Archive of Our Own ^beta

After a really long day of rehearsals, Riki was finally able to just chill on the couch, already in his big pajamas, and scroll through the depths of twitter to check if anything interesting was going on, until his eyes caught something that made him stop.

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@sunkibfs

is it just me or is sunki just really off these days…

@jakejagiya

I'VE NOTICED THAT TOO they don't even look at each other anymore it's honestly making me so sad :(

@iceprincehoon

did u watch the live they last week? they barely made any kind of contact… do you think belift did something after the dating rumors between them?

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Well there were a bunch of other replies but he just stopped there so he wouldn't go crazy. He used to be so close to Sunoo, his favorite hyung and all. He still is. But he can't afford to stay close to him after the terrible meeting he had with their manager.

"Riki-ssi, I know you're still young but your actions have consequences…"

And there was a whole lecture about how he should've been more careful when showing affection in front of cameras so he wouldn't be caught up in dating scandals.

After that, he decided (more like he was forced to) he would be more aware during recordings, interacting less with every member, but especially Sunoo.

It would've been okay if his behavior didn't affect the behind the cameras.

But it did. Riki, even if he didn't mean, lost a bit of the proximity he had with his so loved hyungs but, as always, especially Sunoo. He was just scared of his manager yelling at him again or even worse, talking to his favorite hyung. He knew how much the older hated being yelled at, so he stopped the whole annoying maknae habits he had, the sudden hugs and kisses he would randomly give everyone and the long stares during interviews or lives. Everything he did was to make sure the group would stay good.

Now the tweet got himself thinking if it was worth it. He lost his hyung. Might not be for good but he feels really ungrateful after everything they've been through together. He wonders if Sunoo even noticed. If he got annoyed. Maybe he thought it was just a prank. Maybe he thought he did something wrong. Oh. Maybe he was angry at him, because how could Riki just stop talking to him? What if he had ruined their relationship? What if h- 

"Hey Ki, what's going on in that little head of yours?" - said Jungwon, worried about the frown present in the younger's face.

"Oh hey hyung, nothing much, was just scrolling through Twitter" - Ni-ki affirmed, still a bit tormented by the heavy thoughts going through his mind.

"The look on your face tells me it's something, do you wanna talk about it?" - he asked, being the ever understanding leader he was.

"I- I don't really know. It's just- some people were talking about how I don't interact with you guys anymore like I did before. I know you might have noticed but you were never the type to confront me about my feelings and just waited for me to be comfortable to talk about it so I get it, but- ugh, I don't even know. What if Sunoo-hyung hates me now? He was one to be straightforward with me and how I was feeling so it's weird not to have him next to me when I'm so down and I know it is my fault since I'm the one who pushed him away and that he's actually the reason why I'm down but, again, it's not his fault and I-" - Riki started rambling.

Finally, Jungwon interrupted- "Hey, hey, hey. I know you feel anxious but you're overthinking. Sunoo-hyung would never leave you knowing you're not okay. I think you should talk to him and you should definitely listen to me."

The youngest was going to say something but- "I won't take a no as an answer."- his hyung said.

[...]

Currently, Riki is standing outside his and Sunoo's bedroom, the room that used to be their place to share their deepest obscure thoughts, but that felt empty now that they barely interacted.

Riki decided to knock on the door. He waited a few seconds before he heard something:

"Come in" - Sunoo groaned. Maybe he was half asleep so, again, the younger started to worry that maybe he was interrupting his hyung. But after promising Jungwon that he would talk to Sunoo, he entered the room.

"Hey hyung…" - he whispered, not wanting to annoy him.

"Oh hey Riki" - his hyung answered, though the sound was muffled by the pillow on his face.

"I was wondering, can we talk?" - he was definitely nervous but his hyung eas able to relieve that - "Yeah sure Ki, sit here" - and, as he sat up on the bed, he gestured to the end of his bed so his dongsaeng could sit down.

Surprisingly, as soon as he sat down, the younger started crying. Actually, he started breaking down. Of course the older was a little confused, but he hugged him and waited for the boy to calm down, maybe he was frustrated and just needed support, right?

"H-hyung, I'm so, so s-sorry" - he was straight up sobbing at this point - "I never meant for this to h-happen. I thought I was helping, I d-don't- I would never do something to harm you in a-any way."

To say Sunoo was shocked was an understatement. Of course he noticed how distant Riki had been from everyone but maybe he just needed time for himself and to think. He never imagined the boy was feeling guilty for whatever was happening.

"Ki I would never blame you for wanting time for yourself. It's actually extremely important, especially at your age, to be able to organize your own thoughts." - he tried helping, even if he didn't know exactly what was happening.

"I don't need time to think, hyung. I need you guys" - he was still crying, but had already calmed down a bit - "M-manager-nim said I should take some time away from you, that I was ruining ENHYPEN's image by being so clingy and s-sentimental." - and he was sobbing again - "He started yelling at me and said that if I didn't take care of the situation by myself, he would talk to the h-higher ups and the consequences would affect the whole g-group. I had to do something, even if it was destroying me."

Again, shock hit Sunoo. Riki was only 17 and their manager thought it was okay to threaten him? It wouldn't be okay in any situations but the fact that it happened to his maknae made it worse. 

"Riki, baby, it wasn't your fault. We were always clingy to each other, the whole group. If he had to talk to someone he should talk to all of us, not only you, never by yourself. Now we're the ones going to the higher ups and denouncing that son of a bitch." - he stated, but noticed how the younger was looking tired and started yawning, so he decided to put sleep first - "but let's worry about that tomorrow, it's already too late for that" - he was hugging the maknae and, after this much needed talk, they were able to sleep, of course cuddling like they used to all the time.

[...]

Sunoo woke up first, he got up and did everything he needed to before going to the kitchen, where all the others were.

"Good morning" - was heard and soon every person in the room responded - "Did Riki talk to you guys yesterday?" - Sunoo asked.

"He was looking a little down while laying on the couch so I did. Did he talk to you?" - Jungwon asked curiously.

"He did. We had a pretty important conversation that I think you guys should know about…" - So he told them everything the maknae had said the previous night and soon everyone in the room was pissed.

"Why did he do that? Was he out of his mind?"; "That fucking son of a bitch"; "I actually can't believe that"; "We need to do something right now"

Suddenly the whole room quieted down when Riki, looking so very little in the big pajamas he was in, walked into the kitchen and groaned a little "Good morning".

The scene was enough to make the members coo at him and momentarily forget how angry they were just a few moments ago.

"Riki, how can you be so cute?" - Jake said while hugging his still sleepy dongsaeng.

Yeah, they still had a whole day ahead of them and a bunch of problems to deal with but they could sacrifice a bit of their time today to take good care of their maknae. 

After all that, already in the van going to the company building, Sunoo and Riki were side by side, back to their clingy selves and appreciating their so very missed moments together.

"I missed this" - the younger said - "Actually, I missed you"

"I missed you too…" - he paused, somehow trying to gain courage to say it after so long - "and I love you."

"I love you too hyung" - as he said that, he hugged Sunoo and gave him a peck on his cheek, trying to transmite everything he was feeling and how sorry he was for the recent events (even if no one blamed him, the only exception being himself).

No one questioned the sudden change of managers or how pissed the previous one was before leaving the building, yelling how unfair it was when all he did was protect the group's image. What people did notice was how happy the members seemed and how they got closer after noticing how much they missed being so connected to each other. 

They loved one another and that's what mattered.