hongbin’s always been the type to smile at anything, he’s awkward and sly in his movements and that’s what sanghyuk likes about him. they work the night shift together with jaehwan and occasionally taekwoon if he ever feels up to the task. hakyeon doesn’t hang around at night and wonsik is probably already in bed by the time the radio show starts.

there’s no need for jaehwan or taekwoon, honestly, but sanghyuk figures that jaehwan has nothing better to do at two in the morning and that taekwoon just gets lonely without sanghyuk at home with him.

hongbin starts the show as he usually does, smiling to an audience who can’t see him (“they can tell if you’re smiling or not by your voice”) and sanghyuk follows up with his introduction, jaehwan waving like a rabid fan on the other side of the glass screen, taekwoon’s not here tonight. sanghyuk grins back at jaehwan before rolling his eyes, his hyungs are ridiculous when it comes to being on air.

the show goes on as it usually does, soft jazz until hongbin decides to talk about all the awkward things that transpired during the day, like the ahjusshi who d him on the subway and the man streaking down the street on his way to the studio. he talks and talks and at one point, sanghyuk almost falls asleep but is stirred when jaehwan enters the booth and pokes his cheek with a bony finger, offering him a mug of warm coffee. bless lee jaehwan and his coffee skills, maybe that’s why taekwoon deals with him.

"ah! jaehwannie’s joined us!" hongbin hollers into the mic and sanghyuk wonders where hongbin gets all this energy from.

"that’s hyung to you," says jaehwan, speaking into sanghyuk’s mic and slipping on a pair of stray headphones. it only takes seconds, but jaehwan turns on a separate mic and is already comfortably seated in between hongbin and sanghyuk. "for the record, i’ve been here all night." 

"you always are," sanghyuk chimes in before slurping loudly on his coffee, hongbin making a face.

"please refrain from drinking like an ill-mannered liberal." 

"that— what?" sanghyuk says, laughing but his eyebrows furrow in complete confusion. 

"nothing, let’s go back to admiring jaehwan!" says jaehwan. sanghyuk is pretty sure no one even listens to their radio show in the middle of the night, but hakyeon’s always said it’s called starlight for a reason. 

they talk and bicker on air for a good twenty minutes before sanghyuk decides it’s a good idea to start playing music again, turning off his mic and playing their set playlist for the night. jaehwan’s still in the middle of a sentence when he does so and he only pouts when hongbin leans over and switches his mic off too. sanghyuk chuckles and sips down the rest of the coffee before standing to stretch, these nights can either go by quickly or take an eternity. 

"breakfast in an hour?" hongbin asks and glances at the wall clock, it’s almost five am. 

"nah," sanghyuk shakes his head, "taekwoon hyung’s cooking today."

"oh, can i come over too then?" jaehwan asks and hongbin looks offended.

"as if taekwoon hyung would allow you into the threshold of his little love nest with sanghyuk." 

"just because he doesn’t let you, do—"

"it isn’t even like that," sanghyuk interrupts jaehwan, his face red and embarrassed but he shakes the blush away. "hongbin’s just too ocd, taekwoon hyung doesn’t like it when you rearrange his cd’s." 

"they need to be organized correctly!" hongbin argues and then lays his face flat on the cool surface of the table, "so can we go over or what." 

"yeah, i haven’t been over in a while," says jaehwan and he’s now got hongbin wondering when the last time was it that he himself has been over.

"sure, i’ll leave a text for him, he’s probably still sleeping," sanghyuk says and grabs his phone, pulling up kakao. 

they alternate between talking about anime and music until the playlist is nearly done and sanghyuk takes note of the time. they say their farewells to the viewers, if there are any — and set up a queue for when hakyeon and wonsik will arrive for their morning segment. 

hongbin links arms with jaehwan and sanghyuk, swaying like a drunkard and jaehwan whines but sanghyuk’s chuckling and they take off to the apartment complex a few blocks down the street. 

"taekwoonie hyung~" jaehwan singsongs when they arrive, taking his shoes off and collapsing on the couch.

sanghyuk takes note that the house is still dark, only the kitchen illuminates light and he shuffles in a lot quieter than jaehwan had with hongbin right behind him. “hey hyung,” he greets with a smile.

taekwoon only glances over his shoulder once, frowns when he sees hongbin but nods in acknowledgement at their greetings. hongbin makes a dying noise in the back of his throat. 

sanghyuk is pretty sure he locked the door behind him, but moments later, it swings open and hakyeon with wonsik by his side enter with cheery morning syndrome. okay, only hakyeon has that syndrome, wonsik still looks dead. 

"shh," jaehwan hisses when hakyeon screeches an ever so loud ‘good morning loves!’ 

he ignores jaehwan and cuddles both sanghyuk and hongbin in one bone crushing hug and then advances to taekwoon who’s still cooking up some eggs.

"morning wonsik hyung," sanghyuk says and wonsik simply nods at him before staggering off to lay on top of jaehwan on the couch. hongbin follows and they end up in a dog pile. 

sanghyuk goes off to his room, slips out of his coat and stares at himself on his wall mirror, his cheeks are much more sullen and he looks almost as dead as wonsik in the morning, but he quickly saunters off to the bathroom to wash his face. when he gets back to the living room, the food’s ready and taekwoon with hakyeon are setting the table. 

"thanks hyung," says sanghyuk and he makes sure to smile extra big for taekwoon. the older only nods shyly and goes back to looking down at the table.

"hey! i helped too!" hakyeon shouts and sanghyuk rolls his eyes.

"thanks too, hakyeon hyung." 

the others gather around the table and hongbin shoves a piece of toast in wonsik’s mouth before he can fall asleep again. jaehwan sits next to sanghyuk and picks at a piece of fish with his chopsticks before offering to feed sanghyuk.

"hyuk-ah~ open wide," says jaehwan and he’s practically pushing the food into sanghyuk’s mouth.

"hyu—" he starts but jaehwan takes the opportunity to shove the fish into his mouth and he’s chuckling when he retracts his hand.

sanghyuk chews the food but sighs in defeat before taekwoon is looking over at him, eyes flickering back and forth between sanghyuk and the plate of fried eggs.

"hyung…" sanghyuk starts and then asks, "do you wanna feed me too?" 

taekwoon nods and sanghyuk opens up his mouth. 

"cute." taekwoon says after feeding sanghyuk and then goes back to eating his own food. 

"you guys are so gross," hongbin comments and jaehwan rolls his eyes. 

"i did it first, i am the original," he says.

hakyeon leans over the table to wipe at sanghyuk’s mouth and sanghyuk cries out, “what the hell!” 

"everyone else was doing something, i felt so left out," hakyeon whines and then grins as playfully as ever.

wonsik mumbles something like ‘hyukkawaii’ but it’s too inaudible to be sure.

sanghyuk huffs and goes back to eating.

when they’re all done, jaehwan’s doing the dishes and taekwoon’s laying on the couch reading a book. hakyeon and wonsik take their leave along with hongbin who’s still so energetic despite being awake for over eight hours. sanghyuk’s seated on the floor, his back pressed against the couch and tv remote laying lifelessly in his tired arms. 

"you’re eating more," taekwoon comments and neither of them look away from their original positions. 

"yeah…" sanghyuk says and he can see jaehwan’s back from the kitchen. "jaehwan hyung scolded me." 

"that’s good then," taekwoon brings a hand down to run through sanghyuk’s hair, the feeling warm and familiar. "you should go to bed." 

"i should walk jaehwan out, first." it’s an excuse. he doesn’t want to go to bed yet, doesn’t want to sleep. 

"he can just sleep over," says taekwoon. he’s slept over before. 

sanghyuk shakes his head, he doesn’t want to talk to taekwoon about this, about these types of things. but he knows that taekwoon won’t goad him into anything, he won’t pry and force sanghyuk to take care of himself. if anything, taekwoon would rather be the one taking care of sanghyuk instead. the younger can’t put a second hyung through that, though. 

as soon as jaehwan finishes the dishes, he pushes sanghyuk’s back forward and situates himself in the space between sanghyuk and taekwoon, the latter removing his hand from sanghyuk’s hair and going back to his book. 

"what’d i miss?" he asks and wraps his entire body over sanghyuk’s smaller framed one like a blanket. it doesn’t matter if sanghyuk is taller, he’s still always been so much skinnier. 

"taekwoon hyung’s kicking us out for the day," announces sanghyuk and it’s a lie. taekwoon said no such thing, but sanghyuk just wants alone time with jaehwan. sanghyuk knows it’s selfish, because jaehwan is probably exhausted and wants to go to bed, but sanghyuk just really wants all of jaehwan’s attention right now.

"right," jaehwan sighs with a sleepy sigh, "shall we go?" 

the younger nods, stands up with jaehwan’s arms wrapped loosely around his legs, and then pulls the other up too. “we can go get coffee,” taekwoon’s about to say something, but sanghyuk nods. “i’ll get you some too, hyung.” 

they make it to the other side of town by bus and jaehwan’s head bobs back and forth as he tries to keep his eyes open and focused, an arm wrapped loosely around sanghyuk’s. the younger male presses a soft kiss to the side of jaehwan’s head and a student sitting across from them gives the two a weird look but sanghyuk ignores him. it’s just him and jaehwan right now. 

the coffee shop is buzzing with customers going in and out for an early morning kick, but sanghyuk isn’t fazed by them, he only takes an empty seat and abandons jaehwan for twenty minutes to get his order in. he comes back with two styrofoam cups, hearing a familiar tune playing over the radio. this coffee shop is their usual place, it’s the only one they’ve found that plays their broadcast and the bus ride across town is always worth it. 

"hyung," sanghyuk says and slides into the seat across the table. "hyung wake up."

jaehwan gurgles out incoherent words before blinking his eyes open and yawning. sanghyuk presses the cup into his hand and jaehwan takes it, sipping at the hot drink. 

"what time is it?" jaehwan asks, scanning the room with tired eyes.

"almost nine," answers sanghyuk, he slurps loudly on his drink.

that wakes jaehwan up a little and he smiles widely. “i can hear hongbin’s voice already.”

"sorry for dragging you out with me," sanghyuk replies with a grin.

"anything for my hyuk-ah," jaehwan coos and it’s a little condescending for sanghyuk’s taste but anything for his jaehwan hyung. 

they sit in silence for a while, jaehwan more aware and alert of his surroundings and sanghyuk still slurping on his coffee. after a moment or two passes, jaehwan says, “there isn’t anything really going on between you and taekwoon hyung, right?” 

it surprises him a little, but he always knew this question was coming. “no, of course not. i don’t know why hongbin hyung thinks so.” 

"well i mean, you always blush when he brings it up," jaehwan points out.

"that’s because he mentions love making or something else totally inappropriate." saying the words alone make sanghyuk’s cheek dust over with pink.

jaehwan grins, “you’re so easy then. just retort with something else inappropriate, it’ll shut hongbin up.” 

"i’m not like that," says sanghyuk and he looks down at his drink. "why’d you ask anyways?" 

the older male shrugs, “i don’t know to be honest. maybe i just don’t like sharing?” 

that gets sanghyuk’s eyes rolling and he laughs, “you’re dumb.”

"hey, taekwoon hyung is legit competition, okay? the guy lives with you, i’m sure he’s seen you plenty of times.” 

"actually, he hasn’t." the blush is creeping up on sanghyuk again. 

"really?" jaehwan raises an amused eyebrow, taking notice of sanghyuk’s expression.

sanghyuk starts to slurp even louder on his coffee and a strained ‘really’ is thrown inbetween slurps before he stands and pulls on jaehwan’s sleeve. “come on, i’ll walk you home.” 

he stands too, but mostly because of sanghyuk’s insistent pulling. “shouldn’t i walk you home? i am the older one.”

"yeah but your place is on the way." 

"wanna sleep over?" jaehwan asks when they leave the coffee shop, taekwoon’s order forgotten. 

the thought does stir something in sanghyuk and he likes the idea of jaehwan possibly cuddling him so he melts a little when he responds, “sure.”