A/N: Inspired by Seungri looking awfully sulky in New York.

"Hey," Jiyong greeted when he got back to his hotel room.  They were in New York to film music videos for their upcoming album and everyone had finally stopped drinking in the lounge down stairs and called it a night.  Seungri had retired to their room much earlier, but he was still awake, reclining lazily on one of the two beds while texting his friends.

"Hyung," Seungri replied with a small smile and flicked his eyes up briefly to greet Jiyong.  "Did everyone else finally go to bed?"  He asked as he finished tapping in his message.

"Yeah, but you should have stayed longer," Jiyong replied.  “Everyone missed you.”  Seungri was a master at facilitating a welcoming, fun atmosphere. 

"I was tired," Seungri explained and set his phone down now that Jiyong was there to keep him company.  "Plus, I’m jet lagged and sick." 

“Everyone’s jet lagged,” Jiyong tsked teasingly.  He took a seat on the edge of Seungri’s bed and reached over to press the back of his hand gently against Seungri’s forehead.  "It doesn't feel as hot anymore.  Are you feeling better?" 

"A little.  I have a huge headache though," Seungri explained and exaggerated a cough as though to prove he was still sick.  The dark circles under his eyes and the slight jut of his bottom lip added extra effect to his pitiful act.  Too cute.  A grown man shouldn't be so damn cute.

Jiyong bit his lower lip to keep from smiling too wide.  "I can ask the managers for some pain killers," Jiyong suggested, but Seungri shook his head.  

"I already took some earlier," Seungri told him. 

With an affectionate look, Jiyong brushed Seungri’s cheek with the back of his knuckles and Seungri responded by leaning into the touch with a tired smile.  His thumb slowly traced the curve of Seungri’s jaw line and it rasped lightly against day old stubble.  Seungri’s eyes closed slightly and he sighed.

This was dangerous.  Friends were not supposed to be this comfortable with each other.

Seungri looked different nowadays.  He couldn’t believe it when Seungri actually cropped off most of his hair.  Jiyong had to admit that he wasn’t a fan of the "chestnut" look at first, but it was quickly growing on him.  He looked older and more mature.  A man.  Apparently Seungri and Seunghyun were in charge of the "good looks" department and Seungri was determined to give Seunghyun a run for his money.  He hit the gym regularly to fill his clothes with hard, lean muscles and he was practicing flirtatious expressions that could send girls swooning.  His cute boyish looks had matured into handsome features and Jiyong often found himself pausing for a second glance. 

Seungri’s phone vibrated against the night stand and they both started as the loud notification tore through the quiet room.  Breaking out of his reverie, Jiyong quickly took Seungri's chin between a thumb and forefinger and tilted the man's head to the side.

"It must be your piercings that are causing your headache,” Jiyong observed with forced nonchalance.  “They’re looking good though."  He leaned in closer to look at barbell going through Seungri’s ear.

Although Seungri had been a complete baby when he got his piercings, they ended up looking pretty badass and completely worth the pain and humiliation.  He wasn’t a cute little kid anymore; not the kid Jiyong hugged in bed when they were just debuting or the one that needed paper napkins for shoulder pads.  Seungri looked playful, rebellious and ridiculously handsome.  Adding his charm and confidence into the equation made a Seungri dangerous force to be reckoned with. 

Seungri laughed and pulled away from Jiyong’s touch.  "If I had known how much it was going to hurt, I probably wouldn’t have gone through with the industrial."  

"And you say you wanted to get a tattoo too?"  Jiyong teased.

"You make it look easy." 

"I've always been a little bit of a masochist though."  

A second or two passed silently as Seungri blinked at him, mouth parted as though he wanted to say something.  But then, Seungri seemed to think better of it and shook his head instead.  The younger man laughed it off and reached for the laptop that had been resting at the foot of his bed.

"Anyway, I have to go return this," he told Jiyong.  Jiyong merely nodded and watched quietly as Seungri pocketed his cell phone, tucked the laptop under an arm, and bounded for the door.

By the time Seungri returned, Jiyong was buried deep under the thick comforter with his back facing the younger man's bed.