Everybody Loves Jongho

Tired

tw: mentioned hate comments, not enough sleep, overworking, insecurities, sad Jongho, worried Ateez, accidentally skipping meals, being touch-starved
let me know if I missed anything

Jongho is tired. He's spent all the free time he's had for the past two months at the company practicing his dancing and vocals (he's been reading too many of those comments again) and hasn't slept very much in about a month. But he couldn't let his boyfriends know. So, late at night (or sometimes early in the morning) when Hongjoong is headed back from the studio, Jongho has a routine of turning off most of the light and hiding in one of the lit changing rooms that you can't see from the outside. Jongho is scared of the dark, so he needs a place with light to stay. Once he is sure Hongjoong is gone, he continues practicing for at least another 30 minutes before heading back to the dorm where everyone is asleep, skipping dinner without realizing.

He thinks he's getting away with it, but little does he know-

"Hongjoong hyung, we don't know if you know," Yeosang hesitantly approaches the producer with Wooyoung by his side, "but Jongho isn't exactly in bed when we fall asleep, and he still isn't there when you come home, hyung. I'm a light sleeper, so I wake up when I hear people come in. He always comes home at least 30 minutes after you do. I think he doesn't realize I'm awake during his whole nightly routine."

Hongjoong, who paused his project as soon as the two walked in with worried and scared looks on their faces, is taken aback by all the information he just received. He sees how nervous and concerned his boyfriends are and stands up, grabs their hands, and leads them over to the couch in the corner of the room. The three boys sit down, cuddling up together with Hongjoong in the middle.

"First of all, I want to apologize for waking you up when I come home late, Yeosang," Hongjoong starts off, kissing said boy on the forehead, "I'm trying not to do that as often. Secondly, I have also noticed something's off with Jongho. He's not acting like our bright, strong, confident Jongho we know and love. I haven't noticed him coming late because the practice room light is always off when I walk by and in the room. I always check to see if any of my wonderful boyfriends are still there, but I obviously haven't been checking hard enough. And thirdly, I've also noticed he's been getting way more hate than usual, way more hate than the rest of us combined. That's why I've been trying to steer him away from certain things."

When Hongjoong is done speaking, he hears little sniffles from not only the boys next to him, but also the doorway where Mingi and Yunho are stood. All of them crying.

"We also came to talk about Jongho," Mingi says while drying his tears, "we're also getting very worried about him."

Hongjoong gets an idea and shouts for the other members to go to the living room. Everyone sits on the floor huddled in a circle. Except Jongho. They whisper as if they're making plans to steal government secrets or something.

Then seven men finish their whisper huddle and inact the plan. Mingi and Hongjoong start walking to the company building as the other boys set up a blanket/pillow fort in the room, grabbing and making their baby's favorite snacks.

Meanwhile at the company's practice room, Jongho is going through the dances one last time for the fifth time. He's feeling weak due to skipping meals he doesn't even fully realize he's skipping, but he's happy about losing weight, maybe all those "fat" comments will stop soon. Jongho goes into spin, but immediately regrets it as his knees begin to wobble and head starts to spin.

Mingi and Hongjoong walk into the practice just as Jongho goes into a spin. Hongjoong sees the maknae's unsteadiness before Mingi and rushes forward just in time to catch the boy before he hits the ground. Mingi comes running toward them, concern taking over his mind. The two pick up their confused boyfriend and carry him to some chairs on the side.

"Mingi, call Seonghwa hyung and tell him to come here. He's better with exhaustion-induced confusion. Besides, he has the Mom instincts."

Mingi nods and turns to go farther away to make the call, but Jongho starts whining at the loss of touch. So Mingi stays where he is to make the call as Hongjoong strokes the youngest's hair and hums softly to calm him down.

Not even 10 minutes later a very worried Seonghwa shows up and rushes toward Jongho, obviously in Mom mode.

"Hwa hyungie," Jongho slurs out as he smiles and makes grabby hands towards his oldest boyfriend, "huggies please!" And who would Seonghwa be to deny his adorable boyfriend of cuddles in his tired-drunk state? An absolute idiot. He smiles softly and picks the boy up bridal style, slightly frowning at how light he is before smiling again to not worry the boy in his arms.

The four make their way out of the building with Jongho still being carried by Seonghwa. Jongho is whining, slurring, and giggling so much that other people passing by might think he's drunk when in reality he's just exhausted, hungry, and touch starved. Luckily there's pretty much no one on the street to see them, that would take a lot of explaining to clear up the possible rumors.

Mingi opens the door for the others and Seonghwa leads them to the living room turned fort. The other four awe at the sight of Jongho's state, quickly making room for an eight-person cuddle pile. Jongho stays latched onto Seonghwa, so he ends up laying on top of the older man. Jongho pouts up at Seonghwa, looking for kisses, and again, Seonghwa can't deny him. The man smiles before leaning down and connecting their lips for a short kiss.

"Hey, I want kisses from Jongie!!"
"I also want kisses from him!"
"I made the ramen, I should get his kisses!"
"I'm the one who took everyone's mattresses and put them on the floor for our fort, so I should get Jongie's kisses!"
"YOU DID WHAT WOOYOUNG?!?"
"I should get his kisses because I'm the one who ordered the chicken!"
"Well I'm the one who took everyone's blankets and pillows for the fort, so I deserve his kisses more!"
"YOU DID WHAT SAN?!?"
"I'm the one who carried him home, so I deserved the first kiss."
"True."
"But-"

Jongho's giggles break through the lighthearted argument and all the boys turn to look at him.

"Baby," San softly says to Jongho with a smile, "Who should get your kisses next?"

Jongho thinks for a second and then turns to Hongjoong, making grabby hands at the leader. The other boys can't even fake being mad when a huge smile stretches out over Jongho's face as he's lifted onto the leader. Hongjoong gives Jongho plenty of small kisses, causing giggles to pour out of him.

The rest of the night is filled with food, cuddles, kisses, and sleep. Tomorrow they will have to talk with Jongho about the situation, but for now they're going to enjoy the time with their unusually cuddly boyfriend.

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A/N
fun fact: Maine is the only state with a one-syllable name

Where are you from?

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