with the black-haired male.
“It there anything you would like to say to me, Hyunjin?” Hyunjin finished his water and sat up to set the glass down on the coffee table. Once back against Changbin’s chest, he cast his eyes down and fiddled with his hands. “I-I’m sorry, hyung. I… I was being careless and left the light off s-so I could concentrate better. I-I didn’t know that the floor was going to be wet a-and I just really wanted to try out this n-new choreo I had in mind a-and-“

“It’s okay, Hyunjin.”, the leader interrupted. He could sense that the younger was going to talk himself into a spiral, and that was the last thing he wanted him to go through right now. Tentatively, Hyunjin lifted his gaze and was met by Chan’s reassuring smile. “Thank you for apologizing and telling me the truth. I know you didn’t intend to hurt yourself and that you know better than to do that again in the future.” Relieved, Hyunjin relaxed into Changbin’s arms and let his head fall back onto his shoulder. “However,” Chan’s voice rang through the room, not yet having finished his speech, “I want you to keep any weight off your foot for the next two days, minimum. I’m going to call our manager so we can have someone come over tomorrow and take a look at your ankle, just to make sure you really didn’t pull anything too badly. Also, you’ll have someone by your side the whole time, supporting you and keeping tabs on you. Alright?” He pinched the younger’s big toe to get him to pay attention.
Hyunjin sighed inwardly; he hated having to be cared for around the clock and depending on his members so much. But he knew that Chan wasn’t going to budge, so he lifted his head and nodded in agreement. The leader sent him a grateful smile and delivered one last squeeze to Hyunjin’s calf, before he got up and walked out of the room, pulling his phone from his pocket to give their manager a call.

“Thank you, Little Star. You did good.”” Changbin’s voice whispered into his ear, startling Hyunjin only a little bit. He turned his head to the side so he could look up into the older’s face, being met with a big grin. “It’s time for that ice cream I promised you, huh?” Joyously, Hyunjin nodded and sat up so Changbin could get up and fetch them both their favorite ice cream from the kitchen. Maybe Hyunjin should get injured more often, if it led to Changbin feeding him and generally fussing about him this much…

Chapter Text

Seungmin

“Hey Seungmin!” A cheerful Hyunjin came skipping into their shared bedroom, a huge grin plastered on his face. “Do you wanna come shopping with me?” At the mention of his name, Seungmin looked up from the book he had been reading and scrunched up his nose. “I’m reading, Hyunjin. Does it have to be right now?”
Hyunjin took a seat next to Seungmin, who was laying down on his bed and picked the book from his hands. With a scoff, he closed it and set it aside. “Yes, Seungmin, it has to be now. They’re having a discount thing going on at the mall and it’s only until 5. It’s already 1! Let’s go, I’ll treat you to some bubble tea as a peace offering, okay?” Hyunjin was bouncing on the bed in excitement, lips stretched wide in a beaming smile.
“Pleeeaase, Minnie?” And honestly, who was Seungmin to deny Hyunjin anything when he got like this? He wasn’t normally a weak man but for Hyunjin, he was. A very weak man, that is.

Half an hour later, both men had dressed up just a little, masks and hats covering them in hopes of retaining at least a little bit of privacy. They were perusing around the mall Hyunjin had talked about, the taller growing excited at every discount sign he saw, tugging Seungmin into almost every store. Seungmin himself was keeping an eye on Hyunjin’s spending, happily slurping on his bubble tea, and offering what he hoped was helpful criticism to whatever the older was presenting him with.

“What do you think about these, Minnie?”
They had found their way into a jewelry store a few minutes ago, Seungmin browsing the shelves leisurely while Hyunjin was talking to one of the shop assistants about a specific piece he was looking for.
Now, Hyunjin was tilting his head from side to side, displaying the beautiful diamond earrings he had just put on in the full-length mirror in front of him. They were on the longer side, dangling from his earlobes with several small glittering stones in the shape of leaves reflecting the light of the store in a playful rainbow pattern.
Seungmin knew that Hyunjin himself was beautiful – that was a fact of life, similar to how the sky was blue. But in moments like these, with just the right accessories highlighting his handsome features, Seungmin felt his throat constricting, slightly overwhelmed with the other’s beauty.

He was standing behind him at a short distance, their eyes meeting in the mirror. Hyunjin was cradling his black hair back in an effort to showcase the way the earrings were looking like when he would put the silky strands in a ponytail – but Seungmin didn’t need to see that to know that they were the single most perfect thing he had ever seen on the other.
“They’re really pretty on you, Hyunjin-ah”, he commented, his voice quiet but reassuring. Hyunjin’s eyes scrunched up over his mask, showing Seungmin that he had told him just the thing he had wanted to hear. Excited, Hyunjin turned to the shop assistant, “You said you have a necklace that goes with these earrings, right? May I see it?” The clerk nodded and scurried off to find the piece of jewelry.

Seungmin stepped closer to Hyunjin and tilted his head to the side. “You’re really not stingy with your money today, huh? How long have you been waiting to get these, Jinnie?” Hyunjin chuckled quietly, finding Seugmin’s gaze in the mirror once again. His hands, that were still arranging his hair this and that way, going still.

“You know me too well, Kim Seungmin. What gave it away?” he lifted an eyebrow in question, the apples of his cheeks most likely tinted with a pretty pink color. What Seungmin would give to be able to see his face without a mask right now.

“Oh, I don’t know. You were just very excited to get here and everything, I knew there must have been a reason for that” he answered vaguely, tipping his head to the side, and sending the older a teasing look. “Don’t tell Chan about how you went and blew all of your allowance on jewelry, though. I can already hear him complain.”

At that, Hyunjin snorted a little and then hummed, “He can’t say anything. Not when these make me look this good~”

Seungmin sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Not in a million years was he going to tell Hyunjin what he really thought about that statement. That was his own little secret and no one was ever going to find out about his true feelings if he could help it.

In that moment, the assistant came back with the necklace in hand. It was a beautiful, thin silver necklace with a slightly bigger leaf as a pendant, similar to the ones dangling from the earrings. Seungmin moved before Hyunjin had the chance to, taking the necklace into his own hands and approaching Hyunjin while fiddling with the opening mechanism. Without sparing him a glance, he stopped before the other, who had turned as if the grab the accessory from him and said, “Turn around.”

Hyunjin, with intrigue dancing in his eyes, did as he was told. Once again, he gathered his hair back and waited for Seungmin to put the necklace on him. Two hands were coming down on either side of his face in that second, laying the piece of jewelry onto his collarbones. Hyunjin shivered at the sensation of the cold metal coming in contact with his sensitive skin before he felt fingers at the back of his neck, gathering his hair to one side and connecting the two strings of metal.

The whole interaction lasted all of five seconds, but Hyunjin felt like something had shifted in the air. Seungmin was looking at him with dark eyes, his gaze flitting over his face, ears, and neck as if he was sizing him up. Hyunjin could never really tell what the other was thinking when he got that particular gleam in his eyes; he only knew that it made him feel all woozy and a little weak in the knees.

To distract himself from all the thoughts he definitely did not want to think in the middle of a jewelry store on a Thursday afternoon while in the presence of a shop assistant, he lifted his hands to the necklace, examining how it looked on him. The pieces were definitely made to be worn together and Hyunjin knew that he had to get them all at once or not at all. They may not be everyday wear but would definitely make him stand out during one of their fancier events.

Seungmin let his hands fall down his sides, taking a step back as he realized how close he was to the older. He had been swept up in the moment, appreciating how the jewelry seemed to make Hyunjin shine even more than he already did normally. He wasn’t above admitting that he got a little lost in it, letting his fingers linger on the elegant neck for longer than necessary.

“I’ll take both the earrings and the necklace, please”, Huynjin’s voice cut through Seungmin’s foggy brain, a gentle reminder that he was indeed still in public and in no place to be swooning as much as he was currently doing. He cleared his throat and stepped back, grabbing his forgotten bubble tea from the crystal table he had put it on earlier, busying his hands and mind. “I’ll be outside”, was all he could choke up before he almost sprinted out of the store.

Hyunjin smirked under his mask. So, he hadn’t been wrong about his suspicions after all and Seungmin was indeed affected by seeing Hyunjin all dolled up with expensive jewelry. He stored that thought away for later before he turned to the clerk and said, “Do you happen to have a matching bracelet to this set?”

(No one will ever know how red Seungmin got as he found the small package sitting on his pillow that evening, the box displaying the same intricate label as Hyunjin’s shopping bag. And if Hyunjin felt butterflies in his stomach whenever he saw Seungmin wearing his gift, well… that was for him to know and Seungmin to find out. Someday.)

Chapter Text

Jeongin

Jeongin was going to vibrate out of his skin any second now. He was so excited it was getting harder and harder to contain himself and not scream at the top of his lungs about how happy he was. He had felt like this only a handful of times in his entire twenty years of existence, but this time wasn’t even connected to anything like winning an award or going on stage to perform.

Hyunjin was sitting in front of him on their shared picnic blanket, food and drinks surrounding him. The sun was shining, warming their skin, and giving the grass and trees around them their first taste of summer. In the midst of the park, Hyunjin’s cheeks were stuffed full with the tteokbeokki they had bought earlier and he was letting out these adorable sounds of joy whenever a new flavor hit his tastebuds.

Jeongin had his own serving in his lap, but he was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on eating with this… absolute vision in front of him. He was chewing slowly, his eyes zeroed in on Hyunjin and the way the older was indulging without any inhibitions. It had been several weeks since the last time they were allowed to enjoy food for what it was, without having to constantly measure the calories and amount they were ingesting.

When Jeongin had first gotten the idea of taking the older out to a picnic he had fully banked on getting treated to food, joking around with his Hyung and just overall having a good time. What he was not prepared for was how that would ultimately end up making him feel. Where were these butterflies in his stomach coming from?

Yes, Hyunjin had accepted the invitation with a happy smile, had helped Jeongin collect all the necessities from around the dorm such as blankets, tableware and a few pillows and had even paid for all of their expenses at the convenience store down the street. But that was not a free pass for his heart to pick up speed and his stomach to perform somersaults!

“Jeongin-ah, why are you not eating? Aren’t you hungry?” Hyunjin was looking up from his bowl, cheeks tinted pink from chewing so fast and eyes wide in wonder. He tilted his head to the side and scrunched up his nose cutely.

“You have to eat, you know. You were dieting really hard before this comeback, you deserve to eat whatever you want to, now.” His gaze had gotten more concerned as he was talking. Jeongin couldn’t stop the blush from spreading over his cheeks; he hadn’t only gotten caught staring, but Hyunjin was all worried about him now, as well.

“No Hyungie, I know. I-I was just… distracted.” Quickly, he busied himself with his food again, shoveling bite after bite into his mouth. Hyunjin was watching him with a quirked eyebrow, making sure that he finished his meal. After a while, the silence between them grew comfortable again, both munching away at their food contently.

Once Hyunjin finished his bowl, he put the container away into the plastic bag they had gotten it in earlier so they could throw it out on their way home. With a satisfied sigh, he laid down next to Jeongin, head supported on one of their pillows so close he was almost on Jeongin’s lap. He closed his eyes and hummed, “Thank you for taking me out on this picnic, Jeongin-ah.”

The younger almost choked on his drink, not expecting Hyunjin to say that. Again, his cheeks were dusted in a bright pink color as he mumbled, “It’s nothing, hyungie. You paid for most of it, remember?” He also put his used dishes away and settled down on his back next to Hyunjin, rolling onto his side and facing him.

Hyunjin chuckled, “I know. I just meant I like spending time with you like this. And you don’t seek me out to hangout often anymore, so I’m glad you brought this up.” Was that sadness tinting his voice? Jeongin huffed.

“What do you mean? We spend time together, like, every day, hyung.” Hyunjin opened his eyes, lifting one hand to shield them from the sun and turned to face Jeongin. “Yeah, but that’s always with at least one of the other members. We haven’t spent time alone, just the two of us, in ages.” He was smiling, but Jeongin knew that the older must have been honestly upset by the fact if he was bringing it up so purposefully.

He hummed, “If you say so, hyungie. I’m glad you came out with me.” He smiled at the older, absentmindedly picking at the blanket with the hand that wasn’t slipped under his head. Hyunjin grinned, shifting onto his side so he could face Jeongin as well. In a small voice, he admitted, “I missed you, you little rascal. Nowadays you’re always playing around with Felix and Seungmin or go out with Jisung and Changbin. What are they teaching you, huh? Aren’t they tainting your poor, innocent little soul?”

Jeongin snorted at that, rolling his eyes, “C’mon, hyung, as if they could ever. They’re all such dorks.” Then, with slowly reddening cheeks and a downcast gaze, he whispered, “I missed you too, hyungie. I’m really glad we had the chance to come out here.”

Timidly, he looked up to find Hyunjin’s gaze locked in on him, his eyes swimming with warmth and adoration. Softly, Hyunjin poked his index finger into Jeongin’s cheek, right into his dimple. “You’re so cute, Jeongin-ah. You’re blushing~”, he was teasing him, Jeongin knew that. He also knew that Hyunjin expected him to act flustered and shy, but he decided to turn the table on him.

“Yeah. How could I not, looking at your beautiful face?” That got the desired response; now, Hyunjin was blushing, a shocked expression on his face. Jeongin smirked in satisfaction. “Not as innocent as you thought, huh, hyung?”

At that, Hyunjin gasped and sat up. “How dare you pull my own moves on me, Yang Jeongin. I’m going to call our manager so he can pick me up, I no longer want to be here with you.” Turning his nose towards the sky in a playful manner, he made to grab for his phone, but Jeongin was faster. The younger got up off the blanket, onto his feet, snatching the phone form Hyunjin’s hands and sticking his tongue out. “You have to catch me first, hyung!”

Hyunjin laughed and got up as well, running after the younger, chasing him around the wide grassy field, “I’ll get you!” The chase ended with Jeongin getting tackled by an excited Hyunjin, both males falling to the ground in a laughing heap. As fate so desired, Hyunjin landed on top of the younger, caging him in between his arms. Instantly, his gaze locked onto Jeongin’s lips, spread apart in a wide smile, puffy breaths escaping him every so often. Oh, how he wished he could just lean down and kiss him, tasting the spiciness of the tteokkeokki that was surely still lingering on his tongue.

But alas, they were in public, and even though them playing and rough housing around may be accepted in the public eye, impromptu make out sessions between two male idols were certainly not. With a heavy heart and an apologetic smile, Hyunjin got up and offered his hand to the younger, “C’mon, you pay for dessert and I promise not to call our manager for the next hour or so. Deal?”

Jeongin laughed, accepted Hyunjin’s hand and said, “Deal.”

They may have been in public then, but that did not stop Hyunjin from pulling the younger into his dorm room the second they got home, smiling against his ice-cream sticky lips, and connecting them in a sweet kiss.

Chapter Text

When Hyunjin awoke, it felt as if he was emerging from a bath in cotton balls. His mind was fuzzy, he felt warm and safe. The first thing he noticed was the arms wrapped around his waist and the body attached to his back – that was definitely not there when he fell asleep the previous evening. Slowly, he reached his arms above his head in a full body stretch, yawning as he did so and shaking the remaining fuzziness from his brain.

He turned around in the embrace and smiled when the arms tightened in response, his own hands coming to the culprit’s head that was now smushed into his chest.
“Good morning to you too, Hannie.” Hyunjin rasped in his tired morning voice, nuzzling his nose into the jet-black hair of the smaller. Jisung groaned and pulled his head back a little so he could peer up and look into Hyunjin’s eyes. He broke out into a huge grin, his teeth on full display, before he had to give into his body’s need to yawn extra hard.

Hyunjin laughed – Jisung trying to fight the exhaustion in order to focus his attention on Hyunjin was an adorable sight. Jisung, however, did not seem to appreciate the sound and buried his fingers into Hyunjin’s waist, tickling the taller. “What are you laughing at, huh?”

Hyunjin could only shriek in response, his body convulsing around the tickling sensation, laughter bubbling out of him unsolicited. “S-Stop, o-oh my g-god, i-it hurts!” Jisung was grinning but gave in soon, rolling on top of the other and pinning him under him to hold him still. He propped himself up on his elbows beside Hyunjin’s head and moved a hand to his face to wipe at the stray tears that had escaped the other.

The two were smiling at each other, basking in their happiness. Jisung was the first one to move, bringing his hand to the back of Hyunjin’s neck, lowering his head and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Hyunjin kissed back shortly, giggling against his mouth. What started out as an innocent peck soon turned into something heavier, their lips sliding against each other, tasting each other for the first time that day. Hyunjin’s tongue was gliding over Jisung’s bottom lip, asking for entrance, which he was granted immediately. Slowly, as if they had all the time in the world, the pair settled against each other, making out as if it were the only thing on their to-do list for the rest of all eternity.

After a few minutes of blissful kissing, they were rudely interrupted by Minho kicking down the door to the bedroom, spatula in hand and apron tied around his waist. “Good morning lovebirds, rise and shine! Stop hogging Hyunjin, Jisung, and come help in the kitchen, we need your incredible upper-body strength to whisk eggs.”

Dumbfounded, Jisung sat up and turned his head, looking at Minho with his hands settled on Hyunjin’s boxer-clad thighs. “Me? Hogging Hyunjin? Where did you get that idea from, hyung?” Minho rolled his eyes at the grin that Jisung shot him, walking up to the bed and swiftly pinching his ear, pulling him up off the bed. The surprised squeak that the younger let out was left disregarded, instead he earned himself a loving slap to the bottom from Minho, who sent him on his way into the kitchen. “Go help Changbin before he wastes all of the eggs again.”

Hyunjin, who was still sprawled out on his back on the bed, not having moved an inch, snorted at that. “He still hasn’t learned how to correctly crack eggs?”
Minho smirked and shook his head. “Of course not. Why would he, with Chan wrapped around his pinky ready to cook him his eggs whenever he wants to?” Both males broke out into chuckles.

Minho sat down on the edge of the bed and poked a finger into the exposed sliver of skin above Hyunjin’s boxer briefs, mustering him with that particular gaze of his. Hyunjin’s lips were swollen, his cheeks blushed a pretty pink color. If Minho wasn’t so concerned about what was happening in the kitchen without his supervision, he would have abandoned his duties in a heartbeat and indulged the younger in his own make-out session.

Instead, he leaned down for a small peck onto Hyunjin’s nose, ruffling his long, black hair. “Good morning, Prince.”, cue Hyunjin blushing even more madly at the pet name, “would you like to take a shower while we get everything sorted out in the kitchen? I bet Felix would love to do your hair for you afterwards as well.” Hyunjin couldn’t help the small squeal that escaped his lips, nodding in excitement.
Minho smiled at the younger’s antics and helped him up into a seat. Quickly, he pressed a close-mouthed kiss onto his lips, standing up and pulling the taller up as well. “Don’t take too long, hm? The others want to see you soon.” With that, he left Hyunjin to his own devices.

Giddily, the taller started rummaging through his closet for his clothes for the day, settling on a simple black shirt and black sweater with grey sweatpants. He wasn’t planning on leaving the house today at all, not when the day promised to end in a huge cuddle pile anyways.

Soon, Hyunjin was freshly showered and moisturized, his hair dripping wet all over his shirt. In that moment, someone knocked on the bathroom door and soon after, Felix poked his head into the room. The freckled boy was grinning at Hyunjin as he opened the door and entered, making a beeline for the other and wrapping him in a bear hug. “Good morning, Jinnie!” Hyunjin hummed happily and returned the hug, nuzzling his cheek into Felix newly dyed brown hair.

Felix pulled away and took a small step back, showing Hyunjin what he had brought with him. “Minho said you wanted me to do your hair?” He had several kinds of bobby pins, hair clips and string in his hands, all somehow bedazzled and in different shades of beige, white and champagne. Hyunjin grinned and nodded, “I would love that. Do whatever you want, I just wanna be pretty today.” He moved towards the toilet and took a seat on the lid, observing Felix as he bustled around the bathroom.

Once Felix had plugged the hair dryer in and was standing between the taller’s thighs, he put a hand under Hyunjin’s chin to tilt his head back and look into his eyes. “You know that you’re already pretty, right, Jinnie?”, a few lines of worry were appearing on his forehead. Hyunjin smiled in reassurance, “Yes, baby, I know. I just meant that you’re the best at braiding my hair and you always make it look really beautiful.” With a relieved sigh Felix leaned down, catching Hyunjin’s lips in a quick but heated kiss. When he pulled away, mirth was dancing in his eyes and he got to work.

Fifteen minutes later, both males emerged from the bathroom, Hyunjin’s hair brushed back and gathered into a half-ponytail with several strands braided atop of his head. Felix had weaved a few glittering strings and bobby pins into the braids as well, making the hair reflect in the light of the hallway. Excited, he was pulling Hyunjin along into the kitchen where the other were waiting for them.

The second they stepped into the room, it erupted in cheers and shouts. The light was dimmed down, bringing Hyunjin’s attention to the only bright light source sitting on the dining table: A massive, generously iced birthday cake with exactly 22 candles on it. In scrawled red font it read: ‘Happy Birthday Hyunjin!’

Overwhelmed with shock and happiness, Hyunjin slapped both hands over his mouth. Tears were springing to his eyes as the group began a terribly harmonized rendition of ‘happy birthday’ and Felix had to pull him towards the table, Hyunjin being rooted to the spot. The others were gathered around the table, Changbin, Jisung and Seungmin to the right, Chan, Jeongin and Minho to the left.

Chan was the first to wrap Hyunjin in a tight hug as soon as they finished the song. “Happy Birthday, Little Star.” He pressed a warm kiss to Hyunjin’s temple, backing away to give the others a turn with their birthday boy.

Changbin picked Hyunjin up with his arms wrapped firmly around his waist, twirling him around in circles. Hyunjin screamed in surprise, his arms winding around Changbin’s shoulders. As soon as he felt his feet being set on the ground again, he was getting swept up in another hug, this time finding himself face to face with their youngest. Seungmin swooped in right after Jeongin had squeezed all the air from Hyunjin’s lungs, pressing a few sweet kisses to his cheek in the process.

Panting, flushed and slightly exhausted but feeling his heart bursting with love for his members, Hyunjin was being steered towards the table once again. Chan was standing beside him, one warm hand settled on his lower back and gesturing towards the still lit birthday cake. Hyunjin shot him a quick, thankful smile and then closed his eyes, clasping his hands together in front of him. Once he was done, he leaned forward and blew out the candles, all in one swoop.

Cheers erupted once again and fingers were dipping into the cake, smearing dough and icing all over his nose, cheeks, forehead and chin. It was only until Minho raised his voice, shouting about how he hadn’t busted his ass baking this fancy cake just for it to go to waste that the fingers stopped their ministrations.

Laughing, Hyunjin attempted to remove the sweet treat from his face when Seungmin came up to him with wet wipes, taking his soiled hands in his and cleaning him off properly. The younger sent him an endeared smile and intertwined their hands once he had finished. “C’mon, your birthday is just starting. We have lots more prepared for you.”

At the end of the day, they had showered Hyunjin in gifts, kisses, hugs, food and so much love that he felt ready to erupt with happiness. He was laying on the couch, cuddled between his favorite people, his favorite movie playing, and all of his worries blown away. He had everything he needed right here – his wish had come true.