Archive of Our Own

i. I notice things, you don’t realize that I do.

Sunwoo has been in a bad mood all day.
It’s exams week, so he’s been on edge a lot more lately but today his professors have decided to go extra hard on everyone, and consequently he got the biggest headache ever. 

When he finally gets home, he plops down on the sofa and sighs.

“Hey there,” says one of his housemates, Chanhee. Sunwoo opens his eyes and sees the other standing next to him, looking at him with a worried expression on his face.

“Hey,” he replies. It comes out less friendly than he intended to, so he internally winces. Chanhee has nothing to do with his school problems, so there’s no reason for Sunwoo to take it out on him.

“Did anything happen?” he asks.

Sunwoo forces a smile, “Eh, nothing to worry about. Are the others home?” he doesn’t want to let it all out with Chanhee out of all people, it's not that Chanhee is a bad dude, but Sunwoo just knows that he doesn't want to hear about his shitty day since he hasn't warmed up to Sunwoo like the others have. Maybe Eric will.

“Changmin went out, I’m about to head out too,” Sunwoo notices he’s dressed up nicely. He looks good, “But Eric is in his room. Juyeon came over, they were going to watch a movie, you should join them,” he suggests.

Sunwoo grimaces, “Maybe I’ll take a nap, it’s weird to see Juyeon outside the club. Can you tell Changmin to bring me something for a headache?”

“Oh, yeah no problem,” he says. Sunwoo thinks he sees him hesitate in place, but he doesn’t speak, so Sunwoo just thanks him. 

“Thanks,” he gets and up goes to his room to pass out for a few hours and hopefully feel better. He hears Chanhee close the door on his way out. 

He lays in bed and thinks back to his exchange with Chanhee. 

Sunwoo has only told Eric about this, but ever since he moved in, he got somewhat of a little… crush on Chanhee (Eric says it’s more than just a crush but what does Eric know).

He just fell for the guy and his personality… and how fucking pretty he is. 

But, more than anything, after seeing him interact with Changmin, he noticed how even if they bicker Chanhee is very sweet and caring to him, which did make him feel a little jealous but also made him realize there’s more to Chanhee than just what he noticed at first. 

So yeah maybe Eric is right, it might be more than a crush. 

But how can he not? 

He sighs and closes his eyes. 

When he wakes up, his head is still killing him.
He looks at the bedside table to grab his phone and instead finds a single pill, a cup of water and a pink post-it. 

‘Hope you fell better :)“

Sunwoo smiles and takes it.

Later, he texts Changmin to thank him and the only response he gets is a question mark. But Changmin is like that sometimes, so he doesn’t think much of it.

ii. I care for you, again and again. 

Sunwoo is sitting on the floor next to the coffee table, he stares at his paper and sighs one time. Then again. 

And once more. 

“And what if I drop out?” he suddenly says out loud.

Everyone in the living room stares at him. Jacob looks concerned. 

“I dare you to do it,” says Eric from the couch behind him. 

“Eric, no,” says his older friend Sangyeon. He’s been spending a lot of time with them lately, Sunwoo wonders if he got kicked out by his housemates. 

“Eric yes,” says Changmin, coming from the hallway, “Wait, what am I agreeing to?”

“For Sunwoo to drop out, dumbass,” says Chanhee. 

“Oh,” he frowns at Eric, “Eric no!”

“I’m just kidding guys,” says Eric, “Also, as if Sunwoo would ever quit doing something, that would just hurt his pride.”

Chanhee nods, contemplating. 

“Rough day?” asks Jacob. 

“Rough year,” he whines, “But yeah, I’m really frustrated, I’ve been trying to get this done all day and it’s just not working out for me at all, fuck music theory.”

It has been impossible for him to concentrate on his paper, he has just been feeling down all day for no reason. It seems like lately his days have all been very bad. 

“Maybe you should take a walk to clear your head?” suggests Jacob. Sunwoo nods. 

“Maybe I should, I really won’t get anything done today so,” he gets up, “Sorry for being in a sour mood guys,” he apologizes, but everyone assures him that it’s okay. He looks at Chanhee and sees the boy biting his lip, he looks lost in his thoughts. 

He wonders what he must be thinking about as he puts on his shoes to go out. 

Probably not about Sunwoo. 

When he comes back from his walk, the living room is empty.  

He goes to the kitchen to grab a cup of water and finds a little bag on the counter. He, as nosey as ever, grabs it. 

He lets out a little gasp when he reads the post-it that comes with it. 

‘For Sunwoo :) hope you feel less upset’

He opens it and finds a box of Pepero. He smiles. The post-it looks the same as the one he got before. 

He grabs the bag and walks down the hallway to knock on Eric’s door.

“Come in,” says the boy from inside, so he opens it and lets his head peak inside while smirking.

“You’re gay,” he says. Eric raises an eyebrow.

“And you are too…”

“Not what I mean, what’s all this?” he raises his arm while holding the bag so Eric understands.

“Why would I know…? Wait is that a note?” Eric smirks, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Sunwoo rolls his eyes, “Whatever, thanks anyways,” he closes the door before Eric could say anything else and smiles. 

He looks up and finds Chanhee standing by the bathroom door, looking at him weirdly.

They have been getting closer lately, so he feels the need to explain what’s going on. 

“Oh,” he holds up the bag so Chanhee could see, “Eric gave me Pepero,” he explains, “as a friend,” he adds, like a dumbass for absolutely no reason. Chanhee’s face twitches, so Sunwoo panics and keeps talking, “He gave to me so I would feel better haha isn’t he such a nice friend?” 

Chanhee hums, “I guess he is,” he agrees, “But did it make you feel better?”

Sunwoo smiles and nods, “Yes! He even left a note…” he looks at it, then back at Chanhee, “A friend note,” he adds, again, for no fucking reason.

Chanhee is nice enough not to say anything about how weird he’s being, “If you feel better then that’s amazing,” he smiles, “You can’t go around sulking all week, I don’t think it’d be good for your mental health not to annoy the shit out of me on a daily basis, so quickly feel better,” he adds. 

It’s true that the way they got closer was by Sunwoo bickering with Chanhee. 

Sunwoo rolls his eyes and gives him a sarcastic smile, “Haha, funny. I guess you miss me so much you can’t endure a week without my attention.”

Chanhee nods, and gives him a coy smile, “Ah yes it’s been an agony for me, so hurry.”

With that, he opens the bathroom and gets inside.

As soon as its safe, Sunwoo takes one of his hands to his face and deeply sighs. That was embarrassing. 

But hey, Chanhee wants him to feel better and he has pepero. He feels like a winner.

iii. You never expect it from me. 

His day could not be better, Sunwoo thinks as he looks at Chanhee sitting next to him, sipping on an Iced Americano. He recently dyed his hair a platinum blonde, the new look makes him look ethereal. Sunwoo had joked that he was a natural blonde, Chanhee had just rolled his eyes. 

“I think you should take a picture,” says Chanhee and Sunwoo is taken back to reality. 

“Huh?” he asks, then realizes what he means with that, “Are you pulling that line on me?” he asks, he decides to ignore how embarrassed he is by being caught staring. 

“Well, you’ve been looking at me for a long time,” says Chanhee, smirking. 

“Trying to get my eyes used to the scary sight of your face,” he says. Chanhee gasps and hits his arm. 

It’s really easy to rile Chanhee up, Sunwoo just has to be slightly disrespectful and Chanhee is already hitting him and yelling. 

“Ah! Ah!” he whines, definitely pretending to be more hurt than he already is. To that Chanhee starts giggling, and when Chanhee giggles Sunwoo can’t help but laugh too. 

After they calm down, Chanhee looks at his phone. 

“Do you have anything to do later?” he asks, a little out of breath. 

“Sadly I do, I have to print our group paper because our teacher insists killing trees instead of reading a Word document,” Chanhee hums, and as he finishes speaking, Sunwoo's phone pings. 

Sunwoo freezes.

“Oh no,” he says. Chanhee frowns. 

“Is everything okay?” he asks, worry evident in his voice. 

“Not really,” he bites his lip. 

“You can tell me if something happened," Chanhee says to him gently. 

“My mom just texted me,” he says. Chanhee nods, encouraging him to continue, “My little sister has a nut allergy and somehow someone switched her lunch at school and she ended up eating something she shouldn’t,” he sighs, “She’s going to be okay but I feel like I should go see her…” he pauses and rubs his face, feeling frustrated, “But I have this stupid ass paper to print… I have to take it to class tomorrow too, fuck.”

Chanhee seems to contemplate something, then he speaks tentatively, “What if I- if someone does it for you?”

Sunwoo thinks about it, then nods “Maybe Eric? I think he doesn’t have class in the morning and he’s supposed to come home in like a hour… Can you give him the document for me? I have it on my cloud.”

Chanhee puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile, “Send me the document, I will give it to Eric.”

Sunwoo smiles, feeling relieved, “Thanks, I’m gonna get going then, I’ll have to catch a bus.”

Later, when Sunwoo is at his house, he sends Eric a text. 

Did u print it?

The reply comes a few minutes later. 

What

Sunwoo frowns. 

Chanhee didn’t tell u? 

He waits for the reply, this time Eric takes a bit longer. 

haa yeeee I did it. sorry I forgot what we were talking about

Oh thanks then
Can u go tomorrow

yes dw

Ok ok, thanks again 

At that moment Sunwoo feels grateful for having such great friends. 

iv. If you tell me, I try my best. 

For something that Sunwoo started as a distraction, the dance club sure is making him more stressed than he anticipated.

It's not that he expected it to be easy, but he also didn’t exactly think it was going to give him so much trouble.

“But Juyeoooon,” he whines.

“Sunwoo, you know that’s not going to work with me,” says the older. 

“But Juyeon… I don’t have time, I got an assignment due and a exam all for next week,” he complains, “Is there no way you can wait another week?”

The dance club has one simple rule for all members: Every month you have to present a 40 to 60 seconds choreography on top of the group routines they work with during practice. 

If you don’t, you’re out.

Why? Well, because everyone wants to get into the club, and if you’re in, you have to work hard to maintain your place. 

But dance majors like Juyeon have it way easier, since they do it for their course already… So Sunwoo, who has been putting this month’s routine off because he couldn’t find time to work on it, is now in trouble. 

“Sunwoo, you know I can’t be lenient unless there was a real emergency,” he says, “I hope you have something for next week.”

Sunwoo sighs. 

Well, there goes the dance club he guesses. 

When he gets home, he walks in dragging his feet and plops down on the couch, face first. 
He screams into the cushions. 

“Is the couch giving you trouble?”

Of course its Chanhee. Sunwoo hears the amusement in his voice and frowns, face still smushed against their couch. 

“Sunwoo, may I remind you that people put their asses there? Also Eric sat butt naked on it yesterday.”

As he hears this, he quickly sits up, a look of horror on his face. Chanhee laughs loudly. 

Sunwoo looks at the other boy, who’s sitting by the table, a pen on his hand and a couple of notebooks scattered on top of it. 

“Why did Eric sit on our couch naked!” he whines. 

“Drunk,” is Chanhee’s simple response. Sunwoo hums in understatement. Makes sense, “And what has you so upset?”

Sunwoo pouts, “I will have to quit the dance club…” he sounds like a child, and he also feels like one in all honesty. 

Chanhee looks surprised by this, “But you love the dance club.”

“I do, but I won’t be able to make a choreography by next week, you know here we have no space for practicing anything so I have to go to the arts building to use one of their studios when I need to practice,” he explains, “But I have no time right now,” he rubs his eye with one hand, “I have an assignment due, and then an exam… which is going to kick my ass by the way.”

“And did you talk with the club?” he asks. 

“Yeah, but Juyeon won’t budge.”

At the mention of Juyeon, Chanhee narrows his eyes. 

“Juyeon? He’s the one giving you trouble?” 

“Well I wouldn’t say giving me trouble, he’s just doing his duty, I knew from the start I had the responsibility to have something for each month,” Chanhee shakes his head. 

“That idiot,” says the other boy while looking at nowhere in particular, seemingly talking to himself. He looks at Sunwoo and smiles, “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll come around.”
Sunwoo doesn’t think so. 

The next day, he’s walking to the arts building to resign from the dance club when someone runs into him. 

“Sorry- Sunwoo! I was looking for you,” it’s Juyeon. 

“Oh? Yeah I was going to the club right now to talk about yesterday, I won’t-,” Juyeon raises both hands to stop him from continuing, Sunwoo is very confused. 

“Don’t worry about yesterday, that’s what I wanted to talk about,” Sunwoo raises an eyebrow. 

“What happened?”

“You can have another week for the choreography,” he says, giving him a gentle smile. 

“Hey you don’t have to do this, I understand it’s my responsibility to-“

Juyeon grabs him by his shoulders “Stop! No need to worry Sunwoo, I insist. One more week,” he says, showing him one finger. 

“Well… Um, thanks a lot? I’m very confused but thank you for real, I’m really happy being part of the club,” he says, smiling at Juyeon.

“Don’t mention it,” says Juyeon. 

“I guess Chanhee was right,” he says, and Juyeon’s face twitches. He gives  a weird choked out laugh.

“I have to go back to the club,” says Juyeon, suddenly speaking in a monotone voice.Without saying anything else, he turns around and leaves. 

Sunwoo is left standing there, confused but very happy. 

v. So I do it secretly, silently. 

Looking back, he hasn’t been paying enough attention to what was going on. There’s no other way to explain how he managed to miss so much. 

Or maybe he’s just an idiot. 

But this time around, he finally noticed it. 

The thing about Sunwoo being busy is how he manages to mess up taking care of himself. And this year in particular has been taking a different kind of toll on him. 

It used to be different, if there’s one thing he would never forget was to eat properly. All 4 meals. 

Yet right now he really became… a mess. He has been trying his best to excel at school, because he felt like he didn’t do enough on his 2nd year and he needed to make up for it just to feel better with himself. 

So, this all lead to a year where he simply forgot that he was a human with basic needs and not a machine. 

“Man, have you even eaten anything?” says Eric. They’re both on the living room trying to keep each other company while they cram some more. But it’s 2am, and Sunwoo’s stomach just made a… scary noise. 

Sunwoo sighs, putting his notebook down. He’s been going over his notes since 10pm without rest. He scratches his belly. 

“Eh, not really, but it’s okay,” he assures Eric, “I don’t have time to make myself a proper meal but I don’t even notice it when I’m busy,” he explains. Eric rolls his eyes. 

“I noticed you haven been eating well at all you idiot,” he says. Sunwoo chuckles. So just as he suspected, maybe it was Eric leaving those cups of ramen noodles at the front of his door.

“I promise you I’m okay, I just need to be ready for my finals.”

“Yeah as if you’re going to be able to be in good shape for your exams if you don’t rest and eat,” he says, his tone humorous but he’s clearly concerned. 

Sunwoo smiles, “Don’t worry bro, I have it under control,” he says. Eric just shakes his head, looking down to his computer again. 

Then he hears steps behind them and sees Chanhee’s figure entering the kitchen. 

He ignores him and goes back to his notebook. 

At 2:30, Eric decides he’s done for the day. 
So Sunwoo is left alone, reading, the only thing to keep him company are the noises coming from the kitchen… Well, the noises and the… smell. 

His stomach growls. 

vi. But then you see me. 

He gets up, because he can only be so strong.

When he enters the kitchen, he does it quietly.

He steps inside and sees Chanhee leaning over the counter, a plate of food ready besides him.

But what catches his attention is the post it he’s writing on. His eyes fill with recognition, because those are the same little post-its he’s been getting for the past 3 months. 

He stays silent as Chanhee finishes writing, the other boy smiles to himself still not noticing Sunwoo as he leaves the note next to the plate.

Sunwoo speaks up.

“What’s that?” he says.

Of course, Chanhee jumps in place, screaming at the top of his lungs making Sunwoo flinch.

“Yah!” he yells at Sunwoo, an adorable frown on his face “You almost killed me! What the hell!” Sunwoo chuckles, very amused by the other’s antics.

“Sorry,” he says, his tone telling otherwise, “I just wanted to know what you’re doing.”

Chanhee looks at the food, eyes quivering a bit, “Uh. Food?”

“Well of course, but what’s the note for?” he says. He tries to sound very confident, but on the inside he’s having an internal battle between being euphoric and nervous as hell.

“Uhm,” Chanhee scratches his wrist, he seems to be as nervous as Sunwoo feels, “For you.”

Sunwoo chokes on air.

I mean, he knew it from the moment he recognized the cute pink post-its. Still, it’s different to hear a confirmation.

“Me?” he asks.

Chanhee purses his lips and nods, “Yeah, you haven’t been eating well,” he explains.

Sunwoo blinks.

“Have you been leaving the ramen cups?”

“Mhmm,” Chanhee hums in confirmation. His ears look very pink.

Sunwoo walks towards the counter and looks down, his chest full of gratitude. He looks at Chanhee and gives him a soft tentative smile, “Thank you.”

Chanhee smiles, he looks tiny right now, nervous, “You’re welcome,” he points at the plate, “You should eat.”

Sunwoo nods, “Can you keep me company?” he asks. Chanhee makes a funny noise.

“Yeah,” he says. His voice has gone up a few octaves.

Sunwoo feels like he knows what’s going to happen next, but time stopped feeling real the moment he walked into the kitchen. It’s like they’re not at their dorms anymore, because this is not what normally happens between them, there was never the tension he feels now.

Right now the air is filled with expectation, both of them are aware that someone is going to have to say something and acknowledge it.

Sunwoo now knows that he was not getting ahead of himself, because why else would Chanhee be fidgeting in place as he watches Sunwoo eat?

There are instances where things are clearly there, and everyone knows it, but nobody says a thing. Maybe that’s what had been happening with them.

He chews on his food and thinks about all the times Chanhee sat next to Sunwoo and just listened to him, never too talkative but always paying attention. Sunwoo was grateful for those moments, but he never thought of it as something other than Chanhee being the good listener he is.

There was more to it, thought. Because Chanhee was too attentive, never loudly, but secretly. Sunwoo should’ve payed more attention instead of assuming that Chanhee didn’t care about him like he cared for his best friends.

Chanhee is suckling at his bottom lip when Sunwoo finishes eating.

“Thank you, it was delicious,” he says, cleaning his mouth with a napkin. Chanhee smiles, it wavers.

“You’re welcome,” he says. Chanhee always seems confident, but right now he looks a bit distressed.

Chanhee breathes in, and speaks, “I guess I have to explain myself a bit,” he says. Sunwoo tilts his head, he didn’t expect Chanhee to talk about it without warning.

“About?” he asks, knowing full well what the other means.

“Well, obviously about what I’ve been doing…” Chanhee looks at Sunwoo, more composed now, “Sorry for doing things secretly,” he says, “But I didn’t expect anything from it, I just wanted to help you out a bit? This year, and I’m not sorry to say this, you’ve been an absolute wreck,” Sunwoo huffs out a surprised laugh. It’s funny because it’s true, but he doesn’t say anything yet, “I wasn’t planning on doing it like this forever but once I started I felt a little ashamed of coming forward like ‘hey it was actually me’, you know?”

Sunwoo doesn’t understand, “Why?”

“Well because it looked too obvious and I didn’t want you to think you owed me anything in return. I wanted to… take care of you without you feeling weird about it."

Sunwoo hums. That’s very typical of Chanhee.

“It would’ve been nice to know though, then I could’ve thanked you properly instead of always assuming it was Eric,” he smiles thinking of how many times he thought Eric was just fucking with him.

Chanhee giggles, “Yeah, I thought Eric would blow my cover. He sucks at keeping secrets.”

“Huh? Eric knew?"

“Well, kind of,” he says, his eyes crinkle, “That one time you needed him to print your assignment and you texted him asking if he did it...” Chanhee smiles as he recalls what he’s telling, “Eric asked me what you were talking about and I was caught.”

“That idiot played along then,” he tsks. Deceived by his own best friend.

“I practically begged him,” he says, “Well, Eric found it funny so he didn’t have a problem with helping me out,” he explains. Sunwoo looks at him and takes in how giddy he looks as he remembers everything he has been doing.

It’s insane to him. Why did Choi Chanhee simply decide to take care of one messy Kim Sunwoo?

“So you have done more than the notes and ramen noodles then,” he says.

“I did what I could, because sometimes you wouldn’t talk about whatever bothered you,” he purses his lips, “Maybe from now on you should,” Chanhee pauses, he looks as if he’s having an internal debate for a second.

“What’s wrong?” asks Sunwoo.

“I have to ask, aren’t you a bit weirded out by me?”

Sunwoo frowns.

Why would Chanhee think that?

“Of course not, it did take me by surprise but it was in a good way. I’m not even sure if I deserve all this because you’ve been doing a lot for me meanwhile I’ve been just struggling to not trip down the stairs every morning when I go to class.”

Chanhee smiles, gently.

“You’re so dumb,” he says, and Sunwoo mocks him, pretending to be offended, “You truly are, you don’t owe me anything.”

“If you say so, but I still want to make up for it when I can,” he says. Chanhee plays with his bottom lip and nods, “There’s another thing though.”

“What?”

“Was all this only because you wanted to help me out?”

“Ah,” Chanhee let’s out a pitifully chuckle, “It’s just the way I found to let you know… This is actually super embarrassing to say out loud holy fuck.”

Sunwoo is nervous, “Please, don’t be ashamed.”

It’s almost 3am. They’re alone in the kitchen, talking in hushed voices. Everything feels hazy.

“Please keep in mind I really didn’t expect anything in return,” he repeats, Sunwoo nods so Chanhee continues, “Maybe I was a little selfish while doing it, because it was my way to deal with the feelings I have for you without making it obvious. A way to show my affection without real consequences.”

It may not show on his face, but his insides definitely feel the burn. A good kind of burn.

It’s been building up since they started talking, and now he feels it everywhere.

He was not crazy.

“If you’re not going to say anything I might have to leave because this is really killing me from embarrassment,” Chanhee tries to sound light, but there’s a shakiness in the way he talks.

“Sorry, sorry,” says Sunwoo, “I’m overwhelmed. I didn’t expect- Uh, anything? Like, I’m talking about these past months. Or maybe since you moved in.”

Chanhee looks confused. Yeah Sunwoo doesn’t know what he just talked about either.

“Like, I always felt envious of how you treated Changmin. Or anyone to be honest. At first I thought you weren’t warming up to me but you always kept me company and joked around with me so I assumed ‘yeah he just sees me as a someone to laugh with’, and I was okay with that!”

Chanhee raises both eyebrows, “You were never just that,” he says, and then, “You were jealous?"

Sunwoo looks around, “I guess so.”

“That’s cute,” says Chanhee. Sunwoo’s ears heat up, “Well I never know how to act around people I’m attracted to, so I tried to keep my distance in case you would realize,” he confesses.

Sunwoo freezes. Hearing all this come out from Chanhee’s mouth is something he never expected.

“Huh?” he lets out.

“Then sometimes you would look at me for too long so I had some hope that you’d like me too,” he continues, then he frowns, “And that weird thing you’d always did. You would talk about how Eric did things for you as a friend? That was so…”

“Stop!” he begs. Chanhee giggles.

“It was cute too,” he says.

Both of them stare at one another. Just looking.

Sunwoo takes it all in. Chanhee, right here, in their kitchen. Chanhee who just confessed he likes him.

Chanhee who just confessed he likes him. What the hell.

“You actually like me?” he suddenly asks. There’s a difference between assuming something and hearing it come from said person’s mouth. 

Chanhee tilts his head, “That’s what I said, yes?”

“That’s so… What the fuck.”

Chanhee laughs, loudly.

Sunwoo laughs too.

Maybe it’s not funny, maybe it won’t be funny to anyone but them.

But they feel giddy with happiness, so who cares?

“I want to keep taking care of you,” says Chanhee. They might be the same height, but right now Sunwoo’s the one that feels tiny, “But now it won’t be a secret.”

“Are you asking me out?”

Chanhee gives him a coy smile, “Maybe.”

“Then maybe I’ll say yes,” he purses his lips, playful. 

“You’re so cute,” says Chanhee, “You annoy me so much but you’re also so cute!”

“Is that a backhanded compliment?” he asks, blushing. 

“Are you implying you’re not annoying?”

“Well maybe I am,” he admits, “But I think we work well when we annoy each other.”

Chanhee smiles, “We do.”

“Can we kiss now?” he blurts out. 

Chanhee opens his mouth, at a loss for words. 

“Oh my God, see?”

“Sorry,” he says, “Can we?”

“Oh you’re so sorry aren’t you,” Chanhee rolls his eyes.

“Yeah,” says Sunwoo, a cheeky smile on his face. Chanhee bites his lips. 

He leans over, elbows resting on the counter. Sunwoo catches his breath as Chanhee’s face comes close to his own. 

His slender fingers come contact with Sunwoo’s face. It makes him shiver. 

He looks into Chanhee’s eyes, they’re twinkling in anticipation. 

Sunwoo breathes out as Chanhee carefully tilts his head and puts his lips over Sunwoo’s. 

It’s a tender touch, Chanhee’s lips taste of his lip balm but there’s also a taste so uniquely his. Sunwoo immediately decides he loves it. 
Their lips move against each other slowly, Chanhee’s fingers running against Sunwoo’s skin, it makes Sunwoo crave for more. 

He whines in place when Chanhee’s tongue leaps against his plump bottom lip. 

He has been kissed before, but never with such care. Chanhee kisses him like he means it, like he wants Sunwoo to understand what he feels. 

His fingertips are tentative as he runs them down Sunwoo’s jawline. His skin prickles. Chanhee hums against his mouth. 

They’re lost in each other’s lips when suddenly a loud noise is heard. 

“You fucking idiot!” comes someone yelling after it. 

Both Chanhee and Sunwoo freeze in place, lips connected, eyes wide open. 

Chanhee leans back and both of them look at the door. 

Eric is standing there, scratching his neck, an awkward smile on his face. 

On the floor, there’s Sangyeon.

Sunwoo reacts to that, “What the hell is Sangyeon doing here?” 

Behind Eric, Changmin speaks, “He got kicked out by his roommates.”

Oh so Sunwoo was right. 

“I see,” he says, nodding. 

Chanhee screams. 

“This is so frustrating!”

“I’m so sorry!” says Eric, “We had this bet going on so we just had to make sure you guys were for real getting together…”

“You what!?” yells Chanhee. 

From the floor, Sangyeon elaborates, “Eric said Chanhee would confess first.”

“So did I,” adds Changmin. 

“Did anyone bet for me?” asks Sunwoo.

Silence. 

“Aw man! What the hell! No one?”

Chanhee lets out a frustrated noise, “They shouldn’t be betting in the first place!”

“Oh.”

The awkwardness follows after that makes Sunwoo’s skin itch. 

Eric coughs. 

“That was a nice kiss,” he says. 

Chanhee screams again, “I can’t do this,” he says as he grabs Sunwoo by the wrist, dragging him out of the kitchen. 

He thinks he steps on Sangyeon on the way out. 

He’s so lost he doesn’t realize where Chanhee took him until he slams the door of his room closed. 

“I hate them,” he says. Sunwoo shakes his head, trying to process what just went on. 

“We kissed,” he says. 

As Chanhee hears him, his annoyed expression relaxes, a smile flashes on his pretty lips. 

“Yeah Sunwoo,” he says, his voice losing all the harshness from seconds ago. 

“That was nice,” he adds, swaying in place.
“Mhmm,” Chanhee agrees. 

“So…” he looks around until he meets Chanhee’s amused gaze. 

“Oh my God you’re so cute,” as he says this, he quickly grabs Sunwoo by his shoulders and connects their lips again. 

He yelps as Chanhee’s hand goes to grab at his waist.

As they kiss, he sighs. 

"Wait," he pulls back, suddenly remembering something. 

"Hm?" 

"Does this mean you intimidated Juyeon that one time?" 

Chanhee coughs, "Yes?" 

Sunwoo gasps, "That's so fucking hot."

"I can't stand you!" he whines, but immediately kisses him again.

Sunwoo thinks to himself that he's never been more grateful for being a bit of a mess. He's sure Chanhee doesn't mind.