The Arrangement - HyunMinLix

Chapter 23.

Third person POV (Hyunjin)

"Let's not kill the baby on his birthday, shall we?" Changbin held back Minho's arm and looked at him meaningfully.

"Yeah yeah, ok" Minho held up his hands and gave everyone his cat smile, eyes still holding murderous intentions that made Hyunjin secretly giggle.

Jeongin skipped over to Minho with a sweet sarcastic smile and held up the cake to his lips.

"To the second oldest weird hyung of mine." Minho scoffed at his words and rolled his eyes at Jeongin but his eyes softened when the youngest sniffled slightly and looked away for a moment.

"Err.... you are weird, very very weird yes, but I like it. You are someone I trust to protect me all my life and get me killed accidentally, too, so yeah...." his words were followed by muffled laughs from everyone, even Minho, who bowed his head in acknowledgement of the fact.

"You did just spent 250k for my birthday cloths and drinks, all because I was acting bratty for attention but you never once complained about it even though we both knew I was doing it on purpose. You have always patiently helped me through every obstacle, never denying my request no matter how stupid they were. Let's not even get started on how much you helped me with dance because it might take us years to go there. You cooked for me at 2 in the night all because I was in a mood to eat, you have bought me gifts I would have never expected to receive in my life from anyone, you have always loved me in your own way and I am grateful for that. I know I don't say this often, never to you I think, but I really love you, hyung." with a soft sigh, Minho held Jeongin's hand and fed him the piece of cake back.

"That's for the dose of diabetes you just gave me."

Hyunjin shook his head at Jeongin and Minho's savage love language and immediately perked up when the youngest turned towards him, blatantly ignoring Changbin who had been jumping beside him and making kissing noises.

"YAH!!" loud protests rang out and Jeongin let out a comical defeated sigh.

"Yes yes, I am getting to you." he turned towards Changbin and stuffed a huge piece of cake in his mouth first.

"There goes half of my sappy speech, now the left one is here." Jisung near about toppled over Seungmin with his uncontrollable laughter, while Hyunjin had to hide his face in his palms to stop himself from letting out his own giggles.

"You, Seo Changbin-ssi, are one true man of principles. I know it probably doesn't means much to you but it does to me, actually. Your resolving and understanding nature has made me much more mature than I expected myself to be. The way you take care of everyone around you is really inspiring to me. You are one of the few people in my life that I have learnt something from. You have given me strength and life lessons throughout these years and I am thankful for your presence. You are like a star, hyung, always there in the sky, shining brightly and providing beauty but never disrupting others' shine. You are one of a kind to be honest, and I am glad you are my- well one of my eccentric hyung."

"Such eloquent vocabulary. Did you practice this in front of your mirror, Innie?" Minho snorted and gently pulled Changbin out of the way to let Hyunjin get in the spotlight. Meanwhile Changbin was starting to get slightly emotional over the youngest words and most likely needed a heavy dose of Minho and Seungmin's dry humor to go back to his 'black bin' aura.

With a sniffle, Changbin reached forward to teasingly hit Jeongin for his mental breakdown but was held back from doing the impending disaster by Minho, who wrapped him up in a back hug.

"Let's not kill the birthday boy, shall we?" he quoted Changbin's words and received several punches of mirth from the 4 rappers of the group all together.

Hyunjin, on the other hand, felt his heart outright melt from his chest at the scene in front of him. Minho and Changbin hugging, Chan watching them all with a fond smile on his face, as always, Felix and Jisung holding hands and smiling, Seungmin with his glasses looking like a cute baby boy who was hungry for cake and most importantly, the huge grin on Jeongin's face despite his watery eyes. It was such a moment after so long, and Stray Kids definitely deserved it.

With his chest swelling in pride and happiness, Hyunjin grabbed the youngest in the tightest hug he could summon, hearing his surprised cackles sound like music to his ears. He ruffled Jeongin's soft fluffy hair and pulled back to kiss his forehead.

"Ewww, ok ok. I am getting to you." Jeongin hit the elder's chest but stayed in his warm embrace nevertheless.

"You are more like my elder brother than my elder brother himself, hung, and that's quite a threatening move according to my older brother. The amount of times I have uttered 'brother' should be illegal." the sentimental speech diminished into void with the youngest's embarrassed murmur and silence followed the idiotic words as Chan slapped his forehead and sat down on the couch with a sigh.

"Aren't you so poetic?" Seungmin drawled out with a lazy smirk on his face, taking place on the couch beside Chan.

"Hey, not fair. I ran out of sappy speeches." Jeongin protested and that elicited laughs from everyone, right before Jisung incredulously widened his eyes.

"What do you mean you ran out of sappy speeches? I am right here, maknae-ya, waiting for my turn of sappy speeches."

"The amount of time you guys uttered 'sappy speeches' should be illegal." Minho muttered and steered Changbin away to get the shopping bags from the hallway, where they laid out forgotten and discarded.

Oh, the justice for those Gucci and Chanel purchases that made Minho go broke.... R.I.P

"RIGHT ANYWAYS..." Jeongin continued with new found enthusiasm as he bounced in Hyunjin's arms with a sudden huge smile on his face. Seems like he found something down the memory lane.

"I still remember the first time I met you, you were so damn handsome that I instantly felt attracted to you. You had this comforting and approachable aura around you, and you were so friendly and cool that I really wanted to be friends with you." Hyunjin snorted when he remembered how his friendly and cool aura always disappeared around a certain cat boy, but he was glad Jeongin had never noticed his clumsy self in the past. God knows what would have happened if the boy hadn't decided to worship him and instead been as casual to him as the others, because Yang Jeongin can be very evil and harsh when he wants to be. Thank the Lords, Hyunjin was always on his good side.

"Then we went to school together and those years were one of my best. You always helped me with my homework, looked over me throughout the school year, making sure I was included and involved everywhere you went, kept me safe from those asshole bullies and protected me through my rough phase at school. You made those school years bearable and I can't thank you enough for that. I know we all know how much I admire you, your personality, your artistry, your thoughtfulness, your sensitivity, so we don't need to go there. Just know that I love you, every part of you, every inch of you, whether its the dumb part, the adorable part, the innocent part, the hot part, the scarred part...." Hyunjin did it.... He did the very stupid action he had promised himself not to indulge in....

He cried.

Despite the numerous promises he had made to himself in front of his mirror in the morning, he shed his tears like women in pregnancy. He couldn't help it, his emotions were high and Jeongin's words were enough to break his dam free.