The day started just like it always did - with a ton of work to do. Minho had to wake up early to get ready. As always it started with a refreshing cold shower, just so he'd be wide awake by the time he had to do his skin care. As an idol he had to maintain a certain routine, so his skin would be flawless at any time. Even at 6 a.m..

"Hyung, Seungminnie is getting impatient", he heard Felix's voice from the other side of the door. "Tell him to suck it up and wait." It was silent after that. At least until Seungmin personally came to the bathroom door and started knocking. "What are you even doing in there? Isn't it a bit early to be jerking off?" On days like those, Minho remembered that he was living with men. In their mid-twenties.

Sighing he finished drying his hair with the towel until it was damp, throwing it over his shoulder and opening the door. "Not everyone slams the products on their face as if they're running out of time." As he said that, he eyed Jeongin, who was standing in the kitchen. "Am I supposed to feel attacked? Because I do." Felix's laughter was heard before the bathroom door closed again after Seungmin stepped inside.

"Channie said we should be at the studio in about two hours. Guess we're driving with you today?", Felix asked and raised his eyebrows, to which Minho could only shake his head chuckling. "If you think you can handle it."

Yes, it was a regular morning. And the majority of the day carried on as it usually would, it really was nothing special or out of the ordinary. The preparations for their comeback would only be starting the following week, but knowing Bang Chan he had definitely started working on a lot of the lyrics months ago. But that was expected from him, as he surely was the best leader. At least in Minho's eyes.

The day went by rather fast. Practice was nice — somehow even refreshing. And yet, Hyunjin was still not there. Understandable. After the bullying accusations, he had been on a hiatus. The next comeback should be Hyunjin's first time performing again after a while. The fans had definitely already missed him. And somehow; Minho had too.

"Hyung?", he heard a voice say and he quickly turned around, taking out his headphones as he did so. "Hyunjin?" A small smile formed on Minho's lips. It was unusual for him to smile just because he saw someone again, especially when that someone was Hyunjin. But it had been a while since they had last seen each other.

Somehow Minho got lost in his thoughts, unintentionally staring right at Hyunjin for a little bit longer than necessary. "Bang Chan told me this is yours." As he said that, he handed the male a small package. Ah. That must've been his new Airpod case. Just in time. As expected, it was in the shape of a cat paw. Minho loved his cats and he was not afraid of making that as obvious as he possibly could.

"How are you feeling?", he asked. "Better, thank you. I'll see you at the photoshooting tomorrow." With a smile the male left again, most likely heading to Felix's room. Ah, it was nice seeing Hyunjin smile. Everyone was aware of the things he had been going through recently, so Minho was happy about him no longer staying in his room all day, making everyone worry.

As soon as he left, Minho headed to the kitchen and carried on his day as he usually would. It was boring, but he had to sleep early for the photoshooting with Hyunjin on the following day.

As said day arrived, he woke up early to make sure he managed to eat something before most likely spending his entire day in the studio. No matter how good the pictures ended up being, spending that much time with no fresh air and no sunlight could be draining for some. And he was one of those people.

Nonetheless one of their drivers got them to the studio and that's when the exhausting part started; the styling. Hyunjin seemed to be trying to distract himself with his phone while one of the visagists was styling his hair, though they kept interrupting him by making him look up and into the mirror, so they could see what they would need to change. They'd get paid a lot for modeling for those companies, so they had to look good.

Still, it was exhausting for everyone, especially on such a hot summer day, where one wanted to spend the entire time at the beach or eating ice cream. Perhaps the time would go by faster if he would try to start up a conversation with Hyunjin? They've never been the closest, they just got along pretty well and had their moments. But Minho never went out and did fun activities like Hyunjin did with Felix. And he never made him laugh as much as Changbin did. Obviously nobody managed to give Hyunjin the amount of comfort Bang Chan gave him. But he could still do his best, right?

"What are you gonna do after the photoshooting?" A dumb question. Obviously Hyunjin would be way too tired and exhausted to do anything but shower and then head straight to bed so he wouldn't be as tired on the next day.

"I'm not sure yet, you wanna grab something to eat, Hyung?", he replied with a slight smile on his face. Minho couldn't see it as he had his back turned on him, but he could hear it in his voice. "Sounds good, I bet I'll be starving by the time we're finished here." "Yeah, me too."

After that it seemed to be pretty easy to keep the conversation going. They first talked about what they'd eat and then talked about the other members, making a light-hearted joke every now and then. The time went by a lot faster and soon they were styled and just needed to get into the positions.

It was really nothing out of the ordinary: just Minho doing his poses, making sure the designer clothes looked flawless and with that his overall look. While it was Hyunjin's turn, he was not really paying attention anymore, as he was getting changed into a new outfit and after him the other did the same. What they weren't told, was the fact they'd need to pose together too, which was a little awkward at first.

It wasn't usual for Minho to be wrapping his arm around his friend's shoulder, pulling him closer. Or having his hand placed on Hyunjin's waist. Thankfully they didn't have to go further than that, it was mostly just casual posing. It was partly fanservice; STAYs would go crazy over it and most likely share the picture, promoting the brand as they did so. The designer company was not stupid after all, everything they did was on purpose.

After another hour of posing and half an hour of undressing, showering and putting their own clothes back on, they were done. Minho was oh so thankful for getting the chance to shower there, so he wouldn't have to do that once he arrived back at the dorm. Like that they could walk out together, no longer sweaty or covered in hairspray and make up.

"Do you already know what you want to eat?", Minho asked the other as they walked along the street, getting a shrug in return. "I'm really craving sashimi right now." Minho had to smile at that. "Ichie¹ it is."

Of course they were not planning on getting black-out drunk, they simply wanted to get one or two drinks, just so they could have a relaxing evening.

It didn't take long for them to get there, as it was one of the closest restaurants. Once they arrived, they could easily get one of the more private tables, just so they would not get overwhelmed with fans seeing them. The staff obviously wanted to take a picture with them as well, though they promised not to post them until they would leave.

Like that Hyunjin could order himself a sashimi plate while Minho got himself a nice bowl of ramen. Alongside that they got a bottle of sake, which they filled their first cup with.

"I seriously don't feel like going to the studio tomorrow, Channie wants to work out with us afterwards", Hyunjin stated and couldn't help but sigh. Oh, he absolutely hated working out. He already had a slim body and slight muscles, so it wasn't even necessary for him to do so. The only thing he didn't have was a sixpack. But it didn't seem like it bothered him. Or so he thought.

A chuckle from Minho and Hyunjin was smiling again. It was difficult for him to look at Hyunjin, mostly because he wasn't able to look away. Hyunjin was beautiful, everyone knew that. "It's not funny, I'm being serious", he spoke, but the smile remained.

"It's not that bad. Besides, we need to stay in shape", he eventually replied and shoved some of the noodles in his mouth. But Hyunjin scoffed. "I am in shape, Hyung." Oh, he definitely was. Minho was aware of that. And he wanted to reassure him, but his pout looked way too adorable, easily distractig him.

Normally he wasn't like that. Him and Hyunjin weren't even that close, they just kind of got along when needed. Though if he had to be honest, it was a lot more fun to be around him than he originally thought.

And so the evening continued with both of them talking, changing topics every now and then until they finished and it was time for them to head back to the dorm. Even then they were still talking, never feeling the need to stop. And once they arrived, they needed to part. Hyunjin shared a dorm with 3RACHA, while Minho was with the other three.

"See you tomorrow at the gym", Minho teased the other and got a groan in return. "We'll see about that. Maybe I'll suddenly get sick." "I sure hope that won't happen."

Usually Minho would be constantly making his stupid jokes, be sarcastic and such, but in that moment he didn't feel like it. He genuinely hoped Hyunjin wouldn't get sick, he was an important dancer and practice wouldn't be the same without him, that's for sure.

As soon as Minho stepped into the dorm, everyone was eyeing him. "What?", he asked and hung up his jacket. It was a bit awkward to proceed to take off his shoes, as they were still staring at him. He couldn't exactly tell if it was something positive or negative.

"You were supposed to do the dishes today." Upon hearing that, his body relaxed and he looked more like he was questioning their intelligence. "Well, obviously, I was the only busy one today. I'm not your mother." "You're our hyung", Felix eventually said. "I'm not that much older." Of course that didn't change the fact that he was still their hyung, but perhaps that'd make them realize that they were capable of doing a few things by themselves.

After a few more back-and-forths he could go to his own room and relax on his bed. The day has been long. Minho had spent numerous hours getting changed, posing, switching outfits and posing all over again. Though he was still happy about having gotten the chance to spend some time with Hyunjin, even if they were an unusual duo. Minho was mostly with Han, while the other stuck to Felix. And they never had a problem with that, yet after the evening he wanted to get the chance to be more around Hyunjin as well. He finally understood why Felix liked him so much.

Unlike most others, Hyunjin was calm and fun at the same time. Whenever he realized he was too much, he automatically calmed down, which was something not everyone could do. Like this Minho never got overwhelmed with him. Hyunjin was a bit dramatic, but it was actually extremely funny and entertaining. Minho had no idea how he hadn't become closer to him before. The fact some company had to make them pose together to make Minho realize that was a bit embarrassing.

Either way he ended up sleeping pretty good, better than usually. Yet it was a dreamless night just how it always was.

On the following day it was time for practice. The work out would be afterwards, they had to record at least something for their social media. They needed to post something multiple times a week, otherwise fans would get worried for sure. That one time they were so busy preparing for their new album, that resulted in them not posting on their shared Instagram for a long time, fans already started speculating about what could've happened to them.

To prevent that from happening, someone always posted something on their Instagram and they also recorded them practicing every now and then.

They decided to practice their 'MANIAC' choreo again, as they would perform that on their next tour. It was popular and the fans surely would be happy about seeing it again, even though it had been a while since they've last performed it.

So as the choreography went on, it soon came to the part where Minho had to hold Hyunjin's waist while he was on his knees. Usually that was what he did, but he was Minho. Why not make it more fun? So instead of his waist, he grabbed his ass instead, catching Hyunjin off guard and making him flinch. Though after that, it was nearly impossible to focus on the choreo. Both of them would be trying to hold back a laugh. And Felix, who had seen it all, was in the same situation. It was unusual for them to be joking around like that, but it was funny for sure.

Perhaps that was when Minho should've stopped. Because when him and Hyunjin were sitting on the floor after the video was recorded, he could not stop looking at him. The smile on his lips was beautiful. He looked so happy.

Had Hyunjin always been this mesmerizing?
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¹ Ichie = Izakaya restaurant in Seoul

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