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"Why don't you just talk to him already?"
"I didn't ask you to sleep over so you could judge my life choices, Soobin."
The older boy snorted and rolled his eyes for good measure, "You knew that this was going to happen anyway. How long have we been friends, Gyu? Especially because you asked me to sleep over for this sole reason. I'm only awake this early during our lovely summer break so I could watch your lover boy jog around the block."
"Fine. Also, he's not my lover boy," Choi Beomgyu said in defeat, hitting the other's shoulder lightly to hide his obvious embarrassment. It's not like his best friend was lying, though. Actually, Soobin was right on all counts. Both boys were only awake so they could watch Beomgyu's neighbour jog past his house, which was also why they were situated by the window in his room that was overlooking the lawn.
He knew very little about his neighbour which Beomgyu hoped to change eventually.
For now, he settled with what he could get. First, while he didn't know the guy's name, he did know the dark-haired boy was absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous. So Beomgyu nicknamed him Handsome Guy just for laughs even if he meant it with utmost sincerity. Next, he knew the name of Handsome Guy's dog. The large German Shepherd was named Bucky. Sometimes, the dog joined Handsome Guy during his jogs or would be walked later on during the day.
"How do you know his dog's name, but not his?" Soobin had asked incredulously last night.
"I've heard him call the dog," was Beomgyu's simple reply.
That aside, he was also sure of how his handsome neighbour jogged every morning at exactly 8AM. It was ridiculous. Honestly, Beomgyu only found out about him after a night of binge-watching his favourite show. He didn't sleep a wink and his mother was pleasantly surprised to see him awake so early when he decided to have some breakfast, not knowing the reason why. Beomgyu was sent on a grocery run that he couldn't say no to doing, else he risked his mother's wrath.
On his way to the nearest grocery mart, he literally bumped into his handsome neighbour.
"Woops, sorry," Handsome Guy said with an apologetic smile, oozing with charisma for someone awake so early in the morning, before running off — with Beomgyu's heart and all of Beomgyu's remaining sanity.
The next day after a night of playing games instead, he happened to check outside his window around that time to see Handsome Guy running again.
Since then, sometimes he actually chose to wake up earlier than usual. It was sort of a win-win situation; he got to see a beautiful, gorgeous sight every morning and also his mother was pleased with him. No more endless nagging about his sleeping habits. Of course, he still stayed awake for far too long on some nights, though. He was smart enough not to head down during those moments and watched Handsome Guy jog by from his room instead, which was what he was doing with Soobin.
"There he is!" Beomgyu pointed out, just as a figure came running onto the sidewalk.
Has he mentioned Handsome Guy liked running shirtless?
Handsome Guy liked running shirtless.
"Beomgyu, he's shirtless," Soobin said, just to make sure they were seeing the same scene.
"I know."
"Nice arms."
"Nice everything."
"He looks familiar."
Beomgyu's head turned towards the other boy faster than the speed of light, "What?"
"Just kidding."
The younger boy groaned, "I hate you so much."
"I still say you should just talk to him," Soobin said, after the moment of silence that followed as both boys watched as Handsome Guy jogged by, all the way until he disappeared into the distance and around the next street corner, no longer visible from the small window. He looked thoughtful, "He looks like he's around our age, it shouldn't be so awkward."
Beomgyu rolled his eyes, "And say what, exactly? Hi, I'm Beomgyu! I watch you jog every morning! You're really hot. Date me?"
"That sounds accurate."
Soobin dodged one of Beomgyu's light punches just as his eyes suddenly widened, a wicked grin forming on his features that usually meant trouble for the latter. Sometimes, even trouble for himself, but Soobin was also very hard to dissuade whenever he got that crazy look on his face. It was one that said he had a plan. Whether it was a good plan was often debatable, but he had a plan nonetheless, and he liked putting his plans into action.
Even more so when it didn't involve himself, specifically.
"No, wait, I have a better idea!"
Sure enough, Beomgyu eyed his best friend with obvious distrust. How many ideas has he gone through because of Choi Soobin? If his brain worked better in the mornings, he probably would have been able to come up with a whole list of reasons why he should have stopped Soobin from speaking right then and there. Instead, he actually gave the other boy a chance to speak.
"Trust me, it's brilliant."
"The fact that you have to add that as a disclaimer isn't helping, Soobin."
The plan wasn't brilliant, but maybe it was too early to tell.
Either way, Beomgyu wasn't sure what made him agree, but in exactly five minutes he found himself dressed in running attire from head to toe. He didn't even know he had athletic clothing. The headband he wore also felt rather pretentious, but Soobin said it completed the look. The older boy's brilliant plan included running around the block—or at least faking it—in the opposite direction from the one his neighbour usually took. That meant they were going to cross paths eventually.
Beomgyu can casually bump into him again.
They can talk about running.
It was foolproof.
"Why aren't you running with me?" Beomgyu complained even as he tied his shoelaces.
"None of your clothes and shoes fit me," Soobin said dismissively. "Plus, he might get the wrong idea if you run with another guy. You're on your own."
"Great help."
"At least I gave you this plan."
It might be Beomgyu's fault for actually agreeing in the first place, too. Either way, after a moment of explaining to his mom why he was going jogging at 8AM in the morning and leaving Soobin alone in a house that wasn't his, he was on his way. If being on his way included figuring out how to jog properly in the first place was something, then yes, he was on his way. As per Soobin's plan, Beomgyu would wait until he saw the silhouette of someone jogging towards him from the distance before beginning his jog.
Moments later, he could spot the familiar shape of Handsome Guy and began to jog towards the figure.
It took him only a few seconds before he stopped to rest, heaving quietly.
Exercise was still exercise, after all.
Although he hadn't even managed to jog that much farther away from his own house, he still had to catch his breath. This was new to him. He wasn't used to physical activity. He bent down a bit, hands on his thighs as he tried to focus on breathing deeply when a shadow loomed next to him. Beomgyu froze in momentary panic — was he going to get kidnapped this early in the morning? Would Soobin run out of his house to save him?
"Hey, you okay?"
Thankfully, it wasn't a kidnapper after all.
It was a familiar voice. Beomgyu looked up and sure enough, his neighbour was right there in all his sweaty, chiselled glory. He peered down worriedly at Beomgyu, breathing heavily himself, but clearly not as winded. The other boy was at a loss for words; Soobin didn't really give him instructions on what to do when they've actually bumped into each other. Actually, they didn't even bump into each other, since Beomgyu was barely running when—
"Hello? Is something wrong?" Handsome Guy spoke again, snapping Beomgyu out of his thoughts. He looked extremely worried as his plump lips formed a pout as he spoke, "Can you hear me?"
"Y-yes," Beomgyu finally said, breathless for more than one reason.
He did his best to keep his eyes trained on the other's eyes and not any lower, too.
The taller boy breathed a sigh of relief, "Great. I saw you running for a bit and then you just stopped there. I thought maybe you were feeling bad. I didn't know you jogged too, though."
Beomgyu nodded, "Yeah. I mean, I don't, but — Uhm. I was starting just today."
It wasn't a lie, his mind supplied helpfully, which was better than pretending he was an experienced runner when he clearly wasn't.
"Oh, cool, maybe we could jog together someday if you're up for it," the other boy said, grinning and revealing shiny teeth. Beomgyu shouldn't have found teeth attractive, but he did, in this case. Man, he was already whipped. Something about the other's smile made him look like a fox, too. He looked friendly enough, but mischievous at the same time like he was hiding a sort of secret. Either way, he looked good.
He looked great, his mind supplied, unhelpfully that time around.
"Sure," Beomgyu finally said, not quite trusting himself to say anything else.
"I'm Yeonjun, by the way, sorry for not introducing myself earlier," Handsome Guy — no, Yeonjun said as he extended a hand. "I've seen you around before. We're neighbours, right?"
Beomgyu took the offered hand, hoping his palm wasn't sweaty and clammy from all that happened since he forgot to wipe it on his shirt first or something. He wasn't normally a wreck meeting people, but the fact that it was so early in the morning definitely didn't help. His brain also registered that the other boy remembered seeing him around, which he took as a win, mentally cheering as he accepted the boost of confidence and nodded, "Yeah. My name is Beomgyu."
"Nice to finally meet you," came the reply, followed by a cheeky grin that Beomgyu couldn't decipher, but could also call mildly flirtatious. He could only nod again, swallowing hard.
Once more, he reminded himself to focus on Yeonjun's eyes and not the other's bare chest and toned arms.
"Well, I'm going to continue one more lap," Yeonjun said, looking into the distance as if calculating the rest of his run before his eyes shyly met the shorter boy's. He still had a smile in place, tentative yet charming all the same, like even he was suddenly nervous despite his obvious charisma, "You should take it easy first, Beomgyu. I can visit you later? In the afternoon? We can talk about a running schedule if you want. I mean, you know, if you want to run with me sometime."
"Sure," Beomgyu replied in a daze before his mind caught up to what was happening and mentally slapped his head. What did the other mean by visiting? And when was later, exactly? And why is he agreeing to a running schedule of all things? It was crazy how easy everything seemed, too. He realized belatedly that for once, a plan by Soobin didn't go wrong. Rather, he's pretty sure it went right in all ways possible.
That was a first.
"Alright. See ya," Yeonjun said when the other didn't say anything else, waving cheerfully before he began running once more.
Still standing in the middle of the street, Beomgyu couldn't help the wide grin on his face.
Meanwhile, from his spot still next to the window, Soobin grinned as he watched what happened as if it were his own private movie. It could have been if he had gotten something to eat, but he didn't want to miss out on what was happening. Although he couldn't hear anything that went on, just seeing the two boys talking was enough for him. Beomgyu owed him one, for sure.
Choi Yeonjun did, too.