It was just a normal day in the dorms. No schedule, no chores needing to be done, no errands to run. Just a simple day for everyone to just relax… or so they all thought.

“JAEHWAN GET BACK HERE!” Ravi yells from the bathroom.
 

“NEVER, SHORTIE!” screeches Jaehwan, running through the dorm towards his bedroom, locking the door in the process.
 

Everyone looks up from what they were doing: Hakyeon was cooking dinner, Taekwoon was listening to music, and Hyuk was playing a video game with Hongbin on his iPad. They all watched as the scene unfolded before them. A scene that has unfolded many times before.

Hakyeon sighed, turning the fire on the stove off, walking up to where Ravi was hiding himself behind the bathroom door. “What did he take this time?”

“He took my pants! AGAIN.” Ravi yelled, angry that he had left the door unlocked, giving Jaehwan the chance to steal his clothes. “Why does he only take MY clothes?”

“BECAUSE YOU’RE THE SHORTEST~” Jaehwan sang from behind his bedroom door.

“YOU’LL HAVE TO COME OUT EVENTUALLY JAEHWAN. AND WHEN YOU DO I WILL KILL YOU.”

“HEY. No one is killing anyone around here.” Hakyeon said sternly, but with the kindness that only Hakyeon can carry. “Jaehwan, give Wonshik his pants back and come eat. Dinner is going to get cold if you keep this up.”

“Fine, if I have too.” Jaehwan pouted, stomping his way over to the bathroom door with the fuming Wonshik, holding his pants up where he knew Wonshik couldn’t reach. “Only if you can reach them~”

“Jaehwan give me my pants already!” Wonshik whined, not in the mood to play that game. “I’m hungry and I’m starting to get cold.”

“You’re such a party pooper.” Jaehwan pouted again, throwing Wonshik’s pants at him, muting the ‘thank you’ from the younger.

----------------------------------------------------

After they all sat down and ate dinner, which was full of more short jokes and almost a full-fledged food fight, everything seemed to calm down.

Jaehwan and Wonshik were sitting next to each other in Wonshik’s room, watching some random video they found on YouTube.
 

“Jaehwan, why do you always pick on me?” Wonshik asked, knowing he was treading on cautionary territory for himself.

Jaehwan was so entranced at the video he didn’t even bother to look at the other when he responded, “Because you’re short. I thought you knew that already.”

“Well, yeah I knew that, but there are other short members, why do you ONLY pick on me?” Wonshik made sure to emphasize the ‘ONLY’ to hopefully get his point across.

Wonshik really didn’t understand. Jaehwan picked on them all for different reasons, but that’s just who he was. Jaehwan was the funniest member of their group, and he definitely put it to good use. He would poke fun at random things, and no one ever took it to heart because everyone knows that whenever Jaehwan says something to them, he is joking.

What Wonshik didn’t understand was why Jaehwan chose to pick on his height, out of all the things he could’ve chosen, why his height? He could’ve picked on his laugh, his voice, or even his failure at making food. He could’ve picked anything but yet he constantly chooses to focus on his height.

Jaehwan looked at him with a look that gave away his thought process. It was a look of, Do you really not understand by now?

“Wonshik… you’re the shortest in our group. And I find it really cute. Really, REALLY cute. That’s why I always pick on you for your height. I love everything about you, but your height is my favorite.”
 

Jaehwan was blushing so hard at this point that he had to stop to regain his composure before he started again, and all Wonshik could do was stare at him with the most surprised look on his face.


“Any time you need help grabbing something off of a shelf, I’m always the first one to help. Any time you need help hanging something up in your closet, I’m ALWAYS the first one to help. I love helping you, and the fact that your short means that I get to help you even more than I normally would need to.”

“You are the perfect height for me. Whenever you hug me, your head falls perfectly over my heart. Do you ever hear my heartbeat? It beats harder every time you hug me. Or any time we are watching a movie and you lay your head on my shoulder, I’m thankful. I’m happy with the height you have. It’s perfect Wonshik. Everything about it is perfect.”

At this point both Wonshik and Jaehwan are at the brink of tears, and Wonshik is in such a state of shock that he can only stare at Jaehwan, not uttering a single word.

“Look, I know it is probably annoying to you and I’m sorry if I make fun of you too much, but it’s how I…” Jaehwan swallows, the words having a hard time coming out. “How I show my love for you.”

Wonshik blinks, finally coming back to reality. “Jaehwan… I-I love you too, but you making fun of me all the time… I didn’t think you felt that way.” Wonshik sighed, not expecting to be able to just lay out his feelings like this.

“I always thought that you thought of me as just a dongsaeng, your short dongsaeng who can never reach anything on the top shelf, or hang his own clothes up. But whenever I hug you, I love hearing your heartbeat, and I’m glad I’m short because then you can’t hear mine beating even faster than yours.”

“When we watch movies, I always purposely sit beside you because your shoulder is the perfect height for me to lay my head on. It’s my favorite pillow to fall asleep on, on the couch, in the van, backstage at music shows. It’s my favorite, it always has been, and it always will be.”

Wonshik blushed, clearing his throat. “Jaehwan, this is going to sound so stupid but… how long have you liked me? Because I’ve liked you since I met you, and that’s a really long time for someone like me.”

Jaehwan laughed, watching as Wonshik became confused, not understanding what could be so funny at a time like this.

“Wonshik, I’ve liked you ever since I laid my eyes on you. Obviously, your height brought my attention to you at first, but that’s what has led to all of this. Your height. It’s my favorite thing about you. And I want to spend every day of the rest of my life knowing that I can look at you every day and fall in love with you and your height more each passing second.”

Both just sat in silence, trying to digest all of what had been said, slowly realizing the situation they were in.

“Jaehwan,” Wonshik started. “What do we do? I like you, you like me. But… can we start dating? That will create controversy, not only in the group but if it got out to the media…” Wonshik began to get worried, tears welling up in his eyes at the thought of possibly losing Jaehwan over something like this.

Jaehwan put his arm around the other, “Shh, Wonshik it will be fine. Let’s just be happy that we know about our feelings for right now. We can start dating if you want, but we need to tell everyone.”

“But will they be okay with… us?” Wonshik sighed, mentally preparing himself for the long talk they will probably be receiving from both their manager and Hakyeon.

“They’ll have to be. I’m not losing you just because they don’t agree with us being together.” Jaehwan said, holding Wonshik even tighter. “Speaking of which… Wonshik, will you do me the honors of being my beautiful, and short, boyfriend?”

Wonshik slapped the other’s shoulder, “Yes, I’d be delighted to. But did you really have to add ‘and short’ in there?”

“Fine, I’ll change it to my beautifully short boyfriend.”

“Much better.” Wonshik laughed, laying his head on Jaehwan’s shoulder. “We should just go tell them now, there isn’t any point in keeping it from them.”

“If you think we should tell them, then tell them we shall.” Jaehwan said, pulling Wonshik up and hugging him. “I’m happy you’re mine now.”

“So am I, Jaehwan. So am I.” Wonshik replied happily, looking up at his boyfriend.

Jaehwan looked down at his boyfriend, and leaned in, giving him a light kiss on his forehead. “Let’s go tell them.”
 

-----------------------------------------------------

After a long talk with all of the members, and their manager, everyone was okay with, and actually very happy, about Wonshik and Jaehwan’s relationship. They all laughed and celebrated for the rest of the night. It just became a part of their life and it didn’t change anything about their daily activities.

It seriously didn’t change ANYTHING.
 

A few days later
 

Wonshik’s voice rang out through the dorm.

“JAEHWAN! GET BACK HERE WITH MY CLOTHES RIGHT NOW!”

“NEVER, SHORTIE!”