Work Text:
It’s been the longest few weeks of Sunoo’s entire life. He remembers the worry when Jake first got diagnosed with COVID-19, then the pure anxiety when the four others got diagnosed, and finally the sorrow when Ni-ki was confirmed positive as well. It’s kind of just been a rollercoaster of emotions for him, and saying he was lonely would be a sore underestimate.
He calls various members everyday, and all he’s really doing is watching a ton of dramas and YouTube, but he still feels so alone. He’s the only one at the dorm, and it’s not a pleasant feeling. The space is far too huge without its other occupants, and Sunoo often feels like he’s off on his own island. It’s weird sleeping in a room with seven beds by yourself.
He misses the other members, a lot, but he’s done his best to appear at least semi-ok. He’s no fool, he knows the others miss each other too and he’s sure that Jungwon’s probably having an even tougher time than he is as their leader. He doesn’t feel like being another thing for the others to worry about, they need to just focus on healing and taking care of themselves.
The vocalist tiredly shuffles into their living room and flops onto their sofa. This has been his routine for the past few weeks; get up, lay on the sofa for a half hour, wash up, maybe eat something, watch stuff on TV or on YouTube. It’s rather simple, and he knows it’s not the best but what’s he supposed to do? He can’t go out anywhere and no one’s here to tease him. If he’s being totally honest, his condition has not been the best lately.
He hasn’t been able to sleep or eat properly without the other members around. They keep him sane and are part of his routine, without them he isn’t really sure what to do. His body is so attuned to them that while they've been gone, Sunoo’s own rhythm has been drastically interrupted. He feels tired and crappy most of the time, but not crappy enough that he thinks he's contracted the virus, it’s more a result of his own doing.
Their manager has noticed his decline too. He started coming by more often after about a week and half into their quarantine when he realized that Sunoo wasn’t doing so hot. The second he had stepped into the boys’ dorm, he knew something was up. There was just a gut feeling that something was wrong, and when he ventured into the bedroom to find Sunoo, he found the member of the maknae line lying listlessly on his bed. He was holding his phone, but he didn’t really appear to be actually watching anything.
He hadn’t even reacted until the manager had appeared at his bedside, and when he did he had jumped in surprise as if he hadn't heard their manger come through the front door or into the bedroom at all. After that little incident, their manager had decided to come more frequently just in case. Sunoo wasn’t doing bad per say, but he wasn't doing good and he didn’t want to risk having the boy worsen. Of course he was concerned because of Sunoo’s medical history, but he was also just concerned for all of them in general as the Enhypen members were still so young and he really kind of saw them like his own children.
Just the other day though, their manager really got a true glimpse of Sunoo’s feelings when he came in the late afternoon. He had knocked and announced himself, as usual, to warn Sunoo that he was coming in, not that he thought the others would acknowledge it anyway. Then he stepped into an almost pitch black apartment. The curtains had been drawn shut, the lights in the kitchen completely off, and no light streaming in from either the bathroom or the bedroom. It was eerie, and just plain concerning. Sunoo always at least had the bedroom light on, even if he was just napping.
He had carefully made his way to the bedroom and immediately zeroed onto Sunoo’s bed, but he hadn’t been there. After a quick few seconds of panic, he had suddenly heard crying from the other room. He doesn’t remember how he missed it earlier, but he does remember eventually finding the missing boy in the laundry room clutching onto one of Sunghoon’s hoodies.
He had just been standing there, hugging the piece of clothing close and occasionally letting out painful sobs. He clearly hadn’t been expecting their manager and hadn’t heard him come in, because the second Donghyun made a noise, Sunoo’s head had whipped over to him and he froze in complete shock.
There were a tense few seconds where Donghyun was unsure whether Sunoo would snap or break down again, but then he had ended up needlessly apologizing. Before Donghyun could even get in a word, the 03 liner was stumbling over an apology for looking like a mess and for making their manager see him in such a sad state. It was heartbreaking, and Donghyun had immediately stepped forward to draw the young boy into his arms.
Sunoo had been stiff at first, shaking slightly with the effort of trying to suppress his cries, but then he had melted into the hug and let Donghyun reassure him while he let everything out. Donghyun vividly remembers telling the vocalist that it was ok to miss the others, and the heartbreak he felt when Sunoo replied with a “but I have to be strong for them.” Donghyun knew that Sunoo missed the others, but he didn’t realize it was to this extent. It was hard to witness the boy’s pain, so he couldn’t even imagine what it would feel like to actually be Sunoo.
After that, he had made sure Sunoo had eaten something and felt at least a little better before having him go lay down. Unfortunately, he had to leave and take care of some things, but he made sure Sunoo was ok with him leaving before he did and told him that he’d be back to check on him more. That was two days ago, and even though Donghyun knows that the members will be coming back to the dorm soon, he still worries about Sunoo’s condition. All he can do now is just be patient.
Sunoo has migrated from his dent in the couch to the bathroom to wash up before getting some food. It looks like he’s just come back from a storm with the way his hair is sticking up every which way. He spends at least ten minutes combing it down and styling it so it looks normal. He has some standards for himself, plus he knows he’s going to call the members later so he can’t show up completely disheveled.
When he looks in the mirror, he takes in the purple bags under his eyes and pale skin and realizes that his sleep deprivation is starting to become more obvious. Looks like he’s putting on makeup again today too. Sunoo reaches over to pick up the only foundation on the counter and is hit with another painful reminder that he’s the only one here. Usually there's all sorts of stuff littering their counter and it’s nearly impossible to find your own products. Before Sunoo can dwell on it too much though, he quickly snaps his gaze back to the mirror and focuses on applying the makeup evenly.
Once he’s satisfied with the look, he retreats back to the bedroom to pick out a quick outfit. He chooses his black sweatpants and his soft gray jacket with dark blue sleeves that he’s worn on their vlives before, and then he shuffles back to the kitchen. He already knows what he wants to eat. Despite it being noon, he’s not really in the mood for lunch food so he opts for a bowl of cereal instead. He moves robotically about the kitchen putting his meal together, and then takes a seat at their long dining table. The sounds of his spoon scraping the bowl reverberate around the room, but Sunoo tries to ignore it by blasting the volume on his phone.
He glances down to check the time. It’s almost 1:00pm, and he has about five minutes before their group call. Usually, they’d all call around lunch time to see what the others are eating, but Jay said that time was bad for him, Sunoo has no idea why there’s literally no place he could go, but they moved the call anyway.
To pass the time, he ends up just aimlessly scrolling through his phone and trying to keep his thoughts positive. Donghyun had visited him earlier in the morning to check on him, which Sunoo appreciates. He’s still a little embarrassed about being caught mid-meltdown the other day, but Donghyun had actually helped him a lot. He hadn’t judged him at all, and he was great at reassuring Sunoo.
He’s still feeling a little down, but talking to their manager really helped and the care he showed was really nice. For the first time in a while, he hadn’t felt so isolated. Suddenly, the Facetime notification pops up on his phone and Sunoo is pulled back to reality. His stomach flips in nervousness, or is it excitement? And he immediately answers the call.
A beat later, Jungwon’s face appears on his screen followed by the other members as they trickle in.
“Hi Sunoo hyung!” Jungwon greets happily.
“Hi!”
“What have you been up to?”
“Same thing as usual, just watching dramas and stuff!” He sees Jungwon’s fond smile and hears someone snort in the background.
“Hey! Don’t act like you all haven’t been doing the same thing!”
“I’m not denying it, but I’m also not going to be the first to admit it,” Ni-Ki teases from the bottom right of the screen. Sunoo narrows his eyes at him.
“Where are you even?”
“Me?”
“You look like you’re in witness protection,” Jay interjects. That gets a laugh out of all of them. Ni-ki rolls his eyes, at least Sunoo thinks so. It really is hard to see him, the window he’s in front of is casting major shadows.
“Ok, moving on~,” Jungwon sings-songs. “Has anyone been doing anything that isn’t just watching dramas?”
“...”
“Ok nevermind then.”
“No wait! I actually have something!” Heeseung jumps in. Jungwon nods to give their hyung the go ahead.
“I’ve finally mastered bottle flipping!”
Jungwon sinks into his chair and looks up at the ceiling, completely done, and the rest of them bust out laughing.
“Hyung! Now that you’ve said that you have to prove it!”
“Sure, give me a second.”
Heeseung gets up and the six of them watch as he moves to the back of the frame and picks up a water bottle from the desk in the corner. He returns, uncaps it, and starts drinking more of the liquid. He does it super slowly though and Sunghoon and Jake start to complain.
“Stop stalling!”
Heeseung makes a noise of annoyance and continues drinking. He finally gets the water to the level he wants and flaunts the bottle to the camera like it’s a water commercial. Sunoo laughs loudly at him while the others start teasing him for how cheesy it is.
“Ok, is everyone ready?”
“We were ready five years ago,” Ni-Ki comments.
Heeseung sticks his tongue out at the youngest.
“Hold on, I’m recording this.”
“Jake, why?”
“Cuz I want to?”
“Just do it please!”
They all watch carefully as Heeseung grabs the top of the bottle with the tips of his fingers. Then, he gives the bottle a couple of experimental swings before letting it fly. It barely completes one and a half times before landing on the edge, wobbling, and then falling over. Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Jake are probably the happiest witnessing their hyung’s failure, and the others are just shaking their heads. Heeseung is glaring at the bottle like it’s personally offended him, which it has, and then he attempts to explain himself.
“Listen! That was just a practice round ok! It was too light, it needed more water, if there was like another inch then it would have landed. Also that should count, it totally stayed upright for like three second!”
“But it fell!”
“Not instantly though!”
“Whatever you say hyung.”
Jungwon is trying to hide his smirk but Sunoo knows he’s just as amused. He lets the sixth of them continue to clown their hyung for a few more minutes before attempting to reign them in again. However, just as Jungwon opens his mouth to say something, Sunghoon beats him to it.
“Sunoo, are you doing ok?”
“Me?”
The vocalist is caught off guard and looks at Sunghoon with wide eyes.
“Yeah. It’s just that you look kind of tired.”
Crap. Guess I didn’t do a great job of hiding my eye bags .
“I’m ok! Really! I just had a hard time falling asleep the other day, but I’m ok.”
Sunghoon stares at him for a solid few seconds and Sunoo tries not to squirm under his scrutinizing gaze, if there’s anyone that’s going to call out his lie then it’s Sunghoon. Fortunately, Jay comes to his rescue.
“Sunghoon, chill out a little. You’re freaking him out.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s ok,” comes the quiet reply.
Sunoo does his best to put on a smile, but he knows the others can tell that it’s strained.
“So, do you all know when you’re coming back?”
Last week, the group had told Sunoo that they were all recovering well and would be returning soon. Jungwon had said that the majority of them had already been cleared to be released and that the last one of them would be cleared by next week so they could all six return together.
Sunoo had been looking forward to it and had literally been counting down the hours since they had told him the news. This should be the week, the seven of them should be reunited and all under one roof once again. However, instead of the excited response he was expecting, he’s met with shifty gazes and tense silence. They all refuse to make eye contact with him, even Jungwon. His stomach sinks and he feels his throat start to clog up, but he does his best to appear calm.
“Are you...not coming back?”
“No we are!” Jungwon quickly rushes to reply. “Just...not this week. They want to keep us for a few more days as a precautionary measure and just to run a few more tests. I promise we’ll be back after they’re done though! It should only take like ‘three days’ is what they said.”
No one says anything, Sunoo can’t even look at any of them. He averts his gaze and wills himself not to cry. Three days is nothing compared to the past few weeks he’s endured by himself, but it still stings. He feels like a baby, crying over not getting to see his friends for three days, but it still hurts more than he’d like to admit. However, he can’t show it, the other members are probably just as sad and it’s his job to keep the mood up. He can do this, just keep it up for a few more minutes.
“That’s ok!” The 03 liner tries to reassure. He gives them what he hopes is a warm smile and desperately tries not to lose it when he sees all six of them finally look back at the camera. “I’d rather have you guys stay longer and be absolutely sure you’re ok than rush things. Your health is not something to mess with.” Jungwon gives him an unreadable look which Sunoo misses.
“Will you be ok hyung?” Ni-Ki suddenly asks.
The maknae looks uncharacteristically concerned and Sunoo immediately softens his façade into something more genuine.
“I’ll be fine! Just worry about yourself Ni-Ki-yah!”
“Alright, we have to go, but we’ll talk to you later Sunoo!” Jay suddenly interrupts.
Sunoo waves goodbye to them and then the call abruptly ends. Jungwon quickly opens up his other group chat with all the members, except Sunoo, and rings them. Immediately, five other faces pop into the virtual room.
“So that didn’t go so well,” Jake comments lowly.
“I’m starting to think that this isn’t such a good idea,” Jungwon agrees.
“I mean-he didn’t seem too upset, right?”
“Well he definitely wasn’t happy. Did you see his face when he asked if we were coming back? I felt so bad! He looked so crushed!”
“Maybe it’ll just add to the sweetness of the surprise though. If we come back tomorrow when he’s definitely not expecting it then it’ll be fine. We’ll be extra early!”
“I don’t know,” Sunghoon says. “He really did look upset, he also looked really tired today. I’m concerned.”
“It’ll be fine! He may be a bit sad about it today, but we’ll literally be back tomorrow and then we’ll be able to fix it in-person! He’ll be so surprised!”
“Oh he’ll be surprised all right,” comes Ni-ki’s snarky reply.
“Ok fine, let’s just continue since we’ll literally be back tomorrow,” Jungwon decides.
Some of the members still look unsure, but they don’t object and agree not to say anything. The leader assures them that they’ll be back at the dorms first thing the next day, and that seems to appease some of them, especially Sunghoon. He really hopes this works out, the goal is to surprise Sunoo, not traumatize him.
Sunoo’s angry, not necessarily at the members, but at the situation. He’s so tired of being alone, of feeling exhausted all the time, of not being able to eat properly, of not being able to cuddle with any of his hyungs or dongsaeng. The second the call had ended, he had thrown his phone across the room onto the sofa. He was angry enough to want to throw something, but not angry enough to sacrifice his most expensive item.
He’s angry, but he’s mostly hurt. He feels like the victim of a tragic love story even though the situation isn’t really that dire, but that doesn't make it less painful. Why didn’t the others tell him earlier? What stupid tests do they have to go through? He doesn’t remember having to do any of that . He can feel his eyes burning and the lump in his throat is making it hard to focus. He’s already done enough crying, and he doesn’t want to anymore, but his body doesn't care.
He feels stupid and helpless all at the same time. He’s sitting by himself, at their dining table, having yet another meltdown, and it’s ridiculous. He really doesn’t need to be so dramatic, the members will be back in a few days, they’re not dying; they’re not leaving forever. It’s nothing to worry so much about, so why does he feel so horrible?
Sunoo spends a good few minutes fighting with the voice in his head and willing his tears to stop falling before taking a shaky inhale and composing himself. He’s fine, it’s fine, they’re gonna be just fine. He’s gonna watch a few more dramas, eat cereal a few more times, and then the members will be back before he knows it. His body feels like a sack of potatoes as he drags himself out of the chair and toward the bathroom.
He grabs some tissues to dry his eyes and blow his nose and does his best to avoid looking in the mirror. He already knows he looks like a hot mess, no need to confirm it. He hates the pandemic, he hates quarantine, he hates being isolated. Sunoo’s angry thoughts are not helping, they’re just making him more upset so he does his best to just clear his mind of everything.
He uses the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away a few more tears before heading back to the living room and crashing down onto the sofa. He wordlessly picks up his phone and unlocks it to find something to watch. He might as well pick another whole drama to watch or a long movie to take his mind off of things. After minutes, or is it hours of scrolling, he eventually decides to start a Disney marathon. That should last him a while.
It’s 9:30pm by the time Sunoo decides he’s done with watching movies. He’s already watched two Captain America movies, Coco, the Princess and the Frog, and is halfway through Mulan when he decides to just go to bed. He’s not really hungry anyways. Some of the movies are just making things worse as he’s reminded of all the times the seven of them stayed up late watching Marvel movies or horror movies out of Sunoo and Ni-ki’s request. The nostalgia is not helping.
Sunoo ends up spending an excessively long amount of time in the shower, since he doesn’t have to share, and desperately tries not to think about the members too much. When he emerges from the shower clean and finished with his night routine, he pads back to the bedroom and freezes in the doorway. Sunghoon’s fuzzy blue shirt is hanging over the railing of his bunk.
Would it be weird for him to take it? After a quick internal debate, Sunoo decides to take it. No one’s around anyway and he’s still feeling sad so he’s gonna do it. He gingerly pulls the article of clothing off and holds the soft fabric in his hands before quickly sniffing it. Fortunately, Sunghoon is one of the neater members, but it also just smells like him and Sunoo finds himself unconsciously relaxing. He feels slightly guilty about it, but mostly just relieved.
Maybe he misses them all more than he thought. The next few minutes are kind of like a fever dream as Sunoo ends up going through all the things the members left behind and collecting them on his bed like he's a bird making a nest. It’s even thrown together like a nest as well. Various articles of clothing are all clumped together, and even though it kind of goes against Sunoo’s neat, Type A nature, it’s perfect. He shuffles over to turn off the light and then climbs back to his own bed to flop onto the pile.
It’s a little uncomfortable, but being surrounded by the member’s clothes and scents outweighs how physically comforting the nest is. Sunoo closes his eyes and curls up on his side. He is distinctly aware that his hair's still wet and dripping rivulets of water down the back of his neck, but he has no motivation to move.
His limbs feel like lead and he doesn’t think he’d be able to pry his eyes open even if he wanted to. It feels like he hasn’t slept in days, which he hasn’t, but that’s besides the point. There’s literally nothing in the world right now that could make him get up. He can’t even be bothered to get under his comforter. Laying on top will have to suffice for now.
Sunoo pulls the closest clothing time toward him to hold, he thinks it’s Ni-Ki’s fluffy white sweater, but it could also be Jay’s blue hoodie. The scents are starting to meld together into one and Sunoo’s already fuzzy brain can’t be bothered to tell them apart. Being surrounded in spirit by the other members helps take the edge off some of the pain, but he still misses them greatly.
He’ll just have to find a way to suck it up for another few days. He can do it. He’s fine, it’ll be fine.
The six COVID-19 cleared members sit in the back of the van, practically vibrating with excitement and nervousness. Their manager had picked them up at the early hour of 6:00am per their request, and is currently driving them back to the dorm. It’s a miracle that they were all actually awake and ready to leave by that time, Jungwon’s actually kind of impressed. There’s loud chatter taking place in the background on the ride there and it’s obvious that they’re all excited to finally be reunited.
Sunghoon and Ni-ki still seem kind of put off about the whole pranking/surprising Sunoo situation, but they’re mostly just excited to see him again. Heeseung is in the middle of wondering aloud how Sunoo will react when their manager suddenly cuts in.
“You’re planning a prank?” Donghyun asks neutrally from the front.
The six boys exchange looks in the back. Although his tone is level, they can see the firm frown on their manager’s face and the way his eyes have hardened. The silence starts to stretch on for too long and the tension starts to rise, but before there can be any other misconceptions Jay intervenes.
“We were planning on surprising Sunoo by showing up today after telling him we wouldn’t be able to come back for another few days. We told him yesterday on our group call, but we weren't going to record it,” Jay trails off as he really starts to think about how bad it sounds out loud.
Donghyun says nothing for a good few minutes, and that’s almost worse. His expression is unreadable except for how hard he’s gripping the wheel. The Enhypen members lapse into silence and all start either looking out the window or at their feet. Ni-ki is fidgeting worriedly with the strings on his hoodie and Jake is tapping his foot a little too fast. Donghyun knows the boys were just being playful, but he’s also the only one who knows how much of an impact the distance has had on the missing member.
He isn’t sure how to really get through to them the impact this may have on Sunoo, so he decides to just restate what they said in real terms. He knows they all have a soft spot for the younger, and he knows this wasn’t a malicious attempt, but he needs to prepare them for the reaction they might get and to help prevent things like this from happening again. Donghyun clears his throat and watches as all six heads snap up to catch his gaze in the rear view mirror.
“So you all decided to to prank Sunoo by pretending you have to stay longer at the treatment facility even though you already got his hopes up and promised you’d be back this week?”
They all nod slowly, and Donghyun can see on their faces that they already feel incredibly guilty. Donghyun exhales evenly and tries not to convey too much disappointment. He wants them to understand but not be devastated by a lecture. He’s not sure if he’s glad he picked up the members first instead of checking in on Sunoo, if he had talked to Sunoo first he probably would have been even more biased.
“You know, he really missed all of you. I know Sunoo’s great at being the mood maker and being positive all the time, but he can’t always be at one hundred percent all the time. He struggled more than you think,” Donghyun sees some of the members flinch at his words and some of them frown down at the floor.
“Listen, I’m not telling you this just to make you feel worse. I just want you all to learn from this and know that you might not get such a positive reaction from him.”
Six heads nod back at him and he suddenly hears Heeseung chime in.
“Is he-,” the oldest furrows his eyebrows as he tries to think of what questions he really wants to ask. He ends up settling for “Is he ok?”
Donghyun hums. “He will be after you all talk, I think being surrounded by you all again will help.”
Enhypen can read between the lines. They have been oblivious until just now, but they understand what their manager is implying. The last thing they wanted to do was hurt Sunoo, but it seems like that’s what happened, and it’s up to them to fix it. Now all they can do is just wait until they arrive to sort things out.
When the six of them arrive back at the dorm, it’s dark and silent, which they expected. It’s still early in the morning. The six of them do their best to be as quiet as possible while taking off their jackets and putting their shoes by the door. They end up dumping all their bags in the living room before having a group discussion on what to do next. The bedroom isn’t too far from the living room so they have to make sure they’re whispers are actually whispers.
“So...what should we do? Wait for him to wake up or have one of us do it?” Jay asks.
They all look to Jungwon.
“I think it would be best for just one of us to go check on him, maybe not wake him up if he’s dead asleep though. That would be kind of a rude and shocking awakening, we’re not trying to give him a heart attack.”
“I’ll do it,” Sunghoon immediately volunteers.
Some of the other members look like they want to go, but Jungwon placates them by telling them they’ll all get to smother him eventually.
“Ok, Sunghoon hyung can go, we’ll wait here.”
Sunghoon gives them all a thumbs up before quietly making his way toward their shared bedroom. When he arrives, the room is fairly dark except for the faint rays of morning light starting to filter in through the sides of their curtain. He makes his way past their surprisingly clear floor towards Sunoo’s bed. When he gets close enough, he freezes in shock. The younger boy is lying curled up on an impressive array of various members’ clothes. He sees his own fuzzy blue t-shirt underneath Sunoo’s right leg and finds himself smiling fondly, albeit a little sadly too.
He knew Sunoo missed them, their manager made that fairly clear, but seeing it in person made it more real and more difficult. He can see how exhausted the maknae member looks, evident from the large eye bags and the fact that he’s lying on top of his covers. Sunghoon may be imagining things but he also looks a bit thinner which is information Sunghoon stores in the back of his head for later. The younger boy also looks freezing, Sunghoon is surprised the other is still out cold, but maybe he’s just that tired.
There’s goosebumps all over his arms and legs and Sunghoon knows that the other is sensitive to the cold. He frowns for a quick second before tip-toeing back to his own bed and taking the comforter off. Then he pads back and gently covers the vocalist with the blanket, encasing him in warmth. He’s a little worried that Sunoo’s going to wake up with the added motion, but he remains dead to the world. With the confidence that the other isn’t going to wake up, Sunghoon moves to brush some hair out of Sunoo’s eyes and realizes that his hair is still a little damp. He must have forgotten to dry it . Sunghoon also notes to dry it properly once Sunoo’s conscious.
With that, the 02 liner retreats slowly to report back to the others. When he returns, they all look up at him like lost puppies and he can’t help but smile.
“How was he?” Jungwon whispers.
Sunghoon takes a seat on the floor in front of the TV so they can all see him.
“He looks exhausted, I don’t think he’s been sleeping.” They all frown at that. “He may or may not have also lost a little weight, I'm not too sure. We should watch for that. But something cute was that he was sleeping with some of our clothes!”
“Really?!” Comes the excited collective whisper.
“Yeah, it was super cute! I didn’t realize he missed us so much,” the I feel bad goes unsaid but the sentiment is shared by all of them.
“Do you have a picture?” Ni-ki asks.
“Oh, my bad. I forgot.”
Ni-ki rolls his eyes and sighs, as do the other members.
“Sunghoon! That was like your only job! Check on him and show us all the cute pics!” Heeseung complains.
“Sorry,” Sunghoon shrugs, he doesn’t sound sorry at all.
“Well I wanna see,” Jake interjects.
“Maybe we should just let him rest though, it seems like he could use it,” Jungwon adds.
When Jake starts to pout, Jungwon pulls him into a quick side hug to try and comfort him.
“We’ll all get to see him soon, let’s just hang out for a bit, but quietly,” Jay emphasizes.
He makes sure to make direct eye contact with Ni-ki for the last part.
Eventually, they all just agree to put on some random sports channel with the volume off. None of them are really watching it as they’re all on their phones, but they need something going in the background. Jungwon doesn’t know how long it’s been, but suddenly he hears stirring from the bedroom, and he halts all movements to look at the hallway. The other members have also stopped what they’ve been doing and crane their necks to look over as well. They’re all frozen in anticipation, and Jungwon doesn’t even have the heart to tell them to “look natural.”
A few seconds later they hear movement, noises of confusion, and then shuffling footsteps getting closer and closer. Then Sunoo emerges into the hallway, looking down, and moves towards the bathroom which is right next to the living room. Just look up ! He runs a quick hand through his hair, extends his arm to grab the doorknob, looks up, and immediately locks eyes with Jungwon.
There’s a good second of Sunoo’s mouth just dropping open in pure shock before he lets out an ear-spitting shriek and jumps backwards. Talk about a delayed reaction . A couple of the members wince at the sheer volume, but some of them are also smiling as well. Sunoo’s got his hands folded over his chest and is just staring at Jungwon in disbelief. The leader takes that as his que to move and the others follow suit.
Soon, the blonde is surrounded by all six of the members in their cramped hallway next to the kitchen and bathroom. Sunoo snaps his mouth shut with an audible click and shakes his head as if to wake himself up from a dream. Then he slowly reaches out and tentatively grabs hold of Ni-ki’s sleeve as if to confirm that he’s real. The maknae doesn’t even complain, he even presses closer.
A large smile is starting to take over their sunshine’s face and it warms everyone’s hearts.
“You’re really here?!”
They all laugh at him.
“Yes, we’re really here!” Heeseung beams.
Sunoo lets out a long sigh and shakes his head again as he uses his other hand to move some more of his hair out of his face.
“You really scared me! All I saw was a figure, I thought I was about to get murdered!”
Jungwon frowns sympathetically.
“Sorry about that, I didn’t really think that through.”
“It’s ok! I’m just glad you’re all back! What happened though? I thought you had to stay a few more days?”
The six of them exchange a look. Jungwon really doesn’t want to tell him. His hyung looks so happy to see them and they’ve already done enough damage. Sunoo is looking at them all with huge, bright, innocent eyes, and Jungwon really doesn’t want to crush him with this news, but they owe it to him to be honest.
“I-,” the leader starts.
“ We wanted to prank you,” Jay steps in, not willing to let Jungwon take full responsibility. “We thought it’d be funny to pretend to have to stay longer but then show up today to surprise you.”
“...”
Sunoo’s face switches in an instant, going from radiant to scarily stone cold. He’s always been the most expressive of the seven of them, so for him to suddenly go blank is freaking them out a little. His mouth is pressed into a thin line and they all step back a bit at his serious expression.
“Ddeonu-,” someone tries.
The vocalist blinks once and then drops his hand from Ni-ki’s arm in favor of clenching it by his side. Not even a second later, his eyes take on a glassy sheen before hot tears are trailing down his cheeks. He makes no effort to stop them and instead furiously looks down at the floor, but the members don't need to see his face to understand the underlying hurt. If they didn’t feel bad before they definitely feel like shit now. Jay’s always believed that angry tears are the worst, they reveal all the true feelings someone has bottled up, and Sunoo’s case is no exception.
He can see on the third youngest’s face how upset he is, and he would honestly rather get punched in the face hundreds of times than be the cause of all Sunoo’s pain. When he steals a glance at the other members, he can tell they feel the same way. Jungwon in particular looks like he’s had the air punched out of him, and Ni-ki and Heeseung are both sporting pained expressions. They all feel horrible, yet none of them can find the right words to say.
Jake seems like he’s on the verge of tears himself and Sunghoon looks heartbroken as he reaches to take Sunoo’s open left hand. Fortunately, Sunoo allows the contact, possibly wanting it just as much, but he also doesn’t reciprocate. Sunghoon notes how cold the younger boy’s hand is and does his best to wrap it up in his own, larger hand to try and provide some warmth.
“You guys have no idea-,” the 03 attempts to start. His voice is watery and shaky and it feels like he’s looking through them more than at them, but it’s something.
His tone is still laced with anger, which they deserve, so they stay silent and let him talk. After another failed attempt at voicing what he really wants to say, Sunoo ends up sucking in a quick inhale and closing his eyes.
“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” he ends up saying. He leaves no room for argument and the members make a path for him despite wanting to just scoop him into a hug. Sunghoon clings onto Sunoo’s hand until the very last second before letting go.
“We’ll be in the living room,” Heeseung adds quietly and Sunoo makes a small noise of affirmation before disappearing.
The six remaining members wander back to the living room and sit down in varying positions, trying to process what just happened. They’re at a loss of what to do. How do they fix this mess? How do they express how sorry they are?
For the next ten or is it twenty minutes, the only sounds filling the dorm are the steady stream of the shower and the tapping of fingers are phone screens. It doesn’t matter that Sunoo took a shower yesterday and his hair is still wet, he needs a shower. Outside in the living room, it’s quiet; far too quiet. The water does cut off eventually though and then they hear movement as Sunoo gets ready. They hear the blow drier going for about three minutes and then Sunoo quickly steps out of the bathroom before heading back to their bedroom.
For a brief second, the members are afraid that Sunoo’s just going to stay there and avoid them for the rest of the day, but a few minutes later he just returns in a normal outfit instead of pajamas. Ni-ki lets a brief smile flicker across his face when he realizes that it’s his white jacket that Sunoo’s wearing. It makes him look even smaller and cuter.
The six of them remain calm but watch him carefully when he finally makes his way over to them. They don’t want to force him to do or say anything, so they wait for him to make the first move. Sunghoon tries not to look too smug when Sunoo ends up in between him and Jay on the couch. It’s Sunoo’s silent way of slowly starting to forgive them, and Sunghoon will accept it gladly.
He pulls his legs up to his chest, socked feet hanging over the couch cushion slightly, and leans into Sunghoon’s side. In response, Sunghoon throws an arm over his shoulders to pull him closer and Jay puts a comforting hand on Sunoo’s knee.
Sunghoon observes him for a bit, watching as Sunoo’s eyes scan the other members’ faces and occasionally sniffling before eventually meeting Sunghoon’s own. He smiles shyly and looks away.
“Everything ok?”
“Yeah. I just--I needed to make sure that you’re still real.”
Sunghoon runs a comforting hand up and down Sunoo’s arm and some of the members make small noises of sadness at that comment.
“We’re not gonna leave you,” the second the words leave his mouth he winces at his poor timing. Fortunately, Sunoo doesn’t seem angry about it, but unfortunately he still seems afraid from the way his eyes turn uncertain.
“Sorry,” the older boy apologizes. Sunoo just sighs and nuzzles in closer to his hyung.
“I really missed you, all of you,” he murmurs.
“We missed you too. And I’m sorry again, really sorry. We didn’t mean to hurt you, I’m sorry we didn’t consider your feelings more. We were dumb,” Jay supplies.
The last part has Sunoo’s lips curling up slightly into a small smile.
“I forgive you all, but I am still mad.”
“Not enough to give us the silent treatment?” Sunghoon teases.
Sunoo gives him a look and uncurls just enough to reach one hand out and slap Sunghoon’s chest. Maybe he crossed the line.
“I don’t think I’d be able to handle the silent treatment from you anyway,” Jake muses. “It would be too painful.”
“I’m honestly surprised that you aren’t more mad at us.”
Sunoo just shrugs.
“I mean I am still mad but I was mostly just sad because it felt like I was the only one who missed you all. I thought you didn’t care for a second when you said you wanted to prank me, but I know that’s not the case now. Sorry, I overreacted.”
“Don’t apologize for that, it was our fault for upsetting you. I totally understand why you reacted that way. Honestly, if I were in your position I would have hit someone,” Jay muses out loud.
“And that’s why I’m glad it’s not you!”
“Hey!”
“Hyung, I’m so sorry, we never meant to make you sad. You know we really missed you too right?”
Sunoo smiles down at their adorable leader and is graced with Jungwon’s own bright and honest one.
“I do now.”
Jungwon reaches up behind him and gives Sunoo’s leg a comforting squeeze. Sunoo is also pleasantly surprised when a second later he is suddenly engulfed in Ni-ki’s arms. The younger is usually more shy with showing his affection, and Sunoo can feel the youngest’s emotions in the tight hug. He hears some of their hyungs cooing at them, but he ignores it in favor of unwrapping himself fully from his ball so he can properly hug his dongsaeng. It’s nice and warm and he can feel Ni-ki’s steady heartbeat from where his head is resting on the other’s chest.
A moment later, the dancer pulls away and it takes all of Sunoo’s self-restraint to not tease him for the light flush taking over his face. Ni-ki briefly makes eye contact with the vocalist, and Sunoo sees in his wide, innocent eyes the apology he’s trying to convey. In response, Sunoo just beams at him and ruffles his hair a bit before the younger has a chance to doge.
“And just in case you’re still in doubt, we do care about you Sunoo, a lot,” Heeseung ads genuinely.
For some reason, this is what gets Sunoo; not all the caring touches or the apologies, but the tone of their eldest member and Heeseung’s comforting gaze. He can see his vision getting blurry and feels his lower lip start to tremble. He’s honestly surprised that he even has tears left to spill. Not even a second later he hears various noises of surprises and sees a blurry Heeseung quickly approach him. Then, there are warm hands cupping his face, thumbs wiping away warm tears, and multiple people reaching out to touch him in some way to provide comfort. Heeseung ends up booting Jay over for a position next to Sunoo on the sofa so he can properly pull the younger boy into his lap.
Sunoo thinks it’s Heeseung rubbing comforting circles on his back, but he’s not entirely sure because he’s too busy trying to get himself under control. Fortunately, none of the members say anything or judge him in any way. He even hears a couple of them tell him that’s it’s perfectly fine to let it all out, and for the first time in weeks, he finally feels the stress and worry start to leave his body.
After a few more minutes of bawling his eyes out and comforting words and gestures, he’s down to just sniffling. Jungwon hands him a couple tissues which he uses to blow his nose and also wipe his eyes. He’s sure he looks like a wreck, but he feels a lot better emotionally.
“You guys are so rude” the 03 liner whines. “I’ve already cried enough the past few days to last me a lifetime!”
Fond chuckles reach his ears at that statement, and he’s also met with a couple of abashed faces as well.
“Can we make it up to you?” Jake asks seriously.
Sunoo tilts his head to the side cutely and puffs out his cheeks a bit as he pretends to think about it.
“Well…”
The members look up at him expectantly.
“How about some aegyo?”
When he’s met with five scandalized looks and one disgusted one, he bursts out laughing and hears his joyful voice echo around their living room.
“Hyung noooo, please,” Ni-ki begs.
Sunoo eventually takes mercy on them, but he’s going to get something out of this.
“Alright fine. But only if we can eat tteokbokki for the next two days and I get as many cuddles as I want!”
“Deal.”
And what Sunoo wants, Sunoo gets. The members happily obliged and even if they do get tired of tteokbokki after only one meal, they don’t say it. Seeing Sunoo return to his cheerful, happy self is worth it. Their sunshine ends up receiving more cuddles than he could ever dream of over the next few days, but he’s also no fool. The clinginess goes both ways and he can see that the members enjoy it and have missed one another just as much as he has. And if various members start giving him their clothes for his collection, he doesn't say anything about it. And if Ni-ki ends up sleeping in his bed every single night again, well Sunoo wouldn’t know anything about that.