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"i'm coming in!" daehwi shouted to no one in particular, opening the front door that was not his own.
it was sometime after school and rather than head home or to finish his music compositions, daehwi found himself here once again. this seemed to be routine for him nowadays and, even if all his friends discouraged it, he would always come back. no matter what happened, he thought.
"hey." came the small response. heading to the living room, daehwi came face to face with the owner of the house, or rather his boyfriend of 3 months: bae jinyoung.
3 months didn't seem like a long time but it was longer than anyone else had ever expected them to last. you see, bae jinyoung and lee daehwi were polar opposites: daehwi was class president, a music prodigy and a high achiever who was described as his peers as being full of ambition and promise. jinyoung, on the other hand, was your typical 'bad boy': getting into fights regularly, pissing off each and every one of their teachers and managing to come in late everyday (that was if he even bothered to come in at all.)
they appeared to be like chalk and cheese by being at different sides of the social spectrum; that didn't stop daehwi from harbouring (at the time, hopeless) feelings for the rebellious teen. their relationship managed to shock everyone, especially daehwi when jinyoung had suddenly marched up to him in the halls and planted a kiss onto his cheek. everyone had watched on in stunned silence as jinyoung whispered "call me" in the other boy's ear before walking away almost as nonchalantly as he came.
the both of them started going out after that, despite all of daehwi's friends being religiously against them (bros before hoes didn't mean much to him anyway) and had been mostly happy together. jinyoung was rough around the edges to everyone he met, but somehow around daehwi, he became soft. he sat and listened as daehwi ranted about the student council and everything else going on with him; jinyoung was always there to lend an ear.
it was kind of hard to believe his jinyoung was the same jinyoung that most of his peers either hated or feared.
"hi you," daehwi offered up a small smile, sitting beside jinyoung on the living room floor, "you weren't at school today." as soon as he said it, daehwi cringed slightly at his words. of course jinyoung wasn't in school that day, hence why he was here! to be fair though, he hadn't been in for a good 3 days now and if either of them was gonna address the elephant in the room, it was daehwi.
"mhm," jinyoung didn't look him in the eyes, "didn't feel like it."
"aren't you scared you'll be expelled though?" he asked, biting his cheek, "this is like the..."
"...10th time i've skipped this month," the other boy mumbled, "i know."
as the both of them lapsed into uncomfortable silence, daehwi was forced to think about the relationship that the two of them had. over the course of the 3 months, daehwi had opened up a lot (more than he probably should've, according to woojin) as he told his boyfriend all the things he needed to know: how stressed school made him, the expectations of him having to become a successful musician, the constant fear of failure, with the added bonus of always fearing that his friends would leave him (because, really, he would get into baseless arguments with people like jihoon and donghyun more times than any normal friend would.)
jinyoung had opened up slightly too. he dropped the 'unapproachable tough guy' act around him, never wanting daehwi to feel unsafe in any way. on that note though, daehwi knew that jinyoung still had walls around himself that he couldn't break overnight. he had so many worries and questions concerning the other boy that he knew he couldn't exactly just blurt out. instead, he would just have to wait for him to feel comfortable enough to tell him himself.
"...have you been here all day?" daehwi asked, shuffling slightly closer to his boyfriend.
"yep," was the response he got back, before jinyoung added, "my parents left earlier."
the other boy had never talked about his parents before, prompting daehwi to ask another question, "oh, where did they go?"
"beats me," jinyoung shrugged, "probably waiting for me to fuck up again like always..." the last part was muttered, like he hadn't intended daehwi to hear it but, of course, he had.
rather than push it further, daehwi gave the other boy a weak smile as he said, "i guess we can form the fucked up parents association together!" thankfully, jinyoung cracked a smile at that.
scooting closer to the younger boy, jinyoung wrapped his arm around daehwi's shoulder. it was something he did whenever he lacked the words to express what he was feeling, daehwi had realised; maybe his presence was meant to reassure him in some way? to be honest, daehwi hadn't read too much into it (shocking, i know). they both remained like that for a few minutes until the younger of the duo decided to voice his thoughts and, ultimately, the main reason he was here (other than wanting to see his boyfriend and all.)
"...are you thinking of coming back to school anytime soon?" the question was asked as cautiously as humanely possible, with daehwi pausing to continue, "i miss seeing you."
jinyoung let out a small sound of acknowledgement, "it's nice to know one person misses me at that shithole."
"don't say that-"
"it's true," he moved his arm from daehwi's shoulder, "we both know everyone else hates me there."
that, daehwi couldn't exactly deny. jinyoung was a notorious 'problem child', though daehwi hated that nickname; it felt demeaning to jinyoung who he knew was more than just a rebellious teen. his absence at school for the past few days had sparked off gossip though, with the common rumour being that he'd finally gotten expelled for one of his many fights (the last one was with kang daniel, he thinks.) daehwi's friends didn't exactly hide their dislike for his boyfriend either. it became the main topic of argument more often than not, with woojin shooting him concerned looks every time bae jinyoung so much as looked in his general direction. he'd lost count of the amount of times he and jihoon had fought over the topic either ("he's a no good asshole!" was jihoon's usual argument); their 'disagreements' had to be broken up by guanlin most of the time, unfortunately.
"does that matter to you though?" daehwi asked yet again, mentally kicking himself for how much questions he'd asked, "everyone not exactly...liking you."
"nope," he shrugged, "i stopped caring for those pricks ages ago, 's easier."
"what's easier?"
"surviving." came the blunt response. a plethora of questions floating around in his head but tried to keep them back; instead, daehwi chose this opportunity to slip his hand into jinyoung's wordlessly. even though they'd held hands more times than they could count, daehwi still felt the heat in his cheeks rise every time. sparing a glance at this boyfriend, jinyoung appeared to be the same, rosy blush painting his features.
"...you know," daehwi started again, clutching jinyoung's hand tighter, "sometimes i wish i knew what was going on in that head of yours, bae jinyoung."
"a lot, trust me," jinyoung snorted, "mostly, thoughts about you."
in that moment, daehwi could've spontaneously combusted. he was soft for jinyoung's praise and flirting, so what? even though he knew it was a way of deflecting from the real issue at hand, daehwi still appreciated the comments nonetheless.
"what other things?" daehwi asked, before quickly adding, "i'm asking way too many questions here, aren't i? you should really tell me to sh-"
"'s fine." jinyoung cut him off, offering up the ghost of a smile, "i'll tell you later."
"really?"
"yes really," a brief pause, "i trust you, daehwi."
there was hidden meaning behind jinyoung's words, he was sure. it reminded him of the fact that despite what everyone thought about him, jinyoung was still a child at heart. he was a timid person who struggled to trust in anyone really, choosing to hide behind a cold front and an asshole-like act to boot. whenever he said things like "i trust you" or other phrases that held such strong weight, daehwi realised just how lucky he was to be able to see through that cold exterior jinyoung carried to see the real him. he was so terribly lucky to have bae jinyoung in his life.
"i trust you too." he echoed, voice a lot softer than intended.
smiling to himself, jinyoung placed his hands on daehwi's cheeks, making the younger turn to face him. in that moment, jinyoung's eyes were filled with only the purest of affection; daehwi was blushing darker by the second.
"daehwi." he started.
"y-yes?"
"is it alright if..." jinyoung paused momentarily, his bashful side showing once again as he restarted his sentence, "...can i kiss you?"
the situation at hand was almost laughable: two teenage boys sitting on the floor like peasants, blushing wildly. for a moment, daehwi forgot all about the troubles life brought them both.
"s-sure..." he stuttered out, "i'm not...i've never kissed anyone before though..." unless he counted that one time he had to give guanlin mouth to mouth after a near death experience, daehwi considered himself pure in the ways of kissing and love.
"'s fine, i'll teach you," jinyoung laughed, scooting closer, "even if it's bad, it'll be you still."
"geez, thanks!"
it was then the laughter stopped and daehwi realised the gravity of the situation. jinyoung was staring at his lips and, in tow, he felt obligated to stare at his back. pretty, daehwi mused to himself, smiling contentedly.
"you sure about this?" jinyoung asked again, "i don't want you to be uncomfortable."
"mhm, i'm sure." daehwi hummed, "kiss me, jinyoung."
the unsaid "i trust you" lingered in the air as jinyoung brought his face closer to daehwi's. in seconds, their lips met, soft feeling taking over. daehwi noted how soft jinyoung's lips felt against his, making him smile into the kiss. from there, he opened his mouth slightly, allowing jinyoung to lock lips with him.
the experience was new and, admittedly, kind of weird but definitely not unpleasant.
separating, daehwi covered his mouth, realisation hitting him hard. he'd just had his first kiss.
"you ok?" jinyoung piped up, chuckling to himself cautiously.
"y-yeah-" he cleared his throat, "you're a good kisser."
jinyoung grinned at that, nerves dissipating slightly, "as are you, lee daehwi."
"hey," he hit jinyoung on the shoulder playfully, "don't lie to me!"
the couple stayed like that, joking around with each other and exchanging a few more soft kisses here and there. daehwi decided to stay over (life could wait for another day, surely) and jinyoung accepted, no questions asked. they'd finally moved off of the floor and onto the sofa together. daehwi had long discarded his school blazer and tie on the floor, not particularly bothered about it for the time being. cozing up with jinyoung was easier without the extra baggage anyway.
later on, they ended up drifting off whilst watching a movie. daehwi could safely say he only dreamt of hope and pleasantries as he slept with jinyoung's arms around him. in that moment, the only person that mattered to him was jinyoung; his mind was full of the elder boy and he felt at ease.
to lee daehwi, home was in bae jinyoung's arms.
to bae jinyoung, home lay in daehwi's presence; though, neither felt inclined to ask the other about such things.