“I think I’m going to bump up my bet another ten – no, make that fifteen thousand won,” Hakyeon says to no one in particular as the rest of them sit behind the monitor and watch Taekwoon pose for the photographer.

Hongbin scoffs, not trying to hide it, and Wonsik elbows him, following it with an amused glance.

“Hyung, you do this every time we have a photoshoot and then regret it when we get home.”

“Look at him, though,” Hakyeon argues, and the others all go quiet watching Taekwoon stare at the camera because even though they may feign disinterest, quite a lot of money in total is riding on the outcome of their ridiculous bet that started as a drunken joke and has somehow evolved into a serious running argument. The bet that Taekwoon knows nothing about, and never will, hopefully, because in general the other five members aren’t big fans of violence.

“What’s different this time?” Hongbin asks stubbornly because he’s betting against Hakyeon, and so is Jaehwan who nods in agreement with Hongbin, sighing obnoxiously. “He’s still just doing his death laser eye thing which, okay, some fans find hot but that means absolutely nothing-”

Jaehwan immediately mimics what he thinks Taekwoon’s signature glare is, and both Wonsik and Sanghyuk dissolve into giggles.

“I mean is he trying to seduce them or fight them or what-”

“Shh!” Hakyeon warns, Sanghyuk and Wonsik still laughing. “Shut up, Jaehwan. I mean he’s learning to work it, you know? Learning to be more comfortable, realizing how y he can be. Remember how awful he used to be in photoshoots?”

“I used to be awful too,” Sanghyuk says inconsequentially, and Hongbin pets him fondly.

“He knows how to bring out his inner kitten now,” Wonsik and Jaehwan wince at the phrase, but Hakyeon ignores them. “He just looked angry before.”

“He looks angry now,” Hongbin argues, refusing to concede the point. “Anyway, I can never see what this has to do with how he is in bed. No matter how good the photos you take are it doesn’t translate into real action in the sheets.”

“Yeah, Wonsik would know,” Hakyeon snipes back, finally annoyed. “What’s the use of having you for such a pretty boyfriend when he needs a magnifying glass to find your-”

“Okay!” the photographer calls out and Taekwoon starts bowing to everyone in thanks, hands immediately flying to hold his floaty too-loose shirt to his chest so he wouldn’t accidentally flash anyone as he bowed. Through the red-hot glare Hongbin’s giving him Hakyeon can practically feel how many layers Taekwoon is aching to put on to make up for three hours of sitting around with his shoulders and chest on display.

“See? He’s practically a nun,” Jaehwan hisses as they get up to go, Sanghyuk following close behind.

“You can’t judge him by your own standards, hyung,” Sanghyuk tells him serenely. “You’re just a .”

Jaehwan opens his mouth to protest, but then shrugs. You can’t argue with the truth.

They collect Taekwoon, and leave.

Bet total:

Taekwoon is a god – Hakyeon 350 000 won, Sanghyuk 60 000 won, Wonsik 113 420 won.

Taekwoon is completely hopeless in bed and is a disappointment to the world – Jaehwan 410 000 won, Hongbin 190 100 won.

*

It really had started out as a joke.

Taekwoon was off doing his musical and the remaining five of them had somehow wound up at a barbecue restaurant at two am, chugging soju and grilled pork belly and trying to keep Sanghyuk from drinking all the alcohol; Hakyeon’s promise to their manager to ‘bring the kids home safe and early’ totally forgotten. They were at the stage of the night where Wonsik and Hongbin were trying very hard not to stare sappily into each other’s eyes and Hakyeon thought that what they really needed, right then, was to search for hardcore fanfic of themselves.

“Ohoho,” Hakyeon clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes squinting to try and focus on the words on his phone through his soju buzz. “Our favourite author has a new one out. Ken/Leo this time.”

Jaehwan groaned, letting his head thunk onto Hakyeon’s shoulder. “I bet it’s me getting ed. It’s always me getting ed.”

Hakyeon quickly scanned the story. “Without lube too,” he says a moment later, trying his hardest not to burst out laughing. “Oh my god, oh my god, listen - Leo smirked at Ken lying trembling underneath him. Ken’s eyes widened at the sight of Leo’s big , the older male pulling Ken’s legs open wide so he could see – oh my god, so he could see Ken’s pink entrance quivering in anticipation-”

“I AM TRYING TO EAT,” Sanghyuk put his chopsticks down, turning to stare at the two of them dying of laughter over the kimchi.

“I didn’t know I had a pink entrance,” Jaehwan was saying. “I’d have preferred a blue one, or maybe green. I like green.”

“Why the do you want a green ,” Hakyeon was nearly in tears, the soju making everything ten times more hilarious.

“Hongbin, what colour is your ? Mine’s pink,” Jaehwan called over to him, making Hakyeon collapse again in a fresh bout of crying-laughing, and Wonsik and Hongbin stopped their not-making-out to stare at their hyungs.

“Hey, maybe it’s just me but I always thought it was an exit, not an entrance. My whole life has been a lie,” Jaehwan continued, and Sanghyuk put his chopsticks down for the second time that night, trying extremely hard to keep a straight face.

“Hyung.”

Once Hakyeon could speak again he wiped at his eyes and put away his phone. “Isn’t it insane how the fans think Taekwoon’s some beast? Every single fanfic, I swear to god.”

“Has he ever been with anyone, even?” Wonsik asked, Hongbin and him emerging from their own little world.

The other four turned to look at Hakyeon, who raised his hands in defense. “Hey, what? Do you honestly think he’d tell me something like that?”

“He tells you everything else,” Hongbin said, and Sanghyuk nodded, chewing. Apparently his appetite had returned.

“Well, not that. Though, honestly? I don’t think he’d really be that bad in bed. Not bad at all, actually.”

Hongbin’s laugh was a shout, giving Wonsik a bit of a shock. “Hyung, you have got to be kidding. I love Taekwoon hyung but I really pity the person who ends up having to him. He’d probably go hide under the bed or something.”

“I’m not! Seriously. I would bet real money.”

“How much?” Jaehwan asked, eyes twinkling, and then it all went downhill from there.

*

It’s hard to explain how seriously not-seriously they took the bet. Two or three of them would have hurried whispered conversations during dance practice, after music video filming, at idol sports events, after performances; urgent as if it was a matter of life and death. The bet money increased and decreased from week to week till it reached ridiculous heights, all of them potentially owing hundreds of thousands of won except Sanghyuk who never spent money unless he could help it. It became a normal part of life, discussing Taekwoon’s ual prowess using whatever so-called evidence they could get their hands on no matter how ridiculous and irrelevant, and Taekwoon miraculously never found out.

“What are you talking about?” Taekwoon asked in his usual tiny voice, and Jaehwan and Hongbin casually leaned apart on the sofa of their dorm. “Photography tips,” Hongbin replied, not batting an eyelid. Taekwoon the TV.

“Was that anything important Hakyeon was telling you in the van?” Taekwoon nudged Sanghyuk, who blinked and pretended to think. “Honestly, hyung, I can’t remember. You know how he goes on and on.” Taekwoon lightly knocked Sanghyuk’s head, a trademark gesture Sanghyuk had come to grudgingly – secretly – like. Taekwoon put in his earbuds and settled back into his seat.

It really was all a joke, something to keep them occupied, something that was so strange and so absurd that it was absolutely theirs and theirs alone. Nothing else bonds you like an inside joke, after all, and they all reassured themselves that constantly thinking about their band member having wasn’t that weird. Weird, but not that weird.

“How would we ever verify this, anyway,” Jaehwan sulked one night when Taekwoon had snuck off to see his newborn nephew and the rest of them were stuck in the dorm, thinking sadly of his now-five hundred thousand-won stake. “Knowing him I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still a and is waiting for his wedding night. And none of us are going to dare to ask his wife how good he is, let’s be real. And as if she’d even tell us.”

They were in various positions on the living room floor and sofa, Jaehwan lying in Hakyeon’s lap with his feet poking at Wonsik’s side, Hongbin and Sanghyuk both at Wonsik’s feet and leaning on his legs and each other.

(“Puppies,” Taekwoon said once to their manager, watching them naturally pile together like they were an interesting social experiment.

“And you’re a kitten,” the manager had replied without thinking, only to be silently glared at.)

“Jaehwan,” Hakyeon laughed. “What are you even talking about?”

“Five hundred thousand won, hyung,” Jaehwan whined, and play-kicked at Wonsik, which led to a tussle that everyone immediately joined in on and distracted them all for the next five minutes. They settled back down again once the kickfight had been won amidst much shouting and giggling [Sanghyuk, Hakyeon, Jaehwan; Hongbin and Wonsik didn’t stand a chance] and Jaehwan continued his sulking.

“Do you know what I could buy with five hundred thousand won?”

“Endless amounts of gopchang for me,” Sanghyuk interjected, and Jaehwan pushed away his eager face with a socked foot.

“No one’s coming near my winnings. If I win this bet I am going to firstly – I am going to-“

“You don’t even know,” Wonsik scoffed. “If I win it I’m going to-“

“Nobody wants to know about the toys you’re going to buy for Hongbin,” Hakyeon said blandly, and Wonsik, Hongbin and Sanghyuk all started screaming at the same time for all different reasons while Jaehwan high-fived Hakyeon.

“If I win this bet I can buy my own toys,” Hongbin waited till Sanghyuk had stopped screaming to say, and the rest of them laughed themselves to tears at Sanghyuk’s utterly defeated face.

“I’m going to join BTOB,” Sanghyuk said once his hyungs stopped laughing.

“Nobody wants you, Hyuk. Only we love you.”

“I bet BTOB doesn’t have insane bets like these.”

“A bet about a bet?” Jaehwan teased, eyes twinkling. “You bet they don’t have bets? Better to bet about our bets-” Hakyeon clamped a hand over Jaehwan’s mouth.

“By the way, Hyukkie,” Hakyeon cut in smoothly. “I never asked you why you think your Taekwoon hyung would be good in bed.”

Sanghyuk’s mouth seized up when he saw the telltale twinkle in Hakyeon’s eye. Goddammit. No. No way. “No real reason,” he tried to be nonchalant, but Hakyeon was smiling now, that cat-got-the-mouse smile of his. Hakyeon knew. How long had Hakyeon known? “Why?” He challenged, watching Hakyeon carefully, willing himself not to blush at having his crush inexplicably found out. He’d been so careful!

“I was just curious to know your reasons for thinking your hyung is a good lover. After all, you’re still practically a baby, and a … But then again you have always been quite interested in Taekwoon.” Hakyeon trailed off, and Sanghyuk instantly wanted to murder him. String him up by his thumbs! Wedgie him to death!

Sanghyuk’s cheeks started to flame and he wanted to yell that his age and inexperience had absolutely nothing to do with anything and Hakyeon knew damn well they didn’t, because all Hakyeon was trying to do was fluster him enough to give himself away. The sound of his other hyungs making idiotic ‘ooooooo’ noises at him – did everybody know??? – was making it hard for him to think, and Hakyeon was still smirking.

“So what?” came Sanghyuk’s supremely witty rejoinder, embarrassed to the roots of his hair.

Hakyeon shrugged, the very picture of innocence.

“If you ever want to rid yourself of your pesky ity my door is always open,” Jaehwan made lascivious eyebrows Sanghyuk’s way, and was immediately hit by the other three, making him curl up to fend them off.

“He deserves better than you,”Hongbin scolded, and Jaehwan was pained to see that he was actually serious.

“What’s wrong with me?” Jaehwans protested, pride stung, and Hongbin just gave him a Look. “I’d treat him right,” he argued, and Sanghyuk was literally about to give up on life because Jaehwan and Hongbin were seriously discussing the pros and cons of Jaehwan taking his ity and Hakyeon was still watching him with that I KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR EMBARRASSING SCHOOLBOY CRUSH ON TAEKWOON glint in his eye even as he laughed at Jaehwan and Hongbin’s bickering, Wonsik butting in ever so often to put in a word of support for Jaehwan just to annoy Hongbin.

“Hyung, if you’re so willing to jump into bed with your own band member why don’t you be the one to find out how good Taekwoon hyung is?” Sanghyuk snapped at Jaehwan, Hakyeon’s gaze unnerving him and making his tone sharper than he intended.

“Sorry, Hyuk-ah,” Jaehwan apologized immediately, almost falling off the sofa in his haste to soothe Sanghyuk’s feelings by drowning him in a bear hug, thinking that he’d taken the joke too far. “I didn’t mean what I said.”

Sanghyuk put up a show of fending Jaehwan off, struggling out of his arms until Jaehwan sat loosely spooning him in a gentle backhug, resting his cheek on one of Sanghyuk’s shoulderblades. “All of you are crazy,” Sanghyuk observed, to identical leers from Wonsik and Hongbin.

“Jaehwan wouldn’t be a good choice,” Hakyeon said, giving no sign he heard Sanghyuk. “He’d annoy Taekwoon so much Taekwoon’d probably kill him.”

“Which would not be such a terrible loss,” Hongbin said, earning a sad puppydog look from Jaehwan.

“Wonsik and Hongbin are clearly out of the question seeing as they’re probably the most disgusting couple on earth,” Hakyeon continued, to a muffled “they could try a ” from behind Sanghyuk, Sanghyuk immediately elbowing Jaehwan in the ribs.

“And he’d never believe I was actually interested in him,” Hakyeon finished off, and Sanghyuk wanted to die, the next words out of Hakyeon’s mouth predictable from miles off. “So the only candidate is you, my son, our pride and joy, our golden child, our precious baby-”

Sanghyuk stood up, discarding Jaehwan’s arms around him like he was shrugging off a jacket. “Goodnight,” he announced with dignity, and marched off.

*

Sanghyuk was making coffee for himself the next morning when he became slowly aware of Hakyeon leaning on the kitchen counter watching him without a word. Jaehwan and Hongbin had waking-Wonsik-up duty that day, and it seemed to be taking longer than usual. (Sanghyuk heard Hongbin’s voice raised in an exasperated cry of “Wake up, you !” from Wonsik’s room, and thought there might be trouble in paradise.)

“I’m not speaking to you,” he declared to Hakyeon, voice still sleep-rough. “That was not funny, what you did last night.”

“So you’re annoyed ‘cos it’s true?” Hakyeon asked grinning, and Sanghyuk cursed himself for not being able to deny it for some godforsaken reason. He settled for looking grumpy in answer and stomped away with his mug of coffee, Hakyeon following closely in glee.

“I knew it. I am so good at this.”

“It’s nothing, okay? It’ll disappear in a few weeks.”

“When you’ve already been liking him for months now?” Hakyeon baited Sanghyuk, carefully lowering his voice. “It’s obvious when you know what to look out for.”

“I have not-” Sanghyuk began hotly, but stopped when a door opened before them to reveal a blinking sleep-mussed Taekwoon who zeroed in on the coffee in Sanghyuk’s hands like a caffeine-deprived moth to a flame.

“Oh,” he said, and took the mug from Sanghyuk in one hand as he cupped Sanghyuk’s neck in thanks with the other before shuffling off.

Sanghyuk was left blinking too, the feel of Taekwoon’s cool fingers gently caressing him fondly leaving him stunned for a moment.

“That’s my coffee,” he managed to say belatedly, turning in the direction Taekwoon went only to see Hakyeon with both hands clapped to his mouth trying to hold in his squee at the brief but strangely intimate display of affection.

Sanghyuk frowned at Hakyeon for a second and then opened his mouth to yell. “Kongie hyung! Hakyeon hyung’s bullying me!”

“Hit him!” came the reply from inside the room Taekwoon’d just vacated. Hakyeon bustled off to murder Hongbin which was what Sanghyuk wanted, but Hakyeon was subsequently replaced by a more awake-looking Taekwoon (awake because of my coffee, Sanghyuk thought) and Sanghyuk wasn’t sure this was an improvement because Taekwoon was wearing one of his softest sleep shirts, the one that smelled so intensely of him – don’t ask how Sanghyuk knew that – and he was holding out a packet of bread, wordlessly nudging Sanghyuk with it.

“You should eat something, Hyuk-ah,” he said with his quiet voice and serious eyes, and when Sanghyuk took the bread Taekwoon reached over to steer him by the shoulders to the living room. “Sit down and eat,” he said, and disappeared back into the room where the others were still trying to wake Wonsik and where presumably Hakyeon was murdering Hongbin.

Sanghyuk sighed, and opened the packet.

*

“Five hundred thousand won, Hyuk-ah, think of all the snacks I could buy you with five hundred thousand won,” Jaehwan leaned back to whisper in Sanghyuk’s direction in the van and jerked backwards just in time before Sanghyuk aimed a snarling bite at his nose. Sanghyuk chomped his teeth at Jaehwan a few more times for good measure, Jaehwan looking disappointed as if Sanghyuk had just let down his entire family and all his ancestors. “That’s not a very can-do attitude, Han Sanghyuk.”

“He just needs the right motivation,” Hakyeon chimed in, twisting around, and he wasn’t even bothering to whisper causing Sanghyuk’s heart to jump into his throat as he darted a nervous look at the back of Taekwoon’s head in the seat in front where the hyung line always sat, Jaehwan and Hakyeon grinning sickly sweet at him over the back of the seat. “Aren’t I right, Hyukkie?”

“Stop it,” Wonsik laughingly told the two, seeing the panic on Sanghyuk’s face but assuming it was just from the general fear of Taekwoon finding out about the bet.

Taekwoon turned around to face them with a quietly inquisitive look on his face – after all this time they had learnt how to differentiate ‘quiet and curious’ from ‘quiet and bored’ and ‘quiet and angry’ and ‘quiet and shy’ and ‘quiet and amused’ – and Sanghyuk had to force himself to calm down. Oh my goddddd Taekwoon hyung looks so good today vied with that’s it I’m going to kill Hakyeon hyung and if Jaehwan hyung mentions his five hundred thousand won to me again I’m going to stuff him into a trash can and ended up blurting “I’m going to sleep now wake me up when we get there” too loudly before he threw himself backwards into his seat and shut his eyes tight. The other four collapsed in giggles till Taekwoon gave up on them and turned back around, closing his eyes for a nap as well.

Sanghyuk had peace for all of two minutes, his cheeks burning fiercely, until Hongbin took his arm and leaned close. “Do the right thing, Hyukkie. Take one for the team.”

Jaehwan hyung was going to have company in his trash can.

*

By unspoken agreement, Mission Get Sanghyuk to Seduce Taekwoon So That We Can Win Our Money (Five Hundred Thousand Won!! – Jaehwan) was launched with the utmost urgency. Sanghyuk wasn’t even sure what was a joke and what was reality anymore as his hyungs devoted themselves to insane measures that had him half weak with laughter and half just weak with embarrassment and apprehension because apparently nobody in Vixx knew the meaning of ‘absurd’:

Monday - Jaehwan wrestling Sanghyuk into the bedroom Taekwoon was reading in and fighting with him to Sanghyuk’s pants (“Just drop your pants in front of him! Now is not the time to play it coy!”) while Taekwoon watched them writhe on the floor impassively over his lowered book, Sanghyuk finally calling out in desperation for help when Jaehwan managed to undo the button on his jeans and was yanking them down over his hips despite Sanghyuk’s best defensive manouevres. Taekwoon got up and easily pulled Jaehwan off Sanghyuk, Jaehwan struggling for a moment, still intent on getting Sanghyuk’s pants off until he realized what was happening. He stilled for a moment, grinning at Taekwoon, and then ran out the door without a word leaving Sanghyuk on the floor panting with his jeans undone and open and his shirt pushed halfway up his stomach. Sanghyuk immediately got to his feet, blushing furiously, and pulled his jeans up properly before doing up the zip and button. Taekwoon gave him an odd look before briefly running his fingers through Sanghyuk’s hair, an affectionate ‘you’re welcome but now go be weird elsewhere’.

Wednesday – Sanghyuk opening his laptop to find his homepage changed to a youtube playlist of fancams of Taekwoon dancing to Light Up the Darkness and Eternity. Wonsik hyung. The majority of them focused on Taekwoon’s body waves in Eternity and the booty popping move in Light Up the Darkness Taekwoon had repeatedly died of embarrassment over when the choreographer had shown it to him; Sanghyuk ended up watching all of them, mouth going a little dry and pants going a little tight.

Thursday – Hakyeon had a new mantra; The Power of Suggestion.

“Hyukkie has such gorgeous legs, I wish I had thighs like that. Look at him filling out those jeans. Don’t you think?” Taekwoon blinked, obediently following Hakyeon’s gaze to where Sanghyuk was sitting in their music show waiting room obliviously playing a game on his phone.

“He has nice legs,” Taekwoon answered uncertainly.

“Thighs you can really grab on to, you know what I mean?”

Taekwoon nodded slowly, wondering what the hell Hakyeon was up to now.

-

Hakyeon made sure to sit on the other side of Sanghyuk on the sofa, sending urgent eye signals to Wonsik to get out of the way and let Taekwoon sit on Sanghyuk’s other side during their monthly Grand General Assembly (a monthly meeting Hakyeon insisted on with everyone in pajamas and unhealthy snacks at the ready). He casually slung an arm over Sanghyuk’s shoulders while he spoke, fingers gently caressing and massaging Sanghyuk’s neck. Eye contact with Taekwoon, check. Sanghyuk sitting directly in Taekwoon’s eyeline, check. Taekwoon having a thing for Sanghyuk’s neck that only Hakyeon and Hakyeon alone had noticed, check.

Hakyeon asked Taekwoon a question, running his fingers down Sanghyuk’s neck almost until they disappeared into the wide collar of the ratty hoodie he liked to wear to sleep. Taekwoon’s gaze flickered, following the path Hakyeon’s fingers took as he ran them up to Sanghyuk’s ear again, and as Hakyeon cheered internally he wondered if he could get away with tracing them over Sanghyuk’s adam’s apple. Sanghyuk was getting squirmy as it was, never one for sustained amounts of touching. Hakyeon experimentally moved his hand away, sliding it down Sanghyuk’s arm, and Taekwoon’s eyes followed that too before he remembered to answer Hakyeon’s question, eyes flicking back up. Quite Easily Done.

-

Friday – (And this one was the absolute worst.)

They were sitting in a circle on the floor of their dorm in the middle of the night playing a ridiculous game and Sanghyuk was quite happily drunk. ‘Just one bottle’ of soju had turned into two, then three and four, and then on into exponential numbers and Sanghyuk had never been very good at math. Sanghyuk didn’t know. Sanghyuk didn’t care. Sanghyuk was so happy and he loved his hyungs so much and he never ever wanted to be apart from them.

“The next person who loses has to kiss Sanghyuk,” Jaehwan grinned, and then instantly lost on purpose. Hongbin cursed him out, legitimately indignant at what he called Jaehwan’s ‘shameless plan to deflower our innocent child’, face red and planting himself in front of Sanghyuk to defend his honour from Jaehwan. The innocent child in question sat there beaming and overflowing with affection for the hyung that liked him so much he wanted to kiss him and the hyung that wanted to valiantly protect him from hyungs that liked him so much they wanted to kiss him.

Hakyeon started laughing at the sappy look on Sanghyuk’s face. “You’re really gone this time. I told you to eat more at dinner,” he told Sanghyuk, himself the only sober one.

“Not as gone as Wonsik hyung,” Sanghyuk protested. Wonsik was boneless, propped up on one side by an extremely red Taekwoon and the other by a large stuffed toy Hongbin had shoved at him to stop him from draping himself all over Hongbin. He would occasionally giggle at something someone had said.

“Is Taekwoon alive or has he died with his eyes open?” Hakyeon asked suddenly, and Sanghyuk should have known it was a set-up. But he was drunk. “He hasn’t said anything in fifteen minutes. Go nudge him now, right now.”

So Sanghyuk nudged him at the same time it just so happened it was his turn at the game and Taekwoon, often useless at games when sober and absolutely hopeless when intoxicated, blinked a few times caught in the terrible dilemma of remembering how to play the game and answering an insistent Sanghyuk. He turned to face Sanghyuk, and the living room erupted in cheers.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”

“What?” Taekwoon asked, still blinking.

“You missed your turn. You have to kiss Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon informed him helpfully, one hand on Sanghyuk’s arm in case he tried to run away. Sanghyuk had no such intentions; he was laughing uncontrollably at Jaehwan’s supremely indignant protests at ‘this blatant favouritism’ of everyone supporting Taekwoon kissing their youngest but acting as if Jaehwan was a leper to be kept far away from the precious high priestess Han Sanghyuk, and Taekwoon’s constant blinking and complete ‘bzuh?’ face was comedy dynamite as far as Sanghyuk was concerned. Oh, his hyungs. He loved his hyungs.

Sanghyuk got to his knees, hands out in a conciliatory gesture and beaming. “There’s enough of me to go around,” he said magnanimously, and leaned over to Jaehwan first, kissing him full on the mouth to a scandalized gasp from Hongbin. Hongbin covered Wonsik’s eyes.

Sanghyuk then leaned over to Taekwoon and kissed him sweetly, Taekwoon’s wide-open eyes getting bigger the closer Sanghyuk got making him erupt in a giggle fit at the last minute so that he had to support himself by holding on to Taekwoon’s broad shoulders. He was vaguely aware of Taekwoon’s long fingers circling both his wrists as the kiss ended, Hakyeon coming to pull him away with loud declarations of Sanghyuk clearly needing to go to bed. Taekwoon was still blinking, which was just the most hilarious thing in existence.

Sanghyuk remembered Hakyeon forcing him to drink a full glass of water and then tucking him into bed. And then nothing.

*

“Well, well, well.” Hakyeon’s voice was the first thing Sanghyuk heard the next morning as he stirred awake. He opened his eyes to see Hakyeon lounging next to him in bed and smugly holding out a glass of water which he grabbed, thirsty as all hell.

“Where’s Wonsik hyung?” he rasped, eyeing the empty bed next to his. There’s no way Wonsik would be up before him.

“Where do you think?” Hakyeon replied, gesturing with his head to the room next door where the other four of them slept. “I slept in here. He wouldn’t leave Hongbin, and I wasn’t going to spend the night in a room with those two. I wonder how Jaehwan and Taekwoon survived,” he continued, watching Sanghyuk closely.

Jaehwan and Taekwoon.

Sanghyuk stilled, eyes flicking to Hakyeon’s, and Hakyeon began to grin.

“Did I really kiss Jaehwan hyung?” Sanghyuk asked slowly, giving the glass back to Hakyeon as memories started to roll back.

“Oh, yes,” Hakyeon replied, having too much fun.

“Did I really kiss Taekwoon hyung?” Sanghyuk’s voice was smaller this time, and at Hakyeon’s gleeful nod he buried his face in his hands. “Oh, my god.”

“You’re something else when you’re really drunk. Completely sober in all other respects but suddenly you’re doling out kisses – kisses on the mouth, full kisses, mind you, and you’re lucky to have pulled away when you did before Jaehwan slipped you tongue – and talking about how much you love everyone and how everyone’s so gorgeous and wonderful and talented and Taekwoon is the most amazing person you’ve ever met in your life-”

“I said that?” Sanghyuk demanded urgently, gripping Hakyeon’s arm. “Hyung!”

“If it helps he blushed very prettily and said thank you. Such a polite boy, Jung Taekwoon.”

“Hyung,” Sanghyuk wailed, falling back onto his pillow. He’d actually kissed Taekwoon, and Taekwoon had sat there and let Sanghyuk kiss him. “How am I supposed to go out and face him now?”

“At least you didn’t confess your undying love for him, that’s a plus,” Hakyeon got up out of Sanghyuk’s bed and ignored the face Sanghyuk made at him. “Get dressed and have breakfast. You’re going to need your strength to fend Jaehwan off now after what you did last night. Unless… wait-”

Hakyeon trailed off as if a brilliant idea had just hit him, and Sanghyuk surged out of bed in a panic to halt whatever devious plan was taking place in his mind.

“No, no, no,” Sanghyuk babbled desperately, batting at Hakyeon’s chest to get his attention. “I’m in this mess because of all of you trying to throw me and Taekwoon hyung together. Hyung, please, stop it before I completely humiliate myself.”

“But Hyuk, you have to listen, it’s so good-”

“Hyung,” Sanghyuk pleaded. “What is this even about anymore? The bet? Or just because it’s funny to you?”

Hakyeon’s face softened as he looked at Sanghyuk, and he sat down on the bed next to him once more, pulling him into a gentle hug that Sanghyuk felt was properly apologetic.

“Your future happiness, Sanghyuk, and my four hundred thousand won,” Hakyeon whispered tenderly into his hair, and Sanghyuk kicked Hakyeon off the bed.

*

Sanghyuk found out what Hakyeon’s latest diabolical operation was – to actually win the bet? Give Sanghyuk a heart attack? Cause general mayhem to amuse himself? Who the knew anymore? – two days later, when Jaehwan sidled up to him during lunch and started fondling his bare thigh, the shorts Sanghyuk was wearing riding up as Jaehwan slid his hand up the soft inside.

Sanghyuk leveled a stare at him, unimpressed, but Jaehwan continued eating as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The hand on his thigh was almost possessive, proprietary; for all Jaehwan’s acting like he sincerely wanted to get into Sanghyuk’s pants they both knew it was just fooling around, but this – this was new.

“Hyung?” Sanghyuk asked, a raised eyebrow in his voice.

“Shut up, Hyukkie. Taekwoon hyung’s watching.”

Taekwoon hyung – Sanghyuk forced himself not to turn around straight away, but when he casually-on-purpose looked up at Taekwoon he wasn’t paying them any attention at all, wolfing down his lunch instead.

“No, he isn’t,” Sanghyuk argued, wondering if the weird feeling in his stomach was relief or disappointment.

“He was,” Jaehwan replied, and the conviction in his voice made Sanghyuk go quiet, the weird stomach feeling intensifying.

So Jaehwan followed Sanghyuk around more now than he usually did, draping an arm over his shoulders, playing with his hair, fixing his makeup, inching fingertips under the hem of Sanghyuk’s shirt and into his collar, sitting too-close next to him everywhere they went. Sanghyuk was this close to throwing Jaehwan out of the window of their dorm. It wasn’t hard to understand the theory behind Hakyeon’s plan – it was no secret that Taekwoon was insanely competitive, and he wouldn’t back down without a fight when there was the possibility of him losing. Sanghyuk wondered if it ever even occurred to his hyungs that first Taekwoon had to want to win in this particular situation, Sanghyuk being the questionable prize. This entire situation was completely beyond comprehension by this point – would Taekwoon hyung even get it? Sanghyuk wasn’t sure he himself got it.

Hongbin had taken to rolling his eyes whenever Jaehwan was acting the part of a human barnacle these days, but Wonsik was the only one who looked worried about Sanghyuk’s obvious growing irritation. He was under strict orders from Hakyeon not to interfere, though, so he bought Sanghyuk more snacks and let him use his expensive headphones and escape into his studio whenever it was all getting a bit much. Sanghyuk felt like he’d woken up one day suddenly with an overly-attached clingy boyfriend without any of the benefits and all of the disadvantages – he liked Jaehwan very much, but really, really, not like that – but Jaehwan’s five hundred thousand won fixation and utmost dedication to practical jokes wasn’t going to give him a break anytime soon.

“Hyung,” Sanghyuk protested under his breath, squirming to make Jaehwan let go of him, the arm that had s around his waist once the choreographer had announced a break clinging on like an octopus. “Hyung, I told you to stop it-”

“Hyuk-ah,” Taekwoon called from the other side of the room where he was squatting by an electrical socket in the wall charging his phone, soft voice distinctive amidst the chatter of the other members and the backup dancers. “Come here for a while.”

Sanghyuk gratefully detached himself from Jaehwan who’d immediately perked up and almost ran over to Taekwoon, feeling at the back of his mind rather like he was proverbially stepping out of the frying pan into the fire. Jaehwan hyung was suffocating him, and he felt like a huge idiot, and Taekwoon hyung didn’t seem to notice even though everyone kept telling him he did. Did he even want Taekwoon to notice this way? Did he want to help his idiot hyungs win this stupid game when they were playing him like a chess piece? The back of his neck was still prickling when he reached Taekwoon, but for a completely different reason now.

“Yes, hyung?” Sanghyuk asked, and Taekwoon disconnected his phone from the charger.

“Want to go outside? It’s hot,” he answered simply, and Sanghyuk really didn’t know what to say.

They climbed the stairs out of the dance studio to emerge in the dark after Taekwoon grabbed his wallet, the cool night air washing over them instantly and making Sanghyuk shiver a little in the thin shirt he was wearing, welcoming the change. It was easy being with Taekwoon sometimes when you wanted to be quiet and still, because he understood quiet and still so well.

“Should I offer you and Jaehwan congratulations?” Taekwoon asked once they decided on walking to the convenience store, his meaning blatantly obvious, and Sanghyuk wanted to hide in the smallest hole he could find.

“We’re not together, hyung. Jaehwan hyung’s just – he’s just being an idiot,” he answered lamely, muttering the words and not knowing what else to say. How could he possibly explain Jaehwan’s behavior?

Taekwoon raised his eyebrows at Sanghyuk but continued walking in silence.

“Hyuk-ah,” he began, and fiddled with his phone for a second. Taekwoon wasn’t the most confident or smoothest of people, Sanghyuk knew, and right then the apprehension was washing off him in waves. It made Sanghyuk want to tie himself up in knots.

“Are you trying to make me – are you-” Taekwoon stopped, and at the back of his mind Sanghyuk registered that they’d reached the convenience store, but his heart was pounding too fast to care.

“Nevermind. What do you want to eat?”

Sanghyuk followed Taekwoon dumbly into the store, almost sure that Taekwoon was going to ask if Sanghyuk was trying to make him jealous and he was deathly afraid of what that meant. Of course Taekwoon would figure it out – the hyungs might as well have written it in stark red paint all over their dorm what they were trying to do. Nobody was that stupid.

Sanghyuk chose things from the shelves at random and gave them to Taekwoon to pay, his mood dropping alarmingly. He didn’t want to talk or see anyone – it looked like a childish sulk but it was really utter humiliation, just as he knew it would be. He took the bag from Taekwoon to carry as they exited the store, seeing Taekwoon steal looks at him out of the corner of his eye as they began the walk back but the lead in his stomach wasn’t allowing him to pretend he was alright.

They walked back in silence. It was probably around one o’ clock in the morning – more likely later, Sanghyuk thought, and he was glad it wasn’t the middle of the bright afternoon. They finally reached their street and he turned into the short alley that held the door to their dance studio; Taekwoon reached out for him then, a little tentative tug on his sleeve that brought Sanghyuk up short.

“I don’t play games, Hyuk-ah,” Taekwoon said, and it would have been impressive and cool if not for the way Taekwoon stuttered it, and how much effort it was clearly taking him to say it. “Do you need me to tell Jaehwan to stop?”

“Y-Yes,” Sanghyuk answered, taken by surprise. “Please.”

“Okay.”

His tiny speech over, Taekwoon ducked into the studio, leaving Sanghyuk out in the street to do an impassioned ‘I am an idiot and this whole situation is crazy and I don’t know what just happened’ dance of frustration.

*

The day after Taekwoon had taken Jaehwan aside very briefly to tell him he was going too far with his fooling around and Sanghyuk was becoming uncomfortable, very kindly and hyung-like, the others waited with bated breath for the next development. Sanghyuk wasn’t sure what the hell that was meant to be, but judging from what the others were saying it was as if Taekwoon was going to propose marriage any minute because obviously they thought their plan had worked. Sanghyuk took a deep breath every time the subject came up and avoided it like the plague. He was getting really good at non sequiturs.

‘I don’t play games’ – what was that supposed to mean? If Sanghyuk was right and Taekwoon had been about to ask him if Jaehwan was trying to make him jealous to magically realise his till-then-unrealised passion for Sanghyuk then it would mean Taekwoon wasn’t interested in playing that game – because he wasn’t interested in Sanghyuk or because he didn’t like bull? Both were equally likely. Was he trying to tell Sanghyuk nicely to give up, which is why he told Jaehwan to back off because there was no point in making him jealous? Or did he mean he was interested in Sanghyuk and didn’t need to play silly games and so was warning Jaehwan off as a way to stake his claim? God! Sanghyuk drove himself crazy every day trying to puzzle it out. At the very least the others had taken the hint and had stopped all their nonsense scheming, and nobody had mentioned the bet in a week, something which Sanghyuk was very thankful for. Maybe life could go back to normal now. Sanghyuk would stop trying to figure Taekwoon out, and the others would leave him alone, and they could all go back to their regular scheduled being-an-idol madness. He would continue to secretly (and safely) crush on Taekwoon, who would continue to treat him like any of his other dongsaengs, and rooming together on overseas trips and seeing him every day and being sat next to each other for fansigns and whatnot wouldn’t be an issue.

Only life didn’t go back to normal. Hongbin was on one of his Park Hyoshin benders which made Wonsik sulky though he maddeningly refused to admit it and they were sniping at each other nonstop; Jaehwan had received an invitation to feature on Immortal Song and so was gone most of the time either practicing or rehearsing, the lack of his antics to brighten up tired days the energy out of the remaining members. And Taekwoon was avoiding Sanghyuk.

“This is all your fault, you know,” Sanghyuk told Hakyeon a week later, curiously feeling rather calm inside about it all. This was, after all, a not-unforeseen result. His worst fears had been realized – Taekwoon had caught on that somehow the others were trying to make him feel something for Sanghyuk and he very clearly felt nothing, which led to him panicking about what to do because Taekwoon was a sincerely awkward turtle.

Hakyeon at least had the grace to look very ashamed. “I didn’t think he’d react like this.”

“Well.”

The door to the bedroom opened and Taekwoon was outlined in the doorway for a moment before he flushed, seeing the two of them, and mumbled an incoherent excuse before retreating and closing it again.

Sanghyuk sighed heavily. “Vixx is going to break up because of this.”

Hakyeon buried his face in Sanghyuk’s stomach in abject apology.

*

Wonsik and Hongbin had gotten over their little spat, and as usually followed one of their fights they were being discovered making out all over the place to the members’ blasé annoyance. Nobody had the real energy to muster up any kind of real protest, this being too common a sight for them to be actually surprised anymore. Nobody, that is, except Taekwoon.

He sat down at the dining table, cheeks flaming and refusing to meet Sanghyuk’s eyes. Sanghyuk sadly ate his ramen, missing his hyung more than he thought he would; it had been nearly two weeks since ‘I don’t play games’ and Sanghyuk was pining, but as it appeared, he didn’t have much longer to wait. Taekwoon messed around with his socks for a few moments, then cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Those two are getting a bit too much,” Taekwoon muttered, and Sanghyuk looked up, startled, checking around to see if Taekwoon was actually talking to him. Hakyeon was vacuuming the bedrooms, Hongbin and Wonsik were presumably face someplace, and Jaehwan was out, so lo and behold!

Nothing else was forthcoming, but Taekwoon had definitely spoken to him. Sanghyuk swallowed and smiled, a big genuine smile that bubbled up out of him helplessly. Maybe this meant Taekwoon was over the whole thing and he was ready to be friends again, able to ignore what Sanghyuk felt for him. It was such a relief.

“It should blow over soon,” Sanghyuk laughed softly, and Taekwoon grunted skeptically, eyes flicking up furtively to Sanghyuk’s face. It was futile to pretend like they hadn’t been tiptoeing around each other, Taekwoon sometimes doing a total about-turn when it seemed like he was going to end up alone with Sanghyuk somewhere, but this was good. This was a start.

“That’s all you’re eating?” Taekwoon asked, nodding at Sanghyuk’s bowl.

“It’s okay. There’s nothing else in the fridge anyway,” Sanghyuk answered chirpily, overwhelmingly pleased to finally have his hyung’s attention again. He’d missed Taekwoon’s voice, his eyes on him, his presence.

Taekwoon smiled, and then as if he realized that he was smiling at Sanghyuk smiling at him he quickly stood up. “I’ll make you something. And we have a lot of food in the fridge, you’re just lazy.” He reached over to knock Sanghyuk’s head out of habit, and Sanghyuk didn’t know if he changed his mind at the last minute but instead of a knock Taekwoon ended up trailing his fingers through Sanghyuk’s hair, tousling it and dragging it into his eyes. Sanghyuk made an exaggeratedly annoyed face at him, relishing the tiny smile he got in return.

A crash from one of the bedrooms and Hakyeon’s voice yelling in a nonstop tirade about decency and morals and the virtues of chastity and ual innocence made them both jump then, Hongbin and Wonsik being forcibly ejected and looking decidedly rumpled coming soon after. Hakyeon followed with the vacuum still scolding, looking like an avenging angel of home cleaning appliances. Taekwoon was blushing again because Wonsik had his shirt on back-to-front and Hongbin was trying to comb down his messy hair, obvious to even the densest person what they’d been doing - who knew what Taekwoon had seen earlier before Hakyeon caught them. Hongbin winked at Sanghyuk who merely rolled his eyes in response and got up to wash his bowl and chopsticks in their small kitchen; Taekwoon came with him to escape the scene in the living room.

“You’re so cute, hyung,” Sanghyuk said, deciding to risk it and act as normal as he dared. “Blushing because of them.”

Taekwoon said nothing but blushed again, darting looks at Sanghyuk as he scrubbed.

“It’s – it’s nice that they have each other,” he finally said.

“Well as far as I’m concerned they can go have each other someplace else,” Sanghyuk retorted, knowing it would make Taekwoon smile.

Taekwoon laughed and blushed again, making Sanghyuk look up at him bemusedly. He put away his bowl and chopsticks and once he was done Taekwoon squeezed the back of his neck gently before shuffling off to his room, clearly forgetting his offer to cook for Sanghyuk. Sanghyuk stood still, watching him go. Long cool fingers against his skin, touching softly – most of all, he’d missed this.

*