you're not so bad | [hoonki]

[nine]

seeing ni-ki call for him as he waddled out of his bathroom dressed in a hoodie that he'd borrowed from him that was too large for him, a frustrated pout on his lips was simply too much for his heart to handle.

"hyung can you help?" ni-ki whined, holding a hairdryer in his hands. "it hurts to stand for too long but i hate leaving my hair wet."

sunghoon chuckled fondly as he gestured for ni-ki to sit beside him on the edge of the couch. "poor riki~" he cooed. "it's okay, hyung will help."

ni-ki flushed but didn't argue as he took a seat, holding the appliance up for the other. "i'm not a baby, you know."

were many things he didn't think nishimura riki could be that turned out to be true so he shouldn't be too surprised.

"you're a real piece of work, you know that ni-ki-ah," sunghoon sighed in faux exasperation as he returned to the living room once he'd cleaned up after the boy. ni-ki glanced up at him from where he was curled on his couch with a sheepish smile.

"oops?" he offered, setting his phone aside. "i'm not usually like this, i swear."

"are you gonna hit me with another 'you make me weak' moment?" the older chuckled and flopped on the other end of the couch.

cheeks red with embarrassment, ni-ki sat up and whined, "that was never an excuse! it's a narrative you started that never existed, to begin with!"

"your face is betraying you," sunghoon teased.

"you're a bully."

"you love me."

"not anymore."

"so you loved me at some point?"

ni-ki reddened further, reaching over to smack sunghoon's shoulder who simply laughed and crossed his arms over his chest with a cheeky grin. the younger huffed and turned away from him, patting his face furiously as if to calm it down. with a chuckle, sunghoon scooted closer to his friend, wrapping him in a hug from behind as he cooed, "am i upsetting little riki?"

"don't say things like that! it's so gross!" ni-ki groaned, covering his face with his hands. sunghoon half expected him to move out of his grasp, but instead, the boy turned in his arms, peeking up at him through his fingers. "i hate you."

"no you don't, you definitely don't," sunghoon beamed, pinching his sides gently before dropping his arms and leaning back against the couch.

"how would you know?" ni-ki grumbled, curling up to the cushions, his body so close to sunghoon's, the other could practically feel his warmth.

ironically, his heart started to race. you'd think after initiating all this contact himself he'd be fine with them simply sitting so close together. after all, they've done it many times. maybe it was because they were alone at home or maybe it was because the other was wearing his clothes but it felt too intimate.

please he's talking as if he didn't fucking kiss ni-ki's cheek earlier. intimate my ass, he thought.

"you're basically cuddling up to me right now, no?" sunghoon hummed, lightly bouncing his thigh which ni-ki's knees were resting against.

"doesn't mean i love you," the younger protested, scooting closer to sunghoon so he was fully curled in his side, his head against his shoulder. sunghoon felt his heart skip a beat. feeling ni-ki's warmth and his weight against his side was comforting. it was like a warm hug from his favourite teddy bear. he wanted nothing more than to wrap him up properly in his arms and hold him, but that would be pushing the limits.

"well, you also didn't slap me for kissing you earlier."

in an instant, the younger had flung himself to the end of the couch again, his face once again the colour of a cherry. something about his reaction made sunghoon feel smug. something about it told him that he had the same effect on the younger that he had on him.