i'm gonna apologize in advance for the fluff and possible ocd-ness

Step 1: awareness

Moonbin cannot stop staring at Eunwoo’s lips. They’re quite nice lips, mind you, and they look ridiculously soft – but obviously Moonbin didn’t tell you this, nor can he confirm its fluffiness because that requires venturing into some blurry territory of friendship and romance that Moonbin refuses to acknowledge he has fallen into. He just has a deep admiration and appreciation for Eunwoo’s lips. Scratch that. A deep as the sea admiration and appreciation for Cha Eunwoo.
 

In fact, Astro’s resident puppycat can’t not pay attention to Astro’s visual and his best friend.

He doesn’t know since when this became an obsessive habit of his. Sanha claims it’s been since he met Eunwoo. MJ helpfully says ‘since forever’. Rocky calls him smitten. And Jinjin just snorts when he asks him why. He hates to state the obvious but he has such helpful bandmates. Helpful bandmates that smirk with knowing glances every time he gets paired with Eunwoo for an activity. Bandmates that whisper amongst themselves and always ever so conveniently leave him alone with Eunwoo whenever they have free time.

With a sound akin to a puppy whimper, Moonbin smushes his face into his pillow, hating the fact that a free day has digressed into a day of restless confusion and continual pouting towards a certain Cha Eunwoo. Of course Eunwoo took this in casual stride and spared Moonbin any questions, only to every so often pat the dancer on the head with a silent “are you okay?” look that made Moonbin feel weirdly warm inside.

“Moonbin, can you help me make dinner?” Eunwoo’s head pokes in through the crevice of the open doorway, cute and twinkling eyes looking hopefully up at Moonbin who was currently wrestling with his blanket in the top bunk. Wait what. Cute?

Getting caught in this silly war with his trusty pillow and blanket and feeling embarrassed for calling Eunwoo’s eyes cute (what is he going to think next – that Eunwoo’s toes are adorable?), Moonbin stills and hesitantly pops his head up from the twists and tangles – much like how he feels about his love life.

“Yeah sure hyung, give me a minute.” He blushes a bit when Eunwoo, instead of leaving him alone, pushes the door open further and makes his way over to him with a helping hand ready to intervene.

“You look adorable Bin-ah but I think you may need my help getting yourself out of that.” Eunwoo chuckles, leaning over the top bunk to pull the blanket off of Moonbin.

Flustered by the sudden closeness of his hyung and the side compliment, Moonbin quickly tries to disentangle himself on his own, avoiding any direct physical contact with Eunwoo’s hands, and successfully manages to do so. But as he climbs his way down the ladder, two steps at a time, he loses his footing at the last step and feels himself falling backwards. Thankfully for his dancer instincts, he twists to avoid falling on his back but instead finds himself pushing against a warmer body which he holds onto unconsciously as gravity pulls him and the other towards the floor.

A loud oomph and a groan later, Moonbin ends up lying chest to chest on Eunwoo with his hands gripping Eunwoo’s shoulders and something warm holding him at his waist.

Freaking Cha Eunwoo’s pretty fingers loop surreptitiously around the belt loops at his waist and Moonbin wants to dig a hole to bury himself in embarrassment. He tries to get up but the fingers now tighten around his hipbone (when did his shirt even lift up??) and his legs, entangled with Eunwoo’s, seemingly forbid him from detaching himself from the gorgeous boy lying underneath him. Instead he falls back onto Eunwoo with a groan, accidentally faceplanting the skin between Eunwoo’s neck and collarbone. While Moonbin’s dying in mortification with his face hidden in the crook of Eunwoo’s neck, he’s also painfully oblivious to the fact that Eunwoo’s blushing furiously at the boy in his arms.

They probably would have stayed frozen in that position had Eunwoo not taken ahold of himself and mumbled a soft ouch that tickled Moonbin’s sensitive ear. Moonbin hastily rolls over to his side, afraid of having hurt his hyung in his fall, and kneels beside Eunwoo with immense worry and dread showing on his face.

“Hyung! Where does it hurt? I’m so sorry I fell on you,” Moonbin rambles, tentatively placing his fingers randomly over Eunwoo’s face, cupping his cheeks, checking his head, etc. If any of the other members walked in on them now, they probably would have laughed at how crazily worried Moonbin was acting since he was usually the chill member of the group. But rather than responding to Moonbin’s questions, Eunwoo smiles fondly at him with his eyes curving into crescent shapes, stunning Moonbin’s rambling into cute stutters as he grows fidgety under the older’s warm gaze. Instead, Eunwoo opens his arms wide as if asking Moonbin to hug him (actually, he was just asking the younger to pull him up by the arms) – but Moonbin awkwardly leans over and wraps his arms around Eunwoo’s midriff, to which the visual confusingly looks down at the fluff of brown hair blocking his vision. Weird. If Eunwoo’s asking for a hug, why isn’t he hugging him back?

“Um Moonbin, I kind of needed you to pull me up by my arms,” Eunwoo quietly says after his arms had finally reciprocated the hug. Moonbin barely registers the other’s words, having gotten too comfortable in Eunwoo’s embrace, and wow was that the same soap he uses? Why does it smell so good on Eunwoo?

But alas all good things with his favorite person come to an end in the presence of a certain group of four people.

“You know, when you two ended up winning the two-person bedroom, we didn’t expect you guys to get this intimate,” MJ remarks.

Moonbin, whose eyes were closed as a result of Eunwoo’s soothing presence, blinks open at the sound of a giggle right above him. He twists his head and sees Rocky smiling at him, with Sanha by his side, who can barely keep quiet with his giggling.

“Okay lovebirds, making out time is over. We require your assistance in the kitchen.” Jinjin drawls from the doorway, eyes glinting mischievously when he sees both Eunwoo and Moonbin’s face flush red as they try to simultaneously detach and put distance between themselves.

“We weren’t making out!” Moonbin protests, shooting Rocky a glare when the 98liner laughs. MJ only raises a delicate brow in response.
 

“We’ll be right over there, guys.” Eunwoo consolingly says, shooing everyone out of the room with his hands. He chuckles when Sanha sticks out a tongue in defiance but being the obedient maknae he is, he leaves the room dragging along MJ and Rocky. Jinjin shakes his head in amusement and makes his way to leave too but not before quipping, “Better not be cuddling like lovesick fools next time I catch you two.”

If Moonbin’s face could get any redder, then it would be as red as Eunwoo’s lips after a day of photoshoots and lip biting.

Eunwoo finds it cute. Moonbin begs to differ.

“Hyung, do you need help getting up?” Moonbin his head to one side, wondering why his hyung was still sitting on the floor. He, himself, was already on his feet, bouncing on the balls of his heels as the earlier restless feeling returns to his body.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” Eunwoo says, instinctively lending out his arm. Moonbin smiles mischievously at him before swooping down and hugging Eunwoo by the waist and sneakily pulling him up.

With a cute laugh and perhaps fingers that linger a bit longer than necessary at Eunwoo’s waist before grabbing Eunwoo’s hand playfully, Moonbin grins shyly at Eunwoo and says, “I bet I could get to the kitchen before you!”, before taking off and leaving the older boy in the room.

And if either of the two felt a tingle when their fingers brushed, neither mentioned it because they both believed it was their imagination and not something to dwell upon. After all, they were just best friends.

Right?

Step 2: hand touching

The concept of hand holding has never been a surprise to Moonbin. Whether it was for fanservice or just a genuine offer of stability in times of stress and emotional turmoil, Moonbin would never turn down the physical and mental comfort other’s hands hold.

But lately Moonbin notices something about Eunwoo that seems to directly correlate to him and hand touching. Whenever they’re on camera or off camera, the older finds a way to keep a comforting hand near Moonbin, varying from a casual arm placed around his shoulders to the delicate grasp of Moonbin’s wrist in Eunwoo’s soft and pliant palm.

Moonbin understood it at first when the camera lens focused on him and Eunwoo, and the older boy trailed his fingers up Moonbin’s spine playfully before settling perfectly on a shoulder as if it belonged there from the start. Of course the first time Eunwoo did this, Moonbin almost choked on his words while speaking to their AROHAs but he faked it to be a cough and side-eyed the surprising audacity his hyung seemed to have. Now, it’s as if he expects Eunwoo’s palm to be there, open and ready to receive Moonbin in case he stutters over his practiced script or needs a reassuring push to face the millions of unknown, judging faces behind the camera.

Slowly these shoulder hugs become light arm and wrist grabs, and occasional leaning into his personal space. Which Moonbin finds less disturbing than the honest fact that he doesn’t mind the growing, physical closeness with his favorite hyung. More times than not, he returns these favors and smiles shyly, even in response to the constant teasing he gets from the hyungs.

So in a light-hearted retaliation against the others, it unconsciously becomes a race between the two of them to see who can pull off the most casual side hugs and fanservice touches in the longest period of time without looking awkward. Ignoring the maknae line’s pretend gagging, it almost becomes a full on broadcast of just cuddling between Moonbin and Eunwoo at one point, and Jinjin had to intervene and force the two to stand on opposite sides of their team line for some time. While Moonbin still had the physical comfort and shoulder to lean on from whomever stood next to him that day, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that it wasn’t the same. That it didn’t give the same effect Eunwoo gave him.

So Eunwoo and Moonbin had to tone it down for Jinjin to allow them back together as the center duo again. And the two called a silent truce in the likes of love and war. How silly Moonbin thought that it would just be over like that.

Unfortunately for Moonbin’s health, Eunwoo had increased his physical affections off-camera and took many opportunities to sneakily jumpstart Moonbin’s calm heart into uncharacteristic throbbing, which Moonbin deems probably highly unhealthy.

For example, Moonbin was on dish duty with Sanha, having lost four rounds of rock-paper-scissors. Rocky had been extremely gleeful upon finding out he didn’t have to wash the dishes, finally able to skip out on the traditional maknae line dish duty and spend his free time doing something else other than seep his hands into dirty water.

Moonbin however had to accept his fate, and followed the overly hyper maknae into the kitchen, balancing six dishes precariously on his hands. The chore passed by quickly, with Sanha acting like the playful beagle he was and drawing out laughter from Moonbin every once in a while.

Moonbin was about done with the last dish when he felt a puff of warm air against his ear and familiar, firm arms wrap around his waist. He squeaked, to the amusement of both Sanha and the invader and Moonbin hears sweet-sounding laughter.

“Yah, you startled me Eunwoo-hyung!” Moonbin pretends to be mad as he scrubs the plate slightly harder, but he was actually just blushing and trying to hide his embarrassing squeak. Sanha sees the scene before him and chortles over the absurdity of the situation. When Eunwoo refuses to let go of his koala-bear hug and even dares to place his forehead against the back of Moonbin’s neck, the poor boy almost flings his plate at Sanha's face.

And yeah, Sanha’s seriously cracking up.

“Hyung, Moonbin’s face looks like a ripe tomato. You should totally see it!” Sanha teases, dodging his way out of the range of Moonbin’s arm and just barely avoiding the water thrown his way.

“Sanha, do you want to die? – No, hyung, don’t look!” Moonbin brings his wet hands up to his face with a shriek, trying to escape Eunwoo’s gaze. He swears he’s going to punch Sanha later in the privacy of a room. But right now he has his dignity at stake.

Eunwoo spins him around and Moonbin stumbles into Eunwoo’s awaiting embrace, face still covered.

“Bin-ah, you’re getting your face all wet. Sanha-ah, can you fetch me a dry towel?”

Moonbin hears Sanha leave the room and he’s ready to remove his hands and face Eunwoo only to feel sudden pain in his eyes. Eunwoo sees him flinch the same time Moonbin realizes what’s going on.

“Moonbin! Did you get soap in your eyes?!”

Eunwoo’s troubled eyes even look beautiful, Moonbin thinks as his eyes water a bit and he blinks rapidly at the other. “Maybe?” He chuckles, slowly becoming nervous when he sees Eunwoo’s expression curl into a frown.

“Oh baby, what am I going to do with you?” With a sigh, Eunwoo turns Moonbin around and proceeds to turn on the water. For a minute, Moonbin scarcely remembers what happens as Eunwoo practically washes the soap from his eyes out for him. He knows his face is flushed from the nickname Eunwoo had nonchalantly called him, but he keeps having to tell himself it doesn’t mean anything special.

“Ah here, Eunwoo-hyung. I’m going to leave you two alone now.” Moonbin hears a voice from his left, and had he not been stunned from Eunwoo’s use of ‘baby’, he would’ve grabbed Sanha by the arm and given the maknae a nice, little pinch as a present.

After a few more minutes of running water to fully wash out the soap from Moonbin’s eyes, Eunwoo turns off the faucet and the kitchen becomes abnormally silent.

“Moonbin-ah.”

Eunwoo’s voice is as soft and gentle as his ministrations towards Moonbin as the older boy lightly dabs at the water on Moonbin’s face. If Moonbin had opened his eyes, he would have seen a pretty, natural pink dust the visual’s cheekbones. But like anything in regards to Eunwoo, Moonbin felt like jelly in his legs and heart, and embarrassed that he was possibly reading too much into Eunwoo’s kind care.

He wouldn’t know how his reflexive little tongue peek, to wet his lips, would have such an impact on the visual. Neither would he know that maybe Eunwoo cared a bit more for him than for the others.

Instead when Moonbin opens his eyes, he decides to immediately look abashedly down at his slippered feet and to idly play around with his now soap-free fingers.

“So what were you and Sanha talking about?”

There’s a weird tone to Eunwoo’s voice and Moonbin forgets about his earlier embarrassment to look up at Eunwoo quizzically.

“Huh? Me and Sanha? Oh you know, what we usually joke about. Like funny things the hyungs did today.” Moonbin grins, recalling one of Sanha’s incredibly realistic imitations of MJ-hyung.

Eunwoo, to Moonbin’s surprise, frowns. “Was it that funny?” His confused face was so cute that Moonbin couldn’t help but laugh. “I would tell you hyung but Sanha’s better at it.” Eunwoo grumbles about something but to no avail, Moonbin couldn’t catch his words.

Oh.

“Don’t worry, hyung! You’re unintentionally funny. Like that time when you – “

Moonbin couldn’t finish his sentence as Eunwoo hurriedly covers his mouth with the palm of his hand, “Yah, that was so embarrassing. Don’t bring up old war memories Moonbin.” He tries to hiss threatening but a blush starts to spread like a brushfire across his cheeks.

Moonbin’s eyes crinkle as he laughs at Eunwoo’s adorable response. “Fine fine, I won’t mention it but since you already remember it, I guess I got my point across.” Eunwoo pouts and Moonbin has a strange urge to capture the teasing bottom lip in between his own lips.

Woah there Moonbin, just what are you thinking??

Moonbin blanks out and everything that happens next feels like a haze.

Eunwoo had grabbed Moonbin’s hand and carefully interlaced their fingers together, whispering something.

“Sorry, I guess my point was that I got jealous seeing you and Sanha laughing together like that.”

But Moonbin probably imagined Eunwoo saying that. Just as he imagines Eunwoo hugging him close and confessing that maybe he cares a little more about Moonbin than he does for everyone else.

Step 3: cuddling

The first snow had fallen for the boys since debut. Along with the sudden chill of the dorm came rosy cheeks and heat packs. Eunwoo, for one, liked to go around joking that he’ll give a heat pack in exchange for a kiss and Moonbin had to ignore the strange clenching of his chest every time Eunwoo laughed as Sanha pretended to kiss his hyung on the cheek, begging for a heat pack. Heat packs became a necessity even in the dorm ever since the manager declared that their heater, which broke, would be fixed in a week.

And this is why Moonbin finds himself cocooned in a blanket on the living room floor next to MJ, as they monitor their latest performance. The floor was cold and rather a poor choice compared to the couch, but Rocky had unceremoniously pushed Moonbin off earlier, claiming his joints hurt and he needed the whole space to lie down.

Moonbin watches as the snow flutters down, a gray sky filled with bits of white, and is hit by an idea.

“Hyung, can we watch a movie tonight?”

MJ contemplates the thought for a second, “Seeing as we don’t have any schedules after 8pm, I don’t see why not.” The two boys share a grin between themselves before refocusing their attention back to the video.

“Be ready in ten minutes, we have an interview!” Jinjin’s voice resounds through the dorm. With a groan, Moonbin begrudgingly gets up, blanket draped across his shoulders. “I’ll let Jinjin know,” MJ says as he puts the tablet away and heads to the bathroom.

The interview flies by quickly and soon they are piling hastily into the car, puffing out breaths of hot air as they try to keep themselves warm standing out in the snow. As per usual, Moonbin sits in the back, between Eunwoo and Sanha. He’s preparing to take a short nap to save himself from falling asleep later during movie time, which Jinjin had officially declared when everyone was seated in the car, but feels something warm prod his cheek. He blinks an eye open wearily, seeing Eunwoo beaming a bit too brightly for the cold weather, pressing a hot pack against his cheek.

“Is this for me?” Moonbin asks, eyeing the warm object in confusion.

“It is if you give me a kiss,” Eunwoo nudges Moonbin’s shoulder with an impish upturn of his lips.

“Hyung! Appa and umma are flirting again!” Sanha shouts from his corner. Moonbin has half the mind to pinch the maknae’s cheek but he hears Jinjin respond back with a “That’s normal!” that effectively shuts him up.

“You won’t give it to me for free?” Moonbin pouts, slowly gearing up his aegyo to win Eunwoo over. He widens his eyes in the cute manner that Eunwoo claims can win over many fans, and smirks inwardly when he sees Eunwoo’s smile falter a bit. But the other's wavering stare promptly steels with a glint of mischief.

“Nope, nothing in this life comes for free Bin-ah,” Eunwoo sagaciously quotes, sitting back and holding the heat pack possessively to himself with a self-satisfying smug look that Moonbin really wants to wipe off his face.

Moonbin hardly considers the consequences when he surprises himself and everyone else in the car by leaning over and pecking the area dangerously close to the corner of Eunwoo’s mouth, his lips ghosting over the corner before he sits back in bashful glory.

“My payment?” He places the palm of his hand up, refusing to look at Eunwoo’s reaction. He catches Rocky’s eye, and sees him mouth something with a discreet finger pointing in Eunwoo’s direction.

Moonbin turns his head in bewilderment and oh.

Something sweet and supple is pressing against his lips.

The car is silent, save for the half squawk, half choke MJ lets out. And then it’s chaos as Eunwoo jolts back. Jinjin’s yelling something while MJ is still quietly screaming and squealing to himself. Rocky repeats ‘oh my god’ like a mantra and Sanha’s quietly stunned by the scene.

Eunwoo silently pushes the heat pack against Moonbin’s cheek, looking outside the window. But when Moonbin places a hand over Eunwoo’s to receive the heat pack, he feels a jolt. Maybe Eunwoo does too because the heat pack falls onto Moonbin’s lap and both boys dart slightly to opposite sides, looking everywhere but at each other.

Thankfully MJ gets the hint and stops his weird dying animal noises. He launches into a funny story that happened that day, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere brewing in the back of the car, and Sanha gives Moonbin a worried look.

From the corner of his eyes, Moonbin doesn’t miss the curious gaze the maknae sends Eunwoo.

The rest of the ride goes by like a blur and Moonbin feels colder with the heat pack than without it. Subsequently, Eunwoo’s careful to not make any physical contact with Moonbin in the car, and Moonbin’s heart sinks at the situation, leaning against Sanha’s side to seek some comfort. They arrive after an excruciating half hour, and the cold bites Moonbin in the face as he jumps out of the car. Moonbin listlessly shuffles into the dorm, allowing Sanha and Rocky to pull him in. Similarly behind him, MJ’s patting Eunwoo on the back and Jinjin has an arm flung out around Eunwoo’s middle.

Fast forward an hour later, the gang is lounging in front of the TV with Moonbin curled up in the corner of the couch, MJ sitting in the middle with his legs stretched out, and Eunwoo quietly seated on the other side. Sanha’s already stuffing popcorn into his mouth, sprawled on the floor next to Jinjin who keeps trying to steal some kernels from Sanha’s personal bowl.

“Since I won the game, I’m choosing a horror movie.” Rocky says from his perch on the couch next to Moonbin.

Everyone groans.

“Yah, you and Sanha better bring out all the pillows and blankets then.” MJ warns, grumbling about Rocky’s choice of movie. Moonbin’s shooting daggers out of his eyes at Rocky. He hates horror movies, and he knows he’s going to end up screaming or trying to hold back tears. So much for Rocky trying to make him feel better. Hearing none of Moonbin’s telepathic pleading, Rocky shows no remorse as he pops in the CD and kicks back at the foot of the couch, after fetching the pillows for everyone.

With a sigh that sounds more like a whine, Moonbin hugs his pillow to his chest, half obscuring his view of the television screen. He buries himself further into the couch as the movie starts.

The beginning sequence is not scary at all, with Moonbin’s pillow half-forgotten at his lap. A happy family moves into a new house in a small, rural town. Moonbin’s smiling a bit at the cute kids in the family as they run up and down the stairs of their new two-story house.

Of course the real horror kicks in after the first twenty minutes.

Moonbin’s image lies forgotten as he bites his pillow for the umpteenth time, blocking his vision from the second jump scare. They weren’t particularly horrible because Moonbin expected the two. But suddenly there’s a scream, one coming from the TV, and another mirroring it from MJ next to him. And with a shriek, MJ falls off the couch and onto the floor. Moonbin’s laughing at the flabbergasted face MJ’s sporting and is hardly aware that Eunwoo had moved over, replacing MJ’s vacant spot on the couch. It’s not until he turns his head to the screen and sees a horrible face that Moonbin also yelps and shakes in fright, face smushed into his pillow.

The ghost of a touch on his arm has Moonbin ready to smack whoever just startled him but instead when he turns his head, he sees Eunwoo giving him a concerned look.

“Are you scared Moonbin?” He softly asks, looking away from the screen and away from Moonbin, staring fixedly at the pillow suffering under Moonbin’s tight grasp.

Moonbin stutters.

“Am not!” He whispers back, harsher than he intends but refusing to show his weakness, and resolutely stares back at the screen.

Some ten minutes have passed and there’s a horrible scream accompanied by a gruesome picture on the screen and Moonbin throws all resolve out the window.

He drops the pillow onto the floor and clenches his trembling fingers onto Eunwoo’s shirt, burying his face in Eunwoo’s reassuring presence. Eunwoo says nothing, only pulling Moonbin onto his lap and bringing a blanket around the two of them so they stay warm.

Moonbin forgets about the movie and only pays attention to Eunwoo’s bodily warmth and the random shapes the older draws onto his back. The screams and shouts from the screen sound fa