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“So what are you guys going to do later this afternoon?” Felix asked in between bites of his scrambled egg.
Minho shrugged as he refilled his goblet with more juice. “Not sure. Maybe I’ll just spend some time catching up on reading. I did borrow a few books from the library the other day but haven’t had the time to start on them just yet.”
“Hyung!” Jeongin swallowed his mouthful of food and fixed Minho with a fierce glare. “You promised to go to Hogsmeade with me so we can get more quills from Scrivenshaft’s! Your cats chewed on every single one of my quills!”
“Hey, it was your fault for leaving your quills lying around. If you had only stowed them away properly, Soonie, Doongie and Dori would never have been able to get to them,” Minho defended, taking a swig from his goblet.
“But-”
Whatever retort Jeongin had up his sleeve was interrupted when a series of rambunctious yells and high-pitched laughter rang through the entire great hall, catching everyone’s attention.
Despite having recognised the voices, Minho could not resist the urge to follow everyone else in turning around to look at the pair of boys at the entrance of the great hall.
Hyunjin was trying his best to jump onto Jisung’s back, arms wrapped tightly around the other’s neck while the Gryffindor struggled to throw him off. The shrieks that the both of them let out was deafening in nature, intermingling with their light-hearted giggles.
Behind them, Bang Chan was shaking his head at the two’s antics, the expression on his face one of pure exasperation while Changbin made a beeline for the Gryffindor’s table, pretending not to know the two younger boys.
“Aren’t they just a lively bunch?” Minho muttered, turning back to his plate and grabbing some bacon for himself. “Such a lovey-dovey couple this early in the day.”
“Like I’ve said for the hundredth time, Hyunjin and Jisung aren’t dating,” Felix sighed.
“Well, their relationship status isn’t my concern.” Minho shrugged again, pushing the slice of bacon around on his plate. “I don’t care.”
“Well, you’re right about one thing.” Jeongin stole the slice of bacon away, popping it into his own mouth. “Hyunjin-hyung’s relationship isn’t any of your concern since you would rather be a big baby than tell him how you feel about him.”
“Who’s a big baby now?” Minho hissed, fingers clenching around the fork in his right hand.
Felix grabbed onto the fork. “Calm down, hyung. Jeongin is just worried about you. I am too. You’ve been pining after Hyunjin for so long and we think it’s due time you made your move.”
“Me? Pining over that silly Slytherin boy?” Minho dropped the fork and reached for his goblet again. “I have better things to do than that.”
“Well, Hyunjin might be a silly Slytherin. But he’s not the only one. There’s another perfectly foolish Slytherin right in front of me too,” Jeongin deadpanned.
“Whatever,” Minho sulked. “It just doesn’t matter if I like him or not. Which, for the record, I do not. Hyunjin has Jisung and even if he doesn’t, he has no reason to like me. I’m not exactly the nicest person to be around.”
“If Hyunjin doesn’t like you and doesn’t want to be around you…” Felix started slowly, eyes fixed on something over Minho’s shoulder. “...then why is he coming over here to our table?”
Minho snapped his head around at the Hufflepuff’s words, his breath hitching in his throat when he realised that Felix had been speaking the truth. Hyunjin was, in fact, weaving through the crowd to make his way over to them at the Hufflepuff’s table.
“Hi,” Hyunjin greeted breathlessly, eyes curving up into little crescents that shone brightly and reminded Minho of the stars that hung in the velvety sky of the enchanted ceiling during the evenings. “Good morning!”
There was a green-and-black striped scarf wrapped snugly around the younger’s neck. Not for the first time, Minho couldn’t help noticing how the bright green brought out the crimson of Hyunjin’s lips.
“Good morning,” Felix and Jeongin echoed together. Minho didn’t have to turn around to know that the two Hufflepuffs were offering up bright smiles of their own.
He just gave a slight, silent nod.
Perhaps it was just the light shining in through the great hall’s windows but for a moment, Minho could have sworn that he saw something akin to disappointment pass through Hyunjin’s eyes, his shoulders drooping at the smallest of angles. But before he could wrap his head around the moment, it vanished as quickly as it had appeared and Minho dismissed the entire thing as a trick of the light.
There was a pretty smile on Hyunjin’s plump lips as the other Slytherin shoved his hands into his robe pockets, gaze sweeping their faces before lingering on Minho’s. “What are you guys up to today?”
Felix cracked a joke but the content of that joke was lost on Minho when Hyunjin burst into giggles, the younger’s entire face scrunching up in amusement and reminding him of a purring kitten. As it was, the other Slytherin’s upper cheek dimples were in full display, their appearance resembling that of cat whiskers and contributing more to the other’s kitten likeness.
“…Minho-hyung?”
The sound of his name snapped Minho out of his daydream about Hyunjin with a pair of cat ears and he looked up to see the younger blinking at him in confusion. While he had been lost in his very important thoughts, it seemed that Minho had missed an entire part of the conversation. “Y… Yeah?”
Hyunjin’s eyes lit up and those pretty lips curved into the widest smile that Minho had ever seen on the other. “Great! Shall we meet at the courtyard then? I have to swing by my room to grab my broom first.”
“Wait, what?” Minho frowned uncomprehendingly, realising that maybe he really should have paid attention to the ongoing conversation.
A yell stole Hyunjin’s attention then and all of them traced the sound to its source to see Changbin waving enthusiastically in their direction.
“Right,” Hyunjin sighed. “I better go see what Changbin-hyung wants. I'll see you later then, hyung. Bye!”
The younger Slytherin headed off in the direction of the Gryffindor’s table after treating Minho to another one of his sweet smiles.
As Minho turned back towards the table he was at, Felix and Jeongin were both staring at him with wide eyes, faces pressed against each other’s and hands clasped tightly together.
“What?” Minho asked grumpily, reaching for his fork.
“I never thought you would be one of those people who would do anything for the sake of love,” Jeongin exclaimed excitedly.
“What you’re doing is so romantic though,” Felix exhaled dreamily. “Facing your fears for the sake of the person you love. I am so proud of you, hyung!”
Minho blinked. “What?”
“I mean, can you believe it? Our hyung who can’t even step into the astronomy tower because of his fear of heights has actually agreed to go on a ride on his crush’s broomstick with him.”
“Wait, I did what now?!”
Minho scanned the courtyard, glancing around for the familiar head of blonde hair. When he didn’t see Hyunjin anywhere, he heaved a sigh of relief and figured that Felix and Jeongin must have been mistaken. In the first place, why would Hyunjin ever want to go for a broomstick ride with him of all people?
He turned around, fully intending on making his way back to the Slytherin common room.
Bouncing locks of blonde hair came into Minho’s vision.
“Hyung!” Hyunjin was waving frantically to him as he dashed around the corner, broomstick clutched tightly in one hand. The younger came to a stop in front of him, bending over for a moment to catch his breath, cheeks flushed from exertion.
It wasn’t like he had a crush on the other Slytherin or anything but Minho couldn’t help feeling terribly endeared by the sight in front of him.
“Sorry.” Straightening up, Hyunjin met his eyes before the colour in his cheeks deepened and the younger looked away quickly. Slim fingers reached up to tuck blonde strands of hair behind his ear as the other bit down on his bottom lip. “Did I uh… keep you waiting for long?”
“Not really. I just got here.”
“That’s good. I wouldn’t want to keep you waiting,” Hyunjin smiled.
The gentle curve of the younger’s lips couldn’t be described in any other way but sweet. Everything about Hyunjin was just like his smile, sweet as the light of the stars with its silvery kiss. And even though the other seemed completely ignorant of his effect on people, it was his sweet demeanour that had all the witches and wizards at Hogwarts smitten with the pretty Slytherin.
Except Minho, of course.
“Actually, Hyunjin…” Minho started.
Hyunjin tilted his head adorably at the older. “Yes, hyung?”
Staring into the other Slytherin’s sparkling dark eyes, Minho suddenly couldn’t find the heart to turn him down. He had prepared an entire speech and came up with an excuse to say that he couldn’t hang out after all, even rehearsing it over and over on his way to the courtyard. But now, his meticulously prepared lines have all but evaporated.
It was just that he was a considerate person who didn’t want to hurt a fellow schoolmate’s delicate feelings and had absolutely nothing to do with the phantom ache in his chest at the thought of Hyunjin getting hurt.
“I just… there’s a leaf in your hair.”
The older moved closer to brush the tiny green leaf off the top of Hyunjin’s head. Up close, Minho got a whiff of rose petals and dew drops, a combination of scents he didn’t know could smell this sweet and delicate. It filled his lungs, leaving his chest feeling tight before travelling down into his abdomen and stuffing it full of fluttering butterflies.
When Minho stepped back, Hyunjin had his eyes closed and his previously flushed cheeks were as red as the deepest crimson of a rose petal. It was a lovely sight but the older couldn’t help feeling concerned.
“Are you okay, Hyunjin? Are you not feeling well? We don’t have to hang out if you’re unwell.”
“No!” Hyunjin’s voice was higher pitched than usual as he opened his eyes and reached out to grab onto Minho’s robe sleeve. “I’m fine, really!”
“Well, if you’re sure…”
“I’m really fine!”
For a moment, Minho had thought that he had managed to find the perfect way to escape from having to potentially plunge to his death after falling off a broomstick. If Hyunjin was unwell, it would have created the perfect reason for the older to cut short their hang out session before it began and send the younger Slytherin back to his room.
Unfortunately for him, Hyunjin proved stubborn even though the flush high on the other’s cheeks was fairly worrying. There was little Minho could do in the face of the other’s sheer persistence as the younger all but dragged him to the Quidditch pitch, insisting the entire way that he was feeling completely fine.
“It seems like even the weather is in our favour today, huh? It’s perfect for flying.”
In his head, Minho was mentally praying for the skies to do him an actual favour and save him from his misery by pouring down on them.
“It’ll be so much fun to fly together. Isn’t it exciting?” Hyunjin turned to grin at him and Minho forced a smile as he trailed reluctantly after the younger.
Exciting was just about the last word Minho would use to describe his sentiments towards flying.
“I was thinking we could ride together on my broomstick. It’ll carry the both of us easily. But if you prefer, you could borrow Changbin-hyung’s broomstick instead,” Hyunjin offered as they came to a stop in the middle of the field.
Minho really preferred not flying at all.
“We can ride together.”
At least this way, if he’s riding with the star member of their school’s aerobatics team, there’s a marginally smaller chance he will fall to his death, right?
“Sure.” Hyunjin’s expression brightened up even more.
Minho was so busy wondering if they could power all the candles in the great hall with the younger’s smile that he didn’t notice when Hyunjin mounted his broom and offered him a hand. Then, he got distracted by the warmth of the other’s hand in his own.
By the time he was fully focused on what was going on, he was somehow already seated on the back of Hyunjin’s broomstick which was slowly levitating off the ground.
“W… Wait a… a minute.”
The sound of the wind rushing past them swept Minho’s desperate cry away as the broomstick ascended, carrying them up to a dizzying height. He squeezed his eyes close, tightening his hold around Hyunjin’s waist.
“Just hold on tight, hyung,” Hyunjin called out to him over the roar of the wind.
He really need not have bothered. Not even a dragon would be able to pry Minho’s hand away from Hyunjin’s waist when it was the only thing separating him from death’s door.
With his eyes closed, Minho wasn’t exactly sure what was going on but from the increased vibration of the broomstick and the growing force of the wind pushing against them, he assumed that they were soaring through the skies. There were also moments when they seemed to swerve or loop through the air, the broomstick jolting scarily and the older’s heart dropping with each movement.
Even though he knew that they had probably been in the air for only mere minutes, the flight felt endlessly long. Minho spent every single minute of the flight clinging to Hyunjin and praying for it to end. He had never realised how much he could possibly miss the sensation of solid ground beneath his feet up until that moment.
After what felt like an excruciating amount of time, the vibrations of the broomstick lightened and its movements slowed. Minho continued to keep his eyes closed, only daring to open them when he felt the brush of ground beneath his heels.
Once he had his eyes open and confirmed that they had indeed landed on the ground, Minho released his grip on Hyunjin's waist and jerkily dismounted the broom. In his haste to get as far away as he could from that death contraption, he ended up tripping and his trembling legs proved too weak to hold him up.
"Didn't that feel just totally awe- Hyung!"
Hyunjin dropped his broomstick and rushed over to where the older was sitting on the ground.
To be fair, Minho didn't particularly mind his current position. In fact, if Hyunjin wasn't in front of him, he would have already kissed the ground with how relieved he felt at being back on land.
"Are you okay?! Did you get hurt?!" Hyunjin panicked. "I knew I shouldn't have gone that fast! I'm so sorry, hyung!"
"I'm fine, Hyunjin," Minho tried to reassure the other, forcing a shaky smile.
"What was I thinking?! I should have checked with you before making you fly through all those stunts with me! That triple spiral loop was definitely way too much!"
As the younger continued panicking, Minho did the only thing that came to mind at that moment. He slapped both hands lightly on either side of Hyunjin's cheeks and held his face before leaning in to press their lips together.
The other Slytherin froze beneath his touch, stiffening up and Minho was starting to think that perhaps he had made a mistake. He began pulling away just as Hyunjin relaxed and a pair of soft, plush lips chased after his own.
A tingling spark formed between the touch of their lips, building into a golden glow that enveloped him and spread through his entire body like bubbling effervescent. Rose petals blossomed beneath his tongue and dew drops burst into wet nothingness beneath his touch. Hyunjin tasted so, so sweet and addictive and Minho couldn’t help wondering if this much of a good thing was healthy for him even as he locked their lips together.
An unknown amount of time passed before finally, they parted from each other with reluctance.
Minho stared at the other, recovering his breath even as his fuzzy mind registered that Hyunjin looked just as dazed as he felt.
The younger’s lips were swollen and shiny, solid evidence of what they had just done. The fact that the other kept moving to touch his lips with a trembling finger didn’t help Minho in his endeavours to get the image of a sweet, pliant and willing Hyunjin out of his mind.
It was Hyunjin who broke the silence between them first while Minho was still a little too stunned to react. “Wh… Why? Why did you…”
Why had he? Why had he kissed Hyunjin?
It was a good question but one that Minho wasn’t sure he had the answer to.
When Minho didn’t respond, Hyunjin hesitantly reached out for his hand, linking their fingers together. “Are you… are you alright?”
It was another question that Minho didn’t have the answer to.
His legs felt weak and there was a strange feeling in his chest that made breathing difficult. Within the confines of his ribcage, his heart thumped and throbbed, pounding hard enough that it felt like it was attempting to break out of it.
Whatever bodily reaction his acrophobia had inspired in him had been completely overwritten by his response to the kiss they had just shared.
Minho had been convinced that nothing could ever be greater than his fear of heights but this feeling building up inside him, making his fingers ache with the desire to reach out and pull Hyunjin back into his arms, felt frighteningly immense. It was like a spell so powerful that its caster was fearful of it.
Except was he the caster or the one bespelled?
“I… I’m not entirely… sure. But… I think so? I don’t really know?”
His voice sounded uncertain and frightened to his own ears and Minho found that he hated this unsettling, unnamed emotion that had found its way into his chest.
“I still think the hospital wings would be a good idea.”
“And I said that it isn’t necessary. Now shh, you’re being noisy.”
“Hyun-“
Just like that, Minho closed the distance between them again, tugging the younger back into his arms. The world melted away, fear and reason giving way to comfort as he basked in the embrace of rose petals and dew drops.
But for the record, he still wasn’t smitten with Hyunjin or anything like that.
“We’re never doing that again by the way.”
“Huh?”