Work Text:
The first time they meet is on the dance floor.
Just two anonymous bodies close enough to slowly map out the other with the thrumming heat of not knowing where the night will end. They don’t kiss and they barely touch, but the handsome brunette’s presence surrounding him all over is one Hyunjin feels weakly drunk off of anyway. There are no names being introduced or intimate exchanges of interaction for the entire duration of the night, but the memory of the crackling electricity sparking between them stays with Hyunjin for a long time afterwards regardless.
(The first time ends with someone seemingly familiar to the brunette throwing up in a narrow bathroom stall and the other leaving Hyunjin with apologetic eyes to take the - birthday? - boy home, instead of Hyunjin. At least, that’s how he chooses to interpret the cone-shaped blue thing on top of the brunette’s friend’s head when Hyunjin catches them stumbling back out the door and away from all the could-have-been’s Hyunjin’s imaginative mind is coming up with by the second.)
(It's October 4th, 2019.)
***
The second time they meet is at Changbin’s open mic night.
Hyunjin is attending to support his sweet and newly found boyfriend who apparently is mad good at spitting bars, while the pretty brunette from a two digit number of months ago is present to support his long-time friend after finally threatening to kick the rapper’s ass after years of more discreet support getting him nowhere. As it turns out; they are only there to support the same person.
(The second time ends with Hyunjin and Minho learning pretty names that match even prettier faces, and a pleasant sting to Hyunjin’s hand from where the older shook it. Changbin drives Hyunjin home while chatting about how happy he is and how grateful he feels for their support and how high on life he is when he does what he loves most. Hyunjin nods and smiles faithfully and wonders silently if such a thing will ever exist for him.)
(It's December 12th, 2020).
***
The third time they meet is at Chan’s - who Hyunjin vaguely recognizes as ‘birthday boy’ after about 30 minutes spent picturing the groom with a cone-shaped blue thing on top of his head - and Felix’s wedding, who Hyunjin really only met a couple of months ago but will gladly celebrate tonight with.
He learns quickly that Minho and Hyunjin alike are attending solo, and Minho is polite enough not to ask about Changbin even though he eyes the other and the tall, handsome brunette on his arm a little longer than necessary. He is also polite enough to ask for a dance which Hyunjin gladly accepts, and they spend the next insignificant amount of hours swaying and smiling while keeping the conversation to pretty much anything but themselves.
Hyunjin doesn’t feel sad about things ending with Changbin, nor about Changbin finding a charming law student to swoon instead. The problem is that Hyunjin doesn’t really feel anything else, either. He wonders if Minho is staying away from personal topics due to the very same reason, or simply outstanding instincts.
(The third time ends with Minho’s light hands on Hyunjin’s waist as he - politely - thanks him for the company but he must return to his car and get back in time for his shift. Hyunjin presses a quick peck to Minho’s left cheek as his own thanks, and wonders briefly what Minho even does for a living. When Minho looks at him in slight surprise and asks ‘Will I see you around?’, Hyunjin’s genuine answer is ‘Yes’.)
(It's July 8th, 2022.)
***
The fourth time they meet is perhaps the most unexpected one, in Hyunjin’s eyes.
It’s when he opens the front door to the art academy where he recently started substitute teaching high schoolers, and is already pointing in the direction of the storage room where the shelves broke and semi-dangerous chemicals started mixing together, and the person he comes face to face with in full firefighter uniform is none other than Lee Minho.
“Oh, it’s… Hi,” Hyunjin says, rather dumbly in his own opinion, and prays that his students are remaining in the classroom where he left them.
“Hello,” Minho replies, looking a little taken aback but also in absolute work-mode. “I didn’t know you work here.”
“I didn’t know you were a firefighter,” Hyunjin says in return, and it crosses his mind how little they actually do know about each other, despite having met a couple of times now at different stages of Hyunjin’s life.
Minho’s eyebrows raise slightly in a teasing manner as his face relaxes a bit, and Hyunjin even catches a smile playing on the older’s lips. Hyunjin feels his heartbeat pick up for the first time in longer than he would like to remember.
“Guess we’ll have to spend some more time together, then,” Minho murmurs, somehow kindly, before asking Hyunjin to show them the way.
(The fourth time ends with Minho and his colleagues bringing all of the potentially dangerous materials back with them, while giving Hyunjin and his colleagues the all-clear to continue their classes. Before Minho can leave for another indefinite amount of time, Hyunjin slips him a note with his phone number on it while masking the whole thing as a grateful handshake. Minho looks at him with a curious expression on his face, but Hyunjin refuses to linger on that and opts to bow to the firefighters in gratitude one last time before returning to his classroom.)
(It's September 17th, 2022.)
***
The fifth time they meet is the first time on purpose.
Minho’s hair is bordering on precious little curls and his eyes are prettier than ever behind a pair of big black specs, and he looks comfortable enough to cuddle up to in his soft pink cardigan. Hyunjin’s fingers tremble when he reaches out for the first puppy to pet, knowing Minho is right next to him in a very deliberate choice to spend time with Hyunjin on a rare day off. It’s all perfectly innocent, and yet Hyunjin ends up telling Minho over their bitter drinks and sweet pastries that he’s feeling a little overwhelmed.
Tilting his head a bit in a display of curiosity, Minho only asks ‘Why?’ and Hyunjin feels comfortable enough - for some to him indescribable reason - to tell Minho that he’s not sure whether he’s more scared of feeling dependent on someone else or more scared to not feel anything for someone ever again.
Minho is quiet for a moment before simply telling Hyunjin that that would make him feel overwhelmed, too, and asking if he would like to call it a day. In a second of pondering his options and what he really would like to do, Hyunjin decides that he’s probably had enough interaction for today but makes sure to ask if Minho would like to walk him home. He gains a gentle nod and a calming presence for a little longer, and at the front of Hyunjin’s buidling he leaves Minho with another genuine kiss on the cheek and asks him to text when he’s home safely.
Thirty minutes later, Minho’s text lets Hyunjin know that the older very much enjoyed the time they spent together. It also says to take his time for whichever reason, because Minho is in no hurry anywhere. As Hyunjin re-reads the text for the fifth time, another joins it.
‘Please tell me if you ever feel like I’m pressuring you,’ it starts. ‘I hate it when people put pressure on me, it only makes me angry and then I do stupid things. Don’t be like me. Do things that make you feel good, Hyunjin-ah. Only good things.’
(The fifth time ends with Hyunjin sending a single heart accompanied by the words he finds but don’t cover everything that he feels. Instead, Hyunjin sketches and sketches and sketches until the strings tugging him in different directions are momentarily silenced, and the result is three grey-scale drawings of Minho with different tiny dogs in his lap.)
(It's September 20th, 2022.)
***
+1
“Hyung,” Hyunjin calls out suddenly, startling both himself and the soft-looking boy at the other end of the couch with Hyunjin’s feet in his lap. “There’s… I wanna say something.”
Inside his chest, Hyunjin’s heart races like crazy as he wonders if he really does want to say something or rather pretend like he forgot whatever it was. Unfortunately, it might be too late for that now that Hyunjin has been torn all week and finally decided to just do what felt right once he actually met Minho today, and now that he has, it seems like Hyunjin’s mind has been made up without his actual involvement.
“Okay,” Minho replies, surprise evident even in his voice, and with his focus quickly completely attuned to the boy opposite of him on the couch. “What did you want to say?”
Swallowing and sitting up to properly address Minho, the younger doubts one last time whether or not he’s really doing the right thing. With a look thrown onto Minho’s open face, Hyunjin closes his eyes a second before taking the leap.
“I like you so much,” he confesses, exhaling, and feels so terribly vulnerable that he faintly wants to catch the words with his hand and squeeze them until they are choked and forever silent. Somehow, he powers through it. “You’ve been so good to me and I feel so bad for being such a mess in return. And despite feeling sorry towards you I still want to be with you. I want you to be with me. In a proper relationship. It still… terrifies me, honestly. Belonging to someone. But if I’m ever going to belong to someone, I think I want it to be you, hyung.”
When Hyunjin raises his downcast eyes to dare a look at the other boy, he finds Minho’s back straighter than ever and his hands unsteady for the first time that Hyunjin’s ever noticed in his presence. He blanches a little when Minho reaches for Hyunjin’s slightly larger, definitely sweatier hands, but Minho doesn’t seem to pay either of those things any mind.
“I like you, too, Hyunjinnie,” Minho states, breathless, as if sensing just how fragile this moment and the boy in front of him is. “That said, I don’t want you to belong to me. You belong to yourself. I’m just a person lucky enough to exist beside you, baby, not to exert or expect some kind of power over you. I like you too much just as you are right in this moment to ever wanna change anything, Hyunjin. I promise.”
“Okay,” Hyunjin all but whispers - fearing he will somehow break the spell of whatever moment is passing him by - and feels like the volume of his voice is about the same level as the energy left inside his body. “Okay. I’m not sure if I’m ready. But I want to be. Is that enough?”
“Yes, baby,” Minho hurries to assure him as the smile breaking out all over his face almost has him stumbling over his own words. “Whatever you can and want to give is enough. I told you I’m in no hurry and that hasn’t changed. If you’re really sure about liking me to that extent and wanting to give it a shot, then nothing would make me happier, Hyunjinnie. I mean it.”
Their respective rings make small clicking sounds as Minho cradles Hyunjin’s hands and fingers and palm with his own. Hyunjin swallows.
“I really do like you, Minho hyung,” he presses on. It’s the least he can do. And if it has Minho looking at him like that, it must be worth it. “Everything feels better with you. I want to try and I want… I want to love you, even if I’m not there yet. I’m sorry I’m not there yet. I’m sorry I need so much time, I--”
“Hwang Hyunjin,” Minho interrupts, firmly but gently, judging by the beautiful smile still on his lips. Hyunjin kind of wants to cry just from looking at Minho looking at him like this. “Stop apologizing for things none of us can control or I will kiss you until you do.”
(It ends with Minho crawling into Hyunjin’s lap and landing kiss after kiss on Hyunjin’s furiously blushing cheeks, until the younger is laughing out loud and accepting the affection bestowed upon him. Hyunjin still doesn’t know if he’ll ever feel 100% comfortable with himself and all the thoughts inside of his head and sensations inside of his body, but he thinks that Minho helps and that Minho actually wants to help. Hyunjin can tell by the deliberate questions of consent to most touches and the opposite instinctual silences when Hyunjin is too far away for conversation that Minho knows and Minho cares. Sure, he’s pushed Hyunjin a little out of his comfort zone during the time they’ve known each other, but he’s never pushed too far. Hyunjin has never been afraid to break. Not since he met Minho.)
(It's February 14th, 2023.)