Archive of Our Own

It all starts in the beginning of February. Jeongin comes back to his hotel room from shopping and expects his room to be empty, but it isn’t. 

Jisung usually holes up in someone else's room until later in the night. But right now, he makes his presence even more known than usual as he isn't even on his own bed but rather on Jeongin's, scrambling to pose seductively and smolder as if he's not wearing fuzzy pajama bottoms and one of Jeongin's sweaters.

In other words, he looks like a dork.

"Hyung, what are you doing on my bed?" Jeongin laughs as he sets his shoulder bag beside the door, walking over to sit on the edge of his bed. Jisung continues to excessively bite his lip and look at him with half-assed sultry eyes.

"I came to give you this," he purrs and Jeongin is teetering the line between finding it funny and endearing or thinking it's disgusting. He settles for adorably cringy. 

Jisung brings a hand behind his back and feels around for something, the crinkling of aluminum wrapper signaling his success before he whips out a cherry ring pop, something Jeongin hasn't had since he was seven. Confused, Jeongin reaches to take it, only to get even more confused when Jisung snatches it away from his grasp and rips it open himself. For a second, Jeongin thinks that he was just going to eat it himself and just showed it to him to brag, but Jisung takes Jeongin's left hand—Jeongin still thinks the size difference is cute—into his and slips the candy on his ring finger.

"There!" Jisung cheers and Jeongin stares at him for a couple seconds, looking back and forth between him and the ring.

"Thanks?" Jeongin brings the ring up to his mouth but Jisung grabs his wrist to stop him. He starts reaching into his pajama pockets and Jeongin hears some more crinkling before Jisung pulls out a matching cherry ring pop to give to Jeongin, who takes it, once again very confused.

"This is supposed to be a mutual thing." Jisung’s tone is playfully scolding as he splays his fingers and waits. 

Jeongin chuckles and tears open the package to pull out the ring pop, taking Jisung's hand and slipping on the treat. Jisung makes a happy noise before kissing Jeongin's cheek and running out of the room, probably to another member. 

So Jeongin is left by himself with his cherry ring pop. He starts eating it, thinking this was just something Jisung wanted to do as a joke. Something that probably won't happen again.

But this was just the beginning.

-

The second time he's 'proposed' to wasn't much of a proposal. 

Compared to Jisung's seemingly planned seduction stunt, it was more off-handed. They were all in the salon, getting their hair and makeup done for their concert. Jeongin wasn’t doing anything too special, but he liked getting his makeup done because it made him feel pretty. Even so, the process was boring and dull.

He had gotten used to the prodding of brushes and other people getting into his space to get in the small details, but Jeongin hadn't slept much last night, as Jisung had kept him up late watching a documentary as they ate their ring pops. Once he’d woken up, he’d only had enough time to brush his teeth and get dressed before getting shipped off to the salon. In other words, it's finally catching up to him.

After his fringe is styled over a headband, he almost stumbles out the salon chair and makes his way to the sofas, seconds away from passing out. Someone sits beside him and he has half a mind to turn his head to look at the newcomer, finding Changbin smiling at him with his hair tucked into a beanie apart from his fringe. Jeongin thinks he smiles back but he's not sure.

"Didn't get much sleep?" Changbin rubs his shoulder and Jeongin grunts out a response, shifting to lean on Changbin's shoulder, planning to sleep until the other members are done getting ready. Changbin chuckles, low and rumbly as his shoulder shakes ever so slightly under Jeongin's head. Jeongin closes his eyes, ignoring how Changbin shifts to reach into his pocket. Jeongin can barely hear anything from the other members shouting over KartRider with the added sound of blow dryers, so he assumes that Changbin is just grabbing his phone until Changbin grabs his hand instead.

Jeongin opens his eyes in time to see two strawberry ring pops get tucked into his hand, Changbin curling his fingers around them so he holds them properly. Jeongin looks up and Changbin gives him a small but warm smile.

"You need some sugar," he says simply as he shuffles again to actually get his phone this time. 

Deja vu hits as Jeongin stares at the candy in his hand, and he does feel the need to get some sugar running in his veins if he wants to make it through the day in one functional piece, so he rips one open and slips it on his ring finger. He starts eating while looking at the other one in his hand, then looks at Changbin's completely free left hand, totally defenseless.

Jeongin didn't need two ring pops.

Jeongin holds his ring pop between his teeth before ripping open the other one, gaining Changbin's attention because why would he open the second one right away unless he was planning to shove two in his mouth (which he is more than capable of doing)? Jeongin takes his hand and slips the candy on his ring finger, giving himself a satisfied smile as he goes back to eating his ring pop and pretends nothing happened as he burrows farther into Changbin's shoulder. 

Changbin laughs and kisses the top of Jeongin’s  head before eating his ring pop, using Jeongin’s  head as a pillow. The two don’t speak about it, just press up against each other as they giggle over funny clips on Changbin's phone.

-

The third day was his fault, but he’s proud of the fact.

Jeongin had been taking a nap in Hyunjin's hotel room when he heard loud banging coming from the door. He startles awake and finds the older man not in his bed like he was when Jeongin first fell asleep. The banging persists and Jeongin finally collects his last working brain cell and rouses himself to walk to the door, hoping no one calls the front for another noise complaint because only heaven knows how loud the eight of them can get. He unlocks the door, twisting the lock and jerking the door open as he's scratching his head.

"Who the—" 

He's cut off by someone dropping themselves in his arms and almost falls at the sudden weight. He collects the person as best he can and recognizes them as Hyunjin since the other had sighed dramatically as they dropped their bags on the floor.

"Hyung?"

Jeongin tried to get him to stand on his own, but Hyunjin was stubbornly forcing all of his weight on Jeongin. With some difficulty, Jeongin held Hyunjin by the waist with one arm and turned them so he could close and lock the door again. When he did, he tried to let go, but Hyunjin grappled his arms around his neck and attached himself to Jeongin like a leech. Jeongin wanted nothing more than to throw him like a frisbee as he was forced to waddle them to the beds, and finally pushed Hyunjin off, who not-so-gracefully fell on the bed with a squawk.

"Jeongin! You shouldn't push your hyungs!" he shouted, but Jeongin rolled his eyes and brought his bags over to the bed before he could even ask. 

Hyunjin had gone shopping but not for clothes, all the bags from the grocery store they had found nearby. Jeongin sprawled himself face down on Hyunjin's bed right after, too lazy to move the extra seven feet to the other bed. When Hyunjin nudged him with his foot, he waved him off and reached up for a pillow, grabbing the plush object and shoving it under his head, preparing for his second nap.

He almost gets it, the ropes of sleep latching onto his ankles and slowly pulling him down into slumber, until he hears the familiar sound of aluminum crinkling. He moves his head to prop his chin on the pillow, his arms moving under the pillow for more height as he looks up at Hyunjin. 

The older had a pile of ring pops by his side and one in his mouth. When Hyunjin catches him staring, he laughs. He pops the candy out of his mouth, his lips tinted blue.

"You want one?" he gestured to his pile beside him. Jeongin made a noise, like a soft grunt as he pushed himself up to sit.

"What's that flavor?" he asks instead, tilting his chin to the blue ring pop. Hyunjin smiles, a little childish and dopey.

"Blue raspberry!" he said in English, overly accented. Jeongin hummed in amusement.

"What does it taste like?"

Hyunjin thinks for a bit, eyes rolled to the side as he juts his lips out a little.

"I’m not sure how you would describe it. Here, I have another." Hyunjin starts sifting through his pile but Jeongin grabs his wrist.

"I have a better idea." 

He pulls Hyunjin's wrist toward him and meets him halfway, pressing his lips softly against the other's plush ones. Hyunjin sits there dumbly for a second, shell-shocked at Jeongin's bold move. Not that it matters, because the kiss ended right when it started, Jeongin moving his mouth against Hyunjin's for those frozen moments and swiping his tongue over the older's lips, catching the flavor of sweet blue raspberry. He pulls away and licks his lips as if to catch more of the candy.

Hyunjin has his mouth hung open and ring pop loosely held in his hand, barely catching it before it falls on the white sheet, almost ruining the pristine color with light blue. Jeongin smiles in faux innocence, mischief dripping from his lips.

"I think I like that flavor, hyung!" he says brightly, but Hyunjin doesn't register what he says right away. When he does, he goes bright red before grabbing a blue raspberry ring pop from his pile and tearing it open, yanking Jeongin's hand to slip it on his ring finger. He sputters more nonsensical words before collecting the rest of his candy and dumping it his bag, grabbing it and fleeing. He yells some more words but it's garbled from the lingering shock, Jeongin laughing at his attempts to form a coherent sentence, and the door slams shut as he brings his candy to his mouth.

Jisung giggles at his blue-stained lips when he comes back to their room.

-

Chan always reminds Jeongin that he was once sixteen, once shorter than him, and once had braces-clad teeth. Not because the older tells him these things, no. In fact Chan almost never talks about his time pre-debut, the topic usually filled with nostalgia and small pangs of sadness he can't quite rub away no matter how much time passes.

He reminds him because of how he loves. Chan loves slightly overbearing affection, loves coddling and cuddling, loves overly cute noises made to annoy Jeongin to the point where he whines and pushes him away. He makes Jeongin go back to when he was a child compared to most people, someone people doted on like a baby. Jeongin likes to think he's mature, but Chan has been there since the beginning and never lets him forget it.

As much he pretends to hate it, he kind of enjoys the attention the leader gives him, feigning annoyance only because as much as he likes it, he will not give Chan the satisfaction of loving him without him fighting back. If he did that, Jisung would give him an earful.

But past the over-the-top affection, Chan also loves quietly. Fond smiles and small gestures. Pulls Jeongin away from streets if they walk side by side or tucks him into bed when he catches him dozing off with his blankets strewn everywhere but on him. In a way, he's like a weird mixture of Jisung and Changbin, switching on and off depending on Jeongin’s moods.

Which leads up to this day, where Jeongin is watching movies on his phone. It's only the afternoon but bright lights always get Jeongin unreasonably tired despite blue light tending to have the exact opposite effect on most. Somewhere along the line, he passes out in his bed. Time flies and when he blinks his eyes open with enough brainpower to pick up the phone that was lying in his stomach, he realizes it's way past dinner. Hell, Jisung is back from wherever he was, currently sitting on his bed and scrolling through his phone.

He lifts his other hand to rub his eyes but it's slightly heavier so he focuses his vision to see a green ring pop resting on his finger. He blinks at it a couple times before shooting up to scan the bedsheets and make sure it isn't sticky from green candy. This startled Jisung greatly, who had been too distracted with his phone to realize Jeongin was awake.

"Holy shit, who resurrected you from the dead?" He places a hand on his chest to calm his heartbeat but Jeongin rolls his eyes because of his dramatics.

"This ring pop did… do you know who put it there?" He raises his hand to show off the watermelon flavored candy, and Jisung shrugs.

"I think I saw Channie-hyung walk out of here a couple minutes ago."

And that's enough for Jeongin to go sprinting out the room, stumbling into some slippers and making a beeline for Hyunjin's room. This has been going on for four days and Jeongin will be damned if he lets this die in his hands. He knocks a couple times and Hyunjin opens the door, exasperated.

"You messed up my game of KartRider!"

Jeongin can hear Seungmin cackling in the room. "Wasn't like you were going to win anyway," he snarks and Hyunjin punches his arm.

"Whatever. Anyway, what have I done for you to come grace me with your presence?" Hyunjin leans into the door frame and sighs for the theatrics, even grabbing Jeongin's hand and kissing it. Jeongin giggles at his antics.

"I was wondering if you still have some of those ring pops from yesterday," he answers simply and Hyunjin brightens, pulling Jeongin in and taking him to the bed where he and Seungmin had been playing, some plastic bags thrown beside them. Hyunjin rustles around in one of them and pulls out a watermelon-flavored one, just like the one Jeongin was wearing.

"Chan-hyung came in earlier asking for one, and considering this" — Hyunjin raises up his ringed hand — "I thought you'd want a matching one."

Jeongin smiles.

"Thanks, you're the best." He takes the candy and gives Hyunjin and Seungmin a kiss before running off to Changbin and Chan's shared room, knocking on the door a couple times until Changbin opens it. The older gives him a once-over and snorts.

"Chan-hyung?" he asks as he lets Jeongin in.

"He gave me a ring pop in my sleep." Jeongin smiles at his hand, and Changbin chuckles.

"Oh I'm aware—Chan-hyung came in giggling and told me that you didn't get dinner so he left a treat. It was pretty ambiguous but after seeing you here, I got the message."

Jeongin laughs as he walks past the small hallway. He almost gasps, though, when he sees Chan laying in bed, snoring softly.

"He's asleep," he whispers, and Changbin gives him an almost prideful smirk.

"Forced him into bed. I didn't think you would be coming over."

Jeongin tears open the candy slowly to reduce noise (not like Chan wakes up easily anyway) and pulls out the ring. He brings a finger up to his lips and Changbin plays along and does the same. They tiptoe over for the sake of doing it until they make it to his side. Chan is sleeping facing up, thank the lord because this would be a lot more difficult if was sleeping face down. His arms are hugging a spare pillow and Jeongin is careful to pick up his ring finger and slip on the candy.

Out of pure excitement from their success, he and Changbin share a loud high-five and Chan stirs, the both of them immediately kicking themselves for waking him up. Chan opens his eyes slowly and they're fogged with sleep when he looks over, catching Jeongin’s gaze and smiling dreamily.

"Morning," he grumbles, and Jeongin snorts, crouching down to kneel beside the bed.

"It is 10:43 PM, hyung, try again in a couple hours."

Chan laughs and Jeongin joins in. After a moment, Chan raises his hands to reach for Jeongin's face, most likely to bring him down for a kiss, but his hands are clumsy from sleep and he doesn't realize the ring on his finger. Instead, he smacks Jeongin’s cheek with the candy. Changbin wheezes out a laugh as realization dawns on Chan's face at what just happened and Jeongin can't help but to laugh along.

Chan sits up in a fit of giggles and takes Jeongin to the bathroom to clean the sugar off his cheek, the two of them spilling laughter as Chan wipes away at his face.

-

Kim Seungmin, you fucker. Yes, that is how Jeongin is going to start the retelling of this day.

They can't have one peaceful day without something happening. Jeongin likes that though, that chaos is a common occurrence. It makes every day lively in its own unique way, something to keep him entertained and happy during concerts and body-taxing work.

But this is too much.

It starts off 'normal.' Their specific brand of normal, to be exact. Jeongin doesn't think anything that has to do with them is normal in any way, considering that this is a play-by-play of how his boyfriends proposed to him one by one with ring pops the week leading up to his birthday. Jeongin was lying on his stomach on the couch, playing Piano Tiles on his phone. He's minding his own business, AirPods connected so he can drown out background noise and focus on his game, but then someone’s weight settles on his back. He isn't even fazed, not even a flinch when a head rests on his shoulder and looks at his screen.

Eventually Jeongin loses and looks over to find Seungmin's face staring back at him. The boy pecks him on the nose and Jeongin gives him a content smile before playfully cringing, pushing the older away. Seungmin chuckles, all too used to Jeongin's antics, and hops off. He raises Jeongin's legs and sits down on the newly freed space, letting them rest on his lap. 

Like he said, normal.

But then Jeongin sat up and Seungmin tried to get closer, Jeongin doing the same thing as before and pushing him away, telling him in faux annoyance to get out of his space to tease him and Seungmin teases back by pushing himself against Jeongin's side. Jeongin pushes him away, with enough force to knock him back to the other side of the couch. That was the first mistake, because Seungmin flares up and does the same, launching himself at Jeongin and pushing him off the couch.

Their pride swells and they throw themselves at each other, brawling on the couch and eventually rolling back onto the floor. Changbin comes running in and pulls them apart, both of them squabbling like children about who caused it (Seungmin) and who actually started the fight (Jeongin). Changbin sighs and tugs Seungmin away, taking him to the rest of the group, who were getting their makeup done. Jeongin huffs and situates himself on the couch again, lying down on his back this time and resuming his game..

It gets quiet. Take that word lightly, because it never actually means what it should entail when it comes to them. Jeongin gets back on his groove of playing games and switching to social media in between so his Twitter timeline resets. Until Seungmin comes over again, of course.

"Hey! Yang Jeongin!" he yells and his tone is a little rude so Jeongin is about to yell back, mouth wide to throw back his own venom-laced call back, but then something sour is shoved in his mouth. He blinks for a couple seconds and catches Seungmin running away before pulling out whatever candy he put in his mouth. Jeongin chooses to ignore the vaguely sexual connotation when his finger hooks around a ring and he pulls out a sour apple ring pop.

He tsks, already on his feet and asking Hyunjin for a ring pop, who snorts and slips one in his hand without a word, making sure Seungmin isn't around to see their exchange. With the candy firmly pocketed in his pants, Jeongin acts normal around everyone, even performing with the candy still in his pocket. He waits for an hour after the concert finishes, when everyone is getting ready to go home, hobbling into cars because their legs ache.

Before Seungmin can file into the car behind Felix, Jeongin slides behind him and yanks on his arm. Seungmin’s mouth opens to yell something in annoyance but it gets plugged by a sour apple ring pop. Jeongin is able to take his seconds of shock to give him a peck on the cheek before running to the other car. 

He holds Chan's arms and makes sure to position himself to hide from Seungmin using Chan's body, quickly scrambling into the back seat as Chan blinks at him for a couple seconds before going inside as well.

He sets his bag between him and Chan, sliding against the far window and taking out his phone. There’s a slew of text messages in his notifications, all from a certain person.

ah yes, that motherfucker

seungmin-hyung : yah yang jeongin

seungmin-hyung : i cant believe you did that

seungmin-hyung : i did it first

seungmin-hyung : you even used channie-hyung as a shield

seungmin-hyung : [ sent one photo ]

It’s a cute picture of Seungmin holding the ring pop up to his face, the ring now tucked on his ring finger and hand held in a loose fist.

me : cute

me : you had it coming

seungmin-hyung : you're insufferable

me : i learn from the best <33

seungmin-hyung : HEy

Jeongin snickers and Chan gives him the side-eye from where he's seated beside him.

"What's so funny?" he asks and Jeongin giggles before turning off his phone.

"Oh nothing."

-

Felix loves Jeongin dearly. He has a special place in his heart for Jeongin and Seungmin, the two youngest, always making sure to pepper their face in kisses and give them warm hugs before bed, even sometimes slipping in their covers for cuddles. He is the definition of warmth and when paired with Chan, they're warmth and comfort. He also happens to be a hopeless romantic. He loves surprises; planning them out and giving gifts are some of his favorite things.

Bringing them to this day.

Pre-concert Food Time (Jisung once said that word for word in his sleep-induced haze and everyone made fun of him for it until it stuck) (Jisung now looks offended when someone other than him uses that phrase now). Jeongin has an immense amount of food in front of him, most of it going to Chan because the older member is caught up somewhere by the concert staff and he wants to save some of the good food before everyone hoards it all. 

Jeongin had been in the middle of portioning out the rice when Felix sat his cute behind in the seat next to him, plate of side dishes and a cup of ramen set down with him.

Jeongin smiles at him in greeting, gaining a smile in return before going back to splitting a bowl of rice into a two to three ratio. Chan comes back shortly, pulls back his chair to slump in it. He starts grumbling to himself about the complications and Jeongin nods along before setting his food in front of him. When they're all sat down and comfortable, they begin eating, Jeongin taking large amounts of rice at a time, shoveling as much of it he can fit in his spoon and shoving it in his mouth. Felix finishes his food first and sits back to watch Chan and Jeongin talk, letting the conversation flow between them without adding or interrupting.

Felix isn't paying attention to their words, not because he's ogling at their arms (their long sleeved sweaters were pushed to their elbows—very nice look if Felix does say so himself), but because he’s trying to pinpoint the perfect time to surprise the youngest. 

He curls his fingers around the ring pop he's holding in his lap, slowly tearing open the packaging to not make noise. His face contorts when they stop in their conversation or when they glance at them, hoping they don't notice his plan, but they ignore his actions for the most part, much to Felix's relief.

He had planned this entire thing out. Jeongin was going to eat rice for lunch and he has this habit of preparing his bite on his spoon when he's in conversation so he's ready to eat when there's a pause in speech. Felix knew this like the back of his hand and was going to find that opportune moment to place his ring pop on the spoon to surprise him. Chan glances at him when Jeongin is filling his spoon and Felix knows what he's saying just by his eyes. Aussie bond communication, if you will.

You about to do it?

Felix winks and Chan smiles before returning to conversation with Jeongin, who's rambling about something Felix can't understand because he wasn't paying attention, but he feels like he should've been because he heard something about Changbin and arms in the same sentence. Jeongin has his spoon loosely held in his hands, a heaping pile of rice sitting on top. His attention is directed towards Chan and he doesn't seem like he's gonna stop talking any time soon, eyes sparkling cutely and words spilling out of his mouth a mile per minute.

Felix silently takes his hand from out of his lap and moves the ring over the spoon while shifting his eyes between Jeongin and Chan to make sure Chan sees what he's doing. He does and continues to hold Jeongin's attention with a kind smile, nodding along to what the younger is saying. Hella stealthy.

Felix carefully places the ring on the rice and cheers as he yanks his hand back to his lap. Now he has to wait. Chan quickens the process by pretending someone texted him and takes out his phone to check it. Jeongin gets back to eating his rice but that's where it goes wrong.

Out of pure horror, Felix watched as Jeongin blindly shoves the spoon in his mouth, his jaw unhinging like a snake and big enough to accommodate the ring pop as well. A little freaky, but Felix doesn't dwell on it as he launches for Jeongin, the youngest realizing something is wrong when he feels plastic and tastes strawberry in his mouth. He coughs out the ring and sputters out in shock as he stares at the ring sitting in his bowl of rice. He blinks at it, then blinks at Chan, and then finally at Felix. Felix refuses to make eye contact and Chan is still so boggled by what just happened that he just stares mid-scream at them.

"Hyung?" Jeongin asks, and Felix scratches his neck.

“Uh… surprise?" 

Felix laughs but he still is finding the floor far more interesting than Jeongin's face, truly a feat considering that It Is Yang Jeongin. Jeongin continues to stare at him anyway.

"What was that?"

And with that Felix breaks, collapses onto his knees and holds his face in his hands.

"I just want to surprise you with a ring pop! I didn't mean to almost kill you! I'm sorry Innie!" He’s about to cry and Jeongin doesn't say anything for a couple seconds. Felix is just about to find the nearest hole he can crawl into until Jeongin giggles before starting to cackle, his laughs cut off by small gasps. Jeongin walks over to Hyunjin, who doesn't blink as he slips a ring pop in his hand, giggles also falling from his mouth at Felix's utter fail.

Jeongin walks over to a dumbfounded Felix, unwrapping the candy and crouching down to hold his small hand in his. He slips the ring on his pudgy finger.

"Thanks, hyung, for the candy!" Jeongin beams, and Felix swears he’s witnessing an angel in the flesh.

-

Jeongin has known Minho for a long time. Even if you didn't know Minho for as long, you would know that he's less than normal, in a good way of course (if anyone says otherwise, Jeongin has a knife). Minho has a special way of thinking, his brain is unpredictable, like only he knows what he's going to do next. He's a bag of tricks, no one-trick pony. He’s unique and wonderful.

Jeongin loves him dearly and finds the small things he does endearing. He tends to stare a lot but it's only because he's seeing if anything is wrong with you, to see if there's a wrinkle between your eyebrows or you're frowning. One time, Jeongin was having a particularly bad day but he was doing that thing where he just chooses to hide it with a bright smile and hope no one notices. No one did. But Minho that is. He’d stared at him all day until he eventually pulled him into a separate room where he asked softly what was wrong. Jeongin cried a little, Minho kissed away the stray tears, and they talked it out. 

Jeongin is also grateful that his hyung was very perceptive. Did you know Jeongin has a habit of wringing his hands together behind his back when he's upset? Jeongin sure didn't until Minho pointed it out, his heart tugging knowing his hyung notices little details about him. Minho works quietly, in the shadows. When it comes to parental figures in their group, Chan is bright and will go out of his way to make sure that they know he loves them, while Minho's love language is less up front and comes off more like jokes and teasing, but they give off the same adoration all the same.

Jeongin really loves Minho, loves his way of love and thinking, and even if Jeongin finds himself lost in the maze of Minho's head, he can still understand him very well.

Which is why he knew immediately that this was a Minho scheme.

He goes into his hotel room after a day of wandering out and about the city they were in for that concert, legs wobbly from walking so much and body heavy from exhaustion. He trips a good two times trying to walk to his hotel room, both times because of his own feet. He swipes his key card, missing the pad three times before finally falling into his room. 

He throws himself in bed and rolls onto his pillow, only to land on something crinkly and hard. He grumbles and reaches behind his head to feel just what he expected the foreign object to be.

A ring pop. Who knew.

He blinks at it before thinking about who could've been the one to place this ring pop on his pillow and it doesn’t take him long to realize that this is something Minho would do. Also considering that he’s the last person to give him the familiar treat that had been lingering throughout his entire week, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to eliminate the possible suspects. 

He sighs before getting to his feet, slapping his legs to get them to stop shaking and setting off down the hall toward Minho and Felix's room. When he arrives at their door, he’s about to knock but Felix opens the door before he can, clad in a t-shirt and swim trunks. Jeongin raises an eyebrow.

“Where are you going?” he asks but he can guess. The hotel has a private pool but he wants to hear it from Felix himself. Felix brightens at the question, as if the circumstances weren’t absurd.

“Going to the pool with Ji and Hyunjin!” 

Jeongin raises an eyebrow. “At 9:00 PM?”

“A little nighttime swim in a pool never hurt anyone.”

“In early February?” Jeongin has a snarky grin on his face, but Felix shakes his head indignantly before pushing Jeongin away to go to the pool.

“You’re such a party pooper, Innie.” He pouted before marching down the hall and to the elevators, Jeongin staring at his disappearing form before snorting to himself and going into the room. He spots Minho on his bed, watching something on his phone with a ring pop held between his teeth. Minho looks up upon his arrival, making a noise of acknowledgement before looking back towards his phone. Jeongin sits beside him and peers over at his phone to see what he’s watching, not at all surprised to see a cat video compilation playing on the screen. Jeongin pats Minho’s thigh to get his attention.

“Hyung.” He holds up the ring pop and Minho looks at it, pulling his own ring from his mouth.

"Do you like my gift?" Minho gives him a catlike smile and Jeongin smiles.

"I do actually. Quite a lot," he quips and rips open the candy, handing over the now unwrapped lollipop. "But I think I would like it more if you put it on for me." 

He splays his fingers at Minho and bats his eyelashes. Minho laughs and puts his ring back in his mouth before taking the candy, slipping it on Jeongin's finger easily. He pulls his hands away and does some jazz hands to add some pizzazz. Jeongin flaunts his ring for fun but then pulls Minho's ring from between his teeth. Minho stared at him with wide eyes.

Jeongin takes his hand and slips on the ring, their Berry Blast ring pops matching. He sidles up against Minho, lying on his side with his arm thrown over Minho's waist. Minho laughs but ends up taking off the ring to put it back in his mouth, Jeongin about to whine about it until Minho’s now ringless hand starts carding through his hair. 

Maybe he can overlook some things.

"I wanted to show you this video anyway," Minho says, words a little garbled around the candy, and Jeongin smiles up to him, pushing himself up to pull the ring again from Minho's lips and kiss them, their kiss sweet from the candy, before putting it back in place.

"Great. I happen to not want to move for a prolonged period of time." He grins before settling back down. Minho smiles, or as best he can considering the treat in his mouth.

They lie there cooing at cat videos until they’ve finished their candies and fall asleep, only to be woken up by Felix barging in, body wrapped in a towel but shivering horribly.

"I need a hot shower," he says shortly, teeth chattering as he dashes his way into the bathroom, Jeongin laughing sleepily and Minho chuckling. They tuck themselves into each other again, Jeongin buried in Minho's chest before dozing off once more.

Felix takes a picture of them before joining in quietly.

-

It's Jeongin's birthday!

He’s finally the same age as 00z, the fancy number of 19. It’s nice, having not only his members but also Stay to celebrate the day he was born, making him feel a lot more special than he did all the years before. As the tradition goes, he does a Vlive as well to celebrate, Episode 23 of Maknae's Private Life.

Changbin is in it, cooking up seaweed soup that Jisung had initially brought over from Korea for himself but gave to Jeongin because it’s his birthday. It had worried him at first—Changbin and cooking usually never coexist in the same sentence, but the seaweed soup is tasty. The live is mostly reminiscing and nostalgia, flitting back to when they were kids and talking about childhood foods and games. When they thought 10,000 won was a lot of money and when they accidentally exploded turtle eggs all over their uniforms.

Jisung joins in somewhere near the end, coming to grab his coffee pot that they were using to cook the seaweed soup, and they end up ranting loudly about Yu-Gi-Oh and spinning tops. Jeongin thinks this birthday is one he'll remember forever. even with the cake being too sweet and the seaweed being served in cups because the hotel room doesn't have any bowls.

He turns off the Vlive and Changbin puts away the chair. Changbin had been having a hard time standing still - ever since the beginning of the live up until Jeongin suggested he sat down with him for the rest of it, and even after, Changbin’s feet tap at the ground and his hands fiddle with his shirt before he shoves them in his pants pockets.

"Is something wrong?"

Changbin jolts, almost jumping out of his skin as he snaps his head toward Jeongin.

"What? Nothing's wrong, what makes you think something is wrong?" He's sweating and Jeongin is genuinely worried.

"Well you—" 

The door bursts open.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Innie, happy birthday to you!"

He had expected this, for his boyfriends to come barging in with some cheesy singing and a speech about how he's all grown up. But the speech doesn't come and when he scans over them, he finds them all a little nervous, worries masked by happy smiles. But Jeongin has always been a little too perceptive, and so he frowns.

"Why's everyone acting so weird?" Their nervousness is starting to reach him as well. Why are they so antsy on his birthday? 

Chan speaks first, clearing his throat in an attempt to calm himself. "We're not nervous, don't worry about it." 

Jeongin slumps a little. He's lying and Chan's horrible at lying, the point even more obvious when Minho smacks his shoulder and whispers something that causes Chan to smile sheepishly. Jeongin finally takes note of what Chan's holding: a clear tub with a ring pop sticker plastered on the front. He points at it.

"What's that for?" He's straight to the point, and they exchange looks, Changbin suddenly resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Your present!" Felix cheers, the least nervous out of all of them. He takes the tub from Chan's loose grip and bounces over to Jeongin, placing it in his lap. Inside is just a bunch of ring pops, nothing too grand. He honestly thinks it's a joke, considering the week he had leading up to this.

"That's it?" 

He wonders if this is what’s causing their sweaty palms and anxious glancing. When he looks up, everyone is staring at him expectantly, and now he's more confused than anything. Seungmin breaks away from the group and sits on Jeongin's bed, perched on the edge as he subtly clutches the bed sheets to calm his nerves.

"Hey, Jeongin, I think I could use a ring pop actually."

Jeongin looks at him dumbly. All of a sudden? He looks back down to the tub and shrugs. It's not like he's gonna be able to eat all of them. He shoves his hand in and hears Hyunjin's breath hitch, and he looks up again. Jisung punches Hyunjin on the shoulder.

"Yes?" Jeongin asks.

Hyunjin shakes his head and flails his hands around.

"Nothing nothing, just get Seungmin his ring pop."

"Yes, get me my ring pop."

Jeongin rolls his eyes. "Geez, if you need one so badly," he grumbles as he shuffles his hand around to grab one, but his fingers graze against something odd. 

Ring pops are big in their packaging, inflating the package for it to fit, but this one is smaller and feels deflated. He pulls on it out of curiosity. It's a blue raspberry package but the end is sealed weirdly and it's flat. Jeongin looks up again and Chan is smiling at him, gesturing for him to continue.

Jeongin feels around, pressing and rubbing at the wrapper, and he feels his heart plummet when he feels a simple circle inside with a small bump.

"You guys didn't..." His words are mumbled and Changbin squeezes his shoulder. Jeongin looks up at him with watery eyes. Changbin gives him a reassuring smile and Jeongin feels heavy and light at the same time.

"Open it," Changbin says softly as he gestures to the wrapper, and Jeongin does, ripping open the package with shaky hands that are barely able to catch the ring that comes tumbling out. 

It's a simple silver ring with a tiny circular diamond fixed on by some hooks. It's beautiful and it makes Jeongin chokes on a sob.

"Aw, honey." Minho comes rushing to his side and he blinks away tears that threaten to fall, letting Minho rub his back. Felix crouches down in front of him and holds his hand, carefully extracting the ring from his trembling hands.

"What do you say, love?" he asks softly, and Jeongin hits his shoulder lightly as he wipes his eyes.

"I can't believe I'm in love with a bunch of idiots. What do you think? Of course, yes." The words are quiet from his suppressed sobs. 

Everyone melts, the tension fading away instantaneously as he utters those words, cheers loud as they hug each other. He feels two kisses land on his head and Felix pushes himself up using Jeongin's knees to kiss him as well, pressing a soft one to his quivering lips. When he pulls away, Jeongin pouts.

"Who's going to put it on my finger?" he whispers, and Jisung all but tackles Felix for the ring, smug as he dusts off his shoulders.

"I won rock paper scissors." 

Jeongin snorts and despite his grandiose entrance—Felix groaning on the floor as proof—Jisung carefully takes Jeongin's left hand and slips the ring on his finger. Jeongin takes a moment to stare at how the ring sits on his ring finger, just appreciating and letting it settle in that this is an actual proposal and not a ring pop. Jeongin looks up and everyone's looking at him with fond eyes filled with adoration. His words almost catch in his throat.

"What about your rings?" He doesn't think this was a grand scheme to only propose to him. 

Seungmin smiles easily, walking over to sit beside Felix, who pushes Jisung away and goes back to his original position in front of Jeongin.

"Try looking in your box." Seungmin taps on the plastic. Jeongin's heart twirls.

"You—" 

Jeongin cuts himself off to sift around in the tub again, knuckles brushing against actual ring pops until he finds another flat one. He pulls it out and emotions hurl themselves at him again and he feels like crying again. With each one he finds, a member kisses his head, his hands, his cheeks, until the tub is taken away from him and his lap is filled with seven flat packages. He lets the tears fall as he takes each one of them and rips them open, matching rings revealing themselves. Everyone backs away from him and line themselves up, pushing each other as they try to cut in line but eventually end up in age order. A garbled laugh pushes itself up from Jeongin's throat.

Chan steps up and gently raises his hand, giving Jeongin a smile, tender and loving. Jeongin can't help the tears that come rushing when he looks into those eyes and his fingers shake as he holds the other’s hand, slipping the ring on. Chan gently intertwines their fingers before leaning down and placing a kiss on his forehead, causing Jeongin to look up to follow his retracting lips. Chan chuckles, kissing his lips softly as well before he moves out of the way and Minho takes his place.

His smile is so soft. Minho's heart shows through as it reads almost shy despite his confident aura with his straight posture and boldly outstretched hands. Jeongin's heart clenches as he takes Minho’s smaller hand in his to slip on the ring, and he cries a little when Minho stares at his newly ringed hand with catlike wonder, tears slipping down his face. Minho curls his fingers over Jeongin's and he leans to press a gentle kiss on his lips, brushing his hand in Jeongin's hair. Chan gently pulls him away and Changbin steps forward.

He's so happy, hair falling into his sparkling eyes and his smile is just so bright. He's almost bouncing in his spot and Jeongin is able to stop crying long enough to giggle softly. Changbin crouches in front of him and Jeongin has to look down, something he’s used to. The older splays his fingers as he waits expectantly. Jeongin feels softer, the sheer tenderness from the two oldest blurring out the tears as he slips the ring on, Changbin jumping up and squealing. He melts when Changbin leans down to peck his lips, residual happiness left behind.

Hyunjin easily takes his place, eye smiles galore as he looks down at Jeongin, his one hand behind his back and the other displayed, long fingers gracefully dangling in the air for Jeongin to take. He does, hands more practiced and less shaky as he starts to calm down. He's still crying—god is he still crying—because when he looks back up at Hyunjin who's still looking at him with the fondness he never loses when he looks at the younger, he can’t help cry. Hyunjin coos at his tears and swipes some away before leaning down and kissing him, eventually getting pushed off by Jisung who looks like he's been waiting for ages.

"Finally," he huffs before crouching in front of Jeongin and staring at him with familiar eyes full of adoration and love. They were what gave away his feelings for Jeongin when they first started their relationship. Jeongin chuckled softly, taking one of the hands that were resting on his knees and slipping the ring on, holding Jisung's small fingers to pull him up. Jeongin leaned in to meet him halfway, pressing a soft kiss on his lips and following it with a kiss on his cheek. Jisung's face splits into a heart-shaped smile that never fails to tug at his heart. Felix butts him away and takes his spot on the ground in front of Jeongin.

Felix probably feels the same as Jisung, acting as if he had waited his whole life for this moment when he looks up. But when they lock eyes, Felix's face scrunches up from his huge smile. Jeongin caresses his cheeks, Felix leaning in with a sweet smile, his eyes crinkling in a way Jeongin feels proud to know he's the cause of. He retracts his hand to delicately take Felix's small one, internally cooing at them as he slips on the ring. Felix immediately intertwines their hands and shakes them side to side before leaping for a kiss, one Jeongin is all too happy to give. When he leaves, Jeongin is left to look up at seungmin.

"You sure were patient," Jeongin jokes as Seungmin splays his fingers out for him. Seungmin rolls his eyes but his smile is warm in ways Jeongin once thought was unimaginable until he met the older.

"You have no idea," Seungmin replies, but that nonchalant exterior melts when Jeongin places the ring on his finger, his knees giving out and forehead resting on Jeongin's knees. Jeongin giggles and reaches down for Seungmin's face, the older looking up as his fingers graze his hair. Seungmin easily takes his hands to cup his cheeks and as he moves up to capture his lips.

Jeongin smiles when they pull apart, happiness glowing from his pores when he looks up to see his now fiancés looking at the two. They don't waste a minute to come crashing in and envelope him in hugs and kisses. He yelps when Chan suddenly picks him up from the chair, the wrappers falling from his lap and onto the floor in an array of brightly colored reds and blues. Everyone follows as he's dropped on the bed and they manage to curl themselves around him in some way to fit in a bed that may be pretty big for one person, but much too small for eight. Hyunjin, for example, has stretched himself across Chan, Jeongin, and Minho, in that order.

"Haha Jisung is stuck at Innie's feet," he hears Changbin tease from where he's situated, arms hugging one of Jeongin's legs and back bumping against Minho's. Jisung does something to get him back for it, presumably hitting the older based on Changbin's startled cry and Hyunjin's cackling.

"It's like this at the dorms too, I’m used to this," he shoots back, and almost falls off the bed when Changbin threatens to retaliate, his body jerking backwards to dodge him. Jeongin feels Minho's hands card through his hair and Chan slaps Hyunjin's legs from where they're flailing against his hips.

"Who came up with the idea?" Jeongin asks and there's some groans, Seungmin's pained ones specifically, as Jisung climbs up to look over Hyunjin's ass and towards Jeongin. He flips his imaginary long hair over his shoulder.

"I did," he says in a voice one octave lower than his normal one, smirking as he poses with his thumb and pointer finger framing his chin. Jeongin snorts and then cackles when Felix tackles Jisung who hits Changbin as collateral, the two of them choking out screams.

"With my help, of course!" Felix points to himself proudly and Seungmin pulls him away from where he's kneeing Chan's leg, the older pleading for help. 

Jisung scrambles back up. "You only helped me with the planning! I was the genius who thought it was a great idea for us to propose to Jeongin with ring pops the week leading up to his birthday!" Seungmin kicks him for being loud in a hotel room. Jeongin's eyes fly wide open, staring at Seungmin who is now fending Jisung off.

"You planned to fight me to give me the ring pop?!" Jeongin would sit up to get a better look at Seungmin, but Hyunjin is lying on his stomach, so he can only jerk in his direction. Everyone snaps their head at Seungmin, who pointedly looks away, taking off his blue cap to hide his face. But his ears are a searing red and a dead giveaway. The room blows up in laughter.

"YOU DID WHAT?" Felix screams in delight, slapping Seungmin's shoulder. Seungmin bites his lip.

"It was supposed to be way more romantic. I didn't expect us to suddenly brawl in the middle of the waiting room." He tries to defend himself, Minho is violently cackling next to Jeongin, to the point that he starts coughing and wheezing. Chan reaches over to pat his shoulder, raising a finger on his lips to tell him to be quiet and then points down to Changbin, the boy fast asleep hugging Jeongin's leg despite the noise. Minho slaps a hand in his mouth and signals for Seungmin to get up and turn off the light, the boy doing so easily to escape Felix and Jisung poking fun at him.

Seungmin comes back, ignores Jisung laughing at him and just pulls him close to his chest as Felix wraps his every limb around them from the edge of the bed, preparing to sleep. Jeongin also feels his eyes growing heavy, the time way past midnight and the overwhelming sense of happiness simmering enough for Jeongin to blanket himself warmly with. Chan and Minho hold each of his hands and he smiles blissfully, closing his eyes and slipping into slumber.

-

He wakes up heavy, once again trying to sit up but it only ends with a jerk. Looking down, he finds Hyunjin still on top of him, but he's sprawled himself solely on Jeongin, Minho and Chan long gone. If he swivels, he can see that it's only him, Hyunjin, and Jisung on the bed, everyone else probably getting ready for the new day.

Well, that's what he thinks until Felix comes barging in, looking to see that the three of them are in fact still in bed. He skips over and sits on the edge of the bed, carefully petting Hyunjin while smiling down at Jeongin.

"Good morning!" He still sounds ever so cheery despite the fact he’s whispering.

"Morning," Jeongin croaks, voice still tired and thick from sleep. 

Felix giggles before reaching into his hoodie pockets, and groaning as he pulls out a tangled wad of gold chain. He struggles with his stubby fingers to untangle the chains and manages to get one out at the clump. 

Jeongin has an idea what it was for already.

"The ring right?" He plucks off the ring from his finger and loops the chain through it. Lifting his upper body, he holds up both ends of the chain and reaches behind his neck, deft fingers opening the hook clasp and hooking the ends together. He lets the ring drop to his chest as he falls back down on the bed, stomach sighing in relief. Hyunjin groans in his sleep before smacking his lips and continuing to snooze away. 

Felix fishes out his own necklace from the inside of his hoodie, holding it up to present it to Jeongin. Jeongin smiles, though it's tinged with sadness. He wants to show the world his fiancés by brandishing the engagement rings proudly, but he has an image to uphold as an idol.

Felix reads his mind, like the older always seems to be able to, and brushes back his sleep-mussed hair.

"I know, but at least we have each other forever now." Felix smiles, a force so bright that Jeongin squints. He reaches for the ring on his chest and holds it tightly. 

At least they’re together forever.

He can't help but get sentimental when he replays the thought over and over in his head, years of knowing each other coming back to remind him that these seven goofs he once called his boyfriends have watched him grow up and seen him at his lowest, highest, and everything in between. Even with Hyunjin sprawled over his body with his lips pressed in a stubborn pout, like the one he puts on unconsciously when he wants something, and Jisung curled beside him, drooling a puddle beside his cheek, he is still hopelessly endeared.

He looks up at Felix, who's looking at him with eyes that share his emotion, his thoughts of love and adoration. He can't help but sigh blissfully, breaking into a wide smile as he suppresses small happy giggles. The happiness from last night blooms in his chest again and flutters about, trying to free itself in the form of laughter. He reaches his hand up to Felix's cheek, who holds it against his face, and guides him to lean down. 

The older catches on immediately and is all too eager to capture his lips in his. Sunflowers and the color pink is what he's feeling. Bubbly and full of life, like even though he was born nineteen years ago, his life has started over again, this time with seven lovers he’s promised to spend eternity with.

They pull away and Jeongin clutches his ring with one hand, the other carding through Hyunjin's inky black hair.

"Forever," he whispers, the promise grasped in his fingers. 

The door bursts open and Jisung and Hyunjin startle awake. Everyone else stumbles in with food and noise, conversation booming through the once quiet room. The remaining members crowd around the four of them, dropping paper bags and smiles in their wake.

"Good morning!'' Chan greets, rustling through bags that call to Hyunjin and Jisung with their delicious smell.

"Food!" They cheer as they scramble off the beds and toward Chan, who laughs at their energy. 

Jeongin finally gets to sit up and look at his family, still holding onto the ring.

"Forever."

-

Bonus:

“How did you guys get the rings in the wrappers?” Jeongin asks as he’s picking up the fallen wrappers from last night, everyone lounging around on the beds because it’s still pretty early in the day. 

Changbin snorts. “We used the hotel’s hair straightener to heat seal them in.”

Seungmin sighs exasperatedly, recalling the events of the day before.

“Yeah, and for some reason we decided to entrust Hyunjin with the ring pop box but the loser completely lost track of the rings, causing us to panic and believe we lost one of the rings.” He rakes a hand through his hair as Hyunjin huffs defensively.

“It wasn’t my fault they all looked the same.” He crosses his arms as Minho pats his hair comfortingly, despite giggling himself. 

Jisung rolls his eyes. “Yeah, that’s why you lost the ring despite the fact that it was all just in the box, leading me to come in as a buffer to give you more time.” 

Jeongin blinked at them, before he gasped in realization.

“That’s why you came to get your coffee pot during the live!” Jeongin had been wondering why Jisung decided to join him and Changbin instead of picking up his coffee pot after they ended the Vlive. 

Jisung smiled sheepishly. “It was kind of an emergency. I wouldn’t have needed to go if Hyunjin didn’t ‘lose’ a ring twenty minutes before the proposal.” He jabbed a finger into Hyunjin’s side and Hyunjin squawked,

“I can’t believe you’re throwing me under the bus like this. I want a divorce!”

“Oh, so our first divorce is going to be between hyunsung and not 2min? Chan, you owe me 20000 won.” Changbin outstretches a hand towards Chan.

“Goddammit.”

“You’re betting about our divorces?!” Hyunjin screams.

Jeongin can’t help but burst into laughter, because at the end of the day, married or not, they’re still his idiots.