#thefunk

Soonyoung smiled happily as he heard the front door click shut. He paused the game he’d been playing, ignoring Seokmin’s whines, and hustled to the front hallway. His boyfriend had been gone for a few hours, and he was finally home.

As happy as Soonyoung was for Jihoon to be home, he wasn’t happy to see how upset Jihoon looked. His face looked blank and his eyes were dull. If Soonyoung looked close enough, he could see the slight wobble of Jihoon’s bottom lip.

“Jihoonie? Baby? You okay honey?”

It seemed as though his words had triggered something in Jihoon, who started to cry softly. Soonyoung ran quickly to their bedroom. He hated to leave Jihoon crying alone in the front hallway, but he needed to grab a blanket and send Seokmin home.

He entered his bedroom, eyes carefully scanning the room until they landed on Jihoon’s favorite blanket. As he gathered it into his arms he turned to Seokmin.

“Hey man, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave. Jihoonie had a bad day and I need to make sure he’s okay. Sorry.”

Seokmin stood up quickly, grabbing his things. “It’s no problem hyung. Do you need me to help you with anything?”

“No, I’ve got it. Thanks though.”

He followed Seokmin out of the room and down the hallway. He moved to the living room and began spreading the blanket on the ground. He watched as Seokmin left, kissing Jihoon’s head and saying, “Feel better, hyungie.”

He smiled as Jihoon’s tears began to lessen, but he knew it wouldn’t last for too long. If Jihoon was crying, it had to be serious. He walked around the couch and held Jihoon’s hand, gently guiding him to the living room. He made him lay down on the blanket, before he began to roll him over in it, making him into a sad Jihoon sushi roll.

Jihoon’s sadness had put him in an unresponsive state, hardly noticing as Soonyoung man-handled him. He was placed carefully on the couch, only able to watch as Soonyoung hustled to the kitchen, hearing him fill a glass with water.

He was back in no time, shifting Jihoon’s blankets so his hands would be free to grab the glass. He picked up the remote and slipped in behind Jihoon on the couch, the smaller boy resting against his chest, his legs holding tight to Jihoon’s sides.

He kissed the back of Jihoon’s head, “What happened baby? Do you wanna talk about it?”

Jihoon shook his head, leaning further back into Soonyoung’s hold.

“Do you want to watch a movie?”

Jihoon nodded, so Soonyoung turned on their Netflix, picking Finding Nemo without even asking. He never admitted it, but Finding Nemo was Jihoon’s favorite movie, and it never failed to put a smile on the younger boys’ face.

When it started to play, he began pressing kisses all over Jihoon’s head and shoulders. He could hear when he stopped crying, his little hiccups eventually subsiding. His head fell back onto Soonyoung’s shoulder, allowing him to wipe the leftover tears from his cheeks.

He kissed his jaw gently, happy as he heard Jihoon let out a content sounding sigh. He snuggled even further into Soonyoung’s chest, small smile growing on his face. Soonyoung smiled, pressing yet another kiss to Jihoon’s head.

1. Get out of the studio.

Jihoon was working hard in his studio when he felt the air change, signaling that his door had been opened. He tried to ignore whoever it was, hoping that the presence of his noise canceling headphones would tell them that he was busy. His hopes were dashed as the person pulled his headphones from him.

"Jihoooon, come to bed. It's one in the morning and you haven't slept in two days."

He was pleased that it was his boyfriend, but he needed to work. He grabbed his headphones back and placed them around his neck.

"Soonie, you know I have to finish this. It's really important."

"And so is your health." Soonyoung pouted at him and removed the headphones from around his neck. He offered Jihoon his hand, "Come to bed. Please. I miss my marshmallow."

Jihoon blushed, taking Soonyoung's hand and following him to bed. He was never able to resist Soonyoung's requests when he used that stupid nickname.

2. Sleepy cuddles.

It was movie night when Jihoon emerged from his studio. He usually missed it but he was determined to go tonight. He entered the dorm and frowned as he saw the movie was already playing. Many of the members were splayed out on the floor, and he was glad to see that Soonyoung had claimed the couch.

He was stretched out in a pair of shorts and a large sweater. He looked so soft that Jihoon almost wanted to cry. He was so tired and cold, and the movie was too far for him to understand, so he figured he should just take a nap on Soonyoung. He shuffled around the couch and fell onto Soonyoung like dead weight.

Soonyoung let out a sharp breath but giggled when he saw the exhausted Jihoon on top of him. Jihoon burrowed his face into Soonyoung's neck, sighing happily into the warm skin. He pressed light kisses to his neck as the arms at his waist tightened around him.

Soonyoung laughed at the happy noises that were escaping Jihoon's lips, "What's gotten into you, marshmallow? You're so cuddly I love it."

Jihoon shrugged, not bothering to explain himself. He didn't need his audience to know just how touch starved he go when he spent too long without Soonyoung. It was embarrassing how much he relied on his presence to keep him sane.

He heard Chan giggle at him, but ignored it when Soonyoung started to rub his hands along his back, soothing him calmly to sleep.

3. Teasing.

They had been filming for the variety show for nearly six hours when Jihoon noticed that one of the MC's had been staring at him for a few minutes. He looked over at her and tilted his head, silently questioning the stare he was receiving.

She broke out of her stare and spoke to him, gaining the attention of the others, "Now, Woozi, I was told I wasn't supposed to call you cute." She turned to one of the male MC's, "But look at him, isn't he so adorable?"

The male MC nodded in agreement as Jihoon groaned and hid his face in his sweater paws. He knew what he looked like today. His hair was pink as ever and he was wearing a sweater too big for him under a pair of short overalls. When Soonyoung had seen him he had said it was his 'cutest look ever'.

The MC laughed at his discomfort, "Oh look he's blushing! That's precious, why would you deny your cuteness?"

He tried to frown at the woman, but it looked more like a pout, "I'm not cute, I'm a grown man."

He felt warm arms wrap around his waist from behind, "He only likes to pretend he's a grown man. At home, I call him my marshmallow."

Jihoon spun around to face Soonyoung. He couldn't believe that he would say that. That was supposed to be private! Soonyoung gulped when he saw the look in Jihoon's eyes. He turned and ran, Jihoon quickly giving chase.

"Come back here Hoshi! Fight me like a real man!"

They all laughed as they watched, but the members were the only one to notice the pink that remained on Jihoon's cheeks.

4. Everyday conversation

Jihoon watched in the mirror as Soonyoung came up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his chin on his shoulder. At the moment, they were the only still beings in the practice room, the others working on their newest dance. Jihoon knew he should be practicing with them, but he needed a small break.

"I like this choreography, it's fun. I think it fits the music well," Jihoon said, hands coming up to rest on Soonyoung's, fingers tangling together.

"Well, you give me amazing songs to work with."

Jihoon hummed. He liked how he and Soonyoung could come together to create a perfect stage, having a great song and awesome choreography. Each stage was like their child, as funny as it sounded.

Soonyoung kissed his temple, "Now come on Marshmallow, you have to learn the dance too."

Jihoon only smiled as he went to his place, and began to move in time with the members.

5. Searching for Jihoon.

Soonyoung opened the door to Jihoon's studio, surprised to see the younger boy was missing. It was dinner time and they had Jihoon's favorite in an effort to lure him out of the tiny closet. So far Soonyoung had been looking for him for ten minutes.

He walked into one of the bedrooms, throwing blankets off the bed hoping to find him, but only succeeding in waking a very startled Mingyu.

"Hyung, what are you doing?"

Soonyoung huffed. "I'm looking for my MARSHMALLOW~~!" He called out Jihoon's nickname loudly in hopes that the noise would help to locate him.

Mingyu sleepily rubbed at his eyes, "Jihoon hyung? I saw him go in his studio like half an hour ago."

Soonyoung sighed, "Mingyu, I was literally just in there."

Mingyu shrugged while getting up to help, "Maybe you just didn't see him."

Soonyoung turned and walked back to Jihoon's studio, Mingyu following close behind. When he opened the door he saw exactly what he had seen las time. An empty room filled with producing equipment, but no boyfriend anywhere to be seen.

Soonyoung pouted, but as he stood in silence he swore he could hear.... breathing? He motioned for Mingyu to be still, before following the sounds on the soft sounds to... under the desk? He bent down and almost burst out laughing at the sight.

Lying under the desk, was his grumpy boyfriend curled up tight with a plushie, sound asleep. He stroked Jihoon's cheek softly, who nuzzled into his hand contently. He shooed Mingyu away as he sat down next to Jihoon's napping area.

"Maaarshamllooow~~." He sang softly into Jihoon's ear. Jihoon tried to snuggle deeper into Soonyoung's hand, in an attempt to escape the noise that was much too loud compared to his silent studio. It took only a few more calls of his nickname, but Soonyoung eventually roused Jihoon successfully from his sleep, his head moving to rest on Soonyoung's knee.

"Good morning Marshmallow. It's dinner time. Did you sleep well?"

Jihoon nodded gently, looking up at Soonyoung with hooded lids and a tired smile. Soonyoung pressed a soft kiss to Jihoon's forehead, glad that Jihoon wasn't grumpy at being awoken.

"We ordered your favorite for dinner. You ready to go eat?" Jihoon looked happy at the thought of dinner, but also distressed at having to get up. "I'll carry you."

Jihoon's eyes brightened and he carefully sat up, lifting his arms up. Soonyoung laughed and stood, lifting Jihoon so he could wrap around him like a koala. Soonyoung made a mental note to make a small bed for Jihoon in his studio in case this ever happened again. He kissed his temple once as he left the small room, carrying Jihoon gently to the kitchen.

+1. Mingyu's death wish.

Soonyoung stood in the doorway of the practice room, successfully hidden from view. Mingyu and Jihoon were sitting in the middle of the room, trying to incorporate Mingyu’s rap into Jihoon’s latest song.

Soonyoung like to watch his genius of a boyfriend work, his intensity and passion was fascinating for Soonyoung to see in action. He smiled as Jihoon gave a small yawn, rubbing his tired eyes cutely. Soonyoung always thought it was funny how Jihoon always tried to deny his natural aegyo.

He heard Mingyu laugh, “Are you tired Marshmallow hyung?”

Soonyoung was shocked at how quickly Jihoon had grabbed his guitar and began to chase a terrified Mingyu around the room.

“Don’t call me that!” Jihoon called, just a few steps behind, Mingyu’s long legs working to his advantage. Mingyu put on a burst of speed.

“What about Soonyoung hyung? He calls you that all the time.”

Jihoon swung his guitar, just missing. “He’s special!”

Soonyoung felt his cheeks warm up, along with his heart at Jihoon openly admitting that Soonyoung was special to him. He knew how shy Jihoon could get about their relationship around the other members, so the acknowledgment was greatly appreciated.

He stepped in to put a stop to the chase. “Jihoonie let him go.”

Jihoon stopped and put down his guitar, frowning over at Soonyoung, “But Soonyoungie...”

Soonyoung walked over and stood behind Jihoon, wrapping him tightly to his chest. He looked down at Mingyu, who had collapsed to the floor, breathing deeply. He pressed a kiss to Jihoon’s cheek and grinned at Mingyu.

Junhui and Minghao didn’t have many secrets in their relationship. They knew everything about each other. They told each other everything, whether they thought it was big or small, they talked about it. They knew that communication was one of the most important parts of making any relationship work. They tried to be as transparent as possible with one another.

Except Junhui did have one little secret. And, okay, maybe little was a bit of an understatement. It was a pretty big secret. He had finally decided to tell Minghao, but he was pretty scared about it. Honestly, he had no idea how his boyfriend would take the news.

You see, Junhui was an assassin. He worked undercover for the government to take out threats to national security. And he was good at it too. One of the best even. He used his expert knowledge of martial arts to dispatch some of the most dangerous people in the world. His targets were neutralized before they could even get a single hit in. Most of the time anyways. When they did get a lucky shot in, he was always able to convince Minghao that it was the result of a clumsy accident.

He had no clue how Minghao was going to handle the news. Sure, the younger knew dangerous martial arts as well, but he had only learned it for possible self-defense. Minghao was a gentle soul, so learning that his boyfriend killed people for a living? He might not be able to handle it.

That’s probably what scared Junhui the most about telling Minghao what his real job was, was the very real possibility that he could lose him. Junhui had never cared about anybody as much as he cared about Minghao. He didn’t know what he’d do with himself if they weren’t together anymore. But Minghao deserved to know. He couldn’t hide this from him anymore.

He was interrupted in his thoughts by the sight of Minghao slinking in through the front door. He seemed not to have noticed Junhui sitting on the couch, so he observed him silently. He’d been gone on a business trip for three days, and it seemed to have taken a toll on him. He had dark bags around his eyes and his normally glowing skin looked pale and dull. He looked just about dead on his feet. Junhui was impressed that he was managing to drag his heavy black duffle bag to their room.

Seeing Minghao so tired made Junhui not want to tell him tonight. Maybe he would wait until he was more well-rested. Tell him when he’d had a few more days to fall back into a normal rhythm at home. But no, he couldn’t do that. He had an assignment in two days that he’d have to leave for. And if he didn’t tell Minghao now, he’d lose his nerve and never tell him.

He took a deep breath as Minghao walked back in, trying to steel his nerves. Minghao looked so cute and soft in a pair of sweatpants and one of Junhui’s larger shirts. He seemed to be headed towards the kitchen, and it looked as though something was bothering him.

“Hao Hao? Can you come here?”

Minghao looked confused, but made his way over to the couch, settling himself in Junhui’s lap, as he often did when he was sleepy. He smiled tiredly as he looked up at Junhui.

“Yes Junnie?”

He grabbed Minghao’s hand in his, and began playing with his fingers, something he only did when he was nervous.

“I’ve got something really important to tell you.”

Minghao sighed, face falling. “Me too.”

Junhui furrowed his brow. What important thing did Minghao have to tell him? Had he been hiding something from him this whole time too? Was that why he had looked so bothered earlier?

“Can um, can I go first?” At Minghao’s nod he took a deep breath and let the words fall from his lips. “I’m a government assassin.”

Now, Junhui wasn’t sure what he was expecting Minghao’s reaction to be, maybe disgust, sadness, possibly anger. He’d even imagined a scenario where Minghao had slapped him across the face. It wasn’t likely, but he sure had thought about it. But this, never in a million years did he expect Minghao’s response to be laughter. And it wasn’t laughter of disbelief either, just pure, joyful laughter spilling out of Minghao like a waterfall.

He stared at Minghao, waiting for him to finish laughing. He eventually settled down, giggling quietly in his lap.

“I’m so glad that’s all.”

“What do you mean ‘That’s all’, I kill people for a living Hao.”

“Me too. That’s what I wanted to tell you.”

Junhui felt as if his world was crashing down around him. He couldn’t believe it. His sweet, little Minghao, a government assassin? There was no way. Besides, he’s pretty sure he would have seen him at headquarters before.

“You, you’re an assassin? For the government?”

Minghao grinned proudly, “Yep, best there is.”

“Really, you’re the best? Cause I like to think I’m pretty good.”

Minghao laughed happily. “Ever heard of The8?”

Now, Junhui had to believe him. The8 was the codename for an assassin that every other assassin had heard of, but no civilian had. Minghao was definitely an assassin for the government but why was he asking about The8?

“Yeah. Legendary assassin, considered to be the best sniper in the history of China’s secret agencies. Why?”

Minghao leaned towards him, lips brushing against his ear as he whispered, “That’s me.”

Junhui laughed, burying his head in Minghao’s chest. “Of course you are.”

When he finally relaxed, he pressed his lips to Minghao’s, feeling him melt into the kiss. When they parted, he smiled softly as he gazed into Minghao’s eyes. They shone so bright, true happiness making them light up. Their talk may not have gone the way he expected it to, but he wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

He stood up, standing Minghao on his feet, “All right, let’s get you some food Mr. Assassin, I’m sure you’re ready to go to bed.”

He yawned as he watched the number count down on the microwave, hand shooting out as he managed to open the door right before it hit zero. He sighed in relief that he managed to not wake anyone up. Hyunjin finished making his ramen and sat at the kitchen table. Normally he would stand for such a late-night snack, but his legs are killing him. So, he sits.

He’s just finishing up when he hears a loud crash come from the direction of the bedrooms. He cringes at the noise. Someone must have woken up. If it was Chan, he was going to get in so much trouble. He was supposed to be in bed hours ago. Either he was getting in trouble, or the person making all the noise was going to. He stood up as quietly as he could and threw away his trash. He set his chopsticks in the sink, careful not to clink the metal against the basin.

He turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin. Jeongin was up and standing in the entrance of the hallway, hair adorably ruffled.

“Jesus, baby, you scared me half to death. What are you doing up?” Hyunjin asked.

Jeongin didn’t say anything, continuing to stand still, not moving an inch. Hyunjin furrowed his brows, stepping closer into the minimal light to check on him. Jeongin’s eyes were shut, face slack with sleep, while a giant scrape on his knee dripped blood.

“Oh, honey,” Hyunjin murmured.

Jeongin was sleepwalking. Even on a good day, Jeongin was pretty clumsy, combined with literally being asleep, he was a walking disaster. They learned early on after a harrowing trip to the hospital at 3 a.m. that Jeongin was never allowed to sleep on a top bunk. So now, his boyfriend was sleepwalking and had hurt himself, which was probably what the loud noise had been earlier.

After the first incident, Hyunjin had researched all he could about sleepwalking. And the number one rule, was that you weren’t supposed to wake a sleepwalker, instead just gently leading them back to bed. However, Jeongin was bleeding from the knee still, and there was no way Hyunjin was going to let him go to bed injured.

He approached Jeongin slowly, grabbing his waist and pivoting him back towards the hallway. With a hand on his lower back, Hyunjin managed to guide Jeongin into the bathroom. Over the years, Hyunjin liked to think he had become a pretty good Jeongin wrangler. He turned the light on and shut the door so that he wouldn’t accidentally wake any of the others with the light. He cleared off a space on the counter and lifted Jeongin onto it. After making sure that Jeongin was safely on the counter, and not at danger of falling off, he grabbed the first aid kit from under the counter, and a washcloth.

He wet the cloth with water and patted at Jeongin’s scrape, making sure it was clean. Usually he would use alcohol, but he figured that it didn’t look bad enough to warrant it, and the sting would definitely wake Jeongin. He kneeled down and blew on Jeongin’s knee, trying to dry off the excess water without having to wipe at his wound. He looked up to check on Jeongin, and to his relief, Jeongin’s face was still as cutely blank as it had been earlier.

He rummaged around in the first aid kit and pulled out a bandage that would be large enough to cover the scrape. It was a wide scrape, but it wasn’t very deep, and would probably heal in just a couple of days. He opened the large square bandage and affixed it to Jeongin’s leg, making sure to get every part of the wound underneath it, and not touch any of the redness with the adhesive. Once he was sure he had done it right, he nodded to himself in satisfaction. He was about to stand up when he changed his mind.

Just a couple of days ago, Minho had bought a box of Pororo bandages, mostly for Jisung and Jeongin, and mostly as a joke. But they were cute, and Jeongin’s current bandage was practically the same color as his skin. It was boring and made his injury look more serious than it actually was. He picked out a bright yellow Pororo bandage and placed it right in the center of his bigger bandage. Much better.

Hyunjin nodded to himself again and closed up the first aid kit, placing it back under the sink where it belonged. He tossed the washcloth into the hamper and wiped his slightly damp hands off on his sweatpants. He shut the light off, swung open the bathroom door, and leaned across the hallway to open the door to his bedroom. He picked Jeongin up again to lift him off the counter, but this time he kept him in his arms. With Hyunjin’s own room was just across the small hallway, and Jeongin’s being all the way at the other end. It just made sense for him to bring Jeongin to his room instead of sending him back to his own. It definitely wasn’t an excuse to cuddle his boyfriend to sleep after a very long day.

He carried Jeongin across the hallway and settled him onto Hyunjin’s bottom bunk, trying not to wake up either of his roommates. Jeongin laid down with a sigh, snuggling into Hyunjin’s pillows. Hyunjin stripped himself of his clothes quickly and changed into his pajamas. He lifted the covers on his bed and climbed in after Jeongin. He rearranged them so that Jeongin’s head was on his chest, his leg thrown over Hyunjin’s own. He sighed into the darkness and pressed a kiss into Jeongin’s hair.