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The first time it happens, the group is getting ready to start their day.
Soonyoung always wakes up before Jihoon, being the early bird he is, and he’s not surprised when he turns around to be greeted by an adorable sight.
His heart squeezes when he sees Jihoon sleeping peacefully beside him. It’s not the first time Soonyoung’s admired Jihoon while he was sleeping. In fact, he does it every morning, well aware that Jihoon doesn’t wake up until late afternoon unless the group is scheduled for something.
Soonyoung admires the way the sunlight accentuates Jihoon’s features, blanketing him in a warm gold. It’s times like these where Soonyoung has the audacity to believe his boyfriend isn’t real, what with the sunlight acting as a filter and making Jihoon that much more beautiful.
Soonyoung stays in bed for another few minutes, just admiring how beautiful the love of his life is. A few more moments later, and Soonyoung is finally able to convince himself to get out of their bed to prepare for the day ahead of him. He leans down and places a soft kiss on Jihoon’s temple before starting on his morning routine: a quick shower and then a jog around the block with Chan and Seungcheol.
When Soonyoung comes back, Mingyu, Minghao, and Joshua are already cooking breakfast, and his stomach rumbles at the delicious smell wafting through the dorm.
“Good morning,” Joshua greets with a warm smile. He’s washing some rice in a pot as he goes over their schedule. “Manager-hyung came in while you were away, said we’re scheduled for a photo-shoot for Saem, and then an interview with Mnet. The photo-shoot and interview are right next to each other, so it shouldn’t take any more than five hours."
“What’s cooking?” Chan asks, sitting on a stool in front of the counter.
“Nothing much, what about you?” Mingyu shoots back, then he’s laughing at his own joke. “Breakfast is kongnamul bap, kalbi, and moo saengchae.”
“What time are we leaving?” Seungcheol questions, wiping his sweat with a damp towel as he leans in to kiss Joshua’s cheek. “Is Hannie awake?"
“Hyung said we’re leaving around 1 o'clock, so we have plenty of time to get ready,” Joshua answers. “Hannie’s still sleeping. Let him rest. He worked hard yesterday."
Soonyoung squeezes his way in between Minghao and Joshua to reach for the coffee pot. He isn’t a coffee person but Jihoon is, and if he doesn't want to face a grumpy and irritable Jihoon for the rest of the day, he’d better make sure the coffee is ready by the time he wakes up.
“How long did you last this time?” Seungcheol asks casually, leaning his hip on the counter as he grins smugly at the younger man.
Soonyoung flushes. “Hyung,” he whines. “Stop it."
Seungcheol laughs, patting Soonyoung’s back. “You are whipped."
The dancer pouts, sulking as his members around him laugh at him.
“Jihoonie is so pretty when he sleeps. It’s not my fault,” he grumbles, taking the coffee out of its holder when the machine beeps. He reaches for a mug in an attempt to hide his flushed face.
“It’s okay, hyung,” Minghao tries to comfort, even if there’s a wide teasing smile on his face. “You just love him that much."
“Is that meant to comfort me or add salt to the wound?"
Minghao only laughs, giving Soonyoung a back hug.
“Chan-ah,” Joshua calls. “Go wake the others, and please, for the love of god, don’t piss off Jihoon. I don’t need him cursing us out in the van."
“No promises,” the maknae sings, removing his cap and getting up from his stool.
Soonyoung chuckles. The last time Chan woke Jihoon, the latter was...frightening, to say the least. He glared at everyone who so much as looked at him, and true to Joshua’s statement, he did curse everyone out, going on and on about how he needed his sleep. He complained that he could wake himself up just fine but Soonyoung doubts it with how late he wakes up.
A few minutes later, the rest of the members come pouring in, exhaustion written on their faces, their movements slow and sluggish. Sure enough, Chan returns with a sheepish look on his face as he holds his arm, and Soonyoung can’t help but laugh when he sees a red mark forming on his skin. A few seconds in and Jihoon comes in, half-asleep and wrapped in a blanket, his expression unpleasant, but Soonyoung feels his heart clench all the same at how adorable he looks.
Soonyoung grins brightly, pouring the coffee into the mug. He adds two spoons of sugar and one spoon of creamer before mixing it. He slides it towards Jihoon, watching fondly as his hands emerge from the blanket, reaching for the mug.
Cute, he thinks to himself, and his heart jumps when Jihoon blinks rapidly, sitting down on a stool in front of him.
“Good morning,” he chirps affectionately, watching as his boyfriend takes a long, slow sip from the mug, not caring how hot the coffee is. Even just doing normal activities, he still looks beautiful, and Soonyoung can’t help but make it known that he thinks so. “How is the prettiest person in the world doing?"
Soonyoung knows how much Jihoon hates being called pretty or cute or anything endearing really, but he loves seeing the way Jihoon’s ears turn red and how his mouth turns into an embarrassed scowl. The younger man lowers his mug, face flushed a pretty pink and eyes narrowing.
Fortunately or unfortunately—depending on how you see it—Jihoon knows as much, and he isn’t about to let Soonyoung get that satisfaction.
Lifting the mug to his lips again, he quirks an eyebrow, stares Soonyoung straight in the eye, and says, “I don’t know. How are you?"
There’s a beat.
Jihoon’s sleep-deprived brain catches up with him and he suddenly remembers who else is in the room with them. It isn’t just the two of them. He’s still tired, however, and he can’t bring himself to laugh at how ridiculous his members look right now, their actions screeching to a halt at Jihoon’s reply, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.
Soonyoung doesn’t look any better, and Jihoon can’t help but let a smug smile slip when he sees Soonyoung’s mouth drop, his eyes widening drastically. His ears are tinged red and Jihoon can see the redness spread to his neck. He looks absolutely adorable, but of course Jihoon would never say that out loud.
After a few moments of silence, Soonyoung grins, so wide that his eyes disappear. He’s blushing to the roots of his hair and he covers his face with his hands, his embarrassment catching up with him. Although he was caught off guard by Jihoon’s unexpected comeback, he giggles shyly, mumbling, “I’m fine."
Jihoon sets his mug down before standing, reaching over the counter for Soonyoung’s wrist to tug his arms away. Not caring if his members are looking, the younger man leans forward to press their lips together, ignoring the way the taller man squeaks in surprise as he murmurs, “Good morning, Soonyoung."
The second time it happens, they’re on the building’s rooftop, laying down next to each other.
It’s night time, and although they should be asleep, they’re stargazing and talking quietly to each other, hands intertwined. Late-night conversations have become a thing between them because it's the only time they’re ever truly alone. With them being the main engines of the group as the producer and choreographer, their schedules often clashed with each other and they would only get no more than a few words with each other before they were whisked away for different tasks.
It's these types of nights where Soonyoung could just let himself relax without the constant worry of working, where he could just listen to Jihoon talk for hours on end.
“...and that’s Gemini, up there,” Jihoon murmurs, pointing at the sky.
Although Soonyoung doesn’t know where exactly he was pointing at, he nods anyways, finding the younger man’s knowledge of astrology endearing.
“I’m a Gemini,” Soonyoung blurts. “That’s my constellation."
Jihoon laughs quietly and Soonyoung feels him squeeze his hand. “Yes, you are."
“What’s your star sign, Hoonie?” the dancer asks, twisting his body to stare at Jihoon’s side profile. He looks pretty under the moonlight too.
So not fair, Soonyoung thinks to himself.
“My star sign?” the producer hums. “Technically, I was born on a cusp."
“A cusp?"
“Yeah.” Jihoon nods, keeping his eyes on the sky. “It’s the line between two separate zodiacs."
“What’s your cusp?"
“Since I was born on November 22nd, I was born on the Scorpio and Sagittarius cusp,” Jihoon explains. “But technically, you can’t have two zodiac signs."
Soonyoung frowns. If you were born on a cusp, you were either one zodiac or the other. He knows Gemini and Scorpio aren’t really compatible with each other, so he asks, “So what do you consider yourself?"
Jihoon stays quiet for a moment, and then he turns his head to stare back at Soonyoung. He smiles and says, “I like to think I’m more of a Sagittarius."
“Oh.” Soonyoung doesn’t know what he was expecting but he feels his body relax at that and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Jihoon.
The producer laughs quietly, finally turning his body to face Soonyoung. “You know, even if I did consider myself more of a Scorpio, you shouldn’t let that get to your head. Don’t take zodiacs so seriously."
Soonyoung hums but he doesn’t say anything else, only deciding to admire Jihoon.
He doesn’t usually feel this light but in this moment, Soonyoung’s heart squeezes again when he realizes Jihoon is admiring him too, and he can’t help the grin that tugs at the corners of his lips. His happiness must be contagious because the next thing he knows, Jihoon’s smiling back at him. They don’t have to say anything. There’s too many words and yet still not enough, so they stay quiet instead.
When Soonyoung watches Jihoon eyelids begin to fall, he regretfully breaks the peacefulness between them and sits up. “We should go inside," he murmurs, carding a hand through Jihoon’s hair. “You must be tired from being so pretty all day."
“Then you must be exhausted,” the younger man hums, opening his eyes to glance at a flustered Soonyoung. He grins, standing up and stretching. He looks down at Soonyoung who’s still sulking, and he can’t help but laugh as he holds out his hand.
“Come on. We have a lot of things planned for tomorrow, and I don’t want to miss out on the five hours of sleep we’ll get,” Jihoon says, glancing at his watch. It’s 3 a.m., and although Jihoon is dead tired, he doesn’t regret being able to spend time with Soonyoung.
Soonyoung, still pouting, grabs Jihoon’s hand and sulks all the way back to their dorm.
“One day, Jihoonie,” Soonyoung grumbles. “One day."
The third time it happens, it’s purely on Jihoon, and it’s not really a pick-up line, but it’s good enough to get Soonyoung blushing.
The members are in the dorm, bottles of soju everywhere. Everyone is wasted, if not tipsy. It had been a tiring comeback, and when their manager had come in to reward them with a free week, Jeonghan had immediately taken advantage of it, telling the group that, “This might be our only free week for the whole comeback period! Who knows when our next one is?”
Needless to say, his statement was enough to convince his members that indeed, they should be taking advantage of this.
The comeback had taken a toll on everyone, what with the sleepless nights and hours of practice they’ve done. If the empty glasses of soju weren’t enough to tell you how stressed they were, the members themselves might.
Seungcheol is absolutely wasted, the pressure of being the leader crashing down on him as he leans heavily against Jeonghan. The latter is just a little tipsy, watching Seokmin and Seungkwan arm-wrestle. Joshua, who prides himself in being a child of God, even took it upon himself to drink at least two glasses before he crashed for the night.
The rest of the members are doing who-knows-what, and thanks to Soonyoung’s bleary vision, he can’t distinguish who’s who other than the person across from him.
“Channie’s absolutely wasted,” Soonyoung giggles, on the verge of becoming drunk as he points to who he thinks is their youngest.
The maknae is currently dancing with Mingyu and Jun, the three of them looking like absolute idiots dancing to Hansol’s obnoxious singing.
Jihoon grins, turning to his boyfriend. The two of them are sitting on the couch, leaning against opposite ends of it as they face each other, legs loosely intertwined and almost-empty glasses in their hands.
“Remember that one time I got tipsy last time we had a break?” Jihoon questions, clumsily setting his glass on the table. “You were completely shit-faced drunk. You didn’t even care when we started making out in front of everybody."
Soonyoung frowns. He doesn’t remember that, so he says as much, “What even happened?"
Jihoon shrugs. “I think Mingyu told us to get a room, and we did. We woke up the next morning only to find out that the wall had been dented from how hard we fucked."
Soonyoung’s frown deepens, trying to remember any recollection of that night, only to come up blank. “I don’t remember that,” he pouts. “When did that happen?"
Jihoon crawls on top of Soonyoung, straddling him as he leans down to whisper, “Soon.” Then he locks their lips together, breathing out a moan as the dancer deepens the kiss with his tongue, hands tightening around the producer’s waist.
When Soonyoung realizes what’s happening, he pulls away to nip at Jihoon’s jaw. “You cheeky little shit,” he breathes against his skin, and Jihoon only smiles mischievously at him as Soonyoung grabs his hand.
“Oooh,” Mingyu slurs, clinging tightly onto Wonwoo. “Jihoon-hyung’s gonna get some."
Soonyoung and Jihoon ignore the drunk giant, the both of them stumbling into their bedroom, giggles slipping past their lips as they kiss clumsily. Soonyoung remembers to lock the door before he joins his lover on the bed, still giggling as he touches Jihoon. The younger tastes of soju and mint, but Soonyoung can’t bring himself to care.
Needless to say, Jihoon was fucked, and true to his statement, there's a dent in the wall.
“I can’t believe you used a pick-up line before we did that,” Soonyoung groans, shielding his eyes away from the sun as he burrows his face into Jihoon’s neck. “Ugh, I feel like I’ve been trampled by those crazy Black Friday customers.”
“Shut up, Kwon,” the younger man grumbles. “Both my head and ass hurts, you have no right to feel sore.”
“Was I that good—”
“I said shut up.”
Soonyoung should’ve seen it coming when they were shopping for groceries.
Jihoon, Soonyoung, Seungkwan and Hansol are in charge of getting ingredients for the week, which ultimately proves to be a bad idea because the latter two of the four had disappeared to god knows where. That leaves Soonyoung and Jihoon alone to shop for the list of ingredients. (Not that Soonyoung minds.)
“Do you think Hannie-hyung wants spicy or mild?” Soonyoung asks, holding two bottles of sauces. “He said he wants to cook chicken for dinner tonight."
“Get both," Jihoon shrugs, grabbing a jar of pesto from the shelf and throwing it in the cart.
The dancer throws both bottles in the cart before pulling out the list. “Okay, that should be it. Did you text Hansol?”
Jihoon nods, pushing the cart as they stroll to the cashier. “He said they’ll follow after us. Lovebirds are too distracted with each other to even get a single item from the list.”
Soonyoung giggles as they load their groceries on the conveyor belt. He isn't wrong—their two dongsaengs had disappeared the moment they set foot in the store.
“₩45,000,” the cashier says, and Jihoon hands her the money.
An idea pops into Soonyoung’s head, and it could ultimately get them in big trouble or the cashier would find it endearing. He places his fate in the latter.
He feigns a loud gasp, causing both Jihoon and the cashier to turn their heads towards him.
“Hoonie!” he exclaims, pointing at Jihoon’s pocket. “Did you steal something?”
“What?” Jihoon asks, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he glances down at his back pocket, “What is it?”
“My heart,” Soonyoung pouts. “You stole my heart. Hoonie, you’re gonna have to go to jail!”
The cashier smiles, giggling a little as Jihoon blinks, before shaking his head with an exasperated smile. “Well then,” Jihoon says, loading the groceries in the cart. “We might as well both go to court because I know for a fact that you stole mine too.”
Oh.
Soonyoung was definitely not expecting that.
The cashier bids them goodbye with an adoring smile as Jihoon pushes the cart, and Soonyoung follows with red ears.
“But I don’t wanna go to court,” Soonyoung pouts as they walk through the parking lot to their car.
Jihoon grins at him, shaking his head as he unlocks the trunk. “Well, let’s keep it a secret then. If you make sure my heart is loved 24/7, I’ll do the same to yours. Deal?"
Soonyoung, caught off guard with the unexpected pick-up line, whines at Jihoon, eyes sparkling with tears as he throws his arms around the smaller man. “Hoonie!” he whines. “You can’t say things like that! Stop one-upping me! You’re supposed to get flustered because of my pick-up lines, not the other way around!”
Jihoon chuckles. “You big baby,” he smiles fondly. "I suppose I should go to jail for making the love of my life cry then.”
And when Soonyoung’s lip quivers and his eyes water, Jihoon only giggles and reaches up to press their lips soundly together.
Soonyoung’s sure he’d be able to get Jihoon this time.
The group is doing a concept photo-shoot on the beach, and although the stylists have already dolled Soonyoung up, the dancer can’t help but to run along the coastline, feeling the wind hit his face gently. It’s a beautiful day and it would go to waste if he didn’t have at least a little bit of fun.
“Jihoonie,” he calls, looking behind him. He grins at the sight of Jihoon’s expression.
The younger man has never taken a liking to the water, and Soonyoung finds it so incredibly endearing. It reminds him terribly of a little kitten.
(Jihoon would kick his ass to Mars if he hears Soonyoung say that out loud.)
“What?” the producer huffs, scowling at his wet feet. “God, I wish I had Minghao’s scene. He doesn’t even have to get wet! All he has to do is stand on the bridge!"
Soonyoung laughs. “Cheer up, Jihoonie,” he says, grabbing Jihoon’s hand. “You know Junnie’s gonna push him into the water later anyway. We all have to go in the water for the underwater concepts."
Jihoon’s cheeks blow up, and Soonyoung curses his weak heart as Jihoon sulks. “I don’t want to have to take a shower later,” he complains as Soonyoung leads him across the coastline. “That’s like showering twice. Twice, Soonyoung."
Soonyoung giggles at Jihoon’s logic. “Look at the bright side—"
“There is no bright side."
“Look at the bright side,” Soonyoung says again. “You’ll feel extra clean. Unless you want to get sick, go for it then."
“You are a horrible boyfriend,” Jihoon says bluntly.
“I am a wonderful boyfriend, Jihoonie!” the dancer says cheerily, swinging their arms back and forth. “You’re so lucky to have me! Look, you’re smiling."
Jihoon’s smile widens. “That’s because you’re an idiot."
“Nuh-uh,” Soonyoung disagrees, and they stop right by some rocks. “I’m your idiot."
Jihoon doesn’t correct him but Soonyoung knows he’s grinning. “We should head back,” is what Jihoon says instead. “We’ve gotten too far from the crew."
“Okay, Jihoonie,” Soonyoung says, a teasing lilt to his tone as Jihoon leads them back.
When the older looks out at the sea, he feels another idea come to his head and he can’t help but grin. He stops suddenly with a gasp, forcing Jihoon to look back and frown.
“Oh no,” the dancer says dramatically.
“What 'oh no?'” Jihoon asks.
“I—I think you need to call the ambulance,” Soonyoung says weakly, slowly getting down on his knees. The water is soaking through his pants, and their stylists might get mad, but he’s determined to get Jihoon this time.
Jihoon’s frown deepens. “What? Why?” he questions, kneeling down besides Soonyoung. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” He caresses Soonyoung’s face, and the latter feels his heart warm up.
Jihoon doesn’t like water, but seeing him getting soaked just to see if Soonyoung’s okay makes the dancer love him even more.
“Call the ambulance, Jihoonie,” Soonyoung continues, staring at Jihoon as he grips the younger’s wrists, “because I think I’m drowning in your eyes."
There’s a pause, and for a moment only the sounds of the birds chirping and the waves crashing could be heard, and Soonyoung fears he’s gone too far this time.
But then Jihoon breathes out a relieved sigh and squishes Soonyoung’s cheeks as punishment. “I don’t think we need to go through all that trouble when I could easily give you mouth-to-mouth,” Jihoon says casually.
The younger man watches in fascination as Soonyoung’s eyes widen and then he turns away, lips pushed into a pout as he complains, “Damn it, Jihoon. Fine, you win, okay? God, you can’t even pretend you don’t have a comeback?"
Jihoon bursts into a peal of giggles, leaning forward to give Soonyoung’s cheek an eskimo kiss. “The offer is still standing,” he says jokingly.
Soonyoung sighs and turns back to face him, pressing their lips together. “I hate you, you know that?” Soonyoung grumbles, and Jihoon’s smile widens.
“I love you too, my idiot."
Soonyoung has just finished coming up with a choreography so namely, he has nothing better to do, so he decides to be a good boyfriend and check up on Jihoon. He's been locked in his studio for around nine hours now. (Not that Soonyoung is counting.)
The dancer packs his things and wipes his sweat off with a towel. Exiting the practice room, he makes his way down the hall to Jihoon’s studio. He knocks, of course, but there’s no answer, so Soonyoung assumes Jihoon has his headphones in again. He invites himself in and sure enough, there Jihoon is, sitting in front of his computer as his head bounces along to a beat that Soonyoung can’t hear.
Soonyoung sets his things down on the couch before creeping up on the distracted producer, but when he lays his hands on his shoulders, he doesn’t expect to be manhandled onto the desk, his arm bent awkwardly behind his back.
“Ow, ow, ow!” Soonyoung wheezes. “Jesus, fuck, Jihoon. If I wasn’t in pain right now, I’d say that was pretty hot."
Jihoon, upon hearing Soonyoung’s voice, releases him, breathing out a sigh of relief. “What the fuck, Soonyoung,” the producer says exasperatedly, picking his headphones up from where its dangling above the floor. “Don’t scare me like that again."
Soonyoung pouts, rolling his shoulder back. He opts to lay his chin on Jihoon’s shoulder, watching as the younger gets back into his flow. “Are you almost finished?"
“Not yet,” Jihoon sighs. “I’m only on the first chorus. Did you finish choreographing?"
“Yep,” Soonyoung says proudly. “I’ll ask Hyelim-noona to set a schedule for us so you guys can learn it. She might revise some parts once I send her the video, so we’ll probably be scheduled next week."
Jihoon hums but doesn’t say anything else. Soonyoung doesn’t disturb him any further. He knows how much work Jihoon needs to finish, and he doesn’t want to be the cause of his stress, so he watches him silently, ears straining to hear the muffled music coming from Jihoon’s headphones.
“You’re staring."
Soonyoung almost jumps. Jihoon doesn’t look at him but his raised eyebrow is an indicator that he wants to hear what’s on Soonyoung’s mind.
“Let’s go out,” Soonyoung offers, taking his chin off of Jihoon’s shoulder. “You’ve been here for nine hours. You need a break."
“I’m fine,” Jihoon dismisses. “Once I finish this, I’ll take a break."
Soonyoung frowns because he knows Jihoon won’t. The producer is the type to finish all his work at once before he even thinks about resting. The dancer is surprised at how well he’s holding up.
“If I ask you on a date, would your answer be the same as the answer to this question?"
“No,” Jihoon answers immediately, and then he frowns, eyebrows furrowing when he realizes what Soonyoung’s asking. “Wait, yes—wait."
Soonyoung can’t help the grin forming on his lips.
This is it, he thinks giddily. I’ve stumped him!
Soonyoung watches Jihoon’s frown deepen, and he stands up, giggling.
“Damn it, Soonyoung,” Jihoon sighs, leaning back in his chair as he saves his work. He swivels around to glare at the smug dancer. “You realize no matter what, I can only say yes?"
“That’s the point,” Soonyoung grins, tugging Jihoon’s hands as he leads them out of the room. “I feel accomplished. I finally did it! Are you—Are you blushing, Jihoonie?"
“Shut up, idiot,” Jihoon huffs, snatching his hand away to walk in front of Soonyoung, but the latter can clearly see his red ears. “Just shut up and take me to our so-called date."
Soonyoung giggles, catching up with the younger. “Wait up, Jihoonie! You’re going the wrong way!"