oOoOo

It was funny, Hongbin thought, that Sanghyuk was currently curled up next to him in the company van and using him as a pillow. He hadn't done that since their debut days and it was an awkward fit, Sanghyuk slumped over with a long arm draped around his waist and fingers curling into his shirt to keep from moving too much. Hongbin shifted a little so he could wrap his arm around the younger's shoulders, smiling to himself when he heard small mutters of discontent morphing into a pleased sigh at the more comfortable position. He felt his own eyes slipping shut, exhausted from shooting their individual scenes for 'Chained Up'. With a quick glance he could see everyone else was asleep as well, save for Taekwoon who was staring blankly out the window with his headphones in. Letting his eyes close, Hongbin let the familiar warmth of Sanghyuk's body lull him to sleep.

It felt like he had only closed his eyes for just a few seconds before the car was pulling to a stop and Hakyeon was waking them up. Hongbin felt Sanghyuk pull away quickly and saw him rub the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry about that.." He apologised and Hongbin waved it off.

"Don't be Hyukkie, we're all tired." He held his hands out after, a pout in his face. "Help me up?" His actions were met with a laugh and Sanghyuk's larger hands wrapping around his.

"Lazy." Sanghyuk breathed out through a laugh as he pulled Hongbin up, hands still clasped together as they made their way into the dorm.

The only words spoken between any of the members were muttered  "good night"s, showers all but forgotten as they collapsed into their respective beds, doors firmly closed. Hongbin planned to get a solid nights rest, but he was woken up by the opening of his door an hour later, a soft "Hongbin?" ringing through the silence. Picking his head up and squinting, he saw Sanghyuk standing timidly in the doorway, his hand on the knob and tense.

"Whas wrong 'Kkie?" Hongbin's words were slurred from sleep and his eyes were threatening to slip shut again.

"I had a nightmare and Wonsik's snoring is keeping me up..." Sanghyuk trailed off nervously for a moment before continuing. "Could I sleep in here tonight?" Hongbin looked over at the sleeping form of Jaehwan and figured his room-mate wouldn't mind sharing the privacy of their room with a third person for one night. Shifting over, he pulled the blankets back and  nodded his head, smiling slightly when he heard a sigh of relief followed by the door closing. "Thank you," Sanghyuk whispered as he crawled underneath the covers, scooting closer to Hongbin and wrapping his arm around Hongbin's waist, fingers once more curling into his shirt.

"Don't mention it." Hongbin whispered back. Even with the door closed, the muffled sounds of Wonsik's snores could be heard, mirrored by Sanghyuk's softer ones.

oOoOo

As the end of the shooting for their new MV wrapped to a close, everyone was tired and irritated. Even Taekwoon, who was normally reserved, lashed out (albeit quietly) when Hakyeon latched onto him. The choreography was exhausting after having to perform it a hundred times to make it perfect and all Hongbin wanted to do was sleep. But they had to wait until their manager wrapped up a couple things and reviewed the footage- something that could take at least three hours- so it wasn't surprising when Jaehwan and Wonsik were dozing on the couch with their heads resting against each other, Taekwoon and Hakyeon taking up the other couch (Hongbin smiled when he noticed the eldest latched onto Taekwoon's arm), and that left the floor for refuge. He really didn't hesitate to collapse on the cool wood, resting his cheek against it and almost falling asleep right then and there until he felt something fall onto his back.

"You're a really comfy pillow, you know that?" Sanghyuk's sleepy mutters were further muffled by Hongbin's back and despite how tired he was, he couldn't stop the grin that broke out. "No, I don't think I do." Hands slid around his shoulders and the heavy body on top of him shifted into a more comfortable position, but it only ended up in squeezing the breath out of Hongbin.

"You're not a comfortable blanket." Hongbin pouted, tilting his head to see Sanghyuk's sleeping face, soft snores already coming out. Sighing, Hongbin shifted to try to get a little more comfortable on the floor, his chest pressing against it a little too much. But.. he didn't want to disturb the younger, so he just let him be. Letting his eyes close Hongbin tried to catch a couple hours of rest.

He had actually managed to get some good rest before their manager entered the room and woke them up. Taking in a deep breath when the weight was lifted off of his back, Hongbin grabbed his phone to check the time, the bright white '2:56' blaring at him. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he nudged Sanghyuk with his foot, the younger still sprawled on the floor. He was met with a muffled whine and the younger shifted to face away from him. The other members were paying little to no attention to them and Hongbin smirked, an idea popping into his head. Practically throwing himself onto Sanghyuk's back he mimicked the same position. "You're a really comfy pillow." Hongbin wasn't lying either. It was surprisingly comfortable.

"You're not a comfortable blanket" Came Sanghyuk's snarky reply and Hongbin laughed.

"So you are awake. Come on, it's time to go back to the dorms." He picked himself up off the floor- but not before ruffling the blonde hair, much to the younger's displeasure.

"I'm not a kid." He pouted and Hongbin couldn't help but grin again.

"Then don't whine like one, brat." He stuck his tongue out at Sanghyuk as he dodged the fist that was aimed for his shoulder.

"How can you still be lively? Be tired the the rest of us." Hakyeon was looking at the both of them with a half-hearted glare and before Hongbin could say something, Sanghyuk beat him to it.

"Perks of not being old men." There was a -eating grin on Sanghyuk's face and Hakyeon just grumbled.

"You're lucky you're adorable." Hongbin and Sanghyuk quietly fist bumped as the group made it's way to the van once more. Instead of falling asleep like last time, Hongbin scrolled through random sites on his phone, making sure to dim the screen so as not to bother the "old men", as Sanghyuk so aptly put it. His shoulder felt oddly light and he didn't figure out why until he saw Sanghyuk looking out the window and taking in all the city lights as they whizzed by. Forming his lips into a thin line, he shook the feeling off and returned to his phone.

They reached the dorms at three thirty in the morning and were thankfully given a day to rest, as the MV would be released soon. When it was, then they would practice more for the showcase and live performances. It wasn't that Hongbin didn't want to do it, but everyone was tired and one wrong move would send someone at someone else's throat. Which is why the bathroom was less chaotic tonight. There was one good thing about this though: Sanghyuk was fed up with Wonsik's snoring and saught refuge in Hongbin's room. Mainly because it was the furthest away from theirs. However, it was nice to have the extra body heat and the comfort that it brought.

Of course, Hongbin's fondness for the younger was odd. He didn't know if he liked Sanghyuk in that way or not, but there was something there. And he was sure his mind was overanalyzing every lingering touch from the other, but a man could dream. So when Sanghyuk avoided his own room like the plague, Hongbin hid his grin in his pillow despite it being dark and Sanghyuk already passed out.

oOoOo

Their first performance left them backstage feeling like they were floating on air. It was really the adrenaline speaking but that fact didn't stop the happy mood. Their stage was perfect, there were no wardrobe malfunctions (Hongbin was sure Taekwoon wouldn't be able to complete the performance if there had. It was a pain for the wardrobe noonas to convince him to wear just a jacket with one button), and everything surprisingly went well. Everything except one thing. Hongbin's hand may have strayed a tad too far when everyone was circling him and he may have gotten a handful of Sanghyuk's by accident. Needless to say, he felt a bit awkward standing by his friend now and hoping that the other wouldn't notice too much. Probably not.

Hopefully not.

But sadly Sanghyuk had noticed, how could he not notice his friend's hand on his (but there was Hakyeon grabbing really high on his inner thigh), but he wasn't sure if he minded or not. Hongbin was a good friend and it isn't like it wasn't a mistake. Maybe. Sanghyuk may be an adult, but he was still the youngest of the group and would often use it to his advantage. Like sneaking into Hongbin and Jaehwan's room to avoid Wonsik's snoring... even if he did lie about having a bad dream. It could be considered selfish to like having the heat of another body beside him, or it could be cute that he only liked it when it was Hongbin.

So did that stop him from sliding next to Hongbin while they were waiting to go home? No. He took in the surprised look that flashed on Hongbin's face but he didn't comment on it. In fact, it just spurred him on to be the brat that he claimed he wasn't.

When they entered the van at last everyone was in high spirits and not in the least bit tired, so it was strange to Hongbin that Sanghyuk rested his head on his shoulder, eyes closed and the perfect picture of innocence.. almost. Something was fishy, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Meanwhile, Sanghyuk almost broke his act by smiling when the older didn't make a move to push him away. Maybe he was right in his assumptions and the thought made him cheer inwardly (again, he wasn't a brat. really.)

oOoOo

When they got back to the dorm and rushed out the van, Hongbin was surprised to feel a strong grip on his wrist and the feeling of being yanked backwards. "Hey Hongbin, come on a walk with me." Hongbin narrowed his eyes suspiciously and looked to Hakyeon for help, but he just looked at the youngest two and smiled, waving them off with a 'have fun and be back soon.'. Hongbin didn't know why he was so hesitant to hang out with the person who was arguably his favourite in the group, but it probably could've been because of the incident earlier. "Come on, it'll be fun." Sanghyuk chirped, but the look in his eyes promised something else. So, looking at the ground and kicking his foot, Hongbin nodded and followed a step behind Sanghyuk.

"Tonight was really fun. I don't know if I'll be able to go to sleep." Sanghyuk laughed and Hongbin nodded in agreement.

"Same. There were a lot of good performances though." He looked up at the night sky before continuing. "This year was good for comebacks."

Sanghyuk made a non-committal sound and shrugged his shoulders, hands shoved into his hoodie pockets. "Hey Hongbin. I uh. I think I like your facealotbecauseyou'restupidandcuteandyeah." He started out calm, but as the sentence progressed his words sped up and he stammered a couple times and if it weren't for the fact that Hongbin was shocked at the words that just came out of the youngers mouth, he probably would've laughed. In fact, he was so stunned that he was standing in the middle of the street with his mouth open and eyes wide, just staring at the now really nervous almost adult in front of him. "I mean... just kidding?" Sanghyuk attempted to lighten the mood in one of the worst ways possible and Hongbin was still shocked. He couldn't form any coherent thought and breathing was getting a bit hard.

"Uh.. Hongbin?" When Sanghyuk waved a hand in his face was when he snapped out of it and remembered how to breathe.

"Do you really mean it?" It wasn't condescending or judging, just curious. And when Sanghyuk nodded his head Hongbin's heart constricted a tiny bit and jumped into his throat. He was immensely glad for the fact that practically no one was on the street and if they were, they weren't paying the two any mind. "Well. Uh. I think I like you too? I mean. Hm." Hongbin trailed off awkwardly and looked back at the ground. The silence was almost suffocating between the two before Sanghyuk broke it.

"Would it be okay if I kissed you then?" He was rubbing the back of his neck nervously, head tilted down but eyes glancing up at him. Hopeful.

But once more, Hongbin couldn't get the words out. "Um, here?" He sent a few quick glances around and the street was dreadfully empty. Sanghyuk's nod confirmed it and for a moment, he wanted to laugh and back out, possibly make a break for it back to the dorm. But his head was nodding and Hongbin could swear that the smile on Sanghyuk's face could rival the sun in brightness. His arms reached out and pulled Hongbin's hood up before sliding down to his chest and pulling him forward, fingers still wrapped in the material of his hoodie. Hongbin's head tilted up to see Sanghyuk, the two extremely close and any awkwardness disappearing as their lips met. Hongbin didn't know what to do with his hands, they were just twitching a little awkwardly in place as Sanghyuk placed his hands on Hongbin's waist. The kiss was really just their two lips resting against each other and the barest amount of movement- completely innocent- but Hongbin's face burned nonetheless.

When they broke apart they just stood and stared at each other for a moment. "Why did you pull my hood up?"

Sanghyuk looks around guiltily before shrugging. "Cause you look kinda like a girl in an oversized hoodie." He chuckled as he took in Hongbin's offended expression and sprinted away, Hongbin following not too far behind.

"Brat! Get back here!" The sound of laughter was prominent on their run back to the dorm.

oOoOo

In the time that passed from their awkward confession, Jaehwan started to complain about his new roommate and Hongbin and Sanghyuk learned how to kiss each other better, spending their spare time backstage or late at night practicing. Hakyeon has also mentioned how the two seemed to grow even closer and shot them odd looks when they broke into sly grins after he mentioned it.

Authors note: So that was my first time attempting full fluff and a band!au fic and I hope you like it n.n It might've gotten angsty but shhh. mostly fluff cx
also, shameless plug for my tumblr. you can request stuff here and/or look at the random stuff I post (mostly kpop and video game related)