Chapter Text
Waking up with the worst fucking headache is like a routine at this point, really.
Beomgyu brushes his teeth on autopilot before taking medicine for the headache and then showering. He barely acknowledges the pain at all.
He shuffles out to the living room where his roommate is lying on the couch, watching a movie on the television. Kai raised his head in interest when he spotted Beomgyu.
"What are you doing up so early?"
"What do you mean 'early'?" Beomgyu grumbled. "We have classes."
"It's Saturday."
"Oh."
Kai laughed at him. Beomgyu joined him on the couch, slowly massaging his head. "Ugh, I barely remember what happened last night."
Kai laughed again. "Yeah, that's probably for the best."
Now that got his attention. He raised an eyebrow at Kai. "Why? You weren't there."
"Yeah, but Taehyun told me what happened last night."
Beomgyu waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. He continued watching the television. "What happened?" Beomgyu prompted.
"It's gonna ruin your morning, at least get breakfast first."
"Tell me right now." Beomgyu pouted
Kai huffed. "Fine. Okay, so, you know Choi Soobin?"
He's only heard the name yet but can already feel his headache coming back in full swing. The involvement of Choi Soobin can't amount to anything good.
"Yes, I know who Choi Soobin is, unfortunately." He can already imagine Soobin trying to encourage him into doing something embarrassing. Maybe he made him spill his deepest, darkest secrets, or even worse, maybe he asked him about his sex life—
"You asked him for a kiss."
If Beomgyu had been drinking something at that moment, he's certain he would've spit it out.
"What!?" he blurted out. "What? But— but I— but why!?"
Kai shrugged. "Don't ask me, I can't figure out what goes on in that head of yours either."
Beomgyu sits there, staring blankly at the TV in shock. What the fuck?
"Do you have anything to tell me?" Kai prompted, breaking Beomgyu out of his thoughts.
"Yes," he responded, "I want to jump in front of a train right now."
Kai didn't catch the joke. "No, I mean, do you have a crush on Choi Soobin? Taehyun said he always knew, but I really was under the impression that you two hated each other—" Kai rambled, each word sending Beomgyu further into a spiral.
"Kai," Beomgyu spoke between gritted teeth, "stop."
Kai mimed a zip to his mouth. He goes back to watching the TV, leaving Beomgyu alone with his thoughts.
Beomgyu does not have a crush on Soobin, alright? He doesn’t. Just because he thinks Soobin has nice lips and really cute dimples that he only sees rarely (because he's, well, Beomgyu) doesn’t mean Beomgyu has a crush on him. Beomgyu knows what crushes are like. This isn’t a crush.
He swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to chase away his thoughts by distracting himself with the TV.
But he thought to himself, if not a crush, then what is it?
♡
Beomgyu gets his answer on Monday after the weekend.
Kai and Taehyun knew better than to ask about what happened on Friday, so Beomgyu forgot about it by Monday morning. The only thing on his mind that morning was how cold it was and that he should’ve gotten a hot chocolate on the way.
Kai and Beomgyu walk to their lockers together as usual. The sky is bluish-gray. It might start snowing soon.
As soon as they step into the 3rd-floor hallway, someone is yanking Beomgyu's arm, dragging him away. He can hear Kai calling his name behind him, but Beomgyu has stopped focusing on anyone but the person pulling him.
When he finally pauses outside the janitor’s closet for a second, Beomgyu gets a proper look at him.
Of course it’s the bane of his existence. Choi Soobin would take any opportunity to be a nuisance in his life.
Beomgyu can't say anything before Soobin opens the door of the janitor’s closet, pushing him in and then following himself.
It’s dark inside. It’s an incredibly tiny space—only a little bigger than a regular closet, so they're pressed together. There’s no way for Beomgyu to leave whatever this is, but Soobin is pinning Beomgyu against the wall to make sure he can't escape anyway.
Beomgyu finds his voice again. “What the fuck are you doing?”
There’s a tiny beam of light coming from outside. It isn’t enough to show Soobin's face clearly, but it does highlight his ear—his ear that is a bright shade of red.
“What do you think I'm doing?” Soobin snapped. “I want to talk.”
“Yeah, well, dragging me to someplace I can't see anything makes it seem more like you're trying to murder me.”
“Could you be any more dramatic? And quiet down, someone might hear.”
If Beomgyu was any more petty, he would scream out of spite. But he's not, so he prompts Soobin to continue, “So? Are you gonna tell me why we’re here?”
“I was just... um...” Soobin sucked in a breath. Why is he so nervous? Where’s his big mouth? It’s not the Soobin Beomgyu is used to at all.
Finally, Soobin gets to the point. "Do you remember Changbin’s party on Friday?"
Oh.
Beomgyu forgot it happened at all. Now that he's remembering it, he’s regretting ever interacting with Soobin at all. If they didn’t know each other, they wouldn’t hate each other, and Beomgyu asking him for a kiss while drunk wouldn’t be as embarrassing if they didn’t know each other.
And of course, Soobin would embarrass him for it.
"If you brought me here to embarrass me, you win, okay?” Beomgyu snapped.
“So you remember it.”
“Fuck off, Soobin.”
Soobin scoffed. “You’re so stupid. If I wanted to embarrass you, I would do it in front of everyone. I wanted to ask something about it.”
“What could you possibly have to say about it?”
“I was going to ask, if the offer is still up.”
Beomgyu sucked in a breath, letting the words linger in a tense silence. Soobin seemed to be losing confidence and loosening his grip the longer the silence stretched, until he removed his arms altogether. Beomgyu can make a run for it, but he doesn’t.
“You know what? This is stupid,” Soobin spoke weakly. “I need to go.”
“Wait!” Beomgyu blurted. He grabbed Soobin's hand before he knew what he was doing. “Yeah, the offer is... um... yeah.”
“You don’t have to force yourself.”
“I know. I'm not. The last person I need to act to please is you.”
Beomgyu can't see his face, but he can feel the hand tracing his jaw. The warm touch makes him shiver. He hopes Soobin didn’t notice it.
“You sure?”
“Fuck, just do it,” Beomgyu cursed, right before taking matters into his own hands.
♡
How they even ended up in Soobin's dorm was beyond Beomgyu. He had lost his train of thought somewhere when his and Soobin's lips met and before he knew it, Soobin pulled away from the heated kiss to ask “My place or yours?” and here they were.
Soobin came out of the bathroom, dressed in sweats and a plain tee. Beomgyu had already cleaned up and dressed, everything was said and done. So why was he still here, not wanting to go?
Soobin sat beside him on his bed as Beomgyu observed the dorm now that his mind was clearer. It’s the standard dorm, just like Taehyun's when Beomgyu visited it. This one, however, is messier, with books strewn all over the study desk, and don’t even get him started on the second bed in the room.
“Next time, let’s go to my place instead,” Beomgyu spoke absentmindedly, “your dorm is so messy.”
He looked at Soobin, who was looking at him blankly, and then it clicked. This was supposed to be a one-time thing, there is no next time.
And he has humiliated himself in front of his rival once again. Great.
Soobin looked at him with an expression Beomgyu couldn't understand. “Yeah,” he said, “I wasn’t exactly expecting guests. Let’s go to yours next time. I want to see what a rich kid’s house would look like. Do you use dollars as toilet paper?”
“What? No!” Beomgyu huffed. “You're so annoying.” He then quietened, processing Soobin's previous words. He wanted to ask about it, but he didn’t.
Picture frames were hanging on the wall, pictures of Soobin with people he didn’t recognize. There was a picture of Soobin and Yeonjun on his study desk, placed deliberately away from all the mess.
It’s a little unnerving, someone he only saw as a nuisance, suddenly someone so much more. Someone who probably means a lot to the people in these pictures.
Beomgyu’s phone lit up with a notification and he picked it up. Just a notification about the weather, but checking the time made him realize he'd already missed two of his classes.
“I guess we should go back to class now,” Beomgyu spoke reluctantly. It’s the responsible thing to do—in fact, Taehyun will probably pester him about where he was during his missed classes when he returns—but Beomgyu kind of... doesn’t want to leave.
Soobin averts his gaze. “I guess so.”
Would it be too much to hope Soobin feels the same way about it?
Fuck, where did that come from?
“Yeah, I’ll get going.” Beomgyu stood up, hurriedly leaving the place.