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Hongjoong pouts, glaring sulkily into the darkness of the folded up sofa bed. He’d been attempting to put the sheets on when it swallowed him up, trapping him inside the sofa like he’s the filling of a sandwich. Luckily it’s surprisingly comfortable, which is a good thing seeing as Seonghwa is out picking up dinner for them, Hongjoong’s new flat is not yet stocked with food, or a real bed.
He shuffles so he can fold his arms, letting out a sigh. This is the first and last time he’s ever attempting to make up a sofa bed on his own. He can already hear Seonghwa’s laughter in his head, his hyung will never let him live this down, he only hopes he can at least persuade Hwa not to tell their Atiny about this unfortunate situation, the fan fiction writers would have an absolute field day he’s sure.
None of the wiser of what awaits him back at the flat, Seonghwa happily bounces up to the collection point of Hongjoong’s favourite restaurant with a big smile on his face. He refused to tell Hongjoong where he was getting dinner from so it’d be a pleasant surprise, the captain has been working round the clock recently, on top of moving to a new place, he can see the dark circles under Joong’s eyes and wants to do something extra special for him tonight.
Upon hearing his name called, he takes the two large bags full of Hongjoong’s favourite dishes and utters a polite thank you before retreating back to his car, gently placing their dinner down beside the large bouquet of marigolds, you could liken the blooming flowers to a warm sunset on a summer's day, their petals a mixture of deep reds and oranges with splotches of bright yellow.
It doesn’t take long to drive back to Hongjoong’s now the rush hour traffic has cleared up. Seonghwa juggles the bags and flowers as he fumbles to find the keys between the array of keyrings on the star shaped carabiner, bought by Hongjoong because it reminded him of Hwa.
It’s oddly quiet when he steps inside, he thought Joong would be settled on the sofa bed by now, perhaps working on their next comeback despite his firm instruction not to touch any work related tasks this evening. He makes his way to the kitchen, setting down their dinner and placing the flowers in a jug of water.
“Hongjoong-ah?” he calls into the silence with a frown.
“Hwa!” Hongjoong’s muffled voice floats through the air.
“Where are you?” Seonghwa pokes his head back through to the living area, eyes darting around the small space.
“Over here!”
“That would be more helpful if I could see you.”
“The sofa!”
Seonghwa eyes the sofa suspiciously, Hongjoong is neither on or anywhere near the piece of furniture, but it’s the exact spot the captain’s voice emanated from.
“I still can’t see you…”
“I’m right here, Hwa, I need your help,” Hongjoong grumbles, embarrassment coming to a peak.
Seonghwa’s eyes widen, a hand flies to his mouth as he rushes to the sofa, dropping to his knees beside it.
“Hongjoong?!”
“Yes, yes, I’m here!”
“They… They turned you into a sofa?! No!” Seonghwa lets out a wail, hugging the arm rest of Hongjoong in despair.
Laughter erupts from the sofa.
“Why are you laughing, Joong! You’re a sofa! How did this happen!” Seonghwa sobs.
“I’m in the sofa, dumbass!” Hongjoong affectionately corrects his hyung, laughing even harder.
“In the sofa? Oh!” Seonghwa clears his throat, sitting back on his heels and releasing the arm rest from his tight hug. “Are you hurt?” concern floods his system.
“No, I’m fine, it just folded up on me while I was trying to put the sheets on,” Hongjoong mumbles, “can you please get me out? And please, don’t tell anyone, I’m already embarrassed enough.”
“Of course, Joong-ah. I won’t say a word,” Seonghwa comfortingly reassures as he stands, gripping the metal frame of the fold up bed.
He pulls it upwards, once, twice, three times, to no avail. He grits his teeth, yanking it up again, a light sweat breaking out over his forehead.
“Everything okay…?” Hongjoong questions nervously.
“Yeah… It’s just heavier than I expected, I’ll get you out though, don’t worry,” Seonghwa pants.
The struggle of pulling the bed from the sofa goes on for a vicious ten minutes, ending in Seonghwa flopping down to the floor in defeat.
“I think I need to call for help,” he admits.
“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone!” Hongjoong’s muffled voice argues.
“Unless you want to spend the rest of eternity folded up in a sofa bed I’m going to have to, I can’t pull this thing up by myself, not when there’s an entire person inside.”
“Fine, fine,” Hongjoong huffs.
Seonghwa sits up, digging his phone out of his pocket and calling San, all that time at the gym will finally be put to good use.
“Hey hyung, is everything going well at Hongjoong’s new place?” San brightly asks.
“Well, no… We’ve got a bit of a situation and need your help.”
“What’s up? I’ll come over right away.” San jumps to his feet, finishing off his glass of water.
“Joong is stuck in the sofa.”
He chokes, spraying water over the kitchen counter and bursting into a fit of laughter.
“Hongjoong is stuck in a sofa?” he says through splutters and giggles.
Seonghwa bites his lip, trying to push down the urge to laugh, sparing Hongjoong further embarrassment.
“Yeah, I can’t lift the sofa bed out on my own so I need you to come help me, and don’t tell anyone or Hongjoong might actually kick you out of Ateez,” Seonghwa instructs sternly.
“Okay, okay, I’ll be there soon, tell Joong to stay where he is,” San dryly jokes, throwing on his leather jacket.
Seonghwa shakes his head, rolling his eyes. “Sure. See you soon.”
Once he hangs up, he can’t contain himself any longer, small giggles escape him until he’s practically rolling on the floor laughing.
“If you don’t stop laughing, I’m going to tell Atiny about the time you got so drunk that you threw up in a karaoke room all over Yunho,” Hongjoong emptily threatens, both men know he’d never risk upsetting Seonghwa like that.
“Sorry,” Seonghwa’s voice wobbles as he tries to get his outburst under control, “I’ll be super serious from now on.”
As soon as San knocks on the door he leaps to his feet, rushing over to let his fellow member in, leading him to where their captain remains stuck.
“He’s in there?” San snorts out a laugh, a big grin plastered across his face.
“Don’t laugh, this is serious!” Seonghwa slaps his arm lightly, shooting him a stern look, although San can see how incredibly hard Seonghwa is working to maintain composure.
San zips his lips, still smiling, thoroughly amused by the entire situation.
He follows Seonghwa’s lead, grasping the metal frame and after a three second countdown they both pull up with all their strength. San’s muscles bulge as the sofa bed finally springs from the confines of the sofa, nearly knocking them both on their ass. They take up position on opposite sides, opening out the bed to a dishevelled Hongjoong whose body sprawls out upon release.
“Thanks,” he mumbles, avoiding eye contract and sitting up, pushing his messy brunette hair out of his eyes.
“You’re welcome, captain. Don’t get stuck again, okay?” San beams at him.
“Believe me I won’t,” Hongjoong assures.
The pair bid farewell to San before setting up the sofa bed properly. Seonghwa neatly pulls the duvet over it, flattening out the creases and plumping up the pillows, Hongjoong can’t help but watch him with a fond smile and heart shaped eyes.
“All done!” Seonghwa looks up, Hongjoong immediately averts his gaze.
“Thanks for your help, Hwa, I appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem, I’m always happy to help you. Get comfy and I’ll reheat our dinner,” Seonghwa instructs, disappearing into the kitchen.
Hongjoong throws on his comfiest clothes, curling up in the corner of the temporary bed, eyeing his laptop. He has a million and one things to work on, but are they worth getting scolded by Seonghwa? He’s been over doing it recently and tonight is meant to be a relaxing, work-free evening according to Hwa’s strict orders. He throws a movie on in hopes of distracting himself.
Seonghwa emerges a moment later, glass vase in hand with the fresh bunch of marigolds bursting from it, Hongjoong’s heart swells.
“Seonghwa… Thank you, I love them.”
“I just want you to know how much we all appreciate everything you do for Ateez.” Seonghwa’s tone is sincere, all traces of the earlier amusement gone.
“I know,” Hongjoong softly replies, leaning over to smell the sweet flowers, placed on the small table beside the sofa.
Seonghwa watches the simple movement, butterflies fluttering about his stomach. He shakes his head, his fluffy hair falling over his forehead slightly, snapping back to the present moment. He vanishes into the kitchen to bring out the next surprise, Hongjoong’s favourite dishes.
“What did I do to deserve someone like you in my life?” Hongjoong lovingly peers up at Seonghwa as he places the trays of piping hot food in front of him.
“Shut up and eat,” Seonghwa scoffs, heat flooding his cheeks and turning them a beautiful shade of pink.
Hongjoong chuckles, satisfied with the blush adorning his hyung’s face. One day he’ll work up the courage to tell Hwa how he really feels, then he’ll be able to pepper kisses all over his face when it turns so cute and red.
“Can you stay the night?” Hongjoong breezily asks between mouthfuls of food. “I’m slightly concerned this bed will eat me whole again.”
He isn’t the least bit worried about that really, he just wants to spend as much downtime as possible with Seonghwa.
“Of course, anything you want,” Seonghwa happily agrees, instinctively raising his hand to wipe a droplet of sauce from the corner of Hongjoong’s lips.
“I know I’m not the best with words when it comes to you, but I really do love you a lot, Hwa, thank you for always being there for me.”
“I love you too, Joongie, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Seonghwa’s hand drops to Hongjoong’s, squeezing it affectionately.