Chapter Text
Brian doesn’t know what he expected. Maybe a guy with a mindset of a twelve-year-old, someone short and loud, that runs around and makes people around him embarrassed.
At least Sungjin, Brian’s best friend since elementary made it sound like that. He often mentioned his cousin Jae, from California. Calling him overgrown child, always saying that Jae wouldn’t shut up even when others asked him to. Said that it was like Jae just had to tell all he had on his mind - usually ending in word vomit, since apparently, he lacked brain to mouth filter. Realising consequences after it was all out in the open.
Brian expected many things when he got a call from Sungjin that morning about the two of them coming over for a visit. He surely did not expect this tall glass of milk standing awkwardly and quietly right behind Brian’s best friend. Way taller than Sungjin, big glasses, looking like they were about to fall off of the straight nose. Behind them small, beady eyes. Lips plush, cheeks flushed pink, as he watched Brian warily. His dark hair falling into his face, same hair standing at odd angles on the top of his head as the cold wind ruffled them.
Wow.
“You letting us in anytime soon, Kang Bra? It’s freaking cold. We don’t want this princess to freeze, right?” He could see Jae raise his brow at the ‘Bra’, then frown at princess.
Brian opened the front door wider and stepped aside to let the two in. He shivered at the cold outside, as he was wearing only a tee and jeans.
Sungjin strode in confidently as always, taking off his coat right away. Behind him, Jae shuffled inside. He looked like some lost kitten, afraid that someone might hurt him. He nodded at Brian as he stepped in, even gave him a small smile, but right after went back to his awkward self. His cheeks were rosy pink and Brian didn’t know what to make of it. It must have been because of the cold air outside.
Brian looked Jae up and down. This is Jae? Brian mouthed to Sungjin, still not quite understanding what about that quiet and shy creature could possibly be loud. He looked… like a total introvert, his gaze mostly down, as soon as he was met with Brian’s own, he’d look elsewhere. Jae at that particular moment was looking around the flat, his small beady eyes scanning his surroundings, lastly landing on Brian, who was not so discreetly gaping at the taller boy.
Maybe Brian was whipped from the beginning - whoever said that love at first sight was bullshit, was bullshitting himself. Brian was about to ignore all the warnings Sungjin ever gave him.
There were many instances when Sungjin talked about his cousin causing trouble, about him being the cool American kid, but at the moment, Brian wondered if Sungjin was still trustworthy. Maybe this was some other cousin, he was bound to have more than one, right?
Sungjin looked over his shoulder, glancing at the awkward bean that was Jae and nodded to confirm what Brian already thought. He let out a laugh at last. “This is Jae, my cousin, Jae this is Younghyun or Brian.” Brian frowned at the lack of introduction. No addition of my best friend ? They really had to talk. Or Brian just has to find a best best friend.
American boy raised his hand, waved to Brian awkwardly as if it pained him to do so. Muttering a quiet hi he went back to staring at his socked feet.
Brian wasn’t any better with his, “Nice to meet you.” Right after that he turned red in the face. He was feeling hot, made a mental check to look at thermostat.
“Well, this is awkward.” Sungjin stated and Brian never wanted to roll his eyes more. It was only the Sungjinest thing to do - to name things as they were, right? He hated to admit it, but standing in the middle of the hallway with the two of them was indeed weird, he moved further inside, Sungjin and Jae silently following.
“Uhm, this way to the living room.” He gestured for Jae mostly, because Sungjin knew the layout better than the back of his hand. After numerous visits and numerous times he spent the night after he (together with Brian) got too drunk to go back home, it came as no surprise.
“Take a seat, what do I get you? You want something to drink? Eat? I bought some snacks, or we could order pizza-” He was met with silence. The cousins were sitting side by side on one of the sofas in the living room, Sungjin was smirking at Jae, who was not so discreetly nudging him with his sharp elbow to make him stop making faces. Honestly, Brian is not judging, Sungmeme was annoying most of the time.
Brian raised a brow at their antics, lolled his head to the side. When he thought about it, maybe that weirdness runs in the family…? “I’ll put some music on, it’s too quiet.” He said more to himself than anyone else, since his guest were busy acting like kids.
Brian didn’t know what music to play. Maybe he wanted to impress Jae, and he wasn’t too confident about the music he listened to. He never was. Always too shy to admit who’s music he listened to, too shy to say who he liked when it came to love interest. He just wasn’t that type. He came to a conclusion that the safest bet would be to just turn on one of the radio stations - turning the volume up so that it wouldn’t be too loud, nor too quiet.
He eyed his guests again, and it looked like Sungjin was outright making fun of Jae. Brian almost felt bad for him. That was until Jae said something, that made Sungjin shut up. It seemed like that tall american bean sprout had his ways with Sungjin.
Brian perked up, he needed to ask Jae later, if he ever gets a chance. What would the thing be to make the almighty Park Sungjin quiet, he wondered.
He made his way to the kitchen and without asking again, he took out three glasses from the cabinet above the sink and filled them with water - nothing could ever go wrong with water. He put the already filled glasses on the tray and went back to the living room, putting it on the console table, in front of Sungjin and Jae. Making them stop whatever they were arguing about.
“How do you like Korea so far, Jae?” Brian tired to make the atmosphere less awkward, really tried to make Jae feel comfortable, so that he wouldn’t blush at every single mention of his name, or every single time their eyes locked.
Sungjin didn’t help it, though as he piped up. “He likes it so far, right?” He nudged Jae who glared back at him. “Especially some people.” Said Sungjin, putting emphasis on some.
Jae squinted at him again, his plush lips pursed, his arms crossed at his chest. “You’re not one of them.” Brian would never believe that someone who looks like Jae could be intimidating.
“Oho!” Sungjin scoffed. “Find a place to stay tonight…”
Jae just huffed in frustration, which made Brian stare in awe.
“How long are you staying?” Brian tried again. Jae looked up, his eyes crinkling a little as he smiled at the other, preparing to answer the question, however Sungjin was quicker.
“Two weeks.”
“Oh, come on…?” Jae looked to the side at his cousin, looking mildly irritated.
“What did I say?” The other shrugged theatrically and Brian was just shifting eyes from one Park to the other. It was painfully obvious that Sungjin tried to annoy the living daylights our of Jae for some reason. “Kang Bra, my cousin over there actually wanted to know if you have a boy-”
Jae slapped his hands hurriedly over Sungjin’s mouth, throwing his whole lanky body on Sungjin. What a dedication , Brian thought. Jae’s eyes were comically wide, his chest heaving and cheeks a pretty shade of pink when he turned to look at their host.
“If I have what?” Brian blinked back at them. He started to reconsider whom he entitled as a best friend - Sungjin was leaving just a small gap for Wonpil to snatch his spot. Sungjin was acting weird. Both of them were acting weird to tell the truth.
Shy Jae that walked in a few minutes ago was now pushed aside, by this… this panicked Jae that sat on the sofa in front of him. Jae who speaks in the speed of light, the one Sungjin warned him about so many times.
“Sungjin is just being stupid. I never wanted to know about you. I don’t want to know. No. Nope. What if you said yes to having a boyfriend? What if he said yes?” He turned and asked that to Sungjin, then huffed like a child. “If he said yes, that would mean he has a boyfriend. And we-” he gestured between Sungjin and himself, “-don’t want that… right?” Jae stopped. Blink blinking, rethinking. Realised he said too much. Again.
Brian arched his brow. “You don’t want me to have a boyfriend?” Why would that be.
Sungjin looked bored out of his mind, already used to Jae’s antics, it seemed. “Actually, this one,” he pointed to his cousin, “guilt-tripped me so that I will take him with me.”
“Oh shut up, I did not-” Jae protested.
“I sent him this picture of the two of us back in what...March, you know? And he started asking questions. Have I mentioned how bad it feels when Jae asks questions? He always has tons. Well, it seems like this guy has a crush, he’s been pinning and asking about you all the time ever since then... And... he also said you have a nice ass.” After his monologue, he took one of the glasses, gulped down all the water at once and stood up. “And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more important things to do than play a match-maker for my family members and friends.” He directed the end of the sentence at Jae.
“Best friend!” Brian shot back.
Sungjin lolled his head, looking back at Brian. “Is that all you took from it, Kang Bra?”
Sungjin was long gone for several minutes already and Brian was just sitting there, watching Jae watching him. Every time Jae lifted his eyes and was met with Brian’s own, his cheeks blushed even more - and Brian loved every bit of it. It seemed that he was that something that made Jae shut up.
“You like my ass?” Brian asked out of nowhere, after several minutes of silence. Jae must not have been expecting it, not this kind of words at least, because his eyes widened as he choked on his spit.
Worried, Brian practically flew over to the sofa Jae sat on, and he carefully patted Jae’s back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“You’ll be the death of me.” Jae managed in between coughs. His eyes were teary from it all, his cheeks still tinted red, and he was biting on his lower lip now as he scanned Brian’s face, that was way closer than ever before.
“Sorry-” Brian said in a small voice again, still rubbing soothing circles on Jae’s back, even after his coughing fit already stopped, and Jae was looking at him with soft eyes. He really didn’t have to, but he found some sort of comfort in the contact - he just simply continued.
“Hey, I know it sounded bad. What Bob said-” Jae hopped in his seat a little to turn and face Brian. “But I swear I’m not a creep. I didn’t check out your ass first.” Jae’s palms were sweaty so he rubbed them on the fabric of his jeans. “I saw your face, and man… your eyes. Captivating, even now. Your nose, and don’t let me start about lips. So kissable-”
It was Brian’s turn to blush. He was just sitting there, his hand not on the Jae’s back, but on Jae’s shoulder after the other turned. Brian was gaping, with his lips parted, hanging onto every single word that Jae let out. He was beautiful, like and angel, just a bit more talkative than healthy.
Brian started to understand what Sungjin meant by word vomit, but it didn’t seem half that bad at the moment. Simply because it seemed like Jae had a not so subtle crush - which was weird because they never met before. But Brian was flattered that someone had a crush on him , of all people. Don’t get him wrong, there were many people that liked him, the way he looked, but his personality wasn’t for them, it seemed.
“-and then your body, you’re beautiful, and sorry about that ass thing, but you’re really a work of art… as a whole, Bri. When Bob is telling me all these stories, you seemed like a fun guy. ” He was blink-blinking his eyes again. “And I know we never met, but believe me that I loved everything what I heard from Sungjin. You seem like a guy I’d love to have by my side.” He buried his face in his large hands. Brian noticed they are quite pretty. Pale, large, with long, slender fingers. “I know you would never want someone like me… but I asked Bob to introduce me anyway-”
Brian reached out, pulled Jae’s hands away. Jae’s embarrassed face came into view. “What do you mean someone like you?”
“I’m way too loud, talk too much. I’m annoying, I’m nowhere near as good-looking as you. You’re way out of my league.”
“What?” Brian shook his head. “Are you blind, Jae?”
“Yes, now that you mention it my eyesight is-”
“I asked rhetorically, dummy.” He ruffled the other’s hair. He thought it would be awkward, but it wasn’t and Jae smiled at the gesture. “Yes. You talk too much, it seems. But what about it? We’re all different, right?” He tipped Jae’s head up with his finger. “Look at me.“
And Jae did, those beady eyes boring into his own foxy ones. “Now what did you say about my lips being kissable?”
Jae flashed a smile full of whites at the other. Brian unveiled the real Jae, the one who acted confident, but was a big softy. “You’re making me say that again?”
Brian nodded shamelessly. “You gotta say what you want if you want a piece of my ass, American boy.”
Jae blushed again. “Are you always this straightforward?”
“I’m afraid, yes.” He nodded and pulled Jae towards him, their lips locking instantly.
The kiss was short, but sweet, Jae’s plush lips brushing against Brian’s thinner ones.
Jae pulled away and Brian was already missing the contact. “I was right people! They’re so kissable-”
“Oh shut up already.” Brian muttered as he pulled Jae into another kiss.