Chapter Text
"Lee Minho,"
Jisung pinned Minho to the back door of his room, his hands right besides Minho's ears. The rush of air from the sudden movement tickled the older's cheeks. A forced, crooked smile was all Minho could muster at the time.
"Hannie?"
You could hear the sound of laughter and excitement from the other side of the door. The other members were busy in the living room playing video games together, comparing that to the heavy atmosphere between the 2 guys. Minho couldn't help but feel a little envious of the rest of them then.
Jisung held his head down, showing the top of his scalp to Minho. He still didn't budge from trapping Minho against the door. Minho watched Jisung's shoulder slowly rise and fall, becoming a little flustered.
Minho moved his hands up to the younger's chest, applying a little force, "Hey Hannie," Minho trailed on, "I don't know what's up with you right now. But if you could move, I could-"
"Minho," Jisung huffed, picking up his eyes to stare at Minho's, "I love you,"
Hearing those words brush against Minho's ears startled him. Clenching his hands over Jisung's chest, a cold sweat running down his back. Unsure of what to do in response to the unexpected declaration of Jisung's affections.
"Hahaha, I love you to Hannie," Minho returned, "But if you could move, I'm getting a bit uncomfortable?"
He waited for a second, expecting Jisung to move back and let the older finally breath. Instead Minho watched Jisung purse his lips into a thin line.
Minho started to panic, puzzled on what exactly happened earlier that day for this to happen.
Earlier that day
The 8 idols were in their waiting rooms, getting ready for another variety show they were going to be featured on to help promote their comeback. Minho was sitting in his chair a front a large, lit mirror. There were clips hanging on his side burns, and freshly set hairspray that lingered on his neck. He was playing on his phone, Jeongin in the chair beside him getting his hair done next. On the sofa behind them were Hyunjin and Seungmin who were munching on some snacks the staff provided them. It was rather peaceful in the room, the hair dryer muffling any shifting or crunches made by the 2 on the sofa.
Minho always enjoyed the stillness, always going to get coffee with the maknae early in the morning. He couldn't ever resist the cuteness the youngest would have when asking Minho if he could join him. But when you're in a idol group with 7 other men, you can't expect much calmness ever. Perhaps that's why Minho started waking up rather early, compared to his younger self.
Minho was brought back from his day dream when he heard the burst of laughter behind him,
"Wahh~ Lee Know Hyung looks rather cute while he's sleeping," Hyunjin chirped.
Minho didn't notice Felix and Jisung walk into the room. They were seated on the sofa next to Hyunjin and Seungmin. Presumably showing rather unflattering pictures of the other members.
"OH! Look at Chan here!" Felix exclaimed.
The 4 all burst into a fit of laughter upon seeing whatever photo Felix had of Chan. You could see all 4 of them swiping on their phones, looking for more "great" pictures of the other members. Minho got up from his chair,
"Yah- what are you guys looking at," He asked while making his way over to the rest of them.
Hyunjin turned his phone to face Minho, "Look at Seungmin, Hyung!"
It was a photo of Seungmin with large, round glasses, and a puppy dog headband on. He was seated on a couch, turned around towards the camera and puffed his cheeks out. His eyes squinted while holding up peace sign's with his hands. Minho was expecting to see an ugly, (not that any photo of them really are) or a funny picture of one of them, but he was still humored to see Seungmin all cute.
"Aw, our puppy Seungmin looks so adorable here. Isn't that right Seungmin?" Minho teased him.
Seungmin blushed, looking away as the other's giggled. Minho went to pat Seungmin on the head, Hyunjin following.
In the midst of all their laughter, Jisung glanced at Minho and asked, "I'm adorable too right Hyung?"
Minho lifted his hand from Seungmin, turning to face Jisung. The others also stopped to look at Minho.
"Hmmm," Minho held,
Jisung looked at Minho in anticipation, slowing turning into annoyance.
"C'mon Hyung, it shouldn't take you this long to answer," He pleaded. Starting to feel a bit restless.
"Pwah! He can't decide how to word the harsh truth," Hyunjin gawked.
Felix added, "He still hasn't said anything after all this time," Felix rested a hand on Jisung's shoulder, "There there Han Hyung~" he mocked.
Jisung felt himself grow smaller as the amount of time for Minho to answer increase. He pouted his lips as he gave Minho puppy dog eyes, "Is it really that bad Hyung?"
Minho finally cracked, "Ah, of course not Hannie," He shifted and leaned over to wrap his arms around Jisung's neck, "You're my cute dongsaeng too," He laughed.
Jisung felt himself melt into the older's arms, disappointed when they pulled away at Chan peaking his head through door to inform them they were to get to vans in 5. His eye's followed Minho as he straighten his posture and turned to grab his belongings. He seemed fixated on the older as he bent over to grab for some things in his bang, not noticing the other's on the sofa getting up and making their way out of the room. He watched as I.N got up from his seat and walked over to Minho,
"You should see what Jisung Hyung does at the dorms, I have them on my phone Minho Hyung," Jeongin remarked, putting his arm around the older's shoulder.
"Ah, I can only imagine," Minho giggled, walking towards the door with Jeongin's arms around his shoulder still.
Jisung felt his eyes glue to the arm around Minho's shoulder, feeling a bit uneasy.
Minho stopped before the door, turning to call out to Jisung, "You coming Hannie?"
Jisung shook his head a bit, unaware how "out of it" he looked, "Oh- yeah I'm coming,"
The younger sprang up, following after Minho as the door started to close behind them.
---
At the show, the group talked about their new album as well as the inspiration behind them. chitchatting with the MC's a bit before the main part of the program began. Today they were going to be paired up as "couples", and compete to complete the most challenges. The challenges were decided by picking a piece of paper from "The Jar of Fate". Whoever the winners are will choose the punishment for the ultimate loser couple in order for them to "grow closer". But to decide the "couples", they had to draw sticks with color coordinated ends to see who their "fated" partner was.
In the commotion of choosing their sticks, Jisung crossed his fingers hoping that him and Lee Know would be paired together. Much to his dismay, when the colors were revealed, his and Minho's color were not the same. Here were the "couples",
- Lee Know & I.N
- Han & Felix
- Bang Chan & Hyunjin
- Changbin & Seungmin
With the couples decided, they continued on with the festivities. Many of which included aegyo actions and displays, which made them all laugh and holler as they watched their fellow members doing couple like activities in a frenzy.
This day was rather embarrassing for Minho and I.N, not just cause Minho crumbles every time he does something aegyo, but also the luck the 2 of them had that day. The first slip of paper they picked was having to hold a plank on their elbow while their partner laid underneath them. When I.N read the slip at first, his reaction was to say, expected.
"Hey! Can we really show this on T.V??"
"Whaa? What is it??" Minho asked.
As I.N read the paper out loud, the other members fell to the ground laughing. They all were questioning the challenges, worried since this was the first of many challenges to come. The MC's assuring them that it was okay and that they'd it edit out if something were to happen.
Swallowing their pride, the pair decided for Minho to lay down while I.N planked above him. To decide how long they would do this for, they had to roll a 6 sided dice. Whatever they landed in they had to do for x10 seconds.
Minho just so happened to roll a 6. Lucky them.
Jisung felt a pit form in his stomach.
As the other members cried out laughing at their terrible luck, Minho proceeded to lay down on the ground. Jeongin hesitated climbing on top of him. Their faces were so close to each other their noses almost touched each other. At the call of the MC's with a stopwatch out, I.N went up into a plank. The members watching intently as I.N started to tremble 20 seconds in, he was rather built, but his nerves were really getting to him with Minho under him. Minho laid there with his head turned, squinting while holding his breath for what felt like an eternity. He could sometimes feel I.N's breath against his ear which made them red.
Once the 60 seconds were up, the MC's congratulated them as I.N pushed himself up. His face clearly showing how discombobulated he looked. Minho wasn't any better. His back facing the camera as he squatted, holding his knees to his chest while he was recovering. He glanced up at Jisung who had his arms folded. Having a slightly annoyed pout on his face. Glancing down to meet Minho with a small smile. He put a hand out to help the older up. Pushing back the sour taste lingering in his throat.
"Good job Hyung," he forced.
"Yeah," Minho sighed as he took his hand.
"I felt the room get hotter," the MC announced, "Wow I.N, you're so red!"
I.N only laughed as he stood back with the rest of the members. Changbin patted him in the back to comfort him.
That was just the first challenge. You can assume what the other's had to do after Minho and I.N.
Minho would've enjoyed seeing the other members just as flustered as he was, but he was too occupied with what he would have to do next to "ruin his imagine more", along with recovering from the mess he would become when doing the challenges, often him bailing on I.N. Which he felt slightly bad about.
As the game went on, there was something else he encountered. Dealing with the stuffy feeling while watching Jisung preform these activities with Felix. It's not like he was upset or sad, he knew that they were friends. Everyone was friends with each other, wait no, closer than that. but Minho couldn't help but feel a bit nervous when he watched them. He knew that him and Jisung had something special with each other, they were pretty close. But that was just of because of all the fond memories they built with each other. He had one with every member. Even though STAY (that's us!) shipped them, he would just brush off. They were really just friends.
...
Right
...
Just f r i e n d s.
As the game continued, here was the scoreboard before the end of the game,
- Lee Know & I.N: 2 points
- Han & Felix: 5 points
- Bang Chan & Hyunjin: 4 points
- Changbin & Seungmin: 4 points
With the last round wrapping up, Han and Felix were the winners to no one surprise. While Lee Know and I.N were the losers to no one's surprise as well. Not to say that what the other's had to do was easy. The other challenges included,
- Piggy back ridding
- Kabedon (pining against a wall)
- Hand holding
- Hugging
- Blind feeding
- etc. (you can imagine the wacky lovey-dovey things)
So as mentioned in the beginning, the winners would be deciding the punishment for the losers. Upon the MC's cheering this, Minho fell to the ground in defeat. I.N was slightly whining in a cute way as the other members cheered to themselves. Glad to not be them.
While the others were comforting I.N and Lee Know, Felix raised his hand in triumph,
"I have a punishment!"
The MC's looked at Felix with great eager, "What is it Felix?" one of them asked,
Felix turned to look at the camera, "The Pocky challenge!" a large grin from ear to ear appeared on his face as he pointed to the lens.
Upon hearing this, the member went from comforting to clapping their hands loudly and laughing as they praised Felix's great idea.
"Do we have Pocky on set?" the other MC asked.
Seeing someone on set give them a nod, the MC's smiled as they announced the punishment, "As suggested by Felix here, the punishment for our losing couple shall be the Pocky challenge!"
Their was an audible "Huh?" from Jisung, but no one heard it over everyone's laughter. Minho's and I.N's face froze as they registered what the MC's said.
"Wait here momentarily as we get Pocky on set!" one of the MC's said as they rushed off set.
"Aye- Felix" Minho called out, getting up on his feet.
"Yes Hyung?" Felix said innocently,
"You wanna meet God today?" Mingo pressed his lips into a tight, intimidating smile.
Felix hid behind Changbin, laughing at Minho's comment.
Minho stood next to Jisung and hung his head on the younger's shoulder, "Ahh- what am I gonna do Hannie?" he sobbed in a defeated manner.
Jisung couldn't help but smile despite the itchy feeling running through his body while receiving the same news every else did, brining a hand up to pet Minho's head, "It'll be okay Hyung, it's just the Pocky game,"
"Yeah, but it's with Jeongin,"
Jisung couldn't help but laugh a little at Minho's reaction, "Would it help if it were someone else?"
Minho took a couple seconds to respond, Jisung felt his hands getting a little clammy. He rephrased the question, "Do you want to do it with someone else?"
Minho took a little less time to respond, "Hm... no," he trailed off.
This caught Jisung off guard, expecting Minho to say yes. On cue, the MC returned with a pack of Pocky, prompting Minho to pick his head up and look toward the MC.
"Let's quickly get back to the exciting punishment. I'm sure STAY will be more than happy to see this unfold," the MC exclaimed.
As I.N and Lee Know were pushed together, a Pocky stick was handed to Minho.
Jisung was still hung up on Minho's answer.
As Minho bit one end of the stick, I.N positioned himself on the other side.
"Oh! As an incentive, if there is more than 2 cm's left of the Pocky, you'll need to do one more challenge in hopes of mending your 'failing relationship'," one of the MC's added.
You could see the distraught looks on Minho's and Jeongin's face.
Jisung on the other than hand was in his own world.
The sound of the MC's saying "Begin!" was distant in his mind.
~~~
Did Minho want to do this with only Jeongin?
*Crunch*
What about me?
*Munch*
Isn't he more comfortable with me?
*Crunch*
Since when did they get so close?
*Munch*
Am I the only one who feels like this?
*Crunch*
Do you like Jeongin more then me?
~~~
A loud shout next to his ear brought his attention back to the scene in front of him. Although the members crowded around the Minho and Jeogin, he could see past their shoulders that the 2 lips were barely a hair away from each other. A small wind could push past them and then before you know it, their lips would interlock.
Jisung's face grimaced at the thought, the camera not catching it due to Minho and Jeongin blocking his head. To Jisung's delight, I.N pulled away. Putting his hand to his chest, taking in heavy breaths as Hyunjin and Bang Chan patted him in the back. Felix wrapped his arms Minho, pulling him back and shaking him around, a high pitch scream coming out from him. Seungmin was clapping in awe as Jisung moved over to Minho, cupping his cheeks, making sure the camera saw.
"You did well Minho Hyung," Jisung forced through a grin,
Minho was dazed, not completely in the moment. Jisung only continued, "You were really close there to... yeah, but it's over now," he hesitated. Wrapping his arms around Minho's neck as Felix let go. Rocking him side to side like a baby as Minho stared out in disbelief.
To Minho, everything was like white sound, the only thing grounding him was Jisung's touch. Feeling himself slowly recovering from the pressure of his touch.
He saw Jeongin approaching him, shaking Jisung off subconsciously.
"We did it Hyung, good job. We managed to survive!" He laughed, pulling Minho into a light hug.
Minho sighed in relief.
"With that, this concludes our show today. Thank you for joining us, and thank you Stray Kids for being with us today! We hope to see you again and look forwards to your futures work," The MC's paused to give the 8 idols time to say bye, "Also, make sure to stream Thunderous and their album NOEASY! Bye bye~"
Jisung looked over at Minho to share a glance with him, but he was looking somewhere else.
With the end of today's shooting, the members said their thanks and farewells to the staff. Making their way to their vans to drive them back.
While walking out, there was a interesting atmosphere between Minho and Jeongin. Lightly rubbing their hands against each others sometimes.
Jisung couldn’t stand it anymore and quickly walked between the 2, sticking to Minho. Slightly glaring at the poor innocent Jeongin.
---
For dinner that night, since they were all exhausted, they decided to get take out.
Marching back into the dorms, they all cleaned themselves up and changed. Slowly one by one making their way into the living room, where Felix and Jisung were setting up the Switch to play some games before they ate. Minho and Chan were in charge of ordering, while seungmin and jeongin lingered around them to hear the order.
"You guys wanna do a Mario Kart tournament tonight?" Felix blurted,
"Yeah!" Hyunjin said, rushing out of his room. Taking a spot on the couch.
"We're just about done ordering, so we can start then," Chan called out,
Jisung held his thumb up. "Got it."
With the night's activity decided, the members started to slowly pour into the living room. Jisung sliding over on the ground to make room for Minho who normally took a spot next to him. But instead Minho sat on the couch next to Felix. He was a little disappointed, but he didn't let it phase him as he was ready to win tonight.
While him and Felix were getting the controllers set up and connected, out of the corner of his eyes, he watched Seongin take a seat next to Minho. He felt a but more antsy than before, gripping the switch controller in his hands a bit more tightly.
The other's filled in the rest of the empty spots.
"Okay, we're ready to rock n' roll! Who wants to go first?"
Minho leaned over and reached for one of the controllers, Changbin also raised his hand to volunteer.
They had their first 4 racers. (Felix, Jisung, Minho, and Changbin)
Felix continued, "I'm sure you guys know the rules, but I'm just gonna say this just in case any of you forgot *cough* Seungmin,"
"Yah-" Seungmin retorted.
Felix giggled a bit, "Sorry, sorry. Anyways, 5 total rounds. Bottom 2 of the first 2 games have to play against each other after. The people who win the first games have to go against each other as well. The 2 winners of the winners preliminaries and losers preliminaries go against each other in the final round to determine the grand champion. They can choose the next game we play," Felix took a breath, "Any questions,"
Seungmin opened his mouth, "Wait-"
"None? Okay, let's begin then!" Felix interrupted.
Seungmin got up, moving over to Felix.
"AH- sorrysorrysorrysoryy" Felix pleaded, hiding behind Minho.
Seungmin hummed and sat down in satisfaction.
With that, the lights were dimmed, and the iconic ding of the map being selected rang out. The big 1, 2 ,3 shown on screen, and when it said GO! they all his the gas on the controller and off they went.
There was much bustling and chatter, all racers focused on not falling behind.
Felix would ride over a banana peel, classic Felix
Changbin would be hit with a shell and yell, prompting other to laugh
Jisung would fall off the map sometimes, amusing everyone
Minho had the skill of doing everything listed above and more.
To everyone's surprise however, Minho wasn't last this time.
It was Changbin.
The order was Felix as first place, Jisung a close 3rd, Minho in 7th, and Changbin in dead last.
Changbin let out a sad wail, you could see him turning to ash as he hung his head down.
Minho was just glad not to be in 13th place like he was usually.
Jisung was going for a high-five with Minho at his accomplishment, (they bar is low for Minho lmao) but faltered seeing Jeongin wrapping his arms around Minho.
"You're not last this time Hyung!" Jeongin cheered,
"Ah, what can I say? I'm just a great rider~" Minho snickered.
"What? Noo- I think it's because jeongin empowered you today Minho," Seungmin teased.
"Oh! Yeah! That must be it," Hyunjin agreed.
"Wow! Really Hyung?" Jeongin eye's sparkled.
Minho was becoming more flustered, "What? No way, I think I could've done better today in fact, Jeongin held me back actually," he insisted, trying to push Jeongin off.
Jeongin's grasp only tighten, "It's okay Minho Hyung, I understand. I didn't know that your dongsaeng's love gave you power," he boasted.
The other member's continued to tease Minho more, Jisung however couldn't find anything to say, or rather anything he wanted to say.
These were harmless comments. Just jokes between friends. He knew this, but it still sucked. He felt like someone was squeezing his chest, poking needles down his spine, fingers fill with cement. Long story short,
He felt shitter and shitter every second.
He didn't like the scene he was watching. It should be him making Minho like that, not Jeongin. As much as he loved their maknae, he wanted nothing more than fill his guts with spikes.
Not being able to bear this anymore, not anything, he excused himself. Asking them to call his name when he was needed to play. And jus like that, with heavy steps, he made his way to his room. Which of course, had to share with Jeongin.
---
Shifting his position on his bed, Jisung opened Youtube. Finding that watching video also calmed his nerve a bit.
To be honest, he couldn't put a finger on why he was so frustrated. Internally, he knows that Jeongin could never compare to the long history him and Minho had. But it still didn't stick in his side the right way. He always placed Minho on a higher pedestal than the rest, but he was so sure it went both ways that he never questioned it. But after today, he wasn't quite sure. Imagining Minho doing the things he reserved for Jisung only, to anyone, else made his stomach turn.
He could hear the sudden wave of screams and laughter from the living room. Guessing they finished the other round and that he would be called upon soon. As he looked back at his phone, about to turn it off, he saw that the program they filmed today was already on Youtube.
With how quick it was posted, it could only be 2 things.
1) They had a full team of editors on standby to edit it as soon as they finished filming
2) There wasn't much to edit and decided to keep a lot of it, or knew what parts to cut out.
Judging by the length and the thumbnail of the video, he can say with assurance it was the latter. Seeing Minho and Jeongin as the thumbnail pushed what little patience he had left out the window.
He wrapped his fingers around his phone so hard, it looked like it was about to give out and snap.
Then, there was a knock at the door, "Hannie, you okay? You're up to play," Minho spoke.
There was so response
"I'm gonna come in, Hannie?"
Jisung still didn't say anything.
As Minho pushed the door open, closing it as he took a step in. Seeing Jisung laying on his stomach, "Is everything ok hannie?" there was more worry in his voice now.
Jisung felt a sudden urge and pushed himself up, darting towards Minho.
Present time
Despite Minho's efforts to push Jisung off, the younger just wouldn't budge. He was starting to grow annoyed.
"Hey, what's up with you?" Minho snapped.
Almost immediately, he heard a small sniffle from the younger, seeing him slowly lower his arms.
Minho always had a soft spot for Jisung.
Minho brought Jisung in for a hug, patting his back as he felt Jisung's finger's snake around his waist.
Jisung relished in the warmth of Minho in his arms, how he wish time would freeze right then and there.
"I'm sorry Hannie," his voice came out in a soft hush, "I didn't mean to raise my voice. You were just confusing me there-"
"[ ]"
Minho froze.
eye's shot open, mouth open in disbelief, "w-w-what... hannie?" he felt his blood spill out from this feet.
The older felt the grip around his waist tighten.
Minho took a shaky breath, letting go on Jisung, "I-I-..."
He felt like all the air was knocked out of him.
At a lost of what to say, it seemed like anything he tried to string together to say was slipping from his mind.
He thought his heart might've stopped beating.
Tell him this isn't real.
Tell him it's a joke.
Tell him he heard wrong.
His mind was buzzing so loudly
Like there was someone pounding on his skull
Thrashing so violently the walls shook
But it was silent
So quiet.
Minho liked the silence
But all he could hear was a heavy ringing in his ear
So quiet
Yet so loud.
They were glued to each other, and so stiff that someone could've mistaken them for a staue.
With all his might left, Minho shook Jisung's arms off of him. Bolting out of the room and to the front door.
Everyone's laughter in the living room stifled seeing Minho run towards the front door and then the *BANG*, that followed.
Bang Chan was the first to react, rushing over to Jisung's room, "What happened??" he asked panicked.
You could hear the sound of numerous footsteps follow.
Jisung looked down at his empty arms.
He wanted to crash to the ground, wanted to cry, wanted to laugh at himself, wanted to get a good hit on jeongin, wanted to crawl up into hole-
Wanted
To
...
Rip out his tongue.
He fucked up.
What did he just say?
What did he do that made him wish he didn't wake up today?
What did he do that made him want to rip his eyes out
and scratch and peel at his skin
and fill with lungs with tar
and want the world to swallow him whole.
What DID he just do?
Simple.
5 simple words.
===
"I'm in love with you."
===
And yet those words sent Minho flying away.
Far
So far away
That you have to wonder
Were they still even in the same universe?