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“Are you really okay with sharing the bed?” Eric whispered. His words were smothered by the oppressive summer heat. Even in the darkness, it seemed to cling to every inch of his skin. His room in his house in OC was on the second floor, and according to thermodynamics, heat rose.
Juyeon shrugged. “It’s fine with me.” He smoothed out the sheets on his side of the bed and climbed in. He was stripped down to a t-shirt and boxers. Same as Eric. The blankets lay preemptively discarded on the floor.
“I’m sorry my Mom threw out the futon,” Eric apologized. “There’s always the couch downstairs...”
Juyeon stopped him with a hand up. “I said it’s fine, really.”
Eric hesitated, watching Juyeon stretch himself out on his childhood bed and beat an old pillow into shape. If he looked hard enough, he could make out a faint sheen of sweat already shimmering across Juyeon’s forearms and the back of his neck. Something curled in Eric’s stomach.
Once he got comfortable, Juyeon realized that Eric was still standing there. He gave a questioning look. “What’s up? Do you need a drink of water?”
Eric’s throat was parched, but it had nothing to do with a drink. He shook his head.
Juyeon patted the little strip of bed next to him on the twin mattress. “C’mon. What’re you waiting for?” His lips wrapped around the words lazily as his eyes slipped closed.
Eric sighed and dropped into bed next to Juyeon. His mattress gave a grunt and the sheets and pillow offered up hot puffs of air around him. His shoulder and arm pressed up against Juyeon’s and almost instantly became sticky where they touched.
“I’m so tired,” Juyeon said. “It feels like we packed a week’s worth of stuff into one day.”
“Yeah,” Eric agreed. They’d gotten up early to go surfing, and then gone up to LA to see the Hollywood sign because Juyeon had wanted to, and then had dinner and shopped at The Grove, and then come back to Eric’s place to take a dip in the pool at his living complex. It was a blistering schedule but Eric planned everything out painstakingly so that he and Juyeon could make the most out of the few precious days they had in Socal. There was so much that Juyeon wanted to do and Eric would be damned if he didn’t find a way to show him it all.
“I’m having so much fun.” Juyeon shifted slightly beside Eric and their arms slid damply against each other.
“Me too.” Eric replied. He adjusted himself as well, trying to get comfortable, but Juyeon was like a furnace beside him.
Juyeon hummed and turned on his side towards Eric. His eyes were closed and it seemed like he didn’t have anything else to say. Eric stared steadfastly at his kerneled ceiling. Even looking at Juyeon’s face right now would do dangerous things to his heart. At first he was able to write off his feelings for Juyeon as admiration. And then it was the delusion that he was simply like the older brother Eric never had. But that didn’t explain why Eric daydreamed about kissing Juyeon if he let his mind wander too far without his permission.
Enough time passed that Eric finally allowed himself to sneak a glance at Juyeon. When he swung his head around, Eric’s heart jumped in panic. Their faces were closer than he expected. Just the curl of Juyeon’s fingers against the pillow separated them. Juyeon’s lips were slightly parted. Eric had the thought in the back of his mind that Juyeon would become more dehydrated that way. Eric followed the curve of his mouth up to one corner and across his smooth cheek until the heat flushed skin became a slightly purpled translucence under his eye. Eric’s eyes widened and he gave a slight jerk when he realized that Juyeon’s eyes were open and observing him as well.
Juyeon looked at Eric with serene (and tired) eyes. He didn’t look surprised in the least to catch Eric staring. He blinked languidly.
Juyeon opened his mouth. “It means a lot to me, actually.”
“...What?” Eric was clueless.
“All of these things- memories- that you’ve always told me about your home in Los Angeles. Or- Orange County? Sorry.” Juyeon paused. His eyes wandered Eric’s room as if it was a part of the memories he referred to.
“Yeah?”
“Actually experiencing it and sharing it with you, it means a lot to me.” Juyeon said. “I’ve never been more excited to wake up in the morning. Cause I know that I’m gonna spend the whole day learning more about you.”
Despite the heat, Eric shivered. “Ah, well,” Eric started dumbly. The heat was doing something to his brain.
“I’m sorry, you’re probably tired. I’ll stop talking.” Juyeon said.
Eric didn’t have anything to say that wouldn’t give himself away, so he agreed. “Yeah, we should try to get some sleep. I wish it wasn’t so damn hot.”
“Mhm,” Juyeon rumbled. He tucked his hands under his head and his eyelashes brushed against his cheeks, so dark and sharp that they almost sliced through the thick summer air as if it was made of a real, tangible substance.
Eric swallowed dryly before he turned over and tried to get comfortable. He couldn’t stop from tossing and turning every other minute. Every position felt unbearably humid and stifling. Finally he gave up and went back to his side, facing away from Juyeon.
The sheets rustled behind Eric’s back. It wasn’t so much a sensation of touch or pressure but rather a soft, insistent heat that Eric became aware of, bleeding from the bend of his spine out into his entire body. At first he thought it was just his wishful thinking, but no, it was definitely Juyeon’s hand brushing against his back, just the knuckles of his fingers.
Eric held his breath, then gulped for air in the suffocating heat, alternating back and forth. Something was knocking dully against his bed frame, and then Eric realized it was just his heartbeat. His whole chest burned up at the small touch. Where his thighs and calves rubbed together, pools of sweat collected. He squeezed his eyes as tight as he could, focusing on the spots of color that pricked in this vision.
He held his position for what seemed like an eternity, stiff and melting with sweat. All this time, Juyeon’s hand stayed where it was.
Finally, unable to take the tension anymore, Eric rolled onto his back. Juyeon’s hand shifted and gripped softly at the hem of Eric’s shirt.
Then there was a grunt and Juyeon flipped onto his back as well. Only the sigh of the sheets and mattress broke the suffocating silence as both Eric and Juyeon tried to readjust themselves into a cooler, more comfortable position. Cicadas buzzed a heavy blanket of static from outside the open window. Sweat soaked into the back of Eric’s shirt. Seconds stretched into feverish eternities while dozens of minutes passed at the closing and opening of the eyes. Eric almost forgot about Juyeon next to him because it was so just so hot.
Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. Eric sat up in frustration. It was a small relief to not have his upper body pressed against the mattress.
“Can’t sleep?” Juyeon’s voice floated up.
“Mhm,” Eric said, pouting.
“Me neither.” Juyeon mumbled, voice gravelly. Maybe he couldn’t sleep, but he sounded tired as hell. And hot. Eric’s stomach turned.
“Wait here,” Eric said, climbing off the bed. His legs felt like jelly.
Juyeon propped himself on his forearms and gave Eric the look of a confused cat woken from a nap. Dazed and soft in Eric’s bed, Eric wanted to commit the sight to memory for eternity. Instead he put a finger up- wait one second- and went out of his room.
The kitchen downstairs was pure relief. The tiles were cool against Eric’s feet, and when he opened the freezer he almost cried.
He leaned into the freezer and let the door close on his back. He felt his sweat drying and pinching against his forehead; he could have stayed there forever. Respite from the heat was also helping him clear his head from the intoxication that was Juyeon. He had to control himself and just get to sleep.
With that resolve, he removed himself from the freezer, grabbed what he came for, and headed back towards the stairs. He started to climb, and almost immediately the air began to thicken and warm around him. With every step, Eric felt the mental clarity from the kitchen slip further from his grasp. It was as if he was entering a different dimension, a boiling haze where Juyeon laid in his bed and brushed his hand against his back and locked eyes with him from inches away. Sweet as heaven, hot as hell.
Eric reached the landing and the second floor seemed to bake him like an oven, almost bringing him to his knees. He would go back to his room, he reminded himself. They would cool down, and they would fall asleep. That’s all that would happen. He took a deep breath and turned his door knob.
The minute Eric opened the door to his room, he realized it was hopeless. He fell right back under the spell of heat and Juyeon, whose eyes drooped where he sat in the middle of the bed, looking expectantly at the door.
“Where did you go..?” Juyeon asked.
Eric smiled like a fool. He took one hand out from behind his back to reveal two wrapped popsicles.
Juyeon lit up and he wasted no time beckoning Eric close to get his hands on one. “Good thinking.”
They unwrapped the popsicles and sucked on them gratefully. It was a delicious respite.
“I also brought something else,” Eric said.
“Hm?” Juyeon popped off of his treat with a curious look.
Eric brought his other hand up and pressed the ice cube in his grasp to Juyeon’s forehead.
“Ah-” Juyeon gave a surprised little smile and then sighed, leaning into the source of cold. “That feels so good.” The ice cube melted and ran down Juyeon’s face in little rivulets, catching every sculpted aspect of his bone structure, creasing in his eyelids and clumping his lashes together so that they dazzled ever so subtly in the dim moonlight. Juyeon’s tongue darted out to catch a bit that ran over his lips. Eric’s mouth felt like sandpaper.
Juyeon brought his popsicle to his mouth again. He reached up with his free hand to engulf Eric’s. It felt like a warm and sticky blanket.
“I can do it, hyung.” Eric said.
Juyeon took the ice cube out of Eric’s hands. “I was gonna do it for you.”
“Oh,” Eric said, dumbfounded as he absentmindedly let his hand drop and spread the melted water onto his legs to cool them down. He presented his forehead to Juyeon, who placed the ice cube on it and swiped it around. The feeling was paradise. Eric closed his eyes and focused on the dazzling point of coolness on his forehead.
Their knees bumped together as they slurped their popsicles and passed the ice cube back and forth. Juyeon’s popsicle disappeared quickly and he held the stick between his teeth. Occasionally he would reach out with his sticky hand and push a smear of melted water across Eric’s cheek, or smooth out one of his eyebrows, or brush his hair back from his forehead. Neither of them said a single word.
After seconds, or minutes, or hours, or days, the last of the ice cube dissolved against Juyeon’s forehead. “It’s all gone,” Eric said redundantly.
“Mmm,” Juyeon hummed.
Eric rested his half eaten popsicle on top of the wrapper on his bedside table. Juyeon handed over his finished stick as well.
“Do you think you’ll be able to go to sleep now?” Eric asked. He rubbed the rest of the melted water all over his arms and revelled in the tiny relief that it brought. Juyeon hadn’t answered yet and Eric looked back up at him. His breath caught in his throat.
Juyeon was gazing at him with a soft velvety darkness in his eyes. Their usual sharpness was tempered by the heat. “No,” Juyeon said. “Not yet.”
Eric almost forgot what he had asked. There was something in the finality of Juyeon’s answer that plucked any words or sentences from Eric’s mind. He and Juyeon sat face to face on his twin bed, silhouetted ever so subtly by light from his window. He could hear his breathing, see Juyeon’s chest rise and fall in time with his own.
Juyeon’s hand crept onto Eric’s knee. Eyes still locked to Juyeon’s face, Eric could sense a shift in the air. The space between them was growing stuffy, humid, impossible to breath. The heat dulled his senses and pulled him closer and closer to Juyeon. It became a physical thing, a weight pushing down on Eric. Their breaths puffed hotly against each other. The feeling was hypnotic to Eric. He couldn’t escape.
Juyeon was leaning in now too, eyes lidded and flickering with something deep. The humid night stood still and hung on a string as thin as the distance between them. A bead of sweat mixed with water sprung from Eric’s temple and inched down his brow torturously. Juyeon licked his popsicle reddened lips. Eric’s eyes flicked, following the movement helplessly, and in the same moment the sweat collected in his eyebrow dripped down over his right eyelid, stinging and sticky and warm. His eyes were blinded by a curtain of saline and want. He stuttered forward in slow motion, the heat rendering air as molasses, and in summer’s drunken daze, his lips met Juyeon’s.
Juyeon tasted salty like sweat and sweet like cherry popsicle. His lips were soft, hydrated, and still cool. His hand came up to cradle the back of Eric’s head as they pressed themselves together, arms and legs sliding on sweat and melted water. Juyeon’s lips parted and the inside of his mouth was unbearably hot. It felt like all of Eric’s nerve endings were consumed in fire as he clutched at Juyeon’s t-shirt. Eric tugged them and they crumpled down onto the bed.
He pulled away. “Is this okay?”
Juyeon nodded. “More than okay.”
“Yeah?”
Juyeon didn’t bother to reply, instead pressing their lips together again. Eric brought his hands up instinctively to tangle in Juyeon’s hair and hitched a leg over Juyeon’s slim hips. Juyeon made a deep sound through his chest and his hands moved to cup Eric’s face, licking into his mouth.
Eric hummed and pressed himself closer until their chests bumped. The slide of their lips was slick with saliva and sweat and popsicle juice. He wanted to taste more; if this was a fever dream he didn’t want to wake up.
He rolled them over so that he could climb on top of Juyeon. A string of saliva stretched and snapped as their lips separated. Eric pressed a trail of shy kisses down Juyeon’s jaw, heading for the column of his throat. It was new, everything was new, but with Juyeon it felt so natural.
Before he went for Juyeon’s neck, Eric peeked up to check with Juyeon. Juyeon was smiling up at him, cheeks fluorescent even in the dark, sweat matted hair splayed out against the white pillow. Eric could have died of bliss. Juyeon gave a little nod of his head as if to say, ‘get back to it’. Eric giggled on autopilot and ducked his head down into Juyeon’s neck as Juyeon’s hands landed on his waist.
The skin was so supple and salty where Eric kissed and licked, making his way downwards until he reached the dip of Juyeon’s collarbones. Eric took his time drumming at them with his fingers, nipping at them and smoothing them out with his tongue and lapping the sweat up where it collected in the valleys and ridges. All the while, Juyeon hummed beneath him.
Juyeon allowed Eric to complete a full inspection before he brought two fingers under Eric’s chin and tilted it up. “C’mere,” he murmured. Eric’s heart thundered.
Juyeon propped himself up so that Eric was straddling his lap and started pressing slow kisses all over Eric’s face, starting from his left eyebrow, moving to his nose, lingering on the scar at the corner of his mouth. Eric drew quick breaths of humid air in, melting in Juyeon’s arms. “Ah, wow,” he gasped softly as Juyeon mouthed at his ear.
“You better keep this,” Juyeon breathed, tongue darting out to trace the metal of Eric’s helix piercing. Every touch felt magnified by the heat, the wetness, the hyper-sensitive skin of his ear. He felt it in the pit of his stomach and the down to the tips of his toes.
“Uhhm,” Eric breathed out. Juyeon’s warm breath ghosting over his ears was doing things to him. Sweat was pouring down his neck. It was almost overwhelming.
He turned his head and nosed at Juyeon’s jaw until they were face to face again. Their lips slid against each other lazily, Juyeon tipping his head up slightly to meet Eric halfway. In Juyeon’s embrace, Eric felt so loved that it almost washed away the meaning of the word. The novel feeling settled over Eric like a hot wave. He had to open his mouth and deepen the kiss.
“Mm,” Juyeon slid down the bed until they were slotted parallel on their sides against each other again. In the backs of his eyelids, Eric saw heat. Molded against Juyeon, he felt heat. Everything around him sweltered and pulsed to the rhythm of their tongues. Time dilated, pouring like honey as night crossed into the early hours of the morning.
“Shit,” Juyeon muttered, deep and raw, eyes closed. “I like you so much.”
Eric shook like a leaf in Juyeon’s arms. “I like you too.” He whispered. He wriggled up until their faces were so close on the pillow that their foreheads touched. Without thought, his index and middle finger came up to press against Juyeon’s bottom lip. “I really, really like you.”
A beat. “Good,” Juyeon said, barely audible, wrapping Eric up into his chest. He could hear both their heartbeats hammering in the stillness of the night. Somehow it reassured Eric.
Now with their foreheads pressed together and breaths mingling, Eric finally became aware of the sweat soaking through his shirt. He was burning up.
He wriggled away to get just enough space to cross his hands over the hem of his shirt and tug it up.
Juyeon sat up and his hand darted out to keep Eric from pulling it over his head. “We better stop here.”
“But I’m so hot,” Eric whined.
Juyeon kept his grip on the hem of Eric’s shirt. “I’m serious, Youngjae-yah. We have got to wake up for tomorrow.”
Eric’s stomach swooped to the floor. Juyeon’s words sent a billion thoughts skittering around Eric’s head, but he was right. “...Okay,” Eric said, smoothing his shirt back down.
Juyeon sat back on his heels and looked at Eric with the kindest of gazes. His fingers were still tangled in Eric’s. “Do you want to sleep now?”
“In a bit,” Eric said, biting his lip. “Can we just do this for a little bit longer?” He ran his fingers up Juyeon’s other arm and they skipped easily along the film of sweat there.
Juyeon’s eyes crinkled and he leaned back down over Eric. “We can do that.”
As the night passed, Eric’s neglected popsicle stick lay on his bedside table, long since melted and forgotten. And on the bed lay Eric and Juyeon, melting against each other in the summer heat.