Archive of Our Own

Sunoo’s eyes thinned as he looked at the message he just received from their manager. He had forwarded their new schedules for their upcoming comeback and this time around it looked worse than it ever had.
There were so many group activities and even more solo activities for all of them. And while this wasn’t their first comeback, it surely was their most anticipated one. Everyone, be it an Engene or not, has been awaiting this comeback from Enhypen, and their company wanted them to not just live up to the set expectations, but surpass these.

Sunoo let out a deep breath. It was two am and everyone was asleep by now. Even Heeseung and Ni-ki had gone to bed about an hour ago, and honestly, Sunoo should’ve been long asleep too.
Their day had been truly busy, with a lot of dance practice, song recordings and guest appearances on a reality show.

It had been stressful and exhausting for them all, which is why none of them could await finally getting into bed.

And don’t get Sunoo wrong, he was definitely tired too- excessively so. But Jungwon had complained earlier about his usual toiletries being all used up, and because Sunoo knew how tight their schedule was, he had decided to run to a 24/7 store when the rest was asleep.
That way, Jungwon could wake up to new products tomorrow and everyone would be happy.

Deciding to ignore their manager's schedule for now, Sunoo got out of bed and put on some track pants and a hoodie. He also wore a beanie and a mask, for safety measures. It was early in the morning and the chances of his identity being revealed were close to zero, but then again- never completely zero.
He was rather safe than sorry.

He quickly slipped into his sneakers and left their dorm as quietly as he could- he didn’t want to wake up the light sleepers in their group, those being Ni-ki and Heeseung. He knew those two needed all the sleep they could get and he’d hate to be the reason for them to lose sleep.

Once he reached outside, he took a deep breath of the fresh night air and smiled- there was a certain vibe to being out so late at night. Everything was asleep- the people, the birds, the roads, probably even the flowers were getting rest. And Sunoo liked the serene vibe of the night a lot. Being outside felt exciting in a way.

Nonetheless, he decided to not waste too much time on walking. He sped up and luckily the convenience store wasn’t far away at all. It took him about ten minutes by foot, and before he knew it, he was there.
When he pushed open the door, a little bell jingled, indicating that a customer had arrived.

Apart from him and the cashier though, the store was empty.

Sunoo quickly walked over to the toiletries section and searched for the brand Jungwon preferred to use. Ah, there it was. He grabbed a bottle of body lotion, one of shampoo and conditioner and another bottle of deodorant. Or should he make that two? Oh well, he was already here, he might as well get two of everything. Jungwonie would certainly appreciate it.

He threw all the stuff into the basket and was about to head to the cash register when something else caught his attention.
Shin Ramyeon on sale? Oh, did they even have any left at home? Because if they didn’t, Heeseung and Jake would probably be upset about it. So wouldn’t it be smarter to just get some now and make provisions for his hyungs? Yes. Yes it would.

Sunoo threw four packs of the instant noodles into his basket, finding himself very smart.

And he promised, he wanted to head to the cash register after that, but then he thought about it. He had gotten something for Jungwon, Jake and Heeseung. Riki, Sunghoon and Jay would feel left out if he didn’t get something for them too, right? It didn’t have to be anything big, just a little gift for all of them.

So, Sunoo continued to search for more stuff. There was quiet music playing from a speaker, and it changed to a song Sunoo really liked. Blue by Keshi. He quietly hummed along while thinking of what to bring his members.

He found a cute little box of bungeoppang for Riki, which the younger would be happy about, because he hadn’t had his favorite snack in a long time.
For Sunghoon he found a little ice skates keychain. And for Jay, well- Jay preferred acts of service, so Sunoo didn’t take anything with him.

“Excuse me? I’d like to pay, please.” Sunoo hesitantly spoke, as the cashier seemed asleep. The guy immediately jumped awake, eyes wide and lost.

“Uh, uhm.” He looked around, blinking and trying to regain his bearings. “Sorry, I must’ve nodded off…” he mumbled, before getting back to work and slowly scanning Sunoo’s articles.

Sunoo only shook his head with a little laugh. “It’s okay, I imagine your job to be stressful, huh?” He looked at the other sympathetically, and the other only nodded.

“Yeah, it’s stressful. But I need all the money I can get to support my studies financially.” He shrugged and Sunoo hummed. He understood. If he hadn’t debuted as an idol he thought that he’d be in a similar position.

“Don’t worry too much, you’re doing great and you got this.” Sunoo then paid with his card and thankfully accepted his bag full of articles. “Fighting!” He pumped his fist up and the cashier did the same with a wide smile all over his features. He wasn’t tired anymore after hearing these nice words and seeing that pretty smile.

Sunoo waved before he left the store and made his way back to the dorm. He felt himself getting more tired as the time passed, but there was no way he could even think about sleep now. A look at the time told him it was already nearing three am, so he sped up.

Back at the dorm, he quietly opened the door, taking a second to stop and listen for any noises. Once he was assured his members were all asleep, he started distributing the stuff he bought. The food went into the kitchen, Jungwon’s toiletries went into the bathroom and Sunghoon’s Keychain went into his pockets for now. He’d find the right moment to give the little something to the older.

Because everyone had been tired last night, the kitchen looked adequate to a mess. The dishes hadn’t been done, there was trash and plastic cans all over the floor and so much food needed to be packed up and put into the fridge before it could expire.
So, Sunoo got to work. He closed the kitchen door to minimize any noise and started with cleaning up the floor and working space.

About half an hour later the kitchen looked presentable again, and Sunoo knew Jay would appreciate not having to do it in the morning. Jay already took care of the food, so the least Sunoo could do was help with the rest.

Now Sunoo could finally start getting ready for bed. He brushed his teeth again, did his skincare and changed into his pajamas. After that he tiptoed into his shared room with Ni-ki, Jungwon and Sunghoon.
Not wanting to wake them up, he hesitantly put one foot in front of the other and made his way to his top bunk like that.

It took him a few minutes to get there and get comfortable, but once he was he exhaled. Now he could inspect those schedules he had been sent earlier. Oftentimes, the company just sent them their schedules without double checking with prior schedules. As a result, sometimes their different schedules overlapped.

So the company expected them to double check themselves and send a revised copy back to them.
Sunoo wasn’t feeling sleepy yet, so he decided to do this for his members. This would spare them a lot of trouble tomorrow morning, where they were expected to appear in a talk show anyways.

He looked through each member's old schedule before comparing it with the new one and making necessary adjustments. There were quite a few mistakes this time around…
Either way, Sunoo got it done and went to bed. At 5 am. His eyes had been drooping for the last half hour now, and he really welcomed the sleep that took over him like a storm. Within a minute he had fallen into a deep, deserved slumber.

The first alarm rang only three measly hours later. Loud and blaring, trying to get everyone in the room awake, and it did. Sunoo jumped up in shock, feeling like his soul had left his body. His heart was beating out of his chest and he was about to curse the person who had set this atrocious alarm before he realized it was his own.
He quickly scrambled to turn it off, but the three remaining members had been awoken by now.

They tossed and turned around, none of them wanting to get up and face another day of idol activities.

“Hyuuung. The alarm w’s too loud…” Jungwon slurred, and Sunoo sweat dropped.

“Sorry, sorry, wonie. I had forgotten to turn it off last night.” He whispered, before getting down from his top bunk.

Riki, who slept under him, was already occupied with his phone, and something told Sunoo that the maknae had been awake even before the alarm rang,

“Good morning, Riki-ya.” He whispered, leaning into Riki’s space and playing with the younger’s hair strands. Riki welcomed the gesture and leaned into it, mumbling a morning greeting back.

Sunoo chuckled at their maknae’s cuteness. He turned around to Sunghoon, only to find him deep asleep. “Wonie, can you wake him up?” Sunoo asked, but Jungwon had drifted back into a trance, not ready to wake up yet.
Sunoo exhaled. These kids were really a handful. He was about to wake the other two up when someone knocked at their door.

It was Jake who peeked into the room seconds later. “Is everyone awake here?” He asked, looking around the room. Riki was on his phone, Sunoo was standing around awkwardly and the rest was asleep.

“Don’t worry hyung, we got this.” Sunoo nodded and went to the windows to open them widely and welcome the sun and fresh air into the probably stuffy room.

“Yaaah!” Sunghoon yelled when it suddenly got really bright, making the others laugh.

“Are the others awake already, hyung?” Sunoo asked the other and Jake nodded.

“We should all get ready now.” He spoke before he left the room to head to the showers first.

And they all did. They got into their comfortable routine of lounging in bed while waiting for their turn in the bathroom, where they could get ready.
Everything was like any other morning, until it was Jungwon’s turn. The younger had disappeared in the bathroom a few minutes ago but the shower hadn’t been turned on.

Before any of them knew it, Jungwon let out a blood curdling scream, immediately attracting the attention of all the other members. Six men rushed to the bathroom, eyebrows furrowed in worry and hearts beating out of their chests.

“Jungwon-ah! What happened!” Sunoo asked, hoping that the younger didn’t hurt himself.

“Jungwon, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Jay asked, pushing his glasses back up. He hadn’t been in the bathroom so he hadn’t gotten the chance to put in his contact lenses yet.

“Jungwon hyung, what happened in there, tell us!” Riki nervously said, because after the initial scream it had gotten extremely silent. Heeseung knocked against the door harshly and Sunghoon and Jake only stood there, almost shitting themselves. Jungwon never acted up like this, something really bad must’ve happened.

There were footsteps being heard and every Enhypen member outside the door held their breath. The lock turned and the door slowly opened, revealing an almost naked Jungwon, only wrapped in a towel.

“Guys…” his voice was shaky. “I- I think there’s a ghost in our dorm.” He gulped, looking into his members' faces.

Some exhaled, glad that Jungwon hadn’t hurt himself or broken something. While some got even more concerned at the sound of that.

“What? Wh- why do you think so?” Jay nervously asked, all senses alert. He really couldn’t stand ghosts, and he knew for a fact that they existed.

“Well. Remember how I mentioned that my body lotion and shower gel were all empty?” Everyone nodded, because it had been last night actually.
“Heeseung hyung told me to check the cupboards and we checked them together, hoping that we had some left after all.”

“Yeah..” heeseung agreed. He had done that. But there truly had been nothing left.

Jungwon opened the door more widely for them all to take a look. “Now tell me how the hell there's everything I need right there. And there are even more in the drawers!”

There were audible gasps to be heard and they all started talking at the same time, exchanging theories and suggestions on why and how new products had appeared in their dorm.

Amidst all that, Sunoo only started giggling. The others stopped talking and looked at him in surprise.

“Guys, I went out to get Jungwon some stuff last night, because I know how much he likes this brand. It was not a ghost, guys!” He only shook his head fondly, ruffling through Jungwon’s hair.
“Now shower and get ready, because Jay, Ni-ki and I still have to go after you!”

He turned around and left, taking the conversation to be over.

“What? When did he even-“ Jungwon started, looking after his hyungs retreating figure.

“He was still home when I was up, that much I know. And I only went to bed after one am. So he must’ve gone out even after that.” Riki concluded, making the others look at him in shock.

“Do you guys think Sunoo has trouble sleeping and didn’t tell us?” Jake asked worriedly, making the others only sigh.
Now that he said it, Sunoo’s eye bags were actually really prominent today, but since the boy was just as energetic as usual, none of them really paid any mind.

“Okay, we will talk about this later, get ready first, Jungwonie.” Jay patted the leader's shoulder and gently pushed him back into the bathroom.

Jay was right. The members slowly went back to their respective rooms to relax as much as they could before they had to drive to the company.

Sunoo took his turn after Jungwon and got ready as quickly as he could. He took a speed shower, brushed his teeth, took care of his hair and put on some light make up all in about fifteen minutes. He was satisfied with how fast he was.

Jay went after him, because Ni-ki wanted to come out only when food was already ready. So he was fine with going last and being able to take his sweet time all at once.

So when Jongseong exited the bathroom and opened the doors to the kitchen, ready to clean and prepare breakfast, his steps faltered and he almost tripped over his own feet.

“What the-“ he whispered to himself, unable to believe his eyes. “Children!” He yelled through the entire dorm, making everyone run to the kitchen. An angry Jay in the morning was something none of them wanted to have.

Once the other five had gathered around him, he pointedly looked each of them in the face. “Who was it?” He asked, because he couldn’t trust his members. Number one, they never did anything for free, so if someone cleaned the kitchen they must either want something back or they must’ve broken something precious of his and thought of this as a way to make up for it.

They all looked around quizzically.

“Who was what, Jay hyung?” Jungwon asked, looking at his band mates.

Jay opened the kitchen door widely, letting them take a look at the clear kitchen. However, Jake’s eyes caught something else.

“There's more Ramyeon!” He yelled out, pointing at one of their see-through cabinets. There was indeed more Ramyeon in there.

“That’s not what I meant! Who cleaned the kitchen this thoroughly and what are you hiding from me!” Jay yelled, making the others blink.

“Heeseung hyung! There are four packs of Shin Ramyeon! Two for me, two for you! We can have a feast later! And- there’s bungeoppang too!” Jake was so excited, and couldn’t hold himself back from jumping up and down like an excited child.

“Why the fuck are you ignoring me! Who broke something of mine, and what was it?” Jay tapped his feet impatiently and Jake only shrugged and shook his head. It wasn’t him.

“Is there something for me too?” Sunghoon poked his head into the kitchen, asking Jake to look around for any other new stuff. But when Jake only shook his head, the former ice skater deflated.

“What do you want from me, just tell me now.” Jay mumbled, not finding this funny anymore.

“Hyung calm down, I don’t even know what you’re talking about!” Jungwon held up his arms in surrender.

Jay then looked at Sunghoon with an accusatory look, making the other 02 liner gasp in offense.

“It wasn’t me either! Don’t you trust me?”

“I actually don’t, Sunghoon. Do you want me to list everything you’ve done?” Jay bluntly asked, making Sunghoon’s face flush a deep shade of red. The audacity this guy had was insane.

“Why the fuck don’t you just appreciate it! It wasn’t me, but if it was I’d be happy and not throw a tantrum because of it!” Sunghoon countered, and Jay started seething.

“I’d be happy about it if I didn’t know you guys. You never do anything just because you can. All of you have ulterior motives.”

“Ouch.” Jake muttered, not liking the sound of that.

“Ouch indeed.” Heeseung agreed.

“You know, if any of you ever-“ Jay started again, but he was interrupted.

“It was me!” Sunoo yelled once, making everyone stop killing each other with their eyes. “It was me who cleaned up here, and I did it because I wanted to help, Jay hyung. And I also got the food in the cabinets because I remembered Jake hyung and Heeseung hyung running out of Ramyeon.” Sunoo explained, feeling bad for causing a commotion. If he had known that simply trying to help would lead to this, then…

“You also got the bungeoppang?” Heeseung asked, and Sunoo nodded.

“And Sunghoon hyung, I didn’t want you to feel left out, so I got you this little something.” He took out the ice skates keychain from his pockets and handed it over to the older. Sunghoon’s jaw dropped.

“I’m sorry for causing an uproar Jay-hyung, I just thought it would help if I took over some of the work.” He shrugged, suddenly feeling conscious about it all.

“Sunoo, i don’t expect any of this, you know that, right?” Jay’s eyebrows were drawn together in worry. One look around told him that Sunoo had invested at least an hour into getting the kitchen as clean as it was. Which led him to his initial question; when did the younger even find the time for all of this?

“I know, hyung but- you always prepare our food and clean afterwards, the least I could do was take that Job over for once.”

That was a lie. Sunoo didn’t just clean the kitchen once. Every night when he didn’t forget it, he’d head into the kitchen and clean up so it wouldn’t be a hassle in the mornings. It was just that last night had been a huge mess so the contrast was more visible than other times.

Sunoo was also the one who took it upon himself to make sure their basic necessities were always restocked. He didn’t know why they only realized this now when he’s been doing it for a long time and it never made anyone react at all.

“Hyung, when did you-“ Jungwon started, when Ni-ki appeared behind them, asking what had happened.

“What’s going on here? Is everything alright?” The maknae looked around.

“Ni-ki, there’s bungeoppang for you! Sunoo bought it for you!” Jake only exclaimed, making the maknae gasp in happiness and run into the kitchen.

“Really!?”

“Yes! Say thank you to Sunoo!” Jake answered, and Riki did as told.

“Sunoo hyung, thank you so much!” The maknae smiled widely, and it made Sunoo dissolve into a puddle of mush. He was so soft for Riki, he’d do anything if it meant the younger would smile like that.

“Sunoo, you didn’t have to get me this keychain, but I appreciate it a lot…” Sunghoon bashfully mumbled, cheeks a light pink. Sunoo only waved him off, all he wanted was to see his members happy and help them.

Normality returned into their dorm from then on and half an hour later everyone was sitting around their dining table with a great breakfast table set. There were pancakes and waffles, but also eggs, bacon and rice. There was a bit from yesterday’s leftovers too, if anyone preferred those.

“We’re being picked up in half an hour for the talk show. After that, we’ll be heading to the company for dance practice. I think there’s a weverse live scheduled for later too.” Jungwon informed all of them, making them nod in understanding. Today wasn’t so busy after all.

“Oh! Manager sent us the schedules last night! We have to take a look at them later and send our corrected version back!” Jungwon added, making everyone groan. This was by far the worst and most annoying part about being an idol.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, I already did it for you guys.” Sunoo lightly tapped his chopsticks against his plate. A habit he couldn’t get rid of, apparently.

“Wait- for our joint and solo schedules you mean?!” Jake asked, not being able to believe it.

“Yeah.” Sunoo only said and nodded, focusing back on his food. Completely unaware of the weird emotions this revelation made his members feel.

They were all wondering how much sleep Sunoo had gotten the prior night.

And Sunghoon got an inkling that Sunoo hadn’t just magically changed overnight, but that he has been doing stuff like these for them behind their backs at night, so they wouldn’t have too much trouble. He had a feeling that Sunoo had been staying up at night to take care of things for the rest, and it honestly made his stomach churn uncomfortably.

He didn’t want to think that one of their maknaes had been losing sleep over them and they hadn’t realized until now.

But it would make sense, if he thought about it. When was the last time they had been out as a group to get some grocery shopping done if it wasn’t for any content they were filming?
He couldn’t remember it, and honestly they had all gotten used to stuff just randomly appearing around their dorm.

They had gotten used to waking up to a clean dorm, and never once stopped to think about who could've done it, because they certainly didn’t have a maid.

None of them had taken care of their schedules in a long time now, and none of them had even questioned it.
And the thought that all of this was already a routine for Sunoo without any of them even noticing felt like a punch to his gut.

They were a team of seven and it couldn’t be that one had been secretly working his ass off without the other six noticing.
Sunoo wasn’t obligated to care for the others as much as he did. He wasn’t obligated to help around as much when they could’ve simply distributed the work fairly.

And most importantly, Sunoo didn’t have to keep putting them first. He didn’t have to go out of his way to make sure they had it as easy as they could. Because that meant that he was disregarding himself and his needs.

Sunghoon subconsciously pouted. He felt bad.

The seven finished eating and went on with their usual routine. They were driven to the set of the talk show, where they were also prepared by makeup noonas.
The show itself went smoothly. Enhypen could be enhypen without a care in the world, and that was already a guarantee for the content being great.

After that, they headed to the company to get their dance practice for the day done.

There was a comeback right around the corner, so the most important thing was to get the new songs down as well as they could today, before their dance instructor would take another look tomorrow.

“Riki…” Sunoo impatiently tapped Ni-ki’s shoulder again, making Riki only nod. He knew what his hyung wanted.

“One more walkthrough and then we’ll take a ten minute break!” Their lead dancer exclaimed, making everyone nod.

The music started back up and they all danced through the entire choreo, while at the same time monitoring through the wide mirrors.
About three minutes later, the song came to an end and Sunoo dashed out of the practice room as fast as he could.

“Where’s he going?” Jake curiously asked.

“Bathrooms I think.” The maknae shrugged, making the other ones nod.

“Ah, now that he’s gone, can I talk to you all real quick?” Jungwon asked, waving everyone closer. The six boys sat down and formed a circle around their leader. Jungwon’s face was serious as he looked at each member individually. “I think everyone knows what this is about, right?” Jungwon asked, and they all nodded.

“Wait, what?” Well- almost everyone nodded.

Their leader let out a sigh. “Jake hyung, haven’t you noticed how much Sunoo has been continuously doing for us, and all we did was take it for granted?”

Jake only let out a short ‘oh’.

“I also think that he’s been doing all of this for a while now without any of us batting an eyelash.” Sunghoon spoke up, making the rest turn around to him.

“What do you mean?” Heeseung asked, and Sunghoon thought about how to best express what he wanted to say.

“I feel like Sunoo is used to doing all of this for us by now. I mean, think about it- when did we last go grocery shopping? When did we last take care of our own schedules? When did we last clean around the dorm? When did we last do anything of what we are actually supposed to? Because I feel like Sunoo has been taking care of most of it at night, when we’re all asleep.”

“Sunghoon…” Jay whispered, sadly finding truth in the younger’s words.

“No, I think he’s right.” Heeseung added, biting his fingernails and seeming deeply sunken in thought. “Sunoo didn’t really seem like today was any different than yesterday for example- if anything, he was surprised by our reaction. I think we have gotten so used to everything being taken care of in the background, we completely forgot to see what was right there all along.”

And that was probably because they were so busy. As a group and as individuals. There was rarely ever time to do stuff around the dorm. There was rarely even time to eat, drink and sleep, not to talk about cleaning. But it’s always been clean somehow, and instead of questioning it, they had just decided to be happy it was done at all and move on.

“I think Sunoo hyung is the one who puts the fresh glass of water and the jelly vitamins on my nightstand each night…” Riki spoke meekly, gnawing at his bottom lip. The vitamins helped him sleep better, and he had gotten used to them just magically appearing there every night. How stupid of him.

“Bro, the one who has been preparing me and Hoon lunch boxes for after the gym wasn’t Jay?” Jake asked in surprise, but Jay only shook his head. He didn’t even know the exact workout schedule of the two, how would he know when to prepare them food?

“And it’s also Sunoo hyung who takes care of the laundry too…?” Jungwon didn’t even dare to ask.

“What?! I thought you were the one who took care of that!” Jake accused the leader.

“Who in their right mind voluntarily takes care of the laundry for seven grown men!?” Jungwon countered, making the others falter. That was actually a valid argument; laundry was a strenuous and time consuming task.

“Well, Sunoo apparently….” Sunghoon hesitantly said, but when he only received nasty glares from the rest, he gulped and nodded. “Got it. Not right now.”

“We have to make it up to him.” Jay declared. And the others found themselves easily agreeing on that. They really had to make it up somehow.

“But how?” Jake genuinely asked, looking at his members.

“I’m back! What did I miss?” Sunoo came back into the room with a wide smile on his face. Seeing his members all huddled in a circle he wanted to join, but before he could, they all spread out, each going their own way again.

“Don’t worry Sunoo-ya.” Riki spoke, pinching the older’s cheeks with both of his hands.

“Yah!” Sunoo slapped the maknaes hands away. “It’s ‘Sunoo hyung’ to you, you brat. And don’t touch my cheeks.” Sunoo soothingly rubbed against his cheeks, pouting at Riki. The taller only chuckled.

It was so easy to get reactions out of Sunoo. That’s why he liked Sunoo the most.

“Let’s start practice back up! We gotta be able to present one thing by tomorrow!” Jay clapped his hands twice, making everyone take their respective spots again. Practice continued back up, and nothing felt out of the ordinary.

Things didn’t start feeling weird until the next week, if you asked Sunoo.

It all started with Ni-ki being more clingy than usual. Don’t get him wrong, it’s not like Ni-ki wasn’t ever clingy. He was in fact a very clingy person, mostly off camera. But somehow, it seemed worse at the moment.

“Sunoo hyung, come here real quick.” Riki waved the older one closer, and Sunoo obliged. “Sit.” Ni-ki patted the empty space on the bed next to him, and Sunoo did as told, albeit looking at the younger weirdly.

“What is it, Ni-ki?” Sunoo hesitantly asked, unsure if the younger was scheming something again.

“You know I love you, right?” Riki started, pulling something out of his pockets.

“Uhm……yes…?” Sunoo answered, because in all honesty he wasn’t sure where this was going.

“And I got you this, after school the other day.” He placed the wrapped up item in Sunoo’s palm, eagerly waiting for Sunoo’s reaction.

It was a stone. A pink one. Arguably a very pretty one, If Sunoo had a say in it.

“This stone is called rose quartz. It’s supposed to give healing energy and it stands for unconditional love. I read that it opens up hearts and increases the strength of bonds, be it friendships, romances or self-love.” The maknae explained, taking in Sunoo’s confused expression.

“Wow- this is- uhm, this is a very pretty stone, Riki…” Sunoo started, feeling a bit helpless. He didn’t know shit about stones and their meanings, but if Riki got him this, then it must be for a reason, right?

Ni-ki nodded eagerly. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah! I like it a lot, thank you, Riki.” Sunoo gave Riki a blinding smile and it made Riki return the gesture with a mile of his own.

“I’m glad then, hyung. You can keep this one on your nightstand, if you want. I also got you this.” He pulled out another rose quartz, this time smaller and this time as a pendant of a necklace.

Sunoo’s mouth dropped open. “Ni-ki, you didn’t have to! I don’t even wanna know how expensive this was..”

The maknae only shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, Sunoo hyung. This way you can have it around you at all times.”

And Riki helped the shorter with putting the necklace on after that. Sunoo felt weird at knowing one of his members had spent that much money on him, even though he himself did it all the time and didn’t mind. He felt like he should be the one to take care of the younger and not the other way around.

Nonetheless, he was still thankful for this little present, because it showed that Riki thought about him. Of course, they were close friends and they were also around each other a lot, but little gestures like these showed just how much they have grown on each other.

“Thanks a lot, Riki. I really appreciate it.” Sunoo softly spoke, playing with the little pendant around his neck. It was a very pretty stone, he thought.

“It’s nothing, hyung.” Really, this was nothing. Nothing compared to what Sunoo did for them on a regular basis. This was the least he could do, and he wouldn’t stop here.

But Sunoo shook his head. “I don’t want you to be spending money on me though, Riki. You’re still a baby.” He wrapped Ni-ki into his arms, ignoring how the taller one struggled against his hold.

“I’m not a baby, hyung! I’m taller than you! You don’t even reach my shoulder!” Riki complained and Sunoo giggled.

“I don’t care, you’re still my baby.” Sunoo ruffled the maknaes hair, making him whine and complain.

Next was Jay hyung, and even here Sunoo didn’t really know what was going on, but he knew Jay liked doing stuff for his members so he didn’t really question it.

“Jay? Why did you call?” Sunoo asked, currently out on a trip. The members were supposed to be occupied with solo schedules, so he was getting some shopping done while he could.

“Where are you, Sunoo-ya? I finished early and you’re not home.” The pout in his voice was audible, making Sunoo chuckle and shake his head.

“I’m getting some shopping done, hyung. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in half an hour!”

“Just come back now, I have something for you.” Jay said.

“Can’t it wait for 30. More minutes? I promise I’ll try to make it quick.” Sunoo impatiently spoke, and Jay sighed out.

“Fine. Just hurry up, okay?”

“Okay, okay. Promise!” Sunoo spoke with a smile, before the call disconnected. Not wanting to leave his hyung hanging, he quickly got the remaining articles on the list, before going to checkout.

Ten minutes later he was sitting in a taxi, already on his way home.

He thought about what Jay could possibly need him at home for- had something happened? Hopefully nothing too bad, he hoped. But then again- he didn’t worry too much, it was literally Jay. There were other members he couldn’t leave out of sight for even a second, and Jay wasn’t a part of that unit.

He had two full bags of stuff with him- it was all daily necessities. Ranging from stuff like toothpaste to groceries like bell peppers, he bought it all. There was a recipe his mom had sent him the other day, and he really wanted to try it out. Maybe Jay would even help him if he asked nicely?

Jay probably would, Sunoo thought.

A few minutes later, the taxi driver halted right in front of their dorm complex, and Sunoo got off after paying and thanking the driver.
He made his way up using the elevators, and soon stood in front of their door.

Before he could knock or ring though, the door widely opened, and Jay stood there, clutching a spatula and wearing an apron. As the door opened, Sunoo was immediately hit with the familiar scent of tteokbokki, making his eyes widen in surprise.

Woah! Hyung, did you make tteokbokki?!” Sunoo immediately stepped in and kicked off his shoes to speed into the kitchen.
And truly- there was a pan with his favorite meal tteokbokki right on the stove.

“Wow! Hyung, this smells awesome! Can I have some?” Sunoo turned around to Jay with sparkly eyes and a rumbling tummy.

Jay chuckled at the maknaes antics. Whenever it came to food, Sunoo would be reduced to the maknae he really was, and that was the most adorable habit ever.
“It’s for you, Sunoo.” Jay nodded encouragingly, fondly watching Sunoo, who had gotten even closer to the pan and was deeply inhaling his favorite scent by now.

“For me?” Sunoo asked, sounding wary and skeptic. It made Jay’s heart ache a bit. This kid wasn’t used to people doing stuff for him in return, and he couldn’t believe that he had never noticed before.

“Yeah, is there a problem?” Jay asked, watching Sunoo retreat and take off his Jacket.

“No it’s just…” he started, eyebrows drawn together in worry. However, he ended up shaking his head. “No, nevermind. Thank you so much, Jay hyung.” He smiled sweetly, before he started taking out the articles from the bag and putting them in their right place.

“You got some shopping done?” Jay asked, even though he could clearly see that Sunoo had gone shopping.

“Yeah. Nothing much, just our everyday things.” Sunoo answered. Jay hummed.

He didn’t like Sunoo spending his allowance on stuff they could all contribute money to. Because it wasn’t just Sunoo who ended up making use of the things. They all did.

“You know what? Let me do this, Sunoo. You go and eat.” Jay ushered the younger back into the kitchen, ignoring Sunoo’s protests.

“Fine.” Sunoo did as told and helped himself to some food, before he sat around their table, and started eating. Oh, it was so good, he let out a little moan and happily nodded. Homemade tteokbokki was truly the best.

“Hyung! This is the best! Thank you!” He thanked Jay, who only chuckled and nodded his head. He was glad Sunoo liked it. The two continued coexisting in a comfortable silence, both occupied with whatever they were doing.
Moments like these were the best- moments like these made them forget about their busy idol lives, even if just for a while.

“Sunoo- why didn’t you eat all of the tteokbokki?” Jay asked, confused as to why only half of the portion was eaten.

Sunoo looked up. “Oh. Well, I figured Riki and Jungwon wanted to eat, too.” He answered, shrugging.

“I-“ Jay felt all words leaving him. He dropped his face onto his hands, before just grabbing the pan, marching over to Sunoo and filling the remaining tteokbokki onto the maknae’s plate.

“Wha- Hyung!” Sunoo yelped, not having expected this.

“No, Sunoo. I did this for you, and besides, there wasn’t enough food for two people anyways. Just eat it.” Jay sounded final, and Sunoo could hear that.

He sulked and pouted, but if he was being honest- there was truly worse in life than a second tteokbokki serving.

Jaeyun took a deep breath, willing himself to relax before he could finally do what he had been planning to do.
There were two parcels that had arrived earlier for him, and now he just had to drag Sunoo out of the room to complete his plans.

He knocked on the door to Sunoo’s shared room before he immediately opened it, not even waiting to be called in.

Sunoo was cleaning around the room. He had a bucket with water and a damp cloth which he used to rid the surfaces of any dust.

What’s new, Jake briefly thought.

“Sunoo, do you have a few minutes to spare for me?” He directly asked, getting right to the point.

Sunoo, who hadn’t even noticed anyone coming in, looked over his shoulder in surprise, before relaxing upon seeing his hyung in the doorway.

Jake looked fidgety. He was fiddling with his fingers and his brows were sporting a crease in between them, showing that he was worried about something. What, Sunoo had no clue.
But it made him automatically worry, too. One of his members wasn’t feeling too well, and he came to Sunoo for help.

“What’s wrong, hyungie?” Sunoo immediately discarded his bucket, focusing solely on Jake right now. It made Jake’s stomach churn a bit, seeing how selfless the younger was, and how he was ready to respond to each of their whims.

“It’s nothing- my parcel arrived earlier, and I wanted to ask if you wanted to help me open it, but I see that you’re busy and-“

Sun immediately shook his head. “Oh, no! I mean- I was almost done here anyways. I actually already wiped this room down two days ago, I was just bored and had nothing to do so… But if you need my help then I’d be glad!”

Sunoo quickly walked up to Jake and lightly pushed him out of the room.

“Thank you, Sun. You really don’t have to.”

Sunoo quickly shook his head, a small smile settling on his lips. “Nonsense, I wanna help as much as I can.”

Jake nodded and led them to the living room, where Heeseung and Riki were battling it out over a round of Mario Kart.
But there truly were two parcels, and one was huge. Almost as tall as Jake and Sunoo themselves were, and at least as wide as three members next to each other.

The parcel took away a good chunk of the free space in the living room.

It had the maknae gasp. “Hyung! What did you buy?!”

Jake only cackled, taking delight in Sunoo’s astonished expression. “Help me find out?”

Sunoo only looked at his hyung, unable to believe him. Jake grabbed the knife he had already brought prior to this and started opening up the little parcel first. In it was a little self care kit. Various gels that were supposed to cool and help the muscles relax could be found, as well as thick winter socks with funny motifs on them.

Sunoo cooed. “This is so cute, hyung! Look, there are deers on the socks! And they have red noses!” Sunoo inspected the fluffy socks a bit closer, finding those to be his favorite pair out of them all.

“I like these more.” Jake pointed to a pair that had dog prints all over them.

“Hyung, you just like them, because the dog looks like Layla!” Sunoo snorted, and Jake blushed. So what?

“But what are the bottles for, Jake hyung? Are you having muscle pains? Do we need to take it easier during dance practice?” Sunoo’s brows immediately furrowed, gone was the youthful glint in them, that had been there mere seconds before.

Jake disliked this. He disliked how Sunoo rarely got to sit back and relax, because there was always something to stress over. Even if there wasn’t, Sunoo would still find something to fret and worry about.

And he had thought about how he could make it easier on Sunoo’s part, he really had.

“No, Sun. Can you help me with the big parcel now?” Jake stood up and Sunoo did the same. Together they opened the package and Sunoo loudly gasped once he realized what was inside.

It was a premium massage chair. At least it definitely looked premium. It was a shiny black and beige, all leather and Sunoo couldn’t believe his eyes.
They completely got rid of the carton around it and pulled off the plastic that was draped over it to protect it right after.

You could even adjust the seat and switch to a lying position if you preferred.

Oh, it was beautiful. It looked really pretty, and the arms were sporting digital touchpads, so you could change the setting of the chair more easily.

“Wow! This is awesome!” Riki exclaimed, looking at the dorm's newest addition with awe.

Sunoo could only nod in agreement. This chair must’ve been expensive. Really, really expensive.

Jake smiled in contentment, cheek rosy and chest swelled up with pride. He motioned for Sunoo to pull the chair next to their love seat and Sunoo obliged. Soon, they had completely accustomed the chair to their living room, and Sunoo had also gone ahead and taken care of the trash that lay around.

Soon, the four members had huddled around the massage chair, inspecting it a bit more.

“So, Sunoo. Any names in mind?” Jake curiously asked, making Sunoo tilt his head in confusion. Why?

“Me? Why- why should I have any names in mind?” He pointed at himself, utterly confused and wary.

“Well- I thought you’d have a name in mind, since it's your chair.” Jake easily explained, and he sounded so nonchalant it had Sunoo falter.

At least 10 different emotions passed Sunoo’s face in the span of a minute and Ni-ki snorted at his hyungs incredulous expression.

“Jake- hyung- I- no, No. No, you can’t- you can’t give me something like this. It’s-“

Jake pouted and deflated. “You don’t like it? Is it not up to your standards?”

This reaction had Sunoo’s eyes almost bulge out of their sockets. “No! That’s- that’s not what I mean. Just- you can’t give me something expensive like this, it’s- this is too much, hyung…” Sunoo whispered, eyes glossy.

Jake looked at Heeseung and Rik for help, not knowing what to say. He hadn’t expected Sunoo to decline his present. Like- not at all.

Heeseung nervously laughed. “Well, it's your lucky day because Jake didn’t spend a single cent on this.”

All the people present immediately snapped their heads towards him, looking at him in confusion.

Heeseung sweatdropped. “Uh- you know how Jake’s brother is a dentist? Well, they get these all the time. And he sent this one to Jake for you. Because you need it.”

Jake mulled the excuse over in his head before frantically nodding, seeing how this was plausible. “Yes! Yes, my older brother sent me this for you!”

Sunoo was still skeptical, but if Jake truly hadn’t gone out of his way to spend money on him, then there was no harm in accepting the gift and maybe making use of this chair once or twice in a while, right?

“Okay, if you say so…” Sunoo started, making Jake and Heeseung exhale in relief. “But please tell your brother a huge thanks from me, if there’s anything I can do for him he should let me know!”

Jake only nodded. He doubted there was anything Sunoo could do for a man that was all the way in Australia. But the maknae didn’t have to know.

“Hyung, you’ll share with me, right? This can be our chair.” Riki hopefully asked, already circling the chair like a predator, its prey and Sunoo giggled. He was about to agree, when Jaeyun beat him to it.

“Get yourself your own chair, this is Sunoo’s.” And Jake did not look as if he was joking about this, making Riki back up with a pout.

“Oh! Sunghoonie hyung! What’s wrong?” Sunoo tilted his head at Sunghoon who stood in the doorway. He has been doing so for the past five minutes.
He looked as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t get it over with, so Sunoo took the task upon himself.

“Nothing, I- I have something for you, Sunoo-ya.”

Sunoo perked up at that. “You do?” He sounded genuinely surprised and Sunghoon frowned at that. What was this reaction?

“Why? Why do you sound so surprised?” He sounded a bit defensive so Sunoo reeled back in. Or he at least tried to.

“No! No, that’s not how I meant it. Uh- its just, you rarely have anything for me…”

Sunghoon looked even more constipated at that.

“Which isn’t a bad thing! You know, it's not like I expect anything from you! I just- y’know…”

Sunghoon had long stopped listening, facing his feet instead and mulling everything over in his head. It wasn’t long before he stormed out of the room, loudly closing the door behind him and leaving Sunoo back in the room, who wilted like a dead flower.

Sunghoon bit his lips and thought about Sunoo’s words. He never had anything for him, the maknae said.

Look, it’s not like materialistic things are of great value to Sunghoon, which is why he rarely ever gave anyone anything, but he also knew that Sunoo treasured stuff like that. Be it a little necklace or a bag of his favorite jellies. Sunghoon knew Sunoo appreciated all those things.

But not because of the stuff itself, but because it showed Sunoo that the others had been thinking about him. It showed Sunoo that he was regarded and appreciated, and he loved feeling appreciated. Who didn’t?

Sunghoon knew all that. You see, Sunghoon knew all of his members the best. Especially Sunoo. The boy had been a bit harder to figure out than the rest but once he got to the bottom of Sunoo’s many façades it all seemed so plausible.

So since Sunghoon knew how much Sunoo relied on those little presents and little words of affirmation to keep him in top shape, then how come he had never even thought of initiating any of this?

And Sunoo said it himself. Sunghoon never had anything for him.

This fact made Sunghoon’s stomach fuzz up. And not in a good way. He inspected the little package that had been wrapped in pretty pink gift paper. It looked a bit poor, but Sunghoon had given it his all, so that’s what counted.

Would this truly be the first time he went out of his way to make Sunoo happy? How could he let this much time pass without even giving Sunoo’s wellbeing a quarter of his attention?

He let out a deep sigh, ready to make it all better.

Sunghoon tightly clutched the little present in his hands and went back to the room he had previously stormed out of. Upon entering, he could see that Sunoo still sat in the exact same position on his bed that he had before.

“Sunoo…”

Sunoo perked up once more. “Sunghoon hyung! Look- I’m sorry if I sounded rude or bratty or- or- you know, it hadn’t been my intention to- to- express myself like that! You’re a great hyung, and there’s more to a relationship than gifts!”

“Sunoo.” Sunghoon gently made the boy sit back down, as Sunoo had jumped up in his nervousness earlier.

“Don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong.”

Sunoo inhaled and opened his mouth, ready to retort but the older one shook his head softly. “You weren’t wrong. I never really- you know… do any of this. But this is for you.”

He handed over Sunoo the pink present, and Sunoo’s eyes widened in surprise.
The gift wrapping paper was all pink and cute and Sunoo really liked it already.

“Woah, really?” He looked up at Sunghoon who softly nodded, nudging the maknae to take what was his.

Sunoo slowly took the little gift and immediately unwrapped it. He gasped.

“Hyung! This is…” inside was a book. A book Sunoo had been talking about a lot recently. It was called ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’, and he had heard so many good things about it. And there was a cinema gift card too.

“Yeah. I thought that you’d like these…because you like going to the cinema nowadays and you’ve been talking about this book a lot…so yeah.”

Sunoo’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. This was so sweet and thoughtful of Sunghoon. Sunoo gulped. “Hyung, this is so sweet, thank you so much.”

He stood up to wrap his arms around Sunghoon and hug him as a way to show him just how grateful he was to have received this present.

Sunghoon’s breath hitched for a second, as this was the first time he had received a hug from sunoo in....a very long time. But he let little to no time pass before he wrapped his arms around Sunoo’s waist and hugged the younger back.

“Anytime, Sunoo. This is the least I could do.” He whispered, and Sunoo let out a questioning noise, but Sunghoon only shook his head.

Not right now.

“Okay, you go get Sunoo-ya, and I’ll be waiting in the car already.”

“Do you have our wallets?”

“Yes, leader-nim.”

“The presents?”

“Yes, Jungwon, now go! If not, we’ll be late!” The oldest pushed the leader towards his own room, before he left and went out the door. Something at the back of his mind told him Sunoo might come for them in their sleep, but he quickly waved that thought away.

So what if they were planning to ambush Sunoo?

Jungwon still stood in front of the door, taking a few deep breaths before he barged through the door quickly scanning the room for Sunoo. “Hyung! Hyung, you need to come with me! Quick!”
Jungwon rapidly pulled up the older, who had been lying on his bed and scrolling through Twitter.

“Wha- Jungwon!” Sunoo yelled out, feeling perplexed and lost. Where were they going? “Jung- Jungwon, what’s happening?” Sunoo asked, but Jungwon only grabbed Sunoo’s jacket and shoes and helped the other to get into the clothes.

“No time to explain, hyung. This is urgent.” Jungwon monotonously spoke as he was tying Sunoo’s shoe laces.

Sunoo could feel his stomach churn with anxiousness. He got a feeling that whatever happened was no good, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out what was going on. Jungwon was as serious as he could be, and Sunoo hadn’t even been given a chance to change into proper clothes. He was still wearing his oversized T-shirt and comfortable slacks.

This must’ve been serious.

Jungwon urged him out of the door and down the stairs in record time- hell, they didn’t even have the time to wait for the elevator.
Outside, their van was waiting for them, and Sunoo jumped in while Jungwon held open the door for him.

“Oh- Heeseung Hyung!” Sunoo exclaimed, not having expected to see the older here.

“Hi sunoo-ya.” He smiled gently at the maknae who still looked confused and baffled. Jungwon jumped into the car and pulled the door close before he signaled for their driver to start driving.

“Where are we going?” Sunoo wasn’t sure if he should ask, but it didn’t hurt to try.

“Don’t worry about it hyung, it won’t take long.” Jungwon only said and Sunoo sighed. It seemed like they really weren’t going to tell him what was going on.

“Am I in trouble?” He tried again, this time taking another approach.

This question alerted Jungwon and Heeseung, who immediately rushed to assure him that no, he was not in trouble.

“No! No, Sunoo. You did nothing wrong, just- sit back and relax. Don’t worry too much.” Heeseung tried to soothe the younger’s worries and Sunoo nodded obediently.

“Okay, hyung.” He indeed sat back and tried to not be so tense anymore.

“We’ll be there in a bit, hyung.” Jungwon said while patting Sunoo’s thigh.

“Okay, Jungwonie. If you say so.” Sunoo decided to trust the younger and true to Jungwon’s words, they reached their destination rather quickly. The car came to a halt and Jungwon and Heeseung threw each other a prolonged look, communicating through their eyes for a while.

“Sunoo, do you trust us?” Heeseung asked while still looking at Jungwon, who was fiercely looking at the older and minimally shaking his head.

“Huh? Yes- of course I trust you..why?” Sunoo asked, starting to feel overwhelmed with the situation. Why were they so secretive today? The fact that he knew nothing was starting to freak him out, even if just a tiny bit.

Heeseung ended up sighing and deflating. Okay, Jungwon has won. They were not going to blindfold him then.

“Okay, we’re here now.” Jungwon declared, opening the door of the van and guiding Sunoo out. Sunoo took in his surroundings and he couldn’t for the life of him see anything wrong. They were on a normal street, and people were going about their lives like usual.

Then why had Jungwon freaked out like that?

“What’s going on, Jungwonie?” Sunoo asked, and Heeseung’s heart ached a bit at how clueless and worried Sunoo sounded.

Maybe they shouldn’t have acted as if they had to evacuate their dorm complex..

“Nothing, hyung. Sorry about that. Let’s go now.” Jungwon interlaced Sunoo’s hands with his and led the older to a door, before opening it and pulling him inside. Heeseung followed them from behind.

Before they could even get somewhere, there was a cat that suddenly appeared next to Sunoo’s feet, and it was snuggling up to his legs, making themselves comfortable.

“Mina! Come back here!” A woman frantically yelled, another cat on her arms and at least ten other cats coming into view now that they had moved into the interior of the place.

It looked like a cat Café if Sunoo was being honest. Though it was completely empty.

“Oh! Jungwon-ssi! Heeseung-ssi! You’re here already!” The woman exclaimed, and Jungwon nodded and bowed a bit.

“Yes! Thank you for having us, Minjin-ssi!” He quickly waved him off and ushered them in, and Sunoo could only follow, dumbfounded and confused still.

“Welcome to my humble abode. Well- I don’t live here, I live upstairs, but this little place is what I pride myself in. You can just take a seat wherever and I’ll be back soon with the menus!”

She dropped the cat she was holding to the floor and headed into one of the back rooms. Sunoo only blinked.

Heeseung immediately crouched down to pet Mina, the cat and Jungwon was curiously looking around for the best spot to sit at.

“Okay guys, what’s happening.”

Heeseung turned around to face Sunoo, acting dumb. “What do you mean, Sunoo-ya? We took you out to a cat cafe.”

“Oh! Guys, let's sit here, this table is perfect!” Jungwon sat down and Heeseung quickly followed the leader's example.

“But why?” Sunoo yelled out, trying to keep up with the other two. Soon they all sat around the table.

“What do you mean, Sunoo hyung? Did you like dogs more after all? See, hyung, I told you he likes dogs more than cats!”

“How could I know? On that buzz feed episode he looked like dogs made him uncomfortable!”

“No- guys, this is not what I mean! I meant- why did you take me out in the first place?” Sunoo’s forehead was creased and he seemed tense. He couldn’t even let loose in such a setting.

Heeseung leaned back. “Because we can, Sunoo-ya! Don’t be so uptight! Lean back and let loose for once in a while!” He wanted to sound encouraging, but Sunoo only looked more confused.

Jungwon sighed. “Hyung, what Heeseung hyung meant is that we think you deserve a little break sometimes. And we thought you liked cats so we brought you here.”

“What about Riki? He deserves a break too! And Jake hyung and Sunghoon hyung! Not to talk about Jay hyung- he does-“

“No!” Jungwon groaned and massaged his temples. Why didn’t Sunoo understand?

Heeseung sat back up, finally becoming serious. He searched around his bag for something real quick, before he pulled out six letters, all wrapped in envelopes of different colors.

“Sunoo-ya. We are sorry. We- we only recently realized how you always go out of your way to ensure that everything is up to our expectations. And you shouldn’t have to. We’re seven. We can also take over a few tasks, not everything has to be loaded onto your plate alone. That’s not how it should be, and we're sorry about that.”

Sunoo looked confused. “What do you mean, hyung? I don’t-

“See, this is the issue, hyung. You don’t even realize it. You shouldn’t be the only one to take care of the laundry, the groceries, the cleaning and the food. All alone. What are the other members there for then? And you also shouldn’t lose sleep over us idiots, when we could all help you. This is not fair towards you.”

“Jungwon, I don’t see it like that! I do these things because I like it! And it has all worked out up until now, so what’s the issue?” He shrugged, not seeing what was so wrong about wanting to make his members' lives easier.

A cat jumped onto his lap, making him jump momentarily, before he started petting it.

“That makes it even worse, Sunoo-ya. Things at home are nowhere near okay, and we’ve all been feeling really trashy the past few days. You don’t deserve to take care of six grown men who act like babies. We can share the housework fairly, so you don’t have to take care of literally everything.”

“But why, hyung.”

“You’re so selfless it's crazy.” Jungwon murmured, eyes downcast. Sunoo only looked at his leader.

“Sunoo, you know I’m your hyung right?” Sunoo nodded at Heeseung. “You know I’m supposed to care about you and your well being right?”

“But you do!” Sunoo quickly interrupted and Heeseung faltered.

“How? How do I look after you if I let you tire yourself out over housework, if I make you go to work running on two or three hours of sleep and if I let you spend all your money on food for us, which you don’t even end up eating from yourself. Tell me, how do I look after you?”

Sunoo tried to find the right words, but his mind was completely blank. He couldn’t come up with a single argument to counter Heeseung’s theory.

“This is why we’ve been going out of our way recently to show you that you matter too. That we care for you too. Riki’s necklace he got for you after getting advice from his sister, Jake’s massage chair or Sunghoon’s little gift. We want you to know that you’re just as important to us as we are to you.”

“And I’ve never once doubted it, Wonie.” Sunoo shook his head. He knew he was more of a middle child in their group dynamic. He didn't need as much doting as Riki and Jungwon but he also wasn’t as mature as Jay or Heeseung. So he did what he could. He tried to do what he could to fit into that already present dynamic, which didn’t need him to work out.

So if he couldn’t fit in, the least he could do was not be a burden. And make things run smoothly for the rest.

“I know, hyung. Trust me, I know. But are we really so wrong for wanting to return the favor once in a while?”

“Well, if you spend a huge sum of money on me to show me that, then yes.”

“Okay, Jaeyun’s present truly was a bit over the top. But I don’t fault him. You deserved it. Even more, actually.” Heeseung added, making Sunoo pout.

“I don’t want you guys to spend huge sums of money on me.”

“And we don’t want you to spend your hard earned money on stuff we all make use of.” Jungwon countered, making Sunoo sigh out.

Sunoo really didn’t want to give in, but it seemed as if they were really determined and they’d continue to sit here tomorrow if he kept it up.

“So I told each member to write you a letter. There were no guidelines, I just told them to write down what they wanted to tell you. So here.” Heeseung pushed the six letters towards Sunoo.

“Hyung…” Sunoo looked at the different colored envelopes, eyes welling up with tears before he could even comprehend.

These letters were nothing like those nonsense letters he had gotten for his birthday the other year. He could tell. And he had always been a sucker for stuff like this.

“Sunoo, we love and appreciate you so much, and we’re sorry we made you feel like you had to stem an entire household on your own shoulders. We’re also sorry none of us were attentive enough to notice earlier, especially me as your hyung. You’re also part of the maknae line and we shouldn’t forget you just because you’re more mature than Jungwon and Riki.”

“Hey!” Jungwon complained, and Sunoo let out a watery laugh.

Seems like they really did appreciate him and everything he did for them. He couldn’t have asked for better members.