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When Yeonjun knocked on Taehyun’s bedroom door one evening, Taehyun hadn’t expected things to go as they had. Although, to be fair, he hadn’t been given much warning.
It had been a long day, and for once, the members had been split up into subunits for individual schedules: the hyungs had had a recording, leaving a lot earlier than usual, and Taehyun hadn’t even been awake when they’d been picked up by the company car. Meanwhile, Beomgyu had been working on his upcoming cover song all day, while Taehyun and Hueningkai had had an interview with Weverse Magazine.
Taehyun hadn’t seen Yeonjun all day, so as soon as he heard that knock, he immediately put his phone to the side and got up off his bed where he’d been laying, hurrying to the door with a grin on his face and flinging it open.
“Hi, I missed you, how did the interview with Hyuka go? I bought those steamed buns with the red bean paste on my way back from work, they’re your favorite, right?”
Yeonjun said eagerly, eyes lighting up as soon as Taehyun opened the door, holding up a plastic bag of what Taehyun could only assume were the steamed buns he’d bought. But Taehyun hardly heard a word that Yeonjun was saying, and instead, he stopped dead, eyes wide and mouth falling open. Because nothing could have prepared him for what he saw:
Yeonjun was wearing a black long sleeved shirt and a green sleeveless knitted top over it, but what made Taehyun stare was the skirt. It was black to match his top, falling down elegantly to just above his ankles, revealing a pair of black and white converse, and resting on the top of his head was a pair of yellow tinted sunglasses, pushing back Yeonjun’s dark hair off of his forehead and showing off his signature silver hooped earrings. The whole thing was just perfection, and Taehyun couldn’t take it.
“What? Why aren’t you saying anything? Why are you staring at me like that?” Yeonjun asked, confused, a small frown knitting between his eyebrows.
Meanwhile, Taehyun was, unfortunately, starting to struggle to breathe, and a strange panicky feeling was rising in his throat, so maybe, you could forgive him for what he did next:
“Go away!” Taehyun said firmly, and with that, Taehyun grabbed the door and slammed it straight in Yeonjun’s bewildered face, closing with a satisfying ‘crash’, as the door frame shuddered.
Taehyun bolted the door shut and then leaned his back to the door, breathing hard. His chest was now starting to hurt, and his stomach was doing weird flips.
“Hey, what did you do that for?”
Taehyun screwed up his eyes as he heared Yeonjun from the other side of the door, and he knew he was being stupid, and irrational, but he didn’t care. This was his only option.
Taehyun stepped away from the closed door, now pacing his room as he felt his heartbeat quickening at an alarming rate, the image of Yeonjun still freshly ingrained in his mind. Behind him, he heard Yeonjun knocking on his door again, but he didn’t make any moves to open it, even though he knew he should.
“Open up! You can’t just slam the door in my face for no reason! Taehyun-ah?!”
“Go away hyung! I don’t want to talk to you!” Taehyun yelled back, as he went over to his bed, picked up his phone and sat down on the covers. And he knew he shouldn’t but he unlocked his phone and started typing his symptoms into Google.
Shortness of breath? Check. Pains in the chest? Check. Feelings of nausea? Check. Sweat palms? Check. Quickening heart rate? Check.
Taehyun lifted his own hand to his forehead and felt his temperature, and then felt his own burning cheeks. He must look like a tomato by now.
Increased temperature? Check.
As Taehyun scrolled through the results he found a website that seemed promising, and so he opened it, scanned through the paragraphs of text and sighed. According to Google, he may be having a heart attack, and could also be suffering from acute liver failure. Great, just great.
Taehyun then chanced a glance towards his door, but he heard no movement outside. Maybe Yeonjun had given up and left? The thought made him feel guilty. He knew he’d have to explain, but honestly, where was he to start?
Taehyun flung his phone to the side and got out of his bed, going over to the vast collection of plushies on Hueningkai’s bed instead and picking one up. He then returned to his bed and lay down on his back, clutching the plushie to his chest, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, desperately trying to calm himself down, the loud fluttering of his heart beating rapidly in his ears.
He wasn’t normally the type to cuddle plushies, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and Hueningkai always said that plushies were supposed to be comforting. Taehyun had no idea how long he lay there for, but it must have been at least half an hour. Unfortunately, after all of this, Taehyun still felt giddy, but at least his heart rate had slowed down a bit.
But now he felt guilty. The shock on Yeonjun’s face when he slammed the door was making him feel like an idiot. But it wasn’t his fault. Not entirely. Yeonjun had looked stunning, breathtaking even, and in Taehyun’s opinion, it should have been illegal to look that good.
And so, knowing what he had to do, Taehyun got up off the bed and went to the door, carefully placing Hueningkai’s plushie back in its place amongst all the others as he did so.Taehyun then took a deep breath as he stood by the locked door. He was being ridiculous, he knew that. Would Yeonjun be mad at him? He would certainly be confused, and had the right to be upset.
Taehyun hesitantly unbolted the door, and then turned the handle, peering outside into the silent hallway. At first, he thought no one was there, but then he looked to his right, and saw Yeonjun, actually sitting on the floor, back leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway, legs crossed and black skirt flowing out around him, sadly playing with his phone. He’d waited on the cold hard floor for half an hour, he’d been patient, all along, hoping Taehyun would come around.
As soon as Taehyun opened the door, Yeonjun looked up, giving Taehyun a nervous smile, as though he wasn’t sure if Taehyun would slam the door in his face again.
“You stayed.” Taehyun said, stating the obvious and feeling very much embarrassed.
Yeonjun shrugged.
“I guess so.”
“Umm...you can come inside now.” Taehyun said rather shamefacedly, feeling his cheeks burning, and so Yeonjun pocketed his phone and got up, and Taehyun stood aside to let him in.
Yeonjun’s skirt made a faint ‘swishing’ sound as he walked past, and it took everything in Taehyun’s power not to scream at the older boy for being ‘too damn perfect’.
Once Taehyun had closed the door, he went back over to his bed and sat there, gesturing for Yeonjun to do the same. Yeonjun sat a metre’s distance apart, looking rather awkward, and if Taehyun wasn’t mistaken, he saw a glimmer of worry in Yeonjun’s eyes.
There was silence. Why was this so awkward? Taehyun hated it, but he supposed he was the one to blame, although trying to explain his predicament was going to be so much worse.
“Did- did I do something wrong?” Yeonjun asked softly, and Taehyun looked up from where he’d been fiddling with his hands, shaking his head frantically.
“What? No!” Taehyun protested, because that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“Really? Because that’s what it feels like. And if I have, I’m sorry.”
This was all going wrong. The sadness in Yeonjun’s voice as he said those words hit Taehyun in the chest with a horrible pang.
“You haven’t.” he said, but Yeonjun didn’t look as though he believed him.
“Then what is it?” Yeonjun asked, dejectedly picking at a thread that had come loose in the blanket, and Taehyun sighed, hugging his legs up to his chest, resting his chin on his knees.
God, he felt so stupid, and childish.
“It’s the skirt.” he whispered, cringing at how silly that must have sounded, and immediately, Yeonjun looked up from tugging at the loose threat, an expression of shock and hurt on his face.
“You don’t like it?” Yeonjun asked, eyes wide, and Taehyun wanted to scream.
Great. Now Yeonjun thought he was a closed minded idiot, which wasn’t the case at all. Why was this so difficult?
To be fair, he’d dug his own grave here.
“No! That’s not what I meant! Urgh!” he yelled in frustration as he buried his head into his knees, letting out an indistinguishable sound of frustration.
How was he supposed to tell his boyfriend that he was one hundred percent well and truly weak at the knees and whipped for him without sounding like a complete idiot?
“Ok, ok calm down. Just try again.” Yeonjun said gently.
Taehyun peered up at him, and even though he was still clearly confused, Yeonjun gave him an encouraging smile, which Taehyun tried to return.
“It is the skirt, but not because I don’t like it. I think I like it too much.”
And now Yeonjun looked shocked, but for a completely different reason.
“When I first saw you just now...I could hardly speak. You looked so beautiful just standing there, and it made me feel things, hyung, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.” Taehyun said shamefacedly, feeling his cheeks burning more than ever, but when he looked at Yeonjun, he saw that the older boy was smiling, eyebrows raised, a look of amusement on his face.
“So, to summarise: You’re freaking out because I look too good in this outfit and you can’t handle it? Am I right?”
Taehyun blinked in surprise, because yes, Yeonjun had hit the nail on the head so to speak.
“Yes.” Taehyun muttered, feeling his face burning, so quietly that Yeonjun barely heard him.
“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that?” Yeonjun said, cupping his hand to his ear and grinning now. He was clearly enjoying this.
“Fine! Yes, you’re right!” Taehyun confirmed throwing up his hands in the air, more flustered that ever as he added “But it sounds stupid when you say it like that.”
“It’s not stupid.”
Taehyun gave Yeonjun a look.
“Ok, so it’s a bit stupid, but it’s cute watching you get all flustered.” Yeonjun said, and now, Taehyun felt a wave of relief washing over him. He hadn’t completely fucked up after all, even though his reaction had been a bit much.
“I thought I was having a heart attack.” Taehyun added, not being able to hide his smile now he knew everything was ok.
“Don’t worry, I’ll give you plenty more mini heart attacks in future.” Yeonjun said, giving him a little wink, which made Taehyun’s heart flutter all over again.
Yeonjun then reached out his hand and Taehyun took it, shuffling closer and suddenly, he was pulled into a hug he didn’t realise he needed, burying his face into Yeonjun’s shoulder, feeling the older boy’s strong arms wrap around him tightly.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier.” Taehyun mumbled, his voicing coming out a little muffled.
“That’s ok.” Yeonjun said softly as they broke apart. “I’ll let you off this time, seeing as you’re so cute.” Yeonjun said, ruffling Taehyun’s hair affectionately while Taehyun playfully batted his hand away.
***
Later, after dinner, they were both cuddled up in Taehyun’s bed, thankfully alone as Hueningkai was spending the night with Beomgyu. Taehyun was sitting comfortably on Yeonjun’s lap, Yeonjun’s arms holding him around the waist as he used Taehyun’s shoulder as a chin rest, snuggling into the crook of Taehyun’s neck as they filtered through the selfies Yeonjun was planning to post on Twitter.
Taehyun held Yeonjun’s phone in his hand, scrolling through the potential photos as Yeonjun observed over his shoulder.
“I like this one.” Taehyun said, bringing up one of the mirror selfies Yeonjun had taken that day, of him wearing the skirt, from the possible selection of twenty similar pictures of him in the same outfit.
“Really? That one?” Yeonjun asked doubtfully.
“Why not? Your nose scrunch is adorable!” Taehyun said as he turned round slightly to peer at Yeonjun, daring him to disagree.
“If you say so.” Yeonjun said, shrugging nonchalantly, but the small twitch at the corner of his mouth gave him away as he took his phone out of Taehyun’s hands. Taehyun watched as Yeonjun uploaded the two best pictures they’d selected, arms still wrapped around Taehyun’s waist as he did so. Taehyun watched as Yeonjun typed out a message, and ended it with a cute smiley before hitting ‘post’.
“I still can’t believe that you’re so whipped for me. I’m flattered at such a strong reaction!” Yeonjun said as he put his phone on the side table, which immediately made Taehyun blush.
“No I’m not!” Taehyun lied, turning round in Yeonjun’s lap and pouting, which only made Yeonjun smile even wider.
“Yes you are! My little Taehyunnie is sooo whipped for me!” Yeonjun teased, giving Taehyun’s sides a little squeeze, making him yelp and burst out giggling.
“Stop it!” Taehyun whined, as he wriggled off of Yeonjun’s lap, and fell into the space beside him, attempting to avoid the teasing, but to no avail as Yeonjun grabbed his hand and tugged him back- Taehyun had only made a half hearted attempt to escape anyway.
“Ok, ok, yes, I am very whipped for you hyung. Are you happy now?” Taehyun asked, attempting to look annoyed and failing miserably as Yeonjun nodded and then blew him an air kiss, making him flush even more.
God, he was so beautiful, and at times like this, Taehyun couldn’t believe that out of everyone, Yeonjun had chosen to be with him.
And Yeonjun seemed to have felt the change in Taehyun’s mood, as he now asked:
“Is everything ok?”
Taehyun looked up and nodded, but then shook his head, and then changed his mind and shrugged instead. How was he supposed to explain this one?
“Sometimes, I look at you, and I just wonder why you’re even with me. You’re breathtaking. You’re fearless and confident and kind and sweet and funny, and I’m just me.” Taehyun said all in a rush, just wanting to get it out, ashamed to feel the tiny pricks of tears in his eyes as he looked away, blinking hard.
“That’s not true.” Yeonjun said, making Taehyun turn back to him again. “That’s not true at all. I could live a thousand lifetimes searching for the perfect person for me, but I’d never find anyone as good as you.”
Taehyun felt tears pricking his eyes once more, but for a very different reason as Yeonjun gently brushed away Taehyun’s silver hair from his face and placed a kiss on his forehead, sending a spark of warming shooting through him like a little drop of happiness.
“You missed.” Taehyun said softly, smiling now as Yeonjun titled his head to the side, confused.
“What do you mean?”
“You were meant to put that here.” Taehyun said as he leaned forwards and closed the gap between them.
As his lips met Yeonjun’s, Taehyun closed his eyes, melting into the kiss that felt like floating, or falling, depending on how you looked at it. As Taehyun felt Yeonjun’s hand come to tilt his chin up, lips brushing his breath tickling his ear, he could hardly breath, but this time, it was ok. Taehyun had learnt that this feeling was normal. It was the feeling called ‘love’, and he wanted to feel it every day, for the rest of his life.
When they broke apart, faces inches away from each other, breathless, cheeks flushed and lips slightly swollen, Taehyun took the time to gaze over Yeonjun’s face, and there was no doubt in his mind: he’d find nobody else as good as Yeonjun, not for as long as he lived.
“Will you stay with me tonight?” Taehyun whispered, resting his forehead against Yeonjun’s, not wanting to be alone, even for a second.
“I’ll always stay for you.” Yeonjun said softly, and Taehyun’s face broke into a smile, which Yeonjun returned before tilting Taehyun’s chin up so that their lips met once more.
And Taehyun fell once again, but this time, it wasn’t him who was breathless. It was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one who was whipped in this relationship.