Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kangmin takes multiple deep breaths, unable to keep his body calm and still at the thought of talking to his sunbaenims. He stares down at the large bag of gifts he is clenching tightly in his fists. He mutters random patterns of words and sounds under his breath, questioning stares sent his direction in the midst of it. He glances at the large and imposing paper sign labeled with ‘PENTAGON’ upon it, and he feels a tinge of regret of even thinking of coming to their waiting room, let alone with anything with him. But he’s here. It’s too late to turn back and with that in mind, he knocks on their door, hoping for the best. There’s a beat of silence before a voice grants him permission to enter, which he does rather meekly.

He immediately does a full ninety-degree bow, not wanting to seem impolite for suddenly intruding on them during the waiting time. The people in the room are left speechless, blinking in confusion, before one of them snaps out of it and their face breaks out into a full grin and he tugs the younger boy into his grip. “You’re so cute!” He exclaims.

Kangmin flushes at the sudden compliment but accepts it nonetheless. “Thank you, Yeoone-sunbaenim.”

The man rapidly shakes his head. “No need to be so formal! Just hyung is fine, Kangmin-ah,” he explains.

Kangmin gently pulls his head away from the older’s chest — god they’re all so tall — and tilts his head, like that of a naive and curious puppy. “I…okay then, Yeoone-hyung!”

Yeoone’s expression brightens up even more if it’s even humanly possible, and at that moment the other seven members of Pentagon’s brains seem to catch up with what’s currently happening and Hui rushes over to where the two are, promptly pulling his member away from the younger boy. “Give the kid some space,” he lightly scolds, although there is no heat in his voice.

“Ah! Hui-sunbaenim! I brought you all gifts!” Kangmin hollers unnecessarily loud.

Hui gives the boy a small smile. “I see. Thank you, Kangmin-ah,” he responds kindly. “By the way, how old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, I was born in 2003… I’m 18 right now,” he states.

Jinho looks at him intently. “We have an eleven-year age gap… Jeez, I feel so old now,” he mutters mostly to himself, although Kangmin decides to respond.

“There’s nothing wrong with that, sunbaenim! Besides, you don’t look a day older than twenty!” He smiles brightly, handing him the gift at the same time.

Jinho chuckles in response. “Thanks, Kangmin-ah,” he replies.

Kangmin shrugs it off and remembers what he wanted to say to his sunbaenims in the first place.

“Your performance today was super amazing! Thank you for not making us pay to see it,” he cracks a joke in the midst of his nervousness.

Hongseok’s gaze softens when he spots the boy’s fingers twitching and his legs tensing up. He pats the younger’s head and smiles gently at him, pulling him into a hug. Kangmin quietly sputters at the sudden action, but takes it as it is; he doesn’t look too much into it. He lets the older wrap around his torso, his large hands comfortingly patting his back. Kangmin relaxes into his touch, letting out a sigh of content. Hongseok suddenly lifts him off his feet and the younger yelps at the motion. Hongseok responds with a small chuckle as he sits down and places him back down on his lap bridal style. He tilts his head at Kangmin and lightly runs his fingers through the boy’s hair. Kangmin stares into the other’s eyes before breaking away, flushing at the pseudo-staring contest; Hongseok doesn’t seem too fazed, instead opting to chuckle at the younger.

The silence is broken when Hongseok asks, “Can we get your number?”

Kangmin giggles. “Sure, sunbaenim!”

His bright cheeks, glowing skin, sweater paws, and charming eye smile make all of them coo, and they do end up exchanging numbers, and in the middle of it all, his group comes to pick him up. Respectfully bowing to their sunbaenim, they watch in curiosity as their maknae Kangmin skips and walks with a pep in his step for the rest of the way out of the building. They don't question it, however, as they know from personal experience just how easy it is for people to warm up to Kangmin easily.

Chapter Text

It’s fairly normal for sunbae groups or groups that are performing later to watch the stages of other groups. When Kangmin spots the members of Pentagon waving at him as he walks up the steps to the stage of The Show, he politely bows at them, shooting them a bright smile. The daisy tucked behind his ear still remains and Kino seems to have taken to it kindly, if his exclamations and words of encouragement are anything to go by. Kangmin giggles in response, making small talk during the small break, but immediately rushes to his spot as the directors yell that pre-recording is about to begin. The song starts and he takes a deep breath, allowing himself to get engrossed in the melody. His body moves; flails; he allows his limbs to flow with the music and he makes eye-contact with the members of Pentagon as he dances. It’s not what he’s used to, but nonetheless they’re a welcome presence. It’s not like the group had issues performing in front of cameras, the staff, plus them. He can’t stop himself from subconsciously smiling at them when he struts off to the side allowing Hoyoung to get his solo shot; they reciprocate the expression and he feels a warmth in his heart.

He pants and collapses when he hears the loud “cut!” coming from the camera director, gently patting his forehead with his sleeves and the back of his hand. He huffs more, taking in deep breaths in the dark background of the set. He thanks the staff that passes by him, giving them a polite smile. He’s tired, but all his exhaustion seems to wash away when he spots his Pentagon-hyungs bounding over to him. He grins and waves at them vigorously, finding their company to be rather favorable.

“Kangmin-ah, that stage was so good!” Hwitaek exclaims, pulling Kangmin in for a deep hug.

The boy takes it in stride and being quite a skinship enthusiast himself, he lets the older wrap his arms around him, and he gently places a kiss on the older’s cheek. Hui grins and chuckles, affectionately ruffling his hair. 

“Min-ah!” A voice calls out to him. Kangmin turns his head and strains his neck over the tall males. He waves back at them. “We’ll be in our waiting room. If you want to hang out with Pentagon-sunbaenim, then just message us, alright?”

Kangmin makes a hand signal in response. “Okay, Hoyoung-hyung!”

He turns back to Pentagon — he smiles. “Well, I suppose I’m available now!”

Yuto shoots him a small yet meaningful grin and he reciprocates it. He grips onto the Japanese male’s hand and entwines his fingers with the older one and gently nudges Yuto’s arm with the top of his head. The other members coo at him — some even take pictures. Despite trudging off with them, he can hear Yeonho’s distinct teasing voice and Gyehyeon’s amused snickers.

When they manage to fit all of them in the large van, Kangmin is squeezed between Wooseok and Kino, but he finds it hard to complain about it, not when the younger of the two is currently wrapping his arms around his torso, and placing his chin on top of his head. He glances up at Wooseok and gives a small smile which is naturally reciprocated. They all fall into a comfortable and rambunctious conversation; the topics rapidly change. 

While meant to be a normal hangout — as normal as visiting his big sunbaes can be — Kangmin finds himself stuck and distraught on how to answer when they ask him about their songs and the choreography that goes along with it.

Kangmin flushes and lets out a small cough. “Um, yeah. I do know all your choreo,” he mutters.

Kino beams at him, pinching the boy’s pink cheeks. “Really? Oh my gosh, you’re so adorable!”

The boy whines and lightly pushes the dancer on the chest; Kino chuckles amusedly as the others smile at the cute sight.

Kangmin thinks his mind and lips are betrayers, because the next thing he knows he’s speaking out loud, more embarrassing admissions that he really didn’t want coming to the surface. “I’ve memorized the lyrics to pretty much all of your songs too!”

They all blink at him owlishly, before Shinwon grins and playfully leaps at him, arms tangling around his own. Kangmin yelps but makes no attempt to escape, only enabling the older boy further. The others watch and groan, though it’s all in jest. Kino pouts and gets jealous, attempting to drag Shinwon away, though to no avail.

Hongseok eventually wins.

Those damn muscles.

Kangmin thinks he’ll never get to that point. Granted, that’s probably a good thing. He doesn’t even have the right body shape nor the height the other has to make it look good.

Anyways , needless to say, the amount of coddling Kangmin continues receiving practically fills up his quota for at least a few months.

Not that he’s complaining, of course.

He likes them.

He likes them a lot.