jinki winced as a floorboard creaked beneath his bare feet; the same bloody floorboard that gave him away every time. he froze, praying in every language he knew that kibum hadn’t heard. the other three were out shopping and he’d hoped that some miracle would allow him to sneak past the younger boy’s room unnoticed so as to avoid the usual post-shower hassle that had become something of a tradition in their shared dorm. he glanced back just in time to see kibum’s eyes flick up from his computer screen, a mischievous smile playing across his lips. jinki cursed under his breath and scurried towards his own room, wishing for the thousandth time that the doors had locks on them and that he could ever remember to get dressed in the god damned bathroom. he closed the door behind him and leant against it, knowing exactly what was coming. the same sequence every time; he didnt for the life of him know how the boys hadn’t lost interest weeks ago. jinki sighed heavily.

"hyuuuung~?" kibum sang, right on cue.

" off, kibum," jinki hissed. "can’t you just leave it out this once?"

jinki sighed again in hopeful relief as silence fell from the other side of the door. maybe he’d got away with it this time. he lifted his weight from the door slightly, only to be thrown to the floor as it opened abruptly into his back. he clung to his bathrobe in the vain hope that he hadn’t flashed anything at kibum. not that it mattered; the other boys were always strolling around the dorm and jinki almost envied their carefree attitude. almost.

"every time, lee jinki. you fall for that every. ing. time!" kibum was bent double with laughter, using the wall for support and banging his fist to punctuate every syllable. jinki couldn’t help but smile - kibum’s laugh really was one of his favourite things in the world. he caught himself, remembering now wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things, especially in his current position and state of undress. he cleared his throat, adjusting his bathrobe and standing up as gracefully as he could, knocking several cosmetic bottles off the counter next to him in the process.

"kibum, please," jinki begged, turning his back on the younger and pulling a pair of boxers from the drawer.

"you know you’re never going to win, hyung," kibum murmured from his rather inappropriate pose in the doorway, a seductive smile plastered across his face.

"you know i could get a restraining order on your ?" jinki sniped, ignoring kibum’s smirk and wriggling as modestly as his bathrobe would allow into the striped underwear. he knew kibum was watching intently, desperate to catch a glimpse of what was under said bathrobe, but all he had to do now was distract the boy long enough to get a shirt on and be done with this whole ordeal. he stomped over to the closet but kibum was quicker. the younger slid his body into jinki’s personal space, fingers reaching up to play with the hem of the robe. the elder slapped his hand away, tears pricking the back of his eyes and a lump forming in his throat.

"kibum," he began, voice cracking and surprising even himself. the teasing was always lighthearted; it had never got to him like this before. kibum stepped back, expression softening.

", hyung, i’m sorry," kibum whispered, reaching up to catch a tear that was rolling slowly down jinki’s face. jinki took a deep breath and wiped his eyes.

"no, i’m sorry, its stupid," jinki frowned. it was stupid of him to keep a secret like this from his group but he just couldn’t bring himself to show them what was under his shirt. he’d managed six years since debut, and god knows how many before that in trainee days, but they’d only caught on that their leader was hiding something recently, and so began project ‘get jinki’s clothes off’.

"why won’t you show us, hyung?" kibum asked quietly, taking jinki’s hands in his own. jinki shrugged, avoiding looking kibum in the eye. "will you show me if i promise not to tell the others?" he asked tentatively. jinki sighed. eventually, he nodded. kibum was his best friend, after all.

he took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes closed as kibum gently undid the tie on jinki’s robe. there was silence as the material parted, revealing the pale skin of jinki’s stomach. he tensed, awaiting kibum’s reaction.

"h-hyung?" kibum’s voice sounded slightly strained. jinki prised his eyes open, peeking at the boy’s face through his eyelashes. kibum was biting his lip hard, face red from suppressed laughter, and jinki couldn’t help but giggle at his ridiculous expression and the ridiculousness of the whole situation and with that kibum couldn’t hold it in any longer; he erupted into fits of deafening laughter, grabbing jinki’s arm for support.

"i can’t believe this," he wheezed, legs giving way and sending him sprawling onto the floor. jinki took the opportunity to quickly put on some shorts and a t-shirt and then sat down beside him, holding his burning red cheeks in his hands. he knew he’d never live this down.

"i am so telling the others," kibum exclaimed, slapping his leg as yet more laughter took control of his body. at that moment, as if summoned by some awful omniscient presence, three figures appeared in the doorway.

"tell us what?" minho asked, taemin and jonghyun peering in curiously behind him. jinki didn’t even have time to attack kibum before the other had straddled his waist, yanking his t-shirt up and beckoning the others over from the doorway. jinki screamed, squirming and struggling under the weight of the younger boy, a stream of profanities coming from his mouth, but it was no good.

"is that a tattoo?" taemin asked quietly. jinki gave up, lying limp on the floor under kibum with his hands covering his eyes, wishing it would open up and swallow him whole.

"is that a ?" jonghyun asked. silence fell.

"i was drunk," jinki groaned, breaking the silence. that was it: the four boys fell about with laughter. dying a slow and painful death had to be better than this.

"its massive!" taemin exclaimed, crawling over to get a better look.

"oh my god, hyung," minho choked out as the laughter began to die down. "you know you can probably get that removed?"

"have you ever tried getting a ing enormous tattoo of a removed?" jinki yelled.

"no, but then i’m not that stupid to get a ing enormous tattoo of a in the first place," jonghyun shouted back, causing the boys to erupt into hysterics yet again.

jinki made a mental note never to tell kibum a secret ever again. and to get dressed in the god damned bathroom next time.