Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

[+348, -24] Park Jihoon is the cutest boy alive and no one can convince me otherwise

[+231, -42] No, but when he put on the bunny hat, I wanted to die … How can an adult be this cute??? There is no way he’s human.

[+215, -27] Is he really 20 years old? He’s not 20 months old? ^^

[+172, -14] Jihoon-ah, I love you! Please stay happy and healthy! This hyung will support you forever! I’m saving you in my heart!!! <3

[-95, +19] How did he make it into the group when all he has is jeojang….????

On and on he scrolled, feeling a weird mix of gratitude and annoyance. Not at the fans, of course, but at himself. Why are they calling me cute? he internally screamed. I can be cool too! Wasn’t my Day By Day stage convincing enough?

Frustrated, he turned off his phone and chucked it to the side of the bed, letting out a sigh.

After almost an entire year of being in Wanna One, he still couldn’t escape his Produce 101 image of being “the jeojang boy” or “the wink boy”. Even after declaring an end to winks on Idol Room, fans still swooned whenever he accidentally blinked one of his eyes at a fansign or, God forbid, on camera. He didn’t hate his perpetually cute image, per se, but he desperately wanted to prove to his fans (and everyone else) that he was more than just a silly hand gesture. His kku-kku-kka-kka days were over , damn it.

He sat up with a grunt, deciding then and there that he was going to buff up. Gain some muscle. Get some abs. Eat chicken breast for three months if he had to (he really didn’t want to). Whatever it took to prove to the world that he wasn’t the cringeworthy aegyo-spewing fairy he once was, he would do it. And he would start by going to the gym.

Yes. Good idea.

The only question was how he was going to do that without a personal trainer. He knew that asking management — may they all burn in heck — would be futile because asking for a change in image was like asking for Guanlin to get more screen-time in their music videos. He considered appealing to Minhyun — bless his soul, his diet looked excruciatingly dull — when the answer to his problems barged into his room.

“Jihoonie!”

Oof.

Kang Daniel was now laying sprawled out across Jihoon’s lap, and Jihoon immediately felt the pressure of the elder’s weight on his thighs.

“You’re crushing me.”

Daniel didn’t budge.

“Jihoonie, let’s play League of Legends; my CS sucks.”

“Your CS always sucks,” Jihoon shot back.

Daniel sat up, facing the younger with a pout. “Well practice makes perfect,” he mumbled, matter-of-factly. “Let’s play.”

Jihoon chuckled, shaking his head. He forcefully pushed the elder off and got up from the bed to head to his closet. “Don’t look.”

Of course, Daniel’s life mission was to get on Jihoon’s nerves whenever possible and instead turned to face Jihoon as he prepared to change out of his clothes. “Why? Are you going somewhere?”

“Yes, actually,” Jihoon sent a glare and stepped into the closet, swinging the door to shield his body. “And you’re coming with me.”

“Am I? Where?”

Jihoon quickly changed into a pair of gym shorts and a loose-fitting tee. “To the gym. I need to bulk up.”

Daniel tilted his head. “But why?” (Daniel already had a very good idea why.)

“Because…because, um...” Jihoon sighed, failing at coming up with any other reason. “I want to prove to the fans that I can be more than just cute. I’m manly, too...right?” Before Daniel could answer, he added, “I can be cool too; I just have to prove it!”

Daniel grinned. What Jihoon failed to realize was that he was naturally cute, which just so happened to shine brighter than his other facets on camera (and especially during fansigns). And right now he was bordering on whining, so his cuteness was amped up even more, but Daniel wasn’t about to risk getting attacked by an angry Jihoon.

“You have no idea how annoying it is to not even have duality!” And now, he was pouting. Lord help me.

“I support you,” Daniel chuckled, getting up from the bed. Jihoon thought the elder was teasing him and shot him a glare with curses ready on his tongue. “I do!”

Jihoon huffed, heading for the door.

“So why do you need me to come along?” Daniel trailed behind, still amused by the whole thing.

Jihoon held the door and the pair headed towards the elevator. “I’m hiring you as my personal trainer.”

“Me?” Daniel felt an unusual wave of flattery wash over him.

“Yes, you .” Jihoon muttered. “You can help me do things the right way.”

They paused at the elevator. “I mean, it doesn’t have to be you. I could just hire Minhyun hyung to—”

“No, it’s okay, I don’t mind.”

Jihoon smirked. “Good.”

Daniel brought a hand to the back of his neck as the elevator carried them down to the gym. “So what did you want to do today?”

“Oh, uhh…” Jihoon suddenly felt a little silly. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I...wasn’t sure. Maybe some chin-ups? I was hoping you could take the lead. You know. As my personal trainer and whatever.”

“How am I being paid again?”

“With love and affection,” Jihoon deadpanned as they exited and entered the gym, which was thankfully empty at this time. “I don’t know yet. I’ll think of something.”

Contrary to his words, Jihoon headed straight for the sit-up contraption, tucking his legs into the right position and immediately doing sit-ups in rapid bursts. After about seven, he stopped and decided to do some bicep curls.

Meanwhile, Daniel had been stretching his arms, keeping an eye on the younger with amusement.

Jihoon’s enthusiasm was adorable, but at the rate he was going, he was going to hurt himself (which was absolutely unacceptable under Daniel’s watch).

“Did you stretch yet?” he asked, a bit pointedly, and Jihoon flushed with embarrassment before dropping his weight and mimicking Daniel to prep his arms.

Once he was satisfied, Jihoon headed straight for the chin-up bar, staring disdainfully up at how the last person who used it was clearly a good deal taller than he was. He stood on his toes as he carefully lowered the bar, swearing colorfully as he tried to twist the adjustment knob.

The way Jihoon constantly muttered to himself was endearing, to say the least. When he was lowering the chin-up bar, Daniel just about wanted to pass out because the younger had literally squeaked as he strained to turn the bolt keeping the bar in place. He was about to relieve the younger of his struggles himself when Jihoon successfully lowered the bar and re-tightened the bolt while doing a little cheer for himself, his face lighting up with joy and pride.

Daniel wanted to curl up and cry. So. Fucking. Pure.

He took another weight off the rack and turned around to face the mirror, doing a few bicep curls on each arm. He didn’t necessarily need the workout today, but if he was here, he might as well.

It was just a little difficult to focus on anything because Park Jihoon turned out to be the worst distraction known to man.

As he watched his form in the mirror, he found himself peeking a glance at the younger member off to the side. Jihoon breathed heavily as he did his chin-ups, straining (sometimes even moaning, good Lord) as he lifted himself with the bar.

Daniel smirked. “You’re doing amazing, sweetie.”

“Shut up,” Jihoon snapped, groaning as he let gravity quickly pull his weight down once more.

Oh. Daniel paused. Something was wrong with this picture.

Daniel set the weight down and walked over as Jihoon struggled to pull himself up again. The veins in his arms were starting to pop out and the younger gritted his teeth as he held onto the bar. Daniel could imagine his palms were starting to hurt.

“Hey,” Daniel raised his arms and rested his hands on Jihoon’s, internally aww -ing at how much smaller they were. “Let go.”

Jihoon didn’t argue and huffed as he landed on the ground. He shook his hands and rubbed them against each other to alleviate the slight soreness.

“You’re dropping too fast,” Daniel said. “You have to hold your position once you pass the bar. Like this.” He hoisted himself up, spreading his arms at a wider angle to accommodate for the height difference and held his chin above the bar with his legs hanging.

“Now I’m taller than you so this bar is a bit low for me, but make sure your arms are parallel when you do this. Now,” his voice strained a bit. “When you come down, you have to do it slowly. This way, you use your muscles the same way going up and coming down. Like so.”

He lowered himself in a fluid motion, grinning at the younger when he planted his feet on the ground. “Now you try.”

Jihoon skeptically raised his arms once more. He walked up to the bar, but was surprised when Daniel didn’t move back; he just kept his own arms on the bar.

“Uh, hyung?”

Daniel smiled, playing coy. “What?”

“You’re…” He cleared his throat. “You’re kind of in the way?”

“No, I’m not, you have plenty of space.”

Jihoon flushed, deciding to ignore Daniel’s teasing. He stepped forward, trying to disregard how close they were.

“Like this?”

Parallel arms. Palms facing upward. Check.

“Yep.”

He lifted himself up, bending his legs up slightly to raise his chin above the bar.

“Now hold.”

Jihoon wanted to retort that he knew what to do, but focused on keeping his weight in the same place, counting the seconds under his breath. Daniel was too damn close — enough space, my ass — so he shut his eyes tightly to avoid looking at his annoying face.

After thirty seconds, he lowered himself slowly like Daniel had done, and let go of the bar with a loud grunt. The metal had recreated the dents in his palms and he rubbed them away, grimacing.

“Congratulations,” Daniel snickered, letting go of the bar. “You just completed one chin-up.”

Jihoon scowled. “I’m taking a break ,” he said lamely.

Daniel burst out in laughter. “Didn’t you say you wanted to be more manly? You can’t do that with only one chin-up, Jihoonie. Come on, let’s do it again.” He shook his arms and resumed his position. “Let’s get it.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. He stepped forward, staring blankly ahead with determination. Daniel’s presence wasn’t going to faze him the second time. He raised his arms, placing a little more than a shoulder’s width apart, which Daniel silently fixed by pushing his hands further in, their fingers brushing each other for a brief second as Jihoon readjusted.

“Go,” Daniel whispered.

Jihoon ignored the beating of his heart — why was he suddenly so nervous? — and continued his workout.

One.

Two.

Three.

Jihoon once again forced himself to close his eyes because Daniel would not. Stop. Smiling. He didn’t even look away, but simply stared at the younger as he did his routine and Jihoon was starting to find it creepy, but didn’t say anything to keep his focus.

He was on his tenth and final chin-up when:

“Hey.”

And Jihoon could just hear the insufferable smirk in his voice.

“What.” Jihoon gritted his teeth. His arms were beginning to feel quite sore, but he was determined to not screw this up.

“Did you know chin-ups are a love game?”

“Wh—” Jihoon let go and dropped down, his arms falling to his sides. He glared up at the elder. “ What? ”

“In the movies.” Daniel said, as if that answered everything, and proceeded to do his own chin-ups. When his chin passed the bar, he shrugged as if he totally didn’t just ruin Jihoon’s streak.

The younger was annoyed at himself. He gripped the bar and prepared for another ten chin-ups. “I don’t get it.”

Daniel grinned. “You know, the hero always does chin-ups and it’s like super romantic or whatever.”

When Jihoon didn’t respond, Daniel demonstrated. “Like this.”

He kept his eyes on the younger, never breaking focus. At the top of his chin-up, he kissed the air between them before lowering himself to the ground.

Jihoon blanked.

What.

Daniel quickly hoisted himself again and Jihoon wanted to scold him for not holding his weight for thirty seconds like he was just taught.

“You didn’t h—”

Chuu.

.

.

.

Jihoon stood there, arms still outstretched and latched onto the bar, stunned, as Daniel pulled back with a smile, leaving a lingering warmth on the younger’s forehead.

“Wh...what…?” Jihoon stuttered, too shocked to form proper sentences. “Wh…” What just happened. Did he just...

Daniel let out a hearty laugh. Jihoon’s eyes were blown open, his lips parted slightly as he mumbled a broken record of gibberish.

He had just crashed Jihoon.exe.

“I think that’s enough for today.” Daniel gently unwrapped the younger’s fingers from the bar, bringing his arms down and rubbing them to stimulate blood flow. “You’ve worked hard, Jihoonie.”

Jihoon merely nodded and continued to wordlessly stare a few feet ahead of him as the pair exited the gym. Daniel stayed by his side as they walked back to the dorm, happily keeping an arm on Jihoon’s back to make sure he wouldn’t walk into a wall.

When they arrived, he quickly led Jihoon to his room. The younger walked in, still a bit dazed, but regained some of his senses once Daniel sat him down on the bed. He ruffled the younger’s hair and flashed an adorable smile.

“Good night, Jihoonie. We’ll practice more in a few days when you’ve calmed down,” he grinned, still amused by the events of the night.

Jihoon simply nodded, his heart racing furiously inside his chest, and he mumbled a quiet, “Good night, Niel-hyung,” as the elder left and closed his door.

As he lay in bed, he raised his fingers to his forehead, rubbing at the phantom touch of Daniel’s lips on his skin. Like clockwork, his heart started to accelerate and he suddenly felt hot underneath his blankets. He kicked them off and tried to force all things Kang Daniel out of his head — remember your goal, you want to be manlier, you’re not the jeojang boy anymore, don’t be distracted, remember your goal, you can do this, keep it up — before curling into a tight ball and passing out not too long after.

Chapter Text

When Jihoon woke up the next morning, he immediately remembered what had happened the night before and wanted to slap himself.

Daniel...kissed me. He actually kissed me!

Having known Daniel for so long, he was aware of how affectionate the Wanna One center was to every member in the group and practically every other person he knew. The thing was, Daniel’s affection always had a boundary that usually ended at hugging, and he could gauge how close someone was to Daniel based on how often or how long they hugged. For example, Jisung’s hugs usually lasted the longest and were the most often, followed by Seongwoo and Jaehwan, and then Jihoon was probably tied with Sungwoon.

So for Daniel to be so incredibly forward, for him to actually kiss someone that wasn’t family, someone that was only fourth on the list of hug duration...

It made no sense.

Jihoon felt an oncoming headache — totally not what he needed this morning — and shoved the irritating voice that chirped, “Maybe Kang Daniel could kiss it better” , to the far, far back of his mind.

It wasn’t that he minded the kiss. Not at all. They were like most other kisses he’s received (not that there were many to compare from). It was...sweet? Warm? Cute? It was hard to remember exactly what happened after Daniel’s lips pulled away.

It wasn’t bad . There.

Jihoon groaned. He was just really, really confused.  

He stepped into the bathroom and began to brush his teeth. As he mindlessly cleaned up, he couldn’t help but to replay what had happened, step-by-step as if he were pausing a movie over and over again, and he really wanted to rip his hair out.

It was embarrassing . He just blanked out after the kiss, just like that, not to mention how little he actually worked out altogether. Some sit-ups, barely any curling… He didn’t even do a full ten chin-ups.

Okay, fine. He reasoned with himself. Let’s count the shitty ones I did at the beginning and round it to ten.

Even so, Daniel was right. His goal of becoming a buff Jigglypuff wasn’t going to happen if he kept getting distracted. He needed to focus. If YMShit wasn’t going to help him — and he wouldn’t bother trying to ask — then he was going to have to push through and do things his own way.

Looking into the mirror, he gave a quick “Fighting!” cheer to himself just as Seongwoo called him from outside to get ready to leave for their schedule.

He decided that last night was going to be put in the “Let bygones be bygones” category. As long as Daniel didn’t make a big fuss about it, yesterday would just be a minor setback.

No harm, no foul.

***

***

***

When Daniel had returned to his room last night, he wanted to scream.

On one hand, he felt oddly proud of himself for doing what he did. He had no idea where the surge in confidence came from; he was merely teasing his bandmate to hopefully get a reaction out of the younger like he always did. That was how Kang Daniel and Park Jihoon were; they were Wanna One’s Tom and Jerry.

But that was it. They never did anything so...intimate? Was a kiss on the forehead considered intimate? Or is a kiss too soft for that? Why had he done it anyway? He liked Jihoon, sure. He liked him a lot, even. But did he like him enough to warrant a kiss? Was he too forward? Did Jihoon like the kiss? What did Jihoon think about it? Friends can platonically kiss each other, right? They didn’t have to be lovers to kiss, right?

Right?

After another whirlwind bout of confusion, he found himself playing the “what-if” game again. What if Jihoon reacted badly in the morning? What if Jihoon hated the kiss? What if Daniel had just threatened to destroy everything he and everyone else had worked so damn hard for? Fuck. Daniel could cry thinking about it.

But what if Jihoon liked him back? As in... like -liked him back? What if they became...more?

Oh Lord.

He found himself entertaining the thought. He didn’t hate it at all; he was intrigued more so than anything else. Say he like-liked Jihoon, a very good possibility at this moment. Say he somehow plucked up the courage to confess. What could happen?

Now there was an endless number of choices and outcomes, and Daniel had to lay down. Like a movie projector, his mind filled with many versions of Park Jihoon, each one wearing a different expression, each one reacting differently to Daniel’s hypothetical confession.

“I don’t like boys,” one of the Jihoon’s in his mind spat out. “Did you assume I would like you back?” This Jihoon was mean. “Kang Daniel, you are a fool.” His words were laced with venom and vitriol and anyone could understand the message: “Don’t come near me.”

“I...like you, too,” another Jihoon shyly muttered. “I just never thought you would like me back.” This Jihoon was quiet and blushing harder than a tomato. “You should pinch me. I want to make sure this isn’t a dream.” And Daniel wanted nothing else but to pinch his cheeks right then and there.

“I’m honored,” yet another Jihoon said. “But I don’t like you in that way, hyung. I’m sorry.” This Jihoon had on a sad smile, his demeanor open for Daniel to analyze all of the messages hidden behind those beautiful eyes. “I’m really sorry.”

On and on, the projector played, well into the late hours of the night, and when Daniel finally fell asleep, he was exhausted.

It was too much to think about.

And all because of a kiss.

So when he woke up and Jihoon had entered his room shortly after with his usual smile and asked Daniel to help him train again two days later, as if everything was normal and fine with the universe — everything was fine, he told himself — Daniel felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. Jihoon emphasized, however, that they would have to work out for longer than fifteen minutes because otherwise he would never reach his goal. Of course Daniel cheerily agreed — and made a vow to himself that he wouldn’t do anything as risky as last time — and was rewarded with a very warm and adorable hug from the younger.

He didn’t bring up the kiss, and to his relief, neither did Jihoon. The two of them had individually come to a silent agreement that it was better to not open that can of worms. In the end, Jihoon thought Daniel was just being...well, Daniel, and Daniel thought it was better to not push the boundaries of their platonic friendship. At least not yet.

If ever , he reluctantly reminded himself.  

But as always, Daniel wanted to keep looking on the bright side. He still had Jihoon. With Jihoon’s arms around his waist, he felt good. This was good. He could live like this. They could stay like this.

He instinctively pulled the smaller boy even closer, hugging him a little tighter.

“Hyung?”

And if Seongwoo hadn’t nagged at them to hurry the fuck up and go downstairs to meet their manager, Daniel would’ve kept Jihoon in his arms for a little longer.

***

***

***

After a week, the kiss was practically forgotten. Jihoon quickly improved his form when it came to chin-ups and had already started to tackle the other machinery in the gym thanks to Daniel’s guidance. After two weeks, Jihoon even joked that he didn’t need Daniel to come along anymore since he now felt confident enough to work out by himself without getting hurt.

Joke or no joke, Daniel continued to tag along regardless.

After about a month, Jihoon was already starting to see results. Despite Daniel’s constant encouragement since the beginning that Jihoon was in fact doing a good job, he didn’t feel validated until he stepped out of the shower, looked in the mirror, and saw the distinct contour of his abs and the slight swelling of his pectorals. His shoulders had gotten wider as well, and he was developing quite handsomely.

... Whoa.

At first he didn’t quite believe that the body facing him in the mirror was his. Before, he had to flex and twist his abdomen for his six-pack to show. He knew there was something going on there (because dancing all day would naturally shape your stomach to an extent), but it was never this visible.

With his lips parted in awe, he ran his fingers across his torso, feeling his more defined abdominal muscles and broadened shoulders even without him flexing. He was actually seeing progress! He wouldn’t describe himself as vain, but...he looked pretty good!

Elated, he threw on a clean shirt and shorts and scurried to Daniel’s room, where he was lying on his bed, covered to his neck in blankets, and reading something on his phone — probably a webcomic — and definitely not expecting his arms to be full of Jihoon when the younger charged onto him, nearly making him drop his phone on his face.

“Whoa there.” He steadied the younger as Jihoon wrapped his arms around Daniel’s torso, snuggling into his chest. Daniel chuckled, unsure of what was happening, but definitely not complaining because oh my God, I have a cute boy on top of me . He could smell the sweet scent of Jihoon’s citrus shampoo in his hair — which was still slightly damp — and the subtle whiff of Jihoon’s cologne.

“Hello, Jihoonie. What’s up?”

Jihoon hummed happily, but didn’t respond.

“You just wanted to hug me?”

“Hmm.” Jihoon tightened his hold and Daniel returned the gesture by bringing his arms up and around the boy currently lying on top of him. They stayed that way for a brief moment until Jihoon sat up, straddling the elder.

“Look.” Jihoon suddenly took Daniel’s hand, bringing it to rest on Jihoon’s abdomen. Daniel’s mind began to whirl — um, what’s happening — when his fingers brushed along the subtle curves of the younger’s muscles underneath his shirt.

“I’m getting my abs!” Jihoon’s eyes gleamed with a thirst for praise. “See?”

“Oh. Wow,” Daniel muttered, trying to keep his thoughts from getting too dangerous. “Look at you.”

Jihoon smiled brightly. “And it’s all thanks to you!”

“Aw, don’t sell yourself short.” Daniel wriggled his legs underneath the blanket, trying to find a more comfortable position — as comfortable as one could get with another human sitting on them. “I’m proud of you.”

Jihoon beamed. He was only half joking when he said, “Maybe someday I could go shirtless for our photoshoots.”   

Daniel paused. He thought of the Men’s Health magazines with shirtless men on the covers and tried to imagine Jihoon gracing the front. Tempting, but… He couldn’t resist a scoff. “With your cute bunny face? I don’t think so.”

Jihoon pouted and scowled, about to retort back when Seongwoo stepped into the room.

“Oh. Hello, Jihoonie.” He was never too surprised to see the jeojang boy in their room anymore. He padded to his side of the room and was getting ready for bed.

“Hyung,” Jihoon pressed his lower body into Daniel’s abdomen as a petty means of revenge (Daniel grunted, but refused to let him have the satisfaction). “Daniel doesn’t think I can do a shirtless photoshoot.”

Daniel turned to gauge his hyung’s reaction. Seongwoo looked Jihoon once over, skeptical. “I beg your pardon?”

“Don’t listen to him.” Daniel tried lifting his hips as a sign for Jihoon to get the frick off, my legs are burning up under here, but the younger didn’t show any sign of relenting.

Seongwoo raised an eyebrow. “Do I want to know?”

“Hyuuung,” Jihoon whined, wriggling even more, and now Daniel was starting to feel uncomfortably hot being trapped in a blanket cocoon with a deadweight on top. Does he know what he’s doing? Jesus.

“Is this about you working out?” Seongwoo sat down on the bed, taking out the night cream he had stolen from Sungwoon from his dresser.

“Yes. And I have abs now! Daniel’s seen them!”

“Technically,” Daniel wheezed, pulling himself up in a futile attempt to escape. “I didn’t see them. I just felt them.”

Seongwoo scoffed. “Nice.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes and before Daniel could argue his point further, Jihoon lifted his shirt, flashing his abs to the two elder members, causing Daniel’s mind to blank and immediately enter panic mode.

“What are you doing!?” Daniel screeched, his hands frantically trying to pull Jihoon’s shirt back down, which only caused Jihoon to wiggle and shift even more while still straddling the elder. In a single fluid motion, Jihoon completely took off his shirt and everything laid bare before Daniel’s eyes.

He quickly shut them because nope nope nope nop—

“Here, hyung. See for yourself.”

“ No, what the fuck, oh my God, get off …!”

“I wasn’t talking to you .” Jihoon was now in full-on brat mode and keeping the smallest hint of a smirk on his lips as he blinked nonchalantly at his struggling hyung beneath him. “Seongwoo hyung, look.”

Daniel sent him a panicked glare, a silent plea to do something about this, you useless potato , but Seongwoo didn’t make any move to help; rather, he was quite enjoying this. He was very well aware of Daniel’s puppy crush on their younger teammate, being the first person Daniel had confided in not too long ago. But until today, he didn’t expect Jihoon to be so… flashy , but this was highly amusing.  

He took a quick glance and agreed: “I see what you mean, Jihoon. Literally. You have more abs than me now, congratulations.” He held back a laugh as Daniel continued to wiggle to no avail. The poor man was obviously out of his comfort zone (to put it lightly), and Seongwoo relished in the scene playing out in front of him.

“You never... had ...any abs…! Jihoon!” Daniel gritted his teeth as he writhed. How in the heckity heck were Jihoon’s (bare) thighs this heavy?

“So you agree?”

Oh hell nah. Daniel screamed in his mind.

Seongwoo shrugged. “I guess. You can’t be doing any kku-kku-kka-kka while shirtless, though,” he teased, knowing as much as Daniel how much Jihoon hated being reminded of it.

“Can we do this somewhere else !?” Don’t encourage him, you fake ass bitch. Daniel was about to swear at Seongwoo, but was interrupted by a yelp when Jihoon accidentally rubbed his behind too far back and Daniel started to feel a slight pressure forming in his lower region.

Lord give me strength.

“Hyung, I told you; I left that behind in 2017.”   

Fucking shit. He was about to muster up all of his leg strength to kick the younger off when Jihoon quickly put his shirt back on, got off, and grinned as if nothing had happened.

Daniel kicked off the blanket and sat up with a gasp, growling, “You…”

“Well, I’m going to bed. Good night, hyung!” Jihoon made his way to Seongwoo to give him a quick hug — Seongwoo made sure to send the other distressed male a teasing smirk — and without sparing a glance to Daniel, he turned around and headed back to his shared room with Woojin, being polite enough to close the door on the way out.

Daniel stared, irked, while Seongwoo snickered.

“Well, that happened.”

“Fucking brat . ” He glared at his roommate and added, “I hate you too, by the way.” Now feeling frustrated in more ways than one, Daniel got up from the bed to turn off the light, ignoring Seongwoo’s whines that he hadn’t finished putting on his (Sungwoon’s) night cream.

Daniel dove into his blankets, bringing them over his head when Seongwoo turned on the light again.

“Are you ever going to tell him?”

Daniel turned away to feign sleep and Seongwoo rolled his eyes. Ugh.

When Daniel had told Seongwoo about his interest in their lovable Jihoon, he wasn’t too surprised. (People really needed to give him more credit; he was a lot more observant than people thought, okay?) But despite Daniel being as subtle as Jihoon’s pre-debut fashion choices, it was hard to dislike Jihoon. The boy was undoubtedly cute, insanely talented, strikingly handsome, and endlessly charming. Anyone with eyes could see that.

Daniel confided in Seongwoo for almost everything these days, especially in regards to Jihoon. Whenever Jihoon did really anything , Seongwoo would hear about it from Daniel, even if he had literally been right there to witness it. For a time, he quite enjoyed seeing this hidden side to South Korea’s heartthrob and held a bit of pride in knowing that he was one of the few people who Daniel trusted enough to let him in.

But as much as he wanted to be there for his friend, and as much as he could imagine Jihoon remaining somewhat oblivious to Daniel’s feelings (as shown just now), he was also getting a little annoyed at Daniel for not taking initiative and just telling the cute boy how he felt.

“Because what’s the worst that could happen?” he had asked, and Daniel had gone into a hissy fit which led to his roommate appealing to him with his favorite pack of jellies.

Seongwoo later realized that while he could’ve been more tactful, Daniel had failed to see that Seongwoo was trying to prioritize his best friend’s happiness (and Jihoon’s happiness, if things went well). In the back of his mind, he could see the sand trickling through the hourglass, faster and faster with every passing day. There really wasn’t any more time to waste hiding in uncertainty, and yet here Daniel was, doing just that.

Seongwoo scoffed. “I see. Too hot and bothered to think straight?”

Daniel buried his face into his pillow and groaned. “Hyung.”

“Not that you would ever think straight when it comes to our Jihoonie.”

“Hyung!”

Chapter Text

It was one of those days. One event after another after another with very few breaks and barely any time to even use the bathroom. This was Produce Hell all over again . By the time Jihoon arrived back at the apartment with the rest of Wanna One, he wanted nothing else but to scrub the makeup off his face and pass out.

Did I eat today? Chips count, right? Yes. Yes, I did.

A quick glance at his phone said that it was a little past 2:00 in the morning. He considered making some ramen before bed but the urge to sleep overcame the growling in his stomach (and he really shouldn’t given his penchant for accidentally over-snacking and regretting it later). And besides (thank the Lord), he had a free day tomorrow.

I’m about to sleep for fifteen hours and no one’s gonna stop me. And when I wake up, I’m going to stuff my face with enough food to cover today and tomorrow.

Tomorrow would be his cheat day.

Yes.

After a haphazard cleansing routine, he quickly made his way to his room and beelined to his bed. Woojin was already in his bed, scrolling through something on Naver on his phone.

“Woojin, can you turn off the light?”

“You could’ve turned it off when you walked in,” the other pink sausage grumbled matter-of-factly.

Jihoon let out an unnecessarily loud groan.

Woojin dropped the issue and decided he didn’t have enough energy to deal with his grouch of a roommate. Just as he was about to get off from his bed and walk over to the light switch, Daniel barged into the room and pounced onto the irritated Jigglypuff curled up on the other side of the room.

Jihoon spat out an expletive from the sudden weight. “Daniel, what the fuck ?”

“Jihoonieeeeeee.” Woojin caught the grin on Daniel’s face and rolled his eyes. He turned off the light and wordlessly went back to his bed, turning to face the wall. He inserted his earbuds into his phone’s audio jack and blasted Spotify to the max volume.

“ What are you doing,” Jihoon hissed, trying to wriggle out of Daniel’s hold. “I want to sleep, get off .”

Daniel stopped moving to stare into Jihoon’s slightly drooping (but still piercing) eyes. He would never say it out loud (again), but even when sleepy, Jihoon’s eyes still seemed to sparkle with galaxies.

Yeah, I need another analogy, Daniel thought. That one’s a little overused.

He smiled. “Do you wanna play League with me?”

“Right now ?” Jihoon groaned again. “Can’t it wait till tomorrow?”

Daniel pouted, keeping his position as Jihoon tried to kick him off from underneath the blanket. “But I have a schedule.”

“Then logic dictates that you should sleep ,” Jihoon glared. “...and save your energy.”

Daniel whined, clinging to the younger and refusing to budge.

“Daniel.”

Another whine.

Jihoon let out an exasperated sigh. He raised his knee, prodding repeatedly at Daniel’s stomach.

“Daniel! ... Daniel! ”

If anything, he just held on tighter.

“ Fucking hell. ”  

He moved his knee lower, prodding what he assumed was Daniel’s pelvic area. When Daniel’s breath hitched, he smirked. Gotcha.

Daniel’s eyes shot open in surprise and already his grip loosened.  

“ Hyung... ” Jihoon batted his eyes the same way a baby deer in an animation movie would, making his voice sickeningly sweet. He smiled, fake as ever, leaning up to whisper into Daniel’s ear. “If you don’t get off me in three seconds, I will hurt you,” he said and finalized the threat with one last forceful jerk of his knee.

Daniel got the message and scrambled off with a huff before anything weird happened that he might regret.

“Fine. I’ll just go work out by myself or something,” he muttered, petulant.

“Have fun,” Jihoon said and pulled the blanket over his head.

“I will!” Daniel turned towards the door with a grunt. In the corner of his eye, he could tell Woojin was beginning to nod off as well, the light from his phone no longer on, but he could still hear the music blasting from his earbuds.

When he entered the living room, Seongwoo was still watching something on the television. Daniel could barely make out the exaggerated laughter of the audience, but Seongwoo chuckled at whatever the joke was.

“Hyung.”

Seongwoo turned, startled.

“Hey.”

Daniel made his way to the couch. “What are you watching?”

Seongwoo shrugged. “Nothing really. Why are you still up?”

“I was gonna go to the gym.”

“At this hour?”

Daniel nodded meekly. “Yeah.”

Seongwoo shifted his gaze to the hallway Daniel had arrived from, a knowing smile playing at his lips. “Jihoon didn’t want to go?”

“No.” Daniel huffed, crossing his legs. “Well, I asked if he wanted to play some League and he said he was ‘ too tired ,’” he grumbled while making the air quotes.

“He has every right to be tired.” Seongwoo mindlessly flipped through the other channels. “You could always, you know, play with bots?”

Daniel sighed. “It’s way more fun to play with someone else though. And no one else is good enough.”

Whipped. Seongwoo thought, but shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

When Daniel still hadn’t moved from his spot within the next minute, Seongwoo turned a skeptical eye at his roommate. “So...weren’t you gonna leave or something?

“Why?” Daniel sneered, his eyes narrowing. “Planning to jerk off after I leave?”

Seongwoo gave an unimpressed look. “Now that’s just crude.” He put on a sarcastic grin. “Even if I was, I wouldn’t do it out here, you heathen.” Daniel turned back to the television, finding little comfort in the monotone dialogue.

“No need to take out your blue balls on me. It’s not my fault Jihoon won’t humor you tonight.”

Daniel scoffed. “Forget it,” he huffed before standing up and making his way to their shared room. “I changed my mind. Don’t stay up too late, hyung.”

Seongwoo heard the door close. “Fucking loser,” he muttered. I’ll stay up as late as I want to.

After switching the channel a few more times, Seongwoo finally settled on a documentary about the cute antics of red pandas. As the narrator’s voice droned on, Seongwoo sighed, once again feeling fed up with Daniel’s insufferable reluctance to do anything about his not-so-little crush.

Why can’t Jihoon be more perceptive? He wailed inwardly. Or better yet, why couldn’t Daniel just build up the courage to confess?

Easier said than done, silly. Seongwoo’s conscience reminded him. He’s useless when he’s around Jihoon.

Still , he argued with himself. Why did he have to be burdened with taking the brunt of Daniel’s pent-up frustration? He rolled his eyes. Such was the responsibility of being Kang Daniel’s best friend. He wondered how long it took for Jisung to finally get used to dealing with his fellow MMO trainee’s rants and mood swings.

The scene on the television switched to show the red panda sleeping on a tree branch which in turn made Seongwoo yawn quite loudly. Like everyone else (except for Daniel), he would probably sleep in as well; he was completely over trying to sleep in moving vans.

“Seongwoo.”

He looked up.

“Minhyunie.”

Minhyun was dressed in a white tee-shirt and sweatpants and holding a mug between his hands. He gave a tired smile and Seongwoo scooted over, silently allowing his bandmate to join him on the couch.

“What are you still doing up?” Minhyun glanced at the television and immediately cooed at the fluffy creature eating a berry. “Aww, cute!”

“I was just about to get ready for bed.” Seongwoo peered curiously. “Why are you here?”

“Oh, Jinyoung wanted me to help him with some homework.” Minhyun took a sip from his now-cold tea. “He’s going to school tomorrow and he procrastinated again.”

Oh. Right, school is a thing. Seongwoo often felt that his student days were a whole lifetime ago. “I see.” He cleared his throat. “Did he finish?”

Minhyun chuckled. “I made sure he did all his problems before I left. He was starting to get annoyed at me, too.”

“Such a dad,” Seongwoo joked.

“I’m just being a good hyung!”   

A comfortable silence fell over the pair, their attention redirected to the documentary once again. Seongwoo was deeply immersed in how red pandas make families when Minhyun stood up and said, “I should go. It’s late.”

“Ah. Right.” Seongwoo switched off the television and followed Minhyun to the door.

“Quite the gentleman, aren’t you?” Minhyun quickly put on his shoes, amused.

Seongwoo bowed with a flourish as he opened the door. “I bid you good night, good sir,” he said with a theatrical voice.

Minhyun laughed and bowed as well, his eyes crinkling into adorable crescents.

“Right, so...I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Seongwoo nodded, a wry smile on his lips. “Sure, but I’ll probably sleep in.”

“Of course,” Minhyun grinned with understanding. “Good night, Seongwoo. Sleep well.”

“You too.” With a nod, Minhyun headed down the hallway, shuffling a hand into his pocket and taking out his phone. Seongwoo kept a steady gaze on his retreating figure until he turned the corner and disappeared.

It was only after that Seongwoo realized Minhyun had left his mug on the coffee table.

Odd. Seongwoo thought, smiling to himself. He placed the mug in the sink, making a mental note to wash it later.

***

***

***

Daniel woke up to the alarm he had set on his phone, using whatever willpower he had at 5:30 a.m. to push himself off the bed and get ready for the day. (He thought he caught a glimpse of Seongwoo shifting a little from the noise.) After quickly brushing his teeth and washing his face, he dressed himself in jeans and a hoodie — the usual — and threw some necessities into his backpack before quietly leaving and closing the door.

He briefly pondered grabbing a quick bite to eat but instead sent a message to his manager hyung if he had any Choco pies left. As he made his way down the hall, he noticed the door to Jihoon and Woojin’s room was slightly ajar.

Weird.

He tiptoed to the door and peeked in, noticing that Woojin’s bed was empty (and messy) but Jihoon remained curled up in a ball on his bed, facing towards the wall.

Aww… Daniel’s heart immediately melted and he resisted the urge to enter. Cute.

He then remembered how Jihoon practically blew him off and immediately frowned, his sour mood from last night waking up as well. He better game with me tonight when I come back.

“Hyung?”

Daniel jumped and would have screamed had he not bit down on his tongue. With a hand on his chest, he hissed, “Jesus, don’t do that.”

There stood Woojin, eyebrows furrowed and a scowl on his face. “What are you doing,” he growled.

“Uh—” Daniel stepped away from the door and to the side. “Nothing...your door was just open, and, uh…”

“Whatever.” Woojin dismissed the elder and stepped inside. “Don’t be late, hyung.”

“R-right.” Daniel stood, miffed, as Woojin shut the door with a click.

Rude.

He headed towards the exit and put on his sneakers, making sure he didn’t accidentally wear Minhyun’s pair again. (There were at least twenty pairs of shoes and slippers scattered across the floor, okay?) He put in his earbuds before he left; maybe some Nell would relieve his frustration from before. After all, he had a very busy day to look forward to.

He felt a buzz in his pocket when his manager replied.  

“No Choco Pies, but I do have coffee.”

Chapter Text

There was an unspoken agreement that Wanna One’s off-days were absolute free days and no one would question who did what (except maybe the managers) as long as they stayed out of trouble. By noon, everyone was awake except for Seongwoo and Daehwi. Jinyoung and Jisung had woken up early to go to school. Minhyun had woken up early just because. Jaehwan was out with friends and Guanlin decided to study Korean with Sungwoon.

After the fifth chapter, Sungwoon called (read: begged and bribed the ever enthusiastic Guanlin) for a break. Aside from squeezing in an extra nap sometime later, he was ready to hit the gym again and regain some productivity now that he was free from schedules. He cursed himself for breaking his diet last week and he needed to make up for it. As soon as he changed into the proper attire, he raced to his workout buddy’s room.

“Minhyun-ah! Minhy—Oh. When did you two get here?”

Minhyun looked up from the book he was reading. Jihoon and Woojin had taken over his bed, both of them with their legs tucked under the blanket — poor Minhyun had been relegated to the beanbag — and were listening (or pretending to listen) to their hyung read passages from … Is that Japanese?

“Hi, hyung,” Minhyun greeted. “What’s up?”

Sungwoon stared at the cover for a brief moment before he gave up trying to decipher the Kanji. “I’m going to the gym, you wanna come?”

“Oh, right…” Minhyun placed a bookmark in the pages. “I’ve been meaning to do that.” His voice trailed off in a way that made it seem like he really hadn’t, but Sungwoon didn’t pry. “Just let me change first.”

“Great.” Sungwoon turned to the sausages. “You wanna come?”

Jihoon shook his head and muttered, somewhat guiltily, “Uh, today was gonna be my cheat day, so…”

Sungwoon raised an eyebrow. “Okay…” He turned to the other thing. “What about you?”

Woojin grimaced. “I was going to sleep .”

“Again? Why not sleep in your room?”

“I like this bed.”

With an eye roll, Sungwoon dismissed the twin demons.

“Okay, let’s go.” Minhyun returned in his gym attire (while still looking flawlessly handsome — what the heck ) and headed straight for the door.

Sungwoon raised a pointed finger. “Don’t go through my stuff if you know what’s good for you.”

Woojin swatted his hand, already lifting Minhyun’s blanket and wiggling under the covers to lie down. Jihoon merely nodded with a, “Yeah, okay, hyung,” and shifted towards the edge of the bed to allow Woojin to stretch his legs. ( Cute, Sungwoon thought. They reminded him of him and Taehyun way back then.)

Jihoon continued tapping at his phone, aiming to beat his long-standing streak on the mobile game he was currently obsessed with.

Sungwoon suddenly remembered. “Also, have any of you seen my night cream?”

“Nope,” Jihoon replied without a second thought. Woojin rolled over to face the other side.

“ Damn. ” Sungwoon groaned. “I swear, someone must’ve stolen it. It was expensive, too. If you f—”

“ Hyung! ”

“I’m coming ! If you find it, let me know.” Sungwoon grabbed a water bottle and in his haste almost tripped on a ruffled shirt on the ground. Jihoon glanced up with amusement as his tiny hyung stumbled out of the dorm, sending a final glare before he left.

Jihoon shrugged. Sungwoon had so many skin products; it was uncanny how he even noticed his one (out of like six) night creams had gone missing.

He quickly redirected his attention to his game. He was so close! These next few moves could make it or break it.

Almost there…

Come on…

Come on….!

Just one more…!

“ Yes! ”

Woojin violently flinched at Jihoon’s outburst and slowly sat up with a growl.

“I did it!”

He shoved Jihoon’s elbow which was dangerously close to his nose. “Park Jihoon.”

Jihoon, who was far too happy to have finally beaten his combo, did a wiggle dance worthy of being a meme as Woojin glared. “I did it, I did it, I did it…” He sang nonsensically as if Woojin wasn’t even there.  

“Park Jihoon!” Woojin extended his leg and forcefully kicked the other boy off of the bed, earning a whine from his friend when he fell (or rather, flailed) to the ground with a thump .

“If you’re not going to be quiet and let me sleep, I’m kicking you out.”

“This isn’t even your room,” Jihoon grumbled. “Minhyun-hyung gave me non-verbal affirmation that I could stay.”

“I don’t care. I want to sleep.”

“But Woojin!” Jihoon’s smile reemerged as he sat up. “I finally beat my combo! Do you know how long I have tried and suffered for this day to come? This is, like, my greatest achievement ever.” He continued his weird dance on the ground and started singing again. “I did it, I did it, I did it…”

Woojin stared, slightly bewildered (despite the fact that he was pretty much used to Jihoon’s weirdness), but more so annoyed. Oh my God, I don’t know him. He grabbed one of the fox plushies Minhyun kept by his pillows and chucked it at the back of Jihoon’s head. “Get out.”

“Make me.”

Woojin picked up another fox plushie with a scowl and held it up threateningly high, enough for Jihoon to stumble a bit as he stood up, his hands hovering in front of him to catch any ballistic stuffed animals.

Satisfied, Woojin lowered his arm and shimmied back into a reclining position.

Jihoon groaned, picking up the fox plushie on the ground and setting it back on the bed. Feigning indifference, he said, “Fine. Be boring. I bet Guanlin will appreciate my success.”

He skipped to the door, humming the same silly song as he left.

“Close the door!”

And of course, Jihoon didn’t.

Woojin growled — “Screw you, Park Jihoon.” — and profusely cursed at his fellow Park as he kicked off the blanket, shut the door with more force than necessary, and dove back into Minhyun’s warm and extremely inviting bed.

He would deal with Jihoon when he woke up.

***

***

***

Guanlin’s door was slightly ajar when Jihoon arrived.

He hesitantly knocked. “Guanlinie.”

“Oh, hyung!” Guanlin laid in bed with his laptop on his chest. He paused whatever video he was playing and took out his earbuds, pulling himself up to cheerfully greet his favorite member.

“Am I interrupting something?”

“Ah, no, I was just watching something...,” Guanlin trailed off. “Oh, hey, do you want to help me with Korean?” He looked up up at Jihoon with wide, shining, hopeful eyes. “Sungwoon hyung ditched me,” the maknae pouted.

“Oh, um…” Jihoon shifted his gaze. If it were any other day, sure, but today was his laze-around-and-be-a-lump day. Laze-around-and-be-a-lump days were extremely rare, and Jihoon wanted to lump with someone.

“Uh,” Jihoon stuttered. “Maybe some other time, Guanlin?”

When Guanlin’s frown deepened, Jihoon piped up, “But what are you watching? I’ll watch with you.”

“Oh, it was just…” Guanlin clicked the mousepad (to close the Park Jihoon fancams he was watching) and awkwardly pulled his laptop closer. “It was nothing.”

Jihoon raised an eyebrow. “Okay… Do you wanna watch a movie then?”

Guanlin perked up. “Sure, what movie?”

Jihoon flashed a grin. “How about a horror movie?”

Guanlin’s face fell. He wasn’t bad with horror (much), but he wasn’t particularly in the mood for horror. But it’s Jihoonie-hyung, so...  

Jihoon chuckled, “I’m kidding, we don’t have t—”

“No, let’s do it! Let’s watch a horror movie.”

Jihoon paused, a bit taken aback, but smiled. “Alright then. Do you want any snacks?”

“Do we have Pocky left?”

“I can go check. Pick whatever you want and get it set up.”

“Hyung, bring some chips too!”

After a quick raid of the kitchen, Jihoon returned with one of the two remaining boxes of Pocky, two bags of chips, and some sweets Jinyoung had bought not too long ago. I hope these aren’t bad. When he returned to Guanlin’s room, Guanlin had placed the laptop in front of him on the bed and stacked several pillows behind him.

“Hyung, can you close the door?”

Guanlin yanked the curtains closed and the room immediately dimmed. Outside, the thick cloud cover put Seoul under a gloomy haze without the rain — good weather for staying inside, Jihoon thought, perfect weather for horror movies.

Jihoon made his way to the bed and sat beside the taller maknae, scattering the snacks across the mattress and keeping a bag of chips for himself to open.

“What are we watching?” He took one of the pillows and laid it across his lap.

Guanlin handed him one of his earbuds. He had set the video to fullscreen and pressed play. “ Death Bell. It’s kind of old.”

“ Death Bell ?” The name rang a bell.

“Mhmm.” Guanlin leaned back and grabbed a box of Pocky. “It’s about school.”

“That already sounds horrifying.” Guanlin smirked. “Have you seen it already?”

“I saw the trailer but never watched it.”

Jihoon hummed. As the movie played, he found it was relatively (and somewhat underwhelmingly) tame compared to other horror flicks he had watched. Guanlin, on the other hand, clung tightly to Jihoon every time there was a scary montage. This director really likes to milk the flashing effects . Jihoon felt like his arms were going to have several bruises tomorrow. ( “Hyung, they just...put her in the washing machine! And she wasn’t even dead!” )

Jihoon honestly found the screaming to be the scariest part. Throughout the movie, he found himself laughing because of Guanlin’s reactions more so than being frightened.

“You know, I wouldn’t worry about dying in this movie.” Jihoon remarked as the tension dropped from the last death scene.

Guanlin kept his arm wrapped around Jihoon’s shoulders, but his grip loosened considerably. “Really?”

Jihoon nodded, reaching over to grab a gummy worm. “Yeah. The killer said he was only going after these kids in the top ranking class, right?” Guanlin nodded. “I don’t think I’m smart enough to even be in the top class, so I’m automatically safe.”

“Oh.” Guanlin pondered for a moment. “I guess.”

The movie was nearing the end and the two of them kept quiet — as quiet as they could while crunching chips anyway — as the mystery was coming to a close. Who was the killer? What was the motive? Was there really a ghost or not? And will the main character survive?

The tension was rising again as the characters on screen wore panicked faces amidst the chaos. Shouts and screams were heard as the threat of death loomed over the mass of people. The pair sat still with bated breath.

“We’re going to die!”  

“Everyone, remain calm!”

“Who did it!?”

“Somebody call the police!”

“Step forward and confess your sin!”

“We’re dead!”

“Who did it!?”

“It’s one of you, I know it!”

“Step forward!”

“WHO IS IT!?”

Knock knock knock.

“Guanlin, I’m looking for J—”

“ Holy sh…!” Jihoon exclaimed, jolting from the sudden intrusion. He hit the spacebar on the keyboard a little too forcefully and yanked his earbud out.

“Jihoon?”

“Daniel, what the hell ?”

Standing in the doorway was the source of Jihoon’s arrhythmia, a very confused Daniel. “What are you guys doing? Why is it so dark in here?” Daniel flicked on the lights and there, huddled on the bed, was a rapidly blinking Jihoon practically engulfed in the Gulliver maknae’s arms with snack wrappers and bags littered across the blankets.

“Oh. Am I interrupting something?” Daniel swallowed, trying to quell the growing jealousy in his chest. “Wh—…” He cleared his throat. “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re watching a movie!” Guanlin chirped, a bit winded from the interruption. “It’s scary but it was getting to the good part.” He snickered. “Jihoonie screamed.”

Jihoon shoved him back with an affronted look. “I did not .”

Jihoonie? Daniel wasn’t sure how he felt about Guanlin’s...term of endearment?

“You’re back early.” Jihoon said once his eyes had gotten used to the light. Guanlin hummed in agreement. “Did the interview go okay?”

“It was fine. I mean, obviously, since I’m here and all.” Daniel kept his gaze fixated on the maknae’s sneaky arm that seemed to be pulling Jihoon closer to his tall, lanky frame. He narrowed his eyes, but decided to give him the benefit of doubt.

“Did you need anything?” Jihoon asked at the same time Guanlin asked, louder, “Do you have another schedule later?”

“I have one in like 45 minutes.” Avoiding the pair’s stares, Daniel looked around Guanlin’s room which was actually quite clean despite the disaster on the bed.

“That’s so soon!” Guanlin exclaimed. “Why did you even come home, you could’ve saved yourself a car ride.”

Jihoon chuckled, popping a Pocky stick between his lips. Daniel knew Guanlin didn’t mean to sound brash ( or did he ), but he couldn’t help but feel his skin bristle just a tiny bit and glared at the maknae.

He played it off with a chuckle. “Actually, Jihoon ,” he said, pointedly, “I was wondering if you had eaten yet.” He glanced at the pile of half-eaten snacks. “An actual meal, I mean.”   

“Oh.” Jihoon’s lips parted slightly, a brief wave of shame washing over him. Despite his initial resolution to eat two days worth of food in one, aside from breakfast, he really had just been snacking all afternoon. The bitten Pocky stick remained between his fingers as he stared guiltily at it. “No. I haven’t.”  

Daniel grinned, relieved, and was about to ask Jihoon to have (a proper) lunch with him when to his chagrin, the younger said, “But I was going to make something after the movie finished!”

“...Oh.” After. “I see.”

“It’s almost done, right Guanlin?”

The pair shared a glance and Guanlin nodded emphatically. “Right!”

“Yeah, so we can eat after.” Jihoon turned a gentle gaze back to Daniel. “See? I’m not skipping meals, hyung; nothing to worry about.”

“I—...” Daniel was about to protest that he wasn’t about to pull a Jisung and lecture the younger about the importance of not skipping meals, but instead he cleared his throat and mumbled, “Uh, right. I’m glad.”

“But hyung, if you’re hungry, you should eat first!” Jihoon said, grinning brightly. “Before you leave for your schedule.”

I wanted to eat with you, though. Daniel wanted to say. “I will, Jihoonie. Don’t worry.”

“That’s true, hyung, you should eat!” Guanlin piped up, his fingers wrapping around the swell of Jihoon’s shoulder. Daniel felt his jaw tighten with annoyance. Why does he still have his arm around him? Jihoon’s gonna have a dent in his neck and it’ll be all his fault.

“Yeah, don’t pass out on us, okay?” Jihoon flashed another disarming smile. “Some of us actually want you around,” he joked.

“Speak for yourself,” Guanlin shot back — Daniel’s eyes widened. You wanna fight, swaggy rapper from Taipei? — and the pair tittered. “I’m just kidding, hyung.”

Kid better be.

Daniel chuckled half-heartedly. “Uh, right, uh...” Dejected, he tried to put on what he hoped was a genuine-looking smile.

“I’ll, uhh…” He briefly met Jihoon’s gaze once more but willed himself to look away after a second. This was a dangerous game, he reminded himself, and Jihoon so clearly had the upper hand, even if he didn’t know it.

That just made him all the more dangerous.

I’m screwed.

“I’ll leave you to it.” Daniel backed up to the entrance, gaze pointed downward. “You guys, uh...enjoy the rest of the movie or whatever. I’ll be, uh...I’ll just be out and...yeah.”

And before Jihoon or Guanlin could say anything else, Daniel slipped back out the door and slammed it shut before realizing in that second — oh God — that he had left the light on.

Kill me.

He quickly opened it again and could feel the awkwardness as Jihoon and Guanlin wordlessly watched him with confused (and amused) smiles on the verge of cracking. He mumbled a hurried “Sorry”, flicked the light off, and closed the door again before stomping away in the opposite direction as his ears burned with embarrassment.

Actually kill me.

Needless to say, once Daniel had gone, Jihoon and Guanlin sputtered and guffawed with laughter to the point that their stomachs hurt and Jihoon was on the verge of tears.

Chapter Text

Daniel’s face flushed with regret as he made his way to the kitchen. He poured himself some juice — We definitely need to go grocery shopping soon — and after taking a sip, he lowered his head to rest on the counter. He scrunched his eyes shut and sighed, feeling all sorts of pitiful.

I’m so freaking dumb. Way to go, Kang Daniel.

His schedule had finished way earlier than he expected — bless the interviewers who were on top of their game — which meant he had some time to kill before his next schedule. Despite his manager’s suggestion (which bordered on exasperated pleading) to stay and eat at the filming studio’s makeshift cafeteria, Daniel insisted on going home to eat something that would actually be sustainable and maybe, oh, game with Jihoon or something before he had to leave again.

When he had arrived back at the dorm, he found a note from Daehwi — bless his soul — saying that:

1) he had gone out with their manager to Apgujeong and they would pick up Jinyoung from school later — Aw, that’s nice.

2) Seongwoo was still sleeping — Still? — Daniel poked his head into their shared room and yep, he was still out like a light — and,

3) 2Park were probably downstairs at the other dorm — Oh. Wait, why?

So, he went downstairs to Jisung’s Apartment (aptly named because of leader privileges and what have you) only to find it 2Park-less and seemingly Wanna-One-less at that. Odd. Daniel thought. Daehwi wouldn’t lie without a good reason, which meant, Wow, everyone is really out here going wild on their off day.

He was about to check Minhyun’s and Sungwoon’s room — Why was the door closed? — when he thought he heard voices coming from Guanlin’s room.

This door, too?

Once he was certain that he wasn’t just hearing things, he walked up to the door, merely wanting to satisfy his curiosity — and where were Jihoon and Woojin anyway — when, lo and behold, there he was: one half of the Pink Sausages^TM being smothered by their devious and cunning maknae.

For all Daniel cared, everything that happened after that can be thrown in the “We won’t talk about it” category.

Lai Guanlin. Daniel scoffed. I refuse to believe he’s as innocent as everyone says. “He can’t be,” he muttered to himself, taking large gulps of his juice. There is no way he’s that wholesome, the conniving little—.

He leaned against the counter, impatiently bouncing his knee against the wood. Didn’t they say it was almost done? How long is this movie?

He heard the door open and in walked Jisung, who tossed his satchel against one of the chairs in the living room before entering the kitchen.

“Hey, hyung.”

Jisung jumped, slamming a hand to his chest in surprise. “Jeez. Daniel. Hello.” He made his way to the refrigerator and took out a can of sparkling water. “I keep forgetting that you have the key.”

“Actually,” Daniel said cheekily. “I stole Sungwoon-hyung’s key and never gave it back.”

The elder gave a look, half judging, half indifferent.

“Whoops.”

Jisung scoffed. “So why are you here?”

Daniel faked a pout. “Aw, hyung… Do you not want to see me?”

“I see enough of you as it is. We can take a break.” Jisung joked, taking another sip. “How was the interview?”

“Fine,” Daniel shrugged. “I finished early, as you can see.”

“Makes sense.” Jisung hummed. “Did you eat yet? Why didn’t you just stay on set?”

Daniel shook his head and groaned. “Because it was close to home and I wasn’t about to eat their pre-packaged MSG-filled shit.”

“Language.” Jisung scolded. Daniel rolled his eyes. “Fair enough. I haven’t eaten either, so shall I make something for both of us?”

Daniel immediately perked up, going into full samoyed mode. “Please...”, he whined, with extra aegyo to boot.

Jisung gave a look of faux disgust as he took out a small pot and a pack of ramyeon. He stared at it, hesitant. “You’re allowed to eat this, right?”

Daniel chuckled. “I can have a cheat day,” he reminded the leader. “I just have to make up for it later,” he shrugged, as if it wasn’t even that difficult.

Jisung shook his head. “I honestly feel bad for you kids. I seriously weep when you all can’t eat.” He glared at Daniel’s pesky hand that was reaching for the empty packaging and Daniel immediately shied away.

“But I suppose if there’s one good thing about all of you dieting,” Jisung grunted as he ripped open the seasoning packet. “It’s that I don’t have to cook as much. You all are eating like birds.” He glanced down at the pot, the bottom of which was already covered with the reddish-brown powder.

“Perhaps,” Daniel grinned. “But we eat twice as much when we don’t have to diet anymore. More chances to cook for us.”

Jisung grumbled. “Ain’t that the truth.”

Daniel heard a door open followed by the excited patter of footsteps.

“Hyung, you’re back!”

“How was school?”

“Are you making something?”

“I’m hungry, hyung!”

Jisung smiled at the new arrivals. “I was just about to boil some water. Shall I make another pack for you two?” He glanced over at Guanlin. “Or rather, two packs?”

“I’m good, hyung.” Guanlin grinned. “Jihoonie and I just finished snacking a lot so I’m not that hungry!”

Jihoon looked down, a bit embarrassed, and muttered, “I’m still hungry, though.”

Guanlin must’ve thought that was the funniest thing ever because, to Daniel’s annoyance, the maknae wrapped an arm around Jihoon’s shoulders — again! — and laughed out loud, joking how Jihoon could easily eat twice as much as Guanlin on any given day.

The scowl Jihoon threw at the maknae was worth it though. His cheeks puffed up and his lips jutted out into a pout that had Daniel squealing on the inside. God damn, those cheeks.

“I am always happy to feed my children. I can make you a pack, Jihoonie, if you’d like,” Jisung said, pulling out a pack of Shin Ramyeon. Jihoon vigorously nodded and grinned from ear to ear. Everyone knew that Shin Ramyeon was Jihoon’s favorite brand.

“I’m gonna go check on Seongwoo-hyung. Hyung, is he awake yet?” Guanlin turned to Daniel, who shrugged.

“He wasn’t when I checked.”

Guanlin hummed, unbothered. “Then I’ll just have to wake him up myself!”

Jisung clicked on the stove to begin boiling the water. He adjusted the flame and said, “If he’s still sleeping, don’t bother him, Lin-ah.”

“Yes, hyung!”

Daniel scoffed. The maknae would wake up Seongwoo in one way or another and frankly, Seongwoo had slept enough in Daniel’s opinion.

“Bye, Jihoonie!” Daniel turned to see Guanlin opening his arms wide and pulling Jihoon into a tight embrace. Jihoon was taken aback at first, but naturally lifted his arms to return the hug albeit not as tightly (and of course, Daniel had to smirk at that little tidbit). Aside from his arms, Daniel couldn’t see Jihoon at all because Guanlin had his back faced towards him, shielding him from view, almost like he was... teasing Daniel and...whatever.

Daniel cleared his throat (somewhat less discreetly than he should have), which to his dismay, went ignored by the maknae. After about ten seconds of watching them hug, which Daniel thought was nine and a half seconds too long, Jihoon mumbled with a nervous chuckle, “Linnie, you can, uhh...you can let go now.”

Yeah. Daniel sneered in his head. Listen to your hyung , Linnie .

Guanlin pulled back with a smirk and had the nerve to ruffle Jihoon’s hair before leaving. “Bye, hyung,” he said again, softer , and gave a cordial nod to Daniel before skipping towards the exit.

Daniel narrowed his eyes at the door. Clingy brat.

“I’m gonna go wake up Woojin,” Jihoon said, and hopped down from his stool before heading into the hallway towards Minhyun’s and Sungwoon’s room.

Ah, so the other demon is here, Daniel realized. Why is he in there ? He heard Jihoon gently knocking on the door and mumbling something along the lines of, “Wake up, loser.” The door clicked open and the mumbling became too quiet for Daniel to even make out the words.

“Shoot.” Jisung suddenly said. “Woojin will probably want some, too.” He groaned as he realized the pot he was using was too small to add another pack of ramyeon. “Ugh, this is a nightmare.”

Daniel gave a wry smile. “He can have mine, hyung,” he said, a bit reluctant now that he was starting to feel hungrier. “I have to leave in a bit anyway.”

Jisung shot him a glare. “You are most definitely not leaving until you eat.”

“Hyung,” Daniel sighed. “It’s fine. The set will have something or other. I’ll eat if I get hungry.” Jisung scowled as he stirred the pot. “I promise.”

The leader exhaled after a pause and said lowly, “At least take some snacks with you for the car ride there.”

“Yes, hyung.”

The front door opened and Daniel turned to see one Hwang Minhyun walk into the dorm, his hair dripping wet and a towel wrapped comfortably around his neck, as if he had walked out of a drama scene like the visual god he was.

“Minhyunie,” Jisung greeted.

“Hi, hyung,” Minhyun took off his shoes and padded over to the kitchen, drawn by the delicious scent of cooked ramyeon.

Jisung leaned back as Minhyun peered over his shoulder. “You’re wet.”

“I just showered,” Minhyun said, grinning.

“So early?” Daniel piped up.

Minhyun nodded. “I was working out with Sungwoon-hyung. He’s still showering, I believe.”

“Ah.” At that moment, Jihoon dragged a somewhat disheveled-looking and still-very-sleepy Woojin into the kitchen and pushed him towards the stool next to Daniel’s. Daniel chuckled seeing Woojin scowl as he sunk into his seat and hunched over a bit.

“Good morning, Woojin,” Jisung said. “Would you like some ramyeon?”

Woojin nodded with a grunt, leaning over to rest his head on Daniel’s shoulder. Why is his head so heavy? Wait, I never gave you permission to...ugh.  

“Hyung, you’re back!” Jihoon bounded over to the tall glass of water in the room and Daniel watched helplessly as the smaller boy practically leaped into Minhyun’s arms.  

Minhyun stepped back a bit to balance himself. “Hi, Jihoonie. Sorry I’m a little wet.” A few stray droplets fell from the tips of his hair onto Jihoon’s cheeks and Minhyun gently wiped them away with his thumb.

It was oddly intimate in Daniel’s eyes. And, Okay, Hyung did not just press his nose into Jihoon’s hair…

Jihoon wasn’t fazed; he clearly enjoyed the attention. “How was the workout, hyung?” Jihoon asked, batting his eyelashes. Daniel could cringe at how sweet and saccharine the younger’s voice was.

And the worst part? It wasn’t even fake. Jihoon had nothing but admiration and love for Hwang Minhyun. And who could blame him?    

“Tiresome, as always.” Minhyun said, gently coaxing Jihoon out of his embrace with light finger taps against the younger’s arms.

“Hyung is getting really strong now, though,” Jihoon continued to wax praises off his tongue. “I wish I had hyung’s level of discipline, but it’s so hard...”

“Ah, but Jihoonie, you’re already on the right path. I can definitely see some progress.” Minhyun looked the younger up and down. “Your shoulders are bigger for sure. The fans will love it.”

Jihoon brightened like a lightbulb, soaking up Minhyun’s words like a sponge. His eyes were practically glistening.

Ugh.   

“I’m sure you’ll be the strongest member in no time.” Minhyun smiled and ruffled Jihoon’s hair. What is it with Park Jihoon’s hair?

Jihoon bashfully looked to the ground. “Hyung is just saying that to be nice.” Dear God, was that a blush?

“Now, now, Jihoon, you know I never say things I don’t mean.” Minhyun said with a serious air. “My sarcasm is reserved for Dongho and Dongho only.”

Jihoon burst into laughter, which set off a chain reaction because soon Minhyun was laughing his signature high-pitched laugh and Jisung joined in because Minhyun’s laugh was just that contagious.

Daniel let out a weak chuckle.

“Alright, you two.” Jisung said, commanding the attention back to him. “Food’s ready. Minhyun-ah, I hope you’re not eating,” Jisung said, taking four bowls from the cabinet. “I didn’t make enough for five people.”

“That’s perfectly fine, hyung,” Minhyun said. “Here, let me do it.”

Jisung gave him a grateful look. “Daniel?” He gestured for him to take a bowl. “Are you sure you don’t want any?”

Daniel didn’t answer. Jihoon was pressing himself against Minhyun’s side and staring very intently as Minhyun delicately served the ramyeon into one of the bowls.

“Here you go, Jihoon-ah.”

“Thank you, hyung!” Jihoon grabbed his bowl with two hands but before he could get too far, Minhyun pressed two fingers against his lips, kissed them — Daniel haywired, Did he just… — and pressed them against Jihoon’s cheek.

The blush that bloomed on the younger was a sight to behold.

“Daniel.”

Daniel had had enough.

Exceedingly irked, he put on a dry smile. “No. I’m good, hyung.”

“Are you s—”

“I should get going anyway. Can’t be late.”

“Daniel, I sa—”

“I’ll be fine, hyung!” Daniel accidentally raised his voice, catching everyone else’s attention. He cleared his throat. “I-...It’s fine. I told you, Woojin can have my share.”

“Hyung?” Jihoon called out, a worried lilt to his voice. Daniel met his wide, staring eyes with a fierce gaze.

He took a deep breath, willing himself to calm down, and said with a low voice, “I’ll see you later tonight, Jihoonie.”

Woojin made a confused noise in the back of his throat. “Hm?” He shared a questioning glance with Jisung who only shrugged while raising his arms in a I have no idea, I give up manner.

“Oh. Okay.” Jihoon mumbled. His lips quirked into a shy smile. “Be safe.”

Daniel nodded. “Yeah. I will.”

An awkward silence fell over the dorm as he headed for the door, his footsteps feeling heavier with every step.

This is ridiculous.

He let out a sigh, and stopped.

I’m probably gonna regret this…

He turned around and as he expected, everyone was still staring at him. Woojin and Minhyun pretended to be indifferent, which was better than Jisung, who didn’t even try to hide his confusion at how odd Daniel was acting. The leader’s face contorted into a grimace that screamed, What the hell is wrong with you.

Daniel could feel his heart racing in his chest — which was really dumb and uncalled for, there’s absolutely no reason why it should be beating so quickly — as he beelined to Jihoon and pulled him into a tight embrace.

“H-hyung!?”

Jihoon stood frozen with surprise, his arms kept pressed against his sides, unable to move. Daniel didn’t respond, and he could feel the others staring at them, but he pushed them away in his mind. His heart beat furiously, and he wondered if Jihoon could feel it pounding against his chest. In that moment, he focused on holding onto the smaller boy in his arms, strengthening his hold to transfer as much warmth as he could.

Please feel it, too.

For now, Jihoon was here. Jihoon was his.

Park Jihoon. Jihoon. Jihoonie.

My Jihoonie.

“Hyung?” Jihoon said, softer, and Daniel pulled back.

He gazed again into Jihoon’s beautiful eyes, smiling. Jihoon’s lips were parted, a flurry of emotions flitting across his face.

Daniel chuckled. He felt he would never tire of moments like these. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

And Jihoon could only nod. He was overwhelmed by how suddenly sincere Daniel sounded and Daniel could see it. Everyone could see it, and Daniel reveled in knowing he had that effect on Park Jihoon.

This boy is mine.

Content, Daniel finally let go and headed back towards the exit, ignoring the stunned faces trailing after him.

The silence was broken, however, when Jisung called out, “Niel-ah, don’t forget your snacks! And text me when you get there!”

“Hey, what about me, do I get a hug?” Woojin chimed in. “Hyung! Hyung! ”

Daniel chuckled with a scoff, throwing a dismissive hand into the air and leaving the dorm in a daze, snacks be damned. He pulled his mask over his face to hide his biggest smile of the day.

Chapter Text

The following two weeks submerged the Wanna One members into intense preparations for their highly-anticipated comeback. Not only would they be having a full group release, they would also be having four brand new and shiny subunits for the first time since Wanna One debuted, which was undoubtedly very exciting.

It seemed Swings thought so too, because now they were preparing for a grand showcase in front of thousands of people, which would also be televised live for the entire world to see. No pressure, or anything.

Naturally, everything quickly fell into a constant state of high tension and after a week, Daniel could already sense the bubbling mess of emotions that threatened to spill forth in every single one of his members, barely kept at bay out of politeness.

Yes, they were excited. But damn, they were stressed.

Zico, as much as Daniel revered his work and his artistry, was utterly ruthless when it came to his last minute changes for “Kangaroo” to be perfect. (No surprise there, because this was Zico after all.) Poor Jaehwan even nearly passed out near the end of one of their rehearsals and Daniel had to beg his hyung for a break to make sure his friend wouldn’t actually faint. Even Woojin, who was formidably energetic throughout any dance routine, was starting to lose feeling in his legs. The constant practicing (amidst restricted eating and resting) was taking its toll.

It was during those kinds of moments that Daniel envied the Lean On Me and The Heal units. All they had to do was, as Seongwoo put it, “sing and look pretty.”

As he gasped for air, he hoped at least Jihoon was doing okay. The Number One team also held late-night rehearsals, with Dynamic Duo and their choreographers in a separate location. There were many nights where Daniel wouldn’t even see Jihoon until he woke up the next morning, and witnessing how quickly Jihoon had lost some of the baby fat in his cheeks worried him to no end.

I hope you’re taking care of yourself, he’d pray before getting up and running through the routine once more.

The pressure for all of them was borderline suffocating. There was barely even time to eat, let alone go to the gym and work out, not that anyone really wanted to after a grueling day of constant practice. Whatever free time they had was spent trying to squeeze in another hour of sleep or just, you know, attempting to breathe.

It was exhausting, but it was all worth it. Their showcase was a massive hit. Their album soared to the #1 spot and all of the units received an astonishing amount of love and support.

Truly, Daniel thought, Wannables were the best.

***

Thanks to their initial success, the rehearsals leading up to their first music show for their “Undivided” promotions were much more relaxed in comparison to the frenzy that led up to XCON. The managers and vocal and dance instructors were noticeably less on edge now that they knew the fans adored the unit stages. All that was really left to do was polish any imperfections that remained.

“Alright, kids.” The main choreographer gathered everyone around after their final break. “I know you’re all tired, but let’s run through everything once more and then we’ll call it a night.”

“Yes, hyung!”

“Okay, places, everyone. Places!”

The members got into their positions for “Light”. Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel could see Jihoon breathing heavily, his hair glistening with sweat droplets that fell against his slightly tanned neck and face. Before he could focus too intently on Jihoon’s somehow-still-ethereal visuals, the music started and Daniel snapped into position.

Of course it didn’t help that Daniel and Jihoon were close to each other for most of the choreography. Jihoon was even wearing one of his oversized shirts which made it incredibly distracting when Daniel accidentally took a peek at Jihoon’s collarbones poking out of the fabric.

God, this boy takes my breath away.

Quite literally. The bridge was absolutely the worst because Jihoon was right there and Daniel often found himself holding his breath, just at that one part, in fear he’d start hyperventilating or bursting out in smiles.

Seeing that he and Jihoon started and ended the song standing next to each other, in a way, Daniel foolishly hoped that that could be an indicator of their future. No matter what happened, he wanted Jihoon there by his side. Sure, it was a dumb thought. But if he was sincere, that’s what mattered, right?

Once “Light” ended, the unit stages started. The back-up dancers had long gone home, so it was just them for now.

Once the camera was adjusted and turned on, Triple Position was up first. “Kangaroo” had become a very popular song among the members – Minhyun desperately wanted to have a mix-and-match stage just so he could perform it – and they had all quickly adopted the kangaroo point dance as an everyday thing now.

Of course when Jihoon did the kangaroo dance, it was the cutest thing ever and Daniel wished Minhyun’s mix-and-match idea would come true, just so everyone else could witness this treasure.

The Heal and Lean On Me practice stages turned out to be more funny than emotional. Since there was no dancing to be done, the non-performing members found great amusement teasing the members who were trying to be serious and melancholic. Daniel, Seongwoo, and Woojin relentlessly danced behind, in front of, and between the members as they sang (with their eyes squeezed shut, trying not to choke on their laughter), earning them a backhanded slap from Jisung and Sungwoon once they were finished.

Finally, the team Daniel was most looking forward to (no bias, or anything), Number One was up, and Guanlin, Jinyoung, and Jihoon took their places as the slow electric melody took over the room. The song almost demanded the audience to be quiet so that its listeners can soak in everything that was being given. The instrumental was smooth like silk. The lyrics were mature, but sincere: an almost desperate plea for the love interest to take note of the singer’s hard work in protecting and loving them.

Daniel could sort of relate.

He kept his eyes transfixed on Jihoon as he moved. Jihoon admittedly wasn’t as energetic compared to Jinyoung, but there was a subtle sensuality that he exuded as he danced, and Daniel could never get enough despite having seen the performance several times already. Jihoon’s lines were always the cleanest among the three and his facials were on point. They were…soft. Gentle, but effective.

You are absolutely stunning, Daniel wanted to say. The boy definitely knew his angles.

But of course when Jihoon smirked, Daniel was automatically done for.

Too much. Not allowed. Nope. Daniel.exe has crashed.

The audacity, really. Jihoon had really milked the whole going from innocent to sinful in seconds and it was far too much for Daniel’s heart. This boy had Daniel whipped wrapped around his finger and Daniel just let him. Even if he tried to focus on Jinyoung or Guanlin, he couldn’t. He just couldn’t tear his eyes away.

The entire time, Jihoon had successfully lured him into his beautiful trap.

Damn.

The atmosphere eventually took a comedic turn when Seongwoo started excessively body-rolling to the beat, causing everyone around him (as well as Guanlin and Jihoon) to burst into laughter. 

***

The boys were finally dismissed after the choreographers gave a few notes to Triple Position and Number One – mostly minor things like angles and placement. Despite it being near midnight, the boys were far too excited to finally go up to their dorms and enjoy the few hours of free time they had without sacrificing too much sleep.

After a quick shower, Daniel invited Jihoon to game for a bit before bed.

“If you’re going to game, I’m kicking you out to the living room,” Seongwoo grumbled, ready to pass out.

Jihoon snickered from his spot on Daniel’s bed. “You’re getting old, hyung.”

Seongwoo shot a glare. “Shush, you. I mean it, either sleep or get out.”

Jihoon shared a knowing glance with Daniel and agreed to let their hyung get his beauty sleep and not risk getting their limbs yanked off. Not that Seongwoo could or would, but whatever.

“Close the door!”

Jihoon walked right out – Seongwoo mentally cursed the demon – but Daniel was more gracious for once.

The pair moved out to the couch, phones in hand.

“So, hyung.” Jihoon said, once they got comfortable. “Am I beating you in PUBG or Battle Royale tonight?”

Daniel gave an affronted look. “Excuse you, I will be beating you in PUBG.”

Jihoon snorted. “Right. But you did say that a few days ago.” He smirked. “You shouldn’t lie, hyung. Lying is for bad people.”

“Alright, fine,” Daniel growled, determined to wipe that smirk off the younger’s face. “Whoever lasts the longest wins.”

“I assure you, I plan to be the only one standing,” Jihoon said, chuckling with his inflated ego.

“We’ll see about that.”

***

“Ah, no! Fuck…!” Jihoon exclaimed, a bit too loudly for the hour. Daniel flitted his eyes nervously in case anyone was about to storm into the living room to tell them off. (Thank goodness Jisung wasn’t here.)

With the coast clear, Daniel snickered to the side. “As I said, my dearest Jihoon,” he said, allowing his character to be killed by a nearby player. “I didn’t lie and now I reign superior.” He gave an amused and pointed glance to the younger. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I think you cheated,” Jihoon grumbled, exiting out of PUBG in exchange for a  simpler puzzle game.

Daniel brought a hand to his chest. “Wow. I’m offended that you think I’m not good enough to win by my own merit. Jihoonie, you wound me.”

Jihoon pouted as he sulked, huffing in silence as he solved his mindless puzzles.

Daniel leaned in, fully intending to tease the younger for all his big talk prior. “So. Jihoonie.”

Jihoon scooted an inch to the left with a grunt.

“I think you owe me an apology,” Daniel said, leaning in closer, his grin becoming more and more similar to the Cheshire Cat’s.

Jihoon stared unblinkingly at the screen, tapping away while ignoring the elder.

“Come on, Jihoonie…”

The younger barely moved as he continued to disregard his hyung’s advances. Only the rings and whistles from Jihoon’s combos came out of the phone speaker in response to Daniel’s taunts.

Daniel darkened his stare, a warning lilt to his voice. “Hey. Say you’re sorry.”

Still nothing.

Huh. Daniel smirked. Alright then. Plan B, it is.

“That’s it.”

“Wha— Daniel!” Without warning, Daniel tackled Jihoon to the side and sprawled on top of the unsuspecting member, squeezing his arms around and under the younger’s body so that Jihoon was now trapped between Daniel and the couch. His phone helplessly dangled in his hand and he was now more or less confined in a suffocating death hug.

“Daniel!” Jihoon used his free hand – his other arm was also trapped against the back of the couch – to weakly whack against Daniel’s muscular arms. “Daniel, you…!”

Daniel snickered as Jihoon feebly tried to push him off. “Say you’re sorry.”

“Daniel, get off!”

“No,” Daniel replied, grinning. “Say you’re sorry.”

“I swear, my leg is gonna fall asleep,” Jihoon whined. “Daniel!”

“No. You owe me an apology.”

“No!”

“Say you’re sorry!” Daniel was laughing now; he was having too much fun.

“Fuck. Off!” Jihoon tried pinching Daniel’s arms but to no avail. (Daniel gritted his teeth as he whined in mild pain. Jihoon really needed to cut his nails.)

He resumed his teasing. “You know, I’m perfectly fine just staying here. You’re very comfy, Jihoonie.”

“Daniel!” Now Jihoon was trying to raise his hips against the couch as leverage, but Daniel was just too heavy for the smaller boy.

After trying and failing – and his leg was really starting to go numb now – Jihoon ultimately gave up to Daniel’s utter glee, “Okay, fine! You win! I’m sorry!”

Daniel finally let the younger go, relieving his weight off of Jihoon and fully enjoying the way the other’s face was flushed red as he panted. Jihoon sat up; his eyebrows furrowed with irritation and his dark eyes flashed with a quelled anger.

“You…dick.” Jihoon snarled. “Did you have to squeeze the life out of me?”

Daniel smirked. “I forgive you.”

Jihoon scowled, getting up from the couch and smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt. He shot a final glare at the elder. “I’m going to bed.”

“Alright.” Daniel chuckled. “Good night, Jihoonie.” He would never tire of teasing the other. It was just too damn fun and Jihoon’s reactions made everything worth it – even with the faint lingering pain in his side.

“Good night.” Jihoon huffed. He stomped away to his room and slammed the door. Daniel briefly wondered if Woojin woke up from the noise, but disregarded the thought with another breathy chuckle.

Sweet dreams, my prince.

Chapter Text

“And the winner is…Wanna One, congratulations!”

A perfect score. Jihoon could hardly believe it. Not to mention how The Heal and Triple Position were also nominated alongside Wanna One for first place… Jihoon could not be prouder of Wannables and his groupmates. What a way to start the new era.

He shared a glance with Daniel as they exited the stage after their encore. He hoped the gleam in his eyes and the smile on his face could convey everything he felt in that moment. I’m really proud of us. Jihoon cheekily gave the elder a thumbs up. We actually did that.

Daniel threw back a grin that could rival the sun itself.

***

“No rehearsal tonight, kids,” their manager said, from the front seat. “You all have been working hard so go take the night off.”

The cheers that erupted threatened to blow the top of the van. The manager chuckled, waving off the boys’ endearing words of gratitude.

Jihoon quickly zoned out and refocused his attention to his mobile game.

“Hey, hyung,” Guanlin muttered next to him. “Do you want to work out with me when we get back?”

“Okay, call.” An enemy fighter came after his character and Jihoon made quiet (adorable) noises of frustration. “Ah, no, go away…”

Guanlin grinned. “Promise you’ll spot me, hyung!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jihoon dismissed, trying to keep up his progress.  

When they reached their dorm and stumbled out of the van, he overheard the hyungs.

Sungwoon latched onto Minhyun’s arm, grinning. “Minhyunie, wanna work out before dinner?”

“Sure,” Minhyun replied. “Seongwoo-ya, want to join us?”

Seongwoo grimaced. He was never keen on lifting weights or working out. “I’ll come, but I’ll just sit and watch.”

Minhyun laughed. “Fair enough.”

“Hyung, Jihoonie and I are going to the gym, too!” Guanlin excitedly announced (for everyone to hear). Jihoon flushed.

“Great, it’ll be a party.” Sungwoon muttered, taking the lead and powerwalking to the entrance.

The 95-line followed with Guanlin trailing happily after them. Up ahead, Guanlin was having a field day teasing Sungwoon through any means possible and Sungwoon retaliated with unrivaled vigor.

Jihoon kept his eyes glued to his phone screen and continued to walk. 

“Jihoonie!”

He jumped, hissing in annoyance. An arm heavily weighed across his shoulders and his character now lay dead with the words GAME OVER angrily flashing in red.

He growled. “Daniel!”

Daniel grinned cheekily. “What?”

“I was so close to winning…”

“Really?” Daniel didn’t even try to look sorry. “Oops.”

“Ugh.” Jihoon scampered up to catch up with the others, but Daniel quickly matched pace.

“Hey, do you wanna join me for dinner?”

“Can’t.” Jihoon replied, muttering a “Thank you” to Minhyun who held the door open. “I’m going to the gym with Guanlin and the hyungs.”

“Oh.” Daniel deflated a little.

Jihoon gave the elder a confused look. “You’re welcome to join us, you know. We can all eat after.”

Daniel sighed. “Fine,” he said, somewhat relucant. “But I’m only paying for myself.” He gave Jihoon a pointed glance, which caused the younger to sputter.

“H-hey, I’ll pay for myself!” Jihoon protested before putting on a wicked grin. “Actually, you know. Maybe if I try, I can get Minhyunie-hyung to pay for me.”

Daniel snorted. “As always, using your powers for selfish reasons. I should tell hyung.” He playfully narrowed his eyes. “I’m onto you, Park Jihoon.”

“What hyung doesn’t know won’t hurt him. And besides,” Jihoon smirked. “He loves me.”

Daniel cleared his throat a bit too loudly, which made it sound more obnoxious than alarmed, but Jihoon merely chuckled as the boys entered the gym.

“Hyung!” Guanlin waved the smaller member over before Daniel could retort, “Hyung does not love you, he’s just weak to your evil powers.”

Guanlin pulled one of the mats from its stack and laid it flat on the ground.

“Hyung, help me do sit-ups!” Guanlin crawled on top of the mat as Jihoon placed his phone in his pocket.

“Am I just a deadweight to you? Is that why you invited me over?” Jihoon said, attempting to be facetious but belatedly realizing that he sounded more on the sarcastic side. Guanlin’s eyes blew open.

“No, no, hyung, of course not! I just have horrible upper body strength!”

“Relax, Linnie,” Jihoon said in between laughs. “I was joking. Yeah, I’ll sit on you.”

Relieved, Guanlin assumed the position, crossing his arms across his chest while Jihoon sat snugly on his feet. “Let me know if I’m too heavy.”

Guanlin nodded before he pushed himself up with a sharp inhale.

“One… Two…”

In the middle of the room, Daniel had finished his jumping jacks as a warm-up and was heading to the weights along the rack. He glanced over himself in the mirror but his gaze quickly strayed to Jihoon and Guanlin farther in the back.

Despite his somewhat lanky stature, Guanlin was quite adept at working out. His determination made up for his awkwardness and Daniel had to admire his honest intentions.

If only he wasn’t so…attached to— He shook his head, quickly brushing the thought away.

Daniel took one of the weights in the middle of the rack as a starter. It was lighter than he could handle, but one of the first tips he had received from his trainer was that taking too much of a load at once would hurt if he wasn’t careful.

As he steadily did his bicep curls, he briefly wondered if Jihoon would be up to do chin-ups later. Has he been keeping up with those?

He quickly dismissed the idea. Of course he hasn’t; we haven’t had time to do anything but practice.

He decided to switch to a heavier weight. As he assessed his options, he peeked towards the back where Guanlin was still doing sit-ups and Jihoon was pressing his hands against the maknae’s knees, counting under his breath.

How it it possible to be this cute? Daniel wondered. Even when he was trying to be serious, Jihoon was cute. God damn.

“Nineteen… Twenty… Twenty-on…—whoa!”

Um.

Daniel stared, freezing in place. The veins in his arms angrily bulged as he tightly gripped the weight.

Did he just…—?

Daniel could laugh.

Guanlin (the devious kid that he was) had pushed himself too far forward, enough to put his face directly in front of Jihoon’s, allowing their noses to lightly brush each other.

Startled, Jihoon pulled back as his face started to turn a shade of bright red.

“L-Linnie, you’re, um…”  

Guanlin cocked his head to the side, a sneaky grin blooming on his lips. “Hm? What is it, hyung?”

Before Jihoon could respond, Daniel had quickly thrown the weight back on the rack and made his way over to the pair.

“Jihoon, I need your help,” he said, trying to keep his scowl at bay.

“Oh, uh…”

“Eh? But I’m not done yet, hyung,” Guanlin protested.

Jihoon awkwardly looked between the two.  

Oh no. Daniel glared down at the maknae. You don’t get to do those puppy eyes to me, you demon.

“You can’t just do sit-ups, you know,” Daniel reasoned, keeping a level voice and a cold steely gaze. “You have to work out all your muscles to gain progress.”

Jihoon nodded. Daniel had a point.

“He has a point, Linnie,” he said, unsure of what else to say. And besides, he needed to work out too, so this was a good diversion. 

Guanlin grumbled, pulling his legs back. “Fine, I’ll go bother Sungwoonie-hyung. Thanks for helping, hyung.” He flashed a smile to Jihoon and stood up before he trudged over to the others. Sungwoon was busy doing some lifting while Minhyun and Seongwoo chatted by his sides.

Jihoon turned back to Daniel who looked…kind of tense? He dismissed it for fatigue – they did just come back from a music show – and hopped on over to the elder.

“So. What did you need me for?”

Daniel briefly scanned the equipment and gestured to the leg press machine. “Come spot me.”

Jihoon quietly followed, a bit hesitant. “Okay…”

As he positioned himself and adjusted the weights, Daniel took note of the sit-up machine next to him and he had to wonder why Guanlin even needed Jihoon when…

Ugh. Calm down, Daniel… He reprimanded himself. Nothing happened; don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.

“So…what do I do?” Jihoon asked, awkwardly standing beside Daniel’s head rest. He hadn’t even used this type of machine before (although a second glance gave him the assumption that it wasn’t very hard, but still). Daniel had set the machine to 50 kilograms, which…already seemed like a lot to Jihoon. (But what did he know?)

Daniel chuckled. “Just make sure my movements are smooth.”

“You can’t do that by yourself?” Jihoon replied, curiously looking over a different leg press machine on the other side. He sat down and assumed the position, mimicking Daniel’s posture before realizing that the weights weren’t attached.

Daniel slowly pushed his legs outward, bending his knees to a ninety-degree angle and slowly releasing, keeping his speed steady.

“You’re not even watching me,” he scolded lightly, gritting his teeth in preparation for the next rep.

Jihoon rolled his eyes and focused his attention back to his hyung. After another two reps, he mumbled, “This is boring, hyung. I don’t know why you need me to spot you, you look like you’re doing fine.” He turned around, trying again to readjust the weights.

Daniel released his rep, pouting. “Well, maybe I want you next to me.”

When Jihoon gave a questioning look, he added, meekly, “You’re fun to talk to.”

Jihoon made a sound at the back of his throat. “Nice try.” He cheekily replied, “As much as I agree, a conversation is two people, is it not? Or would you prefer to talk to yourself?”

Daniel gave a look. “Alright.” He continued his reps, but only half focusing on making sure his movements were smooth and fluid. “Let’s do a scenario.”

“A scenario?”

“Hm.” Daniel pondered for a bit and then asked, “Okay, hypothetically, right? If we were in a kingdom, what role would you take?”

“We, as in Wanna One?”

“Sure.”

Jihoon sat down in the seat of the machine next to Daniel’s. “Mm…well first off I think Woojin would be a peasant.”

Daniel scoffed. “Wow, okay.”

Jihoon laughed. “I think Guanlinie would be a messenger boy for the royal family. Daehwi, too, actually. Oh, and I could see Jinyoungie as a scribe.”

“So Woojin’s the only peasant, good to know.” Daniel grinned. “Fine, okay, what about us hyungs?” He was starting to feel a bit invested in this random alternate universe, letting his imagination run wild.

“Oh, easy,” Jihoon said, grinning. “Jaehwan-hyung would be the court jester. He would do nothing but play songs and write music, all day, every day. The best musician the kingdom had to offer.”

Daniel expected that. “Fair enough.”

“Minhyunie-hyung…” Jihoon paused, deep in thought. “Minhyunie-hyung would be the healer or whatever they called doctors back then.” Jihoon smiled. “He’s gentle and kind and I think it really suits him.” Jihoon sighed, content.” He could have his own apothecary and would never turn anyone away. An angel on earth, just like now.”

The way Jihoon could light up at just the mention of Minhyun never failed to induce an inkling of jealousy in Daniel.  

I wish you could look at me the same way.

He hummed in agreement. “Go on,” he said, his voice straining. His legs were starting to twinge as they stretched.

“Uh, who else?” Jihoon placed an elbow on his knee, his lips softly trailing the length of his index finger. “Ah, Jisung-hyung would be a farmer, I think. Everyone in the kingdom would come flocking to hyung for his crops and he’d always have some to give away because he’s just nice like that.”

“Now I’m just imagining hyung with all the farm animals,” Daniel said, giggling at the thought. “I think they’d drive him nuts.”

Jihoon smiled.

“Seongwoo-hyung… Seongwoo-hyung would make a great jester, too. But instead of music, he’d put on plays and let’s be real, he’d be the leading role in all of them. He’d be super cocky, but he’d also be the best actor and playwright from far and wide.”

Daniel finished his reps and exhaled slowly, sitting up to let his legs rest for a moment. “There seems to be a distinct lack of a royal family?” Daniel reminded the younger. “There can’t be a kingdom without a king.”

“Oh, well…” Jihoon muttered, conflicted. “None of us really fits the royal image though. Maybe Minhyunie-hyung…?”

Daniel wanted to retort that Minhyun could honestly fit any role (especially if Jihoon was the one imagining it). He glanced over at the others behind him; Guanlin and Sungwoon were playing chopsticks while Seongwoo helped to spot Minhyun as he used the lifting machine.

“What about Sungwoon-hyung?”

“Why am I the one coming up with all the ideas?” Jihoon scratched the spot behind his ear. “I don’t know, I guess he can be the gardener then. Oh no, wait, he can be the queen!” Daniel was about to agree when he burst into a boisterous laughter, catching the others’ attention. “Yes, Queen Ha Sungwoon, feared by lands across the sea and beyond!”

“Excuse me?” Sungwoon exclaimed.

“Oh.”

“Kang Daniel!”

“It wasn’t me!”

Jihoon snickered as he heard Sungwoon mumble something too quiet to catch.

“And…” Daniel extended his legs out in front of him, gently nudging Jihoon’s feet with his own. “What about me?”

“You?”

“Well, both of us.” Daniel grinned. “We don’t have roles yet.”

“Hm…” Jihoon looked up in thought, his lips pursing adorably. “How about this, you come up with mine while I come up with yours.”

“Sure.”

Daniel didn’t need to think about it. He already knew.

“Daniel…” Jihoon muttered under his breath. “Daniel… What would you be…”

Daniel felt his heartbeat quicken the longer Jihoon pondered.

“Ah, I got it!” The younger grinned brightly as if he had just solved the hardest question on an exam. “I know what you would be.”

Daniel grinned. “It better not be something dumb,” he teased. “If you say I’d be a cow or something, I’m revoking our friendship.”

Jihoon laughed, waving his hand in denial. “Nah, it’s nothing like that.”

Daniel let out a relieved chuckle. “Oh thank God,” he said, humor laced in his words.

Jihoon paused for a moment, and said, “You’d be the knight.”

Daniel tilted his head. “Why a knight?”

“Well…” Jihoon ducked his head, slightly embarrassed. He cleared his throat. “I think you make people feel safe.”

Daniel felt the corners of his mouth stretch across his face. “Really?”

“Yeah…” Jihoon diverted his gaze around the room.

Daniel leaned forward. “And?”

“And, uh…” Jihoon stuttered, feeling heat rise to his cheeks (Daniel wanted to melt). “I think you’d do whatever it takes to protect the royal family. You’d fight for the ones you care about. I think that fits you perfectly.”

Daniel stared at the younger with such adoration when Jihoon suddenly looked up, anxious. “Sorry, that got weird. Wow, that was cheesy, wasn’t it?” He chuckled nervously in an attempt to dismiss the awkwardness.

Daniel grinned, getting up to ruffle the younger’s hair. Although he tried to keep a steady smile, inside he wanted to drown in the affection that spread throughout his body. How the hell can someone be this cute? Daniel wondered, for the umpteenth time. And you don’t even realize what you do to me…

“Hey, guys!” Minhyun called out. The other four had congregated near the entrance. “Are you coming to dinner with us?”

Jihoon perked up. “Dinner?”

Already? Daniel checked his phone. It had barely even been twenty minutes, but his stomach was starting to growl. It had been a long day after all.

“We’re coming,” he replied. “You guys head out first, we’ll follow.”

Seongwoo mumbled a quick, “Okay,” and led the way as the others trailed behind him, resuming their conversations.

Daniel turned to Jihoon, teasingly. “You didn’t even work out.”

Jihoon scoffed. “Yeah, because somebody really wanted me to spot even though he could’ve done it himself. Not my fault.” He huffed, following the elder as he weaved through the machinery. “I should’ve gone up to the dorm,” he grumbled.

As they exited the gym, they entered a long, narrow hallway and fell into a pleasant stroll, side by side. Their shoulders brushed gently against each other as they walked down the hall, their steps falling into a steady rhythm. Up ahead, the others were already heading out of the building without looking back to check on their slower counterparts.  

“What about me?” Jihoon suddenly asked, his voice hushed despite there being nobody around.

“Hm?”

“In our kingdom.” He looked up to meet Daniel’s gaze. “What would I be?”

Daniel chuckled. Ah.

Jihoon softly nudged Daniel’s shoulder with his own. “Tell me.”

Daniel grinned, wanting to rile the younger up just for the heck of it. “Mm…”

“Hyuuung.” The elder cooed at how little it took to get Jihoon to puff out those cheeks he adored so much.

With a soft sigh, he let his fingers gravitate towards Jihoon’s, allowing them to brush each other with feather-like strokes. When Jihoon made no effort to pull his hand away, Daniel gently interlocked their fingers and clasped their hands together.

“H-hyung?” Surprised, Jihoon glanced down at their joined hands but made no move to pull away, only giving a questioning glance.

Daniel gave his hand a gentle squeeze, feeling his heart accelerate as warmth seeped from his palms.

“The prince,” he replied, meeting Jihoon’s eyes. “If I am the valiant knight, then you, Park Jihoon, are the prince I will protect for the rest of my life.”

Stunned into a brief silence, Jihoon stared agape at Daniel’s over-the-top grin before he furiously blushed and immediately let go of Daniel’s hand.

“Hyung!” He gave an aggressive whack to Daniel’s arm, which had the elder wincing.

“Ow!”

“You can’t say things like that!” Jihoon screeched as he unleashed a painful barrage of attacks.

“Why? Wh—…ow! Jihoonie, that hurts—!”

“How can you be so shameless? Hyung!”

Jihoon’s satoori was starting to emerge, which just made his entire tirade all the more endearing.

“You liked it, though!” Daniel protested, exploding with laughter as Jihoon continued to abuse his arm.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Jihoon gave a final resounding hit before stepping back and pointing an angry finger at Daniel. “You have offended me. As the prince, I hereby banish you from my kingdom!”

Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Banish?”

Jihoon nodded once with vigor. “Yes. Banish. Forever.”

Unfazed, Daniel stepped closer, taking the outstretched finger and pressing it gently back into Jihoon’s fist, easing his palm to sit under the younger’s hand.

“W-what are you doing?”

Daniel gave an innocent smile, and in a single fluid motion, wordlessly raised the younger’s hand up to his lips, planting a single kiss there in the center. He let his lips softly trail and linger languidly along the digits as Jihoon flushed.

“What was that for?”

“A parting gift,” Daniel said simply, letting go and continuing to walk towards the exit. The others had no doubt already started eating without them. (Or so he hoped. Sungwoon would kill them if they had actually waited.)

“If I am to never see you again,” he said, with overflowing sincerity. “Then I hope that kiss will be something to remember me by.”

He turned to meet Jihoon’s bewildered gaze, stunned once again into silence.

After a moment, he chuckled.

“Bbyong.”

“Wh—”

And with an annoyingly high-pitched laugh, Daniel sprinted towards the exit, leaving a dazed Jihoon behind to fend for himself.

“Kang Daniel!”

Chapter Text

On the second night of their comeback, Wanna One was nominated for first place once again, this time on Show Champion. Tonight they were up against some tough competition, especially with SHINee and BTS also being nominated.

When Jihoon found out his ultimate faves weren’t going to be present for a live performance, he wasn’t too surprised. Severely disappointed, maybe, but not surprised.

Kings will be kings. Nevertheless, he didn’t hesitate to incessantly remind his hyungs what an absolute shame it was that Taehyung-sunbaenim was like his love of life and “Fake Love” was his current Jam^TM and he wasn’t going to see either of them tonight.

Why does the universe hate me.

“Hyung,” Jihoon flopped onto Seongwoo’s lap and clung onto the front of the elder’s still slightly damp shirt. Seongwoo raised an eyebrow, sharing a glance with Minhyun who was sitting beside him.

“What.”

“I’m sad,” Jihoon mumbled, pressing his face into Seongwoo’s stomach. Seongwoo squirmed as Jihoon’s nose prodded ticklishly against his skin.

He sighed. “Are you still on about that? Stop that, I’m gross.”

“But my BTS-sunbaenims aren’t here!” Jihoon wailed for the fifth time that night, over-dramatically.

Seongwoo groaned, sending a glance to Minhyun that screamed, Help me out here, man.

Minhyun just shrugged.

To Seongwoo’s chagrin, Jihoon started to sniffle and let out a fake cry, reminiscent of the infamous crying challenge he did a decade ago. From across the room, Sungwoon and Daehwi gave the trio on the couch a funny glance.

As Jihoon “cried,” Minhyun snickered and reached forward to fluff the younger’s hair. Jihoon immediately quieted and sat up with a pout. “Hyung…”

Seongwoo wiggled uncomfortably as Jihoon painfully pressed down on his thighs. “Jihoon, you’re hurting me.”

Minhyun couldn’t help but ruffle Jihoon’s hair again, especially since it elicited such an adorable reaction. “So cute…”

Jihoon ducked away, sitting up to snuggle against Seongwoo’s torso, much to Seongwoo’s annoyance. “Hyung, please, the stylist worked hard on my hair.”

“Are you gonna get off anytime soon?”  

“We’ve already performed, Jihoonie, I’m sure it doesn’t matter.”

“Still.”

A staff member barged into the waiting room, interrupting their banter. “Wanna One to the stage, please! Wanna One to the stage, please!”, she shouted, before slamming the door closed to gather the next group.

Jisung clapped his hands. “Kids, let’s go! Woojin, come on. Kids! Where’s Jinyoung?”

Amidst the sudden commotion, Seongwoo forcefully pushed Jihoon off of his lap. Minhyun stood up first to leave and Seongwoo followed, leaving a scowling Jihoon on the ground.

Daniel came out of the crowd, grinning as he spotted Jihoon getting up and grumbling about how he’d get back at Seongwoo later.

“Jihoonie!” Daniel wrapped an arm around Jihoon’s shoulders, rubbing his fingers against the nape of Jihoon’s neck, unbothered by the traces of sweat lingering on the younger’s skin. “Good performance today.”

“Hyung…” Jihoon squirmed from the ticklish motions, his shoulders raising slightly with discomfort. Jihoon wiggled out of Daniel’s hold, unaware of the frown Daniel sported once he escaped, and weaved through the many bodies crowding the doorway to catch up to Minhyun and Seongwoo.

***

The members made their way to the stage, waving hi to the fans as they took their places at the front. Filming had briefly stopped for a commercial break and all of the idols were gathering for the final broadcast. Jisung and Sungwoon stood closest to the center of the stage, no doubt ready to make a speech if they won. Jihoon, who was hoping that last night’s momentum would carry them forward, opted to stay near the end of the line, next to Guanlin. Speeches weren’t really his thing anyway.

“Hyung!” Guanlin cheerily greeted.

Without warning, the maknae wrapped his arms around Jihoon’s frame, smiling innocently as Jihoon looked up in surprise. He could already hear the fans screaming with glee as they witnessed this sudden act of what Jihoon quickly categorized to be fanservice.

“Jihoon-ah, I love you!”

“Guanlin, you’re so handsome!”

“Oh my God, so cute!”

“Guanlin-ah, what are you doing?”

What are you doing? Jihoon tried to ask with a raise of his eyebrows, but Guanlin didn’t respond, opting to look out past Jihoon’s head with no sign of letting go.

Jihoon didn’t dwell. He was … comfortable, for the most part – Definitely just fanservice, he reasoned – but then he felt a figure gently press against him from behind. Who is—

Jihoon caught the faint whiff of the person’s signature sweet cologne as he stepped closer.

Oh.

Shit.

Hello.

Jihoon hoped to the heavens he wasn’t blushing.

The beautiful angel named Hwang Minhyun had placed an arm around Guanlin’s shoulder and leaned into the pair, which prompted the maknae to tighten his hold around Jihoon’s torso. Jihoon held onto Guanlin’s arm to steady himself, already feeling a bit self conscious as the fans continued to cheer and scream.

“Minhyun-oppa!”

“Everyone is so handsome, what to do?”

“Jihoon-ah, can I be you!?”

What is taking so long? Jihoon wondered. He just wanted to go home and play some games.

Before he knew it, Minhyun had beckoned Seongwoo over with his free arm and Jihoon found himself in the middle of a standing cuddle pile as the three taller members towered over him. Oh. Okay. Jihoon thought. This is happening.

Needless to say, the fans found it adorable beyond words and continued to express their uncontained excitement.

“Linlin-ah!”

“Seongwoo-oppa!”

“OngHwang rise!”

“So cute‼”

Now this was a weird level of fanservice even for Jihoon, but … whatever. He didn’t not like it. Minhyun-hyung is literally behind me, so…

He barely had time to ask why everyone was so cuddly when Minhyun and Seongwoo abruptly broke apart. Hm? While Guanlin remained latched onto his favorite hyung, Jihoon turned to see Daniel’s retreating back as he pushed past Jaehwan and Jinyoung to make his way to Jisung at the head of the line.

Jaehwan and Jinyoung shared concerned looks, as did Minhyun and Seongwoo. As Daniel turned towards the audience, Jihoon caught a glimpse of his considerably darkened countenance. He took note of how the elder’s jaw tightened and how his presence was no longer warm or inviting from when they were in the waiting room.

Weird. Daniel was whispering something to Jisung now. Did something happen? Jihoon wondered, but didn’t think much on it as the cameras rolled again and with a few finger taps along Guanlin’s arm, the maknae let go as the emcees began their statements.

“And the winner is…”

***

The van ride home was nothing short of irritating for Daniel. He should’ve been happy for their second win but any thoughts of celebration were overshadowed by his complete and utter annoyance upon seeing Jihoon and Minhyun being all cozy in the seats in front of him. They were currently sharing Minhyun’s earbuds and Daniel had to wonder why Jihoon didn’t just listen to his own music.

Perhaps Minhyun-hyung’s taste in music was just that ecclectic. Daniel scoffed. Of course it was.

“Hyung, whose song is this?” Jihoon piped up, keeping his voice down in consideration for Woojin who was dozing beside him.

“You don’t recognize him?” Daniel caught the way Minhyun’s beautiful profile quirked up with genuine surprise.

“Should I?” Jihoon countered, eyes wide and curious.

“Yes, you should,” Minhyun said, good-humoredly. “His voice is pretty unique, I’d say.”

Jihoon hummed in thought. “He reminds me of Nell.”

“Ah, very good, Jihoonie,” Minhyun gushed, and of course Jihoon lit up with the praise. “Nell produced it and you’re right, you can hear his distinct color. But this is Kim Sunggyu-sunbaenim, it’s from his 27 album.”

“Ah…” Jihoon leaned in to rest his head against Minhyun’s shoulder. “It’s pretty.”

“As pretty as you?” Minhyun joked, earning a whine from the younger.

“Hyung.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. Could they be any more gross?

“Hyung.”

“Hm?”

“Do you think you’ll ever produce an album? Like a solo one?”

“An album?” Minhyun leaned in too, resting his head gently against Jihoon’s crown. “It’s hard for me to imagine going solo. I don’t think it would suit me,” he admitted.

“No, what, I’d be your biggest fan, hyung!” Jihoon said, already excited thinking about it.

Daniel held back a groan. Lord help me.

Minhyun chuckled brightly. “Solo or not, as long as you support me no matter what I do, that’s all I want,  Jihoonie.”

“Of course!”

“Promise?” Daniel could only see the movement of their shoulders pressing closer as they intertwined pinkies. Ugh.

“Promise! I’ll support you forever, hyung!”

Daniel could throw up in his throat.

When the van veered into the parking lot, Daniel let out a sigh of relief. The boys piled out and heartily thanked their manager before racing  to the elevator, ready to stuff their stomachs and enjoy their second night of freedom.

Although it was a tight fit, the eleven members were able to squeeze into the somewhat compact elevator. (Daniel could just barely see Jihoon being squished against the side behind Minhyun’s broad shoulders.) Jisung, Sungwoon, Minhyun, Jaehwan, and Guanlin got off at their floor – Guanlin made sure to throw in a chipper, “I’ll be up later, Daehwi!” – and the remaining six members were left in the quiet chamber.

Daehwi and Jinyoung were discussing what movie they should watch. Jihoon and Woojin were busy plotting what games they wanted to play into the wee hours of the morning, already placing bets on what they’d dare the other to do if they won. Seongwoo was texting on his phone.

Daniel sulked.

Apparently he was too obvious about it.

“Hyung!” Jihoon chirped, pulling Daniel out of his thoughts (and attracting everyone else’s attention as well). “Do you want to game with me and Woojin? We’re not hungry yet.”

Daniel glanced over at Woojin, whose eyes flashed with the slightest moment of disappointment before returning to its default blank stare. It was enough for Daniel to pick up on the insinuation that he wasn’t wanted and he mentally rolled his eyes.

“No. I’m good.” Daniel said curtly, throwing a pointed glance at Woojin as the six of them got off the elevator. At least the sparrow had the nerve to look somewhat guilty.

“Oh. Are you sure?” Jihoon asked, as Woojin sent a more obvious glare to the back of his head.

Daniel tried not to search for a hint of disappointment in the younger’s voice. “Yes. I’m sure.” Why don’t you ask Minhyunie-hyung to play with you if you need another player, he wanted to say, but forcefully bit his tongue to stop his bitter thoughts from spilling forth. “I’ll head out to eat after I change anyway,” he said, turning to face and run a lazy finger against the roughly patterned wall.  

“Oh.” Jihoon mumbled. “Okay.”

Seongwoo gave a wary glance to his roommate, sensing something was off, not that Daniel was very good at concealing his annoyance. Daehwi and Jinyoung, who remained mum while Daniel was speaking, nervously returned to their own conversation, speaking more with silent gestures and facial movements than actual words. They also noticed something was slightly amiss, but were too afraid to say anything. Woojin, on the other hand, didn’t care and engaged once more with his best friend about their gaming bets.

Seongwoo opened the door to their dorm amidst the tension and as soon as it opened, everyone sans the eldest two stormed inside and went about their business, feigning ignorance to whatever weirdness just happened.

Daniel stomped his way to their room, rummaging through his pile of clothes like an angry badger. Seongwoo closed the door and stood by the entrance with his hands on his hips, quietly judging.

Daniel sensed the elder’s barbed gaze and glared. “What.”

Seongwoo sighed, already knowing the answer before he asked, “Do you wanna talk?”

“Nope.” Daniel took his clothes and entered the bathroom, shutting the door with a click.

Seongwoo rolled his eyes. He had a (very obnoxiously large) hunch regarding the stick up the younger’s ass – he was sitting behind Daniel in the van after all – and he was so not in the mood to be paired up with a moody Daniel tonight. If it were any other night, they would normally have dinner together, but Seongwoo knew that a pissy Daniel was an insufferable Daniel, and he really needed a way out lest he preferred Daniel yak his ears off the entire time about…

His phone pinged, diverting his attention. A text message.

minhyunie: do you want to have dinner with me?

Wow. Seongwoo raised his eyebrows. Talk about perfect timing.

He read over the message again, trying to force any misconceptions of a deeper meaning out of his head (as well as calm down his quickly beating heart).

ongie: mm … depends

ongie: what did you want to eat?

It honestly didn’t matter. He was totally eating dinner with Minhyun. Eating dinner with your crush was totally a valid reason to abandon his moping roommate and avoid his “shoulder to cry on” responsibilities.

And besides, Seongwoo reasoned, Daniel was probably not going to feel better with Minhyun in the picture.

He was considering asking why Minhyun didn’t just ask Sungwoon and the others (as a joke, of course), when Daniel came back out in sweatpants and a t-shirt, make-up still on his face.

“Hey, what do you want to eat later?” Daniel said with a poorly-concealed nonchalance as he threw his old clothes into the already too-full hamper.

Seongwoo looked up from his phone screen, his grin fading as he looked up from the rolling “…” to his roommate. “Oh, uh…”

Can I pretend to sound sorry, or…

“Actually, Daniel.” Guess I can. “Minhyun and I are about to go have dinner.”

Daniel’s face visibly fell.

“Do you, uh, do you wanna come with?”

Pleasesaynopleasesaynopleasesaynoyouknowyouwantto.

His phone pinged again.

minhyunie: i was thinking jjajjangmyeon

minhyunie: or maybe jokbal. ??

An unwitnessed flash of irritation made its way across Daniel’s face. With a scowl, he muttered, “Uh, no. It’s okay. You guys go on ahead.”

Seongwoo tried not to be too happy (or at least, avoid showing it too much). Time to use those acting skills.

“Oh. Okay then.”

Daniel turned to move towards his bed. Relieved, Seongwoo grinned as he replied.

ongie: ^^ y not both?

minhyunie: bc i’m a poor boi ;~~~;

Seongwoo snickered.

ongie: wow

ongie: some emperor you are

Daniel narrowed his eyes. “What’s so funny?”

“Huh?” Seongwoo stared up like a deer caught in the headlights. “Oh, nothing. We’re just deciding on what we want to eat.”

“Oh.” Daniel shrugged and plopped down on his bed. “Don’t forget the key.”

“I won’t.”

minhyunie: lol w/e just get down here

Seongwoo pocketed his phone with a grin. I love a guy who takes control, he thought facetiously.

“Alright, I’m going.” He quickly checked his pockets to make sure he had his wallet and key. He roughly  threw on a light hoodie and turned to face his grumpy roommate.

“Don’t forget to eat,” he said, sternly. “I know about your weird habit of forgetting your meals.”

Daniel rolled his eyes.

“I mean it, Daniel.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Daniel waved dismissively.

Seongwoo gave an unimpressed smile.

“Okay, yeah, I’ll eat!” Daniel humored his roommate with a sarcastic smile. “I’ll even send you a picture of my food, alright?”

“Fine.” Seongwoo slipped on his mask and hat, patting his pockets once more to make sure he had everything before leaving. “See you, loser.”

“Bye.”

And just for the heck of it.

“Let loose a little, lover boy!” he said, laughing as he quickly scurried out of the dorm before Daniel could attack him with the nearest projectile.

Rudeass bi— Daniel tightened his fist around the corner of his pillow, wanting to curse at the elder, but his threat devolved into a mere hiss under his breath.

He sighed.

So Seongwoo had noticed. Damn, he really sucked at keeping his feelings under wraps.

He couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason why he was so … wound up. Was it because he saw Jihoon practically buried by Wanna One’s visual line in front of all the adoring fans?

Or was it seeing how Guanlin wrapped his arms so snugly around Jihoon and Daniel had to admit that they looked good together?

Or perhaps it was how Jihoon turned a special adoring kind of sweet and soft whenever he was around Minhyun (and only Minhyun)?

Daniel shut his eyes tightly, rubbing his temples in circles.

Whatever the reason, he knew the common denominator was Jihoon, and Daniel was jealous. So stupidly jealous. Why am I like this?

He honestly felt kind of dumb because really, who was he to be jealous? Jihoon wasn’t his.

Yet. The more sinister voice in his head said, but Daniel forcefully threw the thought away. No, he lamented. No matter how much he wanted it, Jihoon’s heart wasn’t his to claim. Daniel could tell (and had known for a while) that Jihoon wasn’t even aware of his feelings, no matter how obvious he seemed (according to Seongwoo anyway).

He moped, wishing that the jeojang boy could realize just how much power he truly had.

After all, who would expect anything less from the boy whose wink captivated the entire nation. The boy whose charm attracted countless fans from around the world. The boy whose personality made everyone around him swoon with delight, rendering them powerless against his will.

Yeah. Daniel’s heart was undoubtedly in the hands of Park Jihoon.

His stomach growled, reminding him of his severe need for nourishment. He got up, willing his monologue of thoughts to be occupied by what he was in the mood to eat for tonight. Hopefully food would make him feel better.  

When he headed out to the living room, Daehwi, Jinyoung, and Guanlin were sitting on the ground, peering into the laptop screen while still mulling over what movie they wanted to watch.

“Still deciding?” he said, startling the trio.

“Guanlin wants to watch a horror movie,” Jinyoung whined.

“Jihoonie would watch a horror movie with me,” Guanlin muttered. He already did, you punk. Daniel rolled his eyes, mirroring Daehwi who continued to scroll.

“Well, he’s not here, so you can zip it,” Daehwi sassed at the maknae, who visibly shrunk in his seat.

Daniel hid a triumphant grin. You go, Daehwi. “Alright, well, I’m heading out,” he announced. Remembering Seongwoo’s words, he mimicked, “Don’t forget to eat something.”

Jinyoung hummed affirmatively while the others continued to point and voice their suggestions (while arguing against the other’s choices). Daniel could bet that he would come home and they would still be undecided.

Shaking his head, he pulled his phone out, hovering by the door as he slipped his shoes on.

danik: yo

jjaenie: yo yo

danik: are you hungry yet

jjaenie: mm i can eat

danik: cool meet you in three

jjaenie: im literally not wearing pants

Daniel chuckled, grabbing his face mask and cap before sending a joking message that Jaehwan should just go pants-less tonight. Summer was here after all. Let the legs breathe.

Speaking of summer, Daniel thought, maybe Jaehwan would be up for some naengmyeon. Naengmyeon would be nice.

His phone buzzed.

Jaehwan replied that he would consider the no-pants idea. He could always use some more attention.

Daniel snickered.

Don’t we all.

Chapter Text

“Thank you,” Daniel said, as the old woman placed two large bowls of naengmyeon on the table. She gave the pair a kind smile before quietly walking away to tend to the few lingering customers out in the main room.

Daniel and Jaehwan had shown up to a small restaurant that was hidden away in a secluded alley behind the busy streets of Seoul. It was a favorite rest stop for Wanna One and their staff, but Daniel hadn’t visited this place in weeks. It was nice to shed his celebrity image every once in a while.  

“So,” Jaehwan put his phone down and picked up a generous helping of noodles. “Any reason why you asked me out tonight?”

Daniel sent a low-quality picture of his bowl to Seongwoo before doing the same, quirking up an eyebrow. “Because we’re friends?” He scoffed, “Am I really that horrible to be around?”

Jaehwan slurped noisily, chewing heartily. “Where’s Seongwoo-hyung?”

“He ditched me to go eat with Minhyun-hyung.” Just the name brought back an unwanted ripple of jealousy. “Didn’t he tell you?”

“Seongwoo-hyung?”

“No, Minhyun-hyung.”

“Oh, no.” Jaehwan took a piece of kimchi, shaking his head. “I was in my room when you texted me. Ah, that reminds me, I should show you the song I’m working on.”

“Sure.”

The pair quickly fell into a comfortable lull. Daniel ate quietly, enjoying the way the noodles easily went down his throat. The slightly sour tang of the broth was refreshing, perfect for the increasingly warmer temperatures. Jaehwan wolfed down his bowl, half done in no time, painfully hungry after a whole day of running around and performing.

“Oh, I wanted to ask you.” Jaehwan said, swallowing before continuing. “Did something happen?”

Daniel cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

“At the recording.” Jaehwan nonchalantly took a bite out of the egg, looking up to meet Daniel’s confused stare. “You seemed upset about something.”

Oh. That.

“Did you want to talk about it?”

“Uh.” Never^TM. “No, I’m good, it was…it was nothing. Uh, resting bitch face, you know me.”

Jaehwan chewed, unblinking.

“Really, I’m fine.” Jaehwan’s staring was starting to unnerve him, so Daniel looked down to grab a piece of radish, chewing it deliberately as an excuse not to talk.

“Okay.” If Jaehwan was still suspicious, he didn’t let it show. “Well if you ever need to vent, I’m here.”

“Thanks,” Daniel said with a weak smile. He wasn’t in the mood to have a 3:00-a.m.-worthy conversation at only 9:30. Jaehwan was better off not knowing anyway.

“I know. And same goes for you,” he added meekly.

Jaehwan paused his chewing. Daniel would have found it comical had he not followed up with, “Alright then.” He watched in mild distress as Jaehwan put down his spoon and chopsticks and reached for the tissue dispenser.

“Story time,” Jaehwan said, as he took a few tissues and dabbed the wad across his lips, working a bit too fervently for such a menial task.

Daniel braced himself. I…I didn’t mean now, he thought helplessly. He really wasn’t in the mood to have deep conversations and there wasn’t even any alcohol to set up the atmosphere…   

Jaehwan took a large sip of water, swishing it in his mouth for a moment before fixing a hard stare at Daniel, who squirmed a little in his seat.

“Tell me, friend.” Jaehwan placed the tissues haphazardly on the table and placed his head in his hands, elbows propped. “Have you ever had an unrequited love or crush? Fallen for someone you couldn’t have, that type of thing?”

Daniel froze for a second, taken aback. He pulled back, confused. “That’s…random. Why do you ask?”

“So…yes?” The corners of Jaehwan’s lips sneakily quirked up.

Daniel gave an affronted look. “W-…I didn’t—”

“No worries, most of us have.” Jaehwan grinned. “It’s fine, no judgment.”

Daniel scoffed. “Well, have you?”

“Yes.” Jaehwan responded without hesitation. “Yes, I have.”

“O-oh.” Daniel looked down at his fingers. “Wh-…” He cleared his throat. “Who was it?”

The other paused, maintaining his gaze.

Daniel frantically waved his hands in front of him. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to! I was just curious, it’s really all up to you if you want to tell me. No pressure, of course.”

Jaehwan chuckled airily. “Okay, well, story time: it was a girl from school,” he said, calmly. “We were pretty close. She was also good friends with Sewoon actually, but I never told him about my...crush. Well,” he rolled his eyes, “I’m sure he figured it out at some point or other.”

“Oh.” Daniel said, a bit startled at how casual and … enthusiastic (?) Jaehwan was being. “She didn’t have a crush on Sewoon, right?”

“What? Oh, God, no.” Jaehwan laughed, his cheeks puffing up into its signature mandu form. “No, she didn’t. Thank God. I don’t think Sewoon and I would be as close as we are now if she did.”

Daniel chuckled nervously. “Right.”  

“So, long story short, we had been friends for a while – since middle school, actually – and we were both part of the music program. I’ll spare the boring parts but eventually I started seeing her as more than a friend around my third year of high school. You can probably guess what happened from there.”

Daniel shrugged.

“Like, we went on a few dates as friends and worked on a few projects together over the summer, that sort of thing. I started finding any excuse I could to spend time with her, even if I had to sacrifice time to do homework or write more songs. Basically, it was a very typical scenario, a very typical crush, one-sided love, you get the idea.”

Daniel nodded, trying to picture a younger Jaehwan slowly but surely falling for his best friend and acting like a lovesick puppy whenever she was around.

It was cute. Sort of.

“So before I left school, I wanted to confess. I even wrote her a song, believe it or not. I worked for like a month on it trying to get it perfect. God, the lyrics were so bad…” Jaehwan chuckled, but without a trace of bitterness in his voice. “It was the most cliché thing in the world: I was gonna confess to my crush with a song, right before I left, possibly to never return. I was gonna do it.” Jaehwan took another sip of water.

Which means he didn’t…

Jaehwan smiled, as if he could read Daniel’s thought process. “So every Friday after school, she and I would go the practice rooms and run through our songs and just jam. Sometimes we’d give each other tips for songs and if we were lazy we’d just have deep conversations. It was our thing, you know? Anyway, you know me. I over-practice. Always have. I wanted my confession to be perfect, so I got there a little later than usual and I’m all hella nervous and shit.”

He sighed. “And, lo and behold, she was with another guy.”

Daniel felt his heart drop. “Oh…”

“Yeah. I walked in and they were kissing. They were really into it, too; it was actually kinda gross,” Jaehwan said with a snicker. “And in our practice room, too, well, I mean, it wasn’t our room but you know what I mean.”

Daniel cringed.

“The dude was a classmate who I actually really looked up to. He was a cool guy. As if it couldn’t get any more cliché, right?” He scoffed. “Anyway, I ran out of there so fast. I forgot what I said, if I even said anything. I might have said sorry or something lame like that. But man, that was uncomfortable.”

Jaehwan picked up his chopstick and tapped it randomly against the wooden tabletop. “She apologized to me later that night on the phone. Said I must’ve been surprised. She asked if they ruined my practice time and I said no. There wasn’t anything to practice anyway.”

Daniel felt a pang of sympathy. “Aw, Jaehwan.”

He grinned. “Nah, don’t feel bad. I said I was happy for her, and that I hoped he treated her well. I asked her how long and she said it had only been a few days.”

“Did you…” Daniel started, flustered as Jaehwan locked their gazes together once more. “Did you ever tell her?”

Jaehwan shook his head. “I figured it wasn’t worth it. I thought there wasn’t any reason to tell her so for the rest of the year, I just kept it to myself. Mind you, there wasn’t that much time left anyway so instead I focused on passing my exams and getting good grades and whatever.”

Daniel nodded, lips pressed together.

“She and I stopped talking as much.” Jaehwan placed the chopstick down and twiddled his thumbs. “I mean, we were…cordial, I guess, especially when Sewoon was around since, I dunno, we didn’t want to ruin his friendship with her, right? But like I said, I think Sewoon picked up on something but was too tactful to say anything. He never asked.” He grinned fondly. “He’s a good kid. Are you done?”

Daniel nodded as Jaehwan stood up, gesturing for him to follow. Daniel grabbed a few tissues to wipe his mouth as they got up, quietly shuffling the chairs. They bowed to the old woman and thanked her for the meal before leaving.

“She started hanging out with her boyfriend more, too, and eventually I figured she didn’t want to hang out with me as much as she used to. I didn’t want to hang out with her either especially since they started becoming inseparable nearing the end of the year. And then once I graduated, she and I fell out of touch. I haven’t spoken to her since.”

They began to steadily walk the few blocks to where their manager was waiting with the van.

“I’m sorry,” Daniel said, adjusting his hat and mask.

“Nah, don’t be sorry.” Jaehwan pulled his own mask over his face, his grin disappearing behind the fabric. “I’ve gotten over it. I definitely don’t hate her or anything, and I like to think she doesn’t have any hard feelings either. It’s just…sad because she really was a good friend and I was dumb enough to let my feelings get in the way of our friendship.”

Daniel hummed, spotting the van’s headlights up ahead. He slowed down his pace.

“It wasn’t just you, though. From what I’m hearing, she pushed you out, too.”

“Perhaps,” Jaehwan said. “But I guess I thought of it like, I was avoiding her because of my insecurity or my jealousy or whatever. She avoided me out of circumstance; it was unintentional for her…” He gave Daniel a look, silently admitting his reasoning wasn’t as solid as he tried to make it out to be. “Regardless, I still think it was mostly my fault.”

Daniel disagreed – he felt it was both of their faults – but at the same time, they were both super young and inexperienced; perhaps this was just meant to be a lesson for the future. Playing the blame game now was useless.

“Why did you tell me?”

Jaehwan glanced over.

“I mean, I’m glad you did,” Daniel grinned. “Thank you, uh…for trusting me. It means a lot.”

Jaehwan stuffed his hands into his pockets, his eyes crinkling into a hidden smile. “Hey now, don’t get sappy on me. We didn’t even drink.”

“I mean it, though!”

“Yeah, I know.” Jaehwan stepped closer to avoid bumping into an elderly woman power-walking in the opposite direction.

“In all honesty, I wish I told her,” he said. “That I liked her and all. It’s one of the few regrets I still hold on to.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Even if nothing could have happened, I think she deserved to know how I felt. Maybe we’d still be friends if we just communicated better, I dunno.”

“You could…call her up again?” Daniel suggested lamely, knowing the idea would be shot down as soon as he said it. Had he been in Jaehwan’s shoes, he would’ve also run away and let things die on their own.

Jaehwan scoffed. “It’s been over four years, Niel. I deleted her number a long time ago. It really doesn’t matter anymore.”

“But don’t you want closure?”

Jaehwan fell quiet at this, pondering for a moment before saying, “I think silence is a form of closure. It sucks, maybe, but it counts.”

“I…I guess,” Daniel replied, unhappy with his answer, but unable to come up with a better one.

“And if you’re wondering why she didn’t contact me, well.” Jaehwan snickered. “I changed my number twice just during my time in Wanna One and like once before Produce. We’re strangers at this point.”

He sensed Daniel’s frown under the mask and chuckled. “Niel, I’m fine. What’s done is done. We’ve both moved on and…I’m okay. There’s no need to get worked up about it. Okay?”

Daniel was still unconvinced, but let it go. If Jaehwan said he was okay, he was okay. “Okay.”

As they moved closer to the van, Daniel forced his steps smaller and smaller. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Hm?” Jaehwan matched his friend’s pace, staring down at the sidewalk.

“Why did you tell me all this?”

Jaehwan cocked his head. “I thought it was obvious.”

“No?”

Jaehwan smirked.

“What,” Daniel said, growing impatient.

“Babo,” Jaehwan teased. “You’re dumber than I thought.”

Daniel glared, miffed. “Kim Jaehwan.”

“Kang Daniel!” Jaehwan exclaimed, playing up his coyness with a shit-eating grin.

Daniel narrowed his eyes. “Stop that,” he said. “What’s obvious?”

Jaehwan let out an exaggerated gasp. “Are you…threatening me, Kang Daniel-ssi?” He punctuated his mocking words with an irritating giggle.

“Oh my God, tell me wha—”

“Evening, kids!”

The pair froze, startled for a moment before realizing that not too far up ahead, their manager had stepped out of the van, waving them over with a big smile. Jaehwan threw a vigorous wave back while Daniel gave a strained expression.

“Tell me,” he gritted out.

“No,” Jaehwan whispered, sending an exaggerated grin to their manager. “Hi, hyung!” he said, cheerily. “Did you eat yet?”

Daniel rolled his eyes. Bitch.

“I ate before I came,” their manager said, happily oblivious as he opened the side door. “Where did you go?”

“We went to the old woman’s place!” Jaehwan said, slipping into the van.

“Ooh, what did you end up having?”

“Naengmyeon,” Daniel said, lowly, throwing an accusatory glance at his teammate humming happily in the seat across from him.

“Was it good?”

“Yeah, it was A+, as usual.”

Their manager slammed the door shut and hopped into the front seat. “Seatbelts.”

Jaehwan put in his earbuds and entered his musical bubble, effectively blocking out Daniel and any of his attempts for further questioning. Daniel scowled as the engine started. He was starting to regret bringing Jaehwan along, especially if the night was going to end with him being a major pain in the ass.

danik: tell me you hoe

jjaenie: :(

jjaenie: well now im nOT gonna tell you since you’re being rUDE

Daniel threw a glare at his friend who merely grinned and turned to stare out the window.

“Jaehwan, how’s your throat?” their manager asked.

Jaehwan looked up, pausing his music. “Huh?”

Their manager sighed and repeated the question.

“Oh. It’s fine now, hyung,” Jaehwan replied. “Thanks, but you don’t have to worry about me!”

“It’s my job to worry.” Their manager flitted his eyes to Daniel in the rear-view mirror. “Daniel, is your leg okay?”

jjaenie: omg what happened to your leg :O

danik: fuck off

jjaenie: :(

“It’s fine, sir.”

“It’s not hurting anymore?”

Daniel tucked his leg behind the other, feeling the faint but familiar twinge. “It just hurts a little if I land on it too hard, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Their manager hummed. “If it gets too painful, let me know.”

“I will.”

jjaenie: ok fine

danik: ?

jjaenie: i’ll tell you

jjaenie: but don’t freak out

danik: what

jjaenie: i told you that story for your own good

danik: excuse me

jjaenie: don’t do what i did

jjaenie: or rather what i didn’t

danik: im so confused

jjaenie: tell jihoon you like him you dumbass

Daniel felt his breath catch painfully in his throat. The sound that came out was a mix between a gasp and a wheeze and left Daniel in a coughing fit, catching the attention of their manager.

“You alright there, son?” Their manager asked, keeping one eye on the road and another in the mirror.

Jaehwan, although partially amused, gave a look of concern.

“S-sorry,” Daniel said, once the coughs had died down. He was beginning to feel lightheaded. “Just, uh, just tired, I think.”

“Are you coming down with something?”

“N-no,” Daniel muttered. “I don’t think so. At least I hope not.”

Jaehwan looked away, his face stilled with a faux indifference.

Their manager grinned a sympathetic smile. “Go home and get some rest.”

“Yes, hyung.”

“You too, Jaehwan.”

“Yes, hyung.”

Daniel’s heart raced in his chest as he gazed wide-eyed in shock at his friend. He desperately wanted to ask Jaehwan if he was joking, if it was just a coincidental prank because there was no fucking way he would know but one look at Jaehwan’s knowing gaze told him everything.

He knew.

His voice trembled as he whispered, barely audible, “H-how did you…”

Jaehwan cleared his throat a tad too loud, cutting him off. He silently gestured to his phone.

jjaenie: i can see you panicking

danik: HOW YHE FUCK SID YOH KNKW

jjaenie: calm down

jjaenie: breathe

jjaenie: lets talk later when we get home

Chapter Text

“Have a good night, boys.”

After bidding their manager a good night, Daniel trailed wordlessly after Jaehwan as they stepped into the elevator. Ever since his friend had dropped the bomb on him, Daniel’s mind was a mess to the n^th degree.

Because somehow, some way, Jaehwan had figured out that not only did Kang Daniel have a crush, he had a crush on a boy.

A boy who’s an idol.

An idol in Wanna One.

By the name of Park fucking Jihoon.

It was too much to take in and his head hurt.

Jaehwan stood on the side with the buttons while Daniel floated over to the opposite side. As the elevator moved between floors, he looked Jaehwan up and down while the other texted on his phone with a poker face. Jaehwan’s return to a seemingly indifferent attitude about, well, everything only intensified Daniel’s anxiety and he desperately needed answers.

“Jaehwan.”

The other hummed without looking up, which annoyed Daniel more than it should. He pieced his words carefully, mumbling them out as if he were walking on eggshells.

“How di—” He cleared his throat to get rid of the horrendous croak in his voice. “How did you know?”

“How did I know,” Jaehwan trailed off as he finished his text. He pocketed his phone and glanced over knowingly. “That you liked our Jihoonie?”

Daniel felt the jolt in his chest. Saying it out loud made the situation feel all the more outrageous. His voice fell to a whisper. “Yeah. That.”

Jaehwan chuckled and lazily ran his finger around the 7 and 8 buttons. “It was a hunch.”

Daniel scoffed. “Bullshit.”

Jaehwan didn’t respond but his lips quirked into a mischievous smile that poked at Daniel’s sense of calm.

The elevator dinged, signaling their floor. Jaehwan took the dorm key out of his pocket and casually walked up to the door, completely unbothered as if Daniel wasn’t glaring a hole into the back of his head.

“Jaehwan,” Daniel barked.

“Woojin is coming in a bit,” Jaehwan said, flippantly as he fiddled with the key.

“Why.” Daniel spat out, abrasive. “Wait,” he froze, catching the gleam in Jaehwan’s eyes. “He knows?”

“Well he knows now.” Jaehwan opened the door with a chuckle. It was then that Daniel realized that it was Woojin whom Jaehwan had been texting in the elevator.

“Why does Woojin know?” Daniel hissed under his breath.

“I’ll explain once we—”

“Oh, hi, Daniel.”

Daniel flinched, causing Jaehwan to snicker.

Jisung and Sungwoon looked up from where they sat on the barstools in the kitchen, both with still steaming cups of tea between their palms.

“Hyung,” Daniel gave a single nod in greeting. “You scared me.”

“We live here,” Sungwoon remarked wittily.

Daniel ignored the underlying sarcasm and directed his question at Jisung. “Why are you up?”

Jisung glanced questioningly at the clock. “It’s still fairly early. I don’t sleep that early.”

“Did you need something?” Sungwoon asked.

Before Daniel could come up with a response, Jaehwan blurted out, “Daniel and I started working on a song.”

Jisung raised an eyebrow.

“We wanted to do some more brainstorming.”

“Right now?”

Daniel avoided Sungwoon’s suspicious gaze.

“Yeah, we wanted to get something down before we lost the inspiration.”

“Oh. Okay,” Jisung said, absent-mindedly bringing his cup to his lips. “Don’t stay up too late.”

“And keep the noise down!” Sungwoon added, earning awkward chuckles from the 96-line as they escaped into Jaehwan’s single room. Jaehwan shut the door with a click.

“I hope you have a song prepared if they ask,” Daniel said flatly. He could just bet that Sungwoon would ask about it tomorrow.

“I highly doubt they’ll remember,” Jaehwan muttered.

Daniel sighed. “Fine, whatever, now spill.”

“No,” Jaehwan grabbed a pair of shorts from the haphazard pile of clothes on his bed. “Let’s wait for Woojin to come and we’ll tell you together.”

“Why?” Daniel groaned, dispirited from the emotional drainage that he had been subjected to over the past hour. He shoved Jaehwan’s clothes to one side of the bed and threw himself onto the mattress.

“I promise, it’ll make sense in a bit if you just chill. He’ll literally be here any minute.” Jaehwan walked past the moaning drama queen to step into his closet to change.

“I can’t believe you guys know,” Daniel muttered disdainfully. “I tried so hard,” he lamented.

Jaehwan sighed, getting increasingly irritated from his friend’s incessant whining. He quickly stepped out in his sleepwear, just in time to hear a timid knock at the door.

“Come in.”

Woojin poked his head in, glancing nervously around.

“Hi, hyung. Niel-hyung,” Woojin greeted. He closed the door and took a seat in the wheely chair by Jaehwan’s desk.

Daniel shot up. “Cool, he’s here. Now talk.”

Woojin gave an apprehensive glance to Jaehwan, coaxing the elder to speak first. Jaehwan rolled his eyes.

“What?” Daniel piped up irritably.

“Okay, well, before you bust a vein.”

Daniel huffed.

“Let me just say that we never really intended to find out like this,” Jaehwan said, a little too cryptically for Daniel’s patience. “Or, at all, really.”

“What the fuck does that even mean.”

Jaehwan gave a scathing glance and began to pace around the room, hands folded behind his back.

“Woojinie came to me some time ago and said you were peeking into his and Jihoon’s room before your schedule. I didn’t think much of it at the time because, well, you’re weird.”

Daniel gave an affronted look.

“Wanna tell us what you were doing?” Jaehwan smirked.

Daniel scoffed. “I’m pretty sure I just wanted to say bye to Jihoonie.”

“And not me?” Woojin piped up. “Rude.”

“I said bye to you!”

“Jihoonie? Awake at that hour?” Jaehwan snickered. “Cute.”

“And so what. That says nothing,” Daniel retorted.

“No, it doesn’t,” Jaehwan agreed. “But then Woojinie said you were acting even weirder later that day when you practically, uh, what’s the word you used,” He paused for a moment but continued before Woojin could speak up, “Oh, right, claimed our Jihoonie in front of everyone.”

“I…” Daniel stuttered. “What?”

“Admit it, hyung, it was weird,” Woojin reaffirmed. “I even said so to Minhyunie-hyung and Jisungie-hyung but they said you were just ‘being friendly’,” he said, with air quotes. He fixed a pointed stare at Daniel. “That was way too close to be just friendly, hyung, and it turns out I was right after all.”

“I hug people all the time!” Daniel raised his voice, frustrated. “That doesn’t mean I have crushes on them!”

“Look at you being all in denial,” Jaehwan muttered drily.

“Shut up.” Daniel spat back. “I just want to know how you guys knew about this because so far, you’ve told me nothing.”

“Right, so far,” Jaehwan said crossly, moving over to Woojin and sitting against one of the arm rails. “Maybe if you chill out, you’ll get your damn answers.”

Jaehwan gave a look signaling Woojin to continue, but the younger just shrugged. “I told Jaehwannie-hyung later but he said he hadn’t seen anything suspicious so I let it go because I thought I was being stupid. And Jihoonie didn’t say anything later anyway.”

Daniel felt a familiar sense of disappointment at that last part.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” Jaehwan said, comfortingly, ruffling the younger’s hair. “You were following a hunch and that hunch led us to where we are now.”

Woojin ducked shyly at the underhanded compliment.

“So then I started observing you more,” Jaehwan said, sharply directing his attention to the grumbling man on his bed. “Woojin was right. You’re not as slick as you think. I’ve seen you go heart-eyes more times than I can count and I almost think even if Woojinie hadn’t said anything, I still would’ve found out sooner or later. That’s how obvious you are.”

“I think you give yourself too much credit,” Daniel replied snarkily. “I am not that obvious.”

“Dude. Have you seen yourself during rehearsal?” Jaehwan gave a fake shudder. “I feel gross when I see you undressing our cute Jihoonie with your sinful eyes. Like during the Number One stage?” He fanned himself. “Lord have mercy.”

Daniel blanched. “I-I wasn’t undressing him!”

“But you so want to jump him.”

“Stop.”

Jaehwan snickered. “In any case, Woojin and I have been keeping tabs on you for some time now. Don’t think we haven’t noticed you touching him every chance you get.” Woojin let out a soft “Ugh”.

Do I really touch him that much? Daniel wondered. How many times had he accidentally – or not so accidentally? – wandered over to Jihoon like a magnet for no apparent reason? Was his alleged bias towards the younger really that obvious or were his groupmates just that observant?

A creeping thought began to form in the back of his mind. If Jaehwan and Woojin figured it out, what about the others?

“But like I said,” Jaehwan continued, “It was all a hunch. We weren’t sold, or at least I wasn’t.”

“I wasn’t either,” Woojin said.

“I believe the fans call it ‘shipping’.” Jaehwan let out a boisterous chuckle. “We shipped you and Jihoonie.”

Flustered, Daniel felt himself blush.

“Y’all are cute. I guess.”

Daniel ignored the slightly condescending tone. “So what was the tipping point,” he said with a hint of snide. “When did you guys become ‘sold’?”

Jaehwan scoffed. “I think tonight was a huge giveaway, don’t you think?”

Daniel blinked. “What do you mean?”

Jaehwan chuckled incredulously, leaning into Woojin’s shoulder. “Oh my God, he is hopeless.”

“Fucking stop insulting me or I’m leaving,” Daniel growled.

“You want to tell me that you just so happened to forget your jealousy-induced rage when the hyungs and Guanlinie cuddled your crush, on stage, in front of all our adoring fans? It was adorable until you nope-d your way out of there.”

Daniel gaped.

“There’s obvious, and then there’s you, Kang Daniel. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone has figured out how whipped you are.”

There was the creeping thought again. Daniel looked down at his toes, wriggling them against the soft fabric of the mattress. “I…I wasn’t jealous,” he said, weakly, hearing the lie in his voice as clear as day.

“Yeah, and I’m not 239 centimeters.”

Woojin interrupted their banter. “Is this why you were moody earlier?”

“Earlier?” Jaehwan raised an eyebrow as Daniel groaned. “Tell us, Woojinie.”

“Nothing happened,” Daniel hissed, pointing an accusing finger at Woojin. “If anything, you were the one with the mood when Jihoonie asked me to game with you!”

Daniel glared the younger down as Woojin avoided his gaze. Jaehwan turned to Woojin with widened eyes. “You cockblocked them?”

Woojin responded with a sharp whack to Jaehwan’s arm. “First of all, I wanted to game with Jihoon, just us two, because no offense, hyung, but you suck.”

Jaehwan snorted as Daniel gaped.

“But then Jihoonie noticed that hyung was having a hissy fit or whatever so he invited him and I may or may not have been opposed to that idea.”

“See!?”

Woojin shot back, defensive, “But Daniel-hyung refused anyway so I don’t see what the issue is!”

“Right,” Jaehwan added. “Because he was jealous.”

“Bitch.”

“But actually, it’s good that Daniel didn’t want to game,” Jaehwan said, raising a finger to the tip of his nose. At the pair’s questioning glances, he smiled. “Because now I am one step closer to winning our bet. Thanks to you, Woojinie.”

Woojin let out a loud, extended groan. “Hyung, that’s not fair.”

“All’s fair in love and war,” Jaehwan said, facetious.

“And you’re a filthy opportunist.”

“Hey, Daniel asked me to go out to dinner.” Jaehwan smirked. “I just took advantage of it.”

 “Wait.” Daniel held up a hand. “You bet on us?”

Jaehwan shrugged.

“But did he actually say he liked Jihoon? Like, for sure, for sure, liked Jihoon?”

“Yep. As if there’s any doubt now,” Jaehwan said, grinning. “Our bet is in full swing, my dear Woojin.”

“Shit, okay.” Woojin nervously tapped his knees. “Jihoon, I’m counting on you,” he muttered under his breath.

“Excuse me, why did you bet on us!?”

“Kang Daniel.” Jaehwan whipped out an arm to point at the space between his eyes. “The faster you confess to Jihoon, the faster I win this bet. I command you to do it within the week or so help me God, you owe me 30000₩.”

“What conf…—” Daniel grabbed a small cushion and threw it forcefully at the offensive finger (and missed). “There is no confession!”   

Jaehwan stood up, placing his hands on his hips. “What happened to taking my advice and telling Jihoon how you felt?”

“I never said I would take your advice.”

“Well you should,” Jaehwan quipped. “He deserves to know.”

“Not when everything is at stake!” Daniel retorted. How could his friend be so dense? “Believe it or not, I actually care about the group and I would never forgive myself if something were to happen just because I couldn’t control myself.”

“You are being paranoid,” Jaehwan said, getting up to pick up his guitar.

“No, I’m being reasonable,” Daniel stressed. “What if something gets out?”

Jaehwan sighed, “Now you’re being stupid.” He strummed a light melody that did nothing to calm Daniel down. “Enlighten me. Assuming you go forth with this horrible confession, how would something ‘get out’?”

Daniel didn’t respond.

“Let’s think logically, shall we. Let’s say he says yes, he likes you back, hallelujah. The two of you would be absolutely braindead if you decided to reveal that to our managers or the stylists or any one of our staff. Correct?”

Daniel nodded, finding a spot on the ground to focus on as Jaehwan ranted.

“So as long as only our friends know, assuming you even decide to tell everyone else, everything is fine. We’re all open-minded and we support you fully. You know that.”

Jaehwan stopped his strumming. “Now let’s consider the opposite. The worst possible outcome.”

Daniel didn’t want to, but Jaehwan powered forth.

“Jihoon says no. He doesn’t like you, whether it’s because he doesn’t swing that way or wants to focus on his career, whatever his reason is, he rejects you. You’re probably heartbroken and we all know he would feel tremendous guilt for turning down one of his best friends and he’d be heartbroken too, whether you see it or not.”

Daniel had envisioned this scenario too many times to count, but hearing Jaehwan put it into words was similar to having a thousand ants crawling along his skin.

“Now, assuming you decide to forego your manly pride, you might confide in me or Jisung-hyung or whoever. Jihoon will probably confide in Woojin, yeah? If you two are professional enough, which I am most definitely sure you are, you would act like nothing ever happened and we’re all still friends or brothers so long as the group is still alive.”

Daniel sighed.

“So, we’ve established that no matter what happens, nothing would get out so long as everyone here remains professional and does their part.” Jaehwan looked over. “So tell me. What is stopping you from telling Jihoon how you really feel?”

“I…—”

“And forget Wanna One for a minute.” Jaehwan crossed his arms. “For once in your life, think about what you want. Would it kill you to be selfish for once?”

Daniel took a deep breath. “I’m scared, alright?”

He could feel the tips of his ears burning with frustration. “Say I tell him and he says no. Fine, nothing would get out, but what about us? What if it affects the rest of you and you all start walking on nails because you don’t want to make things awkward for us which will no doubt make everything awkward and now we’re spending the next six months with our shitty company and hating every moment of it because I decided to be stupid and ruin everything? Would you be okay with that? And what if—”

“Okay,” Jaehwan interrupted, “You need to stop.” He moved over to Daniel’s side of the bed and shoved the other towards the middle to make space for himself.

Daniel grumbled as he scooted over.

Jaehwan pressed their sides together, for once shedding the snark and sarcasm when he said, “Consider this, okay? Just hear me out. What if, a crazy idea I’m sure, what if Jihoon actually likes you back?”

Daniel felt a tiny sliver of hope grow in his chest before he quenched it down with a harsh dose of reality. “No. Don’t say that,” he said, his voice quiet. “Don’t bring my hopes up if I’m going to get hurt later.”

“But you don’t know,” Jaehwan stressed. “You won’t know until you try, remember? And you cannot tell me that it’s impossible for Jihoon to like you. I mean, look at you! Everyone is crazy about you!”

But Jihoon isn’t everyone, Daniel thought, glumly.

“Yes, it’s scary. I get it. But why would you deny yourself the chance to be really, really happy? Trust me, Daniel, if I could go back in time, I would tell that girl how I felt the second I was sure of my feelings, without the song, no questions asked.”

Daniel gave a light chuckle. “You must really hate that song.”

Jaehwan grinned. “This is your chance and I’m not letting you waste it. If all goes well, it would be so great. You both deserve that. And if it doesn’t? You’ll still be friends, won’t you? If Jihoon treasures you as much as you treasure him, and I know he does, then he’ll keep you in his life no matter what.”

Daniel looked down, trying to keep his emotions at bay. Woojin padded over and sat in front of the pair, glancing over Daniel with a concerned gaze.

“I just…” Daniel said, wistful. “I just like him a lot.” He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs.

“Obviously,” Jaehwan said, grinning. “But I can promise you, Jihoon isn’t going to make the first move. You have no idea how often Woojin spams me with texts about how freaking oblivious he is. Like, even I’m tired.”

Daniel smiled. “He’s so dumb,” he sighed fondly.

Woojin grunted in faux disgust, but smiled. He wasn’t good with the touchy-feely subjects, but underneath it all, he really just wanted his groupmates to be happy.

“We’re rooting for you,” Jaehwan said, comfortingly.

Daniel chuckled. “This isn’t just a ploy to win your bet, is it?”

“Believe it or not, I actually care for my friend’s happiness,” Jaehwan said, shaking his head. “But winning 30000₩ would be nice, too,” he added, earning a shove to his shoulder.

“Jackass.” Daniel gave a tired smile. “Thanks, you guys,” he said, before sinking further down to lay flat on the mattress and rest his head on the pillow. He pulled the covers up to chin and closed his eyes.

Jaehwan gave a confused look. “You’re not sleeping here.”

“But it’s so comfy here,” Daniel sighed, content. “I already feel myself slipping away.”

“Nope,” Jaehwan yanked off the blanket, revealing most of Daniel’s body and exposing him to the slight chill of the AC. “Get out.”

“But Jjaeni,” Daniel whined.

“No. Get out. Woojin, you should go, too.”

“Right.” Woojin mustered up the strength to painfully pull on Daniel’s legs, effectively dragging him off of the mattress. Daniel landed on the floor with a light thump and scowled at the grinning sparrow.

“Woojin, I demand updates,” Jaehwan reminded with a smirk.

“Yep, will do.” Woojin gave a mock salute and sprinted out the door with an obnoxious whoop.

“You suck.” Daniel muttered as he trailed after the younger.

“Hey, I’m helping you get your man,” Jaehwan reminded, enjoying the way Daniel blushed yet again at just the mention of their teammate.

“Good night, Jaehwan.”

“Later, loser.”

***

***

***

“We’re home,” Daniel called out weakly as he shuffled his shoes off and slipped into a pair of slippers.

“Hi, hyung,” Daehwi greeted from the living room. He and Jinyoung were currently in the middle of a card game. Woojin scampered over to peer over Jinyoung’s shoulder.

“Is Jihoon home?”

Woojin gave a knowing glance to Daniel, who ignored the cheekiness hidden in that snaggletooth.

“He fell asleep,” Daehwi said, “He seemed pretty tired.” Daniel caught a flash of disappointment pass across Woojin’s face; no doubt he wanted to game some more before bed.

“And Seongwoo-hyung isn’t back yet,” Jinyoung added.

Daniel hummed, too tired to explain that he figured that out when he realized Minhyun hadn’t come back to the other dorm.

“What did you guys end up watching?”

Jinyoung scoffed. “The two idiots couldn’t decide on a movie so we gave up.”

“Oh,” Daniel hovered over Daehwi’s shoulder, trying to figure out the point of the game as Daehwi threw down a card. “Did you eat?”

“Yeah, we had ramyeon,” Jinyoung said, mulling over his cards again after Daehwi’s turn ended far too quickly. “We need to buy more,” he added.

“I’ll tell Jisung-hyung,” Daniel said, walking past the pair to get to his room. “Don’t stay up too late.”

He flicked on the lights and gathered his cleanser and other skincare products before trudging to the bathroom to begin his nighttime routine and get ready for bed. He wished he could sleep for 16 hours; he was beyond exhausted.

It had been a long day.

After brushing his teeth, his face completely bare, he went back out and fell face-first into his pillow, letting his body sink into the mattress. He fell asleep instantly, shutting off the many fleeting thoughts racing through his mind.

Chapter Text

Daniel awoke with a gasp, sweat dripping down his neck and through the back of his shirt. He breathed heavily as his alarm blared and his heart beat rapidly against his chest. He pawed at his surroundings until he found his phone and turned off the offensive noise.

From across the room, Seongwoo groaned with a pillow slammed against his ears. “Niel, I swear to God, I will throw your phone down the toilet if you don’t change that thing.”

“Sorry,” Daniel muttered through his sleep-induced haze.

Seongwoo sat up into a cross-legged position. His eyes remained closed as he pouted, slowly adjusting to being awake.

“Ugh, I feel like death,” Seongwoo said with an unattractive yawn as he kicked his blankets away.

“What time did you come back last night?” Daniel rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Before 2:00, I think? I don’t know, I just came home and crashed.”

“Ah. Oh,” Daniel sat up, suddenly remembering. “Hey hyung, I—”

Seongwoo interrupted him with a flippant wave of his hand before scurrying out of the room while leaving the door ajar.

Daniel huffed. Rude.

He scooted back towards the wall with a sigh. He scrolled through his messages and skimmed through the ones from his managers. He then groaned as he deleted a bunch of spam messages from all-too-familiar numbers, which he proceeded to block.

He then opened a message from Jaehwan.

jjaenie:

do you know what i can buy for 30000w

flowers

which i’ll gladly throw on your and jihoon's wedding day hahahahhaha

Daniel scoffed.

danik:

lol

He left Sungwoon’s meme on Read: 6:27 a.m. √ and scrolled down the list to tap on Jihoon’s contact name – Jihoonie <3

His last message to the younger was:

danik:

look it’s you!~

Read: 2:13 a.m. √

Daniel frowned.

“Why were you up so late,” he muttered. And why didn’t you respond?

He pouted as he sent Jihoon another picture he had saved from a while ago.

danik:

look it’s you again~

ok sorry

but i hope you have a great day!~

Amidst wondering if his use of tildes was cause for concern, he was considering adding something along the lines of “By the way, can we talk later, just you and me?” when Seongwoo returned.

“Okay, I am now officially alive. What was it you wanted to tell me?”

Never mind. Confessing could wait.

“Uh,” Daniel cleared his throat. “Jaehwan knows.”

“Knows what?”

Seongwoo stumbled around their messy room, bending down to gather clean-enough clothes for the day. It was hard to tell which clothes were originally Daniel’s and which were Seongwoo’s (or any other member’s), given that they often shared.

Seongwoo swiped and sniffed at everything. Daniel shifted over when he peered underneath his bed for socks.

“About Jihoon.”

Seongwoo banged his head against the bedframe with an audible thump. Daniel winced.

The elder hissed as he nursed the sore spot.

“You told him? When? Last night?”

Daniel nodded.

“How did that happen?”

“I don’t know, he just,” Daniel ambiguously waved his hands. “He was telling me about some crush from school and how he never told her and now he regrets it and doesn’t want me to do the same thing.”

“…Ah.” Seongwoo continued to look for his matching sock.

Daniel huffed. “He said he knew just from watching me or whatever, I don’t know.”

Seongwoo pulled back. “You know, Minhyunie asked me if there was anything going on with you.”

Daniel groaned. “Am I that bad? What did you say?”

“I told him you were probably stressed.” Seongwoo gave up and grabbed the closest sock he could find. “Jaehwan’s right, you know.”

“Can you believe he has a bet with Woojin?”

“Woojinie knows too?”

Daniel sighed.

Seongwoo chuckled. “Give it time and soon everyone will know. I mean, last night was…” Daniel shot a glare. “…interesting.”

Daniel huffed. “I’d really prefer if that didn’t happen.”

He grabbed a shirt and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

By the time he was done, Seongwoo was in the kitchen, mulling over what to eat for breakfast since they had time. Daehwi was also awake and helping him set up plates and bowls on the table. Jinyoung entered the living room with a yawn.

Woojin’ and Jihoon’s door was still closed.

Daniel checked his phone. Jihoon hadn’t seen his messages, so he figured Jihoon probably wasn’t even awake. Ideally, he would let the younger sleep, but they were set to practice in less than half an hour and a hungry Jihoon was a grumpy Jihoon (and angry managers were never desirable).

He worried his lip as he padded over to the Parks’ door and gave a few gentle raps.

“Jihoonie. Woojin-ah.”

He could hear the covers being ruffled on the other side.

“Woojin-ah.”

He heard Woojin let out a growl, followed by more ruffles.

“Wake up. It’s time to get ready or we’ll be late.”

Daniel stepped back when Woojin opened the door. He was sporting a scowl, his eyes were barely open, and his hair was mussed up on one side.

Daniel chuckled, ruffling the bird’s nest on Woojin’s head. “C’mon.”

Woojin squinted at Daniel and grunted. He lazily made his way to the bathroom, a hand idly scratching at his side.

Daniel poked his head in and headed over to where Jihoon had rolled onto his back, his hand rubbing languidly at his stomach. His eyes remained shut as he used his other arm to pull the covers over his head, leaving a tuft of hair poking out at the top.

Daniel laughed as he sat on the edge of Jihoon’s bed, ruffling the younger’s hair.

Jihoon whined from the touch.

“Ey, don’t be like that,” Daniel said, fondness dripping from his voice. “I don’t want the managers to yell at you.”

“Let them,” Jihoon mumbled from underneath his blanket, his voice groggy from sleep. “They’re nothing without us.”

“That’s…not the point,” Daniel muttered, continuing to rub along Jihoon’s scalp. Too tired to push him away, Jihoon leaned up into the touch.

“Hey, did you see my message?”

Jihoon made a confused hum. “Which one?”

Daniel smiled. “I sent a picture of you. It was from one of your fansites.”

Jihoon rolled away to reach his phone from beside him. “Fansite?”

His phone disappeared under the covers.

“…These are just bunny pictures.”

“Oh,” Daniel grinned. “So they are.”

Jihoon scoffed. “I see even the great Google-nim is my fan. I must be amazing.”

That, you are.

Jihoon popped out of the covers and sat up, mindlessly tossing and turning his phone in his palm. His shirt crumpled at the hem and Daniel did his best not to focus too long on the sliver of skin poking through.

He opted to ruffle Jihoon’s hair again, but this time he ducked away.

Daniel sighed with an impish grin. Jihoon’s morning face wasn’t supposed to be this cute.

“Aigoo,” Daniel cooed, pinching his cheeks.

Jihoon hissed in pain and swatted his pesky fingers away. “Stop that,” he grumbled.

“Why?” Daniel coyly asked.

Jihoon whined again, louder this time, when Woojin returned, glancing over the pair on the bed with a confused expression.

“Jihoonie, stop flirting and go wash up.”

Daniel felt his face flush with heat as Jihoon sputtered.

“I-I wasn’t—!”

“Hyung should go eat too,” Woojin said, flashing an innocent grin at Daniel. “Before Jinyoungie steals all the rice.”

Daniel nodded, avoiding his gaze. Jihoon growled and scurried out of the room.

Daniel glared at the smiling sparrow.

“Way to be a cockblock. Again.”

“My pleasure,” Woojin said, changing out of his shirt.

“I hope you fall on your face today.”

“Likewise.”

***

The first half hour of practice ran smoothly enough. The boys went through three runs of “Light” before delving into the unit performances. Their manager especially wanted to focus on the Lean On Me and Number 1 units, rightfully so, since they were the ones performing later for the broadcast.

Jaehwan and Woojin had a field day gauging Daniel’s reactions whenever Jihoon was front and center. It was different now that they knew the truth. They were far more ruthless with their teasing glances and suggestive winks and Daniel wanted to slap them both upside the head.

Seongwoo merely rolled his eyes, but snickered whenever Daniel made a threatening gesture to the two pests.

“Let’s take a five,” their manager called after Number 1 finished their second run-through without a hitch. “You guys did well.”

Jihoon muttered a quick “Thank you” before diving straight for his water bottle close to where Seongwoo was sitting.

“Ew,” Seongwoo grimaced, but handed the bottle over.

“Shut up,” Jihoon snapped before throwing the water back and—

Oh. Daniel’s attention flew straight to the thin sheen of sweat along Jihoon’s neck. He forced himself to look away (and into Woojin’s smirking face) when he heard a moan and fuck if that wasn’t distracting and unnecessary…

“You looked cool up there,” Seongwoo remarked.

“It’s true, our Jihoonie is growing up,” Jaehwan said, wiping at his invisible tears.

Jihoon scowled. “I’ve been grown.”

He turned to Daniel. “Hyung, what did you think?”

“Oh, uh,” Daniel stuttered as four pairs of eyes suddenly turned on him. “You looked good. As always.”

Jihoon took a second to digest the compliment before breaking out into a huge smile. “Aw, thanks, hyung!”

Woojin made a gagging sound and Jihoon whipped around to glare at his fellow Park.

“Got a problem?”

“Oh no, don’t mind me,” Woojin smirked. “I just think I could totally do it better.”

Jihoon squinted. “Fight me.”

“Right now?” Woojin leaped to his feet and clapped his hands. “You’re on. Let’s get it.”

With a scoff, Jihoon threatened to stand up to the challenge.

“Down boy,” Seongwoo said with a chuckle and a calming hand on his thigh.

“Woojin, sit down,” Jaehwan scolded playfully, pulling the younger member down by his arm.

Woojin grumbled.

“I’m gonna get some more water,” Jihoon said, standing up.

“I’ll go with you,” Daniel piped up.

Jihoon didn’t respond and headed towards the door.

The others looked suspiciously at Daniel.

“What?”

“Are you—”

“No,” Daniel shot down what he knew Jaehwan was going to ask. “I’m actually just getting water.”

They weren’t convinced.

Daniel sighed.

“…and I’m gonna ask if we could talk later tonight.”

Jaehwan let out a very loud and very obvious gasp, which drew a confused glance from Minhyun who was sitting across the room. He turned to Woojin with a teasing grin.

“Get ready to lose, Woojinie,” he said, earning a rough punch to the arm.

Daniel sprinted towards the already closing door before we could be subjected to even more embarrassment. Oddly enough, he could already feel his heart racing against his chest as he stepped out into the hall.

When he turned the corner, his smile dropped when he saw that Jihoon wasn’t alone. Rather, he was partially hidden behind a tall, invasive figure whose back was currently facing him as Jihoon refilled his water bottle.

“—and my mom really wants to see you when we go back and I—hm? Who is it?” The figure turned around. “Oh, hi, hyung! Yeah, so anyway—”

Daniel felt his lips curl into a scowl as he walked up to the pair. Jihoon gave a fleeting smile in greeting as Guanlin continued to blab about going on some special adventures with his family in Taiwan as if Daniel wasn’t even there.

Guanlin was gushing about how his mom kept saying she just couldn’t wait to finally have some children in-laws when Daniel interrupted.

“Hey, actually, Jihoon, can I talk to you for a minute?”

The two younger boys flashed surprised glances at him, and then at each other.

Daniel cleared his throat. “Alone?”

Jihoon gaped, unsure of how to respond.

Guanlin just chuckled. “Alright then. We’ll talk later?” He gave Jihoon an affectionate pat on the shoulder.

Jihoon nodded, seeming somewhat apologetic. Guanlin gave him a bright gummy smile before abruptly flattening his expression as he turned to Daniel. He gave a brisk nod before heading back down the hallway and disappearing around the corner.

Jihoon let out a breath. “No need to be rude, hyung,” he said, admonishing. “What is it?”

“You’re going to see Guanlin’s family in Taiwan?”

Jihoon furrowed his eyebrows. “I was under the impression all of us were going to see Guanlin’s family in Taiwan.”

The snake.

“He certainly didn’t say anything to me.” Daniel made a mental note to ask the others about this alleged visit.

Jihoon chuckled. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Oh,” Daniel fiddled with his hands, unsure of where to put them. “I was, uhh, wondering if you were free tonight.”

Jihoon tilted his head. “As free as everyone else.”

“Right.” Oof. Daniel shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just,” Daniel heaved a sigh. “I wanted to know if we could talk. Tonight. Later.”

Jihoon raised an eyebrow.

“Alone.”

Jihoon looked around. “We’re alone right now.”

“I, uhh,” Daniel felt the tips of his ears start to heat up. “I can’t say it now.”

“You can’t say it now.”

“Yeah.”

Jihoon gave a look, clearly disbelieving, but conceded. “Fine. We can talk later when we get home.”

“Nice.”

Daniel immediately scolded himself for sounding so lame.

“This better be important,” Jihoon joked, already walking back to the practice room. “I was going to increase my level tonight in Battlegrounds.”

His eyes lit up with spite. “Woojin said I couldn’t do it.”

Daniel laughed as Jihoon started to ramble about how wrong Woojin would be later.

In the back of his mind, however, the sheer nervousness of having the talk was beginning to creep up on him, rendering him just slightly short of terrified. He wondered if he actually had the guts to follow through with his friends’ advice and confess, or if he would simply flake and run away from an opportunity he might never get again.

Chapter Text

Jihoon sighed with relief when their third win for “Light” was announced on M Countdown.

After their encore stage where they all-too-excitedly mauled Seongwoo’s face with makeup and eyeliner, the staff hastily ushered them into the back room to film a quick video for their Wannables to thank them for their win.

A quick glance at the modern art piece that was Seongwoo’s face sent a burst of laughter among the members. Sungwoon and Minhyun happily used their elder privileges to relentlessly tease Seongwoo, who willingly played along, but Jihoon could see the gleam of revenge already taking shape in Seongwoo’s eyes.

Yikes. Jihoon shuddered. Wanna City? More like Mess City. Population: 11, mayor: Ong Seongwoo.

But soon to be 10, Jihoon thought with a smirk, for he had already planned where his hideaway spot would be whenever Seongwoo decided to explode, that is, assuming Daehwi or Guanlin wouldn’t get to it first. He’d have to act fast and secure the—

“Alright, everyone, let’s get into places! Pair up and look over here at the camera!” Jihoon broke out of his escape route planning. “On three, let’s say, ‘Wannables, we love you!’, alright? And don’t forget the gestures and finger hearts! Let’s go, chop chop!”

The members quickly clustered together, ready to get back in the van and go home.

Jihoon was about to partner up with Jinyoung when he felt a sudden weight on his shoulders forcing him down into a squatting position.

“Agh! Hyung,” Jihoon groaned from the over-sized Samoyed now clinging onto him. He shifted to allow the pressure to fall on his feet.

Daniel chuckled but didn’t budge. He crossed his arms over Jihoon’s chest, securing him in place.

Jihoon whined and did his best to wiggle over towards Sungwoon, closer to the front of the group.

“Ready!” The director bellowed. “1…2…3!”

“Wannables, we love you!”

With a beaming smile, Jihoon went the extra mile to throw in a finger heart kiss. Just because.

“Okay, cut! Thank you, everyone!”

“Thank you!” The boys bowed before scattering to remove their microphones and find the stylist noonas to help them remove their makeup. The faster they did, the faster they’d return to the van.

Jihoon was about to stand up, but was kept down by the freakishly large puppy still on his shoulders.

“Hyung,” Jihoon whined, tapping at Daniel’s hands. “Let go, you’re heavy.”

“Hey,” Daniel grumbled. “I might not diet, but I’m not fat.”

Jihoon laughed. “Never said you were fat. Just heavy.”

Daniel hummed.

“Hyuuuuung.”

When he still made no move to get off, Jihoon sighed and summoned the rest of his strength to practically shove the elder off and scurry over to Jinyoung before Daniel could protest.

Weird.

He knew Daniel was touchy, clingy even, but not this clingy. It wasn’t the first time Jihoon had picked up on Daniel acting…off. What gives?

Jihoon shook his head. He was too tired to think that deeply. It probably wasn’t even a big deal.

Still.

As he made conversation with Jinyoung, he couldn’t help but wonder what Daniel wanted to tell him tonight, and why they specifically had to be alone.

***

Jihoon trudged out of the elevator, leaning his head against Woojin’s shoulder and causing him to stumble forward.

“Jihoonie,” Woojin grunted. He tried to shrug him off.

“Stop,” Jihoon mumbled. “You’re comfy.”

Woojin sighed. “What did you want to eat? Ramen?”

Jihoon nodded. “Ramen,” he muttered. No way was he (read: Seongwoo) attempting to cook anything tonight.

Seongwoo made his way to the front to open the door. As soon as he did, Daehwi shoved his way inside and let out a piercing screech, “Maknae dibs on the shower!”

“You went first yesterday!” Jinyoung argued, but Daehwi had already grabbed his clothes from his room and zoomed into the bathroom before slamming the door.

Jinyoung sighed. “How does he do that?”

“Ah,” Seongwoo said, still taking off his shoes. “The energy of youth.”

“But I’m not even that old,” Jinyoung pouted.

Seongwoo shrugged and went into his room to change.

“Hey, Jihoon,” Woojin said, smirking. “Wanna shower with me later?”

Jihoon made a face. “No. You’d use up all the shampoo just to piss me off.”

Woojin let out an exaggerated gasp. “Oh my God. You know me so well!”

Jihoon rolled his eyes and took his phone out. “I’m going to ask Guanlin if he wants to eat with us, is that okay?”

Woojin nodded before screaming towards Seongwoo’s room, the door still ajar, “Hyung!”

“What!?”

“Guanlin’s eating with us tonight!”

Seongwoo grumbled something out of earshot before replying. “Okay!”

Jihoon stifled a chuckle.

“Ah, Niel-hyung, do you want to join us?” Woojin turned to the unusually quiet member.

“Huh?” Daniel snapped out of his thoughts. “Oh. Sure.”

Jihoon gave Woojin a look that said Why wouldn’t he join us?, but continued to text Guanlin.

“Hyung!”

“What!?”

“Niel-hyung is eating with us too!”

“I knew that already!”

Jihoon lightly punched Woojin’s shoulder as he burst into chuckles.

“Be nice.”

“That is an invalid request, Mr. Park.”

“I’ll make it valid, Mr. Park.”

“Uh, Jihoon?”

Jihoon and Woojin turned to Daniel, who was fumbling with his hands and shuffling awkwardly in place.

“What’s wrong, hyung?”

Jihoon walked up to Daniel. Daniel flinched back, causing Jihoon to flinch as well.

“Oh! Sorry,” Jihoon muttered. “Are you alright?”

Daniel nodded, but his voice fell to a whisper.

“Is now a good time?”

“For…oh,” Jihoon remembered. “Uh,” he turned around to Woojin, who had pulled out his phone in an attempt to look distracted, but Jihoon knew he was listening in to…wait, why were they whispering?

“We could wait until after dinner?”

“Um,” Jihoon pondered, but shook his head. “Dinner won’t be done for a while, yeah?”

Daniel smiled. “It’s only ramen, right?”

“I mean,” Jihoon sheepishly mumbled.

Daniel chuckled. “Up to you.”

Jihoon shook his head. His curiosity got the better of him. “Let’s do it now. Now’s a good time.”

Why were they still whispering?

He scratched behind his ear. “Should we take this to my room?”

Daniel’s eyes widened. If Jihoon didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought Daniel was blushing.

“Uh, let’s go to the gym instead,” Daniel said, already turning towards the door. He glanced down at the pairs of shoes scattered across the floor and sighed.

Jihoon laughed as Daniel begrudgingly put on the shoes he had just chucked off, prompting Jihoon to do the same.

“Well, guess I’ll shower first then. Farewell, my Jihoonie,” Woojin snickered with a gross hand kiss. “I’ll think of you fondly.”

Jihoon made a show of rolling his eyes as Woojin disappeared into their room.

“I should let you know,” Jihoon turned back to Daniel, tying his laces. “I’m too tired to do any lifting today, so I’ll probably just watch you.”

Daniel nodded. His faint smile morphed into a flat line.

Jihoon frowned. Whatever was weighing on Daniel’s mind must be pretty big. He grew worried.

“I’m here!”

Jihoon looked up, startled to see Guanlin happily burst through the door (which Jihoon now realized had been left unlocked).

“Jihoonie-hyung, you’re leaving?”

Jihoon nodded and was about to respond when Daniel interrupted.

“Jihoonie and I are going to the gym.”

He turned to Jihoon, silently asking for affirmation.

“Right now? Can I come?”

Again, Daniel piped in before Jihoon could reply.

“It’s private. Sorry.”

“O-oh,” Guanlin said, clearly dejected.

Jihoon threw a glare at the elder — Be nice. — before turning to the tall child in the room.

“We won’t be gone long, Linnie,” he said, hoping his voice came off comforting enough. “We’ll be back before dinner.”

“That’s not a guarantee though,” Daniel coldly muttered off to the side.

Jihoon sent a scathing glance in his direction.

Guanlin pouted.

“Uh, Seongwoo-hyung’s getting ready to make some ramen,” Jihoon suggested, forcing the words through his teeth. “Go help him and we’ll be back before you know it.”

Guanlin nodded and wordlessly made his way to Seongwoo’ and Daniel’s room. Jihoon heard him mumble a soft greeting before stomping after Daniel out the door.

“What was that?” He demanded, power-walking to match Daniel’s long strides.

Daniel huffed. “Nothing.”

“Did Guanlin do something to piss you off?”

“No?”

Jihoon scoffed.

“What did he do?”

“Nothing, Jihoon.” Daniel angrily punched the elevator button.

Seriously, what is with you? Jihoon silently glared at his back as they entered the elevator. He moved to the other side, creating a rift full of tension between them.

They were silent the entire way down. When the doors opened, Daniel exited first, bee-lining for the gym without waiting for Jihoon to catch up.

Jihoon sighed as he watched Daniel’s figure walk past the glass doors. Daniel was acting weird again, and obviously not in the good way. Something was wrong, and Jihoon intended to get to the bottom of it.

He pushed his way inside and saw Daniel gripping onto one of the chin-up bars in the corner of the gym. He pulled himself up with a grunt, and Jihoon could already spot a flaw in his technique. He scoffed.

“Your form sucks, Kang Daniel,” he said, walking up to the equipment.

Daniel raised an eyebrow.

Jihoon reached up to tap at his hands.

“Your hands are too far apart." He tsked. "Isn’t that what you taught me?”

Daniel grunted, annoyed. 

“Seriously, what is with you? Is one of your cats sick or something?”

“What? No, they’re fine. I think.”

Daniel lifted himself for another chin-up, this time with his hands in the proper position.

Jihoon plopped onto the stack of mats in the corner, letting his feet dangle just above the ground. “Wanna tell me why we’re here then? Alone?”

“I was losing progress. Manager said I needed to watch my figure. You can spot me.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

Daniel held his weight above the bar for a few seconds longer before releasing with a loud exhale.

Jihoon ran his fingers along the edge of his seat. “So you’re pissed at Guanlin for who-knows-what. You’re barely talking to me now even though you were desperate to get us alone earlier today.”

“I was not desperate.”

Jihoon gave a look. His voice softened.

“You know, if Guanlin was giving you a hard time, I can just talk to him if you’d like?”

“It’s,” Daniel groaned as he did another rep. “…not about Guanlin.” And another.

Jihoon sighed, beginning to lose patience. “Then what is it? If you’re not going to tell me, I’m going back up to the room. I'm hungry.”

At that moment, Daniel let go of the bar with a forceful grunt and his feet hit the floor with a thump. He rubbed his arms up and down and stared at Jihoon with an unreadable expression.

Jihoon raised an eyebrow but avoided eye contact.

"Are you trying to look intimidating? Because it's not working."

Daniel didn't move.

Jihoon was getting fed up.

“Well?”

“Park Jihoon.”

Jihoon looked up to see Daniel press his lips into a tense smile. Daniel shook his head and took a step forward.

“You," he chuckled bitterly. "You really don’t know.”  

“Know what?" Jihoon stammered, backing away as Daniel moved closer. "W-what are you doing?"

He gasped when his back hit the mirror and suddenly Daniel was too close. How…? Daniel pressed his palm against the mirror, right above Jihoon’s shoulder. His face hovered right in front of his and Jihoon forced himself to look anywhere else other than into Daniel’s deep, dark eyes.

His heart raced in his chest. He couldn’t piece what was happening.  

Daniel leaned into the dwindling space.

“It’s you,” he whispered. “It was always you.”

Jihoon’s eyes widened. “Hyung?”

“I like you, Park Jihoon.”

Jihoon felt his breath catch in his throat. He…

He couldn't think. Not with Daniel staring so intently.

“I—...I don’t…”

He was interrupted by Daniel's airy chuckle. The elder pulled back with a sheepish grin and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“It’s okay,” he said, keeping his head down. “You don’t have to say anything.”

Daniel looked up and smiled, but Jihoon could see it didn’t reach his eyes.

He wasn't okay. 

“I just thought you should know.”

Jihoon wanted to say something, but nothing would come out. He gaped dumbly as Daniel backed away with a slight wave of his hand before he turned around and sprinted out of the gym.

Jihoon watched, shell-shocked, as the doors swung closed and he was left alone with the deafening whir of the overhead fans.

Chapter Text

Daniel could barely focus as he ran up the stairs, bypassing the elevator altogether.

He did it. He actually did it. He told Jihoon he liked him.

But then why did his chest hurt? And why did he feel like crying?

The image of Jihoon’s eyes flickering with shock was imprinted in his mind. He knew the answer before he even asked the question.

Jihoon didn’t like him back.

Daniel wanted to scream. He felt so stupid. He just ruined everything when he promised himself he wouldn’t. His breathing grew heavy and he felt panic begin to shroud his mind.

What’s going to happen now? What have I done?

He barged into the dorm, ignoring Daehwi’s questioning glance, raced to his room and closed the door with a slam. He knew he was making a scene but he prayed the others would just let him be, chalk it up to something their manager said or even him stumbling upon a particularly insulting hate comment. He just wanted to be left alone.

He burrowed under the blankets with his phone and tapped on Jaehwan’s name.

danik:

i told him

i shouldve known

Without waiting for his friend’s reply, he tossed his phone to the side and brought the covers higher above his head. He wanted to fall asleep as fast as possible and hoped no one would come in, but alas, the door opened.

“Niel?”

“Go away.”

He felt Seongwoo’s weight dip the side of the bed.

“Is everything alright?”, he asked, worry evident in his voice. “What happened? I heard you come in.”

Daniel’s throat felt tight.

“Niel?”

“I,” Daniel swallowed thickly. “I did it."

"Did what?"

"I confessed.”

Seongwoo’s breath caught in his throat. Daniel’s current state was enough for him to know everything.

“I see.”

Daniel curled into a ball. “It was a mistake, hyung. I never should’ve said anything.”

“Hey,” Seongwoo tutted, bringing a hand to rest on his shoulder.

“I ruined everything…”

“Come on, don’t say that.” Seongwoo consoled with comforting gestures. “He didn’t respond badly, did he? Jihoonie doesn’t seem like the type to, you know, freak out.”

Daniel didn’t respond.

“Did he?”

He sighed. “He didn’t say anything.”

A long pause followed as Seongwoo began to see the bigger picture.

“...Nothing?”

Another sigh.

“Nothing at all? Seriously?”

“Hyung,” Daniel grumbled. “Just let me wallow in peace. Weren't you making ramen? You don’t even have to save me a bowl, I’m not hungry.”

“No, wait. Niel, listen to me,” Seongwoo’s grip on his shoulder went from gentle to demanding as he turned Daniel around. Daniel’s narrowed eyes poked through the top of the blanket.

“You’re telling me he said nothing. And so logically you freaked out instead.”

Seongwoo’s glare was beginning to unnerve him. Daniel nodded, trying to turn back to face the wall, but Seongwoo’s fingers were firm.

“Kang Daniel. Did Jihoonie tell you, at any point, that he was not interested?”

Daniel scoffed. “If you’re trying to get my hopes up, it’s not working.”

“Did he tell you he didn’t swing that way and that there’d be no hope for you to be together?”

Daniel burrowed under his blankets with a grunt.

“Niel, are you crazy?” Seongwoo nearly screeched. “You ran away without giving him a chance to respond! Forget about responding badly, the poor boy didn’t respond at all!” 

“I didn’t need to hear him reject me out loud, okay?”

“And how are you so sure he was going to reject you, huh?” Seongwoo was borderline livid. His best friend was an idiot. “Fine, he could’ve said no, but Niel, he could have said yes! But he didn’t say anything because you didn’t let him and now you’re freaking out over—ahh, I…” Seongwoo muttered a colorful curse, pressing the space between his eyebrows.

Daniel could honestly laugh. Seongwoo’s theatrics aside, the idea that Jihoon could ever accept his feelings seemed far too ridiculous now.

“Why did you run away?”

“Because! I—”

At that moment, Jaehwan burst through the door.

“Oh my God, Daniel, are you o—oh, hi, hyung.”

“Jjaeni,” Daniel greeted, sullen.

Seongwoo huffed and stood up. “Jaehwan, talk some sense into him. He’s being stupid.” He sent a piercing glare. “More than usual.”

“Uh,” Jaehwan glanced warily at the lump on the bed. “Okay. You should go check on Jinyoung by the way. He’s struggling in the kitchen.”

Seongwoo gasped and bolted out of the room – nearly running into Woojin and Daehwi who were waiting right outside the door – with a string of curses ready to be unleashed. Jaehwan promptly shut the door, locked it, and sat next to Daniel’s sad form.

“Are you okay? You didn’t respond to my messages and I thought you were having a panic attack or something and I got really worried so I got here as fast as I can.”

Daniel rolled to face the wall. “’m fine.”

Jaehwan huffed. “Want to tell me why Seongwoo-hyung is mad at you?”

“He’s being dumb.”

“Huh. Well if you tell me, we can laugh at him together.”

Daniel rolled onto his back and poked his head out from under the covers. After a quick relay of what happened, he added, “He thinks I should be rejected out loud and I said I really didn’t need the extra salt. And then you came in. The end.”

Jaehwan pondered for a moment to process and then fixed an are-you-serious glance at him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Daniel whined, well aware he had already lost the argument.

“So you panicked. You ran away because you went into a gay panic.”

Daniel buried himself under the blankets again.

“I hope you know that’s not how you confess. Jesus, you really are dumb,” Jaehwan ran a hand through his hair. “Niel, how was Jihoon going to tell you how he felt if you weren’t even there to hear it?”

Daniel released a suffering sigh. “Like I said, I didn’t need to hear him reject me out loud, Jaehwan. It’s bad enough for my ego he doesn’t like me to begin with.”

“Yes, you did!” Jaehwan really wanted to slap his friend, but refrained out of concern for the makeup artists tomorrow. “Niel, how are you so sure he was going to say no?”

“You didn’t see them,” he replied, quiet and wistful.

“See what?”

“His eyes.”

“…Excuse me.”

“They don’t lie.”

Jaehwan was about to make a really bad Shakira reference but instead snorted and said, “Then tell Jihoon to look at me when I ask the hyungs if I’m annoying. I still think Jisung-hyung is a surprisingly good liar.”

Daniel groaned. “You really suck at this comforting thing, you know that?”

“Niel, I don’t give a crap about his God-given eyes! Until he gives you his final word, you might very well still have a chance. Oh my God, no wonder Seongwoo-hyung wants to throw a chair at you,” Jaehwan gave a light punch to Daniel’s shoulder and the lump recoiled. “I want to throw a chair at you.”

“What do you expect me to do?” Daniel asked, exhausted. “I’ve already messed things up and I don’t want to make things worse. And for the record, you are annoying.”

“Have you considered, I don’t know, just talking to him like a normal human being?”  

Daniel paused, and for a moment he considered confessing to Jihoon again – and doing it “properly”, by Seongwoo’ and Jaehwan’s standards – but then he shook his head, crushing that optimism before it grew too big. Again.

He shifted closer to the wall. “Jaehwan, if you’re not going to make me feel better, then go.”

“I’m trying to help!”

“It’s not working.”

“Because you’re being a wuss!”

“So I am.” Daniel could accept that. Until now, he had been too cowardly to say anything to Jihoon regarding his feelings and now that he had, he was too cowardly to face the consequences.

“So that’s it? You’re just going to give up.”

Yeah. He was pathetic. But maybe this was for the best. A little heartbreak never killed anyone. He was a professional. He could handle it.

“Look, I’m not going to let this get in the way of the group. We can forget this ever happened and with any luck,” Daniel sighed, miserable. “He will, too. We can go back to being friends and everything will go back to normal.”

“Niel, I—”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Listen to me—”

“No. Please. Go.”

Jaehwan paused, clearly wanting to protest, but swallowed the thought with a heavy sigh.

“Okay. Fine.”

Daniel felt the mattress spring up. Jaehwan turned off the light and shut the door without another word.

Outside, Daniel could hear the younger members asking what was wrong, if something happened, if Daniel was okay, if Daniel was still going to eat dinner. Daniel winced. The guilt of worrying the kids just made his heartache worse. He just wanted to sleep.

Thankfully Jaehwan was tactful enough to pull them away from the door and say, “He’s feeling a little sick. Don’t worry. He’s sleeping now, so let’s not bother him.”

***

When Jaehwan came out of Daniel’s room, Woojin, Daehwi, and Jinyoung, who Seongwoo had just chased out of the kitchen in fear of him burning down the entire building, jumped back and cowered in the midst of Jaehwan’s glare.

“Kids,” Jaehwan scolded.

“What happened, is he alright?” Daehwi piped up and Jaehwan sighed. The elder could never stay mad at Daehwi for too long, Woojin thought.

“Is he sick?” Jinyoung added. “Is he still going to eat with us?”

Jaehwan shared a glance with Woojin.

“He’s feeling a little sick,” Jaehwan consoled the maknaes with a tight smile. “Don’t worry. He’s sleeping now, so let’s not bother him.”

Woojin stepped aside as Jaehwan ushered the others further from the door and into the living room.

“Hyung, do you want to eat with us?” Daehwi asked, aware that with one less person, there’d be more food to distribute.

Seongwoo stepped out of the kitchen then, worry written all over his face. Jaehwan frowned and Seongwoo got the message.

“Jaehwan, you’re welcome to stay,” Seongwoo said. “I’m almost done.”

“Nah, I’ll head back,” Jaehwan shook his head. “I have a lot to catch up on with this song I’m writing. Thanks, though.”

Jaehwan left, leaving the other members in a somewhat tense silence. Daehwi and Jinyoung moved to the table to continue their previous banter in soft whispers, while Woojin made himself busy by helping Seongwoo prepare the side dishes and setting up the utensils. As he reached for the bowls, he kept wondering if Jihoon would join them, that is, if he even came back to the dorm after what had happened. 

Seongwoo had just set the large pot of ramen in the middle of the table when Jihoon entered the dorm, quiet and unassuming. He kept his gaze downward as he entered the living room.

“Hey,” Woojin greeted. Daehwi and Jinyoung stared on with curious eyes.

Jihoon gave a halfhearted smile, sitting down in one of the chairs at the table.

“Ah, you’re just in time, Jihoonie,” Seongwoo said, sprinkling some mild cheer into his voice to rid the heavy atmosphere. “Are you hungry?”

Jihoon gave another faint smile. “A little.”

Seongwoo, out of the goodness of his heart, served Jihoon first. He was about to dump another heaping ladle’s worth of noodles and soup into Jihoon’s bowl when Jihoon stopped him.

“Uh, I’m good, hyung,” Jihoon said. “I’m not that hungry. Thank you.”

Seongwoo merely nodded with a bewildered expression. Jihoon was a rather healthy eater, lover of all things edible, so for him to reject another helping was…not like him, diet or otherwise. Seongwoo frowned.

“If you want more, don’t hesitate.”

Jihoon nodded, said his thanks, and began to quietly scarf down his ramen.

Dinner was a quiet affair, and uncomfortable for everyone present. Woojin hated awkwardness and he was thankful for Daehwi and Jinyoung, who would share small conversations to the group just to put something into the silence. Seongwoo would casually remind them of their practice time tomorrow and maybe throw in a lighthearted joke about one of their managers. Meanwhile Woojin couldn’t help but wonder if he should offer Daniel some ramen – there was plenty leftover – and if he should say something too, because normally he would be the chattiest member at the table.

Jihoon finished first, thanked Seongwoo for the meal, and quietly went into his room, shutting the door.

“Did something happen between him and Niel-hyung?” Jinyoung asked, shifting his eyes to Seongwoo.

“What happened?” Daehwi added, wide-eyed.

Seongwoo’s expression was stiff. As the eldest, he was in charge of resolving arguments and maintaining the peace, but Woojin knew this particular situation was not one he wanted to mess around with.

Woojin couldn’t blame him.

“Whatever it is, I hope they work it out in the morning.”

Daehwi wasn’t satisfied. “Did they fight?”

Seongwoo shrugged before standing up and clearing out the table, effectively ending the conversation.

“Woojin, it’s your turn to do the dishes.”

“Yes, hyung.”

The maknaes turned to him when Seongwoo moved to the sink.

“Hyung, do you know something?” Jinyoung pressed, whispering.

"Yeah, you've been too quiet," Daehwi added, suspicious. 

Woojin couldn't lie, but it wasn’t his place to reveal Daniel’s feelings. With his lips pressed tight, he shook his head. 

“I just hope it’s nothing serious,” he mumbled.

The other two were not mollified in the slightest, so he added, “I’m sure they’ll work it out. They're adults now, right?”

They better.

Before he could be interrogated further, he speedily brought the remaining bowls to the sink where Seongwoo was.

Seongwoo had just finished rinsing in the kitchen. He was drying his hands when Woojin dumped the load into the sink and suddenly wrapped his (thankfully dry) arms around the elder’s waist from behind.

Seongwoo gasped.

“Hyung.”

Seongwoo chuckled, bringing a hand back to pat the younger. “I’m fine, Woojinie.”

Woojin hummed against his back. “You just...seemed like you really needed one.”

Seongwoo turned around in his embrace and gave Woojin a proper hug, warm and tight.

“Thanks,” he said with a sad smile. “I’m just worried. I hope those two are doing okay. Especially Daniel.”

Woojin let go. “Me too,” he muttered.

"They're so damn frustrating," Seongwoo growled.

“I’ll talk to Jihoonie later if he’s not asleep,” Woojin said. On normal days, Jihoon was like an owl and sleeping well after 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning was common practice. He and Woojin would often game late into the night, their competitiveness taking priority over healthy human habits.

But today wasn’t normal, and unless Jihoon was stress-gaming, Woojin could probably get more than five hours of sleep for once.

“Good luck.” Seongwoo fondly ruffled Woojin’s hair before retreating back to his room. “We’ll be okay,” he said, more for himself than for Woojin.

“Don’t stress, hyung,” Woojin said, attempting to joke. “You’ll get wrinkles.”

“More of them, you mean?” Seongwoo snickered, before leaving the kitchen and bidding him goodnight.

***

When Woojin stepped into their bedroom, the room was pitch dark. This was normal, after all he and Jihoon believed gaming was meant to be done in the dark and the experience just wasn’t the same if the lights were on.

Tonight, however, the computer was turned off, well before midnight, and Jihoon was completely swathed in his blankets. He lay very still on his bed and Woojin almost thought he was asleep.

“Woojin?”

"Yeah," Woojin gasped, partially in surprise and partially because he was unsure of how to interpret Jihoon’s ambiguously calm tone. "It's me."

He closed the door. “You’re still awake.”

Jihoon's voice cut through the stifling air. “Woojin, what would you do if someone told you they liked you?”

Woojin accidentally kicked his toe against the corner of the dresser and yelped in pain. He saw Jihoon’s silhouette shoot upward and he could just make out the other’s concerned face.

“You okay?”

“Fine,” Woojin gritted, hissing as the pain subsided. “Ah…”

Jihoon laid back down and shrugged the blankets over his shoulder.

Woojin moved slowly and sat on the edge of Jihoon's bed. “Um, didn’t you want to play a round of League? You said you were close to leveling up to—”

“Answer the question.”

Woojin swallowed and pulled at his collar. “Uh, well, no one’s ever told me they liked me before. So I don’t know. Sorry.”

“…Are you serious?”

“No, I’m completely joking,” Woojin said, unamused. “Who, uh,” he said, redirecting the focus off of him, “Who said they liked you?”

Woojin treaded uneasily. Both he and Seongwoo had agreed it was probably better (for now) if Jihoon didn’t know that they (and Jaehwan) knew.

“Is it someone I know?”

“It’s Niel-hyung.”

“Oh.” Woojin took a scripted second to mull it over. “Oh. I see.”

“Yeah.”

Woojin cleared his throat. “Does it,” he cringed as he tiptoed the line of touchy topics, “Does it bother you?”

“Bother me?”

“Well,” Woojin felt his skin prickle. “You’re both boys. Some people would be bothered by it.”

“…”

“Do you like boys? I mean, no judgment if you do, promise, I just want to know.”

“…I never thought about it.”

Woojin felt his heart freeze. Oh, no.

“But then,” Jihoon said, “I never thought about liking anyone. Ever since I was little, all I had was work and doing what I loved in front of the camera and on stage. I never cared about being liked. By anyone.”

Jihoon huffed. “Kind of ironic now, isn’t it? We’re literally here because people liked us enough to let us debut.”

“Sure. But you didn’t answer my question.”

Jihoon paused.

“If you’re asking me,” he replied, careful, “if it bothers me that Niel-hyung likes me because we’re both boys, the answer is no.”

Woojin felt the pressure in his chest melt away. He exhaled with mild relief. Thank God.

“What bothers me,” Jihoon continued, “Is that it’s Niel-hyung.”

Fuck. And the pressure was back.

“Wha—” Woojin stumbled, “Why?” He frowned. “Do you not like him back? Is he not your type?”

If he sounded suspiciously hopeful, Jihoon ignored it.

“Woojin, I told you. I don’t know what my type is. Except maybe Taehyung-sunbaenim. But I like Niel-hyung just fine.”

His voice grew softer. “I actually like him a lot.”

Woojin wanted to rip his hair out. “Then?”

“Then what?”

“What’s the problem?”

Jihoon sat up. “Are you dense?”

Wow, look who's talking. 

“Rude.”

“In what world do you think two idols, let alone two male idols in the same group can be in a relationship without it impacting their career?”

The couple that panics together stays together, Woojin thought unhelpfully.

“I see you’ve thought about this.”

“Not the point!”

“I would understand your point better if you actually planned to go public with said relationship,” Woojin replied, keeping his cool. “Which you wouldn’t, because we're not allowed and that would be career suicide. And as much as you hate to admit it, you love us too much to risk our careers as well. And I know Niel-hyung would think the same.”

He does think the same.  

“Jihoon, you said it yourself, you’ve never been in a relationship. How can you even think about failing if you haven’t even tried? We all start somewhere.”

Jihoon worried his lip.

“Are you scared?” Woojin scooted closer. “I mean, it’s totally okay to be. This is scary shit.”

Jihoon scoffed. “Who taught you how to counsel? In fact, why am I even getting advice from you? You’ve never even been in a relationship.”

“Hey, I’ve seen my dramas.”

“Yeah, well so have I,” Jihoon muttered.

“Jihoon,” Woojin poked the other’s arm. “Be honest with me. Before today, did you ever have a hunch that Niel-hyung liked you? I mean, more than the rest of us at least?” He quickly added, “Or did he, like, spring it up on you without warning like, ‘Hey Jihoon, date me please’?”

Jihoon fiddled with the covers. “Maybe.”

“Maybe what?”

“…Maybe I had a hunch. But I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”

Woojin fought back the urge to say, well, obviously.

“When?”

“Remember when I started working out?”

Woojin hummed, a bit confused. That had been months ago.

“Niel-hyung and I went to the gym and we were doing chin-ups and he, uhh…” Jihoon’s face flushed and he ducked away, embarrassed.

“He…?”

“…Hekissedme.”

Woojin’s jaw dropped. “He what?”

Jihoon flopped onto the bed, burying his face into the closest pillow he could grab.

“Like,” Woojin struggled to form words, “On the—”

“It was a forehead kiss!” Jihoon said with an exasperated muffle.

He really… Woojin couldn’t believe it. Daniel hadn’t said anything about this.

“Jihoon,” Woojin’s voice fell to a growl. “Do you mean to tell me, that Niel-hyung kissed you, and you didn’t think anything of it at the time?”

Woojin breathed deeply, fighting the urge to scream at his dumbass roommate.

“Niel-hyung is very affectionate, okay, even to you!”

“Yeah, but does he kiss me!? Does he kiss anyone?”

Jihoon groaned into his pillow and Woojin couldn’t help but think the amount of frustration his roommate was feeling now was nowhere close to the frustration poor Daniel must have felt this entire time.

“Jihoon, the poor guy was probably,” most definitely, “screaming out his feelings to you for months, only for them to fall on deaf ears.”

“He never screamed,” Jihoon grumbled. “And I was confused, okay? I’ve never...done this type of thing before.”

“Are you still confused?” Woojin couldn’t hold back his sarcasm.  

Jihoon grumbled, frustrated.

Woojin sighed, taking a little pity on his friend. For someone who had grown up on stage and in front of a camera, Jihoon was caught in a storm of romantic interests and messy feelings while currently trying to keep his cool on his metaphorical wooden raft in the middle of the sea.

“I don’t want to hurt him,” Jihoon said, somewhat cryptically.

“Why would you hurt him?”

“He deserves someone good,” Jihoon mumbled. “Someone who makes him better. And I don’t know if I can be that someone.”

Woojin perked up, setting aside his umpteenth urge to scream at Jihoon about Daniel’s overwhelming affection (“Of course you can be that someone. Who else would it be!?”).

“So do you want to?”

Jihoon’s breath caught in his throat, taken aback.

“Do you want to be that someone? Do you want to date him?” Woojin grinned. “Because I mean. He obviously wants to date you.”

Jihoon looked down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs.

“Would…you be okay with it?” Woojin felt his heart soar when he heard that hint of hope, but he felt it break when he also caught the subtle fear in his friend’s voice. “Would the others be okay with it?”

“Jihoonie,” Woojin gently placed a hand around Jihoon’s shoulders. “We are the Pink Sausages. Pink Sausages stick together no matter what. And everyone adores you, of course they’d be okay with it. And whoever doesn’t agree can eat my fist.”

“We love you, idiot,” he muttered shyly.

Jihoon sighed, putting his face into his palms. “I’m overwhelmed.”

“Okay. Jihoon.” Woojin crossed his legs on the bed and faced his friend. “Do you like Niel-hyung,” he asked, firmer this time. “No bullshit. Tell it to me straight.”

Jihoon paused and then snorted. “Yeah, I can’t do that.”

Woojin was about to protest when Jihoon cheekily added, “Telling you I like Niel-hyung wouldn’t be very straight at all, would it?”  

Woojin took a moment to give a withering glare at his friend – he’s still as demonic as ever – before asking, “Okay, but do you like him enough to want to date him?”  

Another pause, and then, “…I don’t want to reject him.”

“Jihoon!”

“It’s hard, okay!?” Jihoon wailed. “I wasn’t even aware of his feelings until literally an hour ago and now suddenly everything makes so much sense like why he was getting angry at Guanlin all the time for no reason and why he would get all weird and be all vague whenever I was around and,” Jihoon groaned, calming down to a low whisper.

“I don’t know what to do, Woojin.”

“You want my advice?”

“Is this a trick question?”

“It’s a rhetorical question and the answer is yes,” Woojin smiled when Jihoon threw him an annoyed look. “My advice? Figure out if you really want to date him. You don’t have to...love him or anything – whew, that’s a strong word – but figure out if you like him…enough.”

“Enough.”

Woojin nodded. “And you should do it fast."

He smirked, "Because who’s to say he hasn’t already moved on?”

“He literally just confessed!”

“And you rejected him.”

Jihoon’s eyes grew wide. “N-no, I didn’t, I—”

“If you didn’t say yes, it was a rejection.”

“He ran away!” Jihoon flailed against the mattress, bringing an arm up to cover his eyes. “And I didn’t tell him to come back.”

“Niel-hyung is…dramatic,” Woojin admitted. “Seongwoo-hyung has that influence on people.”

“The point is,” Woojin continued. “What’s done is done. You have to make the first move this time, Jihoonie. He did his part, so now it’s your turn. Whether you like it or not, you rejected him and maybe even broke his heart, so it’s your responsibility to either fix it, or give it to someone else who can.”

Jihoon sighed. “You don’t sugarcoat, do you.” He let out a pitiful whine, “I feel horrible.”

“Talk to him,” Woojin insisted. “Yeah, it’s hella awkward but you can’t avoid the issue forever. Especially because…”

Jihoon rolled to face the wall. “Yeah. I know.”

After a moment's silence, Woojin patted Jihoon’s thigh before getting up and moving to his side of the room.

“Woojin?”

“Hm?”

“…Thank you.”

Woojin smiled. Maybe things were starting to look up after all.  

“You’re welcome.”

Chapter Text

For the first time in a long time, Jihoon woke up before his alarm. He felt refreshingly less groggy than usual, and then he remembered it was because he actually went to bed before 1:00 a.m. The memories of everything that happened last night suddenly flooded over him, and he raced to the bathroom to help clear his mind, but not before cheekily throwing one of his pillows at Woojin’s head.

After having done his best to tame his hair and unruffle his clothes, he stepped out into the kitchen and froze upon seeing Daniel’s looming figure standing in front of the stove. His back was faced towards him as he spread butter onto some toast, and he hummed a quiet melody as he worked.

“You’re up early.”

Daniel jolted, dropping his knife on the stovetop with a deafening clang. He spun around with a glare.

“Jihoon. Don’t scare me like that.”

Jihoon offered a slight smile in apology.

Daniel slowly turned back around. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Jihoon shook his head despite Daniel not even looking. “I went to bed early last night.” He quickly added, “I think Seongwoo-hyung spiked the ramen. Woojinie and I were out like a light after dinner.”

Daniel snorted, putting the lid on the tub of butter. “So you got a smaller dose.”

“Seongwoo-hyung probably just spiked himself more because he’s dumb.”

Daniel laughed.

Jihoon padded over to the refrigerator to see what leftovers he could nab. He poked his head in and sniffed around before reaching for the carton of apple juice.

He then startled when he felt Daniel’s torso press flush against his back as the elder reached forward to place the carton of butter back on the shelf. Jihoon’s breath hitched. The faint whiff of Daniel’s sweetly-scented body wash made him feel heady, while also making him feel somewhat self-conscious of his own scent after having not showered the night before.

“Uh—”

“Sorry,” Daniel said, utterly nonchalant as he stepped away and padded over to the table.

Jihoon let out a breath. As he poured himself a glass of apple juice, he looked over as Daniel blankly scrolled through his phone while nibbling on his toast. His tongue darted out to catch a few stray crumbs lingering on his lips, which Jihoon found…cute.

He felt the uncertainty course through his body. He had to wonder what Daniel was thinking about regarding the entire ordeal last night. Was he pretending nothing had happened? Or had he just gotten extremely good at concealing his emotions? Daniel wasn’t acting awkward in the slightest (yet), and it was like he hadn’t confessed at all.

Jihoon didn’t know how to feel about that.

“Morning, loser.”

Woojin’s growl snapped him out of his thoughts.

Jihoon scoffed. “Ew.”

Woojin nudged his shoulder. “Ew, yourself.” He poured himself a cup of apple juice and went over to Daniel, setting it down on the table.

“G’morning, hyung.”

Daniel hummed, paying the sparrow no attention.

Woojin glanced in Jihoon’s direction. He flashed a grin, and then to Jihoon’s confusion, wrapped his arms around Daniel’s neck, encasing the elder into a surprise semi-back hug. Daniel looked up with a grunt and a tired smile.

“Hello.” He warmly patted Woojin’s arms in acknowledgment. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah,” Woojin sat down and leaned against Daniel’s shoulder. “But then Jihoonie woke me up with a pillow to the face.”

Jihoon gaped.

Daniel gave him an amused look. “Well that wasn’t very nice.”

Woojin nodded a bit too enthusiastically.

“Jihoonie is mean,” he said as he grossly pouted with his over-the-top aegyo.

Daniel chuckled, his gaze glossing over to Jihoon.

“So he is.”

Jihoon was about to protest, but when he caught Daniel’s piercing stare for the briefest of moments, he quietly excused himself to take a shower.

***

The rest of the morning had the boys running around with their managers to locations Jihoon couldn’t even remember the names of. As he robotically followed orders and stage cues, he found himself still preoccupied with last night’s events amidst wondering if he was supposed to pretend like nothing had happened, or if Daniel was just that good at avoiding unwanted discussions.

Not that Jihoon wanted to have those discussions (yet)…

During the van ride back to the dorms, a few hours before their evening broadcast, Jihoon sat in his usual seat, next to Woojin and in front of Daniel and Seongwoo. His earbuds were in, but he discreetly silenced his music when he began to hear the hyungs conversing behind him.

“Do you want to eat with me when we get back?”

Daniel hummed. “As long as hyung eats fast, I’m down.”

Seongwoo gawked. “Hey, at least I digest my food!”

“And I have places to be.”

Jihoon heard Seongwoo hit Daniel lightly which of course felt like nothing to the larger man.

“I think we all have places to be.”

Daniel laughed. “What should we eat then?”

“I was craving tangsuyuk.”

“Call.”

Tangsuyuk. Jihoon hadn’t had that in a while.

“Yo, Jihoonie, do you want to join us?”

Jihoon startled at the sudden request. He quickly played it off as he turned around, even taking out one of his earbuds.

“What was that?”

Seongwoo smiled. “Niel and I are going to order some food for a quick meal. If you want, you can join us.”

“O-oh,” Jihoon’s gaze flickered to Daniel, who remained frozen in his seat and stared blankly ahead. His complete lack of expression was a little unnerving, and Jihoon was reminded how Daniel used to say strangers found him intimidating at first glance even when he wasn’t trying to be.

“I think I’m good, hyung,” Jihoon muttered, turning back to face the front. “Thanks, though.”

“Are you sure?” Seongwoo piped up. “Niel’s paying,” he trailed off with a lilt, luring the younger to give in.

“Wait, what? You wanted to eat with me!”

“You owe me.”

“Since when?”

Jihoon chuckled. “I’m fine, hyung. Don’t worry about me, I’m not that hungry right now. I’ll eat later.”

Seongwoo leaned back. “Suit yourself.”

After a pause, he added, “But you know, maybe it’s good you’re not coming, Jihoonie, because Niel here is such a cheapskate, he’s probably going to order less food for himself just so he won’t have to pay a lot. And you deserve better than that by far.”

“Hyung.”

Seongwoo forced a snicker despite Daniel’s abruptly stern command. The van felt a little too quiet all of a sudden and Jihoon just awkwardly laughed to try and relieve the tension. He gave Woojin a pleading glance to distract him because by God, this is so uncomfortable, Seongwoo-hyung, why would you do this.

Thankfully, his best friend got the hint.

“Uh, hey, Jihoonie, look at this.”

Jihoon almost sighed out in relief. He leaned into Woojin’s space, their heads brushing as they looked at a random page on Woojin’s phone.

“What is it?”, he added for extra measure.

Woojin muttered something vague to keep up the act and Jihoon responded accordingly. Within seconds, Seongwoo had switched conversations completely, this time with Minhyun, and light chatter began to sprout up again among the members. They kept up the façade for a few minutes before they silently deemed it safe to go back to their own business.

As Jihoon put his earbuds in again, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of someone staring straight through the back of his head. And just because, he sunk deep into his seat and pulled his hood up, hoping the van would arrive back at the dorms just a little faster.

***

“Park Jihoon! You can’t even get this right!?”

Jihoon groaned after committing his third mistake of the afternoon. Frustrated, he bent over with his hands on his knees and muttered a quick apology to Jaehwan for running into him during a transition. Jaehwan responded with a tense smile and a pat on his back.

“How are you making even more mistakes than Guanlin as a lead dancer, huh? You call that dancing?”

Jihoon gritted his teeth. This particular choreographer could choke for all he cared, and the backhanded insult towards Guanlin was really unnecessary.

“Are you tired?”

“No, sir.”

“Are you stressed?”

“…No, sir.”

“Then are you satisfied with your effort?”

“…”

“Do you think your members are satisfied with your effort?”

Jihoon dared himself to look across the other members’ faces in the mirror. Most of them stared blankly at their reflections, tense as they avoided eye contact. Woojin flitted his eyes worriedly between their reflections. Jisung looked concerned, and Guanlin shuffled awkwardly.

From beside him, Daniel remained stoic as ever.

Jihoon cast his gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry and do better,” The choreographer snapped. He clapped his hands. “Everyone, let’s go again. From the beginning. We’ll stay here as long as someone keeps messing up.”

Jihoon scowled. Jaehwan gave another sympathetic pat as they got into their positions.

To his credit, the next run started off much smoother. He easily bypassed Jaehwan during the pesky transition and after the first verse, he let his muscle memory take over. His mind drifted. He wasn’t listening to the song anymore and instead began to swim in his thoughts.

Jihoon had to wonder if anyone else, apart from Woojin (and maybe Seongwoo, too, now that he thought about it), noticed anything was different between him and Daniel. Since this morning, they had barely even acknowledged each other, on camera or otherwise.

Jihoon was stressed. Even more pressing was the issue of how he was going to play the ball in his proverbial court. Was Daniel really waiting for Jihoon to say something? What kind of something? Or did Daniel think Jihoon was going to forget the whole thing and leave last night as a memory to be forgotten? Heck, Jihoon barely knew what he wanted to do, let alone what he supposedly “should” do. Not to mention he had no idea what Daniel wanted to do, or if Daniel wanted to do anything.

Jihoon snapped out of his nonsensical thoughts and felt his heart lurch when he tripped on his feet and stumbled into — of course — Daniel, who steadied him before quickly recovering.

Of course, the mistake didn’t go unnoticed.

“Yah, Park Jihoon!” The choreographer roared, turning to his assistant. “Stop the music!”

Jihoon braced himself and clenched his fists.

“You.” The choreographer pointed an angry finger at him. “What are you doing.”

Jihoon bit his tongue and bowed his head with no response.

“What are you doing!?”

Glaring at the floor, he muttered, “I’m sorry.”

The choreographer chuckled harshly.

“Sorry. Always sorry. Is that all you can say, sorry? You think you can just get away with sorry!?”

Jihoon seethed when he felt everyone’s stares on him again. He fervidly loathed this man and it was evident the hatred was mutual.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

Jihoon defiantly snapped his head up, but before the choreographer could continue his heated tirade, Jisung intervened.

“Let’s take a break.” Jisung said with a pointed glance at the choreographer who had taken a step forward. “Jihoon. Go out, get some water. Everyone else, we can continue in ten.”

The choreographer’s face was stormy as he threw his hands up in defeat. As the members awkwardly and worriedly dispersed, he turned to the manager and continued to spout unhindered curses and complaints under his breath. He didn’t care if he was heard. If anything, he wanted to be heard. And Jihoon was standing close enough to catch everything.

“I swear,” he hissed. “How in the ever-loving fuck did that kid get into this group?”

Jihoon froze.

“Those damn national producers must be out of their damn minds, I mean, second place and he keeps screwing up,” he said with another cruel laugh, “Second for what?”

Jihoon felt his fingers tremble. He curled them into fists to stop them from shaking. His jaw tightened.

“I honestly cannot fathom how those shallow fans saw anything past his face, fuck, second place—”

Before he knew it, he was beeling towards the door and slamming it closed behind him. He didn’t need to hear more, and he didn’t give a shit if he got in trouble with the bastard later. He just needed to get away.

Second place for what? Second place for what?

The man’s words echoed in his mind as he angrily stomped down the hall to the practice rooms. Forcing the tightness down his throat, he found an empty carrel and locked the door. He didn’t even bother to turn on the light and sunk down along the wall. He pulled his knees up against his chest, sighing into his palms.

Second place for what?

It was a question he asked himself almost everyday. And if it wasn’t him, it was a fan. Not his, maybe, but still a fan. And God forbid if it wasn’t a fan, it was someone with so little self worth, they had to go and attack his.

Second place for what.

All these months he had spent trying to prove to the fans, to the members, to the trainees who didn’t make it, and to himself. All these months trying to prove that he deserved to be in Wanna One, that he deserved everything he had been given up till this point, seemed like a damn waste of time with just those words.

Second place for what.

They mocked him. No matter what he did, it was never enough. It would never be enough. Why even bother trying if someone was always there to tear everything down?

Jihoon felt the stubborn tears sneaking out of the corners of his eyes and rubbed at them angrily. He hated crying. He shouldn’t be crying. He should be used to this. This is what he signed up for. This was what he wanted, right? Hate was inevitable, it came with the territory, so why the hell was he crying?

Why couldn’t he stop?

“Jihoonie?”

Daniel.

Jihoon swallowed and roughly wiped at his tears.

“Ye—” he cleared his throat, his voice already hoarse. “Yeah?”

“…Can I come in?”

“Uh,” Jihoon squeezed his eyes open and closed, willing his tears to stop, “I…I’m fine, hyung.”

He sniffled loudly, and winced. “I just,” he cleared this throat again. “I just needed some air. I’ll be there soon, I promise.”

“Jihoon. Just let me in.”

“I—” Jihoon then sighed, too unwilling to argue.

As soon as he unlocked the door, Daniel pushed himself through and suddenly pulled him into a breathtaking hug. Jihoon felt the pressure in his chest melt as he collapsed into Daniel’s embrace with a sob. His legs fell slack and his arms hung loosely around Daniel’s waist.

“Don’t listen to him,” Daniel whispered into the crown of Jihoon’s head. “Don’t even think for a second you’re not worthy of being here.”

The tightness in his throat grew painful as he gasped out muffled cries.

“If he can’t see how special you are, he can fuck off. He doesn’t deserve you, or your talent, understand?”

Jihoon nodded, letting the tension in his body unwind, crying harder. Daniel simply held him tighter, running his hands slowly up and down his back.

“That damn ingrate had no right to say those things. Okay? I promise you, no one else in that room thinks that way of you. He’s a jerk, and he knows it. You have nothing else to prove. We want and need you here, and that’s it. You don’t need anyone else’s approval, especially not his.”

Daniel pulled back, his face darkened with a simmering anger. His expression softened when Jihoon continued to sob pitifully and he gently brushed his thumbs under Jihoon’s eyes.

“Aigoo, Jihoonie, don’t cry,” Daniel brought him in for another hug, his fingers lacing through his hair. “Please don’t cry, or else you’ll make me cry. And I’m ugly when I cry.”

Jihoon forced a watery chuckle.

“You know we love you. Right? Everyone loves you. Everyone who matters loves you.”

Jihoon wanted to protest, that that wasn’t true, that Daniel was just saying that, when the elder gazed at him with such overwhelming sincerity that Jihoon tightened his hold on the elder’s waist to avoid reeling too far back.

“You deserve the world, Park Jihoon. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Daniel leaned in until their foreheads were practically touching.

“Especially not yourself.”

Jihoon stared at his reflection in Daniel’s eyes, at a loss for words. Daniel pulled back with a chuckle as Jihoon nodded, blinked, and sniffled.

“Are we good?” Daniel said, his voice filled with gentle concern. “Do you need a drink of water?”

Jihoon shook his head, wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

“Good,” he said with a light ruffle of Jihoon’s hair. He cooed as Jihoon struggled to make himself look as if he hadn’t just burst into tears. “Ready to head back?”

Jihoon groaned with a choked out, “No,” causing Daniel to laugh. “I hate him.”

“So do I, buddy,” Daniel sympathized with a sigh. He opened the door and gestured for Jihoon to exit first.

They slowly walked back to the studio in a comfortable silence, mainly to give more time for Jihoon to fully compose himself before going back to rehearsal. Daniel would occasionally switch his focus from the floor to Jihoon, checking to make sure the younger wouldn’t sniffle himself to death.

Again, it was cute.

Even cuter still was when Jihoon realized Daniel was consciously making his steps smaller to match his, allowing the pair to walk side by side.

Jihoon smiled as he glimpsed at Daniel’s profile, naturally blank, but oddly adorable. As the group’s proclaimed master of aegyo, he could acknowledge Daniel’s ability to be cute without even trying.

“Why are you smiling?” Daniel’s expression was innocently eager.

Jihoon shook his head and turned away, but his grin only grew wider.

“I just remembered something funny, that’s all.”

“Oh,” Daniel shrugged, but didn’t press. The quiet bustle of the studio grew louder, and he went to open the door.

“And Niel?”

“Yeah?”

Jihoon beamed his sincerest smile. “Thanks again.”

“Of course,” Daniel looked at him curiously. “What are friends for?”

Jihoon ignored the jolt in his chest. “Right. Uh, let’s game tonight? It’s been a while.”

Daniel gave an apologetic smile. “I’d love to, but I have a schedule tonight after the recording.”

“O-oh,” Jihoon pouted, dejected. “Never mind then.”

Daniel laughed. “Hey now, don’t look so down, we can game tomorrow, yeah?”

Jihoon looked up, perhaps a bit too hopeful.

Daniel donned his signature smirk as he opened the door and the bustling chatter from inside poured out like a wave. “Just prepare to lose, Jihoonie.”

“I bet I won’t,” Jihoon fondly scoffed, trailing after him.

He found his place and did his best to school his expression while completely ignoring the asswipe in the corner glaring at his every step.

Fuck him really.

***

“Shi—” Jihoon stopped himself from spitting out an expletive when his character came really close to being killed. Beside him, Woojin grunted as his character dodged an incoming attack.

“Did you end up talking with Niel-hyung?”

“About what? Ah, shi—!”

“Oh my God.” Woojin nearly swung his elbows into Jihoon’s chest when a surprise projectile caught him off guard. “Sorry. What do you mean, ‘about what’, about your feelings or whatever, stupid.”

“Oh. No.”

“No means you’re going to do it soon, right?”

“…Maybe.”

Woojin paused. “Do I need to give the speech again?”

Jihoon gave him a sideways glance. “I just want to be sure, okay? I told you, I don’t want to screw it up.”

Woojin sighed. “Yeah. Okay.”

For a moment, the quiet was filled with only the cries and growls of the avatars on the screen.

“So what did Niel-hyung say to you earlier? At the studio.”

“Um,” Jihoon floundered, struggling for words while keeping his focus on the game. “He just, comforted me, I guess?”

Woojin raised an eyebrow. “Comforted you?”

“In case you missed it,” Jihoon huffed, “I really, really don’t like our choreographer. Whoever hired him should turn on their location, I wanna throw some hands.”

Woojin snickered, “Yeah, we all hate him, don’t worry. I heard even Minhyun-hyung hates him and Minhyun-hyung is like the nicest person ever.”

Woojin suddenly realized, “Wait, were you crying?”

“…”

“Oh my God, you were!” Woojin gave an evil laugh. “I find that absolutely hilarious but at the same time, fuck him for singling you out like that.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever,” Jihoon waved the matter aside. “Look, Daniel just…made me feel better after I,” he grimaced, “…cried.”

Woojin cringed. “You know that implies a lot, right?”

Jihoon blushed fiercely. “Nothing happened!”

“Uh huh,” Woojin resumed his evil grin, “Sure.”

Jihoon whacked an arm across his annoying friend’s chest and for a brief second his character wobbled on the screen.

Woojin yelped but pestered on, “What’d he do?”

“Nothing, we literally just hugged. That’s it.”

Woojin smirked. “You mean like how he just kissed you way back then?”

“It was a forehead kiss!” Jihoon screeched, and Woojin cackled.

Jihoon grunted. “You know what.”

He forced his character to commit suicide, much to Woojin’s dismay, and got up.

“I’m hungry.”

“Again?”

“Shut up.”

“Aren’t you on a diet?”

“No,” Jihoon snapped, indignant.

Woojin forfeited, tossed his controller behind him, and caught up to Jihoon just as he was about to open the door and leave. As Woojin stumbled about with his slippers, Jihoon walked right past the elevators and headed for the stairwell instead.

“Uh, Jihoon?”

“I’m exercising in advance.”

Woojin snorted. “Burning off that lettuce before you eat it, you mean?”

Jihoon groaned. Woojin caught up to him.

“Also, can I be honest?”

“No.”

“…Fine. It’s totally not obvious that you really like him and you’re totally not a coward for stalling and keeping the poor guy in the dark.”

“Thanks, I try,” Jihoon replied with a deadpan and sped up to leaping down the stairs two at a time. Woojin begrudgingly followed, very clearly not in the mood for a cardio workout.

“No, but seriously, Jihoon, what’s it going to take for you to have the balls t—whoaaa,” Woojin trailed off when he almost ran into Jihoon, who stopped midway upon seeing—

“Niel-hyung.”

Daniel looked up in surprise.

“Jihoonie.”

He looked exhausted. His face was dull, his eyes were already drooping, and he looked ready to pass out at any moment. Still, he gave a slight smile in greeting.

“Late night snack?”

Jihoon hummed, feeling oddly flustered. “Yeah. Do you want anything?”

Daniel chuckled, a low, breathy sound. “You’re sweet, but I think I’m just going to wash up real quick and head straight to bed.”

“Right,” Jihoon replied lamely. “I see.”

Daniel nodded to Woojin, who was trying too hard to be invisible by peering over the railing at the floors below.

“Do you have your key?”

Jihoon patted his pockets and gaped when he realized he didn’t. He mentally cursed himself and frantically turned to Woojin, but Daniel chuckled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell Seongwoo-hyung to let you in. Just don’t stay out too late.”

Jihoon sighed in relief. “Thanks. You’re the best.”

“Don’t get in trouble now,” Daniel nodded in Woojin’s direction while the younger was distracted. “In any case, I’m exhausted. We can talk in the morning?”

Jihoon nodded. “Definitely.”

Daniel gave a brief wave and trudged up the stairs. Before he could get too far, however, Jihoon called out.

“Wait, hyung.”

Daniel turned over his shoulder, but continued making his way up, looking over the railing.

“We’re still gaming tomorrow, yeah?”

Daniel grinned. “Like I said. Prepare to lose, kid.”

“Kid?” Jihoon retorted, only mildly offended. “I’ll make sure you eat those words, samcheon.”

“Samcheon? Where’s my respect,” Daniel snickered with a revived cockiness, “And we’ll see about that.”

“I’ve been practicing,” Jihoon growled, running up a few steps to keep Daniel in his line of sight. “I’m not losing to you, Kang Daniel. Not again.”

“Sure, sweetie.” Daniel’s form continued to retreat, but his voice rang loud and clear.

“Hey, if I beat you, you owe me your gummy stash!”

“Not happening!” Daniel burst out into a boisterous laugh.

Jihoon tsk-ed, but hid his anticipated grin as he skipped down the stairs once more. From behind, Woojin muttered with a hushed tone, “Did you two just flirt? In front of my salad?”

Like a switch, Jihoon stopped, nearly causing Woojin to tumble into him, and glared, “I will not hesitate to shove you down these stairs.”

Woojin’s eyes widened in mild fear. He shook his head.

“God, what does he even see in you? You’re literally the spawn of Satan.”

Chapter Text

“Kang Daniel! Kang Daniel!”

Jihoon looked up to see the elder waving happily to the fans who lingered after the broadcast. They had just taken their fifth win for “Light” and the members were in high spirits. Daniel was never one to turn down fanservice and began to throw hearts in all directions as the fans screamed with delight.

Jihoon managed to make out a “Park Jihoon!” off to the side and he shyly waved towards the source. The girl squealed with absolute glee and responded with a very enthusiastic, “You’re so handsome!”

Jihoon laughed, embarrassed. He shook his head to protest but the fan insisted, “You’re the handsomest boy in the world!”

Guanlin nudged his side with a knowing grin. He bent down to mutter, “The fans don’t lie, hyung.”

Jihoon nudged the maknae back and smiled with gratitude, “Thank you! Please get home safely!”

He gave a final wave to his fans and even threw in a hand kiss before jogging up to catch up with Daniel and Seongwoo.

“Hyung.”

They paused their conversation and stared curiously. Jihoon flushed at the sudden attention.

“Sit with me?”

Daniel’s face flickered with surprise. He turned to his usual seatmate, who shrugged before feigning annoyance.

“Oh, alright, I see how it is,” Seongwoo joked. With a chuckle, he sprinted towards the van. “Minhyunie, wait for me!”

Jihoon laughed.

“Why the sudden seat change,” Daniel pondered. “You’re not fighting with Woojin, are you?”

“We’re always fighting,” Jihoon grinned, and upon seeing Daniel’s unamused face, he quickly added, “No, we’re not. But thank you for worrying about our friendship.”

“So...?”

“Change of scenery,” he blurted out, and stared down at the asphalt.

“Alright,” Daniel conceded with a laugh, “What do you want?”

“Huh?”

“What do you want,” Daniel grinned. “Hyung will buy it for you.”

“Wha—no, I mean it,” Jihoon said, flustered, “I really don’t need anything.” In a quieter voice, he mumbled, “I just wanted to sit with you.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“Uh huh.”

“I’m serious!” Jihoon pouted. “But I mean if you don’t want to sit with me, then—”

“Calm down, I’m just teasing,” Daniel gave a warm smile. “I don’t mind sitting with you.”

Jihoon ducked away with a chuckle, hoping the elder couldn’t see the immediate flush on his face. They made their way to the van and Jihoon swooped into the window seat where Daniel usually sat. In front, Woojin turned around with a raised eyebrow at the sudden seating change. Jihoon gave a look that said, just go with it.

“Seatbelts, everyone.”

The entire ride back to the dorm was relatively quiet, save for the music playing through his earbuds. He was staring out along the skyline when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Whatcha listening to?”

Jihoon handed over his left earbud to share. Daniel stared at it for a moment before taking it.

When I close my eyes,
I see your gaze…

“Ah, this song.”

Jihoon hummed.

“Did you finish the drama?”

“No,” Jihoon muttered. “Haven’t had time to.”

“It’s a good song,” Daniel said, his voice falling to a low whisper, “You should do a cover.”

“Me?” Jihoon had in fact practiced singing Chanyeol-sunbaenim’s part by himself, and he could hit the notes but, “I don’t think I have the voice for it.”

“Ey,” Daniel scoffed. “You never know until you try. I think you’d be great.”

Jihoon turned back to the window, hiding a shy smile. “I’ll think about it.”

“The fans would love it too.”

Jihoon hummed, letting the conversation fade as the van crossed the bridge overlooking  the Gangnam river.

Three songs later, he felt Daniel’s head fall on his shoulder with a faint tap. Daniel quickly pulled back with a sleepy apology before bolting back into a straight-up sitting position. Jihoon watched with amusement as Daniel continued to teeter from side to side, his head perilously bobbing with the van, his eyes semi-open and glassy. Worried that the elder would snap his neck, Jihoon shifted closer and pat his shoulder.

“Go ahead,” he said, facing the window.

“’m fine,” Daniel muttered sleepily with an adorable shake of his head.

Jihoon sighed, this boy. “Hyung, I don’t mind. Your neck’s going to hurt,” he reasoned. “Come on.”

Daniel, too tired to continue arguing, shifted closer with a sigh and reluctantly tucked his head into the space against his neck. “Thank you,” he mumbled.

The city lights washed over Daniel, casting him in a colorful, ever-changing glow. Jihoon did his best to remain as still as possible.

In less than a minute, Daniel was out like a light. His breathing slowed and steadied.

It was only a couple minutes later when Jihoon drifted off as well, resting his head against Daniel’s.

***

“Jihoon.”

Jihoon groaned. Too groggy to think clearly, he thought he heard someone laughing at him.

“They’re both dead, I swear—we’re here!”

He was then jostled awake by Woojin, in turn waking Daniel up as well.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Woojin jeered.

Jihoon stretched, his fist nearly coming in contact with Daniel’s face.

“Sorry,” he yawned.

Daniel rubbed at his eyes, barely cognizant. With help from Seongwoo, he stumbled out of the van and Jihoon followed, finding his balance on the ground.

“What are we eating tonight?” he asked, clinging to Daniel’s arm to better steady himself.

Daniel snorted, “Aren’t you on a diet?”

“No,” Jihoon shot back, pinching his arm.

“Ow.” Daniel rubbed at the sore spot. His fingers innocuously brushed past Jihoon’s. “I was going to buy some sandwiches at the café,” Daniel said, waddling towards the building. “Do you want anything? I can pay.”

“I have money,” Jihoon countered, reaching into his pocket with his free arm.

“I don’t mind,” Daniel said with a comforting smile. “Consider it payment for letting me sleep on your shoulder.”

“That’s dumb,” Jihoon sassed back. Realizing his wallet was in his other pocket, he huffed. “Fine.”

Daniel reached around to smoothen out the strands of hair sticking up on Jihoon’s head. “You should go up first and get the game ready.”

Jihoon stared at the elder. “Don’t buy me a shitty sandwich,” he threatened.

“You eat everything, though?” Daniel chuckled with a teasing glint in his gaze. “But don’t worry, I know your favorite. In any case, you should go up and practice before I completely annihilate you. Give me a good challenge.”

“Cocky bastard,” Jihoon mumbled, but Daniel heard it loud and clear.

“Hello, Dorm Jihoon, long time no see.” Jihoon attempted a threatening glare. “Cute.”

Jihoon groaned, scurrying up to bother Woojin instead.

***

Knock knock.

“You may enter.”

Daniel poked his head in with two bags full of ready-to-eat convenience store sandwiches and bottles of juice, just the way Jihoon liked. Jihoon tried not to let the excitement show too much.

“Whoa,” Woojin gaped. “Did you clear the entire shelf?”

“Maybe half of it,” Daniel admitted, sheepish. “Got one of everything. Woojin, take one.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

“About time,” Jihoon huffed from his seat, “I was about to start another practice session. I’m feeling pumped today, so I’d be scared if I were you, hyung.”

Daniel tossed the bags on the table. “You are awfully cocky for someone with a losing streak.”

“Ooh,” Woojin started, but recoiled when Jihoon threw a look that screamed betrayal.

“Say, Woojin, do you wanna join us?” Daniel offered. “There’s always room for one more.”

Woojin’s gaze flickered past the elder to meet Jihoon’s glare.

“Uh, no thanks.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, yeah, I was going to go, uh, bother Seongwoo-hyung, so I’ll just…yeah.” Woojin fumbled and awkwardly took another sandwich and juice bottle from the bag before bolting out of the room.

“Alright then. So,” Daniel turned back to Jihoon with a smarmy grin. “Ready to lose, Jihoonie?”

Jihoon didn’t back down. “Mark my words, Kang Daniel. Tonight—”

“…the star is me, nayana, nayana…?” Daniel interrupted, then trailed off. He burst into laughter when he saw the way Jihoon’s cheeks puffed out with his frustrated expression. Jihoon turned away, ready to play.

“I told you, Park Jihoon,” Daniel smirked, handing over a chicken sandwich to the angry Jigglypuff. Jihoon stared at it with disdain. “You don’t stand a chance.”

“And I told you,” Jihoon snatched the sandwich and opened it with vigor, “That you’d be sorry for mocking my abilities.”

Daniel smiled, confident. “We’ll see about that.”

***

“Oh my—I won again!” Jihoon was literally jumping with glee. “Ha! Take that, hyung!”

For a moment, Daniel remained expressionless as the screen flashed ≪ YOU LOSE! ≫ on his half for the third time that night. Whether it was luck or skill, Jihoon had beaten Daniel three times in one night and he was ecstatic.

“What did I say,” Jihoon reveled in his victory. “What did I say, huh?”

“Alright,” Daniel conceded. “I admit you were pretty good.”

“Good?” Jihoon scoffed. “I did great, fantastic even, how dare you mock my performance as just good?”

“I honestly think if I tried a little harder, I would’ve beaten you,” Daniel said, easily pushing Jihoon’s buttons.

“You, sir,” Jihoon pointed an accusing finger at him, “Are terrible at making excuses. Just say you sucked and go.”

“Hey, it’s been a long day, I’m not on my A game!”

“We had the same day, what are you saying,” Jihoon fired back, all the while doing a nonsensical little dance to further rub it in.

“Brat,” Daniel muttered. “Wanna go best five out of nine?”

“Nope,” Jihoon grinned. “Long day, remember?”

He peered at the clock. It was barely past midnight, but they had an early fansign tomorrow and he noticed Daniel’s eyes were already crinkling at the edges.

Jihoon wondered if Daniel would ever feel fully rested, and his heart panged.

“Uh, you should go,” Jihoon said, catching the elder’s attention. “You should sleep.”

Daniel shook his head, adjusting his position in his chair. “I don’t mind playing another round.”

“No, you already lost,” Jihoon said, only half-jokingly.

“Winner takes all?”

“Daniel.” Jihoon mustered his best serious face.

“Jihoon,” Daniel mimicked, but relented. “Fine. But only because you’re telling me to. I’m not even that tired.”

“Thank you.”

Daniel stretched his long limbs, no doubt sore from staying in place for the past hour. He stood up, turned to Jihoon, and bowed a full 90-degrees. Jihoon snorted, but played along.

“Thank you for the game, good sir,” Daniel said, making his voice deeper, and promptly turned for the door.

Jihoon watched his retreating form for a moment, before scurrying up and wrapping the elder around the waist from behind. He felt Daniel flinch before turning around to face the younger. He naturally wrapped his arms around Jihoon’s torso and pressed his chin gently on top of Jihoon’s head.

“You are awfully clingy tonight,” Daniel remarked with no bite, nor a need for an explanation.

“I like your hugs.”

Daniel chuckled. “I like your hugs too.”

They stayed that way for a moment, but Jihoon broke away first when he felt his heart beating a bit too quickly for his liking. “Well,” he said, flapping his hands by his sides, “Good night then.”

Daniel took a step back, a soft smile on his face.

But before Daniel could take another step back, and before Jihoon could think twice about it, he quickly leaned in and craned up to peck Daniel’s cheek with a kiss. When he pulled back, Daniel looked adorably stunned, and his cheeks flushed pink.

“What was that?”

“Good night kiss?” Jihoon mumbled, and immediately regretted it. His face felt hotter than ever and he turned his attention towards the floor.

He should consider vacuuming. He should borrow Minhyun’s vacuum cleaner.  

Chu.

Jihoon felt soft lips press onto his forehead, only for a moment before they were gone. Surprised, he looked up to see Daniel’s adoring smile, his eyes shining with…

“Good night, Jihoon.”

And without another word, Daniel left Jihoon to his thoughts, and Jihoon waved at his retreating figure as if in a trance.

***

***

***

“I like him.”

Woojin stared with a bland expression as Jihoon padded around in circles in front of him. It was 4:00 in the morning, they had to be up again at 7:00, and Jihoon had the audacity to drag him out of bed and down to the gym at freaking 4:00 in the morning.

“I like Niel-hyung.”

Woojin resisted the urge to slow-clap.

“And you’re telling me this because—?”

Jihoon made a noise of helplessness. “I don’t know what to do.”

Woojin stared blankly before standing up, “I’m going back to bed.”

“Woojin, wait, I’m serious!”

“And I’m seriously considering throwing one of those dumbbells at you.”

“How do I tell him?” Jihoon said, ignoring the angry sparrow sitting in front of him. “I want to time it right but I don’t want to just spring it on him and freak him out, you know?”

Jihoon jumped onto the chin-up bar and did a few reps, unconcerned with stretching or if his form was perfect.

“I literally don’t think he cares how you tell him, just that you do tell him,” Woojin offered, yawning through his words. “Why do you even care about being subtle?”

“Because this is important, Woojin,” Jihoon stressed, gritting his teeth when he felt a slight cramp in his hands. “I want to do it right.”

Woojin rolled his eyes.

“I kissed him last night.”

That caught Woojin’s attention in a millisecond.

“You what?”

“Not on the lips,” Jihoon quickly clarified, and Woojin may have deflated—curse him for being so anticlimactic—“Just on the cheek.”

“Did he kiss back?”

“…On the forehead.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah.”

Woojin pondered, “Well at least he still likes you. If I were him, I would’ve found the next guy willing to get it on with. Because you’re a mess,” he sneered.

“Thanks, I love you, too,” Jihoon grimaced.

“Look, if watching dramas has taught me anything. Don’t give me that look.” Woojin swiped at the dust lingering on the mats. “If watching dramas has taught me anything, it’s that relationships aren’t meant to be 100% perfect, so there’s no point in worrying about it. Shit happens. Have you ever seen a confession gone completely according to plan? No, because not only is it boring, but most of the time it’s super unrealistic. Even if you ace this confession, it’s not going to be smooth sailing here on out. You’ll get into fights, you’ll argue, hell you might not even want to speak to him for a week,” Woojin grumbled. “But then that’s where you have to decide if he’s worth it. At the end of the day, do you like him enough?”

“Yes,” Jihoon replied, almost too quickly.

Woojin raised his eyebrows, “Then there’s your answer.” He sighed, rubbing at his forehead, “I can’t believe I’m giving you boy advice at fucking 4:00 in the morning!”

Jihoon jumped down with a grunt.

“So you think I should just tell him flat out?”

“I think,” Woojin stood up. “No matter how you say it, he’ll appreciate it as long as it comes from your heart.”

Woojin visibly cringed. “Remind me never to say that again, ugh, it’s too early for this shit.”

Jihoon leaped onto Woojin’s back like a koala, happily squeezing the life out of him.

“Thank you. You’re the best.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“If Niel-hyung and I ever get married, you’ll be the best man, right?”

“They’re not even dating and he’s already thinking about getting married,” Woojin grumbled.

“So, yes?”

“I don’t think I have a choice here.”

Jihoon stepped down to regain his balance. “And I can be the best man at your wedding!”

“Screw that, I’m going to ask Jaehwan-hyung to be the best man. You can be the flower girl.”

“You think I won’t?”

“And Niel-hyung can be the ring bearer,” Woojin added dryly.

“Oh my God, that’s so cute!” Jihoon squealed, a bit too loudly for (again) 4:00 in the freaking morning.

Woojin groaned. He needed to have a word with Jaehwan about this matchmaking business. It was too much work for too little reward.

Chapter Text

After the fansign, Daniel had gone out with Jisung and Jaehwan, much to Jihoon’s relief. Seongwoo was out for some unknown reason, and after bribing Woojin—with free meals every day for the next two weeks—to take Daehwi and Jinyoung out as well, Jihoon had time alone in the dorm to mentally prepare himself for what was to come.

After five minutes of brief panic, he decided to make his Minhyun-hyung proud by cleaning the not-horrendously-dirty-but-still-somewhat-dirty dorm as a distraction. When he went to the other apartment, however, it was Sungwoon who opened the door when Jihoon knocked.

“Jihoonie.”

“Hi hyung,” Jihoon glanced into the apartment. “Is Minhyunie-hyung here?”

“Mm, he’s out, I think,” Sungwoon replied. “Why?”

“Oh,” Jihoon muttered, “I was wondering if I could borrow his vacuum robot.”

Sungwoon gave him the strangest of looks.

“I’m just doing some house cleaning,” Jihoon reasoned. He wasn’t lying, but the words felt strange in his mouth. For veracity’s sake, he added, “Woojin made a mess.”

“I see. Hmm,” Sungwoon looked back, “I don’t think Minhyunie would mind.” He left and quickly came back with the robot in his arms. “I don’t really know how it works, so,” he handed the robot to Jihoon with a grunt. “If you break it, I never gave it to you.”

Jihoon let out a nervous chuckle. “Thanks, hyung.”

As it turned out, the robot wasn’t that difficult to use, and Jihoon gave himself a mental pat on the back. Minhyun-hyung would indeed be proud of him.

Speaking of Woojin though, he could already feel his wallet crying from how his fellow Pink Sausage would most definitely take advantage of the free meals.

“Dealing with your feelings is a grueling task,” Woojin had said with his annoying smirk. “I think I deserve this.”

He did. But Jihoon would never say it outright.

After another quick sweep, he glanced at the clock and figured he had just enough time to panic some more before Daniel returned.

Crap, Jihoon screamed in his head, what should he say? He didn’t prepare a speech. He glanced around the dorm. He definitely didn’t prepare a romantic setting. Shit. This was about to be the worst confession ever and Jihoon interally sobbed. Daniel deserved so much better.

He took a deep breath. Speak from the heart, that’s what Woojin had said.

Jihoon cringed. Hearts don’t speak. Hearts were organs, conglomerates of tissues barely bigger than the size of your fist, pumping blood and oxygen throughout your body for the duration of your life. Hearts were important, sure, but hearts weren’t nice or sincere or touchy-feely, they were—

“I’m home.”

Daniel.

Jihoon screamed another mental expletive. He quickly shoved the vacuum robot under the couch—he heard a slight thump and winced—and threw himself onto the couch.

“Hello?”

Jihoon cleared his throat.

“Hi, hyung,” he greeted, grabbing the remote and turning on the television at an attempt to be casual.

“Ah, Jihoonie,” Daniel padded in, taking off his face mask. “Where is everyone?”

Jihoon shrugged. “Seongwoo-hyung is out. I think Woojin took the kids out to dinner.”

“You didn’t go with them?”

“I wasn’t feeling hungry.” At Daniel’s reprimanding glance, he added, “Yet.”

Daniel made his way to the couch, creating a bit of space between him and Jihoon. With the remote still in hand, Jihoon flipped to a random channel which was currently playing an advertisement.

“Did you eat yet?” Jihoon asked, creating small-talk.

Daniel nodded. “Jisungie-hyung paid for me and Jaehwannie.”

“Where did you go?”

“Some local place for donkatsu,” Daniel replied. “Oh, I like this show.”

Jihoon didn’t press.

Although Daniel was immediately immersed into the program—Two Days & One Night—and even began to commentate on the cast members and what was going on, Jihoon couldn’t focus, nor did he try. Daniel began to laugh at some slapstick gag (which, to Jihoon, wasn’t even that funny), when Jihoon turned off the television—(“Hey, what are you—”)—and faced the elder.

“We have to talk.”

Daniel tensed.

“Sorry,” Jihoon mumbled. “It’s just. Important.”

“Okay…” Daniel angled towards the younger, placing his foot on his knee as a silent cue.

“About what you said a few days ago,” Jihoon started, slowly and carefully. “About you liking me.”

As still as Daniel was, Jihoon still caught the flash of surprise rippling through his body. Before Daniel had time to react, Jihoon continued.

“Did you mean it?”

Daniel stilled, unblinking. His expression flattened, and he crossed his arms.

“Of course I meant it,” he said, removing any pretenses between them.

Jihoon nodded, feeling his heart accelerate from the rawness of his words.

“I’m sorry,” Daniel suddenly said.

“For what?”

“For scaring you?” Daniel played off his nerves with a chuckle. “I know it, came out of nowhere and I didn’t mean to freak you out—”

“You didn’t freak me out.”

Daniel gave a disbelieving look.

“If anything, you were the one who freaked out,” Jihoon protested. “You ran away before I could say anything.”

Daniel let out a self-deprecating chuckle. “As if it would’ve mattered.”

“It does matter,” Jihoon insisted.

Daniel shook his head.

“Hyung, I’m sorry, too.”

“For what?” Daniel snapped, but there was no malice in his words. “For not liking me back?” He let out a hollow chuckle. The sadness was more apparent, and Jihoon felt a pang of guilt as Daniel pulled his legs in to cross them. The elder looked smaller, almost fragile. “Jihoon, you have nothing to apologize for—”

“For making you wait.”

Daniel froze, and Jihoon gave a soft smile.

“I didn’t give you an answer. I wanted to apologize for not saying something sooner,” Jihoon explained, his words beginning to quicken, “I admit, I panicked, which is why it took a minute—”

“Jihoon, you really shouldn’t be apologizing for your feelings,” Daniel interrupted, almost exasperated. “I’ll be okay if you don’t like me back, really, it’s really not—”

“But I do like you back.”

“—a big deal, like I—” Daniel sputtered. “Y-you what?”

Jihoon chuckled and scooted closer. “I like you, stupid.”

“You—stupi—why, I—” Daniel stuttered, flabbergasted. “You like me?”

“Too. I like you, too,” Jihoon said, finding Daniel’s change of facial expressions both endearing and amusing.

Daniel took a few seconds to process before muttering out a very intelligent, “Oh. I see, uh—”

“Do I need to kiss you again to prove it?” Jihoon joked, but leaned in anyway, his lips already pliant. Daniel held up a firm palm in front of his face. 

“I don’t believe this,” Daniel muttered, adorably stunned. Jihoon kissed his palm and Daniel flinched.

“This isn’t a joke, right?” Jihoon fervently shook his head. “Why didn’t you say so when I first told you I liked you?”

“I panicked,” Jihoon replied sheepishly. “Badly. I’m not,” he twiddled his thumbs. “I’m not good with feelings, you know that. I, I guess I didn’t know what I felt. If it wasn’t obvious, I’ve never done this before.”

Daniel slowly nodded.

“I’m sorry,” Jihoon apologized again, softly. “It must have been hard for you. When you told me you liked me, I kept thinking, why me? Out of everyone, why me? I’m not special. I’m not the most talented or the most good looking. I felt…undeserving?”

Daniel scooted closer, bringing a hesitant arm around his shoulders.

“I know it’s dumb, but I couldn’t help but think,” Jihoon leaned into Daniel’s touch, “You could have anyone in the world. Anyone at all. And you chose me.”

“Hey,” Daniel said, pressing a shy kiss to Jihoon’s temple. “I had my reasons. I didn’t just wake up one day and say, ‘I’m gonna have a crush on this kid.’ The same way our fans don’t just wake up and say, “I’m gonna support this kid.’ People see something in you whether you realize it or not.”

Jihoon looked down. “I…I guess. But—”

“Park Jihoon.” With a gentle finger, Daniel tilted Jihoon’s chin up to stare deeply into his eyes. “You don’t know how amazing you really are, do you?”

Jihoon flushed.

Daniel let go and chuckled, “You know, I was almost convinced you couldn’t like me back. That maybe you were,” he glanced warily at the younger, “…straight, or I wasn’t your type or whatever.”

Jihoon snorted. Daniel peered closer. “Do you have a type?”

“Kim Taehyung,” Jihoon immediately answered, feeling his ears flush when Daniel narrowed his eyes. “And you. I guess.”

Daniel tilted his head. “He and I are nothing alike though.”

“You’re both tall,” Jihoon tried to reason, but Daniel only scoffed.

“So you like tall guys.”

“I like you,” Jihoon stressed amidst Daniel’s teasing. His voice softened, “I like you a lot.”

“Aww,” Daniel cooed, and Jihoon could hear him grinning through his words. “I like you a lot too.”

“As more than a friend,” Jihoon clarified, even though Daniel already knew. “I like you as more than a friend.”

“Likewise,” Daniel smiled, suddenly pulling Jihoon by the arm and laying down across the couch with Jihoon on top. Jihoon squeaked at their compromising position. “So. What should we do about it?”

Jihoon made a move to escape, but Daniel kept him trapped by the waist, keeping him pressed flush against his chest. Jihoon huffed, feeling his face heat up from the other’s adorably ecstatic smile.

“Let me go,” he weakly protested.

“No,” Daniel cheekily replied. “Not until you say it.”

“Say what,” Jihoon already knew what, but, “I already said I liked you.”

“And I asked what we should do about it,” Daniel laughed. “Park Jihoon, if we’re going to be boyfriends, we have to go through the official process.”

“Then why can’t you ask me?”

“Because I confessed first,” Daniel said, sweet and simple. “It’s your turn.”

Jihoon groaned and pressed his face into Daniel’s chest.

“Darling,” Daniel cooed, knowing Jihoon would blush even harder. “Sweetheart.”

“Shut up.”

“…Baby?”

Jihoon whipped his head up. “You are crossing boundaries, mister.”

“I’m waiting,” Daniel teased, his smile wider than ever before. “Baby.”

“This is harrassment,” Jihoon grumbled, but wrapped his arms around Daniel’s waist anyway. “I’m about to date a man-child.”

“Well, I quite like the sound of that.”

“Lord,” Jihoon groaned and cleared his throat. “Kang Daniel.”

“Yes, Jihoon.”

“My dearest, Daniel.”

“Dearest, wow,” Daniel snickered. “I’ve leveled up.”

Jihoon gave his arm a pinch, and Daniel yelped.

“Will you kindly shut up,” Jihoon forced a glare, “And be my boyfriend?”

Daniel laughed, and with a vigorous nod, “God, you’re adorable. Yes, Park Jihoon, I would be delighted, no, honored to be your boyfriend.”

Jihoon held back his sigh of relief and instead gave a single nod. “Cool.”

Daniel tapped the side of his arms. “Hey, can you get off me for a second? My legs are falling asleep.”

“Oh,” Jihoon grimaced, “Sorry.” He made to get off, but Daniel quickly used that opportunity to pounce and press Jihoon down onto the other side of the couch. He hovered over the younger with a victorious grin, and Jihoon felt his heart thump with an odd anticipation.

“So, boyfriend,” Daniel drawled, enjoying the way Jihoon flushed all the way down his neck. “How shall we spend our first official day, hm?”

Jihoon stuttered from the proximity. “H-however you want?”

Daniel tsk-ed. “Ooh, I’m afraid that’s a bit,” his gaze lingered on Jihoon’s lips, and he made sure Jihoon caught his drift, “…risky. Someone could walk in.”

Jihoon unconsciously let out a moan as he lifted his hips up to readjust to a comfier position. “I-…I don’t mind? I mean, did you want to tell them now or later?”

Daniel chuckled in surprise. “Why, Park Jihoon, I never knew you could be so daring.”

He leaned down to press a kiss on Jihoon’s nose, which was enough to make him flush with the cutest mumbles.

“We’ll tell them whenever you want,” he pressed another kiss, just because. “So long as you’re comfortable, that’s all that matters to me.”

Jihoon wanted to scoff that he wasn’t a delicate flower waiting to be ruined, but instead leaned up to press a surprise kiss at the corner of Daniel’s lips.

Daniel was stunned for a second, but then he smiled.

“Missed.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes.

“That was a practice round,” he retorted before leaning in again, this time aiming to wipe off that insufferable smirk off of Daniel’s lips.

Daniel flinched at the contact, but immediately let himself sink into the feeling of Jihoon’s lips moving against his. Jihoon let out the softest mewl as they shared their first, actual kiss.

Daniel chuckled in between kisses, finding Jihoon’s inexperience adorable more than anything else. He brought his hand around the back of Jihoon’s neck, gently angling his head and rubbing gently along the base of his hairline. Jihoon moaned before he realized it, and Daniel grinned as he pulled back. He reached up to push back a stray hair behind Jihoon’s burning ears.

“You, are so cute. My boyfriend is so cute.”

Jihoon grumbled, embarrassed.

“Oh,” he suddenly remembered, shoving Daniel off with an incredible surge of strength.

“Hey,” Daniel whined from the loss of his new boyfriend.

Jihoon stepped into his room and quickly came out, phone in hand.

“So Woojin told me to tell him as soon as I got my heart broken.”

Daniel stared, incredulous. “By…me?”

Jihoon smirked, “Shall we take our first boyfriend selca?” He stared at the elder, “How shall we do this?”

Daniel immediately opened his arms wide, inviting Jihoon to sit in his lap. Jihoon gave a judgmental stare, but relented when Daniel pulled the puppy eyes.

Damn the puppy eyes.

Daniel hovered over Jihoon’s shoulder as Jihoon took a few pictures with varying angles and expressions. Just as Jihoon was about to take the fifth selfie, Daniel swooped in for a quick peck on the cheek, catching the younger by surprise and resulting in a poorly-timed and blurry photo.

“Aw, hyung,” Jihoon whined. He straightened his shoulders. “Kiss me again and keep your lips there.”

“Goodness, so demanding,” Daniel laughed, but complied for the perfect picture. “Let me see. Aw, cute!”

Jihoon hummed in agreement. “I’ll send it to Woojin.”

Daniel peered at the time-stamps. “Wow, you left him on read for thirty minutes.”

“I was busy,” Jihoon retorted, before sending the images to his best friend.

***

my jinnie:
are you two a thing yet

omg do i have to castrate him
because i will

my hoonie:
(picture attached)
(picture attached)
  (picture attached)
(picture attached)
(picture attached)

my jinnie:
?????????
UM ??? EXCUSE YOU
THAT IS A SACRED PLACE
WHAT THE SKSKSKKSKS
EWWWWW

my hoonie:
>:(
(picture attached)

my jinnie:
MY EYE S

my hoonie:
ew yourself

my jinnie:
disgusting
i mean
congrats
jinyoung and daehwi say hi
they’re screaming right now
you guys are cute i guess

my hoonie:
lol
thanks i guess
also daniel says hi
and thank you

my jinnie:
ugh tell him he owes me 30000

***

“Why do you owe Woojin 30000₩?”

Daniel flushed. “Oh. Right. Uh, he and Jaehwan had a bet.”

Jihoon raised an eyebrow, coaxing him to continue.

“They were betting on how long it would take for me to confess. Jaehwan won.”

“Because you—”

“Because I confessed. First.” Daniel nodded. “Yeah.”

“Wait.” Suddenly it clicked. “They knew!? Woojin knew!?”

“Yeah?” Daniel muttered nervously. Jihoon began to type an angry, capital-letter filled text of rage to Woojin. “Apparently I was real obvious about it too.”

“That snake. He knew you confessed the day of and then pretended like he didn’t, oh my—”

Daniel held back a giggle at the sight of his angry boyfriend venting on his phone.

“Well,” Daniel mumbled, cowering when Jihoon glared back at him. He did not want to get hit by an angry Jihoon. “To be fair, I tried pretty hard. And they helped! If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be together right now.”

Jihoon finished his virtual rant and tossed his phone aside. He turned around in Daniel’s lap and crossed his arms.

Daniel grimaced.

“Who else knew?”

“Seongwoo-hyung.”

Jihoon glared, and Daniel flinched. “But that’s it, I swear!”

Jihoon huffed. “Snake.”

Daniel pouted, “Says the Slytherin.”

Jihoon retaliated with a shove to his chest, causing Daniel to mutter out painful apologies when they both heard the door open.

“I’m home, losers.”

Seongwoo.

Jihoon tried to scramble off of Daniel’s lap, but Daniel quickly wrapped his arms around Jihoon’s waist, keeping him from escaping.

“Oh no, you don’t.”

“What are you doing,” Jihoon hissed. Daniel just kissed the back of his neck, further riling him up.

“Jihoon, Minhyunie wants his vacuum back, so if you could—oh. Okay.”

“Daniel!”

“Hi, hyung.”

Seongwoo gave the couple a look. Jihoon was the color of a tomato while Daniel continued to press butterfly kisses along his neck. He raised a finger, pointing at them. “So are you guys a thing now?”

“Yep,” Daniel replied, perfectly chipper and content despite his struggling boyfriend in his arms. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Jihoon growled, “Daniel!”

Seongwoo whistled. “Thank God, someone finally grew some balls. Well, I’m happy for you two. Stay out of my bed, and, uh,” he looked them up and down.

“Good luck with that one,” he said before retreating into his room.

“I will,” Daniel responded, too quiet for Seongwoo to hear. “See? Even Seongwoo-hyung thinks you’re a menace.”

“He was talking to me,” Jihoon screeched, yelping as he fell off the couch when Daniel finally let go.

“Why, I am an angel,” Daniel grinned. “You are the demon who needs to be tamed.”

“I’m breaking up with you.” Jihoon crouched down to the ground to peer underneath the couch. Minhyun’s vacuum sat right against the wall. “Crap, I pushed it too far back.”

He stood up. The couch was too heavy for him to move on his own.

He sighed.

“Niel? Can you do me a favor?”

Daniel grinned, bratty as ever. “Depends. Are we still together?”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. He was dating a man-child. “Sweetheart,” Jihoon cringed—he still wasn’t used to pet names—“Can you help me move the couch? Unless, of course, you wish to see me get eaten alive by Minhyun-hyung.”

Daniel laughed, but got up anyway. “You know the worst he can do is yell at you.”

“I know,” Jihoon shuddered. “But I pledged to never disappoint him. If I disappointed him, I’d probably curl up and die. Do you want that?”

“So dramatic.”With Daniel’s strength, the pair easily moved the couch and Jihoon was able to retrieve the precious vacuum robot.

“Thank you,” Jihoon stood up, tucking the robot in his arms and turning it off. He hoped Minhyun wouldn’t mind the battery usage. “I’m going to return this.”

Daniel raised his arm. “Permission to come with?”

Jihoon sighed, but didn’t stop him from latching onto his arm.

***

Minhyun opened the door. “Jihoon. Hi, Daniel. Oh,” he greeted and glanced down at the robot.

“Well, well,” Sungwoon stepped up to the door with a knowing smile. “If it isn’t the new couple.”

Jihoon gaped. “How did you—ah, here.” He sheepishly handed the robot over to Minhyun, who immediately inspected it to see if it had any damages.

“Word travels fast,” Sungwoon responded with a smirk.

Minhyun turned to Daniel and Jihoon with a slight smile. “Yeah, congrats, you two.”

“You don’t seem very surprised, hyung,” Daniel remarked, wrapping an arm around Jihoon’s shoulders. “I’m assuming Seongwoo-hyung told you?”

“Seongwoo told everyone,” Sungwoon said with a laugh. “Check the group chat.”

“Oh,” Jihoon muttered awkwardly. “Yeah, I muted that.”

“Same,” Daniel grinned, shameless.

“Well, in that case, y’all should prepare for Jisungie-hyung’s wrath,” Sungwoon said. “He’s not very happy about being left in the dark.”

“What, we literally just became a couple,” Daniel whined. “Like not even an hour ago.”

“I don’t know,” Sungwoon shrugged. “Just expect a lot of yelling tomorrow. He’s in his room now,” he added with a laugh. “But really, congrats, you two.”

He nodded to Jihoon. “Keep him in line, yeah?”

“I’m trying,” Jihoon grimaced.

Daniel leaned forward to kiss the top of Jihoon’s head.

Sungwoon visibly flinched and backed back into the apartment. “Alright, leave. Go. Go be cute elsewhere and stop rubbing your couple culture in my face.”

Daniel brightly laughed, wrapping a tighter arm around Jihoon’s shoulders. Minhyun nodded to the couple with a quiet, “Goodnight, you two,” and a soft smile before closing the door.

“I guess we should thank Seongwoo-hyung for taking the pressure off,” Daniel remarked, staring ahead before bypassing the elevators. “Let’s take the stairs.”

“I wouldn’t have minded telling them ourselves.”

Daniel reached for Jihoon’s hand, startling the younger. He intertwined their fingers, warm and snug, as they slowly made their way up to their floor.

“Is this okay?”

Jihoon blushed for the umpteenth time. He needed to get used to this. He nodded wordlessly.

Daniel paused in his steps.

“Hyung?”

He raised their hands up, bringing Jihoon’s hand up to his lips. He pressed a kiss to his knuckles, one by one, before pressing kisses along his fingers. It was overwhelmingly sweet, and Jihoon nearly lost his balance from the heady rush.

“W-what are you doing?” Jihoon stuttered out, but made no move to pull back.

Daniel leaned in, pressing a kiss to Jihoon’s cheek, and another on his lips.

Jihoon whined; he barely had time to kiss back.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For giving me a chance.”

“Of course,” Jihoon blinked, tilting his head. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Daniel chuckled, shaking his head as he lowered their arms and continued up the stairs.

“You really don’t know how amazing you are, do you?”

Jihoon huffed. “I’ll believe it less the more you tell me.”

“Then perhaps, my dearest, Jihoon,” Daniel replied, with the softest laugh and the brightest glint in his eyes.

“I’ll just have to work harder to show you.”

— end.