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it’s late (early?) when chan finally stumbles through the door. the sky outside has already shifted from the darkness of the night, the sun's rays just beginning to peek over the horizon and fill the world with a soft golden light.
he thinks about going to bed, but the heaviness in his limbs tells him he’d be lucky to make it halfway down the hall. instead he shuffles to the couch and collapses face first into the cushions, breathing deep. the scents of his pack wash over him, loosening his muscles further until he’s practically melted into the couch.
the strongest scents are jisung and minho, so intermixed there’s no doubt they’d spent their evening cuddled together. the rest are there too, fainter but still there. he takes another breath, a tired smile twitching at his lips as he wiggles into a more comfortable position, changbin’s smoky, citrus scent tickling his nose when it brushes against the arm of the couch.
he breathes out, melts further into the cushions, into the scents of home. his eyes fluttering closed as he finally lets the exhaustion take over.
he doesn’t sleep long. the sound of a door opening down the hall jerks him back to alertness and he sits up slowly, blinking the sleep from his eyes as changbin shuffles into view. his hair is ruffled with sleep and he stares at chan for a moment, brow furrowing slightly.
“why are you out here?” he asks, voice low and rough.
“just got home,” chan says, glancing at his phone. technically it had been about an hour, but he doesn’t think changbin cares about the specifics.
changbin huffs and shakes his head before continuing forward. as he passes chan he runs a hand through his hair, fingers scratching softly over his scalp. chan melts slightly at the touch, longs for it to return as changbin continues into the kitchen. he shifts on the couch, hooking his chin over the back to watch changbin move around the small space.
“want me to make you breakfast?” chan asks.
changbin snorts and looks at him with a slight frown. “i want you to go to bed.”
“‘m fine.” he bites back the yawn that says differently and changbin rolls his eyes.
“why are you so against sleeping?”
“i’m not!”
true chan often chose power naps over an actual sleep cycle, but it wasn’t because he didn’t like sleep. there was just too much to do in a day to lose so many hours to sleep. it was much better to just catch a few minutes when he had the time.
of course, he doesn’t say any of that to changbin. he can already feel the quiet judgment radiating off him, but changbin doesn’t comment further, just settles at the table with his plate of eggs and cup of orange juice. he silently offers some to chan who shakes his head, choosing instead to watch as changbin eats his breakfast.
minho is the next to wake up, his steps as light as a cat’s as he pads down the hall, throwing himself to the couch and across chan’s lap. he blinks up at him, lids still heavy with sleep.
“channie-hyung,” he whines. “make me breakfast?”
chan hums and cards his fingers through minho’s hair, smiling at the happy noise minho makes at the action.
“what do you want?”
“nuh-uh,” changbin says, coming out of the kitchen to drop next to chan on the couch. his shoulder presses against chan’s and he shoves lightly at minho, not enough to actually push him off the couch, but enough to earn a sharp glare. “chan-hyung needs to sleep.”
chan huffs and rolls his eyes, reaching up to ruffle changbin’s hair, hand sliding down to curl around his shoulders and tug him closer.
“i’m fine. i’ll take a nap later.”
minho hums, a furrow forming between his brows as he frowns.
“did you stay up all night again?”
“i found him on the couch when i woke up, and he said he’d just gotten home,” changbin says before chan can answer.
minho sits up so suddenly he almost smacks his head against chan’s chin, but he doesn’t seem to care, his glare suddenly turned on chan.
“you haven’t slept yet?” the words are full of accustation and chan rubs the back of his neck, his eyes dropping from minho’s intense stare.
“i’m fine.”
the hand that smacks his face surprises him, his gaze jerking back to minho’s.
“we’re fixing this,” minho says, squeezing chan’s cheeks painfully when he tries to argue that there’s nothing that needs to be fixed.
with one hand, the other still holding chan’s face, minho slips his phone out of his pocket. chan is surprised by the speed with which he’s able to type one-handed, and by the lack of typos when he finally hits send.
he hears the answering trill from down the hall, the noise muted through the walls and closed door, but loud enough that he knows it won’t be long until they get a response, and sure enough, a moment later there’s a loud thud as someone seems to fall out of bed.
“we should check on him,” chan says, voice muffled by minho’s hand. he thinks about licking it, but knows minho’s retaliation will be swift and brutal, so instead he just waits.
it isn’t long until jisung stumbles down the hall, dragging a grumbling felix behind him. minho hops off his lap at the sight of them and chan massages his jaw, but before he can stand up himself, or ask what’s going on, he finds himself with a lap full of sleepy felix.
“don’t move,” minho commands, wiggling a finger in chan’s face before disappearing back down the hall towards the bedrooms.
chan huffs, thinks about ignoring the command just to annoy minho, but felix is warm and he smells like home, sunshine and seawater and felix. so he listens to minho, relaxing back into the couch, his arms coming up to wrap around felix’s waist and hold him closer.
“chan-hyung,” felix murmurs, nuzzling his nose against chan’s neck, causing a pleasant shiver to skitter down his spine. when he glances down he sees felix staring up at him, eyes warm and half-lidded, sleep still clinging to him. “did you just get home?”
he ducks his head and rubs his cheek against felix’s hair, humming softly in answer.
"mm, welcome home." felix's arms squeeze him tight as he presses closer.
changbin reaches up, his fingers stroking through felix’s hair.
“morning lixie,” changbin says, chuckling when felix makes a noise that might be a greeting, or might be a growl in response. his hand slides from felix’s hair to chan’s neck, squeezing the spot between neck and shoulder softly. “relax,” he murmurs to chan, closing the distance between them to brush his nose along chan’s jaw.
chan turns his head, smiling when he gets the softest touch of lips against his skin.
“i am relaxed,” he says, because he is. it’s hard not to be, surrounded by the sounds of his pack waking up, with felix a warm and heavy weight in his lap.
“we’re gonna take care of you.”
changbin gives his shoulder one last squeeze before getting to his feet, and chan wants to say that he doesn’t need to be taken care of. he wants to tell them not to change their plans for the day, to not worry.
but felix nuzzles closer and the heaviness in his lids becomes too hard to fight.
he doesn’t fall asleep, not truly. he dozes as he listens to his pack move around him. he hears changbin grunt, hears the scrape of the coffee table sliding across the floor. he hears a door open down the hall and the loud voice of jisung singing a wake up song, followed by a yelp and the thud of something hitting the wall. he hears the rustle of things being brought out to the living room, the quiet murmur of minho and seungmin as they debate between one pillow and another.
whenever someone passes by the couch he feels the brush of fingers through his hair, across his arms, squeezing his knees.
it’s when the soft floral scent fills his nose that he finally opens his eyes, just in time to see hyunjin drop gracefully onto the couch next to him, wiggling under his arm before chan can move. hyunjin huffs a sigh and presses himself close to chan’s side, his long legs stretching across his lap, practically caging felix against chan’s chest.
felix doesn’t seem to mind, one of his arms breaking free of their hold on chan’s waist. his hand slides over chan’s side, searching blindly until hyunjin reaches up and tangles their fingers together. chan can practically feel the smile stretch across felix’s face, the warmth of it rivaling the sun.
chan slides his hand up hyunjin’s back, fingers playing with the tips of hyunjin’s hair.
“good morning, hyunjin,” he murmurs, turning his head to brush his mouth across hyunjin’s forehead.
hyunjin growls, but there’s no menace behind the sound, only annoyance. chan has a feeling hyunjin had only made it to bed shortly before he’d gotten home himself and he hums, arm curling around hyunjin’s shoulders to hold him closer.
he glances around, still tired but already feeling energized from so much pack contact. the first thing he notices is the growing pile of pillows and blankets on the floor, the second is the sleep mussed hair of jeongin sticking out of the pile.
“did you even let him get out of bed before you dragged his blanket out here?” chan asks.
jisung drops another armful of pillows, and glances at the blanket pile. “huh, guess not,” he says, flashing a bright grin at chan before disappearing back towards the bedrooms.
chan shakes his head, thinks about getting up to free jeongin from the blanket mountain, but with two soft and sleepy boys he finds it hard to do more than just think about it.
“okay! i think that’s the last of it,” minho says and he and jisung drop a few more pillows and a collection of plushies on the ground.
seungmin joins them, looking more awake and alert than everyone else. he looks at the pile of blankets with a curl to his lip, but then he notices the head sticking out.
“jeongin!”
the youngest wiggles until his eyes are visible, peering around the living room with sleep heavy eyes.
“how’d i get out here?”
seungmin digs him out of the blanket mountain, tugging him away as if he’s afraid it’ll swallow him again. jeongin lets himself be manhandled, clearly still waking up.
“sorry innie,” minho says, not sounding sorry at all. “it was easier to just bring you with the blankets.” then he claps his hands, making jeongin startle and hyunjin growl. “alright! let’s get building.”
“felix is really the best at this,” jisung says, but he starts to tug the blanket mountain apart. chan notices it’s his blanket that gets laid down as the base and a happy rumble starts in his chest.
“felix isn’t an option right now,” minho says, glancing at the couch. felix stirs at his name, lifting his head just enough to flash jisung and minho a sleepy smile.
“i can help,” he says, but he makes no move to get up. chan’s arm tightens reflexively, holding him in place. he wouldn’t actually stop felix from leaving if he wanted to, but from the way felix melts back into his chest he knows he won’t have to worry.
“no, no, you stay right there. can’t have our mighty alpha running away before we’re ready.”
chan arches a brow. he doubts minho really thinks he’s a flight risk, it hadn’t taken him long to figure out what they were doing and although he doesn’t agree with them all changing their plans for him, he isn’t one to turn down an early morning cuddle pile. especially not when he’s already feeling so warm and happy with just two of the boys.
the thought of being surrounded by all of them, their warmth and their scents blending into one big blanket, makes him practically buzz with excitement.
he can’t remember the last time he got to take part in a pack cuddle pile, he knows they happen somewhat frequently. felix is a cuddlebug after all and he will often drag whoever he can get his hands on into cuddles, but with chan’s long hours at the studio he often misses them, only catching the lingering scents and messy beds left behind.
it doesn’t hurt, not exactly. he’s happy his pack is happy, but he admits there’s often a hollow ache when he thinks of them being happy without him.
after all, he’s happiest when he’s with them.
“you’re thinking too loud, hyung,” hyunjin complains, bumping his head against chan’s side.
“sorry.” chan strokes his fingers through hyunjin’s hair as apology and hyunjin hums happily at the attention.
the couch dips as changbin settles in next to him, their shoulders pressed together.
“you gonna fight this?” changbin asks, watching as seungmin sets each pillow down like they’re puzzle pieces fitting together.
chan laughs and shakes his head, letting go of felix long enough to ruffle changbin’s hair and pull him close for a kiss. “not this time.”
“good.” changbin grins, eyes flashing as he finally glances at chan. “because i would kick your ass.”
chan laughs again, giving changbin a final squeeze before returning his arm to felix’s waist.
in front of them jisung stares down at the nest of pillows and blankets, his hands on his hips and a frown tugging at his mouth. he hums a dissatisfied sound as jeongin and seungmin stretch out on the floor beneath him.
“it could be better,” jisung says, poking at a pillow with his foot.
minho comes up behind him, slides his hands around his waist and rests his chin on his shoulder.
“it looks perfect, darling.”
jisung smiles and turns his head to bump his nose against minho’s cheek. “aw, thanks honey.”
“gross,” hyunjin says, making a gagging sound that is cut off when the whole couch shakes as jisung throws himself on top of hyunjin.
“baby!” jisung’s arms come around hyunjin, almost smacking chan in the face. legs flail across his lap and he curls his arm more protectively around felix to keep him from becoming a casualty.
changbin slides off the couch beside him and crawls over to where jeongin and seungmin are watching the chaos. he stretches out on top of them, the sound of his laughter at their protests carrying over jisung and hyunjin’s dramatics.
chan huffs a laugh as hyunjin finally manages to shove jisung off of him, the two of them half rolling off the couch. instead of climbing back up hyunjin joins the boys on the ground, wiggling under jeongin and seungmin’s arms like they might protect him.
“baby don’t be jealous! you’re still number one!”
minho clears his throat and jisung’s eyes widen.
“uh, well, i mean.”
minho snorts and waves a hand to quiet him, clapping them together in the next moment.
“alright children! some of you may be wondering why i’ve dragged you out of bed at this ungodly hour.”
“no, it’s pretty obvious,” seungmin says, earning a sharp glare from minho.
“we are here,” minho says, continuing on like seungmin hadn’t spoken. “because our wonderful leader has once again pulled an all-nighter with no plans to sleep!”
a chorus of boos comes from the boys on the floor and chan ducks his head, hiding his face in felix’s neck. felix’s fingers stroke through his hair, his low chuckle rumbling through his chest.
“so it’s our job today to make sure chan-hyung does absolutely nothing.”
jisung hops to his feet, also clapping his hands together. “cancel all plans, turn off all phones. today we cuddle!”
he grabs felix, pulling the boy off of chan’s lap, or at least tries to. felix digs his fingers into chan’s shoulders, his deep growl rumbling out of his chest.
“c’mon lixie, you can cuddle in the nest.” jisung’s arms are tight around felix’s waist and with a grunt he finally manages to tug him away, felix’s hands sliding down chan’s arms. in a last ditch effort he tangles their fingers together and chan let’s himself get pulled down with them.
he’s careful to not disturb the wall of pillows as he follows jisung and felix into the nest. the boys already there shift and roll, making space in the middle for chan. he smiles and settles down, head resting on a pillow that smells strongly of seungmin, woodsy and fresh, like pine.
he’s surrounded as soon as he’s settled. hyunjin throws a leg over his and he feels the brush of seungmin’s hand on his neck. felix drops boneless on top of him, releasing his hands to reach out and grasp blindly towards jeongin and changbin. chan glances to the left to watch as jeongin slides his hand into felix’s and changbin half crawls on top of him to wrap his arms around felix’s arm.
his attention turns to his right when jisung drops to the ground and wiggles as close as he can, head resting on chan’s shoulder. he smiles up at him and chan reaches up, sliding his hand through jisung’s hair.
minho stands above them all, a small, satisfied smile on his face, and chan’s eyes crinkle with the force of his own smile.
“join us,” he says, holding out his hand. minho accepts the offered hand, letting himself get tugged down practically on top of jisung who doesn’t seem to mind. he leans back into minho as minho’s arms come around his waist, the fingers of one hand sliding under the hem of chan’s shirt to press against his hip.
chan let’s his head rest back onto the pillow and closes his eyes. around him his pack shifts and murmurs, he feels hands brush against him and limbs wrap around him as the scents layer on top of one another, settling around him like a blanket. warmth washes through him, love and happiness thrumming through his veins
“sleep,” felix murmurs, his voice low, his breath warm against chan’s skin. chan hums, feels the soft brush of lips over the pulse point in his neck.
he wants to sleep, he doesn’t want to fight it anymore.
“i love you,” he says, because he has to say it before it chokes him. the love is heavy and warm like the boys all laying with him, it fills him more than the air he’s breathing. “all of you. so much.”
“we know,” jeongin says and chan feels what must be his hand brush against his arm. “we love you too, hyung.”
chan’s smile is so big he wonders how his face doesn’t crack.
he wonders how he ever could have gotten so lucky.
jisung starts humming a lullaby, seungmin quietly singing along, soon joined by the others. their voices wash over him, mixing with the warmth of their bodies and the comfort of their scents. he feels safe.
he feels happy.
and finally, surrounded by his pack who unbelievably, undeniably loves him, he let’s himself fall into the embrace of sleep, knowing that they will be there when he wakes up.