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“Joshua, are you sure you’re older? Wonwoo looks more like your hyung instead,” the photographer they’re working with at the moment stated so.
It wasn’t meant as an insult for Wonwoo, but more of pointing out how the rapper’s tall stature and cool demeanor made him look mature and older, while Joshua’s gentle and smiley features made him look younger.
“If I didn’t know your age, I would assume Joshua is the dongsaeng and Wonwoo is the hyung.”
Without missing a single beat, the trickster cells in Joshua’s brain took over. He turned towards Wonwoo and gave a cheeky smile. “Then I should call you hyung from now on.”
Surprisingly, Wonwoo played along his harmless scheme. “Sure, Shua-ya.”
The joke started from that point.
Since then, Joshua started calling Wonwoo as hyung.
“Wonwoo-hyung, you look so handsome! Your photo turned out so good,” Joshua said, as casual as ever without a hint of playfulness in his voice, as if it was the most natural thing ever.
Wonwoo too, responded without batting an eyelid. “You look handsome yourself, Shua-ya.”
No one really paid any attention for the first few times, but the more the two called each other with reversed honorifics, the more baffled they were, especially Joshua’s same age friends.
“Why are you calling Wonwoo as hyung?” Jeonghan asked for the nth time that day.
Joshua blinked at him. “Why can’t I?”
“Because he’s younger than you, duh?”
“You know we don’t do honorifics in the US, right?” Joshua shrugged Jeonghan off his shoulder. “Get off, Hannie, you’re heavy.”
Jeonghan stared at him with the most scandalized expression he could muster, watching as his best friend walked away unbothered.
Seungcheol was next. But instead of pestering Joshua for an explanation, Seungcheol clung to him, persistent in wanting the same treatment.
“Why don’t you try and call me hyung too, Shua?” Seungcheol cooed at him, showing his natural aegyo.
Joshua scrunched his eyebrows together, giving a weird look to the leader. “Why? We’re born in the same year. We’re the same age.”
“But you called Wonwoo as hyung!”
“I can call him whatever I want,” Joshua huffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away.
Seungcheol pouted. He was about to continue his complaints, but then he saw how Joshua’s expression changed in an instant when a certain someone entered the living room.
“Hi, Wonwoo-hyung,” Joshua greeted brightly towards the younger male. “You’re finally out of your room. Are you hungry? Do you want me to cook something for you?”
Wonwoo approached them with a warm smile on his face, which was quite unlikely of him. “Nope, I’m fine. I can cook something myself.”
The leader watched intently as Wonwoo casually ruffled Joshua’s hair, and his eyes bulged out in surprise when Joshua instinctively leaned into Wonwoo’s touch with a content expression on his face. Joshua even closed his eyes cutely, as if he’s a cat slow blinking at a human he trusts. For a moment, it truly was as if Wonwoo is the older, dependable and mature hyung, while Joshua is the younger, pampered and adorable dongsaeng.
Seungcheol was thoroughly perplexed at the bizarrely heartwarming scene.
Whatever game Joshua and Wonwoo was playing right now, Seungcheol and Jeonghan couldn’t wrap their heads around it. All they knew was that they wanted to do the same thing with Joshua too.
The joke to their suffering didn’t end there.
Things went up a notch when Joshua called the rest of the 96-line as hyung one by one. Jun was elated when he heard it for the first time, excited to be involved in the game, bouncing on his feet and cooing over Joshua.
In contrast, Jihoon stared at Joshua weird, narrowing his eyes and showing a deep scowl, but he soon got accustomed to it. Whenever Joshua called him hyung, Jihoon acted indifferent, yet the satisfied expression he wore showed how he secretly enjoyed it.
Then there’s Soonyoung, the energetic tiger he is, calling Joshua alternatively between “Joshy” and “Shua-ya”. For once, instead of wanting to be fed snacks, Soonyoung was the one who handfeed him, grinning brightly and using baby-talk with Joshua.
The view was ridiculous… and surprisingly sweet.
Normally, Jeonghan would enjoy whatever is happening and indulge in the situation. But the thing is, Joshua refused to call him and Seungcheol as hyung. It was an absurd notion. The two of them are the only members older than Joshua, so technically Joshua should only call the two of them hyung.
However, he’s doing the exact opposite right now. He addressed the members older than him by name—and he addressed the members younger than him by hyung.
The most infuriating thing of all? Jeonghan hated it when the younger ones took advantage of the situation, calling Joshua casually and comfortably. As childish as it sounded, it’s as if they were trying to steal Joshua from Jeonghan and Seungcheol.
Whenever the ‘game’ happened, Jeonghan couldn’t hide his jealousy anymore, glaring at the scene with his burning gaze.
Jeonghan anticipated the worst, and it did happen.
He was about to lose his mind when the 97-line and 98-line received the same treatment from Joshua. Hearing him said “Myungho-hyung”, “Mingyu-hyung”, “Seokmin-hyung”, “Seungkwan-hyung”, and “Vernon-hyung” was weird. So weird.
“Stop it! Do you have a hyung kink or something!?” Jeonghan was beyond infuriated, throwing tantrum like a little child.
Joshua looked thoroughly insulted, making a point with his bad acting. “Jeonghan! How dare you assume my kink and whatnot!”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Can’t I just appreciate my members for once and call them with respect?” Joshua said, sticking his tongue out to prove his attitude.
“So, you’re conveying that by calling them hyung?”
“Exactly.”
“But you didn’t call me and Cheol as hyung.”
“Exactly.”
“You little shit—”
When he especially wanted to piss Jeonghan off, Joshua pulled the card of calling the maknae as “Channie-hyung.”
To be honest, Joshua was doing this for fun and nothing more than that. This was a harmless prank and no one got hurt from it, well perhaps except for Jeonghan’s and Seungcheol’s pride. Jeonghan might accuse him of having a weird kink, but really, Joshua did this because he enjoyed the baffled and frustrated reaction from his two same age friends. He admitted it, he’s a menace indeed. After all, he’s Yoon Jeonghan’s friend.
Jeonghan knew Joshua was messing around with them and tried to ignore it, trying to dampen his jealousy or whatsoever. He knew that the more he got irritated, the more he showed his disapproval, the more satisfied Joshua is. If he maintained a calm façade, Joshua and the rest would get bored of it soon.
As predicted, the ordeal dissipated and everything returned to normal. Almost normal, with a few playful teasing from Joshua here and there, but mostly tolerable for Jeonghan.
Finally, Jeonghan could hang around Joshua’s room without having to bring up the hyung thing all over again.
The two were comfortable in their silence, sitting side by side on the bed, with Jeonghan occupied on his phone while Joshua played his Nintendo Switch. Occasionally, their legs tangled together, and they kicked each other lightly, either exchanging glares or light giggles, before going back to their own stuffs.
Jeonghan melted into the bed, feeling cozy and sleepy, until he felt Joshua moving next to him.
Turning off his console, Joshua looked around to find his phone and spotted them on the desk by Jeonghan’s side.
“Hyung, can you get my phone?”
Without taking his eyes off the screen, Jeonghan reached out and handed Joshua’s phone over. “Here.”
However, as Joshua grabbed the phone, Jeonghan didn’t let go of his hold. He remained frozen in place, unblinking, replaying the very first word Joshua said inside his mind.
Hyung.
“What’s wrong?” Joshua asked, wondering why they’re stuck in a tug of war with his phone.
Jeonghan whipped his head so fast that Joshua thought it was close to snapping off
“W—what?” Joshua stuttered in shock.
“Did you just… did you just call me hyung, Shua?”
Jeonghan watched as the gears turned in Joshua’s brain, his eyes slowly widening in realization. It was pretty how the blush appeared on his bread-like cheeks.
“I definitely didn’t!” Joshua retorted, backing away to the wall.
“You did.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did, I heard it!”
“You’re mishearing things!”
Silence fell upon them, only the faint music from the room next door was heard.
They stared at each other for the whole five seconds, as if waiting for each other to make a move, before Jeonghan jumped out of bed and sprinted out of Joshua’s room.
“Seungcheol! Choi Seungcheol!” Jeonghan yelled at the top of his lungs, intending to gather all the members currently present at dorm. “Joshua called me hyung just now! I won!”
Joshua scrambled towards Jeonghan, desperately trying to clamp his mouth shut. “Yoon Jeonghan! What the hell are you doing—”
“WHAT!?”
Slamming the door open, Seungcheol burst out of his room.
Jeonghan held Joshua back, all while giving a shit-eating grin towards the leader. “Joshua called me hyung! Just now! I fucking won!”
Seungcheol looked back and forth between Joshua and Jeonghan, the two struggling to hold each other down.
“No, I didn’t!”
“He said it!”
“I didn’t! He’s lying!”
“Nope, I heard it loud and clear Joshuji!”
Interrupting their yelling session, Seungcheol yanked Joshua away, catching the younger completely off-guard. For a moment, Joshua was stunned, staring at Seungcheol wide-eyed, and he almost flinched when the leader grabbed both of his shoulders tightly. His stare was so intense, very misleading compared to the words he said next.
“It’s not fair, Joshua. Call me hyung too!” Seungcheol shamelessly whined.
Joshua was thoroughly baffled at the constant turn of events, flushing red from head to toe. “No, I didn’t! I didn’t call Jeonghan as hyung! He’s lying!”
The rest of the members gathered around, becoming an audience to the trio eldest’s childish farce.
Jeonghan crossed his arms, puffing his chest. “I don’t have the proof but it’s clear from Shua’s face. Look at him, he’s so desperate in hiding his embarrassment. Look at his cute, flustered face. He definitely called me hyung!”
A murmur of agreement passed through the crowds.
“Well, yeah, if Jeonghan-hyung is lying, you wouldn’t be this embarrassed,” Seungkwan pointed out.
Joshua threw the main vocal a glare. He was furiously blushing, the back of his neck and ears burning from embarrassment. There’s no way for Joshua to hide, especially with how all eyes were on him.
He glanced at the members one by one, hoping at least one of them would come to his defense, but they’re all too amused by the situation to help.
In defeat, Joshua leaned his head on Seungcheol’s chest, hiding from the attention.
“Shua, hey, call me hyung too. It’s unfair that you did it to everyone but me!”
“Fine, fine,” Joshua groaned, lamenting how his plan backfired. The faster he yielded to Seungcheol’s wish, the faster he would end this agony. Pulling away, he looked up at Seungcheol with the most adorable gaze he could muster. “As you wish, Seungcheol-hyung. Happy?”
At that, Seungcheol grinned brightly and engulfed Joshua in a bear hug. “Nope! Say it a few more times!”
Joshua sighed, letting himself be smothered and breaking into a fond smile himself. He returned the hug and fulfilled Seungcheol’s request in a singsong voice. “Seungcheol-hyung. Cheol-hyung. Cheollie-hyung.”
The two waddled around, giggling at their childish antics, before Jeonghan joined in the fray and clung to Joshua’s side.
“Call me hyung again too!” the second eldest said with a beam.
“Hannie-hyung.”
“Again!”
“You’re getting too carried away,” Joshua dropped his playful tone, pushing his two best friends away. But of course, Seungcheol and Jeonghan refused to be separated from him, scrambling back desperately and clinging to each arm, exactly like a pair of hungry koalas.
“I can’t believe the three of you are the oldest,” Mingyu commented.
“Just leave us alone in our little bubble, okay?” Jeonghan shut the interruptions down, taking the opportunity to nuzzle into Joshua’s hair.
Okay, so Joshua made that one slip, but he managed to handle it perfectly.
He thought that one incident had come to a closure with a beautiful conclusion, but he was completely wrong. For the rest of the year—or perhaps for the rest of his life, Jeonghan always brought it up at any chances possible.
One time they were fighting and Jeonghan unexpectedly used the hyung card against him.
“Hey, be respectful to your hyung!”
The counter was effective.
Joshua fell speechless in an instant, his puzzled expression turning into embarrassment, and later it turned into horror at the realization that Yoon Jeonghan had played the reverse card. Jeonghan used Joshua’s joke to his own advantage, and the most infuriating thing of all had to be the older’s smug expression. It was a horrifying, haunting thought, lingering at the back of Joshua’s mind, that Jeonghan was holding something he can use against Joshua.
Thankfully, the solution came immediately from none other than the clever Minghao.
“You should start using the hyung thing as your advantage. Don’t you see how whipped Jeonghan-hyung and Seungcheol-hyung are when you call them hyung? They’ll never say no to you. Exploit them. Use them to your advantage,” Minghao advised.
Ah, Xu Minghao and his wise words. Bless him and his brilliant mind. Joshua should buy him a bottle of expensive wine and drink more with him.
From that point on, whenever Joshua wanted something, he would add the magic word and his two best friends would cave in immediately. He knew the more he used it, the less effective it would be in the future, but for now he always got Seungcheol and Jeonghan hook, line, and sinker.
“Cheol, are you getting coffee? Buy one for me too.”
“Or you know, you can come with me and buy it yourself,” Seungcheol raised a judging eyebrow, clearly disapproving of the way the younger was sprawled lazily in the couch of their waiting room.
Joshua looked up at him, staring with his puppy eyes. “Please? Cheol-hyung?”
All rational thoughts went out of the window.
Seungcheol pursed his lips, unable to hide how he like the sound of “Cheol-hyung” coming out of Joshua’s lips with that soft, gentle voice. After a pause, he spoke. “Ice americano?”
“Yep, the usual. Oh, and one carrot cake, hyung.”
“… Okay.”
That was one from the many examples.
It was a known fact that Seungcheol is a walking bank, but he mostly bought stuffs for himself and never this much for another person, until Joshua started using his trump card. Of course, Joshua isn’t a shameless person. The most he asked for was drink and food, and never expensive branded stuffs, since he did this to get the kick out of getting his hyung do something for him.
With Jeonghan, it was even more interesting.
“Come on, Jeonghan. Let’s go to Han River. Let’s go on a walk.”
Jeonghan glared at him, too comfortable under the cozy warmth of his blanket. “What are you, a dog? Do I need to take you out on a walk? It’s cold outside, Shuji.”
“There’s this thing called a jacket.”
“No, it’s still cold.”
“Hannieee come on the air ice nice outside. It’ll be refreshing!”
“Take someone else with you!”
“The last time I went with someone, a certain person sulked and said I abandoned my own best friend,” Joshua lightly kicked him, to which Jeonghan squirmed like a worm.
“I’m too tired, Shua,” Jeonghan said with a huff. “Let’s go tomorrow, okay? Let’s eat outside tomorrow and then we can go on a walk together.”
Slowly, Joshua sat down on the bed next to him. Jeonghan could tell what was about to come from the sudden change of his demeanor, emphasizing more of his softer side. Anticipating what was about to come never change the fact that Jeonghan was always weak against it.
“Please, hyung?” Joshua asked softly, avoiding Jeonghan’s gaze coyly.
Jeonghan stared at him, blinking and blanking out for a moment, before finally scoffing. “Ha, I know what game you’re playing. So, you think I’m going to do whatever you want just because you call me that?”
“You’re not going to, Hannie-hyung?”
Now Joshua looked at him directly with his sparkly eyes, and it was as if Jeonghan could visualize two drooping bunny ears on Joshua’s head. It was aggravating how Joshua knew this trick worked effectively against him.
Jeonghan inhaled sharply, muttering under his breath. “Shit.”
Needless to say, Jeonghan begrudgingly and lovingly climbed out of his bed, put on a jacket, and followed Joshua out of the door.
A menace, really.
In the end, it’s not as if the members were against Joshua calling them as hyung. Though it was weird at first, seeing Joshua’s loveliness coming out in full throttle was a treat, and they completely indulged in it. The younger members took advantage of the fact that they could treat their cute hyung as a dongsaeng, calling him casually as if their age was reversed and pampering him to their heart’s content.
Then there’s Joshua and the way he started this whole hyung thing as a joke, how he got too much into it that it slipped towards his same age friends, and even when the farce backfired against him, he managed to turn the tides and reclaimed his advantage. It was all him at the center of it.
Despite what he claimed to be, Joshua was undoubtedly one of the hidden maknae of the team.