Work Text:
“That piece of shit Ten ..” You murmured under your breath.
College was out for the summer, and your friend group had chipped in to pay for a vacation, (it was more of a staycation, you guys weren’t that rich, stupid, nor hard to please). The hotel was close to the beach, so the sea breeze hit your face when you stepped out of the car with Ten and Yangyang.
**
Inserting the card into the card-reader, you shoved the door open with your left shoulder with your two suitcases in each hand.
“Hey, dumbass, get the card before you close the door or we'll get locked inside,” You nodded your head towards the door handle where the card-reader shone a bright green.
“Noona, I don’t think that's how doors work, but I wouldn't be opposed to that,” He grinned at his perfectly placed remark as you rolled your eyes, wiping your forehead as you hauled in your suitcases through the doorway, one of them having two broken wheels. Who were you, as a poor college student, to complain?
Yangyang hauled his minimalistic duffle bag on his shoulders and his extra suitcase, sliding through the doorway with the card in between his lips. His eyes widened and his eyebrows raised to send you a ‘see, I did it’ look in your direction, to which you tilted your head and smiled while batting your eyelashes sarcastically.
“Yangyang, thank you so very much for bringing in the keycard, I know how hard it was accepting the fact that I won’t be trapped inside with you,” You taunted, with your bottom lip jutting out in fake sympathy.
“Whatever, whatever, Noona.”
You swore that if he rolled his eyes even more they would have gotten stuck, the milky whites permanently visible for the rest of his life.
You noticed there was a small kitchenette, with small boxes of tea bags, packets of sugar and some measly snacks that required you to pay a whole trip to the moon and back for them. You laid the keycard onto the dark marble countertop and made your way to another door.
Inside it lay a pristine white bed, cool, crisp sheets taught across the expanse. The pillows were expertly fluffed, a clean crease down the middle of each of them. You were too lost in taking in the warm, welcoming atmosphere to realise that there was only One Bed.
As this sunk in, your shoulders tensed up quickly, the prospect of having to share a bed with the boy you’d grown affectionate towards sending pangs of regret in your stomach.
“That piece of shit Ten ..” You murmured under your breath.
Yangyang peeked over your shoulder, causing you to jump and hit his jaw.
“Jeez, you scared me!”
“Oh yeah? Well, you nearly broke my jaw, Noona,”
Your eyes softened at him cradling the underside of his jaw in the palm of his hand, a genuine pout on his lips and doleful eyes looking back at you.
“I’m sorry, come here, let me see.”
You held your hand just under his jaw, hovering there for a second before pulling away. The slight spark left his eyes as he saw you bury your hand behind you. He was just about to turn away in dejection when you whispered, “Is it ok if I can touch your face and take a look?”
“Why are you asking?” a confusion knitted his brows together, slightly taken aback at your oddly worded question.
“I don’t know, respect maybe?” You half lied, you were just really scared of falling deeper with each gesture you shared with him.
“Yes, Noona, you can touch my jaw, I don’t bite I promise,” He joked, but his face didn’t reflect what came out of his mouth. He, too, was aware of what he was getting himself into, trying his hardest to get your attention any way he could. He held the tense eye contact with you, your eyes lingering on his before dropping your gaze and looking at his jaw. Raising your hand, you traced his jaw to search for any redness, and then pried the front of his jaw down to open his mouth.
“Yangyang, fuck, your tongue is bleeding!”
“That would explain the metallic taste,” He licked his lips, which left behind some of the blood on the pink skin there. You scrunched your nose, shaking your head quickly, “Yang-ah, you’ve got blood on your lips now, wait here.”
You eased your way past his figure back into the kitchenette, retrieving the tissue box that lay unopened on the black marble countertop.
“You’re gross,”
“You’re too extra, Noona,”
“What does that mean?”
“Why can’t you just lick the blood off yourself?”
You swatted his shoulders, a fast blush rising up your neck and painting your cheeks. You found it so difficult wiping the blood of his shit-eating smirk, having to trace the bump right under his lip that always interested you because you didn’t know what it actually was.
“You have no shame, Lui Yangyang.” You declared, quickly breaking into nervous giggles as you threw the tissue away in the bin.
“I should accidentally cut my tongue more often,” He muttered to himself, presumably for his own ears, but you heard.
You squeezed your eyes together, thankful you were facing away from him so he couldn’t see your pathetically flushed state. You busied yourself with bringing one of your suitcases into the room, flipping it open.
Ten, your ever gracious ‘piece of shit’ was in charge of booking the rooms, something that you’d glossed over so conveniently. You thought this was his way of getting back at you for spilling that strawberry milkshake over his grey pants, to put you in a room with your nagging infatuation.
“I'm going to get some snacks from the 7/11 opposite here with Ten, want anything?” He called over your kneeling figure.
“No, I’m alright, get whatever you want,” You replied, drawing out your towel and your brush and toothpaste. You quickly added, “I’ll also probably be in the shower when you’re back so can you drop me a text when you’re back?”
“That’s a shame, I would have liked to join you,”
“Fuck’s sake, Yangyang,” you breathed out in a huff, turning on your heel and closing and locking the door behind you.
You let out a relieved sigh as you heard the front door close, your back resting against the bathroom door. The pervasive feelings constantly grew with every suggestive joke he made. The fact that he was probably only having a good laugh every time he pained you with chance made you confused. Your thoughts would always override, telling yourself that he’s just a trickster, he is the youngest after all.
You busied yourself with hanging your clothes on the rack, sitting on the closed toilet seat and replying to some messages you’d received. One was from your dad, asking how the trip to the hotel was. You smiled, it made you feel warm inside as you typed up the message.
He replied with a thumbs up and a link, another message coming in saying that this song reminded him of you.
After Hours by The Velvet Underground
You quickly added it to your playlist and sent him a thank you text.
The quaint guitar strums filled the bathroom, echoing off of the tiled walls, the spritely melancholic voice singing a simple tune that you quickly picked up, humming along.
You let it play in the background as you got undressed and let the water get warmer as it trickled down your skin.
**
“Hyung, can we get this? It’s Noona’s favourite,” He said mindlessly, staring up at the rows of shelves with his mouth hanging slightly open under his mask. He reached up and picked it out, showing Ten, who was staring at him already.
“Is there something on my face?” Yangyang questioned, to which Ten shook his head, laughing under his breath.
“No don’t worry about it, you’ve just got ‘idiot’ written all over you, that’s all,” Ten took the pile out of Yangyang’s arms and walked to the counter, paying for the things.
Yangyang gave Ten’s back an incredulous look, what had he done now?
“Hyung, are you mad at me or something?” He said as he reached down to pick up one of the bags from Ten’s hands.
“Yes I am,”
Yangyang scoffed, “Why?! What’d I do?”
“It’s more like what you’re not doing, same goes for Y/n, while we’re at it,”
His eyes widened at the mention of your name.
“Hyung, we’re too tired to clean up the room, we’ve barely made a mess of it, we just got in,”
“Yangyang, I don’t know if you’re genuinely clueless or just in denial at this point,” He smiled, slinging an arm around the taller’s shoulders, and making their way back to the hotel.
“Hyung,”
“Mhm,”
“I don’t think she likes me back,”
“Sure,”
“I’ve tried my hardest, I literally flirt with her so much, she thinks I’m joking!”
“Maybe just, I don’t know, tell her?”
“I’m so scared hyung, I’m gonna fuck this up so bad, I’m gonna be stuck in a room with her for a week and a half,” He whined, tugging on Ten’s sleeve.
“See how tonight goes, romantic relationships don’t build up straight after you’ve confessed, they develop. Give yourself time to think about your confession, make it right, but make sure you tell her something.”
Ten spoke his words of wisdom to the younger, allowing silence for the rest of the walk back to let Yangyang mull over his thoughts.
**
“Night night, Hyung, thank you for today,”
“No problem, baby Yangyang,” Ten teased with a wink, lowering his mask for a second to show his shit-eating grin, before he slipped into his own room.
Huffing, he slipped the key-card in and unlocked the door. As he walked in, could hear water rushing, and a very faint singing. He dropped the bag on the counter and made his way into the bedroom, plopping onto the bed and writing you a text to let you know he was back. Just before he sent it, he listened to your singing. In fear that you’d stop, he held back on pressing send.
No, he didn’t want you to stop singing just yet. The simple notes reverberated through the bathroom walls and into the bedroom. Honey dripping in his ears, your voice hitting the pure notes with imperfections and harmonies of your own making.
It was his favourite song, After Hours by The Velvet Underground.
He’d never told you about that song, nor did he tell you that he liked the song because it reminded him of you. You really were perfect whether you knew it or not.
He sat on the bed, crossed legged, his head on his open palms and closed his eyes. He listened intently to your tones, the slight timbre to your voice, even the adorable voice crack you had, he found himself treasuring that the most.
‘ If you close, the door, the night could last forever,’
He wished this could last forever, but he also wished you were in his arms as you sang. He wished he could be the one playing the guitar for you, he’d even brought it along with him on the trip.
‘ If you close, the door, I’d never have to see the day again,’
As you neared the last verse, the last line, he yearned for you to keep going, but he was dragged out of his bliss by the nagging task of sending that text. As the song stopped, he sent it, hearing it ping in the bathroom. It made his heart flutter at the fact that you hadn’t muted his notifications.
The shower quickly turned off, a few minutes passed until you appeared from the mist, your short damp hair dripping slightly onto your worn out blue shirt. A towel was slung across your shoulders and your phone in your hand, along with your old clothes.
“You came back quickly?” You said, surprised, you couldn’t believe he’d gone out and back by the time you finished showering.
“Yeah, or maybe you took an eon to shower,” He attempted to mask his feelings by joking around, which earned a small laugh from you as you sat on the other side of the bed, opening your phone.
“Are you going to shower?” You looked over your shoulder at him, he was already looking at you, promptly broken out of his thoughts.
“Yeah probably, although I won’t take as long as you do, pinky promise,”
**
Your head hung from the edge of the bed in boredom, mindlessly scrolling through your various social medias, liking the odd post here and there, waiting for him to come out. Lifting yourself up, you felt the blood rush back into your body, leaving behind a slight blush on your dry, clean cheeks. You wanted to see what food he got, not having eaten for a few hours, so you stepped out of the bedroom and found a plain white plastic bag, swollen with colourful packets.
You looked inside to find various snacks, your tired eyes landing on your favourite ones. You were about to reach for them but then you remembered you told him not to get anything for you, drawing your hand back and picking your phone back up from the counter.
“Those were for you, Noona,” His voice came from over your shoulder again as you flinched one more time, wondering how he managed to approach you so soundlessly.
“Yang-ah! Don’t scare me like that,”
You whipped your head around to find him fresh out of the shower, wearing black sweatpants and a light grey tank top, his hair damp and pushed back, exposing his forehead. His eyes laid on the bag behind you then slowly moving to your eyes, his expression softening.
Reaching past your figure, he drew out your favourite sweets, holding it in both of his hands and shaking it. A beam plastered across his fresh face.
“Come, let’s share,” his eyes crinkled in youthful joy, you almost held his face and kissed him right then and there, but you settled for a smile back. He took your hand and led you to the bed, sitting with his back facing the backboard, both of you cross legged. Ripping the packet with his teeth, he held out the sweets towards you, asking you to go first.
“If you say so,” You smiled bashfully, taking a bright red gummy worm and placing it in between your teeth. He did the same with a blue gummy worm, shaking his head from side to side as it swung, scattering granules of sugar across the bed.
“Stop! Now you’re gonna have to sleep in all that sugar stuff, stupid," You said as you bit the tip of the gummy off, chewing its sticky texture.
‘Doesn’t matter if you’re also sleeping in the same bed as me,’ He too, took a bite, holding the worm in between his thumb and index, the blue already seeping into his skin. You curiously mulled over his statement, looking down at the sheets and shoving the rest of the gummy into your mouth and chewing in silence. Yangyang bent his neck down to try and catch your attention again, afraid that he said something too far. Your attention was brought up to his face as you looked up from your position, meeting his tender gaze.
“You’d let me do that?”
“If you were planning on sleeping on the floor, scrap that, Noona,”
Nodding, you dropped your gaze back to the covers and your sticky fingertips stained with red colouring, not knowing what to say.
What does this mean?
Is he just being nice?
All these questions raced through your head, so much so that you’d physically retracted your neck in confusion.
“Yangyang,” You screwed your eyes shut, drawing your head back up and taking a deep breath in and exhaling. It was safe to say that breathing didn’t calm your nerves, especially since he was already looking at you, and had somehow moved onto his knees and gotten closer to you.
“Noona,”
“I don’t know what this feeling is, nor what it means, but I really want to figure it out with your help.”
You sucked your lip in between your teeth, leaving red marks that weren’t attributed to the red dye of the gummy worms, and braced yourself for a reaction telling you that you’d misread this entire situation.
“I’d very much like that too, Noona,”
“You know what I’m talking about?” you questioned, curiosity behind your eyes, eager to find an answer of some sort.
“I don’t know, but I know one thing for sure,”
“Hm?”
“You mean everything to me, Noona, and even more.”
Your eyes glossed over, lips slightly parting in a mellow shock that made you sink into soft relief, your heart drowning in a foreign feeling of mutuality. For once in your life, you were on the same page as someone else, someone you deeply cared for, and you didn’t feel stupid. Placing your fingers in your mouth, you licked off the excess stickiness, and lifted your hand to the nape of his still damp neck.
“Same goes for you,” You managed to croak out through your steadily building tears, lifting your body up onto your knees, bringing your face closer to his. As he looked back up, his eyes shone with affection, a nebula of stars meeting your watery eyes.
Reaching his neck up, he yearned to meet your lips, the distance was so little yet so far. His hands clung in anticipation onto the packet of sweets like a child clinging to a teddy bear, his eyes flitting between your lips and your eyes. You brought your other hand around his face, brushing against his lips, secretly loving how he reacted with a whine. Reaching back, he placed the packet on the bedside table and cleaned his fingers of the blue gluey substance off of the pads of his fingers too, before wrapping his arms around your waist and bringing you closer to him. You were flush against the front of his body, able to feel the ridges of his abs against your plush tummy as you straddled his thighs, his back against the pillows.
“Your singing was beautiful, Noona,”
You hummed in question, your eyes widening. You tried to figure out how he heard you, but it didn’t matter. He had already leaned forward, smiling into the kiss and closing the distance between your lips. It was a gentle, tentative one, the two of you testing the waters.