Hyunwoo has a lot of physical strength and he likes to make use of it. When someone asks him why he voluntarily does tasks as carrying heavy luggage, water bottles or other stuff, he answers he doesn’t go to the gym for nothing.

Unlike Hoseok, he doesn’t really care about his image and he couldn’t care less if the fans didn’t view him as a strong, manly guy anymore. Truth be told, Hyunwoo just likes being useful, so he does the things others can’t do.

As a leader, he sometimes has to carry s too – literally. Sometimes one of them gets all pouty and upset over something and then it’s his job to drag Jooheon out of his studio or chase Minhyuk away from the TV in the middle of the night.

Hyunwoo is capable of picking up any of s, but by far the easiest one is Changkyun. The maknae doesn’t weigh a lot, but what’s even more convenient is his small statue that makes it incredibly easy for Hyunwoo to gather him up in his arms.

Of course, that doesn’t happen too often. Most of the time Changkyun is, luckily, able to walk on his own feet, but sometimes, when Hyunwoo has to give him a piggyback ride at a fansign for example, the leader finds himself wishing he was given more opportunities to feel that comfortable, warm weight on his back.

(It sounds weird, but it isn’t. Hyunwoo just likes holding the maknae in his arms, but the others are always so pushy and clingy with Changkyun that he rarely even gets to be close to him.)

One time, the opportunity of carrying Changkyun arises when they are at an important meeting for their next comeback. Even their CEO is present as well as most of their producers and the management team, but for the members of Monsta X it’s really not the best day.

They are all terribly exhausted since they only just had a comeback and now their company wants another one because they weren’t able to use even half of the songs Jooheon and Changkyun had written.

Right now, the maknae is actually worse off than everyone else, though. During the meeting he sits in his chair silently, not once raising his gaze from the surface of the table, and as soon as they’re dismissed for a short break, Hyunwoo watches him curl up in the corner of a couch outside the conference room and close his eyes tiredly.

The leader knows Changkyun shouldn’t be here. Judging by his looks, he hasn’t slept well in days and earlier he was even running a fever, yet he is still here with them. Kihyun was about to cause a scene when the maknae refused to stay home, but in the end they couldn’t deny him his will – after all, he has written a lot of the new content, so Hyunwoo supposes he should have a say in the meeting as well.

However, right now it looks as though like the maknae has come with them in vain. All they have established so far is that they want to release a Japanese version of their comeback album simultaneously – they didn’t even talk about any specific songs yet, though, let alone a new concept they could use.

Hyunwoo watches Changkyun cough into his sweater-covered palm and feels his heart clench in sympathy for the rapper. For a few moments, no one moves – neither Changkyun, who is still shivering in his corner of the couch, nor Hyunwoo who has sat down at the opposite end.

Then the maknae slowly crawls over, quietly saying, “can I lie down here for a bit, hyung? I have a headache.”

You should be at home resting, Hyunwoo thinks.

“Of course, Changkyun-ah, I’ll move,” he says and gets up, letting the maknae lie down.

Hyunwoo starts to wander around the room for a bit, picking up a bag of crab chips someone has left here for them. Suddenly he spots Jooheon, who starts to walk towards him as soon as he sees the leader.

“Hyung,” the rapper starts, “can we please go home? Everyone’s having a hard time trying not to fall asleep because it’s so boring, and especially Kyunnie should go home and rest. I think they can really manage without us today.”

“I’ll try to see what I can do, Jooheon-ah,” Hyunwoo responds.

He is actually quite sure their manager will let them go, but he needs to talk to him about it first. Unfortunately, said man only re-emerges fifteen minutes later when the meeting is about to continue.

“We’re all tired and Changkyun-ah is getting sick,” Hyunwoo explains the group’s situation in a hushed voice. “We can’t really do much at the moment, anyway. Please, let us go home for today!”

“Okay,” their manager agrees easily, “I’ll make sure two cars are waiting for you. Go outside in a few minutes, but be mindful, a few fans are outside.”

“Of course,” the leader nods before walking back to the couch where he has left Changkyun to rest.

He finds Kihyun with the maknae, a deep frown on the singer’s face as he sits next to Changkyun’s curled up figure.

“He’s asleep,” he quietly tells Hyunwoo.

“We shouldn’t wake him. He might not fall asleep easily again,” the elder immediately says. “I could try carrying him, but we need to be careful because of the fans.”

“Please do try, hyung! I can’t stand seeing him awake, he is so exhausted. Hoseok, Minhyuk, Jooheon and I will try to distract the fans so you can take the other car without being noticed.”

Before Hyunwoo has the chance to add anything Kihyun hurries off, probably to find the other members. Knowing he still has some time left, Hyunwoo sits down by Changkyun’s head and cards his fingers through the maknae’s hair.

When he accidentally comes in contact with the skin, he finds it much hotter than it should be and his discovery makes him sigh deeply. He wishes Changkyun was home in his bed already, but there is nothing he can do but wait.

The ten minutes he has to wait until he can be sure the fans are gone, distracted by Kihyun, luckily pass by fast.

“C’mon, hyung, I’m sleepy and I wanna go home,” Hyungwon whines, standing at the door with their bags.

“Coming,” Hyunwoo quietly replies and bends down to lift Changkyun up like you would lift up a bride.

As he hoists him up the maknae stirs a little and lets out a noise of discomfort, but he never opens his eyes. Walking towards the door carefully, Hyunwoo tightens his grip on Changkyun’s legs and brings the maknae’s head to rest against his neck.

The rapper immediately grows still and Hyunwoo smiles a little – he likes to think it is because the familiar smell of his aftershave calms Changkyun significantly. Hyunwoo is a bit nervous as he walks down the stairs because even though it isn’t hard to carry Changkyun – he isn’t even heavy and his body fits perfectly into Hyunwoo’s arms – the leader is afraid of taking a wrong step and falling.

He makes it outside the building safely nonetheless and quickly makes his way to the car as Hyungwon hurries to open the door for him. When Hyunwoo tries to set Changkyun down on one of the seats, the maknae starts squirming, though, opening his eyes and looking around blearily.

“What is-“

“Shhh, go back to sleep,” Hyunwoo immediately shushes him, hoping the maknae will fall back asleep. “We’re just going home.”

“Hyung,” Changkyun whispers quietly in that hoarse voice of his that breaks Hyunwoo’s heart. “Don’t go, hyung.”

His leaves the leader no choice but to keep him in his arms during the ride.

The maknae doesn’t wake up again, not even when Hyunwoo puts him to bed and Kihyun gently tucks him in, the eldest member proudly notes as he walks into the kitchen to get a drink. He feels good, like he has just accomplished something – even though carrying Changkyun is not a big deal because he is so small.

However, the maknae seemed comfortable in his arms and that thought alone is enough to brighten Hyunwoo’s day significantly. Who wouldn’t want to be loved by Monsta X’s cute and small rapper maknae after all?