Kihyun watches as Hyungwon practices his special choreography, eyes vacant. He smiles encouragingly, and nods along with the younger whenever he pauses the music to make a suggestion about something he should change. But, mentally he’s somewhere different altogether.

He his head to the side, losing himself to the fluid movement of Hyungwon’s long body. His heart hammers a bit off-beat, his mouth going dry. He shoves thoughts about his dongsaeng’s body from his mind, deciding to make himself useful. Hyungwon had asked him over Hoseok or Hyunwoo for opinions on his routine, so he’ll do what he can for the younger.

Though why Hyungwon had chosen him and neither of their hyungs who have participated in choreographing before, he can’t figure out.

The two return to the dorm a few hours later to see the others dispersed in a shouting mess around the living room. Minhyuk and Changkyun are sitting cross-legged on the sectional, yelling at the video game they’re playing and shoving each other every so often to try and get an advantage. Hoseok is grunting away on his exercise equipment, and Hyunwoo and Jooheon are chattering loudly about nonsense, obviously drunk.

Kihyun glances at Hyungwon with a raised brow, exhaustion clear in his eyes. He merely continues off to his own bunk, not wanting to deal with any of this tonight. Hyungwon watches him with a frown as he takes a seat next to Changkyun, thinking it to be a bit early to be going to bed. The maknae glances over at him, a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips.

“So have you two made it official yet, hyung?” Changkyun asks, earning a bark of laughter from Minhyuk. Hyungwon creases his brow in confusion, not knowing what the younger means.

“You made a pretty big deal about going to practice with Kihyunnie, in particular,” Minhyuk states simply, as if sensing Hyungwon’s befuddlement. “I figured it was because you wanted some alone time with him to confess.”

“Confess what?” Hyungwon asks, instinctively playing dumb despite knowing exactly what the older is talking about. After all, he hasn’t exactly been secretive about his growing feelings for the main vocalist. Just the other night he’d been ranting to Jooheon about what he should do about the new situation, how risky it would be to try and date a bandmate and friend… A risk that Jooheon didn’t seem all that concerned with, to be honest.

“Just tell hiiiiiim, hyuuuuung!!!!” Jooheon interjects a bit too loudly, wobbling back and forth in his seat. He eventually lands against Hyunwoo’s chest with a soft ‘oomf’, causing the oldest in the room to burst out into a fit of deep, hearty chuckles. “You knOW he likes you, tooo~” Hyungwon raises a skeptical brow, not sure how seriously he should take his intoxicated dongsaeng.

“You r-really should,” Hoseok interjects, out of breath as he finishes the last of his reps. He wipes at his sweating brow with a hand towel, draining the majority of his water before continuing. “This’ll get between the both of you eventually if you don’t tell him.” Hyungwon stifles a tired sigh, rubbing at his eyes with his long, delicate fingers.

He’s right, of course. Even now he can feel a change developing between them… a change he very much does not like.

Kihyun lies in his top bunk, staring at his phone with his earbuds in.

How long has it been like this?

He just can’t get the words from Puth’s song out of his mind. Something about that particular line sticks with him, chips away at his heart. Images of Hyungwon’s beautiful face, perfect body, flash before his eyes, and he sighs in exasperation as he locks his phone and drops it to the side.

When did this become such a mess? he thinks, wiping at his face. Any thought of Hyungwon brings a certain lightness to his heart, an impossibly wide smile to his face no matter what mood he’s in. His precious Wonnie’s smile brightens even the worst of his days, and just seeing Hyungwon happy and healthy makes his stressful life all the easier to bear.

He turns numbly on his side, opening his eyes slowly towards the door. As if on cue, it opens, and Hyungwon slips into the room. Kihyun raises a brow curiously, pulling a bud from his ear. His dongsaeng comes to stand beside the set of bunk beds, leaning forward against the wooden railings.

“What is it, Wonnie?” Kihyun asks gently, pushing his own confusion concerning the younger away for now. Hyungwon’s wellbeing is more important than his own growing feelings any day.

“I… I have something I need to tell you,” Hyungwon says softly, kneading his plump lower lip between his teeth. His dark eyes seem to shake, glancing this way and that and very much not meeting Kihyun’s gaze.

“Kihyunnie, lately I’ve been feeling things for you that are more than I ought to. I know I shouldn’t, I know you probably don’t feel the same way, but… I thought you’d want to know.”

Kihyun’s eyes grow about five times their normal size, his pink lips parting slightly in surprise. He doesn’t say anything, though, and Hyungwon’s fairly certain he’s just made a fatal error. He doesn’t wait before turning to leave the room, just wanting to escape from the abysmal moment.

However, a familiar hand clamps around his wrist, paralyzing him where he stands. He can barely muster up the courage to meet the older man’s gaze.

“Wonnie, please look at me,” Kihyun requests, his soft tone immediately bringing the younger’s eyes to him. The sincerity in the older’s gaze chills him to the core, yet manages to light a fire of hope in the deepest recesses of his heart. The open affection shining within them drives Hyungwon to hope that maybe, just maybe, the vocalist will say—

“Do you wanna go to dinner tomorrow night? With me? You know… on a date?”

Hyungwon’s eyes go impossibly wide, unsure if he’d heard the older correctly. He nods before doubt can get the better of him, and the most beautiful smile Hyungwon has ever seen blazes across the older’s face.

“Good,” Kihyun says, nodding as well. Hyungwon can’t help himself. He’s so overcome with delight that he can’t keep himself from leaning forward and over the railing to kiss Kihyun square on the lips. Kihyun makes a small noise of surprise, but quickly reciprocates.

Hyungwon thinks he tastes like fried chicken and shrimp, what they’d gotten for dinner on their way back, and he thinks is the most wonderful combination in all the world.