Kookie trailed YoonGi into his and NamJoon’s room and waited awkwardly to the side while the mint haired hyung changed into his pajamas and collapsed onto the bed. The kid waited until his hyung lifted the blanket and waited for a full fifteen seconds. He jumped right in and cuddled up against the older boy. Almost an hour later there were two other people struggling to get comfortable in bed with them and YoonGi was on the verge of snapping and becoming a mass murderer when he felt Kookie smoothly kick one of the extra bodies to the floor. “Sorry hyung!” he noted with an innocent voice but YoonGi knew that the darkness hid a cocky smile. Hobi grumbled and pulled himself off of the floor before whining and then trying to crawl in with Joonie who shot a threatening growl. He left in silence. Now he had a little more room, but he was left with Kookie on one side of him, and Tae on the other. It wasn’t like he particularly minded Tae’s sleep talking, which was his most common excuse for kicking the younger boy out, he could sleep through it easily but… the problem was actually falling asleep. While Kookie was like an adorable little brother, Tae was something else entirely. His heat on YoonGi’s side was electric and every time the younger boy shuffled, or his long eyelashes brushed against his hyung’s shoulder the older boy’s heart reacted fiercely and loudly like thunder that kept him awake. As if sensing the older boy’s distress Kookie piped up, “TaeTae hyung go away, I was here first and the bed isn’t big enough for three people.”

    “It’s not fair, I want to cuddle with hyung too!”

    “Come on, Tae.” YoonGi sighed, “I just want to sleep. I have barely slept for weeks.”

    “How come Kookie gets to stay?”

    “Because he’s been having nightmares.”

    “Really?”

    “Yeah.”

    “Oh… okay. But can I come here if I’m having nightmares too?”

    “... I guess so” he sighed. There was no way he could say no in this situation. Tae resigned himself to crawl out of bed and leave. The other two were off to dreamland in mere moments and both of them slept well. Two more days passed similarly until one night YoonGi woke to Tae and Jimin screaming like maniacs. The rest of the dorm scurried to their door as the two boys burst out with wild eyes. Tae hopped right into YoonGi’s arms and he noticed the tears in the boy’s eyes, he would have had chills perhaps stopped breathing if it wasn’t for the situation. Jimin was being comforted by Hobi off to the other side. Their words were completely incoherent so NamJoon entered the room with Kookie close behind. “Wooow” they heard from the inside and Jin followed the other two inside before promptly exiting the room with a hand over his mouth and a straight jog to the restroom. “Sassang fans, really.” Joonie sighed as he and Kookie abandoned the room. Kookie retrieved a chair from the living room and some duct tape before sealing off the door and jamming it shut. YoonGi and Hobi stared at them with curious eyes. “Hyung” Kookie noted to NamJoon, “C-Can I s-sleep with you tonight? I think Tae should sleep with YoonGi hyung.”

    “Probably. Hobi, take Jimin to your room and keep him calm. Those two are probably in shock. We’ll call the police in the morning. I already sent pictures to our manager.”

    “You two seem calm.” YoonGi noted.

    “Well…” the older boy sighed and picked up his cell phone to show a picture to his hyung. No wonder Jin had run to the restroom… he felt bile rise in his own throat as he pulled Tae in closer.  “Where the hell did they even get a pig? Why did they think that was a good idea??” Joonie went to show the picture to Hobi who shook his head. He didn’t want to know, instead he cradled the younger dancer in his arms and carried him back to his own room. Although Hobi had a room to himself it was because the room was tiny and only one person could live in it either way. They’d given Jin the option but he’d chosen to room with JungKook instead. NamJoon and YoonGi shared a room since they were always in studio together anyway. It was hardly ever inhabited. The 95 line had been stuck together because of Tae’s crazy sleeping habits. Jimin had been a sacrifice. Tae was shaking in his hyungs arms as YoonGi lead him to the bedroom and collapsed together on the mattress. He pulled the younger boy in tight and finally he felt his breathing calm and the shaking began to cease. Although the kid was actually taller he felt tiny in YoonGi’s arms and so the older boy managed to calm his heart and stayed awake long enough to rub soothing circles into his bandmates back. He had no idea when he’d finally fallen asleep but he woke strange voices in the hallway and Joonie entering to wake Tae up. “Come on, Tae. You gotta tell the policeman what happened.” The younger boy curled himself into a ball against YoonGi’s chest like a terrified child and the older boy nudged him. “Don’t worry. I’ll go with you.” They rose and followed the leader into the living room where a couple of detectives sat on the couch while policeman removed Kookie’s precautions. They heard a gasp from the officers who went inside before they called one of the detectives to come look.

    “You should see it first.” YoonGi noted, “we’ll still be here after you’ve looked.”

    The men nodded and went to the scene.

    “This is why I told my son not to be an idol.” one of them noted upon returning, “This might be the worst I’ve seen though.”

    “Seriously, how are those fans?”

    The boys gave them looks that said they didn’t know either before Tae launched into telling them what he’d seen. As he stumbled through details YoonGi let their pinkies interlock and it seemed to help the other boy calm down. Finally Jimin and Hobi appeared to tell what Jimin had seen as well. “What a thing to happen two days before Christmas…” one of the detectives sighed once the statements had been taken. “You should keep that room sealed off for now. Who is in the room with the window next to them?”

    “JungKook and I” Jin noted, “but don’t worry. I took the liberty of sealing it off before I went to bed last night.”

    “Kookie and I sealed off every window we could get to as well.” NamJoon noted and YoonGi sighed. He couldn’t blame those two for not being able to sleep… he didn’t know how he’d managed with Tae curled up so close to him. It was excellent sleep though.

    “What should we do with those two? They’re ousted from their room for now.” JIn noted.

    “I… I’d like to stay with YoonGi hyung” Tae noted softly as he avoided the older boy’s eyes.

    “That’s fine.” YoonGi sighed and JungKook scrunched up his nose before sighing.

    “Jiminie’ll stay with me.” Hobi replied in a matter of fact tone and Jimin nodded softly.

    “It’s settled then” NamJoon noted, “Manager cancelled our scheduled today in light of what happened so we’ll have the next four days off as a Christmas miracle.” As much as everyone wanted to cheer the situation was still a little tense. Suddenly Jimin snapped to and gasped, “the gifts!” Tae gasped too and they ran off to retrieve their bandmates Christmas gifts before the room was sealed off. Jin called for them to grab clothes and anything else they’d need too. “For now” was going to be a long time and very little sleep YoonGi guessed. Tae emerged with a large bag of gifts and a backpack along with a couple of giant bears and YoonGi stared for a minute and then sighed. Cute and cuddle was one hundred percent Tae’s territory, sure, but that bear had to be cleaned before going anywhere near YoonGi and NamJoon’s room. Tae looked panicked at Jin, “How do I get blood off of Mr. Snuggs?” The oldest boy looked overwhelmed and YoonGi sighed before taking the bear out of Tae’s hand and heading towards the bathroom, stopping by to grab the first aid kit. The younger boy trailed behind him  with a terrified face. The older boy set it in the shower before dabbing the excess blood out and Tae made a scene of telling the stuffed bear that it would be okay. Cute. YoonGi glanced behind him to see that it was only the two of them and then explained to Tae’s bear friend that this might hurt a bit but it’s for the best. He sprayed the fur with hydrogen peroxide and waited for it to bubble the blood out before whipping it off and  then rinsing it down. Good as new for the most part and the younger boy seemed beyond happy as he raced out to show the others. He’s so cute… YoonGi cleaned up the mini mess he’d made and followed Tae out.

    They spent the day playing around together and they even got to go out and play in the park. About halfway through the day Tae is still jumpy but Jimin seems to have made a full recovery. He even had the nerve to challenge YoonGi to a basketball game. Of course he lost. They lost again with everyone else vs YoonGi and Kookie. YoonGi and Kookie high fived in glee after having put the other five in their places. Tae turned his face away awkwardly but recovered soon, running around and chasing some little kid who had asked him to play. While he was distracted YoonGi approached Hobi to ask how JImin had recovered so quickly when Tae was still totally freaked out. The other boy flashed a bright smile and winked at him before replying, “hugs and kisses, if you know what I mean.” YoonGi twitched and then hoped he didn’t. He watched the two boys interact and he was sure he did know. Gross. They would brush shoulders or sit with their ankles interlocked and YoonGi caught it once, when Jimin thought no one was looking. The younger boy leaned over shyly and planted a kiss on his hyung’s jaw. No more observing those two. At some point while playing with the kids Tae tripped and yelped, turning big teary eyes to his hyungs who hurried over to check on him. Jin squatted down next to him and asked to see it but Tae moved away and looked shyly over at YoonGi. “I want YoonGi hyung to do it… he did it with Mr. Snuggs and with my finger before…” The older boy felt his mouth go dry as the other looked at him. He could barely see their faces over the pounding on his heart and the adorableness of the boy in front of him. Dammit why was he so cute? He made a face and then squatted down on the other side to look at the scrape. It was nothing really but he still wanted to clean it and cover it. “We’ll go back first.” YoonGi noted and helped Tae up, catching Hobi winking at him ecstatically. off.

    Inside the dorm he sat Tae on the counter to rinse and sanitize the wound, apologizing for the sting but Tae took it well. He just sat quietly and winced but didn’t cry or complain. At the end as he was putting the band aid on Hobi’s words flickered through his head. The older boy gave in, just this once, and before he let the boy go, he gave him a little kiss on the band aid. He heard Tae a breath in and he wondered if he’d accidently hurt the boy but when he went to meet the other boy’s eyes he found a beautifully wide box smile and pretty gleaming eyes that looked truly happy for the first time since the incident. His heart skipped a few beats and then thundered back to speed. Chills ran through his body and everything he’d wanted to say was caught in his throat. His thoughts were a blur and it seemed like a small eternity before Tae broke the silence. “Hyung is the best.” the other boy noted in his pretty velvet voice that he rarely used. YoonGi felt himself gulp slightly before he gave a little smile and reached a hand out to help Tae hop down. As soon as his feet hit the floor the little alien had pushed himself into YoonGi’s arms and hugged him tight. This was a dangerous situation. YoonGi allowed himself to return the hug but the heat against his skin was almost too much and he was losing his mind a little. The scent of the younger boy filled his nostrils and he almost gave in… almost. He pulled away and excused himself to take a shower. An ice cold shower. He needed to calm down.

Afterwords he landed himself in front of his home studio to get some work. He didn’t notice when the younger boy wandered in and collapsed on their newly shared bed and waited until he fell asleep. When the others returned NamJoon ushered YoonGi out of the room and into Jin and JungKook’s room to catch the younger boy. “I know you talked to them.” Joonie noted to JungKook and the younger boy flashed big innocent wide eyes their way.

“Talked to them?”

“To Tae and Jimine about whatever they’re up to. I saw you corner them.” Joonie replied.

“Are you jealous because I wanted to protect YoonGi hyung?” Kookie asked blatantly and both of them stared at the maknae in shock. The silver haired leader’s mouth opened twice but no words came out and then he accidently knocked over Jin’s desk chair and caused a loud crash. JungKook gave a mischievous smile and looked between the two older boys before replying, “It’s not my business… but I don’t think hyung will hate it. Honestly I’m a little jealous that I didn’t think of it first… Tae is a little more ambitious than I thought, though. I didn’t realize it before but it’s pretty obvious now. I feel bad for getting irritated with him.” Now YoonGi was even more confused but he trusted Kookie enough to know that the boy wouldn’t let it go if it were too bad. He shrugged and made his way back to his room to find a panicked Tae pacing the floor. The minute he stepped in the boy nearly jumped out of his skin and then collapsed in relief once he saw who it was. “Woah” YoonGi noted and caught the boy from hitting the floor, “You okay?”

“You were here and then suddenly you weren’t!”

“Woah, relax, I just went across the hall to talk to Kookie.”

Tae made a face that YoonGi couldn’t quite gage and then sighed heavily, mumbling something about how it’s always Kookie. The blonde had been thinking about grilling him for details on whatever they had been planning but the boy looked pretty upset. The younger boy pouted and laid back on the bed, facing away from his hyung. It was a little irritating, like he was throwing a fit, and the older boy thought it was all very troublesome. Whatever. He sighed and ruffled up his own hair before going back to his work. Tae was quiet for a long time and his hyung wondered if he’d fallen asleep again, sparing a glance at the boy who wasn’t moving a muscle. Finally he rose from his chair to grab an extra blanket from the closet and lay it over the younger boy, tucking it around his curled up figure. He was about to head back with firm, slender finger grasped his wrist and pretty dark pools of chocolate met his own. Heat shot through him and then electricity and he was not about to be caught now. “Ya” YoonGi warned softly, “The hell are you doing?” Tae didn’t let go, in fact, his grip tightened a little and the older boy flashed him a look of warning. He had to get some work done one way or another. Tae shifted his eyes away shyly and the older boy could feel his anxiety through his twitching fingers. “Jesus, Tae” he sighed and sat down on the bed next to the younger boy, “What is it?” The kid let go of his wrist and stayed quiet for a while, occasionally opening his mouth and then closing it. Aish, spit it out! The older boy ruffled the kid’s hair and then flicked him on the forehead. “What is it?” he asked again and this time the eye contact returned and the unbelievably adorable super shy expression on the younger boy’s face nearly had YoonGi’s heart beating out of his chest. He wanted to hit something, but not Tae. Never Tae. He needed to snap out of it and fast.

“Hyung… is Kookie your favorite?” Tae asked, finally.

“What?” he was surprise, for sure.

The little alien sat up to better keep eye contact and the older boy couldn’t force his muscles to react. He just sat, trying not to read into that at all. “Do good hyungs have favorites? What is going on in your little head, kid?”

“Do you think he’s cute?”

“I think you’re all cute even if your obnoxious pains in my and your huge brats half of the time.”

“Hyung” he whined in his cute voice and YoonGi scrunched up his nose to tease the boy who was finally smiling again. The kid giggled before his face went back to a cautious sort of serious. “Hyung…” the boy noted with an unquestionably y expression, “Do you think I’m cute?” The blonde immediately fought to control his expression and ignore the reaction to gulp or the fact that his mouth had gone dry suddenly. Calm. Calm. CALM DAMMIT. He maintained his lazy, cool face well. He was getting used to it, sort of.

“What did I just say?”

“Okay… does hyung think I’m attractive?... More attractive than say… JungKook?”

Woah. He was having a hard time avoiding a favorable translation of that one. He felt his mask drop and Tae watched as his puffy bottom lip dropped and his mouth opened slightly in shock. “Hyung” This time Tae’s voice was deeper, more forward and the older boy was having trouble keeping any train of thought as he watched his dongseng’s pink lips move and that deep velvet voice reverberate, “Do you think I am more attractive than JungKook-ah?” With those y eyes that were peering sightly up at him, and those lips moving softly, with his shirt that was a little loose and just showing his collar and his soft caramel skin. Yeah. He definitely thought that TaeHyung was more attractive than the maknae… and anyone else he’d ever met. He caught hold of himself and forced himself to reply in a gruff voice, “I did vote you as second visual didn’t I?” Huh? Did he just see disappointment flash in the other boy’s eyes?

“Isn’t that just because JungKookie was a minor then?”

“No. I think you’re very handsome.” He gave up, he’d just have to be honest, plus it made Tae smile a bright angelic smile, there was something in his eyes that looked sort of warm and… nope. No way was he letting himself think that. His heart was thumping in his throat.

“Hyung I--” the kid was cut off as the door to their room opened and Jimin peeked in shyly calling them for dinner. They two boys inside of the room exchanged glances before Tae’s cheeks flushed pink and he hopped up and ran to grab hold of Jimin who looked a little taken aback with wide puppy eyes. “What the hell?” YoonGi mumbled as he brushed past them and out of the room. They whispered feverently behind him and a part of him wanted to listen in but a much larger and more prominent part of his mind was working overtime trying to figure out what all of that meant. They ate dinner quietly and played video games and watched a few movies before YoonGi headed to bed, alone. Tae had been awkward all night and was totally avoiding his hyung. The older boy had given up and excused himself to bed, irritated, while Tae stayed up to play with Jimin. For a while he laid in bed and thought about it. He thought about what had happened and Tae’s cute pink cheeks which had him thinking about the younger boy. Tae was too cute with his silly faces and perfect box smile always happily in his own world. Normally Tae was sort of childlike so YoonGi had always thought of him as adorable… but that face earlier had a new thought rising. Tae could be very, very y with his deep voice and sort of wanting eyes. . The blonde cursed himself and then rolled over and pulled the covers over his head to block out the outside world. He just needed to sleep which, after an hour of trying to clear his thoughts, he did only to be woken up in the middle of the night by Tae and Jimin. They were huddled together calling to him softly and then nudging him. “What, dammit?” he growled but the boys were already too afraid to be any more frightened by him. Once he saw the fear on their faces he lifted himself out of the bed and rubbed his eyes while asking, “What’s wrong?”

“Hyung… I think there’s someone in our room.” Tae replied in a soft, breathy voice and the older boy glanced at the other bed to find sleeping NamJoon and JungKook.

“In what room?” he yawned. His hazy mind was convinced that Tae was crazy because both of them were supposed to be there.

“In mine and Jiminie’s room.” Tae replied and for a moment the blonde’s mind tried to piece together what the kids were talking about through the haze of sleep and when the puzzle pieces clicked together he felt his eyes widen and his muscles push him off of the bed. “Someone is in your room?”

“I turned the tv off so we could go to bed and we heard shuffling in the room… and when we were curious enough to check someone touched the handle. Hyung I’m scared” Jimin whined squirmed so the blonde patted both of them on the head softly.

“You two, stay here.” he told them, pushing them to sit on his bed before moving to shake their leader awake, accidentally waking Kookie too. Joonie blinked up at him sleepily as the older boy explained what was happening and then the two of them abandoned the younger boys to go check, leaving Kookie behind as their ‘protector’. Sure enough, as soon as they entered the hallway, they could hear someone trying to quietly break the tape sealing the room off from the rest of the house. Joonie, who had thought to grab his cell phone, was dailing the police as the blonde waited to grab the culprit if they got through. “Are you ing kidding me?” YoonGi whispered as he watched a knife pop through the tape to slowly cut it away. Joonie moved into their room to speak with the detectives from before while the blonde started to replace JungKook’s secure blockage from the night before until the leader rejoined his hyung in the hallway, nodding. The police were on their way so the boys only needed to make sure they didn’t get in. It was the longest ten minutes in either boy’s life as they waited between the hallway and the dorm’s entrance to keep an eye on both doors. When the police arrive the perpetrators were still working at the tape so they quietly took down the chairs shoved in front of the door so the police could burst in and catch them. The chaos woke the entire dorm and Jin and Hobi had burst out of their rooms while Joonie and YoonGi stood protectively between the kid’s door and the room they were hiding in. Kookie had opened the door to make sure everything was okay and the other were obviously relieved to see the police. It was not what they had expected. Instead of crazy girls trying to “be with oppa” it was actually a couple of boys around their age. Apparently, it wasn’t a jealousy driven act and the boys were actually fans but they were convinced that the members wouldn’t be as nice to them as they were to the female fans so they were trying to get some one on one time, one way or another.

“The first night was some crazy girls though” one of them noted, “I have video proof, but we scared them off afterwards. They won’t be back.”

“Honestly” NamJoon sighed heavily.

“I like having male fans” Jimin told the boys shyly, “but I don’t like people breaking in and scaring the crap out of me in the middle of the night.”

“Seriously.” YoonGi piped in, “what were you brats thinking? I mean, just tell us that! We read the fancafe and we would be happy to talk to you if you came to us!”

“Just so you know” the leader noted, “if you had made it in you would have died and YoonGi hyung’s hands and he would have felt really bad afterwards.”

“Felt bad?” one of the fans asked.

“Since our hyung is protective and manly, but he’s also very kind.” Tae noted with a bright smile. The blonde clicked his tongue in irritation before heaving a heavy sigh.

“You give that footage to the police, and promise you will NEVER try a stunt like this again, and we won’t press charges.” Jin piped up

“Since you’re our precious male fans” HoSeuk grinned happily and the detective sighed, giving into their whims. The boys handed over their film footage almost instantly and apologized to the members before they were left to hurry home and the members thanked the police for their hard work. Jin and NamJoon immediately returned to their beds and Kookie trailed behind Joonie while Hobi wrapped an arm around Jimin to pull the cute younger boy towards his room. Tae glanced at his hyung who stretched and yawned lazily. “Are you coming to bed now?” YoonGi asked and the younger boy hesitated before nodding. Before they made it to the door the little alien grabbed the older boy’s milky white wrist and squeezed tight. The older boy was beyond ecstatic that his face was turned away and the kid couldn’t see it flash from shock to what he was sure was quite pink. His heart was pounding in his chest and the younger boy’s touched burned against his skin. “Are you still scared?” the blonde asked cautiously, without turning around. There was a pause and then the younger boy wrapped his arms around his hyung, burying his face in the nook of YoonGi’s neck and effectively shattering any form of “cool” or “cover” the other boy had managed to keep. The sound of his heartbeat was overpowering his thoughts and his chest was tight with electricity as he stifled the chills running through him. “It’s okay” he noted softly, hoping that Tae couldn’t hear the shaking of his voice, and patted his younger boy’s hair gently. His hair was super soft and sleek feeling between the older boy’s fingers. Tae’s breath was shaky on his shoulder so the older boy gave in and slid himself around to return the younger boy’s embrace, wrapping strong arms around him. “It’s okay” he whispered softly, “you’re safe now.” Tae mumbled something incoherent and then sighed before pulling away so that they could both get to sleep. That night Tae stayed cuddled as close as possible all night and YoonGi attributed it to his lingering fears and definitely not any other feelings of a lighter, more electric nature. Definitely not.