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despite being in the same group together, it wasn't often the four younger members were together.
gyuvin had a habit of whisking yujin or ricky off by himself. he had a habit of sticking to matthew or hanbin. or anyone. gyuvin loves everyone. yujin liked to follow the hyungs around, secretly trying to pick up on things he thinks it's cool that they do. he was especially fond of jiwoong these days. ricky liked confining in hao or matthew in the middle of the night, speaking in languages that were more comfortable for him and he didn't have to think has hard. gunwook liked being with taerae, singing songs together or giving matthew a daily hug.
tonight was a rare night where it was just the four of them. all the older members were out doing other things, preparing for comeback or resting in their rooms. all the babies still had too much energy in their system, staying in the living room and fighting over what movie to watch for the night.
"c'mon!' gyuvin grinned, his cheshire cat smile beaming, "it's almost halloween! we need to watch something scary!"
"hyung!" yujin whined, trying to rip away the disc in gyuvin's hands, "you know i don't like scary stuff! can you just watch it with ricky hyung later?"
"that would be no fun!" gyuvin pointed out, using the last of his strength to pull the cd case away from the youngest. he held it up in the air, knowing yujin would just be out of reach. "he doesn't react! neither does gunwook! you'll make it fun!"
yujin looked over at the other two, eyes pleading for any help. ricky had the same teasing smile on his face, his gums revealed and eyes sparking. gunwook rolled his eyes at the antics of the three, arm reaching out towards the youngest to pull him close. "don't worry, yujinnie. i'll protect you. let's spend this time together." with more soft words and a promise of buying yujin's next few meals, the older three were able to convince the younger to stay and watch.
everything started out fine at first, really.
gunwook didn't get scared easily. a few times growing up he had been through haunted houses. none of them gave him a fright. he remember right before debuting, going through that haunted school with taerae. it didn't faze him at all. in fact, they completed the mission flawlessly. gunwook's watched a few other scary movies before. he remembers enjoying them or falling asleep during them. honestly, up to this point, wild idol and boys planet were more terrifying than anything else.
this movie for some reason was different.
gunwook wanted to blame it on yujin. on how the boy jumping every five seconds frightened him more than the movie did. the woman on screen would just be talking and the poor maknae would start whining, hiding his head in gunwook's arm. he wanted to blame it on gyuvin, who was making jokes the entire time and making fun of yujin. he wanted to blame it on ricky, who just let it all happened. sat there and watched the movie with a straighter face than when being attempted to be evil-edited on boys planet.
yet the entire time, gunwook wanted to hide his face in yujin's arm. he wanted to run out of the room and find matthew, to cuddle him until his heartbeat was even again and he was able to breathe. he wanted to take the remote out of gyuvin's grasp and turn off the television. he wanted to go up to the tv and unplug it from the wall. he didn't though. he wanted to be yujin's cool hyung, doing everything he can to control his heartbeat. to keep a straight face. to keep his eyes on the movie.
somehow the group made it to the end of the movie, yujin celebrating it ending and rushing to his shared room with jiwoong. ricky and gyuvin look at gunwook, bidding him a goodnight before going to their room with matthew. gunwook sat in the quiet and dark main room, letting his body shake in fear. he didn't feel safe being by himself, the effects of the movie still lingering on his shoulders. he hurriedly runs up to the stairs, barging into the room hoping hao was there.
it was just his luck: it was another night of the boy taking refuge somewhere else.
"this is fine" gunwook spoke to himself, climbing into bed. "it wasn't real park gunwook. get it together. you've seen worse." he repeats this to himself, over and over again and he lays under the blankets. he grabs a hold of the plush on his bed, holding it tightly in his arms. he closes his eyes, tries to steady his breathing. he knows that he's safe. he knows nothing that happened in that movie was real. yet the dark is not helping his racing heart. every noise the fan makes has his legs twitching. he opens his eyes, blinking back the tears that were threatening to spill. he hated feeling like a baby.
gunwook sat up, plushie still in his hands as he stuck his head out the bedroom door. he looks down the hall, looking for any signs of light from any room. everything in the house was dark and silent. he wanted to give up until he remembered someone who would for sure be awake. he never slept early.
tip-toeing across down the hall, gunwook makes it to the front of the door. gunwook silently prays he's in there and there's no one else. he doesn't even know how he was going to explain this to one member, let alone three. he gently opens the door, peeking in to see the faint glow of a phone light.
"gunwookie?"
the voice he was hoping to hear rings out. he looks at the other beds in the room, finding them empty. he let's out a sigh of relief for the first time that night before almost tackling himself to ricky's bed. the older let out a sign of confusion before noticing gunwook's uneasy demeanor.
"gunwook? what's wrong?"
gunwook didn't think this far. a part of him was just hoping ricky would go with the flow, let the youngest cuddle next to him as the sound of tiktok lures him to sleep. he should have known it wasn't going to be that easy. although he is a cuddlier and likes to slip himself in other's bed sometimes, he never does it as his whole body shakes and he's holding onto his plushie so tight.
he felt ricky carefully reach out to him, arms wrapping around him and pushing him closer. gunwook lets out another sigh of relief, the feeling of someone so close to him bringing him a sense of comfort. he didn't realize having yujin cling to him all during the movie was how he got through it until now. "do you want to talk about it? you don't have to."
gunwook wraps himself into ricky more. he knows how silly it must look, how two tall boys manage to squeeze into this small bed. yet being in his room by himself felt more confined then this. "i'm scared."
"scared of what?" ricky asks, concern in his voice.
gunwook grips his plushie harder, pulling himself into ricky even more. "the movie."
it was silent for a moment. gunwook knew ricky was probably surprised.
"i know it's stupid and i'm not usually scared of this stuff. and really, i'm not! you've seen it before. but i don't know what it was this time. maybe it was yujinnie complaining the whole time and gaslighting me into being scared or maybe it was gyuvin hyu-"
gunwook knew he was probably using words ricky wasn't sure of yet. maybe he was talking too fast for the other to understand. but the older never stopped him, letting it all out of his system. "and i just feel like a giant baby.'
"well," ricky finally speaks up, "you are a giant baby." gunwook can't stop the whine that escape his lips, lightly pushing the older. ricky lets out a laugh before patting gunwook's head. he doesn't comment on how he's giving into the touch. "it's okay to be scared sometimes."
"you weren't scared," gunwook continues to whine, "or gyuvin hyung." ricky lets out a small laugh.
"there's other things i'm scared of baby." gunwook feels his face go red at the nickname. he knows he is choking his poor stuffed anime at this point. "no matter how silly it is. it's okay to be scared sometimes. i'll be here."
the room falls silent, the glow of ricky's forgotten phone the only source of liveliness in the room. gunwook remains unmoving against the older's chest, cheeks hot and grip on the plushies unbeatable. ricky, arms around the younger, slowly stroking his hair. their breathing matches after awhile, gunwook finally being able to calm down for the first time in hours.
ricky breaks the hold, reaching over to grab his phone and continue watching whatever video he was watching before. gunwook was hit with a wave of confusion before realizing what the older was doing. gunwook finally breaks hold of the plush, putting it on ricky's bedframe in embarrassment. the older didn't say anything, just moved his arm over as gunwook snuggled into the boy.
minutes later and the younger was knocked out, lured to sleep by some repeated naruto episode ricky was watching. he wouldn't know ricky was playing with his hair as he watched. he wouldn't know he kissed the top of his head when he heard gunwook's breathing even out. he wouldn't know he pulled him closer as he finally drifted off into his own dreams, imaging his giant baby running towards him every night.
he wouldn't know ricky woke up early in the morning to gyuvin snickering, taking photos as ricky was whisper yelling at the boy as matthew pulled him out of the room.