Two weeks later, the boys are in the practice room working on their latest routine. It’s a special choreography for an upcoming awards show, and requires at least ten backup dancers along with the original seven. Hoseok pants heavily as they work through the moves, but doesn’t ask for any breaks. He doesn’t want to be a burden and drag the others down just because he gets a little sweaty.

It’s hard to keep track of time during practices. There’s so much going on all at once that time passes by impossibly fast. Soon enough, the boys stop for a lunch break. They all fall to the floor where they stand, staff members bringing them sandwiches and waters. Hoseok gulps down the first bottle he’s given, earning a curious glance as the same staff member gives him another and leaves him with a third. He drinks through half of the second one, but forces himself to slow down. He wipes at his face with a towel and begins on his food.

They practice for a few more hours, everyone very much relieved to stop when they finally do. They slowly begin to file out of the practice room, their limbs shaking from all the hard work they did learning the routine with the backup dancers. Their breaths come out in short, sporadic gasps. Sweat pours off them in waves, multiple hand towels hanging from each member as they try to clean themselves up at least a little bit before they can take showers at the dorm.

They file down the staircase silently, each too tired to speak. Hoseok stares hard at the ground at his feet, trying very hard to focus his swimming vision. He’s climbed these stairs thousands of times, but his head pounds at even the slightest sound, and he feels dizzier than if he had just gone on ten roller coasters back-to-back. All this makes it extremely difficult for him to climb down these all-too familiar stairs.

He grips the stair rail with a shaking, sweaty hand, and manages to make it down the first few flights without too much difficulty. However, three flights from the bottom his foot slips on the edge of the top stair. His hand, slick with sweat, slides off the rail, and Hoseok is too exhausted to even yelp in surprise at the ground flying up to his face.

Luckily, Hyungwon was silently descending the stairs beside him the whole time. He had noticed during practice how his hyung hadn’t taken any breaks or asked for nearly as much water as the others had. He had a feeling, watching the way Hoseok was gripping the railing, he didn’t feel 100%. He watches as Hoseok loses his footing, and immediately grabs his arm with all his strength and pulls him back towards himself.

The two are at the back of the group, so no one else notices the near-accident. Hoseok looks around in a daze, as if waking up from a nap. His gaze flicks between the model gripping his bicep and the staircase stretching beneath them.

“Thank you, Hyungwonnie,” Hoseok says, his voice dull and trembling slightly. He rubs at his eyes, shaking his head. “I guess I overworked myself today…” Hyungwon can’t help but glare at the older, despite his growing concern for him.

“Hyung,” he says in a low voice, “promise me you’ll get some sleep when we get back to the dorm. You’re not taking care of yourself like you should.” Hoseok nods, flashing the younger a small grin.

“I’ll take a nap right after I shower,” he assures the younger. “Now come on, let’s catch up with the others.” Hoseok frees his arm from the younger’s grasp gently, and continues down the remaining stairs. Hyungwon stares after him, a terrible sense of foreboding filling him. He’d need to keep a closer eye on that hyung, for his own good.

Hoseok is allowed first dibs in the bathroom on the contention that he take a quicker shower than usual. He happily obliges, taking much less time than he usually does in order to get into bed quicker. He lies down, wet hair clinging to his forehead. He’s still slightly warm from the shower, and he can’t help but sigh contentedly as his muscles relax against the mattress beneath him. His eyes slowly close on their own, and Hoseok can’t hold back the wide yawn that escapes him as he turns on his side for more comfort.

The sound of a door opening causes Hoseok to open his eyes slightly, and he sees Hyungwon coming into the room with a book. His dark hair hangs limp on his head as he rubs a towel through it. His face is slightly flushed from the hot shower, and Hoseok can’t help but stare admiringly at the young man before him. He always looked impossibly good right after getting out of the shower.

Hyungwon glances casually over at Hoseok, who seems to already be asleep. He smiles approvingly at the sight and climbs into his top bunk, a book in his hands. He isn’t really sure if it’s necessary to be babysitting Hoseok like this to make sure he sleeps like he promised, but he couldn’t shake the worry for Hoseok that emerged earlier on the stairs. So, here he was, reading while glancing over at Hoseok every so often to make sure he slept.

Dinner time rolls around soon enough, and Kihyun comes into the room to inform the two. He looks over at a snoring Hoseok, and moves instinctively to wake him up. Hyungwon climbs down from his bunk, and pauses in the doorway to watch as Hoseok stretches his entire body with a wide yawn. He chuckles, thinking his hyung incredibly cute when he first wakes up, but suddenly averts his gaze and goes to the table. He sits next to Minhyuk, who is currently too busy messing with Jooheon to notice his confused expression.

Hoseok stumbles into the room, rubbing at his eyes as he sits down next to Changkyun, opposite Hyungwon. Kihyun is the last to enter, and takes his seat next to Hyunwoo while a breath in through his teeth. He removes the lid from the pot in the middle of the table, the smell of kimchi stew wafting out from the pot and filling the apartment. Hyungwon watches silently as Hoseok slowly becomes aware of his surroundings and the food in front of him, his brightening expression upon realizing the stew in his bowl. He can’t help but chuckle at the almost childlike joy that spreads across Hoseok’s face as he eats the food.

This isn’t the first time Hyungwon has noted his hyung’s adorable tendencies, granted. Living with someone so y yet cute had its perks, after all. However, this time calling his hyung cute, if even mentally, feels different to Hyungwon. He can’t quite explain it, finds it hard to describe the warm tingling occurring in his belly as he stares at the older.

A low chuckle breaks Hyungwon from his thoughts, and he glances over to see Kihyun shoving a spoonful of stew into Hyunwoo’s mouth with a playful smirk.

“So what if I spoil the maknae?” he questions. “You spoil Jooheon-ah, so I get to spoil Changkyunnie.” Hyunwoo chuckles at the shorter, and Hyungwon averts his gaze before their romantic act becomes any more nauseating.

It isn’t as if Hyungwon isn’t happy for the couple. On the contrary, if they hadn’t hooked up when they did Hyungwon would’ve gotten them together one way or another. The between those two had been so thick you could cut it with a knife. Luckily, though, it turned out he didn’t need to intervene in their personal lives in such a way. However, as soon as they had become a couple, the two had become sickeningly sweet with each other. Really, it was sometimes hard for Hyungwon to be around.

Minhyuk had called him jealous when Hyungwon had been complaining to the older shortly after they became an official couple.

“I’m not jealous,” Hyungwon had said, staring at Minhyuk confusedly. “I don’t feel like that for either of them.”

“Not jealous of either of them for having the other,” Minhyuk had said, “but of what they have in general. Have you ever been in a relationship, Hyungwonnie?” At Hyungwon’s silence, Minhyuk only nodded. “You’re jealous of seeing a couple as perfect as those two are for each other, yet you don’t have anyone like that yourself. I don’t blame you,” he had quickly added, “I feel the same way. But, at least you like someone like that, and they like you back.”

“What do you mean?” Hyungwon had asked, not knowing what he meant. “I don’t have feelings like that for anyone right now.” Minhyuk had given him an incredulous stare, unsure if he was serious.

“You and Hoseok-hyung aren’t…?” Minhyuk had said, causing Hyungwon to adamantly shake his head immediately.

“Hoseok-hyung and I aren’t involved like that,” he had answered easily. Minhyuk was quiet for a while after that, as if not quite believing the younger’s statement. They had left it at that, Minhyuk never mentioning it again. However, that question had managed to stick in the back of Hyungwon’s mind for the month since they had that conversation.

Hyungwon comes back to the present, his vision slightly fogged by the steam rising from the stew hitting his glasses. He removes them to clean them, and catches Hoseok staring at him with a small smile painting his face. The expression causes the warm tingling sensation to return, and he’s thankful when Hoseok averts his gaze to participate in the conversation going on around them. Hyungwon takes a bite of the stew, forbidding thoughts about Minhyuk’s assumption to reenter his mind and forcing himself to engage in conversation.