"where's james?" you ask keonho, eyes still wandering the whole room—not finding his existence.

"he went to buy a cake for hyeon. you can wait here, i'm gonna grab some candles." keonho leads you to sit on a couch in the living room and rushes back to the kitchen.

the party is simple. they only invite someone who's really close to seonghyeon since the boy's very shy around others and they don't want to make him uncomfortable on his birthday. a few balloons sit randomly on each corner of the room. there's a banner on the wall that says "happy birthday, seonghyeon" with his photo on it.

not so long after that, you hear the clicking sound on the front door and see james holding paper bags in his left hand and a box of cake in the right. "cake's coming!" james yells. you approach him immediately and try to help him.

"babe!" james' eyes lighten and he smiles so brightly at your presence. "i thought you wouldn't come! i was so sad today." he kisses the corner of your lips before the two of you bring all the stuff to the living room.

"i decided to come since keonho wouldn't stop texting me while i am at work." james stops for a while, hoping he had misheard what you said. "my phone keeps buzzing all day, you know."

"why would keonho text you?" james squints his eyes in suspicion.

"he texted about preparing hyeon's birthday. he thinks i'm going to like this party." you answer absentmindedly while putting the cake on the table.

james shrugs off his shoulders, thinking it was no big deal. he doesn't need to be jealous. it's just keonho, right?

"here are the candles." keonho comes with a few candles in his hand. "hyung! you're home." he grins. james answers him with a quick smile before putting pink whipped cream on seonghyeon's cake.

"i wanna do it too!" you exclaim and ask james for the whipped cream. he lends you the whipped cream and settles behind you on the couch, absentmindedly pulling you back until you're comfortably sitting between his legs.

keonho sits right next to james' left foot—making him unintentionally sits right next to you. "do you think seonghyeon would like this party?" he asks you.

"definitely! why wouldn't he?" you shoot him a little smile and continue to put whipped cream on seonghyeon's cake.

"i know, right?" keonho nods. the three of you remain silent for a while before keonho interrupts again. "do you think hyeon would prefer green candles or blue ones?"

"i think green would suit his vibes more."

"that's exactly what i thought! that's why i brought mostly the green ones." he smiles brightly at you, and you answer with a nod.

5 minutes later, keonho asks you again. "would i look good in blonde hair? just like martin hyung."

"ask martin." james mumbles.

"you would! oh my god, it would be exciting don't you think, james?" you look at james—signaling him to agree with you.

"i don't know no james." james stares at you. who's james? where are baby, babe, honey and all the sweet nicknames going?

"okay, babe. it would be exciting, right?" you emphasize the word babe and squeeze james' thigh—forcing him to nod at your question.

"oh, i'm not hearing this." keonho closes his ears with both hands, causing you to laugh at his reaction.

15 minutes later, seonghyeon, martin, and juhoon come through the front door from the studio. everything went as planned and seonghyeon was so happy.

"you're coming! thank you so much!" seonghyeon gives you a brief hug and accepts your gift. "a ps5 for me? thank you! hyung is so lucky to have you." seonghyeon giggles and james just rolls his eyes.

the night is getting late. james drinks a cup of soda on the couch. martin plays an acoustic guitar and rumbles random melodies. seonghyeon and keonho play with the ps5 you just gave him. and you play chess with juhoon. "hey, that's cheating!" your voice heard— making james looks directly at your way.

"no, it's not." juhoon answered calmly. "you're not gonna win if you keep playing that old tactic, you know?"

"you know what? i always won back then using this 'old tactic'."

"that's why i called it old."

the two of you laugh and james' definitely not having it. he clears his throat and proceeds to stand. "i'm gonna get some rest. once again, happy birthday hyeon." he taps seonghyeon's shoulder before walking to his bedroom.

your eyes dart towards him until his figure disappears behind the door. you excuse yourself to the boys and quickly follow james. you knock his door, "can i come in?"

after he said yes, you come in and see he is curling in his white blanket—his back faces you. you close the door and hug him from the back. "hi handsome." you smile and kiss his exposed cheek. "you look so handsome today." your compliment makes his cheek blushed but he tries so hard not to smile.

he clears his throat. "thanks. you don't look bad either."

you mumble and play with his dark brown hair. "what happened, baby?"

"nothing."

"it seems like a thing." you answer him back calmly— still playing with his strands. he remains silent.

"are you jealous?" you bite your lips, trying not to laugh at this very serious situation.

james' eyes widened and he immediately turns around to face you. "what? me? jealous? no. absolutely not. why would i?"

you smile at his reaction and kiss his cheek. "you're looking extremely handsome today. what's with the glasses? i love it." you ignore his answer and touch his glasses.

"it's called fashion."

"i know, and you're looking too good with it." you pout.

"...okay, yeah. i'm jealous. but just a little. are you satisfied?"

to james, seeing you acting all pouty and clingy around him makes his stomach full of butterflies, just like how he met you for the first time. he loves you THAT much.

"i knew it!" you celebrate after his confession. "you could've just told me!" you cling your arms around his waist and rest your chin on his chest—looking up directly to meet his eyes.

"i don't wanna ruin hyeon's birthday." he looks to the other side—or basically anywhere as long as he doesn't have to meet your puppy eyes, because he would genuinely become a jelly right now.

"aww," you pinch his cheek. "you know you're the only person i love for these past 2 years. out of everyone in that room, i've been looking for you since i stepped in this dorm today."

"you're literally the sexiest man alive and i'm not planning to let you go that easily." you smirk at him.

"stop, it's getting cringe."

"but you love it when i compliment you, though."

"you're right," he smiles and wraps your body in his embrace. "i love whatever you do."

you stay at your position for a while. "if you have to choose, would you pick me or the boys?" he suddenly asks.

"you." you look up at him, finding he's already staring at you. "really?" his eyes brighten.

"no."

"BABE." james looks at you in disbelief.

"of course i choose you, you silly." you kiss his lips briefly. before he could kiss you back, you were already breaking the kiss. so he decided to chase after your lips, making it the sweetest kiss you had after a long day.

"hyung, did you see my—" juhoon's voice was heard with the sound of the door opening. "i didn't see anything!" juhoon left right after he saw the two of you.

james lets out a loud sigh and you laugh. "we need to lock the door next time."

martin takes off his mustard yellow jacket and hangs it on the bedroom door. he stays there for almost a minute. you tilt your head to the side and call him. "baby?"

he doesn't answer. he's just... there. not moving.

"baby, what's the matter?" your voice softens. everyone would say martin's such a tough guy—being a hardworking boy since he was a child—and isn't going to be upset over the smallest thing in the world. but here you are, seeing his tall figure won't talk to you before you baby him after a long day outside.

"how's the trip with the boys?" you try to ask him again. martin told you a week ago he's going to a picnic with james, juhoon, seonghyeon and keonho. "it's gonna be hella fun out there! we're just gonna talk about music and dance. i can't wait!" he said at that time.

you frown your eyebrows a little waiting for his response. he turns his back, now facing you with head hanging low and a disappointed expression. "they didn't listen to me. i did all the things—i drove the car, prepared the meal and stuff but keonho and hyeon keep teasing me by playing all day. we didn't even talk about music today!"

his tiny pout stays there. "all i wanted was to have a great time together but it seemed like they didn't care, and i am the only one who cares."

you signal him to sit next to you and he immediately shifts to your side—hands wrap around your tiny waist and his face buries on your neck. he lets out a loud sigh before snuggling more into you, as if you're going to puff with the wind if he lets you go. you welcome him with open arms, holding his big figure warmly in your arms and play with the strands of his blonde.

"so are you upset with them?" you ask, even though you already knew the answer. "yes," he says immediately. "i thought i'm gonna go crazy today."

"oh shut up." you laugh a little over his exaggerated expression.

martin laughs too. "thank you for asking." he says. you're keep playing with his strands and stay silent for a while.

"no need to thank me."

"i should."

"okay." you smile, staring straight to the black screen tv in front of you. it reflects your shadow with martin clinging on you on the bed, which is quite cute.

"your feelings are valid, you know," you start after a long silence. he hums to your words, eyes close slightly—feeling tired enough. "i know they feel comfortable around you since you've been such a good older brother to them. they thanked you for bringing them out of that studio and feel the nature. you know they didn't mean any harm to you, right? they're still a kid." you caress his left cheek with your finger.

"hey, i'm only like one year older than them!" martin straights his back and looks at you in disbelief. "i can't believe you defend them and not me."

great. now he's sulking.

"i know baby, i know." you cup his face, forcing him to look at you. "what i wanted to say is they just want to spend their free time with you doing other things. of course they care about music! you're all in one band, right? there's no way they don't care about music and dance."

"they just wanted to try doing other things with all of you, since you probably can't do anything after going back to the studio." you added.

martin pouts his lips even more. what you said is somehow true and he can't keep denying it. "you're right. i feel evil now."

you giggle. "you are."

"you're so mean." his face went shock.

"nooooo you know i don't mean it though!" you laugh and lean forward—smooching his face with kisses. "you know..." a kiss on the right cheek. "i love..." a kiss on the left cheek. "you..." a kiss on his nose. "so much." you stare at him for a while before leaving a short peck on his lips and smile.

"no i don't." his face goes serious. no smile, no giggle, just stare at you as if he's going to take your soul.

"really?" you cling your hands around his neck, closing the distance between the two of you. "what should i do to make you believe that i love you?"

"kiss me more."

"the pleasure is mine." you smile at him, and start pressing short kisses all over his face. he loves it when you show affection since you're not really into physical touch that often. he feels great. he feels like he's in the clouds.

after that, you kiss his lips slowly. his lips move with rhythm and you love to play along with it. you two break the kiss, feeling the need of air. forehead touches each other.

"i love you so much." you say breathlessly.

"i love you even more, baby." he steals a quick peck on your lips.

"so.. are you still upset?"

"no." he smiles beautifully before kissing your forehead. "thank you for always making me feel loved." he hugs you tight and closes the distance between you.

"anytime." you smiled at him before pressing your head against his chest and hugging him back.