No, no, no, no, no. This cannot be happening right now, Chan curses his luck under his breath. Trust himself to twist an ankle right before a music show performance. They’re literally up in a few minutes for their Pretty U stage in Music Bank, how is he going to dance now?

Chwe Hansol, that idiot of a best friend, apparently only has eyes for a certain Boo Seungkwan. Chan can literally see the hearts in his eyes and feel the sickeningly sweet love radiating off him. Unfortunately, that means Chan gets the shorter end of the stick. While engaging in a conversation with Seungkwan, with Chan trailing behind awkwardly, feeling completely left out, Hansol had conveniently forgotten about his surroundings. And about Chan too, considering he forcefully knocked into Chan, while laughing too hard at another one of Seungkwans’s jokes, causing Chan to lose his balance while climbing up the stairs. Chan had taken a step back, only to realise there was no flat ground to place his feet down. It takes him a second to lose control of his body as gravity tugs him backwards.

He’s left scrambling his limbs in mid-air, before finally managing to grab hold off the staircase railing, his right foot landing behind at an awkward angle. Chan grimaces in pain. Hansol had the nerve to just smile cheekily and apologise, before returning to Seungkwan.

Well, Chan supposes it isn’t Hansol’s fault. It’s blatantly obvious he’s head over heels over the other. Chan takes another timid step forward with his injured foot, testing it. A sharp pain shoots up his leg almost immediately. Chan winces. Scratch that, this is totally Hansol’s fault.

-----

It’s ten minutes later, and Chan’s on standby onstage, hand clasping onto Minghao’s and biting his lips in worry. He had successfully limped his way up stage without any of the members noticing. But dancing alongside them is another story. Before he has time to deal with his thoughts, the music blares.

The first minute’s a torture. Chan has to smile for the fans and put most of his weight on his good leg, while trying to look as normal as possible. Only after the chorus, does the constant pain in his ankle seem to diminish to a dull, numbing ache. Dancing becomes much easier after that.

Chan thinks he’s dancing pretty well and everything’s going smoothly, until he catches Hansol’s and Minghao’s concerned gaze behind the sofa.

“What’s wrong?” Minghao mouths and points to his feet at the same time Hansol mouths an apology, looking genuinely sorry. Chan just shakes his head and smiles.

It’s his turn next and god knows how he manages to walk over the sofa. But he does, and before he knows it, the song’s over.

Perhaps he’s overexerted himself or perhaps the pain’s finally catching up to him. Either way, when he starts walking, an intense, excruciating pain tears through his ankle, as if arrows had pierced the skin, and he staggers. Chan struggles to stay on both feet, hands reaching out to weakly grab at the back of Mingyu’s jacket. Mingyu, being the dense hyung he is, remains oblivious to his pain and continues to walk forward, brushing off Chan’s hold.

Chan feels like an abandoned puppy, searching with wide eyes for any members that he can cling to. Unfortunately, they’re all quite a distance away. How lucky is he, really?

Chan sighs. That’s alright. He can do this. He’s eighteen, a mature boy and a senior at his high school. He can deal with this. That being said, Chan tries to hop forward on one leg, knowing full well he looks ridiculous. He looks up after a few steps, just to find the rest of the member stopping in their tracks to stare at him.

And Soonyoung’s making his way towards him.

Oh.

Was he that obvious? And is that anger in Soonyoung’s eyes? What did he do? Soonyoung stops in front of him, the usual playful twinkle gone from his eyes. He bends down, back facing Chan, his hands outstretched and gesturing him forward.

“Get on.”

Chan’s heart does not start beating faster when he said that. Nope, definitely not. He looks up again, just to see Hansol wriggling his eyebrows suggestively at him. Chan flushes, and his stubbornness gets the better of him.

“I’m fine hyung, I don’t need your help.”

Soonyoung stands up, eyebrows raised. To prove his point, Chan takes a brave step forward, only to have his ankle give out.

Soonyoung reaches out hastily to grab onto him before he fell.

“You can barely walk.” Soonyoung breathes heavily through his nose, a bite of impatience in his voice.

Without wasting a second, Soonyoung reaches down, hooks an arm around Chan’s legs and sweeps him up like he weighs nothing.

Chan’s breath hitches, his brain short circuiting. Through the utter chaos going on (in his mind), he can vaguely hear the screams of the fans. At the corner of his eye, he sees Hansol cheering enthusiastically together with the fans. That idiot. Despite knowing that he has a major crush on the performance team’s leader, Hansol was of no help at all and only serves to embarrass him further.

Soonyoung, unfazed by everything, just proceeds to carry Chan bridal-style off the stage.

-----

It’s only in the waiting room that Soonyoung finally places Chan down on the sofa.

Their manager and Jeonghan crowd around him immediately, hovering worriedly above him like mother birds, feeling his legs, arms, face and everywhere basically, asking him what exactly was going on.

“He twisted his ankle. And still danced through the whole performance,” Soonyoung says, still unsmiling.

Chan furrows his eyebrows at the accusing tone. Isn’t he the victim here, he pouts slightly. Their manager gets into business-mode, instructing everyone to get changed quickly so that Chan could rest properly at the dormitory.

After a full ten minutes of tugging and pulling his skin-tight jeans off, whilst balancing on one leg, Chan finally manages to change to his clothes and hops torturously back to the sofa. Soonyoung’s already waiting there, face still void of any smile.

Chan holds up his palm. “I swear I’m fine. I can walk.”

Soonyoung rolls his eyes and scoops Chan up once again, ignoring his protests as he continues walking. “Gosh, why are you so stubborn?”

Chan looks away, the tips of his ears burning. His sight is met with Hansol giving another one of his weird looks, while discreetly holding out small thumbs-up. Chan’s frown morphs into an evil grin when Hansol becomes equally flustered and stumbles slightly as soon as Seungkwan walks up to him.

Why is Hansol over-reacting anyways, Chan thinks. It’s not like Soonyoung actually likes him too.

Well, would a normal person do this if he doesn’t like them?

What? Of course they do. It’s totally normal.

No, they don’t. Maybe he likes you.

No, he doesn’t!

Yes, he does!

No, he definitely doesn’t!

Chan shakes his head, trying to rid himself of the hope arising in him, while at the same time, questioning his sanity for having a conversation with himself.

He halts his movements when he finds Soonyoung staring at him, the corners of his lips quirked up in amusement.

Chan clears his throat and looks down at his fingers that suddenly appear fascinating. But…at least he’s not angry anymore right?

He lets out a noticeable sigh dejectedly. He chooses to wrap his arms around Soonyoung’s neck, and rest his head against his shoulder, snuggling closer.

Soonyoung chuckles softly and whispers, “Cute.”

Chan stills. Did he just…? He tightens his grip. He must be hearing things.

-----

After what feels like eternity, they finally reach the van. The ride home is like normal, the BooSeokSoon team bantering as usual and making the whole van laugh. Soonyoung ignores him the whole ride, not bothering to talk or even look at him. Chan juts his lips out almost petulantly. Why is Soonyoung angry at him? What did he even do? Chan racks his brain but can’t come up with anything he did that might offend his hyung. Chan becomes visibly miserable. Today’s definitely not his day.

Even after they arrive, Soonyoung doesn’t fail to carry him out, this time not waiting for Chan to refuse. Soonyoung slides out of his shoes and carries Chan straight to his room. The rest of the members trudge back to their rooms, while Jeonghan and Seungcheol bicker about turns for shower, all the while unware of Chan’s racing heart that he’s sure Soonyoung can hear.

He sits him down on his bed and kneels down to take off his shoe for him. Chan’s too stunned to do anything but just sit and let Soonyoung untie his shoelaces. He sees the taller bite his lip in concentration as he gently slides the shoe off, careful not to jerk his already-injured feet. The tips of Soonyoung’s fingers leaves his skin burning where he touched them.

Chan breathes in and out several times, telling himself to calm the heck down, when Soonyoung leaves to keep away his shoes, only to return with the medical kit.

He forces himself not to look at Soonyoung’s face as he kneels down once again, this time to bandage up his ankle, knowing full well he’s straight out blushing.

Soonyoung stands up and dusts his palms, after an agonizing few minutes. “All done,” he says, turning around to leave.

In a moment of desperation, Chan hurls himself forward and grapples onto Soonyoung’s sleeve.

“Chan, you can’t walk!”

Chan pointedly ignores his warning. “Hyung…are you angry at me?”

Silence.

“Hyung…what did I do?”

They lapse into silence for another while longer. Soonyoung finally sighs in resignation.

“I can’t believe I have to explain this.”

Chan deflates. “Hyung…”

Soonyoung turns to face him and places his hands on both Chan’s shoulders. “Do you know how worried I was? And the rest of the members as well? If you’re hurt, why didn’t you tell anyone? You didn’t have to go through that alone.”

“I—”

“On top of that, you keep rejecting my help. Why are you so stubborn, Chan-ah? I just don’t like you trying to handle everything by yourself. Sometimes I forget you’re still a kid, you need to accept other people’s help sometimes too.”

Chan looks up, surprised. The whole time Soonyoung’s just worried about him. Well, that makes him feel even worse.

“Hyung…I’m sorry… I would have accepted help…just not yours. I mean, not in a bad way of course, but because I don’t want to trouble you. Not that I want to trouble the hyungs too but it’s different with you.”

Chan knows he’s rambling at this point but he can’t stop himself now, not when his brain-to-mouth filter has completely disintegrated. Not when Soonyoung’s gazing at him so intensely.

“I mean, I know I’m just a kid but I didn’t want to be a kid who always needs help, you know? I mean, of course I don’t want you to see me as a kid, because I really, really like you but—”

Chan stops talking entirely as Soonyoung closes the gap between their lips.

Chan jerks slightly in shock, eyes becoming round. Soonyoung’s kissing him. All he’s aware of is how close Soonyoung’s face is to his, the way Soonyoung closes his eyes, the pressure on his lips, the overwhelming scent of Soonyoung, and basically just…Soonyoung. Chan feels like fainting.

Soonyoung moves back and beams warmly. “I’ve been meaning to do that for a while.”

Chan lets out a breath he doesn’t know he’s been holding, finally able to relax a little. Soonyoung leans down to capture his lips again in a chaste kiss.

Soonyoung places one hand on Chan’s hip, and the other reaches up to cup his chin, making his skin tingle. The warm hand at his hip slides up to the small of his back, pushing Chan even closer to him as Soonyoung deepens the kiss.

“Hey Chan! I was just gonna ask you—oh wow,” the door bursts open as Hansol waltzes in.

Chan jumps and hurriedly pushes Soonyoung away, face red in embarrassment. Soonyoung, however, doesn’t bother to hide his annoyance.

“Oh wow,” Hansol repeats. “Wow, I’m so sorry, my bad. Ya’ll just go back to what you were doing. Pretend I was never here. Yeah, enjoy yourselves,” Hansol grins as he backs out and close the door, his lopsided smile anything but apologetic.

Chan groans internally, knowing Hansol’s never going to let him live it down. What an idiot. Soonyoung gently holds Chan’s chin and tilts his head up. He presses an open-mouthed kiss against Chan’s lips, making his mind go blank again.

“I’ll punch him when we get out, okay?” Soonyoung murmurs against Chan’s lips.

Chan smiles, stomach clenching in giddiness.

Well, Hansol isn’t totally useless. Maybe twisting his ankle wasn’t so bad after all.

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sorry for any grammatical mistakes. im not entirely satisfied but i think there's enough feels. do leave comments about your thoughts!