Chapter Text
[Past - October 2020, Enhypen Dorm]
Heeseung can recall 3 moments where he was genuinely thinking about risking it all for Jongseong. To just tell the rest of the members about the relationship, damning the consequences. But Jongseong was adamant about prioritizing the promotions.To let things settle down first. Give the other members time to grow into their schedules. There would be better opportunities to say things soon, someday.
Someday is a funny word. It implies that it’s going to happen in the future, but doesn’t guarantee a thing. But Heeseung obliges, of course, because it’s the right thing to do. Still...
The first of those times is just a few days after they’ve moved into their dorms. Heeseung catches Jongseong in the hallway, sneakily hugging him from behind in spontaneous affection.
“Hey, you.” Heeseung whispers into his ear, mischievous.
“Hyung-!” Jongseong startles. But he doesn’t make any move to remove Heeseung from him. He lets his arms rest over Heeseung’s from where they’re wrapped around his torso.
“Haaaa. I can’t believe we have our own place. I thought I was gonna be living in my parent’s house until I was 30.” Heeseung says giddily, swaying Jongseong from side to side. Sure, they all had to share one bathroom, and it was uncomfortable with so many of them in the bedroom during the hotter nights. But still, this place was theirs. Heeseung was ecstatic.
‘I know.” Jongseong agrees. “It still doesn’t feel real. It’s like I’m still dreaming” Jongseong leans his head back, letting it rest onto Heeseung’s shoulder. This was real. They had a team, they were debuting after so long.
Jongseong looks over to Heeseung, who hooked his chin over his shoulder. And he feels his face grow warm. This was real too. They were together. Heeseung sees Jongseong’s eyes flutter shut, tilting his chin upward, and he leans forward to close the distance between them.
They’re about to kiss, it was really close. But Heeseung hears someone behind him and he pushes Jongseong away from him on reflex. Unfortunately for the both of them, Heeseung was always a lot stronger than he seemed, and he accidentally sends Jongseong crashing into the bathroom door.
His tailbone collides with the doorknob and Jongseong bites down a shriek of pain as Sunghoon passes by. He gives Jongseong a weird look for having such a pinched expression on his face, but doesn’t ask about it.
Only when Sunghoon has disappeared into the bedroom does Jongseong let out a groan. Falling to his knees and clutching at his back.
“Aaaack-” He whines.
Heeseung feels immediately guilty, rushing over to see if Jongseong’s alright. But the younger waves him off, telling him to not be so loud, as the other might find them like this. Heeseung’s hands stop, hovering just above Jongseong, but unable to touch him.
This is stupid . Heeseung thinks, bitterly. They should at least be able to act freely in their own house. Secrets were very seldomly good things, and he wished for nothing more than to be able to just check if Jongsoeng was okay without worrying about someone catching them.
He huffs impatiently . Someday , he reminds himself, before heading to the kitchen to grab some ice.
The second time Heeseung contemplates telling everyone is during his birthday. Jungwon has a cream cake in his hands, singing him a happy birthday, and he is so ready to eat it. Their managers have given them the ok signal to break their diets for just this day. It's the first big event they would all be celebrating as a team, and so far it's gone smoothly. Almost a good omen for what was to come.
He blows out the candles, turning to take off his party hat, but feels his hand collide with something flat, heavy, and decidedly not something that should be there . Heeseung watches as the cake falls onto the floor, practically in slow motion, to the backdrop of the others’ dramatic wailing.
“AAAAGH!” Jungwon shouts in alarm. But the cake is already on the ground in a sad heap. And there’s nothing any of them can do. Heeseung feels his face burn in regret as he collapses on the couch. The rest of the members are in similar states of grief.
“Sorry.” Heeseung mumbles, because he really was. Guilty over seeing everyone’s disappointed faces. They were all looking forward to eating the cake together.
Jongseong stares at Heeseung's for a moment, before wordlessly disappearing into the kitchen. He comes back, a plate and knife in hand. He crouches down, methodically slicing the cake, separating it from its bottom layer that was touching the floor. He then flips the entire thing over onto the plate, like it was a fucking pancake. He holds the ruined, but no longer contaminated, cake triumphantly in his hands.
“So! Who wants the first slice?” Jongseong, cheerfully. As if that was something you normally did to cakes that just fell on the ground. The other members, and even the other managers in the room, look at him in shock.
“Uhhh… Jay-sshi-” One of the managers tries to tell him, uncomfortable over the idea of the kids eating something that just came from the floor. Heeseung looks between them, unbelieving.
“I want it.” Heeseung blurts out. just looking at Jongseong. He felt nothing else but relief at that moment.
He grabs Jongseong’s wrist defensively, dragging him into the kitchen so they could serve the cake. Jongseong follows behind him mutely as the others just watch. Heesueng sets the cake down on the kitchen counter, then busies himself looking for extra plates and bowls for the others.
"Heeseung. I meant that as a joke..." Jongseong tries to laugh it off, suddenly realizing how weird it was of him to pick the cake up from the floor, and then serve it to their younger members.
"We both know you didn't." Heeseung gives him a pointed look, which Jongseong blessedly backs down at, letting Heeseung take care of it.
Heeseung sets the tableware down, sighing. "It's just... this is our first birthday."
"They'll... be other birthdays." Jongseong says quietly, unsure what Heeseung seemed so stressed about.
"But mine is the first. This is always going to be the first." Heeseung all but whines. But he stops upon hearing his own voice, the helplessness of it. He turns to Jongseong sheepishly, shaking his head. "Nevermind. It's just cake. I'm being silly..."
And in that moment, Jongseong realizes how much stress Heeseung has been under. It was a lot of firsts for ENHYPEN the last few weeks. Their first album, their first music video, the first time in a recording studio. And it was always Heeseung bearing the brunt of it, who was always their first throw into uncharted territory. He went ahead for the other members, and made an example so no one else would get lost. But Jongseong wondered if Heeseung was beginning to feel lost himself, the fear of failing and bringing everyone down along with him.
“You aren't." Jongseong tells him, clearly and slowly. "This isn't a failure, Heeseung. It's just... a minor slip-up."
"Quite literally." Heeseung huffs out a laugh.
"Heeseung. If you're feeling overwhelmed. There's no problem in taking a step back." Jongseong says. "Let us take the lead sometimes."
Heeseung looks down, leaning over the kitchen counter as he breathes deeply, trying to calm himself down. Jongseong brings a hand up to Heeseung cheek to pinch it lightly. "Hey... cheer up! It's your birthday, hyungie!" Jongseong sneaks in a little aegyo, just to try and make him laugh.
Heeseung catches Jay's hand, his palm closing lightly over Jay's wrist. But there it lingers, like Heeseung was trying to connect himself to Jongseong. "It's always you, Jongseong. Why are you so good to me?" Heeseung asks lowly, almost to himself, as he looks up to meet Jongseong's eyes.
Heeseung and Jongseong stare at each other for a second, Jay’s hand still on Heeseung’s face. But the mood is immediately dispelled, Jongseong jerks his hand back and looks away, when the other members file into the kitchen.
“Are we eating the cake?” Sunoo asks, still enthusiastic about it, given how much of a foodie he is.
“Yup, everyone grab a bowl.” Heeseung says, clearing his throat to dispel the heavy mood. He prepares a knife to start slicing the cake.
“Ewww. Floor cake .” Sunghoon singsongs, but he grabs a bowl as well without hesitation.
“Why does ‘Floor Cake’ actually sound good?” Jake wonders aloud as Heeseung serves him a slice.
Jungwon sidles up to Jongseong. “I’m impressed how fast you managed to save the cake, hyung. Do you often eat food off the ground?” Jungwon teases him, to Jongseong’s whining.
They all sit around the dining room table, after each getting a slice. Ni-ki joins them as well, after a bit of convincing. They sigh collectively at the sweet taste, and dig in, eating well for the first time in weeks. The atmosphere is light, comforting. All the earlier tension dissipating into quiet laughter as the other members recount their day.
Halfway through, Heeseung bumps his knees into Jongseong's under the table, in a silent “ thank you ”. but he still feels like it isn't enough. Heeseung doesn’t turn his head to look at him. He would if they were alone… but he can’t.
So settles for switching his fork to his left hand, wrapping his now-free, right hand around Jongseong’s, where it’s placed on the bench between them. He squeezes it tight. He feels Jongseong overturn his palm so they can interlace fingers. The room suddenly feels a lot warmer than before.
“ Someday ”, Heeseung thinks.
The third time is actually pretty insignificant. It wasn’t anything too saddening or painful. But Heeseung remembers it all the same.
It’s a few weeks later, Jongseong’s first day going back to Hanlim. It’s impossible to sleep with the influx of managers that suddenly flood their dorm to make sure Sunoo, Jungwon, and Jongseong have everything in order. But Heeseung tries his best anyway. He rolls over in his bed, trying to block out the noises.
Sometime later, Jongseong enters the dorm. Heeseung startles and giggles to himself when he hears Jongseong bump around in the dark, cursing under his breath. Jongseong approaches Heeseung’s bunk and he has no idea what for.
Heeseung keeps his eyes closed and face slack, curious as to what Jongseong is trying to do. The boy crouches down and just sits there for a while, contemplating. His hand ghosts over Heeseung’s body under the covers and it’s all Heeseung can do not to tense up at the moment.
Then Jongseong leans forward, and presses his lips to Heeseung’s exposed cheek. It isn’t anything crazy, just a brush of lips on skin. But Heeseung feels the tips of Jongseong’s bangs flutter over his forehead. It’s a fight not to show any reaction, because Jongseong so rarely does things like this, with no fear that anyone could see them. Heeseung doesn’t want to scare him away.
“Bye, hyungie.” Jongseong whispers into his ear and Fuck, just end Heeseung now. He had a will of steel, keeping silent and unresponsive until Jongseong gets up, leaves the bedroom, and shuts the door behind him.
Heeseung opens his eyes with a gasp, breathing heavily. He covers his eyes with his arms as he feels the stupidest, dopiest grin spreads across his face, warm feelings all over. He really should start waking up earlier.
Is this normal? Heeseung feels like he wants to squeal and bury his head in his pillow like a teenage girl. So he squeals and buries his head in his pillow like a teenage boy , because Park Jongseong just kissed him. In your face, rest of the planet. Heeseung thinks triumphantly, as if anyone else knew about it other than them.
He sighs, fluffing his pillow once again, before flopping on top of it to resume his sleep.
“Someday, Park Jongseong” . Heeseung whispers into the air determinedly.
[Present - December 2020, Enhypen Dorm]
Heeseung and Jay enter the dorm, shucking their snow-covered shoes, leaving them to dry on the floor. It’s eerily quiet, no trace of their members from what they can see from the hall.
“Guys? ” Jay calls out. No response .
Jay walks further into the dorm, Heeseung is right behind him, picnic basket in one hand, and Jay’s hand in the other.
Jay can hear the low hum of chatter coming from their kitchen, and he can barely make out some of the conversation, hushed tones bouncing off the walls of their dorm.
“They’re here. they’re here!”
“If they chickened out, I swear to God I’m going to-”
“Ni-ki, stop dancing in your seat!”
Jay and Heeseung walk slowly into the kitchen area, causing all of the previous voices to stop abruptly. They see the other members are seated around their dining room table. 5 identical, maniacal grins are pointed at them. Jay feels a little creeped out.
“Good evening.” Jay greets cautiously, bowing his head for good measure.
“How was your day~? ” Sunghoon asks them, smile growing even wider. He cocks his head to Heeseung and Jay’s clasped hands.
“Good. Great, actually.” Heeseung nods shakily. His dongsaengs look at him with expectant eyes, Ni-ki looks like he’s about to explode, fidgeting in his seat. Well, no point in dragging it out. They’ve all been waiting for this.
“...so Jay and I are dating.” Heeseung says finally, tone conversational. And the kitchen bursts into raucous cheers and shouts. Heeseung sighs, they could have at least pretended to be surprised, he thinks. Was he and Jay really that obvious?
“After 4 fucking years…” Sunghoon shakes his head, leaning forward over the table, looking like he just wanted to take a long, long nap.
“Hey, you guys didn’t eat my food.” Ni-ki whines, when he goes up to check on the basket Heeseung left on the counter.
“Sorry Niki-ah, but it was frozen solid when we got there. Let’s eat it for dinner instead.” Jay consoles him.
Sunghoon turns to Jungwon confusedly. “If they got together today, does this mean the bet is off?”
Jungwon groans in disappointment at the realization. If he remembers correctly, no one bet on today. It was a totally random, one-off date. Returning all the money to their original owners was gonna be a logistical nightmare .
“So how did it happen?” Jake asks, curious. “I guessed Heeseung-hyung would have confessed first...”
“No way, it was definitely Jay.” Sunghoon argues back.
“We handed them the perfect confession ideal on a silver platter. First snow of the year? Doesn’t get any better than that.” Sunghoon adds, proudly. Like it was his idea to make the weather align perfectly with the plan.
“Haha… funny story actually…” Heeseung rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. How was he gonna say this? Luckily, Jay does it for him, with all of the subtlety of an airhorn.
Jay grips Heeseung’s hand tighter, bracing himself for his members’ reactions. “We’ve been together for a few months now.” He declares firmly, staring down the barrel of the gun.
With that, all the chatter in the dining room dies off, until it’s quiet enough to hear a pin drop. The smiles for earlier being replaced with identical expressions of shock. Then just as suddenly as it stopped, they burst into a cacophony of racket once again.
“ WHAT ?” Ni-ki screeches.
“A- a few months?” Jake blinks multiple times, his brain going offline.
Jungwon screams in disbelief, hands grabbing at his hair. Only Sunghoon and Sunoo are silent. Sunoo, still smiling peacefully, not at all surprised. And Sunghoon collapsed onto the back of his chair, mouth agape. He clutches at his chest like he was having an attack.
Jungwon gets up from his seat and immediately grabs onto Heeseung and Jay.
“When did it happen.” He grits out, eyes furious.
“I- I just said. A few months ago.” Jay answers in indignation.
“No. I mean exactly when. What date and time and fucking moon phase.” Jungwon shakes his hyung a little.
Jay splutters. “What does it matter?”
Jungwon’s patience snaps, if he even had any to begin with. “ JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION, JAY-HYUNG!”
“I DON’T KNOW! THERE WAS NEVER ANY SENSE OF TIME IN THE EGG-LAND!” Jay yells back.
“YOU’VE BEEN TOGETHER SINCE I-LAND?” Jungwon screeches in disbelief. The others get even louder, if that was possible. Jay worries their racket is scaring the neighbors.
Jungwon calculates in his brain, if they got together at that time, the bet was down to him, Geonu-hyung and...
His eyes flick to Kim Sunoo and he feels his heart drop seeing his all-knowing grin, looking perfectly peachy at the revelation Jay just dropped. ... No fucking way .
“All this time…” Sunghoon finally starts speaking again, after having his soul snatched away from him. “...You were together already. Did I really have to go through all the SHIT I DID FOR YOU GUYS!?” Sunghoon shoots up out of his chair, face red in anger.
“Ah. Sunghoon-ah-” Heeseung tries to calm him down. But Sunghoon isn’t done.
“Oh I bet it was so fucking funny to you two, watching me fumble around like an idiot, trying to get you two together .” Sunghoon gets up in their faces, voice high-pitched and betrayed.
“No… Sunghoon, we really didn’t want to keep it a secret from you…” Heeseung tries to say.
At the same time Jay mumbles under his breath. “... it was kind of funny…” His lips tremble from trying to hold back his laughter.
Sunghoon launches himself at Jay and they both go crashing onto the floor, effectively ripping Jay from Heeseung’s grasp. They go down grappling at each other.
“ AAAHHHH !” Sunghoon screams in rage.
Jake stands up in alarm but doesn’t make any move to separate the two. Ni-ki has his phone pulled out, recording the whole thing.
“Sunghoon! It really wasn’t all that long! We only got together in the last two weeks of the show!” Heeseung raises his voice to be heard over the din Sunghoon and Jay were making.
“When. Heeseung-hyung. When ?” Jungwon is focusing on him now, his bruising grip on Heeseung’s arm. Heeseung wracks his brain to answer their leader, because he’s getting a little scared of how intense the kid looks. When did it happen ? He just recalls the rain, the kiss, and just a few moments before that…
His eyes land on Kim Sunoo, who wiggles his eyebrows in response. Ugh. Now Heeseung remembers.
“It was the day Sunoo caught me and Jay in his bed…the one where...we did the massage.” Heeseung says lamely. Just now realizing how unromantic the circumstances of their confession was. Dang, he was so close to deleting that memory from his brain too , Heeseung thinks .
Jungwon’s mouth drops open. A dawning sense of horror slowly creeped up on him. That was the day Sunoo joined the club… No. that meant-
“I WON! I WON THE BET!” S unoo screams, the first thing he has said all night. The others turn to him in shock, struck silent once again.
In uncharacteristic aggressiveness, Sunoo pushes his chair back hard enough for it to screech, and sprints around the room in a victory lap, whooping the entire time. The others can only watch, mouths agape at the realization. Sunoo grabs Jungwon’s backpack, from where it was tucked under his chair, unzips it, and overturns it, spilling all of the contents on the floor.
Dozens of wads of cash fall onto the kitchen floor, enough to cover an area large enough to lay on. Sunoo immediately flops on top of it, giggling maniacally.
“I’M RICH!”
The others wail in indignation at the loss of their money. While Heeseung, Sunghoon and Jay freeze in position, just staring at the amount of cash that has been revealed, and Sunghoon is still straddled above Jay, fist raised in the air, and his other hand gripping Jay’s collar.
Jay recognizes that backpack. “Jungwon. What. Did. You. Do.” He grits out.
His brain comes up with the worst possibilities as to why his younger members would have that amount of cash on hand. And only Yang Jungwon had the balls to do most of it.
Jungwon sighs in defeat. “Nothing illegal, hyung. If that’s what you’re worried about.”
Heeseung's eyes dart around the floor, uncomprehending, where Sunoo is still star-fished over the money. There are an assortment of sticky notes scattered around as well, in a rainbow of colors. He catches some of the names written on them, reading them quickly.
“Geonu… K-hyung... Hanbin-hyung...Yeonjun-hyung- what the hell.
Heeseung cannot believe his Yeonjun-hyung would betray him like this.
“Did you guys… bet on when Heeseung and I would confess to one another?” Jay asks, voice an eerie mask of calm as he gets up and picks up a green post-it off the floor. “ Nicholas ” it read. He is going to smack that kid all the way back to Taiwan when he sees him at the company the next day.
“Yup!” Sunoo says, popping the ‘p’ sound. “ At it’s alllll mine. ” Sunoo had no sense of self-preservation at the moment, too drunk over the joy of winning.
Jay huffs out a laugh, almost impressed at what the other members have managed to achieve. He gives them all a look that has them averting their gazes, embarrassed and frightened. “You guys made money off of my misery? If you guys had this pool going on, you could have at least told me too.”
“ ...Huh? ” Jungwon turns to him, confused. He was fully expecting Jay to get angry.
“All those years I spent pining after Heeseung-hyung and being continuously friend-zoned, I could have as well made some money out of it!” He explains, to which Heeseung makes a sound of betrayal.
Sunghoon snorts out a laugh. “Hah. Dragged.” He points at Heeseung.
“Okok. The point is … we’re together. Heeseung grabs onto Jay’s hand again, desperately trying to steer the conversation away from that topic.
“I'm telling you guys it shouldn’t change anything about the team dynamic, but we hope you all can help keep it a secret.” Heeseung tells them in earnest. It’s a lot to expect from the team, Heeseung knows, and he holds his breath in anticipation for his members' reactions.
But the others only nod in agreement. A round of “Sure, hyung”, “Of course we will” rings out among them. Heeseung swallows heavily, really grateful for their support.
“Ok, and Sunoo please keep the mess you made on the floor. I still need to heat up dinner” Jay tells him, going back to his hyung-mode.
“Gladly.” Sunoo snickers, already gathering his hard-earned money in his arms. That seems to be the end of that.
But the others aren’t calm yet, still arguing and talking amongst themselves as they scuttle around. Ni-ki is unsuccessfully stealing some of Sunoo’s earnings, to his unfiltered rage. Jake and Sunghoon continue bickering about who they thought really confessed first, while Jungwon scolds them all from the kitchen island, already unpacking the contents of their abandoned picnic basket. Jay is exhausted, and still a little cold, but the kitchen lights cast everything in a warm glow. All things considered, the commotion should really be giving him a headache right now. It’s loud, boisterous, chatty.
Would the team be professional? Friends? More than that?
In the midst of it all, Jay turns to look at Heeseung and finds him already looking back at him. Their hands are still hanging clasped between them. Heeseung just gives him a small smile, lifting their linked fingers upwards, and he presses the back of Jay’s hand to his lips, no caution at all. The atmosphere was loud, but it’s also comforting.
Nah, Jay realizes. This feels more like family.
After they’ve all calmed down, and had their dinner, the others file out of the kitchen to wash up or hang out in the living room. One by one, each member offers their congratulations and support for Heeseung and Jay before leaving, except for Sunoo, who gives them a thinly veiled threat, warning them of the consequences if he ever catches them in his bed again.
“It won’t be pretty.” Sunoo growls out, wagging his finger between them.
“Alright, that’s enough from you.” Sunghoon pushes him, standing behind Sunoo. Sunoo gives them one last stink-eye before waddling out to the hall. Jungwon snickers at him, from where he was washing the dishes with Jay.
“Hey.” Sunghoon says. And then it was the four of them. Heeseung and Jay turn their attention to Sunghoon. He shakes his head slowly, almost disbelieving.
“I never thought this day would come.” Sunghoon admits. Heeseung can’t help but agree.
“Yes you did, Sunghoon-hyung. Though, you thought it would come at least 10 years from now.” Jungwon adds.
Jay laughs. “10 years? You overestimate my patience, Park Sunghoon.”
“ *cough* 4 years! *cough *” Sunghoon attempts to clear his throat.
“Yah.” Jay scolds, but it’s soft and without anger.
“Sunghoon-ah... Jungwon-ah...Thank you.” Heeseung says. Jungwon waves a soapy bowl in his direction.
“Don’t thank us, hyung. Today was Sunoo’s idea.” Jungwon admits.
“No, I didn’t just mean today. I meant… just- Thank you.” Heeseung tells them nervously.
They get what Heeseung means. And suddenly, the years seem to weigh on them, heavy and meaningful, to sweat-stained jerseys and training caps and fogged-up mirrors. Jungwon sighs internally. It was getting really gay again.
“ Aishhh , what are we? Old men? Suddenly getting sappy like this…” Jay tosses his drying towel down on the counter.
Sunghoon giggles a little. He wraps an arm around Heeseung’s shoulder and grabs onto Jay’s hand, pulling him in as well. Jay squawks as he stumbles into Sunghoon’s chest. Sunghoon squeezes them tight.
“Hey. Take care of each other alright?” Sunghoon tells them.
Jay nods into his Sunghoon’s hold, trying to swallow back his words, lest he says something emotional and incredibly embarrassing. Crap . Maybe he was getting old and sappy, even at his 18 years of age.
“Got it.” He croaks out.
“Hey, Jungwon! Get in here already!” Sunghoon calls out to the younger boy, who was still standing alone behind the sink. Jungwon rolls his eyes, grumbling, but he walks over to the three of them anyway, and joins the hug.
“I hate you all.” Jungwon mumbles. Which is basically Jungwon’s way of saying “I love you. ”
3 heads peek out from the hallway, not about to be left out.
“Hey let me in too!” Jake runs up to them, Sunoo following close behind.
And Ni-ki takes a running start from the hall, leaping enthusiastically at the rest of them. “Ni-ki, Don’t!-” Jay tries to warn him, but the rapidly-growing, 178 centimeters of Nishimura Riki bumps into the 6 of them hard and they all go crashing down onto the floor in a heap.
“OW-!”
“YAHHHH!”
“ENHA! Fighting!” Ni-ki cheers.
[BONUS]
It’s late at night. The lights are out, when Heeseung feels a weight dip his mattress down on his side. A warm body presses against his and Heeseung can smell that familiar sea salt and rain scent again. He shifts closer to the wall to make room.
“My back is killing me. ” Jongseong groans into his ear, bruising from being knocked onto the ground twice earlier.
Heeseung giggles, shoulders shaking from the effort of trying to keep quiet. Because in the bunk above his, Ni-ki and Sunoo were already fast asleep.
“Would you like me to massage it away?” Heeseung asks him teasingly. “You’ll have to promise not to make any noise this time, though.”
Jongseong punches his shoulder lightly, pouting. Heeseung whines in mock-pain.
“Just… hold me, Heeseung-hyung.” Jay whispers, bashful at his own request. And Heeseung obliges. He shifts their positions until Jongseong is lying pressed against his chest, and Heeseung has his arms around him.
Finally , Heeseung thinks. They were never able to do this before, cautious of the risk that the other members would find them.
Their faces are close, as Heeseung’s bed is barely big enough to fit the both of them. But Heeseung really doesn’t mind.
“Hi.” Heeseung says, grinning like a kid. Jongseong can see his smile clearly, even in the dark.
“Hello.” Jongseong greets him back, still a little shy, but happy all the same.
They lie together for a while, the minutes stretching out into hours. And their heartbeats slow as they drift in and out of sleep, neither wanting the day to end, but too tired not to succumb to rest.
“Hey...Jongseong-ah.” Heeseung calls out to him, sometime during the night.
“Mmh.” Jongseong mumbles, sleepy. But he responds anyway.
Heeseung raises his hand to Jongseong’s neck, eyes still closed. He doesn’t need light to know what he’s looking for, so familiar with all of Jongseong already. He taps his finger to Jongseong’s birthmark three times, keeping his promise.
Then they both fall asleep.