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“Move over, hyung.”
It’s a familiar whine that his roommates are used to, and usually whatever the request is from Jungwoo, they’d cave seconds in. Tonight, Taeil wanted to be selfish, keeping his body stiff and still in his spot. Well, technically, Jungwoo’s spot on the couch… until this moment.
“Sit somewhere else,” Taeil tells him nonchalantly, eyes glued to his phone. Jungwoo narrows his gaze towards the device and realizes that Taeil had just been scrolling through his photos as if pretending to be busy. The younger boy scoffs in disbelief, the half-smirk etching on the side of his lips.
Jaehyun watches from the other end of the couch and sports a small smile himself. Yuta hollering from the hallway grounds him back to reality, conscious of the way he might have been staring at the scene before him. Jaehyun pretends to clear his throat and shifts his focus to Yuta’s figure settling down on the carpet. He leans his back onto Jaehyun’s thighs, looks up at him and grins, “Is this cool?”
“Yeah, it’s all good.”
It was a rare but welcomed 10th floor movie night where every roommate is present, and doesn’t need to wake up at six a.m the next day. Jungwoo had been insisting for quite some time now, and Jaehyun has felt the most guilty being the only person to have schedules that ran later than usual for the past couple weeks.
He’s never, ever been grateful for a cancelled appointment in the morning due to the hair stylist catching a nasty cold. After having such a thought, Jaehyun immediately requested for his manager to send her a get-well-soon card, a box of ginger lemon tea, and a bunch of vitamin C packets to cleanse his conscience. And of course, to aid with her speedy recovery.
“Jungwoo-ya, just sit on the floor with me and Yuta hyung,” Mark nudges the taller boy, his other hand occupied with balancing the bowl of sliced up fruit their auntie left them for the weekend. Jungwoo snatches a piece of strawberry and plops it on his mouth, shaking his head no to Mark’s suggestion. He winces from the slight tang of the berry before saying, “I want to sit on the couch,” in the cutesy manner he usually does when not getting his way.
It seems like Jaehyun is the only person in the room who’s enjoying the spectacle so far as Yuta tries to pull on Taeil’s pajamas so he can scoot over in peace while Mark continues to lure Jungwoo to sit on the floor with him with a fuzzy crescent-shaped peach slice.
They won’t be able to start movie night like this, let alone choose what film to watch in the first place. Jaehyun takes a deep breath, wondering all of a sudden why it’s taking so much of his energy to do what he’s about to, but he realizes way later the reason why.
“Sit next to me.”
Everyone thinks it’s a good enough conclusion to the problem as Taeil finally looks up at Jungwoo, an innocent smile playing on his lips. He even puckers it a little for that extra burn, and Jungwoo rolls his eyes at his hyung’s playfulness. Mark shrugs his shoulders, something about finishing the fruits by himself. He situates himself on Yuta’s other side, assuming that Jungwoo’s long legs were to occupy the space between Jaehyun and Taeil. Yuta starts flipping through the Netflix selection, but it’s a given fact that this’ll take longer than five minutes.
Jaehyun doesn’t say anything as Jungwoo plops himself right next to his figure. He’s wearing a thin shirt with the already short sleeves rolled up. He does this all the time, and Jaehyun’s mind goes insane. The younger boy never wears actual sleeveless shirts— it’s either how it looks now, or nothing at all. The latter is a rare sighting, however, every time it does happen it’s always Jaehyun who is in the dorm with him, with no other members present.
He gulps at the reminder, and Jungwoo’s freshly showered skin bumps onto his exposed arm. His skin was still a few degrees colder, a little damp that Jaehyun can feel it lingering on himself. Jungwoo smells of his usual bar soap, clean and supple.
“Thanks, Jaehyun hyung,” Jungwoo offers shyly, head turned at his direction. Jaehyun’s body temperature warms up in contrast as Jungwoo continues to settle himself comfortably beside him. His arm keeps grazing against Jaehyun’s unmoving one. If that wasn’t reeling him over the edge their pajama-clad legs were brushing against each other, too.
Jaehyun once believed they bought this couch for the specific reason of it spaciously occupying at least four fully-grown bodies. There’s only three of them on it right now, but why is Jaehyun almost squished by the armrest with Jungwoo almost leaning towards him like he was about to fall asleep?
“Hey, I don’t have something contagious, you know.” Taeil comments from his side. Jungwoo sticks his tongue out, like he usually does when he’s done play-arguing with you. Jaehyun doesn’t have an inch of concentration to figure out what they’re talking about.
“How about this one?” Yuta’s voice fills the air.
“Nah, Johnny hyung said it’s boring,” Mark yawns.
“This?”
“I’ve seen it with Haechan in the theater,” Taeil recalls out loud.
“No fair!”
“Okay, this one?”
Jaehyun’s eyes are glued onto the ever-moving TV screen, dizzy from the alternating movie posters the other three were debating over. His muscles were close to cramping, so without further thought Jaehyun stretches them upwards. As naturally as he always does when watching a movie on the couch, he rests his arm along the length of the couch with a deep, relaxed sigh.
His fingertips feel the ends of Jungwoo’s hair.
In an instant, Jaehyun glances over with a dawning awareness of what his hand have gravitated towards. Jungwoo is looking right back at him, having been keen to his every move after sitting down beside him. His hands have been modestly placed on his lap, wringing them together to release tension from his own system. When Jungwoo sees Jaehyun’s barely-there panicked expression, he knew how to reassure him quickly.
“It’s okay,” Jungwoo whispers almost inaudibly. This prompts Jaehyun to stare at Jungwoo’s lips more carefully, not wanting to miss a single word. “Are you comfortable?”
He misses a beat, processing what’s going on between the two of them and drowning out the continued debacle from their roommates in the same perimeter. Jungwoo doesn’t wait another second and leans further back, head falling down and onto Jaehyun’s shoulder.
“Tap once for yes, move away for no,” Jungwoo says a little louder, just enough for the exhale of his breath to warm up the spot on Jaehyun’s shirt. He shivers, and hopes that Jungwoo doesn’t mention it out loud.
“Alright, alright! We’ll watch this, no more buts!”
“But—”
“What did I just say, Mark?”
Jaehyun finally taps Jungwoo once on his shoulder. Before the opening credits roll in, Jaehyun sits up so Jungwoo’s head falls right in place against his body, and his fingers find purchase on a stressed knot around Jungwoo’s neck.
Jungwoo is beyond glad Jaehyun couldn’t really see his face anymore nor can any of the three whose attention pointed solely on the screen. The grin on his face is something to be remembered, and the space he and Jaehyun is occupying something he had only dreamt about.
For the next hour and forty-five minutes, Jungwoo switches between savouring the way Jaehyun continues to let his touch travel over Jungwoo’s side then falling asleep at his magical fingertips. They calm Jungwoo down like nothing else even if this isn’t the first time they’ve had skin to skin contact like this. For some reason, tonight is different— and Jungwoo isn’t that naive to believe Jaehyun doesn’t think so either.
We’ll figure it out in twenty minutes , Jungwoo dismisses in his head as his eyes droop to the up and down rhythm of Jaehyun’s hand on his skin. The younger had glanced up multiple times during the movie viewing, and Jaehyun only caught him once and they both turned away just as fast.
It didn’t deter them from releasing each other’s grasp, though, which Jungwoo is grateful for. Instead, he only sinks into Jaehyun’s space, inhaling the musky perfume scent he loves on the older. It’s the only fragrance his nose can tolerate— or at least, when he found out Jaehyun couldn’t live without this one scent, Jungwoo had trained himself to take it in and not send himself to a frenzy of allergies.
It took a moment for Jaehyun to understand why most of the scented stuff in their room has been the same fragrance, more or less when Jungwoo would refuse even just a whiff of someone else’s cologne.
Jaehyun thought his arm would be numb half an hour in, but Jungwoo had been intermittently leaning forward so that Jaehyun can readjust his arm around him, then leaning back in to their original position. Jaehyun hasn’t had a clue on the plot progression, let alone the main character’s name in the movie; he’s been too busy memorizing the parts of Jungwoo’s side that evoked a good, encouraging reaction from him.
In twenty minutes, this’ll all be over, the weight on Jaehyun’s heart threatens to tether clumsily. Despite Jungwoo’s willingness to be engulfed in Jaehyun’s semi-embrace now, the older couldn’t decipher whether or not Jungwoo is interested in taking this any further tonight, or ever for that matter.
Bless their roommates’ hearts for being too engrossed on the movie that no one seemed to bat an eye at what he and Jungwoo appeared to be as. Taeil made that comment prior, but there wasn’t a peep of protest from him seconds after when Jungwoo continued to cling onto Jaehyun.
The overthinking, overstepping portion of Jaehyun’s brain warns him that Taeil must have an idea about his feelings, and offered this opportunity of a lifetime. He sweats at the thought, having not understanding what he really feels for Jungwoo, the possibility that their closest friends know more than him gnaws at his anxiety at its core.
Is this normal? Is Jaehyun really tongue-tied over a crush? Will there be a chance that Jungwoo is putting a hell lot of meaning over this like himself? Or Jaehyun needs to accept the convincingly real truth that Jungwoo just likes to play games with people, malice without intentions, and you’re only supposed to enjoy it when it happens— and when it’s gone, it’s not his fault your emotions get caught in the wire?
Jungwoo stirs in his sleep, his baby hair stands atop his head tickling underneath Jaehyun’s jaw. Constrained pain springs onto Jaehyun’s neck as his eyes flutter open. He wakes up disoriented, eyes adjusting to the lowlight of the living room, no television screen lit up like he last remembered seeing.
His eyes focus enough to discern Taeil’s figure passing in front of him. His back a little hunched, the sleeve of his oversized pajama top rubbing against tired eyes.
He notices Jaehyun’s slowly awakening figure, and mumbles groggily, “Movie was interesting. Sleep in your beds, night.” Jaehyun’s sleepy gaze follows Taeil’s trace until he hears a soft click of a door hidden from the hallway. It’s quiet again, save for Jungwoo’s steady breathing, and Jaehyun desperately calming himself down.
When did they fall asleep together?
With his senses more alert, Jaehyun now feels the numbness his arm had been enduring, and in response twitches underneath Jungwoo’s weight. He lets out a soft, annoyed whimper and Jaehyun’s heart melts. As much as he’s wanted to do this for god knows long, he needed to pump back some oxygen on his arm. He also needed a moment to breath, consciously take it all in that this really just happened. He was basically doing the movie-date-at-a-threater -arms-snaking-around-you-move all night long with Jungwoo, minus the date part. And the theater, but that’s besides the point.
“What’s...going...hngg…” Jungwoo attempts to lift his upper body to a straight sitting position, but Jaehyun watches in amusement as the younger’s eyes struggle to open fully. His shoulders limp like dead weight, body swaying cathartically.
“We didn’t watch the movie,” Jaehyun softly explains. “We fell asleep, I think.”
“Sleep,” Jungwoo tests on his tongue, smacking his lips gently as if pondering on his next thought. If you told Jaehyun this was actually still a dream, he’d believe you. Jungwoo looks so pure, bare-faced, and adorable that Jaehyun feels like the luckiest man on earth to witness such a beauty in real life.
Jungwoo turns to him, eyes finally opening to see Jaehyun watching him. His eyes were more open, showing more patience at the younger’s transition from dead asleep to wide awake. With a view like this, Jungwoo doesn’t mind if his surroundings continued to be a blurry mess— as long as Jaehyun is right where he needs him to be, he’s content.
“You wanna sleep in the room?” Jaehyun asks him.
Jungwoo’s eyebrows furrow in his own confusion, hands blindly searching for something warm to rest on. They find Jaehyun’s thighs, slightly turned so that their knees are huddled together.
“Don’t..wanna,” Jungwoo mumbles mostly to himself as he feels Jaehyun’s fingers slipping into his for steady support. He feels like he’s floating.
“Jaehyun hyung,” Jungwoo breathes out, the haziness of his mind not helping the ease of his words. Jaehyun remains patient and hums in acknowledgement. Their hands are still intertwined.
“Stay here. Please?”
Jaehyun waits, unsure whether Jungwoo was aware of what he just said since his eyes started to droop again, his hands falling unconscious between their grasp. He doesn’t know what to make out of it; he’s not the type to assume, as ironically as that sounds judging from all the cuddling they did for at least two hours— there’s no way his luck is riding by him every chance it can get.
“Jaehyunie hyung.”
How a silly iteration of his name can make fireworks burst out of his heart and booming erratically on his chest, Jaehyun will never know. But he lets his feelings overpour, it doesn’t seem like Jungwoo notices. Nor does he mind.
Jaehyun smiles warmly at the nickname, letting his hand find purchase on Jungwoo’s supple cheek. He fights the urge to squeeze it in adoration, and chooses to be gentle. Careful. Jaehyun caresses his thumb right where the corner of Jungwoo’s lips lie and retracts it back.
Sleepy Jungwoo had other plans. He leans to the now familiar, relaxing touch, his lips puckering slightly to give Jaehyun a soft, enticing kiss on the side of his hand. Their bodies stay still for what seems like forever, but too short all the same. He’d gladly let Jungwoo kiss him anywhere at this point, but Jaehyun can feel the exhaustion exuding off of the younger’s body.
“Come, Jungwoo.”
“H-huh, wh—”
“Lay next to me. Here.”
It took a bit of repositioning, a very heavy 5 foot 11 Jungwoo to roll himself the right way on the couch so Jaehyun fits with enough space to breath.
Forget about Taeil ordering them to sleep in their beds. Forget about the inevitable awkward acknowledgement from their roommates once they find them in the same position in less than eight hours from now. Forget about Jaehyun’s sweaty palms and his sprinting thoughts. Jungwoo lets himself loose around Jaehyun’s arms, a dreamy smile painting beautifully on his face when Jaehyun clutches tighter.
So the couch can fit four people, and two sleeping bodies with their arms and legs tangled together at the most.
“Are you comfortable?” Jaehyun insists to know, their noses bumping as Jungwoo snuggles closer than possible. Jaehyun exhales a small chuckle, storing these tinu quirks he’s figuring out from the younger’s sleeping habits safe and secured in his heart.
Jungwoo mumbles with his throat, but it’s not a good enough answer for Jaehyun.
“Kiss me on the cheek for yes. Tell me to go for now,” Jaehyun whispers shakily.
In less than eight hours, this’ll all be over. Jungwoo won’t remember, and I’ll make sure to wake up before the others see us— Jaehyun almost misses Jungwoo’s lips on his skin as the antagonizing thoughts whirl in his mind.
“I like it here, where you are,” Jungwoo tells him almost too determined. Too clear, his eyes are even wide open— patient and loving, his smile growing slowly but there. Jaehyun forgets to breathe the nth time that night.
As if to help, Jungwoo smiles into another kiss onto Jaehyun’s cheeks, lingering the surface of his lips enough to dissipate the fears festering in the older’s head.
“I.. like you too,” was Jaehyun’s very sensible, coherent reply. Jungwoo’s chest vibrates in a silent giggle, happiness spreading through his body like the warmth Jaehyun provides him with.
Maybe they’ve figured it out— with the way Jaehyun’s arms lock perfectly in place around Jungwoo’s waist, it may just be the way their chest rise and fall in sync after a few more lazy, peppered kisses on one’s cheek, one’s blushing ear, one’s beautifully curved nose.
Maybe it’s the way Jaehyun didn’t move an inch away nor Jungwoo told him to go.
The two of them become much more certain when, in the morning, their roommates continue sleeping in their rooms while they slowly wake still wrapped in each other’s embrace. Only to let go when Jungwoo needed to use the bathroom, but eventually found his way back to Jaehyun’s inviting arms.
Jaehyun knows it’s not over by then, that it’s just the beginning.