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It all starts when they first go out to get ice cream together. Minho is an observant person by nature, so it obviously surprises him that he hasn’t picked up on this sooner. How could he miss such a blatant fact of the universe, even when it was constantly shoved right under his nose? He thinks he’ll forever blame it on himself.
It’s a cold day outside, which obviously means that Felix craves ice cream. Approximately none of them are strong enough to refuse him, Minho included. It’s break time anyways, and the members are lounging about doing their own thing. He decides to tag along, because Jisung wants an americano as well but is too lazy to get up, which naturally means that Minho shall get it for him. It’s not a secret that the elder harbours a soft spot for the aforementioned “September twins”. He thinks it’s because of their sunshine-like tendencies. But to be fair, he himself doesn’t know why the two of them are often subject to his tsundere-ish fondness. He’s given up on caring too much about it.
The two of them trudge upon the accumulated snow, Minho bundled up in about four layers of sweaters. Felix is a little more lightly dressed. The tip of his now-red nose peeks through the cream scarf that adorns his neck, and Minho can’t help but think that it’s an adorable sight. The pair reach the nearby café soon enough, the younger one practically bouncing in his boots at the prospect of ice cream. The scent of caffeine wafts into Minho’s nose and seeps into his bones, making him feel weirdly at ease. He vaguely thinks if all cafes are like this. Felix doesn’t leave him wondering for too long though, dragging him to the counter by the wrist. A fond smile escapes his lips at that, and Minho’s suddenly thankful that he’s wearing a mask. He orders an americano for Jisung and motions for Felix to go ahead with his ice cream order.
“A strawberry ice cream, please!”
The waitress gives them a nod and requests them to stand by as their order is processed. They step aside as she disappears behind the counter. Minho deliberately wrinkles his nose at the blond and says, “Strawberry ice cream is a travesty.”
“Not true! It’s actually really nice.” Now pouting petulantly, Felix shoots right back at him. “What flavours do you prefer then, Your Majesty?”
“Hmm,” Minho pretends to ponder deeply over the jab. “Obviously, vanilla and chocolate are the only acceptable options. Cookies and cream is passable.”
“What about mint chocolate?”
“Disgusting.”
Felix doesn't bother hiding his amusement anymore. He grins and says, "You only say that because Seungmin loves mint chocolate chip. And obviously, your sole purpose in life is to spite him."
"Kim Seungmin is in no way or form involved in this," Minho rolls his eyes, smiling a little behind his mask.
"Mhm, sure."
They’re back at the JYP building with their respective orders in their hands in no time at all. Felix had been pleading with Minho to have his strawberry ice cream in the café itself, using the fact that it might melt on the way back as an excuse. Minho hadn’t budged. It’s as cold as the inside of a refrigerator right now Lix, I think your ice cream will be just fine . And he’d been right. Handing Jisung his americano (who blows him a very unsolicited flying kiss), he sits down beside the blond, who is now contently having his cold sweet treat. Minho smiles, forgetting that he’s gotten rid of his mask long ago.
“You wanna taste some?”
Minho raises his eyebrows. “Did you forget that I called strawberry ice cream a travesty not ten minutes ago?”
“No I didn’t. In fact, it’s why I want you to taste some. To prove that strawberry ice cream is actually awesome.” Felix grins, flashing his pearly whites. Minho sighs. But he’s a weak man, after all. So he ends up caving.
“Fine.”
Felix’s grin widens. He brandishes a spoon of the pink ice cream in Minho’s face, who lets his mouth fall open. The blond feeds him some of it, and the action in itself seems as easy as breathing. Minho wonders just when the pair started getting this close. Soon enough the taste of artificial strawberry flavouring overwhelms his taste buds. Minho pulls a face at which Felix laughs.
“C’mon, it’s not that bad!”
“It’s… Fine, I guess. Not as bad as mint chocolate chip.”
Felix laughs again. “I’ll take it.”
They sit in peaceful silence as the blond enjoys his ice cream. He offers some to Minho a couple more times, who just shrugs and lets him feed him. I suppose strawberry ice cream isn’t that bad after all.
However, it’s when Felix drops some on his arm that Minho realizes it. It’s barely a couple drops of melted ice cream, slowly trailing across his bare forearm. The blond brings it up to his mouth - almost subconsciously, as if he doesn’t even realize what he’s doing - and swiftly licks it off before it trails any further. Minho blinks a little. Felix, blissfully oblivious to the elder’s staring, continues to dig into his ice cream until it’s successfully finished. Once it’s done, he gets up, discards the paper cup into a nearby trash can, and bounces away towards Seungmin. Minho’s left frozen on his spot, the little action weirdly reminding him of how his cat Dori often likes to lick his paws clean. His brain does a little comparison of its own accord, the two images now flashing side-by-side in his mind’s eye. He groans. What’s wrong with him? Does he really miss his cats that much?
Before he can ponder over it too much, Chan claps to draw attention to him and calls out for them loudly, signaling the end of break. Desperately shoving the vivid image into the depths of his brain, Minho gets up with a sigh. It's going to be a long day of practice, and he'd rather not have the thought of Felix bearing a striking resemblance to his cats on his mind all throughout it. He just hopes he doesn’t catch a cold or something.
Felix catches a cold. Well, it’s actually more of a sore throat than anything, but Minho likes to be dramatic. He peers over at the blond being lectured (correction: being fussed over) by a very worried Bang Chan. He’s giving him his best pair of dejected puppy-eyes, and Chan, being a weak man, is yielding. Minho huffs out a tiny laugh and shakes his head. The Australian pair aren’t gonna change anytime soon - he knows that for a fact. He can’t help but feel a little worried though, since he was the one who went along with getting him ice cream the other day. Once Chan has (finally) left the freckled boy alone, Minho makes his way towards him.
“Hey,” Felix looks at him, the radiance of his smile never diminishing. His voice sounds hoarse - a little raspier than usual. With his already husky voice, Minho hadn’t thought that’d be possible. He sits down beside him, the soft common couch sinking under the weight.
“Hi. How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay hyung, really. It’s just my throat that’s been giving me some trouble. Nothing that a hot cup of tea can’t fix.”
Minho narrows his eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“You better be right. I’ll strangle you if you're not.”
Felix grins. “No you won’t.”
“No I won’t,” Minho affirms. “I’ll strangle Hyunjinnie instead.”
Hyunjin retorts from the other side of the room. “Hey! Don’t involve me in your lover’s quarrels!”
Minho’s eyebrows go up at the last part of his sentence, and he subtly glances at Felix to take in his reaction. However, the blond just rolls his eyes and laughs. He doesn’t pipe up and deny them being “lovers”, as Minho had expected. His tummy feels a little weird at the fact but he decides not to comment. Sometimes, Hyunjin’s just better off being ignored.
“I... do feel a little tired, though, if I’m being honest.”
Minho feels like brushing away the stray strand of blond hair that’s falling into Felix’s warm eyes and tucking it behind his pointy ear. He feels like pulling him into a hug, and coddling him, and making him hot chamomile tea. He feels like pressing a soft kiss upon his button nose, like he often does with his cats. He ends up doing none of the above; just opting for sitting down beside him and saying, “Take better care of yourself, dumbass,” instead.
Felix laughs as if he expected that. It’s a hoarse, scratchy, yet happy sound that effectively awakens the butterflies residing in Minho’s stomach. Somehow, it turns him bolder.
Sighing, he pats his lap. Felix’s eyes flit to his thighs, then back up to him; and he tilts his head in the form of an unsaid question. Minho avoids his eyes.
“I’m sure Chan won’t mind you catching the rest you deserve. And I’m done with the practice for the day, as well. I don’t mind. I’ll hit you if you don’t wake up in twenty minutes, though.”
Felix’s lips curve up into a radiant smile, one that’s somehow fuller and happier than the one he’d received before. His eyes crinkle prettily. Softly murmuring, “okay,”, he shifts on the couch and rests his head on Minho’s lap. Minho feels a sort of warm fondness envelope him like a bubble - one that he’s pretty sure he’s never felt before. He suddenly understands why their international fans refer to Felix as “sunshine” a lot better. The weight of the blond’s head shifts a little more on Minho’s lap, before suddenly going very still. He peeks over and sees his eyelids flutter shut. Felix falls asleep almost immediately. Minho wonders just how tired he must’ve been.
Having nothing better to do, his eyes instinctually wander towards the younger boy’s face. Felix looks peaceful, a very tiny smile accentuating his features. Minho is in awe of how the boy can be so happy all the time - even in his sleep. His chest heaves very slightly whenever he breathes in, taking Minho's palm resting upon it along with it. And that's when his ear twitches - a quick jerky motion that's barely noticeable. Minho can't help the little giggle that spills out of his lips. Doongi does that too, whenever I scratch his ears, or whenever he's asleep.
How the heck does Felix manage to be so cute, even in his sleep? Minho sighs and runs his hand through the freckled boy's fluffy blond hair, convincing himself that he's only doing so since it reminds him of his cats' soft fur.
The next few days aren't any warmer, and practice just seems to get more and more grueling. Every now and then, the members go out to eat together, or just about anything that can serve as an escape. There seems to be less and less time left for them to venture outside anymore, though. All of them are pushing themselves hard, and the last thing Minho wants is for him to be left behind. They shoot the first two episodes of their recent series SKZ-code, and it feels like an amazing breather. They goof off, laugh till their chests hurt, throw snowballs at each other's faces, and smile widely after what feels like weeks.
It's when they're shooting the third episode for SKZ-code that Minho notices it again. It being the same striking similarity between the blond Australian and his little felines. It's when he's chosen by Felix to make him get flustered, something that Minho's not too sure he excels at. The blond is wearing the customary cat ears and looking at him with a mischievous glint in his eye. Minho can almost hear his heart skip a beat. He knows he's freaking out internally but he's almost perfected the art of maintaining a calm façade by now. So, he smirks right back and says, "Don't worry, you guys. I know how to take good care of my little kitties."
Almost confidently, he walks up to the younger and pauses in front of him. Then, he slowly brings his hands up and tickles the blond's neck, something that he's accustomed to doing with his little ones. His index finger skillfully makes his way up to right under Felix's ear, and the reaction is almost instantaneous. The furry cat ears perched atop his hair cleanly swerve a 180-degree-angle, and his eyes go wide - as if he himself is surprised at the response. Minho is awestruck. He had not expected that to work, at all.
The shouts of delight from the members are immediate, and Minho can barely register the chaos that unfolds. Even Chan is giggling hysterically in delight - which makes him realize that the scene must've looked quite hilarious. He simply stares at Felix in awe. The blond just rolls his eyes, but the playful glint in his eyes is still present.
"Seems like you do know how to take care of your little kitties, after all," he whispers to Minho in a low voice, whose breath catches in his throat. Heat rushes up his neck as he pats his shoulder and walks away. However, Minho doesn't fail to notice that Felix's ears are exceptionally red throughout the entire shoot that day.
Minho knows that going out with his friends to get drunk after an especially long day isn’t the smartest move. Then again, he is not the sharpest crayon of the bunch. Making bad decisions is just a part and parcel of it all. There’s just something about the atmosphere with his friends at that particular meat place they visit that makes him want to forget every minor inconvenience that had been nagging him and just get shit-faced instead. It definitely works. He’s slurring his words and tripping on thin air and giggling away at absolute nonsense by the time one of his more responsible and less drunk friends drops him at the park near his dorms. Hyunjae fusses over Minho, asking him if he’ll get back on his own just fine. Minho insists that he needs the fresh air and waves him off, watching two of the idiots in the back seat bicker about seals. He doesn’t question it.
Breathing in the polluted Seoul air, he slowly trudges and sits himself down on a nearby bench. It’s pretty cold outside. His nose feels numb and his breaths puff out as white miniature clouds. It’s not that late, either. A couple of people are roaming and jogging about. The trees all around are swaying in the breeze. The stars are twinkling exceptionally bright. It’s freezing, and Minho doesn’t want to get up. He doesn’t quite know how long he sits there, waiting for the fog in his mind to clear up till he heads back home to the boys. He’s craning his neck and staring aimlessly at the stars above when an all-too-familiar voice breaks him out of his reverie.
“Hyung? Is that you?”
Minho blinks, then looks in the direction the voice is coming from. A weird sort of childish delight seems to bubble up his chest and into his tone when he exclaims, “Lixie!”
Felix rushes up to him. “What are you doing here? Weren’t you supposed to be out with your friends? Chan-hyung was wondering when you’d be back, you know. Also, are you drunk?”
The flurry of questions throws him into a daze. Minho simply stares down at his feet and mumbles quietly, “Cold.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry. You’re cold! You should’ve bundled up properly, hyung! Here, take my scarf.”
At that, Felix unwraps the same cream-coloured scarf he’d worn a few days ago and ties it neatly around the elder. For some reason, Minho’s neck doesn’t feel quite as warm as his insides do at the action. He only gazes at the freckled boy who is now promptly seated beside him, looking at him expectantly.
“So? Are you drunk?”
Minho shakes his head no.
“Mhm, okay.”
The pair are silent for a while. Felix watches Minho stare away at the stars in childish awe until the latter finally addresses him.
“Lixie?” he pipes up.
“Yeah?” Felix humours him.
“Did you know that your nose is really pretty?”
The younger’s eyes go wide, and he blinks quickly, obviously taken aback. “My nose?”
“Yeah. You’ve got a button nose. It even has a couple freckles on it. It… kinda reminds me of how Soonie loves it when I rub my nose against his. He, like. Does a little purr-meow thing.” Minho sighs, “It’s adorable.”
Felix tilts his head, thankfully not questioning how Minho knows so much about his nose. “Do you miss him?”
“A lot.”
“D’you reckon he misses you too?”
Minho snorts. “Not a chance.”
Felix laughs. It’s a tinkling sound; loud and beautiful. Minho wonders just how many times he’s admired Felix’s laugh over the past few weeks. He thinks it’s a lot more times than he’d like it to be. The very next second, he wonders what to do with this information. Felix inches a little closer to him.
“I’m sure he misses you too.”
“And why are you so sure of it?”
The blond grins. “Well, obviously because you’re an amazing cat dad.”
Something about the glint in his eye gives Minho an inkling that they’re no longer talking about his little felines. He doesn’t know how to respond to the compliment either. They spend a couple more moments in silence, Felix making no move to try and take him back to the dorms.
“Lixie?” Minho pipes up again.
“Yeah?” Felix humours him again.
“Can I bump noses with you?”
Yet again, Felix’s eyes go wide in surprise. Minho thinks he imagines it, but it almost looks like his ears get a little redder too.
“With me?”
“Yeah.”
The pause seems to stretch on, and Minho breathes out another puffy miniature cloud in the cold air. His heart hammers.
“Okay.”
Minho looks up. He’s faced by a smiling Felix, whose freckles somehow seem to glow under the illumination provided by the moon. The crinkles near his eyes tell him that it’s evidently no fake smile, either. Minho knows he wasn’t quite as drunk as he made it out to be. Sure, he’d love to blame all the events of the day on the alcohol and move on. But somehow, the atmosphere enveloping them makes him feel much more intoxicated than any beer could.
“Okay? Really?”
“Yeah,” his grin seems to widen. “Let’s bump noses!”
The corners of his lips twitch into a tiny smile, and Minho wonders if he would’ve ever mustered the courage to ask Felix that if the air around them wasn’t messing with his senses, fuelling him and egging him on. He closes the distance between them almost effortlessly - as if moving on autopilot, and merely by muscle memory. Their foreheads bump together before their noses do. Minho thinks Felix’s freckles look more beautiful than they ever have. A few unsolicited giggles spill out of their lips before Felix speaks up.
"Are you sure you're not drunk?" he asks, simultaneously nuzzling into Minho’s nose.
"Why?"
“I really wouldn’t want to kiss you while you’re drunk.”
“Oh.” Minho’s heart definitely skips a beat. He hopes that Felix can’t see the obvious blush taking over his face in the dark, but he knows it’s futile. “Well. I’m absolutely sober now.”
That is not how alcohol works, the smartass within him nags. Minho couldn’t care less. For the first time, he openly lets himself appreciate just how breathtaking Felix looks under the moonlight. His eyelashes flutter shut, his face automatically tilts to an angle, and the goofy smile adorning his lips makes Minho realize just how gone he is for this boy. Minho’s thumb goes up to gently run across the freckles on his cheeks of its own accord, and when they finally kiss, he couldn’t be happier of the fact that they bumped noses that night.