Work Text:
sumin isnt usually clumsy. he's very good at catching himself before he does or says something that might incriminate him, even a little. all the love he has inside him is so overwhelming he has to fight to keep it down. its exhausting. but something about being so overworked and busy from comeback season was the final straw for his slip ups.
1:
it started in the morning before work. jinsik was up in the kitchen, cooking eggs for everyone, when sumin groggily rolled out of bed. there were a few others in the living room eating from bowls precariously balanced on their folded legs. sumin was walking into the kitchen when jinsik turned around and grinned at him. “morning yeobo, do you want some eggs?” sumin rubbed his eyes blearily and nodded at him. jinsik grinned wider and turned back around to the stove, and sumin walked back to the bathroom to wash up.
when he returned jinsik was waiting for him with a plate of eggs in hand. sumin’s heart warmed. oh, how he loved jinsik. he took the plate from jinsik and just as he was about to thank him, an impulse hit him hard in the chest. he leant over and placed a simple peck on jinsik’s cheek, and nonchalantly walked into the living room. jinsik took in a sharp breath as sumin walked away, and sumin chose to ignore it as he sat down, hiding his blush in his food.
2:
sumin sighed. minjae, yechan and him had been cooped up in the studio for close to three hours, re-running and redoing this song that just wouldn't cooperate. they’d tried adding stuff and taking away stuff but nothing was working. yechan let out a mix between a groan and a whimper, muffled by the fact his face was currently deep in between two couch cushions. sumin chuckled at him. “hyung, my brain feels like melted ice cream. i cant think anymore.” sumin nodded in agreement, and minjae turned away from his computer to look back at them with an apologetic look. “im sorry guys, I know its taking a while. this is the last thing we have to do before we’re completely done though, and I really want to finish it today before practice. it would suck so bad if we only had a tiny bit to go and we had to leave it for another day.”
sumin sighed. but cracked his neck as he readjusted his posture, ready to give it another shot. yechan, however, let out a noise akin to a groan and a seagull being beat with a baseball bat. “it feels like time is moving in slow motion and we’ll never escape or finish this damn song.” minjae hung his head, but then snapped up to attention. sumin looked back up at him with a quizzical brow, and he made eye contact with yechan who looked equally as confused. “you ok, hyung?” sumin questioned. minjae ignored him, though, and continued frantically but precisely typing on keys and moving bits around on his music program. after about 3 minutes, he stopped. “i hope this works.” he muttered, and clicked the play button.
an annoyingly familiar tune started playing, but it was slightly different. sped up faster, it flowed much better and sounded more like a proper song. minjae stood sharply from his chair, fists thrust into the air above his head, and he turned to sumin and yechan on the couch with a victorious and relived face. yechan buried his face back in the couch, but this time let out a joyful cheer into the muffling cushions.
sumin, filled with awe and respect for his talented leader, was once again swept away by impulse. he grabbed minjaes face by his cheeks and pressed a fat kiss to his forehead. minjae was so startled he didn't even respond and sumin turned away from him to hide his blush again. he reached out and pulled yechan from his couch prison and set him on his feet so they could go to dance practice.
3:
they had just been given a new choreo and it was difficult. some members were struggling really hard to absorb all the new dance moves and almost everyone was resting on the floor, covered in sweat and panting. only hyunwoo was still practicing, red face from exertion with a stern look of determination as he repeated the movements from the choreo video. he only took breaks to look back at the video and replay clips to better study the actions performed. sumin was slouched against the wall, watching him for close to five minutes before he decided to call hyunwoo to sit down and drink water. just as he opened his mouth to do so, hyunwoo finally got past the part he had been struggling with for the last few minutes and completed the last verse of the song before staring at himself in the mirror with a shocked and pleased expression.
he caught sumin’s equally shocked gaze in the mirror and excitedly turned to him. “did you see that sumin? i did it! i finished the choreo! i know its not perfect yet, but I've got all the important stuff down!” sumin walked over to him, grinning, and placed his hands on hyunwoo’s shoulders. he was so proud of hyunwoo for working so hard for so long. he was in awe of his unwavering determination, and he felt the impulse rise in him again. he stepped onto his tippy toes and placed a kiss on the crown of hyunwoos head. hyunwoo gawks at him for a sec, and sumin turns from him and says “now go get some water before you pass out on us.” he blushed for a third time as he heard hyunwoo pause for a moment before turning and walking away.
+1
sumin sat on his bed, idly scrolling through tiktoks on his phone, but not really paying attention to them. his thoughts kept returning to the day’s events. he’d slipped up three whole times today, failing to keep his feelings locked up inside and letting himself be to reckless with his affection. what if he’d made all three of them uncomfortable with his actions? what if they didnt want to be around him as much anymore now, out of fear he’d do something like that again? he stood up from his bed, now wracked with anxiety. he walked towards the door, hoping a trip to the kitchen for some water would help calm his nerves.
he rested his back against the counter as he took tiny sips of water from his glass, eyebrows knit together in thought. he was so lost in thought he didnt register jinsik standing in front of him until he was waving his hand in front of his face. he scrambled his thoughts back together and stared at jinsik before blinking at him in confusion. “you ok, jagi?” jinsik tilted his head at him. sumin nodded back, muttering out a small “just zoned out a little, long day yanno?” jinsik nodded in sympathy before softly smiling at sumin. before he could realize what was happening, jinsik had leaned over and placed a quick peck on his cheek. “get some good rest tonight, ok sumin-ah?” sumin nodded back blankly and jinsik smiled at him before walking of to his room.
he’d only just recovered from jinsik’s surprise, putting away his dirty cup when minjae came up beside him to also place a dirty dish in the sink. sumin bumped him with his side and said “you were brilliant with that song today, hyung.” minjae turned to him and smiled. “thank you, sumin. you worked hard today too, make sure you sleep well tonight. you deserve it.” in a very similar way to earlier that day, minjae cupped sumins cheeks with his hands and pulled him down to place a soft kiss to his forehead. sumin was once again shocked, but minjae just blushed lightly and walked out of the kitchen. “good night, sumin.”
sumin actually chuckled to himself slightly, not quite believing the whole situation to be real and not a dream, and he decided it was finally time to sleep as he was becoming quite tired after all the surprising moments. his hand was resting on the doorknob when he suddenly heard someone call “sumin-ah!!”. he turned and saw hyunwoo skipping up to him.
hyunwoo grinned at him and said “thank you for supporting me today during dance practice. i was struggling but your reassurance really helped me. i appreciate you a lot, sumin.” sumin felt himself fill up with warmth again, and before he could respond hyunwoo placed his hands on his shoulders and pushed himself up to leave a kiss on the crown of sumins head. sumin actually gasped this time and hyunwoo smiled brightly at him, eyes creased into two lines of happiness, and he walked past sumin towards his own room. “sweet dreams!!” he called back over his shoulder.
sumin walked into his room and leaned back against the door, letting out a sigh of relief. he reconsidered his previous anxieties and chuckled, finally realizing that no one was made uncomfortable by his small acts of love and affection. in fact, it had made them all happier because of it. he remembered the feeling of warmth he felt from giving affection to his members and the joy that filled him having those affections returned, and sighed happily. maybe loving wasn't too scary of a thing to do. maybe be could finally love freely and let himself be loved freely in return.
bonus:
“hyung, what are you doing?” yechan questioned him, peeking out from his curtained-off bed. his eyebrow was raised, and his face was twisted in a look of overdramatized confusion. sumin smiled at his silly, concerned roommate and this time when he felt the feeling coming, he let it flow through him freely. “oh yechanie, my favorite maknae. let me give you a kiss goodnight!” yechan screeched at him as sumin dove onto yechan’s bed and started peppering his face in short kisses. “HYUNG YOU’RE A FUCKING FREAK!! PLEASE GET OFF OF ME, I DON’T WANT YOU TO DO THIS ANYMORE.”