Hyungwon sees it on the day they move into the new dorm.

----------

"Bad news, you guys," Changkyun says as he emerges from the stairwell. They're one floor down from the street level in the parking garage of their new dorm building, the van parked just a few yards away. It's a basic and decent enough place, only about half-filled with other cars, the pale fluorescent lights glowing all around them and the smooth floors squeaking underneath their sneakers as they haul all of their various bags and crates and boxes closer to the elevator to bring everything up to what's about to become their new home away from home.

Changkyun is out of breath, his legs wobbling slightly and his cheeks tinted a light pink as the door to the stairwell slams shut behind him. Hyungwon can already guess what he's about to tell them all, but decides to hold on to that last bit of hope and denial for as long as he can. Until now, moving day had been going pretty smoothly, but Hyungwon should've known that it was too good to be true, that things could never go that smoothly for them, the group seemingly cursed with endless bad luck.

Changkyun walks the few feet to join the rest of the members who have paused by the elevator, all of them with their hands full of personal belongings and necessities for the new dorm. Minhyuk seems to be struggling the most with his burden, though the small cardboard box that he's carrying (labeled "Jooheon's hats" in black permanent marker) is undoubtedly the lightest.

"What's wrong?" Hyunwoo asks. He's effortlessly carrying two of the heaviest boxes (each containing kitchen appliances) stacked on top of each other as if they're a couple of fluffy pillows.

"The elevator's broken," Changkyun says with a grimace, confirming Hyungwon's fears, "it's stuck on the fifteenth floor. I stopped by the lobby and they said they won't be able to fix it until tomorrow."

"I can't do the stairs!" Minhyuk whines while everyone else just groans in defeat.

"Well, we don't really have much of a choice," Hyunwoo says, "unless you want to sleep in the van tonight." He walks over to the stairwell and sets down his two boxes, then uses them to prop open the door while Minhyuk keeps whining with increased volume and decreased coherence.

Hyungwon is carrying a large duffle bag in each hand and the handles are starting to dig painfully into his fingers. He really just wants to be done with this already so he can pass the out and sleep for as long as possible, maybe for a whole day, or two, whatever works.

"Let's just get this over with," Hyungwon mumbles, nodding his head at Hyunwoo to lead the way. "The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can all get some rest."

There are murmurs of agreement and then they're all moving sluggishly in a single-file line past the door and into the stairwell, Hyungwon the last one in line right behind Kihyun, who's got a fully-stuffed backpack slung over his shoulders and a large plastic container that's probably bigger than he is precariously balanced in his hands. It makes him look even smaller than usual, like he's some kind of adorable little pack-mule (pack-hamster?) carrying several times his own weight. He can't even see where he's going, his line of vision blocked by the container, and so is depending on Hoseok in front of him to guide his steps.

They've got quite a ways to go and their trek up the first few flights of stairs is filled with groans and complaints and plenty of additional whining from Minhyuk. But eventually, by the time they reach the third or fourth floor, they all fall silent, saving their breath and expending all of their energy to just continue moving. It's a good thing that they're all in decent shape thanks to their intense dance regimen or this would be near impossible to accomplish.

Around the seventh floor or so, Hoseok starts to slow down. Hyungwon sees him fidgeting with the boxes that he's carrying, nervously looking over the edge of the stair railings down to the floors below them.

Ah, of course, Hyungwon thinks, we're pretty high up now, aren't we?

"Hyung," Kihyun says suddenly, gently nudging Hoseok's back with the box that he's carrying, "you'll help me unpack all of the kitchen stuff once we're finished bringing everything up, right?"

"W-what?" Hoseok stammers, tearing his gaze away from the edge and looking over his shoulder at Kihyun. "I mean...yeah, of course."

"Good," Kihyun continues, still nudging Hoseok forward with his box, "and if we finish before it gets too late, I could even make you something to eat. You'd probably like a nice, hot bowl of ramen, right?"

"That would be so nice, Kihyunnie," Hoseok says, and he even smiles a little despite his obvious nerves.

"Keep your eyes forward, hyung," Kihyun commands as Hoseok keeps turning to glance down over the edge of the railings, "if you lose your balance and fall, you're going to seriously injure yourself, me, and poor Hyungwonnie behind us."

"Oh, sorry," Hoseok murmurs, turning to look straight ahead as they continue trudging up flight after flight of stairs. But his eyes keep wandering over the edge to the long drop that's getting higher and higher the further up they keep walking.

"Hyung," Kihyun says again, a little more sharply, "eyes forward. I really don't want to spend tonight in the hospital. And you folded all of your sheets and blankets before you packed them right? You didn't just stuff them all inside one of these boxes?"

"Uh...." Hoseok replies, turning his attention away from the now nine-story drop and back to Kihyun's voice, "I don't remember, but I think so?"

"If your sheets are wrinkled, let me know right away," Kihyun says, "and I'll iron them out for you so you can sleep well tonight."

"Thanks, Kihyunnie."

As they continue up several more flights of stairs, Kihyun keeps babbling at Hoseok, commanding that he turn his eyes forward to Changkyun's back every time his gaze strays. Kihyun's not saying anything particularly important, really just seems to be talking just to talk, and Hyungwon suddenly realizes with a burst of warmth what it really is that he's doing. He's distracting Hoseok, taking his focus away from the height and onto himself so that Hoseok won't be as scared. And Hyungwon can't help but smile to himself because wow...how sweet.

Things continue like this for several more minutes, with Kihyun saying anything that comes to mind to hold Hoseok's attention and it seems to be working. Even from where he is, Hyungwon can see that Hoseok is visibly less nervous, striding up the stairs with more confidence and chuckling at Kihyun's continuous nagging.

"Did you pack your toothbrush somewhere you can get to it easily for tonight?"

"Yes, Kihyunnie, I did, just–"

"And did you make sure to charge your iPod before we left? Eyes forward, hyung."

"Oh, sorry. And yeah, of course I –"

"If you forgot, you can borrow mine, but only for tonight. I like to listen to music before bed too, you know."

They keep going for a while longer, and Kihyun starts to get tired out from having to walk and talk and carry a heavy box and backpack all at the same time. He may be in better shape than the average person just from being an idol, but he's nowhere near Hoseok's level of fitness, and doing so many things at once is starting to take a toll on him. As they get closer and closer to their new dorm room, Kihyun's words are punctuated by heavy breaths as he struggles to keep talking.

"J-just...let me know...if you need help finding...all of your...s-socks," Kihyun gasps out as they near the end of their journey and Hyunwoo pushes open the stairwell door out into a hallway. "I used everyone's socks to...help cushion...t-the breakable items..."

Finally, they all stumble out into the hallway from the stairwell and set down their boxes and things by the door to their new dorm, Minhyuk groaning loudly in relief.

"Well, that was a ing nightmare," Minhyuk says, draping himself on Jooheon's shoulder, "please tell me it's only going to be a few more trips."

"Don't worry, we should be done soon," Hyunwoo says, "and just think, when we're all done, we can eat, shower, and sleep for as long as we want. Remember, we've got no schedules this weekend, so we can all just relax for once."

"Sounds good to me," Hyungwon says.

Suddenly, Kihyun lets out a quiet, whimpering sort of noise, and everyone turns to face him. He really doesn't look so good, his face bright red and his eyes hazy. He seems to be having trouble breathing as he wobbles a little bit, struggling to maintain his balance as the backpack slips off of his shoulders and drops onto the hallway carpet.

"Hey Kihyunnie, are you alright?" Hoseok asks, rushing over to his side. He gets there just in time, catching Kihyun in his arms as Kihyun's legs give out and he tumbles over. Hoseok carefully supports Kihyun's weight as Kihyun clutches onto Hoseok's biceps with weak fingers.

"I think I just...n-need to sit down for a bit," Kihyun says, his breathing shaky and heavy.

With a look of overwhelming worry in his eyes, Hoseok guides Kihyun to the space on the other side of the door, away from all of their belongings. He then carefully lowers Kihyun to the ground to sit up against the wall, then sits right down next to him, Kihyun still clinging onto his arms.

"You definitely overworked yourself with all of that nagging," Hoseok murmurs, chuckling a bit, but Hyungwon can still see the fierce concern in his eyes. He looks up at Hyunwoo and his expression is determined.

"I'll stay with him," Hoseok says, "he just needs to rest for a little while."

Hyunwoo nods in approval, looking quite worried himself, before motioning for the rest of the members to follow him back into the stairwell to continue. Hyungwon hesitates for a moment, watching as Hoseok gently pushes Kihyun's bangs out of his eyes, murmuring to him softly and sweetly as Kihyun's breathing starts to even out.

"Hyungwon," Hyunwoo says suddenly, pulling Hyungwon out of his daze. Hyunwoo is holding open the door to the stairwell as the other members go past him and back down the stairs.

"Right, sorry," Hyungwon mumbles.

Their trip back down the stairwell is rather silent and uneventful. When they get to the van, they're pleased to discover that they'll only need two more trips to bring the rest of their luggage upstairs, even with only the five of them working on it (their manager having left them there to go pick up some groceries at the store down the block). They'll go get the rest of their belongings from the old dorm tomorrow, but they should have all of the things that they need for tonight.

As they start the second arduous journey back up to the new dorm, Minhyuk starts chattering as he wrestles with two large garbage bags full of clothes.

"It's kinda sad that they'll be separated, don't you think?" he says.

"What are you talking about?" Hyungwon asks. He's at the front of the line this time, and though he can't see it, he can tell by the sound of his voice that Minhyuk's got on his gossip face, mirthful eyes and annoying smirk and all.

"Kihyun and Hoseok," Minhyuk replies, and Hyungwon can hear that he's dragging the garbage bags along the ground now instead of actually carrying them. Not a good idea, considering that they're the cheap, generic store brand and could tear open if handled too roughly.

"Oh yeah," Jooheon pipes up, "Kihyun is rooming with us now."

"Only because the two of you can't be trusted without adult supervision," Hyungwon quips. And it's the truth; their manager had insisted that Kihyun room with Changkyun, Minhyuk, and Jooheon upon them all moving to the new dorm, perhaps in the hopes that Kihyun might be a good influence on them after their old room had turned into something resembling a bomb site.

"It's to save you guys from burying yourselves alive in your own mess," Hyungwon continues. "It's got nothing to do with...anything else."

"Anything else?" Minhyuk teases sarcastically, and Hyungwon wishes that Minhyuk could see him rolling his eyes, because Minhyuk's tone is really nothing but trouble. "Oh wow, I do wonder what you could mean by that."

"Guys," Hyunwoo says, voice firm and commanding, "we've talked about this. It's none of our business. If and when they're ready to talk to us about it, we'll all be here, but until then, we need to just leave them alone."

"Uggghhh, but I don't want to!" Minhyuk whines. "I'm dying to know the details. You can't tell me that you're not dying to know the details too. Changkyun...you must be dying to know the details, right?"

"Well..." Changkyun starts.

"If and when they're ready to talk to us," Hyunwoo repeats, voice still calm and authoritative, "we'll be here to listen and to support them."

Hyunwoo pauses for a moment, then adds, "and then we can get all the details."

They all burst into laughter at that and Hyungwon just sighs, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

They continue walking in silence for a few more minutes and somehow, Hyungwon ends up a flight ahead of everyone else; it must be thanks to his long legs and the fact that he's carrying only a few light, cardboard boxes containing towels and toiletries.

Around the time that Hyungwon is rounding the corner of the tenth floor, he hears a commotion a few floors beneath him from the rest of the group. From what he can garner from the combined sounds of yelling (Minhyuk), scolding (Hyunwoo), and complaining (Jooheon and Changkyun), it seems that one of Minhyuk's garbage bags full of clothes tore open (surprise, surprise) and spilled out onto the stairwell floor. Hyungwon just rolls his eyes again and moves up the stairs faster, hoping not to be dragged into the mess.

A few minutes later, Hyungwon exits the stairwell and arrives back out into the hallway of their new dorm, and he's just in time to see Hoseok and Kihyun, still sitting right where they had left them, giving each other major lovey-dovey eyes. He's about to make a joke, but something tells him that they're having a moment, and so his instincts have him freeze in place, absolutely silent.

Hoseok reaches to tenderly cup Kihyun's face in his hand, rubbing his thumb slowly over Kihyun's cheek while Kihyun looks at him with soft, fluttering eyes. There's not a trace of the vocalist's usual sarcastic, put-upon, grumpy yet endearing demeanor that they've all come to know and love. Instead, Kihyun looks positively shy, docile even. And Hoseok looks determined, strong and protective, a completely different side of him than Hyungwon is used to seeing.

Hoseok is halfway into Kihyun's lap, hovering over him like he's shielding him from the world, and Kihyun's lips are parted as he looks up at Hoseok. The two of them are focused only on each other, and it seems that they hadn't even noticed Hyungwon open the stairwell door. Kihyun looks so small and delicate underneath his bigger, muscular bandmate, but he doesn't even flinch, doesn't even blink as Hoseok moves closer. His eyes slip closed.

Hyungwon can see that Kihyun's face is still just as red as it was before. But it's not the alarming, angry red of an overworked, overexerted body. No, instead, it's the softer, sweeter red that accompanies a racing heartbeat and butterflies in the stomach. Hyungwon knows exactly what kind of red it is and what it means.

And then, Hyungwon watches as Hoseok closes his own eyes and leans down to kiss Kihyun on the lips, oh so gently, as if he's afraid that Kihyun might break into a million little pieces.

It's not exactly a surprise, it really shouldn't be given the way the two act around each other and the fact that all of their bandmates had picked up on what was happening fairly quickly. But even so, seeing it with his own two eyes has Hyungwon's mouth falling open in shock, and he can't stop his surprised little noise that finally alerts Kihyun and Hoseok to his presence.

At that, Hoseok pulls back from Kihyun and scoots away quickly, the two of them both turning to look at Hyungwon with wide eyes and alarmed expressions. All of that lovely red color drains from Kihyun's face, and Hyungwon can see Hoseok's Adam's apple bob in his throat as he swallows, eyes darting around in panic.

There are a few beats of dead silence, none of them saying anything, none of them even daring to breathe. Hyungwon can hear the faint noise of the others coming up the stairs behind him. After another moment, Hyungwon's brain finally catches up with what just happened. He lets out a soft breath and gives Kihyun and Hoseok a small, fond smile. He hopes...no...he knows that they can understand what his eyes are saying.

Don't worry. I didn't see anything. Your secret is safe with me.

The expression on Hoseok's face softens, and the color starts to return to Kihyun's face, the two of them having understood what Hyungwon was communicating with his eyes. Moments later, the others all come out from the stairwell again, Minhyuk holding a large pile of clothes in his arms and a dour look on his face. Hyungwon feels quite amused at the thought of Minhyuk's reaction if he knew what he had just missed.

"Kihyun, are you feeling better?" Hyunwoo asks as Changkyun and Minhyuk drop off the second batch of belongings by the door.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," Kihyun says. He makes momentary eye contact with Hyungwon and blushes again, unbeknownst to the others who are already going back through the stairwell door for the last trip.

Hyungwon grins, the initial shock of what he had witnessed quickly giving way to mischief. Never mind the fact that he had caught Kihyun and Hoseok kissing. What's even better is that he had just gotten a glimpse of Kihyun–the Tom to his Jerry whom he never gets tired of playfully teasing–at his most vulnerable. Hell, he had seen Kihyun actually blushing with stars in his eyes like a lovestruck schoolgirl. If Hyungwon wasn't such a good friend, there's no way he would ever be able to let Kihyun live this down.

But, Hyungwon is a good friend, and even though he's dying to tease his bandmates, Kihyun especially, he just raises an eyebrow knowingly and smirks at them as he turns back to the stairwell door.