"Can someone pass me the lettuce?"

Ten's words are muffled by the large portion of rice tucked into his left cheek, chopsticks in one hand, steaming piece of meat clasped in between them, and using the other to point to the bowl of freshly washed lettuce across the hard wooden floor. Johnny - who's closer - stretches his long arm over and grasps the rim of the silverware. 

Never one to miss a beat to joke, he acquires."Say please."

Ten side-eyes him over the bodies to his left, not threatening or dangerously, but playfully, narrowing his sight as he drags his tone. "Please, hyung."

Hyung... Johnny thinks as he passes the bowl with a fond, satisfied smile. He's never known why, but the inclination of honorifics coming from Ten - in any form, request, affection, annoyance - has always been endearing to him, and the warmth that spreads over his chest is an example of the case. It's no secret that Johnny thinks Ten is quite possibly the cutest, most adorable organism to ever wander the face of the earth, he finds himself professing it if ever under the influence of alcohol, or even if just drunk on a damn good day. It's no secret that everyone else in the group probably views Ten as winsome, darling boy, capable of combatting the cuteness of Sicheng or a younger member, and he, right now, does no favor towards shedding the image.

He's eating well, Johnny sees, Ten's mouth stuffed full of a mixture of every element of tonight's dinner as he tries to best to chew and converse without being rude. He's eating really well, and quite clearly has been.

Compare Ten almost a year ago to Ten sitting there today. Ten, the Ten that debuted first back in the April of spring, sharp, cut-throat features as strong as his gaze. He shed weight continuously, with constant performances, strewn in the mad concoction of diets, group and self-practices, no sleep and impregnable stress. The Ten now finds himself with less of a demanding schedule, more of chilled practice where he could easily sit for an hour and do nothing (while the management's focus is mainly on the promoting members, there's less time to keep checking up on the inactive ones) and with a less controlling diet, the options for consumption much wider, the results were clearly documented by his thicker, more sumptuous cheeks.

(Johnny's sure there is other evidence on other parts of his body, but since his schedule is often too busy nowadays, he hasn't really found the time to check.)

It's a challenge to stop himself from pinching or kiss them - the tinted, pink, full cheeks. Ten would probably hate it if he did now, so exposed and in the sights of the other members, who would probably despise the broad display of affection too. He has to sit on his hand that isn't feeding himself, the temptation and drive to gently grip Ten's hamster face intensely strong (if only the same amount of ambition could be converted to other things, such as actually getting out of bed in the morning instead of having to coerced with kisses and promises of luxurious time dedicated to cuddling together later).

Johnny realizes there's probably something wrong with him.

He's nervous.

Johnny is nervous. About Ten's cheeks. A (supposedly) grown man is getting nervous, heart thumping, mouth drying, sweat beading... over a little guy's face.

(Johnny questions if this is some weird adult puberty he's going through or if he's just hit a brand new low.)

Ten offered to do the dishes and along the way, decided Johnny would love to help out. Quite forcefully, he was dragged to the kitchen, and thus, stands with his hands enveloped in warm water while Ten dances around, tea towel in one hand and semi-dry dish in the other. 

He looks over his shoulder, a subtle smile growing as Ten hums, and Johnny can swear to the Lord he's purposefully puffing his cheeks out because it must be impossible for someone to be this adorable without trying. He looks up and Johnny looks away, but not before Ten can catch on.

"What?" he giggles (Johnny's long legs almost buckle underneath him) as he closes the bowl cupboard.

"Nothing," Johnny answers, still grinning as Ten hmphs behind him. "You're just cute, is all."

"I mean," Ten begins, picking up the wet glass from the draining board, "I know, but you do as well," he jests, filing the tea towel inside the cup. "It's not new news."

Johnny looks at him - he's grinning, cheeks bunching up under his eyes. "You're so modest." He leans in, down, and presses a chaste kiss to Ten's lips.

"It's not like you've ever failed to tell me," Ten hums, using his foot to gently prod Johnny's calf. "Excuse me or taking your word for it."

Johnny finds the only suitable response another simple, restrained peck. 

Dishes washed and hands dried, Johnny takes the moment between Ten dumping the soggy tea towel in the wash basket and him escaping back into the living room to wrap his arms around the dinner-bloated torso, and finally, finally, press his lips to the blemished yet smooth skin of his face. Not just once, not twice either, but so many times Johnny's lost count by the time Ten starts to get sheepish and wriggle in his hold like an embarrassed child. He turns in Johnny's arms and smiles wide, using his tip-toes to reach up, wrap his arms around Johnny's shoulders and pull him down to layer a long, deep, warming kiss on his lips.

"You're acting strange," he comments, Johnny's hands slipping up under his jumper and tenderly holding his waist, tentatively, with his thumbs, shivers down Ten's spine.

"Am I?" Johnny replies, the smile unstoppable as he subtly raises one hand and presses it against Ten's cheek. "I didn't notice."

This is it, he thinks... The only thing that's occupied his mind for the last hour was Ten's cheeks. The skin is soft under his thumb that traces the once-shaper-than-steel cheek bone, now blended and sanded, engrossed with his cheek. There are no layers of foundation, concealer, no oily texture or unnatural feel - it's just Johnny's semi-rough finger pad against Ten's velvety skin. He can't resist, and pinches, a sudden breath of air pushing through Ten's nose as he's forced gently to tip his head up.

Johnny's smile grows impossibly wider, letting go of one cheek and using his free hand to grab the other, before quickly attaining both in his grip. He's sure to not pinch too hard, the idea of Ten's discomfort heeding nothing but illness in him, but makes note of remembering how the thick, abundant, skin feels between his fingers. He let's go, and replaces the grip with his lips again, humming as Ten wraps his arms around his torso to comply with the compassion.

He says nothing more and Johnny realizes he needs to sort his emotions out.

"Youngho!"

Johnny groans and hugs the warm body in his arms closer, yawning into the black mess of hair and squinting at the sudden light infiltrating his sore, tired eyelids.

"We're due at the salon at eight," Taeyong nags, shaking Johnny's shoulder in attempt to ruffle him awake. "You need to get up now."

In his grip, Ten stirs, rolling around in the cozy sheets and grumbling something along the lines of complaint and distaste at his leader. Johnny stretches and sighs, stiff muscles tugging and pulling, legs (that were casually thrown over Ten's) ever so slightly aching from the constant pushing during practices (convenient, clashing that as soon as Ten's promotions slow down, running at a moderate pace, Johnny's speed up, and their timetables very seldom cross). 

He nods in acknowledgment to Ten's groggy greeting, cupping his cheek with his hand as he Ten sits up and rubs the sleep crust from his eyes.

"You need to go to work," he says, nuzzling into Johnny's palm. "Go and make some money."

Johnny snorts and nudges Ten's head back down enough so he can sling his arm around it, trapping the latter in a headlock. "Fifteen more minutes," he mumbles, rubbing his nose into Ten's hair as he writes and laughs against Johnny's skin. 

"We're leaving in fifteen minutes," Mark comments, entering from the bathroom with a toothbrush dangling from his lips. He digs his way through Doyoung's backpack in search of his favorite throat soothers as Johnny passive-aggressively tells him to go away for a sec. Alone again (Jaehyun's bed having been empty as of early), Johnny moves to squash Ten's cheeks together, kissing the puckered pair of lips.

"Do you have practice today?" he asks.

Looking up, Ten pulls his head out of Johnny's grip, massages his face and shakes his head. "Day off."

"What are you planning on doing?"

He shrugs and sits crossed-legged on the mattress, the duvet falling casually around his waist. "The usual: be lazy, eat cake, miss you..."

Johnny covers his mouth and pretends to throw up.

Ten grins, again, cute cheeks bunching and he giggles. "Kidding." He smacks Johnny's arm as the latter fans his face mockingly. "I'm taking Kun out to Hongdae, we're going cafe hunting."

Johnny gasps and shakes his head. "I can't believe you. I've been promoting for a month and you've already replaced me with Kun." He folds his arms as Ten rolls his eyes, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and sitting. "Cafe hunting is our date thing."

"You're not around to go cafe hunting with me," Ten answers, matter-of-factly. He looks over his shoulder (a risque and suggestive scene as he strips from his bed-shirt to find a nice replacement - quite honestly, Johnny could stare at that picture for hours and hours on end and not get bored of it). "I've heard about this really cute, upstairs one, and can't wait for you to have a day off to visit it."

"You're making me sound like a dead-beat boyfriend," Johnny adds, sitting up and sneaking a kiss against Ten's bare shoulder before it's covered by a shirt. "I can't help being busy, you know the feeling." Casually, more casually than he should've, he lifts a hand, and lightly, playfully taps Ten's cheeks.

"I was joking," Ten snorts, pressing his fingers to his cheek as Johnny follows his lead and clambers out of bed to find some clothes. "Are you subtly trying to drop hints that I need to loose weight?"

Johnny freezes mid-belt buckle and frowns at Ten. He wasn't looking at him, and he could feel the horrible sickly feeling bubbling in his stomach. "No?" he scoffs, covering his shirt with a hoodie. "Why on earth would you think that?" 

Ten looks up at him, subtle pout protruding his lips, and shrugs. "I don't know, you've just been paying much more attention to my cheeks lately." It's under-the-radar, but Ten runs his hand over his stomach. "And I haven't been working out as much recently."

Johnny sighs and moves to stand in front of Ten. "You're a bit of an idiot," he chuckles, watching as the frown knits into Ten's brow. He picks his chin up, thumb and fore-finger calmly clasped around the sharp feature, and smiles, arching his back to deeply kiss the latter, his knuckles his cheek feverishly. "I'm obsessed with your cheeks," he admits, altering his head to kiss him again. "They're adorable. Like you're some cute... baby... hamster or something."

Ten snorts. "A baby hamster?"

Johnny nods. "Not just any baby hamster. A cute baby hamster."

"That's new."

Johnny hums and kisses Ten quickly. "You must be forgetting that I'm that fatass in this equation, okay?" He smiles as Ten giggles. "Think again, if you think you're taking my title."

Ten bites his lip and Johnny's knees almost buckle. "You really think they're cute?" 

If Johnny could slap the information into Ten, he would.

"Nothing but."

"Leaving in five!" The manager's voice echoes around the dorm, Ten's shoulder's visibly dropping as Johnny straightens out with a sigh, running his thumb over his cheek again. "Youngho, waiting on you!"

"Coming!" he replies, leaving Ten momentarily to grab his bag and sling it over his shoulder. When he returns, he pulls Ten up so he stood, head level with Johnny's chin. He squishes his face together again. "Don't forget, baby hamster: I'm not sharing you with Kun, so make sure he knows cafe hunting is our thing, okay?"

Ten laughs, nods and advances to his tippy-toes to bid Johnny goodbye with a warm kiss and a cheeky tap to his (traditions, a long enough story to be evaluated another time).

Sitting in the car, Johnny realizes maybe the small things in life have a lot bigger meaning than he originally thought.