Chapter Text
Really, Jisung should have known better than to go out clubbing with Felix and Hyunjin. Yeah, sure it had seemed like a good idea at the time (“We’ll pay for your food and drinks!” “Don’t worry, Chan will never know!”), but now he was locked out of his dorm, his keycard in Felix’s bag, Felix halfway across the city in his fancy penthouse suite, and his phone dead in his pocket. It was also starting to rain.
Jisung sighed and leaned against the door, sliding down against it until his butt hit the ground, sending a jolt up his spine. He winced.
He took his phone out of his pocket, sullenly staring at it as if sheer willpower alone would make it turn on. His reflection in the black glass stared sullenly back at him, eyes heavily lined with something dark and smoky, lips faintly shining with what was left of the lip gloss he had applied earlier, and his cheeks starting to puff up from all of the drinking he had done.
Jisung prided himself on being able to handle his alcohol well. Sure, he got a bit tipsy when he drank, but he was always able to think clearly and (somewhat) rationally while the alcohol ran its course through his body. He wasn’t that drunk. At least that’s what he told himself.
He noticed he was starting to tip to the side, a few drops of the start of a light downpour hitting his ear and running down the chain earring attached to it. He snorted a little at the persistence of the gravity dragging him down, and complied, falling over with his knees still clutched to his chest with one hand. His phone was still held out with his other, and he frowned at his reflection. Why wasn’t it sideways like him? He winked at his reflection, the image distorted a bit by the droplets of water running down the screen.
The pit-patter of rain starting to hit the ground around him lulled him into a drowsy state. It was just so nice, sitting out there, not really thinking, letting the rain wash away the incessant thoughts that always tumbled through his head when he was sober.
Maybe he fell asleep, maybe he didn’t, because next thing he knew the door was opening, shoving him to the side along the wet pavement. Jisung groaned, raising a hand to block out the harsh white light of a flashlight trained on him.
“Jisung???”
Jisung lowered his hand, squinting into the light. Was the light talking to him?
“Jisung, why are you out here- you’re completely soaked!”
The light was lowered and Jisung blinked away the spots in his vision from the absence of it. Someone pulled him upright, slinging an arm around his waist as he began to topple forwards. Jisung looked to his side, finding a face that he knew very well. He giggled.
“Hyyyuuunnggg!” He made grabby hands towards the other, poking his cheek a little as the other’s eyes filled with worry.
“Jisung, what happened? Why are you out here sleeping in the rain?” Oh, so he had fallen asleep. “I got worried when you didn’t come home and Felix texted me that he dropped you off an hour ago and-”
“It’s all okay, my phone just died and I left my keys in Felix’s bag.” Jisung tried to say, although it came out more like “‘S’okay hyung, phone dead ‘n keys ar’in Fe’s bag.” He frowned at his slurred words. He felt fine, he wasn’t drunk. He even felt more than fine. He was thinking perfectly clear, he was perfectly lucid. He paused for a moment and giggled, the absurdity of his words catching up to him. The person next to him sighed.
“C’mon, let’s get you inside.” Jisung felt an arm being slung over his shoulder and his arm being dragged over the other person’s, and he was suddenly dragged up.
“Nonono hyungggg I can stand on my own, see-” Jisung took a few steps to prove his point, and giggled yet again as the world spun around him. Pins and needles ran down his legs from being folded for so long, and he frowned as they started to wobble. “Obey me for I am your master,” he mumbled at them, but they stubbornly kept on wobbling. Like Jell-O. He giggled.
The other person sighed again, and Jisung squeaked as he felt his legs being scooped up, arms coming around to cling tightly to the other person’s neck as the ground suddenly rushed away from him. He buried his face into the other person’s neck. He didn’t like heights. Why was hyung so tall? Also, why did hyung smell so good? He took a deep breath into the other’s neck, body immediately relaxing as the smell of cinnamon body wash washed over him. He took another deep breath, pushing his nose into his hyung’s skin as the other snorted, arm curling around his back a little bit tighter.
“Sungie, that tickles.”
“Shush hyung you smell good.” Jisung’s words were muffled by his hyung’s neck, and he felt the other laugh more than he heard him laugh. He squeaked again as they started moving, Jisung clutched tightly in the other’s arms. He stayed silent while the other walked, letting the sweet smell of cinnamon fill every one of his senses and imbue him with a sense of warmth and safety. The soft swaying from being in the other’s arms let his mind relax, and his eyes slid shut.
“Jisung-ah.” He squinted his eyes open as he was jostled a little, finding himself staring up into a pair of familiar deep brown eyes locked on his. He grunted, annoyed at the other for waking him up when he felt so warm and safe.
“Sungie, I have to unlock the door.” Jisung blinked, finding himself captivated by those cat-like eyes. They felt like home.
“Sung.” Suddenly the eyes were much closer. “Hand?” Jisung (unwillingly) detached a hand from around the other’s neck, feeling a card being placed in it, all the while still staring into the other’s eyes. They just felt so warm and inviting. So much like home.
He blinked, thrown out of his thoughts as the other moved around a little so a key card slot entered Jisung’s vision. It took him a few tries, but eventually his brain and hand coordinated enough to slide the card through.
“Handle?” Jisung grabbed the handle and pushed open the door. He returned his arm back to the other’s neck, keycard clutched tightly in it. He turned his face into the warm chest against his back as a draft of cool air from the open door hit his face. The swaying began again, and Jisung felt himself being lulled back into a state of unconsciousness.
“Sungie, I need to put you down. You need to get out of these clothes or you’ll catch a cold.” Jisung harrumphed and wrapped his arms tighter around the other’s neck, smushing his face further into his chest. He was warm. Why would he let go?
“Jisung-ah.”
Jisung shifted around a bit, clinging tighter to his hyung.
“Okay fine.”
Jisung screeched a bit when the arms around his back and legs suddenly disappeared, eyes flying open as his back hit a mattress. He stared up at his hyung, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout. He widened his eyes in fake hurt, bringing out the puppy-dog eyes that absolutely nobody in the entire world was immune to. He took the time to take in the other’s face for the first time, eyes tracing over a straight nose, wide brown eyes, and lips curved in an ever present smirk on his lips as he gazed down at Jisung sprawled out on his bed.
Jisung’s mouth stretched into his signature heart shaped smile as his alcohol-addled brain finally supplied him with a name to go with the face.
“Minho-hyung! Minho Minho Minho Minnie-” The other turned away and Jisung deepened his pout, making grabby hands at the other’s back. “-Minnie-min Minho-hyung Minho Minho Minho Min-Min Minho-” He watched the other grab some clothes out of a drawer, walking across the dark room to flip on a desk lamp and disappearing into the bathroom for a bit to emerge with his arms filled with towels. Jisung squinted in annoyance at the sudden introduction of light to his eyes, but continued nonetheless. “-Min-min-minnie! Miiiinhooo Min Min Min Minho! Hyungieeeeeee Minho-” Jisung relished in the feeling of the other’s name rolling off of his tongue, delighting in the different variations he came up with. He refused to cease his babbling until the other sat down beside him on the bed, handing him a fluffy towel. He stared at it for a bit until Minho poked his nose, a fond smile settling over his face as Jisung blinked, startled out of his confusion. “Hyung?”
“C’mon, your clothes are soaked and you’re dripping everywhere.” Jisung then realized that he was indeed completely drenched in water, the blanket beneath him beginning to become soaked as well.
He stared down at in dismay, a little furrow appearing between his eyebrows. A warm hand on his cheek made him whip his head up to stare at Minho, who was watching him with such an endeared expression on his face, it made Jisung’s heart involuntarily flutter. He smoothed his thumb over the crease in Jisung’s eyebrows, eyes locked on Jisung’s.
The bed shifted a bit as Minho leaned over to unceremoniously drape the towel over Jisung’s head, the younger squirming a little as Minho toweled his hair dry, his vision obscured by the folds of the towel hanging over his face. He laughed as Minho started to giggle, drawing his knees up to his chest as the other grunted, “Stay still you little squirrel-”
Eventually Jisung found himself lying down, the towel being lifted away from his face as he gazed up at Minho, head in his lap, currently occupied in grabbing a makeup wipe from the pile of towels he had brought from the bathroom.
“Eyes closed.”
Jisung complied easily, humming a little bit as he felt Minho gently wipe the sparkly eyeshadow away from the corners of his eyes. It felt nice like this, being held in his hyung’s arms. A feeling of serenity and peace settled over him, wrapping him in their warm, suspiciously cinnamon scented embrace. He felt sleep reach for him, its welcoming arms wrapping him in-
“Okay, up.”
Jisung grumbled a bit but was pulled upright, swaying slightly from exhaustion on the mattress. He yawned. Why wouldn’t Minho let him sleep?
“You need to get out of those clothes or else you’ll catch pneumonia, and I am not going to cook ramyeon every day for you until you get better.” Jisung smirked at that, vividly recalling Minho from two months ago, doing exactly that when Jisung had come down with a particularly bad fever. Minho had fussed over him so much during that week, always making sure that Jisung was bundled in blankets, helping him drink water and eat the ramyeon that he cooked for him, and getting him the notes from the classes he had missed.
He felt a bundle of warm fabric pressed into his arms, and a warm hand on his back pushing him upright to walk towards the bathroom.
He was about halfway across the dim lit room when his legs decided to sign out for the day and unceremoniously plopped him on the ground, an ‘oof’ escaping from him at the sudden fall. He stared at the ground that was much closer to him than before with a confused expression on his face.
He heard a giggle from behind him, and suddenly he was being carried for the second time that day, the ground swooping away from him dizzyingly.
“You’re like a newborn kitten.” He thought he heard Minho murmur to himself as he whisked them both into the bathroom. Jisung hummed a little at that, opting to bury his face into Minho’s neck again and let the smell of cinnamon - home - wash over him.
Minho gently set Jisung down on his feet on the bathroom tiles, removing Jisung’s arms from around his neck. “Take a shower if you have enough energy for it. If I don’t hear the water running in five minutes, I’m coming in to make sure you haven’t passed out or anything.” He poked Jisung’s nose at that, eyes scrunching up as a smile bloomed across his face. He left Jisung standing in the bathroom with wide eyes, clothes bundled neatly in his arms as he watched Minho close the bathroom door behind him.
Jisung emerged nearly half an hour later, skin wrinkled from the amount of time he had stood under the hot water, letting the shower wash away the sweat and grime from the club.
He was never going clubbing with Felix and Hyunjin again.
Minho was sitting on the bed, thumbs flying over his phone screen and a slight frown on his face. The opening of the bathroom door made him look up, and the frown was replaced by an affectionate smile as he took Jisung in.
Jisung was absolutely dwarfed in one of Minho’s already oversized hoodies, hands in little sweater paws at his sides. His chocolate brown locks of damp, towel dried hair stuck up in every single direction possible; he hadn’t smoothed them down after attacking it with a towel. A pair of Minho’s sweatpants were cinched tightly at his waist, the ends of them dragging on the ground when he took a step.
Jisung looked up in time to catch Minho’s slightly flushed face before the other glanced down at his phone as it vibrated in his hand. His fingers flew over the screen once again before he locked it and set it down on the nightstand with a huff.
“Who was that hyung?’ Jisung asked, plopping down next to Minho on the bed with a huff. He giggled as he bounced a little on the mattress. He laid his head down in Minho’s lap, gazing up at the other with laughter on his lips. He poked Minho’s nose, then his cheek, then thumbed at his lips, laughing when Minho batted his hand away. “Your boooyyyfriieeenddd???”
Jisung tried to ignore the part of himself that ached with those words.
“Shut up, no it - stop poking - no, that was Felix. I’m single as you know perfectly well.” Minho glanced down at him at that, and Jisung told himself he imagined the slight flash of something in the other’s eyes. He tamped down the spark of hope in his chest as he heard the word “single”. “How much did you drink Sungie?”
“Pshaw, ‘twas nothing for the mighty Han Jisung.” Jisung giggled yet again (why was he giggling so much?) as he managed to poke Minho’s nose, deftly avoiding the other’s hand somehow. How he still had somewhat decent hand-eye coordination while definitely not drunk was a mystery that Jisung would never know the answer to. “I’m not drunk.”
“Sure you are.”
“I’m not.”
“You really are.”
“Are not.”
“Are too.”
“Are not.”
“Are too.”
Jisung poked Minho again at that, squeaking when the other suddenly grabbed both of his wrists, pinning them together. His face flushed red as Minho suddenly leaned in, and then he was too close. Jisung’s heart beat wildly in his chest and he felt his cheeks start to burn. His eyes flicked over Minho’s face, his nose almost touching his, eyes locked onto each other’s. Jisung dared not blink, dared not breathe as Minho’s eyes fluttered shut, his lashes almost brushing Jisung’s cheeks as he leaned impossibly closer-
“Minho-?”
The other sniffed a little before drawing back and wrinkling his nose. He dramatically fanned his hands in front of his face, fixing Jisung with a disgusted look.
“You smell like alcohol.”
Jisung fixed a sullen expression on his face, hoping his cheeks weren’t flaming red by now.
“Sure fine, I’m drunk. Stop laughing!” Grabbing the pillow off of the bed, Jisung began to whack Minho with it, eventually dissolving into a fit of giggles himself at the other’s (poor) attempts to defend himself.
He tired himself out eventually, collapsing over Minho on the bed as a wave of exhaustion rolled over him. He yawned widely, curling into Minho’s side. He felt the other laugh, the vibrations from his chest surrounding Jisung as he laid his head on the other’s chest.
“Sleepy?”
Jisung snuggled closer as an answer. He raised his arm just enough to poke Minho in the side, mumbling “shhhhh” when the other giggled. He felt so warm and safe. Whenever he was around Minho, everything just clicked into place. Minho was home. He was Jisung’s best friend, the one person (besides Chan-hyung) that Jisung knew that he could always come to for anything, no matter what.
He took a deep breath in, his body relaxing as the scent of cinnamon enveloped him in a warm cocoon. Minho’s chest rose and fell beneath his head, and the other was drawing soothing patterns on his back as he slowly surrendered himself to the velvety embrace of sleep.
“Sleep well Sungie.” He thought he heard Minho whisper as Jisung slipped into unconsciousness, his breathing perfectly synced with Minho’s.
Minho was Jisung’s best friend. But Jisung was starting to see him as something more, and maybe, just maybe, the thought of that terrified him.