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There was nothing that got the heart racing quite like sneaking down the hallway to the dorm front door, saying every prayer known to man that you won’t accidentally step on a floor board that creaks. This wasn’t a usual occurrence for Mingyu, in fact this was the first time that he could remember being in the situation. You see, the problem all came down to one pesky word: curfew.
The curfew wasn’t set by his hyungs, but by the company themselves. The rule was simple: unless you are at the company or at an official activity, you are to be in the dorm building by 10 pm and not one second later. Members had come close before, that was for sure. He cringed thinking about the scolding that Seokmin got from Seungcheol when he arrived five minutes late.
Mingyu understood the curfew in theory, but quite disagreed with it in practice. Majority of them were legal adults, so their company shouldn’t be able to tell him what time they have to be back in the dorm. That rule should only apply to the one member that was still underage. He understood that it was an extra measure to ensure their safety, but it was Seoul–it was one of the safest cities in the world.
Most of the time the curfew wasn’t really a problem. A vast majority of the time they were still at the company until well past the curfew. If not, they were in the dorm sound asleep because they had very early morning schedules the following day.
Mingyu found himself in this rare position of sneaking down the hallway because there was a concert that Mingyu really wanted to go to. Seventeen FINALLY had two days off from the schedules, and Mingyu really wanted to go with a couple of his friends he knew from school. The concert didn’t start until 11 pm, though–a full hour after his curfew. How do you explain to your friends that you, an adult man, have a 10 o’clock curfew? Well Mingyu can’t tell you because he didn’t tell them. He told them he would see them there. He was hoping and praying no one would find out.
One major thing was in his favor, because of their two days off following their schedules that day, most of the members crashed the moment they could, looking to capitalize on the extra amount of sleep this was allowing them. The dorm was dead quiet, another rarity, and was the reason Mingyu had to pray to all the gods no one heard him. He had just made it to the front entry, internally praising his sneaking abilities, when a voice came from behind him.
“Where are you going?” Wonwoo asked, making Mingyu jump out of his skin with fright. He barely held back his yell of surprise, praying to God his muffled squeal hadn’t woken anyone else. He had to have gotten at least a foot off the ground from his jump scare, he was sure of it!
“Hyung! What are you doing up?” Mingyu asked in a whisper. “I thought you went to bed an hour ago.”
“I went to get a glass of water from the kitchen and saw you making your way down the hallway,” Wonwoo replied, also in a whisper, crossing his arms over his chest. “Your turn.”
“I was just going to go sit on the roof for a few minutes, get some fresh air, and clear my head,” Mingyu replied with a shrug, mentally patting himself on the back for his quick response.
The roof was actually a common place for members to head after 10 pm, since they weren’t allowed to leave the building. They had set up a nice little area with some lawn chairs, a small table and some battery operated fairy lights. The story actually could be quite believable.
Wonwoo studied Mingyu for a few moments, making the younger boy want to squirm in discomfort from the scrutiny. He held still, though. He couldn’t let Wonwoo know he was nervous.
“Are you sure?” Wonwoo asked, raising a brow in question. “You know you will get in huge trouble if you sneak out. The company will be pissed, and that’s if they can get to you before Seungcheol hyung kills you.”
“Hyung, I promise I am just going to the roof,” Mingyu repeated. “I just need to clear my head.”
“Promise?” Wonwoo asked, raising a brow.
“Promise!”
Wonwoo studied his dongsaeng and close friend for a few more moments before he nodded his head.
“Go on,” Wonwoo said, gesturing for Mingyu to head out the door. “It’s your head if you are lying to me, not mine.”
“Goodnight, hyung,” Mingyu whispered, giving Wonwoo a small wave before turning and sliding his shoes on.
By the time Mingyu closed the front door behind him, Wonwoo had already headed off to his bedroom to get back to sleep. Mingyu was mentally congratulating himself on his acting skills. See, what could go wrong?!
The night was going so smoothly. He met up with his friends near the venue and they stopped by a bar to grab a couple drinks. It was so great to chat with them again. He hadn’t seen them in ages due to his busy schedules and theirs. It was nice to hear their stories about university, although it did make Mingyu feel like he was missing out on a shared experience that most people his age were having.
After chatting for a little while, they headed over to the venue. The concert had started at 11, but the main act that they were going for wasn’t going on until midnight. They made it a little early, catching the end of the opener’s set. Mingyu felt so free as he joined in the cheers as the band made their way on stage. They even started with Mingyu’s favorite song! He and his friends were having an amazing time. He felt like for the first time in a while he was being able to act his age.
Thirty minutes into the set Mingyu was pulled out of his rose-colored evening by a strong grip on his arm. Mingyu turned to tell that person off, only to freeze as he came face to face with the last person on the planet he wanted to see, their manager Woobin. (Well make that second to last, Seungcheol would still be worse).
“Gyu?” Mingyu heard his friend Yeosang yell over the noise of the band. Yeosang was asking with his eyes if Mingyu needed help, unsure of who this man was and what was happening.
“I’ve got to go guys!” Mingyu yelled back, shaking his head in indication that they didn’t need to step in.
“Are you okay?” his other friend Jooyeon asked, still not quite sure of what was going on and why Mingyu suddenly looked terrified and pale.
“Yeah, yeah! This is my manager, Woobin-ssi. I’m fine guys! It was nice seeing you,” Mingyu called out, trying to maintain as calm and nonchalant an attitude as he could, waving goodbye and heading obediently after Woobin.
A few moments later they stepped outside into the relative quiet compared to inside the venue. Woobin had not let go of his hold on Mingyu’s arm, clearly worried that Mingyu was going to book it right on out of there.
“Manager-nim, how–how did you find me?” Mingyu asked, stopping and turning to look at his manager.
“You didn’t notice someone in the venue taking pictures of you? They were posting them online with live updates,” Woobin replied, his tone brusque, clearly not happy with Mingyu’s lack of awareness of his surroundings. “I got a call from the company to come pick you up asap.”
Mingyu groaned. There went his hope that maybe Woobin had happened to be at the show and could be convinced to not tell anyone. He was dead. No, he was more than dead. The company was going to murder him, then bring him back to life so that Seungcheol could proceed to murder him again.
A black van pulled up in front of them that Mingyu immediately recognized as one of the company’s vehicles. He was absolutely toast. How many staff members did they have to wake up and send out to get him?
Woobin slid the door open gesturing for Mingyu to get in the backseat. Mingyu obeyed, knowing that refusing to do so would just wind up with him in even more trouble. It was a few minutes into the drive before Mingyu realized that they were headed towards the company and not the dorm.
“Why are we going to the company, manager-nim?” Mingyu asked, his stomach suddenly feeling like it was full of a million butterflies.
“The company wants to speak with you about your disregard for their rules,” Woobin replied, hardly looking up from his phone that he was rapidly texting on.
Great. Just great. Just what he needed. For the briefest of moments Mingyu wished that he had Seungcheol with him who would stand up for Mingyu if the scolding got too harsh…but then he quickly changed his mind. Seungcheol’s scolding would probably be worse. If he could avoid Seungcheol for the next 5-10 business days while the man cooled down, that would be for the best.
The rest of the drive to the company was in silence, with Mingyu feeling progressively more sick to his stomach the closer they got to the building. When they finally arrived, Mingyu was surprised that he even possessed the ability to get out of the car and walk on his own into the company.
Once inside, they took the elevator up to the top floor where the CEO’s office was situated. Mingyu had been in the office a few times before, but mostly Seungcheol was the one who frequented it. As the leader it was his job to be the liaison between the company and the members. Therefore, it really shouldn’t have surprised Mingyu that when he opened the door and walked into the office, the face that he saw was not that of the CEO, but Seungcheol himself–and oh boy, did he look pissed!
“H–hyung, what…” Mingyu began to stutter out, his mind going a million times faster than his mouth could keep up with.
“Save it, Kim Mingyu,” Seungcheol replied, pointing to a spot on the right of where he was sitting. “I want you to kneel with your arms up as we wait for the CEO to arrive.”
Mingyu’s jaw dropped open as he stared at his leader in complete shock. Surely Seungcheol was joking and he wasn’t about to be asked to do that in front of their manager.
“Now Mingyu-yah!” Seungcheol demanded, his tone conveying just how serious he was.
Mingyu jumped and hurried to do as his hyung ordered. Mingyu prayed for a quick and painless death, but it seemed God wasn’t on his side this evening.
“Were any of the photos bad?” Seungcheol asked, turning towards their manager Woobin who had sat down in the chair on Seungcheol’s left side.
“No, just Mingyu singing along to the set,” Woobin replied. “There were no drugs, alcohol, or girls too scantily clad or too close to him in any of the pictures.”
“I went to a concert with my high school friends, not a strip club with gang members!” Mingyu protested.
“I’m pretty sure I told you to be quiet, Kim Mingyu!” Seungcheol snapped, turning back around to look at his dongsaeng. “And no one said we thought you were doing any of those things, the people around you could have been. To a lot of the public, that makes no difference. They see someone behind you smoking and they are going to make assumptions that you are too.”
Mingyu opened his mouth to protest once more, but Seungcheol cut him off again.
“I’m not saying it’s fair, I’m just saying that’s the way it is,” Seungcheol explained. “Now you might want to spend some time thinking about the heartfelt and incredibly thorough apology that you are going to deliver to our CEO when he arrives, got it?”
“Yes, hyung,” Mingyu replied, hanging his head.
It was another five minutes before the CEO finally showed up. Mingyu’s arms were screaming to be let down, but he knew better than to ask.
“Good evening gentlemen,” the CEO said, walking in and shutting the door behind him. “Although, I don’t know that many of us gathered here would say ‘good’ is the correct word here.”
“Daepyo-nim, I’m so sorry that you had to come out here so late because of one of my members,” Seungcheol said, standing up instantly and bowing deeply. “I promise that I will very thoroughly address his behavior and will make sure that he, and none of my other members, will do it again.”
“Seungcheol-ah, you can’t blame yourself for every single action of your members,” the CEO replied, patting the leader on the arm, before walking around to sit at his desk. “You do a remarkably good job with so many members. I see you’ve already gotten a head start on punishing Mingyu here, assuming this was your doing and not Woobin’s.”
“Yes, sir,” Seungcheol replied, sitting back down in his seat.
Mingyu kept his head down, looking anywhere and everywhere but at their CEO.
“Mingyu-yah, put your arms down and go grab a chair,” the CEO ordered. “I want your full attention while we have this chat.”
Mingyu nodded and quickly did as he was told. His arms burned a little as he put them down, but he knew that he was actually getting off fairly easy with the relatively short amount of time that he had to endure that position for.
If Mingyu thought Seungcheol was proficient at scolding, the CEO was at a whole different level. By the end of it, Mingyu felt about five centimeters tall. He wanted to crawl under the desk in front of him and hide for the next twenty years.
“And that is why, as punishment, you are ALL going to be grounded for the next month,” the CEO continued. “If you do not have schedules, you will be at the company or in the dorm. I will let Seungcheol deal with the rest of your punishment, Mingyu.”
“But Daepyo-nim, Jun hyung’s parents just came and he was going to spend the next two days with them!” Mingyu immediately protested, his heart dropping to his stomach at the thought of being the reason that Junhui didn’t get to see his parents.
“I will obviously make an exception for that,” the CEO replied, holding up a calming hand. “I’m not cruel. But I do want you all to realize that I’m going to be strict about the company's rules. They are put in place for a reason.”
“We understand, sir,” Seungcheol added, moving to stand up and pulling Mingyu along with him.
Seungcheol bowed deeply, and Mingyu very quickly followed suit.
“That will be all then gentlemen,” the CEO said, gesturing for Woobin to escort the idols out of his office and back to their dorm.
It was in the car on the way back to the dorm that the weight of everything that had just happened finally fully hit Mingyu.
“Oh my God,” Mingyu exclaimed. “The members are going to hate me!”
“They aren’t going to hate you,” Seungcheol replied. “Are they going to be upset? Yes. They aren’t going to hate you though.”
“A month, hyung! A month!” Mingyu lamented.
“I know, I think it’s a little harsh, but I’m not going to fight the CEO on this. I’m just happy he is letting me handle your punishment,” Seungcheol replied.
Mingyu looked at his leader in question, wondering if he should be happy that Seungcheol was the one handling it.
“I don’t use a paddle, Mingyu-yah,” Seungcheol pointed out. “And I know from all too personal of experience that if the company handles it, they do.”
Mingyu shivered at the thought. He was pretty sure Seungcheol was the only member of his group that had experienced that. Seungcheol’s punishment might suck, but he was right–at least it wasn’t that.
“Now it’s late,” Seungcheol continued. “When we get back to the dorm I expect you to go straight to bed. In the morning we can deal with the consequences. I know Wonwoo will be itching to talk to you as well.”
Mingyu gulped and looked over at his hyung.
“H–how–” Mingyu stuttered.
“I got a call from management that I was going to be picked up in 5 minutes to go to the office to address your actions,” Seungcheol explained. “While I was getting ready, Wonwoo woke up and asked me what was going on. He was furious to learn that you had in fact lied to him about only going up to the roof. I’m telling you now, Wonwoo will be handling your punishment for lying to him. I know you two are close, but he has every right as your hyung to take you to task, understood?”
“Yes, hyung,” Mingyu replied with a defeated sigh. He knew arguing with Seungcheol wouldn’t get the leader to change his mind.
The rest of the car ride to the dorm was spent in silence, Mingyu’s mind racing with the sheer amount of trouble that he had gotten into. He truly felt like he was the maknae at the moment. He grudgingly followed Seungcheol up to the dorm, slipping his shoes off in the entryway.
“Try to get some sleep,” Seungcheol ordered. “We will discuss this in the morning.”
He sent Mingyu off to his room with a solid smack to his backside. Mingyu groaned, rubbing at the sting of it, but didn’t protest as he headed off to his room.
It took a while, but the boy eventually drifted off to sleep. He awoke many hours later to the rays of sunshine illuminating the room. Normally he would have been overjoyed. It was the start of two days off! This time though, all he felt was dread. He had to inform his other members that he had gotten them ALL grounded. Then he also had to deal with the consequences of his actions from both Wonwoo AND Seungcheol. His ass was grass.
“Group meeting in the living room in five,” Seungcheol said, peeking his head into the room.
Seungcheol disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. Knowing he didn’t even want to be a second late, Mingyu grudgingly got himself out of his bed. By the time he made it to the living room, he was the last one to arrive. All of the spots on the chairs and couches were occupied, but he had a feeling he knew what Seungcheol wanted him to do anyway. He made his way to the middle of the living room and got down on his knees, facing the rest of his members, his hands folded in his lap.
“What is going on?” Seungkwan asked, looking around at his other members to see if anyone else was aware of why they were having this group meeting and as to why Mingyu was kneeling in contrition in the middle of the floor.
“Mingyu will answer that one,” Seungcheol said from where he sat on the couch next to Wonwoo. “Quickly, because Junhui needs to go meet his parents.”
“I–I snuck out after curfew last night to a concert with my friends from high school,” Mingyu answered. “And I got caught by the company because some girl was taking pictures of me and posting them online. Manager Woobin came and picked me up, taking me to the company where Seungcheol hyung was waiting. Then the CEO came and lectured me and he–he–”
“Tell them Mingyu-yah!” Seungcheol demanded.
“He grounded us for the next month,” Mingyu continued, hanging his head in fear of what his members' reactions were about to be.
“I’m sorry, did you just say US?” Seokmin asked, his jaw dropping open.
“Yes…”
“But my–” Junhui started to protest.
“He did make an exception for Junhui to meet up with his parents,” Seungcheol immediately added. “So why don’t you head out and do that. We will all be here when you return if you have any questions.”
“Yeah, for the next MONTH!” Jeonghan complained.
Mingyu cringed at his complaint, knowing it was just the start.
“Hyung! This is so not fair! Why are we grounded for what Mingyu did?” Minghao asked–he had been planning on hitting up a couple cool cafes in Seoul over the next couple of days.
“I know, don’t forget that I’m grounded as well,” Seungcheol pointed out. “But I can’t fight the company on this. They want to remind us all of how serious their rules are.”
“I–I’m so sorry! I never would have dreamed that the company would do this!” Mingyu pleaded.
“Why did you have to be so stupid? We all abide by the curfew even though we hate it too!” Vernon complained, mad that his grand plans over the next two days were being brought to a screeching halt.
“He didn’t mean to get us grounded,” Jihoon protested. “I’m sure he thought if he was caught only he would have to deal with the consequences. A month isn’t going to be the end of the world, guys.”
“Says the man who only goes from the studio to the dorm anyways,” Seokmin pointed out.
“GUYS!” Seungcheol yelled, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. “Arguing amongst ourselves doesn’t change what happened. We don’t all need to chastise him for the company’s decision. Wonwoo and I will deal with Mingyu’s punishment, and like always, once it is completed it means that he is forgiven.”
“Why is Wonwoo hyung involved?” Chan asked, confused as to where his other hyung came into this.
“I caught him sneaking out, but he lied and told me he was just going up to the roof to clear his head,” Wonwoo explained.
“So you could have stopped him?” Soonyoung asked, looking over at Wonwoo in exasperation.
“I repeat, he LIED to me,” Wonwoo answered.
“Guys! Let’s not jump down each other’s throats!” Joshua exclaimed, shaking his head at the childish actions of his members. “Let’s be fair, this could have been any one of us. Don’t lie and say you’ve never been tempted to sneak out after curfew.”
Several members grumbled about that, but no one outright disagreed. It was true that ALL of them had thought about it a time or two.
“Now I know this is not ideal,” Seungcheol added. “But we will make the best of it as a team. We can take this time to make our bond as a team even stronger. I will not hear another complaint about this. You will not be rude or mean to Mingyu about it either, or you will deal with me. I don’t agree with the company’s decision, but there is nothing I can do about it. Got it?”
“Yes,” replied Joshua and Jeonghan.
“Yes, hyung.” replied all the rest.
Seungcheol nodded in satisfaction, looking around at his members.
“Now why don’t you guys go get a big breakfast started,” Seungcheol suggested. “Let’s use these two days to relax together. We aren’t banned from any of our electronics. Let’s watch a movie together while we eat a huge feast.”
This seemed to perk several of the members up, multiple of them getting up and excitedly proclaiming what they wanted to eat. It wasn’t long before the only ones left in the room were Wonwoo, Seungcheol and Mingyu.
“Thanks, hyung,” Mingyu said quietly. “I don’t deserve you defending me, but thanks.”
“You made a mistake, Mingyu,” Seungcheol replied. “We all make mistakes. You are going to deal with those consequences, and that’s that. We all deserve someone defending us.”
Mingyu hung his head and nodded his understanding.
“Now why don’t we start with why you snuck out last night,” Seungcheol suggested.
“I–I really wanted to see my friends and to see the band,” Mingyu explained. “And it felt so good, hyung. I actually felt like someone my age for once. I would choose being an idol and being in this group every time, but sometimes I do miss just being young and out with my friends. I felt normal and free for once.”
“We all get that, Mingyu,” Wonwoo added. “This job expects a hell of a lot more of us than anyone outside the industry realizes. If you come and talk to us, we can find ways for you to feel young and normal and free without sneaking out and breaking the company’s rules.”
“I–I know,” Mingyu replied. “It was a very selfish thing for me to do, and I do deeply regret it, especially knowing that I got everyone in trouble.”
“It’s a good lesson that your actions have consequences outside just yourself,” Seungcheol added. “Now what is the main rule that I set in this dorm? Not the company’s rule, but MY rule?”
“Don’t lie,” Mingyu muttered out. “I–I’m sorry, Wonwoo hyung. I should have just told you what I was up to. You could have talked me out of it and we wouldn’t all be in this position right now.”
“But we are in this position, so you might as well get over here,” Wonwoo ordered, gesturing for Mingyu to place himself over Wonwoo’s lap.
Mingyu hesitated for a moment. It was really weird to him to be placing himself over Wonwoo’s lap. He knew that Wonwoo had disciplined some members before, but that was mostly Chan and everyone had disciplined Chan at one time or another (yes, even Vernon had to give the boy some hard swats when he lost his head and did something dangerous). He once again thanked his lucky stars that he was not the maknae. 12 hyungs…yeah, no thank you. That wasn’t helping much at the moment though, because Chan was happily in the kitchen with his millions of hyungs and Mingyu was the one about to get his ass handed to him.
“Mingyu-yah, don’t make me come to you, you are not going to like the consequences of that.” Wonwoo threatened.
Mingyu gulped and made his way over to his hyung, pausing briefly before sighing and placing himself over his hyung’s lap. It was a familiar position, but felt weird with a different hyung.
“I’m starting Mingy-yah,” Wonwoo warned. “Please be thinking about why you shouldn’t lie to your members.”
SMACK.
Mingyu jolted at the hit, biting down on his lip to avoid making a sound. Wonwoo was making his silence very difficult to maintain, as his hits seemed to only get harder and harder. It wasn’t long before Mingyu was crying out, his backside feeling like it was on actual fire. He would have to compare notes with the younger members later, but he was fairly certain Wonwoo had to have the hardest hand!
“You could have saved yourself so much trouble if you had told me what you were actually doing and I could have talked you out of it,” Wonwoo lectured. “Why did you lie to me?”
“I wasn’t thinking, hyung!” Mingyu cried out. “Ouch! Fu-frick that hurt!”
Wonwoo had to hold back his laugh at Mingyu’s attempt at hiding his curse. Unlike Seungcheol, he didn’t really care one way or another. He knew how much this sucked.
“Last five before Seungcheol hyung takes over,” Wonwoo warned, continuing his barrage on Mingyu’s poor backside.
By the fifth smack, Mingyu had tears streaming down his cheeks. Wonwoo pulled the younger boy up into his arms, rubbing his back and whispering encouraging words in his ear. It took a few minutes, but Mingyu calmed down enough that Wonwoo felt comfortable enough to leave him.
“Now I’ve got to leave you with Seungcheol hyung, okay?” Wonwoo asked, pulling back a little to look at Mingyu.
‘Yes’ appeared to be the literal last answer that Mingyu wanted to give, but he nodded and allowed Wonwoo to maneuver him so he was standing. Wonwoo gave him an encouraging pat on the back before he walked off to join the other members in the kitchen.
“Sit down with me,” Seungcheol ordered, gesturing to the spot on the couch next to himself.
“Hyung!” MIngyu protested, his eyes widening in his disbelief.
“Mingyu-yah, you do not want to test my patience,” Seungcheol replied, clearly having no time for the boy’s protests.
Mingyu sighed and made his way over to his hyung, glaring at the couch as he slowly sat down. He winced upon impact, the heat in his backside reigniting with the weight placed upon it. He didn’t know how he was going to handle another punishment on top of the one he had just received. He was never going to sit down comfortably again!
“Now are you going to lie to one of your hyungs again?” Seungcheol asked.
“No hyung, you won’t have to address that EVER again,” Mingyu reassured. “I more than learned my lesson, thanks.”
“Now let’s talk about why you snuck out,” Seungcheol prompted.
“I told you why I snuck out,” Mingyu replied, his eyes narrowing in confusion.
“You told us part of why you snuck out,” Seungcheol argued. “Why didn’t you just tell your friends that you have a curfew and find a different show to go to?”
“They are my favorite band!” Mingyu exclaimed. “Hyung, why would I go to a different show?”
“So your favorite band only plays shows at midnight?” Seungcheol asked, raising his brow in question. “Because I looked it up and they have a show in two weeks, on an afternoon that we have off and it’s actually closer than the one you went to.”
“I–” Mingyu stopped short. Holy shit, how was Seungcheol this thorough?!
“You were pissed about the curfew,” Seungcheol stated. “Pissed that you felt like a child because of it.”
Mingyu hung his head and shifted uncomfortably on the couch.
“How on earth are you in my head like this?” Mingyu asked quietly, playing with his hands in his lap.
“Mingyu-yah, do you really think you are the ONLY member that is upset over having a curfew as an adult? Hell, even our maknaes have raised complaints to me about it saying kids stay out at hagwons later than that. You are just the first one that I know of that has acted on it,” Seungcheol explained.
Mingyu’s mind was racing with all of this information. Of course he wasn’t the only one pissed about the curfew. That much should have been so obvious to him. He cursed his stupidity of not talking to the other members.
“Do you know why I didn’t fight the CEO on our collective grounding?” Seungcheol asked, and received a shake of Mingyu’s head in reply. “I didn’t fight him on it partly because I know when to pick my battles, and honestly this one didn’t seem worth it. It’s not like we have a ridiculous number of days off that this is restricting us from. Heck we probably only have like five in this month that we are grounded. I think we can all use the time to rest and relax. But I also didn’t fight him on it, because this is serving as a phenomenal deterrent for the other members that feel the exact way that you do. They are going to think twenty more times before sneaking out now that they know they wouldn’t be the only ones reaping the consequences.”
Mingyu groaned, thinking about his members once more.
“You know they are never going to let me live this down, even if you did warn them not to tease me,” Mingyu pointed out.
“Yeah, but that’s on you,” Seungcheol said with a laugh and a pat on the shoulder. “Give it a week and they will be focused on teasing someone else.”
Mingyu rolled his eyes, but nodded. No member was truly safe from the other members’ teasing.
“Now are you ready to get this over with?” Seungcheol asked, patting his lap in indication that Mingyu should place himself over it.
“I don’t think anybody is EVER ready for this,” Mingyu grumbled, but did as was asked of him.
“Now I’m going to go a little lighter on you because Wonwoo has already punished you,” Seungcheol explained. “If you make me regret that decision, the next time I address it you don’t want to even think about what the consequences will be.”
“Yes, hyung,” Mingyu replied, bracing himself for the first smack.
Seungcheol seemed to be going for the fast and furious method, causing tears to fall from Mingyu’s eyes within the first few smacks. Mingyu had half a mind to ask Seungcheol how in the hell this was considered him ‘going light’ but was wise enough to keep his thoughts to himself.
“Ah! Hyung! Please!” Mingyu finally let out, hissing at a particularly hard swat to his upper thigh.
“Almost done, Mingyu-yah,” Seungcheol promised, not letting up from his fast pace for one moment. “Then we can go join the others for our breakfast and movie.”
“I’m going to have to eat standing up!” Mingyu whined, squirming a little.
“Who is the reason for that?” Seungcheol asked.
Mingyu hesitated for a moment before softly replying, “Myself…”
“Exactly,” Seungcheol said with one hard resounding smack right to the middle of Mingyu’s backside.
Mingyu arched his back in pain, ready to protest even more. He was thrown off when his whole body was jolted, though. It took him a moment to realize that he was being pulled up into Seungcheol’s arms.
“It’s all over now, Gyu,” Seungcheol comforted, rubbing a hand up and down the sobbing boy’s back. “I hope you have learned your lesson and will not make the same mistakes again. Hyung will be here to hold you accountable if you do, because that’s how much I care for you.”
Mingyu nodded against Seungcheol’s chest, actively trying to control his breathing and stop his crying.
“Now why don’t we go wash your face and get ready for what I am sure is an amazing breakfast,” Seungcheol suggested. “I promise I will send anyone who makes fun of you into time out!”
That got the laugh out of Mingyu that Seungcheol was hoping for.
“TIME OUT?” Seungkwan shrieked, walking into the room along with several other members. “We are not babies like Dino!”
“HEY!” Chan protested, slapping Seungkwan hard on the arm. “You are only a year older than me, idiot!”
“One year can make all the difference, Chan-ah,” Seungkwan replied with a lofty tone. “Should I go get your bottle of milk for when the rest of us drink our alcohol?”
Seungcheol rolled his eyes. That was the newest favorite of the maknae line: teasing Chan for being the only one who wasn’t legal to drink yet.
“Settle down you two, or I WILL send both of you to time out,” Seungcheol half-heartedly threatened, reaching out his hand for Mingyu to grab. “Let’s go get cleaned up.”
Mingyu smiled and grabbed his hyung’s hand, only half paying attention to the bickering that was happening between the members behind him. They may be annoying sometimes, but he wouldn’t have his members any other way.