#ler know

Seungmin only beamed wider, golden-retriever energy dialed up to eleven. He leaned over the seat, poking Chan in the shoulder. "Aren't I the best rapper in the group, hyung? Watch out, Changbin hyung. I'm coming for your job."

Changbin rubbed his temple, already exhausted. “Seungmin-ah…”

By the time they reached the dorm, the others had exchanged enough pointed glances to form a plan. Seungmin was still floating on his sugar-rush cloud, kicking off his shoes with a flourish and announcing, “I’m gonna go take a victory shower. Try not to miss me too much, losers~”

He barely made it two steps down the hallway before strong hands grabbed him from behind.

“Wha—hey!”

Chan’s voice was calm but firm, the leader tone activated. “Nope. Not tonight, puppy.”

Seungmin yelped as he was lifted clean off his feet—Changbin and Hyunjin doing the heavy lifting while Minho and Felix herded him toward the living room like a misbehaving puppy being dragged to timeout. He squirmed, whining breathlessly, still riding the high. “Yah! Put me down! This is kidnapping! I’ll sue you for endangerment!!”

"No can do, Seungmo," Felix chuckles. "Brat tax is due."

They dumped him onto the wide sectional couch in a tangle of limbs. Before he could scramble up, the others piled on. Chan pinned his shoulders.

Changbin locked down his waist and one leg. Hyunjin caught his other leg and an arm. Felix and Jeongin each took a wrist, spreading his arms wide above his head. Minho straddled his thighs with that dangerous cat-like smirk, knees pressing just enough to keep him immobile.

Seungmin’s eyes went wide, the laughter dying in his throat as he realized just how thoroughly trapped he was. The couch creaked under their combined weight. He tugged experimentally—nothing. Not even an inch. His heart started hammering for an entirely different reason now.

Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgod.

Seungmin tried his hardest not to blush. It's been a quick second since he was wrecked thoroughly, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss it.

Fingers hovered. Ten. Twenty. More. Wiggling menacingly just above his tummy, his ribs, his sides, his hips. The air itself seemed to vibrate with impending doom. God, he was so fucking screwed. There was no way he'd make it out of this alive.

Seungmin’s golden retriever confidence evaporated in a single heartbeat. His body tensed like a live wire, already twitching in anticipation before anything even touched him. He whined, breathless, trying to squeeze his eyes shut but somehow still stare through a slit in his eyelids.

Minho’s voice was low, dangerous, and way too amused. “You’ve been a brat all night, puppy. Time for some humbling.”

And then they struck.

Fingers dug in everywhere at once.

Seungmin’s reaction was instantaneous and nuclear.

“GUYS!!” He squealed, the word ripping out of him in a high-pitched wail as seven sets of fingers scribbled and poked and spidered across his stomach. “GUHUHUHUHUHUYS!!”

His body jackknifed violently under the weight pinning him, but he couldn’t move an inch. Jeongin, the maknae who had clearly been taking notes from his hyungs, zeroed in on the belly button itself.

One finger dipped in, swirling slow and deep, while the other three danced around the rim in feather-light scratches that made Seungmin’s entire torso jolt like he’d been shocked.

The fact that they'd gone for a death spot right at the beginning sent all the thoughts of freedom scattering from Seungmin's mind in an instant.

"Plehehehehease!! FUCK IHIHIM SOHOHOHORRYYYYY!!"

"Are you realllyyy sorry?"

"YEHEHEHES!! IHILL STAY QUIHIET!! Fohohor a WEHEHEHEHEEK! A MONTH!! FOREHEHEVER!!"

Hyunjin laughed brightly, squeezing his thighs just above the knees for good measure. “Forever? We both know that’s a lie, Minnie-yah. You can’t stay quiet for five minutes.”

The thigh squeezes added a whole new layer of chaos—Seungmin’s legs jerked violently, but he couldn’t dislodge the two who had him trapped.

"Gosh, you're so dramatic, Minnie~" Minho teased, watching the poor boy flop around helplessly beneath him. He hummed as he slid his hands over to the sides, happily clawing over them with no remorse, then scratching as if he wasn't clinically taking Seungmin apart bit by bit. "Ohhhhh, someone's got ticklish sides~"

"STOHOHOHOP TEHEHEHEASING YOU BAHAHASTARD!!" Seungmin howled. He was flushed down to his neck at the stupid teases. He hated how much they got to him.

Minho laughs. "Don't lie, puppy, you love my teases~"

The others were cooing. God, how embarrassing. Seungmin knew his face was practically merlot at this point. His stomach was doing flip-flops, and he was trying so hard not to melt into the floor.

Seungmin's laughter had calmed down up until Jisung decided to go for the kill while seated on his thighs. "Oooooh, how about here?" He brings both thumbs up to the hips and digs in with no preamble.

Seungmin shrieked. "NOHOHOHOH NOT THEHEHEHEHERE!!"

"Oh, someone didn't like that one, did you Minnie?" Jisung laughed, pressing deeper, coaxing more and more frantic giggles from the poor boy.

Then they all switched tactics simulataneously.

Seungmin was completely losing his mind.

His body flopped and twisted violently on the wide green room couch like a fish yanked out of water, hips bucking, back arching, legs kicking in futile little spasms under the crushing weight of Hyunjin and Felix pinning his thighs down.

Every inch of his torso was under siege by what felt like seventy merciless nails, ten pairs of wicked, wiggling fingers that refused to give him even a single second of mercy.

Minho’s sharp nails dragged slowly, deliberately up and down the center of his tummy in long, torturous stripes, occasionally dipping into his belly button with a quick swirl that made Seungmin’s soul leave his body. Felix’s fingers spidered chaotically across the upper belly and lower ribs, light and fast and impossible to predict.

"Tummy rubs!!" Jeongin announced, like Seungmin was actually his dog, scribbling haphazardously over the older's exposed tummy.

"JEONGIN IHI'LL KIHIHILL YOUHUHUHHU!!" Seungmin squealed.

Hyunjin retorted to that. "Hey! No threatening the maknae!!" And digs his thumbs into the puppy's ribs in retaliation.

"It'll all stop once you apologize for being such a cocky bitch." Minho snarked at him.

"OKHAHAHAY!! OKAY!! IHIHIM SOHOHOHOHOHOHORRYY!! IHIHIM SOHOHORRY PLEHEHEHEASE!! LEEHEHEHET UHUHUHP!!" Poor Seung begged.

They finally started slowing down after what felt like an eternity to Seungmin—fingers easing into soft, lingering traces that still drew out bubbly, exhausted giggles.

Chan ruffled his damp hair gently. “Learned your lesson, golden boy?”

"Yehes...yes...noho mohohore bratting ohohoff..." Seungmin panted into his bicep.

"That'll teach you to be more humble." And the whole dorm was laughing again.

dw guys ill update this fic tomorrow BAHAHAHA

The world almost stopped, time seemed to move a lot slower when the news left their lips. His fingers twitched, his entire body felt stiff, feeling like he was paralysed in place as the words sunk in. It couldn’t be, he had worked so hard to keep the group all together, and yet he had failed to keep them united as one. On instinct, his eyes began to widen, the group’s reaction one in the same. Everyone except Minho.

“Lee Minho is eliminated.”

Although he tried to keep his feelings concealed under the guise of pursed lips and narrowed eyes being the strong leader he was, he could feel his heart shattering into a million pieces at the news. He, who had failed to protect Minho, he who wasn’t able to keep his group as one, he who was an absolute failure of a leader. He could see it on Minho’s face too, the shock, the sorrow that began to slowly seep into his expression, the way his posture deflated ever so slightly when it all sank deep into his bones, clawing at him like a darkness from within.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” Chan whispered, repeating it like a mantra in the back of his mind. The feeling of knowing he wasn’t able to save one of his members from elimination nagged at him, a sucker punch to his gut entirely if he could put it in his own words. His arms shook silently while they wrapped around the younger’s body, and tugging him closer to feel his warmth for one last time. No matter how he tried to hide it, tears began to run down Minho’s cheeks, staring off into the background as they both squeezed each other close, as if when they let go they’d disappear from their grasp.

Sobs rang throughout the practice room, once so full of warmth now feeling so empty, as if everyone’s soul had been sucked from those four walls right in that moment. The door closed behind them, allowing them some alone time to fully understand what they had just lost. It hurts, it hurts, was all Chan could think, the words burning into his mind as he pulled Lee Know closer to him, if that was even possible at this point. So vulnerable, so open was what they were, everything else a blur besides each other’s embrace, the little safety they had from the cruel world around them.

And that was the last time Minho ever let someone named Christopher Bahng Chan hug him.

“Lino~ Just one hug, please?” The leader pleaded from across the hallway, pawing at the fabric of the dancer’s sweater in a needy manner, complaining that he was incredibly cold with the winter season coming up in Korea. With the same, usual nonchalant expression, he pinched the elder’s nose with a soft coo, his warm smile a contrast to the stern shaking of his head that told Chan a direct no.

“I’ll do anything for a hug!” Anything? Now that was a game that sounded much better than giving into whatever he was planning for during the hug. He gave a thoughtful glance into the Aussie’s direction, chuckling at the way his face lit up with joy, as if he thought his method of persuasion would actually work; it was honestly endearing.

“Anything you say? Then hold still.” Chan didn’t have time to even question what Minho meant by that, before nails gently scraped over his stomach, poking at his abs tenderly while another pinched around his navel tauntingly, a knowing smirk on his face; it wouldn’t be any fun if the leader actually managed to hold still, would it?

“Ehehe! N-Noho! Don’t tickle mehehe!” The poor leader whined, struggling to stay even the tiniest bit still, it was a given with his nature. His hands pushed at the ones going rounds in his stomach, but it was ultimately futile, doing absolutely nothing. If anything, Minho would rather say it felt like kitten paws against his hands, so cute!

“Don’t? But you said anything, don’t go back on your word now~” He cooed, a breath ghosting the Aussie’s ears, snickering when they turned a bright red from the obvious tease. Chan could’ve sworn his soul just left his body.

“I cahahan’t tahahake it! Plehehease!” He pleaded, eventually falling to the ground like a puppy, Minho leaning over him before scribbling both his hands onto the vulnerable stomach right in front of him, a deadpan expression while he watched Chan shriek in surprise, before curling in onto himself; just. Like. A. Puppy.

“That’s too bad, you asked for this.” He tutted in faux disapproval, secretly concealing the wide smile he was holding back, it was going to make his cheeks hurt if he continued like this. But how could he not? Chan was the epitome of cute, his two dimples on display as his cheeks were a crimson red, his eyes crinkled into crescents with his hair messily sprawled over his face, what wasn’t to like?

“I’m sohohohorry! Noho!” The poor puppy- leader, whined, still kicking his feet like a little child would whenever they’re helpless, before deflating like a balloon when the younger finally let up on his stomach, unable to do anything but catch his breath. Without another word, Minho pulled Chan into a hug, one full of warmth, his fingers finding his waist and tenderly wrapping themselves around him.

The room had gone quiet yet again, but it wasn’t of the tension this time, now full of love that could be felt within the four walls of the practice room. Without knowing, tears unconsciously welled up in Minho’s eyes all over again, despite whatever tough personality he tried to put on, he could never keep it up whenever he was with his only Hyung. Sensing his emotional vulnerability, the elder tugged him closer, rubbing soothing circles on his lower back as his chin rested atop Lee Know’s shoulder, embracing who they truly were behind closed doors.

The shouts and screams of fans drowned out anything that Seungmin could've possibly thought about, drumming his leg against the wooden floors in a steady rhythm to keep himself within the time loop. His eyes were fixated on the huge crowd in front of him, something in him flickering at the realisation he had made it this far into his career, to be surrounded by an endless cheer was something not everyone could achieve. His train of thoughts were crashed when someone's hand tapped his back, only to be faced with the whispering distance that left him wondering what had touched him.

Taking a few steps off his chair that felt like it was stuck to his behind, he was immediately splashed by a bottle of water, glaring daggers at a certain quokka who was already taking flight all the way to the other side of the stage. Gripping a bottle of his own, he took off after Jisung, hot on his heels behind the booming vocals that echoed on the stage, flashing lights that failed to deter him from his pursuit on the elder for committing such a crime.

Seeing that Han had graciously decided to hide behind Minho, who himself was already soaked in a good amount of water, perfectly styled hair down poured into a sticky mess to his neck, seemingly managing to smoothly ignore it with a mic up to his lips. Turning a side glance to the sudden addition of a human to his back, he smirked mischievously when his eyes caught the puppy, lightning bolts flashing between them both as they took wary steps closer and closer to each other. While Lee Know's face had a relaxed, a charismatic smirk on his face that tipped upwards, Seungmin's lips were pursed into a thin line, eyes narrowed as if trying to find a hidden weakness.

"I'm going to kill you- hehehey!" Seungmin lowly growls, almost before he feels fingers skittering up his side, immediately clamping his arm down to his side, nearly spilling his bottle of water all over himself. He glares at the cat in front of him, who nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders as if he had nothing to do with what just occurred.

"What? It must've been the wind; you may be hallucinating…" Minho mocks, waving his hands in the air to imitate a ghost. Of course, the puppy could never find something as sarcastic as that funny, retaliating with a playful scribble to the elder's tummy, who stumbled back with a soft squeal of his own.

"Yea, you see that? Must've been the wind too, right?" Seungmin sneers, a testing grin on his face, the thought of splashing each other long forgotten, bottles capped and tossed to the side for a potential chick to use them as more weapon fuel. Sensing the shift in mood, Minho gave a quiet chuckle, wiggling his fingers in the puppy's direction before capturing him in a head lock, his free hand squeezing up and down the smooth skin of the younger's side.

"How about this for feeling the breeze, huh?" Lee Know questions, tone dripping with a mischievous glint in it, the vocalist struggling to get out of his iron grip.

"Ahaha! Yohohou suck!" Seungmin whined, giggling breathlessly while his arms pushed and pulled at the one wrapped around his chest, tugging him closer each time he even moved a millimeter away. The 'wind' continued to trace along the younger's sides, nails scraping along his stomach that made him squeak and gasp, knees threatening to buckle at any given moment. What was worse? They were on stage, the prospect of millions of fans watching their banter, possibly recording, sent a wave of heat to his cheeks.

"Kim Seungmin blushing at the wind? Are you really that much of a hopeless romantic?" Minho pretends to act shocked, resisting the urge to burst out in happy laughter when he saw how red Seungmin's cheeks, continuing to pester him with a gummy smile on his face. After many pushes and giggles being thrown around, Lee Know let the vocalist rest, only because his lines were coming up; he'd do anything not to let Chan get ahold of him knowing what he was doing in the background.

Unfortunately for him, the puppy almost regained his energy after the previous attack, plotting his own revenge; in which turn almost made him forget to sing his own part of the song. Mere moments later, or with a ton of snooping around the stage, the puppy had found the dancer chasing poor Hyunjin around with a big bottle of water, menacingly running after the ferret while splashing water across the stage, a frozen fox standing still when he got a splash of water to the top of his head for nothing.

"I've almost got you… whahahat the?!" Lee Know shrieks when he suddenly feels arms steadily wrap around his waist, bottle of water still managing to topple out of his hand and splashing all over Hyunjin, who simply runs around to try and share his soaking wet body with someone else, hearing a loud scream from a bunny in the background when he finally locked onto his target. Springing into action, Seungmin instantly takes the opportunity to scratch his fingers tenderly into the grooves of Minho's ribs, making him double down with loud giggles.

"Yea! The wind's pretty strong up here, I think it's telling you something along the lines of: 'Revenge!'" The vocalist snickers, a striking similarity to how condescending Minho had sounded before, as if they were meant to be the same person. The dancer simply pounds his fist onto the floor with his own bout of sweet giggles, covering his cheeks when he noticed they had turned a beet red from laughing; he knew damn well that STAY were more than happy to take a cute recording of this fight, how embarrassing…

"Stohohop it! I will muhuhurder you!" The elder tries to threaten but ended up not even sounding close to threatening with his laughter interrupting every word that was meant to send a shiver down Seungmin's spine, only sending an endearing arrow through his heart. However, it didn't take long for the tables to be turned back onto the vocalist yet again, Minho chasing down the puppy at the speed of light, somehow managing to sing stably the entire time.

Eventually, the duo settled down into a cuddle pile that the members have created, their noses scrunching at the smell of sweat and fresh water combined together, screaming when a water-covered Hyunjin and Jeongin tried to crawl on top of them to 'share the love', whatever meaning that was meant to imply, they weren't falling for any of it today. Being coated in a ton of water a few moments later, it was all wiped off with Chan nagging after them about the risks of falling sick, despite knowing he himself had also joined in the fun just mere moments ago.

"Ah, the snow falls so fast, doesn't it?" Chan sighs dreamily, reaching his hand out to catch one of the snowflakes that dropped in front of the setting sun. Minho nodded slowly in agreement, laying his head on Changbin's thigh while his hands drew tiny hearts into the thin layer of snow that was beginning to pile up. Their phones laid turned off on the nearby picnic blanket, needing to rid themselves of any distractions that could potentially interrupt the sweet moment between the trio. They sat atop a small hill, fairy lights illuminating their path while the sun's setting glow bathed them in the warm light.

They had organised a small outing for the three of them behind the member's back, desperate for a break just for the Hyung line to be one, their hearts molding with their eyes glued onto each snowflake that fell onto the blades of grass. It had been long since they got a break from their respective young ins, taking in shallow breaths that created tiny puffs of hair in the warm air. Guess they had been out for a little longer than expected. But what could they say, rays of orange captivating their gaze, and in the blink of an eye, an afternoon meant for catching up turned into stargazing into the night.

As clouds began to settle as a comfortable blanket around the moon, its spotlight shining down on them and illustrating a Cosmo of stars for their eyes to feast on, Chan crawled down onto the grass as well, his thick hoodie that seemed to be made of the woolly materials ever shielding him from the wetness of the snow. His arm lazily curled around Minho's and Changbin's shoulder, tugging them impossibly closer. They laid in silence snuggly for what felt like hours, fingers gently pointing and tracing out the stars that guided them near home, weak smiles plastered on their faces after letting the day's exhaustion seep into their bones.

"I'll get that, I think Hyunjin's concerned that I haven't said anything the entire day," Changbin mumbles, hearing his phone vibrate against the plastic of the picnic blanket, shuffling himself out of the sandwich that he was the filling of. With lots of struggles, giggles and pleading to be let go, Chan and Minho let him go reluctantly with pouts on their faces, though the dancer's was less obvious, delivering a loud smack to the rapper's behind which he shrieked and glared daggers into the bunny's soul for doing so. Wincing at the sound of Hyunjin's whiny voice over the speaker demanding Changbin be home right this instant for sneaking out, Chan slowly shifted himself closer to Lee Know, who pulled him closer instantly despite the scowl on his face.

"I don't think he'll ever hear the end of Hyunjin, ever since they started living together all I hear is poor Binnie being nagged at or begging us to let him in after Jinnie tried to snuggle him to death…" Chan said fondly, seeing how the younger struggled to come up with an explanation to his disappearance, only able to reassure the ferret that he was safe with his Hyungs.

"Hmm, I think it explains why, Hyunjin's always been the type to switch up real fast, seeing how they act on camera," Minho replied without thought, the Aussie assuming they were none behind his blank eyes anyway, only following the contours of the stars. Suddenly, the fingers that laid still against the elder's waist began to spider up and down gently, pulling a surprised squeal.

"Ehehe! Wahahait!" Chan babbled on, trying to keep himself quiet knowing that Changbin was right next to them, and on a call too! Although Minho too knew this, he kept silent, the corners of his lips tugging ever so slightly in a knowing smirk, continuing his ministrations almost nonchalantly.

"Aren't you just the cutest? Keep yourself quiet now, don't want Jinnie to hear you right~?" Lee Know whispered tauntingly into the leader's ear, earning a flustered squeak. The reaction was instant, the elder burying his head into the dancer's chest, shaking his head desperately with the sweetest melody of giggles stringing his heart along to continue. They just had to put the most smiley and adorable members in the same dorm, Minho thought, which wasn't at all obvious favoritism to his favourite Hyung and the maknae; he wouldn't ever do such a thing!

"Minhoho! H-Hahahave some mehehercy!" Chan pleaded uselessly, thrashing around on the snow, creating ghostly snow angels against the white powdery surface, the cat following along smoothly. His fingers wouldn't let up no matter where the leader went, fingers scribbling lazily over his stomach now, drawing hiccups and kicks of his legs. His warm breath ghosted the elder's cold ears, turning red from the freezing temperatures and from embarrassment. It felt like snowflakes were prickling against his skin, his gloves feeling useless against the cat's bare fingers, knowing that he was used to these environments from lone camping.

"Aha- Plehehehease! Ehehe!" Lee Know's heart melted away when he heard the weak giggles emitting from below him. Despite the snow that was threatening to turn all the ground around them into rainy puddles, his insides felt completely warmed up, not even noticing he was shivering. He was completely hypnotised by the leader's giggles, reminding him of a certain fox back home. As if on cue, his eyes glimmered at the red and green lights that began to flicker along the streets, slowing down his fingers on the Aussie to just soft pokes, still relishing in the flinches and squeaks he got.

"C'mon guys, the members are beginning to become worried," Changbin meekly admitted, finally having ended the call. He looked awkward, shuffling his feet in place as if he knew he had interrupted something. Tutting in sync, the duo rushed up to their favourable Hyung line maknae, cooing at him all the way through for being babied by Hyunjin, giggling together when they managed to see the rapper's ears turn a cherry red, hiding his face in his jacket sleeves like it'll rid their voices if he couldn't see them. Dropping Lee Know off at his dorm's front door, he gave a teasing wink to Changbin, leaning up to Chan one last time before letting him go.

"Hello! Welcome to mysterious kitchen, where today, we'll be cooking dishes for the members as a therapy!" Minho yells enthusiastically, a shouting Jisung accompanying the happy introduction with a giggling Jeongin in the background. The trio huddled together while the middle of the trio brought over a small letter box, inside containing many tales and stories of the members trying to get the stress of their shoulders with food. Well, they usually say a good bite of food can solve everything… right?

"Yea! And the main is chef is so hot! Super hot! Super-duper hot- Ahaha!" Minho announced proudly, eyes glued on the bright yellow note that he was reading off before said note was torn from his hands, the maknae reading it with an interest. To absolutely no one's surprise, the letter was from none other than Minho, who was bent over giggling his head off seeing the other two reading his absurd description of the cooks, what was 'parboiled octopus' and 'squashed cream puff' for nicknames?! After recovering from his fit with half crinkled eyes that he had yet to wiped, it had turned out Minho had purposely named the duo that as that was what they were cooking today, earning sighs of feigned disappointment in response.

While Jisung was working arduously hard to wash out the organs of the octopus, swallowing back anything he had to say about the unusual texture and the absolute smell of raw seafood, the other two made themselves busy with the cream puffs, the maknae just about ready to be a 5 year old again with Minho guiding him on how to put egg wash on the already pre-made cream puffs. Han wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at the sight, giggling the entire way when he ran with Lee Know hot on his tail, bits and splashes of water that narrowly avoided the desserts being splattered all over the floor. Once caught, he was slowly dragged back by the elder, who was glaring daggers into his soul. Despite this, he only threw his head back against the main chef's chest with a happy smile, it had been long since they all bonded like this as a trio.

"You're so getting it for pulling that little stunt," Minho threatened, pinning Han against a nearby kitchen counter with his fingers looming over his side. Suddenly, the once bubbly producer turned anxious, babbling pleas for mercy along with shrinking against the marbled counter, cowering in fear and most likely praying that Jeongin would come to save him someway somehow. Fortunately for him, the youngest peeked over at the duo, fingers covered in egg and trying to process the scene. Tilting his head, the soft question of wanting to know what they were up to completely blew Minho's intimidating nature away, eyes completely doing a 180 in the maknae's direction; making Jisung playfully gag at the sight.

"What a bunch of love birds- WAHAHAH!" Han shrieked when fingers took it upon themselves to shove them up his underarms, scratching the tender area at a rapid pace. His original plan to tease the dancer had quickly gone south, ideas thrown out the window with how skilled Minho's fingers were, driving up him the wall. Worst of it all? The duo in front of him barely paid any attention to his boisterous laughter echoing throughout the kitchen, continuing their conversations without a care in the world; or acting as if they didn't care anyway. Either way, it still flustered Jisung to his core.

"What?! Hyung! How could you ever be so rude to us?!" Jeongin exclaims in faux horror, rushing over to the sink to wash his hands whilst pretending to be mad at the quokka. As much as he wanted to even try and apologise, his words were cut off when Lee Know's hands dug harshly into his hips almost obliviously, pulling a desperate scream from his throat instead.

"GUHUHUYS GUHUYS I'M SORRY! PLEASE- AHAHAHA!" Before the poor man could even get his apology out, they're yet again interrupted when two hands knead at his ribs, pressing into the bones tantalisingly and making him thrash against the counter, the buzzing sensations on his body truly about to drive him mad if they didn't stop soon. The duo continued to keep silent above him, simply letting their fingers roam across his body, listening to his squeaky cackles bounce off the walls.

"Are you truly sorry for your actions?" Minho chided, with no actual heat behind it and going so far as to squish his cheeks, pulling a flustered squeal from below him.

"Yea! How could you be so mean to us?!" Jeongin huffed, pressing in his fingers a little deeper into the skin nearing his underarm, making the middle of the trio arch his back with a howl of laughter. This was complete torture to him, having nowhere to run being stuck against the counter, one of their legs each pushing him back and only pinning him down further, allowing their hands to go to town on his body.

"YEHEHES! I'M SOHOHORRY! VERY SORRY!" Han manages with the last of his breath, tears of mirth beginning to well up in his eyes and stream down his reddened cheeks, cackling having gone silent with the red spreading all the way down to his neck. His fingers barely held onto the hand's that were tormenting him, and it was finally then the maknae nudged the eldest of the trio gently, telling him to let up. Carrying over to the studio couch and away from the kitchen, the fox ran back with a cup of water and a straw, Minho busy rubbing and massaging the poor quokka, nagging him not to fall asleep.

"Stop dozing off! Drink some water first." Lee Know grumbled with no malice behind it, letting the youngest bring the straw over to a panting Jisung, who gladly chugged down the water at an alarming pace. Quietly, Minho gestured the youngest onto the couch, tugging over a blanket given by the courtesy of staff, humming a soft tune while his hands ran through and massaged their scalps. Despite not even being the one who was tortured, Jeongin took the opportunity to knock himself out with the ace, cuddling each other.

"Yea! He's been acting really suspicious these days…" Jisung exclaimed to a listening Felix to him, both of them with a cup of homemade tea from Minho in their hands for their weekly gossip session. Recently, Jisung has been inviting both Felix and Seungmin over to theirs to 'have a good time', a suspicious cat giving a glare in his direction each time he pleaded to let them both come over, like a child asking their parent for permission to allow their friends over for the night. With a reluctant nod, despite acting very strict towards the quokka, tutting in faux disappointment whenever he would forget to tell the duo to take off their shoes when coming in or were a bit too loud, he still never failed to make them home brewed tea, or the mountain of food that was always perfectly laid on the dining table when they exited Jisung's room.

However, both Jisung and Minho felt a tad bit strange when they only saw one head of blonde hair appear at their dorm apartment these few weeks, not that the ace minded too much of course. But as curious as he was, a paw pasted itself on the younger's door, questioning the Aussie where his roommate had disappeared off to. And to their utter surprise, Felix only gave a small shrug, insisting that it was 'something Seungmin didn't specify about' or 'he said he went to hang out with friends'. Pfft- Hanging with friends?! There were only so many excuses that could make past Minho's sharp observation. Knowing with a terrible gut feeling, he sought the only other person that would help him uncover this mystery, Chan.

"So, you're saying, during they're weekly visits, Seungmin just so happens to disappear and come back when Felix arrives home?" Chan inquires, clicking the tip of his tongue while his foot drums against the wooden floor smoothly. Minho nods along, smiling widely when Jeongin peeks out from his room to catch a glimpse of what the elders were up to, hurriedly scurrying by to take a seat between them both.

"Yea! But none of us knows where he went, but we still haven't asked one dorm…" Their heads all collectively snap to the doorway, right across Changbin and Hyunjin's dorm room, which has been eerily quiet these days. Usually, Changbin would bug their dorm to no end, whether it'd be dragging Chan out for gym or being overly affectionate with the youngest, whereas Hyunjin would just be there to give him an earful and drag him back home when it was time for dinner. However, neither of them has left the dorms recently, staying right at home where it was comfortable.

Slamming opens the door without mercy, Chan and Minho were surprised to find Changbin…cooking?! After having told Jeongin to stay home and keep watch if Seungmin would pass by or even better, come over, they had come over to the 'newlyweds' dorm to investigate. Was this some kind of alternate universe? Eyeing the middle of the Hyung line suspiciously, they both came over to see if the rapper had managed to burn water yet, or fry air. Surprisingly, he was doing shockingly well, their eyes lighting up when they tasted the soup he had made, the cook bashfully hiding away with a cookbook in hand.

"Why did you make this though? Isn't Hyunjin the one usually cooking here?" Lee Know questions, a raised eyebrow with his head in the creamy tomato soup.

"I-I… I just wanted to try and start cooking, nothing more!" Changbin hurriedly explains, and with a shared glance, the elders both pounced onto the youngest of the trio, starting their investigation.

"Found you!" Chan exclaims as the door to Hyunjin's room creaks open, and to well, everybody but Seungmin's surprise, he's laying on the ferret's bed, without said ferret being there. A flustered Changbin stands behind them, looking defeated with tear streaks down his face that the leader was wiping while looking straight into the vocalist's eyes.

"Sorry…I tried to keep it a secret, but they got me- AHA!" Changbin worriedly explains but is cut off when the older bunny's fingers sneakily drill into the hollow of his hip, cutting him off.

"You're going to clean yourself up, and take a long, long nap, clear?" Chan coos sweetly into the younger's ear, squishing and kneading his cheeks before giving both of them a tender kiss each, sending him off without fail. Chan and Minho's gaze then turned to the culprit of them all, who was blinking up and them innocently as if he didn't know what was wrong exactly.

"You're going to tell us why you came here and thought it was funny not to inform anyone." Lee Know announces whilst clearing his throat, the eldest coming to pin the puppy's arms above his head, earning a squeal of surprise. To their shock, he instantly revealed the reason, so much for Changbin's resolve to keep it down. Their jaws dropped once the beans were spilled, fingers immediately crawling over his waist and ribs.

"Hehehey! I-I tohohold you guhuhuys! Whahahat gives?!" Seungmin squeals, trying and failing to bat four hands away from his sensitive body that followed him no matter where he squirmed on the bed, melting into a puddle of breathless laughs for them to tease for now.

"How could you even keep this a secret from your Hyungs?! This is such big news y'know?" Chan yells in an almost hurried way, still trying to let the information sink in, an astonished Minho nodding along at the back. As a so-called revenge, they both up their game on the poor puppy, Lee Know's fingers finding the sides of his stomach and digging in while the leader found blowing raspberries on the nape of his neck interesting.

"AHAHAHA! I-I'M SOHOHORRY! HYUHUHUNG!" Seungmin shrieks, dissolving quickly into loud, yet puffy cackles, kicking his legs out through his struggles to get away from the torment being inflicted on his body. However, neither of them let up, only grinning cheekily above the puppy and letting the sensations linger for longer. It was a surprise that the rapper was somehow still sleeping, or maybe not and just hasn't exited his room due to Chan's instructions, where was Hyunjin anyway?

"PLEHEHEASE IT'S TOHOHORTURE! MEHEHERCY!" Seungmin pleads, tears of mirth beginning to well up in his eyes, scrunching his shoulders to try and block out the eldest's lips to no avail, or shoving at Minho's hands; that obviously didn't work out in his favor at all. Having decided he had enough, the duo let up on the poor vocalist, rubbing his stomach soothingly and his reddened cheeks too. They awed at the sight of Seungmin's cherry red face all the way down to his neck, eyes already lidding before they could say anything.

“You knew what you were doing with that photo shoot, weren’t you?”

“Nohoho! No please I’m sohohory! P-Plehehehase!” Chan squealed when Minho’s fingers went ever closer to his underarms, just to move away at the last moment with a smirk on his face. Ever since Chan had decided on collaborating for a photoshoot with his arms up, right in a beautiful tank top exposing his delicate armpits, Lee Know wasn’t hesitant to hunt him down in an instant, carrying a squirming Bangchan over his head like no one’s business.

Now, with the threat he’d get it twice in the intensity if he dared disobey, Chris was forced to have his arms up on his own will, shrieking whenever Lino got way too close to his armpits just to back away; it wasn’t fair, he knew exactly how to push the older’s buttons.

Worst of all? He loved it, and didn’t even pull his arms down once.

“Round and round the merry go round~” The bunny ignored Chan’s desperate apologies, walking his fingers right into the wolf’s armpits, but never fully indulging in making it more than featherlight in his fingertips. His fingers went in small circles like a merry go round, circling the smooth skin in torturously gentle motions. Chan squealed at the top of his lungs, not putting his arms down still but giggling his head off like a mad man.

“No Noho no! P-Please dohohohon’t tehehehase! Min!” Chris was more than desperate to get something more, to feel the sensations that made him writhe all over the bed, but they never came. Minho simply refused to listen, a smug smirk of knowing he had won in this little game for once in his life.

“Aww..want to be wrecked? Want these fingers to scribble all over your armpits? You sure you can handle it?” Lee Know obnoxiously bombarded the older with an array of questions, knowing damn well that his malfunctioned and flustered brain would be nowhere near comprehending any of that any time soon. He only saw a timid nod, an a very idiotic, but cute smile on the Aussie’s face.

Finally giving the leader what he wanted, the bunny kneaded deep into the hollows of the older’s underarms, making him go into crazed laughter. The anticipation didn’t help him in the slightest, the tiny tingles that he craved to become more now hitting him tenfold. Arms immediately crashing down, Chan squirmed like a fish out of water, eyes crinkling into a happy smile.

“AHAHAHAH! WA-WAIT! EHEHEHAHA! MIN! MIN PLEA- PLEHEHEHEASE!”

“Nope, no waiting. You wanted this, don’t go back on your words~” Minho teased lowly, oh how he loved and relished whenever he wasn’t on the receiving end of those tickles, he even considered creating an entire new persona just to deal with a giddy and a leader called Bang Chan in the future, it truly was a sight to behold.

Tears streamed down the older’s cheeks from being so content, kicking out his legs like a little kid as he begged and screamed for mercy, but Minho never let up, chuckling and releasing his nimble fingers only, and only when he felt his fingers being pushed at desperately.