They couldn’t really remember whose idea it was, but they had all agreed to it in the end.

So they did it.

On the 2^nd of November at 23:59, all six members waited for midnight right outside Minhyuk’s door. When the clock struck twelve they all went in, almost scaring Minhyuk.

“Happy birthday!” They said in unison.

Minhyuk was already overwhelmed even though he hadn’t yet heard what the others had prepared for him.

They would tell him after blowing the candles. So as they sat around in the room, eating the cake, the six others exchanged looks.

Wonho was the one to speak up. “Minhyukkie, we should tell you about our gift to you.”

Minhyuk raised his eyebrows and looked around curiously. “A group gift?”

“We all have separate gifts, obviously,” Kihyun cut in.

“But we decided to do something for you, all six of us together,” Shownu explained.

Minhyuk put his paper plate down and clasped his hands together. “Well, what is it?”

“For a day,” Wonho began. “You can bother us as much as you want and we can’t complain. We have to do anything you ask.”

“As long as it’s not inappropriate,” Changkyun added, seemingly already regretting the decision.

“Exactly,” Wonho confirmed, a little worried himself.

But Minhyuk was glowing. It wasn’t what he’d expected, but he would certainly enjoy it. “I pinky promise I won’t abuse this privilege you’ve given me.”

Everyone, except for Shownu who wasn’t worried in the first place, became visibly relieved.

It started the next morning. It started without Minhyuk even knowing it had.

He woke up to the smell of coffee. Jooheon was placing a cup on the nightstand in the moment when Minhyuk opened his eyes.

“Americano?” Jooheon said with a smile.

Minhyuk nodded and sat up. Before going for his coffee he pulled Jooheon into a bone-crushing hug. It was quite liberating knowing that he didn’t have to ask if he could do it. And Jooheon didn’t say anything, he just laughed, letting himself be squished with affection.

Jooheon accepted the cuddling. He let Minhyuk drink his coffee in peace, with Jooheon curled up against him.

“Hyung?” He said after Minhyuk was done. “I’d love this to keep going, but we have stuff to do and places to be.”

Minhyuk pursed his lip and sighed. “Remind me.”

“Dance practice is first,” Jooheon said.

Minhyuk groaned, sinking into the bedding. “Noooo~”

“C’mon hyung you have to,” Jooheon said and poked Minhyuk’s cheek.

“On my birthday.”

“But we’ll do our best to make it bearable,” Jooheon reminded.

That reminder brought a smile to Minhyuk’s face. He wondered just how much he would be able to extend his privilege. He may have promised not to abuse it concerning the other members, but he said nothing about getting out of responsibilities.

It turned out non-functional. Eve though he tried to call the break sooner than Shownu had planned it, and similar, it didn’t work. He was stuck in practice just like everyone else and in that moment he didn’t feel special.

However when the break came things were a bit different.  Before he even realized that he wanted to lie down, there was Wonho offering just that.

Minhyuk smiled brightly. “Thank you! But I’d rather lie down in Kihyun’s lap.”

At the mention of his name Kihyun looked up from his phone with raised eyebrows. “What?”

“What’s wrong with my lap?” Wonho asked, looking offended.

“Don’t take it the wrong way,” Minhyuk said, leaning against Wonho briefly. “There’s nothing wrong with your lap. It’s just that... Your thighs. They’re muscly, not soft.”

Wonho’s face turned as red as his hair. He wasn’t sure whether to be insulted or flattered.

“And my thighs are soft?” Kihyun questioned, already repositioning himself so that Minhyuk could lie down.

“Very,” Minhyuk said as he rested his head in Kihyun’s lap.

Without him having to ask, Kihyun started playing with Minhyuk’s hair. And Minhyuk felt like he was in heaven. Well, just one thing was missing.

“I really feel like drinking some ice tea right now...”

“Want me to get some for you hyung?” Said Hyungwon said, standing up already.

“Yes please,” Minhyuk said sweetly.

Before leaving for the store, Hyungwon gave Minhyuk a kiss on the cheek. That was something Minhyuk hadn’t expected. Yet no one else in the room reacted to it. Minhyuk was left red faced but everyone kept minding their business.

The time it took Hyungwon to get to the store, bring him the ice tea and for him to drink it ended up prolonging the break. So, it may not have worked how Minhyuk had hoped, but he did manage to abuse his privilege.

However, the time to resume dance practice had to come inevitably. He dreaded the moment, but he couldn’t get out of it.

Even still, he seemed to be getting a special treatment. It made dance practice a lot more bearable. Unlike usual, Minhyuk was smiling brightly by the end of it.

As they sat around to cool down once it was over, Minhyuk got an idea. He rolled over on the floor to where Shownu was sitting and batted his lashes at the older.

“Hey hyung...”

Shownu raised his eyebrows. “Do you need anything?”

“Could you and Wonho pleeeease dance for me?” He said in a sweet tone.

“Why just the two of us?” Wonho complained immediately.

Shownu nudged him. “Hey. Minhyuk asked nicely. And it’s his birthday,” he said, giving Wonho a look.

“Because,” Minhyuk said even though Shownu had stood up for him. “Kihyun is too busy... letting me lie in his lap again. And the rest of us aren’t dancers.”

Jooheon and Changkyun looked offended while Hyungwon only shrugged.

After that Wonho didn’t complain anymore and just stood up.

“What do you want us to dance?” Shownu asked, not at all looking uncomfortable or like Minhyuk’s request was bothering him.

Wonho, on the other hand seemed tense, waiting for the answer.

“The Eve by EXO? Do you know it?” Minhyuk said innocently.

Shownu and Wonho said “yes” and “no” at the same time. They exchanged a look.

“Yes,” Shownu repeated.

“I have it on my phone,” Kihyun said, not at all helping Wonho’s case.

Wonho sighed. Kihyun went to plug in his phone and play the song before going back to where Minhyuk was lying to let him lie in his lap.

Minhyuk watched his personal performance wide eyed, smiling brightly.

And Wonho had to admit, he enjoyed the admiration. Soon he no longer felt uncomfortable. All the while, Shownu was in his own element. He managed to make Minhyuk’s heart jump out of his chest when in the last chorus he dropped to his knees right in front of Minhyuk and his hips, smiling at him maliciously.

Minhyuk was left stunned and blushing, burying his face in Kihyun’s lap.

He could hear Wonho and Shownu laughing when the song was finished and Minhyuk started to think that the two had turned against him and decided to destroy him.

“Guys,” Hyungwon said, raising his hand as if he was in school. “We have lunch after this right? Cause I’m starving.”

“Minhyuk-hyung should say where we go to eat,” Changkyun suggested.

Minhyuk sat up, pouting in thought. “I think it’s okay if we just stay in and order take out.”

“We’re doing that then,” Wonho said and walked over. He offered his hand to Minhyuk and pulled him up to his feet.

On their way out, Hyungwon stood in Minhyuk’s path. Wordlessly, he fixed his hyung’s outfit, making sure he’s warm enough. When he was done, Hyungwon pecked Minhyuk’s cheek, again.

“It’s cold out,” Hyungwon said and walked away.

Minhyuk smiled to himself as he walked out behind him. However, in that moment Jooheon and Wonho caught up to him. They both took either of his hands and that was how they walked home.

Minhyuk found himself blushing more than he ever thought he could.

Changkyun had to admit he was relieved that he wasn’t being bothered by Minhyuk. That was his biggest fear for the day, that Minhyuk would try to undress him or lie on top of him and Changkyun wouldn’t be allowed to complain or protest.

So he was just fine staying at the back.

Well...

He did feel something odd in his chest as he watched Minhyuk cuddled up to Shownu and Kihyun on the couch, while Wonho and Hyungwon sat on the ground and with Jooheon dangerously sat on the armrest of the couch. They were watching a movie – which Minhyuk had chosen – and eating pizza.

Changkyun picked himself off the ground where he was sitting a bit further from the others. He went to his room and as expected, no one noticed.

While eating his slice, Minhyuk thought of something. He smirked and looked up at Jooheon. He reached out and poked the younger’s cheek.

“Need something hyung?” Jooheon asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Kkukkuggagga?” Minhyuk asked, batting his lashes.

Jooheon seemed hesitant for a second but then smiled and nodded. “Well, I have the best aegyo, so sure.”

He turned to Minhyuk and looked down. When he looked up again, his eyes were wide, lip pouty and cheeks puffed. Jooheon lifted his hand in a peace sign to his face and said in a baby voice, “Kkukkuggagga for Minhyukkie-hyung~ Happy birthday!”

Jooheon made a small heart and sent a flying kiss to Minhyuk.

As Minhyuk melted, a pillow came flying right in his face.

“You’re gross,” Kihyun said, shaking his head. But he was laughing too, as everyone was.

“If I have to see that one more time,” Wonho threatened.

Minhyuk nudged him. “Shut it, I’ll protect kkukkuggagga with my life!”

“Thanks hyung,” Jooheon said in the same baby voice.

Everyone groaned, but no more complaints came.

Minhyuk shook his head. As he looked back to the TV, he found something wrong. Their maknae was no longer sitting there, judging them. If he had been in the room, surely he would have been the first one to smack both Jooheon for doing the aegyo and Minhyuk for requesting it.

“I’ll be right back,” Minhyuk said and stood up.

He took a plate with a yet untouched slice of pizza and went to Changkyun’s room. He knocked once and opened the door.

He found the maknae sprawled on the bed, scrolling in his phone.

“Hey,” Minhyuk said. He walked in and closed the door behind him. “You didn’t eat,” he said and handed Changkyun the plate.

“I did, you just didn’t see,” Changkyun retorted without looking up.

Minhyuk nudged him. “Come on.”

Changkyun sighed and put his phone down. He hesitantly took the plate. “What do you want?”

But then he remembered that for that day Minhyuk had the power to ask for anything without doing favours in return. So the pizza slice was just... Him being nice?

“I want my promised affection from our maknae,” Minhyuk said simply. “It’s like you’ve been avoiding me the entire day.”

“Well I have no idea what crazy things you could ask from me,” Changkyun said, munching on the pizza.

“We agreed nothing inappropriate, remember?”

“I guess... In that case, what do you want?”

Minhyuk smiled. He crawled over on the bed and wrapped his arms around Changkyun’s waist, leaning against him comfortably.

“Not too bad?” Minhyuk questioned.

“I guess not,” Changkyun agreed. He put the plate down and hugged back, resting his head on top of Minhyuk’s.

“I hope you realize that you’re the best maknae we could have asked for,” Minhyuk muttered, almost inaudibly.

“I hope you realize you’re not as annoying as we always say,” Changkyun said just as quietly.

They said nothing else. As they weren’t disturbed for a while, they ended up falling asleep.

However, it didn’t last long.

Soon Hyungwon was on beside them, trying to wake them up gently. When that approach didn’t work, Jooheon strolled in.

“Step aside, princess,” he said and walked over to the bed.

He lay himself down on top of the sleeping pair and stayed there for a moment. Without him having to say a word, Minhyuk and Changkyun were so squished that they woke up.

“Get off,” Changkyun whined.

“No, no, I think he just wants to cuddle,” Minhyuk said and took Jooheon by the hips. He pushed him off and soon switched their positions.

Minhyuk smiled.

Jooheon pouted. “Not fair.”

“You can’t beat me at my own game.” Minhyuk kissed Jooheon’s cheek and stood up.

“Where to now?”

“Will you ever learn our schedule? KBS performance,” Hyungwon reminded.

Minhyuk groaned, rubbing his eyes.

“Hey, cheer up. You’ll get a special treatment from Monbebes too,” Jooheon said.

Suddenly Minhyuk wasn’t so tired. He performed with much more energy which had the potential to be fatal. But when it got to that point instead of cutting him off, the others just brought him down in a way that left Minhyuk flustered and unable to make any more mess.

At one point Shownu picked him up to carry him away from the edge of the stage.

At another, Kihyun took him by the hand and leaned in close, then pulled away just as their lips were about to touch. Minhyuk decided to dismiss it as fanservice.

In the end of From Zero, Changkyun broke formation in order to kneel in front of Minhyuk and take his hands while saying the line, “So please baby, just give me a chance to be yours.”

After the performance Minhyuk felt like he had just gotten out of a washing machine – feeling fresh and soft but also extremely dizzy.

But he seemed to be the only one. Everyone else acted like everything was regular.

He tried to bring it up. He sat beside Hyungwon on one of the couches backstage and leaned his head on his shoulder. At that point Minhyuk wasn’t surprised that Hyungwon let him.

“It was a good show,” Minhyuk said, looking up at Hyungwon.

“It was, yeah. I kinda ed up the opening to In Time,” he said, frowning at his own mistake as he scrolled through Twitter.

“But I really think this one was especially good, don’t you?”

Hyungwon just shrugged. “Let’s take a selfie.”

And that was the end of discussion. The selfie did turn out good, though.

When they got home, they had just enough energy to get ready for bed and get into their pyjamas. Then they all fit themselves in one room and three beds, lying down on top of one another.

And it warmed Minhyuk’s heart that Changkyun wasn’t alone in a corner. Instead, that time he was the one serving as Minhyuk’s pillow.

Minhyuk used the time to read the birthday tweets from the others. He couldn’t even react properly. He just stood up and called for a group hug. While being hugged by six other guys, Minhyuk may have let a tear or two slip, but he made sure to stop crying before the hug dissolved.

There were only “I love you”s exchanged because Minhyuk was at a loss of words. The next time they sat themselves down, Minhyuk got cuddled up with Shownu and Wonho.

“Okay, I owe you an apology,” Minhyuk said.

Wonho raised his eyebrows. “What for?”

“You may be muscly but you’re still soft.”

Wonho never thought that such a compliment would ever bring him relief, but it did. He smiled and ruffled Minhyuk’s hair. “Well, thank you.”

When it was nearly midnight, Kihyun put his phone down and spoke, “So, the end of the day is nearing. What will you do with the few remaining minutes of your reign?”

Minhyuk sat up and thought about it, but couldn’t think of anything that would really make an impact in the end.

Then he got an idea, an idea so crazy that neither of them would actually be willing to do it. Not to mention that it could be classified as “inappropriate.” Or so Minhyuk thought.

“I want to get a kiss from all of you,” he said.

Looks were exchanged. Minhyuk was ready to burst out laughing over how scared they all looked.

But then Hyungwon stood up. He was the one who’d been kissing Minhyuk on the cheek the entire day. Naturally, that was what Minhyuk expected. Hyungwon surprised him again, pressing a kiss to Minhyuk’s lips.

Before he could recover from it, Jooheon did the same. So did Kihyun, Wonho, Shownu and in the end, Changkyun.

Minhyuk fell back on the bed and grabbed the nearest pillow to squeal into.

“You okay, hyung?” Jooheon asked through his laughter.

“Yah, just uh... Wow.” Minhyuk giggled and sat up. “This has been the best day of my life. Thank you. Too bad you’ll go back to hating me now.” He laughed again, a bit weaker that time.

“Actually, I think this was a great day too,” Shownu pointed out. “We could do it more often, only not with absolute control.”

“Who’s in?” Changkyun yelled and raised his hand. To Minhyuk’s surprise, everyone raised their hand except for Kihyun and Wonho. Jooheon and Shownu then raised their hands.

Minhyuk was truly looking forward to it.