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it's comeback season, which means new hair colors and many, many meetings with cravity's styling team.
it's the first meeting of their comeback preparations, and seongmin just sits quietly as he listens to the stylists go over their visions for the comeback.
"we're thinking darker, more natural hair for you guys this time around," one of the hairstylists says, and the members nod in agreement. seongmin's just a tiny bit disappointed—he was looking forward to a change from his black hair—but he just sits back and nods like the others. at least maybe they'll give him a haircut, his hair was always getting in his eyes these days.
seongmin lets himself zone out a bit as they start to go over styling for individual members. serim's going to have blue-black hair, allen silver hair, jungmo dark hair, brown, brown, black, red, rainbow—wait, what?
seongmin's mind is still reeling over the words taeyoung and rainbow in the same sentence that he just barely catches the stylists telling him he'll keep his black hair for this comeback. he manages a polite smile and nod of acknowledgement.
"i'm sorry, did you say taeyoung was going to have rainbow hair??" serim asks politely, but seongmin knows he's just as baffled. the other members seem to be in similar states of disbelief, listening intently for the hairstylists' confirmation.
"yes that's correct," the head stylist confirms. "we thought it'd be a unique choice to catch the attention of your fans and the public as well."
"it'll most likely be only a small portion though, so he won't look like a parrot or anything," another stylist pipes up with a chuckle. the members all laugh, including taeyoung, who apparently seems to have little worry over how his new hair will end up looking.
after the meeting, the members have a little over a week before they actually have to get their hair done. in that week, minhee sends a badly photoshopped picture of taeyoung with a parrot on his head, and parrot taeyoung quickly becomes a recurring meme in their groupchat. even outside of their chat, the members never miss out on a chance to clown taeyoung about it. taeyoung, ever unbothered, just laughs along, and eventually even joins in on the joke by sending pictures of stoplights and rainbow feather dusters into their groupchat for comparison.
but it's all fun and games until taeyoung actually gets his hair dyed. on the day of, seongmin's one of the first to get back to the dorm, having only needed a slight trim. he's sprawled on the couch scrolling through his phone, wondering what's taking the other members so long to get back. after another fifteen minutes pass with no sign of the other members and eerie silence in their groupchat, seongmin decides to call serim.
serim picks up after a couple rings. "yes, seongminnie?" he greets.
"what's taking you all so long to get back? hurry up, hyung, or i'm gonna nap," seongmin whines.
"taeyoung just got done, we're on our way back," serim chuckles. "wait for us, ok?"
seongmin hums. "ok, i wanted to see taeyoung's hair anyway," he giggles.
"only taeyoung?" serim says, and seongmin can hear the pout in his voice. "i'm hurt, seongminnie," he huffs.
"stop being dramatic hyung, you're not the one getting your hair dyed rainbow," seongmin rolls his eyes.
"but is it just because it's rainbow?" serim eggs on. "seriously, when are you gonna tell him you like him, we're all waiting," he chuckles, taking on a more serious tone.
seongmin sighs. it's been months since hyeongjun exposed him and his not-so-secret crush on taeyoung, claiming he "saw it coming" from the beginning. the members (minus taeyoung, of course) quickly found out from there, and they haven't stopped bugging him about it since. it's not like seongmin doesn't want to tell taeyoung—he does, really—but there's no evidence that taeyoung even likes him back, save for the members' insistent claims that he does.
"i'm just...waiting, i guess," seongmin sighs into the phone. he hears serim echo his sigh on the other end, muttering something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like "they're so dumb." seongmin chooses to ignore it.
"whatever," serim hums. "i guess i can't meddle too much, you two will figure it out." seongmin hopes so.
serim hangs up soon after, leaving seongmin to waste some more time on his phone. he finishes replying to his messages, and is mindlessly scrolling through tiktok when he hears a commotion just outside.
must be the members, seongmin thinks, sitting up straighter to get a good view of the front door. he waits patiently as the members stumble in as a group, bringing the commotion with them.
“—can’t believe you look like this,” wonjin grumbles.
“wait until seongminnie sees,” singsongs hyeongjun.
“parrot,” minhee snickers under his breath, bending down to untie his shoelaces.
taeyoung's hidden behind the other members, so it isn't until everyone starts to disperse from the entryway that seongmin is able to get a good look at taeyoung's hair.
he looks...good?
seongmin wants to be mad. there is no way someone with traffic light hair should be able to look that good. he doesn't even notice he's staring intensely at taeyoung's head until the latter clears his throat, breaking seongmin out of his internal rant. taeyoung raises a questioning eyebrow at seongmin’s stare, running a hand through his newly-dyed hair in a way that has seongmin starstruck for a second.
“you’re staring, seongminnie~” jungmo whispers to seongmin as he passes by. seongmin throws a pillow at him.
"so," taeyoung starts, walking toward where seongmin's perched on the couch. "do you like it?" he asks, plopping down next to him and shoving his face into seongmin's line of vision. seongmin instinctively backs up, struggling to process their sudden close proximity.
"uhm, you look," seongmin starts. good, his brain finishes for him. but he's never been one to say his true feelings, so he looks straight into taeyoung's expectant eyes and—"like a parrot," he finishes, snickering at taeyoung's affronted expression.
before taeyoung has a chance to respond, wonjin cuts in, having overheard the exchange on his way to the kitchen. "geez, seongmin, show the poor kid some love, eh?" he jokes.
hyeongjun pokes his head out from the kitchen. "yeah, seongmin, stop being tsundere and just tell him he looks good," he waggles his eyebrows. seongmin just sticks his tongue out at hyeongjun, who returns the gesture before disappearing back into the kitchen.
"it's okay, i know seongminnie loves me anyway," taeyoung singsongs, ruffling seongmin's hair. seongmin huffs, pushing his hand away and crossing his arms. taeyoung laughs brightly, leaning in to leave a quick peck on seongmin's cheek before skipping off to the cake room. the gesture probably means nothing—taeyoung's always been the affectionate type—but seongmin's face flushes anyway, and he gapes at taeyoung's retreating back.
"whipped," wonjin snickers from the kitchen.
"am not," seongmin grumbles.
(but if he gets distracted by taeyoung's hair flopping around with each little skip he takes, no one has to know.)
~~~~~
over the course of the next couple weeks, seongmin finds himself staring at taeyoung a little too often. it's something he's always done, stealing glances at taeyoung when he thinks the other isn't looking. but this? this is new, even for seongmin.
at dance practice, he gets so distracted by the way the light reflects off taeyoung's hair that he almost misses his cue to enter.
at dinner, his eyes inevitably drift to admire taeyoung's hair, to the point hyeongjun has to elbow him to remind him to eat his food.
at dorm video game nights, he gets distracted by taeyoung as well, almost driving his mario kart character off the map.
for the most part, though, seongmin remains nonchalant as ever. he bickers with taeyoung as usual, and insists on calling the latter "parrot" or "traffic light" at every chance he gets. the only thing that changes is that he's picked up the habit of playing with taeyoung's hair— in the van when taeyoung falls asleep on his shoulder, or when they're cuddled together on the couch for the group's weekly movie nights. taeyoung thankfully hasn't questioned it yet, simply humming contentedly as seongmin's delicate fingers card mindlessly through his rainbow locks.
soon enough, the members (minus taeyoung, once again) start to take notice of seongmin's stares and oddly affectionate behavior. hyeongjun and minhee are the first to confront seongmin about it, cornering the youngest one day after they run into each other in the kitchen.
"so," minhee starts, a mischievous smirk already forming on his face. "what's with you and taeyoung, hmm?"
"nothing...?" seongmin turns from where he's browsing the fridge's contents to give the two a questioning look.
"you're acting like we don't all know about your crush on him," hyeongjun snorts. "but you're being extra obvious about it these days, i've seen the way you stare at him," he levels seongmin with a knowing stare.
seongmin splutters in protest. "i'm—we're just friends? and ok, he's objectively handsome, can't i stare at him a bit?" he defends.
"no one's stopping you," minhee retorts. "but you weren't like this before, so what changed, hmm?"
not giving seongmin a chance to reply, hyeongjun fires on. "yeah, suddenly you're all heart-eyes for him and now you're even playing with his hair—" hyeongjun stops abruptly. oh no, seongmin thinks, watching as hyeongjun's jaw drops in realization.
"oh my god, minhee, it's the hair," hyeongjun whispers dramatically to minhee. minhee blinks in surprise, taking a second to process this new information before turning slowly to seongmin.
"you like his hair that much?" minhee asks incredulously, smile widening when seongmin's face flushes. "oh my god, this is too good," he snickers.
"you go around calling him 'parrot' and 'traffic light' all day but," hyeongjun pauses for dramatic effect. "you love it!" he whisper-yells, pointing an accusatory finger at seongmin. minhee isn't any better, standing behind hyeongjun with a cocky grin on his face.
at this point, seongmin knows there's no point in hiding it anymore. "whatever, ok? just don't you dare tell him," he warns, raising his fist threateningly. the '02 liners glance at each other briefly, and some kind of silent communication passes between them. they turn to look back at seongmin, scarily in sync.
"oh, we won't tell taeyoung, he should hear it from you," minhee replies easily, to seongmin's surprise.
"but the others? no guarantees~" hyeongjun singsongs, before he grabs minhee by the wrist and the two flee the kitchen.
"yah! song hyeongjun! kang minhee!" seongmin yells after them, formalities be damned. he gets nothing but distant giggles in response.
"what's happening here?" comes a sudden voice. seongmin whirls around to look at the intruder, and just to his luck, it's taeyoung. the other boy is standing at the entrance to the kitchen, empty cereal bowl in hand. his eyes quickly scan seongmin's face, taking in his flushed appearance.
"did i...miss something?" taeyoung asks, slightly suspicious.
"nothing," seongmin lies smoothly, going to sit at the kitchen table. "you know them, they were just being annoying," seongmin grumbles. (not a lie, technically.)
"why are your cheeks so red then," taeyoung laughs, a hand coming up to pinch at seongmin's cheek. seongmin's cheek burns at the contact, and he just prays taeyoung doesn't notice.
he shies away from taeyoung's hand that's now dropped to rest on seongmin's shoulder, thumb brushing lightly over the side of his neck. "it's nothing, don't worry about it," he mumbles.
taeyoung merely shrugs, leaving seongmin's side in favor of browsing the fridge for another snack. "let me know if they're teasing you, we can't have that," he says noncommittally, eyes still fixed on the fridge.
"you're acting like you don't tease me the most," seongmin scoffs.
"exactly," taeyoung turns back to face seongmin, giving up on finding a snack. "only i should be allowed to tease you and make you blush like that," he grins. the rainbow-haired boy punctuates his words with a wink in seongmin's direction, before turning on his heels and leaving.
the fridge door shuts with a quiet thud behind him, leaving seongmin with only the pounding of his own heartbeat.
get it together, ahn seongmin, he groans internally, flopping his head down on the kitchen table. maybe, just maybe, he's a little whipped.
~~~~~
it soon becomes very clear that minhee and hyeongjun have told the other members about this recent development with seongmin's crush, if the members' constant teasing and poorly concealed smirks are anything to go by. unfortunately, the nine of them are constantly together, which means secrets are very hard to hide.
so seongmin isn't necessarily surprised when taeyoung lingers back one day after practice, joining seongmin at the back of the group as they leave the practice room. they walk in silence for a bit, and seongmin can almost feel the anxious energy radiating off taeyoung in waves. he doesn't like it, the unspoken tension between them. please say something, seongmin pleads mentally, not ready to make the first move. but they board the van to head back to the dorms, and taeyoung remains lost in thought.
taking the rare initiative to approach taeyoung first, seongmin nudges the other boy's shoulder gently once they're seated. "hey," he speaks quietly, as to not alert the members sitting just in front of them. "you good?"
taeyoung startles, turning to look at him with an apologetic smile. "sorry," he chuckles, bringing up a hand to rub awkwardly at the back of his neck. "just...thinking."
seongmin hums in understanding. "penny for your thoughts?" he offers, though he has an inkling of where this conversation might be going.
taeyoung purses his lips in thought. just when seongmin's starting to think taeyoung won't want to talk, the other boy speaks up again.
"sure, but...at the dorm maybe?" taeyoung asks. seongmin takes a glance out the window—they're almost home.
"mhm," he nods in understanding. "your room or mine?"
"your room? serim hyung and hyeongjun are too nosy," taeyoung jokes, his familiar, playful smile rising to his face. unknowingly, seongmin feels himself smiling back.
"okay," he laughs. silence falls over them again, but this time it's a comfortable one. they steal glances at each other from time to time, each boy fighting back smiles whenever the van swerves particularly hard and sends them careening into one another. time passes quickly like that, and soon enough, the van is pulling into a familiar parking lot.
"seongmin, shower?" allen asks as they enter the dorm. seongmin's usually the first to take a shower, often needing to sleep early for school the next day.
"oh, you guys can go first," seongmin pipes up. "i'm just going to talk to taeyoung real fast."
"oh?" a surprised smile forms on allen's face. finally? he mouths to seongmin, after checking to make sure taeyoung is busy unlacing his shoes. i don't know, seongmin mouths back, shaking his head slightly. allen nods sympathetically. "i'll let the others know to go first," he says, patting seongmin on the back for good luck before leaving.
"now?" taeyoung asks, straightening up from where he was placing his shoes away. seongmin nods.
they make their way to seongmin's room, climbing up to settle down on seongmin's top bunk. "so, what's up," seongmin asks, turning his full attention to the rainbow-haired boy sitting in beside him.
"this is probably going to sound stupid but—" taeyoung pauses to take a breath. "so i heard you actually, really like my hair...?" he trails off, looking everywhere except at seongmin.
seongmin breaks into a smile. here we go. "and if i do?" he teases, surprising himself with his own forwardness. this time, it's taeyoung whose face flushes, and he resolutely avoids seongmin's eyes. cute, seongmin thinks to himself.
"oh! uhm...that's nice," taeyoung stammers out. "that's—yeah, that was it," he coughs out, starting to get up off the bed.
seongmin squints suspiciously. why is taeyoung being so awkward about this? seongmin already admitted to liking his hair, so unless that wasn't clear enough then—
oh.
"taeyoung," he starts. the other boy stops in his movements. "hear me out, please?" taeyoung sighs, slowly sitting back down next to seongmin. seongmin looks him in the eye. "i like your hair, yes," he starts, taking a breath to steady himself. "but i like a lot more about you than just that, you know? like, like-like," he finally admits. there.
once the words are out of his mouth, seongmin realizes he doesn't feel as panicked as he always imagined he would in this moment. if anything, it's like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. somehow, he's confident that, no matter what happens, not much will change. that they'll always be the same, bickering, seongmin and taeyoung, who fight over banana seeds and get unnecessarily competitive in games. that even if "boyfriends" seongmin-and-taeyoung can't happen, "best friends" seongmin-and-taeyoung is perfectly enough.
"i—really?" taeyoung's voice shakes seongmin out of his thoughts. focusing back on the situation, seongmin meets taeyoung's earnest gaze.
"yes, really," he smiles softly. reaching out to squeeze one of taeyoung's hands for emphasis. "it's okay if you don't like me back, just let me know, please?"
"no no no," taeyoung says immediately. "i—i do like you too, like, like-like," he breathes out. seongmin heaves a sigh of relief, heart soaring. but he can tell taeyoung still has things to say, so he waits patiently for the other to collect his thoughts.
"i just—" taeyoung begins, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "i didn't think you liked me because i would basically flirt with you and you'd never react and then i heard the hyungs saying you liked my hair so i got hopeful but then i thought you only liked my hair and then i was overthinking and i was going to confess but then i got scared and—"
"taeyoung," seongmin interrupts softly, an amused smile on his face. the latter doesn't notice at first, still rambling. "taeyoung," seongmin tries again, louder this time. taeyoung finally stops, giving seongmin a sheepish look.
"i already said i liked you, didn't i?" seongmin chuckles. "like-like," he adds as a reminder. a smile blooms on taeyoung's face, and he nods shyly. "and for the record," seongmin continues, "i liked you long before your hair was parrot rainbow."
taeyoung laughs at that, his laughter echoing bright and loud in the room. "can i get a redo on my confession," he then asks, slightly out of breath from laughing.
seongmin pretends to consider. "you're not using this redo to take your feelings back, are you?" he jokes.
"of course not!" taeyoung backtracks. "i just, that's not how i planned it to go," he admits with an embarrassed smile.
seongmin giggles. "okay, sure," he replies, sitting back expectantly.
taeyoung takes a deep, purposeful breath. "i like you, ahn seongmin," he starts. "like-like," he adds with a grin. seongmin's heart swells, and in that moment, he thinks he falls even more for the boy in front of him.
"i like you too, kim taeyoung," seongmin laughs. "parrot hair or not."
"hey!" taeyoung protests. "that joke doesn't even work anymore," he points out with a grin. "now that i know how much you love my parrot hair."
seongmin huffs. "i'm taking it back, i don't like it anymore," he mutters, ignoring taeyoung's protests that follow.
and just like that, the two are back to their usual feisty selves, as if nothing had changed at all. except now, when seongmin holds his hand out for a conciliatory handshake, taeyoung links their fingers together instead, pulling the younger boy in for a shy peck on the cheek.
seongmin just blushes, letting himself lean into taeyoung's warmth. best friends and boyfriends, he thinks contentedly.