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When Hongjoong woke up, he was pushed to the very edge of the bed, about to fall off, staying on only by the sheer fact that he hadn’t rolled onto his back.
His group was tangled up on the bed together, buried into each other, subconsciously holding tight. Even Jongho, who was never one to initiate skinship, was cuddled in close, sharing warmth.
However, as Hongjoong studied the group he realized that the pile was missing someone rather important. So instead of wedging himself back into the bed, he stood, slipping out of the room without making a sound, closing the door behind himself, and moving through their apartment on light feet.
Hongjoong found the man he was looking for standing in the doorway, staring up at the night sky. He could practically hear Seonghwa thinking from afar.
“Hey,” he said softly, placing a gentle hand on his back, the thin shirt chilly from the outside air.
Seonghwa startled slightly but quickly relaxed into the touch, eyes softening just a little as Hongjoong sidled up next to him.
“Hey.”
“What are you doing up? We need to be well rested,” Hongjoong said, and Seonghwa hummed.
“I know. I couldn’t sleep.”
“Anything specific?” he asked, and neither spoke for a moment, the city around them heavy with silence.
“Do you think we’re ready?” Seonghwa asked, and Hongjoong breathed in slowly, trying to form the words on his tongue. His quiet was awfully incriminating, so he quickly said,
“Sure.”
“That’s not very convincing,” Seonghwa said, finally cracking a smile, and Hongjoong sighed, leaning closer to Seonghwa, resting his head against his shoulder. Seonghwa shivered slightly.
“I’m not trying to be,” he said, looking up at the dark sky. If he squinted, he could make out the dull lights of the stars. “We have all the supplies, all the plans are in place, the spies have their orders but…”
“What?”
“It doesn’t feel real. Not really,” he said. Seonghwa followed his gaze up.
“It is.”
“I know it is. I just… we’re actually doing this. It’s happening. After all this planning and all this secrecy, they’re going to know who we are,” Hongjoong said, looking to his second, whose eyes found his.
“Yes. And we’re going to be in even more danger than ever before,” he added, and Hongjoong nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah.”
Seonghwa made a soft sound.
“How’re we going to keep them safe?” he asked. Hongjoong pushed himself a little closer to Seonghwa, who was somehow still warm despite the chill seeping in.
“I don’t know,” he said truthfully.
“But-”
“They knew what they were signing up for,” Hongjoong said quickly, more a reminder for himself than for Seonghwa.
“Well, yes, but they’re… they’re all so young,” he said, voice softening slightly.
“They’re only a year younger than us,” Hongjoong said, though it didn’t do much to soothe himself, let alone Seonghwa.
“You know what I mean.”
“I know,” he said. “We have responsibility over them, it changes things.”
“Yeah.”
“We’ll protect them as best as we can. And part of that is relying on them to protect themselves,” Hongjoong said, and Seonghwa nodded.
“I know.”
“I know you know,” he said, trying to lighten the atmosphere a little, and Seonghwa cracked a slight smile, gaze still fixed on something in the darkness.
“It’s just hard. Remembering that. Especially when we’re going to be separated this time tomorrow, not knowing if we’re going to be whole at the end of the day,” he said, and then his hand was finding Hongjoong’s. He laced their fingers together, another quiet moment was spent just existing together, as though it were preparation for the time spent apart tomorrow.
“We’ve done as much as we can to prepare. All we can do is rely on the plans,” Hongjoong said finally. Seonghwa squeezed his hand gently.
“And each other,” he added.
“What?”
“Rely on the plans and each other. We always have each other. That’s why we became a group in the first place,” Seonghwa said, and Hongjoong smiled.
“You’re right,” he said, and Seonghwa scoffed, although he was smiling too.
“Of course I am. We’re family.”
“Are you two done being sappy?” Wooyoung said from behind them, and Hongjoong launched himself a step away from Seonghwa as they both turned sharply, their peace and quiet broken.
“You’re supposed to be asleep,” Seonghwa said.
“How are we supposed to sleep, actually?” San asked, coming up behind Wooyoung.
“Good point, but when we left you were all in a pile on the bed,” Hongjoong said matter-of-factly.
“We are no longer in a pile,” Yeosang said, and Seonghwa sighed.
“Yes, I can see that.”
“They’re causing chaos,” Jongho said, sounding very obviously tired.
“We are not!” Wooyoung cried.
“You definitely are,” Jongho said, voice and face deadpan, though it was hard to take him seriously with half his hair sticking up.
“That’s a lie,” San said.
“I highly doubt that,” Hongjoong interrupted, and then Seonghwa raised a hand, silencing everyone.
“Everyone,” he said, and all eyes were on him. “It’s time for bed. Come on, we’ll all go back inside, rest as much as we can, eat a good breakfast, and then rebel against our oppressive government.”
“I’m not sleeping next to Mingi though,” Jongho proclaimed as they shuffled back to their shared bedroom.
“What’s wrong with sleeping next to me?” Mingi said, his face falling into his kicked-puppy look.
“Don’t pull that look at me. You elbow and kick,” Jongho said, and some soft chuckles burst up in the group as they fell into bed with each other.
“Hyung-” Mingi started.
“I’m not defending you,” Hongjoong said quickly. Mingi’s head snapped towards Seonghwa, but before he could even open his mouth, Seonghwa was shaking his bed.
“Nope, don’t look at me.”
“But the edge of the bed is so cold.”
“I get banished there practically every night, you’ll live,” Hongjoong said, but Mingi looked to Yunho, who had the softest heart for their puppy-like member.
“We’ll just have to restrain you in the very center,” Yunho said, and Mingi’s face immediately split into a smile.
They fell into the bed together, some mild wrestling to get into comfy positions while being on top of each other, elbows too sharp and complaints being voiced (some more loudly than others and in the form of swear words).
But as everyone settled, Hongjoong felt a little bit of warmth grow in his chest. Because Seonghwa was right (of course he was).
They always had each other.