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You would think on a forty stop worldwide tour, that it would get lonely as you split your free time between long haul flights, fighting for your life with jet lag and having to minimise the time spent exploring the city, lest you accidentally attract a crowd and lead Stay back to the hotel like an unwitting pied piper.
Instead for Stray Kids, booking an entire hotel floor had the boys feeling nostalgic for dorm life, minus the horrors of ten men to two bathrooms.
Tonight the party was in Jeongin's room. The magical SKZ fairy had managed to dial into the SKZ hivemind and had sent the post concert snack for all members to his room so when they all burst into the room an absolute feast of the local Korean style fried chicken and pizza was waiting for them.
Changbin and Hyunjin were onto the food immediately, followed closely by Seungmin grabbing the room service menu to see if they had any local IPA he could sample. Chan took his time, waiting for the opportune moment to unleash his inner seagull and snatch a basket of chips for himself.
Minho made it to the couch leading a drowsy Felix to come sit beside him, Han had slipped off his shoes and threw himself onto Jeongin's bed messing up the cover and sheets so he could roll himself into a little HAN Burrito ™.
"Smells like the Yang bakery" Jisung sniffed exaggeratedly and sighed in contentment. Jeongin, still at the entrance, rolled his eyes and made his way over to Jisung on the bed.
"Hyung, get off my bed." He complained, grabbing at the single bare ankle that peeped out of the HAN burrito™. He pulled and Jisung soon reluctantly let himself be un-cocooned. He crawled off the bed and made a beeline for the convenient gap Minho left on the couch. Jeongin followed him and soon all the members were eating, drinking and chatting.
By 3am the conversations were starting to slow down and Jeongin was finding himself starting to wane. He rubbed his eyes and sighed making eye contact with his bed. He pushed the feet of one of his Hyungs that had made themselves onto his lap at some point in the evening. He then hauled himself to his feet and made his way to the messy bed. He flopped face down onto the bed with a little whump. He nuzzled his face into the pillows and groaned as he felt his limbs stretch and then relax. Jeongin yawned and closed his eyes.
“Hyungs,” he called to the room. “I don't care what you do, but I'm going to sleep.” The members cooed. Han nudged Minho in the ribs.
“He doesn't care what we do," he whispered conspiratorially, "We could kiss him.”Jeongin shifted.
“Not that.” he immediately corrected himself.
“Awwwww.” the members groaned in sync, disappointed at the rejection of their youngest. Jeongin could hear little huffs of complaints and a “not fair” whine from Jisung.
As normal the familiar sting of rejection from their maknae quickly dissipated from the group and the conversations turned to other topics, the voices becoming progressively quieter and acting like white noise as Jeogin started dozing for real.
Eventually, a couple of the members started making their way back to their own hotel rooms. Jisung and Felix were first, arms around each other waists, propping each other up as they stumbled out together taking turns to giggle and shush each other.
Hyunjin left soon after, side stepping Changbin's attempt to bear hug him as they intersected at the bathroom door. Finally, Seungmin drained the last of his beer and carried the empties to the bin by the door, neatly placing the bottles into the bin and then leaving without sparing a glance back at the remaining team.
The oldest seemed content to keep sharing the space with Jeongin and as the youngest continued to drift between awake and sleep, he could hear them murmuring. Occasionally Minho or Changbin would accidentally raise their voice and Jeongin would hear shuffling noises as the other two grabbed and shushed him. Chan started cleaning, accompanied with soft rustling noises and little happy puffing noises as he cleared and wiped the surfaces to his satisfaction.
In the brief moment of wake, Jeongin rolled over onto his side. Eyes still closed he could feel the prickly feeling of being watched. The remaining Hyungs had paused and were watching the youngest to see if he had actually woken up. When it seemed like he was asleep, Chan whispered
"We should head out and let the little bugger rest." Jeongin heard murmurs of agreement and more moving noises as the three collected themselves. The soft thud of feet alerted Jeongin to the presence of one of the Hyungs approaching the bed. He squeezed his eyelids together to try and feign deep sleep.
He felt the mattress dip slightly as someone perched on the bed beside him, the soft yellow light from the bedside lamp obscured by the unknown hyung Long arms reached over him and Jeongin caught a whiff of sweet vanilla. It was Chan. Jeongin couldn't help but smile, his heart melted with a sudden burst of affection, Hyung was tucking him in.
In their younger days, Chan had often tucked Jeongin into bed. Jeongin, an early sleeper, would drag himself into bed, sometimes he would make the top bunk, sometimes not. He often forgot to close the bedroom door. Chan notorious for being a night owl would occasionally come across the youngest sprawled out on a bed with no blanket. Chan momentarily distracted from his late night stress induced pacing would come in and rearrange Jeongin's limbs so they were all on the bed and firmly pull a blanket around his form.
Chan would then admire his handiwork and gush at his cutest baby bread leaning forward to lightly peck the youngest on the forehead before leaving the youngest to sleep.
Jeongin, although not the biggest fan of skinship, found this little ritual comforting especially when he was homesick and although they had never really spoken about it, it seemed Chan found these moments to ease his own homesickness and that he wasn't there for his younger siblings.
Their tucking in ritual had stopped in time as they got older and eventually the dorm was split into two. But very occasionally and usually with the aid of one too many shots of soju, Chan would guide him into bed and tuck him in. Usually, pulling the sheets under him tighter so Jeongin couldn't roll onto his back or stomach. But always finishing the ritual with a soft kiss to his forehead.
He felt the whoosh of linen as Chan pulled the top sheet and blanket up and over, tucking the edge under Jeongin, fingers gently digging under him slightly. Chan fussed with the bedding until it was to his liking.
"Sweet dreams, Jeongin," Chan whispered "Love you." Jeongin felt a finger stroke a strand of hair behind his ears. He braced himself for the smack of a forehead kiss, as Chan had done every time he had done their silly tuck the baby bread in bed routine.
But it didn't come, the hand withdrew and he felt Chan turn away, Jeongin's eyebrows furrowed in the absence of a kiss to the spot between his eyebrows.
WHAT!?
Where was the kiss? This didn't feel right, you can't gently tuck someone into a cocoon, wish him sweet dreams and not seal it with a kiss. This felt wrong, was his hyung mad at him? Jeongin opened his eyes, any drowsiness gone, replaced by a vague sense of distress. He looked up at the broad back of his Hyung, starting to retreat. Before he could stop himself his hand flew up and grabbed at the hem of Chan"s hoodie.
"What? No kiss!?" Jeongin rasped out his mouth surprisingly dry. Chan froze and turned back, confused at the outburst. Minho and Changbin by the open door whipped their heads towards the commotion.
"I thought you didn't want a kiss from Hyungs?" Chan asked cautiously, looking down at the youngest. Jeongin blushed realising too late how desperate and needy he had sounded dropping his hand from the hem. Jeongin groaned and let himself flop back down on the bed. He threw forearm over his eyes. If he can't see Hyung, maybe Hyung can't see him and won't realise what he was about to say was actually coming from Jeongin's mouth
"Hyuuuuunng" he whined softly, "But it doesn't feel right." He couldn't tell if he was making sense, Chan should be able to figure out what he meant right? Or not.
"What doesn't feel right? What do you mean buddy?" Chan perched back on the bed, ready to pull Jeongin's forearm from his eyes, but stopped himself, his hand hovering awkwardly over the younger, feeling cautious.
Jeongin squirmed on the bed, the heat on his face exacerbated by the firm tucked bedding around him and the warmth radiating from Chan like an aura. Jeongin swallowed and opened his mouth, and out came an utterance so softly spoken, Chan thought he had mouthed it.
"Can you repeat that mate?" Chan leaned in closely in anticipation. He had clicked and figured out what Jeongin was trying to say or ask, but he knew that any sudden movements at this key moment could make Jeongin dash. He did his best to keep his face neutral and glanced at the other two by the door in warning.
"I didn't want a kiss from everyone." Jeongin managed to push out of his mouth, lisping slightly with the effort. Jeongin felt fingers tap on the forearm covering his face, he reluctantly shifted it slightly so he could peek out.
Chan was a lot closer than he realised. Jeongin squawked and shifted his forearm back to block out the light and the widest cheesiest goofiest grin from his silly leader. Chan giggled as he grabbed Jeongin's forearm with one hand and prised it from his face, his other hand cupping Jeongin's jaw and tilting it slightly to look at him.
"Who do you want to kiss you?" He teased, "Me or one of these guys?" He jabbed his thumb at Minho and Changbin at the door. A sudden crash and a flurry of movement as the two rushed over to the foot of the bed, nearly tripping themselves and each other.
"Yeah Jeongin, who do you want a kiss from?" Changbin eagerly whispered, his knee starting to press onto the mattress, priming himself to climb into the bed. Minho had already dove onto the other side of the bed lying face Jeongin with his arm propping him up, effectively boxing him in.
Jeongin squirmed at the attention. He closed his eyes. "Hyuuuuuungs" he whinnied. If he was hot before, he was practically on fire now.
"How about this…" Minho started to suggest looking between Chan and Changbin "We do rock paper scissors?" The other two quickly agreed.
"How's that Jeongin? Nod if you agree." Chan removed his hand from his jaw, resisting the urge to squeeze their baby bread and push and pull his face to nod for him. Jeongin nodded quickly, his eyes opening just in time to see the three men ready a fist each for a very important game. Chan was on his right, having stood up in a fighting stance, Changbin kneeling at Jeongin's feet and Minho on his left, the hand that was not propping him up in a half sitting position curled in a fist swaying slightly as if Minho was considering punching one of the other players to even the odds.
"Rock, paper, scissors shoot!" they chanted, Changbin throwing paper while Chan and Minho threw rocks. Changbin cheered in victory and before either Minho or Chan could call for best out of three, he crawled completely onto the bed, throwing himself over to the right to push Minho to one side to space to wriggle in beside the Maknae.
"Hi" he beamed at Jeongin, ignoring the cat like Hyung behind him jabbing and prodding at Changbin's back in retaliation.
As boisterous as Changbin could get, he was surprisingly gentle as he leaned closer until they were nose to nose. Jeongin closed his eyes as he felt he was going cross eyed trying to focus. Changbin exhaled softly and gently nuzzled the tip of his nose against Jeongin's nose. Soon he felt Changbin push with his nose a little harder turning his face just enough to expose his cheeks and the first gentle press of lips of his Hyungs was planted on his cheek.
Changbin pulled away. "How was that?" he asked softly. "Is that enough?" The youngest shook his head
"Again."Jeongin whispers, sounding strangled. Changbin melted and cooed, moving forward to kiss the other cheek.
"Uh!" a hand clapped over Changbin's pursed lips and ripped him back. Changbin muffled some protest at Minho who had intervened.
"You've had your turn." he made eye contact with Chan raising his fist. Chan eyebrow raised in bemusement responded and they played again. The saying that the one who suggested the game always loses rang true as Chan's rock obliterated Minho's scissors.
"FUCK!" Minho threw himself on the bed and sulked. Jeongin, amused by the antics but still feeling a bit vulnerable, looked up at the victor. Chan eased himself down to the floor onto his knees so he didn't need to lean down far or get within biting distance of Minho.
"Hi baby bread" he squealed in a high pitched aegyo voice, his pupils shaking slightly as his eyes roved over Jeongins face at the multiple places he wanted to bite… no kiss, his most favourite Dongsaeng.
Making his decision he took a deep breath to steady himself and danced his fingers up Jeongin's neck to cradle his face with both hands.
His plush lips meet the intersection of Jeongins eyebrows and pressed firmly. Jeongin felt a little wobble of the leader's bottom lip and then a little nudge of something wet and warm to his skin. Before Jeongin could react to the sensation, Chan released the seal of his kiss with a loud smacking sound.
"MWAAAAAAAHH" he giggled as he drew back leaving a little patch of spittle where his tongue had prodded. Jeongin made a disbelieving face at his hyung who then had the audacity to poke his tongue out like a cat distracted mid-clean, his eyes gleaming in amusement.
"Mhelm," he said. Changbin grabbed at Jeongin's shoulder and pushed it down so Jeongin would face closer to him.
"Eww Hyung!" He scolded Chan "Lets get these germs off" switching to a softer tone as he addressed the youngest. He grabbed a handful of his own shirt and attempted to wipe away the offending mark.
"Oi!" Chan scoffed, his hand circling Changbin's wrist to pull it away. Jeongin felt a bit pressed as the two were literally arm wrestling over his person. A third hand soon slapped away to break up the fight. The hands gave up and quietly retreated to their sides, feeling chided.
Jeongin breathed out and looked over Changbin where the third hand had intervened, making eye contact with Minho.
"Do we need to keep doing rock paper scissors?" He asked Jeongin calmly, clearly rebounded from his earlier tantrum. Jeongin shook his head.
"Great!" He sat up and hooked his leg over Changbin and momentarily straddled Changbins side as hauled himself over with a grunt. Jeongin was jostled into Chan still kneeling at his bedside as Minho used his limbs to roll Changbin away.
Once he was comfortable he motioned at Jeongin to come to him. Chan nudged Jeongin slightly. Unlike Chan who cupped his cheeks Minho went straight for his hair using his hands to slick back his fringe and grip firmly the top of his head like he was holding a basketball. He leaned forward and the third kiss of the evening found its way on his forehead. When Minho released, he ruffled Jeongin's hair, his eyes darting around the youngest face to try and read how he was feeling.
"Again?" He asked softly. Jeongin affirmed, nodding. Changbin, who had been pushed to the far side of the bed and not keen for another struggle against the other two, had rolled off the other end of the bed and walked around to squat beside Chan. Jeongin shifted so he was lying on his back.
"Again." He repeated, as he settled in, any further pangs of shyness at asking for this attention had waned, replaced by a warm feeling in his chest.
His three Hyungs looked down at the youngest fondly and then at each other. He did ask his Hyungs for more kisses, how could they deny their Maknae on top. Who wouldn't be keen to cave into his demands? The three Hyungs took turns kissing their youngest on every inch they could comfortably reach on his face. Jeongin softly whispered "More" or "Again." when they would check in on him.
Eventually, Jeongin drifted into a real sleep, his mouth opening slightly. The kissing slowed to a stop as they heard a gentle snore. Minho was the first to move as he sat up and extracted himself from the bed. He walked around and tapped the other two on the shoulders. Changbin looked up and nodded, rising to his feet. It's time to sleep.Chan still captivated by their sleeping beauty ignored the pointed look from Minho
"Just one more." Chan murmured more to himself. Minho rolled his eyes and motioned at Changbin. They hauled Chan by his armpits to his feet. Chan struggled against them. Minho let go to block Jeongin from Chan's sight and Changbin manoeuvred Chan into a headlock. Chan slumped the cuteness aggression spell broken. Changbin led Chan to the door as Minho followed, turning off every light on the way out.
Jeongin slept through the rest of the night, and woke up well rested. The only evidence of demanding his Hyungs affections the night prior was a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest and the flurry of messages in the SKZ group chat of the oldest bragging that the 00s missed out on the kissing party.
Jeongin sent a quick message to the chat ".... I don't know what you're talking about." and threw the phone back onto his bed with a chuckle.
He knew he was up for a long day of denying his members and playing hard to get. But he was grateful that they still indulged him even when it came down to it.
But they would not catch him admitting to any of it today. With that thought he rolled out of bed and went to shower, ignoring whichever member was pounding on his door.