When Jongdae woke up late one morning to see Chanyeol battling with a set of white sheets coming out of the dryer, he knew they were all in for a hellish two days. The only time there were ever that many sheets in the dryer was when the girls all had their periods sync together. Since they were traveling all the time, their menstrual cycles were pretty irregular but once in a blue moon, their cycles would all sync and the boys had learned to be extra careful and sensitive during these times.

“It was Baek and Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol said, fluffing up the warm sheets and folding them nicely. “Don’t say a word to them though. Baek looked like she was going to rip someone’s head off and Kyungsoo has major cramps going on. She’s been in the bathroom throwing up all morning. Joonmyun has her sleeping on the bathroom floor in case she needs to hurl again.”

“Minseok and Joonmyun are okay?” Jongdae asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It was one of their last days off before they started filming comeback stuff. He was kinda grateful that this day didn’t happen during promotions or it would have been even worse.

“Minseok is on the couch with a hot pad and Joonmyun seems fine for now. She took some painkillers when she got up,” Chanyeol said.

“Sehun knows?” Jongdae asked, grabbing a set of sheets from Chanyeol. “Wouldn’t want him to be on the receiving end of Baekhyun’s wrath.”

“He’s rerecording that one song again,” Chanyeol said. “So he left early this morning but I texted him so he’s all good.”

“Jongin?” Jongdae asked as they walked from the boy’s section of the dorm to the shared living space. They were all heavy sleepers so they were stuck with the washer and dryer being in their space.

“He’s out with his girlfriend today,” Chanyeol said. “Last time he can see her for a while I guess.”

“Must be nice,” Jongdae sighed, “to have a girlfriend.”

“Dude is hella stressed,” Chanyeol said. “He acts like things are fine but he’s tossing and turning in his bed at night. I just pretend like I’m sleeping but I can hear him. You know that he usually sleeps like a ing log.”

“Good morning Jongdae,” Joonmyun greeted them as the two dropped off the clean sheets in the living room. Minseok was curled up on the couch, asleep and Joonmyun was watching a drama on the television.

“Need anything?” Jongdae asked with a soft smile.

“Got my tea and got my blanket,” Joonmyun held up her soft pink blanket. “I should be good for a while. Minseok just took some pain meds too so I think she’ll be fine.”

“Is Kyungsoo still throwing up?” Chanyeol asked, looking a bit concerned.

“She’s passed out in the bathroom,” Joonmyun told her. “I have her lying on some mats and I threw a blanket over her. She’s got it bad this time. I think her extra schedules really took a toll on her body.”

“I’m gonna ing kill my doctor,” Baekhyun announced as she stomped into the living room in a pair of old sweats and one of Sehun’s big t-shirts. Her hair was thrown into a messy bun and her slim face was slightly bloated. “She ing switched my ing birth control and now my ing hormones are all off the charts and I feel like . I’m going to get my ing uterus torn out.”

 “Oh come on Baek you don’t want that,” Chanyeol tried to calm her down. “You always said you wanted kids.”

“You can give birth to the kids then,” she shot back at him.

“How about we just sit here and binge watch this drama while Chanyeol makes us some soup,” Joonmyun patted the spot next to her. Baekhyun shuffled over and plopped herself next to Joonmyun, snuggling into the older girl.

“Lunch will be ready in an hour then,” Chanyeol nodded, heading off to the kitchen. Jongdae, cautious of Baekhyun’s extended personal bubble, decided to sit by Minseok’s feet instead. He slowly lifted her legs up and placed them on his lap, deciding to massage her feet so she would be more relaxed. He was half paying attention to the drama on screen but most of his thoughts were about Minseok. His lovely Minseok.

It was no secret that he and Minseok shared a special relationship. They had depended on each other a lot back when they were in China. It hadn’t surprised Jongdae when he had developed a tiny crush on Minseok but he quickly stamped out that flame when Luhan and Minseok had officially gotten together. After Luhan left though, Jongdae was quick to offer his shoulder to Minseok, almost too quick but no one had said anything. Their relationship had only grown closer from then. Minseok was comfortable by him and Jongdae liked her near him. The older girl was quiet and Jongdae liked being her voice, liked holding her hands, and being her biggest fan.

He didn’t know the exact moment that he fell in love with Minseok but he knew that right now in this very moment that he loved her with all of his soul. He knew that Minseok felt something for him too. She wouldn’t let him hold her hand if that wasn’t the case. She wouldn’t stay up drinking with him out in the darkness of the balcony late into the night if she didn’t hold any non-platonic feelings for him. But Minseok was careful, guarded. The thing with Luhan hadn’t ended on bad terms but it had still hurt her a lot. Minseok didn’t want to start another relationship, especially not one with another group member and Jongdae understood that completely. All he could do was wait until she was ready and he would be there, just like now and just like he would always be.

“I think we’re out of pads,” Kyungsoo shuffled into the room, looking quite faint with her legs shaking, her face even paler than usual.

“I have a heavy one left in my purse I think,” Joonmyun said moving to get up.

“Use a tampon,” Baekhyun pulled her back down and buried her face against Joonmyun’s soldier. “I don’t want my human heater to move.”

“I’m too heavy for a tampon,” Kyungsoo said sitting on the floor cross-legged in her snoopy pajama pants. She was wearing a big t-shirt too but Jongdae didn’t recognize who’s it was.

“Jongdae can you go out and buy like three packs for us?” Joonmyun asked. His eyes grew wide and he pointed to himself.

“I don’t know how to buy pads!” he sputtered out.

“It’s like buying anything else,” Baekhyun told him, “you put it on the checkout counter, pull out your card, and sign the receipt.”

“You know that’s not what I mean,” he told Baekhyun.

“Please Jongdae,” Kyungsoo begged, curling up on the cold floor into fetal position. “Otherwise I’m gonna leak all over the floor and someone else can clean it up while I’m throwing up my lungs again.”

“Fine,” Jongdae got up, carefully not to disturb Minseok. “Just text me a picture of the package then. Where do I even buy pads at?”

“The drugstore down the street sells some,” Joonmyun said. “Use my card. It’s in my wallet in my black hoodie.” Jongdae went to find her card and slipped on his own military green hoodie and a mask.

“If I get ing caught, I’m gonna die,” he muttered as he slipped on his shoes.

“Come back soon,” he heard Kyungsoo mumble from the living room floor. He couldn’t make any promises but he was going to be in and out of that store.

Jongdae stood in front of the feminine products aisle, staring at endless pink and yellow boxes decorated with swirls and flowers. How the was he supposed to choose one? Kyungsoo said she was heavy so he was standing in front of the section with boxes labeled ‘heavy flow’ but what brand was the best? How many pads did they even want in a box? Did they want the one that comes with a coupon for their next purchase?

“Joonmyun text back,” he muttered as he bounced his leg up and down. A hand reached out to pick at a box and he ducked his face down and stepped to the side. It was an older woman, with a toddler in her cart and he turned around embarrassed. She looked at him oddly before turning and going back to her shopping. Jongdae felt incredibly uncomfortable standing. He grew up with an older brother for crying out loud. Jongin and Chanyeol were the ones with sisters and they didn’t bat an eye when tampons were thrown across the room or during period talk. He and Sehun though had no idea what to do and it had taken four years for both of them to be comfortable whenever the girls started to talk about blood gushing out of certain areas of them.

His phone beeped and he whipped it out of his hoodie pocket quickly, staring at the picture Joonmyun had sent. He quickly located the similar box in the aisle and grabbed three of them before high tailing it out of the aisle and to checkout. To his luck there was no one waiting at the cash register so he dumped the boxes onto the counter and pulled out Joonmyun’s card. The person at the register was a teenage boy and he looked just as uncomfortable as Jongdae as he awkwardly scanned the boxes and put them into a plastic bag. Not a word was exchanged as Jongdae swiped the card and signed the receipt. He gave the boy a polite nod before he left and he practically sprinted home, careful to not let the bag tear.

Later that day when Sehun found out about his errand he couldn’t stop laughing at Jongdae’s misery. All the girls were feeling slightly better and everyone home was sitting at the dining table to go over some physical details for their comeback.

“I think it was cool of you,” Minseok leaned against him as everyone else talked. Whenever he was with Minseok, it felt like the whole world melted away and it was just them two. Voices of the people in the room with them seemed to fade and all he could focus on was Minseok and her pretty eyes and dainty face.

“You were faster than Jongin was last time,” she smiled, closing her eyes and resting her head on him.

“I kinda just wanted to get out of there,” he laughed.

“Well next time you know what to get so you’ll be even faster,” Minseok told him. “Thank you for doing that though.”

“Anything for you guys,” he turned his head slightly so that his lips brushed against her cheek. Anything for you.