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Choi Soobin is so tired.
He's been the emcee for this show for like, ever, and at this point he's certain he's spent all of the past year at this place. Was it cool the first few days when he got to see idols he'd grown up fawning over and memorizing dance moves from? Sure. Did the novelty of seeing huge stars over and over wear off? He doesn't want to admit it, but yes, yes it has.
So when ATEEZ comes on the show, with people he actually knows and has befriended, he's so over this stupid reused and rewritten script and so ready to enjoy himself that he allows himself to go off-script, just this once.
Kang Yeosang used to be a sweet, wispy boy at BigHit before he left for KQ. Soobin had immediately taken him under his wing because Yeosang was so shy and was still getting used to the other boisterous boys (read: his future best friend, Jung Wooyoung). Yeosang proved himself to be the antithesis of his delicate looks however: his dancing was sharp and energetic and his low voice always resonated through people when he sang. Truth be told, Soobin might have had a crush on Yeosang, he couldn't say for sure—Yeosang had left for KQ Entertainment too early for him to figure out his feelings. They met up backstage during award shows now, but with the other members always there to buffer anything real from being said between them, Soobin had put aside his internal conflict to focus on his job as an idol.
But now here Yeosang is, looking far too fine for someone dressed in a snakeskin-like yellow shirt. He is... well. There is no other way around it: Yeosang is buff, and Soobin shakes away the whisper in his head that says "choke me like you hate me" to focus on the script cards in front of him.
All the while, though, Soobin can feel Yeosang's gaze on him. His face is imprinted on Soobin's mind, and he can picture the way Yeosang's milky brown eyes watch him, his smile at the jokes Soobin says, his his cheeks becoming rounded at the top and his cute rounded teeth peeking out.
Despite the naive look Yeosang certainly has right now, Soobin only knows how quickly that can change, how quickly bubbly and adorable Yeosang can turn into thunder thighs and bedroom eyes on the stage.
Regardless of how many times Soobin has watched Yeosang's sinful fancam of the last Fireworks performance, the mere act of watching feeling like something explicit, he's still determined to have fun on today's show. If making Yeosang flustered ends up being a part of that, Soobin will consider it a win.
"First, Yeosang who loves deserts," he starts, reading from the script. This is such a bore. He could change it up a little bit, couldn't he? Seeing as Yeosang had changed a lot? "Your outfit is hot today, and your muscles are no joke. Is there an exercise you recommend for us?"
Soobin relishes the way Yeosang's face goes from placidly smiling to openly shocked to attempting not to lose his mind on live TV. He's a little disappointed that Yeosang doesn't give him a straight answer, but it's so worth getting that initial reaction. Soobin can already picture himself replaying the clip at his dorm room, lamenting his Yeosang-less life, while Yeonjun groans and tells him to jerk off and get the sorrow out of his system so "the lovesickness goes away from the sanctity of our dorms lord save us sexy lonely singles."
Soobin is content with the reaction he got from Yeosang so he doesn't mess around too much after that, except now Yeosang wants Soobin to explode on television. He taps his shoulders to Soobin, touches their heads together, puts the mic near him as Soobin sings—when did Yeosang become so confident and into physical contact, and where can Soobin sign up to bring such a Kang Yeosang experience home?
While ATEEZ goes up to perform, Soobin pats Yeosang's behind affectionately (and it is gloriously stiff and round) and watches his muscles move around in his back with every swing of his arms.
It is time for a self-evaluation. It might not have been obvious before but Soobin can admit here, barely 20 feet away from Yeosang body-rolling like that at the beginning of Fireworks, that he is utterly whipped. Soobin wants to cuddle with him while they eat pepero sticks and laugh at the foodgasms in Food Wars, but he also absolutely wouldn't mind getting crushed by those thighs.
He becomes nearly catatonic by the end of the performance where Yeosang raises a hand up, making his biceps bulge even more, and lowers it down to fiery eyes before blowing away the remnants of Soobin's sanity.
When ATEEZ stumbles down the stairs after the performance, Wooyoung taps on Soobin's chin to close his mouth and winks at him. "You're even more obvious now than we were as trainees, Soobin. Go tell him that you'd love to have his last name as yours and your last breath with his or I won't be able to stop him from agreeing to go out with that clingy intern that's been asking him out for a month." San gives him an encouraging smile as he appears next to Wooyoung, and they leave hand-in-hand.
What he wouldn't give to have Yeosang's hand in his, too.
He finally summons the courage and pure insanity to pull Yeosang into a closet on the quieter second-floor lobby, and Yeosang falls against him, hard. Soobin is sure he'll bruise from that, but there are better ways to get bruises from Kang Yeosang and he's about to find out if he can travel them now.
"Hi," he says, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Hiya," Yeosang replies. He quirks an eyebrow up and Soobin screams internally. "I, too, love spending time with my friends in supply closets." He leans against a shelf and crosses his arms. Soobin tries not to hyperventilate. Even with Yeosang looking up at him, Soobin suddenly feels like the smaller man. To be fair, Yeosang probably isn't small in certain aspects by any means...
"So you were hot today," Soobin begins, and then immediately wants to end himself.
"You mentioned. On live camera."
"Yep."
Yeosang moves closer and slings both arms around Soobin's neck. "Anything you wanted to say in particular?"
Soobin sees the slow grin spreading across his face and groans. He buries his face onto Yeosang's shoulders. "You already know, don't you?"
He can feel the rumble of Yeosang's laughter. "I wanted to hear it from your mouth."
"I don't want to say it," he mumbles. He knows his ears are burning red.
Yeosang pulls away, and for a split second Soobin thinks he's done something wrong until he notices the black-haired man's eyes darken and glance down on his face. "There are always other ways to coax the words out," he comments.
"I'm open to being convinced," Soobin breathes.
Yeosang steps back towards him and pulls him down with a gentle tug on his hair. Their mouths connect quickly and slow into a pattern as their lips tug and push. Soobin lets his hands wander down Yeosang's arms, feeling the muscle built up there in wonder. Soobin is tall and certainly not a weightless person, but he can imagine that Yeosang would have no trouble handling him with strength like that.
They finally stop once Soobin bumps into a bucket of water behind him and jumps into Yeosang's arms to avoid his shoes from getting wet. Yeosang laughs and carries him outside, nodding in acknowledgement at a KBS director who looks very done with seeing idols come out of closets with disheveled hair and swollen lips, then slowly lowers Soobin to the ground.
"You should come to the ATEEZ dorm someday," Yeosang tells him as they walk downstairs. "It would give me an excellent reason to kick Wooyoung and San out of my room for a few hours."
"A few... hours?"
"You can always stay the night if you needed," Yeosang adds, like that's the thing worrying him.
"The night?" Soobin chokes.
"Well, you could stay longer but we're probably going to be out all day for the comeback schedule."
"Yeah, of course," Soobin squeaks out. "That's all fine with me!"
Yeosang looks up at him with shining eyes and a pure smile like they weren't just making out in a closet two minutes ago. "I'll see you later, then?"
"Absolutely," Soobin says, unable to stop the grin from spreading across his face. Yeosang gives a quick peck to his lips before he walks out the doors and into the waiting ATEEZ van. Soobin can hear the whoops from the other members as they take in Yeosang's appearance. He presses a finger to his lips as the car drives away. Did that really just happen?
Two days later Yeonjun jumps on top of Soobin while he's texting Yeosang. "YOU ABSOLUTE FIEND! You didn't tell me that you made out with Yeosangie? Why did I have to hear it from power couple Woosan? How could you betray the singles like this?" Yeonjun wails in his ears. Soobin groans.
Come over? A message pops up on his phone. Matz + 2ho @ movies, Woosan + Mingi terrorizing tourists @ Seoul.
Soobin smiles and shoves a pillow against Yeonjun's face to muffle his whining and bounds out the door.
"Don't forget to tell Yeosang about your strength kink, hyung!" Beomgyu calls as he crosses the living room. Soobin flips him off cheerfully and grabs his keys as he leaves their apartment.
Already on the way.