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Riki might be the youngest, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew a crush when he saw one—especially when it came to Jake and Sunghoon.
It was getting ridiculous at this point. Every time Riki tried to have a normal conversation with Jake, it somehow ended with Jake going off about Sunghoon. Sure, the elder was adorable when he talked about the former ice skater, his eyes practically sparkling with hearts, but three times before noon? That was excessive.
If Riki were being honest, he was one rant away from snapping. He had half a mind to march up to Sunghoon and spill all of Jake’s painfully obvious feelings just to put an end to his suffering.
But, Riki had principles. No matter how tempting, your friend’s crush was sacred. You didn’t expose that, no matter how much it tortured you. Not even to his boyfriend—his absolutely perfect boyfriend—Yang Jungwon.
Which, let’s be real, was saying something, because Riki told Jungwon everything. Every little thought that passed through his head, every embarrassing moment, it all usually went straight to Jungwon.
Ah, his boyfriend. The man who made his heart flutter with every word, smile, or gesture. Sometimes Riki couldn’t believe that someone as stunning, talented, and downright amazing as Jungwon actually liked him.
Jungwon’s dimples, his cat-like eyes, the way he’d look at Riki with that soft, affectionate smile… it was enough to turn Riki into a puddle. And don’t even get him started on their cuddles. Jungwon’s warmth was otherworldly, wrapping Riki in a cocoon of love and comfort every time he opened his arms.
Riki knew he sounded like a walking cliché, like a teenager with their first-ever crush. But honestly, who wouldn’t act this way when they were dating the Yang Jungwon?
Wait—
What was he talking about again?
“Riki!”
Someone clapped their hands in front of his face, snapping him out of his daydream.
“Huh?” he blinked, looking up in confusion.
Jake was standing over him, arms crossed and pouting. “Were you even listening?”
Riki sighed internally. Ah, right. The endless lore of Jake and Sunghoon.
“I was listening, hyung,” Riki replied, though his tone lacked enthusiasm.
Jake squinted at him suspiciously. “Oh yeah? What was I talking about, then?”
Riki shrugged, his face blank as he answered confidently, “Sunghoon.”
Jake’s jaw dropped. “I—what?!”
“Hyung, you’re always talking about Sunghoon,” Riki deadpanned, leaning back lazily against the couch. “At this point, you might as well write a novel about him.”
Jake’s face turned bright red, and he fumbled for a comeback. “I—well—it’s not like I talk about him that much!”
Riki raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “You’ve mentioned him three times today, and it’s not even lunchtime. You might as well just confess and put us all out of our misery.”
Jake’s eyes widened, and he flailed his hands in panic. “Confess?! Are you crazy? What if he doesn’t—”
Riki held up a hand, cutting him off. “Hyung, trust me. Sunghoon likes you too. Literally everyone knows it except you two.”
Jake froze, his face cycling through about five different emotions before he groaned loudly and buried his face in his hands.
Riki smirked, patting his hyung on the shoulder. “You’re welcome.”
Jake let out a muffled whine, and Riki couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe Jake’s endless pining wasn’t so bad—at least it kept things entertaining.
“I can’t—I will rip my hair out,” Riki declared, arms crossed as he sat on his bed, a dramatic pout plastered on his face.
Jungwon turned from his desk, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend. Riki felt his brain short-circuit for a second. Why did Jungwon have to be so ridiculously hot? Seriously, the way he just stared could probably kill a man.
“Huh?” Jungwon asked, the beginnings of a smirk creeping onto his face.
Riki bit the inside of his cheek, debating with himself. A friend’s crush is sacred, meant to stay a secret. But—
And this was a major but, big enough to be written in neon lights—
His phone had been bombarded with paragraphs from Jake about Sunghoon’s smile being able to “heal broken souls” or “cleanse the most tainted of hearts.” It was getting to the point where Riki felt physically ill. He liked romance, sure. Couple items, cuddling, holding hands—Riki was all for that. But Jake’s Shakespearean-level dramatics? Scrumptillious wasn’t even a real word!
He sighed, letting his principles crumble. If he was going to suffer, Jungwon was coming down with him.
“Jake likes Sunghoon,” Riki muttered, just loud enough for Jungwon to hear.
Jungwon froze, then slowly turned to face him fully. His lips twitched as though he was holding back a laugh.
What?! It’s not funny, hyung!” Riki snapped. He pointed accusingly at Jungwon. “Do you know what I’ve been through?! Jake-hyung keeps playing Romeo! He literally wrote a sonnet, and I had to listen to it!”
Jungwon finally lost it, a snort slipping out. “A sonnet?”
“Yes!” Riki threw his hands in the air. “And have you ever seen Jake-hyung, rose in hand, crying his heart out? Because I have! And I never want to see it again!”
Jungwon chuckled, clearly enjoying his boyfriend’s suffering. “Well,” he said casually, setting his phone down, “Sunghoon likes Jake, too.”
Riki stopped mid-rant, his mouth hanging open as he processed Jungwon’s words. “What?”
“Yeah,” Jungwon said with a shrug. “I’ve basically become Sunghoon-hyung’s personal hype man.”
Riki blinked, his brain struggling to process the information. It was like his internal system had crashed, displaying a giant “404 Error.”
“Oh my god,” he finally breathed out, staring at Jungwon in disbelief.
Jungwon stood and walked over to him, motioning for Riki to scoot over. “Oh my god, indeed,” he teased, sitting down and opening his arms.
Riki didn’t need to be told twice. He smiled and pressed his back against Jungwon’s chest, tucking his head into the crook of his boyfriend’s neck. Jungwon’s warmth was one of Riki’s favorite things. It made him feel safe, small even—a feeling he secretly loved (not that he’d ever admit it). They snugly tucked their feet under the covers, settling into each other.
“What’s this for?” Riki mumbled, though he didn’t mind the unexpected affection.
Jungwon pressed a soft kiss to Riki’s hair, and Riki swore his heart skipped a beat.
“Cuddles,” Jungwon replied simply.
“Why?” Riki asked. Among their members, Jungwon wasn’t exactly the most physically affectionate, so this was unexpected.
“Because I want to cuddle with my boyfriend,” Jungwon said, his tone light and teasing.
Riki rolled his eyes and lightly smacked Jungwon’s stomach. “Smart-ass.”
Jungwon grinned. “Anyway, I think we should set them up.”
Riki’s head whipped around so fast he heard a crack. “Wait. You? You, the responsible leader, want to set up our members? Members who are also idols?”
Jungwon met his incredulous gaze calmly, shrugging. “We’re dating, and we’re idols.”
Riki narrowed his eyes. “You’re supposed to be the responsible one here, babe.”
Jungwon sighed. “I’m tired of hearing Sunghoon talk about Jake’s lips,” he admitted, his voice tinged with exhaustion.
Riki winced. “I don’t know which one of us has it worse.”
“So, you in?” Jungwon asked, tilting his head.
“Duh,” Riki replied, lightly smacking Jungwon’s stomach again. “Who do you think I am?”
Jungwon chuckled, pulling Riki closer. “Good. Now, let’s stop thinking about it. I haven’t had you like this in a while.”
Riki hummed contentedly, letting himself relax in Jungwon’s embrace. His buzzing phone lay forgotten on the bed; Jake could bug Jay for once. It was about time someone else shared in the suffering.
The rest of the night was spent in cozy silence, a Netflix movie playing softly in the background as moonlight filtered through the curtains.
It was romantic.
Riki loved it.
(Even if Sunoo later complained about them being “gross” when he came back into the room.)
“Okay, we should take a break,” Jungwon announced, his chest rising and falling as sweat trickled under his shirt. Riki couldn’t look away. Nope, not at all. He had bagged the entire goddamn lottery. Hell, even better.
“Close your mouth, or you’ll have flies in there,” teased Sunoo, nudging Riki’s shoulder with a knowing smirk. Why did Sunoo have to know him so well?
Riki groaned internally. Sunoo knew him like the back of his hand—no, scratch that. It was like Sunoo had a cheat code to Riki’s brain. He didn’t even need to speak for Sunoo to figure out if he’d spilled water on Heeseung’s laptop (again) or was having a bad day.
Even Jungwon was a little intimidated by Sunoo’s sixth sense. Jay called it his “superpower.”
“I was not staring,” Riki declared, glaring at Sunoo.
“Mhm, sure, Ki,” Heeseung chimed in, grinning as he joined the conversation.
Riki turned his glare toward the eldest. Jungwon was his boyfriend, and he could admire him as much as he wanted, thank you very much.
“You guys are so annoying,” Riki muttered.
Heeseung clutched his chest dramatically, dropping to his knees with an exaggerated gasp. “I’ve been wounded!”
Riki cringed at the performance. Heeseung had way too much dad energy, especially when it came to embarrassing the youngest.
“The hell’s going on?” Sunghoon asked as he walked over, his usual calm demeanor morphing into confusion as he took in Heeseung’s theatrics.
Sunoo gestured vaguely toward Heeseung. “That.”
“Don’t ask,” Riki warned quickly. He knew Sunghoon’s curious nature too well. Besides, Riki hadn’t had enough coffee—or sleep—to deal with Sunghoon’s questions on top of everything else.
Out of the corner of his eye, Riki noticed Jake watching their little group. Scratch that—he was watching Sunghoon, like always. Jake was pretending to listen to Jay, but Riki knew better. At this point, he knew Jake better than anyone, even Sunoo.
Unfortunately, that also meant Riki knew details he wished he didn’t. Jake was the sappiest person on Earth. Multiply that by a hundred, and you’d be getting close.
“How can I not tease him?” Heeseung said, pointing at Riki.
Riki shot him a look dripping with irritation. “Gee, thanks, hyung.”
Heeseung just nodded solemnly, and Sunoo, ever the troublemaker, snorted before grinning mischievously. Riki’s stomach dropped. Oh no.
“Jake does it too!” Sunoo announced proudly.
Oh, hell no.
Riki caught the way Sunghoon froze, his calm exterior cracking for ju st a moment. Of course, no one else noticed—except for Riki, because he was apparently cursed with hyper-awareness of his hyungs’ romantic tension.
Just as Riki was debating whether to strangle Sunoo, he felt an arm snake around his waist.
“What’s going on?” Jungwon asked, his voice light as he joined them after a brief talk with their manager. Riki’s heart did a little flip at how casually affectionate Jungwon was being lately.
Sunoo puffed out his chest proudly, oblivious to the chaos he’d unleashed. “We’re talking about how Heeseung and Jake tease Riki like they’re married with a child.”
Heeseung laughed, throwing an arm around Sunoo’s shoulders in a brief side hug.
Jungwon paused, his usual composed leader façade faltering for a split second. Riki saw it—the moment Jungwon pieced things together.
Oh no.
“Oh—fuck,” Jungwon muttered under his breath, earning a sharp elbow to his side from Riki. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, but enough to remind him to keep his mouth shut.
No one besides them (and maybe Jay, but Jay was Jay) knew about Jake and Sunghoon’s mutual pining. They weren’t about to let that change now, especially not because of Jungwon’s slip.
Jungwon hissed in pain, shooting Riki a glare, but Riki just smiled sweetly and leaned further into his warmth.
“I’ll get some water,” Sunghoon mumbled suddenly, walking away before anyone could respond.
Of course, Jake had to watch him leave, looking like a lovesick puppy.
God damn it, Sunoo.
Was this a cliché K-drama plot? It was starting to feel like one.
Riki leaned into Jungwon, his frustration bubbling over. “We are so screwed.”
Jungwon sighed, wrapping his arm tighter around Riki. “We haven’t even started our plan, and it’s already falling apart.”
Riki groaned. “This is all your fault.”
“My fault?!”
“Who decided we should set them up?!”
“You agreed!”
The two continued bickering quietly as Sunoo smirked, clearly pleased with himself. Heeseung and Jake remained oblivious, the former still laughing at his own joke while the latter stared after Sunghoon like he’d hung the moon.
This really was a cliché K-drama.
“Riki, they’re idiots,” Jungwon announced, sounding way too sure of himself as he leaned back against the seat of the company car.
As usual, the couple had a car to themselves. No one wanted to deal with the youngest pair being all over each other. Not that they were always like this—both had once claimed to be allergic to PDA—but apparently, that had gone out the window.
Riki snorted, amused.
“And you’re figuring this out now?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Jungwon sighed dramatically, letting his head fall back against the headrest.
“Sunghoon-hyung thinks Jake and Heeseung-hyung are dating.”
Riki didn’t even flinch. He already figured that out long ago and had been brainstorming ways to shove Jake and Sunghoon into a romantic setting without raising suspicions.
“Not surprising,” Riki said, shifting to rest his head on Jungwon’s shoulder.
Jungwon groaned, tossing his phone aside. “When did we become matchmakers? What were we thinking?”
Riki tilted his head, giving him an incredulous look. “We? This was your idea.”
Jungwon froze. Silence filled the car.
“What was I thinking?” he muttered, half to himself.
Riki laughed, sitting up so he could meet his boyfriend’s eyes.
“To be fair, I get why Hoon-hyung thinks that. Jake-hyung and Heeseung-hyung are… close.”
Jungwon tilted his head, his expression softening into something ridiculously cute.
“Huh?”
Riki smirked. “I mean, I thought you and Sunoo-hyung were dating at first.”
Jungwon blinked. Once. Twice. Riki could practically hear the gears in his head grinding to a halt.
“We’re not talking about this,” Riki declared, already predicting where this conversation would go.
“Yes, we are,” Jungwon insisted, clearly intrigued.
“After the JakeHoon situation,” Riki replied firmly, handing Jungwon his phone, which was open to his messages with Sunghoon.
Riki winced. Sunghoon sounded heartbroken. The man was down bad.
“They’re so fucking oblivious,” Jungwon muttered, inhaling deeply before exhaling with the weariness of someone twice his age.
“God, give me patience.”
“Not strength?” Riki teased, leaning back into Jungwon’s side.
“If I had strength, I’d throw Sunghoon-hyung and Jake-hyung into a closet together.”
Later that night, at an unholy hour of the morning, Riki sat cross-legged on his bed, flipping through an old magazine about high school romance and drama. It was research. Totally legitimate.
“How about we go on a secret double date?” he whispered to Jungwon, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
Jungwon, who had been half-asleep with his head buried in a pillow, cracked one eye open. “The hell?”
“Listen,” Riki began, already defensive. “We can take them to the mall or something!”
“You do realize we’ll have bodyguards with us, right?” Jungwon said, clearly amused by Riki’s enthusiasm.
“Do you have a better idea?” Riki shot back, crossing his arms.
Instead of answering, Jungwon reached over, pulling Riki close until the younger’s head rested against his chest.
Jungwon really knew how to shut down an impending Riki tantrum. A mad Riki usually meant at least five hyungs regretting their existence.
“Nope,” Jungwon finally admitted.
“So?”
“So what?” Jungwon smirked, clearly enjoying himself.
“Are we doing it?”
“Of course, love.”
Riki froze, his head shooting up to look at Jungwon.
“What did you just say?”
Jungwon blinked, unfazed. “What?”
“You called me ‘love.’”
Jungwon shrugged. “Yeah, and?”
“You okay?” Riki asked, his cheeks burning. The sudden onslaught of cuddling and pet names was a lot. Not that he hated it—far from it—but it was starting to freak him out.
“Mhm. You’re just adorable when you’re worked up over this,” Jungwon replied, his tone casual, as if he hadn’t just short-circuited Riki’s brain.
Riki muttered something unintelligible, burying his face in Jungwon’s chest.
“Anyway,” Jungwon continued, smoothly changing the subject, “wanna do it this Sunday?”
“Hell yeah,” Riki said, muffled by Jungwon’s shirt.
And just like that, their brilliant plan to play Cupid for Jake and Sunghoon was officially underway.
“Wait—you guys want to do what?” their manager asked, looking between the two boys like he misheard them.
Riki glanced at Jungwon, then back at the man, flashing his most innocent smile. He was the maknae, and everyone knew the maknae had privileges. Riki knew exactly how to use them. Call him evil, call him cunning—he didn’t care.
“Go to the mall?” he asked, puffing his cheeks and batting his eyelashes for good measure.
“Get Sunghoon and Jake together,” Jungwon deadpanned, clearly over it already.
Their manager snorted, shaking his head. “Good one, Jungwon. You don’t need to lie just to get out of the house. Fine, you can go, but you’re bringing two bodyguards along.” He winked at Riki and threw him a thumbs-up before walking away.
Riki smirked smugly, glancing at Jungwon.
“Favoritism,” Jungwon muttered, flopping his head onto Riki’s lap.
Riki leaned down to kiss his forehead. “Deal with it.”
“How about we get ice cream?” Riki suggested, looping his arm with Jungwon’s as they walked side by side. He sent Jake and Sunghoon a sweet smile.
“Riki, it’s cold outside,” Jake said, laughing softly.
“So?”
“I agree with Riki,” Sunghoon said immediately, making eye contact with the youngest. The two held back their laughter, their mischievous plan in sync.
“Of course you do,” Jake sighed dreamily, completely missing the silent exchange. A lovesick fool—that’s what Jake was. Riki didn’t blame him. He was the exact same way with Jungwon.
“Oh,” Jungwon muttered beside him, realization dawning.
Riki rolled his eyes and pinched his arm.
“Ow!”
One of the bodyguards stepped closer, concerned. “Is everything okay?”
Jungwon waved him off. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Riki cleared his throat, redirecting the conversation. “Alright, ice cream it is!” He pointed dramatically toward the parlor ahead.
“So much for not drawing attention,” Jake muttered, laughing along with Sunghoon.
The walk was short—or at least it would’ve been, if Riki’s long legs didn’t make the rest of them feel like they were sprinting to keep up. Honestly, if it weren’t for the bodyguards, he probably would have disappeared into the crowd.
Once inside, Riki’s attention wandered back to the task at hand. Jake and Sunghoon were standing close, whispering over the menu. Perfect.'
“What flavor, love?” Jungwon asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Whatever you get,” Riki said with a shrug.
Jungwon nodded and headed off, leaving Riki to observe the scene unfolding in front of him.
“‘Love?’” Sunghoon repeated, turning to look at him.
“That’s new,” Jake added, raising an eyebrow.
Riki nodded nonchalantly. “Yeah, I don’t know why he started calling me that, but I’m not complaining.”
Sunghoon giggled. The man actually giggled. Riki, though thoroughly taken, couldn’t deny how ridiculously adorable Sunghoon was in that moment. Jake, on the other hand, looked like he was two seconds away from fainting.
Riki just prayed there wouldn’t be a nosebleed involved. Explaining that to their bodyguards would be a nightmare.
“Here you go,” Jungwon said, returning with two cones.
“Thanks, babe,” Riki said casually, taking one. “You can go get yours now.”
As Jake and Sunghoon moved toward the counter, Jake grabbed Sunghoon’s hand, earning an immediate blush from the latter.
“Sunghoon’s blushing,” Jungwon whispered, leaning closer.
“No shit,” Riki whispered back.
“I bet he’s going to drag me to the bathroom later to tell me all about how his stomach feels like butterflies.”
“I still think you have it easier than me.”
“I do not!”
The debate was a recent development between the youngest couple—who had it harder dealing with their hyungs’ obliviousness? Jungwon insisted Sunghoon was manageable. Riki begged to differ.
The bodyguards, meanwhile, exchanged looks.
“Kids these days,” one of them muttered.
“Right?” the other whispered back.
“How about we go to a restaurant next?” Riki suggested as he watched Jake still struggle to pick a flavor.
“What restaurant? McDonald’s?” Jungwon asked, amused.
Riki shrugged. “Why not? We’re on break, and there’s no diet.”
Jungwon glanced back at their bodyguards, who offered no objections, just faint smiles behind their masks.
“Okay, McDonald’s,” Jungwon agreed. “But how do we get them alone?”
Riki hummed thoughtfully. “Bathroom break?”
Jungwon gave him an unimpressed look. “So inventive, love.”
Riki glared at him, but his mind was already buzzing with other ideas. If Jake and Sunghoon thought they were getting out of this unscathed, they were sorely mistaken.
“Food’s here.” Jungwon and Jake came with two trays of food. Their bodyguards were seated at a desk behind them.
They were lucky to get a back seat where no one could see them, otherwise chaos would have erupted in the way no one wanted.
“Thank you.” sang Riki.
“Thanks.” Sunghoon also thanked them.
Jungwon took his place next to Riki and Jake next to Sunghoon.
Jake was trying to initiate any form of physical contact while Sunghoon was scooting away subtly. Riki internally face palmed, did the man still think Jake and Heeseung were an item?
Riki made a mental note reminding himself to strangle Sunoo after all of this is over.
“Hey, did you guys hear Heeseung talk about that trainee?” Jungwon started. Riki was about to kiss Jungwon’s senseless because thank god, the man’a timing was a savior to society.
“Huh?” Sunghoon was confused.
Riki nodded.
“Apparently, he thinks they’re really pretty.”
Jake set his burger down.
“Really? Did he get their number or something?” He asked, curious. Sunghoon stared at him for a quick second before snapping his head back rapidly.
Riki didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or cry. Maybe both.
The pre-couple’s tension was going to turn Riki insane.
“Yeah, they’ve been texting for a while.” Jungwon answered nonchalantly, focused on opening his mayonnaise.
“Oh.” Sunghoon whispered.
“Did you say something, Hoon?” Jake looked at the skater.
“Uh-“
Riki got up, already aware of how this was going to go. Sunghoon realizes things and that Jake flirting with him wasn’t actually bros being homies but ‘hey this bro wants to be your boyfriend.’
Jungwon also followed him.
“We’ll be back.”
“Uh-huh.” At least, they acknowledged they were leaving. Riki honestly couldn’t handle it if they confessed to each other in front of him.
“Do you think it worked?” whispered Jungwon.
“Of course.” Riki nodded, hiding behind the pillar between the bathroom and the sitting area.
“We should get trophies for this.”
“Nah, it was fun, to be honest.” laughed Riki.
“Really?”
“Except for the part of hearing them being simps.”
Jungwon chuckled and slid his arms around Riki’s waist from behind, nuzzling his nose against his back.
“Babe?” Riki turned in the other’s hold.
“Hmm?”
“While they do their weird confession stuff- I have a question.”
Jungwon opened one of his eyes to peek up at Riki.
“About?”
“How come you’re so uh- clingy?? I don’t know- Touchy? lately?”
“More romantic, you mean?” Jungwon pecked his shoulder.
“Mhm.”
“I just wanna show you how much I love you, like- do you really think I would’ve suggested this whole ‘setting up’ thing if it wasn’t for you?” Jungwon held so much love in his eyes as he looked at Riki softly.
Riki could only stare at him with his mouth agape.
“I hate you.” He declared.
“No, you don’t, love.”
“Why do you have to be so fucking perfect?” Riki was pouting.
“I’ll do you one better, why do you have to be so fucking adorable?”
“You’re mean.” whined Riki.
“Sure.”
Regaining composure after their own little moment, Riki stuck his head out and saw Jake having his arm around Sunghoon’s shoulders as they laughed at something on the younger’s phone.
“We did it!” He cheered.
“I would’ve been surprised if we couldn’t.” Jungwon placed his arms on his hips.
“True.” agreed Riki.
“Should we like- leave them alone or something?” Jungwon flinched when he saw Sunghoon press a kiss to Jake’s cheek.
“Probably.”
“Thank god. I’m not prepared for that.” Jungwon gestured toward them.
“But- like, where are we going?” They couldn’t go anywhere without a bodyguard or they’ll have a search party looking for them and Riki knew the scolding they would get from Heeseung if they disappeared was going to give them nightmares.
“I think we’re stuck in the bathroom.” Riki groaned.
“Ah, great.”