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“Hello?” Seokmin croaks after fumbling for his buzzing phone. In attempt to become aware of his surroundings, he feels his hand knock against an object.. a mug? He isn’t sure until he hears it smash against the floor upon impact. Yelping as he hops up onto his bed, he hopes he hasn’t hurt himself.
“Seokmin-ah, what’s the matter?” Jeonghan panics.
“Jeonghan, can you come see me? Please..” he whines, Jeonghan agrees instantly just like he always does. Jeonghan always makes time for Seokmin even if he’s inches away from falling asleep. Jeonghan’s heart is big but it always seems a degree or two bigger for Seokmin. Seungkwan seems to be frustrated about it at times, throwing around comments like “you two again?” but some things can’t be helped. Seokmin and Jeonghan just have that kind of relationship. It’s almost as if they can’t get enough of each other. Soulmates some would call them.. including Seokmin.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Jeonghan pants while reaching for his shoes. He ends the call and rushes out of his dorm, edging closer to Seokmin with every step.
Reaching Seokmin’s room, Jeonghan opens the door without knocking. He knows he’s always welcome, plus Seokmin probably heard him gasping for breath halfway down the corridor from his room.
“Hey,” Seokmin beams, his smile looking somehow brighter than usual.
“How is that even possible?” Jeonghan ponders. Seokmin’s smile, probably one of Jeonghan’s favourite things to look at. Jeonghan wouldn’t admit to being so sappy but watching the ends of Seokmin’s mouth curl up into a large, bright smile brings him a sense of warmth and comfort. He feels safe, I suppose. Maybe Seokmin’s smile belongs in an art museum. No, scrap that. Jeonghan would never think that, right?
“Hannie? Is everything okay?” Seokmin asks, tilting his head to the side slightly. He looks like a puppy.
“Huh?” Jeonghan sounds, not realising he’d been conversing with his own thoughts for a little too long. “Oh, sorry! Yeah, I’m okay,” he begins edging towards Seokmin’s bed.
“Wait! Mind the glass!” Seokmin says, a little too loudly. It’s closer to yelling than talking. Looking down to the floor, Jeonghan notices the shattered mug.
“You fool, you could have got hurt!” Jeonghan replies, with an undertone of his soft giggle as he speaks. “I’ll go get a brush.”
“Wait, can’t you cuddle me first?” Seokmin pouts, tapping his index fingers together. He hopes his subtle aegyo will crack Jeonghan. It usually does.
“Minnie, I don’t want us to get hurt. It’ll take 5 minutes, I promise” Jeonghan smiles. Seokmin sighs. Scurrying out of the room, Jeonghan races to get a brush from the kitchen. He can’t afford to lose too much time with Seokmin, he won’t let that happen.
“There, that didn’t take long did it?” Jeonghan giggles, secretly proud of his cleaning efforts. Seokmin doesn’t reply, actions speak louder than words anyway. Shuffling across his bed first, grabbing Jeonghan’s hand second, tugging Jeonghan closer third, and pulling him onto the bed next to him fourth. Seokmin’s four simple steps to cuddling Jeonghan, a success. Adjusting himself slightly, Jeonghan wriggles up closer to Seokmin and rests his head on Seokmin’s chest, carefully listening to his heartbeat. No words are shared for a while, but it doesn’t get awkward. It never does. Jeonghan’s hand accidentally meets Seokmin’s and their fingers intertwine softly. Jeonghan continues listening to Seokmin’s heartbeat and he hears it speed up as their fingers get caught up in each other. Jeonghan smiles lightly to himself as Seokmin shuffles beneath him, revealing hints of nervousness and perhaps embarrassment. They stay quiet for a little while longer, just holding each others hand.
“I’m proud of you, Seokmin-ah.” Jeonghan finally says. “You must be tired, make sure you rest okay?”
“I’m okay, Hannie. The musical is so much fun but what if I don’t do a good job?” Seokmin sighs, he begins playing with Jeonghan’s fingers to try distract himself.
“You really are a fool, you’ll always do a good job. Don’t doubt yourself anymore, I’ll get sad.” Jeonghan whispers as he reaches his free hand up to stroke Seokmin’s tender, baby like cheeks. Seokmin smiles at him and inches his face closer to Jeonghan’s so their foreheads are touching. He cautiously flicks his eyes across Jeonghan's face, scanning every tiny detail.
“You’re pretty, hyung.” Seokmin giggles then pauses. “I like you a lot.” Everything goes silent.
“What?” Jeonghan replies, his hand becoming sweaty in Seokmin’s. He hears Seokmin’s heart throb against his head, what does this mean?
“Oh…” Seokmin panics, his heart rate escalating further. Their foreheads still pressing together, Jeonghan feels a burning sensation that radiates from Seokmin onto him. “We’re best friends, of course I like you,” Seokmin giggles, attempting to cover his tracks.
“Ah, I see.” Jeonghan replies, secretly disappointed that Seokmin didn’t just pour his heart out to him. He can assume that there’s something between them, considering Seokmin’s heart nearly exploded out of chest and his whole body became a sauna. Jeonghan’s never been one to openly talk about his feelings, he lets others do the talking. But this night, Seokmin doesn’t seem to want to talk until the early hours of the morning with Jeonghan. Then Jeonghan thinks “Maybe this won’t be so easy.”
Jeonghan stays the night just like he always does when Seokmin calls for him. But this time it’s a little different. Jeonghan leaves a little earlier than usual, he leaves before Seokmin wakes. Planting a soft kiss on Seokmin’s forehead before he goes, he tiptoes out of the room ensuring his best friend doesn’t wake. When Seokmin wakes up, he’s full of disappointment when he doesn’t see Jeonghan in front of him, lying so he’s facing Seokmin and resting his head on his fist to get the best view possible. Jeonghan does this after every night they spend together, what made this morning any different Seokmin questions. His mind flashes back to last night and he fumbles for reasons as to why Jeonghan left him alone.
“I like you a lot,” he says to himself. Clarifying that that’s what he said to Jeonghan.
“I like you a lot,” he repeats, worrying that that small error is what made Jeonghan leave.
“I like you a lot, Yoon Jeonghan.” he says for the last time, meaning it with every bit of him. He lies in bed staring up at the ceiling and begins humming to himself. Seokmin does this a lot, he absent mindedly sings to himself. It’s louder than he thinks. The members are pretty much used to it by now but it’s not exactly one of Seokmin’s best habits when they’re trying to sleep. The humming continues then he suddenly stops, but it’s only to change the song. He sets off on humming ‘Falling for You’, a masterpiece sang by Jeonghan. Oh, and Joshua. Not realising how loud he’s humming, his voice drones through the walls of the dorm. Seokmin’s entire body jumps when he hears a banging on the wall behind him.
“Ya, Seokmin-ah! Stop singing so loudly so early in the morning! You sound lovesick,” Jihoon shouts from the next room, his voice muffled by the wall.
“Sorry, hyung” Seokmin whispers to himself. "Maybe I am." He closes his eyes, hoping to get cast away into another ridiculous dream about him and Jeonghan being together.
Jeonghan enters a local jewellery shop, glancing at all of the pretty accessories. None of them are quite good enough. He wanders a little longer before he plans to exit but then a necklace catches his eye. A silver angel wing with a birthstone in it. Next to it is a matching feather necklace, a feather from the angels wing perhaps. He smiles to himself as he picks up the necklaces. Approaching the counter slowly, he attempts to remove the smile from his mouth.
“Seokmin will love it,” he chuckles to himself. Trying to hide his true happiness, he exchanges a small smile with the shop assistant.
“Excuse me, do you have this necklace with opal and amethyst?” he asks politely.
“I’ll check for you, which do you want in opal?” the shop assistant responds.
“The angel wing, please.” he smiles. The shop assistant walks away and then returns a few minutes later with a necklace in each hand.
“These are so pretty, are they for you and your girlfriend?” the shop assistant enquires.
“Girlfriend? No, it’s for my soulmate.” Jeonghan says quietly, his cheeks feeling slightly warm.
“I see, I’ll get these packed up for you. Follow me,” she smiles. Jeonghan follows her over to the till where he watches her carefully pack them up. He proceeds to pay and he leaves the shop, his head touching the clouds.
Seokmin is still in the same position he was 2 hours ago. Still missing Jeonghan, still overworking his own mind. As if he’s not tired enough these days. He lies there for a little longer until he hears a knock at the door. Dragging himself out of bed, he opens it to find Jeonghan standing there with a soft smile on his face and a shopping bag in each hand.
“I thought you could do with some snacks, you seem down.” Jeonghan whispers. Seokmin’s head falls so he’s looking down to his feet. Jeonghan feels the slight awkwardness, it’s weird. Lifting up Seokmin’s chin so that they’re facing each other, he looks into Seokmin’s eyes with sincere affection before clearing his throat and proceeding into the room. Seokmin watches Jeonghan pass and he just can’t seem to hold back a smile. Racing after Jeonghan, he leaps onto the bed giggling. Well, there goes the weirdly awkward atmosphere.
“Here, try this.” Jeonghan smiles as he pops a freshly cooked pastry between Seokmin’s lips, his hand brushing gently against them. Seokmin’s cheeks blush first but then his eyes stretch into a smile, Seokmin is pleased. He’s easily pleased, especially when it comes to Jeonghan. The two happily munch on the snacks that Jeonghan brought back and the room feels warm, in a sense. Or maybe it’s just both of their blushed pink bodies working together to create a manual radiator. That sounds like a more accurate approach, considering the way they’re looking into each other's eyes. The curtains are closed but the sparkle in their eyes gives off some light. No, that’s just their imagination, right? That’s just not possible… unless you're in love? Let me say that again, that’s just not possible.
Time passes quite quickly, they wish it passed slower. They enjoy each other's company more than anyone else. Well, maybe with the exception of their families. It’s silent in the room again after the snacks are gone. Jeonghan had forgotten all about the necklaces. Sighing to himself, he tries to work up a little bit of courage to do the talking for once.
“Okay Jeonghan, you can do this. It’s only Seokmin.” he thinks. Seokmin. Only Seokmin. Only Seokmin. Only Seokmin. You see, the thing is Seokmin isn’t just anyone to Jeonghan. He’s a lot more than that, he means a lot to him. Jeonghan knows that, everyone knows that. Except Lee Seokmin.
“Seokmin, can you do me a favour?” Jeonghan begins.
“Of course, hyung. I never thought you’d ask.” Seokmin beams, overly excited for the morning.
“Turn around,” Jeonghan proceeds.
“Turn around?” Seokmin responds, tilting his head slightly again like a puppy.
“You’re cute, now turn around.” Jeonghan repeats, grabbing Seokmin’s shoulder and twisting him around. “Now stay there. Don’t look at me.”
“Okay, hyung.” Seokmin obeys.
Jeonghan reaches for the necklaces in the other bag and pulls them out the box. He places the angel wing necklace with the opal stone on himself first before he takes a deep breath. He unclasps the necklace that he bought for his best friend and leans over Seokmin’s body, placing the necklace in front of his body so it rests on his chest. He reclasps the necklace and finally places his chin on Seokmin’s shoulder. Grabbing the necklace in his hand, Seokmin smiles. He feels warm.
“Jeonghan…” Seokmin begins.
“No, let me talk for once.” Jeonghan says, a hint of nervousness in his voice. Seokmin nods, he still has his back to Jeonghan.
“These necklaces…” Jeonghan pauses. “They're…” he pauses again “They’re couple necklaces.”
“But we’re not a couple,” Seokmin responds, his heart is probably deflating like a balloon right now.
“I said let me talk, Minnie.” Jeonghan sighs. He’s getting nervous. Seokmin attempts to face Jeonghan but he’s stopped by Jeonghan’s arms wrapping around him, holding him in place. “Don’t look at me, or I won’t be able to say it.”
It’s silent again as Jeonghan tries to pluck up the courage to continue talking.
“I like you,” he says eventually “I like you a lot, Lee Seokmin. And I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to tell you. You know I’ve never been one to talk about my feelings, you understand me more than anyone. What you said last night… I don’t know if you meant anything by it but I don’t mind. I just like you whether you like me as a friend or-” he pauses.
“Or like a boyfriend?” Seokmin cuts in.
“Yeah, a boyfriend”
“I like the second option better,” Seokmin responds swiftly. His body breaks out of Jeonghan’s grasp and he swivels around. “Is that okay with you, Hannie? Do you want to be my-”
Before Seokmin could say anymore, Jeonghan kisses him. He kisses him softly, very Jeonghan like. Actions speak louder than words anyway. As he pulls away, they both smile.
“Does that answer your question?” Jeonghan giggles, as he leans forward to rest his head against Seokmin’s. Seokmin just nods, he nods a little too long in fact.
“Good,” whispers Jeonghan before he lifts Seokmin’s chin to kiss him again.