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Jongho never really understood how the other members could so easily cuddle up together and kiss each other without flinching and cringing. Of course, that didn’t mean he didn’t like being affectionate with them, he just preferred more subtle affection, and he liked to initiate it.
However, his feelings started to change after, well, he started dating Yeosang.
Waking up, he smiled down at Yeosang in his arms. He was curled up against his chest, looking absolutely adorable. He pressed a kiss to the top of his head, then he suddenly felt very shy.
Yeosang squirmed a bit in Jongho’s arms, clearly having woken up. He could feel Jongho’s arms wrapped snugly around him and he blushed. Waking up like this reminded him of how protective the younger was. He loved it, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel flustered.
“Good morning,” Yeosang mumbled, looking up at his boyfriend.
“How are you so beautiful when you wake up?” Jongho looked over Yeosang’s face. He truly was a sight to behold, but Jongho had to look away when he felt his eyes landed on his lips for a second too long.
Right, they haven’t had a first kiss yet.
They’ve been dating for a couple of months now, and the furthest they’ve gotten is Yeosang kissing Jongho on the cheek and then the two of them being rendered speechless for almost twenty minutes. The other members found it hilarious to see the pair like that.
Jongho must’ve zoned out because Yeosang tapped his arm to get his attention.
“Something on your mind?” Yeosang asked, concerned.
“You,” He said with confidence. He was definitely the more confident of the couple, but he then buried his face in Yeosang’s shoulder, embarrassed.
Yeosang giggled. He found it so cute when Jongho immediately became embarrassed after flirting. It was almost enough to cover up his own bashfulness.
Before they could give any more compliments followed by blushing, Hongjoong opened the door.
“Hey, come get something to eat and get ready to go.”
As much as they didn’t want to get up, they were hungry, and they knew they’d have to get up eventually anyway.
The couple sat next to each other while they ate, chairs pushed close. While they didn’t actively make an effort to have constant contact, they certainly didn’t complain if their legs or arms bumped against each other.
Jongho found his eyes going to Yeosang. More specifically, his lips. As soon as he noticed where he was looking, he quickly turned away. He didn’t know why he suddenly found himself admiring his partner’s lips. He also didn’t know why Wooyoung was looking at him weird whenever he would look in his direction. Jongho assumed he must’ve noticed.
When he bumped into Wooyoung on his way to the bathroom to shower, he learned his suspicions were correct.
“I noticed how much you’re looking at Yeosang’s lips today. Did you maybe do something with him? Or you’re planning to?”
Jongho sighed. “God, you’re so nosey,” He complained jokingly. “No, we haven’t kissed yet, and I have no idea what you think I might be planning.”
“Ah, so you just want to kiss him then. Why not just do it? He probably wants to.”
“I wanna make sure he definitely wants to kiss me before I try to initiate it. That’s why I haven’t yet.”
“You know, you’d probably find out sooner if you talked to him about it.” Wooyoung shrugged. “But what do I know, right? I’ve totally never kissed anyone before.”
Jongho rolled his eyes. “You kiss everyone.”
“Exactly my point. Come to me if you actually need kissing advice.”
Jongho brushed him away and made his way into the bathroom. Why did he suddenly feel such an urge to kiss Yeosang when he usually isn’t one for kissing at all? Why was Wooyoung suddenly so interested in his love life? What if Yeosang really did want to kiss but he didn’t think Jongho wanted to?
He sighed as he got in the shower. He would have a lot of thinking to do.
--
While Yeosang was gone to the bathroom during a break during practice, Jongho approached Wooyoung, who was also with San and Hongjoong.
“Wooyoung,” He ignored the presence of the other two members, “Has Yeosang told you anything about… um… wanting to kiss me?”
Wooyoung smiled mischievously while San and Hongjoong looked surprised at the question.
“Jongho? Asking about kissing? What world are we living in?” San questioned.
Wooyoung thought for a moment with a loud “hmm” before stating, “Nope, not that I can remember.”
Jongho frowned. “That’s exactly what you said when I asked if he told you anything about liking me before we started dating. Then you told all the other members we liked each other. And didn’t tell us.”
“Hmm… Not sure I remember that,” He feigned innocence.
“Sure you don’t…”
Suddenly Hongjoong patted Jongho on the back.
“Hey, don’t worry about it too much. I’m sure you’ll know when the time is right.”
He nodded. “Thank you Hongjoong for being the only person to give me proper advice so far.”
Their discussion soon ended when Yeosang entered the room again.
--
Jongho wanted to test his confidence. But before that, he had to mentally prepare himself. So, he decided to go to the gym. He wasn’t really sure why the gym of all places, but it was the first place he could think of.
He worked out for about an hour before going back to the dorm. He was greeted by the few members who were in the living room as he made his way to the kitchen to grab a post-workout snack.
In the kitchen, he spotted Yeosang who was leaning against the counter while watching something on his phone and eating an apple. When he heard Jongho he looked up and smiled.
“Hey. How was your workout?”
Jongho walked over to him and put an arm over his shoulders. “It was good. But it’s even better to be here with you.”
A slight red tint appeared on Yeosang’s face. “Are you trying to flirt your way to getting me to do something, or are you just flirting for fun?”
“Just for fun. You’re really cute when you’re flustered.”
Yeosang cleared his throat. “You’re really cute all the time.”
Jongho wasn’t expecting Yeosang to flirt back. He paused as he tried to process it. Yeosang chuckled and put his phone and apple core on the counter so he could hold one of his boyfriend’s hands.
“You’re awfully bold,” Jongho stated as he squeezed his hand.
“I guess your confidence is rubbing off on me.” He smiled fondly.
Once again, Jongho’s eyes went to Yeosang’s lips. He wondered if he should do it now. It would be so easy. He started to lean in… but chickened out at the last second, kissing Yeosang’s cheek instead.
Yeosang’s face quickly became red. Jongho kissed him so close to his mouth. He couldn’t help but imagine what it would actually be like to kiss him on the lips.
Jongho wrapped his arms around Yeosang securely. “Sorry, I guess I caught you off guard.” He laughed awkwardly, his own face now heating up too.
Yeosang cleared his throat, composing his thoughts. “You don’t need to apologize. As long as it’s you then I love it.”
“You know you guys are a cute couple but if you could flirt anywhere other than the kitchen that’d be great.”
The pair looked toward the kitchen door and saw Seonghwa standing there. Both of their faces became a deeper shade of red.
--
“Those two, I swear,” Seonghwa sighed.
Wooyoung nodded. “They need to kiss already. I can see the tension.”
“How is there tension when they’re already dating?” Mingi asked.
“They’re cowards,” Seonghwa answered.
“Exactly! They can barely kiss each other on the cheek!” Wooyoung groaned. “Seriously, it’s like we have to do everything for their relationship.”
Mingi thought for a second. “We could have a game of spin the bottle or something.”
Seonghwa shook his head quickly. “No, that’s both too obvious and too hard to pull off. It’s unlikely it would land on them.”
“Truth or dare?” Wooyoung suggested.
“Hmm… That might work…” Seonghwa paused, then laughed. “God, we sound like kids.”
“Nothing wrong with having some childlike fun,” Mingi stated.
Yeosang didn’t tell them he heard that whole conversation through the door.
--
It was a Friday night. The team just finished food they ordered and were trying to find a movie to watch when Mingi spoke up.
“You know what might be fun? Truth or dare.”
San and Wooyoung laughed at the suggestion. Seonghwa looked like he didn’t care at all. Yunho, Hongjoong, and Jongho looked confused. Yeosang did his best to act confused too.
“Why truth or dare?” Hongjoong asked.
“Just thought it’d be fun. It’s a lot more interactive than a movie.”
“I’ll play!” Wooyoung called out.
“Of course you will,” Seonghwa rolled his eyes.
It only took a few minutes for all the members to agree. Even Yeosang, despite having heard their plan. He would be safe if he just picked truth.
It started with Mingi daring Wooyoung to stand on one foot for three rounds of the game. Then Wooyoung dared San to act cute, which made all the members groan. Yeosang was glad to see the evil trio hadn’t tried to attempt their plan yet. The game went on for a while with no funny business.
“Jongho,” Seonghwa called out. “Truth or dare?”
“Dare.”
“I dare you to kiss Yeosang.”
The members who weren’t in on the plan complained, saying that was barely a dare.
Jongho turned to face Yeosang, who was sitting next to him. He leaned forward slowly and kissed Yeosang… on the forehead.
Yeosang was relieved when he realized Seonghwa never specified where he had to kiss him.
“Easy.” Jongho smiled. “Yeosang, truth or dare?”
“Dare.” Yeosang knew he could take a dare from Jongho, and it would be a bit too odd if he picked truth all night.
“Hmm… Kiss me?” It sounded more like a question than a dare.
The other members groaned.
“Gross,” Yunho joked.
“You’re just jealous,” Jongho grinned.
While he was looking away, Yeosang kissed his cheek. Then he looked at Yunho and asked him truth or dare.
The game went on for a while longer and only ended when Hongjoong fell asleep after being dared to sit in Mingi’s lap. Most of the members quietly left the living room. Yeosang ended up following Jongho into his room.
“Mingi, Wooyoung, and Seonghwa were trying to get us to kiss on the lips,” He finally admitted.
Jongho stared at him blankly. “Huh? Why?”
“I don’t really know… I overheard them talking and they said we were cowards and Wooyoung said he could see the tension.” He forced an awkward laugh, not quite sure why he was telling Jongho now instead of before.
“So… is that why you didn’t do it when I dared you to kiss me?”
“Huh?”
“You didn’t want their plan to work so you didn’t kiss me on the lips, right?”
“Wait, you… you wanted me to…”
“I guess I really shouldn’t have assumed you would know and you would want to, huh?”
Yeosang grabbed his hands. “Jongho, baby, I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time. I just… um… didn’t think you would want to because before we started dating you hated being kissed.” He felt embarrassed saying it now.
Jongho had to take a moment to register what was just said. First, the pet name. That was new. It made his heart beat faster and made blood rush to his face, so he thinks he likes it. Second, Yeosang does want to kiss him. On the lips. That was definitely the most important discovery.
“I can’t really find the right words, but I want to kiss you too. Like, a lot, honestly.”
Yeosang leaned in so their foreheads were touching. “Then do it.”
“Can I?”
“You don’t need to ask, I already gave you permission,” He giggled.
Jongho closed the gap between them, pressing their lips together softly. They kissed with no urgency, no intense desire. It was gentle, and slightly awkward since it was their first kiss. It lasted a good few seconds before they pulled away.
They stared, faces deeply red, as close as they could be without their lips touching… Until the gap was closed again. The kiss felt just as good as the first one, and it lasted a bit longer, too.
They only broke apart when the door opened, making them jump. It’s a wonder they didn’t bump into each other’s faces harder.
“Oh my god, you guys actually kissed,” Mingi said from the doorway.
Seonghwa, who was still in the living room, heard him. “Wait, what? Did they actually?”
Soon, Wooyoung came running down the hall, somehow having heard from his room. “They did it! Finally! You’ve had your first kiss!”
Yeosang sighed and walked over to the trio at the door. “Goodnight, everyone.” He shut the door before anyone could say anything else.
Jongho couldn’t help but laugh. “Did you just kick Mingi out of his own room?”
He smiled and put his arms over Jongho’s shoulders. “He can find somewhere else to sleep tonight. I don’t want him giggling like a kid when he sees us kissing.”
“I take it you’re liking this whole kissing thing, hm?” Jongho wrapped his arms around his waist, gently pulling him closer, a soft smile on his face.
“Oh, I love it. And you know why? Because I love you.”
They’ve said it before, but it still made Jongho’s heart beat faster when he heard it. He could tell it made Yeosang feel the same way.
“You’re so bold today. What happened to my shy, blushy boyfriend?” He joked, placing a kiss on the tip of Yeosang’s nose. “But don’t worry. Either way, bold or shy, I love you.”
Yeosang turned away, smiling. “That was so cheesy.”
“Hey, look at me?”
He did, then they kissed again.
They could definitely get used to this.
As for the other members… they groaned at the idea of having to pull the two apart in the morning. Two of the strongest members… God, what did they set up?