Work Text:
“…This is where you two grew up?” MC looked wide eyed as they drove down the street.
“Yes...” Jihyun looked over to her in amusement as she nearly pressed her face against the window of the car.
“The houses are still in our families though my father doesn’t stay in this home as often anymore…though we still have staff who manage it,” Jumin explained.
“Wow…” MC exhaled as the road winded further down and the houses seem to grow in scale.
“My father’s wife and my…sister remain abroad. Though my father travels back and forth quite a bit still for business,” Jihyun added.
“Mmm…” MC turned to the two of them and looked at them in a way that caused a soft blush to rise in their cheeks. She always seemed to do that…she analyzed them, observed them. Read between the lines of what they were saying. It made them almost want to cover her eyes with their hands.
It made them vulnerable.
“So, that’s why you guys could come and go between both homes as you pleased,” MC stated, turning back to look through the windows.
“I suppose…nothing has changed much,” Jumin murmured trading a look with Jihyun.
-
“Jumin! You didn’t tell me that you already had plans today,” MC seemed unsure of herself as she met him outside of Jaehee’s café.
“I knew you would not come if I already told you Jihyun was here. Though he seemed enthused to invite you as well when you did call,” Jumin replied, leading her through the door where Jihyun already had a table.
“Yeah, yeah,” MC waved off, still feeling self-conscience.
They approached the table as Jihyun stood up to greet them. MC quickly gave him a hug in greeting.
“MC…” Jihyun addressed her accusingly, still returning her hug.
“What?”
"You’re overthinking too much again,” he stated teasingly.
MC lightly shoved away from him lightly, “At least let me buy our coffees…” she grumbled.
Jumin coughed to suppress a laugh as Jihyun shook his head. Why she would always insist on paying when they clearly could always escaped them.
MC, seemingly reading their minds, interjected their silent conversation, “Yeah, we all know, you guys ‘got it’. But, ya know…” she gave them a wicked grin as she went to order for them, “just shove it already, okay?” she rolled her eyes and bounced off to the counter and began animatedly talking with Jaehee.
Jumin and Jihyun just watched the woman walk away, already used to her way of speaking to them and privately smiled to themselves before engaging in their own conversation again.
-
The car rolled to a stop in front of a house and MC quickly got out and looked up at it. “Ya know, I hate suburbia, but this house is still something else…is this even considered suburbia? Whatever, I can still appreciate this just based on the amount of home renovation and real estate shows I’ve binged,” she placed her hands on her hips as she studied it.
“We went between homes fairly equally,” Jihyun commented.
“I suppose…this one was my father’s though.” Jumin added, regarding the house looking down at them.
MC turned around look at the two men again. They were standing side by side, looking up at the house with seemingly unreadable expressions on their faces. Her eyes softened and then she quickly leaped over to them, quickly grabbing each one of their hands in the same moment. A look of surprise took over their expressions as they both looked down at her.
“So…based on what you said before…” MC spoke slowly, “that means we have Jumin’s house all to ourselves then?” she raised her eyebrows as she pulled them back into their childhood.
-
“So, you guys were always neighbors as children then?” MC asked sipping her coffee.
“Yeah, after Jumin crashed his car into where I lived…” Jihyun said jokingly passive aggressive.
Jumin sighed and nearly rolled his eyes as Jihyun recounted the story for hundredth time, knowing it always made MC laugh.
Though it wouldn’t top the first time she was shown the picture of Jumin in a full suit on his phone as a child…tears streamed down her cheeks and she begged for a copy to put up somewhere in her apartment. Claiming how “cute” he was…
“Do you guys ever go back to those houses?” she suddenly asked.
“No, we don’t. At least, I have not recently,” Jumin replied casually.
“We never had a reason to,” Jihyun agreed.
“Where exactly was this neighborhood?” MC asked.
After they told her, she quickly dug out her phone and looked at it intently, tapping her fingers across the screen, her nails softly clicking as she did so.
“It’s not that far from here!” she exclaimed, “we should go!”
“Excuse me?”
“What?”
“I mean, if you guys want. Childhood nostalgia and all that sappy shit,” she grinned.
“Language, MC,” Jumin sighed.
“Oh~ do you want me to stop ‘shitting around’?” she replied casually, referencing her first time in the chatroom.
Jihyun suppressed a laugh and then began sipping his drink as Jumin shot a look at him.
MC grabbed Jumin’s arm and looked up at him, “You were so serious then, Ju-min Han,”
Knowing MC was a casually affectionate person, and after she asked him seriously if it was okay one day, her general affection still took him off guard. He knew it was the same for Jihyun. But, simultaneously, they had grown used to her antics.
They never really said it out loud but…they were a comfort now.
“I’m still serious,” he replied instead, resting his chin on his free hand while looking down at her, one eyebrow raised.
“Sure, sure. That’s what you want them to think. Jihyun and I know better though. Just like me and you know Jihyun has a secret savage side.”
“Ex-excuse me?” Jihyun coughed on his drink.
“True,” Jumin agreed, ignoring Jihyun’s reaction.
“Please stop,” the artist protested with a nervous chuckle.
“Now he’s shy,” MC replied, looking over at him while Jumin nodded.
Jihyun finally rolled his eyes and leaned back against his chair, “Fine, let’s go.”
MC looked up, “What?”
Jumin agreed with his friend, already catching on, “I’ll call the car back.”
“What?” she sat up, releasing his arm and looking over at him as well.
“Let’s show you where we grew up,” Jihyun smiled.
-
“C’mon, you’re telling me you’ve never tried this?” MC’s voice echoed across the expansive home.
“No, I can’t say we have. Or maybe I shouldn’t speak for my friend here,” Jumin said, watching with amusement from the couch.
“No, you can. When would I have had the chance to try…this?” Jihyun’s hands itched to grab the camera he forgot to bring to capture this moment. He settled for his phone instead.
“You better not be taking pictures of me, Jihyun,” MC warned as she bounded around the house like a child, her voice bouncing off different corners of the walls. She continued to run and then slide in her socks across the slick, hard floor. She nearly fell every time but giggled as she did only to repeat the action in a different direction.
Jumin had long dismissed the staff for the day, thanking them for their long-term service and giving them a day off. Jumin used to be so familiar with the staff around the house from his childhood but that group of people had long since been gone, off to other positions, at around the same time he left for college. It felt strange to walk into a house he had lived in for the entire first part of his life and have strangers walking around.
But, now…with Jihyun softly laughing as MC twirled around the room…well, it felt more like some sort of a home now.
More so than it ever did over the first decade of his life.
“Ahhh!” MC skated across the floor with a shriek and then collapsed on the carpet beneath the two best friend’s feet. “Ow…I really almost fell that time. Lucky for this nice plush carpeting,” she teased as her bright eyes shot up to meet grey and blue looking down at her.
Though different colors, both of their eyes always reminded her of the ocean.
“Hey, ocean eyes,” she grinned up at them.
“Who are you talking to?” Jihyun coughed, leaning back.
“I think that would be you, Jihyun. You’re the one with blue eyes.” Jumin sighed.
“Nah, both of you,” she sat up and crossed her legs in front of them, still watching them from the floor. She could see the question in their faces.
“Jihyun, you’ve always been like the summer. You’re picnics, vacations and golden hour. Jumin, you’re like the winter. Warm days spent inside, soft music and northern lights. You guys are two ends of a spectrum that balance each other out quite nicely. A winter and summer sea.” MC explained, her expression miles away as she accentuated her point with her hands as she spoke.
She finally snapped back to reality, looking over at them as her face grew red for the first time. “Ahh, that was weird, wasn’t it? Sorry,” she laughed nervously as she looked away from them and out the large window bringing natural light into the living room.
But, because of her looking away, she couldn’t see the way their faces went pink all the way to the tips of their ears. The best friends looked at the woman, cheeks red, and avoiding looking at them – Her hair fell around her face and the streaming light wrapped around her softly.
For Jumin…she was the spring. A warming breeze, wrapping him up and blowing away the last of the snow. For Jihyun, she was the fall. A gust of wind, blowing everything back and making him look up.
She cut through the blazing heat and the piercing cold and brought a promise of change. She was open windows, loud music, thunderstorms and midday naps she always drifted off into on their couches, Elizabeth the 3rd most likely joining her.
MC finally stood and ran a hand through her hair, not giving them a chance to respond. “Take those slippers off. All that is needed for this activity is socks,” she grinned and pulled them up from their seats.
“MC, I don’t know about this…” Jihyun lightly protested.
“I have to agree,” Jumin said almost warily.
“Come on~” MC whined halfheartedly as she turned to stand between them. “Now, we run as fast as we can and then just stop and let the floor do it’s magic.”
“I only know of a magic carpet, not tile floors…” Jumin murmured. MC sputtered out a laugh that caused Jumin to quirk his lips slightly in response. Jihyun just shook his head with his own grin.
“Carpet flies, tile glides,” MC explained mock-seriously.
“Is that right?” Jumin asked staring down at her.
“Yes, Jumin,” MC made a face at him and then moved on. “Now, I’m going to count-”
“Uh, MC, wait-” Jihyun laughed.
“1…”
“Must we hold hands for this?” Jumin wondered aloud, though he didn’t make a move to let go.
“2…3!” MC raised her voice and took off, the two tall men slipping behind her as the dashed across the open space at the base of the stairs.
“Run faster! Now…slide!” MC laughed-shouted as she released their hands as she went almost barreling into an archway leading into the dining room.
Jihyun made an incoherent noise as he slipped further right, right nearly into a wall, barely stopping himself.
Jumin let out a low curse as he almost crashed into MC, unable to gain the traction his instincts fought for as his socks betrayed them.
“See?” MC grinned as put her hands on her hips.
Jumin and Jihyun’s hair was slightly ruffled as their eyes looked wide. In all honesty, the slide wasn’t long. It was more the feeling of falling that caused a rush after running so quickly. They only blinked at her as they found themselves braced awkwardly where they stood.
MC looked at them for a moment and then burst out laughing at their expressions. They finally straightened up as she did and traded a soft smile with each other.
Jihyun seemed to be lost in thought as he stared at MC and his best friend. He was a different person last time he stood where they are now. He became a different person once he left. But, Jihyun realized, as he stood where he once began, he had finally never felt more comfortable before. More warmth. More himself. The feeling stirred within, his lips quirking upward, as MC began speaking again.
“You guys are so slow, by the way. And that is saying something coming from a slow ass runner like myself,” MC teased.
“We were trying to be polite, MC, letting you pull us along,” Jihyun countered. If one didn’t know him, he would have sounded polite. But MC knew – he was throwing shade.
“Oh, is that right, Ji-hyun?” she emphasized his name.
“I’m afraid so,” Jumin said, “though Jihyun, by nature, is not that fast of a runner anyways.” he added nonchalantly.
“Excuse me?” Jihyun trained his eyes on his friend.
“Well, I regularly work out – you most likely have not ran since high school,” Jumin explained logically.
“I travel and hike and climb, Jumin,” the other man huffed almost…argumentative? MC noted with surprise.
“When was the last time you stepped outside of your studio since painting though?” Jumin wondered aloud.
“Care to test that theory?” Jihyun asked.
“Excuse me?” Jumin echoed him from earlier.
“Let’s race.”
“You must be joking.”
“Don’t feel pressured, I know you are too serious for these kinds of things.” Jihyun lightly excused him, casually crossing his arms.
Jumin studied his friend and then straightened and stepped forward, “MC, you can call it.”
MC had stood, mesmerized, watching these two best friends playfully argue…a competitive nature coming out in the two. She then quickly caught up with what Jumin said.
“Already ahead of you,” MC walked towards the other end of the room and then spread her arms to the side. Jihyun positioned himself next to his friend on the imaginary line with a grin echoing Jumin’s smirk.
“First to slap my hand wins,” she explained, “On your mark…get set…go!” MC shouted.
MC watched as Jumin shot forward quicker than she expected but Jihyun was close behind him. They kept barely inching in front of each other though it was a quick sprint across the foyer. Close to each other’s height, AKA ridiculously tall, she thought to herself – it was hard to tell who was going to win though they both ran with intense concentration. The only thing keeping them from getting it over with more quickly was…their socks kept causing them to slide again. MC stifled a laugh as she watched.
Soon the two men reached out their arms as they each went for one of her hands, signifying their win. With a split-second idea, MC felt two respective claps against her hands, milliseconds apart, but instead of leaving it be…
She grabbed hold of each hand…tightly.
MC never thought she would hear these two men let out a noise like they did as they both felt themselves being yanked back. Though it was more like a guttural, low shout, MC let out a laugh at the sound but then shrieked as well in the next moment – because she soon felt herself being pulled back accidentally with the force of the men’s grip in her hands. She hit the floor, them falling close behind.
As she opened her eyes, she saw the two life-long friends blinking owlishly and then whipping their gazes over at her.
MC studied how they had landed. She was sitting back but they seemed to have tripped over one other. They slightly hovered above, looking down at her, while their legs were tangled together. Their hands were still in hers.
She stared into grey and blue, eyes wide. MC’s face grew red, realizing how close they were to her.
Suddenly she heard a low chuckle and Jihyun and her turned towards the source. Jumin seemed to be trying to hold it in as he worked to catch his breath but…it came up again. He then pulled back from them both as it bubbled up once more, no matter how he tried to hide it.
MC stared at him as he finally let out a wobbly grin and on his next breath…Jumin Han laughed…loudly. Jihyun leaned back on his hands too and joined the businessman with his own laughter and soon…the two friends were practically giggling like children.
She stared at them. Stared at how they both sat close to each other, leaning back on their hands and elbows, and laughing like schoolboys. Her feet and legs still were tangled with theirs as she sat up straight with her hands in her lap. Their cheeks were dusted rosy and their chests were heaving from the adrenaline of actually falling this time. Their usually perfectly parted hair fell into their face. They both laughed with rare and wide smiles, all teeth, striking silver and bright blue peeking through crinkled eyes.
MC had never seen anything so beautiful.
Even so, she did not know what possessed her with the bravery to creep forward towards the men. How she leaned in to get a closer look at what she could only describe as art – to be cherished and admired. Why she reached forward with her hands, trembling, as she placed one on each of their cheeks, causing them to freeze in their laughter.
Just like Jumin and Jihyun could not answer why, when feeling their own hands brush against one another suddenly in the same moment…they didn’t move them away from each other but instead closer, overlapping them unconsciously.
The sun streamed into the room and they seemed like the only three in the world and MC was so close. Jihyun’s shoulder leaned against Jumin’s and Jumin’s fingers tangled with Jihyun’s and they were all just so close.
MC traded a glance with Jihyun and seemed to ask a question to which Jihyun only turned his head in acknowledgment at…aiming towards Jumin. MC angled herself more towards the man as Jihyun watched, unable to look away.
MC’s nose brushed against Jumin as her eyes bored into his. They also asked him a question as she hesitated – but Jumin just responded by leaning closer…closing the gap between them.
It was clumsy at first. He angled his head down more and brought his free hand against MC’s neck, pulling her up and closer into him. His other hand tightened around Jihyun’s to which the artist responded to in silent reassurance. Jumin let out a low noise as his tongue met lightly against MC’s and with the feeling of his best friend’s hand in his.
MC’s felt like her body was a live-wire and the current ran straight from Jumin into her. She kissed him gently but with slightly increasing pressure, feeling how soft his lips were and how they quickly learned from each other. MC let out a slight moan as Jumin soon overcame her, his hand slipping into her hair. MC could smell his cologne and how the fabric of his shirt brushed against her. She felt herself trembling underneath his mouth, feeling too much and not enough at the same time.
In the next moment, they pulled away, slightly gasping but faces still close with one another. His eyes melted her as one hand rested against his chest, still slightly gripping his shirt. MC blinked at him and then took notice of Jihyun staring at them…in awe. She looked back at Jumin and then he looked over at his best friend beside him.
MC slightly changed her position and moved closer to the blue-haired man. Jihyun seemed to be in a trance as he stared at her and MC moved like a magnet towards him. She moved her hand through his hair, and he leaned into the touch. She took that as encouragement and, nearly similarly, her nose brushed against his. She was surprised when his hand moved against her cheek and he slightly nuzzled his nose against her own. MC let out a tiny breath of laughter before he moved the last inch between them.
Jihyun’s kiss began with extreme caution but laced with curiosity. Knowing MC had just been against his best friend’s mouth somehow made him lean more into it. Jihyun kissed her like they had all the time in the world. Slow, memorizing. Also, a quick learner like his friend beside him. Caution seem to fall rather quickly as Jihyun hummed against her lips causing MC’s mouth to slightly open at the vibration it made. Their tongues soon met as they held each other’s faces close to one another. MC made a noise at the feeling causing Jihyun to kiss her with more urgency.
As they pulled away as well, she, finally, slowly leaned back to look at the two in front of her.
Jumin and Jihyun were seemingly opposites but with so much more deeply intimate things in common than many realized. Their kindness, their drive, their pasts, their understanding…their love. They were two halves of a whole.
Two halves that made up MC’s heart. She brought her trembling fingers to her lips.
MC then took notice of how Jumin and Jihyun’s hands remained clasped together and her heart soared at the sight. She moved her legs from underneath her and then gently reached forward and placed her hand on top of theirs. Jumin and Jihyun both looked down at the site. Their fingers holding onto each other and, while the feeling was new, and it was strange….it didn’t feel unwelcome.
Jumin and Jihyun then looked up at one another. MC almost felt like she was intruding on some 20-year long conversation…but she did not feel left out. She felt privileged…to study two people, that have grown so close to her heart, reach out to each other silently – finally. She only gazed at them with patience, some sort of understanding, as they shared in a single, and deeply personal, moment. Questions in their eyes as they traced the other’s face.
MC couldn’t say who began moving closer first but if forced to answer…she would say they both did. Drawn by strings tying them together since they met as children. Much like they did when MC herself kissed them; their hands moved to each other’s face. She noted this as another thing they must have in common – how they treasured those around them. Held them closely like they couldn’t bear to not.
They hesitated for longer as their lips were a hair's breadth away. They could feel each other’s breath…they were sharing the same air. They gave each other oxygen. When their lips finally met MC saw how they startled at the feeling but then moved with it. She felt their hands tighten against one another and saw how their eyebrows furrowed.
They looked nearly emotional with some sort of relief as their mouths slipped against one another.
Jumin and Jihyun felt like they could see memories of one another.
They thought of their first meeting, first time drinking…and the first time they saw the other cry.
They thought of when they held hands as children during a sleepover one night…without realizing that would be the last time.
How one of the few times they held each other in their lives was as Jumin carried Jihyun away from the results of all his secrets, thinking he was going to die…ignoring the screaming and shouts in the background.
How the other time was following Jihyun’s surgery and how that coincided with one of the few times Jihyun ever saw his best friend cry. How he didn’t know what to say besides a broken record of “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” as he grabbed Jumin’s shoulders and hugged him tightly in the privacy of the hospital room. How Jumin made not a sound when he cried, his face seemingly empty, but streams sliding down his cheeks.
They realized that they may have loved each other all this time without even knowing it. Even when they accidentally broke each other’s hearts.
Jumin and Jihyun kissed passionately, with growing urgency, as they seemed to trace the lines of the other’s face with their fingertips and ran their hands through their hair.
Then…they thought of MC.
MC with her silly laughter and slight eccentricities.
Her casual and soft affection and how she loved to hang off them both, loved to tease them.
How she confided about wanting to travel…and for them to come with her because “who else”?
How, one day, she had come over to see them – carrying a silence they have never seen from her before and simply asked for a drink. How she later cried, drunk and swaying, and wouldn’t tell them why. "Are you okay?" she asked, thickly, through tears. "Are you both okay, please tell me," she cried, reaching for them. How she gripped their hands, much like today, but instead like a lifeline and leaned against them both. How she admitted, softly, like a secret between friends, that they made her feel safe. Safer than she had ever felt in her entire life. Then, cheeks still wet, drifted off to sleep still against them and forgot everything the next morning.
How, one day, when she had fallen asleep at Jumin’s house – they both heard her utter out their names before nuzzling closer to Elizabeth.
How neither said anything beyond trading a look but knowing – in that moment, that they loved her too.
With a sudden and soft gasp, they pulled away and studied one another – looked into each other.
MC felt her chest ache, in a good way, and her heart swell with it. Jumin and Jihyun’s gaze shifted over to her and she smiled at them warmly.
And in that old childhood home, in a way too large foyer, in front of a large window that gave a view of the spot where Jumin and Jihyun first met – they just stared at one another.
And not knowing where they would all go from here but feeling reassured by the hands overlapping their own, they all could only think of one thing.
“I love you.”