Kim Jiwoong is Stupid (and Handsome)

by stupid-jiwoong (kawaii_desu_nya)

Summary:

basically what it says on the tin :) 6 short scenes of Jiwoong accidentally being a big oblivious flirt, and all of ZB1 accidentally being a little bit in love with him. when i started writing this Gunwook was a minor and Yujin still is so they don't get chapters so sorry (They are also a little bit in love with Jiwoong but it's one sided dw.) tell me if you guys want something else similar to this, it was really fun to write :)

(also none of these are very good i'm literally using this as practice so i can actually finish my good stuff lol)

Chapter 1: Matthew

Matthew laid on the couch of the dorm, splayed out like a starfish. He couldn’t bring himself to move a muscle. It was the hottest day of the year yet. All the fans the boys could find were gathered in the living room, hoping to keep the common areas at least bearable. It wasn’t working. Even with seven less men than normal in their tiny apartment, the heat was a steady 34°. It was unbearable, like his skin was made of slugs. Canadian summers got this hot, sure, but what they didn’t have was the humidity . 

 

“Jiwoon-hyuuung.” Matthew whined, wriggling in place. 

 

“Hmm?” He hummed, poking his head out from the kitchen.

 

“Hyung, it’s too hot.” Matthew gave the best puppy dog eyes he could manage without having to move too much.

 

“And what am I supposed to do about that?” Jiwoong chuckled fondly. He made his way to the couch, throwing the towel he was using to dry dishes over his shoulder. The couch creaked as he sat. “Sorry there’s no A/C. A lot of old buildings like this don’t have the room.” He gave Matthew a sympathetic pat on the leg.

 

Matthew made a noise similar to a balloon slowly deflating. “Did Gyuvin at least leave us some popsicles?” He pouted, lifting his head to make eye contact.

 

Jiwoong smiled brightly. “He did, actually! One of each colour.” He stood and reached out a hand to help Matthew do the same. “C’mon, you can pick first.”

 

Matthew’s heart leapt briefly at the gesture and warm expression on Jiwoong’s face. He only remembered he had to move when Jiwoong tilted his head in confusion. “Oh, sorry! Zoned out for a sec.” He took his hand and let himself get pulled up. He didn’t let go as Jiwoong led him to the kitchen, a selfish little act that he was sure Jiwoong wouldn’t mind anyway. He intertwined their fingers bit by bit, as if doing it slowly would make it harder to notice what he was doing. Jiwoong simply smiled back at him.

 

“What colour?” Jiwoong squatted in front of their freezer and began to dig through it with his free hand.

“Blue, please.” Matthew watched as Jiwoong held each packet up to the light, staring intently through the white plastic. He stopped himself from reaching out to pinch his cheek. Most people seemed to see Jiwoong as some sort of sex symbol, a big, buff, tough guy type. But in moments like this, where Jiwoong took on the little tasks just because he could, Matthew couldn’t help but admire how cute he was. Even if he was still big and buff. 

 

Jiwoong’s nose scrunched as he turned another popsicle in the light. “I think-” He stood, pushing the freezer shut with his foot. “this one’s blue.” He handed it to Matthew.

 

“Thank you Hyung~.” He sing-songed, unfortunately having to let go of Jiwoong’s hand to unwrap his treat. “Aww, dang it.” Matthew pouted. “Purple.” He held up the popsicle so Jiwoong could see. Jiwoong’s eyebrows knitted together. “Ah- No, It’s okay, they should really make the packages clear. It’s not your fault-” Matthew’s apology was interrupted by Jiwoong leaning down and licking up the popsicle in one long strip before snatching it out of his hands. Matthew froze, heart hammering just a little too hard at the sight.

 

“What? Now you can’t take it back. I licked it, it’s mine.” Jiwoong smiled and stuck out his tongue. It was already tinted purple.

 

Matthew blinked up at him in disbelief. “Real mature, Hyung.” He laughed. “Now I gotta dig through them all to find the blue one.” He punched his arm jokingly. “I woulda been fine with purple, you know?”

 

Jiwoong shrugged. “Yeah, but you wanted blue.”

 

For some reason, that made Matthew’s heart pick right back up. He laughed awkwardly, turning and crouching in front of the freezer. “...Thanks.” He opened the drawer and stuck his hands in, hoping the cold would cool down his brain.

 

“Hmm?” He heard Jiwoong take a couple steps forward. “It’s really not a problem.” He rested his hand softly on Matthew’s shoulder.

 

Matthew focused on rummaging and not making eye contact. “Mhmm.”

 

“...Did I do something wrong?” Jiwoong’s voice came out quietly. Matthew turned to see him picking at a loose string on his sock.

 

“No, of course not!” Matthew flailed his hands in front of him. “Sorry, you just surprised me, that's all.” He smiled sheepishly, not sure if he should say the next part. “You should be more careful with a face like yours.” He laughed stiffly, kicking himself at the sound of it.

 

“Hmm.” Jiwoong looked up. “What d’ya mean? Did I make you embarrassed?~” His mood had seemingly shifted the moment he found an opportunity to tease Matthew.

 

“Hyuuung!” Matthew swatted at his arm. “I was trying to make you feel better!”

 

Jiwoong scooted closer, arms wrapped around his knees. “What were you thinking, Maechu?” He gave a lopsided grin to accompany the cutesy nickname. “My act of kindness, twisted like that. I can’t even imagine what was going on in your brain when I-”

 

“Here it is!” Matthew grabbed a popsicle at random. “The blue one! Haha anyways!” He stood and turned on his heel. “I think I’ll go for a walk, it’s so nice out.” He bolted for the door.

“Aww, you baby!” Jiwoong called after him. “For real tho, don’t go outside, it’s like 40.”

 

“Don’t care! Bye!” He shut the door on Jiwoong’s giggle fit and made the miserable walk to go complain to Hanbin.

Chapter 2: Taerae

Taerae and Jiwoong hurried down the hallway towards the elevator. Somehow they’d both slept in this morning, the rest of their members not waking them up. When Taerae texted Hanbin about it he’d only supplied a ‘you seemed like you need it.’ Well, thanks to their leader’s thoughtfulness, they were 20 minutes behind schedule. "We're gonna be late at this point!" Taerae panted, slowing to a jog.

 

"No we're not!" Jiwoong smiled and grabbed Taerae by the wrist, dragging him faster than his own feet could take him. "Hold the doors please!" He yelled down the hall when he saw the elevator start to close. A businessman, probably in his 40s, caught the door and rolled his eyes. Jiwoong and Taerae scooched their way in, doors pinging incessantly. "Thank you so much." Jiwoong gave a warm smile. The businessman gave an unenthused nod back.

 

Taerae somehow finds himself squished against the back wall as more people pile in from lower floors. Jiwoong is in front of him, one arm reaching back to box him in as the elevator crowds. One more woman manages to squeeze her way on, causing everyone to shuffle towards Taerae's corner. He squeaks in surprise as Jiwoong accidently knocks into him.

 

Jiwoong turns his head over his shoulder at the noise. "You alright?"

 

Taerae nods. "Y-yeah. Just a little squished." He gives a half-hearted smile.

 

Jiwoong scrunches up his face in the way Taerae has come to know as his very important thinking face. The expression is distinctly cute, something that both fits Jiwoong way too well and not at all. It’s especially dissonant when he brings a hand up to stroke his chin, his sleeveless top showing off his biceps. "Here." Jiwoong shuffles so he's facing Taerae.

 

"What are you-?" Taerae stops mid sentence to yelp when Jiwoong places an arm on each side of his head, elbows to the wall. Taerae swallows and looks up at Jiwoong, faces barely a foot apart. The fabric of Jiwoong’s tank top brushes against Taerae’s jacket. Way too close.

 

"There." Taerae feels Jiwoong's breath skirt across his face, minty fresh. "Now no one can bump into you." Jiwoong smiles fondly.

 

Jesus Christ. That smile is way too bright for this awkward of a situation. Taerae looks back down at his feet. Jiwoong's are placed on either side. He knew he wasn't the tallest guy, and neither was Jiwoong to that point, but man, did he feel tiny at the moment. Boxed in, protected. Way, way too close. It seemed the elevator thought they were way too far apart though, as it bumped at the exact moment Taerae was adjusting his footing. He was thrown off balance, and straight at Jiwoong's chest.

 

"Woah there." Jiwoong chuckled, catching Taerae with one of his arms. Taerae was frozen in disbelief, nose snuggled in between Jiwoong's pecs, Jiwoong's hand on his lower back, his hands on both of Jiwoong's bare biceps. He smelled really nice. "You alright?"

 

Taerae shot back up to standing, bright red. "Haha yeah, sorry!" he blabbered, unable to make eye contact. Jiwoong's hand was still on his back, now rubbing small, comforting circles with his thumb. Taerae suppressed a shiver when he brought his hand a little higher.

 

"You sure?" Jiwoong leaned even closer, studying Taerae's obviously flustered face. "You're really red." He pressed his free hand to Taerae's forehead, tilting his head back in the process. Taerae's breath caught in his throat. He tried not to calculate the distance between their lips. Way, way, way too close. 

 

With his eyes planted squarely at the ceiling, he reached up to pull Jiwoong's hand away. "I'm okay Hyung, I promise." He let Jiwoong's hand fall out of his grasp, turning his head away. "I just want out of here." It wasn't exactly a lie, he did want to run away, it just wasn't the elevator's fault.

 

"I'm sorry, Taerae." Jiwoong frowned, leaning around Taerae's head to try and catch his eyes. "We can take the stairs next time, alright? Just a couple more seconds." Jiwoong glanced at the screen above the doors. "Two more floors, see?" 

 

Taerae could cry in that moment. Here he was, just embarrassed because of how damn close his groupmate was, and he was only worried about keeping Taerae safe. He finally met Jiwoong's eyes. "Thank you." he gave a small smile, still warm in the face.

 

"Anytime." Jiwoong smiled brightly as the elevator doors dinged and opened. Every filed off the elevator, Jiwoong and Taerae being the last ones off. "Let's get to practice, huh?" He took Taerae's hand gently and lead him out the doors and into the company car. Later Taerae overhears Jiwoong telling all his members that Taerae was terrified of elevators in hushed whispers, and to always take the stairs with him. Matthew gave him a knowing look.

Chapter 3: Hanbin

Notes:

to understand this chapter you have to watch the hyunjin x minho troublemaker challenge sorry not sorry (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EBCr7qmwukc)

“Left arm a little higher.” Hanbin hummed. “Here, like this.” He walked over and adjusted Jiwoong’s arm to just the right angle. “Perfect, just like that. Try by yourself.” He stepped back so Jiwoong could go through the moves for the millionth time that night. He studied Jiwoong’s movements intently, keen to catch any small errors.

 

“Like that?” Jiwoong asked, hands on his knees.

 

“Perfect!” Hanbin smiled. “You’re a quicker learner than you give yourself credit for!” He handed Jiwoong his water bottle which he downed in two gulps.

 

“Thank you. I’m trying.” Jiwoong panted once he finished off the bottle. “I feel like an old man compared to you guys.” He chuckled.

 

“Aww, don’t say that!” Hanbin gave Jiwoong’s hands a quick squeeze. “It’s not like Ricky’s any faster than you, and he’s 19.” He gave Jiwoong a cheeky smile. 

 

“Fair.” Jiwoong walked over to the side of the room and picked up his long-discarded sweatshirt. He wiped his face down, leftover makeup smudging onto the cotton. “I guess I’m still not used to the ‘young-cute’ concept.”

 

Hanbin took a seat by the mirror and patted for Jiwoong to sit next to him. “ Say my Name didn’t beat it into you?” He grinned.

 

“It did.” Jiwoong squatted down next to him. “I don’t know, it’s different. Say my Name was more… silly? Like I could laugh at myself and it’d still fit.” He shrugged and stole a swig out of Hanbin’s water bottle. “ In Bloom is like, elegant almost.”

 

“Hmm, I get what you mean.” Hanbin took back his water bottle and poured some water in his mouth. He thought for a moment, trying to find exactly what a leader should say in this kind of situation. “Why don’t we try this?” He stood up, brushing his hands on his sweatpants. “Why don’t you show me your favourite dance- one you think fits you really well- and I’ll see what we can incorporate!” 

 

Jiwoong rolled his head back to rest it on the mirror. His face bloomed into a smile at apparently the perfect idea. “Only if you do it with me.” 

 

His expression read trouble and only trouble, but Jiwoong wasn’t exactly a master prankster. At most he was the ‘steal a cookie from the cookie jar’ type. “If I know it, sure.” Hanbin offered a hand to help Jiwoong stand but he’d already leapt to his feet in excitement. “Is it that good of a song?” Hanbin laughed.

 

“You’ll see, you’ll see~” Jiwoong sing-songed as he typed on Hanbin’s phone. He turned to set it down on top of the speaker, shaking out his hands and doing a few little hops. “Come here.” He scuttered over to Hanbin and dragged him by the hips into place in the center of the room. He pressed play on the phone then scurried back over to Hanbin.

 

The first few notes echoed through the room. Hanbin recognized it immediately. “No, you didn’t-” He couldn’t stop the big goofy smile making its way onto his face. Troublemaker wasn’t what Hanbin was expecting but it certainly explained Jiwoong’s ’cat who just ate your pet canary’ attitude.

“You’re the girl!” Jiwoong half laughed, half shouted as he got into position. 

 

“Sure, sure.” Hanbin giggled, taking the first steps forward of the choreo, Jiwoong following close behind. The moves were basically carved into his brain with how many times- a totally normal amount, he swears- he’d watched the Stray Kids cover. He poised his hands down at his waist as Jiwoong placed one on his hip, swaying it along with the shimmies. He was giggling like a madman as Jiwoong did a little spin. He offered his arm and Jiwoong took it, face inching down it. When he reached his elbow he flicked his eyes up to meet Hanbin’s. He tried not to startle at the sudden eye contact, especially given how Jiwoong’s face was getting closer and closer. Say what you want, Jiwoong had really pretty eyes. Big and moony, almost completely black, but at this distance he could see the faint gold ring around his pupil. He blinked, suddenly aware of his situation. Oh dear. The push he gives Jiwoong is in the choreo but it comes out a little harder than he meant it. 

Jiwoong doesn’t seem to mind though, as he breaks into a fit of giggles. “Wait, wait! Switch, I wanna do the next part!” He took Hanbin by the wrist and spun him so they were back to back. He leaned his head back to rest it on Hanbin’s shoulder and their eyes connected again.

 

Hanbin swallowed nervously. Jiwoong is just so pretty, unfairly pretty. It’s no wonder that half of the contestants on Boys Planet fell for him the moment they laid eyes on him. Although, he can see how long Jiwoong’s eyelashes are much clearer from this distance.

 

Hanbin is brought back to the fact that he’s supposed to be dancing when Jiwoong’s hands are suddenly on the back of his thighs, sliding down. He watched him over his shoulder as he did a little squat and a flourish. It’s silly and overdramatic, but somehow Jiwoong pulled it off. 

 

Hanbin moved positions, hovering his hand over Jiwoong’s hip. The original choreo has Hanbin touching a little bit more of a… sensitive area but he doesn’t want to risk the spontaneous combustion that would probably come from touching Jiwoong’s actual ass. Jiwoong snickered then took half a step back to make contact. He looks over his shoulder with puffed cheeks and a finger to his lips. Hanbin can’t help but laugh, tension starting to melt from his shoulders. “Please- You look so stupid!” Hanbin laughs and slaps at Jiwoong’s arm.

 

“Lemme finish!” Jiwoong whines.

 

“Absolutely not. No way in hell am I letting you go through my legs.” Hanbin smiles.

 

“Oh, but you’d go through mine?” Jiwoong nudges him with his elbow.

 

Hanbin’s head basically explodes. “I- who? I didn’t-”

 

“You took the girl part1 The girl part goes through the legs!

 

“I didn’t take it! You literally said ‘you’re the girl’!”

 

“I dunno man, sounds like you really wanted it.” Jiwoong snickered to himself.

“Ugh.” Hanbin flopped to the floor. “You’re mean. Mean Hyung.”

 

“You love me.” Jiwoong squatted down and patted him on the back. “We could’ve had a cool moment like Keita and Woongki.”

 

“Don’t talk to me about the dance battle, I’m still mad they cut mine out.” Hanbin giggled on the floor.

 

“You were robbed.” Jiwoong shrugged.

 

“Really.” Hanbin sat up and leaned into Jiwoong’s arm. He smelled nice. A bit like sweat seeing as they’d been dancing for two hours but, still nice. He’s seen Jiwoong’s skincare routine, it’d make sense if he was just as thorough with his shower products. “You wanna go get something to eat?”

 

Jiwoong stood and stretched, letting out a yawn. He turned to look over his shoulder at Hanbin before smiling. “Yeah, that’d be really nice.”

Notes:

thanks for readinging :) guess who's next guess who's next!!! (hint yujin will tag along next chapter~)

Chapter 4: Gyuvin

Gyuvin waddles his way towards the couch, arms full of snacks. Wednesday movie night had become a bit of a tradition for him, Ricky, and Yujin, but unfortunately, Ricky had run off to a new cafe with Hao that night, something about strawberry rice pudding and cat stickers. Jiwoong, ever the mediator, offered to sit in for him. It wasn’t exactly the same but at least there was some resting dead face guy sitting with them. He takes his hard fought for assigned seat on the couch in between Yujin and Jiwoong and lets his armful topple onto the coffee table. “Here Yujinnie, I bought your favourite chips from the convenience store earlier!” He smiled widely and handed Yujin the bag. 

“Thanks Hyung.” He mumbles in the unaffected way teenagers do, putting his phone in his pocket. He opens the bag and takes a chip, nibbling on it like a chipmunk.

"Yujin-ah!" Gyuvin coos and grabs his cheeks. "You're. so. frickin’. cute." he bumps their foreheads together after each word.

"Hyung, stop it! I’m not cute!” Yujin shoves at Gyuvin’s ever approaching pinching fingers. “I swear to god I’m almost taller than you now!"

“Almost, not quite.” Gyuvin pats the very top of Yujin’s head. Soon the kid would learn to appreciate all the love he was given, even if he had to squish him so hard he forgot that he hated it in the first place.

“Only four more years.” Yujin says more to himself than to either of the other two.

Gyuvin lets go with a whine. "I can't help it! You’re my baby. I raised you from birth." He pinches Yujin’s cheeks and stretches them to the sides. “Squishy baby.”

“I’m sixteen!” Yujin slaps his hands away, the corners of his lips twitching, threatening a smile.

“Which is a baby age.” Gyuvin goes to shrug when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

"Gyuvin-ah?" He hears a voice from behind him, suddenly remembering that Jiwoong is, in fact, corporeal and in the room with them.

"Yeah?" He leans his head back to make eye contact with Jiwoong, using Yujin as a counterweight. Before he can even process any visual stimuli Jiwoong’s hand is on his face, cupped and lightly pressing on the hinge points of his jaw. His mouth opens on instinct. Suddenly there’s a chocolate in his mouth. His brain kickstarts and realises that Jiwoong is hovering above him. It takes him a minute to actually close his mouth, completely forgetting about getting free candy in exchange of a few more milliseconds of this view. Has Jiwoong always had so many moles?

Jiwoong releases his ever so gentle hold, but Gyuvin shoots back up to sitting as if he’s spring loaded. He turns stiffly to look at Jiwoong, catching Yujin’s beet-red face on his way. He’d bet good money he was worse off, if he was being honest with himself. Jiwoong just sat there, happily licking melted chocolate off of the pads of his fingers while Gyuvin did his very, very best not to stare at his mouth like a total creep.

Jiwoong looks back over and Gyuvin has to fight his nervous system to not automatically turn away. "What?" he tilts his head. "Is that like, a you guys thing?" he fiddles with his fingers, apparently more worried he did something wrong than concerned about Gyuvin’s super normal reaction to being face-held.

"N-no!" Yujin protests, standing up from the couch and taking a few steps back out of sheer panic. "You can do it, its fine!" He says quickly.

Gyuvin blinks up at Yujin in disbelief. "Why do you get a say? It was my face!" He gestures with his whole hand at himself.

Jiwoong coils into himself, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm so sorry, Gyuvin-ah, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted to join in."

"N-no, it's fine!" He says before he can stop himself. Yujin makes a noise behind him, somewhere in between a screech and a complaint. "I was just startled. Warn me... next... time." He cringes at himself but Jiwoong's face lights right back up.

"Oh thank god." Jiwoong sighs, visibly relaxing and placing a hand on Gyuvin’s shoulder. Which he is normal about.

"Me next." Yujin blurts out, still a good 4 feet away.

" No. " Gyuvin scurries to pull Yujin back on the couch and cups his cheeks again. "You're just a baby! Don't let that man do such terrible things to you." He whispers harshly, squishing his cheeks so he’s forced into a pout.

"Hyung, we're only a couple years apart!"

"Baby man. Little ILLEGAL baby man." Gyuvin stares daggers at him.

"Fiiiine." Yujin huffs and angrily lays down on Gyuvin's free shoulder.

"What was that about?" Jiwoong says carefully.

"Oh nothing really, just saying that I'm a total full grown legal adult and Yujin’s just a little baby." Gyuvin huffs, knocking his shoulder up to bug him.

"...And?”

"A-and," Gyuvin flounders. "And that means we should be responsible with our movie choice! We’d have to call and ask his parents if he can watch something M-rated." he punctuates with another quick laser-eyed stare at Yujin, who seemingly has given up and has instead turned his attention back to his snacks. Gyuvin shoves a handful of popcorn in his mouth so he's not expected to answer any more questions.

"I don’t think it’ll need to come to that.” Jiwoong chuckles. You okay with this movie, Yujin-ah?" Jiwoong ruffles his hair lightly to which he nods and Jiwoong presses play. The title card hasn't even shown yet when Jiwoong starts unwrapping another Reeses for Gyuvin.

Notes:

HI OMG

so yeah this shouldn't've taken 7 months qwq i swear to god I was working on it but i just couldn't get it wright T^T got possessed by the writing demon tonight ig??? hao chapter should be out soon but obviously dont trust my word on these things! love you mwah bye

Chapter 5: Hao

Six in the morning is too early for anything , let alone filming a variety show where you have to pretend you’re having the best time of your life. Hao rubs a hand down his face and fixes his expression, the makeup artist waiting for him before slathering his face in primer. He folds his hands on his chest and makes a secret (not so secret) wish that the more outgoing members would handle anything embarrassing today and he could just tell stories like usual.

And his wish almost came true. Until he was asked to both use his brain this early and his eyes without glasses. They were going down the line to guess celebrities, and if they didn’t give Hao some random old man no one's ever heard of he’d be actually good at this game. He knew celebrities!

“ Ahh, nope! That’s Bak Kooyoung!”

Okay maybe he’d heard of this particular old man.

He sits out and waits for who’ll be roped in with him for some mystery punishment they’d prepared. When the hosts said they needed a pair he was suspicious, but suspicious in a ‘Oh no, I hope I don’t have to sing a dumb song with Ricky’ type of way. But to his surprise Ricky’s basically hand-fed a celebrity from one of his dramas, shouting their name and turning smugly to the row of his members who aren’t impressed in the slightest.

He watches in both horror and a little adoration as Jiwoong is shown his celebrity and begins to squint, scrunching up his whole face in an attempt to see a picture on a piece of paper no farther than three feet from his face. No way the styling team left them both blind zombies today, right? But as Jiwoong mumbles something about Girl’s Generation at a picture that is so clearly of Eunchae of Le Sserafim that Hao could tell who it was from his seat in the back, he knows it’s a lost cause.

“Hyung, did you just say the first girl that you could think of?” Matthew snickers and pats him half-consolingly on the back.

“No, no! I swear, I remember her! These lenses don't do anything.” He pouts like a baby, pulling his bottom eyelid down like it’s hard to see that they gave him solely cosmetic bright blue contacts.

“C’mon Hyung, let’s get this over with.” Hao dusts off his jeans and stands.

“Sit right here, please!” The emcee motions to two newly placed stools in the middle of the sound stage. Right in perfect view of literally everyone in the room. Hao sighs internally and takes his seat. “Oh and you’ll be needing these!” She turns to grab something off a small table by the host's stools and hands it to Hao.

A box of Pepero. God help him.

Of course, of course, of all the men in his group he could’ve played gay chicken with, it just had to be the one who he’s actually seen kiss another man. He’s not a creep of course, he watched Jiwoong’s dramas long before they actually knew each other, and if he’s being honest he’s starting to feel that very familiar bubble in his throat that he got when he first saw Jiwoong step onto the Boys Planet stage.

He snaps to attention at the gentle squeak of Jiwoong adjusting in his seat. “Sorry. Um-” He fiddles with the box, punching out the cardboard perforation while trying to stop his hands from shaking. Jiwoong’s looking at him, almost staring, and it's freaking him the hell out. Hao tears his eyes away to look to his members for any solace, but all he finds is Hanbin trying to push down a giggle and Ricky staring at Jiwoong with way too much interest. Something is wrong with all of them.

“How do you wanna do this?” Jiwoong places a hand on Hao’s knee, making him jolt. He rubs his thumb in a little circle of apology. “I can stay still if you want, or I can do all the moving. Up to you.”

“ I’ll stay.” Hao says without thinking. God, his face is so warm, he must be glowing through his foundation by now. He looks up at the cameras, deliberately not letting his eye s pass over Jiwoong. He may be a nervous, gay wreck, but he’s nothing if not a performer. “Aww, this is gonna be gross! Don’t get too close, Hyung.” He pouts large and over-exaggerated. Jiwoong chuckles to his side and Hao has to bite his tongue to not fawn over it.

“I promise, Hao-yah.” Hao feels the hand back on his knee before he’s turned in his swivel stool by force. “Like you said, let’s get this over with, hm?” Jiwoong takes the box of Pepero from him, squeezing his hand a little on his way. His hands are so soft, were they always this soft?

Hao watches as Jiwoong takes a single stick out of the box and places in his own mouth. God, his mouth is so pretty too. He thought that when he was watching his drama too- but that train of thought certainly isn’t going to help right now. Jiwoong leans forward just enough to rest his hands on his knees, and also just enough that Hao can see the definition of his pecs down his half buttoned shirt.

Hao swallows in a way he hopes is subtle. He looks briefly at Jiwoong’s crazy blue contact-ified eyes for a go ahead before leaning forward at placing his teeth at the end of the cookie. He feels weird, like he’s invaded some invisible bubble that he subconsciously never stepped foot in for fear of the consequences. He can smell Jiwoong’s cologne, all pine tree and musk and whatever they try to Old Spice smell like.

He should close his eyes- he wants to- but as Jiwoong takes the first bite forward Hao can’t b are to miss a second. His brain is rightfully screaming at him that there’s a camera filming him and this is one hundred percent getting uploaded to the internet forever, edited and remixed a million times over, but this view is too nice to give up on.

He can feel the heat off of Jiwoong’s face as he takes another bite, having to put a hand on Hao’s knee to stabilize himself. Another bite and a hand is on his neck, pulling him so there’s no chance he can run away, not like he’s planning to. The next, their noses brush. Hao’s heart is beating in his throat. He tilts his head a little, making room for J iwoong to take one last bite, to close the distance.

But suddenly the heat is gone, along with Jiwoong. He snaps off the cookie and covers his face with his arm, turning away from the cameras. There’s no way Jiwoong could be embarrassed right now, right? Not any more embarrassed than Hao is anyway.

He bites his end of the cookie off, the distance left between them in the end falling into his cupped hand. He sits stunned for a moment, just staring at the side of Jiwoong’s head.

“I think we did pretty good actually.” Hao turns fully in his stool to the host, holding up no more than three centimetres of Pepero. He watches her fix her expression back into one that doesn’t read ‘blatant shock’.

“Hm- yes, you two did... better than expected.” Hao can tell that she didn’t mean anything by that but he still takes it as a compliment. He looks over his shoulder to his his big strong Hyung staring straight into his lap, red up to his hairline.

The best Hao expected out of this day was to tell a few funny stories, get some clips circulating of him being charming and well-spoken. But as he stands giggling at the man he was terrified of making the wrong type of impression on, he thinks maybe he got a little more than he bargained for.

Notes:

hey it took less long than last time!!! hi again missed you all, sorry for the wait again T^T apparently the way to force me to work on this instead of one of my many other drafts that have been boiling for like a year is just to shove me in a laundromat with no internet access and a ten year old laptop. the space bar was very squeaky. i sat in the corner and refused to make eye contact with any sweet old ladies for fear they would read my mind and know i was writing subpar kpop boy fanfiction.

anyways yes! last chapter will be ricky and hopefully out in the next month depending on if my washing machine gets fixed or not

Chapter 6: Ricky

Notes:

guys i did it. guys its done. guys. when i started this gunwook was still a minor. when i started this zb1 had one album. crazy how time flies when youre doing other stuff...

now that this is done it can stop guilt tripping me from the background and i can work on other stuff with a clear mind qwq

hope you enjoy it and so so SO sorry for the wait!

Ricky tries not to scream as he's thrown awake. His heart beats loud in his ears, thrumming blood through his system. Another stress dream was the last thing he needed. What he needed was sleep, so he could stop being so stressed, so his stress dreams would go away. The ironic circle of steps is not lost on him. He turns in his sheets, trying to get comfortable again, but with his nerves so shot he knows it's no use. But he still tries, just like every time the stress gets to him, every time his brain invades his peace. Gyuvin snores loudly on the other side of the room and Ricky fights down a pang of jealousy.

 

He sighs and rubs his eyes into the heels of his palms. Laying there isn’t going to fix anything, it never does. So he flips the covers off himself, finds some pants, and scoots out of the room as quietly as possible. His shoulders untense a little as he latches the door shut. He pulls his phone out of his pocket as he pads to the kitchen. The screen blinks at him, telling him it's nearly three in the morning, too late to go back to sleep but too early to be up for the day.

 

The plan is to get himself a tea, try to relax on the couch, and go through his day with as many naps as possible. But he can't do that apparently. Because Jiwoong is there.

 

Jiwoong stands with both hands on the kitchen counter, staring intently into his mug like it’ll run away the second he takes his eyes off it. Ricky won't lie, it freaks him out a bit. Not just the staring but also the interruption to his routine. 

 

“...Hyung?”

 

Jiwoong snaps out of his trance, slowly lifting his head and yawning.

 

“You okay?” Ricky whispers, a little sheepish.

 

Jiwoong rubs a hand down his face. “Mhmm. Just having trouble sleeping.” He shakes his head and lifts his mug to his mouth. “I’m guessing it’s the same for you?”

 

Ricky nods, hesitating before entering the kitchen. His favourite mug is right where he left it, upside down in the dish rack. 

 

“The kettle should still be hot.” Jiwoong talks through another yawn. Ricky nods once again and busies himself with sweetening his tea.

 

They sit side by side at the kitchen island until Ricky finishes his drink, both too tired to talk. Jiwoong hums and stretches as Ricky washes his mug and puts it back in its spot in the dish rack. “How about we watch something together?” Jiwoong rests his chin on the counter, looking up at Ricky as he speaks. Ricky wonders if sometimes Jiwoong forgets what effect his face can have on people. It has a lot of effects on him at least.

 

“Sure.” Ricky swallows. He follows a step behind Jiwoong, watching his cat print socks as they go. This atmosphere is familiar at this point. Ricky's brain pumps him full of nervous adrenaline and feelings of safety all at once. Back in Boys Planet, he use to walk the long way to the cafeteria just to avoid this feeling. But now it calms him down in a strange way.

 

The couch squeaks as Jiwoong sits, the poor thing is always on the verge of breaking. The TV is flicked on with a dull blue glow. It takes until Jiwoong looks up at him for Rucky to realize he's still standing.

 

Jiwoong smiles, wordlessly patting the spot beside him.

 

“Sorry.” Ricky mumbles. He sits far enough so he doesn't actually touch Jiwoong but he can still feel the warmth emanating from his body. “Sleepy...” He tucks his knees to his chest.

 

“Wanna watch something familiar? One of your dramas?” Jiwoong squints at the TV, pressing the buttons on the remote with his pointer finger like an old man. “New stuff takes too much brain power.”

 

Ricky nods, tucking his chin in his knees, becoming a little ball of conflicted nerves. 

 

Jiwoong finds a recent favourite of Ricky’s with only a little trouble and presses play. He yawns and stretches, casually wrapping an arm around Ricky’s shoulders. Ricky's heart can't decide whether to hammer through his ribs or not. 

 

They sit and watch Ricky’s show, barely touching. Ricky mumbles out some plot points so Jiwoong isn’t completely lost. He's too sleepy to really remember any character names, but it doesn't seem like Jiwoong minds. He just hums after everything, nodding like he fully understands, even though Ricky knows he's not doing a very good job explaining.

 

Ricky can't tell how long it's been when Jiwoong pulls his head to rest on his chest. He doesn't remember when he closed his eyes either. He feels a throw blanket be laid across him, the one Ricky won out of a sparkly pink claw machine when they visited Japan. He knows because Jiwoong always folds it and lays it across the back of the couch, like the strawberry and whipped cream characters on it add to the decor. Ricky yawns and tries to blink his eyes open, but the fight against sleep is too hard. He grumbles- something of a thank you- then gives in, snuggling his face down into Jiwoong’s collarbone and wrapping an arm around his waist. He can be embarrassed in the morning. For now, he's comfortable and warm and safe.

 

Jiwoong cards a hand through Ricky's hair, humming contentedly. “Sleep well, Ricky-ah.” He places a kiss to his scalp. “See you in the morning.”

Notes:

thank you all for reading this, even if its a little awkward and poorly written. this series was my way of getting myself back into writing after taking multiple really long breaks. if you've been here since 2023 oe even if you just found this today bc of the update, thank you so much for reading!!

AHH IM DONE IM FREEEE

Notes:

hehe thanks for reading the first little section :) i'm going to try to upload a chapter every day bc theyre so short and pressure motivates me :) vibes