I think this is the most random thing I've written to date.

"Minseok," the whisper made its way through the quietness, waiting for a response.

Silence.

"Minseok," it repeated intently, louder this time. Someone shifted, the sound of fabric and creak of wood seeming way louder than it did on a normal day.

Silence.

"Minseokkie!" The voice began to grow impatient, now. It was completely dark in the room, and every other normal person would be asleep by now as it was in the middle of the night. Except the one the voice belonged to.

Silence was the only thing that responded.

"Minmin! Umin! Seok-ah! Bun! Chubby chee-"

"Oh for God's sake Luhan, what is it?!" in the end the person the voice called for answered, getting annoyed by the non-stop talking. It was very late and he was really tired, but the other one didn't seem to understand, or care.

Luhan leant over the railing with his torso, looking down on the person underneath him. They were sharing a bunk bed, and he had claimed the upper part of it.

"Hey, Minseok," he said, his upper body hanging upside down as he looked at older in the lower bed. It was so dark he had problems seeing anything but the silhouette of the one beneath him, but he could figure out his distinct features, at least. "Have you ever thought about how weird cheese really is? I mean, both the word and the actual thing?"

This made Minseok sigh, wanting someone to knock Luhan unconscious so he would stop the talking. He wasn't even on drugs, but still acted like this. He knew why Luhan was like this too well though - they had been through it before. It would all start if Luhan got tired early, but refused to go to bed. He would eventually get over being tired, but then he would turn into something Minseok didn't even know what to call. And then, when he was actually supposed to sleep, he wouldn't be able to. Which again resulted in him keeping Minseok up all night.

"Luhan, how much candy did you eat before bed?" Minseok asked.

"Nothing!" Luhan grinned, making a zero with his thumb and forefinger even though Minseok couldn't see it.

"Energy drinks?"

"Nope."

"Some of Yixing's emergency food?"

"Ew, it tastes so bad, I'd rather die,"

"Coffee, then?"

It was quiet for a few seconds, and Minseok knew he had hit the jackpot.

"Maybe one cup," was the reply he got.

Minseok responded with silence, not believing Luhan. No way he got like that with only one cup.

"Or two," he admitted. "Maybe three."

Silence, once again.

"Okay, three and a half cup!" Luhan insisted. But Minseok didn't say anything, and Luhan began to feel like he was given a cold shoulder, something he hated. "Three and three quarters, I'm not going higher than that! Hey, don't ignore me!"

Minseok knew Luhan probably had been drinking more than three and three quarters cups worth of coffee, but he decided not to argue as he felt Luhan growing grumpy, bit by bit. When Luhan turned grumpy, he would start his own pouting-campaign by ignoring everybody else, and Minseok wondered if he could return to sleep soon. His bed was soft, his pillow fluffy and blanket comfortable, and the only thing that kept him from safely slipping into dreamland was the owner of the top bunk of their bed. Luhan could use some sleep, he agreed with himself. Definitely some sleep.

"I believe you," Minseok sighed, answering Luhan in the end, though he didn't for a moment.

Luhan cheered and stretched out his hand in triumph, which Minseok pretended not to see as he turned around on his left side, facing the wall.

“I am tired, Luhan,” he muttered. “We’ve been through this before,” he knew he was being boring, because in some cases he was acting like Luhan did now. But the time had to be past three, and he had stuff to do tomorrow.

Luhan furred his eyebrows. “Last time it was you,” he stated.

Minseok shook his head and rolled over on his back again. “No way,” he said. “I never act like that.” It was obviously a lie of course, but just now he didn’t need to be reminded of his more embarrassing moments after a few hours short of sleep and a few too many coffees.

“Yes, you did,” Luhan insisted, not wanting to let the topic go like Minseok had hoped for. “You wanted me to call you Minmin! And then you hugged me and lay cuddled up to me in my bed for the rest of the night, not wanting to let go.”

Minseok could feel the redness creep into his cheeks, and he was happy it was this dark, so that Luhan couldn’t see him. “Shh, you don’t need to remind me,” he muttered awkwardly.

Minseok expected Luhan to start rambling again, but he didn’t say anything, and it became quiet for a few seconds. It was just for so long that Minseok believed he would be able to get some sleep, but then Luhan opened his mouth again.

“Can I sleep in your bed tonight, Minmin?” he asked. It wasn’t like it was the first time. Whenever one of them was scared, home-sick or worried because of other reasons, they would search for each other as they went to bed. And sometimes, they just wanted closeness. But not now. Luhan wouldn’t shut up no matter if he was in his own or Minseok’s bed, and Minseok wanted sleep.

“No way.” He replied.

He waited for Luhan to start begging him, but instead it seemed like the younger had suddenly remembered the original topic of their conversation. “Oh, and about cheese. Why is it so expensive? I mean, it’s not like it’s an uncommon thing.”

Minseok sighed. “I don’t know, Luhan.” He was not in the mood to explain anything, even if he had known.

It went silent for a few seconds.

“But maths, though. You know all those X and Y equations where we use letters for unknown factors? There are twenty-six letters in the alphabet, so what if there are twenty-eight unknown? What do you do then? Loan the double s from German? Or the weird A –thingie with the circle over it from Norwegian?”

“Luhan, how do you even come up with these things? Go ask Joonmyeon,” Minseok replied, on the edge of despair.

“He’s asleep,”

“And you should be as well.”

“I’ll shut up if you let me sleep in your bed tonight.”

Minseok considered the offer for a moment. Should he? The possibility that Luhan wouldn’t shut up either way was there, after all.

“Okay,” he sighed. Maybe, just maybe, it sounded nice being cuddled up to the other one.

There was a cheerful thank you, and just seconds after, someone lay down beside him. Luhan grinned as his eyes met Minseok’s in the darkness, and his gaze softened. Everything, even sleeping, was so much easier when he had Minseok there. “Thank you,” he said again, cuddling up to the elder, silently and effortlessly slipping his arms around him.

Minseok smiled defeated, accepting the hug and draping his blanket around them both. He really did like this, even if Luhan was running on caffeine as well as having been without sleep for too long.

“I really like your cheeks, did you know that?” Luhan whispered into the dark, right out of the blue. “They’re cute.”

Minseok pouted. “They’re not cute! I have a quite manly face, I tell you. Including my cheeks.” He knew it was wrong of course, but he was the oldest and one couldn’t be the oldest and cute at the same time.

This made Luhan giggle, as he muttered a “yeah right,” and something about Minseok looking even younger than him. There was only about a month between them, but Minseok still felt that he had point out that he was, in fact, the oldest.

"Hey, respect your elders! You should call me hyung!" he demanded, knowing Luhan would never listen to him.

"Saranghae, Minmin," Luhan chided, grinning as he cuddled closer.

And Minseok knew he had lost. “I love you too, Lu-ge,” he muttered as both their voices silenced for that night.