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Euijoo had chosen the worst possible time to practice the delicate opening lines of "Replay." The dorm's living room was a vibrant cyclone of post-practice energy. K was attempting to balance on one leg while scrolling through his phone, while the younger ones were engaged in a loud, running game of tag that seemed to involve excessive pillow-smacking.
He took a deep breath, trying to channel the song's gentle, yearning tone.
A stray pillow smacked the wall right next to his head.
"Guys! Could you please hold the chaos for five minutes?" Euijoo pleaded, rubbing his temple.
The noise momentarily dipped, only for Nicholas, who had been orchestrating the pillow fight from the couch, to stand up with a theatrically unimpressed sigh. Nicholas was, and everyone knew it, the ultimate rage baiter. He possessed an uncanny ability to push Euijoo's buttons until the younger boy was sputtering, only to immediately dissolve into regret and mop the floor when Euijoo inevitably got sulky.
"Oh, come on, Euijoo-ya. It's just a silly song," Nicholas drawled, his voice pitched high in mock offense. He sauntered closer, leaning against the doorframe, a smirk playing on his lips. "It's not my fault you sound like a frog gargling marbles."
Euijoo felt the internal temperature gauge rising past boiling point. Nicholas knew how much effort he was putting into his vocals lately.
"That's rich coming from the guy whose high note sounds like a dying goose!" Euijoo retorted, standing up. "I'm actually trying to improve! You're just deliberately making noise because you can't stand seeing someone else be productive!"
Nicholas simply shrugged, crossing his arms. "Maybe. Or maybe I'm just giving you a necessary lesson in focus. If you can’t hit a high B-flat over a simple pillow fight, how are you going to handle a stadium full of screaming fans, huh?"
"It’s not 'a simple pillow fight'! It's deliberate provocation, Nichol! You're always like this!" Euijoo’s hands clenched into fists, his frustration blurring his vision. He wanted to deliver a perfect, cutting comeback, something that would wipe that arrogant smirk off Nicholas's face.
"Oh, I'm always what, Euijoo-ah? Tell me," Nicholas challenged, stepping closer, his dark eyes sparkling with a mischievous cruelty that only he dared use against Euijoo. "Am I always too loud? Too distracting? Too much of a—"
"Too much of a noona!" Euijoo yelled, the word rocketing out before his brain could process it. It was meant to be something like 'nuisance' or 'nagging,' but in his furious haste to call Nicholas out, Noona—the very word he’d been trying to sing—slipped out.
Silence. Heavy, absolute silence descended on the room.
The younger members froze, pillows halfway to their targets. K slowly lowered his balanced leg. Even Nicholas's breathing seemed to stop.
Euijoo blinked once, then twice, the adrenaline draining rapidly, replaced by cold shock. He stared at Nicholas, who was utterly and beautifully speechless, his challenging smirk melting away into a look of pure, unadulterated bewilderment.
A choked sound escaped Euijoo's throat, the precursor to a massive, uncontrollable burst of laughter.
Wait. Wait, wait, wait.
He immediately swallowed the laugh, and a slow, cunning smirk bloomed on his own face, far more potent than any of Nicholas's usual expressions. He had accidentally found a nuclear button.
"Did you hear that, Noona?" Euijoo repeated, letting the honorific roll off his tongue, rich and dark with newfound teasing power.
Nicholas jolted, flushing immediately. "Juju! What did you just call me? Stop that!" He tried to sound stern, but the high pitch of his voice betrayed his sudden fluster.
Euijoo just advanced, closing the remaining distance. The shift in power was exhilarating. "Why? Is my Noona embarrassed?"
"I am not your Noona! We're the same age! And stop saying it!" Nicholas backed up against the wall, trying to push Euijoo away, but his movements were clumsy, panicked.
"Ah, but you just confessed to me that you find the title distracting," Euijoo murmured, leaning in until their noses were barely an inch apart. He could see the rapid pulse beating in Nicholas's throat. "And distraction, as we established, is your favorite pastime, Noona."
Nicholas whined, a sound so close to genuine distress that it made K shoot glares at the youngers and the other members quickly grab their things and scatter, leaving the two alone. "Please, Euijoo-ah, stop! It sounds weird! I'm begging you!"
"Begging? I like the sound of that," Euijoo purred, and then, without warning, his hands dropped from where he was bracing them on the wall and swiftly encircled Nicholas's waist. He pulled Nicholas forward, slamming him flush against his chest.
Nicholas gasped, his hands flying to Euijoo's shoulders, half to push away, half to hold on. His eyes were wide, a chaotic mixture of panic, shame, and a deeply buried, utterly confounding desire. Why did he like it? Why did this turn him on? The shame of the slip-up, the closeness, and the forbidden nature of the name, it was intoxicating.
Euijoo felt the way Nicholas's breath hitched, the sudden tension in the other boy's core, and knew he had won. He leaned down, his voice dropping to a low, possessive register right next to Nicholas's ear.
"You know what, Noona?" Euijoo whispered, tightening his grip. "You’ve been such a noisy, disruptive little rage baiter. I need to practice the song properly, but I can't do it without the right subject."
He pulled back just enough to lock eyes with Nicholas, his smirk now fully formed, a beautiful, utterly evil crescent moon.
"Congratulations," Euijoo finished, his voice heavy with wicked delight. "You're going to be my prey. You will help me practice 'Noona Neomu Yeppeo' until I’m perfect. And I'm going to devour every moment of it."
Nicholas shut his eyes, his cheeks burning a furious red. He was going to regret this. He was going to regret every single loud, distracting word he had ever uttered. Euijoo truly was an evil genius, but only to Nicholas. His one and only, delicious target.
And when Euijoo took Nicholas to his room instead of practice room and Nicholas whined,
“You’re still too loud,” Euijoo murmured, gently setting him free from the crushing hold.
Nicholas stumbled back two steps, his eyes wide and bright, his lips slightly parted. He desperately needed to reset the dynamic.
“I’m not the one who needs to work on vocal technique,” Nicholas bit back, trying to smooth the front of his shirt. He took a calculated risk, he sank onto Euijoo’s bed, leaning back on his hands, bringing one knee up casually. It was a pose of practiced, infuriating ease that screamed I am untouchable.
Euijoo narrowed his eyes, accepting the unspoken challenge. He took a breath, locked eyes with Nicholas, and sang the opening line again, this time, it was clear, tender, and aimed with laser-like precision directly at the boy on his bed.
Nicholas’s Adam’s apple bobbed with a visible gulp. He didn't break eye contact, but the air around him grew heavy, charged.
"See, that's better, your pitch is spot-on," Nicholas conceded, his voice sounding oddly breathless. He leaned forward slightly, dropping his posture from casual to critical, though his eyes looked anything but. "But… there’s no emotion. It’s technically perfect, but you don't feel it."
Euijoo’s smirk faltered, replaced by a deep, challenging scowl. "And how, pray tell, do you suggest I magically conjure 'emotion' for the 'Noona' I’m singing about?"
Nicholas’s lips curled into his signature, wicked smile, the smile that always meant he was about to start a fire he couldn't put out.
"You need to feel it for real, Juju. Every single feeling you're supposed to be expressing in that song. Love. The pure, devoted kind. Lust. The pining, burning kind. Happiness. The genuine joy of seeing her. And pining. That ache when she’s too far away." Nicholas spoke the words slowly, each one a measured dose of poison. He tilted his head, his gaze sweeping over Euijoo's body before snapping back to his eyes. "You need to understand what it feels like to want the object of your affection."
As he spoke, he changed his position again, now sitting fully on the edge of the bed, one knee still up, hands resting casually behind him, back slightly arched. His shirt was a little askew from their earlier tussle. He looked deliberately, devastatingly seductive, practically daring Euijoo to step over the line he himself was erasing.
Euijoo’s eyes, already dark with what looked like anger, took on a different, more primal shade. The playful fury was gone, replaced by a silent, focused intensity. He felt the heat rising in his chest, a sudden, deep well of longing that Nicholas had just dared him to explore.
Nicholas might have started the game, but Euijoo was about to finish it.
Without a word, Euijoo walked to the foot of the bed and slowly, deliberately, crawled onto the mattress. His movements were fluid and predatory, never breaking the eye contact that held Nicholas utterly captive. He advanced on his hands and knees, traversing the short distance with agonizing slowness.
When he reached Nicholas, he stopped, settling between Nicholas’s parted legs, his hips pressed against the boy's raised knee.
"We need to be closer," Nicholas whispered, his breath ragged. His composure was cracking, the master baiter finally realizing he was caught in his own trap. His eyes, dark and heavy-lidded, flickered down to Euijoo’s mouth, then quickly back up. He was losing control. He wanted this.
Euijoo returned the gaze, his own eyes heavy with a profound, terrifying desire. He leaned forward, closing the final, infinitesimally small gap between them until their breaths mingled, sweet and fast.
"Is this close enough to feel it, Noona?" Euijoo asked, his voice a low, gravelly sound that vibrated between their lips. His gaze was fixed entirely on Nicholas's mouth, a raw, naked yearning reflected in the dark depths of his eyes.
Nicholas couldn't speak. He could only manage a ragged inhale, his hands now clutching the sheets behind him. His body was coiled tight with anticipation, desperate for the contact, but Euijoo held steady, strong as a mountain. He was giving Nicholas everything, the intensity, the proximity, the yearning gaze, but withholding the final release. He was edging him, letting the tension climb until it was an unbearable, high-pitched whine in the room.
"I… I can't feel it yet," Nicholas choked out, his eyes begging. He tried to maintain his challenging persona, but it failed miserably. "We... we need to be..."
Euijoo gave him a slow, cruel smirk. "Need to be what, Nichol? Tell me. You need to beg me to feel it for you?"
The final command broke Nicholas. All pretense of provocation dissolved into pure, raw need. His face flushed a deep crimson as he threw his head back briefly, a soft, desperate sound leaving his throat.
"Euijoo, please," Nicholas begged, his voice barely a breath. "Just kiss me. Please."
And with that surrender, the dam burst.
Euijoo closed the gap with a savage, joyous ferocity. The kiss was fierce, demanding, and utterly consuming. It was not a gentle exploration, but a sudden, violent collision of desperate hunger. Euijoo’s lips crashed down on Nicholas’s, instantly open and overwhelming. Nicholas gasped into the sudden, hot pressure, a sharp, surprised sound of pleasure and shock.
Euijoo took immediate advantage of the gasp, deepening the kiss, his tongue sweeping into Nicholas's mouth with a yearning proprietary right. It was wet, demanding, and utterly magnetic. Nicholas’s body finally gave out; he abandoned the supportive hands behind him and lifted them instantly, wrapping them around Euijoo’s neck, clutching his hair to pull him impossibly closer.
Euijoo responded in kind, one hand cupping the side of Nicholas’s head, tilting him to better consume his mouth, the other raking through Nicholas’s hair at the base of his skull, gripping and pulling with possessive desire.
The world narrowed to the wet, fervent sounds of their kiss and the desperate, uneven cadence of their breathing. Every feeling Nicholas had dared Euijoo to conjure, the lust, the pining, the love, was now physically real, burning between them in a way that transcended the simple song. Nicholas was melting, shuddering against the force of Euijoo's hunger, finally devoured by the one person whose buttons he could never stop pressing.
The kiss ended not from lack of desire, but from a desperate need for air. Euijoo tore his mouth away, both of them breathing harsh, gasping sighs. But he didn't pull back physically. Instead, he used the moment to consolidate his victory, surging forward and using his weight to pin Nicholas flat against the mattress.
Nicholas, weakened by the raw intensity, offered no resistance. He lay there, his cheeks damp, his body trembling, his previous composure annihilated. This was the moment Euijoo had craved, the sight of the great, untouchable Nicholas utterly exposed and vulnerable. The rage baiter was now the subject of the hunt, and Euijoo, having crossed every line, intended to gorge himself on this rare sight.
He planted a knee on the bed, settling himself firmly over Nicholas’s hips, trapping him securely. His eyes were dark, burning with a mix of triumph and lust that made Nicholas’s heart hammer against his ribs.
"See, Noona? You taste exactly like yearning," Euijoo muttered, leaning down to capture the corner of Nicholas's mouth again, a soft, possessive lick.
Nicholas's hands, which were still gripping Euijoo's hair, relaxed and slid down to rest on Euijoo's shoulders, seeking purchase. A soft, involuntary whine, low and husky, escaped him, a sound Euijoo had never heard before, and one he instantly decided was his favorite.
"You're making so many beautiful noises now," Euijoo observed, his voice thick with satisfied wickedness. "This is how you show emotion, isn't it? Not by making me look silly, but by lying here and whining for me."
Nicholas squirmed, the vulnerability too much to bear. He couldn't process that his boy crush is here talking filthy in his ears. Instinctively, he hiked his hips, desperate for any friction, any release that might alleviate the agonizing tension Euijoo was building within him.
The movement was pure, desperate reflex, and Euijoo instantly countered it. With a firm, decisive move, Euijoo slid his hands down and seized Nicholas's bare waist, pressing down, pinning his hips flat against the soft sheets. The abrupt denial of friction earned another, sharper whine from Nicholas, a sound of confused, frustrated need.
"Ah-ah. That's a bad Noona," Euijoo scolded, the honorific sounding dangerously tender yet utterly authoritative in the quiet room. "We’re practicing control. We need to savor this. You wanted me to feel it, didn't you?"
He kept his hands firmly clamped on Nicholas’s waist, the soft skin warm beneath his palms. Slowly, deliberately, Euijoo's fingertips began to glide upwards, gently lifting the hem of Nicholas’s shirt, which was now damp with sweat. The action was gentle, yet it felt heavy with promise and power.
Nicholas's eyes widened, a breathless submission spreading across his face as the cool air hit the bare expanse of his chest. His nipples immediately peaked in anticipation beneath the thin cotton.
Euijoo’s hands traveled up until they reached his ribs, then one hand moved further up, his thumb seeking out Nicholas’s left nipple. He circled the small nub with slow, maddening pressure, drawing a hitched gasp from Nicholas.
"You're so sensitive," Euijoo whispered, his voice dark with delight.
He watched the reaction on Nicholas's face, the tightening of his jaw, the sudden flood of color, the way his breath hitched, before he finally, mercifully, dipped his head.
Euijoo licked his lips slowly, eyes glued to the swollen, needy peak he was targeting. He lowered his face until his warm breath ghosted over Nicholas’s skin, causing another, louder moan. Then, he took his time, placing his mouth over the sensitive spot, sucking and taking a playful bite that was instantly followed by a soothing drag of his tongue.
Nicholas arched, a pure, keening cry escaping him as his hands immediately tangled in Euijoo’s dark hair, pressing him down, begging him to never stop. “Juju…!” The whines were coming easily now, soft, desperate declarations of surrender. Euijoo knew right then that this vulnerable, begging Nicholas was the only kind of Noona he ever wanted.
Euijoo relished the soft, desperate sounds Nicholas was making, drawing them out with slow, merciless attention to his skin. He lifted his head, pulling Nicholas’s damp, exposed shirt up and over his chest in one smooth motion before tossing it aside. Nicholas was flushed and breathless, every nerve ending screaming.
"Look at you, my Noona," Euijoo whispered, his voice dark with a mix of possessive pride and genuine adoration. His hand moved from Nicholas’s chest to his jaw, tilting his face slightly. "You started a fire you can't put out, didn't you?"
Nicholas couldn't speak, could only manage small, choked sounds. The denial of full release, combined with the utterly exposed vulnerability of his body and the intimate use of the honorific, was too much. Tears began to well up, blurring the sight of Euijoo's handsome, triumphant face. They weren't tears of pain, but of overwhelming, beautiful surrender.
Euijoo watched the first tear track down Nicholas's temple and into his hair. Instead of being frightened or backing off, Euijoo’s expression softened into an aching tenderness, but his control remained absolute. He leaned down, his lips seeking the path of the tear.
He kissed the salty wetness from Nicholas's skin, a gesture of pure, soft devotion that belied the burning need thrumming beneath their skin.
"Don't cry," Euijoo murmured against his temple, not as a command, but as a promise. "I won't let you be sad. I only want you to be mine now."
He returned to Nicholas's mouth, but this time, the kiss was deeper, less savage and more profound, a fervent exchange of hot air and desperate longing. As they kissed, Euijoo began to speak, his words tumbling out between breaths, intimate and possessive, domestic and utterly filthy in their devotion.
"You belong right here, under me, melting for me," Euijoo breathed, kissing him fiercely. "Every piece of this, this fire, this need, this noise... it’s all mine now. I took it, and I’m keeping it."
Nicholas whimpered, arching his back as Euijoo shifted, finally aligning their lower bodies. Inserted himself on Nicholas entrance. The sudden, hot pressure was unbearable, causing Nicholas to let out a loud, shuddering sob that was instantly swallowed by Euijoo’s mouth.
"I’m going to take care of you," Euijoo promised, pulling back just enough to look Nicholas in the eyes, his own gaze clear and blazing with love and lust. "I'm going to own every soft, whiny sound you make, and I'm going to make sure you know exactly where you're safe. Right here, only with me."
The tension was suffocating. The air in the room grew too thick, too hot, saturated with the scent of their sweat and the sharp, metallic tang of desire. Their breaths came in ragged unison, warm against each other’s skin.
With a desperate gasp, Nicholas clung to Euijoo, pulling his neck down and surrendering completely to the dizzying slide into intimacy. It was a chaotic, beautiful mess of motion and feeling, a violent, soft collision of souls.
Their hands intertwined, fingers lacing tightly together as their bodies moved with fervent, focused passion. Euijoo’s grip was a mixture of tenderness and dominance, his fingers crushing Nicholas’s hand with protective strength. They were anchored, connected, drowning in the humid heat and the overwhelming purity of their emotion.
Every thrust was a profession of love, every groan a promise of forever. “Juju, Juju!” Nicholas cried out Euijoo's name, the sound muffled against his neck, a desperate prayer. They were moving in a perfect rhythm of give and take, the boundaries between hunter and prey, dominant and devoted, completely dissolved in the sweat and the sheer, intoxicating rush of being utterly one.
In that too-hot, too-loud moment, Euijoo devoured Nicholas entirely, and in turn, Nicholas pulled Euijoo in, holding him fast.
“I'm close!” “Me too,” The world imploded in a brilliant rush of heat and sound. Nicholas’s desperate, choked cries and Euijoo’s guttural exclamations hit the silence of the room like thunder, dissolving all tension into a shuddering, shared release. The feeling was too vast, too consuming, a terrifying, exhilarating flood that left Nicholas utterly broken and clinging to the only anchor he had left.
The moment the last, echoing pulse faded, Euijoo collapsed, burying his face into the side of Nicholas’s neck, his chest heaving. Their limbs were a heavy, tangled mess of sweat and exhaustion, hands still tightly laced, connecting them in the humid, thick air.
Nicholas’s body felt foreign and heavy, pinned by Euijoo’s weight but somehow safe for the first time all evening. He was completely adrift, staring blankly at the ceiling, trying to reconcile the wild, demanding man who had just devoured him with the steady presence now holding him down. The tears, which had been threatening earlier, now spilled freely, not in sorrow, but from sheer, overwhelming emotional overload.
He let out a weak, continuous moan, unable to articulate the depth of his feelings. He was too exposed, too vulnerable, and his breath stuttered on the edge of a sob.
Euijoo felt the soft, uncontrollable trembling beneath him. The sudden shift from the demanding predator to the fiercely protective lover boy was instantaneous. He lifted his head, his dark eyes instantly focusing on the tear tracks streaking down Nicholas’s temples.
"Hey, hey. Look at me," Euijoo murmured, his voice now low, tender, stripped bare of all playful dominance. He used the hand that was not fused with Nicholas’s to gently cup his damp face. "You're okay. You're completely safe. I’ve got you."
Euijoo shifted his weight, easing off Nicholas and rolling to his side, pulling Nicholas with him until they were chest-to-chest. The room was dizzyingly hot, and the sheets beneath them were damp, but Euijoo ignored it all, focused solely on the beautiful, dazed boy in his arms.
"Don't go away on me, Nichol," Euijoo whispered, using his nickname as a soft, intimate tether, grounding Nicholas in the reality of their connection. "Stay here. Stay right here with me."
Nicholas was still crying, soft, helpless whimpers that tore at Euijoo’s heart. He felt heavy, exhausted, and desperately needed to close his eyes, but the emotional chaos kept him suspended.
Euijoo, seeing the daze, knew exactly what to do. He untangled his hand long enough to reach for the large, fluffy towel he kept nearby.
"Don't move, just breathe," he instructed gently.
He carefully blotted the sweat from Nicholas’s forehead, jawline, and neck, the touch slow, methodical, and incredibly soothing. He meticulously wiped the path of the tears, kissing the exact spot where the salt met the skin, a silent promise to protect every part of him.
"You don't have to talk. You don't have to think," Euijoo whispered, his breath warm against Nicholas’s ear. He carefully pulled the damp, twisted sheets away from Nicholas’s hips, replacing them with a dry, cool section of the blanket.
Euijoo’s focus was entirely on restoring Nicholas, moving his hands over his skin with a devotion that felt more intimate than their earlier actions. He began to massage the tense muscles in Nicholas’s shoulders and neck, slowly, gently, until he felt the resistance begin to melt away.
"You gave me so much, my baby," Euijoo murmured, leaning in to brush his lips over the shell of Nicholas's ear. "You gave me all of your frustration, all of your beautiful, wicked anger, and all of your love. And I promise you, I’m keeping all of it safe."
He continued the slow, soothing motions until Nicholas’s breaths started to deepen, evening out into long, shaky exhales. The dazed look in Nicholas’s eyes softened, replaced by a dull, heavy exhaustion.
"Sleep, Nichol," Euijoo commanded, the word a benediction. "I’m not going anywhere. Just close your eyes."
He pulled Nicholas’s head to rest perfectly in the crook of his shoulder, then wrapped both arms around him in a strong, protective embrace. Nicholas, finally safe and grounded by Euijoo's steady warmth, instinctively curled his body inward, making himself small against Euijoo’s side. He fumbled with a loose piece of Euijoo’s t-shirt and clutched the soft fabric tightly in his fist, a silent declaration that he was anchored.
Euijoo pressed a final, tender kiss to his forehead, feeling the peace settle over them like a heavy, warm blanket. He closed his own eyes, inhaling the mingled scent of Nicholas’s skin and their shared exhaustion, the triumphant smile finally softening into one of quiet, domestic fulfillment. The fight was over, the line was crossed, and his one and only was finally, blissfully, asleep in his arms.
—
The morning air felt too bright, too loud, and far too judgmental. Nicholas woke up late, the heavy, sated exhaustion of the night clinging to his muscles like warm honey. He looked up at the man he was laying on and immediately flushed thinking of last night. Nicholas slowly played with Euijoo’s nose and when Euijoo was shifting, he managed to disentangle himself from Euijoo, who was sleeping with the solid again, unmoving peace of the victor and fled the room, determined to reboot the system and return to his default setting: the cool, collected member.
He pulled on a simple black t-shirt and dark sweats, scrubbing his face until it stung. Act normal. Just be Nicholas.
He found the others, Yuma, K, Taki, and Maki,already congregating around the kitchen island. Euijoo wasn't there yet; Nicholas quickly registered the relief before immediately feeling a confusing spike of disappointment.
"Morning, guys," Nicholas managed, his voice sounding entirely too steady for a man who had spent the last eight hours being lovingly devoured while repeatedly called "Noona."
The air was heavy with unspoken knowledge. K, usually the most chill guy, gave him a small, knowing smile that was instantly suppressed. Yuma coughed into his hand, a suspiciously high-pitched, giggle-laced sound. Taki simply offered Nicholas a bowl of cereal with a theatrical, wide-eyed solemnity that screamed sarcasm.
"You look… rested, Hyung," Taki said, emphasizing the word in a way that implied the opposite of rest.
"I slept well," Nicholas lied smoothly, trying to focus on pouring his milk. He felt a blush creeping up his neck, a reaction he had absolutely no control over.
"Must have been a very productive night for… vocal practice," K supplied, stirring his coffee with far too much vigor.
Nicholas’s jaw tightened. "I was just doing what Euijoo needed for the song. Professionalism."
The argument would have stopped there, but the other members were in too deep. Perhaps it was the combination of domestic chaos and witnessing the dynamic between Nicholas and Euijoo finally snap, but they seemed intent on pushing him.
Maki, the youngest, leaned back against the counter, a mischievous, almost hyena-like grin splitting his face. He hummed a few notes that Nicholas immediately recognized, the infectious, bright melody that had started this entire spiral.
Then, Taki joined in, then Yuma, until all four of them were singing, softly, sweetly, and utterly mockingly,
♪ Noona… neomu yeppeo… ♪
The sound was like a thousand tiny needles pricking Nicholas’s fragile composure. He slammed his milk carton down, adrenaline spiking.
"I swear to God, if you guys don’t—" he began, ready to unleash a familiar, withering glare that usually shut them all down.
But before the rage could fully materialize, Maki’s grin widened, and he pointed past Nicholas’s shoulder toward the hallway.
"Nico, you look amazing, but you forgot to cover those, ah, practice marks," Maki drawled, nodding pointedly at the side of Nicholas’s neck. "Juju must have been really dedicated to the choreography."
The blood drained from Nicholas’s face. He froze, his hand instinctively flying up to the throbbing, tender spot just beneath his jaw, which had been concealed by the collar of his t-shirt only when his neck was straight. Now, slightly tilted and flushed from the confrontation, the dark, tell-tale bruise, a deep, bruised violet, was utterly exposed.
The room dissolved into silence, save for the collective, strangled gasps of the younger members, who now looked thoroughly thrilled with their success.
Nicholas didn't move. His cheeks burned a furious scarlet, his vision tunneling in on the overwhelming embarrassment. He bit down hard on his lower lip, then smacked the side of his neck with the heel of his hand in a desperate, futile gesture of self-punishment. He ducked his head, using his other palm to shield his entire face from the mocking, knowing glances of his team.
"Stop looking at me!" he choked out, his voice muffled, a hot, mortified sound. He wanted nothing more than to teleport back to the bed and burrow under the sheets, possibly never emerging again.
As the chaos erupted, the sound of the refrigerator door closing echoed from the opposite side of the kitchen.
Euijoo, freshly showered and looking unfairly bright-eyed, strolled into view, holding a large, ice-cold bottle of water. He moved with a relaxed confidence that bordered on arrogance, his eyes tracking the scene, Nicholas hiding his face, the other members trying to smother their laughter.
Euijoo took a slow, deliberate sip of water, his gaze finally settling on Nicholas. He saw the scarlet blush creeping up his neck, the frantically placed hands, the complete, delightful meltdown.
And on the vulnerable side of Nicholas’s neck, he saw the dark purple mark he had spent a full, possessive minute pressing into the night before.
A slow, utterly satisfied smirk spread across Euijoo’s lips. It was a secret smile, meant only for himself, a silent, triumphant confirmation. He hadn’t forgotten about the upcoming schedule, the cameras, or the need for discretion. He had left the mark exactly where he knew it would be discovered when Nicholas got flustered, an intentional, tangible reminder of who held the winning hand.
You wanted me to feel the emotion, Noona? Euijoo thought, his eyes glittering with dark amusement. Now, you can feel the consequences.
The cat is officially out of the bag! Nicholas is going to have a very difficult time recovering his dignity now that his vulnerability is exposed to the whole group The members are just laughing at his face now.