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Seungmin is, for the lack of elegant phrases, like a little brother to Chan. All of their friend group is, really, but something about Seungmin is different, just like it's different with Felix, just like it's different with Changbin, with Jisung, with the rest. Seungmin is the type of friend that you don't worry about doing irresponsible things or not taking care of themselves, but that in itself does worry you, especially when that impression cracks.
Out of all eight of them, Seungmin is one of the least touchiest. It's not his preferred method of receiving or giving comfort or affection, but he's not adverse to it either. Him and Minho often get compared with their styles and methods of showing their love for their friends, but they have their differences. Minho has a space bubble and certain times where it's easier to get a hug or cuddles out of him or, if you're one Han Jisung or Lee Felix, you have an all access pass into the Lee Minho Personal Space Bubble (copyrighted by one sleep deprived Hyunjin, 2am, Finals Week). Seungmin's, well, normal about it, he supposes, when compared to the rest of his friends.
Chan will one-hundred-percent respect personal boundaries. He knows where the lines are with all of their friends, when too much is too much, and he does his best to not cross them. It does not though, in any capacity, stop him from being very openly affectionate and showing his deep love for his friends.
Seungmin doesn’t always know what to do when he's given a hug, especially by Chan. Does he hug back? Complain loudly and shrug it off? More often than not, he ends up stiff and unmoving, not sure what to do. Other times, he just...settles, as Felix has called it.
Minho is currently witnessing one such event. He's cozy on the couch, wrapped around a sleeping Jisung, blanket pulled over both of them, a vaugely Hyunjin-shaped lump curled up at their feet. The rest are scattered in one of the other chairs or the floor. Seungmin was one such occupant of the floor, content to be there while the screen flashes with the action movie they've been watching for the last hour. Minho sees Chan get up from the couch and sneak over to Seungmin, a particular glint in his eyes they all know well, carefully lying down on top of Seungmin and cuddling close, arms bracketing Seungmin's body and taking some of his weight off.
At first, Seungmin doesn’t move, doesn’t react, stiff as a board. But then, Minho watches the younger settle down and almost curl into Chan, relaxing easily.
It's not surprising that by the end of the movie, both Seungmin and Chan have fallen off into slumberland (Minho doesn't actually know if they've ever finished a movie as a group with everyone wide awake, since they tend to use the time as a space to decompress, which usually means catching up on lost sleep). Chan's slipped to the side a little bit and Seungmin's cushioned both their heads with his arm, but the sight is so soft and private, a rare moment of walls coming down for Seungmin, that Minho doesn't have the heart to take a picture of it.
There's another moment, when Seungmin is stiff, but not out of being uncomfortable. No, this is out of anger, of the week having been too long to bear.
He doesn't even realize he'd marched across campus from his last class and into the wrong dorm room until he opens the door that should be his bedroom and finds not his carefully made bed or organized desk, but rather Chan sitting at the desk, papers strewn about, bed messily made, face frozen in surprise at his door suddenly being opened.
"Sorry," Seungmin says, hands starting to shake a little from anger and fury and being overwhelmed. "Wrong dorm."
He shuts the door a little harder than he means to and stalks down the hallway, intent on going back to his actual dorm with his actual room.
Until he's stopped at the end of the hall by strong arms wrapping around him and holding him in place.
Instantly, the fight drains out of Seungmin, and he finds himself leaning back against Chan's chest, dropping backpack to the floor from his hand so he can wrap his hands around Chan's forearms and hold on tightly.
"Everything's okay," Chan murmurs softly, rocking them back and forth gently, rhythmically. Seungmin can feel his heart rate dropping and his body relaxing. "It'll all work out. Just let it go."
Chan's always a little surprised when Seungmin initiates a hug out of nowhere, with no easily seen reason apparent. The younger is a little bit of a puzzle, one Chan likes to poke and prod until it snaps at his fingers. But today, he gets surprised by Seungmin jumping him as he walks by one of the green spaces.
"Hi, old man," Seungmin cheerfully greets, slinging an arm over Chan's shouldes and squeezing him in a side hug. "Fancy seeing you here."
"Hey, hey, hey, this old man paid for your dinner last night," Chan shoots back with no real heat. "Show some respect!"
"No, I don't think I will," Seungmin says sassily.
He feels Chan's arm sneak around his waist to balance them both as they head over to the Humanities building and finds himself settling into it.
Chan makes him feel safe and warm, like everything will be alright. Seungmin sometimes struggles to express when he needs to feel that safety of being caught and held, but Chan always, always seems to understand when Seungmin silently shows the need for it. It's what makes the older such a great friend and, in Seungmin's humble opinion, one of the best huggers ever.
"You okay?" Chan asks as they approach the building.
"Never better," Seungmin responds easily.
Chan doesn't part from Seungmin until he has to enter a different classroom, but the younger still has every intention of snagging another Chan hug at the end of class, a whim he knows that will happily be indulged upon.