Yoo Kihyun is a very proud man, and sometimes that is not a good thing. There are a lot of things that hurt his pride – silly stuff, mostly, and he knows he’s being irrational, but he just can’t help being upset – and that means he gets sulky at times because he constantly feels the need to prove himself and it’s exhausting.

His biggest issue is his height.

While Kihyun likes to act cute for the fans, he is actually a very determined and fierce person who can easily get what they want. However, the fact that he just looks small next to members like Hyunwoo or even Hoseok, who is an absolute softie, drives Kihyun crazy.

His appearance and personality are contradicting each other too much and when he looks at group photos there is this uncomfortable feeling in his gut because the man he is looking at can’t be him, that short guy who almost looks weak isn’t Yoo Kihyun.

Knowing that some people, including himself if he’s being honest, might think of him as weak because of his height hurts Kihyun’s pride a lot.

That is why he constantly feels the need to prove himself and the world that his appearance does not make him frail and that he can still be the person he wants to be, despite his looks.

There is one thing Kihyun takes comfort in, though, and that is the presence of a certain Lim Changkyun. As bad as it sounds, knowing he isn’t actually the shortest member in the group soothes Kihyun’s heart a lot.

One time while they are on camera, Kihyun challenges Changkyun to measure both of their heights to settle the ‘who’s taller’-matter once and for all. It turns out the maknae is shorter and that has Kihyun beaming for days because he doesn’t feel like his situation is too bad anymore. He’s small, but someone else is, in fact, smaller.

Actually, Kihyun loves Changkyun’s height – as weird as that sounds, since he hates his own statue, he adores the maknae’s shortness. It matches his cute face and his endearing personality so well and looking at him makes Kihyun want to wrap him in a soft blanket and feed him marshmallows sometimes.

Of course, Kihyun is a hypocrite when he thinks that Changkyun’s height makes him the perfect person to be taken care of – after all, that is exactly how he doesn’t want to be seen. However, since the maknae doesn’t seem to mind as much, Kihyun smothers him with his love anyway – he can live with a little hypocrisy.

The best thing about Changkyun’s height is the way Kihyun can use it against the maknae when cuddling. He doesn’t need skin on skin contact often, but when he does, he would much rather hold someone than be held.

Normally, that shouldn’t be a problem since none of s really mind stuff like that, but when it comes to Kihyun their brains seem to work differently (and the main vocalist hates it.).

Truth be told, he feels incredibly hurt when Hoseok refuses to let him be the big spoon one day, telling him it ‘just wouldn’t be right’. It’s probably his stupid pride that forbids him to do Kihyun a favor, but even though the younger knows the issue all too well, he can’t bring himself to forgive his groupmate.

As he lies on his bad and sulks, the door opens and someone comes into the room. Their steps are soft and it sounds like they are wearing socks, but Kihyun can’t tell who his visitor is since he is facing the wall at the moment.

“Go away,” he grumbles. “I’m not cooking tonight. Order takeout or something, I don’t care!”

“Hyung…”

It’s Changkyun’s deep voice that makes Kihyun’s eyes widen abruptly, the sleepy rumble at the back of the maknae’s throat. Come to think of it, Kihyun hasn’t seen much of Changkyun today, since the rapper mostly stayed in his room.

“What do you want?”

Kihyun sounds harsher than he intended to, and he feels a bit of regret, but apparently his snappiness isn’t enough to make Changkyun leave anyway.

“I was wondering if I could rest here.”

There’s the sound of feet shuffling and Kihyun figures the maknae must be a bit embarrassed by his own request. That makes him smile a little – he’s happy Changkyun came to ask nonetheless. The maknae has become so much more open towards them since their debut and now he really seems to trust them.

“I was sleeping in my room, but Minhyuk-hyung and Jooheon-hyung were being really loud and Hyungwon-hyung is hogging the couch. I didn’t know where to go. I’m just,” Changkyun pauses to yawn, “really tired.”

His words finally have Kihyun roll over, facing the maknae who is standing there with slumped shoulders and half-lidded eyes.

“You didn’t sleep last night, did you? Stayed up writing again… You’re really irresponsible, no matter how mature you may look to others.”

When Changkyun pouts at Kihyun’s remark, the elder adds with a smile, “guess we gotta take better care of you then.”

He scoots backwards, gesturing for Changkyun to lie down in front of him, and the maknae does so immediately. A sigh leaves his lips when his back makes contact with Kihyun’s chest and the vocalist has to admit that he already feels better after what happened with Hoseok earlier.

“Let’s nap then, shall we?” Kihyun whispers as he listens to Changkyun’s quiet breathing. “We’ll just eat a huge breakfast instead of dinner.”

When he gets no answer, he can’t resist the temptation of pushing his nose against Changkyun’s nape until he forces a giggle out of the younger.

“Hyung, stop. I’m trying to sleep and you’re making it really difficult.”

“Alright, alright, don’t start crying,” Kihyun chuckles as he retreats a bit.

To be honest, he’s already perfectly content with holding Changkyun like this. He likes the feeling of warmth against his front more than anything else and hadn’t the incident with Hoseok still been nagging at his brain, he would have fallen asleep instantly.

“Changkyun-ah?” Kihyun asks after a few minutes of silence. “Do you hate cuddling with me like this?”

“Huh? Why would I hyung?”

Judging by the way he slurs his words cutely, the maknae was already asleep and Kihyun feels a bit guilty, but he needs an answer right now. He needs to know if he can still hold people and take care of them, despite his soft appearance.

“I love cuddling with you, hyung,” Changkyun suddenly adds, as if he could read Kihyun’s thoughts. “You never hold me as tightly as Hoseok-hyung or Hyunwoo-hyung so I know I won’t suffocate, and it’s actually nice that your head is right behind my head and not like a meter above it.”

Both of them giggle at his words, thinking of their lanky turtle Hyungwon, but the smile doesn’t leave Kihyun’s face anymore.

“I knew it,” he quietly says, more to himself than to anyone else. “I knew I’m the best at being the big spoon.”