Work Text:
- Yang Jungwon
“Ni-ki, don’t do that! You’ll leave a mark!”
Jungwon stopped outside of the door to the room he shared with Ni-ki, Sunoo and Sunghoon. He had forgotten his phone plugged into the charger, and had been on his way to go inside when the voice of Sunoo made him pause. The door was slightly ajar, which was why he could hear the other’s whining voice loud and clear.
He blinked, completely caught off guard, when Ni-ki replied, voice low in a way he had not heard it before.
“Hyung, it’s fine. Don’t be difficult”.
Sunoo’s voice responded at once, in a reprimanding tone.
“‘ Don’t be difficult- ‘, you are the one that’s difficult, what do you mean-“
His voice was cut off by a high-pitched squeal, which then turned into giggling. Seemed like Ni-ki didn’t care to listen.
Jungwon realised he had probably almost walked in on something he was not supposed to see, so he decided to leave his phone for now and find something else to help him pass the time. Quietly, he closed the door fully, and left the two alone to do… whatever they were doing.
Ni-ki and Sunoo-hyung? He shook his head, as he started walking back to the living room. It wasn’t actually that surprising, he figured. But why in their shared bedroom?
2. Lee Heeseung
Heeseung let out a sigh, as he walked out to the kitchen and living room area. How did he manage to lose his phone in the matter of seconds? You have in one moment, the next it has vanished.
He glanced over the kitchen, eyes going over the tables and surfaces, and deducted it wasn’t there. He turned his head to the living room, and saw someone was seated on the sofa. He took quick steps towards it, and stopped by the back. He leaned on the top of the sofa, and saw it was Sunoo, who turned his face to him, smile wide.
The shorter boy paused the video he had been watching on his phone, and then spoke.
“Hi, hyung”.
Heeseung smiled back.
“Hi. Have you seen my phone?”
Sunoo furrowed his brows, mouth going into a pout as he thought about it, eyes flickering over the sofa and the table in front of it, before shaking his head, turning back.
“No, sorry”.
Heeseung sighed, but the other boy spoke again.
“Do you want to use my phone to call it?”
Heeseung lit up, nodding frantically.
“Sunoo, my angel”.
The boy giggled, and then exited the video, going to his contacts. He handed Heeseung the phone, smiling.
“Of course”, he said.
Heeseung smiled back, and then turned his gaze to the phone. He scrolled to find his contact - wow, Sunoo was popular - but paused momentarily upon seeing one of the contacts. He had seen some of the other members' numbers, all saved with their names and their respective emoji, but one of those was not like the others… Sunoo had saved Ni-ki’s contact as “Riki💕💞💓💗💖💘💝”. Heeseung raised his eyebrow, but then quickly scrolled some more, until he came upon his own number, saved as just “Heeseung-hyung🦌", just like the others'.
He pressed on his contact and called the number. A split second later, he heard his phone ring in the next room.
“Uh… sounds like it’s in your room, hyung?”
Heeseung blinked.
“But… I just came from there. Wait, don’t hang up, I’ll go get it and decline it when I find it. Thanks Sunoo!”
Sunoo chuckled behind him, as he took his phone back from Heeseung’s hand. Heeseung sprinted towards the sound, and when he got to his room, his phone was indeed there, in the middle of his bed, impossible to miss. He huffed at himself, and picked it up, declining the call.
“Thanks, Sunoo-ya!”, he shouted, hearing a laugh in return.
Heeseung shook his head, and sat down on his bed... And immediately rolled over, pushing his head into his pillow. “ Riki💕💞💓💗💖💘💝 ”? Sunoo and Ni-ki? Since when?
3. Jay Park
He just caught a quick glimpse, but it was enough for him to pointedly not looking in Sunoo’s direction for the rest of the promotion event, even now that he had a shirt that was covering the dark mark he had spotted on the shorter male’s collarbone, upon him quickly changing into a new shirt. All the puzzle pieces fell into place, and Jay wanted to pound his head into the wall.
But naturally, he couldn’t. He had to rearrange his features into a smile, as they stepped out on a small podium a few minutes later, to take photos to promote their comeback that was approaching. He was very grateful for the fact that he didn’t share a room with neither of his dongsaengs, because it was clear as day that Sunoo had a mark that Ni-ki had given him. He was happy for them, he supposed he had been suspicious of how their relationship had changed, but he did not need to know about what they got up to when the rest of them weren’t present.
4. Jake Sim
Jake stepped out of the bathroom, feeling nice after having taken a shower. He was a bit hungry. He let his steps lead him to the kitchen. He knew Heeseung hyung had bought more ramen the other day, and he was craving some.
The sight before him when he peeked around the corner, to check if anyone was in the kitchen, had him stop immediately in his tracks though, taking a step back. He blinked. What?
Carefully, trying to be sneaky, he glanced around the corner, and oh, yeah, his eyes hadn’t deceived him. He saw the youngest member pull back, having had his lips pressed to Sunoo’s forehead. It was impossible to misunderstand what he was seeing, them standing by the cupboards - where his ramen was! - faces in profile. He blinked, and stepped back behind the corner fully. He tried to make a decision on what to do, could he really… then he was reminded of how hungry he was, and he took silent steps back to where he had come from. With a deep breath, he started walking towards the kitchen again, making his arrival known by taking overly heavy steps. When he once more passed by the corner, Sunoo and Ni-ki had stepped apart, the youngest standing by the bar disk, staring into the fruit bowl they had there (which was mostly for decour, no one ate that. The fruits were thrown out, and then new ones were bought again. Jake didn’t even know why Jay bothered to buy them). Sunoo was standing by the sink, drinking out of a cup. Ni-ki looked unbothered, features unreadable, but Sunoo had a small flush on his cheeks, a clear indication that what he had seen had truly happened.
The shorter man put down his cup in the sink, smiling at him.
“Hi, hyung”.
Jake took a deep breath, and then smiled back. He could pretend he hadn’t seen anything.
“Hi”.
He stepped into the kitchen surface, going for the shelf next to Sunoo, trying to ignore what he had seen moments prior.
“I’m gonna make some ramen. Do any of you want some?”
He glanced at Sunoo, who shook his head. His face was still flushed. As he opened the cupboard, reaching for the packages he knew were there, Ni-ki said “ no, thank you ” behind him. He hummed, and grabbed one package, before going to the boiler, pushing the button to heat up some water.
He stared at it, as it began boiling the water. He would just get his noodles, and then he would leave the two to it. He hadn’t seen a thing.
5. Park Sunghoon
All Sunghoon wanted was to take a nap on the sofa after they had gotten back to the condo after a day of promotions. Sure, it wasn’t always easy when the other members were present in the same room, but thank god for being used to commotion. You learnt to cancel it out.
Sunoo and Ni-ki were sitting on the other end of the sofa, looking at the television that was on with the volume low. They were speaking softly amongst themselves. It was quiet enough that Sunghoon felt himself slowly slip away.
The two were silent for a couple of seconds, and then Sunoo spoke, voice hushed but still loud enough for Sunghoon to hear.
“Is he asleep?”
Sunghoon had to refrain from groaning. That caught his attention. He tried to ignore it, and didn’t let the two know he was in fact not sleeping yet, and figured they would drop it soon if he just continued focusing on keeping his breathing even.
That proved hard, when Ni-ki replied a couple of moments later, obviously having listened to his breathing.
“Yes, he is”. He then heard the tall maknae move on the sofa, presumably closer to Sunoo. He spoke again after a couple of seconds. “You looked so good today, hyung. I was struggling not to stare at you the whole time”.
Sunghoon had to try his hardest not to snap his eyes open. Wait what? He reminded himself to stay breathing evenly, as he waited for Sunoo to respond, even though he really wanted anything but to hear it.
The short boy let out a giggle .
“Yah, Ni-ki…” he was silent for a moment, and then spoke again. “It’s… me too. You looked… very handsome”.
Ni-ki let out a barely audible groan, and Sunghoon then heard him get up from the sofa.
“Let’s go”, he whispered. “The others aren’t here now, so…”
Sunoo let out another giggle, and he heard him get up as well. The two then started walking, presumably to the room they shared with Jungwon and him . No way .
When the two had left the room, Sunghoon finally opened his eyes. For a couple of seconds, he just stared up onto the ceiling, before he groaned softly, rolling to his side. All he had wanted was to nap, but now he had somehow been part of a conversation he did not want to hear. He frowned, and started watching the tv instead. He wasn’t even tired anymore.
(+ 1)
“So…”, Sunoo said, catching the rest of the group’s attention as they were all seated for dinner. He glanced at Ni-ki next to him, who grabbed hold of his hand underneath the table, out of sight.
His boyfriend smiled at him, and Sunoo smiled back, before turning his gaze to the rest of the members once more. They were all looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. Sunoo let out a small breath, and then pulled on Ni-ki’s hand, putting their intertwined hands on the table. He saw how everyone’s eyes went to look at their hands, and Sunoo took another deep breath, and then finally spoke.
“We’re together”.
His voice slightly cracked upon saying those words, and his heart was pounding in his chest. Ni-ki clenched his hand tighter, and Sunoo looked to him, thankful for him being there. He saw Ni-ki looking defiantly at the others, an eyebrow raised, as if daring them to have a problem with it. Sunoo couldn’t help but smile widely at the sight of it.
When he once more turned back to the rest, he found them all smiling softly at them. Sunoo felt as though a heavy weight had been picked up from his stomach.
Jungwon was the first to speak, smiling widely at them, dimples deep in his cheeks.
“Congrats, guys”.
Sunoo smiled at him, but couldn’t respond before Sunghoon spoke up, voice slightly snarky.
“Took you guys long enough. Thought you’d never come clean”.
Sunoo’s eyes widened, especially at the sight of Jake elbowing the handsome boy in the side. He glanced at Ni-ki, who looked equally bewildered.
“You guys… knew?”, his boyfriend asked, mouth open.
The rest of the group all glanced at each other, and Heeseung shrugged.
“Well…”
Jay filled in, scratching his ear.
“You weren’t exactly subtle, you know…”
Jungwon nodded, rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, no… uh, maybe don’t fool around in our shared bedroom without closing the door if you’re trying to be sneaky?”
Sunoo felt his face grow beet red. He was too embarrassed to even look at Ni-ki, wanting to disappear into the ground.
Jake hummed.
“Yeah, I mean, you guys have always been close, but kissing Sunoo on his forehead isn’t exactly something you can read any other way, yah Ni-ki…”
Sunghoon replied to him, speaking in an accusatory voice.
“They didn’t even check if I was asleep in the living room the other day, before they started flirting…”
Sunoo let go off Ni-ki’s hand, and put his elbows against the table, hiding his face in his palms with a loud groan. No way!
He heard more voices speak up about scenarios where they hadn’t been very subtle, Jay hyung had seen the hickey he had very pointedly told Ni-ki not to give him , and Sunoo was so embarrassed. After a few moments, he felt a hand come to rest on his back, and he lifted his head slightly, glancing at Ni-ki from between his fingers. The other man - his boyfriend - looked equally flustered, but he also looked really happy. And Sunoo felt the panic loosen some, and instead relief filled his bones, despite his embarrassment. Telling them had gone well. Despite the teasing, the rest were happy for them. He put down his hands into his lap, and then leaned into Ni-ki, putting his head on the taller boy’s shoulder. He looked up at Ni-ki, who was smiling down at him, before he looked forward, at his members who were still going. When Ni-ki put a soft kiss against the top of his head the rest didn’t comment on it, just smiling fondly at them.
When they calmed down, and all went back to eating, Sunoo let his head stay against his boyfriend’s shoulder. Jungwon shot him a small private smile, and Sunoo smiled back. With one last glance at Ni-ki, who was watching him in return, he fully allowed things to sink in, and he started eating himself, not caring about the awkward position his neck was in.
Though , he figured as he finished his food, they still had to work on subtlety. He did not want the rest of his friends to know more than they unfortunately already did. Whatever happened in the future, it was for him and Ni-ki to experience and know themselves. He did not like the idea of having spectators.