Archive of Our Own

If there was one known thing about Sim Jaeyun, it was that he was a huge scaredy cat.

Everyone knew it. It was something he would never get to live down. The members loved to tease and taunt him for his jumpiness (all of in good manner. He knew none of him actually thought of him foolish for his reactions. After all, it was something he couldn't control). Whether it was the loud sound of the fireworks exploding behind him on stage or a bug suddenly coming to attack him, or simply one of the members hiding behind the door to jump scare him.

It was all fun and games until the most anticipated season of the year came around.

The members loved all holidays respectively, but the Halloween season seemed to get them all hyped up the most.

Except Jake.

It's not because he hates the holiday. In fact, there are certain aspects he finds very fun.

For example, carving pumpkins. That's a great sport!

What he doesn't like? The countless spooky feats, horror movies, and all things haunted and gory.

Unfortunately, all his members seemed to enjoy just that. Even Sunoo took joy in them, surprisingly.

Ni-ki loved Halloween the most out of all of them, though. That much was obvious. He loved the pranks, the taunting, the teasing, the horror, the gore. All of it.

And unfortunately he's his boyfriend, so he must deal with it.

What a pity life.

In true Ni-ki fashion, he was currently begging him to watch The Grudge. The Japanese version, not the Sam Raini version, because Ni-ki said the Japanese version was scarier.

"Why would I want to watch the scarier version?" Jake whined, trying to fight against Ni-ki's grip who was pulling him over to the living room.

It didn't help that the members had gone all out in decorating the dorms this year. Ni-ki, Jungwon and Sunoo apparently agreed to save this year to get some new Halloween decorations to put up, and Jay of course helped them buy even more with his own money, which they were ecstatic about.

Not Jake. No, he hated it because now their house was littered with electronic pop-out decorations that would play scary, haunting music when he walked by or would spring out in front of him, making him scramble back and clutch his pearls for his goddamn life (it would always be followed by Sunghoon cackling at his jump scare, because that fucker just lives to catch everyone's worst moments and judge) and blinking orange lights and paper bats they had stuck onto the wall that Jake always mistook for giant spiders reminding him of his Australian days and giving him mild traumatic flashbacks whenever he snuck out of his and Ni-ki's shared room to much on a piece of bread in front of the fridge and contemplate all of his life choices at three in the morning.

Needless to say, their house was a living, breathing horror house.

"Because the scarier version is more fun." Ni-ki replies with a daunting, teasing smirk as he finally manages to pull Jake onto their broken in sofa (seven boys sitting and sleeping on it every single day will do that ), which was also drowning in Halloween themed throw blankets and pillows.

Falling right into the youngers' arms, Jake squirms and tries to lurch off of the couch, only to be pulled back down and smothered in manipulative hug.

"Stooooop," he whines, still struggling against Ni-ki's grip. Well, he isn't actually trying to get out of it, and they both know that. He wasn't even using his full strength, and if Ni-ki had sensed even the slightest sense of true rejection, then he would have let the other go with no hesitation---but they both knew that Jake loved to put on a show, and he loved that Ni-ki had no qualms dealing with it. "You don't love me." He pouts, taking a break from his resistance in order to pout and bash his eyelashes at the other.

Ni-ki rolls his eyes playfully. "Of course I do."

"If you did, you wouldn't be making me watch this scary movie!"

"If you loved me, you'd be willing to indulge in things that make me happy." He retorted with that knowing, small little smirk that always brought the hyung out in Jake who wanted to wipe it right off of him for being a little twat.

Jake pouts even more. "Oh, so now we're using manipulation tactics?"

Ni-ki barks out a laugh of disbelief and instead surges forward, bumping their foreheads together gently and looking down at him with crescents for eyes as he pushes the older down until his back meets the soft fabric of the couch and now he's hovering over him, caging him in.

Kissing his pout away, he presses more kisses to his cheek and nuzzles his jaw affectionately. Jake whines some more, because that's his favorite thing to do, before Ni-ki says, "I promise it won't be so bad. I'll be right here the entire time, anyway."

"You'll protect me?"

Ni-ki kisses his forehead, like the corny fucks they are. "Won't let anything happen to you, baby. Not on my watch."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Jake hates The Grudge, he decided.

It was a stupid, terrible movie, and downright terrifying!

Everyone had gone out for dinner together, all of them dressed out in their long trench-coats, scarves and beanies, prepared for the cold, biting breeze of autumn winds. Sunghoon and Jay had already managed to get into a fight before they had even made it out of the front door.

Jake was sitting on the couch while Ni-ki was setting up the VHS tape, because not only was he a horror fanatic, he was also a film geek, and insisted that VHS' were more fun. He had a whole collection of old horror films on tape that he had proudly displayed in their room, alongside some of the figures he collected right next to Jake's precious Lego sets.

"Just wear the scarf, Hoon, please." Jay had started, trying to shove a blue plaid scarf into the taller's hand who looked away disinterestedly, a little brattily.

"It doesn't match my outfit."

Jay made a noise of discontent before grumbling, "I don't want to hear you complain about getting sick. And I won't be taking care of you if you do!" He yells before walking out the door.

Sunghoon rolls his eyes. "I don't need a scarf if I have you to warm me up." He says, and a corny smile spreads across his lips and a blush warms his cheeks when Jay perks up at that, turning his head over his shoulder only to mask his widened, surprised eyes with a small glare.

Sunghoon chuckles lightly, airily, then wraps his hand around Jay's waist and walks them out the door to the awaiting door.

"Do I need to text one of you before we get back?" Heeseung asks, him and Jungwon being the last two to exit while the others waited in the car. They were almost out the door, with his hand lingering on the knob uncertainly.

Jungwon scrunches his face in confusion. "Why would we do that? We live here."

Jake sinks into the couch, face as red as a tomato, while Ni-ki scoffs in disbelief. Heeseung sputters, embarrassment splotching his own face despite being the one who caused this situation in the first place.

"So we don't see anything we don't want to see." Heeseung grits.

"Oh." Jungwon takes in a sharp inhale of understanding. Then with his exhale, a devious expression paints his face.

Before he can even say something more incriminating, Jake points a threatening finger towards them despite his knees being up to his chest and hiding behind a pillow, being very much not intimidating, and yells, "No! Don't start! It's not like that!"

Both Heeseung and Jungwon then give a pointed look to Ni-ki at that, who then shrugs in response.

Jake chucks his pillow at the other. "Riki!"

He skillfully dodges it, the brat. "What?" He laughs. "You never know!"

Jake really wishes he had that pillow to scream into now. He hides his face in his hands before pointing to the door, refusing to look up. "Just. Get. Out." He whines, and only when he hears their giggles disappear alongside the sound of the door closing and locking does he look up with a pitiful glare. "You're a jerk."

"Your jerk." Ni-ki says, sidling up next to him on the couch after finally setting up the movie, pressing play and turning off the lights. Now they're stuck with only the decorative Halloween lights flashing on and off, illuminating the ominous bats slapped onto their wall and the occasional manic laughter from their automatic pumpkin friend named Jack who had gotten body-slammed last October during a much too drunken game of truth or dare by Jungwon and now, by default, never seemed to turn off and woke them up with his static laughter.

"Whatever." Jake had grumbled, nuzzling into Ni-ki's side as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

They had just gotten to the point where the poor girl had ran upstairs and hid in her bed, specifically tucking her feet in her blanket, which by all means means that you are automatically safe from any demon or monster, right?! Nope! Not in this terrible, law-defying shit-show of a movie! No, instead the ghost tugged her from right out under the bed, and Jake lets out an embarrassing yelp and clenches his eyes shut and shoves his head right into Ni-ki's chest, which is the only safe place, obviously.

Ni-ki chuckles as Jake clenches the others shirt in his first, clinging onto him. "Is it over yet?" He mumbles pathetically from the youngers' chest.

Jake was essentially in Ni-ki's lap at this point. Each time he had gotten scared, he had just somehow found a way to get closer and closer to the other, as if he wanted to simply slip into Ni-ki's skin and disappear forever. Unfortunately, the closest he could get was the younger's lap while pressing himself impossibly closer to his chest. So. Here he was.

Pausing the movie, Ni-ki asks, "Are you really that scared?" Ni-ki had cooed, running his hands through Jake's messy, undone hair.

Jake nodded from his chest.

That only made Ni-ki cradle Jake more in his arms as he chuckled slightly. Jake looked up and feigned hurt, his lips jutting out in a pout. "You dare laugh at my pain?"

Ni-ki quickly kissed the pout away. "I laugh because you're adorable, and I love you," he presses another kiss to his lips and tilts his head to meet Jake's eyes cutely. "Did I mention how strong you are for doing this for me? My strong baby, what would I do without you protecting me?" He coos.

He receives a dead-pan stare in return. "I'm literally in your lap, Riki."

Another kiss with a teasing smile trying to bite back more giggles. "So strong."

"You ready to continue?"

"How much longerrrrr?" Jake whines.

"Just a little bit--"

Then, suddenly, his phone starts ringing.

It's Sunghoon.

"What could he possibly want?" Jake mutters, furrowing his brows.

He's about to swipe answer when Ni-ki asks, "You're seriously going to answer that right now?" He's leaning his head forward and tilting it like a cute, kicked, and severely confused puppy.

Jake coos slightly, lips jutting out in a pout before shrugging. "Well yeah, I kind of have to. He always calls around this time for his weekly bitch sesh," Ni-ki snorts at the word choice. "If I don't answer now, it'll disrupt his routine, and you know how he gets when we don't follow his schedule."

Ni-ki shudders, as if reliving all the endless hours spent listening to Sunghoon nag when he didn't get his way before nodding rapidly. "True dat," he answers stupidly, and it makes Jake push his shoulder. Ni-ki cackles then, as Jake swipes answer says, "At least put him on speaker!"

The other swats at him and shushes him, but yet again, Ni-ki is a giant baby, and thus he easily overpowers Jake by grabbing his wrist and pulling it away from his ear before tapping the speaker button. He smirks and crosses his arms across his chest and slumps back into the couch as Sunghoon's voice already begins to ramble,

"Can you tell Jay that I don't need to wear a fucking scarf and that if I get sick it's from the fact that he cannot use the dryer properly for his goddamn life and it'll be his damn bedsheets that take me out before the cold air?"

"If you're so specific about my drying techniques then you do the laundry next time, asshole!" Jay's voice rings angrily, slightly muffled.

Jake can hear Sunghoon's smirk as he responds, "You know I'm shite at doing laundry."

"Then why are you nagging--"

"I wouldn't have to nag if you didn't nag me about this goddamn scarf--"

Jake furrows his brows. "You're still arguing over this?"

"We've been arguing all night about it--"

"Because his nose and cheeks are red and he keeps putting his ice cold hand on the back of my neck to be annoying--"

"Annoying you is my love language, and I naturally run cold."

"Bullshit."

"I'm the ice prince, Jay. Ice runs in my veins."

"I'm going to throttle you."

Jake sighs loudly and stretches, a thin smile appears on his face. "Well, you two seemed to have figured this out just fine--"

"No, no. I need you to tell Jay that I'm fine without the scarf--"

"Well, are you cold?" Jake asks inquisitively.

Sunghoon scoffs. "Whose side are you on, Jake? I thought you were my best friend."

"Jay-hyung is quite nice. He took me out for ramen last week."

He can hear Jay's successful manic cackling in the background, can imagine him throwing his head back in defeat, and hears Sunghoon sulking as he says, "So your friendship can be bribed? You'll take a bowl of ramen over six years of friendship?"

Jake is giggling as he says, "You never buy me ramen."

"Just do me a favor and burn the scarf when I get home."

A dramatic gasp comes from Jay, and Jake's positive that thump sound he heard was Jay's hand coming in contact with the back of Sunghoon's head. Violently. "Hang up, Jake."

"Don't hang up Jake!" Sunghoon cries.

Jake is still giggling when a warm hand slips under his shirt and rests over his abdomen, and all the air in his lungs is raptured. He glares at Niki who is a lot closer than he had realized, cuddled into his side with his hand teasingly under his shirt and a small smirk and a devious glint dancing across his eyes.

"Yeah, Jake. Hang up the phone." He says, with that deep, raspy voice of his that he always has in the morning and sends shivers up Jake's spine every time he uses it.

The silence through the other line is loud and Jake does everything in his power to will his heartbeat to calm. He glares at Ni-ki, attempting to shove him away. He fails miserably, and in return Ni-ki's smirk only widens and then he's pressing slow, open-mouthed kisses against his shoulder to his collarbone, looking up into his eyes innocently until his lips reach Jake's neck, and his tongue darts out to wet the skin, and then he's mouthing at it and nipping on the skin. Jake sighs (half in agitation, half in sensation) and closes his eyes, his grip knuckle-white against the phone in his hand.

"Jake, everything good there?" Jay asks.

"Mhm," Jake murmurs, and then his eyes widen at how shaky his voice sounded. "M'good." He swallows roughly as Ni-ki suckles at the skin, and he can't even yell at him to not leave a mark, because then Jay and Sunhoon would know what he's doing, and Jay would whoop his ass and Sunghoon would never let him live it down for letting the baby of the group do this to him.

There's another long silence as Ni-ki leaves a perfect little love bite right above Jake's collarbone, and his hand under his shirt slips slightly under the band of his sweatpants to grip his hip, and God, Jake is stupidly weak.

"Uh," he swallows, and only speaks for the sake of filling the void, and perhaps seeking any appearance of normalcy. "You should wear the scarf, Sunghoon. Anyway, gotta go. Don't kill each other--mgh. Bye!"

"What the fuck--"

"Jake I swear to God--" And then Niki's hand reaches up, grabs his phone, and presses the 'hang up' button just as his lips trail up Jake's jaw until he presses a kiss to his lips with a cheeky smile etched upon them.

"There, that worked. Now back to the movie." He giggles before snuggling back into Jake's side, as if he didn't just attempt to murder to Jake.

The older gaped for a second, not even realizing Niki had pressed play again until it was too late. A loud, piercing scream sounded through their speakers, and Jake jolted from the jumpscare. An involuntary squeak escaped his throat and he curled into Niki's side, clinging onto his arm before staring up at him with wide eyes and a pout, shaking his head.

"You fiend." He mutters.

"You love me." Niki nuzzles their heads together, smiling.

Well, at least he was enjoying himself. Jake had just had two heart attacks in five minutes. What a record.

This year 'round, they all seemed intent on starting off the spooky season strong.

While Jake was innocently trying to eat his dinner for the day, which was leftover curry Jay had made last night, Jungwon and Ni-ki walked in through the front door from their outing together. They had gone to play laser tag and had begged Jake to join them, but the other was much too tired from the night before, staying up late and watching (begrudgingly) scary movies with Ni-ki.

When he had told Jungwon that, the younger only raised his brows and wiggled them suggestively. "Long night, eh?" He giggled and then poked Ni-ki in the arm. The two laughed and then high-fived, as if Ni-ki had accomplished something.

Jake flushed and scowled, as best as he could, but he's been told before (mostly by Sunghoon, but also Jungwon, because he's a twat, and he knows his leader card vetoes his hyung card. Brat.) that he doesn't have a very intimidating face, and that whenever he's angry, he simply looks like a constipated chipmunk.

"I'm serious. We just watched movies!"

"And made one of our own." Ni-ki said with a stupid face and wiggling his own brows now.

"Don't egg him on, Ni-ki!" Jake scolded, and gaped at his two maknaes in disbelief and embarrassment. He then groaned and threw his arms up. "Whatever! Go enjoy your laser tag alone, without your favorite hyung." He squints his eyes, truly trying his best to look menacing.

Jungwon's mischievous smile and he's already halfway out the door as he says, "Guess it's a good thing that Jay-hyung is my favorite!"

Jake gapes and calls after him, "Oh, I am so telling him you said that!"

Ni-ki is still giggling as he approaches Jake, reaching over to wrap his arms around his waist to pull him closer, but Jake simply scoffs and resists. "Oh, no. You don't get to have a kiss after that stunt you pulled!" He argues, attempting to push Ni-ki away from him, but the goddamn baby giant simply hovers over him with a dorky, smitten smile.

"It was just a little joke, hyung~" He whines.

Jake crosses his arms stubbornly and turns his head away, but he wasn't truly mad. But what can he say? This is their dynamic. He acts pouty and sulky, and Ni-ki swoons. He's grown quite fond of it.

Ni-ki eventually overpowers him, because he always does, and sweeps him into his arms. He presses a kiss to Jake's turned cheek and smiles down at him, eyes sparkling. "I had fun last night. Thank you for braving through those terrible movies." He nuzzles his nose into Jake's cheek and pulls him into a hug.

Sighing, Jake melts into the hug and wraps his arms around Ni-ki's abdomen and grumbles, "I guess they weren't so bad. Since I had you there."

Ni-ki chuckles. "Sunghoon's right. You really can't be intimidating for you life."

Jake gapes and attempts to hit Ni-ki in the chest, but he's already slipped from his grasp and is running out the door. "See you later, hyung! I love you!"

"Yah!"

Now, a flyer for a haunted house happening tonight was slapped right in front of his fucking curry.

Jake looked up at the two maknaes who looked back down at him mischievously and all of a sudden he got a terrible sense of deja vu. With his mouth full of food, he swallowed roughly before shaking his head adamantly. "No. Hell no."

"Pleaseeee hyung!" Jungwon begged, holding onto the wooden chair and leaning back and forth.

"Go ask your favorite hyung, then." Jake rolls his eyes.

"I did! Everyone's going, so you need to come too." Jungwon smiled innocently.

Jake pouted. "I don't wanna~~" He whined.

"Too bad. Group bonding activity. Leader says so." Jungwon retorts, that subtle arrogance of having known he already won the argument sugarcoating his voice.

"You're the leader." Jake deadpans.

"Exactly." Jungwon smirks, then turns to walk down the hall. "Haunted house is at nine tonight. We'll take two cars."

Bastard.

Ni-ki wraps his arms around Jake's shoulders from behind his seat at the dining table and murmurs into the crown of his head, "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"Whatever." Jake mumbles grumpily, stabbing his curry with his fork.

Fun fact about Jake: he didn't cope well with scary situations.

The haunted house was ginormous, and they had all split up and went on their own ways (crazy bastards) except for Jake, of course, he clung onto his boyfriend who apparently was having the time of his life. While Jake screeched and darted away from every monster that jump scared him, Ni-ki laughed and pointed at him like a goddamn madman.

They ran through the house---mostly because Jake was yanking Ni-ki, insistent on speed-running through this goddamn horror house filled with flashing, dizzying lights, smoke dispersing on the floor and making Jake trip only nothing when one last monster leaped out right in front of him, a fake knife in his hand. The monster screeched and lurched forward, pretending to stab him.

Jake let out a scream and clutched his heart, nearly feeling faint as he stumbled back into Ni-ki's chest. The younger was cackling, not even scared in the slightest.

Feeling like his breath had been knocked right out of him, and his legs squirming like jelly, he continued to fall back into Niki's chest, panting heavily. Everything was beginning to sway, and little dots started blurring his vision. Everything around him sounded muffled.

Was he really about to faint over this?

Ni-ki had stopped laughing now and gripped Jake's forearms tightly with concern, turning him around to meet his eyes. Jake stumbled back, blinking rapidly. He whimpers, unable to hold himself up anymore. He couldn't help it. He was petrified. He just couldn't handle these kinds of things as well as others, and it was so embarrassing that he felt the slight burn of tears threatening to fall in shame.

"Ni-ki?" He murmurs, lips quivering.

Hovering over him in concern and now completely supporting the others weight, he says, "What is it, baby?"

Wrapping his arms around Ni-ki's neck, he pulls him close as he whimpers, "I just wanna go home."

Ni-ki nods against the crown of his head, and begins guiding him out of the house. "Okay, baby. Whatever you want."

The world didn't look right.

Something about it was off, but Jake couldn't exactly put his finger on it. He was in his dorm, in his bed, but it still wasn't his. Maybe he's going insane, but he just knows this isn't right. Perhaps it was the slightly grainy filter, or the green film somehow placed over his eyes, but he knew this was not his world.

It was like he had entered some other dimension. An alternate universe. One that was not his own.

Even his own body felt off--unnatural. He wasn't sure what he was doing as he sat up, his entire body and his eyesight blurry. His sheets were cold and the wall burned his back with that searing heat that can only happen when your body overheats during a freezing winter cold---that odd phenomenon that made Jake want to peel his skin off like it was a dirty hazmat suit.

Goosebumps litter his skin, and he pulls the sheet up against his chest until it covers almost the entirety of his face---his eyes being the only exception. Something slithered across the room, a ball of black, and he stiffens in his bed.

He weighs his options. He knew something was right. Something was wrong---abnormal. He could run and leave, or he could fight whatever was lurking in his room, but even as he shifts his feet against the mattress and tucks them safely under the blanket (because no demon or monster can get you if your feet are tucked. Those are the rules. Jake doesn't make them up), his body feels unnatural. If he tried to run or fight, he had a feeling he'd end up flopping over.

But that doesn't matter, because he blinks, and she's right there.

A girl---a ghoul, a soul---right at the edge of bed, peering at him with wide, blood-shot eyes and an eerie smile, partially covered with long, stringy black hair.

Jake screams. Or, at least he attempts too. Nothing comes out, and he's left in an eerie, sterile silence as the girls thin hands grip the edge of the mattress and she pushes herself up with frightening speed. Jake scrambles back, keeping his feet expertly tucked beneath the blanket, but then her smile grows so wide Jake is positive her face will split in half, and she slips her hands under the blanket and grips his ankles and yanks him. He desperately claws at his matress, nails shredding the sheets, screaming no, no, no--!

Jolting awake, Jake rubs his eyes and pants.

A dream, he breathes. It was just a dream.

He huffs angrily, snatching his pillow and doesn't even bother to pull on sweatpants. Instead clutches his pillow and waddles angrily towards Ni-ki's room, clad in his boyfriend's boxers and white tee.

Ni-ki's room is pitch black aside from the red LED lights set on the lowest setting, casting the room in a slight red haze. The door knob is cold against Jake's palm and he sneaks in quietly, as or as silently as he can, closing the door softly behind him.

It's as though Ni-ki is attuned to his presence, though, because the second the door clicks shut, Ni-ki murmurs something sleepily and turns around in his bed to face the other at the door. Through the illumination of the red light, Jake can see the furrow in Ni-ki's brows as he tries to rub off the deep slumber.

His arm stretches out in the dark, welcoming Jake into his arms. "Baby?"

Heart warming at the recognition, the confirmation that no matter what day, what time, or whatever Ni-ki was doing, he was always welcomed---wanted.

Shuffling over to the bed, expertly dodging the usual mess that accumulates Ni-ki's room even in the dark, simply because of how much time he spends in this room.

"What is it?" He murmurs, and his voice is deep, laden with sleep and a certain rasp that he only gets when he's extra tired. Jake feels a little guilty for waking him up in the dead of the night now with their hectic schedule.

"My bed isn't safe." He says cryptically, standing just before the bed.

He can sense Ni-ki's ever growing confusion. His eyes are barely half awake. "But mine is?"

Jake nods, eager to get into bed and craving Ni-ki's comfort after the hell of a fucking nightmare he had. "Yes, because you're in it." He comments cutely. It was rare for him to purposefully act cute for the younger, because his pride wouldn't allow him to do so. But clearly, pride was tossed out the window the second grunge girl yanked him from his very own sheets, which was seriously unfair, and yes, he's severely upset by that and now has personal beef with The Grudge.

Ni-ki hums, a stupid smile gracing his lips, reaching out for him. "Mm, sure." He mumbles amusedly.

When Jake's knees finally meet the edge of the mattress, dipping at his weight, Ni-ki's arm wraps around his waist, devouring him with something as simple as a natural touch. A touch between two lovers so intertwined that it wasn't even conscious, but second-nature.

His arm felt warm and comforting as Ni-ki pulled him into the bed, no questions asked and certainly no arguments coming from Jake. He falls into the mattress and Ni-ki pulls him into his chest, arms wrapped around him completely now as he shimmies under the blankets, legs then intertwining.

Ni-ki's eyes are already closed as he pulls Jake closer, chin resting on top of his head and whines, a cute wrinkle on his forehead. "You're so cold, hyung."

Jake only presses himself closer, wrapping his own arms around Ni-ki's abdomen. "And you're so warm." He hums.

"Not fair. How come you get to come into my room and steal all my warmth, hmm?" He's all bark and no bite, though, because then he's pressing a kiss to the crown of Jake's head, and he can feel his smile pressed against his hair. It's silent, and Ni-ki's room is filled with a warm calamity that Jake could never attain without Ni-ki by his side before the other stiffens, and Jake can feel his brain beginning to churn with cognitive function. Pulling away from Jake just slightly, which elicits a whine and slight fuss from Jake who wanted nothing more than to be shoved into the protective crevice of Ni-ki's clavicle. The youngers hands are on his shoulders before they cup Jake's face worriedly, his big hands on his cheeks, then lifting the hair that rests on his forehead and pressed the back of his palm to it. "Why are you here? Are you alright?"

Grumbling, Jake pushes his hand away from his forehead and crosses his arms, pouting. "What, you don't want me here? Tired of me already?"

Ni-ki can't help but smile, always finding him cute when he was pouty, which only made Jake more grouchy. He presses a kiss to his nose, black hair falling messily in front of his eyes and says, "Of course I want you here, baby," his hand is back down at his hip, under his shirt and against bare skin. He uses that to pull Jake closer so that their legs can intertwine again, and his thumb dips the band of his underwear. Jake wonders if he knows that it's actually his underwear, and so is the shirt. If he does, he doesn't say anything about it. "But you had been pretty adamant on sleeping apart tonight since we have to wake up early tomorrow."

"Yes, because we always go to sleep late because you can't keep your hands to yourself." He gives a half-hearted glare and rests his hand over the one Ni-ki has on his hip.

A smirk dances across his plump lips in the dark like the devil forgotten. He only tightens his grip on Jake's hip in response and leans forward to nip at his lips playfully. "Not my fault that I have a hot boyfriend." He massages the bone of his hip and slips down further to cup the soft skin of Jake's ass.

Jake tenses and his glare grows sharper. "You're only proving my point here."

Having no sense of decency, Ni-ki only chuckles lowly and keeps his hand there. Leaning in, he presses feather light kisses against the expanse of Jake's neck. Jake allowed him because despite the conversation, Jake knew it wasn't to start up something. Sure, perhaps it was Ni-ki being a little bit of a spoiled brat and trying to get a rile out of him, but also, there was something so intimate and comforting and warm about being touched or kissed in places that no one else can touch but him, even if it led to nothing.

"Seriously," Ni-ki says against his neck. His voice hums against Jake's adams apple. He smiles against skin, and he can feel his teeth against him now, sending shivers down his spine. "Were you scared?"

Jake scoffs. "No."

"Well then?" His hands travel back to his lower back, half fiddling with the hem of his boxers and half tracing feather light patterns into his spine. Jake arched into his touch and played with the nape of his neck. "I know you love me, but you couldn't have missed me that much."

"You're right," Jake says, smiling even though Ni-ki can't see it. "You're insufferable."

Ni-ki squeezes his ass in retaliation.

Jake swats at his head lightly. "Yah!"

"Seriously, tell me. Did something happen?"

Jake sighs and deflates into Ni-ki's arms. His big maknae, always there to protect him. His body no longer felt cold, completely warmed up by the others presence. He twirls Ni-ki's growing hair in his finger and purses his lips in embarrassment. "I had a nightmare."

Ni-ki snorts, and Jake slaps him again. "I knew it. My poor baby was scared."

"Don't laugh!"

Ni-ki's hands press against the center of his back, palms warm and large. He tones down his giggles, though his chest still rumbles with amusement. Pulling Jake towards him, he presses him completely against his body, and Jake hums in content, wrapping his arms completely around Ni-ki's neck now.

A few beats of comfortable silence passes between them as they settle, and then Ni-ki lifts his head, hands massaging his waist. "Did that haunted house really scare you that bad?"

Jake flushes. "No." He lies straight through his teeth.

"You fainted." He coos, lips jutting out in a pout.

"And who's fault was that?"

"I caught you!"

"Doesn't make up for the fact that you still put me in that situation!" Jake scowls.

Ni-ki's eyes soften, and he nuzzles their noses together before pressing his forehead against his. "I genuinely am sorry. I didn't know these things scared you so bad. You should've told me."

And because Jake is a sap at heart, and this is exactly why he does the things he hates to make Ni-ki happy, his eyes soften too. He cards his fingers through Riki's hair and smiles into his eyes, "But you love them."

"That doesn't mean you have to do it." Ni-ki counters, but Jake simply shakes his head, eyes glimmering in earnest.

"Doing things you love makes me happy."

Ni-ki surges forward and kisses him. "You're too good to me," he murmurs against Jake's soft lips, obsessed. "How can I make it up to you?"

"Make what up?" Jake giggles.

Another kiss. "For scaring you."

Jake gives a devious smile. "First, you must swear to protect me from the Grudge girl." Ni-ki nods, smothering Jake in his chest and wrapping his legs over Jake's.

"She won't get near my baby. Not on my watch." He says, and Jake's pretty sure if his hands were free, he'd probably salute.

Snorting, Jake continues, "Second. You have to wear a matching couples costume with me."

Ni-ki gives him an incredulous look, and for a second Jake thinks he's going to argue with him or try to shimmy his way out of it, but then he scoffs and says, "Duh, I thought that was a given?"

"Oh." Jake replies dumbly, and his heart swells with love, content, and comfort. He felt fulfilled in Ni-ki's arms.

Ni-ki snuggles into him. "Then we've got a deal." His nose nuzzles into Jake's hair, inhaling his scent. "Sleep now, princess. Nothing's going to touch you now."

"I'm not a princess." Jake grumbles, but settles in Ni-ki's chest.

"Sleep."

They end up dressing as an angel and a demon, respectively. Jake as the angel, because of course he is, and Ni-ki as the demon, because of course he is.

Was it stereotypical? Yes. But did it suit them? Yes. Most of all, was Jake happy? Very.

It was Halloween night, and Jake was most happy because for once, they had toned it down with the terrifying, horrific gore and blood and jump scares that Ni-ki and the others loved oh so much.

Instead, they opted for a cozy house party with only their closest friends.

Jake is pretty positive Ni-ki mentioned something to the others the next morning, regarding how Jake fainted and how he was downright petrified, and asked the members to tone their festivities down. Jake was half embarrassed, half a stupid gooey melting mess because his boyfriend listens and cares and loves him and wants to protect him and—he's getting too corny now, isn't he?

When they were planing the Halloween party (or rather, a get together would be a more accurate word because truly, the only people who showed up were Nicholas, Euijoo, Kei, and Ta-ki. Not a large bunch, but close-knit as they were) Sunoo insisted on having a costume competition.

"What do I get when I win?" Sunghoon had asked after Sunoo brought the suggestion up with a blank face.

Sunoo rolled his eyes. " If  you win—"

"No," Sunghoon smirked. " When  I win." He was totally baiting Sunoo, trying to get a rile out of him, just because he can.

"Does there have to be a prize?" Sunoo whines. "Can't we just do it for fun?"

"Maybe you can, but we're only doing this because  you  want to." Jungwon says.

Sunoo raises a brow. "And my happiness isn't prize enough?" A sassy pair of hands hover over his hips.

Heeseung has a knowing, teasing smile on his lips. "I would prefer a prize."

"God, you all are insufferable. Fine. Whoever wins will get a three month supply of ramen."

"Now  that's  what I'm talking about."

The house was drowned in ambient lighting. Orange pumpkin lights, violet bats twinkled with midnight, jackolanterns that all seven of them had carved last night which resulted in Jake having to help Sunoo wash about five pounds of pumpkin guts out of his hair and a good, stern scolding telling Ni-ki to stop acting like a child (which definitely didn't end with Jake on his bed. No, it didn't).

Heeseung had connected a spooky playlist he found randomly from Spotify to their speakers, and Monster Mash was playing with a slight, authentic vintage crackle (yes, vintage. Totally not because their speakers are eight years old and they're in dire need of new ones but are too cheap to buy some). The aforementioned dressed up stereotypically as a deer. A quite eerie one at that.

He wore a headband with deer antlers, and he wore freaky black contact lenses. White dots to represent the spots of a deer were painted over his face, and he wore a light brown shawl over his shoulders. Jake couldn't figure out if he found it creepy or cute, but he knew he certainly wasn't winning the costume contest with that hack job.

Jay was dressed as a killer chef, which was pretty creative and made Jake cackle every time he looked at him. He wore a long, white toque. A fake, bloody knife was stuck in his head, and blood dripped down his face. He found too much joy in chasing them with a fake knife he claimed to use to get revenge on whoever murdered him. Or poison them with their food. Jake worried that Jay was having a little too much fun with those scenarios.

Sunghoon was dressed in a giant fucking penguin suit, looking way too amused with himself. The freak was about three times his normal size with that huge costume, and he took up about half the kitchen and was promptly chased by Jay's knife when he almost knocked over Jay's curry accidentally by flapping his wing around excitedly.

Sunoo was expertly dressed as a vampire, which Jungwon called tasteless and unoriginal, and Jake quotes, "We're literally vampires. Isn't that cheating?"

"You do realize we're not actually vampires, right?"

"What do you mean? I bite Jay-hyung all the time."

"Jungwon, you're dressed as a cat for fucks sake."

"I'm fucking Binx the cat, you uncultured swine."

"I could have mistaken you for a rat."

By now, the rest of them have shown up. Nicho and Euijoo were dressed in matching onesies as Toothless and Lightfury. Jake physically squealed and cooed when they walked in, Euijoo with his natural shy smile, and wrapped them up in an ecstatic hug.

Kei was dressed as a sumo-wrestler with one of those plastic suits with a huge belly, which Sunghoon was way too excited about and insisted they belly-bump. Ta-ki was dressed as a yodeler, since he screeches all the time already. Jake was subjected to his three minute long yodeling.

"Who's ready to party?" 

Their version of partying was an intense round of charades where they had to take a shot each time they guessed wrong, and then decided to play a very chaotic game of twister which ended up in all of them toppling on top of each other and cracking nearly every bone in their worn, idol bodies. You'd think that they'd all be more flexible being dancers and all, but as it seems, it's a lot harder to manuever your body the way you want when you're five shots in and a giggly mess trying to get your boyfriend to get his hand off your ass while he insists that's where it's suppose to be. 

"God, you two are disgustingly sweet." Eiujoo says, his head resting on Nicho's arm who was in a conversation with Jay, with a smile brighter than the sun as he chuckles, staring admiringly so at the two of them. 

Everyone was on the floor, panting and giggling over their shitshow of a twister game. Ghostbusters was now playing in the background, and Ni-ki was sprawled over on top of Jake like a starfish. 

The angel crumbled and tried to push Ni-ki off, but to no avail. "He's crushing me. I wouldn't call that sweet." 

"But I looooveee you, hyung." Ni-ki called, turning to pout at him but still refusing to move. 

Jake sighs. Why the hell did they let him drink? 

"Yeah but you guys are still in your honeymoon phase. I wish Nicho was still that obsessed with me." 

Nicholas turns his head, a furrow in between his brows as he looks down at Euijoo. It looks like he's about to defend himself before a mischievous smile perks up his cheeks. "Not my fault you got boring." He teases, while Euijoo just gives him a look. Nicho smiles, and Jake isn't sure if it's genuine or out of fear. He presses a kiss to the others lips before turning back to Jay, perhaps using him as a scapegoat. Smart man. 

Before Jake can respond, Sunoo suddenly rises from the dog pile he had been trapped under via Kei and Ta-ki and claps excitedly. "Competition time, people!"

Sunoo had excitedly gathered them together in the dining room. In lieu of the table, they had set up a makeshift "Black Carpet" because as per Sunoo's words, a red carpet was way off theme. So they lined the black carpet with orange battery powered candles and threw some gold confetti over it. 

"So, what do we get if we win again?" Heesung asked with a loopy smile, red solo cup in hand. 

Sunoo huffed. "I told you! Three months worth of ramen!"

"You promise!" 

"I promise." He huffs. 

Heeseung smirks. "I'll go first then." 

Jungwon booed him and stuck out his tongue when Heeseung snapped his head back to glare at him. Damn leader privileges. 

Jake and Ni-ki are the last two walk the carpet. The angel blushes as they hold hands and walk down the black rug, everyone hooting and hollering and smiling as they pass. 

"Strike a pose!" Sunoo calls out, way too excited for this. 

A flash nearly blinds everyone as the two jut their hips out sassily before barking out a laugh, keeling over and covering their faces in embarrassment. Jay, the one responsible for the flash, has his camera out with a proud smile, crouching to get the best angle like a true, hard-working father proud of his two sons. 

"I think we all know who the winners are, right?" Sunoo asks with a knowing smile. 

Heeseung and Sunghoon both gape, respectively in Heeseung's shitty deer makeup and Sunghoon's stupid puffy penguin costume, looking ready to argue. Sunoo senses this and sends them a glare that shuts them up real quick before turning back, and his expression changes as fast as a shooting glare, returning to that wide smile so fast Jake almost got whiplash. 

Standing up, Sunoo rushes into the kitchen before coming out with a bag full of ramen. Jake squeaks in excitement as Sunoo hands it to him. "As promised, three months worth of ramen." 

Jake's foaming at the mouth, ogling at his precious ramen, while Heeseung is actively trying to call his name to convince him to share, and Sunghoon is already nagging, and Jay snaps another goddamn picture, and then--

"Kiss!" They start calling, cheering, chanting. 

Jake flushes and clutches the ramen to his chest, scandalized. "What?! Why on earth do you want to see us kiss, you weirdos--" 

But then Ni-ki is pulling him in by the waist, hands running over his white lace corset, eyes darkly lined with sharp eyeliner, and the black devil horns he's wearing over his dark, slightly wet hair matches the ill-intent in his gaze much too well as he smirks. "You heard them. Winners have to kiss." 

Jake swats at Ni-ki's chest fitfully. "Bastard." He mutters. 

Ni-ki's smirk only broadens as he leans down. "No. Devil." Then he kisses him, and cheers erupt in the room. 

Their lips slot together perfectly in sync, the way your body naturally remembers things you do a lot, so closely intertwined that even as the whole room watches them, Jake still feels like he's the only one in the room with Ni-ki's arms around his waist and hovering over them. He subconsciously relaxes into his grip and sighs against his lips, smiling in content. 

Then, chaos erupts because suddenly all the lights in the house have been turned off, and before he knows it there's a bright red monster screeching in front of his face and now Jake is shrieking as he so much as leaps into Ni-ki's arms, eyes widened and chest panting until he feels the shudder of Ni-ki's laughter against his body as he wraps his arms around the younger's neck---

Wait. Laughter?

The lights flicker back on, and now everyone is laughing and pointing at him light-heartedly. Ta-ki takes off the red monster laugh and cackles, letting out a jumble of, "Sorry, hyung" or "You should have seen your face!" 

Jake is still clinging onto Ni-ki, his arms wrapped as tightly as they can be around his neck and his face had been shoved into his shoulder. 

Jungwon smirks. "You're such a baby, Jake. Clinging to your maknae like that. What's he going to do~?" He teases playfully. 

Ni-ki tightens his grip on Jake's waist and leans down to press a kiss to Jake's cheek, despite the olders attempts of pushing him away. "My baby." 

Everyone coos and gags simultaneously. 

Jake scowls, though he can't help but giggle at the stupidity of it. "You're all assholes." He grumbles, smile breaking through his frown. 

"Happy Halloween!" Everyone says in response, and Jake shakes his head. 

What a Halloween.