Work Text:
Today, Minhyun is meeting Minki for lunch.
He enters their usual haunt, a sub-par cafe who’s walking distance is a happy medium between his and Minki’s workplaces, and spots his friend at the booth they always sit at.
“Minhyun!” Minki waves him over, pulling him into the seat next to him so he could shove his phone in his face.
“At least let me get my food first,” Minhyun says. He tries to take his jacket off, but Minki still has a vice grip on him, so he just gives up on it with a sigh.
“I already ordered for you,” Minki says hurriedly, still waving his phone in Minhyun’s face. “More importantly, do you remember what today is?”
“Wednesday?”
Minki lets out a scandalized gasp, clutching his heart in the most dramatic fashion he can. “I cannot believe you forgot!” When Minhyun still gives him the same look with no indication of understanding, his expression changes to one of disbelief. “Are you serious? And you call yourself a Bugidan?”
That catches Minhyun’s attention. “Did something happen to Jonghyun?”
“Only that his interview with Vogue is out today!” Minki practically whisper-yells at him, which is still quite loud given how he’s squished Minhyun next to him in the same booth and Minhyun is all legs.
“Ah,” Minhyun says, finally recollecting his memory. He does remember Minki mentioning it to him over the phone one week ago. “So it’s online?”
Minki looks at him incredulously, like he doesn’t understand why Minhyun isn’t as excited as him. “Is that all you have to say? Minhyun, please, you are the one of the only people I can talk about this with now since I promised Dongho I’d stop talking to him about JR for a month!”
“A month?” Minhyun repeats, latching onto that conversation topic instead. “Sorry, but I really can’t imagine you not talking about Jonghyun for that long.”
Because Minki is what people would call a ‘dedicated fan’ of Kim ‘JR’ Jonghyun, a widely popular and amazingly talented soloist who has captured the hearts of the nation after being a consistent fan favorite on a survival show. ‘Dedicated’ in that Minki runs a well known JR fan account online and organizes fan events for other fellow fans to gather and meet under a single, unified love of one man.
That had been how Minhyun met him a few years ago, after all. There had been a fan event for Jonghyun’s birthday at a quaint little bakery cafe near Minhyun’s apartment, and he just happened to stumble upon it as he passed by on his way home. He didn’t even know that such an event was happening, but there had been a considerable amount of people gathered and Minhyun felt intrigued when he saw Jonghyun’s name on a banner outside. It was there that he met Minki, who was ecstatic to meet another male fan, and they quickly hit it off with how much their interests and hobbies aligned. Then he met Dongho through him, Minki met Aron through Minhyun, and the four of them have been close friends ever since.
So imagining a Minki who isn’t a huge fan of Jonghyun is almost impossible. It makes Minhyun wonder what Minki could have done to piss off Dongho so much that any Jonghyun-related topic could be banned.
“Look, that- that’s not important!” Minki brushes the topic away with a flap of his hands. He points to his phone again, which is open to an article of Jonghyun’s recent interview. “This is what’s important.”
With a laugh, Minhyun lets him redirect the subject and goes along with him. They both hunch over Minki’s phone, going through the interview and the attached photos from the associated photoshoot. Minki tells him that it’s an exclusive interview about Jonghyun himself—about his creative process and his inner workings—rather than the usual shallow questions about his most recent mini-album and music video.
They have to pause a few times. They have to pause a whole lot, in fact, because Minki stops every couple of seconds to gush over how handsome Jonghyun looks in his photos and how nice and thoughtful he is when he’s answering the questions. Meanwhile, Minhyun absorbs every word silently, sipping at his glass of grapefruit-ade. He does agree that Jonghyun looks very nice in these photos, though. He makes a mental note to save them onto his phone later.
But then they reach one of the later questions, and the answer Jonghyun gives for it sounds off.
He darts his hand out, placing it over Minki’s and subsequently, the phone itself.
“Wait, hold on,” he tells him when he’s given a look of confusion.
He rereads the question and Jonghyun’s answer again.
Q: Your success in the industry has been growing exponentially in recent times, so you must have your hands full with various projects and schedules. What do you do when the stress gets overwhelming?
JR: First of all, I’m very grateful to all the support from my fans for bringing me so far. It does get stressful at times, but I think a lot of it is the good type of stress that drives me to work harder. Oh, but when I want to relax, I like going out on walks to calm my thoughts. I’ve been reading lately, too.
Going out on walks and reading? Minhyun rereads the answer over and over, as if he can’t fathom that Jonghyun could have actually said that and meant it.
He’s been silent the entire time, and Minki has noticed.
“Minhyun?”
“That’s weird,” Minhyun mutters to himself. “Why is he lying?”
“Lying?” Minki asks. “Who?”
“Jonghyun,” Minhyun answers, eyes still glued onto the screen. “He doesn’t go on walks or read books. He stays inside all day to play video games and watch anime.”
He can’t see whatever look Minki is actually giving him right now, but he can still get the gist of what he might be from the tone of his voice alone.
“What?” He sounds extremely confused, because Minhyun had spoken with the same conviction he does with everything else he says. “How would you even know that?”
Minhyun continues, “The only times he takes walks is when I try to get him to go outside for some fresh air.” He taps his glass absentmindedly. Maybe it has to do with the company and how they want to market Jonghyun’s image. “Maybe I should ask him later.”
Minki makes a face at him, clearly not keen on being ignored like this. “Seriously, what are you even talking about?” For extra emphasis, he tears his phone from out of Minhyun’s grasp and looks down to reread the section that got Minhyun spouting nonsense. A moment later, realization dawns upon his face. “Oh. I get it. This is about how you’re ‘dating JR’ or whatever, isn't it?” He even gestures the air quotes with his free hand, voice dripping with sarcasm that Minhyun is too preoccupied to notice.
Minhyun proceeds to take out his own phone from his jacket, making sure to save the interview to look over later. “I am dating Jonghyun,” he says.
Minki snorts, finally reaching over to his plate to take a bite from his lunch after letting it sit for so long. “Sure you are,” he says with the ease of someone who’s had to repeat it multiple times, because that’s how long Minhyun has heard him say it.
Minhyun meets up with Minki again a week later at their usual spot for lunch.
He’s pleasantly surprised to see Dongho join them, considering that his job almost never matched their schedules together, but Dongho tells him that he’s taking a few days off because of a pulled muscle and Minhyun can’t help but make a joke about him getting old. He wishes that Aron could have been here too, so all four of them could hang out, but Aron’s recent developments at work basically glued him to his office almost all the time.
He sits across from the two of them in the booth, quick to order his usual meal and drink while they make conversation by talking about work and various other mundane things that have been going on in their lives.
They all eat in peaceful silence with the occasional small talk until a notification sounds from Minki’s phone. He and Dongho watch as Minki’s face changes from a neutral expression into a awestruck gasp at whatever it is he sees on it. Dongho leans over to peek, letting out a flat ‘wow’ in response to what he sees.
Minhyun is curious now. “What is it?”
Minki has a hand to his face, covering his mouth in overwhelming emotion. “JR just posted on Instagram,” he says in a whisper like he’s holding himself back from bursting into tears while still in a public setting.
The mention of Jonghyun interests him yet again. Minhyun shifts his gaze to Dongho, who doesn’t look especially interested but still keeps his eyes fond as he directs his attention to their youngest friend. It seems like the one month Jonghyun ban that Minki had mentioned last time didn’t last long at all. Minhyun half expected it to end prematurely anyway, because trying to get Minki to not talk about his favorite idol is like trying to get Minhyun to stop cleaning. Practically impossible.
“What did he post?”
Minki’s eyes don’t leave his phone screen as he gushes over Jonghyun’s post. “A selca with some flowers. Look at him, isn’t he so beautiful?” Minki sighs, flipping his phone to show the post that got him so worked up over.
It’s a very pretty photo, indeed. Jonghyun is smiling brightly with a large bouquet of yellow flowers in his arms, cradling them up against his face like it were a teddy bear. The vibrant yellow petals brush against his cheek, framing himself as if he were some kind of magical forest fae. Minhyun swipes to the other photos: one of Jonghyun in the same pose but with a different expression with his eyes closed cutely and another one of just the bouquet itself on a table with a finger heart on the side. The caption is of three simple yellow heart emojis and a cute smiley face.
And Jonghyun looks very, very cute. He almost can’t tell which one is the flower.
“I was wondering when he was going to post about the flowers,” he says, unable to stop the smile stretching across his face. “I’m really glad he liked them.”
Dongho, who had long gone back to eating, blinks up at him. Meanwhile, Minki, who had taken his phone back and was probably in the middle of writing a long, emoji filled reply in the comments of the post, pauses mid type with his thumbs still hovering over the keyboard.
No one dares speak.
Minhyun looks between both of them, puzzled at their respective reactions. “What’s wrong?”
Dongho is the first to say something, swallowing down the bite of his sandwich. “They were from you?”
Minhyun nods, still smiling and blissfully unaware of whatever is going on. “Yeah. I got them for him as a gift,” he explains. “Our anniversary was a few days ago, so I was wondering when he’d post about it.”
“Anniversary?” Minki repeats, voice pitching into almost an inhuman squawk.
“Mm-hm,” Minhyun hums. “The three yellow hearts stand for three years of our relationship. It’s cute, isn’t it?”
“Like—” Minki scrambles for a scrap of coherency. “Like, how long you’ve liked him for? Those flowers were a ‘three years with JR’ gift?”
“Well, that’s a strange way of putting it, but yeah, you could say that.”
“Fans aren’t even allowed to send gifts,” Minki says, shaking his head in disbelief. “How did you even…”
“I wasn’t doing it as a fan, I was doing it as his boyfriend,” Minhyun responds like he’s stating something obvious. He doesn’t really get why Minki looks so confused. “Here, I even have a picture of when I bought the bouquet at the florist.” He grabs his phone out and opens up his gallery, scrolling to his own picture that he took on that day. He shows it to Minki and Dongho, pointing out the exact same color wrapping and the same species of flowers as the bouquet in Jonghyun’s Instagram post. Minki’s eyes bug out of their sockets.
And then Dongho laughs, loud and sharp like this is the funniest thing he’s ever seen. “Oh my God,” he wheezes. “Minki, you really weren’t kidding.”
Minki glares at him, gesturing in Minhyun’s direction with his hand. “You see what I mean, now? You keep saying that I’m the obsessed one, when Minhyun literally exists.” His frown deepens when Dongho laughs even harder, drawing a few stares from the other patrons. “You just never got to see it for yourself.”
Dongho giggles a few more times and wipes the tears away from his eyes. “Sorry, I just never realized. He’s not the sole thing we talk about when we hang out, y’know. Unlike some people.”
Minki shoots him a scandalized look of betrayal, throwing out his own quip in retaliation.
In the midst of it all, Minhyun opens up Instagram and decides to like Jonghyun’s post, commenting his own yellow heart amid the thousands of other replies.
Minhyun is surprised when he's supposed to meet up with Minki and Dongho for dinner and Minki is nowhere to be found.
“Where’s Minki?” he asks as he approaches their table and pulls up a seat. He checks his phone, expecting a message from his friend telling him that he wouldn’t be able to make it, but the only thing he sees are the messages they exchanged the day before yesterday while talking about a drama they were both watching. It’s mildly concerning, because Minki is usually never this radio silent. “Did something happen?”
Dongho looks up at him from the menu he’s reading through. “He’s mad at you.”
“What?”
“He said he didn’t want to come because he was mad at you,” Dongho says calmly, flipping to the next page of the menu. “Do you think I should get the risotto or stick with something healthier?”
“Wait, what?” Minhyun repeats incredulously. He doesn’t remember ever doing anything that might have offended Minki or made him angry. The last conversation they had together had been about the drama, and while Minhyun had told him that he didn’t really like one of the characters in it who happened to be one of Minki’s favorites, the other didn’t sound upset through his texts and had even joked about it. Was he just awful at reading the atmosphere and didn’t realize he was being rude the whole time?
Dongho nods. “You’re right, I think I’ll go with the risotto.”
“Dongho, please,” Minhyun whines, feeling genuinely saddened. He feels terrible when he upsets someone, but he feels especially awful when he does it and doesn’t realize it.
Finally, the other puts down the menu, looking Minhyun in the eye for the first time since he arrived at the restaurant. “So you really don’t know what you did?” He raises an expressive eyebrow.
Minhyun tilts his head with a frown. “No. Am I supposed to?”
“Minki acted like it was the worst thing in the world,” Dongho says with a chuckle, clearly finding amusement in the whole thing. “So I thought that maybe you actually did it on purpose, but judging as how you're looking like a kicked puppy right now, I’m gonna assume that Minki was just overreacting like he normally does.”
“I don’t even know what I did,” Minhyun sighs, leaning his head in his hands dejectedly.
Dongho takes pity on him, luckily, and slides his phone over to him to show him his message log with Minki from what seems like yesterday. “He texted me for like an hour straight while I was working out and I thought my phone was going to break from all the notifications I was getting.”
Minhyun takes his face out of his hands, looking down at the phone wearily, dreading what could he possibly have done to make Minki go on an hour long tirade over.
At first, the messages are just various angry emoji stickers sent over and over only seconds apart. Minhyun scrolls down a significant amount until the emojis stop and Minki starts to ask where Dongho is and why he isn’t responding when his dear friend is in distress. Some more scrolling is needed, and Minhyun finally gets to the part where Dongho had replied back and Minki started mentioning Minhyun’s name.
Then he gets to a screenshot of a Twitter thread that Minki sent.
JR OFFICIAL @official_kjr
Good evening! How is everyone doing tonight?
I’m still working, but let’s take a break and chat!
|
Minhyun @optimushwang
Take care of yourself Jonghyunnie ❤
Don’t fall asleep while gaming and catch a cold again ^^
|
JR OFFICIAL @official_kjr
Hehe if I do you’ll take care of me, won’t you?
|
Rennie LOVEs JR @glorypath
???????? EXCUSE ME?????
|
Rennie LOVEs JR @glorypath
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? MINHYUN I SWEAR TO GOD
|
Rennie LOVEs JR @glorypath
I AM SO MAD RN HWANG MINHYUN I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU
Dongho’s direct reply to the screenshot are five laughing crying emojis.
That’s right, Minhyun thinks. Jonghyun had a menpa last night.
He keeps reading on.
[Minki]
THIS ISN'T FUNNY
I AM FURIOUS
[Dongho]
😂😂 It’s pretty funny
[Minki]
DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I’VE BEEN TRYING TO GET JR TO REPLY TO ME?????
EVER SINCE DEBUT!!!!
AND!!
NOT ONCE HAS HE REPLIED!!!
[Dongho]
?So you’re mad that he replied to Minhyun
Maybe you’re just really unlucky lol
Wouldn’t be surprised about that
[Minki]
You don’t understand…
Minhyun NEVER uses his Twitter
And the one time he uses it in like five months he gets a reply???
I swear the world is out to get me
😭😭😭😭😭😭
It’s true that Minhyun doesn’t really use social media very much outside of Instagram. He had only made that Twitter account because he wanted to keep up with Minki and Jonghyun on the platform, but he didn’t have any intention to actually use it outside of that purpose.
“I only sent that reply because Jonghyun wasn’t checking his messages at the time,” Minhyun tries to explain. He slides Dongho’s phone back over to its owner, who had been quiet the entire time Minhyun read the chat log.
He gives him a look. “I doubt Minki’s going to accept that kind of reasoning.”
“It’s the truth, though?” Minhyun returns the look with a similar one of his own. “Should I apologize? I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be sorry about.”
Dongho shakes his head. “Nah. He’ll calm down eventually,” he tells him. “Just give him some time. You know how he is.”
“I still feel bad,” Minhyun says. “I mean, I guess I kind of did ruin his chances to talk to Jonghyun. He really likes him, after all.”
With a shrug, Dongho answers, “He’ll still have plenty of chances in the future, so I wouldn’t be too heartbroken about it if I were you.” At Minhyun’s still downtrodden face, he adds, with a bit of a huff, “Look, I’ll talk to him about it.”
Minhyun is finally able to crack a small smile. “Thank you, Dongho.”
His friend rolls his eyes at him, picking the menu back up and raising his hand to beckon over a waiter. “You can thank me by footing the bill, then. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted that risotto.”
Minhyun is late for his meeting with Aron.
It’s been a good while since they were able to hang out face to face, thanks to Aron being busier than ever because of his recent promotion at his workplace. Minhyun had come to realize he really missed seeing him, so the two of them arranged in advance to catch up in person and maybe catch a movie if they still had some time after that. It had been difficult to plan out in the beginning, their schedules never seeming to align properly, but Minhyun decided that he’d call in sick for a day so that he’d be free on the same day that Aron was.
And now he’s running late because of a mix up with his neighbors and a faulty fire alarm.
He’s panting slightly from the light jog he had to take to get here, but he sees Aron in the distance and calls for him.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he apologizes when he reaches him. “Some stuff happened in my building and I couldn’t leave until it was all sorted out.”
Ever the understanding friend that he is, Aron smiles at him. “No problem. I only just got here a couple minutes ago, honestly.”
Minhyun clears his throat, finally able to catch his breath. He’s a bit thirsty now from having to jog all the way here. Pretty hungry too, since he wasn’t able to eat because of the fire alarm forcing him out of his apartment before he could have breakfast. “Do you want to go watch that movie now or…?” He trails off, giving Aron full reigns to choose what they could do.
“I’m good with anything. Did you have anywhere in particular you wanted to go to first before the movie?”
“Uh, I kind of ran here,” Minhyun admits with a sheepish grin. “So I didn’t get to eat before I left.”
Aron laughs warmly. “Okay then, how about a late breakfast first? And then the movie.”
Minhyun nods enthusiastically. “Sounds good to me.”
He lets Aron lead the way and choose where to go, following him diligently as they catch each other up on their respective going ons of their jobs and friends. Aron talks about how he was able to convince his boss to agree to a 'Take Your Pet to Work Day" so he could take his dogs to work with him, while Minhyun mentions the now infamous Minki Incident of four days ago. Aron laughs so hard he almost trips on absolutely nothing.
“By the way,” Aron begins once he’s calmed down and satisfied with the brand new dirt he has on Minki. “Your coat is really nice. Is that Moncler?"
“Thanks?” Minhyun looks down at his outfit. He hadn't had much time to think about his wardrobe before the fire alarm forced him out of the building, so he just picked whatever was the quickest to get his hands on that also suited the weather. "And yeah, it is. I'm surprised you noticed."
Aron gives him a playful punch to his shoulder, which makes Minhyun yelp. "As if you're an expert yourself. I have eyes, Minhyun."
Minhyun rubs his shoulder. It didn't hurt, but he felt the blow to his dignity harder than the one on his shoulder. He likes to think he’s stylish, despite what the people around him might think. He’s not an expert on fashion yet, but he wants to believe that he's slowly working towards it. It’s a process.
"Like I said, I have eyes," Aron says, pointing at his own. "So don't think I didn't notice that you've been ensnared by the clutches of celebrity endorsement just like the rest of the world."
Minhyun pauses, tilting his head to the side. "What do you mean?"
Aron shrugs, motioning with his chin. "I can't say I'm surprised, really, but buying clothes is a pretty big step up from makeup and perfume, don't you think?”
“...I don’t follow,” Minhyun responds, feeling quite lost. It’s a feeling he’s starting to get used to now, with how much he’s been feeling out of the loop during some of Minki and Dongho’s conversations.
“I mean, I thought you bought that coat because JR wore it in his Instagram post.” Aron narrows his eyes, zoning in on Minhyun’s shirt. “I think he wore that same shirt too.”
And then it clicks in Minhyun’s head.
“Wait, am I wrong?” Aron looks baffled. “Don’t fans do that? Buy the stuff their idol is wearing or using them? Because I remember back then Minki asked me to help him buy a bunch of stuff from some cosmetics brand because JR was their brand ambassador.”
“Origins,” Minhyun corrects.
The older man snaps his fingers in recognition. “Yeah, that was the brand! Minki was like, dedicated to buying from them. I just assumed you did the same with those clothes.”
Minhyun shakes his head. “Actually, these were mine long before Jonghyun wore them. He was in a hurry to get ready that morning so I told him he could borrow my clothes.”
Aron freezes mid-step. “Excuse me?”
Minhyun overtakes him, walking ahead a few more steps until realizing that Aron has stopped. He turns his head to look back at him. “What’s wrong?”
“You… let him borrow your clothes?”
“He didn’t have time to get ready and his other clothes were still being washed,” Minhyun tells him. “He looked extra cute in it, though, don’t you think?” He wonders to himself, grinning at the thought, “Maybe I should have let him keep it. He looks way better in them than I do.”
“Right, right.” Aron nods his head slowly, as if trying to fully take in Minhyun’s words. “Sometimes I forget that you act like this when it’s about JR.”
“Act like what?” Now it’s Minhyun’s turn to stop. “I don’t think I’m behaving any differently than normal.”
Aron quickly interjects, hastening his walking pace so that he passes Minhyun and grabs his arm, tugging insistently.. “It’s nothing! C’mon, Minhyun, you said you were hungry, right?”
Minhyun lets the older man tow him off by the arm for a few moments before they end up stopping in front of a ramen shop.
“Alright!” Aron says, still a little too loud and eager to sound completely natural to Minhyun’s ears, but he doesn’t try to question it. “How about ramen? You’re fine with ramen, aren’t you Minhyun? My treat!” And without even pausing to give Minhyun the time to answer, he pulls him into the restaurant.
Well, at least Minhyun likes ramen.
[Minki]
Minhyun
Minhyun
Hwang answer me
Hey
[Minhyun]
?
?What’s up
[Minki]
Are you free right now?
[Minhyun]
): Sorry, I’m busy
Some of the staff made a mistake at work so I'm staying behind to fix it
?Why
[Minki]
Wait if you’re working then don’t text me!!
Don’t blame me if you get in trouble
..
.
Minhyun?
Minhyun
[Minhyun]
You told me not to text you
[Minki]
I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out
But clearly you’re busy so like nevermind
I’m just really bored
And sad
[Minhyun]
): ?Oh no why are you sad
I could try to finish up quickly? But I don’t know when I’ll be done
[Minki]
It’s okay!! Just do your job properly okay
I was just bored and started rewatching old JR videos
And I miss him sm omg 😢😢😢
Like he’s still active on insta but it’s been so long since he went live
I am Missing him big time 💔
[Minhyun]
Yeah I miss him too
He’s been really busy with comeback prep
?But maybe I can try asking him to go live even if it’s for a short bit
[Minki]
Yeah sure alright go ask your ‘boyfriend’ 🙄
[Minhyun]
???He is my boyfriend though
I can try messaging him later
[Minki]
Yeah yeah whatever
😒
Now quit texting me I don't want you to get fired
God knows you won't be able to survive without a job
[Minhyun]
/: Rude
😊👋 But thanks love you too
It turns out that Minhyun has multiple messes that he has to sort out at work, and by the time he finally finishes, the sun has already set. He’s completely exhausted from having to deal with a lot of frustrating interns and their flubs, so all he wants to do is go home and sleep until morning.
He wonders how Minki is doing. Minhyun really didn’t want to just leave him alone when he said he wasn’t feeling great, but he hopes that what he was able to do had helped cheer him up at least a little bit.
He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket, remembering that he set it like that so that he’d be able to focus on finishing up his work. Usually he wouldn’t bother checking until he got home, but a part of him wanted to see if Minki had messaged him any more after Minhyun went back to his work tasks.
He checks his phone, and lo and behold, he's gotten a couple of messages from Minki starting from around an hour ago.
[Minki]
OH MYGODDDD
JR IS ON V-APP
OH MY GOD
HE LOOKS SO CUTE 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
I MISSED HIM SOOO MUCH
Most of the messages are of similar sentiment, full of emojis and various typos, up until the most recent one that Minhyun had gotten moments ago. They make him laugh, glad that Minki's mood has been improved and that he's feeling better.
Minhyun texts him back.
[Minhyun]
😊 Glad you're feeling better
🙈 You're welcome by the way
The reply comes almost instantly.
[Minki]
Wait what do you mean
?????
Wait
Hwang Minhyun what the fuck
It’s a strange feeling to have, when you realize your friends are intentionally keeping something from you. That is what Minhyun has been feeling, at least, in the last couple of months. He still spends time with his friends just like always, but lately he’s been feeling an obvious disconnect between them, like a metaphysical wall that separates him despite being right there with them.
It’s the most obvious when he’s with Minki.
They haven’t been hanging out as much as before, the other always claiming that work has been getting busier and that he can’t afford to slack off during important times like these. Whenever they do find time to meet, Minki is accompanied by either Dongho or Aron, often even both of them. Minhyun doesn’t mind it at all, enjoying the time he can spend with all three of his friends, until it gradually dawns upon him that each of them are keeping him at arm’s length.
It’s subtle things at first; they share a few looks that Minhyun doesn’t understand, they whisper in each other’s ears and refuse to tell Minhyun. But then that turns into avoiding Minhyun and hanging out together without him, and honestly, Minhyun is feeling pretty hurt. If he had done something to provoke this behavior, he at least wants to know what he did instead of being kept in the dark.
And this weird distancing lasts for a while, until the chance to confront them appears in the form of the three of them inviting themselves over to his apartment.
He has it all planned out in his head of how to go about it. They all gather in the living room, there’s snacks involved, and they have a very long and understanding conversation about their friendship and the importance of communication.
But what he doesn’t expect is for Dongho to manhandle him into taking a seat on the couch while Aron and Minki stand in front of him with equally worrying and determined faces. It catches him so off guard that he lets it all happen and unfold before him.
He wants to say something, but Aron beats him to the punch.
“I’m sorry we have to do this, Minhyun, but the three of us have been discussing this for a while and we all agreed that we needed to talk about this.”
“Talk about what?” Minhyun asks. He’s at least got somewhat of an answer to why the three of them have been excluding Minhyun out of some kind of secret they’re all sharing, but what he still doesn’t get why they’re leaving him out in the first place.
Across from him, Aron crosses his arms. “Look, Minhyun,” he says sagely. “You know we love you, right? So believe us when we say we’re concerned about—”
Minki bursts from next to him. “About how you keep saying you’re dating JR when you’re not!” he exclaims, slamming a hand down onto Minhyun’s coffee table. “No matter how many times he says he loves us or whatever doesn’t mean he actually does!”
“But I am dating Jonghyun,” Minhyun states matter-of-factly.
Minki screeches and Dongho has to cross over the couch to hold him back from wrapping his bony fingers around Minhyun's neck.
Aron sighs deeply, placing a placating hand on Minki’s shoulder. “This is what we’re talking about, Minhyun. We think this is becoming a problem.”
Minhyun still can’t wrap his head around what’s happening. “I really don’t get what’s going on? Is this why you’ve all been avoiding me lately?”
“It’s sort of an intervention,” Dongho answers, still holding onto a fuming Minki. “Like, it was funny when Minki kept getting mad at you, but you’ve been on about this since we’ve met, and it’s a little creepy, honestly.”
“But how does this relate to my relationship with Jonghyun?”
“Because you don’t have a relationship with JR,” Minki says, wriggling out from Dongho’s grasp and pointing a finger at Minhyun.
Aron clarifies, voice laced with concern. “What he means to say, is that we’re worried about you. This isn’t good for your health.”
“Being delusional, that is,” Dongho adds bluntly. From next to him, Minki nods in agreement as Aron looks at them with exasperation.
“I get that you’re his fan,” Aron says, much more gently than the other two. “But there’s always a line that fans shouldn’t cross.”
“Guys, I—” Minhyun swallows dryly. “I always thought you were joking about it, but you really don’t believe me?”
“We thought you were joking,” Dongho says.
Minhyun shakes his head, bewildered and a bit offended. “I thought I did something to make you all mad at me and I was worrying this whole time about what I could have possibly done and how I could fix it when this was about my completely real relationship?”
Aron, at least, has the decency to flinch at Minhyun’s tone and word choice. “We didn’t know how to approach the subject with you. It took us a while to even decide on how to talk about this which apparently,” he pauses, narrowing his eyes at Minki and Dongho. “We still need to work on.”
“Well Minhyun better get it through his thick head that pretending to date JR isn’t cute,” Minki barks.
And Minhyun feels like a broken record. “I am dating him. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to say.” It feels like talking to three stubborn brick walls, because they don’t let up on their disappointed stares even when Minhyun is speaking the whole, uncontrived truth.
Minki looks like he’s about to say something else, but he’s cut off by the sharp click of the lock on Minhyun’s front door. He frowns. “Did you have someone else coming over?”
Minhyun shakes his head. He didn’t plan on anyone else visiting other than the ones already in the room. Not only that, but not many people had access to the key to his apartment other than his parents and older sister, who would have called him in advance to inform him.
So that doesn’t leave many options for who else could be letting themselves into his home, other than maybe a thief, which is a very unlikely possibility considering the security of his building.
But it seems like he doesn’t need to guess at all, because the muffled voice that comes from the entrance is so familiar that Minhyun knows exactly who it is when he hears his name being called out.
“Minhyun? Do you have guests over?”
Minhyun snaps his head up, quickly jumping up from the couch. “In the living room!”
A few moments later, a familiar figure emerges from the hall and into the room, face covered by a baseball cap and mask. They stop briefly after noticing that Minhyun isn't alone, but that isn't enough to stop them from walking up to Minhyun and letting themself be embraced in a tight hug.
“I thought you had a schedule today?” Minhyun asks as he lets go, but still lets his hands hang loosely around the other’s shoulders.
“I finished early so I thought I could surprise you, but I guess today wasn’t a good day?” the other replies, tilting their head towards Minhyun’s friends. Their eyebrows scrunch together cutely from underneath the cap. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
Minhyun shakes his head and blurts out a response immediately. “Of course not! You can visit anytime. Don’t mind them at all!”
He hears an indignant ‘hey!’ from Dongho, but he pointedly ignores it.
“I don’t want to take time away from you spending it with your friends, though.”
It's wonderfully considerate, and Minhyun feels like swooning. Maybe he already is.
Another beat passes and there’s a choked gasp followed by Minki whispering loudly, “Oh my God.”
At that, the other finally turns out of Minhyun’s hold to finally address the other three in the room. Minhyun watches him carefully as he brushes off some invisible dirt off his sweater before pulling down the mask and cap in order to bow properly—90 degree angle and everything.
There’s multiple gasps at that.
“Hello,” he greets them with his signature beaming smile. “Thanks for always taking care of this weirdo for me. I’m Kim Jonghyun, but I guess you already knew that?”
A thump, a yell, and chaos ensues.
“Guys, I think Minki just fainted.”
“Your friends seem really fun,” Jonghyun tells him when they’re finally left alone after the absolute chaos that had been the past hour and a half.
Minhyun is with him in the kitchen, busying himself with refilling his cup of tea and watching the amber liquid settle within the ceramic. “Yeah.”
“I would love to hang out with them after promotions. I still need to hear about all the embarrassing stories they have about you.”
“Yeah…”
He knows Jonghyun is teasing him to get a reaction, but Minhyun still can’t seem to laugh it off like he always does whenever they banter with each other.
And Jonghyun definitely notices the change in response. He places a hand on Minhyun’s shoulder, turning him away from his mug in order to face him. “Hey,” he says softly, his other hand coming up to cup the side of Minhyun’s face. “What’s bothering you?”
Minhyun lets out a sigh, leaning into the touch. “Is it that hard to believe that you would date me?”
Jonghyun blinks. “What?”
“Like,” Minhyun begins. “None of them believed me when I told them that we were dating. Am I not a good boyfriend?"
“Don’t say that. You're a wonderful boyfriend," Jonghyun says. He leans in to peck Minhyun on the lips. "You're so patient and understanding whenever we can't see each other or go out together. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve you."
Minhyun shakes his head, reaching out to wrap his arms around Jonghyun's waist to pull him close and rest his chin on his shoulder. "You deserve everything, Jonghyunnie. I love you."
He can't see Jonghyun's face, but he can hear the wide grin in his voice when he replies, "I love you, too. You deserve it all just as much as I do, so don't say stuff like that anymore." Minhyun feels Jonghyun shift his head, lightly pressing a kiss to his temple. "I'll be sad if you do, and you don't want that, do you, Minhyunnie?"
Minhyun just holds him tighter in response, making Jonghyun giggle at the clinginess. He feels a hand run up and down his back comfortingly. "Are you okay, though?"
"What do you mean?"
"I know you weren't really expecting to meet them today, and I know Minki can be kind of overwhelming when you're not prepared for it."
He can still remember how Minki, who fortunately fainted only momentarily before he sprung back into consciousness, had instantly begun asking questions about every detail of Minhyun and Jonghyun's relationship along with duly fanboying over being in the same room as Kim Jonghyun. Aron and Dongho, on the other hand, took it all in stride and hit it off with Jonghyun pretty well. But at the end of it all, even Minhyun felt exhausted after having to clear things up with everyone else so that they were finally on the same page with no more misunderstandings and worrisome assumptions.
He hears Jonghyun laugh airily. "I didn't mind it at all. Besides, they’re your friends and I’ve always wanted to meet them since you talk about them so much. I had fun."
Minhyun breathes out a relieved sigh, bringing his head closer to nuzzle Jonghyun’s. “You’re an angel. Too good for this world,” he mumbles.
“And,” Jonghyun adds. “I found it cute how much of a fan Minki is. I think he might be the biggest fan I’ve met so far in my career.”
"Hey," Minhyun says, pulling away to give his boyfriend front row seats to his perfectly perfected pout—the one that he knows Jonghyun is particularly weak to. "I thought I was your biggest fan."
Jonghyun rolls his eyes and playfully flicks Minhyun's forehead, causing him to yelp. "Say that again when you actually get into one of my fansigns."
Minhyun rubs at the spot. “Y’know, I think as your boyfriend, I should be getting special perks here."
"You do," Jonghyun tells him simply. "You get the extra special perk of being able to cuddle with me while we watch that drama you recommended. That’s special enough, don’t you think?"
Minhyun hums, pretending to be deep in thought. “Guess I can’t say no to that. As long as I get to kiss you during it.”
“You get to kiss me more than just during it.” Jonghyun smiles at him coyly, taking hold of Minhyun’s hands and guiding him out of the kitchen.