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hanbin laughs, his body falling into minseo's side in the process. they’re sitting around the living room table, a half empty bottle still in hanbin’s hand.
minseo sits hanbin back up, holding him still by his shoulder. he carefully takes the bottle away to hopefully avoid any more issues.
the two of them, and the other members, had a bit to drink; the good thing about having soul in the group was that he was exceptionally good at sneaking shit into the dorms.
thanks to that, they all had some ramen and soju to wind down after their unsurprisingly schedule-packed day (besides the younger guys, who soul had sent wooseok to babysit; sungmin was also included as one of said younger guys, a fact which he didn't seem to mind judging by his constant laughing that could be heard from the maknaes’ shared room. sungmin fits in just fine with them.)
what seemed like it’d be a fun drinking party ended up being quite underwhelming; the ramen wasn't enough to feed all of them, hikaru went back to his room as soon as he finished eating, and they couldn't fully enjoy the time together because they knew the younger members would be bothering and asking about what they’d been doing for weeks to come.
it was still fun, though; the most fun thing they’d done out of their seemingly endless weeks of schedule after schedule after schedule. the educational value was really there, too; they’d found out ling qi was a touchy drunk, minseo hadn't eaten all day and took practically all the ranyeon, and there was definitely something going on between soul and hikari. they're used to it by now, though, so nobody payed much attention after soul slung his arm around hikari and, oddly romantically, rubbed their heads together.
(despite the thought of it making him cringe, hanbin couldn't help but think to himself, “they’re cute”, at least a few times. minseo wasn't fazed, because as leader, he'd seen worse.)
after a while, and after a lot of time spent helping to clean up the evidence, minseo headed back to his room, hanbin stumbling behind him.
apparently, the alcohol had hit hanbin a lot harder. (minseo also swears he'd seen hanbin with a beer can – from where he has no clue – so that might be part of the reason.)
“mmmm, minseo,” hanbin slurs out, grabbing onto his arm, “i'm sleepy.”
minseo pats him on the shoulder lovingly, but his tone is not that loving when he laments, “then go to bed, idiot.”
it seems like hanbin tries to pout, but he still can't help but stay smiley. minseo laughs.
minseo, after observing that hanbin probably can't walk himself to bed unsupervised, grabs his arm.
hanbin instantly smiles even more; minseo rolls his eyes (lovingly, unfortunately.)
“come on. let's get you to bed.”
minseo's tone contrasted his annoyed actions; he spoke softly, carefully, like he were talking to a young child. it's kind of what hanbin is acting like right now, and minseo isn't sure if he thinks it's cute or utterly cringeworthy.
one thing he is sure of though is that he's greatly thankful that none of the other members are witnessing this.
soul and sungmin would never let him live it down if they saw him ambiguously-romantically parenting a drunk lee hanbin. he's sure the two would still be bringing it up and laughing at him when they're all in a nursing home.
minseo oddly doesn't care right now though. he likes feeling helpful and needed – so if tucking hanbin in, reading him a bedtime story and singing him a lullaby is what will fulfill that, he doesn't mind all that much.
minseo pulls hanbin’s covers up; or at least he tries to.
they’re all so busy that they don't have much time to clean or make their beds in the morning. hanbin’s old clothes are piled onto the mattress, a small throw blanket strewn over the lumped pillows. minseo moves everything to the edge, brushing unidentified crumbs off the sheets before gesturing hanbin over.
he had been holding onto minseo’s arm the whole time. he lets go, to his dismay, and stumbles onto his bed. hanbin rubs his eyes slightly, looking up at minseo somewhat normally?
“goodnight mom!”
minseo chokes on nothing.
okay, not normal. got it.
“goodnight hanbin,” minseo awkwardly responds.
hanbin reached out for minseo.
“no.”
“whyyy….?” hanbin whines lowly, giggling uncharacteristically. he watches as minseo dims the lights and gets into his own bed.
it wasn't much cleaner than hanbin's was. there's 3 empty soda cans on his small side table, his blankets unkempt and messy.
the entire dorm was unkempt and messy. but they tried to be thankful they had a dorm at all, since they had worse things to worry about.
minseo moves around a bit, trying to get comfortable. a few minutes pass by, and after endlessly changing positions, he finally feels content enough to relax more.
he closes his eyes, his breath slowing and body sinking further into the bed.
“minseo?”
minseo jumps.
“hanbin?”
hanbin looks down at him. “i can't sleep.”
“it's been five minutes.”
“i’m too cold.”
minseo sighs. “it's may. and we still have the heating on.”
hanbin blinks.
“hanbin, go lay down, you need to at least try to s–”
“can i sleep with you tonight?”
minseo almost suffocates on air again.
hanbin laughs. “not like thaaaat,” he mumbles, “unless that's what you want!”
minseo, face red, grabs onto hanbin's arm and yanks him down towards the bed.
“no, hanbin.”
hanbin just laughs. he adjusts his body, bringing the blankets up over the two of them. he curls around minseo, hugging his side.
minseo tenses up at first – this was, first of all, uncalled for, and second of all, not very hanbin-like.
but he gets one look at hanbin's face, in the dim light of the side table lamp, his cheek pressed into minseo's shoulder and eyes closed.
and minseo relaxes, smiles, and puts his arm around him.
he involuntarily mutters,
“you're cute.”
hanbin almost immediately replies with “no, i'm sexy,” as if that response was engraved into his brain.
minseo finds this even cuter. he hesitates a bit before stroking hanbin's hair.
usually, minseo would've strictly sent hanbin back to his own bed by now. but something strange has come over him.
hanbin's drunk, so he won't remember any of this. it won't mean anything and won't change anything.
that's what minseo's brain is insisting, anyway.
(his heart is saying “hanbin hanbin hanbin hanbin,” but by now he's learned to ignore his heart and listen to his brain. that's what becoming a leader does to you sometimes.)
they both don't say anything for a minute. the silence is a little bit awkward.
it's almost as if they jinxed it by thinking about it, because at that moment, they could hear noises coming from soul and hikari's room.
minseo doesn't dare to interfere.
he knows he probably should – who knows how well wooseok is babysitting out there? – but the last time he'd tried to intervene on those two, he walked in on the make-out of the decade, as it seemed. (neither of them even acknowledged him. they just kept going. it was awkward.)
to his pleasure, he can distinctly hear hikaru in the hallway, yelling behind soul’s door to shut the fuck up. that seems to make the noises calm down.
instead, he and hanbin just look at each other, holding back laughter.
hanbin moves closer to minseo, grunting softly.
minseo can’t help but notice how close hanbin is to his neck.
minseo hates that he doesn't mind it at all.
he suddenly feels warmer. they both do.
they subconsciously snuggle closer to one another, minseo now slipping an arm around hanbin's waist.
hanbin pokes minseo's shoulder until he turns his head to him.
“minseo, i'm tired.”
“you told me.”
“what?”
“i know you're tired.”
“what?”
“i–” minseo sighs, exasperated, “you're drunk. go to bed.”
“mmm-okay.”
minseo smiles, despite himself.
he really is comfortable. everything around him seems to be quieter, less distracting.
he can't recall what he'd been worrying about that day, and he isn't sure if it's because of the soju or hanbin.
it doesn't matter, though.
his brain is getting fuzzy. everything fades out a little more. all he can process is the softness from his blankets, the soft buzz of the space heater, and the warmth coming from hanbin.
minseo holds onto hanbin's waist tighter, pulling him into his chest.
hanbin lets out a soft chuckle, which melts minseo's heart even more than usual.
“goodnight,” minseo mumbles, fingers mindlessly running down the back of hanbin's loose t-shirt.
“goodnight, minseo,” hanbin replies, words slightly slurred due to the alcohol and sleep.
minseo's breathing slows down again, his lashes finally fluttering closed.
hanbin moves himself to lay more comfortably on minseo's chest. he looks up at him again, smiling.
minseo's barely awake enough to register when hanbin whispers,
“i like you.
i like minseo.”
and hanbin falls asleep too quickly to notice how minseo smiles slightly before drifting off to sleep himself.