The day had started like any other.

Jiyong had risen before the sun was even up, showering and dressing before venturing out to the kitchen to make coffee. Ideally, he liked to drink it before doing anything, but the scent always managed to stir the rest of the guys from their beds, and he’d rather have his few precious minutes of solitude in the morning than coffee.

Not that he didn’t love his band mates because he did. But after living with the three of them for six years, day in and day out constantly surrounded by the same people, sometimes he just needed to be alone for awhile to breathe and collect his thoughts.

Right on cue, Daesung and Youngbae stumbled into the room with groggy yawns.

“Morning, hyung.”

“Morning, Ji.”

They both greeted him as they sat around the table. Jiyong smiled into his cup as he relished the warmth sliding through the porcelain and into his hands. “Good morning. How did you guys sleep?”

Daesung shot him an uncharacteristically dark look before laying his head onto his crossed arms on the table.

“Three hours is not enough. We’re getting too old for this,” Youngbae groaned.

“You’ve been saying that since your were twenty.”

“Because it’s true!”

“Shhh! Hyungs, you’re too loud for four in the morning,” Seungri whined as he entered the room, wiping the sleep from his eyes like a child. Jiyong couldn’t resist the urge to pinch his cheeks.

“Is our little Riri cranky today?”

Seungri batted his hands away with a pout and went to take a seat only to end up sprawling across the floor when Youngbae slid the chair out from under him. Daesung laughed into his arms, his shaking shoulders the only real indication that he wasn’t asleep. Youngbae darted around to the other side of the table when Seungri shot him a menacing scowl.

“You can’t punch your hyung, Seungri! It’s not allowed!”

Jiyong snickered to himself as the two ran out of the room.

“Isn’t it a bit early in the day to be torturing our poor maknae, babe?” Seunghyun’s deep voice questioned right beside his ear as he wrapped his arms around Jiyong from behind. Instantly, Jiyong melted into the embrace, letting his head fall back and rest on Seunghyun’s shoulder.

“It’s never too early for our favorite sport,” Jiyong chuckled. He set his mug on the counter beside him and turned and placed his arms around Seunghyun’s neck, pulling him into a tender kiss. “If you insist on meeting us here in the mornings, then why not just stay the night?”

Seunghyun’s tongue darted out and traced over Jiyong’s lips forcefully before he pulled back with a hungry grin. “You taste like coffee.” He leaned forward for another quick taste, tightening his hold on Jiyong’s waist. Sighing happily, he stepped away and went about getting his own cup of coffee. “I bought the condo; I might as well use it. Besides,” he smirked over his shoulder at Jiyong, “neither of us would get any sleep if I stayed.”

“Guys, could you possibly stop trying to defile my innocent mind?” Daesung groaned from the table.

“Your mind is not the thing in this room that I want to defile,” Seunghyun purred as he slid his hand into Jiyong’s back pocket and tugged him closer so their hips were snuggled beside each other.

Daesung lightly banged his head against the table and then looked up with a disturbed expression on his face. He muttered to himself as he left the room. “Great. Now I’m having flashbacks of the time I accidentally walked in on you. My poor eyes…” He shuddered. “I think I might need to seek professional help.”

Jiyong and Seunghyun exchanged happy smiles at their friends’ dramatics. They were such a bunch of dorks.

Together they made breakfast for everyone in a comfortable silence with the occasional and consequent flirty look. They knew each other well enough that they didn’t necessarily need to talk. They were able to simply enjoy the peace of being side by side. And they’d only been apart for a little while since Seunghyun had just left the dorm five hours ago, so it wasn’t as if they had anything new and pressing to talk about.

After the others had wandered back into the kitchen--now showered and dressed but hardly anymore awake—they all ate.

“So what are we supposed to do today?”

“This kid that is always talking with his mouth full. No table manners at all,” Youngbae playfully shoved Seungri’s face away causing the younger man to sputter indignantly as rice fell out of his mouth. He retaliated by the hand that had just assaulted him.

“Yah! Lee Seunghyun, do you want to die?” Seungri shook his head and raised his hands in surrender at Youngbae’s clenched fist. Instantly, Youngbae started laughing and ruffled Seungri’s hair.

Daesung shook his head with an amused smile. “Are you two finished so we can find out what we’re doing?”

Sheepishly, the two nodded.

“First, we need to go to the studio to record that new song. I think we’re scheduled to practice our dance routine for next week’s performance afterwards, and then we have that commercial to shoot at three. We should probably practice our routine again when we’re finished.”

Everyone groaned miserably. Two multi-hour practices in one day? No thank you.

“Seunghyun-hyung, can’t you find a way to occupy him so we can have a break tonight?” Daesung stage whispered across the table.

Seunghyun smirked and raised a single eyebrow in question. “Didn’t you just say forty-five minutes ago that you need professional help because of us?”

“I meant that I need to see a professional matchmaker to cure my lonely heart because seeing the two of you together made me realize how much I need love in my life.”

For a moment the only sound in the room was the metaphorical chirping of crickets as they all stared at Daesung’s deadpan expression. Then there was a round of riotous laughter. Orange juice burned Jiyong’s nose as it squirted out. The sight only made them all laugh harder.

He knew he shouldn’t have tried to drink with these clowns around.

Their fun was interrupted a few seconds later when the no-nonsense manager walked into the room. He bowed slightly before straitening up and leveling them all with a pointed look. “The van has been ready for the past ten minutes. Shouldn’t we be going now?”

Although he phrased it as a question, they all knew that it was actually an order. With one last longing look towards their still mostly full plates, they filed out of the dorm.

*****

It had started slowly. They held hold hands hesitantly when watching a movie on the couch. The whole time they’d stolen worried glances at their friends, terrified that at any moment one of them would look over and freak out. As if seeing physical proof of their affection for each other would change their friends’ minds about the situation even though they’d already given their blessings. When it became apparent that the guys honestly didn’t mind, Jiyong and Seunghyun began to loosen up, steadily becoming bolder about their relationship, but always only in the refuge of the dorm or Seunghyun’s condo. Only in the empty places where it was okay for them to be two men that were in love.

Because of the rest of the group’s easy acceptance of their relationship, they felt a freedom when they were at the dorm. They could be together in the safe little bubble that existed between the five of them without worrying about being caught or getting reprimanded. Despite Daesung’s teasing complaints, the guys were genuinely okay with Jiyong and Seunghyun dating. As long as they were happy, what business was it to anyone else?

They’d grown careless.

While the guys took a break from recording to get something to eat, Seunghyun and Jiyong were left in the studio alone. It wouldn’t have happened a couple of months ago, but they had somehow forgotten the need for secrecy after weeks of being able to touch each other whenever the urge struck. Which was often.

“Have I ever told you how much I love your voice?” Jiyong asked as he slowly swung his chair back and forth. Seunghyun blushed, the tips of his ears turning an adorable shade of pink. He shrugged off the embarrassment with a deep chuckle.

“You might have mentioned it once or twice.”

A gentle smile pulled at Jiyong’s lips as Seunghyun shyly avoided his gaze. How one man could be so damn cute and y at the same time, Jiyong would never understand.

“What about your shyness? I don’t think I’ve told you how endearing it is.” He moved from his chair in front of the control panel to the couch where Seunghyun was sitting. Pushing his pink hair out of his own face, he placed a soft kiss on the spot where Seunghyun’s dimple appeared a millisecond later. “And your horrible sense of humor.” He placed another kiss on Seunghyun’s other dimple, warmth causing his heart to flutter in his chest happily as he felt the indent curve against his mouth. “Your strange fascination with toys.” His lips brushed across the edge of Seunghyun’s own. “Your obsidian colored eyes.” Another kiss landed on the shell of Seunghyun’s ear. “But I especially love that you’re secretly a very dirty boy,” Jiyong whispered huskily before pulling the lobe between his teeth.

Seunghyun’s chest brushed against his, both of their hearts pounding chaotically in a familiar and exhilarating rhythm. The sounds of their elevated breathing echoed around the room. With a growl, Seunghyun turned them and pushed Jiyong so that he was lying on the couch. He pinned Jiyong’s wrists above his head and slid one leg between his thighs.

Jiyong was pleased that he’d worn comfortable sweatpants instead of constricting denim. Seunghyun agreed since it meant easier access for him.

Staring down at Jiyong’s flushed face and slightly parted lips, Seunghyun was once again awestruck. There’d been such a long time when he’d dreamed about this, when he’d fantasized about being with Jiyong. There’d been countless sleepless nights and icy showers, but no matter how much he’d tried to deny it, he couldn’t fight his feelings for his friend.

Still unable to control himself after the years of repression despite the last ten months of dating, Seunghyun took one last glance at Jiyong’s desire filled chocolate colored eyes , and then leaned forward and crashed their mouths together. He slowly and deliberately traced Jiyong’s lips with his own, biting at their fullness playfully, before soothing the spot with teasing of his tongue.

He released Jiyong’s hands and relished in the way that Jiyong used the new freedom to pull at his hair and tug their faces closer. He trailed a hand down Jiyong’s side, sliding across the black cotton shirt smoothly. He fingers reached the edge and he was about to push it up and out of the way when a loud gasp distracted him.

After he pulled away, it took a minute for his kiss-drunk mind to process what he was seeing. Once he finally was able to focus again, he jumped away from Jiyong as quickly as possible and ended up ungracefully landing on the floor in front of the couch.

“P-President Yang.  What brings you here?” Jiyong felt his face flame, but he forced himself to act calm. Maybe he hadn’t seen anything.

Hyunsuk stared at them from the doorway with a completely blank face. In a way, it was even more terrifying than if he’d looked angry. At least then they’d know what he was thinking.

“I wanted to see how the recording was going,” he replied in a cold voice that sent shivers down both Jiyong’s and Seunghyun’s spines. “Not well it would appear.”

“We were just-” Seunghyun began hurriedly.

“No.” Hyunsuk held up a hand to stop him. “Save it; I don’t want to hear it right now. Finish the schedule for today. Tomorrow we will have a meeting at ten a.m.”

“But sir-”

“I said tomorrow!” 

Swallowing in fear, Jiyong could only nod. They watched as Hyunsuk left. Panic and fear filled the room like a storm cloud waiting to strike.

“What are we going to do?” Jiyong asked quietly.

Seunghyun reached up and laced their fingers together, squeezing tightly. “I don’t know.”