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Riki knew he had a crush, he admitted it to himself before he spoke to any of his hyungs about it. At first he thought it was just his dumb, hormonal teenage brain until he realized after several months of these consistent feelings that he liked Sunghoon. Honestly, Riki couldn’t fault himself for falling for the older. Sunghoon was like the prime example of what nearly everyone wanted in a partner.
He may seem cold but that was the farthest from the truth. The older was just really introverted but once Riki got to know him better he got to see all the sides of his hyung. Sunghoon was observant and he was attentive, the older would listen to every word Riki said whenever he spoke. He was always looking out for the younger, ensuring he never did anything too reckless, didn’t overwork himself and made sure Riki actually got sleep when the night came. He told dumb jokes that made Riki laugh and was quite physically affectionate with the younger despite not being the biggest fan of skin-ship.
Sunghoon took care of Riki a lot, but to Riki, that was the problem. The ice prince did all of those things for him but he also always took care of the other maknaes. That’s why Riki saw all of the older’s actions as him just treating Riki like a dongsaeng. Riki hated that he liked Sunghoon because he was convinced the older just saw him as a little brother and that his crush was hopeless.
Sunghoon’s good looks certainly didn’t help either. Not long after they had arrived at I-LAND, Riki caught himself staring at the older’s gorgeous appearance, his sharp eyes, that perfect nose, the moles that decorated his skin. In short, Sunghoon was Ni-ki’s gay awakening but he didn’t truly develop feelings for the older until a little before his 16th birthday and when he realized, Riki truly thought he was doomed as liking one of your bandmates seemed like a recipe for disaster.
Park Sunghoon did not have a crush, or at least that’s what he tried to convince himself for almost the past year. If you asked him, he would deny on his life that he liked someone, especially one of his own bandmates. But everyone could see it, Sunghoon had a huge crush on none other than the group’s maknae Ni-ki and had no idea what to do with himself.
Something about Riki had drawn Sunghoon in from day one. Ever since seeing the boy perform in I-LAND, Sunghoon was infatuated by Riki’s passion and talent. But he also got to see the other sides of Riki. Yes he was a fantastic dancer but also a sweet person. Riki cared about everyone around him, he always looked out for his hyungs and tried his best to take care of them as well. He was honest and encouraging and so mature. The teenager was extremely well spoken for his age and had an outlook on the world that never failed to impress Sunghoon.
Not to mention his incredible looks, Riki had grown so much over two years. He was even taller than Sunghoon and his face had lost some of the baby fat and took on a more grown up appearance. He had added blonde highlights to his black hair recently and Sunghoon had just about died when he saw how good the other boy looked. So yes, Sunghoon had a crush on Nishimura Riki but he didn’t want to admit it.
So now here the two were, two idiots who liked each other but one wouldn’t admit it to himself and the other couldn’t bring himself to admit it to his crush.
Sunghoon watched as Jake wrapped his arm around Riki’s shoulder while the younger seemed to melt into his hold. The ice prince felt a twinge of annoyance go through him but quickly tried to bottle it down as they were in the middle of an interview. However, Jake didn’t help as Ni-ki answered a question in English and he praised the boy before squeezing his thigh briefly.
‘Why am I annoyed? Jake and Riki are always physically affectionate,’ he thought to himself.
Though Sunghoon wished he was the one sitting next to Riki so he could wrap his arm around the younger and give him discreet gentle touches and praise after the younger confidently answered a question.
Jay seemed to notice him zoning out and tapped his leg discreetly before giving him a questioning glance. Sunghoon just shook his head and gave his fellow 02-liner a thumbs-up so he knew that Sunghoon was fine and not to worry about him. Jay just gave him one last look before he tuned back into the interview.
Later that night, the group had gathered in the living room to watch a movie together. Unfortunately for Sunghoon, he was the last to shower so when he came out, Heeseung and Jungwon already had Riki cuddled up between them with the youngest half on Heeseung’s lap while the leader had Riki’s head on his shoulder.
Sunghoon let out a quiet huff at the scene as he was hoping that he would get to sit next to Riki and let the maknae cuddle with him but those two had to come and foil his plans. The former ice-skater discreetly rolled his eyes as he took a seat next to Jake. He felt that same feeling that he had earlier that day watching Jake and Riki be all affectionate with each other. Sunghoon sighed, he didn’t know why watching Riki being physically affectionate with the other members was suddenly starting to bother him, maybe he could talk to Jake and Jay about it later.
“Guys?” Sunghoon called as he entered Jake and Jay’s room.
“Hey Hoon, what’s up?” Jake greeted.
Sunghoon felt a twinge of annoyance pass through him again. He didn’t know why he decided he’d talk to Jay and Jake especially when the latter seemed to be a part of the reason he was annoyed earlier that day but nonetheless he continued.
“Do either of you ever feel, I don’t know… bothered, seeing two members be close and affectionate?” the youngest of the trio asked.
Jake and Jay shared a look before turning back to Sunghoon.
“No, can’t say I do Hoon,” Jay admitted.
“Same here bud,” Jake agreed.
Sunghoon sighed, “So you’ve never gotten annoyed seeing someone you’re close to be really clingy with someone else?”
Jake stared at him, “Is this about Riki?”
Sunghoon froze, “What? No, absolutely not. It’s not about Riki, I was just asking because I’m curious.”
Jay rolled his eyes, “You’re not fooling anyone Hoon-ah, we both see the way that you look at Riki, it’s kind of obvious you have feelings for our maknae.”
Jake nodded, “Jay’s right, you look absolutely in love with him a lot of the time and about your question earlier, I think you’re jealous.”
The youngest in the room scoffed, “Me, jealous? Jealous of what Jake?”
Jake didn’t know what he was talking about, Sunghoon was absolutely not jealous.
“I noticed you staring at Riki when Hee-hyung and Won were cuddling him earlier, you kind of looked like you wanted to rip Riki away from them for yourself,” Jake stated.
“I did not Jake, I was just hoping to sit with Riki is all,” Sunghoon denied.
Jay just gave him a pointed stare, “Oh my god! Is that why you were glaring at Jake earlier today during our interview? Because he was being affectionate with Riki?”
“Wait, you were what?” Jake asked surprised, giving Sunghoon a sly smile.
“My god Sunghoon, you have the biggest crush on Riki and you’re jealous of us spending time with him,” Jake laughed.
“You are so whipped my friend,” Jay said before joining Jake in laughing at the youngest 02-liner.
Sunghoon felt his face go red before he stood up off the bed in embarrassment.
“Fuck you guys, you two are no help. I don’t like Riki and I’m not jealous!”
“Sure you’re not Hoon,” Jake said as he continued to giggle at the younger.
Sunghoon just huffed before he spun on his heel and left the room, slamming the door behind him, Sunghoon was not jealous and he certainly didn’t like Nishimura Riki.
When he shut the door and turned around, the boy was met with none other than Riki who had seemingly just left the bathroom right across from 2J’s room.
“Hey hyung,” Riki smiled at him.
Sunghoon swore he could melt right there seeing that boxy smile directed at him. He wished to be the reason that Riki smiled like that all the time. The elder didn’t realize he was staring until Riki waved a hand in front of his face.
“Hyung? Hyung?” Riki called him.
“Oh sorry, Riki-yah. I zoned out a little there,”
Riki’s boxy smile morphed into his adorable pout as he placed a hand to Sunghoon’s forehead and neck which made the elder blush a deep crimson which he prayed wasn’t noticeable in the dark hallway.
“Well you feel a little warm, you okay hyung?” the taller asked him.
Sunghoon smiled as he took the hand that was on his neck into his.
“I’m fine Riki-yah, don’t worry about me,” he told the younger.
Now it was Riki’s turn to blush as the elder held his hand tightly in his own. How Riki wished to just interlace his fingers with Sunghoon’s and tell him everything he felt for him, but Riki was a coward and he couldn’t ruin the great friendship the two had built over the past two years so he just had to hope that his feelings would go away, hope the way he’s been hoping they’d disappear the past several months.
“Someone has to worry about you hyung, you deserve to be taken care of,” Riki told him gently.
“Thank you Riki-yah, but I’m okay. Now come on let’s go to bed,” Sunghoon told him as he lead the younger to their room by their still connected hands.
He finally let Riki’s hand go and instantly wanted it back when they entered their room. Sunghoon didn’t notice the boy frown at the loss of contact as he moved over to his bed while Riki went to his.
“Good night Riki,” Sunghoon said quietly in the peace of their bedroom.
“Good night Hoon-hyungie,” he heard faintly from the younger’s bed before he drifted off to sleep.
Sunghoon was extremely jealous. Watching Riki interact with the others pissed him off to no end for some reason. Seeing the youngest cook with Jay, seeing him play games with Heeseung, seeing him and Jake go out together and watching Jungwon and Sunoo cling to him all annoyed him to no end. Sunghoon didn’t know why he was jealous, after all they were all friends and bandmates, but he couldn’t help the feelings that plagued him.
Maybe it’s because he just wanted Riki to himself but was too much of a coward to admit it to himself, much less Riki that he had feelings for him.
Sunghoon found himself retreating to his room after being fed-up of seeing Heeseung and Riki laughing and talking for the past few hours while playing video games in the living room.
He really wanted to get rid of these annoying feelings that invaded him every time he saw Riki hanging out with someone else, so in Sunghoon’s mind he made up a plan. He wouldn’t get upset seeing Riki spend time with and be affectionate with everybody else if he just ignored him. It was a foolproof plan in Sunghoon’s mind to get over his feelings of jealousy which consisted of one simple step: ignore Riki until his feelings went away.
“Sunghoon-hyung?” Riki called as he entered their shared bedroom.
The elder was just laying in bed on his phone, looking as ethereal as ever to Riki as the maknae approached him.
“Hoon-hyung?” Riki asked again as he got closer, thinking the older just didn’t hear him.
The older made no acknowledgement that he had heard or even seen Riki and the youngest’s brow furrowed. Why wasn’t Sunghoon saying anything?
“Hoon-hyungie, you wanna go bowling with Jake-hyung and I?”
Sunghoon still gave the boy no response and Riki was starting to get upset. Was Sunghoon just in a mood? Did Riki do something?
Riki sighed, it was probably best to just leave him alone for now and talk to him some other time. He patted Sunghoon’s leg as he got up off the elder’s bed.
“Alright then, I’ll see you later hyung,” Riki huffed before he left the room.
Sunghoon watched the boy leave the room. He had successfully ignored the younger but it didn’t feel good. He had almost cracked when Riki had mentioned Jake going along with him. Sunghoon really just wanted the younger to himself but he knew that confessing his feelings to Riki would be an awful idea. Riki was so young and his first partner would be one of his bandmates? Even if the boy did like him, if something went wrong, Sunghoon could ruin the friendship and the trust he’d created with Riki. He almost wished he had thought this through sooner, he didn’t know that his plan would hurt this much but he needed to let go of these feelings for Riki.
Riki was not in a good mood whatsoever, the past few days whenever he asked Sunghoon to do something with him the older either ignored him or flat-out rejected him. He would try to sit next to Sunghoon when the group gathered to watch shows but the other would just move away from him.
Sunghoon would never stay in the same room as Riki even if the two weren’t alone, it was like, as long as Riki was there, Sunghoon wasn’t. Riki tried to talk to him but the older would just walk away and leave Riki with a figurative sad question mark over his head wondering what he’d done.
The maknae didn’t know if he had done anything to upset the older and he almost wanted to ask another of his hyungs about it but eventually decided against it. Sunghoon could just be dealing with something on his own and maybe he didn’t want the other members to pry about it. But then Riki observed Sunghoon with the other members.
He laughed with them the same way as usual, he talked to all of them, he didn’t immediately look for a way to leave the room as soon as any of the others came around so Riki had to be the problem right? He had to have done something to upset Sunghoon and Riki genuinely just wanted his hyung back. Besides liking the older, he always found comfort in his presence. Sunghoon had such a calming aura that always seemed to soothe Riki.
Riki missed his hyung, which is how he found himself entering the kitchen late at night after everyone had retreated to their own rooms for the night to confront Sunghoon.
He saw the older leaning against the counter on his phone while the kettle was boiling on the stove.
Riki quietly crept into the kitchen and sat on the counter opposite to Sunghoon.
“Hyung?”
Riki was met with silence.
“Sunghoon-hyung?”
Nothing.
“Hoon-hyung?”
Still nothing
“Hoon-hyungie?”
Sunghoon finally looked up at him. This was a start considering he’s been avoiding Riki like the plague for more than a week.
“Hoon-hyung can you please talk to me? What did I do wrong, why are you ignoring me?”
Sunghoon’s eyes seemed to soften.
“I’m not ignoring you Riki,” he said before turning around to pour the water into his mug.
“But you are hyung. You haven’t spoken to me for more than a week, you don’t ever want to hang out with me and you leave any room as soon as I enter.”
Sunghoon turned to him.
“Oh, I have? I’m sorry Riki-yah I didn’t notice.”
Riki was starting to grow really impatient with Sunghoon’s short responses and now he was straight up lying about not knowing he’s been avoiding Riki.
“Bullshit!” he snapped making the older’s full attention turn to him, “You can’t tell me that you haven’t noticed that you’ve been avoiding me?” Riki said as irritation laced his tone.
“Riki, calm down-”
“Calm down? You want me to calm down when you won’t do something as simple as talk to me?” Riki asked incredulously.
Sunghoon felt himself also growing impatient and irritated. After seeing Riki hang out with everyone else his jealousy hadn’t decreased at all and he knew was that he had undeniable feelings for Riki which is why seeing him with the others upset him so much. The jealousy in him was honestly bubbling over and that’s probably why he found himself snapping at the younger.
“Why do you need me to talk to you when you have all your other hyungs?” Sunghoon snapped, “You’re always with them, what do you need me to spend time with you for?”
Riki was taken aback. Did Sunghoon really just not want to spend any time with Riki because he had his other hyungs?
“The others are always all over you and you just let them! You clearly don’t need me to care about you when you have five other guys who are more than willing to give you the attention you want. Stop acting like you need me Riki,” Sunghoon snapped at the younger.
“Need you? Hyung it’s not about needing you, it’s about me wanting to spend time with you. It’s about our relationship,” Riki argued.
“Well maybe I just don’t want to be around you Riki. Did you ever think about that?” Sunghoon asked rudely and he regretted the words almost as soon as he said it.
Riki felt his heart sink at his hyung’s words. Sunghoon really just didn’t want to spend time with him anymore, he didn’t care about their relationship anymore and that cut Riki to his core.
“You know what, if you don’t care about me that’s fine but I wished you just told me before instead of pretending to be my friend. Fuck you, Sunghoon,” Riki spat before leaving the room with tears in his eyes.
As Sunghoon watched the younger leave, he knew that he just fucked up and did the very thing he didn’t want to do from the beginning. He ruined his relationship with Riki and he didn’t know where to start to mend it.
Sunghoon had slept on the couch that night, far too ashamed to go back to his bedroom with the maknae line after what he said to Riki. He laid on his back replaying his fight the previous night with the dancer in his head and every time he did he only grew more and more guilty.
Sunghoon sat up when he saw the other members of the hyung line enter the living room as they all glared at him.
“Uh, guys?” he asked confusedly.
“You are one colossal dumbass Park Sunghoon,” Heeseung snapped at him.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard him Hoon,” Jake began, “Jay was going to get water last night and he heard the whole argument between you and Riki. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Listen Hoon, I know you would rather die than admit your feelings to Riki, but that was a terrible way to try and get over him,” Jay stated.
“Ignoring your feelings and ignoring Riki was the worst possible way to try and get rid of your feelings Sunghoon. Now, because of your absolute dumbassery, Riki is so upset,” Heeseung said.
“Why’s he upset? He has all of you to spend time with him anyway,” Sunghoon scoffed bitterly, continuing to be stubborn despite knowing he’s in the wrong.
The three eldest felt like strangling Sunghoon and screaming at the younger that Riki liked him and not only that but he enjoys spending time with his hyung and adores Sunghoon’s company and attention. However, it was not their place to talk about Riki’s feelings so instead they all sighed and sat next to Sunghoon on the couch.
“Hoon listen,” Jake spoke gently, “Riki cares about you so much and he adores you. You really are one of his favourite hyungs.”
“Jake’s right, Riki’s always basically glowing every time you agree to hangout with him. He loves your company and he cherishes your relationship. You can’t just throw that away Sunghoon,” Jay told him gently.
“We know you got jealous and that you thought avoiding Riki would help you get over it, but Sunghoon, it was crushing him and hurting him isn’t going to help either of you,” Heeseung said as he pat the younger’s back.
“You have to talk to him Hoon and maybe even confess your feelings while you’re at it,” Jake suggested.
“You know I can’t do that Jakey,” he said sadly.
“Hoon, maybe you should. I can tell that it’s eating you up inside, keeping this in isn’t healthy,” Jay told him as he put a hand over his knee.
Sunghoon felt a tear roll down his face.
“Oh Hoonie,” Heeseung said before the trio engulfed the youngest hyung in a hug.
“I was so scared of losing him, I was so worried about losing the relationship that we had but I think I already did,” Sunghoon cried.
“You didn’t lose him Sunghoon, you just have to talk to him, not now but give him time okay? Let him cool off,” Jake stated gently.
Sunghoon nodded, the other three hyungs were right, he had to talk to Riki if wanted the hope of even maintaining a friendship with Riki. Even if the younger didn’t reciprocate his feelings, Sunghoon needed to talk to him because he just wanted to keep the younger in his life.
“I feel like such an idiot,” Riki sighed as he cried into Sunoo’s lap while Jungwon pat his leg.
The older two had seen how upset Riki was the night before but the maknae had brushed off all their questions and buried himself under his blankets. Now he was crying into Sunoo’s lap as he laid on the older’s bed and Jungwon sat beside him after he told them about his argument with Sunghoon the night before.
“You’re not an idiot Riki-yah, if anyone’s an idiot, it’s Sunghoon for saying all that shit to you,” Sunoo said the last part bitterly.
“Sunoo-hyung!” Jungwon scolded as he hit the older’s arm.
“Sorry,” Sunoo muttered.
“I like him so much hyung yet he just says that he doesn’t care about me? He says I shouldn’t want to spend time with him because I have you guys. I love all of you guys but I also enjoy Sunghoon-hyung’s company but it’s like he doesn’t even think I’m worth his time,” Riki vented.
The two older maknaes exchanged a sad look, they’ve known about Riki’s feelings for months since the maknae had decided to confide in them about his crush on their hyung. They both also saw the way Sunghoon looked at Riki and it wasn’t just a ‘hyung who’s fond of their dongsaeng’ look. Sunghoon really liked the younger and his eyes were filled with adoration and longing for the maknae every time he looked at him. They just wished Riki could see what they did, maybe then he’d tell the older how he feels. But for now, Riki just needed some comfort and reassurance and as his hyungs that’s what they’d give him.
“Riki-yah, it’s not your fault sweetie and Sunghoon definitely thinks you’re worth his time, he’s just dumb,” Jungwon stated.
Sunoo sighed, “Hoon-hyung shouldn’t have said all those things to you but I’m sure he didn’t mean it, I think he was just mad. He spent the week avoiding you but I think when you called him out on it, he realized what he did was wrong he was really just mad at himself so he snapped at you.”
“Why did I have to like such an idiot?” Riki groaned.
“I don’t know Riki-yah,” Jungwon said honestly, “but I do think you and Sunghoon need to talk. I hate seeing you like this.”
“Same here, I don’t like seeing our bright maknae so miserable,” Sunoo added.
“Should I just tell him how I feel hyung?” Riki asked hesitantly.
Jungwon and Sunoo had to bite down on their lips to conceal the smiles that wanted to overtake their faces but tried their best to stay composed.
“I think that telling him about your feelings would help Riki, keeping it bottled up inside clearly isn’t helping either of you,” Sunoo told him gently.
“I agree with Sunoo-hyung, you’ve been dealing with your feelings for months Riki-yah, I think you would feel better if you confess.”
Riki looked at his hyungs who were giving him gentle smiles, they were honestly right. His feelings for Sunghoon had been plaguing him for almost a year, he would feel so much less burdened and less like he had to watch everything he said around the older so he wouldn’t grow suspicious of Riki’s crush. It really would be great for him to confess, even if it was only for his own relief. He just had to find the right time to talk to Sunghoon.
The right time came sooner rather than later. That night Riki was honestly struggling to fall asleep as all his thoughts were echoing through his head. Sunghoon hadn’t come to their room the entire day so the maknaes all assumed that he slept with his fellow 02z or in Heeseung’s room. Riki was no stranger to sleepless nights which is why his mother had sent him a box of herbal tea from Japan that always seemed to soothe him and help him sleep.
Riki crawled out of his bed and silently crept out of his room and down the hallway to the kitchen. Once he arrived, he was greeted with the last sight he expected to see. Sunghoon was standing in the kitchen seemingly brewing a cup of tea for himself. Riki internally sighed, the scene was all too reminiscent of last night prior to their fight, but he wanted to talk to Sunghoon, he needed to. He missed his hyung and didn’t want to spend time avoiding him.
So the boy swallowed the lump in his throat and walked into the kitchen. Sunghoon seemed to hear him and turned around, a small smile appearing on his face when he saw that it was Riki.
“Hi Riki-yah,” he greeted softly.
“Hi Sunghoon-hyung,” Riki said as he shuffled awkwardly.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
Riki shook his head, “No I couldn’t I actually just came to get some tea to help me sleep.”
“Well I just boiled some water so you can use that,” Sunghoon offered.
“Thanks hyung,” Riki said quietly as he shuffled passed Sunghoon to get a mug.
Riki internally cringed. Why was this so awkward? He’s always been comfortable with Sunghoon and now they were acting even shyer than they’d been when they first met on I-LAND. Several thoughts were running through Riki’s head as he grabbed a tea bag from the box his mother sent him and poured water into the mug. Once he made the beverage, he took a sip and the effect was almost instant or maybe Riki just wanted to believe it was. He felt a little calmer and like now he could try speaking to Sunghoon but the older beat him to it.
“Riki I’m so sorry about last night,” the older stated.
Riki set his mug down and turned his full attention to Sunghoon.
“I shouldn’t have said those things, any of it because I didn’t really mean it. I was just irritated.”
“Were you angry with me?” Riki asked quietly.
“No,” Sunghoon breathed, “never with you. I was mad at myself.”
Riki’s brow furrowed, “Why?”
“Because I thought avoiding you would help me,” Sunghoon sighed, “I care about you Riki, I care about you so goddamn much and saying that I didn’t was the furthest thing from the truth.”
“The truth is… I like you Riki, not as a friend or as a brother but I have feelings for you. I’ve liked you since a little while after your birthday,” Sunghoon admitted.
Riki was shocked, Sunghoon, the person who he’s harbored feelings for, for so many months was confessing his own feelings to Riki. He wanted to say something but the older continued before he could.
“I’m an idiot Riki-yah, I thought you wouldn’t like me back and that if I confessed I’d just ruin our relationship so instead I was a coward and decided I wouldn’t. Then, when I saw you being so clingy with the other members and spending more and more time with them, I got jealous,” Sunghoon said.
“I thought that avoiding you and ignoring you would help me get over my feelings but it didn’t, if anything it made them grow stronger. I wasn’t only hurting myself but I hurt you and I’m sorry because I never wanted to hurt you. I was really dumb and I’m sorry,” he apologized.
Riki was honestly still shocked and his brain was still processing this information but he needed to say something to Sunghoon. The ice prince looked so downtrodden when he confessed to Riki, like he expected rejection. He really was an idiot for thinking Riki couldn’t have feelings for him.
“I like you too Sunghoon,” Riki admitted.
Sunghoon gazed up at him with wide eyes.
“I started liking you around the same time you started having feelings for me but I thought’d you never see me as anything other than your cute dongsaeng, not someone you would want to be in a relationship with.”
“I was so sad when you started avoiding me but I just thought I’d done something to upset you since you weren’t like that with the other hyungs. I really thought it was my fault and after our fight and what you said, I thought that you just didn’t care about me anymore and that scared me. Because even if I couldn’t be with you, I always want you in my life Sunghoon-hyung. We’ve gotten so close and I don’t want to lose you.”
“I don’t want to lose you either Riki,” Sunghoon said as he took both of Riki’s hands in his own.
“I’m so sorry for making you think that I didn’t care about you anymore, I’ve fallen so hard for you Nishimura Riki and I’m sorry for making you feel like you didn’t matter to me. I care about you so, so much Riki-yah,” the elder apologized.
Riki felt a feeling of warmth course through his body hearing Sunghoon say that he liked him, it almost felt like a dream. But it was real, it was here and Sunghoon was truly with him in this moment and Riki doesn’t think he has ever felt happier.
“I’ve fallen for you too Park Sunghoon, I care about you a lot hyung,” Riki said as he looked into the slightly shorter male’s eyes.
The two stood in silence, getting lost in each other’s eyes and holding the other’s hands in theirs. They felt contentment and relief, not just relief that the other liked them back, but relief that they had finally let their bottled up feelings out and the other knew, that’s what mattered to them; that the other knew how deep their feelings for each other went.
Sunghoon suddenly dropped his gaze from Riki’s eyes to somewhere else on his face and after a few seconds, Riki realized he was looking at his lips. Sunghoon’s action made Riki’s eyes also fall to the older’s lips before Sunghoon looked back to his eyes.
“Riki,” Sunghoon breathed out, “can I kiss you?”
Riki drew in a deep breath, suddenly feeling very flustered by their close proximity.
“Yeah, yeah I’d like that.”
Once he got the boy’s consent, Sunghoon leaned up slightly before he pressed his lips to Riki’s. It only took Riki a second to reciprocate, it was like the two were each other’s missing puzzle pieces as their lips slotted together perfectly. It was only a short kiss, just a little longer than a peck but the small action held so much feeling that to Riki it felt like it lasted an eternity and he honestly wanted to kiss Sunghoon more.
“Was that okay?” Sunghoon asked gently.
Riki being the menace he is, decided to tease the elder.
“It was meh,” he teased as he looked at the boy.
“Meh? Really?” Sunghoon asked the taller in disbelief.
“I said what I said hyung,” Riki continued to mess with him.
“I’ll show you ‘meh’, ” Sunghoon smirked before he wrapped his arms around Riki’s waist and pulled him closer to his body.
Riki felt himself beginning to turn red as Sunghoon smirked at how flustered the younger looked before he connected their lips once again. Riki’s eyes fluttered shut as Sunghoon kissed him far more deeply and passionately than before. Riki reached his arms up and wrapped them around Sunghoon’s neck as the older backed Riki into the counter.
Riki could taste the honey and lemon on the older’s mouth from the tea he was drinking prior and he hummed into the kiss when Sunghoon ran one of his hands up and down Riki’s back gently. The elder took the opportunity to slip his tongue into Riki’s mouth. The feeling was foreign to the dancer but certainly not unwelcome as Sunghoon’s tongue licked his lip before entwining itself with Riki’s own.
Riki practically felt himself melting against Sunghoon as the older held him close and would run a hand up and down Riki’s back every few seconds making the boy shiver under his touch. After several minutes of capturing each other’s mouth’s in their own, the pair pulled away for air.
“So was that still ‘meh’ Riki-ssi?” Sunghoon smirked.
“No, definitely not,” Riki replied breathlessly.
Sunghoon removed one of his hand’s from the younger male’s waist and brushed a strand of hair from Riki’s face.
“You’re beautiful, Riki-yah,” he stated sincerely.
“You’re beautiful too, Sunghoon-hyung,” Riki told him.
Sunghoon smiled as he pulled the taller boy into a hug, “So, do you want to be my boyfriend?”
Riki felt himself blush deeper as he pulled back from the hug and looked into Sunghoon’s eyes.
“I’ll be your boyfriend~” Riki softly sang.
Sunghoon looked at him and burst into laughter and Riki soon followed suit. It was a super goofy but also really sweet way for Riki to accept his proposal and the older couldn’t be happier.
“Thank you for making me so happy Riki-yah,” Sunghoon told him.
“Thank you hyung, you make me really happy too,” he responded before the two hugged once again.
They stood there, not caring how long they stayed in that position, just enjoying one another’s cozy embrace until Riki broke the silence.
“Sunghoon, you’re not gonna get jealous again if I still cuddle and spend time with the other hyungs right?”
Sunghoon hummed he definitely still needed to work on his jealousy a little and imagining the other members cuddling his boyfriend wasn’t exactly the nicest thought. But, he could definitely agree that he wouldn’t be hogging Riki to himself and keeping him away from his other hyungs. Sunghoon may be a bit of a jealous bastard but he wasn’t possessive.
“I’d never keep you from your other hyungs baby, I know how much they mean to you, but the cuddling I’ll have to think about.”
“Really hyung?” Riki scoffed.
“I’m joking Riki-yah, I know you’re physically affectionate with all of us and I’d be an asshole of a boyfriend to stop you. But… I better be your number one cuddle buddy,” Sunghoon teased.
“Always hyung,” Riki smiled before he pecked the older’s lips.
Sunghoon smiled at the gorgeous boy in his arms who looked back at him with eyes filled with adoration while Riki gave him that bright, boxy smile that Sunghoon loves. He did say he wanted to be the reason for that smile after all.
“Wanna go to bed hyung?” Riki asked.
Sunghoon hummed, “Sleep with me?”
Riki feigned being shocked and gasped, “Hyung! I’m 16!”
Sunghoon turned bright red, “Oh my god Nishimura Riki!”
Riki cackled as he looked as his hyung’s red face.
“You’re really such a brat you know that?” Sunghoon told him.
“Yeah, I am,” Riki laughed, “but I’m your brat.”
“Yeah, you are,” Sunghoon said before he pulled the younger down into a tender kiss, one he could only hope communicated well enough how truly in love he was with Nishimura Riki.