aj.

He was sprawled all over the couch, watching some TV junk food in a plain white oversized tee and pajama pants. He looked very cozy and relaxed. Yet, in the moment you started walking towards him, looking like a kicked puppy, all his muscles tensed, then he immediately fixed his posture, opened his arms, and pulled you into his lap.

“What happened?” he said with a gentle voice, tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, “Mm?”

“I had a terrible day”, you hid your face in the junction of his neck and shoulder, melting into him.

“Did you?”

You nodded.

“I woke up late, with a terrible tummy ache and cramps”, you began telling him your tale of woe, “my breakfast was tasteless, my coffee went all cold and disgusting because it took me a while to finish my boring breakfast, and you know how I hate cold coffee,” you pouted.

“Yeah, baby, I know.” his hand found its way beneath your skirt, tenderly caressing the side of your bare thigh under the thin fabric.

“Then there was so much traffic, it was unbearable. The weather is so hot and I felt like melting throughout the day. My lunch was also bad and I missed you the whole day…” you whined again, hugging him tightly.

Choi Seungcheol is a very observant man. He knew a scenario like this would happen soon, since last week you were all over him, touching here and there, always looking for an excuse to be close, and actively seeking intimacy with him.

At first, he thought it was your ovulation making you need him so bad, but then, in the middle of a messy and handsy make-out session, he noticed your breasts felt slightly heavier. They were more tender and sensitive than usual. He did a quick calculation and realized that your period was just around the corner.

He didn’t complain about the proximity whatsoever. He enjoyed intimacy with you just as much as you, but he knew he had to be prepared for anything you needed; he bought painkillers, refilled your pads drawer with large and overnight-sized pads. He bought some chocolate and your favorite red fruit tea. He even bought you two new sets of cotton panties just to make sure you had something comfortable to wear.

You’ve told him multiple times that he doesn’t have to do all that, that you can buy your period supplies by yourself, but he just won’t listen.

It's not like you don’t appreciate it. You do. And you always keep in mind how attentive he is. You simply don’t want to feel like a bother.

The first time you voiced the fear of annoying him with your menstrual stuff one random night in bed, he almost gasped. The expression on his face was nearly offended.

“Babe… What?” he blinked twice, before practically smothering you in bed, “don’t you ever think such a thing again. Nothing about you could ever bother me.”

“You’re being a little dramatic.”

“I can’t let you think you could ever annoy me with something like that. Maybe with refilling the water pitcher, but not this."

“Ugh, back off, you're so annoying” you pushed his shoulders, trying to get him off of you, but it was useless; he’s just too big and strong.

“Mm, no,” he teased, and peppered your face with small kisses between whispers of sweet nothings.

You’re truly grateful he’s stubborn because, if he weren’t, he wouldn’t be cuddling you on the couch. His hand deep under your dress, stroking the small of your back, where he knows it always aches the most when you have cramps.

He’s carefully listening to you, kissing your forehead every once in a while, and holding you so steadily, he grounds you with his soothing caresses.

“Tomorrow will be a brighter day, princess. And if it’s not, I’ll be here just to hold you and love you. As always.”

He knew you weren’t going to say anything, and Soonyoung, immersed in his ideas, wouldn’t spot your shoulders uncomfortably shifting more often than usual. You were too stubborn to admit that he was right when he told you, “The weather’s been acting up lately, y’know? Especially at night. I don’t think it is a good idea to go out on that top, you’ll freeze”, when he picked you up.

“Don’t worry, Nonnie, I’ll be fine”, you answered simply, fixing your top.

You saw through the mirror his raised eyebrows, the question “are you sure?” in his expression.

“I’ll be ok, really!” you reassured him once again, “besides, I was looking forward to using this top since I bought it. It looks good on me, right? This color suits me well, don’t you think?”

He nodded and blinked just once, thinning his lips. That was enough confirmation for you, and you left together to meet the rest of your friend group.

Vernon, silent with his affections as always, took off his jacket and placed it over your shoulders without exchanging a single word, just a knowing look in his eyes that hung an implicit “told you”, then looked away, hands in his pockets. You smiled widely, nervously, like caught red-handed, but still thanked him under your breath. And he just nodded.

He did that very often, nodding and looking away.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to look at you; in fact, he was constantly watching you. That’s how he noticed things, and if it was up to him, he would never tear his eyes off of you. But Vernon couldn’t afford to let you know how much attention he paid to you. Primarily because that attention usually came with a million fake scenarios that he would reproduce over and over again at 2:00 a.m, when he couldn’t sleep, or throughout the day when he tried to concentrate on his job.

Sometimes he gets so shy about his delusions that he thinks about the massive amount of shame he’d feel if you could read his mind. Because, what would you think if you ever knew the way his chest filled with hope when he thought about the faint scent of your perfume sticking in his jacket? He was practically manifesting it.

His rib cage felt tight when he saw you snuggling in it. “Cute… In my clothes…” he thought, and just for a fleeting moment, he let himself imagine that his jacket warming up your body on a windy night was a claim. That it was him telling everyone that you were his.

He would also let out an insanely bright smile when looking at you doing something silly every so often, but it was not very common. Now, he was on the very edge of allowing one of those smiles to show. Yet, it did not matter how hard he tried to hold it back; before he noticed it, he already had that foolish smile on his face.

He shook his head as his smile grew wider after Seungkwan nudged his right arm with a knowing look in his eyes. Seokmin appeared from his left side, patting his left shoulder and looking at him just like Seungkwan.

Was he so evident? Damn, he was so screwed