Chapter Text
Twenty-two idols ran off the buses and toward the resort that their company had booked for a week. Surely a week-long vacation would rejuvenate the tired young men, while also providing plenty of filmed content for their fans. If anyone in NCT minded the combination of work and play, they didn’t show it. Instead, they all talked about different rides or games they wanted to try first, each member talking over one another.
Everyone, that is, except for Kun.
He stared after the stampede with a tight frown and trembling hands as he clutched his own luggage. Seven days and nights. He could get through it. It wasn’t like he’d have to interact with the entire group all the time, after all.
Despite his reluctant behavior, Kun adored the rest of his members. He viewed each one as a child he had helped raise or a valuable confidante. Lifelong friendships had been formed over much less. He also cherished the sporadic moments when he could reconnect with members outside of his own subunit, their conflicting schedules and managers making it difficult to coordinate something as simple as a quick phone call.
However, Kun had never shared a space with so many people--all of whom he deeply cared about--for so long. Even as a trainee, the other boys came and went as they pleased. This week, the entirety of NCT was practically trapped together. And, since the point of the videos would be to show how well all the members got along, he couldn’t just hide with WayV the whole time.
He might not have minded the arrangement for a brief sleepover or extended holiday weekend…but a week was too much.
Too dangerous.
Surely a week would be long enough for his secret to slip.
Kun hadn’t realized he was actually stalling, until a certain American giant sprinted toward him. The Thai dancer wasn’t far behind, despite their size difference. Kun couldn’t help but smile whenever in their presence or the center of their attention. The rowdy duo had a special way of teasing him then calling it love.
“I’ll take that,” Johnny insisted, stealing Kun’s bag out of his grasp and leaving no room for protest. “You know you two aren’t supposed to even lift a finger when I’m around.”
As if Kun could ever deny his older boyfriend’s chivalry.
“My hero,” he sang and stood on his toes to offer a grateful kiss.
“And I’ll take you,” Ten added, grabbing the other 96-liner’s hand. “Hurry up before the rest of the guys call dibs on all the good beds! Oh, avoid the first room on the left when we go in, by the way. Sicheng and Jungwoo dropped as soon as they saw the pink dinosaur quilt inside, and now they’re jumping on that bed. Doyoung’s doing his best to not scold them within the first five seconds of our trip. I think he’s gonna have to break out his emergency toys a lot sooner than he planned.”
Ten snickered the last half of his warning, oblivious to the way Kun’s eyes widened in concern. Not five seconds in…and he’d already have to avoid one of the rooms just because it was cutely decorated. He added unexpected triggers to his list of reasons why he so rarely left their dorm or studio.
Johnny turned to their smallest lover and pouted. “Why do we have to call dibs? I thought we’d just share a bed like usual.”
Ten rolled his eyes, the fondness nearly invisible to everyone outside of their group. However, neither Johnny nor Kun missed the sparkle in his cat-like gaze. “We can’t while the cameras are rolling, silly. That’ll be too much work for the cameras to edit out. We have to at least pick our own beds to unpack on and use for naps.”
“I don’t care where we sleep, as long as we can stay together,” Kun admitted almost desperately. At least when they were together, he knew how to act. There was never a chance of slipping…of dropping. Even better, nothing grounded him quite like the weight of Johnny’s hands on his waist or Ten’s mischievous fingers drawing circles into his skin.
Ten giggled at Kun’s solemn tone, while Johnny simply pressed a kiss to the vocalist’s forehead. “Aw, don’t worry, darling,” the latter cooed. “I’ll make sure we can all share a room together in front of the cameras, then a bed in front of everyone else. Promise.”
Had Kun not already accepted his unlucky fate, he would have glared at Johnny for breaking his own promise. Of course, Kun couldn’t fully blame the older man. Taeyong had made a good point about needing to switch up the subunits and relationships. All the couples--or thruples--could sneak away for adult time when they weren’t being recorded.
More importantly though, they couldn’t just have the littles rooming with each other without a caretaker in sight. It would have been far too irresponsible, especially in a completely new environment. Even now, several of the boys had already dropped and tried to go to the pool or waterpark without an adult present.
Like the rest of the caretakers and neutral members, Kun viewed the littles in their group like angels. He just couldn’t get too close to them. So, being around a dozen excited members in varying headspaces was going to guarantee a painfully long week.
“Okay, everyone!” Taeyong called after counting all the members twice. Only when he remembered to include himself did he relax again. “I talked to the staff, and here’s the line-up for all the roommates. I’ll write it out for all the littles to see when they’re big again too.”
A couple of the shyer members listened even while in little space, while the rest of them ignored him easily.
“I stay with Sungchannie?” a small, high-pitched voice asked hopefully.
Everyone turned to find Shotaro gently swinging the taller boy’s hand, though the Japanese dancer looked even younger than usual. They were all weak to Shotaro in his regular headspace. No one, especially Sungchan, could resist the broken Korean whenever Shotaro dropped.
“Of course, baby,” Taeyong answered quickly, whether or not the arrangement was actually on the staff’s list. “You and Sungchan can always stay together. Hendery is going to stay with you too.”
The little cheered, only to squeal happily when Hendery picked him up without any warning.
“Next up is Jeno, Haechan, Renjun, and Doyoung in the biggest room downstairs,” Taeyong continued. “Then in the third room, we have Taeil hyung with Xiaojun and Jungwoo. Then in the first room upstairs, it’ll be me, Sichengie, Ten, and Jaehyunie. Next is Johnny, Yangyang, and Jisung. Then it’s Yuta, Mark, and Jaemin. Last up is Chenle, Lucas, and Kun.”
No one argued about the pairings. Half of the group was too focused on watching the current littles, while the remaining ones gradually slipped within the next fifteen minutes. Who slept where was their last concern.
Since the sun was already starting to set and the ride had taken several hours, all of the caretakers decided to save outdoor time for tomorrow. Everyone needed a comforting meal and an early sleep, despite the littles’ whines. A little cuddling and cartoons would do wonders to change their minds.
As for Kun, he did what he did best--he avoided everyone as well as he could without seeming obvious or rude. As long as none of the littles wanted him in particular, he could hide in his designated room. Fortunately, his two boyfriends had naturally assumed Kun would need some personal space to decompress and rest after spending so many hours in a cramped bus.
So what if he mistakenly called his avoidance a form of self-care?
During moments like this when he had nothing for company but his own thoughts, Kun’s mind inevitably took him down a dark path of self-doubt and guilt. He hated towing the line between actively lying and just passively not telling the full truth. The group knew all of his embarrassing pre-debut stories, his fears, and his dreams. His two boyfriends knew everything else.
Well, almost everything else.
He couldn’t share it now, not after training and singing and falling in love beside them. Too many years and chances to be honest had passed. At some point, his silence had morphed his secrets into betrayal. Kun told himself it was for the best--both his and theirs.
They’d never look at him the same way if they knew.
They’d never be able to whole-heartedly trust--or maybe even love--him again.
Keeping his silence, though often stifling, was the only option anymore.
At least he was used to sharing a space with Lucas, one of the group’s more reliable caretakers despite his playful personality. There was no risk of Kun dropping in front of Lucas now of all times. Chenle would be his only real problem. It was no secret that the two Chinese vocalists shared a special brotherly bond, even when Chenle was in a more toddler-like mindset. Kun would have no choice but to shower the Dreamie with all the attention and affection he could ever offer…even though another little was usually his strongest trigger.
Sure enough, a couple hours later Kun patiently waited for Chenle to kiss all of the members goodnight before getting tucked into bed. Lucas had offered to make the rounds with the Chinese little, but Kun could have seen the dark circles under the rapper’s eyes from a mile away. Lucas needed his sleep--they all did. Even Chenle yawned as he waddled from one room to the other in search of skipped members.
“Come on, baobei,” he coaxed after Chenle had tried to sneak a second kiss to everyone. He picked up the little easily, despite his own exhaustion. “Let’s get you to bed now, or Lucas is going to take all the sweet dreams from our room!”
Chenle gasped and bounced in Kun’s arms, as if to make the latter walk faster. “No, gege!” he argued. “Share the dreams!”
Kun was just about to reassure the little, until he heard a soft laugh from one of the other rooms. He swore his heart skipped a beat when he found Johnny leaning against a door frame and staring at him. He had half a mind to threaten Johnny’s dreams too when the latter’s smile turned into a suggestive smirk.
“Don’t worry, Lele. Your Kun ge saved all the sweetest dreams for you already,” he chuckled. His gaze became less child-friendly when he returned his attention to his boyfriend. “I hope you’ll have good dreams too, lover. Dream of me tonight, and I’ll make even your wildest ones come true tomorrow.”
Kun knew better than to ask, but being in a relationship with Johnny and Ten for the last six months had sacrificed some of his better judgment. Maybe Ten was right about him being a masochist, as long as it rewarded him with a tongue down his throat. Of course, he saw no point in admitting it.
“What have you got in mind? My subconscious needs to know its limitations.”
Johnny grinned widely, always so amused when Kun played along with their flirty games. “I bet we could find some privacy in the lazy river while the rest of the guys babysit the littles. I bet it won’t be too different from when you and Ten fooled around in the jacuzzi during WayV’s vacation. Jungwoo is probably the only person we’ll have to kick out.”
“I heard that!” Jungwoo whined from the hallway. “Just for that, I’m going to spend the entire day in the lazy river tomorrow.”
Johnny shrugged, shameless as always when either of his boyfriends were involved. “That’s your call. Ten and I don’t mind an audience, and we’ve been trying to get Kun to play with us in public a bit more anyway.”
Before Kun could scold him, Doyoung walked by and smacked the back of Johnny’s head as calmly as possible. “No s-e-x talk in front of the littles,” he reminded. “Little ears have big mouths, and I’d rather Lele not tell Taeyong that you’re contaminating the lazy river. At least wait until our last day here.”
Kun didn’t dare imagine how red his face had turned, his embarrassment only increasing with their audience. Even Chenle patted one of his rosy cheeks to check for a fever like Kun had done to him so many times. Doyoung was right--little ears, big mouths, and shockingly selective memories.
“I’m going to put Lele to sleep now,” Kun announced, effectively excusing himself from the entire conversation. “Hopefully he’ll forget about this in the morning.”
“Not likely,” Jungwoo snorted, though he offered another kiss to the top of Chenle’s head. “Be a good boy and go to bed, baby. Listen to Kun too, even if his boyfriends are s-e-x fiends.”
Johnny squawked then whined just as pitifully as any of the littles.
Thank goodness Chenle’s littlespace didn’t include the ability to spell yet.
“That’s my cue. Night, hyungs,” Kun called, already on his way back to their room with Chenle half-asleep in his arms.
If a little--no pun intended--PDA was the worst part of their trip, then maybe Kun didn’t have anything to worry about after all.