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Jihoon prides himself on being a good student.
It’s one of the things he’s especially proud of, being punctual and managing to drag himself for lectures where attendance isn’t taken. Along with that, he’s also earned himself a close group of friends, who can be idiots sometimes, but Jihoon does love and treasure them very much.
However, it’s also this group of friends that causes him to roll out of bed just 10 minutes before his first lecture of the year begins, slipping on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt as he opens up the unused Uber app on his phone, cursing under his breath.
His phone beeps as he grabs some bread on the counter, signaling that his driver is currently on his way. Jihoon picks up the phone as he slips his shoes on to check the details.
“Woojin, huh,” Jihoon mumbles with the bread still in his mouth as he shuts the door and rushes down to meet his Uber.
Somehow, as he opens the door to get into the car, there’s a strange sense of foreboding that floods his senses as he settles in the seat. The driver turns to smile at him, and Jihoon notices a snaggletooth resting softly on his bottom lip.
“Jihoon, right?” The driver gives a second for Jihoon to nod and make a sound of acknowledgment before a grin spreads onto his face. “You might wanna hang on tight buddy, I’m running late for class too.”
Jihoon’s only given a matter of seconds before Woojin, his driver, pulls out of the pick-up point, and launches into what might be the fastest car ride Jihoon’s ever been in yet. Every sharp turn and sudden acceleration upon seeing red lights makes Jihoon question if his driver has ever participated in safe driving.
It’s only when the car skids to a stop that Jihoon manages to recollect himself, staring at the front to see if they’ve finally met a red light Woojin can’t dash across, but only to realise they’ve stopped in the middle of the road, the tip of his school’s clock tower barely in view.
Woojin gets out of the car, and motions for Jihoon to do so too. It’s only then that he puts two and two together, and figures out that the car has probably broken down. As he gets out of the car, he sees Woojin making a quick phone call before hanging up and flashing him a smile.
The smile should have rung warning bells in Jihoon’s mind, because the next thing he knows, his hand is enveloped in a larger, warmer one, and he’s dragged off by Woojin dashing towards the school gates.
Jihoon decides that he is not fit enough for this when they tumble through the gate, hands on their knees as they try to catch their breath.
“I’ll be leaving now, don’t forget to rate my service!” Woojin yells as he jogs away from Jihoon into the campus, leaving him a flustered and confused mess, brain spinning from the adventure they’d just had.
Why do attractive strangers always turn out weird, Jihoon thinks as he heads to his own class, still reeling from shock from the experience he’d just had.
Jihoon manages to successfully sneak into the lecture, settling for a seat near the back. From what he remembers, this should be a thermal physics module— something that he has no idea why he’s taking as an astronomy major, but his university lists it under one of the compulsory courses, so Jihoon thinks he should be paying attention.
Think being the keyword, because it happens that Jihoon’s lecturer is extremely uninformative, droning on and on with a monotonous voice, which leads to Jihoon whipping out his phone minutes into the lecture.
His phone opens up to the Uber app, and to his own amusement, he finds himself giving Woojin 5 stars, and leaves “Thanks for the adventure ;)” under the comments section before he feels his eyelids drooping, remembering the little hours of sleep he’d gotten the previous night, and lets himself fall into the warm embrace of slumber, with lingering thoughts of the snaggletooth still fresh in his mind.
“...and Park Jihoon. That’ll be all for today’s introductory lecture, please come prepared with your lecture notes next week.” Jihoon wakes up to the mention of his name, and rubs his eyes in confusion. He vaguely registers something mentioned about pairwork towards the beginning of the lecture while he was barely awake, and he inwardly groans.
His brain brings up past experiences of group projects with his classmates, and it makes him dread the task even before it’s begun. The fact that he’s taking a physics course makes it all the more worse, when Jihoon had applied for the astronomy major, he evidently didn’t know what he was signing up for.
He’s left to his own devices to try and figure out what exactly happened during his two hour nap, so he tries looking around the classroom to find any familiar looking faces that he can approach to ask, that is, until he finds smiling down at him with an all too familiar snaggletoothed smile that he just saw an hour ago.
Turns out, Woojin’s a physics major, and from what he’s gathered from Woojin’s ramblings for the past few minutes, they’ve been assigned to do a task on thermal physics together— and Jihoon has absolutely no clue about thermal physics— let alone do an assignment on it.
It must have been heaven’s work to place him in a group with his Uber driver from this morning— an excuse to get to know Woojin, because he seems to have a good personality, and has nothing to do with how much Jihoon finds him painfully attractive.
This will be fun, Jihoon thinks.
As Jihoon welcomes each new semester of his college years, he finds that the time in the semester whereby he’s ready to drop everything and drink himself drunk draws nearer to the beginning of the term everytime.
This time, it’s barely been a few days since the start of the semester, yet Jihoon’s already finding himself downing shots and on the dance floor at someone’s— he can’t quite remember who— house.
Tipsy Jihoon is usually quite kind and considerate to others, because at the back of his head, there’s a tiny bit of his conscious self telling him not to be an ass.
But if there’s one thing Tipsy Jihoon can’t stand, it’s people who don’t understand social cues and don’t know when to back off. Like this asshole that’s been grinding up on Jihoon despite the many times he’s purposefully stomped on his foot to get him to stop it.
Normally he wouldn’t let the guy go down without a fight (or as much as a fight he can put up), but today Jihoon doesn’t quite feel like doing that.
He ends up moving away from the dance floor in search of the restroom, but Grinding Guy keeps following him, trying to get his attention, so he slides into the cubicle and locks himself in, trying to look for ways to escape. From experience, Grinding Guy probably won’t give up on him without a fight, so he has to try and wiggle his way out somehow.
It’s then that he spots the window that rests above the toilet bowl, just big enough for Jihoon to squeeze through if he stands on the toilet. Jihoon doesn’t think it’s a bad idea if he actually has to physically wiggle his way out of the situation.
So he carefully unlocks the toilet door so that others can use the toilet after he escapes— because he’s a polite human that doesn’t want people peeing on the owner’s carpet, and he places his weight on the top of the toilet bowl, and hoists himself over the window ledge, such that he’s half hanging out of the window.
There’s a few seconds of him awkwardly hanging there as he surveys his surroundings, now realising that the window leads to the backyard, and that there is also someone staring amusedly at him from not too far away. It’s only seconds later that Jihoon recognises the unkempt hair and careful smirk, and he realises that Woojin has seen him in this very, interesting position.
It’s the awkwardness that comes from feeling Woojin’s stare on him that makes the heat creep up onto his face as he wiggles out from the small window, and he finds himself embarrassed that Woojin’s the one to find himself in this position.
Had it been someone else, Jihoon doesn’t think he’d have cared.
But it’s Woojin, and suddenly it makes all the difference. Maybe it’s the way his cute voice’s been stuck in Jihoon’s head for a while, and the way his snaggletooth rests on his lips when he’s smirking, and the way his lips always look so soft that Jihoon wants to lean over and capture them—
Or maybe it’s the way Jihoon’s just lost his grip on the windowsill, and then he finds himself lading on a warm cushion rather than the damp, wet grass on the floor of the backyard.
Falling and a booze-filled brain never quite go together, so Jihoon finds the world spinning around him for a few seconds as he’s supported by an extremely warm cushion, and he finds himself wanting to sink further into the warm embrace. That is, until he looks up to meet Woojin’s gaze.
There’s a few moments of the both of them just staring into each other’s eyes, and Jihoon notices the soft hue of brown that Woojin’s eyes are, and how there’s a certain intensity to them— yet when he looks at Jihoon, the intensity turns into something softer, something borderline caring.
It’s only then that Jihoon’s brain finally gets the aha! moment where he realises that Woojin’s the warm cushion that’s supporting him, and he’s all too conscious of the way his heart is beating quickly in his chest, too conscious of the distance between him and Woojin, and how it’s small enough for him to lean up and plant a kiss right on those lips.
The wiggle he makes while in Woojin’s arms is enough to signify that he wants to get off, and so Woojin gently brings him down to the floor, and Jihoon hastily scrambles out of his arms.
He does stumble a little, no thanks to the shots he took earlier, but then there’s a steady hand on his back to guide him, and Jihoon doesn’t have to look to recognise the warmth that belongs to Woojin.
“Woah there, be careful. Don’t want you falling for me the second time we meet, do we?”
Jihoon turns to glare at the smirk that’s gracing Woojin’s features, but then there’s a thought that’s been bugging him for the longest time, so he chooses to bite back the sarcastic remark and instead voice out his thoughts—
“I want ice cream.”
There’s a moment of just Woojin staring at him before he’s breaking out in that cute smile of his, and it makes Jihoon’s heart go crazy again.
“Sure, what princess wants, princess gets.” Then Woojin’s grabbing onto his hand, and they’re headed out in the night with the cold wind blowing on their faces, and their breaths condensing in the cold air— but Jihoon can only feel the warmth spreading from Woojin’s hand that’s enveloping his, and it occupies his mind as they make their way to find ice cream.
Woojin stops at an all too familiar looking ice cream parlour, Jihoon almost crashing into his back when he stops abruptly. The time Jihoon takes for his mind to register that this is the shop Daehwi works at is also the time they need to enter the shop and see Daehwi pinned against the cashier by some man Jihoon can’t quite recognise.
Woojin lets out an awkward cough, and Daehwi screams, pushing said man away as he jumps, turning to face the both of them.
“What the hell guys, can you be a bit more professional?” Woojin says in disgust, wrinkling his nose. “I don’t even know if I want to eat the ice cream here anymore.”
“Wait, you know Daehwi?” Jihoon frowns at nothing in particular.
“The question is, who doesn’t know Daehwi, so yes I do. Back to the topic. Please don’t let me ever see that again.” Woojin answers with a frown on his face.
“W- we don’t usually do that! I swear! Woojin hyung, I didn’t know you knew Jihoon hyung.” Daehwi shakes his head frantically, and Jihoon sees his eyes drift down to their linked hands.
There’s a scandalous gasp let out as Daehwi’s eyes open wide, “Are you guys dating?!”
Jihoon yanks his hand out of Woojin’s grasp as he frantically denies Daehwi’s claim, but the feeling of the aircon on his palm makes him miss the warmth of Woojin’s hand already.
“No, no, we’re not dating! I just met him at a party and I really wanted ice cream so he brought me here.” Daehwi doesn’t quite seem to buy Jihoon’s answer, but he doesn’t press the issue further, so they proceed to buy the ice cream.
Somehow, as time passes, the alcohol seems to settle more into Jihoon, which means he gets clingier by the second, and even as Woojin tries to get his address out of him, he just clings onto Woojin, whining about how cold it is, latching onto Woojin’s arm, and how he doesn’t want Woojin to leave.
Jihoon vaguely registers being brought onto a taxi and flopping onto Woojin’s lap before the world turns black around him, and he falls asleep.
The smell of bacon greets Jihoon when he wakes up, and his stomach rumbles at the lack of food, while his head pounds like it usually does after an intense night. It’s an unfamiliar bed that he wakes up in, and he lets his feet take him in the direction of the food he smells.
As he steps into what he assumes is the kitchen, the full force aroma of breakfast hits him in the face the same time he sees a familiar back— one that is shirtless, only donning a pink apron.
It might be early in the morning, but that doesn’t stop Jihoon’s brain from screaming BACK MUSCLES BACK MUSCLES BACK MUS—
“Good morning princess, I’ll serve breakfast in a few.” Woojin speaks without even looking past his shoulder.
Jihoon frowns, “How did you know I was here?”
“Of course I know, how could I not when you snore like a pig and all of a sudden the snoring stopped?” Woojin lets out a laugh. “I’m joking, I could sense someone staring at me.”
“Oh.” Is all Jihoon can manage, and he softly pads out of the kitchen in a daze as he waits for Woojin to bring the food out.
Jihoon thinks it might be a bit too domestic for them to be sitting at the same table, eating breakfast and talking about their lives like they’ve been dating for years‚ despite the fact they’d only met each other for a few weeks.
Yet everything fits perfectly, there’s never an awkward silence with Woojin, and there’s so many topics they can ramble on and on about, and it’s like Woojin just— slides perfectly into Jihoon’s life without messing anything up. Perhaps this is what the people call soulmates, Jihoon thinks, as the sound of Woojin’s laughter chimes in his head.
He ends up walking out of Woojin’s house having learnt three new things.
One, Woojin has nice back muscles.
Two, Woojin’s voice is especially deep in the morning.
Three, he’s fucked.
There’s small little pockets of time that Jihoon gets to meet Woojin to discuss on their physics assignment, and Jihoon isn’t sure how much of those sessions are mostly spent with him daydreaming about Woojin, though he’s right in front of Jihoon’s eyes. .
There’s the occasional eye roll that Woojin shoots his way when he’s explained a particular concept for the nth time but Jihoon still can’t quite seem to get it— but even then, he manages to continue teaching Jihoon in that gentle tone of his, like he’s tutoring a kindergarten kid that can’t quite get understand how life works.
It’s the gentleness of Woojin that draws Jihoon in further, like how his smiles feel like warm sunshine and his laughs are a warm blanket coupled with hot cocoa on a cold winter night.
It’s also the way how they seem to settle into this comfortable dynamic of bickering that convinces Jihoon that Woojin’s the one , because it reminds him of those girlfriends that go around claiming that “my boyfriend is my best friend!”.
Either way, there’s always something that puts a smile on Jihoon’s own face whenever he’s around Woojin, always something that makes the snarky side remarks come out a lot easier than they usually do for someone he’s met for a couple of weeks.
“Hello, earth to Jihoon? Oh god, did you just fall asleep with your eyes open?”
“No,” Jihoon bites his lips. For some reason, he’s afraid of Woojin finding out that he was thinking about him again, though he knows there’s barely any possibility of him actually finding out.
“What, were you daydreaming about me?” Woojin smirks, leaning forward in his seat.
“No!” Jihoon squeals indignantly, standing up from his seat. “I- I have a class now. Bye!”
He hears Woojin calling after him with a Don’t miss me too much! as he strides away from the table quickly, his heart thumping in his chest.
It’s only after Jihoon’s properly met Woojin that he realises how much their friend circles actually overlap, and he questions how they’ve never actually spoken to one another prior to what they now call, The Uber Meeting, short form TUM.
It’s also after TUM that Jihoon bumps into Woojin so often on campus, even when they’re not purposely meeting up to discuss their physics assignment.
There’s also The Library Incident that only Jihoon knows of. They were together working on their physics assignment, doing their own individual research, when Woojin had drifted off to sleep while sitting opposite Jihoon in the library.
If anybody in the library had heard the strangled sound that escaped Jihoon’s lips while staring at Woojin’s peaceful sleeping face, they didn’t say anything.
(Jihoon has a photo of him sleeping on his phone, but he’ll never admit that he stares at it once in a while because of how absolutely adorable Woojin looks, and it has nothing to do with how Jihoon’s slowly falling down the rabbit hole.)
They say absence makes the heart fonder, but Jihoon isn’t quite sure about that. It’s with every passing moment he spends with Jihoon that makes his heart grow warm at the sight of his eyes crinkling up in Jihoon’s favourite smile of his.
But it does explain the way Jihoon’s heart speeds up when he spots those soft brown eyes looking back at him in the sea of sweaty bodies on the night of New Year’s Eve, when he hasn’t seen Woojin for the longest time. The eye contact is maintained as Woojin weaves his way through the crowd, making his way before Jihoon’s very eyes, smiling at him in the way that makes his heart clench.
“Hey pumpkin pie,” Woojin starts with a smirk. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
Jihoon only snorts and rolls his eyes at the new nickname Woojin has managed to think of, “Hey yourself, idiot. Of course I’d be here, did you really think I would pass on the chance of going to the biggest party of the year? After our finals no less?”
“I don’t know, you hadn’t seemed very comfortable at the other party when we’d met for the third time.” With that, there’s a blush that climbs onto Jihoon’s face as he smacks Woojin on the arm.
“I thought we promised never to bring that up again!” Jihoon says in a scandalized tone.
“Yes princess, I’m sorry for going back on our promise, let’s do a pinky promise to seal it, shall we?” There’s a teasing tone to Woojin’s voice that makes Jihoon roll his eyes, yet Woojin holds out his hand, and they loop pinkies and press their thumbs together like elementary kids would— except Woojin uses his strength to pull Jihoon over by their linked hands as they’re pressing their thumbs together, and lends a peck on Jihoon’s cheek.
“And, sealed!”
There’s a moment of Jihoon just blinking and his brain trying to frantically process the fact that his heart might have just stopped beating at the exact moment Park Woojin’s lips had come into contact with his skin. He knows a blush is creeping it’s way up onto his face, and he brings his sweater-covered palms up to hide behind them.
The thumping of his heart is deafening enough to drown out the shouts of the people as the new year draws closer, but he sees Woojin gently prying his hands away from his face.
Five, and they’re staring into each other’s eyes.
Four, Jihoon thinks he might go crazy from the way Woojin’s gently brushing the hair out of his eyes.
Three, Woojin’s hands find his way onto Jihoon’s cheeks, and cup them in a way that makes Jihoon feel so precious.
Two, then it’s the warmest smile Jihoon’s ever seen that graces Woojin’s features, and it makes his stomach churn a little.
One, then Woojin’s leaning in.
Zero, and Jihoon can promise that the thought of kissing Woojin can never surpass the feeling of his lips on his own, of how the way he’s gentle in bringing Jihoon closer, but close is never close enough, so Jihoon finds himself snaking his arms around Woojin’s waist, hands in Woojin’s hair, drawing them flush against each other.
Fireworks are always Jihoon’s favourite part at new year parties— but he can’t quite be bothered to spare a second to look at them when the prettiest fireworks he could possible see are in the form of a fire ablaze in Woojin’s eyes.
Somehow, that night becomes more of a taboo topic than Jihoon thought it would’ve become.
Maybe Jihoon had read Woojin wrongly, maybe it had been the influence of liquid courage, maybe it’d just been an exceptionally real dream— and Jihoon hadn’t actually attended the New Year’s party at all.
But there are mornings when he wakes up with the feeling of Woojin’s lips on his, and he catches Woojin’s gaze drifting down to his chapped lips more often than they should, and Jihoon thinks it’s all too real.
Perhaps that’s the motivation behind Jihoon’s sudden routine of putting on lipbalm.
Feburary comes quicker than Jihoon expects, signifying the end of their winter break, and it gives Jihoon all the reason to attempt to drag Woojin out on a “date” to watch the stars, before school hits hard again.
“Aren’t you tired of stars already? Isn’t that all you’ve been studying for your finals anyway?” Woojin jokes, but earns a slap on the shoulder from Jihoon.
“Excuse me, but astronomy’s much more than just stars. Besides, I don’t actually get to see them, except in pictures, so let’s go to watch them, pretty please?” Jihoon musters up all the unused energy in his body to smile widely and blink his eyes innocently at Woojin in an attempt to convince him.
It’s the combined work of Jihoon’s whining and cute smile that gets Woojin to cave in, though Jihoon later realises that there’s absolutely nothing to see in the clouded skies of the cities, that Woojin bring up the suggestion of heading down to Busan.
Jihoon thinks it might be a hassle to have to bring all the equipment he needs— but then he remembers The Uber Meeting, and the fact that Woojin’s an Uber driver and of course he has a car to drive them down to Busan.
To be honest, Jihoon has always wanted to visit Busan. He was born in Masan, but didn’t manage to spend much time there before his family moved up to Seoul— which is why he misses the countryside vibe so much.
Jihoon’s filled with enough excitement for the both of them as they load up Woojin’s car before setting off on the road. It’s evening when they set off, and they’re blasting their songs, singing to their heart’s content as they drive on the seemingly never-ending roads.
He realises there’s a lot more similarities to them than he’d have thought there were— like how they both enjoy the occasional emo song, and how they have the tendency to headbang when especially immersed in the music.
It’s what Jihoon thought a road trip with his best friend would’ve been like when he was in his teenage years— until college hit hard and he’d lost contact with most of his middle school friends anyway.
It’s late when they arrive at Busan, but it means that they managed to catch the sunset while driving here, though it was more of Jihoon staring at the sunset in stunned silence, and Woojin slowing the car down so that he can stare at it for longer.
(Jihoon thinks that this could also be something couples do, but he doesn’t voice it out.)
They manage to grab dinner at a local dinner, and Jihoon almost cries at the taste of hearty home cooked food, instead of stale instant meals that he buys from the convenience store.
It’s only after they grab dinner that Jihoon realises he has no idea where they’re headed to, or where they’re going to spend the night, yet when he asks Woojin, he only flashes Jihoon a quick grin that makes his heart skip a beat and forget about any queries he had before.
As Woojin drives them to their destination in the silence of the night, Jihoon sees them drawing near a small home that’s nestled a distance away from the other homes. It looks a little lonely, a lone house in the midst of a huge grass plain, but it’s closer to the sea than the rest of the houses are, and Jihoon kind of wants to live in that house for a day.
For some reason, Woojin slides the car into a small parking lot next to said house, and he gestures for Jihoon to get out of the car as well.
Confused, Jihoon closes the car door behind him as Woojin leads him to the house, and unlocks it in front of Jihoon’s eyes.
“Mum, I’m back.” Woojin shouts into the house.
Wait. Mum?
There’s the sound of plates being set down and a flurry of footsteps as a woman emerges from the house while Woojin’s taking off his shoes at the front door.
“Ah, you must be Jihoon! Come on in, I’ve been preparing some dishes for you two!” The lady ushers Jihoon in with a warm smile. Jihoon’s still in a state of confusion as he’s sat down at the dinner table while Woojin takes a seat opposite him.
“Woojin, what the hell?” He whispers furiously across the table, but frowns when he’s met with a chuckle from Woojin.
“That’s my mum, this is my home. Enough of an explanation?”
Jihoon just sits there, blinking as his brain tries to take in the information, sinking into the chair as if Woojin had just delivered a piece of devastating news to him. He doesn’t notice the fond look Woojin has in his eyes as he presses his cheek to his hand that’s propped up on the table, but neither of them notice the knowing look that Woojin’s mother shoots Woojin as she emerges from the kitchen with plates of side dishes and a pot of steaming hot kimchi stew.
It’s then that Jihoon hears another set of footsteps coming from inside the house, and a man with the same crinkle of the eyes as Woojin does walks towards Jihoon and gives him a friendly pat on the back.
“Ah, hello, you must be Woojin’s dad!” Jihoon hurriedly rises in a bow, only to get pushed back down onto his seat by Woojin’s dad, earning a chuckle from him.
“Yes, and you must be Jihoon. I’ve heard lots about you from Woojin,” Woojin’s father says as he takes a seat beside Woojin himself. “I hope he hasn’t been of trouble to you.”
“Oh no, of course not!” Jihoon hurriedly says. The only trouble he’s been causing is heart problems, Jihoon thinks.
They all settle down at the table for supper, and it’s the best meal Jihoon’s had in a while. He feels so at home with Woojin’s family that it makes him miss his own family back in Seoul a little, but the amount of welcoming warmth and love that Woojin’s parents shower him with is enough to keep his soul happy and comforted for a long time to come.
He also finds that Woojin’s bad sense of humour comes from his dad, from the way he cracks jokes that only Woojin laughs at every other minute, to which Jihoon provides a polite laugh and Woojin’s mother rolls her eyes at.
Jihoon and Woojin attempt to help out with the dishes, only to get chased out of the kitchen by Woojin’s mother, with orders to sit back and relax after their long drive here from Seoul. They collapse onto the sofa, their bellies and hearts full of warm, comforting love that only home can provide.
Only when Jihoon’s about to drift off to sleep does he remember the purpose of coming down to Busan— to stargaze. He shoots up from his resting position and turns to Woojin— who’s staring at him with a dumb smile on his face.
It sends his heart racing at the thought of Woojin staring at him and smiling unknowingly the way he does the same whenever Woojin’s around.
It makes him think, think if Woojin has that dumb smile on only when he’s around Jihoon, think if he enjoyed the sweetness of Jihoon’s lips on his own the same way Jihoon did, think if Woojin wants more of that, more of them .
He has to physically shake his head to stop the thoughts from clouding his brain further, something that elicits a soft snicker from Woojin. Jihoon tugs at Woojin’s arm, and points at the night sky as if he’s a child wanting to go out and play.
Wordlessly, they both get up, and they walk to the grass plains, further and further away from the house, Woojin carrying the equipment that they brought down to Busan.
It’s silence all around them, with only the stars twinkling in the skies and the sound of the waves softly crashing onto the shore. It makes Jihoon have the urge to reach over and grab at Woojin’s free hand thats swinging in the space between them both, but there isn’t enough courage and too many questions left unanswered in him to do that, so he ends up staring at Woojin’s hand instead.
Sometimes, it’s Woojin’s rashness that Jihoon appreciates, the way he goes forth in everything he does without fear of consequences. It’s also at this time that his rashness shows up in the form of him reaching of for Jihoon’s hand, intertwining their fingers together as he turns to smile at Jihoon.
The moonlight’s reflecting off Woojin’s face, and his tan skin doesn’t show up well in the darkness, but there’s the glint of happiness that shines in his eyes, and the warmth in his smile that makes a smile grow on Jihoon’s own face. It’s the most vulnerable Jihoon’s ever seen Woojin, and his heart clenches a little, and his hand squeezes Woojin’s warm palm.
They settle on a spot clear of any trees blocking their view of the sky, and Jihoon teaches Woojin how to use the telescope to view the stars.
There’s something peaceful about the night and the stars that are gently sparkling in the night sky that makes them relax as they lie down on the vast grass plains, something that makes them reach out for each other till Woojin’s arms are around Jihoon and their hands are linked together still.
It’s a thin line they’re threading on that none of them are sure if it’s what the other party wants— except it’s what their hearts want, and the vulnerability of the night makes them chase after their desires.
It’s Woojin that speaks first, that breaks the silence that has settled over them like a warm blanket over the cooling wind.
“Hey,” Woojin breathes out.
“Hey yourself.” Jihoon replies with a soft smile, turning to look at Woojin.
“So, um.” It’s the first time Jihoon’s ever seen Woojin this unsure, unknowing of what to say, so he gives what he hopes is a reassuring squeeze to Woojin’s palm, and happiness blooms in his chest when the smile comes back on Woojin’s face.
“You know, it’s kinda weird how we got to know each other isn’t it. First we meet each other on a Uber, then at a party when you’re trying to climb out from a window, and I have to catch you like some Prince Charming.” Woojin stops to lightly chuckle from the memory of that one night, and Jihoon wants to bury himself in a ditch.
“I thought you were just cute, you know. Until I kissed you that night, then I was like, holy shit, I really fucking like you, Park Jihoon.”
The last sentence comes as a surprise, and it makes Jihoon’s breath hitch and his heart pump and his chest constrict. It’s an overwhelming feeling, and Jihoon doesn’t know how to deal with it, but Woojin goes on.
“I don’t know when I started falling for you. Maybe it was from the beginning, when you looked so cute all flushed up after running to school. Maybe it was after the ice cream incident when I found how just how weird you are under the influence of alcohol. Maybe after I brought you home, and you showed up in that shirt of yours coming up to your knees and that sleepy look on your face that made me want to hold you tight. Wow, I can’t believe I’m saying all this sappy nonsense.”
“All I want to say is, Park Jihoon you are so fucking beautiful and I can’t believe fate brought us together in the weirdest of ways, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The light hits Woojin in all the perfect angles, and the lazy grin that spreads across his face radiates genuine happiness, his eyes fixated on Jihoon.
Jihoon doesn’t reply, only turns to his side to bury his face in Woojin’s side. He feels like he might cry if he tried to come up with words to convey to Woojin, but instead settles for nuzzling his face intp Woojin’s chest, into the familiar warmth that he recognises as Woojin.
“I love you too, idiot.” Jihoon mumbles into Woojin’s side.
“Can you say that louder? I didn’t quite hear that.”
“Don’t be an asshole! I know you heard that.”
“Goddamnit Jihoon I didn’t say all that sappy nonsense for you to give me a muffled ass reply please give me the answer I need because I feel like my heart just might burst from how nervous i am right now,” Woojin says in one breath, and Jihoon can’t help but laugh at him.
“I said,” Jihoon says as he props his head up on Woojin’s chest. “I love you too, idiot.”
Jihoon’s sure that the smile that’s blooming on Woojin’s face is identical to the one on his own face, and the next moment he’s engulfed in Woojin’s embrace and he’s rolling them over till Jihoon’s the one on the floor, then Woojin presses their noses together. Jihoon thinks it’s fucking unfair for Woojin to be this adorable, nose all scrunched up and a wide grin on his face.
It’s this moment spent in each other’s arms, just staring at each other with all the adoration in the world with the stars shining their gentle melody in the background that Jihoon wants to remember for a long, long time to come, for him to remember with Woojin by his side.
It’s also the feeling of Woojin’s lips on his own that he wants to remember, familiarize himself with the sweetness that comes along with each of their kisses.
If Woojin’s a burning fire who’s intensity can scare people away, then Jihoon’s the one to quell it down into a candlelight— something that’s warm and provides comfort, and won’t hurt others.
They’re walking back to Woojin’s house, hands linked, with the protection of the moonlight shining down on them and the shared knowledge that they’re now something more than before.
Woojin suddenly comes to a stop beside his home, placing the equipment on the floor and turning to look at Jihoon.
There it is, the dumb smile on his face that Jihoon will later recognise that it’s only reserved for him, and that it’ll be a part of Woojin that no one else will ever see.
Then Woojin’s leaning in, the dumb smile still stuck on his face permanently, pressing their foreheads together, gazing into Jihoon’s eyes.
Jihoon knows how Woojin speaks of the stars in his eyes, but call him a fool blinded by love, Jihoon thinks that the fire ablaze in Woojin’s eyes is prettier than any star could be.
The intensity of his gaze makes Jihoon weak in his knees, and if it wasn’t for Woojin’s hand supporting him by the waist, Jihoon thinks he might have fallen to the ground.
Then there’s the crinkle of Woojin’s eyes, a quick peck on the lips that catches Jihoon by surprise, and a “Happy Valentines, babe.”
Jihoon is silent.
“...Did you plan this from the beginning?”
“I might have.”
“Well look who’s the biggest hopeless romantic in the world.”
“Only for you, princess.”
And Jihoon flushes red and splutters as Woojin chuckles away, pecking at his cheeks.
There’s a soft, but definitely audible “aww” coming from a distance away, and they both turn their heads in the direction of the sound, only to see Woojin’s parents pressed up against the front windows, staring at them with a warm smile on their faces.
If possible, Jihoon only flushes a deeper shade of red, and Woojin’s twinkling laughter echoes into the night.
It’s the feeling of chapped lips on his face that wakes Jihoon up in the morning, and there’s a growing grin on his face while he stirs, letting out a whine as he tumbles into Woojin’s chest.
He opens his eyes to the sight of Woojin smiling down at him in all his sleepy glory, hair dishevelled and eyes barely open, and Jihoon thinks that this is what he wants to wake up to for a long time to come.
“I want a dog,” Jihoon suddenly blurts out.
“A dog? Sure, we can get one.” There’s a sleepy smile on Woojin’s face as he cards his fingers through Jihoon’s hair, prompting him to nuzzle further into Woojin’s neck.
“Can we have 10 dogs?”
“10 dogs, 20 dogs, doesn’t matter as long as it’s with you.”
“Ew.”
“I love your enthusiasm, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, I try.”
There’s an outburst of laughter at their silly morning conversations, and sunlight continues to stream in from the window, and Jihoon’s mesmerized by the glow of Woojin’s tan skin under the sun.
Silence is all they need, legs tangled together under the sheets, arms tight around each other and sleepy grins on their faces while they laze on the bed as the birds chirp their morning song.
“We have a lot of time left, don’t we,” Woojin mumbles, absentmindedly playing with Jihoon’s fingers as he speaks. Woojin’s voice is low and rumbly in the mornings, and it makes Jihoon feel a little something in the stomach.
“Mm, yeah, we do.”
“We’ll be together for that long period of time, right?”
“I’m sure we will.”
The disgust evident on the face Daehwi and Jinyoung make at them when they visit the ice cream parlour with linked hands is the taste of sweet, sweet revenge after having witnessed the heatedness of their love that night.
“What should we get, honey bunchkins?” Woojin coos in a sickeningly sweet tone as he nuzzles his nose against Jihoon’s, in an attempt to rouse the two servers up.
“Oh, I’m sure whatever you choose will taste great, honey.” Jihoon replies, fluttering his eyelashes up at Woojin.
“Gross, can you two take your PDA somewhere else,” Daehwi blurts out, and the two automatically turn to him with a glint in their eyes.
“Oh now, now. I wonder what the manager would say if someone accidentally let slip that two of his employees were busy engaging in a heated battle during work hours…” Woojin pretends to muse with a finger to his chin.
“You wouldn’t,” Jinyoung starts, his eyes widening.
“Oh, I can’t say… But I might be able to promise if we get some ice cream on the house today.”
It’s the only explanation for their twinkling laughter as they skip out of the parlour, hands linked and matching smiles on their faces, love radiating as the stars shine in the skies.