He should have seen it coming. After waking up from a dream like that, Jihoon should have realized he had a hard day ahead of him.

With the dorm already bustling and a loud knock on the door followed by Kyung’s head poking in to wake him up and inform him it was his turn in the bathroom (“But be quick, we’re already late”), he wasn’t going to have time to deal with the problem directly. He was glad for having his own room, at least, as he gathered his towel and held it close to him. It was a quick shuffle across the open space of the apartment to the bathroom, ears red as he narrowly avoided the oldest of the group as the shorter man rushed past him to the kitchen.

Focusing his thoughts on the choreography and lines of H.E.R, instead, he rushed through his purposely too-cold shower. It was as effective as it could have been, and waking up a little bit helped him get more control of the situation. He didn’t feel the need to rush back to his room, at least.

It had, however, been a very vivid and very compelling dream, and there was an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him it wasn’t going to be so easily forgotten.

When it was time to pile into the van, Jihoon opted to squeeze in the back where Minhyuk was already seated, Jaehyo taking the vacant spot on the other side of the rear bench. He averted his eyes out the window as Taeil climbed in after Kyung, the two roommates settling in the middle bench, Kyung immediately leaning forward to start conversation with Jiho and Yukwon. He continued to stare out at the cars on the street as Taeil glanced back towards him—he couldn’t tell what sort of expression the other had, but it wasn’t as though he was acting completely out of the ordinary. It helped that he probably looked as exhausted as he felt.

-

It was a long car ride. Pretending to be asleep to avoid the figure seated in front of him, while trying to not actually fall asleep and risk a repeat situation. Only the music thrumming through his headphones helped keep his mind occupied.

-

When they arrived at the studio, at least, it was easier to stay focused. It was a rush of hair and makeup and outfits and getting ready for rehearsal.

It wasn’t until the end, right when they were about to go on stage for their recording, that there was a moment to stop and breathe.

Of course, that would be the moment Taeil decided the collar of Jihoon’s outfit needed adjusting. And normally it wouldn’t even be a problem, he would smile and thank the older man and probably say something dumb because he’d be struck, yet again, for the trillionth time, by just how cute Taeil was.

But that was not the case today. No, instead he felt his face go hot and his mind was immediately back to the dream and he could only mumble an awkward “thanks” before he had to turn and throw an arm around the nearest other person—Jiho—and exclaim all-too-loudly how nervous he was about the stage.

He felt bad, really. But right before they went on stage was not the time for that sort of distraction.

An even worse time would have been, of course, while they were on stage.

And wouldn’t that be just his luck?

And of course today wouldn’t have been the day they suddenly decided to start putting him in looser pants.

And they were only getting tighter, no matter how hard he focused on the performance, because as soon as he fell to the back of the group, his eyes would find their way over to Taeil and that dream just would not get out of his head.

The rest of them hadn’t noticed his problem yet, so he could only hope the audience hadn’t either.

He was infinitely grateful that they weren’t known for intense choreography. He could at least minimize his movements.

It wasn’t until Minhyuk’s part that, with his back turned, he had a proper chance to sneak a thumb under his waistband and readjust—just a short moment to at least wrangle the traitorous thing to a position where it wouldn’t be quite so obvious.

What was that about no one noticing yet? That would have been just too perfect, wouldn’t it have?

Next to him Taeil was giving a look that said yes, he had definitely been noticed.

It couldn’t have been any other member.

It just had to be the one that was the focus of the problem.

Because that was just how those things worked, wasn’t it?

His face was probably a color to rival his hair, and he could only stare helplessly back at the older man before the choreography had them standing back up and all too soon it was Jihoon’s turn to be center-stage again and he couldn’t even tell if he was on tempo or hitting the right notes but the audience was as energetic as it could be and the show went on and, before his embarrassment could eat him alive, it was over.

-

"Hey," The soft voice startled him more than it should have, given the volume of the van as the rest of the members piled in.

Jihoon had taken the far back seat again, but he had been the first in and this time it was Taeil who he found himself sitting next to, the shorter man scrambling in after him. He felt his face getting red again, but at least at some point the embarrassment had caused his little problem to go away.

"You okay?" Taeil asked, keeping his voice quiet enough that Jihoon could just barely hear him over the rest of the conversation in the vehicle. He was glad, in a way, that it had been Taeil who had noticed—any one of the rest of them would probably have been telling the whole group about it and making it even more embarrassing, if that was even possible.

"Y-Yeah, I just…" Well what was he supposed to say? Without words to form, he found his hands flailing awkwardly in front of him as if that was an explanation.

The eldest only smiled, clapping him on the leg—a little too close, making him jump—and shaking his head, “We’ll talk when we get back, okay?”

Jihoon wasn’t sure that would be any easier.