Sanghyuk doesn’t usually fall for puppy eyes.

Truth be told, it’s easy to ignore Hakyeon’s puppy eyes as he begs Sanghyuk to bring him a bottle of water while he’s huddled up on the couch, wrapped into a fluffy blanket and watching some cheap drama, playing king.

It would be harder with Wonshik who has puppy eyes by standard, but he doesn’t really ask anything from him and so Sanghyuk doesn’t even have to give him things, and the same goes for Hongbin who finds it derogatory to beg for anything.

Taekwoon gets what he wants from Sanghyuk with weak threats and narrowed eyes, and so Sanghyuk establishes a business partnership between them every time there is something they need from each other.

Jaehwan, however, is something else.

“Hyuk-ah,” Jaehwan whines, pouting as he looks up at Sanghyuk, eyelids fluttering. “Please.”

“This is the last piece, hyung,” Sanghyuk groans, looking at the measly amount of cake he has on the plate he’s holding in front of him, fork hovering above it. “You ate half of the whole thing alone.”

“But I need it, I really need it,” Jaehwan pleads and scoots even closer, Sanghyuk’s elbow pressing into his chest. Jaehwan’s fingers crawl up on Sanghyuk’s arm, tickling a little, and then they’re curling into the sleeve of Sanghyuk’s T-shirt, tugging. “It’s like when you’re really thirsty and you know your body needs water and— and you know you’re going to die if you can’t drink.”

“I can assure you that you won’t die if you don’t eat this piece of chocolate cake, okay,” Sanghyuk says and cuts into the cake.

“Sanghyuk-ah!” Jaehwan all but cries out and kneels, whimpering, shifting on the couch until he’s half sitting in Sanghyuk’s lap.

“Fine,” Sanghyuk huffs. “You won’t get the whole thing, but we can share.”

Jaehwan’s face lights up at that and Sanghyuk rolls his eyes when Jaehwan opens his mouth, Sanghyuk guiding the fork to it. Jaehwan closes his eyes as he takes the bite, smiling as he chews, and his lips once he swallows, looking up at Sanghyuk gratefully.

Sanghyuk is so ed.

There are hands on him, scratching and pulling and grabbing, and Sanghyuk growls—it’s not the first time he’s dreaming about demons taking him.

This current demon though… this demon smells strongly of vanilla and his hands are soft, his touch gentle instead of being aggressive. When he opens his eyes, he supposes rather than actually sees it’s Jaehwan bothering him, the lights from the living room illuminating him from behind, outlining his silhouette.

“Hyuk-ah,” Jaehwan whispers, and his fingertips dip deeper into Sanghyuk’s flesh, making him realize how icy they feel. When he glances up, Jaehwan is shivering lightly. “Can you come into my room? It’s so cold and I can’t sleep.”

“Hyung,” Sanghyuk groans and pulls back his duvet. “Just sleep here, then.”

“You know I can’t sleep well in a bed that isn’t mine.”

There’s a pout in his voice and Sanghyuk sighs, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes to wake himself up just enough to see the way out of the bedroom he shares with Wonshik. Jaehwan laces his frozen fingers with Sanghyuk’s and pulls him towards his bedroom, climbs on the mattress as Sanghyuk turns off the lights. It’s indeed chillier in Jaehwan’s room than it is anywhere else in the dorm (they need to get the heating fixed sooner or later), and when Sanghyuk crashes into the bed, Jaehwan scoots as close to him as possible, tucking his head under Sanghyuk’s chin.

Jaehwan’s bed is not nearly big enough for the two of them, and because of Jaehwan pulling up his duvet to his ears, Sanghyuk’s toes are uncovered and freezing; the small pillow is uncomfortable and always causes him neck pain. He can’t fall back asleep, but Jaehwan’s breathing soon becomes even and Sanghyuk pats the corner of the duvet behind Jaehwan’s back carefully so not even a little bit of the cool air can slip under it.

He spends the rest of the night occasionally dozing off, alternately cursing at himself mentally for agreeing to this whole thing and smiling into Jaehwan’s hair when he’s awake, breathing in the warm vanilla scent of Jaehwan’s shampoo.

He’s sitting in front of his laptop with his legs propped up on his desk and watching his favourite show when he hears the shuffling of feet, turning towards the door at the sound.

It’s Jaehwan in his oversized jumper hanging from his left shoulder and his likewise oversized sweatpants swallowing the shape of his legs, the boy rubbing his eye with a sleeve pulled over his hand as he pads into the room and stops by Sanghyuk’s chair.

“Hyuk-ah,” he mumbles in a sleepy voice—he must have just woken up. “Do you want to play Mario Kart with me?”

“I’m watching my show now, hyung,” Sanghyuk says, looking up at Jaehwan’s sulky-looking expression. “Why don’t you ask Hongbin?”

“He said Mario Kart was lame,” Jaehwan replies and his fingers curl gently into Sanghyuk’s shirt. “You don’t think Mario Kart’s lame, right?”

“No, I don’t. But I’d like to watch this episode.”

“Sanghyuk-ah,” Jaehwan whines, and then he’s pawing at Sanghyuk’s legs, forcing him to put his feet back down on the floor.

He straddles Sanghyuk’s legs and presses up to him, resting his head in the crook of Sanghyuk’s neck, his cheek warm against Sanghyuk’s skin. Sanghyuk snorts at the obvious bribery, at how Jaehwan behaves perfectly like a cat that wants its owner’s attention, snuggling up to them and acting cute for a treat.  

He reaches up to scratch at the back of Jaehwan’s head lightly, fingertips carding through his mussed hair, and he turns his head to the side, lips almost touching the shell of Jaehwan’s ear as he says, “Hyung, I can’t see the screen.”

Jaehwan gasps indignantly and pulls back, looking at Sanghyuk with his brows furrowed and lower lip jutting out and Sanghyuk feels the corners of his mouth move upwards, so he presses his lips together quickly, blinking innocently at Jaehwan.

“Please, don’t be mean,” Jaehwan says, now more firmly, but he’s still sleepy soft and his cheeks are pink, and Sanghyuk can’t really take him seriously when he looks so cute. “I’d just like to play with you.”

Sanghyuk doesn’t say anything, only keeps staring at Jaehwan, waiting for something more. Jaehwan soon huffs and starts squirming in Sanghyuk’s lap, supporting himself with his hands on Sanghyuk’s shoulders and pressing closer, the blush across the bridge of his nose deepening before he kisses the corner of Sanghyuk’s mouth gingerly.

Sanghyuk can’t hold his laughter in anymore and it bubbles out of him, making Jaehwan groan as he draws back and buries his face into his hands. He waits until Sanghyuk stops chuckling and then pulls his hands back from his mouth, peeking through his fingers, asking, “You were just teasing me, weren’t you?”

“Well, I mean, these clothes?” Sanghyuk pinches Jaehwan’s jumper between his fingers. “And the cutesy voice? You play dirty, hyung.”

“It’s because you don’t love me enough to grant my wishes,” Jaehwan sniffles.

Sanghyuk rolls his eyes and grabs Jaehwan by the waist, holding him up, and Jaehwan yelps as Sanghyuk puts him down on the floor, standing up from his seat and holding Jaehwan’s hand.

“Come on, let’s play Mario Kart,” he says, pulling Jaehwan towards the living room.

Jaehwan makes a quiet noise of victory, and a moment later he jumps on Sanghyuk’s back happily.