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“You were never subtle, Bae Jinyoung. You never fail to make me laugh.”
That’s what Woojin’s been telling him for years now, and Jinyoung would not believe him every single time. You see, Jinyoung’s got a big fat crush on his best friend, Lee Daehwi, and he still thinks he’s subtle in admiring him from afar. Thank heavens there’s Woojin always disproving him, but he just won’t listen to his hyung.
Daehwi and Jinyoung meet in the most unexpected way. Years ago, Jinyoung was looking for a certain David Lee, his English tutor, and there in the library sat a guy younger than him. Willowy thin, with eyes that are different from one another (one’s a monolid and the other a double lid), an effervescent smile but a biting kind of wit inside, they spent thirty minutes inside the library bickering loudly (read: whispering harshly to each other) about David Lee and Lee Daehwi being a single person.
Jinyoung has always been the dumb type, but not the nutcase one. Well, you can call it klutzy, if that word describes him well. Still, after so much time spent together with each other, they became the closest of friends, and for the older, it developed into something else. Being the klutz he is, he just labels it as “something beyond friendship”, period.
Jinyoung calls himself blindly in love. His friends just think he is just plain stupid.
Jinyoung, Daehwi, and his other college friends celebrate the end of the final exams the most “college-y” way possible: heading to the nearest noraebang, singing their joys and stresses away. The older grudgingly agrees to accompany the younger, because he wants to make his friend feel good about the tests ending. (No, scratch that. He’s just a fool for Daehwi.)
They start with a few karaoke hits (Woojin’s “Only One” never fails to make Jinyoung roll on the floor, laughing wildly, clutching his stomach) and when the mood mellowed a bit, they punch in a couple of ballads.
Jinyoung is not the best singer, but Daehwi always tells him he has the voice “that would melt a million panties”, for which Jinyoung would blush and Woojin would smack his head with the pillow. His self-confidence isn’t sky high to begin with, so with a couple of minutes of convincing him (thanks, Daehwi), he sang a ballad. Sure, “Beautiful” isn’t the best choice for the season (it’s in the middle of summer, for crying out loud), but it highlighted his voice, therefore justifying the other’s claim.
After Jinyoung’s ballad, Daehwi punches a number, and his favorite English song comes out. “Better The Devil You Know” is a song not everyone can relate to, but it appeals to Daehwi’s soft gay heart, and therefore a trip to the karaoke bar isn’t complete without him singing “his anthem” (Woojin’s words).
While Daehwi was channeling his inner Sonia, Jinyoung just gazes at him with a stare that can produce honey and make the bees go to forced retirement. Simply put, Bae Jinyoung fails at being subtle with his feelings for the younger.
“You know you have to confess to Daehwi tonight, right? No matter what happens?”
Jinyoung startles when Minhyun, his senior, sidles up to him, whispering. He blushes a little, then nodding. “But how?” he chokes in his spit.
Minhyun caresses his back, while throwing a pillow to Jaehwan for being too noisy, and says, “Don’t overthink. Just tell him you like him, the end. If he accepts it, kiss him. If not, then just walk him to the door. That’s it.”
“Easy for you to say that, hyung,” Jinyoung replies, pouting.
Minhyun just chuckles.
One o’clock in the morning came, and it’s time for them to go home. The others are going the other way, and the two of them are going the same way because they live in the same neighborhood.
Daehwi walks beside Jinyoung. The younger was talking about the one time when Woojin punched in a wrong song, and they have to sing it in the original key. Turns out the song was a Celine Dion one and they have to brave in three minutes of Woojin wailing like a lost dolphin in the Pacific Ocean. Jinyoung just chuckles, out of politeness, because his mind is a mess right now.
Just as when they are in front of Daehwi’s house, he grabs Daehwi’s wrist. The younger questioningly looks at the hand wrapped around his wrist, then back to Jinyoung, his eyebrows raised.
“I have something to tell you, Daehwi.” Jinyoung barely lets out the sound.
Daehwi hums.
Jinyoung takes a deep breath, and spills everything, all at the same time.
“IloveyouDaehwisomuchpleasebemine,thankyou!”
Jinyoung runs out of breath.
An awkward silence ensues.
“I’m so sorry about that, Daehwi. Maybe you should –“
Jinyoung’s wave of rambling is cut off when he feels Daehwi’s lips crash onto his. It takes him three seconds to respond to the kiss, and another three to wrap his arms around the other’s slender waist. They kiss with that right amount of cheesy fluff, and just the right amount of spice. Everything feels right; he doesn’t want it to end.
Daehwi breaks the kiss. “I love you too, you dummy. That song is for you, stupid.”
Jinyoung blinks, not understanding a word he says.
“Better the Devil You Know! That song is for you! That’s what I feel about you! You don’t get the cues I give you, no?” he chuckles.
“Don’t make fun of me, that’s an English song,” Jinyoung fakes a sulk.
“The words are so simple, dummy. I always get your failures at being subtle, and I just waited for the right time for you. I just waited for you, you know?” Daehwi winks at him.
“I-I was subtle!” Jinyoung weakly defends himself.
“Okay, okay, whatever floats your boat, lovesick boy,” Daehwi says before claiming Jinyoung’s lips the second time.
“You know I love him, everyday
It breaks my heart when he goes away…”
-- Sonia, Better the Devil You Know