Changhyun has been waiting for this moment.

All the tears, the sleepless nights... it's all been worth it.

He allows himself a moment to close his eyes and savor the natural high that comes with being the object of everyone's attention.

"If you don't wipe off that smug smirk in five seconds, Changhyun, I'm leaving."

Or not.

Rattled, he opens his eyes to a frowning Chanhee-hyung, hands on his hips like he's about to give another of his long-winded lectures. Minsoo-hyung, as always, laughs awkwardly and rubs his chin in response. He's still wearing sunglasses, Changhyun notes dispassionately, despite the fact that they're inside the dorm living room and it's currently 2:17 in the morning. Byunghun-hyung sighs and calls him an idiot, which he's done at least three times since the four of them have met up. He keeps taking off his snapback to run a hand through his hair. Changhyun has half a mind to tell him he's going to go bald faster if he keeps doing that, just to see his hyung panic for a few precious seconds.

First things first though. He clears his throat. "It's about Niel-hyung and Jonghyun."

Suddenly all eyes are on him. None of them look surprised. 

"Ah." Minsoo-hyung is just as eloquent as ever, nodding his head a few times. "Figures." Byunghun-hyung's face darkens, and Chanhee-hyung simply wears an amused smile.

He sputters. This was supposed to be the big reveal, but it turns out he was the last to know?

Chanhee-hyung comes over to pinch his cheeks. "You only noticed it recently?" He teases. "Hey, how much more obvious did Jonghyun have to be for you to get the message?" 

His face burns red of its own accord, effectively answering the question. Byunghun-hyung stares at him disbelievingly. "Don't tell me you walked in on them..." He lets the words dangle unfinished, but all of them know what he would have said next. 

It wasn't like he had done it on purpose, really. The truth of the matter was that he'd gotten out of bed to empty his bladder, nothing more. Jonghyun's voice isn't particularly loud, but in the quiet of the night, Changhyun could hear it as clearly as if he were standing next to them.

"Niel." There is an innate wrongness to hearing the older man's name without the suffix attached. Changhyun waits for Niel-hyung's retaliation, but nothing happens. Jonghyun continues without interruption. "I love you."

Niel-hyung hums in response; without facial expression it could mean any number of things. It could be anything from Nothing new there, Jonghyun to I'm going to whip your for using banmal, punk. Knowing the two as well as he does, it could actually be both. Changhyun personally hopes Jonghyun gets a noogie or a dropkick for his informality; it's unfair that he should be the only one to suffer Niel-hyung's wrath.

There's a marked insistence to his tone the second time he says it aloud. "I love you. You know that, right?" Is Jonghyun trying to prove something? Or did he accidentally overhear a snippet of some punishment game he'd rather not be privy to? Niel-hyung sighs in exasperation.

"You brat... I get it. I love you too, okay?" Changhyun can practically see Jonghyun's wide smile; his friend always did want Niel-hyung's approval the most, more than any of the others. "Now let's go to sleep."

The knowledge that two of his closest friends are dating makes him giddy on the inside. It's kind of cute how Jonghyun becomes such a marshmallow despite the masculine image he's been presenting to the fans.

"I'm glad we're on the same page," Jonghyun's voice is pitched low, and he has to put a hand over his mouth to stifle his uncontrollable giggles, "now off to bed we go." One of these days he's going to have to give his friend a quick tutorial on how to properly seduce someone. Niel-hyung deserves better.

Everything goes downhill once the bedsprings creak, and Changhyun is trapped inside the bathroom. There's no way he could make a getaway without drawing the couple's attention and completely ruining the mood. He may be a brat (only sometimes, really), but he doesn't think he can face Niel-hyung and Jonghyun in the face after they find out he's been eavesdropping. He settles himself in the bathtub and draws the shower curtains together to drown out the noise.

It would be good if it ended like that, but it doesn't. Changhyun's beginning to suspect Jonghyun and Daniel are doing it on purpose to torment him. He's not sure how they would be able to do that, but he wouldn't put it past those two devils.

Unable to stand the others' judging stares, he bursts out, "I definitely wasn't eavesdropping when it happened!" Keeping his eyes fixed on the floor and red with embarrassment, he hears a faint snort. His head snaps back up. "Hey, who snorted just now?"

Niel-hyung and Jonghyun appear from the shadows with sheepish expressions. Jonghyun takes one look at him and starts snickering. Niel-hyung profusely apologizes and explains that the whole thing was a ruse. ("We were just jumping on the bed and screaming each other's names, Changhyun. Not like we could do anything with you guys around, you know? Ah, but yeah, it's true that we're dating, though.") He socks them both in the stomach for pulling one over him, smiling to himself.

All their tears of frustration, all their sleepless, anxiety-ridden nights... it's all been worth it.

Changhyun will make sure that it stays that way.