Joon finds comfort in some of the strangest things possible. He likes the smell of recently washed hair (especially anything mint scented), the musky scent of wood, the bright yellow of sneakers, the softness of baby tummies, the taste of something somewhere between salty and sweet, the feel of full lips against his own.

So it's no wonder he drunk dials a certain leader when he is drinking at some secluded pub. He first notices the sneakers, its neon yellow the only thing he can see through the blur of his vision. He tries (he really does) to walk on his own, but fails and collapses in a heap onto a waiting Seungho. Strangely enough, in his drunken stupor he still recognises the mint scent as Seungho bundles him up and transports the dead weight back to his car.

He doesn't remember anything from the previous night the next day, except the musky smell of wood that filled his dreams and the softness beneath his head that was definitely not from his pillow.

The leader sits him down unceremoniously the next day and questions him to no end. Nothing registers; all he notices are those lips moving up and down, twisting into different shapes as Seungho forms reactions to Joon's various degrees of unresponsiveness. All that registers is his sudden urge to kiss those full lips and feel for himself if they are as soft as they look.

So that's what he does.

Seungho is in the middle of something Joon vaguely understands as "responsibility" and "idol-life" but his monologue stops as a pair of thinner lips gently rests itself against his. It's as soft as he had imagined it to be, Joon thinks, reveling in the feel of Seungho's lips against his own. Joon glances through his lashes, taking in the widened eyes and feels his hands on his shoulders, unsure and shaking. And just as quickly as it starts, it ends with Joon pulling away, something in him waking up. There is surprise on Seungho's face, very much like the shocked expression Joon has mirrored on his own features. He wonders what in the world had possessed him to do such an absurd thing and rushes off to his room.

A slam echoes in the otherwise silent dorm, drawing out a curious Cheondoong who takes one look at the closed door and the perplexed leader in the living room before rushing to find G.O. who was in-charge of damage control.

Joon hides under the covers and refuses to eat or respond to anything anyone says. He feels one side of his bed sink down and peeps through a hole in his covers. G.O. was sitting perched at the edge of the bed not moving.

"I know you aren't really asleep. Quit being such a coward."

He tries desperately to ignore the way those words are biting into his heart, cutting a huge hole into his chest. Instead of snapping back at his hyung with a sharp reply like he had planned to, he opts to remain still beneath the sheets. Maybe if he was motionless enough, G.O. would just give up and go away.

His hyung however, has different plans and whips the blanket off of the younger one. Everything went white for a moment as he eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness of the room, and he suddenly notices how absolutely exposed he feels with nothing covering him. The first thing he notices as his vision clears is the look on G.O.'s face, a mixture of anger, shock and guilt creeping into his dark pupils. Joon wonders if he had managed to pull off his wounded puppy look well enough as G.O.'s features soften.

"Shh...it's okay."

A thumb slides along his cheekbone, and he realizes the dampness on his face. He hadn't even realized that he had been crying. A sob makes its way out of his mouth and G.O. pulls him closer and envelopes him in a comforting hug that a child could only find in the presence of his mother.

The first tear falls, and that's all it takes before the dam is broken and Joon is clinging onto his hyung like there's no tomorrow.

It's the first night in a long while that Joon doesn't sleep well, tossing as he tries hard to find something to give him that desired rest. He finally falls asleep due to the exhaustion, and experiences a strange but not unplesant taste in his dreams; something vaguely straddling between sweet and salty.

The longer the taste stays in his mouth, the more he wants to taste it again.

He feels the hands in the morning, back pressed up against something not unfamiliar, and he turns as slowly and gently as possible. Half expecting it to be Mir curled up behind him, he was surprised to find Seungho with eyes wide open, watching him as he scoots back against the wall.

There is fear written all over his face, and he knows that even if he hides it, the thumping of his heart will give him away. He begins trembling slightly, even as the older man reaches out to him, but doesn't move when the older's fingers gently rests on his arm.

"Changsun ah..."

The mere sound of his name spilling from the leader's lips breaks something inside Joon and he finds himself shaking even more uncontrollably now; the only thing keeping him grounded is the feel of the warm hand clasped around his wrist.

Sorry hyung, he tries to tell him, but no sound comes out, his lips moving without any sound. A smile tugs at the corner of Seungho's lips and Joon is about to whine about his insensitivity when he feels the leader's lips against his own. It's his turn to be surprised, and he just stares at Seungho as he pulls away.

"G.O. told me," he whispers. "Don't worry so much Changsun ah, you're beautiful just the way you are."

The warm embrace is too much to resist and Joon finds himself slipping out of consciousness once again as sweet nothings are whispered into his ear. He mumbles something slightly incoherent, his thoughts going back to the day he was bawling nonsense into G.O.'s chest and he remembers something before finally slipping into the sanctuary of sleep.

Seungho thinks about how Joon tells G.O. that he hates how he's so flawed, hates how he's so impulsive. How Joon tells G.O. that he finds comfort in some of the strangest things possible. Like the smell of recently washed hair, the musky scent of wood, the bright yellow of sneakers, the softness of baby tummies, the taste of something somewhere between salty and sweet, the feel of full lips against his own.

Seungho thinks that lying in his arms right now is probably the most perfect being to have walked the earth, and he holds him close, not wanting to let go.

That night, Joon dreams of soft kisses, sweet nothings, and dark eye circles.