Chapter Text
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“So, what do we do?”
“Hm?”
“What do we do?” Jacob whispered and gestured at the boys piled into the back of the pickup truck, being noisy and trying to play off what had just happened, “Do we all just go to your house?”
“Yeah. Maybe take the long way so this drive is fun.”
“What if Eric’s uncle… you know? Do we report that motherfucker to the police?” Kevin said, fiddling with the middle seat’s belt, “I dunno how much a cop’s gonna believe a bunch of high school twinks though.”
“That is what we are, isn’t it?” Jacob laughed.
“Except for you Sangyeon, you’re a hunk.”
Sangyeon laughed, “No I’m not.”
“A twunk,” Kevin amended, “But seriously, what about Juyeon? Did he even ask his parents? We’re going to be in trouble.”
“Maybe,” Sangyeon shrugged, “That’s a problem for later, or tomorrow. We should just let them enjoy themselves.”
“Agreed. Oh hey,” Jacob hummed, turning up the radio, “Kev, open the window please.”
Kevin opened the back window into the trunk and yelled, “Juyeon! It’s your song!”
“Oh my God!” Juyeon stood, only for a bump in the road to send him falling onto Hyunjae, “Ow.”
“Don’t stand up in the car dumbass,” Younghoon laughed
Chanhee punched him in the gut, “Don’t call him a dumbass, asshole.”
“Kevin turn that shit up!” Changmin yelled from where he was trying to detangle himself from Juyeon and Hyunjae.
Kevin turned the knob until the music was uncomfortably loud for those of them sitting in front, but perfect yelling volume for the guys at the back.
In a sort of hive-mind state, they all threw their heads back in time to yell the chorus they all knew by heart. Well, mostly by heart; the lyrics were in English, so what Sangyeon had memorized was admittedly dubious at best.
Eric was yelling especially loud, tune and grammar damned to hell. The only things keeping him from standing were Sunwoo’s arms around his waist. Sangyeon couldn’t help but smile, he hadn’t seen Eric this full of life in weeks.
“We’re so going to get noise complaints or something!” Kevin yelled after the chorus, while some of them were still yelling along to the instrumental.
Juyeon frowned, “Can people file noise complaints against cars? I thought it was only for houses?”
“Complaints are filed against people, honey, not structures,” Haknyeon laughed.
Hyunjae cackled, “Oh structures. Haknyeon’s flexing his Lexile score at us.”
“Structure isn’t a big word, you’re just an idiot,” Haknyeon spat back, and Hyunjae busted out laughing.
“Fuck the police,” Eric’s voice was little hoarse already, but he laughed, “Jail can’t scare us because we’re all going to hell anyway.”
“True.”
“Oh, don’t say that,” Jacob laughed.
“Except Sangyeon, he’s not going to hell,” Sunwoo added.
“I mean,” Sangyeon shook his head, “I’ll go wherever you guys are.”
“Hyung what the fuck!” Chanhee yelled, throwing some sort of paper at Sangyeon, only for it to be whipped away by the wind.
“Oh my God I’m gonna cry.”
“I already am.”
“You would go for hell to us?”
“Not that I believe any of you would actually end up there,” Sangyeon twisted in his seat to face them, “But yeah, of course.”
"Hyuuuung!"
"Dude shut up what the fuuuuck."
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They had tired themselves out by the time Jacob’s extended route led them back to Sangyeon’s house. Eric, Sunwoo, Juyeon and Haknyeon in particular, had already fallen asleep in a tangled pile as the discussion had died down.
“We’re here guys,” Sangyeon patted them awake, laughing when they all let out a collective yawn and Haknyeon and Sunwoo swatted at him, “Oh come on. You guys just need to eat a late lunch and then you can nap again.”
“We should build a pillow fort! Like we used to,” Juyeon suggested, already smiling despite having just woken up.
“That sounds… great actually,” Haknyeon mumbled.
“Yeah, but like,” Kevin took Jacob’s hand to help him out of the truck, “’Like we used to’? When have we ever?”
“In elementary,” Changmin said, then he laughed when he realized, “Oh right, you weren’t here.”
“It’s easy to forget,” Jacob shrugged, “Feels like we’ve known you for forever.”
“I think we just know way too much about you.”
“Oh, shut up Chanhee.”
“Eric,” Sunwoo nudged Eric, who was still asleep on his arm, “Dude, we’re going to build a pillow fort.”
Eric nodded, still not opening his eyes, “Can I be the prince?”
Kevin looked even more confused, “Prince?”
“It means we spoil him, and he doesn’t have to help build the fort and stuff,” Haknyeon explained, “Also, we have to carry him everywhere.”
“Of course, you can,” Sangyeon leaned forward and Eric crawled into his arms.
“Mhm,” Eric smiled and curled up so Sangyeon could carry him, “Get to work commoners.”
“You heard his highness!” Changmin yelled.
They worked almost as a unit, getting all the extra blankets and rolled up futons as soon as Sangyeon told them where they were as he brought Eric up to his bedroom. When Sangyeon put Eric down he went to check on the living room first, since the kitchen smelled like things were going smoothly. He was surprised to find the fort actually coming together. It seemed they remembered the formula for their blanket forts well even after years.
When he noticed Sangyeon walking into the room, Juyeon walked over on his knees and hugged him around the tummy.
Sangyeon patted Juyeon on the head, “How are you doing?”
“Hungry and sleepy but mostly hungry,” Juyeon was kind of tugging Sangyeon’s pants down with his hug, but Sangyeon didn’t stop him, “Is that tape? You’re taping the pillows?”
“We always did,” Hyunjae tore some cello tape out loudly and cut it with his teeth, “How did you think it held together until the morning?”
“…magic? I dunno, I’m stupid,” That was something Juyeon said a little too often, but after him having cried for most of the morning it felt concerningly un-humorous.
“No, you aren’t,” Sangyeon said.
Juyeon looked up at him in confusion, “Yes I am? You guys say it all the time.”
Hyunjae sighed, “Juyeon, we don’t actually mean it. Most of us just find insults easier to say than ‘I love you’.”
“Feeling a little attacked, but okay,” Younghoon rolled his eyes.
Hyunjae huffed, “Yeah, case in point, Younghoon.”
“It’s kind of stupid of us really, to not want to be sincere,” Kevin added, taping a pile of pillows Jacob was holding in place.
“You guys don’t have to come for me like this.”
“Oh shut up,” Hyunjae nailed Younghoon in the face with a throw pillow.
“If anything, you’re smart for just saying what’s on your mind,” Jacob smiled, ignoring Younghoon and Hyunjae glaring at each other, “And letting us know what you feel all the time.”
“You never have long, drawn out issues that could be solved if you just talked them out,” Younghoon laughed.
Hyunjae raised another pillow, “Bitch, stop making this about you.”
“I was agreeing!”
Kevin hummed, “That thing with Chanhee was very stupid of you.”
“It was both of our faults, right Sangyeon?”
“Nah, not really,” Sangyeon shrugged, “It was mostly your problem.”
Younghoon gaped at him, betrayed, but before he could deliver some sort of monologue, Changmin poked his head through the doorway.
“Lunch is ready!” He announced, then paused, “I mean it’s late lunch technically, so I don’t know what to call it”
“Slunch.”
“…What?”
They all looked at Juyeon, who blushed a little and shrugged, “Late lunch is like snacks already so… slunch?”
“That word kinda slaps actually,” Kevin nodded, pronouncing it in the most horrid American accent he could conjure, “Slunch.”
Changmin laughed, “Let’s call it that then. Slunchtime guys!”
The others laughed and followed Changmin out of the living room, Jacob and Hyunjae ruffling Juyeon’s hair as they went ahead.
Juyeon and Sangyeon stayed still for a minute. Juyeon hugged Sangyeon a little more tightly, “I know I shouldn’t listen when my parents always call me stupid for grades and the dates never working out but…”
“Of course it’s hard not to listen to them, they’re your parents.”
“Yeah.”
“But you’re great Juyeon. You don’t need to doubt that.”
“You guys make me feel pretty great,” Juyeon pulled himself up to stand and smiled at Sangyeon, “I’m hungry.”
“Let’s go have slunch then,” Sangyeon took a step forward and frowned, realizing that his waist band was now lower than his underwear, “Ah.”
“Oh, oops,” Juyeon laughed, “Sorry.”
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After slunch they had all decided to nap, cramming themselves into the now completed fort of mattresses, pillows, and the living room furniture rearranged as walls.
“Ow, fuck.”
“Hyung I can’t breathe.”
“Whose foot is this?”
“Mine—ah hey don’t twist it!”
“Maybe we’re getting a bit big for this.”
“You were always too big for the fort.”
“Wouldn’t you know it?”
“… was that supposed to be a dick joke?”
“Jacob, your butt is great and all but could you get it out of my face?”
“Sorry! Rolling over.”
“Is he wrong though?”
“Yes, he is definitely wrong, your dick is literally the smallest thing about you, fucking sasquatch.”
Eric groaned, “As you prince, I order you to all shut up.”
“Excellent choice your highness,” Sunwoo grumbled.
Unsurprisingly, most of them dropped off to sleep in a matter of minutes. It was hard not to in their cocoon of warmth, especially since they’d chosen an off-white blanket for the roof that made all light warm and comfortable. But Sangyeon stayed awake, because some part of him always felt the need to wait for everyone else to fall asleep before him.
(Paternal instincts, as Sunwoo called them.)
“Hyung?” Eric whispered, practically inaudible if he were not right up against Sangyeon’s ear, “I can’t sleep.”
“Really?” Usually, Eric had the opposite of trouble falling asleep. He slept anywhere and everywhere, even while standing during a couple of morning assemblies.
“Yeah. It’s like, I’m tired, really tired but I can’t get comfortable enough so I’m not passing out.”
Sangyeon hummed and manager to face Eric without waking Changmin on his arm, “Is your ankle bothering you? Is someone sleeping on it?”
“It’s fine,” Eric and Sangyeon both looked down as Eric wiggled his toes on top of Sunwoo’s leg, “It’s just a sprain, I’ve barely felt it the last two days.”
You never told me how you got it, Sangyeon thought, but decided not to say.
Eric seemed to pick up anyway, “I got it because I fell down the stairs. Uncle yelled at me suddenly and I got surprised.”
“He yelled at you out of nowhere?” Sangyeon knew the man was an asshole but he didn’t think that he was straight up insane.
“No, he just found something that set him off, and he heard me come home so he just… yeah. He found that yaoi Sunwoo lent me, he ripped it in half.”
“…What do you want to do about him?” Sangyeon muttered when Eric looked at him, “I’m not just going to let you go home to him after that.”
“It’s okay actually, I called my parents.”
“You did? When?”
“That’s why Sunwoo and I were late to… slunch,” Eric chuckled, “Sunwoo came to check on me and I didn’t want to be alone for the call, so yeah.”
“That’s great,” Sangyeon smiled, “What did they say?”
“Uhm, they were really good about it. I’m thinking maybe my sister told them something, she’s always known,” Eric’s eyes were starting to tear up, “But they said we’d work it out, I don’t have to talk to him again… said they loved me and they were proud of me.”
Sangyeon nodded, letting out a breath he hadn’t even known he was holding, “That’s great, it really is.”
“Fucking deserve,” Sunwoo mumbled, mowing closer to Eric.
Sangyeon laughed as Eric nudged him, “Go back to sleep dude.”
“You should try to sleep too,” Sangyeon whispered, “You don’t have to worry right now, things will work out."
"I know," Eric smiled, his eyes already falling shut, "Thanks hyung."
Sangyeon woke up later, unable to breathe because both Eric and Sunwoo were on top of him, and the blanket ceiling had come down into his face. He moved the blanket away and watched all his friends as they moved in their sleep, slowly but surely wrecking their fort. It was one of the best things he had ever seen. He couldn’t take a picture, so he decided to just close his eyes and commit the scene to memory.
“Hyung, what time is it?”
Sangyeon blinked in surprise, turning to see Haknyeon awake and looking at him. Sangyeon squinted at the wall clock, “Around five. Why?”
“I don’t wanna get up yet.”
“Do you need anything?”
“Nope.”
“Then you can go back to sleep.”
“Okay. Love you hyung.”
Sangyeon smiled.
“You don’t have to be gay to say it back,” Haknyeon grumbled when he didn’t get an answer.
“I love you too,” Sangyeon laughed, “Go back to sleep.”
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