Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Changbin was lounging in one of the lawn chairs in his spacious garden even though it was a little chilly outside. He was bored because he had finished his studies before summer and would only start helping his father in his company in the new year. That, and he loved watching the gardener, also his friend, doing his job. Why? Because it was satisfying to watch the process of the hedges being cut into neat shapes, seeing the garden get cleaned up with every weed that was pulled out, smelling the iconic smell of freshly mowed grass, enjoying the sound of water splashing onto the dirt. The fact that the man carrying out those actions was very handsome didn’t play a role at all. Not at all.

“Isn’t it a little too cold to be staring at my ass all day long?” Minho questioned, trying to look annoyed, but Changbin noticed the small twitches of the corners of his mouth. 

“I’m bored.” Changbin whined. “And this isn’t how you should talk to your employer.”

Minho rolled his eyes and stood up from his crouching position, wiping some dirt off his pants. “First of all, you don’t pay me, your parents do. Second of all, you’re also the one who’s constantly telling me we should treat each other as friends and I shouldn’t let the fact that I work for your parents get in the way.” He walked over to a huffing and pouting Changbin and patted him on his shoulder. “Can’t you go hang out with Hyunjin, Jeongin or Jisung, or all of them, or something? We all know how much our cleaner likes it when they come over.”

“Do you want me to go away?” 

“Well, I’m flattered that you like spending your time watching me at work, even though it’s cold, but I don’t want your parents to scold me for letting you catch a cold because of this.” Minho smirked a little. 

“Aww, you care about me~” Changbin teased to get the attention away from his own warm cheeks. “But my parents won’t scold you for that, they’ll scold me.”

“Okay, deserve then.” Minho said and dodged Changbins hand that was flying at him. “I’m surprised you’re still so spoiled despite that.” 

"Meanie." 

"But you love me~" Minho grinned and walked away to focus on his work again. He was right. They bickered and teased each other from time to time, yes, but that was one of their ways of showing their affection, to show that they remembered every word and every action of the other, and it didn't start that way. 

When Minho was just hired to be their gardener, Changbin hadn’t been that surprised that he was so young, because his parents had done that more often, hiring various young people who needed some extra money and maybe a place to stay to come work in and around the house. There was Chan, their gatekeeper and sometimes assigned to be Changbins bodyguard, Seungmin, their cleaner and servant in general who Changbins parents had kind of adopted as their third child because he was their first employee, and Felix, their cook. All of them lived with him and had become Changbins friends, and Changbins own friends had taken a liking to them as well, for which he was glad. 

Anyway, back to Minho. At first, he had just been polite to him and treated him formally, but after Changbin had made it clear that he wanted to be friends, Minho had immediately switched gears, skipped formalities and small talk, and acted as if they were friends. From there the teasing and bickering had increased the more they had gotten comfortable with each other. Minho liked to call Changbin spoiled (which he kind of was) and tease him for the fact that other people always did things for him, but whenever Changbin was fooling around to write and make music with Jisung, and later Chan too, in the garden or in Changbins room (window open), he never missed the impressed looks and claps or small compliments Minho would give. The fact that it was not common for Minho to shower someone with compliments or show a lot of physical or direct affection only made it more special when he did compliment Changbin on his writing or rapping, or when he did suddenly show worry or laugh freely at some dumb joke he had made, or whenever he would (although jokingly mostly?) call Changbin cute. 

In short, Changbin had developed a massive crush on his gardener. He didn't know if Minho had noticed (although he was totally not subtle), because Minho had always teased Changbin with things like 'you love me', or holding his hand to make him flustered or something. If Minho knew about it, he didn't say anything, but he also didn't act disgusted around Changbin, so Changbin honestly didn't know what to do. Just like Minho, he wasn't the best in confronting his own feelings, so if they both liked each other, it wouldn't be said directly that soon. 

Changbin didn't mind that much, although it sometimes could be frustrating that Minho would wave off his advances as joking, but he was more or less used to it by now. He was also kind of afraid to ruin things with Minho. He was afraid that Minho acted like he didn't take the flirting seriously because he didn't want it to be real, and if Changbin had to choose between confronting his feelings and being honest to Minho, possibly ruining their friendship and making him uncomfortable, and keeping it at jokes while maintaining things how they were, it was easily the latter, however much it made Changbins heart ache sometimes. 

Changbins trip down memory lane was put to an abrupt halt when Minho suddenly let out an ungodly scream accompanied by sounds of rustles and crashes. Changbin immediately flew up from his chair, fight or flight instinct activated, ready to save his friend in need— 

"Guys, what the hell! I just finished trimming the hedges!" Minho exclaimed at Jisung, Hyunjin and Jeongin, who just somehow managed to climb over the hedges fencing off the garden from the outside world. "I can't imagine that Chan didn't let you in, so why are you getting yourselves, and more importantly, my hedges disheveled to see Changbin?" He turned to Changbin now. "Did they tell you that they were going to come over?" 

“Uh…” Changbin reached for his phone to check if his friends had texted him, but Hyunjin already began speaking.

“It was Jisungs idea to climb over the hedges. He initially wanted to scare Chan from behind the gate, but every other person scared is a nice bonus.” 

Changbin laughed and he saw that Minho was able to laugh at it as well. Typical Jisung. 

“Okay, I want to be there when we go scare Chan.” The gardener snickered. “But first, how did you even get over the hedges? They’re like two and a half meters high.”

“There’s this tree outside, that one—” Jisung explained and pointed to a tree just outside the garden. “And there’s a fire hydrant next to it, via that you can get into the tree and the rest is easy.”

“Yeah, even Hyunjin and I can do it!” Jeongin grinned and Changbin nodded, impressed with the fact that Jisung came up with it. I’ll have to remember that, maybe it’ll come in handy one day, he thought. Not that Chan was scary or something, he just thought it would maybe be fun to startle Minho too.

“Are we standing around for something still or are we going to scare Chan?” Jisung said and motioned everyone to come. “Hyunjin, you go at the back in case you can’t hold in your laugh, and at my count we’ll all scream.” 

Hyunjin nodded, already visibly holding in snickers, and they sneaked through the garden up to the gate, Jisung in the lead. Sure enough, Chan was standing in his usual spot near the front gate, unsuspecting of whatever was coming to him. Changbin was curious to see what kind of reaction the gatekeeper would have. Usually Changbin, Jisung, Hyunjin and Minho had the largest reactions to being startled, but Changbin couldn’t imagine that Chan wouldn’t be startled by Jisungs plan. 

Jisung turned around and started counting down from five before turning to Chan again. 3… 2… 1… They all let out the loudest scream they could manage, Jeongin letting out an unholy high pitched screech, while Jisung gripped Chans shoulders tightly. Chan almost jumped through the proverbial roof.

“ FREAKING Christ —” He yelled and stumbled to the ground before he turned around, hand on his heart as he took in the situation with wide eyes. “Wh— Jisung? Hyunjin and Jeongin too? Since when— How did you get in?"

"That's a secret~" Jisung singsonged teasingly, but extended a hand through the gate to help Chan up. 

"Well, you obviously came via the garden and not over this wall," Chan pointed to the walls connected to the gate. "because firstly, I would've noticed, I'm not that bad of a gatekeeper, secondly, Hyunjin has leaves and pieces of hedge in his hair." 

Changbin turned to his friends and snickered at Hyunjin going red and trying to get the leaves out of his long hair, and he saw Jeongin checking himself too. Their parents would probably scold them for getting their expensive clothes dirty, even though they had more than enough money to get them cleaned or get new ones. 

"Minho? Do you know how they got in?" Chan asked. 

"I do, but I'm not telling." 

The gatekeeper sighed but grinned after. "Okay then. Well, as long as you guys don't hurt yourselves it's fine I guess." He shrugged and turned back to face outside again. 

"Of course he's not even mad that we startled him." Jisung snorted as they walked back to the house. 

"Yeah, it's Chan, he only cares about the wellbeing of others." Minho shrugged and waved them goodbye. "Well, anyway, have fun hanging out or something, and don't forget to warn Seungmin before so he knows he has extra work today. Bye." 

“I’m improving!” Jisung yelled after him, but Minho just laughed and waved him off, saying, “Tell Seungmin that!”

“It’s not like Hyunjin is that much better…” The short brunette huffed. 

“Yeah, but you know Seungmin has a soft spot for Jinnie.” Jeongin clapped a comforting hand on Jisungs shoulder, and Changbin mirrored that.

“What? No he doesn’t.” Hyunjin sputtered. “Jisung just makes a bigger mess so I don’t stand out.”

“No I don’t! I agree with Jeongin, Seungmin must have either have a soft spot for you or he hates me—”

“Which definitely he doesn’t—” Changbin quickly added in.

“—Exactly. So it’s settled.”

“I don’t know.” Hyunjin shrugged, he was blushing. “If he does, it’s not as obvious as Changbins crush on Minho! Even though Minho doesn’t acknowledge that either.”

“Don’t talk so loud!” Changbin hissed, quickly looking to see if Minho had heard. 

“Nice subject change, Hyunjin." Jeongin commented and looked towards the front door. "Ah, hi Seungmin." 

"Hi." Seungmin smiled and waved at them before his expression turned blank. "Your screams could've been heard from kilometers away, so I looked outside and of course you were pranking Chan— I'm guessing that was Jisungs idea?—" Jisung smirked and nodded, and Seungmin laughed. "Nice. Maybe if you tell me how you did it I'll forgive if you make a mess today. But first, come in, it's kind of cold outside." 

Jeongin laughed as Jisung pouted and Changbin, again, patted Jisung on the shoulder and gave him some comforting words. Meanwhile Hyunjin seemed a little pale. 

"How long had he been standing there?" He whispered. "Do you think he heard us talking about him?" 

"Let's check." Jeongin shrugged. "Hey Seungmin! What did you hear from our conversation?—" 

"Jeongin!—" 

"What? Were you talking about me?" Seungmin grinned, and his eyes shortly shot to Hyunjin, who was meanwhile getting reduced to a panicking mess. "I heard you talking the whole time, but I only understood the words from when Hyunjin was yelling about Changbins crush on Minho." 

"We were just establishing the fact that you have a soft spot for Hyunjin because you always complain about me making a mess, but never about Hyunjin, who's almost as bad as me." Jisung said blatantly, which didn't really help Hyunjins case. 

Seungmins eyebrows shot up in surprise and his cheeks seemed redder than before, he probably didn't expect them to be talking about that, but he quickly regained himself. "Hyunjin is almost as bad? I find that hard to believe." 

"Well— uhm, I wouldn't say that I'm almost as bad as Jisung," Hyunjin stammered. "but I'm, uhm, I have to confess I'm not the cleanest of persons and I have made messes here before." 

Another surprised look from Seungmin. "You have? Oh, I've never noticed, I guess." He mumbled and shrugged. "But that's because Jisung always leaves his stuff hanging around everywhere, so I know it's him."

"I just like leaving my mark. Let people know I was here." Jisung defended and his friends snorted. 

"You already let us know with your voice, though— all of you." Seungmin retorted. "Anyway, as always, please try to clean up after yourselves more— speaking of that, Hyunjin you have something in your hair.” He reached over to get some leftover hedge out of Hyunjins hair and Changbin saw Hyunjins cheeks redden at the proximity between them. When Seungmin took notice of the others shy look, his cheeks began to match Hyunjins in color. “Uhm, anyway— tell me about the prank you pulled on Chan." 

Seungmins parental demeanor quickly changed to his childlike one as Jisung told him about the prank (Seungmin loved pranks). Meanwhile Changbin got distracted thinking about what they had talked about earlier and the moment he just witnessed. Does Seungmin have a soft spot for Hyunjin? It was true that he never complained about Hyunjin, while he did about Jisung making messes, but it was also true that when Jisung made a mess, it was obviously his— but it was also true that Seungmin liked teasing and pranking everyone just like Changbin did, but Changbin couldn't remember when Seungmin had ever done that to Hyunjin individually, and Changbin had no idea why not, but it also often happened that Jeongin, Hyunjin and Jisung just hung out in and around Changbins house, interacting with Felix, Minho, Chan and Seungmin, so Changbin didn't experience everything everyone did. Man, those are a lot of 'buts', it makes my head hurt. 

In short, Changbin didn't know what it was. It could be nothing, because he and Seungmin often talked to each other about everything and nothing, but it also could be that Seungmin didn't know how to bring it up. Just like Changbin he didn't like being super forward about his feelings, he liked being sarcastic and keeping it lighthearted most of the time, having designated times for when he would be serious. And it wasn't like they shared everything with each other. Almost everything, but not everything. It took Changbin a while and Seungmin asking about it for him to open up about his crush on Minho too. 

"Changbin. You're spacing out." Felix said— since when did he join us? 

"Sorry! Uhm, what were we doing?" 

"We were just done telling Felix about the prank too." Jeongin explained. "And that's what we originally came here for, so now we're free to do whatever we want!" 

"Like talk about the fact that you still haven't told Minho about your crush." Hyunjin began, earning a few nods from his friends. 

"No, no, no, no. We're not doing this again." Changbin shook his head. 

"Why not? You're always staring at him while he does his job, that's basically the same as telling him about it." 

"No! It's not! If I tell him, it gets real— like, real real." 

"Isn't that what you want, though?" Felix asked a difficult question. 

Changbin was silent for a moment, pondering what to say. "It is, but… I don't think it's what he wants… But— why are we bringing this up again now, by the way?" 

"Because you still haven't told him." Jeongin answered matter-of-factly. "You can never know for sure that he doesn't want it unless you ask." 

Changbin sighed. Jeongin was right, but he was afraid of change, afraid of Minhos reaction. 

"I know, but it's not that simple— and we've been over this! Look, I'll think about it, okay? I'll see if I find a good opportunity to bring it up." 

With that, they luckily dropped the subject and decided to just fool around and play some games with each other until dinner, for which everyone stayed over, and then after they just hung around doing whatever as they often did. 

Changbin decided to use that opportunity to try and ask Seungmin about any soft spots he might have. 

"Hey Seungmin?" 

Seungmin looked up at him from where he was cleaning up some things. "Hmm? Just a moment, I'm almost done. Surprisingly they kept things relatively clean this time!" He chuckled and finished up. "What's up?" 

"Uhm, I was just curious about something?" 

Seungmin nodded to signal him to continue. 

"Yeah, so, we were briefly talking about that Jisung and Jeongin thought you might have a soft spot for Hyunjin?" Changbin hesitantly began, and he saw Seungmins eyes widen a little, but he stayed quiet, waiting for Changbin to elaborate. "And I thought about it, and I can't know if it's true or not of course because I can't look inside of your head, but I wondered why you don't seem to prank or tease Hyunjin as much as the others? Is there a reason?" 

"Oh, that. I think I can tell you, yeah." Seungmin gave a half smile. "Remember when Hyunjin just started his dance lessons and he fought with his parents, so he came here?" 

Changbin nodded, it wasn't a nice memory, seeing Hyunjin so sad had broken his heart. But it was a while ago, and he remembered that Hyunjin had felt a lot better after Changbin and Felix had given him some big hugs and let him stay and calm down in Changbins room. 

"Yeah, so I didn't know that he was in your room and that he wanted to be alone, so I accidentally came in to clean, but he said I could just pretend he didn't exist and do my job. I protested at first, because I wanted to give him space, but he insisted, saying he didn't want to be in the way. 

I didn't know him that well yet back then, but I kind of wanted to do my job, so I did, but he just kept crying and I felt bad, so I asked him if it helped to talk, to just rant and let his frustrations all out to me, and I guess he was done with all the crying too, because he agreed to it. So then I just held his hands, because I thought that would soothe him a little, as he ranted about everything that bothered him, not only about the people in his dance class and his parents, but just everything. And then I tried to give my insights, tell him what I'd do, and I think we talked for hours about our views on life and obstacles and stuff." Seungmin smiled a little at the memory, although it wasn't one of the happiest ones. "And that made me realize that Hyunjin just always works hard and does his best, but still some people diminish his accomplishments, which just baffles me, so I don't feel the need to tease him or prank him, you know? Because his intentions are always pure."

"Ah." Changbin just said. He had to take a moment to process everything Seungmin had just said. "Wow, I mean— I get it, Hyunjin is very sensitive, but he's not afraid to tease us, though, so saying his intentions are always pure… That's more describing Felix." 

"But you and Jisung are just too teasable." Seungmin laughed. "But I'll correct myself. His intentions are always clear, he's very open." 

Changbin snickered and nodded. "So you have a soft spot for him?" 

His friends cheeks turned red as he averted his gaze. "Uhm, I guess I do. But it's like he just unconsciously coerces you to, in a gentle way."

Changbin hummed and bit back a chuckle. Okay, I can see where he's coming from, but he definitely has a soft spot for our Jinnie. Cute. 

Changbin knew Hyunjin thought Seungmin was cute, but he thought that of lots of people, although mostly of Jeongin and Seungmin, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. He hoped Seungmin would be braver than him, and that something lovely would grow between him and Hyunjin. Seungmin deserved that. 

Changbin was sitting at the dining table, eating the breakfast Felix had made, which was delicious as always, and scrolling through his phone when his parents approached him.

“Changbin, dear?” His mother began, and Changbin pocketed his phone to focus his attention on his parents. Changbin only gave a nod because his mouth was still stuffed with food, and he was raised with strict etiquettes. 

His parents sat across from him and Changbin suddenly felt nervous, they only do this if they plan on having a serious conversation…

“We have been thinking…” His mother continued. “You’re not that young anymore, and we know you can make decisions on your own, but we’re still your parents, here to guide you a little in life. That, and you will be making your first steps in the family company in a little more than a month.”

Changbins eyebrows shot up. I’m not that young anymore? I’m 21! Where is this going?

He just nodded and hummed, waiting for them to continue.

“Exactly. So when are you going to find a partner?” Oh. His father was a bit blunter and straight-forward than his mother. 

“Uhm— Well, uhm…” Changbin hesitated on what he should say. Should he bring up his crush on Minho or do his parents want him to find someone wealthy? They were totally fine with Changbin being gay, but wanting to date someone who worked for them? Changbin didn’t know what their views on that were.

“We’re just asking because it’s been a while since you’ve dated and we were wondering if you were looking or not.” His mother explained when Changbin couldn’t form words. “So we mean, should we help you find someone or will you start looking more actively?”

Well, now Changbin stood before a choice. Should he bring up Minho or not? Knowing himself, he wouldn't have the courage, mostly because he was afraid his parents would accidentally tell Minho, or force him to accept Changbin or something. Maybe he could come up with a compromise. 

"Uhm, I don't think I need you to find someone, but I have one question. Would it be okay if I find someone who doesn't necessarily have a lot of money? Does money matter?" He asked, satisfied with the question he came up with. 

"Well, if you ask such insightful questions when you take over dads business, you won't have to worry about money, no." His mother smiled. "The more money the better of course so you have more backup, but I don't think it's a strict requirement. What do you think, honey?" 

"As long as you keep up the honor of our family, everything is fine." His dad gave his typical vague statement, but his mother nodded as if everything made sense. 

"Exactly. Does your question mean that you already have someone in mind?" His mother asked, almost cooing at him. 

"Uhm, maybe. We'll see how it goes." Changbin wanted out of this awkward conversation, and luckily it seemed like his parents would grant that wish, because they nodded and patted him on the shoulder before they left. Although— now Changbin was left with his breakfast and a lot of thoughts about Minho. Maybe I can use the fact that my parents want me to find someone as an excuse to confess? Would that seem insincere? Maybe it would, so Changbin tried to come up with scenarios where Minho would accuse him of insincerity, but he couldn't focus and it was impossible to predict what Minho would say. 

When he was done with his breakfast he laid down his chopsticks with determination to go and find Minho and at least try to confess. See if he had the courage and else see if he could find out if Minho was at least interested in him. 

As expected, he found their gardener sitting on the grass in the garden. It was one of the only predictable things about Minho, but Changbin liked Minhos unpredictability. Minho was just languidly tending some plants, talking to them once in a while, and Changbin couldn't help but stare at how gorgeous he looked. The wind was blowing through his hair, messing it up slightly, but it made him all the more attractive. His small smile as he brushed the strands out of his face did things to Changbins heart he wouldn't easily admit. 

When Minho suddenly looked at him, Changbins breath hitched for a moment. 

"You're here to stare at me again?" He teased, making Changbin blush more than usual. 

"No— Uhm, I wanted to just talk— hang out." It was already not going smoothly, but he wasn't giving up yet despite the nerves that were quickly surfacing. 

Minho shot him a curious look. "Sure, did you have something in mind to do or talk about?" 

Quickly, lie or tell the truth? "Uhm, not in particular." Changbin said and sat down next to Minho in the grass. Okay, half-lie, I guess. "But my parents called me old this morning." 

"What?" Minho laughed. "You're a baby! How can they call you old?" 

"Well, they didn't literally say 'old', they said I'm 'not that young anymore'." Changbin answered, relaxing a little. "They want me to find a partner before I'm too old."

"Oh." The older had an unreadable expression, but that soon turned into a smirk. "Oh no, are Chan and I doomed now? Too old to find love?" 

"I don't know, they didn't give a limit, but I think my parents rules don't necessarily work for anyone else other than me and my sister." Changbin let out a breathy laugh. He didn't see an opening to bring up Minho yet. 

"So? What are you going to do? I haven't heard you talk about crushes or dating in a long time…" Minho pondered and he looked like he was thinking hard, eyes shooting towards and away from Changbin a few times. He was being more serious than Changbin had expected. 

A short silence fell because Changbins throat had officially closed up. He could easily say 'that's because I want to date you', but no sound came out. Minho looked at him again, the curious look returning. 

"Did you come to me for advice or..?" 

Why isn't he teasing me? Why isn't he bringing himself up? Where are the 'you love me' jokes? Is he that disgusted with the idea of me seriously liking him? Changbin was kind of panicking. 

"I— what if I wanted you to be my partner?" He was amazed he had gotten that out, because his heart was hammering against his chest with record force, but he needed to know now. 

Minho snorted. "Okay, so you're here to joke around. Sorry that I thought it was any of my business. No wonder I never heard about your love life." 

What the heck? Changbin was utterly confused, but he couldn't have Minho thinking that Changbin didn't care about him or didn't trust him. "Wh— who said I was joking?" Damn it, keep your voice steady, Changbin. 

He didn't know if this was the right move, maybe Minho meant that he didn't want it to be serious, but there was a tiny spark in Changbin that hoped Minho was just being insecure because he liked him back. 

"What?—" His friend actually looked a little unsettled? Had Changbin officially screwed up? “Well, that’s not how you’ll get your parents off your back.”

Was Changbin just dumb or was Minho just spouting random stuff? On one hand his mind screamed at him ‘stop. Minho doesn’t like you, isn’t it obvious by now?’ , but on the other hand he somehow wanted to ask further, he wanted to understand Minho, because he hadn’t explicitly rejected him yet.

“What are you talking about?” That was a safe question, right?

“First of all, your parents wouldn’t want you to date their employee, I think. Second of all, I don’t even want to be your tool to get your parents to stop asking about your love life, I don’t even get why you would ask me for that. Jisung, Hyunjin or Jeongin would be way better for that.” Minho was rambling and it felt like Changbin was witnessing a whole new Minho. 

“Wh— uhm, well, my parents said money didn’t really matter as long as I held up the honor of our family.” Changbin was still utterly confused, and also kind of hurt that Minho thought he wanted to use him. “And— and I never said I wanted to use you to get my parents off my back. You really think I would do that? I mean without being clear about it?”

Minhos face was showing more emotions than Changbin had ever seen, they were all minimally showing, but still present. He recognized shock, a hint of guilt maybe? Did he see frustration too? That wouldn’t be good.

“I— no, you’re right, sorry. But I just— nevermind.” The older looked away from him at the plants. “Anyway, I don’t think it’s very honorable to date your gardener, and you know that if I didn’t have this job, I would basically be homeless, so I mean, I don’t know what your plan was with asking what if you wanted me to be your partner, but it’s obviously not going to work. Especially because you will work at the company next month.” He was mindlessly picking at the grass with some unreadable expression on his face. “I know you’re not used to it, but you can’t always get what you want.” Somehow it felt like he was more referring to himself than to Changbin.

Was this it? Was this Minhos rejection? He never said that he didn’t like Changbin in that way, but it seemed like he wasn’t even considering the option that Changbin liked him, which Changbin hadn’t expected. He hadn’t expected that Minho wouldn’t get the hints and now Changbin couldn’t get the words ‘but I like you’ or whatever over his lips anymore. Maybe Minho just didn’t want to hear them and he didn’t want to hurt Changbin by directly telling him he didn’t want to date Changbin, but why did Changbin feel like this hurt more?

Maybe ‘it’s obviously not going to work’ was enough of a rejection and Minho, just like Changbin, didn’t want to be upfront. If Changbin wasn’t being clear, why should he expect Minho to be?

“O-okay.” Changbin managed to choke out eventually. “Sorry for bothering you, I guess.” He mumbled and stood up to drag himself away. He didn’t notice Minho flinch a little and watch him walk away with a pained look. 

Once Changbin reached his room he threw himself facedown on his bed. He knew it was a bad plan to try to confess to Minho when he couldn’t even be clear, but it hadn’t gone as he had expected at all. Now he was both confused and sad, but if Minho liked him, he would at least have said it, right? He would have acted differently, right? Or not? Changbin sighed into his blankets, his head hurt. 

He didn’t know how long he laid there until Seungmin came in to clean his room, pulling him out of his downwards spiral. 

“Changbin? What’s wrong? You’re lying in your ‘I’m sulking’ position.” Seungmin noted, he knew him too well. 

“Minho rejected me… I think.” Changbin pouted as he sat up straight on his bed and Seungmin sat next to him.

“What? Did you confess?” Seungmin seemed surprised. “And you think ?”

“I kind of confessed, uhm— it’s a long story.” Changbin sighed, but Seungmin prompted him to continue, so Changbin told him everything that had happened today.

“Wow. Uhm…” His friend seemed to search for words. “Well, it’s kind of weird that Minho was being so evasive and weird about it while he usually teases you for liking him so much… But maybe when it gets serious he wants you to be clear, maybe he didn’t want to assume things. I don’t really know.”

“Yeah, I know I maybe should’ve been clearer, but now I’m even more afraid.” Changbin explained. “He said it’s not going to work and I can’t always get what I want, that’s basically a rejection, right? Or are you saying I should try again?”

“Hmm. It indeed sounds like a rejection, but from what you said, it also sounds like he thinks it can’t work because of your difference in status and money.” Seungmin pondered. “I mean, if he's insecure about that, there's still a chance he might like you back? I think, although if he liked you wouldn’t he tell you and then state his insecurities? That is, if you were clear enough."

Changbin groaned and flopped himself backwards on the bed. "Ugh, everything is confusing… At this point I just hope I didn’t screw things up with him. I don’t know if I should try again.”

“You can take your time, let things sink in and then you’ll see further.” Seungmin smiled and patted a hand on Changbins belly.

“Oof. Thanks Seungmin. I understand why Hyunjin felt so much better after talking to you that time.” Changbin grinned when he saw the tips of his friends ears turn pink. He wanted to make a comment about it, but a knock on the door withheld him from doing so. Seungmin gave him a look that asked if he could let them in, and Changbin nodded.

“Yes?” Seungmin called and his face lit up and softened when he saw who had knocked. 

“Oh, hey Changbin.” Hyunjin said, poking his head in. “Am I interrupting something?”

"No, I was just done with my Seungmin therapy session." Changbin answered. 

"Oh, everything okay?" The taller asked and entered the room. 

"Minho kind of rejected me when I kind of vaguely confessed because my parents want me to hurry up and find a partner…" 

"Ouch." Hyunjin grimaced. "We're here for you, man… Was Minnie able to help a little?" 

"Yeah. He's a fine therapist." Changbin grinned. "I'll survive for now, I think. Were you here for a particular reason or just to hang out?" 

"Ah, I was actually here for a Seungmin therapy session too." Hyunjin chuckled a little. "Nothing serious! I just wanted to rant a little and Jisung was busy and I normally don't bother Jeongin with this kind of stuff, so I came here, but I get if you've already reached your limit in giving therapy." 

Changbin and Seungmin smiled at Hyunjins rambling, and the latter patted on the bed. "It's okay, there is room for more than one Seungmin therapy session per day. It's almost no effort." 

"Flexing with your natural ability to be understanding and put yourself in someones shoes?" Hyunjin giggled and sat down where Seungmin had patted. He didn't seem to be having any big concerns indeed. Maybe they do this more often? Although Hyunjin sometimes goes to Jisung as well if he needs some laughs. Changbin wouldn't be surprised if they did have semi-regular therapy sessions where they just let out their emotions, because Changbin thought they were really comfortable with each other. They all were with each other, but Hyunjin and Seungmin just seemed to be on another level or something. Changbin wouldn't try to put it into words. 

"Well, then I'll leave you two alone." He stood up from the bed and headed for the door. "Thanks again, Seungmin, for your help." 

"Anytime." Seungmin smiled and waved him goodbye. 

With that, Changbin left his room, but not before seeing Hyunjin take Seungmin in his arms. He smiled to himself, sighing.  Luckily they have it together, unlike me. 

Chapter Text

The next few days were a little awkward for Minho and Changbin. They were half avoiding each other. Whenever they crossed paths Changbin would look away and make sure he was out of there as fast as possible, leaving a confused Minho behind. He didn’t come to stare at Minho while he was gardening either, making Minho feel less excited to do his job. 

Chan, Felix and Seungmin had asked about it the night after it had happened, but Minho didn’t feel like talking about it. Sometimes he didn’t like sharing a room with the other servants, but usually it was kind of fun and he got to know almost everything that happened in and around the house. Seungmin and Chan tried to convince him to talk about it, saying it had helped a little for Changbin, but Minho had again declined.

He didn't understand why Changbin was so affected. He had just been joking about wanting to date Minho, right? He asked 'what if' and Minho had answered that question, although it had been a stupid question. Of course things wouldn't work out, they were too different, there were too many 'buts'. Changbin always said they should ignore their differences, but sometimes it wasn’t that easy.

Still, Minho felt like he had made a mistake, like he should’ve taken Changbin more seriously. But who could blame him? Changbin suddenly came to him asking ‘what if I wanted you to be my partner?’! Like, was he serious? Minho didn’t want to assume that, that would’ve been extremely embarrassing if he hadn’t been serious, but then Changbin had asked what if he was serious. That had been a hard question and Minhos mind had blanked at that, so he just said it couldn’t work because of their differences, because his parents probably didn’t want that, because it would be bad for Changbins reputation, because Minho didn’t particularly want to be fired and have to live homeless or something. If Changbin had really been serious he would have pushed further, right? He would have told him they would figure it out, he would convince his parents. Right?

Minho let out a groan, maybe he had been too evasive as well, but in the end something had to come from Changbin, right? He was afraid that if he tried something, Changbins parents would fire him, but maybe now he had scared Changbin away. Gosh this feelings shit is hard, he sighed, but Changbin avoiding me hurts too, so I’ll be the one to do something about that. 

With determination Minho went to find Changbin, he didn’t have any gardening duties right now anyway. He searched around the house and cursed it for being so damn big.

“Felix! Have you seen Changbin?” Minho asked when he crossed paths with the cook.

“Hmm? Uhm, last time I’ve seen him he was hanging around in the kitchen.” Felix answered. “He has been doing that more often lately, watching me cook too.”

“Maybe if he does that enough he’ll finally be able to cook something, or at least crack an egg.” Minho chuckled, but he felt a little pang in his chest for some reason. “Anyway— thank you Lix!”

“No problem.” Felix smiled, but Minho was already well on his way to the kitchen, and he was in luck, because indeed Changbin was there, leaning against the counters and scrolling through his phone.

“Changbin!” Minho said a bit too loud, making Changbin drop his phone and almost fall over. “Sorry. Uhm, what are you doing here? Isn’t scrolling on your phone more comfortable anywhere else?” He decided to give the other some room to get used to talking to him again before he got serious.

“Uhm, I was hanging here with Felix so I lingered here I guess.” Changbin shrugged, but Minho felt that wasn’t the whole truth. It was probably because Minho didn’t come in the kitchen that often and that kind of stung. 

“Are you mad at me?” He asked. Enough introductory conversation.

Changbins eyes widened at the sudden question, but he quickly shook his head. “No. Are you mad at me ?”

“No. I’m not the one avoiding the other.” Minho didn’t want to sound accusing, but he also couldn’t help that he had been a little hurt by it. 

“I thought you would want some space too…” The younger mumbled. “But I’m really not mad, I just thought you were weirded out by me or something.”

“I’m not, and I’m not mad either. And if you’re not mad at me, we can stop tiptoeing around each other, right?” Minho asked, hoping it would be clear that it was what he wanted. 

“So we’ll just forget about it?” Changbin seemed a little hesitant in asking it and Minho wasn’t sure what answer Changbin would want to hear.

“I mean, we don’t have to forget it, unless you want to or something, I meant more like, it’s not something to be awkward over, right? Let’s leave it in the past.” Minho answered after a short silence. “Unless— unless you still have something to say about it.” He mentally kicked himself for stuttering. You just said it’s not something to be awkward over!

“Uhm, no, we can leave it in the past, yeah.” Changbin chuckled, still not fully confident, and sighed. “Sorry for making a big deal out of it.”

“It’s fine. You can’t help being dramatic.” Minho teased to test the waters and was glad to see Changbin bring out his signature whiny pout. “Spoiled little baby Binnie~” 

“But— but you love me~” The younger teased back although Minho still saw his eyes waver with uncertainty, so Minho just huffed out a laugh and a ‘sure’ while he rolled his eyes instead of denying. 

They then went their own ways again, but Minho felt a lot lighter now. Changbin was right, Minho loved him at least as a friend.

The next day Minho had some gardening to do again, it was quite a job to maintain the spacious garden of the Seos, and he sincerely hoped Changbin would come watch him again. Luckily he passed him on his way to the garden, so he waved at him and nodded towards his equipment.

“I’m going gardening again today~” He playfully winked, happy with the flustered reaction of Changbin. 

“Oh I guess I’ll have to watch, huh? Make sure you’re doing your job right.” Changbin snickered and maybe Minho swooned a little. Let’s not do that, he told his heart.

When they stepped outside, they immediately got confronted with the cold weather. Damn, it’s freezing outside! It wasn’t that surprising since the winter had just started and Minho had checked the weather beforehand, but still, today was a colder day than usual, so Minho was extra glad Changbin would be by his side when he would do his job. Else he would be sulking in the cold all alone, and somehow Changbin made him feel warmer just with his presence. 

“You’re warm enough with that jacket?” Minho asked when he saw Changbin shiver.

“I’ll get a warmer one.” Changbin shook his head and quickly headed inside while Minho already got started on his job. 

When Changbin returned, he didn’t particularly say anything, he just sat down on his usual garden chair, but Minho didn’t mind. The fact that he still wanted to watch him in this cold and Minho could look back and see Changbins signature slight pout was enough to make Minho feel warmer and make him enjoy his job more. It was weird, but Minho heard that he was weird more often. 

“Can I help with something?” Changbin asked suddenly.

Minho looked behind him with a surprised look. “Hmm?”

“I mean, it’s cold, so it would be nice if you were finished earlier, right?”

He wants to help me garden to get out of the cold earlier instead of just saying ‘I’m cold, bye’? Minho didn’t know what he should do with that information, so he decided to tease. “You think you can do that? I know you always watch me garden— although, do you watch me garden, or do you watch me ?— but it’s not as easy as it looks, and you’re clumsy.” 

Changbin pouted and huffed, cheeks red from either the cold or embarrassment. “There must be something I can do. Oh! Do the fishes in the pond need to be fed? I can do that.”

Yes, Changbins family had a pond at the edge of their garden, and not just a little pond, a big and deep pond with fancy fish and all. The pond was so big that they even had a pier to reach the ends of the pond when fishing or feeding the fish. 

“You’re in luck, because I wanted to do that today indeed.” Minho grinned at the others enthusiasm. “The fish food is over there.” He pointed at his pile of equipment near him and Changbin jumped up and ran over to get it. Minho chuckled at the energy, but he guessed Changbin wanted to run himself warmer, because he was running to the pier as well.

Minho was watching him with a smile when he realized that the cold might’ve made the pier slippery since it had probably been freezing during the night. Fuck, Changbin can’t swim — before he could warn Changbin, the boy was already slipping and trying to slow himself down or grasp something to stabilize himself, but there was nothing, so he fell right into the middle of the pond, the deepest part, with a yell.

Minho didn’t hesitate any second to jump up and sprint over while discarding his jacket— he would only be weighed down by it— and in his sheer panic it seemed like time slowed down. Changbin was eerily silent, too busy with trying to breathe and keep his head above water and panicking that he had no time to scream. Those were signs of drowning, but Minho didn’t have time to think about that when he dove as far into the icy cold water as he could. Shit, Changbin hadn’t only fallen into the pond while he couldn’t swim, he was also wearing thick and heavy clothes and the water was freezing to the touch. 

Minho had to force himself to not give in to the cold, open his eyes and keep swimming. Luckily he reached Changbin fast, but lifting him and keeping him above water proved to be another challenge. 

"Breathe, Changbin, please breathe." He said as he quickly clapped on his back a few times before starting to swim back. Getting Changbin to cough out the water and breathe was most important. 

While swimming back, Minho himself submerged and swallowed some water a few times and he felt his muscles ache from the cold and the strain, but as long as Changbin was safe it would be fine. Changbin was still coughing and choking his lungs out when Minho managed to lift him out of the pond from the shallower part and both of them were still frozen in shock and fear, but Minho had no time for that, he wasn’t done helping Changbin.

He quickly climbed out too, coughing a bit, and grabbed the dry jacket that he had discarded earlier, draped it around the other coughing boy and took him in his arms while patting on his back to help him get the water out.

“It’s okay, Bin. We’re out. I’m here.” Minho soothed, ignoring his own discomforts. "I'm here. It's okay, breathe." 

Changbin was gripping Minhos shirt tightly for balance as he let out a few last coughs. He was still trembling and breathing frantically, so Minho gently took his head in his hands to make him look at him, and brushed a few wet strands out of his face. 

"Look at me. You can calm down now, okay? Remember to breathe. Follow me—" Minho took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth a few times, and Changbin followed, finding a slower pace to breathe at, still uneasy, but at least he wasn't hyperventilating anymore. "We need to get you inside so that you don't catch a cold. Can you walk?" 

Changbin squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, grip on Minho tightening because he was still trembling like crazy. His breathing was also speeding up again, which was bad. 

"Okay— okay." Minho needed to stay calm too. For Changbin. "Can you climb on my back?" He slowly let the younger go to position himself so that he could climb on his back, and luckily he managed. 

Minho quickly stood up, his legs almost giving in, reminding Minho of how much his muscles ached from the wet cold. Nevertheless, he tried to run back to the house, letting Changbins breathing that was slowly steadying and his desperate hold on him ground him. 

"Seungmin!! Someone come help!!" Minho yelled before he even was inside, and he managed to open the sliding door with his foot. 

"Oh damn— what happened?" Felix came running and Seungmin followed soon. 

"Changbin fell into the pond and—" Minhos breathing was heavy from exercise and he was already heading towards nearest bathroom, Changbin still on his back. "he needs new clothes— and a bath or a shower or something— and turn on the heater—" 

"Minho! Calm down, please. We'll take care of the clothes— your clothes too— and heater, okay? You make sure you both get to the bathroom without collapsing or getting panic attacks." Seungmins calm voice pulled Minho out of his frantic state. Right. We're inside. We're fine. 

While Seungmin and Felix ran to do their tasks, Minho was just able to make it to the bathroom without his legs giving in. When he arrived he sagged down to the floor with a lot less finesse than he wanted, but his legs hurt. Changbin was even heavier with wet clothes and the cold wasn't helping either. 

He turned himself to Changbin, who still hadn't uttered a single word. The younger immediately grabbed Minho again and hugged him tightly, hiding his head in Minhos chest. 

"T-thank you." It came out shakily, but it seemed like Changbin had calmed down enough to talk, which was good. 

Minho stroked one hand over the back of Changbins head and the other over his back. "Of course." He whispered. "Do you think you'll be able to take a bath? Or would you rather shower? I'll still help you if you want." 

"B-bath is fine." Changbin breathed and slowly pulled away from the hug. His trembling eyes made Minho want to take him back in his arms and keep him there forever. "And… please stay with me." 

"Of course. Now let's get you out of these clothes." Minho smiled and reached out to turn on the bath faucet before helping Changbin undress. He was glad Changbin wasn't afraid to ask for help, being used to servants helping ever since he was young. 

Then the door opened and Felix and Seungmin came rushing in with new clothes. 

"We turned up the heater too, do you need anything else?" Felix asked as he hung the clothes on the radiator. 

"I think we should be fine now, thanks guys. Binnie?" 

Changbin shook his head. "I-I just want to be warm and dry again. Especially warm. Thanks."

"Okay. Minho, you get yourself warm and dry too, okay?" Seungmin said and with that, he and Felix left. 

"Oh god, of course… Minho you need to take care of yourself too!" Changbin froze while Minho was still helping him undress. 

"Yes, that'll come later. First I'm helping you. Can you help me get your pants off?" Right now, Minho didn't care about anything else but getting Changbin in the bath. Besides, he had seen Changbin naked before, there were more important things right now. 

"But—" Changbin began, shaking as he lifted himself up for Minho to take his pants off. 

"No buts. First you, then me. Now let's get you in the bath." Minho helped him up and slowly helped him into the bathtub because he was still a bit shaky and he didn't want him to slip in the bath. He smiled as Changbin sighed in content when he lowered himself into the hot water. "You good?" 

"Yes. Now you take care of yourself." 

"Yeah, yeah." Minho waved and involuntarily shivered, suddenly getting very aware of how uncomfortable he actually was with his wet cold clothes and aching muscles. Luckily the heater was on and their clothes would be nice and warm for after the bath. 

The gardener undressed himself in silence, but not without sparing Changbin a look every few seconds, even though Changbin was just staring into space, hugging his knees. Minho hoped he wasn't too traumatized. 

"Hey, Bin?" He walked over and placed a hand on the youngers shoulder. "Will you be okay if I go shower now? I'll still be in the room if you need anything." 

Changbin looked up at him with a look that already told Minho he'd rather have him by his side but he was conflicted. 

"Don't— don't you want to take a bath too?" He asked. 

"Hmm? Well, a bath would be nice because my muscles ache, but then I'll have to either wait for you to finish or go to another bathroom. I can sit in the shower too." Minho assured and removed his hand from Changbins shoulder, but the younger grabbed his hand. 

"You can join me." 

What? That caught Minho by surprise, but he knew Changbin didn't mean anything weird with it, and the bath was definitely big enough for two people. 

"I-if you want of course." Changbin added and loosened his grip on Minhos hand, but Minho squeezed it with a smile. 

"Sure." He answered and climbed in to sit across from his friend in the bath, letting out the same sigh of relief when he felt the warm water on his cold skin. 

Minho finally let himself relax and soak in the warmth of the bath, but he saw that Changbin was still hugging his knees and staring into nothingness. It wasn’t surprising that Changbin wasn’t jumping around happily, but Minho couldn’t help but feel worried.

“I don’t want to rush you into anything, but maybe it would be good to start on washing yourself before the water cools down too much?” He suggested. “I can help with that too if you want.” 

The younger looked a bit startled at Minhos voice. “Oh, of course. I think I can do that on my own. Then you can do it too.” 

They both grabbed a soft sponge and some soap to wash themselves, Changbin going at a significantly slower pace than Minho. When Minho got to washing his hair and submerged himself a few times before getting the showerhead to rinse out the shampoo completely, he saw Changbin watching him with big eyes showing a hint of fear. 

“Ah, sorry. You don’t have to go underwater of course.” Minho wanted to slap himself for not thinking. “Do you want my help washing your hair? Or would you rather have control over the water yourself?” He honestly didn’t know that well how you should deal with things like this, so he just asked if Changbin wanted help with anything and everything. He hoped Changbin didn’t feel like he was belittling him or something.

There was a small silence before Changbin nodded. “You can do it.” He whispered after, “I trust you.”

“Okay.” Minho felt himself blush a little as he moved to sit behind the other and he mentally reprimanded himself. Now is not the time to feel embarrassed about things. Changbin just wants your help, he thought, but it was nice hearing that Changbin trusted him . 

He turned on the water about halfway and slowly moved the showerhead so that the water reached the back of Changbins head. He felt the younger tense a tiny bit where he sat against Minhos legs, but he quickly relaxed again.

“Can you tilt your head back a bit?” He asked and Changbin complied, resting his head against Minhos knees. The younger squeezed his eyes shut when the water got closer to his face and Minho had to remind him to breathe, but it went better than Minho had expected. Changbin is a strong one, he thought, and somehow his heart swelled up a bit.

When he got to massaging the shampoo into Changbins hair, he noticed that the younger was nervously fidgeting with his hands, but Minho couldn’t see his expression. Before Minho could ask what was on his mind, Changbin already spoke up. 

"I'm sorry." He whispered. 

"Huh? Why are you sorry?" Minho paused his actions to try and catch a glimpse of the others face. 

"I'm sorry for being so high maintenance, for being such a spoiled kid and not being able to take care of myself.”

Minho saw Changbin was biting on his lip while frowning. Minho wasn’t having any of this.

“No, no, no. Don’t apologize for needing help sometimes. It’s only natural that you’re still shaken after what happened, and besides, I’m glad to help, that’s why I’m asking constantly. To be honest, washing someones hair is pretty relaxing.” He let out a little chuckle to keep things light. “I actually think you’re brave for asking for help, for letting yourself be and feel vulnerable, I wouldn’t dare to, I think. And it’s definitely not your fault that any of this happened.”

Changbin let out a sigh. “I’m just used to people taking care of me and sometimes I’m afraid I ask too much. Not necessarily right now.”

“Nah.” Minho shrugged and continued massaging Changbins scalp. “Maybe you used to do that when you were young, but then I didn’t know you yet. And it’s not a bad thing if you like it when people take care of you, especially when others don’t mind taking care of you.” And it’s kind of cute… he added in his thoughts.

“You’re too nice, Minho…” The younger mumbled and looked up at him.

Minho let out some unintelligible sound and shrugged, feeling the tips of his ears heat up. “Let’s rinse the shampoo out now, okay?”

Changbin nodded and seemed a lot more relaxed when Minho let the water flow over his head the second time and Minho was glad to see that. The younger was even able to get himself out of the bath and dress himself after he dried himself off with the warm towel Minho had handed him. Minho let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding seeing it.

“Mmm warm and toasty~” Changbin said when he put on his clothes and Minho couldn’t help but snicker. Damn it, why does he have to be this cute? he thought, and Changbin didn’t seem to be done, as he swooped Minho up in a tight hug. “Thank you again.” His voice sounded muffled in Minhos clothes and he began squeezing him tight as he rubbed his head against Minhos chest. 

“Wh— what are you doing?”

“Showing you my thanks.” He said as he grinned up at Minho. 

“Yeah? You didn’t think I was too, like, over-concerned or something?”

Changbin shook his head. “As you said, I like being taken care of. So… You can do it more often if you want. Just saying.” 

Jeez, is he trying to get me to explode or something? Minho thought, but he was glad Changbin was joking around again. 

“I’ll think about it.”

Chapter Text

The day after that day, Changbin didn’t come to watch Minho finish his gardening tasks from the day before because everyone, including Minho, was being protective of him, so Changbin just hung out on the couch watching TV, but still having a view on Minho if he looked sideways through the glass sliding doors. Changbin was not processing whatever was happening in the show he was watching, instead reminiscing about how Minho had taken care of him yesterday. How Minho had made him feel safe and helped him without questions or judgements, dealing with all the questions when his friends came over to comfort him and take his mind off things, so Changbin didn’t have to relive things. He was sure that if Minho (and the rest of his friends) hadn’t been there, he either would’ve been dead or he would’ve been more traumatized. 

Maybe I should try my luck with him again… Changbin thought. He had gotten a bit more hope after seeing how worried Minho had been about him. He was sure his other friends wouldn’t have acted much differently, but it was Minho showing worry. That was a little more special, right? He hoped it wasn’t a one time thing, though.

When Minho came back, Changbin immediately perked up, greeting him. “Hey there, wasn’t it boring to garden all alone—” He cut himself off when he saw Minhos face all pale and scrunched up in a frown as he stumbled to the couch to lay himself down. “Minho?”

“Please, not now.” The gardener groaned and laid an arm over his face. “My head hurts.”

“Sorry. Are you feeling sick? Is it because of yesterday?” Changbin felt guilty for not thinking about Minho more yesterday, maybe then he wouldn’t have been sick?

“I said not now, Bin…” Minho sighed and sniffed, and Changbins stomach dropped. “But for the record… this isn’t your fault.”

Changbin nodded despite Minho not being able to see him and stood up, determined to help now that Minho needed it. His first stop was getting a blanket so he would be warm. When he draped it over Minhos body and gently threw a pillow his way, the gardener lifted his arm to see what was happening.

“Shall I take off your shoes too?” Changbin asked, already beginning to untie the boots.

“Huh? What are you doing?” Minho asked, supporting himself on his elbows behind him. 

“Helping you, of course.” Changbin smiled, taking the shoes off. “Returning the favor, if you will.”

“You don’t have to.” The gardener shook his head and groaned in regret. “Really, I just have a bit of a headache and a cold, it’s no big deal, and yesterday wasn’t a favor from my side, so there’s nothing to be returned. I’ll survive this on my own.”

The reaction was harsher than Changbin had expected, but he guessed Minho was right when he said he dealt differently with asking for help or letting yourself be vulnerable. Changbin wondered if Minho would appreciate it if he pushed it any further. 

“Can I at least get you something? Like tea? Soup maybe? I won’t tell anyone you’re feeling sick if you don’t want to.” He tried and quickly added, “I want to help. I have nothing better to do anyway.”

Minho chuckled with a lopsided smile. “Right. I forgot you like to obsess over me whenever you’re bored. Well then, as long as you don’t feel obligated to help I’ll let you, I guess.” He sniffed a few times and sat up on the couch. “Uhm… some soup actually sounds really nice right now. Thanks. And you can tell people I’m not feeling a hundred percent, it’s not like they wouldn’t find out otherwise.”

“‘Kay! I’m on it!” Changbin jumped up and skipped towards the kitchen to find Felix. “Felix! Just the person I was looking for!”

“Changbin!” Felix excitedly answered before his expression went deadpan. “What do you want me to cook?” He said, but he couldn’t hold back his snickers after. “Sorry.”

“I swear you’re more than a cook to me!” Changbin defended. “But this time I— well, not really me — need you to cook something. I’d do it myself if I could, but you know…”

“I was just kidding.” Felix laughed and playfully slapped the shorter boy. “What do you need? Maybe I can teach you.”

“Uhm, can you make some soup? Shit— I didn’t ask which kind he wanted.” Changbin did his best to try to remember which kinds of soup Minho liked or disliked. “Chicken soup should be fine, I think?”

Felix laughed again. “Just soup? That’s not that hard, just some heating up, and I think we should have some in the fridge.” He opened the fridge and pulled out a packet of chicken soup with a bright smile. “For who are we making this?”

“Minho. He’s not feeling a hundred percent.” Changbin explained as he watched Felix pour the soup in a pan and turn on the stove.

“Ah, understandable after yesterday.” The cook nodded as he stirred the soup. "How nice that you're bringing him some soup. Do you feel guilty?" 

"A bit, although he said it wasn't my fault…" Changbin felt his cheeks heat up a bit. 

"Because it isn't!" Felix assured. "No one thinks so, and Minho least of all, I think." 

"I hope so, yeah. Thanks Lix." 

"Anytime." The cook smiled and turned off the stove. "Oops. Now I didn't teach you. Well, you can heat up something, right?" 

"Uhm, I wouldn't trust me to do it." Changbin said and took the cup from Felix, who gave a small 'watch out it's hot'. "Thanks Lixie! You're the best!" He waved and skipped away again. 

"Minho! I got your soup!" He called and bowed dramatically when handing it over. "Be careful, it's hot." 

"That usually happens with soup." Minho deadpanned. "Anyway, how does it feel to serve someone for a change?" 

"Uhm… Well, Felix made the soup. I only brought it to you and asked for it. Oh! And I decided on chicken soup." Changbin admitted. 

"Well, I wanted ox bone soup." Minho teased, apparently he could do that with a headache too— or was he serious? 

"Uhh, I can ask Felix again and I'll take the—" Changbin wanted to take the bowl again, but Minho dodged. 

"I'm kidding!" He laughed and groaned again. "Ugh, laughing hurts my head. Please stop being, like… you or something." 

“Suddenly Minho is demanding?” Changbin teased and sighed dramatically. “Oof it’s so hard living up to all your demands!”

“But you love me~ That’s why you do it.” Minho teased right back, snickering at the blush that appeared on Changbins face. “Now stop making me laugh!”

"I'm that funny?" The younger tried, although he knew that wasn't the case. 

"It's just funny to tease you, so in a way…" Minho shrugged, a lopsided smile on his face, and it wasn't even a compliment, but for Changbin it felt like it. The gardener sniffed and wiggled a bit on the couch, and he looked too cute wrapped in the blanket. "Now if you don't mind, I'll be having my soup and try to not die of asphyxiation because my nose is stuffed." 

Changbin snickered and plopped himself next to Minho on the couch and turned on the TV again. He saw Minho look at him sideways a few times, shaking his head with that same crooked smile returning before continuing eating his soup. 

They just watched TV in comfortable silence, Changbin maybe imagining the people in the dramas as him and Minho, until it was time for dinner. 

“Are you up for dinner, Minho?” Felix, who had come to get them, asked. “I made enough for you too, but if you want something else that’s okay too.”

“Uhm…” Minho looked up with a pout, showing off his amazing lips— which Changbin shouldn’t be thinking about right now. “I’m fine, I think. Maybe some crackers, but the soup was already kind of a dinner. And I’ll just hang here, don’t want to get anyone else sick.”

“Okay, then I’ll get you your—”

“I’ll get the crackers!” Changbin interrupted and jumped up to run to the kitchen before stopping dead in his tracks. “Wait— Felix where are the crackers?”

“In the second cabinet right from the stove.” Felix laughed along with Minho, and Changbin sprinted away so fast that he couldn’t hear that Felix added, “It’s on a pretty high shelf, so I hope he’ll be able to reach it. I usually use the stepladder, but I don’t know if Changbin knows where it is— or that we even have one.” Which made Minho laugh even harder.

“Damnit Changbin! Stop making me laugh!” Minho yelled, which Changbin did hear as he struggled to reach those damn crackers. 

The short boy quickly looked around him to see no one was looking, so he quickly scrambled on top of the counter to reach the crackers, after which he quickly ran back. All out of breath he handed over the crackers. 

“Damn, I even get a fast-track service!” Minho gasped. “And? Did you also climb a counter for me?”

Changbins eyes widened and he immediately flushed red. How did he know? Did someone see me? The gardener cackled at Changbins reaction to being caught and then groaned and coughed. “Shit— go away Bin! You obviously can’t hold back on the funniness.” He waved at him, still wheezing a bit. 

“Let’s go, before dinner gets cold.” Felix guided a dumbfounded Changbin to the dining room. Maybe Minho has gone mad too. I'm not that funny. 

"Hey there, you man-chomper~" Jisung greeted sultrily. Chan was already wheezing his lungs out, Hyunjin was cackling and Jeongin was clapping— wait— Jisung?! Hyunjin?! Jeongin?! 

"Wh— what are you guys doing at my dining table?" Changbin stuttered. "And man-chomper ?" 

"Yeah! Like man-eater, but like, different!" Jisung explained and Changbins head felt like it could explode from heat. 

"Jisung! My parents are sitting here." He hissed. 

"Speaking about that," His mother began. "How is your search for a partner going? We were clear in the fact that you're supposed to look for a long time partner, right?" 

"Yes!" Changbin sputtered, feeling his head burn. What did they talk about without me? "I'm, uhm—" He quickly looked behind him to the door leading to the living room where Minho was sitting. "I have my eye on someone, but it's— I'm not sure whether he likes me back yet— it's a bit complicated." 

"Should we have a talk with this guy?" His father quirked up an eyebrow, softly tapping on the table. 

"No! Absolutely not— I mean, I can handle my own love life, uhm, I think." Changbin wanted to bring up the question whether it would be okay if he dated one of their employees, but his throat closed up. Maybe it was just nerves, maybe it was the fact that his friends were there and they might have already talked about it. If he wanted another chance with Minho, he should at least come with more evidence that it wasn't impossible for them to date, that Minho could keep his job or that they would find a way to make it work. Because even though Changbin himself had thought about what possible consequences would be if they would date and what he would do with them, he didn’t have any control over what his parents would do. 

But right now, Minho was sick and his friends were over— stupid excuses, yeah, but for Changbin it was enough to postpone the confrontation. It wasn't like he didn't want to do this, because it could give him that last push to properly confess to Minho, but it could also be that his parents would forbid it or something, and he definitely didn't want to fight with his parents at the dinner table in front of all of his friends, because he would fight for Minho. 

“Is that true, boys?” His mother asked his friends. Oh god…

“ Well …” Hyunjin began, snickering.

“Guys!”

"Kidding! Although— you said 'I think', but I think you might be capable too." Hyunjin mused. 

"Either way we'll make sure to keep an eye on him." Jeongin nodded and smiled to Changbins parents. 

Changbin just huffed, not wanting to argue. He'd rather have his friends nosing in his business (he'd tell them about it anyway) than his parents. 

The rest of the dinner went by in relative silence, some small talk every now and then. Afterwards, Changbin went to check on Minho again, immediately followed by his friends who showered Minho in greetings, questions and 'get well' wishes. 

"Guys, please chill." Minho stopped them. "Hi. I'm feeling a bit unwell, but I'm fine— well, as long as you give me some rest—, thank you, now you can all go do whatever and I'll be here watching, like, a movie or something. Have fun." He waved to them and focused his attention on the TV again, huddling up in his blanket. 

After Chan asked if he needed anything and Minho waved them off again, they all went to hang out in Changbins room. 

"Okay, so first off all, how long have you guys been here already and what did you say to my parents?" Changbin started. 

Jeongin, Hyunjin and Jisung first all began talking through each other before they decided Jeongin could explain. 

"Okay, so we wanted to hang out here again, you know, because we always do and we wanted to see how you were doing, but then Seungmin told us Minho was sick and you were taking care of him." The youngest explained. "So we weren't sure if Seungmin was pranking us at first, so we checked and we saw that you were watching TV with him. And then Felix told us you asked him to make soup for Minho, so we were proud that you were, like, being responsible for once and sort of making moves. And we didn't really say anything weird to your parents, the weirdness all began with Jisungs 'man-chomper'."

"I just wanted to show that we were proud of him sort of making moves!" 

"Have you already talked to your parents about the fact that you might want to date one of your employees?" Chan asked, switching to be more serious. There was the inevitable interrogation. Not that Changbin minded, he needed this. 

"Uhm, not yet, but I'm planning to do that soon." He answered, fidgeting a bit with his hands. "As I said— I'm handling it. I think. Pretty sure. Anyway— anyone else have any interesting stories? How's it going with your love lives?" 

He looked around the circle and received a lot of shrugs. He locked eyes with Seungmin a fraction of a second longer, sharing a look that Changbin thought meant nervosity. 

"Nah, not really looking." Jeongin shrugged. 

"I'm just having fun." Jisung smiled, and everyone shared a confused look. 

"But you never go out..?" Hyunjin asked. 

"Don't get any weird ideas!" Jisung slapped the taller. "And who says I can't have fun while not going out?" 

"You're the one who said 'man-chomper'..." Changbin mumbled. 

"And what about you Hyunjin? How's your love life?" Felix asked, and Changbin wondered if he knew about Seungmins feelings too. 

"Uhm… Well, my parents aren't forcing me to look for someone, but I’m sure they'll have something to complain about if I find someone." Hyunjin shrugged, and Changbin saw Seungmin look down, a slight frown appearing on his face. 

"But will that stop you?" Changbin quickly asked. 

"Nah, my parents always complain, but I know they love me and want me to be happy. It just takes some extra effort with them." The tall boy smiled. 

Seungmin immediately seemed to relax and brighten up a bit. Changbin wanted to amplify that a bit (and keep the attention away from himself), so he asked further. 

"And what would you look for in a partner?" 

Seungmin shot him a look that warned him to not push it. 

"I'm asking everyone, by the way." Changbin quickly clarified. He didn't particularly want to be killed by Seungmin before he confessed to Minho. 

"Well, we know you look for someone weird, handsome, good at gardening, able to tease you…" Jisung teased, earning a light push. "Kidding! I think you look for a kindhearted person who can take care of you and, uhm… yeah, just a good person." 

Changbins eyes widened in surprise at how spot on Jisung was. 

"That's right. We know you longer than today." His friend grinned proudly. "For me it's someone who's okay with lots of affection, who can deal with my anxiety, someone who is patient, I think. But it's hard to describe an ideal type, you just have to click right." 

"I agree." Chan nodded. "But what I think I'm looking for is someone who thinks communication is important and, uhm, funny is always a good thing, but not a necessity, uhm… yeah, I haven't really thought about it that much." He chuckled. 

"I kind of feel the same as Chan, I think?" Hyunjin said. "Communication is important, but I think I would describe it as that I'd want someone who can listen to my problems and treat them as if they were their own. And funny is always good." 

Changbin and Felix immediately looked towards Seungmin, who had a glint of hope shimmering in his eyes. Did he just describe Seungmin? Changbin wasn't sure if the funny part was supposed to describe the servant, but that first part certainly was, although he wasn't sure if Hyunjin had noticed himself. Hyunjin wouldn’t confess like this, right? Or was he seriously hinting? No, that was too obvious, right? 

“Did you just… describe Seungmin?” Jeongin asked bewilderedly and Seungmin perked up in alertness.

“What?—” Hyunjin seemed to be processing what Jeongin asked, and when he did, his eyes widened and his cheeks colored red. “Uhm— I kinda did, huh? But— but I didn’t think about it that way, uhm—” He was waving his arms around in defense frantically.

“It’s okay!” Seungmin quickly assured him. “The fact that someone has qualities that you would want in a partner doesn’t immediately mean you want to date them. As Jisung and Chan said, it’s more complicated than that.”

“Uhm, yeah, sorry.” Hyunjin nodded, but he still seemed to be thinking hard. 

“You don’t have to apologize.” Seungmin gave a soft smile, which seemed to relax the taller, because he smiled back. “Uhm, anyway, what I look for in a partner is, uhm… I think someone who isn’t too similar to me, but not that much that we clash, if that makes sense. Like, we both have other perspectives and traits so we can learn from each other and we kind of complement each other.”

The rest nodded and Changbin smiled a little, knowing he was subtly referring to Hyunjin too. That, and he knew Seungmin would sooner clash with someone similar to him than someone different. 

After that they talked and played around some more until Hyunjin, Jeongin and Jisung thought it was time to go home. Changbin, Felix, Seungmin and Chan waved them goodbye, and on the way back, Changbin and Felix raised their eyebrows at Seungmin.

“What?” Seungmin almost stuttered, but he seemed to be blushing slightly. “As I already said, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

“Uhm, am I missing something here?” Chan asked. “Oh! No, never mind. This is about Seungmin liking Hyunjin, right?”

Damn, everyone in this house knows? Changbin wondered if Minho knew too, maybe they talked about it in their shared staff bedroom. 

“It doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but still, you guys are good friends and you’ve got traits he would like in a partner!” Felix said. “Doesn’t that mean you have a good chance?”

Seungmin fidgeted with his hands a little. “Yeah, but he was like, all defensive? And he said he wasn’t thinking about it that way…”

“Maybe he just hasn’t realized his feelings yet?” Chan suggested. “You don’t have to tell him about your feelings right now— or like, tomorrow, but I too think you have a good chance with him. And if it doesn’t turn out to be as you hoped, I’m sure you two can still be friends. Talking is your strong suit, right?” 

“I guess, yeah.” Seungmin smiled. “Well, Changbin if you talk to your parents about Minho, I’ll talk to Hyunjin about my feelings soon.”

“You’re letting it depend on me?” Changbin pointed to himself. “I mean, I’ll talk to my parents soon, but yeah, aren’t you an independent man?”

“I am. Just making sure you have your shit together too.” Seungmin teased. “Speaking about Minho— is he still watching TV?”

“Oh! I’ll check on him!” Changbin was ready to run again, and after he saw the rest fondly snicker at him, he was on his way to the living room. 

In the living room he was met with an endearing sight. Minho was all huddled up in his blanket on the couch, fast asleep, different colors of lights from the TV flashing onto his pretty face, enhancing his long lashes and slightly opened lips. 

Changbin admired the sight for a few seconds before he turned off the TV and approached the sleeping man. He halted in his steps when he realized he wasn’t sure what to do. Should I wake him up? But he’s sleeping so peacefully… 

Changbin pondered for a few more seconds before he decided that he would let Minho sleep. He was wearing comfortable clothes anyway, and Changbin thought sleep would be good for him. That’s why Changbin was now carefully hooking one of his arms under Minhos legs and the other under his back to lift him up, blanket and all. Luckily I train my arms often in the house gym, he is heavy, he thought, but he didn’t mind the way Minho lied against his chest, and he had a good view on that face he couldn’t get enough of looking at— Okay, Changbin, maybe chill a little. 

As he carried the older up the stairs to the staff room, Minho was letting out soft sounds and mumbling nonsense— or was it nonsense?

“Binnie… Binnie…” Changbin thought he could make out. “...soup… cutie…”

He must be talking about himself… ‘cutie’ Changbin smiled to himself. Minho could be very cute if he wanted. He had big and round eyes, big pouty lips, a round head with pretty cute cheeks that squished up especially sweet whenever he smiled. That smile that brought butterflies raging through Changbins stomach and made Changbin feel all warm and sunny, especially when that smile was accompanied by Minhos beautiful laughter. 

Before Changbin knew it, he had arrived at the staff room. On one hand he didn’t want to part from Minho yet, but on the other hand his arms were glad to get some rest. There was no one else yet, so Changbin could take his time in laying the older down and tucking him in. 

"Good night, Minho." He whispered and lingered close, contemplating whether it would be okay if he would give Minho a little kiss. The forehead should be fine, right? He thought, and when he saw Minho serenely sleeping, he couldn't help but press a light and soft kiss on the olders cheek instead. Oh shit, that was the cheek — did I go too far? Changbin began panicking a little.

“Uhm, sorry.” He whispered, despite Minho not being able to hear him. Minho was still just muttering softly in his sleep, and Changbin thought that if he didn’t get out, he might want to kiss him again, so he bailed, looking around to see if anyone saw him. When he saw no one was around, he let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t like people couldn’t know, Changbin right now just wasn’t in the state to talk, he was too worked up about Minho for some reason.

Chapter Text

Minho woke up all sweaty and warm, but he felt a lot better than yesterday. Maybe I sweated out my illness — wait. He looked around and pushed himself up on his bed. Since when am I in my bed??

“Hey there, sleepyhead, how are you feeling?” Chan greeted him and Minho almost jumped out of his bed. “Wow! Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Uh— I’m fine, yeah, thanks. Did you guys bring me to bed?” Minho asked. “I thought I fell asleep watching TV…”

“Uhm, I didn’t.” Chan said and looked up, thinking. “I don’t think Seungmin and Felix did either. When I came here last night, you were already in bed. Seungmin was there too, but he didn’t mention bringing you here.”

“He probably isn’t strong enough to carry me too.” Minho muttered, thinking about what could’ve happened. “Then— then did Changbin carry me..?”

“That could very well be.”

“You think so?” Minho didn’t want to assume that he did it, but who else could it have been? “Maybe I sleepwalked… Do I sleepwalk? I sleeptalk…”

“You could just ask Changbin..?” Chan suggested. 

“What if he didn’t do it? That’s awkward.” 

“But you have a reason to think it was him, right? It wasn’t me, probably not Seungmin or Felix. Changbin was the one to check on you last night after Hyunjin, Jisung and Jeongin left—” The older stopped himself when he saw Minhos reluctant pout. “Jeez, Minho… Okay, if you want to know how it went so bad. You can check the security camera footage.”

Minho perked up. “We can do that?”

“Yeah, I have access to them, and there is a camera in the living room, so you can see what happened after you fell asleep.”

“Great! See, this is way easier than asking. Because if it wasn’t Changbin, this saves me time. Maybe it was some burglar!” Minho grinned. It were excuses, but he didn’t want to be confronted with the fact that Changbin had been so caring yesterday yet. It almost felt like they already were a couple— no that’s a very dangerous thought, Minho. “Let’s go then!”

Chan brought Minho to the security room and typed some stuff to access the footage from last night. He rewound the video of the living room until they saw Minho sleeping on the couch and someone walking by.

“Right there!” Minho signalled Chan to play the video from there. The footage showed that indeed Changbin came to check on him, the shorter boy was standing still a few seconds before he turned off the TV and stood still again. Then Changbin picked up the sleeping Minho and Minhos heart rate simultaneously picked up. So it was Changbin? 

“See? It was Changbin, now—”

“Is there footage from upstairs?” Minho interrupted, feelings his hands get sweaty for some reason. Maybe he wanted to see it more to really believe it.

“Uhm, yeah, not from inside our room, but I can check…” Chan trailed off and searched for the video. “Here it is.”

The footage of the hallway indeed showed Changbin appearing with Minho still in his arms, carrying him towards the staff room. Fortunately Changbin didn’t close the door behind him and Minhos bed was close to the door, so they could see Changbin laying Minho down and tucking him in. Minho felt himself get warmer and warmer by the second, especially when Changbin crouched by the bed and mouthed something.

“Is there sound?” Minho immediately asked.

“No…”

Damn it — Minhos brain malfunctioned when he saw video-Changbin lean in and place a kiss on video-Minhos cheek. What? Then Changbin mouthed something again and quickly walked— almost ran— away. Shit, what did he say? Thoughts were racing through Minhos head now. He gave me a kiss on my cheek? Why? Why would he do that? He isn’t Jisung, he doesn’t just do that. If he had been serious that time when he said he wanted to date me, why hasn’t he been more clear then? What is he waiting for? What is he afraid of? —

“Minho!” Chan pulled him out of his thoughts. “Are you still with me? I asked if you’re going to confront Changbin about this.”

Good question . “Uhm…” Minho had to think for a moment. “I’ll pretend I didn’t see this and ask him if he brought me to bed, I think.”

Chan rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Always so evasive you two. Can’t you be straightforward with each other for once?”

“And admit I watched security footage of him giving me a kiss? No thanks. I’m thinking about Changbin here too. He looked like he regretted what he did or something.” 

The older patted Minho on the shoulder. “You know you could also just ask . Then you’ll know for sure.”

Minho sighed, he didn’t like talking about feelings seriously, but he guessed that if they both kept doing that, they wouldn’t come any further to getting what they— well, at least Minho— wanted. “That’s easier said than done, but I’ll try I guess… But first, a shower, because I’m hella sweaty.”

Chan laughed again and waved him goodbye. 

When Minho entered the shower, he was thinking about Changbin again. He really wanted to be honest with him, take the initiative because someone had to do it, but he couldn’t help the icky feeling that constantly crept up on him. Things weren’t as simple as just confessing feelings for him and hoping he liked him back. I can’t just ask Changbin to throw away his whole reputation and shit away for me, especially when he’ll be working at the company soon, but I also can’t just quit my job here… Yes, he could discuss things with Changbin, but he would feel selfish for even proposing it. And that is if he actually likes me the way I like him too… 

Minho sighed and turned off the water. Let’s do things step by step. First step: ask him about bringing me to bed. then we’ll see further.

After answering some more questions about how he was feeling, Minho finally arrived at the dining table to have his breakfast. Coincidentally— or not?—, Changbin was there as well, although he seemed to have already finished his breakfast, judging by his empty plate. 

“Hey, how are you feeling today?” The younger asked as Minho sat next to him so he didn't have to look at him constantly.

“Better. I slept well.” Minho nodded. “Speaking about that, I woke up in my bed this morning, but I’m pretty sure I fell asleep on the couch.”

Changbin raised his eyebrows a little and then softly chuckled. “Uhm, yeah, I carried you to your bed last night. Uhm, I thought it would be better to let you sleep? Sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? I got luxury treatment from the one and only spoiled baby Binnie. I should be thanking you.” Minho winked. At least he was being honest, right? Although disguised as a joke, it was something.

“Oh. Yeah, I thought you might think it’s, like, a violation of your privacy or something because you were sleeping and I didn’t ask…” Changbin scratched his neck, his cheeks glowing pink. Is he referring to the kiss or the carrying? But he doesn’t know I know about the kiss.

“Nah, you just moved me to a more comfortable place without waking me up. That’s just called being sweet.” Minho waved off, and decided to add, “As long as you tell me what you did while I was asleep, it’s fine.”

That caused Changbins eyes to widen and look away as he chewed on his bottom lip. “Uhm… About that…” He began, but fell silent.

“Hm? What is it?” Minho was mentally preparing what to say when Changbin revealed what he did. When Changbin stayed silent, Minho continued, “What did you do, Bin?”

“I— I, uhm, gave you a kiss— on the cheek!— but I don’t know why, uhm, you were just sleeping so peacefully so I guess I thought you looked kind of cute then so— I don’t know, sorry— I am so sorry.” Changbin was racing through his words, making himself smaller in his seat with every word. 

“Bin.” Minho stopped him. “It’s okay— hey, look at me.” He reached over to gently lift Changbins chin up so that the smaller faced him, and his heart did a little leap at their proximity. “It’s okay. You told me, and now I’ll tell you that I don’t mind.” He smiled, and whispered after, averting his gaze and feeling his ears burn, “I maybe would’ve preferred it if you did it while I was awake...”

It was silent after that, and Minho wondered whether Changbin had heard the last part, so he slowly looked at him again, his hand still at the youngers chin. Changbin was already looking back with a look that contained surprise and something Minho didn't dare to name. He felt the warmth spread to his whole body as he got lost in those beautiful dark hooded eyes of Changbin, as if all of the things that happened between them the past few days had been bundled up inside of Minho and Changbin had just let all those warm feelings loose with just one look. 

He didn't know if it was his illness returning or not, but it was kind of dizzying how close they were— since when had they been moving closer? Minho didn't care, the only thing that occupied his mind right now was how pretty Changbin looked up close, and how kissable his lips looked. His heart was pounding dangerously fast, but he felt like he was where he wanted to be, where their breaths mixed and you'd have to cross your eyes to look at the other. 

Minhos eyes fluttered shut as slowly but surely the gap between them lessened and lessened until he could feel the first sensation of Changbins soft lips—

"Hey Bin, can I take your plate— oh, shit—" 

Minho immediately shot back and fell off his chair when Felix entered the room. Shit, that could've been his parents. 

"A-are you okay, Minho?" The cook asked and helped him up. Minhos face felt even warmer than before. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt! Uhm, I'll take the plate and leave you alone. Sorry." Felix apologized and bowed a few times before hurrying out of the room. 

Minho hesitantly sat down again, trying to calm down from what just happened, and judging from Changbins fiery red head, he wasn't doing any better. 

"Sorry." They simultaneously said, and gave each other a surprised look. 

"Why are you saying sorry?— Oh, because you hated it and now you feel sorry that you have to reject me and—" Changbin was rapidly spouting words again. 

"What? No, Bin." Minho shook his head, maybe now was the time to be serious. "I apologized for being so reckless. Your parents could've walked in, what then? I— I want this, but I don't know how, and I don't want to ask you to, like, make all these sacrifices for me." 

He cast his gaze down at his hands and bit his lip, not having the courage to look Changbin in the eyes. He saw Changbin take his hands in his own, making Minho look up to a shy but fond smile. 

"I'll talk to my parents. I was already planning to do that today, but now I'm even more determined to fight for you." Changbin said and chuckled. "I can't believe you actually like me…" 

"And I can't believe you like me, and that we're both this bad at talking about feelings." Minho laughed, feeling the uncomfortable warmth turn into reassuring warmth. They stared at each other for a moment longer before Minho realized things weren't fixed now, things could still go sideways. He shook his head and motioned Changbin to leave. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go talk to your parents before I do something stupid!"

"Right— I'm on it! Wait for me honey!" Changbin dramatically waved and ran off, and Minho barked out a laugh, feeling his ears heat up again. 

This guy… He thought, rubbing his ears before finally starting his breakfast, feeling his nerves return. How much would Changbin fight for him? How much did he want Changbin to fight for him? Minho sighed, he didn't know, his selfish side was in conflict with the side that just wanted the best for Changbin. After another few sighs he decided that there was no use in thinking about it, he would see what happened when Changbin would come back. 

Oh my god he actually likes me! Changbin was feeling all giddy and excited as he ran to find his parents, his heart was soaring as he thought back to their almost kiss, which they would definitely have to do over later. 

When he arrived at his parents office, he took a few breaths to calm himself down before he knocked on the door. 

"Come in." It sounded. 

Changbin opened the door and greeted his parents with a bow. 

"What is it, son?" His father asked. 

"Can I talk to you for a bit? It's, uhm, about finding a partner…" Changbin didn't dare to look directly at them, suddenly overcome with nerves. 

"Okay. Proceed." 

"Uhm…" He was nervously shuffling his feet around. "I know you guys said money didn't really matter, but, uhm… what if I liked one of your employees?" His voice almost cracked at the end and he was probably making the ugliest face in anticipation of the answer, but he got it out. 

"Ah, it’s Minho, isn’t it?” His mother raised her eyebrows, a smug smile on her face— What?

“Wh— How did you know?” Changbin was kind of speechless.

“Oh come on, you’re our son, we know you. We had an idea that you like him, but things weren’t really moving, so we urged you a little further. You know, before you’ll be busy with the company.” She explained. “And you two are adults, you can figure things out yourself. No one here cares if you’re dating your parents employee or something, as long as you do well helping with the business.”

“That’s right. A good quality of a businessman is being responsible, so as long as you know what you’re getting into and are prepared to deal with possible consequences, you’re good.” His father agreed.

“Uh— It’s that easy?— I’m prepared, of course!” Changbin still couldn’t really believe it all.

“Well, son, relationships aren’t easy necessarily, especially when your backgrounds are as different as yours and Minhos, but yes, our permission is that easy.” His father smiled and his mother jumped in to motion Changbin out. “Now go get your man!”

“Mom!” Changbin whined, feeling embarrassed as she pushed him out of the office. 

When she slammed the door closed, Changbin saw Seungmin walking by with a raised eyebrow. 

“Did you have the talk with your parents..?” He asked and eyed the door and Changbins lingering pout, and he gave a sympathetic look. “That didn’t really look like it went well.”

“Huh? Why?” Changbin was still a bit dazed, trying to process everything that had happened today. 

“Uhm, your mother pushed you out and slammed the door? You were pouting?” Seungmin seemed confused as well. “What happened?”

“Oh, that. Yeah, she pushed me out because I had to ‘get my man’.” Changbin deadpanned, his emotions were malfunctioning slightly. “They were fine with everything as long as I knew what I was getting into and would deal with consequences and stuff.”

“Oh, okay good.” His friend exhaled. “You scared me for a second, but I guess I expected it to go like this, knowing your parents.”

“So this means you’ll talk to Hyunjin soon?” Changbin changed the subject because he didn’t know what else to say.

Seungmin seemed to be taken off guard by that as he saw a rosy blush spread to his cheeks. “Uhm, yeah… I’m still not sure how to bring it, though, because on one hand I want to make it a little bit special, you know? Because Hyunjin likes those kinds of things and he deserves that, but on the other hand I’m terrified that that will totally backfire if he doesn’t like me, or that I will screw up somehow because I’m not good at emotional stuff.”

“Hm.” Changbin nodded. “Sounds like you're overthinking things. As you would say, just be yourself and maybe do something more up your alley, something that you would consider special but you are also confident in doing, I’m sure that, whatever Hyunjin feels, he would appreciate that.”

“You’re right.” Seungmin let out a breathy laugh. “Thanks Bin. Now go get your man before your mom kills you!" He laughed and pushed Changbin like his mom had done. 

"Yeah, yeah! I'm going!" Changbin laughed and ran away with new excitement again. Man, he was running a lot lately, wasn't he? He actually didn't like running that much, but for Minho he would do it. 

He found Minho still in the dining room, staring at his empty plate with a frown. 

"MINHO!" Changbin yelled, and before Minho could react he tackled him into a hug. 

"EEK!" Minho screeched in surprise as he flew off his chair onto the ground, Changbin landing on top of him. "Ugh— What the heck Bin— you better have a good reason for this. I almost died of a heart attack and, like, a concussion for my back or something." 

"Sorry." Changbin giggled, not able to hide his excitement. "My parents are fine with everything! They're okay with us!" 

Minho froze under him, staring at him with wide eyes as his hands rested on Changbins back. "They are? Really? No buts or conditions?" 

"Well, just that I know what I'm getting into and deal with the consequences and blabla." Changbin quickly clarified. "But I have already thought about that plenty of times, trust me. I'm prepared for you."

"Yeah, you sure about that?" Minho challenged with a grin. "C'mere then." He moved his hands up along Changbins neck to his cheeks and pulled him closer for a kiss—

"I heard someone scream! Is everything alright?— oh, shit—" An out of breath Felix appeared, but this time Minho couldn't fly off his chair, he had already done that. "A-are you guys okay?" 

"Yes, more than okay." Minho smiled, still cupping Changbins face, and Changbin wondered if his position wasn't getting uncomfortable. "But maybe we should move to a more private place to celebrate our, uhm, our thing." 

Minho motioned Changbin to get off, but Changbin wasn't paying attention and he was confused so Minho just lifted him up and dragged him out by the hand while assuring the apologizing Felix that things were fine. 

When they got to Changbins room— apparently that was where they were going— Minho quickly closed the door behind him and didn't waste any time before cupping the youngers cheeks and pulling him into a proper kiss now. Changbin was taken by surprise for a split-second, but soon wrapped his arms around the others back and pulled them flush together. Minhos soft and plump lips felt amazing on his, intoxicating too. 

"I've wanted to do this for such a long time." Minho breathed after pulling back shortly, leaning his forehead against Changbins and letting his hands fall to the youngers shoulders. 

"Me too." Changbin whispered and brushed his lips against the others again, to which Minho couldn't help but return the gesture, and that loop of brushing lips against the others went on until they were full on kissing again, letting all those pent up emotions free, and only very briefly pausing for breaths. 

Changbin slowly slid his hands from Minhos back over his chest and up his neck to his pillowy soft cheeks, stopping to caress every part he crossed on the way there. He tried to pull Minho closer than was physically possible, and Minho gladly took part in the attempt, causing them to stumble backwards until Changbin hit the bed and they tumbled over on top of each other and broke the kiss. 

"You're so pretty, Minho." Changbin couldn't help but say as he saw Minho above him, all out of breath and staring at him with stars in his eyes. The blush that spread to the olders cheeks as he shyly smiled made Changbins statement even more true. It felt like this was something only he got to see, so he tried to eternalize the moment into his memories. 

"You're prettier, Binnie." Minho smiled a moment later and ducked down for another kiss that they couldn't help but smile into. Now it was Changbins turn to get shy, Minho had never been this sincere in his compliments, so Changbin felt like he could burst from all the overwhelming feelings he felt. The only thing he could come up with to channel those feelings was, you probably guessed it, kiss Minho again, so he surged upwards to capture the olders lips again, and Minho gladly accepted it and pulled him along to sit upright, so that Minho was straddling Changbin. 

Like that they kissed for an unknown amount of time— Changbin totally forgot the concept of time when he was with Minho— until Changbin began giggling into their kisses. 

"What?" Minho laughed, trying to act annoyed. 

"I don't know— I'm just… happy, I guess." Changbin giggled and sighed lovingly as he caressed Minhos cheeks, he still couldn't completely fathom that this had happened. This morning everything was still uncertain, from whether Minho liked him back to if his parents would allow it all, but in retrospect he thought a bystander maybe could've guessed things would end up this way. He guessed they had been balancing on the line between friendship and something else for a while, Changbin had just never really noticed. 

Minho just smiled a dazzling smile at him through which he conveyed that he felt the same rather than using words. Sometimes words weren’t needed, which was often the case with Changbin and Minho, but right now there was one more thing Changbin wanted to make sure.

“So this means we’re boyfriends now?”

Minho chuckled. “We both made clear we want to date each other, but I don’t want to be your boyfriend.” He teased with his signature lopsided smirk. 

“I just wanted to make something actually clear between us, like, with words you know.” Changbin huffed and crossed his arms. “So I know what to say to people instead of saying ‘our thing’ .”

“Touché.” The gardener shrugged with a smile. Wow, Minho admitting defeat? “But I think we don’t always have to use words to be clear, although sometimes it indeed might be good to communicate for once. I’ll try to do that more too.” 

“Thank you.” Changbin smiled, feeling like he couldn’t be happier than he was right at that moment.

Tok. Tok.  

…

Tok. 

...Huh..? Changbins eyes fluttered open and blinked a few times to wake up properly. Tok. 

There was that sound again, it sounded like something was hitting the windows. Changbin checked his phone to see what time it was, 9:41 , he also saw that he had a few messages from his friends about what happened yesterday and one from Minho: ‘Look outside’ . 

As Changbin read the message, he heard another tok . He quickly got out of bed and opened his curtains, wincing at the sudden burst of light even though it was winter. When his eyes were adjusted to the light, he saw Minho standing in the garden, waving at him. Changbin noticed several things, first, it had snowed a little! Second, Minho was really cute wearing a big coat, gloves and a hat, and third, Minho was about to throw another pebble at his window. Changbin ducked as if it was thrown at him and opened the window after, shivering when feeling the chill from outside.

“Why are you throwing pebbles at my window as if we’re in some sappy romcom?” Changbin called. 

“Because I wanted your attention!” Minho answered and did a few steps to the side and gestured to the ground. “Look!” 

Changbin squinted and leaned out a little more, then he suddenly saw what Minho was gesturing at. The gardener had drawn something in the snow, but there wasn’t that much snow, and Changbin had troubles deciphering what it exactly was. He saw a heart, a stick figure with Minhos signature face that was holding something and something that looked like an animal? 

“Can’t you see what it is?” Minho pouted.

“I can! I see a heart, a stick figure holding something and, uhm… a, uhm…” Changbin squinted again.

“It’s a pigbunny wearing a suit!” Minho exclaimed as if it was obvious. “And the stick figure is holding a hoe, I drew us!”

Changbin gasped when he finally saw it, that was actually really sweet of Minho. It made Changbins insides warm up in the harsh cold. He had to take pictures of it now, so he quickly got his phone, and when Minho understood what he was doing, he struck a few interesting poses and laughed at himself.

“It’s beautiful, huh? I’m a true artist.”

“It’s a masterpiece!” Changbin laughed. “I’m going to have breakfast now!”

“Okay! Then I’ll continue my gardening duties.” Minho waved at him again and it was honestly too cute. 

After Changbin was done with his breakfast, he heard the unmistaken banter of his friends in the living room. They had texted him they would come over to congratulate him and Minho, but Changbin knew they would take any excuse to hang out.

“So, have you already broken up with Minho?” Hyunjin asked, rendering Changbin speechless.

“Huh..?”

“We have seen the drawing in the snow.” Jeongin clarified. 

“Oh come on! You guys just can’t appreciate a good romantic gesture.” Jisung rolled his eyes. “I would have cried.”

“If I was a crybaby like you, I would have too, it was pretty touching.” Changbin teased, but everyone just laughed. 

“Anyway, tell us about what happened exactly yesterday!” Hyunjin seemed excited. “Was it just as romantic as Minhos drawing?”

“Well…” Changbin began, and told them in excruciating detail everything that had happened, glancing at Minho in the garden from time to time, and every time Minho caught his gaze, they smiled at each other, causing Changbins friends to look around to what was happening and sighing or urging Changbin to proceed with the story. 

Somewhere at the end, Seungmin entered the room and greeted them.

“You’re telling them the story?” He asked as he sat down with them.

“Yeah, I was just about done.” Changbin nodded, and his eyes shortly flickered between Seungmin and Hyunjin before he continued his story. “So then I asked to make sure he really wanted to be my boyfriend, and he made fun of me of course, but he said he will try to communicate the necessary things more as well.” 

“Damn, that was actually pretty romantic.” Hyunjin nodded. “It was like a drama or something.” 

“Aww don’t be jealous Hyunjin! You’ll get your chance.” Jisung patted the taller on the shoulder, and Changbin saw Seungmins expression slightly distort. 

“But! Like, whether it’s like a drama kind of depends on the person, right?” Changbin quickly intervened. “For example, for Minho it was really romantic to make that drawing, but for others it might not be.”

“Uhm… yeah, I guess you’re right?” Hyunjin seemed confused as to why Changbin was suddenly vigorously bringing this up. “It’s not like I’m asking for drama-esque things or something, that’s just what you guys are assuming! As you said, as long as I can feel that the other is, like, doing their best or something, it’s fine.” 

“Ah, okay.” Changbin let out a small breath of relief for Seungmin, who seemed to have relaxed a little too.

“You guys are too obsessed with romance.” Jeongin sighed. “Just, like, don’t think about it so much. It’s not like you can predict everything that will happen, and if you are constantly obsessing about how you want things to happen, you’ll only end up getting disappointed.”

They all looked at Jeongin in surprise, Jisung whispering a soft ‘damn…’. 

“Anyway, what do you guys wanna do?” The youngest asked casually, and Changbin looked towards Seungmin, who was looking at his hands.

They all shared some looks and shrugs before Seungmin spoke up. 

“Uhm…” He hesitantly started. “I was actually wondering if I could speak to Hyunjin for a bit?”

Hyunjin looked surprised and also a little nervous? But Hyunjin of all people shouldn’t be scared that Seungmin will yell at him or something, or has he been thinking about what we talked about a couple of nights ago with the ideal types? 

“Uhm, sure.” The tall boy nodded. “What’s up?”

“Uhm, can we talk in private?” Seungmin stood up and Changbin saw he did his best to calm himself down. 

“Yeah, sure.” Hyunjin stood up to follow Seungmin out of the room. Seungmin turned around for a last time before leaving. “We’ll be in Changbins room if anyone needs us.” 

“Ooh someone is in trouble~” Minho suddenly sounded, leaning against the door leading to the garden, startling the rest. 

“Nah, it’s Hyunjin. Seungmin has a soft spot for him.” Jeongin waved off. “He’ll survive.” 

“Who said I meant that kind of trouble?” The gardener raised a cryptic eyebrow. “Anyway, I finished taking care of the garden and it snowed a bit more, so who wants to play outside?”

Everyone easily agreed and jumped up to get their coats and stuff.

“I’m going to throw snowballs at Channie!” Jisung yelled as he sprinted outside.

“I’m going to ask Felix if he wants to make a snowman!” Jeongin excitedly smiled. 

Changbin fondly laughed at his friends being so energetic while he took his time getting his coat, he had run around enough these past few days.  

“Oh, shall I help you with that, sir?” Minho giggled and took Changbins coat to help him in it.

“Hmm? Thank you, good sir, but you’re the gardener, not the butler.” Changbin chuckled.

“Wrong.” Minho smiled and came closer to whisper in Changbins ear. “I’m your boyfriend, and I know that you like to be spoiled.” The light kiss the older gave on Changbins earlobe sent shivers down his spine. 

Minho grinned at Changbins red face and grabbed his hand with his own. "Do you want to help build the snowman or do you want to help prank Chan?" 

Changbin snickered and gave his boyfriend a look that already revealed his answer. "First prank Chan, then help with the snowman." 

"That's what I was thinking too." Minho grinned and pulled him along by the hand. 

They happily played in the snow, Chan joining them after they had pranked him and Jisung had begged him to come play. Minho didn't want to let go of Changbins hand, only doing so when he wanted to make snowballs, but immediately grabbing hold of it again before he even threw the snowball. 

Then they helped Jeongin and Felix with their snowman, and it was very cute to see how determined the two were to make a pretty snowman. 

After a while, Changbin remembered they could see into his room from the backyard, so he glanced there to see if he could see anything of Seungmin and Hyunjin. 

Bless for the huge windows in my room, Changbin thought as he saw the two tightly holding each other in an embrace, lightly swaying as they rested their head on the others shoulder and Hyunjin caressed the back of Seungmins head. 

"What are you smiling at?— Oh?" Minho squeezed Changbins hand and looked towards Changbins room too. "He finally scraped some courage together? Nice one." He fondly smiled. "I also heard you gave him some good advice and encouragement." 

"Oh, yeah, kinda." Changbin absentmindedly shrugged, looking at how Hyunjin planted some kisses on Seungmins head. 

"Well, look at what you helped bring forward." His boyfriend nudged him softly and kissed his cheek. 

"Ew, I hadn't expected you to be all gross and clingy in front of us." Jeongin shot them an over exaggerated look of disgust. 

"It's cute, Innie!" Felix retorted. 

Oh, Changbin didn't know people were looking at them, now he got embarrassed so he hid himself behind Minho. 

"Hm? Are you embarrassed by me? By us ?" Minho gasped and tried to turn around to face his boyfriend, but Changbin kept hiding behind his back, so it kind of turned into a dog chasing his tail kind of situation. 

"Your ears are red too, Minho!" Jisung pointed out and ducked when the gardener shot him a glare. 

"They're not!" He denied, rubbing over his ears. "It's the cold." 

"If you're embarrassed, just don't do it in front of us?" The youngest suggested. 

"Oh that's dangerous to say, Innie…" Chan murmured, and Minho immediately lifted Changbin up in his arms, yelling 'I'm not embarrassed!'. Changbin yelped and hid his burning face. 

"Changbin, I thought you were prepared for me!" The gardener pouted at him. Changbin did his best to calm down, but he couldn't help but feel embarrassed when everyone was staring at him while Minho still had him lifted up in the air. He was already glad he wasn't that embarrassed whenever Minho was affectionate in private. 

"I meant that in every other way than this way…" He muttered into his hands. "You know how I get shy…" 

"I know, I was just joking." Minho smiled and tried to pry Changbins hands away with his nose, and maybe Changbin got butterflies when he saw Minhos smile up close. "Okay, my arms are getting tired now, but first…" Minho leaned back a little so part of Changbins weight was on his chest and craned his neck forward to capture his boyfriends lips. Once Changbin processed what Minho was doing, he wrapped his legs around the older and kissed back, forgetting about his embarrassment from moments ago. 

"Oh jeez— I see we came at the wrong time—" Hyunjin and Seungmin came out, causing Changbin to almost fall off Minho as they let go of each other in surprise. Okay, now he was really embarrassed, too embarrassed to see his two friends were holding hands. 

"Did your 'talk' go well?" Minho asked, hiding his embarrassment surprisingly well. 

"We actually talked, and… it went really well." Seungmin smiled and raised their hands to show off their intertwined fingers. 

"Great! Everything just in time for the new year, just in time for Changbin having to help with the company." Chan noted, and that was true indeed, his parents were probably trying to urge Changbin to get his life together before he had to focus on helping the company when they asked about him having a partner. He was actually kind of thankful for that, he didn't know if he would have gathered the courage this soon otherwise. 

Now he could go into the new year without any stress about other things than the company. He was happy, his friends all seemed happy, he finally got together with his longtime crush and friend, so if things were good before, they were great now. And of course life wouldn't be great all the time, but everyone would be there for each other, they had things and people to fall back on, and Changbin had a feeling that this happiness he was feeling right now as he held Minhos hand, would be there for a long time. 

“Ugh… my arms hurt from lifting you, Bin.” Minho complained. “You’re too heavy.”

“But you love me~” Changbin grinned, hugging Minhos arm.

Minho laughed and planted a kiss on top of his head. “I do.”