kyungsoo cringes with secondhand embarrassment as kris mumbles some unintelligible babble into the rim of his glass cup in what he probably thinks is a sexy, hot-shit cf king manner.

“duizhang, what are you, a baby?” baekhyun teases, grabbing his cup and imitating kris’s previous actions with much amusement and added exaggeration.

“asdkfhaklfjm.”

the corners of kyungsoo’s mouth pull down in a frown, imagining different, colorful ways to do byun baekhyun serious damage as the rest of their group breaks out into laughter and kris smiles sheepishly, shrugging with nonchalance to cover up for his self-consciousness.

kyungsoo’s fingers itch to reach out across the table for his awkwardly endearing hyung, to snuggle him under mounds of thick blankets and fluffy pillows and drink hot chocolate and all that romantic, cheesy nonsense.

he shudders, just thinking about his current train of thought and how corny he’s become, gently patting his cheeks to make himself focus. they’re recording right now and it wouldn’t do well to have the cameras capture images of him blushing with a glazed look in his eyes.

the conversation finally moves on to a different topic, kris visibly relaxing as the attention is diverted away from himself. and kyungsoo’s whole body deflates, falling back into his seat as he stares up at the ceiling.

this is going to be one, long season.

he furtively side-eyes kris, a small smile forming on his lips as he counts down the minutes until the camera finally stops rolling, patiently waiting for those precious few hours of alone time that helps kyungsoo get along throughout the day.