Chapter Text
Junhoe didn’t know when it began. But he sure knew when was the first time he noticed.
They were at dance practice, the day after Melon awards. They’d just gotten back from Japan two days prior, and had spent the whole two days they’d been in Korea preparing in case they won an award (which they did! Junhoe still couldn’t believe.), and now here they where, in their practice room once more. They’d been practicing since early morning, and it was now 9pm, and honestly, Junhoe felt like dying. His legs hurt, his arms hurt, his back hurt… everything freaking hurt. They’d just gotten back, for fucks sake! Was it too much to let them have one freaking day off? Or even half? Apparently yes. And Junhoe knew that if he complained or stalled they’d be stuck there even longer, so he gritted his teeth and kept dancing, ignoring the pain on his arms, and on his legs, and everywhere.
He was glancing around the room, looking for something to focus on other then his aching limbs when his eyes found Jinhwan. Jinhwan was dancing with all he had, and even had a smile on his face, and Junhoe was seriously stunned. The older had stayed up later than everybody else the night before. Firstly because of the live he filmed with Junhoe for their Vapp, then because even after the live was done and Junhoe went to his room, Jinhwan went looking for Hanbin so that he could drag their stubborn leader to bed and make him rest at least for a while. And Junhoe knew Jinhwan hadn’t slept until he was sure Hanbin was asleep. So the fact that Jinhwan was dancing like that, specially considering how naturally clumsy he was, was admirable. ‘And he looks so hot…’
As soon as the thought passed his head, Junhoe’s eyes widened and he looked down. What the hell? The boy shook his head, trying to get the absurd thought out of his head. He looked up once again, trying to focus on something else, but his eyes naturally drifted to Jinhwan. And then Jinhwan looked up and smiled at him, and Junhoe felt his heart skip a beat. He tripped on his own feet, almost falling down, but regained balance before the others noticed. Then he looked up, only to see Jinhwan biting his lip, obviously trying not laugh. The younger felt himself blush and thanked heavens for the fact that he was already red from practicing for so long. He bit his own lip and looked down, deciding that it was better to concentrate on the pain on his whole body than to face Jinhwan after what he’d just thought.
After that it didn’t take long for Hanbin to end practice. Junhoe knew he was partially at fault, because although he tried hard to not let his eyes wander he often found himself eyeing Jinhwan before catching himself and focusing on the choreography, but those few seconds of distraction were enough for him to constantly mess up his steps. So when Hanbin stopped the music and sighed, telling them maybe it was time to wrap it up, Junhoe felt a mix of emotions that ranged from embarrassed to guilty to relieved.
As they walked home, Junhoe kept to himself, thinking about the turn his night had taken. Honestly, he blamed the exhaustion and pain for making him think weird things about his hyungs. He had never, never, thought about Jinhwan like that. I mean, he’d thought Jinhwan was cute, but who didn’t? Jinhwan was tiny! It was impossible not to find him cute. And maybe he’d looked at Jinhwan and thought he was handsome once or twice, but that meant nothing. Jinhwan was handsome, everyone with eyes could see that. So there was really no other explanation for what he’d thought, other then him being too tired to function properly.
They got home and Junhoe immediately ran to the shower, managing to be the first one in. He smirked as he got out to see his hyungs and Chanwoo glaring at him, and if his heart skipped a bit when Jinhwan pinched him then smiled and wished him good night no one needed to know. That night, as Junhoe fell asleep, other times when he’d noticed Jinhwan came to his mind, but he was much too tired to properly think about that. Besides, he knew he had no reason to worry. Jinhwan was his friend and only his friend. And they’d stay like that.