Jiyong shook the keychain right in front of Soonie's eyes, much to her wonder. An almost smile showed up on her lips and she clumsily reached out for one of the keys, not believing her luck when it flew away at the exact moment when she was about to get her sticky hands on it. Ah, to be little and not realize that most of what happens in the world is orchestrated by people more powerful than you with nothing but their own interest in mind. When a frown started to materialize on her face, he quickly shook the keys again, the sound distracting the frown, turning it upside down.

A while later he could hear the front door closing. He sat up in the sofa, adjusting Soonie on his lap. She had bullied the whole keychain out of his hands and was now haphazardly swinging it around, trying to force it to make sounds. He took a deep breath, getting ready for whatever trick Seunghyun had up his sleeve to try and make him forgive him. Well, he was not going to. Not this time. Not quite yet at least. He did need his help with Soonie, there was no way he could do this alone. And even if he could, he didn't want to. But he was incredibly mad still, Seunghyun's prank had struck way below the belt and he deserved to suffer for it. 

Seunghyun entered the apartment like nothing had happened, no tail between his legs. Without a word, he crossed the living room in a carefree manner, walking past him and into his bedroom. Jiyong couldn't believe his own eyes. Picking his jaw up off the floor, he tried to wrap his head around what had just happened. There was no way that Seunghyun hadn't noticed that he was mad at him. Even if his facial recognition abilities had been compromised, he had a bruise forming on his shin as evidence. What was wrong with him? Did he just not care? He knew Seunghyun. He was childish, immature and inconsiderate at times, but his heart was in the right place. Or normally it was. 

Jiyong's heart sank, despite great efforts of trying to keep it afloat. He wanted to be mad, to be furious, to see nothing but red and imagine scenarios where something terrible happened to Seunghyun. Instead he felt sad, sad and abandoned. He tried to focus on how cute Soonie was, brattily shaking the keys, trying to get them to behave. He let out a lone chuckle. She really was the cutest, but not cute enough to block out the wave of fright that was drowning him. He couldn't do this alone. He just couldn't. He needed Seunghyun in his corner, but the corner was empty. It had been Seunghyun that got them into this whole mess in the first place. If it had been up to him, he would have taken Soonie to the police station. A pang of guilt visited his heart at the thought. 

Lost in the darkness of his own thoughts, it took him a second to feel the hands that were sneaking onto his shoulders. He only noticed them as they started to give his shoulders a shy massage. It was a stretch calling it a massage, a slight pinching more like it. As the fog of doom was lifted from his brain, he suppressed a giggle. He was not going to let Seunghyun off that easy after the emotional rollercoaster he had just put him on, leaving him to ride it alone without an end in sight. 

He acted like he didn't even notice the weird finger dance ritual that was being performed on his shoulders and focused instead on playing with Soonie. He could feel Seunghyun shift positions behind him, leaning in. “So do you forgive me?” he whispered, his lips hovering right outside his ear. 

Jiyong shook his head lightly, careful not to give in to his curiosity, playing it super cool. He swallowed a chuckle. He liked this groveling tactic, he was going to have some fun with it before forgiving him. He had definitely earned this massage for his troubles.

As if reading his mind, Seunghyun got down to business. No more of that artsy expression of his fingers, now it was time for some real relaxation. He closed his eyes as Seunghyun's hands skillfully released the strain that had been building up in his muscles, cutting the cord that was holding his shoulders hostage, having kept them tied up against a ton of worries that were now being set free. It felt absolutely amazing. Jiyong exhaled. 

“How about now?” Seunghyun asked gently, laughter hiding behind his voice. His scent was intoxicating. 

“Not a chance.” Jiyong shook his head again, pointing firmly at his shoulders as he considered for how much longer he could keep Seunghyun as his slave. He savoured the idea.

This time Seunghyun wasn't kidding around anymore. He took the laws of physics into his own hands, bending them to his will, using them to produce an overdose of pleasure wrapped in a blanket of warmth. A low moan escaped Jiyong's lips as he lost himself for a moment. It was only for a brief instant, but it was already too late. Seunghyun jumped on the chance like a tiger pouncing on its prey. 

“Jiyong-ah..” he whispered in his low, raspy voice. He waited for an answer while continuing to conjure up magic with his hands. “Mm?” Jiyong muttered, too relaxed for his own good. “Forgive me.” Seunghyun replied in a remorseful, intimate tone that impatiently knocked on the door of his heart, anxious to be let in. 

He knew it was all an act, albeit a really good one. Seunghyun was talented, there was no doubt about that. But knowing and feeling were two different things, and one seldom agreed with the other. He couldn't help but give in. “Fine.” he said dryly, masking his melted emotions. 

The moment the word abandoned his lips, Seunghyun stopped the shoulder massage, jumping into the air while making an excited woohoo-like sound in celebration. Jiyong could feel as Soonie jerked back in surprise, dropping the keys that by now had been watered down to 80% drool, 20% metal, her head searching frantically for the source of the disturbance. Seunghyun bounced happily around the living room, singing at the top of his lungs “High, high, I'm so high.. High, high, up in the sky.”, doing the corresponding dance moves, jumping up with his hand in the air. Soonie screeched and stretched her hand up, mimicking Seunghyun.

“No way!” Jiyong exclaimed. “You've got to see this!” he interrupted Seunghyun mid-celebration, doing the baby version in front of Soonie to get her to do it again. This was so not the most appropriate song of which to have a baby version, he thought chuckling to himself. Soonie didn't budge, she was looking at him like he wasn't quite right in the head. “Yeah, what she said!” Seunghyun snorted, making fun of him. “No, I'm telling you, she was trying to copy you. It was the most adorable thing you'll ever see. You try.” he suggested, too excited to let his feelings get hurt over the fact that Soonie was only interested in Seunghyun. It was old news anyway.

Seunghyun positioned himself smack in front of her, starting right back up from where he had left off. “High, high..” he sang in a full voice, and as his hand shot into the air, so did Soonie's. “Hi hi” she sang giggling. He could see Seunghyun's heart liquify and turn into mush right before his eyes. Aigoo, that softie. “I told ya!!” he laughed, signaling him to try it again. That he did and the little Soonie-echo followed suit, over and over again. Jiyong hadn't laughed so much in a long time, tears running down his cheeks faster than he could wipe them away. This sure was a fun new toy they had gotten themselves, the downside being that it had endless different settings and no manual. 

After about a thousand repetitions Soonie showed no signs of getting bored with it any time soon. “What is she, a robot?!” Seunghyun exclaimed in desperation, letting himself fall onto the couch beside them, totally and utterly exhausted. As he wiped the sweat from his forehead, a whiff of something awful reached Jiyong's nose. “Ewww dude, did you just fart?” he complained, his nose crinkled with disgust. “Oh not even! He who smelt it, dealt it!” Seunghyun chuckled, pretending he didn't smell anything when he clearly did. 

It truly did smell horrible, and the smell was only getting stronger. It was as if a light bulb had inside both their heads at the same time, their attention drawn to Soonie, the real culprit. Seunghyun instantly jumped up, fleeing from the couch into the corner furthest from it. Yeah, right. As if he was going to be the only one left in the blast zone. He carefully placed Soonie in the middle of the sofa, making sure she was comfortable, before getting the hell out of there too. 

And there she sat, like a pretty little princess in her smelly sofa kingdom.