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“So, Jisung.”
At his mom’s voice, Jisung pauses with his cereal-laden spoon halfway between the bowl and his mouth and looks up from his phone. Instead of talking to Jisung as she makes coffee or unloads the dishwasher, she’s leaning against the counter and looking directly at him. Jisung gulps and lowers his spoon, preparing for whatever his mom’s about to tell him.
“So, yesterday I was at the Lee’s house returning Felix’s sweatshirt because his mom asked me to fix it after he ran into that tree branch,” Jisung’s mom starts. Jisung muffles a giggle with his sleeve. He’d been there when Felix ran into the tree branch, in fact, he was probably the cause of it, considering he’d been the one to steal Felix’s favorite photocard and deliberately run around the corner of the school building that has a tree in the blind spot.
“He does do that sometimes,” Jisung says. His mom gives him a raised eyebrow but doesn’t question him further. She’d probably make him bake something for Felix to apologize, which wouldn’t end well because Felix has long since established that he’s the baker of the two best friends.
“Anyway,” Jisung’s mom continues, “I was telling Mrs. Lee about you taking driver’s ed, and how you don’t have anyone to take you out to any parking lots to do the basics.” His mom’s voice turns a bit sad there, and Jisung realizes that maybe she does feel bad about not having a driver’s license. If his dad was around more often it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but since he’s constantly traveling for work, he’s out of the picture to teach Jisung how to drive.
Jisung’s mom shakes off the sad tone in her voice quickly. “But, guess what? Minho was walking down the stairs while I was talking and heard us, and told me he’d be happy to help you out!” Jisung’s mom seems overjoyed at the prospect. Meanwhile, Jisung is having a hard time keeping his half-eaten cereal helping in his stomach. “So, you’ve got a driving lesson with Minho this weekend in the community college parking lot! Isn’t that exciting?”
It’s only because his mom is grinning widely that Jisung pulls a smile across his lips. “Yeah, that’s great, Mom,” he says, trying to force some enthusiasm into his voice. “I can’t wait.”
***
Lunch period is the only free time Jisung has to do much of anything, really, since he has to catch the bus after school. That means if he needs to make up a test or venture off campus to get food, he’s got about half an hour to do it. He doesn’t think getting advice will take that long, but he hikes his backpack higher on his shoulders and ducks into the hallways with less foot traffic to get to his destination quicker.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, Jisung thinks as he speed-walks to the music wing. He turns the corner to the hall with the practice rooms and stops in front of one that has the door closed and knocks loudly.
He steps back and only has to wait a few seconds before the door opens just a crack, revealing a slightly ruffled Seungmin, hair messy and glasses askew. “I was practicing,” he says, narrowing his eyes at Jisung as he uses one hand to fix his glasses.
“If you were in the practice room not practicing, I’d be worried for you,” Jisung says. “But that’s not important. What is important is that I have a driving lesson this weekend.”
Seungmin brightens. “Isn’t that good, though? You’ve been wanting to get behind the wheel since the first day of driver’s ed.”
Jisung groans and rubs his face in his hands before he looks up at Seungmin again. “Minho’s teaching me.”
Seungmin’s mouth drops open for the slightest second before he snaps it closed. “Minho, Felix’s brother,” Seungmin asks for confirmation, and he gets his answer when Jisung starts nodding frantically. Even though Jisung can only see Seungmin’s head and his left shoulder through the doorway, he can tell that Seungmin’s putting a hand on his hip from the way he screws up his eyebrows when he’s thinking. “Have you thought about talking to Felix?”
Jisung scoffs at the idea. “And what, tell him I’ve got a crush on his brother? That sounds like a great idea, Seungmin.”
Seungmin just sighs again, blowing a strand of hair out of his eyes. “Well, you didn’t have to put it that way,” he says and looks Jisung in the eye. “Look, unless you want me to help you think of ways to get out of this, I don’t think I’ll be of much use to you. And,” he raises an eyebrow, “you do want to do it, right?”
Jisung nods his head. “I need to get my driving hours somehow, right?” He manages a smile for Seungmin, who cocks his head but doesn’t press Jisung anymore.
“Okay, just…” Seungmin falters for a bit, “try to chill out when you’re in the car with him. Driving is stressful enough without having your crush in the car.”
Jisung purses his lips and shoves his hands in his hoodie pocket so Seungmin doesn’t have to see him fiddling with his fingers. “Thanks, Seungmin. I’ll let you know how it goes, I guess,” Jisung says, turning on his heel to leave after Seungmin gives him a curt nod. “Tell Hyunjin I say hello,” he adds, smirking as Seungmin devolves into a flustered mess, muttering something like, What, how could you tell he’s here, under his breath.
He sighs as he leaves the music wing, heading toward his and Felix’s normal lunch spot, hoping Felix didn’t abandon him when he didn’t show up right away. Hopefully I don’t completely embarrass or expose myself this weekend, Jisung thinks as he glimpses Felix’s shock of blond hair near the window.
***
Lee Minho is a bit of an anomaly to Jisung.
He’s just his best friend’s older brother, or, he should be, but somehow, Minho found a way to become something else to Jisung.
Because even though Minho always prefaced Felix and Jisung’s hangouts with, “Stay out of my business, I’ll stay out of yours,” he always joined them whenever they booted up whatever version of Just Dance Felix felt like playing that day, even letting each of them win a few rounds.
Because even though Minho is a firm believer that Christmas is a commercialized holiday and anybody who celebrates it is buying into all that ‘consumerist bullshit,’ Jisung always found a present in his mailbox on Christmas day with a note in handwriting he’d come to recognize over the years as Minho’s.
Because even though Minho giggled as Jisung bawled his eyes out when the Lee’s cat scratched him so hard it drew blood, he dragged Jisung to the bathroom and cleaned his wound and turned him back to Felix with a band-aid and some Neosporin.
And so maybe Jisung found himself appreciating the tinkling bell sound of Minho’s laugh while zoning out on Felix, or something straining against his ribcage when Minho’s uneven smile was directed at him.
And so maybe Jisung started paying too close attention to Minho, so now he knows about Minho’s habit of blinking repeatedly or how he likes to take selfies.
And so maybe Jisung felt his face heat up when Minho looked at him across the table when he had dinner at the Lees or felt his heart beat faster when Minho inserted himself on the couch next to Jisung while he and Felix watched a movie.
Sure, Minho is just Jisung’s best friend’s older brother. But Jisung likes him, and he has no idea what to do about it.
***
By the time Saturday rolls around, Jisung’s fingernails are significantly shorter than they were at the beginning of the week. Is it a little bit pathetic that he spent so much time worrying about his driving lesson with his crush, sure. Jisung, however, thinks such worrying is warranted, considering his crush is none other than Lee Minho.
He hesitates before knocking on the Lee’s door after lunch. What if I’m interrupting Minho eating? Jisung wonders, his curled fist dropping away from the door. I mean, I did eat lunch a bit early today. What if I knock when Minho’s mid-bite and he nearly chokes on his way to the door and then he’s mad at me and then I mess up while I’m driving and make him even more frustrated and then –
“You know it’s unlocked.” Jisung jumps out of his thoughts at Minho’s voice, willing his cheeks not to turn red. Minho’s looking at him with an amused smile that makes Jisung want to pull up the collar of his hoodie and hide the grin that dares to cross his lips. Even if they lived in an alternate universe where superpowers were a thing, Jisung thinks Minho’s power would still be making Jisung smile.
In any case, Jisung doesn’t hide in his hoodie because that would be weird. Instead, he swallows the lump in his throat and responds. “Yeah, uh, I know, I just – ” He doesn’t know how to explain it to Minho. “With Felix, I can just barge in at any time ‘cause we’re cool like that, you know? But with you…” Jisung trails off, not knowing how to say it’s different because I like you without saying because I like you.
“But with me,” Minho repeats, and Jisung swears he sees the smile fall off Minho’s face in slow-motion over the next few seconds. Minho’s eyebrows furrow together like he’s processing information, and he blinks a few times at Jisung. Then, Minho puts a grin on his face like his smile never left as he leans against the doorjamb. “You know, even though you’re Felix’s friend, you can still barge in on me anytime. I won’t mind.”
Now Jisung’s really blushing because one: Minho’s words make it sound like he might actually want to spend time with Jisung, and two: there is an underlying meaning to those words that he’s not sure Minho caught before he let them tumble out of his mouth. By the fact that Minho’s not smirking like he does whenever a rather steamy scene comes on in a movie, Jisung knows Minho didn’t mean anything by it.
Get your mind outta the gutter, Han Jisung, he mentally berates himself before looking up at Minho from his shoes. “So,” he starts, shifting on his feet as he drags out the word, “driving lesson?”
“Right,” Minho says, pointing a finger at Jisung. “Lemme grab my keys.” Jisung waits on the doorstep as he listens to Minho thunder into the kitchen to find his keys. Usually, Minho tosses them on the counter near the toaster because his brain is already thinking about toasting himself an after-school bagel snack, but Jisung’s going to pretend like he doesn’t know that. Because that would be weird.
Minho dangles his keys in front of Jisung’s face, and they make a distinct jingling sound before he whips them away and starts down the front steps to his car. Jisung snaps out of whatever daze he was in – the-thinking-about-his-crush daze, most likely – and follows Minho down the steps to his parents’ old Subaru Outback.
“So,” Minho says after he starts up the car. Jisung stops studying his fingernails – there’s a hangnail on his left pointer finger – and turns to Minho. Since he’s driving, he’s looking everywhere but at Jisung, but he still manages to engage in conversation because he knows that Jisung can’t stand the silence. That’s one of the reasons Jisung is such good friends with Felix.
“So,” Jisung replies, traces of a grin appearing on his face. Minho lets out a small ‘tch,’ as he shifts gears and starts down their street. Jisung spots a little smile starting to make its way onto Minho’s lips, and nothing makes him happier.
Minho sighs, still smiling as he turns down the road to the community college. “You’ve never driven before, have you?” he asks, probably to assess Jisung’s skill level.
“Do bumper cars count?” Jisung asks, waiting for another reaction. When Minho chuckles, he keeps going. “Ooh, I’ve played a lot of those car racing games at the arcade, can I add that to my knowledge base?”
Minho laughs, prompting Jisung to do the same. When he calms down a bit while they’re waiting at a red light, he says, “At least I know what I’m working with now.” Jisung crosses his arms and pretends to take much offense to that, so Minho pats him gently on the leg, wordlessly reassuring him that it’s okay.
The light changes to green and the car lurches forward again. “But, uh, just out of curiosity,” Minho says a little ways down the road, “you did pass your traffic safety course, right?”
Jisung’s mouth falls open and he hits Minho on the arm, light enough so it doesn’t disturb his driving. “I’ll have you know I passed above the eighty percent requirement!” he says indignantly, returning his arms to their previously crossed and much offense-taken state.
Minho flicks his eyes away from the road just long enough for Jisung to glimpse a raised eyebrow. “And if I may ask,” he pries, “what percent did you pass the class with?”
Jisung huffs and slumps down in his seat. “Eighty-two.”
“Precisely,” Minho says. They turn into the front parking lot of the community college, and Minho drives around the side of the building to the back parking lot, which is substantially bigger and has a whole lot less cars parked in it.
“Don’t get me wrong, though,” Minho says as he takes the keys out of the ignition. He looks Jisung right in the eye, and Jisung feels like he’s getting metaphorically frozen by the second. Except for the fact that his heart is running fast enough on its hamster wheel to power a jet engine. “I have faith that you can do this. You’re Han Jisung, after all.” Minho flashes Jisung his lopsided smile, effectively melting Jisung into a puddle, and pops open the driver side door.
Jisung’s barely scraped himself back into a non-puddle form when Minho taps on the window. He smiles when Jisung opens the door and crawls out of the car, then drops the keys into Jisung’s hand. Jisung just stares at the keys in his hand for a few seconds before Minho pushes a finger to the side of Jisung’s temple. Jisung blinks at Minho, eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, but Minho just laughs. “Let’s get to driving, Jisungie,” he says, brushing past Jisung to sit in the passenger seat.
Jisung heaves a sigh, resigning himself to the quickening pace of his heartbeat as he walks around the front of the car and gets in, yanking the door closed. He takes his time adjusting the seat before he clips his seatbelt on, and he can feel Minho’s eyes on him as he does, so he does his best to ignore that. It’s just Minho, Jisung thinks as he rests his hands on the wheel to test the distance. Just your best friend’s older brother.
Your best friend’s older brother who you have a crush on, Jisung’s brain reminds him.
“Ready?” Minho asks. Jisung looks over at him, hands still gripping the wheel, and realizes that Minho’s just as nervous as he is, admittedly not for the same reason. Minho’s never taught anyone to drive before since Felix wants to wait until summer to take driver’s ed. Normally, Minho wouldn’t have to think about teaching someone to drive until he has kids and has to take them out to college parking lots to practice.
But Minho has to teach Jisung to drive, and even with Jisung’s eighty-two percent grade from the traffic safety course, it’s scary. The least Jisung can do is get over himself and make this just a little less scary for Minho.
Jisung sticks the key into the ignition and turns it until the engine starts, then backs off like he saw Minho do when they left his house. The car doesn’t explode, so Jisung counts that as a win and turns to Minho with a grin. “I’m ready.”
“Awesome,” Minho says, smiling back at Jisung, then turns his attention to the pedals at Jisung’s feet. “Alright, our main goal for today is for you to move the car forward and backward.”
Jisung stares at him incredulously. “Just that? No driving around?”
“I admire your drive, Jisung, but you’re learning on a stick shift.” Minho points to the gearshift in between the seats, and Jisung’s heart sinks. Minho smiles sadly when he sees Jisung visibly deflate a bit at the realization. “If you don’t kill the clutch at least once today, I’ll be impressed.”
Jisung drums his fingers on the wheel and breathes out of his nose, probably flaring his nostrils like a bull. He takes another deep breath before nodding. “Let’s start, then.”
Minho tells Jisung step-by-step what to do: depress the clutch and the brake, shift gears, then lift off the clutch and move his foot to the gas at exactly the right moment.
“You’ll feel it,” Minho tells him, “when to move to the gas. But don’t give it too much gas. Don’t wanna die today.” Jisung glares at Minho when he says that, who just laughs at Jisung’s expression. “You’ll be fine, just try it out.”
Jisung bites his lip in concentration, his foot pressing down on the clutch as hard as he can. He releases the parking brake and shifts to first gear, then slowly starts to bring his foot off the clutch.
“You’re probably not gonna get it the first time.”
Jisung doesn’t respond to that; he’s concentrating too hard on feeling the car. It starts to rumble, but it’s faint, so Jisung waits a little longer, then moves his foot to the gas, pressing down lightly so they don’t go barreling into the curb.
The car doesn’t go barreling into the curb, but it doesn’t move either. The engine is quiet, and Jisung leans his head on the wheel.
“I killed it.”
He hears Minho pulling up the parking brake. “You did.”
Jisung groans and slouches in his seat, an exaggerated pout forming on his lips. He’s crossing his arms for the third time today when he hears Minho mutter something under his breath, something that sounds a lot like cute.
“What was that?” Jisung asks, turning to Minho.
“Oh, nothing,” Minho says too quickly for it to be believable. “I was just thinking that, uh, I should’ve asked my mom if we could use her car. It’s an automatic.” He deflates slightly after his explanation, probably thinking that he covered his slip-up pretty well. But Jisung sees through him. That, and he has really good hearing.
Despite Minho’s comment – that definitely doesn’t make his heart run faster in its hamster wheel, nope – Jisung pushes himself up to sit properly in his seat again and grips the steering wheel. “Well, let’s just try this again. I’m not leaving until I get it right.”
Minho chuckles. “Okay, then. Whenever you’re ready.”
… “Dammit.”
***
Jisung doesn’t really get the hang of the stick shift until after a few weeks of ‘lessons,’ which involves a lot of swearing on his part and some exasperated sighing from Minho. It’s not until the sixth driving lesson that Minho finally pronounces him ready to start working on maneuvers.
“Does this mean I can try reversing into a parking spot?” Jisung asks excitedly as Minho pulls into the back parking lot.
Minho takes the keys out of the ignition and unclips his seatbelt. “Yeah, sure. Why not?” he says, dropping the keys into Jisung’s awaiting palm. They switch sides and Jisung adjusts his seat in record time. He starts the car and gets it moving with some ease – he only kills the clutch once this time – and does a few loops around the empty parking lot.
Jisung turns so the car is perpendicular to the lines of the parking spot and brakes. “Is this a good spot?”
Minho pokes his head out the window. “Good a spot as any,” he confirms, leaning back inside the car. He tilts his head at Jisung. “You know what to do?”
“Psh, of course!” Jisung scoffs, shifting into reverse. “Check, one, two, three,” he counts off, looking in the rearview mirror, then the side mirror, then over his shoulder. “Then, foot off the brake.” He eases his foot off the clutch before moving his foot to the gas from the brake, barely tapping his foot on the pedal. I’m even using commentary driving, Jisung thinks. My driver’s ed instructor would be proud.
The car edges backward, and Jisung looks over his right shoulder, trying to gauge his approach by looking out the back window. His hand unconsciously goes to the back of Minho’s seat to help his body turn around, and he purses his lips in concentration as he focuses on backing into the parking lot.
After he pulls up the parking brake, Jisung releases a huge sigh, then peeks out his window to check his parking job. “I can’t tell if I did a good job, Minho, could you get out and check for me?” Jisung pleads, turning to his driving coach.
Jisung’s eyebrows furrow a bit when he sees the blank look on Minho’s face. He seems to blink back into reality a second later, eyes flitting from Jisung’s face to the hand Jisung’s still resting on the back of Minho’s seat. Then, Jisung spots the pink dusting Minho’s cheeks and the red tips of his ears. Oh. Jisung removes his hand and sits back in his seat. I did that?
Minho lets out a jerky breath before saying, “Sure, one sec.” He quickly unclips his seatbelt and pops open the car door, moving around to the front to check Jisung’s alignment.
“Am I straight?” Jisung asks, sticking his head out the window again.
Minho purses his lips like he’s trying not to laugh. “Not really, no.”
Jisung sighs and rolls his eyes. “I meant the car, Minho, not me,” he responds, earning the hearty laugh he was hoping to elicit from Minho. He’s still chuckling when he gets back into the car, flopping into the passenger seat.
“Your parking wasn’t too straight either, ‘Sung,” Minho says, giving Jisung the signature smirk associated with whooping Jisung and Felix’s asses at Just Dance. The smirk turns into a grin as he clips his seatbelt back on. “I mean, it’s understandable. Us gays are not very good at driving. I only got so good at it ‘cause I practiced. A lot.”
Jisung snorts. “Okay, that’s fair,” he admits, then a few seconds later, he has a record-scratch moment. “Wait,” he says, letting go of the steering wheel. “You’re – ”
“Yeah,” Minho says, nodding quickly. His eyebrows furrow. “You didn’t know? Jisung, my room is basically a rainbow shrine. Like, I might have a problem, there are so many rainbows.”
Jisung gulps and fiddles with his fingers. “I’ve never seen your room,” he says quietly.
“Oh,” Minho responds after a moment. The air in the car turns thick, not just from the humidity of late spring afternoons. Jisung shrinks in his seat. I ruined a perfectly good moment, we were laughing and bonding and I made the mood all sad and quiet, how do I even do it?
Next to Jisung, so far away even though he’s just in the passenger seat, Minho draws in a breath. “You should come see it sometime,” he says, pulling Jisung out of his head. He looks over at Minho, who’s smiling warmly at him, and Jisung thinks it’s a smile he’d love to see on Minho’s face as often as possible. “I might even lend you some of my rainbow shit.”
Jisung finds himself smiling stupidly right back at Minho as he nods. “That sounds great.” Then he starts wondering, and he just has to ask, “It won’t be weird, will it? Because I’m Felix’s friend?”
Minho chuckles, looking down at his lap before bringing his eyes back to Jisung. “It doesn’t have to be weird,” he says, his eyes still faintly crescent-shaped from his smile. “I’m not just Felix’s older brother; I’m your friend too, you know.”
Jisung lets out a weird chuckle-laugh, and averts his eyes from Minho, choosing to focus on the material of the steering wheel. Good to know, he thinks, a grin creeping onto his face. “Okay,” is all he says before tightening his grip on the wheel. “Can I try that parking job again?”
“Absolutely.”
Jisung glances over at Minho and smirks. “You gonna be okay this time?” Jisung relishes in the blush that coats Minho’s cheeks as he releases the parking brake. If he knew this was all it took to get Minho flustered, he’d have signed up for driving lessons long ago.
Minho breathes in deeply before nodding, eyes fixed on the windshield. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“M’kay, then.”
… “Minho, you good?”
“Dammit.”
***
“Hey, Felix.”
Jisung instinctively hides his Uno cards close to his chest at the voice. Felix just groans and leans against his bed from where he’s sitting on the floor as he glares at the doorway. “What do you want, Minho?” he grumbles. Jisung has to hide a snort behind his cards; Felix is doing a very good job at playing the annoyed younger sibling role.
From over his cards, Jisung peeks at Minho, who looks about as exasperated as Felix does annoyed. He crosses his arms and leans in the doorway. “Can I borrow Jisung for a moment?”
“Why would I let you do that?” Felix retorts.
“Excuse you, I am my own person, thank you very much,” Jisung puts in, but neither sibling acknowledges him.
“Pop quiz,” Minho says, a smirk coming to his lips. “You’ve graduated from parking lots, and we’re moving onto residential streets. You get to drive me around for half an hour.” He looks at Jisung while he’s talking, and has the audacity to wink at him, which of course only makes Jisung want to cover himself with Uno cards.
“You’re kidding me,” Felix deadpans. He sighs and crumples onto the floor. “I was about to win, too.”
Jisung’s mouth falls open. “How do you know tha – did you peek at my cards?”
Felix just shrugs. “Not my fault you were bleeding.”
Jisung throws down his cards and huffs, pushing himself to his feet. “I can’t believe you, I thought you had more honor than that. You know what: dishonor on you! Dishonor on your cow!” He stops himself there, pinching the bridge of his nose while Felix laughs himself into the floor.
As Jisung turns to Minho in the doorway, he sees Minho’s shoulders shaking, a clear sign that he found Jisung at least somewhat humorous. “Alright, Minho, I’m up for a drive. At least I’ll be able to distance myself from this dishonorable man while I’m gone.” Jisung gives Felix the ‘I’m watching you’ sign with two fingers as he hops over the various hazards scattered on Felix’s floor on his way to the door.
“See ya, Felix,” Minho says much too sweetly to be sincere. Jisung’s positive Felix either sticks out his tongue or his middle finger at Minho before they disappear down the hall to the stairs.
“Got your permit?” Minho asks as he slips into a pair of slides.
“Yep,” Jisung says, pulling on his Converse. He pats his back jean pocket. “Well, at least I think I do.” Minho swats a hand at him in assurance and opens the front door, leading the way to his car. When Minho yanks open the door to the passenger seat, Jisung freezes on the grass. “What’re you – what’re you – Minho, what are you doing?” Jisung sputters, feet still firmly planted on the lawn.
Minho just raises an eyebrow at him and gestures to the steering wheel. “You’re driving. I will be sitting in the car while you drive, which you better not make me regret, by the way,” he says, a hint of a smirk drifting to his lips.
“But like – ” Jisung starts. “You always drive first when we do this.” It’s a routine that’s been ingrained in him from the first Saturday Minho started giving Jisung driving lessons: Minho drives to the back parking lot, drops the keys in Jisung’s palm, and then Jisung will drive until he gets tired – driving is a very mentally-exhausting task, after all – and Minho drives them home.
“Well, maybe it’s time we switch things up, then,” Minho says, pulling the door shut and effectively ending the conversation. Jisung sighs and walks around to the driver’s side door and gets in, adjusting everything until the car feels comfortable. He still feels Minho’s eyes watching him like he did the first time he got behind the wheel, but he finds he doesn’t mind it as much now.
He grips the steering wheel firmly and glances over at Minho. “Where are we going?”
Minho wordlessly passes him the keys, and Jisung starts the car as he waits for a response. “I don’t know about you, but I’m kinda hungry,” Minho finally says.
Jisung grins at him as he releases the parking brake. “Ice cream?”
“Ice cream.”
Ten minutes later, Minho is attempting to walk Jisung through parallel parking in front of the ice cream place. For a Friday evening, the street isn’t too busy, but Jisung can’t bring himself to stop in the middle of a multi-lane road and back into a patch of curb, so they circle the block to find a parking spot on one of the quieter and less trafficked residential streets.
“Parallel parking is kind of essential, Jisung,” Minho points out as they walk up the hill to the ice cream place. “You’re gonna have to do it eventually. It’s gonna be on the skills test, guaranteed.”
Jisung huffs as he stuffs the car keys into his pocket. “Yeah, yeah, I know. ” He crosses his arms and pouts exaggeratedly, making Minho bark out a laugh as they turn the corner. He even throws one arm around Jisung’s shoulders to keep himself from collapsing with laughter. Jisung just sighs and wraps his arm around Minho’s back to steady him; he doesn’t think what he did was even that funny, but Minho’s sense of humor has always been a bit weird.
Minho seems to get ahold of himself as they reach the ice cream place, but he doesn’t drop his arm. It makes Jisung’s heart hope, and he can’t have that right now. He’s just gotten to a point where he’s comfortable with Minho, maybe even gotten to a point where he’s completely stamped out his crush on his best friend’s older brother.
Apparently not, Jisung thinks. He wriggles out of Minho’s grasp as he enters the shop, squeezing past two kids with double-scoop waffle cones. He secures a spot in line as Minho walks inside, a slight frown gracing his features. Jisung averts his gaze to the menu, scanning it like he hasn’t been coming to the same shop since he was five, to get his mind off of how he wants to smooth the crease between Minho’s eyebrows with his thumb, then maybe run his thumb along Minho’s cheekbone – Nope, Jisung scolds himself, no thoughts like that allowed in this ice cream shop.
Jisung nearly jumps when Minho pokes his arm. “What’re you getting?” he asks. Jisung peeks around the people ordering in front of them to see if they’ve run out of his favorite flavor. He turns back to Minho with a grin when he sees ice cream still in the giant container.
“Salted caramel with choco swirl,” Jisung says, his grin not fading. Minho chuckles lightly, turning away before Jisung can properly distinguish whether or not the pink coating Minho’s cheeks is a trick of the light. “You?”
“Mint chocolate,” Minho says. He steps forward when the people before them move to the cash register. “Can’t go wrong with a classic.”
“Excuse me, how on Earth is that a classic,” Jisung scoffs. He scrunches up his face for dramatic effect. “A classic toothpaste flavor, sure. Could I get a single scoop of the salted caramel with choco swirl, please?” Jisung directs that last question to the server, who’s trying her best to muffle a laugh.
“Absolutely. You want a waffle cone?”
“Sure, thanks,” he says, then he turns back to Minho. “As I was saying: you like toothpaste in your ice cream?”
“The ice cream isn’t flavored with toothpaste, you idiot,” Minho retorts. “I think it’s a refreshing flavor, wouldn’t you agree?” Minho directs his question to the server as she hands Jisung his waffle cone over the glass counter.
“Uh, I guess?” she says, unsure of whether Minho will find that answer satisfactory. She grabs another ice cream scooper. “I’m assuming you want mint chocolate?”
“A single scoop in a waffle cone, please,” Minho says with a smile. He thanks her for the cone once she’s done scooping his ice cream, and he and Jisung shuffle over to the cash register.
Jisung’s already reaching for his wallet in his back pocket when the cashier asks, “Together or separate?”
Minho pulls a bill out of his wallet and says, “Together,” before Jisung has a chance to say anything. He gives Minho a ‘what the heck’ look and turns to the cashier.
“Actually, we’re paying separately, sorry,” he says with a sheepish grin, elbowing Minho in the side as much as he can with an ice cream cone in his hand.
“No, we’re together,” Minho insists, practically forcing the bill into the cashier’s face. Jisung’s heart leaps into his throat before diving into his stomach, completing a few flips on its way down with the skill of an Olympic diver.
The cashier just grins at the exchange like she knows something Jisung doesn’t before accepting Minho’s money, sliding it into the register and counting out his change. Jisung licks his ice cream dejectedly as Minho drops a few coins into the tip jar. “Have a good rest of your night, you two,” she says, still grinning as they turn to leave.
“Thank you,” Minho says, Jisung echoing him as they leave the shop, grabbing a few napkins on his way out.
They walk slowly back to the car, licking ice cream instead of talking. Once Jisung gets control of the dripping, he turns his gaze to Minho. “I did bring my wallet, you know,” he says.
“I know,” Minho says after breaking off a piece of waffle cone with his teeth. He doesn’t elaborate further, so Jisung narrows his eyes and presses on.
“You know I can pay for myself, right?”
“I know.”
“Then why – ?”
“Look, maybe I just wanted to treat you to something, okay?” Minho cuts Jisung off, but there’s no bite to his voice. He speaks softly and avoids Jisung’s eyes by staying laser-focused on his ice cream. Jisung tries to tell his heart that it is, in fact, not an Olympic diver, but his heart doesn’t listen and goes for another round of diving from his throat to his stomach.
Jisung gulps before asking his next question. “Why do you feel like you need to treat me to something?”
Minho sighs, and Jisung’s chest tightens as he waits for a response. “You graduated from parking lots, Jisung, that’s an achievement worth celebrating,” he says, smirking in Jisung’s direction. But Jisung senses there’s a little more to it, the little unspoken thing that’s making the air thick and Jisung’s chest feel tight. He holds Minho’s gaze until Minho has to look away and fixates on his ice cream, which is starting to drip down the sides of the cone. He mutters something under his breath so quietly that Jisung can’t catch it, even though there aren’t any cars roaring down the street.
“What was that?” Jisung asks, stepping a little closer to Minho so their shoulders bump into each other. Minho tries to hide his face, but unlike inside the shop, Jisung can make out the blush dotting his cheeks.
Finally, Minho blows out a puff of air and says, “Jisung, I kinda really like you.” He looks up at Jisung with his crescent-eyed smile and Jisung’s heart does another fantastic flip.
“Kinda?”
Minho considers this. “No. Just really.”
Jisung breaks into a grin, and he can’t bring himself to care that his ice cream is dripping more than his napkins will be able to clean up. “That’s good,” he says, a little laugh escaping his lips. “That’s really, really good.”
Minho’s face brightens and he comes to a stop. Jisung realizes they’ve made it back to where he’d parked the car. “You mean that, Jisungie?” Minho asks, his voice so soft that Jisung has to step right in front of him to hear.
“Yeah,” Jisung says, his voice becoming breathy. His heart is beating in his throat and he’s not sure if he’s going to choke on it or not. “I do.”
“Then, can I – ” Jisung nods quickly before Minho even has a chance to finish, which only makes the smile on Minho’s face become wider. Minho takes the last step to close the distance between them. His gaze flits between Jisung’s eyes and lips twice before Jisung rolls his eyes and surges forward, capturing Minho’s lips with his own.
Tastes minty, Jisung thinks as he sighs into the kiss, letting his free hand come up to hold Minho’s cheek and tilts his head just so. He thinks maybe he was wrong about mint chocolate because Minho’s lips taste pretty damn good. He nearly combusts when Minho’s free hand finds his waist and gently pushes him backward until he hits the side of the car. Their lips part for just a moment before Minho leans down and reconnects them, pushing against Jisung with a fervor.
“Minho,” Jisung practically moans when Minho bites at his lower lip, opening his mouth. At that, Minho leans back and looks at Jisung with a raised eyebrow. Jisung flushes under Minho’s stare and ducks his head. It’s then he realizes that his ice cream is lying in the grass instead of perched inside his waffle cone.
“Oh no! Poor Jisungie,” Minho says when he sees the puppy-dog eyes Jisung’s giving him. He takes one glance at the still-intact mint chocolate waffle cone in his hand and holds it out to Jisung. “Want mine?”
Jisung sighs heavily before taking the cone from Minho’s hand. He stacks it inside his now-empty waffle cone and takes a lick. “I guess mint chocolate isn’t so bad,” he finally admits, and Minho snorts.
“Told ya.” He glances at the ice cream in Jisung’s hand, then holds out his hand. “I’ll drive home.” Jisung digs the keys out of his pocket and drops them in Minho’s open palm. The scene is so familiar, but the roles are reversed. Maybe that isn’t the only thing that’s changed, Jisung thinks as he flops into the passenger seat. Minho smiles warmly at him, and it fills Jisung’s heart to the brim. It’s then he realizes that Minho isn’t just his best friend’s older brother anymore.
On the way home, Jisung periodically sticks the ice cream cone in Minho’s face to feed him, grinning stupidly when Minho chuckles at Jisung’s insistence. Once Minho parks the car in front of his house, Jisung leans over and brushes his lips against Minho’s cheek. Minho just laughs and turns his head quick enough to meet Jisung’s lips with his own, still laughing as they sit there, kissing.
Minho opens the front door for Jisung while he wipes his sticky hands with the napkins he grabbed. “I think you passed your pop quiz, Jisungie,” Minho says as they toe off their shoes in the entryway. He leaves Jisung with a soft kiss to the forehead at the bottom of the stairs before he meanders into the kitchen for food, and Jisung heads upstairs to rejoin his and Felix’s Uno game. He hopes to whatever supernatural being up there that his cheeks aren’t bubble-gum pink as he opens the door to Felix’s room.
Other than Felix moving from the floor to his bed to watch YouTube, the room is the same as when Jisung left it twenty minutes ago. He sighs and flops down next to his cards, earning a raised eyebrow from Felix. “So,” his friend prompts, “you get any action?”
“Felix!” Jisung yells, pretty much confirming Felix’s suspicions. He reaches for the nearest thing to throw, which happens to be Sharpie, and chucks it across the room. Felix yelps and ducks, and the Sharpie just bounces off the back of his phone. Jisung crosses his arms in defiance. “You can’t just say that! He’s your brother, it’s gross.”
Felix just shrugs. “Better you than anybody else, really,” he says to justify himself, swinging his legs off the edge of his bed.
Jisung’s shoulders lose a bit of their tension and he breathes out slowly. “So, you’re good with it?”
Felix nods as he slides off his bed and picks up his Uno cards. “He’s always had a soft spot for you, you know.” He meets Jisung’s eyes and watches as Jisung’s face heats to the temperature of the sun as a smile finds its way to his face. Then, his friend’s eyes narrow evilly and he covers half his face with his cards. “Now, prepare to die, lover boy.”
Jisung scoffs and picks up his own hand of cards. “You wish, freckle face.”
***
Jisung holds the phone to his ear. “Minho, guess what? You’ll never guess!”
“I dunno, Sungie, you ended world hunger?” His tone is sarcastic, but Jisung knows he’s probably smiling into his phone on the other end of the line.
“That would be awesome, but no,” Jisung chuckles. “I passed my driver’s exam!”
“Jisung, that’s not so farfetched that I’d never guess it. I taught you, after all.”
Jisung rolls his eyes, but he’s grinning now. “You give yourself too much credit. Most of my success came from my natural driverly intuition.”
Minho laughs. “You keep telling yourself that.”
“So… does this call for celebration?”
After a moment, Minho hums. “You know what, I think it does. How do you feel about ice cream?”
“I feel great about ice cream. I’ll drive.”