Words: 645
Rating: G

They’ve wandered out ahead, as they tend to do, and Minseok is playfully pushing Luhan away as he tries to take his hand. Luhan pushes him back, so Minseok shoulder-checks him, and Luhan returns it with a laugh. Minseok’s next shove is forceful enough to send Luhan staggering sideways, and Minseok, met with no resistance, goes sprawling to the pavement.

“Oh my god,” Luhan laughs. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Minseok snorts. “Help me up, you giant idiot.”

He’s grinning as he reaches up to grab Luhan’s arm, but Luhan doesn’t miss the way Minseok’s other hand is hovering by his ankle.

“Your foot.” He squats down and reaches for Minseok’s shoe.

“Luhan, I’m fine.” Minseok pokes at his ankle, frowns, and begins to get to his feet. “It’s only a short walk back to the dorm.”

“Then it’s only a short walk for me to carry you.” Luhan pushes Minseok back down onto his , ignores his huff of protest, and pulls his shoe off.

“Luhan-”

“How’s that?” Luhan twists Minseok’s foot from side to side.

“Fine.”

“And that?”

“That’s okay.”

“How about that?” Luhan flexes Minseok’s foot upwards, and Minseok winces.

“It’s f-”

“Liar.” Luhan pulls Minseok’s other shoe and socks off to compare his feet. His ankle doesn’t look swollen, at least, but Luhan’s not taking chances. “As soon as we get back to the dorm you gotta put ice on it. I don’t think it’s sprained? But I’m not sure.”

“You fuss an awful lot,” Minseok says.

“Of course I do,” Luhan replies. “It’s my job.”

Minseok rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile underneath it.

“Okay, help me up.”

“I’ll carry you.”

“Hell no, just this morning you said your back wasn’t healed yet-”

“It’s fine, Min, you’re not that heavy-”

“Alright, alright, alright.” Kris, having caught up with them, strides straight into the middle of the conversation. “No need to worry. Hyung is here to help.”

“You are nobody’s hyung in this situation,” Minseok points out.

“I’m my hyung,” Kris says, and doesn’t give any more explanation than that. Crouching down, he grabs Minseok’s arms and hauls them up over his shoulders. “Come on, Xiao Gege. Let’s get you home.”

“I can walk, you know,” Minseok protests.

“I know.” Kris hoists him up onto his back. “But isn’t this so much more fun?”

“... Yes,” Minseok admits, then gives a surprised giggle as Kris bounces him into a better position.

Tao, Jongdae and Yixing wander up behind them.

“What’s going on?” Tao asks, equal parts bewildered and suspicious.

“Uminnie’s feet hurt,” Jongdae guesses, and reaches out to pinch one of Minseok’s toes.

“Just the one,” Luhan clarifies. He runs a finger along the underneath of Minseok’s toes, bumping from one to the other until Minseok wriggles and pulls his foot away.

“I’m perfectly fine,” he insists, “but these two won’t let me walk.”

“Ah,” says Yixing, as if this is a very reasonable state of affairs.

“We have to look after you,” Kris says matter-of-factly. “You’re important.”

“Why don’t you ever look after me like this?” Tao says.

“Because you’re not important.”

As Tao begins to complain, Luhan returns to Minseok’s toes. He tweaks them one by one, pinching each pink little pad and brushing his thumb over the knuckles. When he looks up, Minseok is staring at him. One eyebrow is raised, but there’s an underlying fondness there that warms everything inside Luhan’s chest.

“I love you,” Minseok mouths at him over Kris’s shoulder.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Kris declares. He shakes his head, hoists Minseok into a more comfortable hold, and turns to lead the way back to the dorms. “No, no, no. I heard nothing. Did someone say something? Not that I heard.”

Minseok laughs and glances back over his shoulder at Luhan, his eyes sparkling as his toes wiggle in delight.

A/N: I figured the other members would turn up eventually.

My girlfriend, proofreading this: "@Kris is me."

I swear I'm working on the FLF Epilogue. I haven't gotten much done the past couple of weeks, but it is progressing. Just... slowly. Hang in there.

Thank you for reading! - JJY