Prompt (@seasideshell): Donghyuk has always cared more for Jinhwan than what is actually seen, even with Bobby's and Hanbin's care overshadowing his.

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Donghyuk is watching Yunhyeong try to steal yet another piece of kimbap from Chanwoo's Tupperware when the cafeteria doors swing open and a group of students stream inside. Donghyuk is just about to look away when Yunhyeong breaks into a grin and lifts his hand in a wave, which is when Donghyuk notices the remaining three members of their little group - Bobby, Hanbin and Jinhwan - making their way over to them. Jinhwan is sandwiched between the two younger boys as always, expression amused as Bobby talks his ear off with his right arm thrown carelessly around his shoulder, while Hanbin reads something on his phone on Jinhwan's other side, left arm hanging around Jinhwan's neck. Donghyuk knows Jinhwan is easy to manhandle because he's so small, but he doesn't understand how Jinhwan could possibly be comfortable walking around like that almost all the time. 

Donghyuk offers Jinhwan a warm smile when the elder slides into the bench next to him. "Hi, hyung." 

Jinhwan smiles back, eyes curving into gentle crescents and expression soft. Hanbin tucks his phone into his back pocket and places a hand on Jinhwan's shoulder from behind. "What do you want to eat, hyung?" Hanbin asks, peering over a little so that he can see Jinhwan's face. "I'll get it for you." 

"Ah," Jinhwan starts, squinting at the cafeteria food before glancing at the food on the table. "The chicken, pajeon and udon soup with the skewered fishcakes?" 

Hanbin nods and moves to walk over to the queue, but he doesn't take more than two steps when Bobby suddenly calls after him. "Hey, could you help me get - "

"No," Hanbin deadpans, without even turning back. 

A laugh slips past Jinhwan's lips and he pats Bobby's thigh a couple of times in comfort, and then the whole table cracks up a little when Bobby leans over and snatches Chanwoo's last piece of kimbap, stuffing it into his mouth and grinning wolfishly before Chanwoo even has the time to react. Hanbin returns a few minutes later, placing Jinhwan's tray in front of him before sliding into the opposite bench next to Chanwoo.  

"They ran out of udon soup, hyung," Hanbin says, gesturing to the seaweed soup in Jinhwan's tray instead. 

"This is fine, Hanbin-ah. Thanks," Jinhwan responds, smiling in a mixture of amusement and fond indulgence as he pushes his tray over a little to Bobby when the younger starts grabbing at his food. Donghyuk really enjoys the lunch periods when all seven of them can gather like this, because conversation flows so easily and naturally when they're all together and he really likes being with his hyungs, especially since there's only so much time he can spend alone with Junhoe before he does something he might regret, like stab him in the eye with a pen or a fork. 

Donghyuk is pretty sure that it's because Bobby is basically eating half of Jinhwan's lunch that the food on Jinhwan's tray disappears at such an astonishing pace. Their table is teasing Chanwoo about some girl or another who apparently has a huge crush on him (information courtesy of Yunhyeong who seems to know everything about everyone), so Donghyuk finally decides to stop fiddling with the last skewer of fishcake in his tray and transfers it over discreetly to Jinhwan's. Chanwoo chooses that exact moment to blush and make a sound of protest, which of course only causes the rest of them to cackle victoriously and further. 

Donghyuk is watching in great amusement as Chanwoo now tries to forcefully shut Yunhyeong up by clamping a hand over his mouth when he suddenly feels Jinhwan's thigh pressing against his on the bench. Jinhwan is holding the skewer of fishcake between his fingers and he's smiling at Donghyuk in gratitude, eyes crinkling a little at the edges. 

Perhaps it's because Donghyuk is so eager to please his hyungs or maybe it's because of how much Donghyuk adores Jinhwan, but either way, Donghyuk beams when Jinhwan takes his first bite of the fishcake.

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The next day, Donghyuk gets held back in class for two extra lessons, so by the time he finally makes his way over to the library with four of his classmates to work on their group project, it's already past four in the afternoon. It's a Friday, which means the school library is open till late, which also means that the whole gang is probably camping out in the library, studying together like they usually do. 

True enough, when Donghyuk walks into the library and follows his group members to one of the small meeting rooms at the back, he sees Junhoe, Jinhwan, Bobby and Hanbin studying together at one of the tables beside the large glass windows. Contrary to popular belief, Donghyuk knows that his hyungs work extremely hard and take their studies very seriously. In fact, Donghyuk knows that Jinhwan is at the top of his class and that Hanbin is practically at the top of his entire grade. People who don't know them just assume that they're not interested in getting good grades because of their otherwise playful and boisterous personalities. Right now, Hanbin's got his earphones stuffed into his ears as he does his work, Bobby has a highlighter in hand as he reads his notes and Jinhwan looks as though he's trying to explain one thing or another to Junhoe, voice hushed. Donghyuk is just about to duck into the room after his friends when Bobby happens to look up and catch his gaze, waving at him with a grin on his face. This causes Hanbin to glance up from his work briefly, and Jinhwan and Junhoe to turn their heads. Hanbin looks back down at his books almost immediately and Junhoe just looks disinterested, but Jinhwan offers him a small smile in greeting and that's more than enough for Donghyuk to smile back brightly.

By the time Donghyuk's group completes their workload for the day, over two hours have passed and the sun is beginning to set in the horizon, casting a dark orange hue across the library. They trail out of the room and weave their way through the tall shelves to head to the library's exit, but then Donghyuk catches sight of a familiar mop of black hair and stops walking. 

"You guys go ahead," Donghyuk tells his friends, who nod and bid him goodbye before continuing on their way out. Donghyuk walks over to the table by the window where Jinhwan has fallen asleep, head pillowed in his arms. His breathing is quiet and even, lashes fluttering a little with every exhale and the tips of his fringe tickling against his closed eyelids. 

There's something about Jinhwan that makes Donghyuk feel so overwhelmingly fond. 

So Donghyuk sets his things down on the table and slips off his jacket, draping it around Jinhwan's shoulders instead. Jinhwan is small, so the jacket looks big around him, and the sight makes Donghyuk's chest warm. Donghyuk moves to pull out the chair that's diagonally across from the one Jinhwan is occupying, sitting down quietly before starting on his homework. For the next half an hour or so, the library is silent except for the occasional shuffling of papers, hushed whispers from the other students who still remain and the scanning of a book that's being borrowed at the counter. Donghyuk is working on the last sum of his tutorial when Jinhwan begins to stir, eyelids fluttering open and expression a mix of dazed and confused as he sits up slowly. The first thing he does is check his phone, taking note of the time and reading his messages. There's one from Hanbin, gentle and endearing in a way that is unique to how he treats Jinhwan, telling the elder that the rest of them had to leave first and to text him back once he got home. Jinhwan sets his phone back onto the table and pulls Donghyuk's jacket tighter around himself. 

"Donggu-yah," Jinhwan calls him softly, voice a little scratchy from sleep.

Donghyuk looks up from his work and smiles gently at the way Jinhwan's fingers are curled into the material of his jacket. "Hey, hyung. Did you sleep well?" 

Jinhwan grimaces then sighs, idly flipping through his papers on the table. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep. Now I'm going to be sleeping at like three in the morning again to finish all of this." 

It's a hard year for Jinhwan, Donghyuk knows, since it's his final year of high school. Not only is the workload insane for the seniors, but there are also additional tests and university applications to worry about, not to mention the national examination that looms ahead at the end of the year. The toll it's taking on Jinhwan is only becoming more and more evident as the days go by: he spaces out more than he laughs and smiles whenever all of them gather, he's eating less during lunch and according to Bobby and Hanbin, Jinhwan is beginning to suffer from increasing bouts of insomnia. Trust Jinhwan to never mention any of this to the younger boys, just because he doesn't want them to worry about him. If Bobby and Hanbin weren't as acutely attuned to Jinhwan as they are, Donghyuk is pretty sure they'd never know about any of this either.

Donghyuk's concern must begin to show on his face, because Jinhwan smiles good-naturedly before deciding to slip on Donghyuk's jacket properly. The sleeves are too long, as expected, so only the tips of Jinhwan's fingers can be seen. Nonetheless, Jinhwan begins to pack up his things, and Donghyuk follows suit after scribbling down the answer to his last math question. They walk out of the library in silence, bowing to the librarian at the counter before pushing open the glass doors and stepping outside. 

"Are you going home now, or do you have extra classes?" Jinhwan asks as they make their way out of campus. "I know Junhoe has an extra chemistry class today." 

Donghyuk shakes his head, flicking his hair out of his eyes as a slightly cold gust of evening wind blows by. "I don't have classes today." 

Jinhwan shrugs off one strap of his backpack and begins to remove Donghyuk's jacket. "Sorry," he says, clearly trying to hand Donghyuk back his jacket. "Here."

Donghyuk stops him with a laugh and a hand to his arm. "Keep it on, hyung. You get cold much more easily than I do." After a beat, Donghyuk adds, "I like how my jacket looks on you, anyway." 

Jinhwan looks a little taken aback, but the smile that stretches across his face is half-shy and half-pleased, and it's beautiful.

The walk to the bus stop is quiet after that, neither of them saying anything as their arms brush against each other and they stroll down the street in companionable silence. When they finally get to the bus stop and sit next to each other on the empty bench, Donghyuk glances over at Jinhwan and says, "Go out with me for dinner tonight, hyung."

Jinhwan looks surprised. "Now?" 

Donghyuk nods, then grins. He feels strangely confident. "Yeah, now."

Donghyuk isn't entirely sure if he's just imagining it, but in the dim light of the dingy streetlamp he swears he sees the faintest blush dust across Jinhwan's cheeks. "But my work - "

"We'll eat at that small bibimbap place near your house that I know you really like, and that I also know serves their food really quickly. Then I'll walk you home, and you can Skype me once you're going to start your work so that we can both do our homework together, and keep each other company. How does that sound?"

Jinhwan searches Donghyuk's eyes for a long moment, then rests a hand gently on Donghyuk's knee so that he can lean up and press a chaste kiss to the corner of the younger's mouth. "I'd like that," Jinhwan says softly, smile full of affection. "Thank you," he adds. "For always taking care of me."

Donghyuk can't help it: he laughs lightly, incredulous and disbelieving yet so undeniably fond and happy. He was going to show Jinhwan how much he really cared.

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A/N: It's Christmas where I am so Merry Christmas everyone!!! 米＾－＾米 also, I just created a twitter account!! I'm @koojunes_ on twitter hehe please do follow me there and say hi and let's be friends!! I don't have anyone to talk to about the iKON boys sobs so it'd be great if we could all be friends and talk about them and about fic there (＾ω＾) happy holidays!!!