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“Hwang Hyunjin, wipe your schedule this Saturday.”
On their worn, passed down couch, Hyunjin looks up from his phone to blink at Minho in the doorway once before returning to his screen, disinterest and barely mild surprise painting his expression.
“... why?”
“Because,” Minho enunciates loudly as he barges around the small kitchenette just out of Hyunjin’s sight (had he been looking up), “I promised my ex I’d go to his wedding and since things crashed and burned with… you-know-who a couple of weeks ago I completely forgot I don’t have a date to this thing and I am not going to his wedding solo.”
Hyunjin’s fingers freeze mid-action, leaving his message only partly typed. When he searches for Minho’s face in an attempt to discern whether the older is: 1. Completely messing around with him and there is no wedding, 2. Asking Hyunjin to go while remaining friends and fool Minho’s ex, or 3. Actually being serious in wanting to take Hyunjin as his date.
Minho is nowhere to be seen, though, even if Hyunjin can hear him loud and clear from where he’s banging the pots around the practically non-existent cupboards. Hyunjin would get up and confront the older in the kitchen, except… Except he’s super comfortable right where he’s already sitting.
“Hyung!” he calls instead. “... so you’re asking me? To be your +1 at your ex’s wedding? This saturday?”
“That’s what I said!” Minho yells right back at him.
Hyunjin stares at the spot he would see Minho if there was a hole in the wall, as if willing his roommate to appear in front of him again. He wants to shout triumphantly when Minho steps out, bowl and whisk in hand, but contains himself when Minho glares at him and is fast to reply instead.
“Hyung, I’m sorry, but what the fuck.”
Minho sighs and disappears from view again, resorting to keep this conversation going through shouts and without body language.
“Look,” he starts to explain loudly, “you’re basically the only new addition to my friend group since we broke up, so he has absolutely no idea who you are, and frankly, I couldn’t find a better piece of eye candy even if I tried. You showing up in rags will still out-do his wedding suit, don’t you worry.”
Flattered, satisfied, and without any actual plans on Saturday either way; Hyunjin is tempted to accept. There’s just one tiny thing left to do, if he’s going to do this for Minho.
He calls out once more. “And what exactly are you prepared to offer me in return for this favour, hyung?”
“I’ll make you whatever food you like for a week.”
Hyunjin stifles his squeal of delight behind a hand. “A month!”
“Two weeks,” Minho snorts from behind the corner. “Don’t fucking push it, Hwang.”
“Deal!”
***
Saturday comes quickly, it turns out, when you only have two and a half days to prepare for a wedding you’ve been pushing to the back of your head - like Minho - or didn’t know about until that very moment - like Hyunjin.
To tell the truth, Minho didn’t think this night would be that big of a deal. He didn’t think it would matter to him to see his ex get married when they ended things before college, and on friendly terms at that. He didn’t think it would matter that Minho himself was single and nowhere near marriage either, until suddenly, it did.
Not that Minho regrets breaking up with his latest fling, who he didn’t feel that strongly about in the first place. It was disappointing, yes, but not heart-breaking. The one before that hurt worse, and Minho half-suspects himself of attaching himself to a rebound instead of an actual healthy relationship. Oh, well.
Things being what they currently are in Minho’s practically non-existent love life, he really shouldn’t complain about dancing with Hyunjin. They basically know each other inside-out by now, sharing interests and an apartment and daily routines, and Minho likes Hyunjin. Which is a surprise in itself, since their personalities are quite different. Hyunjin thinks they complement each other. Minho thinks they’re stuck to each other.
(Maybe even a little co-dependent, but he’d die before admitting that to anyone.)
“I’ll let you kiss me for two more dinners,” Hyunjin suddenly tells him, low and sensual and straight from the depths of him.
Minho all but chokes and sputters and quickly averts his eyes to the decorated wall behind Hyunjin’s back, where they’re facing each other for the mandatory but kind of boring slow-dance. He can feel his ears burning with heat.
“What?”
“They’re watching,” Hyunjin murmurs straight into Minho’s ear, who simply has to trust that the younger is telling the truth since Minho can’t see his ex sitting at the table somewhere behind him among the masses. “You can kiss me if you want, but it’s gonna cost you two more days of cooking.”
They’re standing still now, ceasing their swaying from side to side when Minho froze at the suggestion. He feels himself wanting to consider the suggestion and what that might mean for their relationship and living arrangements and life going forward, but Minho’s brain doesn’t get any further than that because it’s stuck on Hyunjin telling him ‘kiss me’.
He leans back to search Hyunjin’s face, because he’s not sure it’s not a joke.
The look in Hyunjin’s eyes is partly serious, but partly glimmering. He won’t take it personally if Minho says ‘no’. The question is if he’ll go through with it if Minho says ‘yes’.
Before Minho can find out the possibly ugly way, he throws caution to the wind and takes Hyunjin’s delicate face into both of his hands and kisses him. Hyunjin lets out a surprised little puff of air against Minho’s lips. Then he kisses Minho back, lips soft but firm, and Minho feels the way Hyunjin’s calloused artist-hands hold onto his waist slightly tighter than before.
***
“Hello, I’m Hwang Hyunjin, absolute disaster by day and a complete mess by night. Hyung keeps me in check, thankfully, I think he likes feeling needed. Don’t tell him I said that.”
Minho groans out loud while Hyunjin keeps smiling at Jungwoo with a deceptively angelic smile on his pretty face that might fool even Minho, if he wasn’t kind of on edge tonight. He wishes he could blame Hyunjin’s introduction on the expensive champagne that kept coming throughout the evening - courtesy of Doyoung, Jungwoo’s dashing husband - but he silently suspects Hyunjin is just acting up for the hell of it.
“So… how long have you two been together?” Doyoung politely asks, seeming a bit taken aback by the whirlwind of giggles and hair and lips and glitter that’s impossible to miss once Hyunjin has been spotted, and Minho genuinely can’t blame his ex’s husband for his wide eyes.
Jungwoo isn’t faring much better, in all honesty. Almost as pretty as Hyunjin in his white suit, tall and giggly as ever, but Minho has barely paid the newlyweds any mind all evening. It was Hyunjin’s suggestion to congratulate them now that Minho had bothered to come and even bring Hyunjin along, and Minho really couldn’t argue with that. He’ll gladly show Hyunjin off, if that’s what he wants.
(Maybe Minho is feeling a little dazed and a lot out of his usual loop due to the spontaneous kissing they’d been doing just minutes before, but he’s decided not to think about that until tomorrow at earliest.)
“We’ve lived together for almost a year now, haven’t we, hyung?” Hyunjin wastes no time answering, all while clinging to Minho’s side and batting eyelashes Minho does his best to ignore. “I’d say we’re doing pretty good. We complement each other well, you see. Hyung’s a neat freak, and I’m just, well… A freak, if you know what I mean.”
Jungwoo bursts out in shrill laughter at the scandalous innuendo, while Doyoung’s cheeks turn pink as he coughs a little and his eyes grow further in size. Minho is torn between both of their reactions.
“Babe, how about we find you a glass of water, hmm?” he asks Hyunjin instead, mostly rhetorically, and when he turns to the younger man there’s barely an inch separating their faces. Hyunjin doesn’t back up, and Minho has to take a second to remember his train of thought. “I think that fancy champagne might be getting to your head. ‘Might wanna come back down to earth since you have the late shift tomorrow.”
Hyunjin immediately sobers up a little, intoxication or not. “Shit, you’re right, I completely forgot about that.”
“I know, that’s why we share our timetables in that cute app you found, sweetheart.”
A lovely smile stretches across Hyunjin’s face at the nickname, and the twinkle in his eye only gives Minho a moment’s notice concerning what he’s about to say next.
“You’re so good to me, hyung,” Hyunjin all but coos at him, before turning to the couple opposite from them to make sure they understand as well. “He’s so good to me, you guys.”
When his gaze returns to Minho’s, the older’s heart skips a beat at the implications behind it.
“Kinda feel like giving you a reward for being so good to me, Minho hyung. Did I spot a bathroom around the corner, by any chance? Where are the bathrooms around here? How far is the car?”
Biting his lip to avoid either bursting out into hysterical laughter or groan loudly at Hyunjin’s actions, Minho settles for one last ‘congratulations, you guys, we wish you all the best’ before pulling Hyunjin behind him by the wrist without giving the newlyweds a chance to recover from the beautiful mess impersonated that Minho brought to their wedding.
Hyunjin giggles all the way to the car, which has Minho wondering if the younger is actually drunk. Hyunjin has always been a lightweight - probably because he’s just light, in general - but Minho doesn’t think he had that much to drink tonight. They weren’t planning on staying long, and hadn’t really, either.
When they reach the car, Minho tugs at Hyunjin’s hand until he can maneuver the pretty blonde so he’s finally trapped against the side of the car and can’t wreak any more havoc than he already has. Hyunjin lets him, follows every movement like an obedient doll, and only smiles brightly at Minho when they’re facing each other.
His eyelids are painted faintly with a soft, dark colour that accentuates his hooded eyes perfectly, but Minho suspects that the flush of Hyunjin’s cheeks is all natural. The golden glitter covering his cheekbones might as well be part of Hyunjin’s raw beauty, too. At this point, Minho wouldn’t exactly be surprised.
“Hwang Hyunjin,” he murmurs, hands still on Hyunjin’s wrists but not otherwise touching the younger. “Sharpen your ears, because I will say these words once in my life and never again.”
Hyunjin laughs, surprised. “Huh?”
“I fucking love you,” Minho all but confesses, dazed and out of his comfort zone but feeling like he’ll never tell Hyunjin these things if he doesn’t do it right now. “You’re the best, seriously. I’ll make it a month just for that conversation, I don’t even care. That was great, Hyunjin-ah, I actually had a really nice time. Thanks for coming with me. I mean it.”
With an unreadable look in his eyes, despite how well Minho thinks they know each other, Hyunjin looks at him quietly with his lips slightly parted in surprise. Minho doesn’t blame him. He doubts he’s ever said anything remotely affectionate to Hyunjin before, despite knowing that there’s definitely a sweet spot for him inside of Minho. He’s just so fond of him, and more than ever after what Hyunjin did to help him get through tonight.
“You make out with me for a bit and I’ll pretend I never heard that, hyung.”
Minho can’t restrain the hysterical laughter that tears itself out of his throat this time.
“What?” he repeats, well aware that he’s not reacting any better than the first time Hyunjin said something similar. “Are you serious?”
“Dead serious,” Hyunjin tells him, and he shrugs one of Minho’s hands off his wrist to raise his hand until he can rest it on Minho’s shoulder instead to finger at the collar of his shirt. “You’re a terrific kisser, hyung, what can I say? Can’t blame me for wanting more when you’re devouring my lips with your lips and my body with your eyes. You even called me pet names, Minho, of course I’m swooning. Now, please, kiss me again.”
“Yeah?” Minho breathes, still somewhat in shock but simultaneously unable to tear his eyes away from Hyunjin’s inviting lips now that the request has been made and is right there at the front of his mind. “You’re gonna ask me all politely for another kiss, Hyunjin-ah?”
“Please,” Hyunjin repeats on another exhale as his thumb sneaks under the soft fabric to rub at Minho’s hot skin instead. “I’m not above begging, hyung. You don’t know everything about me just yet.”
Inside his chest, Minho’s heart does a double flip at the implications behind Hyunjin’s carefully chosen words. Inside his stomach, something akin to butterfly wings flutters enough for Minho to know that he’ll never fully be able to go back to how things were before tonight.
“Are you sure, sweet thing?” he asks, pet name sneaking out subconsciously after learning the way Hyunjin tastes.
When Hyunjin doesn’t reply, Minho finally tears his eyes away to meet the younger’s eyes again. ‘Oh’, Minho briefly thinks, ‘he does mean it’. Before he can act on it, though, Hyunjin tugs him closer by the grip on his shoulder until Minho’s body is pressing Hyunjin’s even closer to the car behind them, and Minho would lose his breath in surprise if the younger didn’t help him along by instantly kissing him and breathing his own air into Minho’s lungs.
Parting his lips automatically, Minho’s body relaxes through a tiny sigh as Hyunjin kisses him purposefully. As if trying to show him something, or even tell him without any words. Minho isn’t sure what Hyunjin is trying to convey, but he’ll do his best to respond correctly. When Hyunjin carefully takes Minho’s bottom lip between his teeth and pulls a little, Minho laughs breathlessly before pressing the younger more firmly against the helpful car. When he goes back for another kiss, he can feel the way Hyunjin smiles against his mouth before opening up for him in return.
***
They’re all the way back to their apartment - Minho’s hand on Hyunjin’s thigh with Hyunjin’s hand on top of his - when Minho straightens up as he remembers something.
“Hold up.”
Hyunjin’s eyes widen slightly as he turns to look at him. “What is it?”
“You,” Minho says incredulously and tears his hand away, cradling it in his own dramatically as he stares at the younger. “Did you plan this?”
The way Hyunjin presses his lips tightly together to hide his giddiness gives him away completely. Or it would have, if Minho hadn’t just figured him out on his own already.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, hyung,” Hyunjin states flatly, trying his hardest to hold his laughter back. Minho can hardly decide whether to keep his act up or laugh along with him. “I never plan things, you know that.”
“Oh, but you did,” Minho tells him, but there’s a muscle tugging at the corners of his mouth now that he bets Hyunjin is noticing. He knows Minho fairly well too, to be honest. “First, you made it seem like you were doing me a favour by graciously allowing me to kiss you - despite it being your idea - for the small exchange of two more dinners.”
In the passenger seat, Hyunjin is really struggling to contain his laughter judging by the twitching muscles in his face.
“Then,” Minho continues, because he’s right, “you implied that if I kissed you some more, I’d be doing you a favour and you’d ‘pretend you never heard’. I know I’m right, Hwang, you can’t worm your way out of this.”
In front of him, Hyunjin finally breaks and giggles until Minho can’t help but join him.
“Yah,” he complains weakly and only for the sake of it, with a smile still playing on his lips as he watches Hyunjin softly watch him back. “You played me, babe, now how are you gonna make it up to me?”
Hyunjin reaches for the hand Minho pulled back, intertwines their fingers, before lifting it in his own and lightly but slowly pressing his plush lips against the rough skin of Minho’s hand. Minho is one hundred percent sure he’s never had anyone kiss his hand before, and certainly not while looking up at him beneath his eyelashes the way Hyunjin is currently doing. Still holding Minho’s hand safely tucked inside his own, Hyunjin smirks at him once more.
“Will you take kisses as payments, hyung?”