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As the oldest, James-hyung can be really mature sometimes. Hovering over sick members, offering comfort when the others are feeling down, scolded the younger ones (mainly Keonho, who can be really active sometimes and really full of weird ideas, or Seonghyeon, who can be really childish and difficult at times), and many more things that make him looks like a stressed mother, or grandma if you add his thick-framed glasses to the equation.
Keonho understands that being the oldest means you are expected to look after the younger members. Martin-hyung also has that responsibility as a leader, but James-hyung’s role is more about guiding them to function smoothly as a family while they are at their peak of going through adolescence.
So, on some occasions his oldest hyung can let himself relax enough to unleash his chaotic side, Keonho always tried to offer him support, so that James-hyung can be comfortable to continue showing that cute ‘maknae’ side of his. When James-hyung is in the middle of doing some random things, Keonho would find himself smiling and laughing at the older man, for he can't help but adore the things his hyung do because most of the times, it was to make the other laugh, to lift the mood so they are less nervous when they have to perform or do some interviews.
So, that's that. Usually he would entertain his hyung's antics in his most chaotic behavior. But it rarely happens in the soft quiet time they share.
The first thing that showed up in Keonho's mind when he woke up and found James-hyung wandering through the corridor was he looked funny with his bed hair sticking up in every direction.
Keonho can't say anything, though, because all of them have similar types of hair and thus always suffer the same curse of having funny looking bed hair when they wake up in the morning.
He reluctantly rose from his bed and rubbed his eyes. Martin-hyung, as always, had woken up first between the three of them, and was in the middle of his ‘photosynthesis process’ as Seonghyeon dubbed, standing on the side of their room facing the morning sunlight.
Keonho walked sluggishly to the bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush and nearly ran into Juhoon-hyung who was just done washing his face. He muttered an apology and started to apply his toothpaste on the brush, bringing it slowly to his mouth.
Juhoon-hyung said getting ready for the day is like a therapeutic routine for him, but to Keonho, it was several boring minutes too long and often, he found his mind went elsewhere as he automatically did his routine.
This time, he visited the memory of their first Chuseok celebration as an idol last week. The corner of his lips lifted as he remembered how chaotic James-hyung went that day. He didn't show it often, but sometimes he liked to just stay still and observe his hyung doing the most absurd things without an ounce of shame. It's refreshing.
It was also quite funny how James-hyung asked them about proper Chuseok greetings, as if he didn't already know that they are all not yet legal adults that haven't spent proper Chuseok celebration in years with their parents. He grinned, imagining his hyung’s confused expression throughout the recording of the greetings.
It's not hard to call James-hyung cute. Although the man is all sharp features and precise dancing, he can act adorable if he wants to. He just doesn't do it often because, well, they are teenagers who don't like to be called cute, and maybe because he’s aware he's not in the maknae line anymore and was expected to act more mature.
But when he does act cute, it is actually adorable, seeing their normally goofy and confident hyung being all soft and quiet, for once truly living the name of his MBTI type.
Keonho would continue fantasizing his eldest hyung acting all cute, but Martin-hyung poked in through the bathroom door, frowning as he lifted his left wrist and tapping his watch in silent judgement.
Keonho rolled his eyes, but still rushed a little to finish quickly. Martin-hyung can be a little bit scary when he is in strict leader mode.
Turned out, their schedule for the day was just to shoot a dance practice.
Keonho felt a little bit betrayed because Martin-hyung was acting like they had a day full of different schedules earlier in the morning. He gave a nasty side eye to said hyung when they finished the shoot.
Martin-hyung pointedly ignored him, instead listening attentively to James-hyung who was in the middle of giving his last review about their dance form and a little bit of things that could be better, before they could wrap up and leave the studio to go home.
Keonho backed up and threw his body on the lone sofa in the backside of the dance studio, only half listening to his eldest hyung as his name wasn't actively called and the older didn’t seem to mind Keonho’s weird resting pose and the fact the he obviously not listening to the debrief.
Finding the most comfortable position on the sofa, Keonho let his eyes slip shut for a bit before he felt someone approaching him. Upon opening one eye, he found James-hyung sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him. Just realizing that the debrief is over, he sheepishly made eye contact with his hyung, who just rolled his eyes and leaned deeper into the sofa.
“Are we going back, Hyung?” Keonho asked through a yawn. It’s only noon, but being woken up so early always left him sleepy afterwards, no matter the time of the day.
James-hyung hummed. “Eat first,” he said shortly like he always did when he’s not in the mood to don his ‘extrovert’ persona.
By now, James-hyung seemed to almost slip into a nap like Keonho did several minutes ago. Keonho chuckled quietly, finding the way he talked rather adorable. People always say that James-hyung talks like a drunk uncle, but to Keonho, it's closer to how a toddler would talk. It's so cute, really, that sometimes Keonho dubbed it as James-hyung's babytalk.
Not having anything to do (and his phone was on low battery, he forgot to charge it this morning as Martin-hyung was rushing him to get ready quickly, the prick), Keonho opted to play with James-hyung’s hair, which was slightly matted with sweat but still look somewhat fluffy.
To his credit, James-hyung didn't even open his eyes, only let out a grunt to warn Keonho. When the younger boy didn’t heed his warning, he scowled and snapped his teeth playfully at Keonho’s hand.
Keonho shrieked and giggled happily, curling deeper on the sofa.
“My hair is all sweaty, Keonho-yah,” grumbled James-hyung, taking back his sitting position in front of the sofa. Keonho, like the gremlin he is, snuck his hand again, pulling dan ruffling the older man’s hair.
“Aww, but your hair is so cute and fluffy, Hyung!” James-hyung only sighed and let him play with his hair. Keonho pumped a fist sneakily.
“But really, Hyung, your hair is so fluffy today. This morning it was all messy, though,” he babbled, still playing with the soft strands. “I guess you do look like your emoji representative. But the cuter version! Oh! Oh! Like a baby eagle!” He snickered at his own idea. James-hyung gave him a stink eye from his place on the floor.
“What is a baby eagle called, Hyung?”
“Hmm, eaglet, I think.”
“What! That’s not cute enough! I guess we should just call you little baby chick instead.”
“Yah! Chick already means it’s a baby, why do you still have to add little and baby in front of it?”
“Hehe, it’s a cute nickname, though, don’t you agree?”
“Hmm, I suppose it’s… adequate.”
Keonho burst out laughing at his hyung’s ridiculous remark. James-hyung snorted at him back, the corner of his lips twitched upward. Keonho wanted to coo at him when the older man leaned his head into the palm of Keonho’s hands.
“Ahh, you’re really cute, Hyung,” he sighed instead. James-hyung only shook his head.
“You are cute,” he pointed at Keonho. “I am just an old man,” he put his hand on his heart dramatically.
“Nope!” Keonho grinned mischievously. “You are a-do-ra-ble! Our little baby chick!”
Keonho squeaked when James-hyung’s fingers suddenly attacked him into a tickle. He heard him laugh, though, so he considered it a win.