Chapter Text
“Yeosang-ah? Is that you? Will you come here for a minute, dear?”
Closing the front door behind him, Yeosang hummed at the sound of Seonghwa’s voice and quickly stripped off his coat and shoes, making sure to place both neatly in their designated space before he padded through the small entryway that led into the rest of the house. It was technically an old clothing store on the outskirts of Seoul that had gone out of business decades ago, but Hongjoong had bought it for a steal and then renovated it to accommodate their massive family.
How did he afford this? Nobody knew. Yeosang did ask him once, back before the renovations were complete, but his boyfriend had just mumbled something about work and then kissed him with so much passion that all thoughts of finances flew out the door.
Needless to say, Yeosang never bothered to ask him again. Sometimes it was better to leave things unsaid.
“Yeosang-ah? Are you still there? I’m in the laundry room, sweetheart! Come on back!”
Seonghwa’s voice echoed off the rustic brick walls, and Yeosang immediately hurried towards the back of the house as he adjusted the duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Hopefully Seonghwa wasn’t hoarding the washing machine, because he needed to do a load too. If someone had told him that being enrolled in a prestigious ballet school also meant working as a professional laundress, Yeosang might’ve thought twice about his career choice. But he loved dancing, and it gave him an excuse to show off for his boyfriends, so doing a little extra laundry seemed a small price to pay at the end of the day.
Still. Who knew he’d go through at least ten leotards in a week? Maybe he sweated more than a normal person…
“Hyung?” Yeosang popped his head into the laundry room and spotted Seonghwa folding a pile of clothing, which looked to be Wooyoung’s judging from the mass amount of hoodies he saw. Although it could also be Jongho’s. They both wore hoodies with ritualistic fervor, and ended up swapping or stealing from each other more often than not. “Hi. Do you need any help?”
Seonghwa made a small noise of dissent and held out his arm, coaxing Yeosang to cross the room and fold himself into the taller’s embrace. “Mm. You smell good. Did you take a shower after practice?” Seonghwa nosed playfully along the top of his head, making Yeosang giggle as he swatted his chest.
“Of course. You guys always complain when I don’t. Yunho is the only one who doesn’t mind.”
“That’s because he’s a pervert, darling. The rest of us have a little more class,” Seonghwa huffed, pressing a kiss to his slightly damp hair before he drew back and reached for Yeosang’s gym bag. “Do you have anything in there that needs to be washed?”
Yes. A whole mountain of things. But Yeosang could tell that Seonghwa was knee deep in one of his ‘must purge the whole house of anything that smelled remotely stale’ moods, so he just shook his head and readjusted the bag, tucking it behind himself with a polite little grin. “No. Not really. It’s still pretty early in the week. I’ll just wait until tomorrow and do it then.”
“Tomorrow? Really? Are you sure, sweetheart?” Seonghwa’s eyes skimmed down his face, no doubt trying to make sure that he wouldn’t be inconvenienced by the wait. But Yeosang just smiled and kept the bag out of reach, and eventually Seonghwa heaved a soft sigh before nodding slightly to the space on his right.
“Fine, fine. Then would you mind unloading the dryer for me? I think some of your clothes got mixed up in this batch.”
Huh? Some of his clothes?
That was strange. Yeosang didn’t remember doing any laundry over the weekend. Maybe one of the others had borrowed some of his clothes again?
“Of course, hyung.” Yeosang dropped his bag on the floor and squeezed past his oldest boyfriend so that he could crouch beside the dryer. It was an indulgence Seonghwa had insisted upon when everyone first moved into the house, and more often than not was full of hoodies that clogged up the lint trap and drove him insane. But not today. Today it was full of something soft and pastel, and Yeosang frowned to himself before reaching inside and pulling out what appeared to be a...leotard?
“Hyung? What’s this?”
Seonghwa glanced over and cocked his head, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “What does it look like, sweetheart? It’s a leotard.”
Yes, he could see that. But why? Yeosang frowned harder and held it up, taking in the subtle pattern of tiny white flowers that were printed all over the pale pink spandex. It was pretty, much prettier than any of the leotards he owned, and he found himself reverently tracing the material with his fingers while Seonghwa patiently watched on with a grin.
“Well? Do you like it?”
“Like it? How can I not? It’s beautiful, hyung,” Yeosang breathed, and Seonghwa’s face lit up with a smile that made fireworks crackle beneath Yeosang’s skin.
“Good. I’m glad to hear it, considering that I bought it just for you.”
What?
Yeosang’s eyes widened with shock, and he glanced between the leotard and Seonghwa as his pert nose scrunched up with a pout. “But why? It’s not my birthday. Did I forget our anniversary again?”
That was apparently the funniest thing he’d said all year, because Seonghwa immediately burst into laughter and had to cover his mouth to muffle the sound.
“No, darling! You didn’t forget anything! You’ve just been working so hard lately, and I thought it might be nice to treat you to some new dancing gear. After all, a talented ballerina such as yourself should dress just as pretty as they look,” he added with a purr, and Yeosang blushed all the way to his toes as he nearly dropped the new leotard on the floor.
“Hyung…you didn’t have to do that…”
“Maybe not. But I wanted to. You deserve to have nice things, Yeosang-ah, and I wanted to be the one to give them to you,” Seonghwa assured, offering him a tender smile. “Besides, weren't you just complaining to the others that you needed more leotards anyway?”
“…Yes,” Yeosang mumbled, averting his eyes. “A couple of mine have holes near the seams. But I would have bought replacements eventually!”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure you would have,” Seonghwa crooned, reaching out to caress his flushed cheek. “But now you don’t have to. So you can throw the old ones away instead of making them suffer another round in the wash.”
Hngh.
Well, he definitely had a point.
But wait! Yeosang had multiple leotards that needed replacing! So did that mean…?
“Hyung,” he groaned, already reaching back into the dryer to withdraw a whole pile of spandex. “There’s so many of them! How much money did you spend on me?!”
Seonghwa just shrugged and went back to his folding, smoothing out the creases with his palms. “Does it matter? They were a good bargain, Yeosang-ah. And it’s not like I couldn’t afford it.”
This was true. Seonghwa worked as an event coordinator for the Korean branch of his favorite perfume brand, and thus made more than enough money to splurge on himself and all seven of his boyfriends. But still, how good of a bargain could he have gotten? Ballet clothes could be expensive, especially the higher quality ones! And these definitely appeared to be high quality. In fact, Yeosang found himself growing increasingly stunned as he sorted through leotards, wrap skirts, and cozy knit sweaters in a dizzying array of colors and prints.
“Hyung…you really shouldn’t have. This is way too much!” And yet Yeosang was smiling as he held a long sleeved leotard up to his chest, admiring how the deep red color offset his skin and made it appear almost golden in hue. “Oh, I love this one! And I have the perfect leg warmers to go with it!”
“I know. I made sure to find you some options that you could mix and match with your current wardrobe,” Seonghwa chuckled, placing the last folded hoodie onto the dryer as Yeosang gave him an earnest look.
“Thank you, hyung. Really. This is an amazing gift. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
“Sweetheart. You don’t need to repay me. That would defeat the purpose of it being a gift,” Seonghwa teased, but Yeosang just whined at him and set the leotard down with a pout.
“But I want to! Please, hyung?” He inched closer to Seonghwa and pillowed his cheek on his thigh, giving him his best puppy dog eyes until the older sighed and wrinkled his nose.
“Aish. None of that. You’re way too cute for your own good.”
Yes. Yes he was. And Yeosang took full advantage of it too. Which was exactly why he kept pouting at Seonghwa while also sliding a hand up his thigh, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that eventually his boyfriend would give in and tell him what he could do to pay back his gift. He’d never been good at denying him anything.
“…Alright, alright. Since you’re so determined to get your own way, I suppose there is something I’d like in exchange,” Seonghwa teased, brushing some hair from Yeosang’s face as he quickly perked up and lifted his chin.
“Really? What is it?”
“Well…you have so many lovely new clothes now. It would be a shame if I never got to see you in them. Especially since I’m never home to watch you practice.” Seonghwa’s fingertips skimmed over his cheek, and Yeosang’s lips parted with a surprised little “oh.”
“Okay….so should I try them on here?”
Seonghwa hummed and tilted his head, a hungry sheen engulfing his eyes. It made him resemble some kind of predator, one who liked to toy with their prey, and Yeosang could feel himself shudder on the floor as the weight of his boyfriend’s slender hand settled firmly in place on his neck.
“And risk one of the others stumbling across us? Yeosang-ah! Have some decency! Obviously we’ll go to the bedroom,” Seonghwa crooned, and who was Yeosang to disagree with him?
“R-Right. Obviously,” he stuttered, scrambling to his feet with his armful of clothes so he could follow Seonghwa out the door. He had a sneaking suspicion he was still going to need to do a load of laundry after his boyfriend was done with him, but that was a small price to pay for what was bound to be a fun afternoon!