Wonshik’s memories of first meeting the INFINITE sunbaenims were a little murky, to be quite honest. There had been the thrill of finally debuting, the worry of something possibly going wrong, stuff like that. There had been no time for him to actually register meeting esteemed seniors at the moment.

 

He remembered some things though, like how Hakyeon hyung had placed a hand over his shoulder and gave him a small hug before they were called to be on standby, as well as after they got off the stage. He also remembered Woohyun sunbaenim congratulating them all on their debut and hugging Hakyeon. It was a reunion of sorts, Wonshik realized, since Hakyeon had once mentioned not being able to see Woohyun at all since their musical had ended. They had been close at the time, and it was easy to picture Hakyeon doting and giving out all sorts of affection, especially since he did the same thing to the other members. His hyung was kind like that.

 

He had felt a little weird once he actually saw them hug though, waiting right behind his hyung and bowing a little too quickly before grabbing the elder’s hand.

 

Maybe he should have realized then that Cha Hakyeon was definitely going to have a huge effect on him, and that Nam Woohyun wasn’t far behind.

 

1.

 

Cha Hakyeon was VIXX's leader and eldest hyung: these were hard facts that everyone knew, the members of VIXX included. He was a doting mother, an affectionate serial hugger, a passionate DJ, a serious actor and occasionally a punching bag on variety shows. But what people sometimes forgot was that Cha Hakyeon was also a human being, and human beings had limits. They got tired, they needed food and sleep, as well as important stuff like hugs and cuddling.

 

Cha Hakyeon wasn't an ordinary human being, however. He had a tendency to drown himself in his work even when he was completely exhausted, and that definitely didn't sit well with one Kim Wonshik.

 

“Hyung, you should lie down. When was the last time you got more than four hours of sleep?” Wonshik winced at how much he sounded like his mother, a trend as of late when Hakyeon had started taking on more schedules over the years. Hakyeon was sitting on his bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly and attempting to sit up.

 

“I’m fine, Wonshik. Besides, coming from you, that’s like the pot calling the kettle black.”

 

Touché, but that wasn’t the point. “That’s not the point,” Wonshik said loudly, reaching out to place a hand on Hakyeon’s shoulders and pausing. Was hyung normally this frail-looking? “The point is, you’ve been doing drama filming, the radio show, and god-knows-what else. We’re also in the middle of preparing for comeback, and I just don’t want you to get sick. Okay, hyung?”

 

“You don’t want me to get sick?” A small smile was making its way to Hakyeon’s lips and Wonshik quickly realized his mistake, backpedaling and flailing his arms a bit.

 

“I mean. We don’t want you to get sick. Because, you know. We need you.”

 

That mushy smile widened even more and Wonshik felt his heart clench. Hakyeon liked hearing those things a lot, and while they tried their best to show it, saying it was… uncomfortable for them most of the time. In Wonshik’s case, it had steadily gotten easier over the years, but there would still be times when it felt a little too much.

 

Hakyeon simply smiled at him and patted the spot next to him. Wonshik sat down at the offered spot, slinging an arm around the elder's shoulders. "Are you going to rest now?"

 

"Depends. Will you hug me some more later?"

 

I'll hug you all you want, Wonshik thought, opening his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the ringing of Hakyeon's phone. "Oh—" Hakyeon immediately reached for it, expression brightening once he answered the call. "Woohyun-ah! It's been awhile! How is the tour going?"

 

And that's how one Kim Wonshik was ignored for the next hour and a half, thanks to Nam Woohyun.

 

He might have spent that hour and a half ignoring the slight fluttering in his chest every time Hakyeon laughed, but you know. That wasn’t relevant. Not relevant at all. He was simply watching out for his hyung’s health.

 

2.

 

Comebacks had always been slightly stressful, but Wonshik had never felt it so acutely until Chained Up. There were songs to record, dances to choreograph. It was a little more overwhelming than usual.

 

It was one of the rare days when all six of them were free to laze aroundin the dorms, too tired to head out. Well, until Wonshik lost at rock-paper-scissors against the maknae line and had to get more cup ramyun.

 

He poked his head inside Jaehwan's room, intent on asking the other to go with him to the store. Instead he found Hakyeon lying flat on his back and texting. It shocked Wonshik to see him actually at the dorms instead of on set for Sassy Go Go. He blinked when Wonshik's head poked in, and sat up immediately. "Yes?"

 

"Nah, it's nothing... I was looking for Jaehwan hyung to buy ramyun with me."

 

Hakyeon’s phone rang with a new reply, which Hakyeon quickly read before he fixed his bangs a little. Wonshik felt his heart constrict when Hakyeon got up, rushing forward to let him lie back down. Surely, Hakyeon wasn’t thinking of going with him instead, right?

 

"I could go with you." Oh… well then.

 

"It's okay, hyung. You just got home today, and you need to rest."

 

"Nonsense. I'm up now, aren't I?" Hakyeon beamed, and Wonshik slowly felt his resolve crumble, as well as the familiar fluttering that usually appeared when his hyung smiled. He had come to terms with finding his leader attractive a long time ago, but now both his heart and stomach liked doing strange things whenever he was around and it was maddening.

 

Minutes later, Hakyeon held onto Wonshik's arm, mouth and nose covered by his long, fluffy scarf. Thank god Wonshik hadn’t forgotten to wrap it around his hyung’s neck. The eldest had been sick lately, having to be shuttled back and forth to his different schedules. Seeing him all bundled up made him look even smaller, like a child.

 

"Do you need to sit down?" Wonshik asked, his own hands stuffed inside the pockets of his coat to keep warm. Hakyeon was always so warm and comfortable whenever Wonshik hugged him.

 

"No, it's okay, Wonshik-ah. We're not that far from the store."

 

"But--"

 

"Hakyeon hyung!" a familiar voice called, and Wonshik groaned inwardly once he saw who it was.

 

Nam Woohyun headed over to where they were standing, Lee Sungyeol and Kim Myungsoo latched on each arm. Could he be any greasier? Wonshik thought, bowing his head politely anyway. Greasy hyung or not, he was still a sunbae.

 

"I thought I recognized that scarf," Woohyun said, grinning as he wrapped his arms around Hakyeon.

 

"Please." Sungyeol rolled his eyes and reached over to flick Woohyun's forehead. "You wouldn't have spotted him if I hadn't pointed him out to you."

 

"Nonsense." Woohyun simply hugged Hakyeon tighter, prompting the older to laugh as his dongsaeng swayed them both from side to side. It looked hilarious, considering the fact that Woohyun was much shorter. "I'd know this giant cinnamon roll anywhere."

 

"I thought we were going to get cinnamon rolls, I’m hungry." Myungsoo grumbled, and yep, this hyung was going to be Wonshik's favorite. Anyone who could grumble at Nam Woohyun and live deserved to be worshipped.

 

"We were actually going to get ramyun—" Wonshik began, only for Woohyun to pat Myungsoo's head, grinning.

 

"We'll get cinnamon rolls and ramyun. My treat."

 

Hakyeon merely gave Woohyun a fond smile and another hug, and Wonshik couldn't exactly yank his hyung away when he looked like he wanted to be here. Sungyeol and Myungsoo cheered at the announcement and promptly engaged Wonshik in a conversation about whether lemon squares or snickerdoodles were better. He had gotten into that conversation a little too quickly, anything to avoid the slightly lovey-dovey sight that the two hyungs were making as they walked in front of them. It was also done to ignore the voice in the back of his head whispering for it to be him with Hakyeon instead.

 

But maybe if Wonshik had been paying a little more attention, he would’ve heard Hakyeon murmur, “Thanks for doing this on short notice.” into Woohyun’s ear, as well as Woohyun’s reply. “He really is as dense as you say.”

 

Damn Nam Woohyun and his cinnamon rolls.

 

3.

 

With their Chained Up comeback so near, it was understandable to want a break. That's why Wonshik wasn't surprised when Taekwoon came out of his room, dressed in his winter coat and said he was going out.

 

What was surprising was running into Taekwoon hyung with yet another INFINITE member.

 

"Why do all of you pop out nowhere—" Wonshik burst out, only to falter when Taekwoon gave him a pointed look. Wonshik immediately bowed his head, apologizing profusely to Sunggyu sunbaenim.

 

"You seem to be very sick of my face." Sunggyu's tone was amused, and Wonshik would have laughed, especially since sunbae looked quite tiny in his large indigo sweater. Sadly, Taekwoon hyung looked like he'd whack him up in the head if he put another toe out of line, and Wonshik wanted to keep his head intact.

 

"It's not that, sunbae… Sorry, I just thought you were someone else."

 

"Someone else from my group, maybe?" Sunggyu was grinning by now, and oh, this wasn't good. If Sunggyu found out that Wonshik sort of, maybe, disliked Woohyun, he would tell Woohyun, who would then tell Hakyeon, and then Hakyeon would give him that disappointed look of his that was comparable to a kicked puppy. Wonshik often prided himself on fearing very few things, but a disappointed Hakyeon hyung was one of them.

 

Okay, and maybe insects too.

 

"Well, I have been seeing your groupmates a lot lately... especially one in particular..."

 

Taekwoon merely sighed, a soft, worn sound that had Sunggyu bursting into laughter, eyes disappearing. "See what I mean?"

 

"I've never seen anyone so oblivious before."

 

Wonshik looked at the two hyungs in confusion, unsure of where to begin with the questions. "Um... what?"

 

"Take it from me, Wonshik-ah." Sunggyu placed his hands on Wonshik's shoulders with the air of someone who had plenty of experience. "When it comes to expressing yourself, you can't beat around the bush forever. How do you think I got this one?" He gestured to Taekwoon, who promptly rolled his eyes and now Wonshik was really confused. It reminded him of the times when Woohyun sunbae would hug Hakyeon hyung like he was a very warm body pillow. Just the thought of it made him frown a little and made his nose wrinkle in distaste. Maybe he was a little too possessive of his favorite hyung.

 

(“You mean your sad crush.” Hongbin snorted, ducking a pillow that Wonshik had aimed at his head.

 

“It is not a crush!” Wonshik defended. “I just let him cling to me and give him the hugs he needs! There are people who can’t live on only one hug and cuddle a day, you know!”

 

“You get this dumb, sappy look on your face whenever you talk about him, oh my god.” Hongbin groaned, hitting Wonshik square on the face with his pillow. “That is a crush and you’re jealous of Woohyun sunbae cutting into your time with him whenever you’re both out alone...”

 

“I…” Wonshik sputtered, putting the pillow down. “Just because I get slightly irritable whenever that sunbae is around…”

 

“Not just irritable, you turn into this petulant child that’s had his favorite toy taken away.”

 

Wonshik opened his mouth to say something scathing, only to sigh. “Okay, so maybe I do have a small crush on Hakyeon hyung.”

 

“Of all the people I’d hear that from.” This time Hongbin didn’t see the pillow coming and ended up being smacked in the face with it.)

 

Maybe he should've just stayed inside the studio.

 

4.

 

Wonshik was fairly certain he had seen Taekwoon’s indigo sweater before. He stared at it a little longer, brows furrowed in concentration until Sanghyuk nudged him. “What are you looking at? We’re going to be on in half an hour.”

 

“I’ve seen that sweater before,” he said before he could stop himself, and Taekwoon promptly turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised.

 

Thankfully, Wonshik was spared when Defconn sunbae entered the waiting room, and he stood up along with the others to greet the MCs.

 

Wait.

 

He tugged lightly on Sanghyuk’s arm, hissing, “Taekwoon hyung is wearing Sunggyu hyung’s sweater!”

 

“What?” the maknae hissed back, eyes drifting towards Taekwoon hyung and yelping when Wonshik pinched him.

 

“Don’t ing look!”

 

“You’re acting weirder than usual, and come on. Why is it surprising to find out that Taekwoon hyung likes them short? I mean, you should sympathize since you have this sad crush on Hakye—” The rest of the maknae’s words were muffled when Wonshik slapped a hand over his mouth. “Stop being so loud—oh god, you’re gross—” Sanghyuk his hand, and he whined, pulling it away in disgust.

 

“Wonshik, Sanghyuk.” They immediately stopped once they heard Hakyeon, sinking down on the couch and… well, trying to act more well-behaved.

 

All in all, Weekly Idol filming went well: Taekwoon had been more engaged, Jaehwan more hilarious, Hyuk charmingly cute, Wonshik less tense and awkward, and Hakyeon, game as always. It was one of their better days, and Wonshik was sure that nothing could ruin his good mood.

 

Except for Nam Woohyun dropping by after filming, maybe. Sadly, that was exactly what happened.

 

“What are you doing here?” Sunggyu groaned at the appearance of his bandmate. Wonshik silently agreed.

 

“Can’t I support my hyung?” Woohyun pouted, making Sunggyu cover his face with his hand.

 

“Oh god, don’t pout.”

 

“Fine.” Woohyun pretended to huff and slung an arm around Hakyeon instead. “Hyung, you still like me, right?”

 

Say no, say no— “Of course, Woohyun-ah.” Hakyeon reached out to pat Woohyun’s head. “You give me more love than my own dongsaengs do, it’s why you’re my favorite.”

 

Ah, damn it. Wonshik blinked when he realized that everyone was staring at him, unaware that he had actually spoken that thought aloud. “Um... damn it. I still have Sanghyuk’s dried drool on my hand.”

 

Everyone stared at him for awhile before going back to their usual conversations, and Wonshik sighed. He had it bad, really bad.

 

He was shaken out of his stupor though, when long, slender fingers encircled his wrist. Wonshik looked up to see Hakyeon smiling at him and okay, there were the funny flips in his stomach again.

 

“Come on, Wonshik-ah. Let’s go eat.”

 

5.

 

"I'm starting to think that you don't like me very much," Woohyun began serenely, and Wonshik almost spat out his coffee.

 

"I... what?" He had been slightly skeptical when he had run into Woohyun, even more so when Woohyun had invited him to a nearby cafe for coffee.

 

“You also seem very interested in Hakyeon hyung,” the elder continued, reaching for his cinnamon roll and taking a bite out of it. He then fixed Wonshik with a steely glare, no trace of the usual playfulness in his demeanor.

 

“Um, well.”

 

“Look, Wonshik-ssi. Hakyeon hyung is one of my favorite hyungs, and like all doting dongsaengs, I want him to be happy and cared for.” Wonshik opened his mouth to speak, only for Woohyun to hold up his hand, continuing to speak. “While I don’t get to see him as much as I’d like, I consider him a good friend of mine. I also know that from the way he messages me about you, you’re a pretty cool guy. Sadly, you are also slow at realizing the blatantly obvious and have not confessed your attraction to him. Basically, if you don’t confess soon or do anything to make him cry, I will personally call a certain best friend of mine named Kim Kibum and he will probably humiliate you more than I ever could. Are we clear?”

 

Wonshik’s eyes had grown wide at that, nodding mutely as Woohyun got up, suddenly all smiles again. “Good. Now that we’ve settled that, I’m heading to practice. See you around, Wonshik-ssi.” And with that, he left, leaving a shell-shocked Wonshik with his own untouched coffee.

 

What just happened?

 

“It must be serious if he used Kibum hyung as a threat,” Taemin said sagely… well, as sagely as he could sound from over the phone. It was later that night, a few hours after Woohyun had given Wonshik what could only be described as ‘The Talk’.

 

“Please don’t tell me you actually encourage what he said.” Wonshik groaned, flopping back on his bed.

 

“Well, I do encourage the part where you should actually tell your hyung that you might, kind of, have a slight crush on him. Or you know, puppy love. I don’t know.”

 

“Such friendship,” he said wryly, flopping about in bed. “I can feel the love from here, you know?”

 

“Hey, I’m not the one who has no qualms writing lyrics yet is completely inept at asking someone out.” He was so sure that Taemin was shrugging his shoulders right about now. “Because really, that thing where you get all huffy and jealous when other hyungs spend time with him? It’s not exactly going to deter other possible... admirers.”

 

“So basically, you’re telling me to grow a pair and tell him?”

 

“Yeah, pretty much.”

 

(+1)

 

Confessing was a nice thought. Confessing to Hakyeon was an even nicer thought. Sometimes though, there were some thoughts that should just stay thoughts, in fear of possible rejection and humiliation.

 

Such were the thoughts of Kim Wonshik, as well as possible confession lines that made him want to tear his hair out.

 

“I want you to know,... that you’ve been on my mind for awhile now.”

 

“Your eyes are as bright as the Han River.”

 

“We were meant to be, from here to eternity.”

 

“I want to be your Superhero and Rock Ur Body.”

 

And he was supposed to be a good lyricist, mind you.

 

It was the last week of their Chained Up promotions, and a few days after his talks with both Woohyun and Taemin. After some more deliberation, he had decided that he would confess… just not right now. It was too early, it wasn’t a good time, etc. Wonshik was content to wait.

 

The thing was, Cha Hakyeon wasn’t.

 

“So, when are you planning on asking me out?” Wonshik coughed, arms flailing as he stuttered unattractively. Was this really happening or was he having one of those food coma-induced dreams?  

 

While this warranted a lot of panic, Wonshik was still thankful that Hakyeon had only brought it up when it was just the two of them. Having his lack of initiative for romance broadcasted to the others would have been mortifying.

 

“I… Woohyun sunbaenim told you, didn’t he?” That traitor, he knew that Wonshik would freeze up. It was official, INFINITE was going to lose one of their main vocals.

 

“No, Taekwoon did.” Oh. That changed things. He couldn’t take on Taekwoon by himself, unless he wanted to get beaten up. Which he didn’t.

 

Hakyeon was silent for awhile. It made Wonshik nervous. Now that he knew… was he going to reject him? “You... are so dense, Kim Wonshik.”

 

Of all the things Wonshik was expecting, it certainly wasn’t that. Hakyeon sighed, taking his seat on Wonshik’s bed. “I’ve always wondered, you know, about whether you had a crush on me or not. You never really said anything, and I didn’t want to assume. But when Taekwoon told me, your reactions made much more sense. You’re still really stubborn though, so I had to ask Woohyun for a lot of help in getting your attention.”

 

And this was where Wonshik groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Okay, now I feel really stupid.”

 

Hakyeon chuckled at that, running his hands through the younger’s hair. “Not really stupid… maybe just a little. I still want to go out with you though.”

 

“I can’t even ask you out right.” Wonshik moaned, wringing his hands. He really wished it was possible for the ground to swallow him up whole.

 

Hakyeon was having none of it though. “Well that doesn’t mean I can’t ask you, right?”

 

“I … well, you can.” Oh god, was Hakyeon hyung really going to...?

 

“Good. So Kim Wonshik, shall we have dinner together tonight?”

“I’d like that a lot, hyung.”