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‘’Hyung! I think I forgot goose-goose!,’’ a five-year-old Jisung had gasped, coming to a standstill and tightening his hold on Minho’s hand, ‘’We have to go back!,’’
And so they did, the seven-year-old Minho taking the lead in tugging the younger back up the hill they had just come down from. It wasn’t that high or that steep – Jisung’s mom once explaining to the boys how it just looked like that because they were both still little boys – but it seemed to be a proper hike that took forever, especially now with Jisung growing more and more distressed the longer he went without the tiny squirrel-plushie in his free hand.
‘’What if he is lost? Goose-goose doesn’t like being alone,’’
‘’I know, but we will find him Sungie,’’ Minho replied, getting out of breath as they waded through the knee-high grass.
They finally made it back to the top and spend the rest of the afternoon searching, Jisung tightly holding onto the older boy as he grew upset, sniffling and tears dripping down his face as they looked everywhere.
It was when the sun had started to set that Minho had to tell the younger that they would have to go back home for today and continue looking for it the next day, Jisung full on crying as Minho dragged the boy down the hill.
In the end they had never found it again, even after searching for it for days. Jisung had been really sad and didn’t want to go back up the hill for a long time no matter what Minho said.
But how most things work with kids, Jisung had gotten a new one from his parents and it was identical enough for Jisung to believe it was goose-goose. Thinking about it now made Minho laugh. The adults had pulled off the lie of finding the plushie in a tree because it wanted to be with his friends so easily, but that was probably just because it was Jisung.
Jisung who believed just about anything you told him.
Minho wished he could go back to those days, when all they had to worry about was some stupid plushie. Jisung would definitely hit him if he’d hear Minho say that about the little squirrel currently peeking out of the breast-pocket of his overalls, so he had and would never let it slip.
‘’Hello? Are you even listening?,’’
Minho flinched and lazily rolled his head, leaving him staring up at Jisung with his round glasses standing next to his bed and hoovering over him like the angel he was.
Jisung looked silly like that; face upside down and a smudge of paint on his cheek, something the boy probably hadn’t even noticed because he never did. It was on impulse and maybe by habit that Minho reached up and swiped his thumb across the boy’s cheek, frowning when he noticed that it had already dried. Jisung shot him a confused look when Minho dropped his arm back to the bed with a huff, the younger straightening up and running his hand over his cheek.
‘’It’s already dry Jisung,’’ Minho finally spoke up after a long silence, sitting up with a groan and popping joints, ‘’Good luck getting it off,’’
Looking around the room, Minho could see that the place was even more of a mess than before he had zoned out. In the corner next to the window stood a messily filled canvas and the floor around it was littered with spray-paint cans and brushes. There were lids and paint-stained towels lying about haphazardly and Minho was worried that it was going to take forever to clean up.
‘’Sung,’’ Minho huffed, ‘’Can you please stop vandalising my bedroom?,’’
The younger giggled before crossing his arms, ‘’First of all, this isn’t vandalising. I’m merely letting the creative process take its course. My professor says that’s an important part of coming to a finished piece,’’
Even though Minho wanted to call bullshit at that, he couldn’t because Jisung was looking way to adorable in his denim overalls and blonde curls held into place by a tiny string.
‘’Second. This is as much my room as yours,’’
Minho scoffed and shook his head, ‘’No, it’s not. If I remember correctly, your own bedroom is right across from mine,’’
Jisung giggled again, ‘’At this point it’s just a storage room,’
True.
Minho couldn’t remember the last time Jisung had actually used his own bedroom. It was probably just a handful of times after they had managed to get a dorm together – Minho had to convince administration that he had a valid reason to say goodbye to his own appointed dorm to share with Jisung when the boy got to college – but Minho wasn’t complaining.
He pretended it annoyed him, just for the fun of it. Jisung never bought it and would just whine at Minho to hurry up and get to bed.
‘’You are lucky you are cute otherwise I’d kick you out without hesitation,’’ Minho muttered, loud enough for the younger to hear and the latter pouted, the light flushing of his cheeks not going unnoticed by Minho.
‘’I’m not cute,’’ Jisung huffed, blowing a stray strand of hair out of his eyes, ‘’I’m cool… and sexy… and charismatic!,’’
Minho couldn’t help but laugh at that – Jisung could sometimes be all of those but wasn’t really convincing looking like a whole-ass cutie at the moment - and let himself fall back onto his bed. It didn’t come as a surprise when Jisung was on top of him within a second, cheeks puffed out as he straddled Minho.
‘’Why are you laughing? Stop that,’’ the younger demanded but Minho was already so far gone that he had trouble breathing properly, Jisung’s weight pressing on his chest not helping much.
‘’It’s not funny!,’’
When Minho finally calmed down and had wiped the tears from his eyes, he was left looking up at a frowning Jisung and slightly wet eyes. That was all it took for him to realise what he had done and he shot up, Jisung slipping down to his legs.
‘’Oh no, shit, sorry! You know I didn’t mean it like that sweetheart,’’
Minho didn’t know if it did much because Jisung was still staring at him, the corners of his lips dropping more and more by the second. He knew exactly what was going on inside the younger’s head and didn’t hesitate to pull Jisung in for a hug.
‘’I’m sorry Sungie,’’ Minho whispered into his ear, placing a quick kiss on the boy’s head, ‘’I wasn’t laughing at you, you know I would never do that,’’
It seemed the damage had already been done because he could feel the boy’s shoulders starting to shake, his hands gripping the back of his shirt.
And Minho felt like they were back in middle school all over again, Jisung crying in his arms more often than not because his peers apparently though he had been the perfect person to torment, going from simple but hurtful words to finding the boy beat up behind the school in their last year. Jisung still had a tiny scar running through his eyebrow from that but you couldn’t see it unless you knew.
Minho had been there to see it all but had never managed to actually do something about it, Minho already in high school and Jisung not letting him in fear of making things worse. In the end, nothing had really changed except the fact that the younger would come running to him more often than not.
Things had gotten a bit better after Jisung had enrolled into high school as well.
Until it had gotten worse.
It had been in a couple of months into the younger’s first year that Jisung started hanging out with ‘the bad crowd’ as a way to prevent middle school from happening all over again and once again there had been nothing Minho could really do about it but watch from the side-lines how his friend went from innocent and bubbly to cold and cigarettes with a side dish of rude.
But that was just for everyone else.
Whenever the boy actually had found time to meet up, it took less than five minutes for the old Jisung to return. And in those moments Minho would forget that Jisung had started to drift away from him and only saw eyes silently begging him for help.
Thinking back, Minho didn't know what had hurt more; getting stood up more often than not because Jisung had found it more important to hang out with his other 'friends', or the fact that it was – and still is - so painfully obvious to Minho that Jisung was wearing a laying of fake confidence and nonchalance because the boy has always been insecure about pretty much everything about himself.
"Hyung," Jisung had muttered one night, so incredibly hesitant and small that something had hurt behind Minho's ribcage, "Do you think I’m not cool enough?,"
It had taken than an hour for Minho to dig into Jisung's mind and he didn't like finding what was there, the boy so worried about what other people perceive him to be.
The slightly chubby cheeks, pretty round eyes, curly lashes, small frame but by no means fragile, loud, warm, soft…
Emotional.
And Minho had figured out pretty quickly that that's what it all boiled down to. Because Jisung had always felt with his whole heart, all the time. And to put it frankly; Jisung was a boy and those shouldn't have chubby cheeks, no big doe eyes twinkling prettily, no high-pitched lilt in their voice when they are happy.
Jisung had no very defined jawline, narrow almond-shaped eyes oozing charisma, confidence…
Sharp.
Everything had to be sharp.
And Jisung, in every sense of the word, was not. Jisung was all rounded edges; warm, passionate, loving, gentle, caring and the list went on and on.
And Minho felt bad whenever he saw a glint of envy followed by guilt in Jisung's eyes when the boy's eyes darted over his face every now and then. Because from the outside Minho was indeed all sharp edges, some of those seeping to the inside but still just as caring and loving as Jisung.
Minho fucking hated those lingering gender-roles and would love to set everyone on fire who dared to tell or imply to Jisung that he wasn’t ‘manly enough’, that he should toughen up because that’s what he was supposed to do.
He’d start with those kids back in middle school, definitely.
Anyways.
Luckily all it had taken for Jisung to drop the act and his 'friends' was one incident, one that didn’t seem like much but Minho never commented on that because the younger had come running to his house in the middle of the night in absolute panic.
They had been hanging out somewhere downtown and a fight with another group of guys had broken out.
And Jisung was all rounded edges, not a fighter. Not in that way.
Minho had been happy that that had been the end of it because now Jisung was back to being Jisung, even clingier and warmer than before and actually somewhat believing Minho when he told the younger that he was just perfect in his own way. But that insecurity stayed and came back every now and then to bite them in the ass, just like now, Jisung quietly sobbing into his shoulder.
Minho was well aware that Jisung probably thought that Minho had laughed at him in a mocking way, which he really hadn’t.
‘’Sweetheart, listen to me,’’ Minho demanded as he pulled back a little, cupping the boy’s cheeks and guiding his head up. His heart broke a bit when he saw thick tears rolling down Jisung’s face and he was all to blame for that.
‘’I am sorry for laughing. You are indeed very cool and sexy and charismatic, but right now you just look very cute and all I want to do is wrap you up in a dozen blankets and feed you cheesecake and cuddle you to sleep,’’
Jisung was still sniffling but the tears gradually came to a stop, ‘’Y-you have cheesecake?,’’
Minho let out a relieved sigh and shot a smile at the boy, glad that the good old cheesecake-trick proved to work once again, ‘’Yes, and you can have it all if that makes you happy,’’
The younger’s eyes lit up and he let out a watery giggle, ‘’Can I have some then? Pretty please?,’’
‘’Of course sweetheart,’’ Minho smiled, wiping the boy’s tears, ‘’How about you get cleaned up first and I’ll get you your cheesecake and some tea,’’
Jisung nodded before leaning forward and leaving a soft kiss on Minho’s cheek, ‘’Okay! And don’t sneakily eat mine!,’’
Just like that, the younger slid off of Minho’s lap and moved over to his closet before disappearing to the bathroom with an arm full of clothes.
Minho had been nine and Jisung seven when the next thing had gotten lost on the hill behind their childhood homes; a picture frame Minho had made himself with a picture of them.
It had been stupid, really, because why the fuck had Minho even taken it with him up the hill in the first place?
He knew why and it had all been because he wanted to show Jisung and as a child still quite uncapable of thinking long-term he had thought that it was the best time to show the younger.
‘’Wow! It looks so pretty hyung!,’’ Jisung had squealed, clapping while doing so, ‘’You need to make me one too!.
In the end, they had forgotten they had put it against the tree before they’d decided to go play in the big field behind it, Minho only remembering right before going to sleep that night.
They had searched the hill once again the next day after school and they had actually found it, but unfortunately it had rained all night and the pretty paint had been ruined with the colours all muddled together.
Now Minho had been the one to cry because he had worked so hard on it, Jisung tightly holding onto his hand and looking so adorably determined to come up with a solution. They never did and they had soon forgotten about it.
But here Minho was, staring at the same picture that had been in that picture frame. He had always known that Jisung had a copy of it but somehow Minho had missed that they boy had it taped to the corner of his body-mirror along with about a dozen of other pictures of them from over the years.
The picture wasn’t anything special to the naked eye, just two boys sprawled all over each other while asleep in a blanket-fort they had made, but to this day Minho could remember every little thing that had gone down that day. From struggling with the tape and heavy blankets to Jisung reading him a bedtime story as Minho fell asleep on the boy’s stomach and everything in between, even that he woke up the next morning with Jisung wrapped around him like a koala.
Much like how he had just woken up a couple of minutes ago. The only difference was that this time, Jisung hadn’t drooled on his shoulder. Progress.
‘’Hey Sung?,’’ Minho spoke up, rolling over to his stomach and poking the seemingly unconscious boy lying next to him.
‘’Hmm?,’’
Minho smiled as Jisung peeled one eye open, his cheek squished against the pillow and definitely struggling to properly wake up because it was barely ten AM.
‘’Do you remember that one time I lost that ugly-ass picture frame I had painted?,’’
Jisung seemed to think for a bit, a lazy smile making its way onto his lips.
‘’I only remember you promising to make me one too at that time and look where we are. I don’t see a Minho-customized-picture frame,’’ Jisung rasped out, his voice cracking halfway through from sleep.
‘’I can still make you one,’’ Is what slipped out of Minho’s mouth.
Jisung giggled with his eyes closed and Minho melted a bit at that but managed to keep himself from cooing at the boy.
‘’You just said yourself that it was ugly, what makes you think I wouldn’t be better off making one myself?,’’
Minho knew that was an intentional jab at his pride and competitiveness, but he let himself fall for it to create the illusion that Jisung held some sort of power.
‘’Is that an invitation, Mr. Han?,’’ Minho smirked, letting his fingers trail up and down the younger’s spine.
Jisung shuddered and chuckled before finally opening his eyes, ‘’Yes! I challenge you to a duel!,’’
They spend the rest of the day wasting Jisung’s precious oil paints to decorate cheap picture frames and just like expected, Jisung’s turned out like a delicate masterpiece with pretty swirls of colours while Minho’s one looked just about the same as the one he had made when he was nine.
Still, Jisung clapped just like he did back then and claimed that he loved it when they exchanged the picture frames, cheeks flushed as he hugged it to his chest and told Minho that he was going to treasure it forever.
‘’Man down! Man down!,’’ Minho hear coming from his – their – bedroom and for a second he worried, but then he heard loud giggling following.
He let out an amused huff and turned back to the stove, just in time to see the pot boiling over. With a soft curse he reached out and lifted the lid, only to curse some more when the metal was so hot that it burned his fingers. The lid clattered on the counter and Minho managed to turn down the heath, hissing as his fingers started to throb.
The next thing he heard was hurried footsteps and then Jisung appeared in the kitchen, hair messy and hand coated in – what looked like – light blue paint. Minho thought he saw some glitter on the boy’s face but didn’t question it as a sharp pain reminded him that he had burned himself. So with that, he threw the tap open and waited for the water to turn lukewarm before holding his hand under the stream of water.
‘’What happened?,’’ Jisung asked as he stepped next to him, eyes blown wide.
Minho would’ve cooed at the sight if it wasn’t for the fact that he was injured.
‘’Burned myself,’’ he simply commented, carefully bending his fingers and letting out another hiss.
He could see Jisung tense from the corner of his eyes before the boy suddenly bolted out of the little kitchen. Before he could even question it, Jisung came rushing back with a couple of salves in his hands.
‘’It should be one of these,’’ the younger muttered as he held them up one by one, practically shoving them in his eyes to make an attempt to read what the tiny letters said.
Minho laughed and only then noticed that Jisung wasn’t wearing his glasses, that probably being the reason that the boy had just brought whatever he could find.
Jisung had switched out his glasses for contacts when he was about sixteen but recently started wearing his glasses again, something about his eyes getting too irritated lately.
Minho knew that wasn’t all and that the boy was just too lazy and forgetful to switch out his lenses every now and then.
But Minho was glad because Jisung had only gone for contacts because he thought he looked stupid with glasses, which couldn’t be any further from the truth. The older thought the thinly-wired glasses made Jisung even cuter than he already was so he wasn’t complaining.
‘’Ah!,’’ Jisung suddenly exclaimed as he straightened up again, ‘’Found it!,’’
Minho decided that he had cooled for long enough and turned the tab off, drying his hand on his jeans before holding it out to Jisung. The boy lightly held his hand and brought it up to his eyes again before carefully applying the gel.
Minho was well-aware that it would be faster if he just did it himself but he couldn’t bring himself to tell Jisung that, not when the boy was so adorably focussed on treating the already-growing blisters on his fingers.
‘’Why aren’t you wearing your glasses?,’’ Minho asked as he watched Jisung work.
The boy looked up for a split second before looking back at Minho’s hand, turning it around and applying some more gel.
‘’I tripped and they fell and now I can’t find them,’’ Jisung muttered, cheeks flushing, ‘’They probably catapulted behind the dresser or under the bed or something,’’
Minho chuckled, ‘’Oooh Sungie, what do I do with you?,’’
Jisung flushed even more and frowned as he gave the older’s shin a light kick, muttering something under his breath and making Minho chuckle some more.
‘’We should glue them to your head. This isn’t the first time you lost your glasses,’’ Minho commented, enjoying the way Jisung scrunched up his nose.
‘’That was literally one time,’’ the younger huffed back as he let go of Minho’s hand, ‘’I was ten. And it was your fault because you hid them in the first place,’’
That… was true.
Minho had had this short period where the most funniest thing to him was hiding the boy’s glasses and watch him whine and stumble around, begging Minho to tell them where his glasses where. He somehow could never get enough of Jisung flailing around and occasionally bumping into something, pouting and looking oh so helpless before lighting up when Minho would cave in and give him his glasses back.
‘’Well, I don’t remember ever doing anything like that,’’ the older settled on, trying real hard not to let the amusement seep into his words, ‘’Anyways, let’s find those glasses,’’
With that, Minho reached out for Jisung’s hand and intertwined their fingers before dragging the boy back to their bedroom. Minho didn’t comment on the mess and planted Jisung on the bed, finding the glasses in less than a minute.
Jisung clapped like Minho had done something amazing as the older carefully pushed them back on his nose, the younger scrunching his face again.
‘’Thank you!,’’ Jisung said, smiling widely and pushing the glasses a bit further up his nose before wrapping his arms around Minho’s waist and hugging him tight.
The older let out another laugh as Jisung rubbed his head against his stomach, letting his fingers run through the messy blonde hair in an attempt to make it look somewhat decent.
‘’Any time sweetheart,’’
Minho was late, very late.
His morning lecture had started about five minutes ago and that wasn’t so bad but he literally just woke up, having no choice but to rudely push Jisung off of him and screeching a hurried ‘see you later!’ as he dashed out of the dorm.
Maybe he had contemplated just not going at all, especially after waking up to a whole ass Jisung still asleep on his chest and hair perfectly dishevelled from sleep, but then he remembered that he had already shown up late this semester and he was going to fail the class if he was going to be absent one more time.
Then again, he wasn’t sure if he had made the right choice because as he clumsily stumbled into class he noticed that the place was completely empty.
He frowned and fished his phone out of his pocket, calling the one person who would definitely know the answer.
‘’Seungmin!,’’ Minho practically yelled into the phone as soon as the guy picked up, ‘’Why the fuck is it empty all around me?,’’
The guy grumbled something about class getting cancelled last minute and to check his god damn mail every once in a while before curtly hanging up.
Well…
Fuck his life.
He could’ve spend more time dozing off in bed and getting some late breakfast with Jisung. It wasn’t too late for the last one and if he hurried back he would probably even have time to slip back into bed.
So he did just that and indeed, Jisung was still laying curled up in his bed.
Minho let out a satisfied hum as he dropped his bag on the floor before carefully creeping back into bed, the younger opening one eye for just a couple of seconds.
‘’I thought you had class?,’’
‘’Got cancelled,’’ Minho replied, nudging Jisung’s side to tell the boy to scoot over before pulling the boy back on top of him.
Jisung smiled ever so slightly and moved around a bit until Minho felt soft breaths fanning his neck.
‘’Nice,’’ the boy muttered, ‘’I was already getting lonely,’’
Minho felt his heart do a little flip before settling back down, tightening his arms around Jisung’s waist, ‘’Well, at least someone profits from this,’’
He hears a soft chuckle, ‘’Don’t pretend you don’t profit from this either. I mean, come on! You get to cuddle me until I get hungry,’’
Minho heard the slight smirk but chose not to comment on that and wiggled around to get a bit more comfortable. They kept silent after that and it didn’t take long for Jisung’s breathing to slow down again.
The older was too awake to go back to sleep so he settled for playing with the little bracelet on Jisung’s wrist instead, knowing that it would take a hurricane and then some for the younger to wake up.
The delicate bracelet Minho had bought for Jisung’s fourteenth birthday was still the same even after all these years and everything it had gone through and Minho smiled, still so happy about the fact that they had found them again. Because just like everything else, they had lost them at some point – Jisung way before Minho – but after they had been recruited to help Jisung’s parents move just a year ago, they had found the dainty little thing hidden behind a couple of old comic books on a dusty shelf.
Shortly after that, Minho had found his hidden away in his secret box of treasures, instantly remembering putting it there one day before going on summer camp to make sure he wouldn’t lose it.
They weren’t special or pricy but held so much value to Minho – and he knew they did to Jisung as well – that he was fine with losing anything else but those.
Jisung seemed to be a bit less unconscious as Minho had thought because the boy on his chest suddenly moved and hid arm slid off of the older, no longer enabling him to play around with the thin golden chain and the tiny star-pendant hanging off of it.
Minho’s was the same but so different. Instead of it being gold, his was silver and had a crescent moon dangling from it. He remembered how they had switched them around after finding them again for reasons he didn’t really remember anymore. He wasn’t sure if there even had been a specific reason but it felt oddly symbolic and Jisung had loved the idea.
Deep down Minho knew the reason why he had brought up the idea; now he had something from Jisung he could always carry with him, even though that had been the initial idea of the friendship-bracelets.
It was different.
It felt different.
It felt right.
‘’My turn,’’ Minho laughed, wiping the tears out of his eyes, ‘’Would you rather be able to read everyone’s mind without being able to turn it off or have everyone be able to read your mind?,’’
Jisung seemed to think for a long time, but Minho didn’t mind and tugged the younger a bit closer until the boy’s back was pressed against his chest.
‘’Read everyone’s mind,’’ Jisung finally answered, taking a hold of Minho’s arms and rearranging them around his waist, ‘’You?,’’
‘’Same,’’ Minho settled on, letting out a satisfied sigh as he hooked his chin over the younger’s shoulder.
It was staring to grow dark but neither of them made a move to get back down the hill. It had been a full year since they had last been here and Minho wasn’t keen on leaving even though they were staying at his parents’ house just downhill for at least three more days until their little break from college was over.
Jisung had intended to visit his parents but apparently they had problems with the pipelines and didn’t have warm water until it was fixed and so, Jisung had said nope to cold showers and promised his parents that he’d drop by next time.
In the end, Jisung had just tagged along with Minho and the older was glad he did because at this point he wasn’t sure if he could do a week without Jisung. Stupid but he had accepted it a long time ago.
So here they were, back on the hill and underneath the huge tree that had been there ever since they had been little kids.
The same tree Jisung’s parents had pretended to find the squirrel plushie, the same tree Minho had left his photo frame, the same tree they would meet up at after school day after day for years, the same tree they’d sneak off to in the middle of the night when they had gotten old enough to do so, the same tree they had laughed and cried under.
‘’Okay, so, would you rather marry someone that you don’t love or marry someone who doesn’t love you?,’’ Minho asked, lightly swaying them from side to side.
Jisung let out a huff, ‘’That’s so sad, why are you making me sad?,’’
The younger poked Minho’s leg, the latter temporarily letting one arm slip away from Jisung’s waist to swat his hand away.
‘’Don’t think too much, just answer,’’
Jisung hummed and let his head fall back on Minho’s shoulder, ‘’I think I’d rather marry someone who doesn’t love me,’’
‘’What? Really?,’’
Jisung hummed again, ‘’Yeah, I mean. I would feel bad if it was the other way around you know?,’’
Minho didn’t quite agree. He’d much rather marry someone he didn’t love because the other option just meant heartbreak. But then again, Jisung had a point. A very vague one, but a point nonetheless.
A silence fell and Minho took the chance to nuzzle into the younger’ neck, earning him a small giggle from the boy.
‘’Would you rather be able to freeze time or travel back in time?,’’ Jisung asked, sounding like he was contemplating himself.
That was a tough one.
Because if Minho could freeze time right now, he’d be able to sit here forever, his back against the three and Jisung leaning back against his chest. He’d have no problem with that. On the contrary.
But if he could travel back in time, he could fix so many things that had gone wrong, that he had done wrong. He had so many things he would want to do over, so many things he would prevent from happening if he had the chance. Maybe he could have prevented Jisung from crying so many times, from getting hurt over and over again.
Minho didn’t like to think about what he could and should’ve done though, because deep down he still felt guilty, even for the things he would in no way have much to say in.
Still, Minho liked to think that they had all lead to how they were right now so maybe he didn’t really feel the need to change the past all that much.
‘’Freeze time,’’
‘’Interesting choice. Why? You’d just be stuck here with me under this old tree, where’s the fun in that?,’’ Jisung mused, the tone in his voice telling Minho that he was nervous.
‘’We agreed not to question our choices,’’
Jisung let out another huff but fortunately let it go.
‘’Would you rather have your dream job or find true love?,’’ Minho asked, knowing full well which way he which way he was trying to steer the topic.
He was a man on a mission.
Somewhat.
Not really but maybe he’d get some insightful answers.
‘’Easy,’’ Jisung replied with a soft smile, turning to look at Minho for a split second before turning away again, ‘’True love,’’
Minho felt oddly giddy by the response even though that was ridiculous. Still, Minho wasn’t dumb.
Jisung would probably say differently – not meaning it of course because they both knew Minho was definitely a tad bit smarter than the younger – just because he could. But that wasn’t the point.
The point was that Minho was well aware that what he and Jisung had wasn’t considered ‘normal’. They had long since passed that point where they could clearly say they were just friends. He didn’t know what Jisung’s take on it was but the latter never seemed put off whenever someone assumed they were dating or whenever their friends would call them boyfriends.
Minho wasn’t dumb.
He knew he had been in love with Jisung for ages. He couldn’t quite pinpoint when that had happened and he wondered if there was even a certain moment or event that tipped the scales. Because just like how everything went with Jisung, falling in love with the younger had seemed to be natural and easy.
And Minho liked to assume that it had gone both ways, that Jisung had fallen in love with him just as effortlessly. Not that he could know because they had never talked about whatever they were at this point, for reasons Minho didn’t quite know. Maybe it was the fact that they were perfectly content being the way they were now, maybe it was because Minho was the only one feeling like this after all.
‘’Would you rather have your best friend fall in love with you,’’ Jisung suddenly whispered as he played with Minho’s fingers, ‘’O-or… not?,’’
Guess it wasn’t just Minho then.
He wasn’t all that surprised but the relief was real, especially when Jisung turned around in his arms, smiling shyly at him as he took Minho’s hand again to play with his fingers.
Minho felt his smile grow even though his heart hammered away in his chest, probably hard enough for Jisung to actually hear.
‘’Well, would you rather have your best friend tell you he has been in love with you for years… or not?,’’ Minho chuckled, leaning forward and letting his head rest on Jisung’s shoulder.
He was on the verge of laughing and crying at the same time.
‘’Y-you didn’t answer the question,’’ Jisung stuttered near his ear, very adorable if you asked Minho, ‘’You have to choose first before you can ask me a question,’’
Minho smiled, feeling butterflies erupt, ‘’We can bend the rules a bit, don’t you think?,’’
Jisung let out a nervous little giggle and the older leaned back, the boy in front of him looking at him with wide eyes and a small smile on his lips. Minho chuckled and lifted their hands up, leaving a light kiss on the back of the younger’s hand before letting them fall in his lap again.
‘’Would you rather be my boyfriend or have me as your boyfriend?,’’ Minho dared to ask, feeling his own cheeks flush a little. Probably not as much as Jisung but still close enough, he’d assume.
Jisung giggled again, lightly hitting his shoulder while calling him a dummy and mumbling something about how those were the same things before suddenly pulling Minho closer by his shirt.
Minho had kissed Jisung before – that was an exaggeration because it had been a quick peck when they were eleven and thirteen – but never like this, never with this much adoration and love. It was a sappy thing to think but to Minho it felt like they were made for each other with the way their lips slotted together perfectly.
‘’I guess you got to know why I would rather freeze time after all,’’ Minho whispered as they pulled apart.
Jisung gave a little nod, clearly not all that interested in what Minho had to say when he sneaked a hand around the back of Minho’s neck and pulled him in again, their lips clashing back together almost painfully so.
‘’Minho,’’ Jisung whispered after they had squeezed themselves into Minho’s small childhood bed, the latter’s arm lightly draped over Jisung’s hip.
It was cramped but the way their limbs were tangled together wasn’t much different from how they’d sleep back at their dorm. And even if it was, Minho didn’t care, for obvious reasons.
Minho opened his eyes again and sleepily ran a hand through the younger’s hair, trailing his fingers down the boy’s temple and to his cheek before ending up with his hand on Jisung’s neck, softly tracing circles on the boy’s jaw with his thumb.
Jisung let out a satisfied sigh and closed his eyes for a second as he leaned into the touch and Minho’s heart did a little flip again.
‘’What is it sweetheart?,’’ Minho asked after a couple of seconds.
Jisung peeled one eye open and send him a sheepish smile.
‘’I think I left my phone on the hill,’’