Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

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His gaze lingers a good long few minutes on the sight in front of his unseeing eyes, when suddenly the thing in front of him comes into clear focus. He blinks the fog out of his sight and looks at it for a few more seconds, before promptly coming fully to a startling realisation when his brain finally catches on to what he’s seeing.

“Hey, that’s mine.”

The oversized, yellow hoodie is exactly like the one he used to wear almost every day back in high school, but that’s not why his mouth opened. Rather it’s the black S and C that are stitched on the line between the hood and the back part of the sweater, usually invisible except when the hood is popped up, like it is now. He remembers the day a much younger version of himself asked his mum to stitch those letters on, to make sure no one would be able to steal his favourite hoodie and claim it as their own.

A start goes through the person in front of him at his words and then they turn their head and half their body to look at him. Wide, shocked eyes meet with his, and all of a sudden his mouth goes very, very dry.

No other than Han Jisung is peering up at him, those doe-eyes as wide and innocent as they’ve always been when he’s taken by surprise. He remembers very clearly a time he saw them up close, when he’d grabbed the younger by the hand and tugged him along to the dance floor to get him to dance. In the end, Jisung dancing had been something for sure, and he’d laughed so hard that particular evening out that his cheeks had hurt still in the morning.

For a few more, long moments, nothing happens at all and they’re just staring at each other, but then he finally manages to move past the surprise, and a smile blooms easily on his features.

“Jisung,” he greets, still surprised, but pleasantly so, and he turns more fully towards the younger man, somehow glad for the excuse of having almost no space in the packed subway to be standing as close as he is, because it also means he doesn’t have to talk as loudly to be heard. The startled doe-in-headlights expression stays on Jisung’s face a second longer, before he blinks, shifts somewhat and then starts to smile hesitantly.

“Changbin hyung,” he’s greeted back, which at least means he hasn’t hallucinated Jisung’s presence and isn’t talking to some random stranger like he’s someone Changbin used to know. Someone he used to know better than anyone else, even. “It’s been a while. Hi.”

He’s not even sure what he’s feeling, except he’s smiling so he must be happy, which is what he decides is the emotion he’ll roll with. “It has been. How have you been? Where are you headed?”

“Work. Good.” Jisung also doesn’t seem very aware yet which emotion he’s feeling, but after taking another look at him, his expression softens ever so much and a warm smile appears to mirror his own grin. He could swear that Jisung was trying to check his own response before showing any of his own, and it’s not that strange either. In fact it fits very well with how he’s come to know the boy in front of him.

“What do you do these days?” Changbin asks, picking in on the work part. Maybe he’s prying, but now that he has gotten some more time to really take it all in, he realises he’s delighted to see Jisung again, and wants to learn as much as possible about him before their paths will no doubt diverge again when they reach either his or Jisung’s stop. His old friend doesn’t seem entirely apprehensive, at least, because he glances back to the front and then turns fully around upon realising he’s capable of doing that without hitting anyone in the face with his bag.

Jisung’s hand moves smoothly to take hold of the same pole Changbin is also holding on to, and inevitably their hands touch. He glances over at them, before looking back at Jisung, smiling even brighter at this point. The return smile is a little bit less uncertain once more, which he’ll happily take as a sign that Jisung isn’t entirely averse to seeing him either, at the very least.

“I work at JC Entertainment,” he’s told. “Nothing big, but I help work on the music and write lyrics where necessary.” There’s a shift of those eyes and then Jisung shrugs lightly. “Well they haven’t really used any of the stuff I worked on yet, but it’s a steady income so…”

“Really?” He chimes, and this time his grin is absolutely brighter than the sun, he’s certain of it. “I’m actually headed to JC for a job interview right now.”

Instantly, Jisung’s expression darkens. “Oh well you’re never getting in, you can just as well go home again now,” he mutters darkly, and Changbin’s grin instantly melts away entirely. The next moment, however, Jisung’s eyes catch on his face and his old friend quickly waves a hand around as if to wave off his earlier words. “No, don’t get me wrong! I’m sure you’d be great for the job, but this whole job interview thing is a farce. They’re only doing it to get SpearB. You’ve heard of him, right?”

Jisung only waits long enough for him to nod before continuing his little rant. “Well, apparently he’s been secretly attending job interviews of big companies using his real name, seeing who might hire him without knowing his fame. Someone at the company figured out what his real name is, though - or at least his last name - so they’re not going to hire anyone else. Which is why I said that. Not because I think you’re shit at music. You’re great at music. At least you used to be. I presume you still are. Even better now I’m sure. Anyway… yeah…”

Jisung finally stutters to a halt there, seemingly realising only now how he’s gone off on a rant, an embarrassed flush colouring his cheeks. It’s such a familiar sight, that Changbin almost feels like it might be six years ago again, with no time having passed in which they’ve not spoken. He grins and Jisung grins back a little sheepishly after a moment. “Sorry.”

“No,” he says instantly. “Don’t apologise. I don’t mind. I’ve always loved listening to you talk.” Jisung flushes an even darker red at his words, tucking his chin in as if to hide his face, but he ploughs on without paying attention to his friend’s embarrassment. “That sounds really shitty for all the other people applying for the job, though.”

Jisung nods his head, and then gives him an almost grumpy look that he now realises is not for him but for the company instead. “Right? I almost wish I could quit my job, I don’t want to be associated with these people anymore.”

He grins even wider at that, he can’t not. “Well, in that case, why don’t we get off at the next stop and have a coffee?” He offers. “I’ve got a job offer at MCE waiting for me as well. If you’d like to work there I’m pretty sure I can get you in.”

Jisung’s eyes grow wide again, but not with mere surprise, this time with full on disbelief. “Just like that?” He asks, clearly sceptical. “When you don’t even work there yet yourself? Hate to break it to you, hyung, but that sounds even more unbelievable than that time you told me you could ride a horse.”

The laugh is pulled from him so easily it nearly surprises him as well. He remembers that day. One of a series of days in which he'd been telling Jisung ever more unbelievable things to see how long it would take for his friend to call him out on his bullshit. The horseriding thing on day three had been the limit, but coincidentally that one had been true, whereas the previous two hadn't been. He no longer remembers what lies he'd told before. 

"But I can!" He protests when he's done laughing, and Jisung's expression instantly contorts right back into scepticism. "Or at least I could at the time," he amends his words then. "It's been forever and a day since I last did it." Jisung only looks even more sceptical after those words, and he's chuckling all over again. "Oh come on, Sungie. Go grab a coffee with me, huh? It's been ages. Call in sick today, let's go!"

Jisung gives him a very doubtful look, but then pulls out his phone to check the time. He waits politely for his old friend to make up his mind, not saying anything else. If Jisung really needs to be at work, after all, he's not going to coerce him into leaving. 

"Oh what the hell, why not?" Jisung mumbles a moment later, opening up his messages and shooting off a quick text. When his eyes come up to meet Changbin's again, there's a hint of accusation in them, though. "But you're paying, since I might be jobless soon if they figure out I’m skipping."

He laughs again, shaking his head, and then promptly reaching out his free hand to stabilise Jisung when the subway comes to a screeching halt at the platform. "Let's get off," he says brightly. "I know a great place around this area."

As always, Jisung is a lot more comfortable once they're out of the press of people and it's just the two of them walking side by side down the street. It's almost like the years in which they haven't spoken never even happened, except that they're catching up on each other's lives while talking. 

"It's so weird to see you've given up on the hoodie and skinny jeans look, hyung," Jisung says after some silence has fallen, and he grins from where he's got his hands tucked into the pockets of his long coat. 

"Hey, I was dressed for a job interview," he counters. "Trying to make a good impression. I've not given up on anything, why are you saying such blasphemous words?" 

Jisung's laugh is sudden but genuine; the first real laugh since they bumped into each other, and it's only upon hearing it that he's fully certain his old friend is just as happy to see him as he himself was when the yellow hoodie turned around and became Jisung's shocked face. 

"Apologies," Jisung chimes, lifting his hands in surrender, his eyes crinkling with the genuine smile on his face. "I misunderstood." They're smiling at each other for a moment more before Changbin looks back towards the road, making sure they’re still headed in the right direction. "You look good like this too, though," Jisung admits a moment later, apparently not having looked away at all.

He glances down at himself, then back up to his friend, beaming at the compliment. "Thanks."

Jisung's face breaks into another genuine smile, and he can almost see his friend relaxing further, gravitating a little closer towards him as he does so. It’s wonderful to see how many things about his friend are still familiar, even when so many have changed as well.

"You look cute," he can't help but say, promptly causing Jisung to hide away in the curve of the yellow hood again, which only further enhances the cuteness. With his hands tucked away into the sleeves, the flush creeping up his cheeks, the soft brown eyes peeking up shyly and the hoodie in general being two sizes too large for him - like it had always been for Changbin too back in the day - he looks more adorable than a puppy, and that's a herculean achievement if anything. 

"It's comfortable," Jisung tries to defend his outfit choices, though Changbin really doesn't feel like anything needs defending. "It's a really great hoodie."

"I know," he says, grinning even wider. "That's why I bought it."

Realising what hole he dug himself into, Jisung starts to resemble a tomato more so than anything else, and Changbin can't help laughing again. 

"Uh, about that…" Jisung starts, but he instantly waves him off. 

"It's whatever, Sung, you look good in it and at this point it's been yours longer than it's been mine, right? You can keep it." He takes in the sight of his friend in the hoodie a moment longer before a bright idea pops up in his head. "I'll just ask for one thing as payment, though."

"What's that?"

"Your phone number."

Jisung's expression clouds with confusion. "You want to use my phone numbe- oh. Oh! Ohh…" He watches his friend go through every stage of confusion, realisation and acceptance in those three syllables, already grinning again by the time Jisung ducks his face away once more, groaning in embarrassment at this point at his own misunderstanding.

"Yes please. Your phone number in my phone so I can text you and call you when I want to." He pauses then. "Only if you're okay with that, though."

"Yes!" Jisung says, perhaps a little too loudly, and then seems to realise it himself, because he adjusts his tone. "I mean, sure. Yeah. Let's- Let's trade numbers. Here I'll put mine in your phone."

He pulls his phone out of his pocket almost instantly, unlocking it and opening a new contact before handing it over into Jisung’s outreached hand. His friend takes it and starts typing straight away, but after only a few taps he stops. Not just typing but walking as well. Changbin comes to a stop too, looking back at him. 

"You, uh-" Jisung starts, seemingly uncomfortable. "You still have my number, hyung."

It's not entirely a question, but it's not entirely a statement either, and Jisung's gaze comes up to meet his hesitantly. 

"Oh, it didn't change?" He asks almost instantly, and smiles brightly as he takes his phone back, seeing that the few numbers Jisung had typed in do indeed match his friend’s old contact name. He quickly shoots a message off to said number, a simple hi with an emoji behind it. "There, now you have mine again as well," he states then, tucking his phone away again and beaming his brightest grin over at Jisung again. "Payment has been given, the hoodie is now officially yours. I hope you enjoy your purchase."

There's a moment more in which his old friend looks constipated, or guilty, or hesitant, or all three at once. "Hyung," Jisung starts then, and he hums inquiringly. "I'm sorry. About- About what happened."

Everything stills for a moment, unspoken truths heavy in the air between them. He's reminded of the days in which he realised Jisung started ignoring his messages here and there, until in the end all of them went unread. He's reminded of that one time he tried to call only to immediately have the robotic voice tell him the number could not be reached. When he'd used a friend's phone after six unsuccessful tries with his own and got through immediately, he'd known. 

"What actually happened, Jisung?" He decides to ask, because no matter the fact he could wave it off as nothing, he is curious. There was never an explanation, never a way for him to figure out if it was something he'd said or done, or rather something on Jisung's side. Just that one day they'd had what he thought was a great friendship and then… radio silence. 

The look he's given by his friend is regretful and guilty. "I was just stupid, I guess?" Jisung hums, clearly uncomfortable but honest nonetheless and he appreciates that for sure. "I was feeling left out and like you had twenty million more fun friends than me and you were just keeping in contact because you felt like you had to." Jisung shrugs, his backpack moving up from his back with the force of it. "Like I said; stupid. I'm sorry. I regretted it later on when I got past my angsty teenager phase, but I didn't have your number anymore then and it also felt kinda awkward to try and find you on social media. What if you hated me and didn't want to talk anymore? What if you'd just consider me that weird kid from when you were younger? How strange is it really to try and dig up an old friend’s new social media? Anyway, it was stupid and entirely my fault and I'm sorry."

He's not just rendered silent because Jisung's talking too fast to get a single word in, but also because he can't fully believe the absolute nonsense he's hearing.  "Why would I hate you? Or think of you as that weird kid?" He counters, a little incredulous. "I am talking to the Jisung who was my best friend ever since he came to my school late on the first day and instantly got sent to detention for climbing the wall with me to still make it in, right? You're literally the coolest person I know. What are you on about?"

Jisung's laughing along with him by the end of that, shaking his head like he can't quite believe himself that he did that. "See I only got detention because of you," he counters. "I had a spotless record at uni. You couldn't even find my name anywhere, I was that average." Jisung reaches out to lightly punch his shoulder and he can feel his grin soften down to a smile at the first initiation of contact between them again. That means Jisung is comfortable. That means things could really be alright again between them.

“Well I’m glad you wore my ex-hoodie that is now officially yours to go on the subway today so that I could recognise it and you,” he says then, smiling a bit wider. “Anyway, come on, the coffee shop is right over there.” He points over to the street ahead of them and then starts walking again. After another moment, Jisung catches up with him and walks alongside him once more. When he glances over briefly a moment later, he can see that there’s less distance between them than before.

The coffeeshop is cosy, little booths giving people privacy as they have their drinks, and he’s steered them to one of the ones in the far back. When he returns with their drinks, the backpack is off and Jisung has pulled a leg up onto the little bench he’s sitting on, so he looks even more like a tiny child drowning in the oversized hoodie. It’s the most adorable visual, and he smiles automatically when he sees it, being rewarded by an instant smile in return as he puts the coffee down in front of his friend.

He takes off his own coat then, hanging it off the hanger to the side and putting his wallet and phone down on the table next to his drink. Once he’s properly seated, he moves to take a sip of the coffee, allowing the absolute scorching level of heat to warm him up from the inside, even as he burns his tongue a little in the process. That’s okay; he’s used to it.

When he puts the cup back down, he realises Jisung’s looking at him. He breathes out a little smile and then his friend blinks, seemingly coming back from wherever his thoughts had taken him. Very far away, at least, judging from his dazed look. 

“You buffed up,” Jisung says, not unkindly. "A lot."

"Oh, yeah. One of my best friends likes to go to the gym and I just went along for fun at first, but I actually liked it so much I kept doing it. My roommate also goes along sometimes." He smiles and Jisung nods, looking a little distracted once more. 

"So what, uh, what do you do now?" His friend asks after seemingly shaking himself out of his stupor again, this time taking a careful sip of his own coffee. After blowing on it a bit first, like a normal person. 

"Oh, I make music," he says. "Composing, producing, lyrics too. I've been doing pretty well for myself, I think?" He chuckles and Jisung's expression brightens. 

"Really? That's good. Anything I'd know?"

He'd lifted his cup to take another sip, but at that question he just looks at his friend for a moment. It's clear now that Jisung truly doesn't remember, which is probably not that strange all things considered, but it surprises him anyway. Probably because he could never forget anything to do with Jisung, but then he's always been the one with more feelings involved, isn’t he? 

"What?" Jisung asks when the silence lasts longer than it probably should, chuckling yet clearly uncomfortable - or uncertain. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He instantly smiles to soothe his friend's nerves as he puts his cup down. "You know BQ entertainment? I made some stuff for their newest group."

Jisung's eyes grow wide as saucers. "You worked with SpearB?" He asks, disbelieving. And then, suddenly, in the next two seconds the expression changes completely to one of hesitant shock and a hint of what he can only call disgust. "Wait, are you SpearB?" 

It sounds so much like an accusation that he almost wants to deny it, but he could never lie to Jisung, so he just nods his head. The grip of his hands on his coffee cup tightens as he watches his friend, sees the way disbelief flickers in those familiar eyes before the expression goes entirely neutral. For a few long moments they're just sitting there looking at each other. He wonders what makes Jisung so disgusted with SpearB, if there's something he did that his friend majorly disapproves of. He wonders, too, if this is where their coffee hangout is cut short and his number is blocked again. 

"What the fuck, bro," Jisung blurts then, and he can only laugh when the tension coiled up inside him suddenly releases at the use of this familiar and friendly term. Jisung doesn’t call anyone ‘bro’ or curse like that when he’s not comfortable with them, after all. "What the fuck," Jisung repeats. "That means you can actually get me into MCE? What the fuck, hyung. I'm writing my resignation letter right this very second, what the fuck?"

He laughs even more when suddenly Jisung grins, and then he feels his friend's leg knock gently against his. "Hey, congrats." Jisung's expression is full of warmth this time. "That means you made your dreams come true." Ah, there is something that is remembered, at least. It's annoying how warm and happy that one thing makes him feel, because he knows exactly what it means for the near future.

 He's going to be head over heels for Jisung again. 

"Thanks," he says, and it's genuine gratitude. It's also a genuine smile and a genuine bump of his own leg back against Jisung's that accompany his words. "Studying overseas definitely helped get me started right. I don't know if you remember Chris?" Jisung's face does another little tumble through emotions as his friend nods, but he decides not to ask about it, presumes these are past emotions, and if not they'll get to them when it's time. "We did a few projects together during uni that really put our names out there. He's CB97, you heard of him, right?"

Jisung's eyes widen a fraction as well. "The CEO of MCE?" Suddenly Jisung is laughing and shaking his head all at once. "Hyung," he says, sounding almost exasperated. "You can't do this to me. It's too early in the morning to be this jealous what the fuck."

He laughs, but when Jisung takes hold of his cup and looks down, he spots the familiar sight of dejection on his friend’s face that makes the earlier words more than just a joke and he instantly can't do anything other than lean in and reach for Jisung's hand. 

"Hey, no. I heard your stuff. You were great when we were kids, so you've probably also only gotten better since. You just need a place where they appreciate your lyrical genius." He grins at Jisung, who has looked back up and is smiling at him a little, though clearly not entirely convinced. 

"I don't know, Bin. My stuff’s been rejected many times by big names so far. Maybe it’s just not for me.” Jisung draws his cup closer, pulling his hand out of Changbin’s reach, and takes a hesitant sip. 

For a moment he wonders whether he should be understanding, but then he decides to react the way he would have done when they were younger. When they were friends.

“Yo, Han, don’t make this coffee shop into a place where dreams die,” he counters with a light frown, motioning a hand at the cosy place they’re in. “Look at all these cute pastel colours, do you really want to stain them with despair?” He nudges his friend’s leg with his foot, glad to see the smile reappear on Jisung’s face almost instantly. “Whoever those big names were, they had no ear for your genius, obviously. Do you have your agenda on you? Let’s find a free day, we’ll head into MCE.”

Jisung’s expression once again goes through five different emotions before eventually it settles on a light frown. He makes a face at it, but then quietly waits for Jisung to speak, because if his friend has any objections, he’s always free to voice them.

“I don’t want to be taken on as a charity case or something, hyung,” is what eventually falls from Jisung’s lips and he sputters a breathless protest, but his friend continues before he can put his protests into words. “Or for them to accept me just because I’m your friend. It’d just feel… Wrong. Insincere.”

Jisung holds his gaze for a few moments before suddenly flushing again and turning his gaze back down to his cup, quickly taking another sip as if to make sure he’ll stop talking. It makes him breathe out a smile and then pick up his own cup to take a sip as well. Letting a moment of silence linger between them to allow the sudden emotions to fade away again, he eventually sighs.

“No, okay, I get that,” he admits then. “So here’s the deal. I’ve gathered some resumes from people at the other job interviews I’ve been to. Give me yours and I’ll add it to the pile. They all go to the HR department and I have no say in who gets hired. Then you can get an honest review.” He keeps his gaze on his friend, hopeful that this is something Jisung will accept from him. “Oh, just, uh, put a different name on your resume, because Chris knows yours. When you get picked we’ll clarify it to him so it won’t be an issue.”

“You mean if I get picked,” Jisung corrects him but he instantly rolls his eyes.

“Oh my god, Jisung, drink more coffee and speak less nonsense,” he chides, which luckily gets taken as the joke he means it to be, causing Jisung to laugh again.

“Alright. Fine. Fine. I’ll go home and send you my fake-name resume so you can sneak me into your future company.”

“You mean your future company?” He counters once more, and though he tries to keep a straight face, the grin breaks through anyway. It’s okay, though, because Jisung’s expression is bright with amusement as well.

“Sure, hyung, I’ll just steal it from Chris,” he nods his agreement, before snorting. Then, his expression turns more serious again. “How would he know my name, though?” 

He’s left staring at his friend for a few moments, incapable of believing that is apparently really a question that needs asking. Then he presses his lips together, swallows and says: “Because he was the only friend I had around when you stopped talking to me, so he was forced to undergo my months-long lament.”

The blush takes over Jisung’s entire neck and face this time, colouring his skin a dark red colour as he ducks his head away to hide from that truth. He can’t help but huff out a smile at the sight, and then bump their legs together again briefly.

“It’s okay,” he says softly, trying to soothe some of the mortification his friend is feeling. “Just don’t do that again, please. I’d much prefer you just tell me why you no longer want to talk than that you leave me hanging.”

The only response is a quick little nod of his friend’s head, but it’s more than enough of a response to him. He knows Jisung will take him seriously. He knows things will be different this time. They’ll make sure of it.

“So anyway,” he says after some silence in which they’ve both been sipping their drinks quietly. “Where do you live these days?”

It turns out Jisung doesn’t live all too far from where he lives, just a few stops on the subway, but their neighbourhoods are on the same line. He asks about Jisung’s parents, too, who are doing well and still live where they used to. Changbin’s parents still live in the same city as well, but they’d always lived in very different neighbourhoods, so despite regularly visiting home since his return to Korea, he hasn’t run into his old friend’s parents at all. 

Sitting together for morning coffee turns into walking around the park, turns into finding a nice place to have lunch together as they just spend time talking, reminiscing about the time they spent together in high school and talking about the people they used to know. Jisung is more up to date with what some of their old friends are up to, but that is mainly because he’s regularly been dragged to the class reunions by his former classmate Seungmin.

Changbin himself wasn’t around for reunions for a couple of years in the middle there, and by the time he made it back, there wasn’t really anyone from high school left in his list of friends to invite him to one. So he has no idea what his former classmates are up to, except for a few he still has on this or the other social media and occasionally sees some information pass by about. They could all be married with five children and he wouldn’t know. He tells Jisung much the same, and his old friend laughs at him, but nods his head in understanding anyway, the softest smile on his face.

When their food arrives, they sit in silence for a bit as they both simply take their time to eat and enjoy it. Occasionally he looks up to see Jisung eating with his stuffed cheeks and it brings a smile to his face again every single time. Jisung’s level of adorableness seems to only keep rising as the day progresses, and the amount of absolutely smitten he is with his friend follows the same trend.

He pays for lunch as well, and Jisung makes no protests. When they make it back outside, the sky is grey and sombre, looking like rain. He stands looking up at it for a moment, wondering if it would be too much to ask Jisung to go elsewhere still, maybe a shopping mall, just so they can spend more time together before their ways part again.

He doesn’t even get a chance to decide on whether to ask or not when Jisung turns to look at him. “Do you want to come to my apartment with me?” He asks. “I can print out my resume there and give it to you straight away. I mean; if you didn’t have anything else planned today?”

He’s instantly smiling again, shaking his head. “Nothing important,” he says. “Just need to figure out what I’m having for dinner tonight and whether or not I should go by the store before I head home then. My roommate’s not home tonight so I have to make my own food.”

“Who are you living with, actually?” Jisung’s question is light, but shows a clear interest in him. He can’t help but feel happy about that. “Do I know them, too?”

“I don’t think so,” he replies with a little laugh. “When I came to Seoul I crashed at a friend of a friend’s place briefly and they told me about another friend of theirs who was looking for a roommate. We were introduced and he decided I was a good enough fit so I moved in. It’s been…” He actually has to think about it, counting the years on his fingers. “Three years now? Somehow we haven’t murdered each other yet.”

Jisung laughs, and then nods his head. “I met Felix at uni,” he says. “He was my assigned roommate and we just clicked. So when we graduated we just stuck together. I didn’t care much which part of Seoul we moved to anyway and neither of us really wanted to live alone so it worked out well.”

He’s just nodding and looking at his friend for a moment, letting it fully sink in that he exists in this very moment in which he’s talking to Jisung again, and they’re updating each other about their lives. The moment apparently lasts a little long, however, because Jisung turns to face him again and then suddenly grins a little.

“So,” he says. “Do you want to come to my apartment with me? You didn’t really answer.”

“Oh wow, I thought the answer to that question was obvious?” He instantly counters, always glad for his quick wit so he can easily play into situations like this one. “Do I want to go to the great Han Jisung’s apartment and possibly meet the fabled roommate Felix? The answer is obviously yes!” 

Jisung laughs again, leaning in towards him a little and he automatically moves to the gravitational pull of those bright, soft brown eyes. He only realises what he's doing when their faces are suddenly coming closer together and then he simply tilts his head to rest his cheek on his friend's shoulder. 

"I literally have the whole day to spend with you if you'll have me," he admits in the relative anonymity of not being eye to eye with his friend. Jisung's quiet for a moment, and he wonders if he's gone too far, if he shouldn't have offered up his company so obviously just in case his friend doesn't want that at all. But then Jisung’s head turns, his profile as beautiful as ever against the backdrop of early afternoon sunlight. 

"I'll text Felix you're staying for dinner, then," he's told, like it's normal, like it really is seven years ago and there's no other response for either of them than wanting to spend as much time together as possible, all day every day. "He won't mind," Jisung says, as he playfully wiggles his shoulder to annoy Changbin with it. 

He laughs, straightening up again properly. Jisung's smile is playful, warm. He still recognises so many of his friend's emotions, the way he looks when he's at ease and just enjoying the moment compared to how he's usually a little cautious, ready to defend himself from the world. It had taken all of two days and Changbin offhandedly commenting on it for Jisung to feel at ease around him back when they first met. He's glad to find that it's taken not even half as long this time around. 

"Let's go," his friend says and he nods, following after him. 

It turns out Iisung's roommate is home from work early that day, so when Jisung unlocks the door and they enter the apartment, a softly freckled face framed by bleached blond hair pops up from behind the couch almost instantly. The smile beamed his way when their eyes meet could rival the sun for brightness and the next moment a hand appears to give him a little wave. 

"Hi," the young man says. "I'm Felix."

"I figured," he says with an easy grin. "I'm Changbin, it's nice to meet you."

"Changbin?" Felix echoes, clearly surprised. Then the brown eyes suddenly flick over to Jisung. " The Changbin? Owner of the yellow hoodie?" He glances over at his friend as well to see Jisung is nodding to Felix's questions, but also motioning for him to shut the fuck up. It makes him grin; and it also makes Felix do as told, because when he glances back up to the freckled boy, he's nodding with a serious face. "It's nice to meet you too," Felix says with another nod, and then waves vaguely at his position on the couch. "Make yourself at home while you're here. Don't mind me, I'll just be on the couch until it's time to order dinner."

He chuckles but nods his head as he hangs up his coat and steps into the slippers Jisung provides. "Thanks, I appreciate it," he says lightly, and then just follows after his old friend, who walks right through the living room, down the hallway on the other end and into the room on the left. He follows after, until he finds himself standing in a rather messy room with clothes strewn about everywhere while Jisung closes the door behind them. 

"The Changbin, huh?" He asks, turning to look at his friend with a shiteating grin on his face. He's rewarded for it by a smack on his arm before Jisung's grinning along with him, even though he's blushing lightly again as well. 

"I just told him about you a lot back in the day," Jisung defends himself, but it's not done with much heat. He doesn't push the topic either, mainly because Jisung's suddenly getting out of the oversized hoodie and then what stands before him is no longer his cute little friend in oversized clothes, but rather an also somewhat buffed up Jisung in a tank top and skinny jeans. He needs a moment to let the reality of that sink in, and he's definitely ogling Jisung while he does so, but his friend is too busy putting the sweater over the back of a chair to notice. 

He's glad they left Felix in the living room, because something tells him Jisung's roommate would have noticed fine . Not that he'd have any problem with that, but he mainly doesn't want Jisung to feel uncomfortable around him. 

"He looks nice. Like… super nice. Was he friends with half your school?"

Jisung laughs again, but then nods anyway. "Yeah, pretty much. I'm quite certain he knows everyone at work as well. Also every name of every child, their parents, any grandparents that have ever visited, other extended family..." Jisung rolls his eyes but it's done fondly and so he just smiles warmly as well. 

"What does he do, then?"

"Oh, he works in a kindergarten. He takes care of a class of toddlers all day together with another teacher."

He nods, understanding trickling in, and that's about where his brain stops thinking about Felix and toddlers, because Jisung turns towards his desk, taking his laptop out from his bag and putting it on his desk, arms flexing in the process, and Changbin's mind catches on some stray thought about his fingers on those muscles - or maybe his mouth. 

"Just give me a minute to bring my resume up to date and change the name on it and then I'll print it for you," Jisung says, turning to look at him and he has to drag his eyes up from where they still cling to bare skin and dark fabric hanging loose around the arms, revealing so much of a chest and back that he has ideas for sure. 

"Take your time," he says easily. Jisung turns away to apparently do exactly that, but then he seems to come to a startling realisation and turns right back. 

"Oh, do you want something to drink? We have… soda, mostly, and water. Apple juice?"

He grins. "No, yeah, sure. Any of those is fine. Whatever's open or closest within reach." His eyes follow Jisung moving towards the door - and thus also towards him - and his fingers curl around his friend's wrist before he can pass him by. "You look good, Ji. That tank top really shows off your arms, too. Looks like I wasn't the only one who spent time in the gym."

He sees Jisung look down at himself, then back up at him, before flushing red all the way to the tips of his ears. "Uh, thanks." His friend scurries out the door quickly, not even attempting to find a proper answer to the rest of his words. It's adorable, too. He wonders if there's anything about his friend that isn't adorable at this point. Has absence just made Changbin’s heart grow fonder indeed?

He looks around the room while Jisung is gone, taking in the bed, the closet, the desk. Looking at the pictures haphazardly put up on a cork board against the wall above the desk. He finds himself staring back from one of them, plenty of years younger than he is now: smaller, squirmier, shaggier. Still wearing those ridiculous glasses. He smiles, but looks at the other pictures next before seeing a younger version of himself will lead to too much introspection.

From one of the other pictures, a dark haired but still highly recognisable Felix poses happily next to Jisung. Younger than now, but older than when Changbin still knew him. There's other people, too. People he doesn't know. Faces he's never seen before. People that made Jisung smile, people who've been part of his life while Changbin wasn't . 

The computer suddenly lights up as it finishes starting up, and on the background is a big picture of Jisung and Felix, clearly a lot more recent as Felix is blond already, both of them beaming at the camera while they pose cutely together. Jisung's roommate… and also his boyfriend?

"I got you a sprite. You still like sprite?" Jisung comes back into the room, looking up to find him at his computer and he smiles as he straightens. 

"I still like sprite, yeah. You and Felix look cute together." He nods at the computer as he takes the can from his friend.

Jisung's eyes catch on the screen as well and he instantly smiles brightly, nodding his agreement. "He's like my soulmate," he says, glancing back to the bedroom door as if he can see Felix right through it. His shoulders are relaxed, his expression soft as he turns back. "I'm really glad I met him. Life's a lot easier with a friend like that."

Changbin smiles back, and lifts his can of sprite. "I'll drink to that," he says, and steps aside so Jisung can reach his computer again. 

"You do that," his friend agrees, still smiling. "Sit anywhere you want, by the way, I'll be ten minutes, maybe." With that, Jisung sits down on his chair and unlocks his computer to get to work, so Changbin takes a seat on the edge of the bed, sipping his soda. 

He asks about the bathroom a little while later, and finds it down the hall where Jisung said it would be. When he comes out, he ventures into the living room, asking Felix where he can wash his hands. He's pointed to the kitchen, and then half a second later Felix joins him there like he couldn't hold back his curiosity. 

"Hi," the blond haired male says, grinning brightly, absolutely not ashamed about his curiosity. Changbin appreciates that, the guilelessness. "So you're Changbin, huh?"

"The one and only," he agrees, nodding as he rinses the soap off his hands and looks around for a towel or something.

"Over there on the chair," Felix helpfully provides. He pats his hands dry with the grey fabric and then turns to face the younger male. 

"Alright, I'm ready. I've got about five minutes for you before Jisung will probably be done. Ask your questions."

Felix's expression, which had contorted in confusion, brightens all over again and then he's laughing. It's a delighted sound, a warm sound. He grins right back at the laughter but simply waits quietly. 

“Am I that obvious?” Felix asks, just a little bashful, but not enough to not want to ask questions anymore, he can tell.

“Your eyes were wide like saucers before and you looked at me like I was some kind of celebrity, so I figured you were curious about something , at least.”

Felix laughs some more, nodding, leaning against the kitchen counter, hands between his back and the soft brown countertop. "Did you miss him?" he asks then, and that definitely comes as a surprise. He expected something personal, but not this personal. 

"Very much," he says, and Felix nods his head, seeming pleased with this reply. 

"He said he stopped talking to you first. Did you forgive that?"

There's a look exchanged, but then he shrugs. "Nothing to forgive."

Felix grins again, brightly, and then suddenly pushes forward, reaching out a hand for him to shake. He takes it with some surprise, but shakes it either way. “It’s very nice to meet you,” Jisung’s friend tells him lightly. “I’m Felix, I've been Jisung's best friend for the last six years.”

“Changbin,” he replies loosely, deciding to just go along with whatever the blond boy is getting up to. “Jisung’s best friend for the six years before that.” He grins, Felix laughs. He’s not sure what just happened exactly, but he knows that he passed whatever test there had been. Quite easily, he thinks.

Jisung walks into the kitchen just then, confused expression clearing at the sight of him standing there. "Hey! I got you a few copies, signed and stamped," he jokes, reaching the papers out to him. He takes them, and then smiles up at his friend, glad that at least he’d let go of Felix’s hand before Jisung walked in.

“I’ll just go put these in my bag with the others. What do you want to do after? There’s still some time until dinner. Think about it while I bury my treasure.” He grins as he waves the papers at them lightly before stepping out of the kitchen to go back to where he left his bag in the hallway near the door, right there next to his shoes. It’s quick work, really, to tuck the papers away, but he can’t help glancing over the top one briefly, taking in his friend’s basic information as well as his phone number - the one he has saved, indeed - and email.

He closes the folder neatly after and tucks it back into his bag, pushing himself up from the floor so he can head back to the kitchen as well. Jisung comes out before he reaches the door, and instantly smiles when their eyes meet.

“Hey, so, uh, I’m not really sure what we can do. We could watch a movie, if you want? Or just hang out in my room? It feels like there’s still plenty we haven’t talked about that I’d love to know. If you’re okay with that?”

“Throw in a cosy blanket and I’m sold,” he agrees without hesitation. Jisung chuckles and nods, and turns around to head back to his room. He spots Felix glancing at them from where he’s still standing in the kitchen and gives the younger man a little wave before he disappears around the corner and into Jisung’s room. His sprite’s still there, and Jisung pulls open one of the drawers under his bed to pull out several fleece blankets before heading over to his desk and opening a drawer or two there as well. With arms full of snacks, Jisung returns to him, dropping all of them down on the bed before closing the door of his room and then moving onto his bed, patting the space next to him for Changbin to sit down as well.

There’s very little he can do other than following along - not that he wants to do anything different - and so it’s not long before he’s covered in a zebra-print fleece blanket, his drink in hand and seven different types of snacks spread out in the space between Jisung and him.

It’s oh so easy to fall back into their earlier conversation, talking about the things they did during their time apart now, just sharing stories of fun times and even some less fun times as they sit together comfortably. He gets a little warm somewhere in the middle, but all it takes is sticking one leg out from underneath the blanket to fix that. 

They make it to dinnertime easily like that, and decide to order a little bit of everything so they can share it among the three of them. At the dinner table, the conversation is led mostly by Jisung and Felix chatting away about their years as roommates and the adventures they’ve had together. Felix is a bright person, clearly comfortable around Jisung and apparently around him as well, because the entire evening is filled with easy jokes and laughter, and some inside jokes shared with him as if he’s part of the family already.

It’s a random glance towards the clock that suddenly has Jisung jumping up from his chair and nearly shoving him bodily out the door so he won’t miss the last subway home. He gathers his things quickly, greeting Felix in passing. Jisung walks him to the subway station even though he reassures his friend it’s not necessary. As the machine lines up with the sliding doors, his friend suddenly steps in, squeezing around his middle quickly while resting his chin briefly on his shoulder.

“It was great to see you, hyung. I’ll let you know if I hear back from the company. And I’ll text you about other things, too.” There’s a sheepish grin and a nervous glance at the people on the subway. “Promise,” Jisung says then, temporarily looking right in his eyes and smiling.

His heart skips a beat. He returns the smile automatically. He nods.

“I look forward to it.”

It’s the warning beeping of doors closing that reminds him to actually get on the subway and not just stand there smiling dumbly at his friend right next to it.

In the end, he’s the one who texts first, letting Jisung know he made it home safe and that he’ll head into MCE the next day to pass them the resumes. His friend’s reply follows mere seconds later, though, and they end up texting all the way until he literally falls asleep with his phone in hand.

.

“So how was the last interview?” Chan asks him with some interest when they sit down for lunch the next day and he shrugs.

“Didn’t go,” he admits. “I ran into an old friend who told me they figured out my real name and were just doing interviews to get me. So I decided to skip it. I hope someone else got the job.”

Chan’s laugh is brief, but genuine, and then the eyes fixating on him are suddenly full of interest.

“Old friend?”

“Mhm.”

He is absolutely not slick and he knows it. Chan’s gaze doesn’t leave him once, even as he scoops up another mouthful of jajangmyeon. So when he’s swallowed his own bite, he relents.

“I ran into Jisung on the subway.”

“Jisung? The Jisung? Han Jisung?” The food is forgotten as Chan looks at him with wide, interested eyes. “How did it go?!”

“It went well.”

He quickly puts another spoonful of rice into his mouth to keep from having to say more and Chan proceeds to groan loudly across from him.

“Changbin. Don’t make me drag every word out of you. Please. My man. How many nights have I sat with you while you were drinking away your heartache? You gotta give me details, man.”

He tries to ignore the look he’s given, but in the end there’s no escaping Chan’s earnestly pleading eyes.

“He’s still cute,” he mutters, but despite the softness of his tone, Chan’s grin is instant.

“Single?”

“No clue. He might be dating his roommate, they seemed very close.”

“Happy to see you?”

“I think so. We ended up at his place when it started raining and I only left in the evening.”

“Next date?”

“It was not a date.”

“Next meeting, then?”

“No clue.”

“When do I get to meet him?”

“He’s not my boyfriend and you’re not my parents, so, uh, I don’t see the need?”

Chan’s expression falls, a pout forming on his lips. Changbin has only ever seen him act this way with two people: Changbin himself and his roommate Minho. With Changbin because he knows it works. With Minho, because for some reason Chan loves to annoy the fuck out of his roommate, and for some equally unfathomable reason, Minho lets him.

“Stop making that face at me,” he says without looking up from his food. Before he can add something else, however, his phone buzzes and he automatically lifts it to check. A moment later he’s already opening it up to type a reply to Jisung, his food temporarily forgotten.

“Ohhh, is that loverboy?” Chan teases and he rolls his eyes so hard they almost roll out of his head, though he’s smiling anyway. He’s never been one to lie or even to try and deny things in any way whatsoever. Besides, there’s no point in trying to convince Chan that Jisung is not his loverboy , as his friend likes to call him in English, because when Jisung suddenly stopped replying to his texts, Chan was the one who sat with him through every emotion he had about that. All the way until those emotions settled into acceptance.

And now he’s right back where he started, isn’t he?

.

“Hyung!”

Jisung’s voice is filled with excitement, his face awash with it as well once it becomes visible on his phone screen. He holds the device just far enough away from him so that he’s visible enough. There’s a smile on his face already just from Jisung’s excitement alone, that he knows will only widen as he keeps looking at his friend.

The view he gets of his friend is shaky, because clearly Jisung is walking somewhere, and then he sees a door open and close behind him, before his friend turns around and the background shows the Seoul skyline from whatever building’s rooftop he just escaped onto. Probably his current company’s building.

“I got a call from MCE! They said they’d love to see me in person, that they listened to the music on the soundcloud I provided and they want to hire me. They told me to think about what amount I wanted to earn and to get some sounds together so I could show them some of my song-making progress as well as bring some lyrics I wrote!”

He’s smiling brightly. Jisung is literally beaming. 

"I told you it'd be when," he says and Jisung scoffs, but then he's smiling again anyway, clearly too happy to even make an angry face for jokes. 

"I wanted to thank you," Jisung says then, more seriously if still happy. "I wouldn't even have tried to apply there if it wasn't for you. So thank you. For the opportunity."

"You're welcome, Sung."

"Um, I wanted to ask, though, when and to whom we should talk about the name thing?"

"Oh, right. Uh. I can let Chris know if you want? He'll inform the rest of his people."

"That's… That might be best." Jisung's nodding pensively. "I've got an appointment on Friday. There was no way to get some time off earlier than that without raising suspicion."

He smiles but nods. "Did you already hand in your resignation?"

"Not yet. I'm writing it tonight for sure, but I don't think I'm handing anything in until I actually signed a contract. I'm not a rich and famous person like you, I've got rent to think about."

He sputters out a laugh and Jisung's grinning again, too. 

"Anyway, I have to get back to work but I just wanted to let you know. Let's meet up again soon, though?" He's not sure if he's being hopeful or if there's actual hopefulness in Jisung's tone of voice at that question. "It feels like we were still in the middle of a conversation when you had to leave."

"The way I recall, I was made to leave," he counters, but he's grinning already even before Jisung can start protesting. "Sounds good, though. Just let me know when, I've got a schedule that's easy to move around."

Jisung nods, smiles. Changbin's heart runs off without him.

"Alright, hyung. I'll text you! Thank you again! Bye!"

The last image he gets of Jisung is one of a bright smile, tip of his friend's tongue peeking out as he presses what he presumes is the end call button. 

He sits smiling dumbly at his phone for a good minute longer, just processing the reality of this. 

.

When he takes a seat across from Chan, he puts a resume down on the table, turns it to face his friend and slides it over. There's a moment in which Chan looks at the paper to see what's up, but then he nods in recognition. 

"Oh, yeah," he's told with a nod. "That's one of the resumes you brought in, right? We called him in for a conversation yesterday. We're meeting with him on Friday. He's really great. Skills are no joke."

He smiles at the ease and sincerity with which Chan says those things. "I know," he says, pulling the paper back and turning it towards himself while fishing a pen from the cup on Chan's desk. He strikes through the fake name and then casually writes down the real one. Han Jisung. He turns the paper back to face his friend and slides it across the desk once more. 

The slight frown on Chan's face lingers a moment longer before realisation hits and then the gaze he's pinned down with is searching and intense. There's an unspoken question there that he decides to answer without being asked this time. 

"He didn't want to be let in just on the basis of being my friend, so I told him to use a fake name and I'd clear it up with you later," he explains, not looking away from Chan's eyes even once. "He sounded really unhappy at his current place of work and I knew he's good, so I figured you'd want him. I wasn't wrong." He grins and Chan's slowly smiling again. 

"Where is he working right now?"

"JC."

His friend's expression darkens ever so slightly, but he expected as much. "Figures that they'd be sleeping on such raw talent. They make my job so easy sometimes. All I need to do is exist and all their good writers come to me."

He laughs, and Chan grins, before nodding down at the resume. "That explains how your friend knew they were trying to hire you, then. Let's hold off on you officially working here a little longer so he doesn't get in any kind of issues with JC when they figure out you two know each other."

He hadn't thought of that yet himself so he nods quickly, accepting his friend's wise advice quite easily. Chan has always had a more business-focused mind than him. Which feels unfair considering how good he is at everything else as well, but then there's talent and there's really just being a natural, he supposes. 

"So," his friend says after a moment of silence, and when he looks up again the grin is undeniable. "This means I am getting to meet him soon."

He groans loudly, but he's grinning anyway. "As if I would really not want him to meet you," he huffs. "I was just supposed to keep a secret and you know how bad I am at those."

"Depending on the situation, at least," Chan counters. "The world still doesn't know you're SpearB and I'm quite certain your friend still doesn't know you've been in love with him since forever."

"It's not like I'm trying to hide that!" He protests, and Chan laughs, shaking his head in agreement. 

"No, you make that pretty obvious, it's true."

He scoffs and pretends to get up and walk out of the office. It's time to go grab lunch together as intended anyway.

Chapter Text

.

"Hey."

He grins when Jisung steps off the subway, utterly amused by how they've seemingly switched personalities this time around. He's in skinny jeans and an oversized hoodie now, comfortably tucked away from the morning chill, whereas Jisung is dressed a little more nicely than the last time. It's nothing extremely fancy, just a ripped jeans, clean white shirt and a leather jacket on top, but in that first moment he looks so handsome all he really wants to do is get his hands on it. 

"Look at you," he chimes once the subway and the people have dispersed, returning some ease to his friend's posture. "Are you applying to be a songwriter or a star who'll steal all the fans’ hearts? Because, uh…"

He makes a hand motion at all of his friend and Jisung's cheeks once again flush a faded pink. He used to be better with compliments, Changbin remembers, putting on his unaffected tone of voice and talking himself through them with an air of of course . Now, it seems, Jisung's flushing every time he opens his mouth. Maybe it's got something to do with him?

For the sake of his own sanity, he decides not to dwell on that too much.

"You ready?" He asks instead, and Jisung nods his head, taking better hold of the strap of his bag. 

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess. Thanks for meeting me beforehand, I was practically vibrating out of my skin on the way here, I'm so stressed."

"Anything I can do to help," he brushes off the thanks with a shrug and decides to put an arm around Jisung's shoulders, pulling him along towards the exit. "No need to be stressed, though, they already heard your stuff and they're really interested. You coming here is mainly just a formality."

"But a formality I could still fuck up!" Jisung insists, causing him to laugh and briefly bump his head against that of his friend. 

"You'll be fine. You got in at JC as well, didn't you? You've got the skills and you've got the looks down, so really not even the formality is necessary." He grins as Jisung laughs a little this time. "Seriously, relax, Ji. I'm convinced you'll do great. All you gotta do is remember to keep breathing throughout it."

Jisung laughs again, and he can feel some of the tension seeping out of his friend at the sound. A moment later, Jisung's head briefly drops on his shoulder and he feels his own heart skip a beat and speed up instead.

They walk comfortably after that, though he pulls his arm from around Jisung's shoulder once they get back on street level, to not make him uncomfortable in the crowd. The company isn't far from the subway exit, and he nods his head in greeting at the receptionist. They get the visitor badges arranged pretty quickly and then they're through to the elevators, where he presses the button up to the right floor. 

"My friend wants to meet you," he says lightly as they're in the elevator. "I hope you don't mind?"

"Oh? Uh, no, that's okay. It'll take my mind off things until the actual interview, I guess."

He nods his head and sends Jisung an encouraging smile before getting off at the right floor when the doors open. It's a quick walk and then he's pushing open the doors of Chan's office, which has absolutely no signs to indicate it as being such. His friend's in all black again today, but he's wearing no beanie this time, which at least makes him look slightly less like a trainee - though not by much considering his hoodie is hanging over the back of his chair and he's sporting a loose tank top perfect for dance practice. 

When he looks up, Chan's expression brightens tremendously at the sight of them, and his friend gets up from his chair and out from behind his desk instantly to greet Jisung. 

Jisung; who has come to a stop two steps inside of the office and looks at Chan with a mixture of emotions on his face that even Changbin can't decipher. 

"Oh, you're Chris," his friend says, like in a daze. "I was always so jealous of you." There's a pause in which Chan is a little confused on what to say to that and then Jisung seems to snap out of whatever place his head got stuck in. "Uh, I mean, because you're so jacked, man!"

Jisung reaches out to take the hand Chan had offered and shakes it perhaps a little too enthusiastically. And maybe Changbin's not slick at all, but he thinks Jisung really isn't either. 

"You- Don't you do music as well? You're so good at it, bro!"

Something tells him Jisung has never so much as heard a single track Chan produced, except perhaps the few songs from his company's idols that have been played on the radio so far. He remains quiet, however, though he can't stop from grinning widely at Chan's utterly confused look because of the overly enthusiastic stream of words. 

"Uh, thanks?" Chan's gaze briefly flicks to him and he grins in amusement, but he also hopes his friend is not going to call Jisung out on his behaviour right now when he's clearly already so stressed. He didn't need to worry, however - of course not - because Chan starts to smile a moment later. "Jisung, right? I remember Bin telling me about you."

There's a warm smile then, and Chan inquiring about his friend with the same warmth he brings to every conversation, until Jisung's shoulders drop while talking about what got him into music and the smile he looks at his friend with is genuine. 

"Call me Chan, by the way," Chan adds like an afterthought as he's leading Jisung out of his office and over to the break room to get him a nice coffee to make the morning more bearable. Changbin almost thinks they've forgotten all about him, when Jisung glances back right before leaving the room to make sure he's coming with. He smiles, putting himself in motion and walking over to join them. 

Once in the break room, he leans against the countertop, watching Chan provide coffee for his friend and then himself, watching Jisung add sugar and milk to his own cup, watching the wooden spoon stir the liquid and then Jisung suddenly coming over to him. He opens his arms out of reflex more than anything, but Jisung doesn't hesitate even once, almost absentmindedly coming to stand in the circle of them, leaning back against his chest while his gaze remains focused on Chan and the conversation he's having. 

And Changbin makes no protests, letting his arms settle around his friend's middle in order to not get in the way of holding or drinking the coffee, and resting his chin on Jisung's shoulder so he can comfortably follow along with their conversation as well. 

Chan - brave, heroic, one-in-a-billion friend Chan - manages to somehow not even flinch, not even raise a single eyebrow in his direction and, most importantly, not to give him any kind of meaningful look at this absolutely comfortable and most treasured position he now finds himself in. In fact, his friend simply continues the conversation with Jisung like this is the most normal thing to ever have occured. 

Jisung doesn't seem to think anything's off either, because he stays right there all the way until his coffee is empty. And even then all he does is turn around a little, Changbin already straightening and preparing to let him go, but he simply puts his cup on the counter and then settles right back against his chest, now even letting his hands rest on Changbin's arms around his middle. 

They stay like that until it's time for the interview, in fact. Until at some point, Jisung checks the time and promptly grows tense again. 

"Oh I should head towards the interview," he says as he does properly straighten this time and Changbin lets him go easily. "It was nice to meet you, Chri- uh, Chan."

Chan beams a smile at him and waves off the awkwardness before it can even take hold of Jisung again. "It was nice to meet you, too, Jisung. I'll be at the interview as well but I won't be asking any questions, so just focus on the others, alright? I told them the name thing was a printing mistake, so you can just go in and do the interview comfortably."

"I don't think Jisung can do anything comfortably," Changbin interjects with an easy grin, earning him a smack on the shoulder. 

"I can beat you up comfortably!" His friend counters with a menacing scowl, but he laughs regardless because he knows it's just a playful remark. 

"With those arms?" He asks, raising impressed eyebrows at his friend's nice frame in the leather jacket. "I have absolutely no doubt that you can."

Jisung flushes, but also hits his arm again, and he laughs as he straightens up, picking up the empty paper coffee cup and dropping it in the bin. 

"Is it in the same place as always?" He asks Chan, who nods, a smile still lingering on his face. He turns back to Jisung. "Come on, I'll take you there so you'll know you're at the right spot."

Something flickers over Jisung's expression, but he nods and follows along with him anyway, after a last polite greeting Chan's way. 

They're back at the elevator when Jisung speaks again. "He's very nice. I see how you two became friends."

Nodding his agreement is almost automatic. Chan is one of the nicest people he knows, after all, so there’s nothing else he can do other than agree with it. Jisung fiddles with the strap of his bag for a moment, looking down at his feet before looking back up at him.

“Thanks for remembering,” he says softly and Changbin frowns in confusion. “That I don’t like going somewhere new by myself,” Jisung clarifies the moment he realises Changbin has no clue what he’s talking about. “I appreciate you taking me.”

He smiles almost instantly, shaking his head once again. “It’s fine, Ji. I don’t mind taking you anywhere.” There’s only a tentative smile on his friend’s face, so he reaches out to run his fingers through the soft brown locks, messing them up briefly before gently patting them back down. “You’ll do fine, Sung. Don’t worry too much. Just show them your pretty smile and let them know what you’re made of.”

Jisung’s smile turns into a light grin and he nods his head, straightening up a bit more properly again as if he’s regained his confidence. The elevator doors open on the right floor just then, so he walks out, tucking his hands into his pockets to comfortably walk his friend over to the right place. There’s a young lady there with a clipboard in hand who immediately asks for his name, but he shakes his head lightly.

“I’m just here with my friend,” he says, nodding over at Jisung, who steps forward to provide his own name. He sees the young lady’s eyes light up with interest at the sight of his friend, which has him pressing his lips together in order not to grin widely at that. 

“Han Jisung?” She double checks, looking over her paper and then nodding. “Yes, I have you here. You’ll have to wait just five more minutes before someone will come to get you. You can take a seat over there.” She motions him along and then focuses on Changbin for a moment. “You can sit with him if you like, but you can’t go inside, of course.”

He grins at her, nodding his head in acceptance and then walking over with Jisung to take up one of the other chairs. He pulls it closer so he can sit right next to his friend and breathes out a smile when Jisung looks up at him.

“How you feeling?”

“I’m alright. Thanks, hyung.” 

He shrugs it off, but really there’s nothing Jisung could ever say in such a soft and sincerely grateful tone of voice that he can really shrug off that easily. His heart is going off on an erratic pitter-patter again, but he breathes through it; and keeps smiling through it as well.

Instead of replying, he reaches out to put his hand on Jisung’s knee, patting it lightly and then just letting his hand rest there, palm warming almost instantly with the heat Jisung’s body is radiating towards it.

They sit like that in perfect, comfortable silence until the door opens some time later and Jisung’s name is called out by the woman who sticks her head outside.

“Good luck,” he tells his friend, giving his knee a slight squeeze before letting go. “I’ll be here when you get back, alright? Right here. Cheering you on.” He shakes his fists around a little as if cheering, and Jisung chokes on an involuntary laugh. There’s a small shake of his friend’s head before he disappears through the door, straightening up properly and putting on his winning smile.

Changbin has no doubt that he’ll be winning indeed.

After about five minutes he gets bored just sitting there, so he pulls out his phone and checks his apps, his messages, his emails. Another five minutes later he decides to text Chan. 

So you met him. What'd you think?

It takes about half a second for there to be a reply. 

Cute. 

He grins, but he patiently waits for more to come, because he knows Chan wouldn't give him only that. Not even when he's supposed to be paying close attention in the middle of someone's job interview. And indeed, just a little bit later there's a longer message. 

He's just your type, which I guess means that everyone else I've seen you crush on has resembled him in some way.

He's nice, though, gentle too. A little shy but it's cute.

He knows how to dress, because this leather jacket - ripped jeans combo is definitely a hit with everyone currently in the room with us lol

That's four other people, fyi. 

Two of them single and age appropriate to make a move.
I wouldn't wait too long in figuring out if he's available if I were you. Someone else might do it for you. 

He rolls his eyes but it's some good advice regardless, and he knows he shouldn't wait too long, but at the same time he doesn't want to overwhelm his friend either. They've only just started talking again, it feels a little strange to go straight into confessing. Then again, maybe he should. Maybe he should just tell Jisung the truth about how he feels. It's only a matter of time before his heart is going to skip a beat and leap right out of his throat instead. 

He's still in the middle of pondering that when a new message arrives. 

He reminds me of you a little. You've got a few very similar habits.
Guess six years of being best friends doesn't disappear just like that. 

Also his beats are really good!?

And his lyrics are insane. He just freestyled a whole verse. 

Do you have any more of these crazily talented friends hidden away somewhere?

I've got one who's usually holed up in his office but maybe you'll be able to convince him
to actually make music again instead of wasting his life away behind a desk.

Here I'll share his number. 

< contact shared >

That's my number you ass. 

;)

(ง’̀-‘́)ง

:*

Anyway he's hired if that wasn't clear yet already.
Wish I could call JC myself to let them know, I'd have a field day. 

His resignation letter is ready to be sent so you'll have his full potential at your disposal in no time. 

Hey, unrelated, what was that hug in the break room?
I thought you said you weren't the cuddly types?

We really aren't. 

But he was anxious, he was probably just trying to get some comfort. 

Huh. 

You sure?

Pretty. Why?

Looked a little too cosy for being just comfort to me. 

I'm an exquisite cuddler, of course. 

Once they're in my arms they can never leave. 

My hugs are the Hotel California. 

-_-

;)

He's doing great, by the way. Not a single hint of his anxiety's visible right now. 

He's always been confident in his music. 

It's very attractive. 

Right. 

Shall I just reserve his Saturday nights for date nights with you already?

You'll have to ask him. 

Don't actually ask him, I know you. 

:)

He chuckles at his screen, shaking his head. Then he lifts his phone to take a picture of himself making a supposedly threatening face and holding up a fist. He sends it through to Chan, only to receive a picture in return of Jisung, clearly talking animatedly and confidently to four people who are listening with great interest. 

What a handsome guy. 

He is, I agree. 

Hands off. Mine.

I know. 

But ask him out this time, yeah?

We're still acclimatising to talking again. 

It's global warming. Put your big boy boots on and get to it. 

Anyway he's coming back out now, we're done. 

As if on cue, the door opens and Jisung comes walking out, expression subdued but already shining. Once the door closes again behind him, a grin spreads on his friend's face. He's out of his chair in no time, grinning back easily and reaching out a hand to take hold of Jisung's shoulder. 

"How did it go?"

He didn't think it was possible, but his friend beams at him even more brightly, and promptly puts a hand on his arm. 

"It went so well, hyung! They instantly accepted the pay I asked for which was already higher than what I earn now, and they even added bonuses to it for every song I write that they use. They're giving me a studio to work in whenever I want, too. It's like paradise! Why were you even applying for jobs elsewhere? The working conditions here are the best I've seen in the whole country!"

He grins, but nods his head right after. "Chan's a good boss," he agrees, "you'll be in the best possible hands here. Time to go home and send in that resignation letter, I'd say."

"Yes! They told me to just let them know when I'm available, and if it turns out I can start earlier than planned that's no problem either. This is so great, hyung!"

He grins a bit wider, and ruffles up Jisung's hair again, this time not fixing it since he's done with his interview anyway. 

"Come on, let's get out of here. The weather's great, we should go have some fun outside. Do you like cats? I know a great place."

It's one subway ride, a brief walk and a lot of laughter later that they make it to the great place he mentioned. Jisung's been asking curious questions that he's been studiously avoiding, but there's very little left for the imagination when he pushes open the door of a place neatly labelled cat cafe . 

The bell chimes as he steps inside, the owner's head briefly lifts from where he's working the coffee machine and a cat almost instantly jogs up to come weave itself around his legs. 

"Oh that's a pretty one," Jisung comments the second the door closes behind him, and then he's leaning down to pick up said pretty one - he'd luckily not been talking about the owner - to coo at it and scratch beneath its chin. 

He looks at it for a few moments longer before turning back towards the counter. "Hey Minho, didn't you say Kong greets everyone and likes pets from everyone but doesn't let anyone pick her up?"

The owner's gaze returns to them, briefly settling on him before they fix on Jisung who's still in his own little world with the cat in his arms. He knows from Minho's expression that Jisung's holding it well, or else there'd be a jaw twitching, no doubt. He also knows from Minho's expression that something about this display is impressive. Still, he's not prepared for his friend's words. 

"Who's your friend, Changbin, and will he marry me?"

He makes a face, but Jisung's attention is pulled, gaze flitting to Minho and his ears flushing half a second later. He's grinning too, though, and Changbin thinks he's the most handsome guy he's ever seen right now, with a cat in his arms, a grin on his face, his hair tousled and his leather jacket slightly open to reveal that casual white tee. He gets why Minho made that sort of joke.

"I could consider it," Jisung says brightly, "but I don't think I'm ready for that kind of commitment yet."

"Too bad. When you change your mind, tell Bin to give me a call, yeah?" Minho nods, before focusing on the both of them together. "What are you having today?"

"Same as usual, hyung," he replies smoothly, looking at Jisung then and motioning over at the nearest table. "There's a menu there if you want. The coffee's good. The tea is good too. He has a special drink every week that's more of a flavour experiment. Whatever you like."

Jisung nods, but doesn't move away from him yet. "Do you come here often? You seem really close with him."

He grins instantly at that. "Oh, that's Minho, my roommate and also the owner of this place. I don't come here very often but occasionally I grace him with my presence."

" That's your roommate?" Jisung echoes, shocked, and his eyes flick over to Minho again who's gone back to making drinks for his other customers. "You didn't tell me he's this handsome. Was he carved from marble, what the fuck?"

Jisung's voice is appreciative, but his expression is annoyed, as if he can't believe someone that good looking exists and walks around. He can't help but grin seeing that face, but he does lift a hand to place it in the back of his friend's neck. "Coffee order first, Ji, admiring the one making it later, please."

His friend flushes, and then turns away to walk over to the nearest table. The cat automatically adjusts to being held by one arm only as he reaches out to pick up the menu and then he's skimming it. Changbin follows to stand alongside him, reaching up to pet the cat a little bit while Jisung makes his decision. 

"The chocolate chip mocha frappe sounds good," his friend decides after a few moments, so he nods and turns towards Minho again.

"A chocolate chip mocha frappe as well, hyung," he calls, not even waiting for Minho to respond before he turns back to Jisung. "Let's go sit outside?"

Jisung nods, putting the menu back down. He sees his friend take another look at Minho before following after him towards the door outside. There's a cat door in it as well, because the outside area is made escape-proof with a sort of cat netting that he always thought looked a lot more gentle than what he'd expected the garden to look like. Jisung's gaze also goes around admiringly, and eventually it returns to meet his when he comes to a halt. 

"Where do you want to sit?" He asks lightly, motioning at the available free spaces all around. Jisung takes it all in while absentmindedly petting the cat in his arms.

"There on that couch, next to that plant in the sun?" He suggests, and so Changbin heads over to that exact spot, wiping some cat hair off the table and then sitting down. He gets comfortable straight away, and watches Jisung carefully move his bag off his shoulder to put it down before taking a seat right next to him. 

"Did I just force myself to an afternoon of carrying this cat around?" He asks with a look down at Kong still purring against his chest and Changbin laughs. 

"Nah, she should be off once she hears the bell. She likes to greet all the new people. Though she does seem to be extremely charmed by you so maybe you'll never be able to leave again."

"Woe is me. Guess I'll really have to marry the owner, then. At least he's handsome."

"It's something," he agrees, though there's a tightness in his chest at the thought alone and he quickly picks up a menu to fix his gaze on that instead. "Are you hungry? There's a few different cakes available. Minho gets them from a guy nearby who makes them himself. It's his side job, really, so this is the only place where you can try them."

Jisung's attention is instantly back on him, and then Jisung's chin is too, resting on his shoulder as his friend reads the menu along with him. It's like nothing has changed, the ease and comfort with which Jisung leans into his personal space, the absolute lack of any sort of discomfort or tension in his friend's often so anxious frame. Not for the first time he wishes he could just turn his head and kiss him, but he doesn't. He just sits and holds the menu up for Jisung to read through, to see if there's anything he likes. 

"The strawberry cake sounds nice. Can I get a piece of that?"

He nods. "Sure thing. We'll ask Minho when he brings our drinks." He does turn his head, but only a little, so he can smile at his friend and then lean forward to put the menu away again. As he does so, Jisung straightens up and the gentle weight is taken off his shoulder as his friend focuses on the cat in his arms again. 

They sit like that in silence for a bit, or at least there's silence between them. Jisung is speaking softly to the continuously purring cat and Changbin's just looking at him do so and smiling. 

Then the door opens, Minho coming out of the cafe with two drinks in his hands. He's halfway to their table when the inside bell rings and Kong's head shoots up, ears perking, before she's making her way out of Jisung's arms to rush over to the door. He laughs. Minho grins. 

"Still lost to the newcomers," his roommate says when he reaches them, placing both drinks down on the table and then lingering, his gaze moving between them. 

"Alas, our love wasn't meant to be," Jisung agrees, which has the both of them chuckling. 

"I'm Minho, by the way. Not sure if my roommate remembered to tell you. Might help with a marriage proposal if you know my name."

Jisung grins, nodding his head. "It might. Though I'm still considering. And still just as young."

Minho laughs, pleased by the answer he can tell. Jisung's grinning as well. Then suddenly his friend seems to realise something, startling with it. 

"I'm Jisung," he says instantly. "I'm a- a friend of Changbin's. It's nice to meet you."

"Anyone approved by Kong is a friend of mine," Minho says easily, before a sudden sense of realisation lights up in his face. "Jisung?" He echoes then. "Han Jisung?"

"Yeah, that's me."

Changbin's already bracing for what his roommate might say next, sitting up a little straighter. And his suspicions are proven right when Minho looks at him next. 

"Han Jisung, the kid you were pining after way back when?"

He doesn't even let Minho finish his sentence before he's talking over him. "Don't you have customers to go see to, hyung? Coffee to go make? It's so busy, I'm sure you're very busy, hyung !" 

Minho's expression would be comical if he didn't know it means retaliation is to follow. "Can't I just have a chat with my friend?" His roommate counters, voice notched even louder than his, and though his words may sound annoyed, he knows it's just pretend. "Why are you rushing your hyung? Shouldn't you show some more respect? Consideration?"

"Hyung, your friend wants a piece of strawberry cake, why don't you go get that for him?!"

Minho's gaze goes to Jisung almost instantly at those words and Changbin's follows. His old friend is staring wide-eyed and clearly shocked at the both of them, obviously unsure of what to do with the sudden shouting match. 

"Oh," Minho says, grinning almost mercilessly as his gaze returns to Changbin. He knows that he could show the most pleading eyes ever and it wouldn't make a difference. At least his roommate’s tone has gone back to a normal level, so not the entire cafe and the rest of the neighbourhood hear of Changbin's demise. "I can see it now. It's the doe-eyes that did you in, isn't it, Binnie?"

The grin is wide and bright as Minho returns his attention to Jisung. "I'll bring the strawberry cake right up. It's so nice to meet you, Jisung. Take good care of my roommate, will you? He can be a bit dumb sometimes."

With those words, his roommate finally leaves the scene again, walking back inside. Jisung stares after him until the door closes behind him and Changbin awkwardly clears his throat. "Don't mind that. He's, uh, we joke around like that."

Jisung's gaze fixes on him with something close to admiration. "And I thought you could be loud, hyung," he says, before suddenly grinning. "The entire neighbourhood could hear. Has he ever considered presenting? He could do it just like that, without needing a microphone. If they need someone to announce the end of the world they should ask him. It’ll be known everywhere in no time.”

It looks like more of the same kind of comments are about to follow, that sense of admiration in all of Jisung’s words, and the relief at not having any questions asked is intense. There’s also a hint of disappointment as well, he realises, like he’s been aching for this endless balancing act to finally be over. But it’s not a conversation to have in the middle of Minho’s cat cafe, so he picks up his drink, and Jisung’s attention is instantly diverted by it.

“Oh, what did you get? What’s your usual?”

He glances down at his drink to focus his mind on the topic at hand. “Uh… Caramel… chocolate… something?” He grins guiltily at Jisung when he realises that doesn’t help him much. “Minho made it for me once and it was so good I just kept asking him for the same thing, I really don’t know what it’s called.”

Jisung laughs, which is all he could really ask for, and then casually leans into his space again as if they do this all the time . "Can I try?" He asks, to which there's only one appropriate response, and so Changbin hands over his glass, and watches Jisung take it, sip it and hand it back, all without moving away. Then his expression lights up like a Christmas tree. 

"That's delicious!" He says with great enthusiasm. "I love the hints of caramel through the chocolate. There's something else in there that helps keep it from being too sweet, it's really good."

Changbin is a bit lost in the delight written across those delicate features, so he doesn't think he can be blamed for startling when a voice speaks up outside of their bubble. He's gratified to notice Jisung startles, too. 

"Thank you," Minho says dryly, placing the plate with the piece of strawberry cake down on the table. "It's one of my flavour experiments, actually. It's not on the regular menu yet, but I think it might be once summer really starts."

"You should definitely put it on there," Jisung agrees brightly. "I'm sure it'll sell really well!" He beams up at Minho, who seems amused more than anything, though Changbin can't decipher by what exactly. That is, until his friend speaks again. 

"I'll consider it," he says, nodding at where - apparently - Jisung's hand still rests on Changbin's leg. "Hey if you were already taken you should've said so, I have no plans of becoming a homewrecker."

Jisung pulls his hand back like he got burned, tips of his ears flushing a distinct red, and Changbin for the first time since he met him truly wants to punch his roommate. But the next moment Jisung squares his shoulders and smiles sweetly up at Minho. 

"I didn't think it was necessary since you wouldn't be able to come between us anyway," he drawls, ostentatiously putting his hand back on Changbin's leg, and leaning in a little closer so he can rest his head against him, too. "But it's nice of you to worry, anyway," Jisung adds, more sugar than anything else.

Minho in turn takes one look at Changbin's shocked face and instantly laughs. "Sounds like a healthy relationship," he declares a little too happily for comfort, and then turns away to walk back inside, leaving them to it. Jisung follows his retreat until he's inside again, and then suddenly sits up again, pulling his hand back and reaching for his own drink. 

"You live with him?" He asks, and now his tone has shifted entirely from the earlier admiration. "How?"

That manages to pull a startled laugh out of Changbin, who shrugs his shoulders next. "I'm not home very often, I guess? And he's not so bad he just likes to mess with people. But he's almost never serious."

Jisung nods, glancing after his roommate one more time as he sips from his drink before picking up the plate with the cake and leaning back into the outside sofa.

By the time both their drinks are empty and the cake is all finished, a dark haired cat has taken residence on Changbin's lap. Jisung is leaning comfortably against his side, with a reddish tomcat kneading into his stomach, continuously turning as if it'll lie down but never actually lying down. The silence settled between them a little while before, comfortable in the limited space.

More customers have come to the cafe since they arrived, so there's other people outside as well now, enjoying the drinks, the sunshine and the four-legged company. Their conversation is a gentle murmur of background noise that he lets sink into his skin as he listens to whatever snippets of it he can pick up. 

All of his attention shifts when Jisung moves, however, fully focusing on his friend. 

"I'm so comfortable I could just fall asleep here," Jisung mumbles, settling his head a little better against Changbin's shoulder. "If this guy would finally decide whether he wants to lie down or not, though, that'd be great."

He laughs, glancing down at the indecisive cat and chuckling at the sight of it. "We can go if you want?" He suggests anyway, because he doesn't want Jisung to be uncomfortable. "You can go home if you'd like to take a nap."

"Mhm, I'd love a nap but I don't want to say goodbye yet."

"I could go with you. I've got nothing planned today anyway."

"You sure?"

He answers Jisung's look with a shrug and a nod, and then suddenly the red tabby's on the floor and Jisung is wiping cat hair off his white shirt.

"Let's go then. I'll pay for the drinks today."

"Hey, wait, I'm-" he starts, but his friend is already slipping inside with his bag over his shoulder while he's still trying to detach the large black cat's claws from his hoodie without damaging anything in the process. 

By the time he manages and heads inside, the bill is long taken care of and Minho grins at him easily from his spot behind the counter. 

"Thanks for visiting," his roommate declares too happily to be normal, and indeed, he's proven right when what follows is: "Do enjoy the rest of your date."

He glowers, Minho smiles as if there's never been a nicer person in existence than him, and Jisung huffs out a laugh. 

"Thank you, we will. I hope you'll find someone to get you off the market soon. You look like you would benefit greatly from someone actually loving you."

Jisung beams the most sugary sweet smile back at Minho, and this time it's Changbin laughing, even as Jisung is already pulling him to the exit of the store by his sleeve. 

"See you tonight, hyung," he still says, giving a small wave of his hand. "Don't wait up for me." He winks, and turns his face away before he has to witness Minho's no doubt disgusted expression. 

"Oh, that was a good one," he says proudly when he's outside, the door of the cafe gently closing behind him. "I will live off the high of hearing you say that to him for days to come!"

Jisung laughs, but it's a soft thing, as his friend's fingers let go of his sleeve and settle on the strap of the laptop bag instead. 

"I'll trust that he's got some hidden depths that don't make him a total asshole, because no matter how good his drinks are or how pretty his face, his personality could sure use some work," his friend says with a little frown.

It makes Changbin laugh, though he's also shaking his head already. "He's great. He'd drop everything in a heartbeat if I needed help, but he'll never admit to that. He'd also never make jokes about something that would actually hurt me. We've just known each other for so long he knows I can laugh with almost anything."

Jisung's aversion seems to melt away a little again, because he smiles softly. "That's good. That's important," he says, nodding and then walking off towards the nearest subway station. "Come on, I'm ready to have that nap now."

There's nothing else he could ever do but follow along instantly. 

When they make it back to the apartment, Felix is once again home. He almost wonders if the man doesn't actually work, but Jisung beelines straight for the couch once their shoes are off so he can't make a joke about it. 

"Hey baby, how are you feeling?" He hears his friend ask with great concern, and then a low murmur indicates the blond male's reply, but he can't distinguish it. 

"Do you need anything? I'll get you another bottle of water, alright?"

He steps into the living room as well, because there's nowhere he can go but there, and waits until Jisung straightens and heads into the kitchen before he speaks. 

"Hello Felix." Instantly the head turns to face him, and he finds it's almost worryingly pale. "Are you alright?" He asks, moving a bit closer still. 

"Changbin hyung," Felix chimes as happy as ever, a smile lighting up his tired features. "I'm okay. I ate something bad last night probably, it's just my body trying to get that out of my system. It's a good thing Hanji was too nervous to eat or he might've had it too."

Knowing it's not contagious, he steps closer still, checking the younger male over with a quick look. "Are you okay? Don't you want to be in bed, isn't that more comfortable?"

Felix makes a face at that. "Yeah, but my room has no television. Though I haven't been watching much at all anyway, I keep falling asleep. And sweating, for some reason."

"Can you take a quick shower to wash that off?"

Felix's expression turns pensive before he sighs. "Actually that doesn't sound half bad, to be honest. Maybe I'll do that, and go to bed after."

"I'll help you get into the shower, babe," Jisung says from where he's walking back out of the kitchen. "And into your bed after. Come on, let's get you settled. I'll make some soup later so you have something to eat once your stomach can handle it, alright?"

"No, no, it's fine," Felix starts to protest. "You've got a friend over, you need to-"

"I'm not going anywhere," Changbin interjects, focusing mainly on Jisung. "Take your time to get him settled in bed. I can keep myself busy."

The smile that blooms on his friend's face is wide and bright, full of gratitude. It's worth every second he's going to be bored out of his mind waiting for them to be done. 

"Thanks, hyung. Make yourself at home. Grab something to drink. You can go in my room too if you want." Then he turns back to Felix. "Come on, let's get you into the shower, baby. Don't give me that look, it's a done deal, let's go."

In the end it's about half an hour he has to bridge. He fixes up the couch first, folding up the used blankets and fluffing up the pillows. He also clears everything from the table away into the kitchen for them to put where it belongs later and turns off the television. He does get himself something to drink, too, just to have something to do, and then heads into Jisung's room where he looks around. 

The entire time the water runs, Jisung stays in the bathroom, only having come out at the beginning to get some clothes from Felix's room before heading back inside. 

After fifteen minutes he's bored out of his mind, after twenty he's grumpy and upset, after twenty-five he kind of wants to go to the bathroom as well to check on them. Then the door opens and they both walk out, disappearing into Felix's room straight after. He hears some muffled conversation and then Jisung reappears at the door. 

"Try to get some sleep now," he's saying softly. "I'm also going to have a nap so you can't say it's not the time for it. I want you to be better soon, life's not as fun without you, okay?"

There's a brief silence before the bedroom door closes again. The next moment, Jisung's head pops around the corner of the door. "Hey, sorry about that. I'll be with you in a second, okay? I'm just going to clear up the bathroom."

He nods his head and watches his friend disappear again. There's some minor noises around the house and then his friend reappears, walking inside and closing the door behind him. 

"Hi," Jisung chimes, smile bright and looking absolutely delectable in that very same ripped jeans-white t-shirt combination. As his friend walks further into the room, there's only one thing he can say anymore.

So he gets up from the bed, puts his drink down on the nightstand and asks: "Are you dating Felix?"

"What?" A completely blank look erases the smile entirely, confusion settling on Jisung's face instead. "I- Why would you think that? What…"

"It's just; you two seem really close," he explains, smiling though his voice is serious, "and you've been calling him baby. I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I've honestly been in love with you for half my life and it doesn't seem subject to change anytime soon, so if you're dating Felix - or anyone - I'd like to know so I can conduct myself accordingly."

Jisung's mouth opens and closes like a fish on land; eyes wide as saucers. His friend's eyes are on him and then flicker away from him before they're right back. It's all he can do not to reach out and just squish his friend against him or something otherwise unadvisable. Instead he stands and waits for Jisung to figure himself out, giving his friend the time to process what he just said. 

"I- Um-" Jisung sputters eventually, and then shakes his head. "No. No, I'm not dating anyone. Felix is only a friend, we just use these terms with each other sometimes. You're- You- Uh." The last sound is one of utter confusion and he smiles but he also nods his head.

"Okay," he says, and nods his head again briefly, not very sure either what to do with this situation he created himself. "That's… Gotta be honest; I'm glad."

"At- At me?"

The level of incredulity on Jisung's face should not be allowed and he chuckles lightly if only because his friend's words responded to absolutely nothing he's said so far. But he gets it; this is probably sudden and Jisung's still processing. So he just shrugs, but nods. 

"Wait. Hyung. What?"

He rubs his palms on his thighs and then lifts a hand to run his fingers over the back of his neck, briefly glancing to the door before looking back at his friend. He can’t help grinning, because that’s his go-to expression in any situation, but he hopes Jisung will know he’s serious regardless.

"I was in love with you when we were younger. The second you turned around to face me on the subway, I felt that pull all over again, and I've grown too much to let another opportunity pass me by if it's in front of me, so…" He shrugs. "Just letting you know in advance. If you're uninterested, please tell me, I'll get over it. It won't change me hanging out with you, but it'll make sure there's no unwanted expectations or anything."

Jisung's still gazing at him with a renewed doe-in-headlights look, which is slowly starting to turn into distinct discomfort, and he can't help but regret every word he's spoken up until this point if only because he doesn't want to make his friend feel uncomfortable around him in any way. He's about to add something like he'll leave if Jisung wants him to, when his friend lifts a hand as if to stop him from speaking. So he remains quiet. 

"I'm not," Jisung starts, seemingly trying to find the right words to say this very difficult thing, and so he starts to gently wrap up his feelings again already, assuming he'll be told there's no attraction there, or maybe Jisung's just not into men in general. He wasn't lying; there'll be no hard feelings, but it'll be good to know. "Uh," Jisung continues after a second of uncomfortable quiet. "I'm not- I'm not uninterested."

He pauses, does a double take, gives his friend a searching look. 

Oh . 

He gets to see the way Jisung's entire face turns red and he tries desperately to hide it away but there's no hood to tuck his face into this time, nothing but Jisung, Changbin and the bedroom they're in. 

"That's good to know." A pause and then he breathes out a smile. "Can I hug you? It feels like it's been forever and a millennium since the last time and I've been wanting to since earlier."

Jisung doesn't waste a single second in crossing the distance between them, arms slipping around his middle, face hiding away against his shoulder. His arms open of their own accord for it just like that morning, wrapping around his friend and pulling him close. After a moment, then, he rests his cheek against Jisung's hair and lets out a soft sigh, relaxing again.

"I missed you," he admits softly. "Every day since." Jisung starts to let go of him a little, as if to apologise or something like that, but he refuses to let go. "No. It's okay. Don't apologise. It's okay now. Don't change that."

It takes another moment, but then Jisung relaxes against him again, sighing as well himself. 

"I missed you too," he's told softly. "I wasn't actually- I mean…" Another sigh. "I stopped talking to you because I was in love with you and you were half a world away in Australia making amazing friends and I was jealous of them but I didn't know how to say that so I just… didn't say anything anymore at all." There's a pause after that admittance and then another deep sigh. "Everything else I said before is still true, too, but it was mainly jealousy and me being stupid. Like; I could've just told you, but no ; the eighteen year old me thought it was a much better idea to cut all contact instead."

He can hear the wry smile in those words, and feels it breathed out against his shoulder, Jisung's arms temporarily tightening their hold on him. He wants to take a step back and look at his friend, see the truth of these words somehow, but he knows Jisung won't want to actually look at him after admitting those things. So he stays right where he is and hopes that being there will let his friend know it's okay. 

"Do you- Do you think you could fall in love with me again now?" He asks after some quiet debate over what to say, only to realise this is the only thing that matters to him at this very moment. 

His question is followed by another silence, and then Jisung rubbing his cheek against his shoulder ever so fondly. "Yeah," he's told softly. "Yeah, I think I could."

His heart skips another beat and runs off like it's got a race to win. He manages somehow to stand there and not do a stupid dance, but he does grin widely, and when he shifts his head a little, it's only so he can rub his cheek gently against Jisung's head. 

"Come," he says softly after another moment. "You wanted to nap."

"I so want to nap," Jisung agrees almost instantly, fingers curling into his shirt. "But you're staying, right?"

He only hums his agreement, slowly letting go to make sure Jisung can straighten up as well, and then just turning around to walk back to the bed. He picks up his drink to empty it first, so that by the time he puts it back down, Jisung has taken a seat on the bed and he can just join him there. It's a little awkward at first, trying to figure out the logistics of it, until he decides to just wrap his friend up in a bear hug and flop over. 

From there, giggling and laughing at his actions, it's a lot easier to settle, just shifting a little bit here and there and using the blanket to cover themselves with. When they're settled, Jisung's head rests against his chest, tucked under his chin, his arms wrapped around his friend and Jisung just sort of cradled against him. 

"Comfortable?" He asks to be sure, feeling his friend nod in agreement. So he breathes out a small smile and tilts his head down to leave a tiny kiss in Jisung's hair. "Then sweet dreams," he adds in the softest of voices, and closes his own eyes as well. 

Not that he can sleep right then with his mind full of the words spoken, and Jisung seems to be suffering the same issue, but the longer they're lying there, the more they relax into each other. He can feel the familiar comfort eventually settle between them again, until after some more time he can hear Jisung's breathing change. A little while later still, he finally feels himself doze off as well. 

When he wakes, he comes from deep, briefly wondering if he fell asleep at the studio with Chan again before remembering that no; this time it's not Chan with him. He cracks open his eyes just a little and promptly smiles upon seeing Jisung there in the bed with him. Not a dream, then. Not that he ever dreamt of napping with his friend. He's had his fair share of dreams about him, sure, ranging from all kinds of interesting things in the far past to more nightmarish storylines like losing him over and over again since they stopped talking, but something this domestic he doesn't think he could even dream up. Nothing will ever beat reality anyway. 

Jisung shifts in his arms, head tilting and those brown eyes focusing on him. Too awake to have just woken up, so he makes an effort to wake up a little more as well. He smiles at his friend automatically and makes a noise of greeting. 

"Hey," Jisung replies, smiling in return. His friend's hand moves where it rests on his arm, petting him gently, as if trying to guide him back to the waking world slowly. He appreciates it for sure, has always needed a bit more time to just… get into motion. It seems like his friend still remembers. 

"I need to use the bathroom," he's told next, Jisung slowly untangling himself from their cuddle. "And I'm going to check up on Lix as well, but don't go anywhere I'll be right back, okay?"

He makes another noise, this one of agreement, and allows Jisung to leave his hold and climb over him out of the bed before simply rolling over and getting comfortable again. He can feel the ghost of a hand running over the blanket at his back before the door opens. 

He doesn't even hear it close anymore. 

Movement wakes him a second time, the bed dipping at his back before it dips at his front and then his arm is being lifted. He cracks open a single eye this time, smiling and humming when he comes face to face with his friend again. Jisung is clearly a lot more comfortable with him now, as he slips into the space created by lifting his arm and then lets it drop again over his side. He can't help but grin, watching the responding grin spread on his friend's face, before he accepts all of it and simply closes his eyes again. 

It's comfortable silence between them then, and he's about ready to just continue napping. Jisung seems to have a different idea, however, because he speaks up not much later. 

"Why'd you never say anything?" 

He has to dredge himself up from the depths of his cosy dreamland, turning his head to be able to properly look at his friend this time and searching his brain for the right answer. Jisung gives him the time to do so, but that gentle brown gaze never leaves him. For right now, it seems, Jisung's wish to know the truth wins out over his anxiety. 

"It took me some time to realise it myself," he admits after a moment, and briefly shifts around so he can rub at his face to wake up a little better without taking his arm from around his friend. Once he's settled back down as he was before, he smiles softly. "Then they dared me to kiss you and it was the weirdest yet best thing I'd ever done."

Jisung's face flushes, but he still doesn't look away. This moment, he thinks, is more precious than anything else. Them actually talking. No more secrets, no more trying to hide a truth that was threatening to break his chest wide open.

"But we all laughed it off and I thought… I didn't want to make you uncomfortable bringing it up. I didn't want to risk making things awkward between us. And then I was going to leave, so…" He shrugs. "I figured I'd wait until you graduated. I had that invitation open for you to come to Australia as well and I figured it'd be easier if we were in the same space with none of the pressure of having to graduate. Half that year I was just planning for the day when you'd show up and we'd be able to hang out together again and I would tell you and if you hated it that'd be fine, we would still be friends making music together anyway. I'd grown enough to know you wouldn't hate me for that or treat me differently. We'd work it out."

He shrugs. Jisung nods. Glancing away, looking back at him. 

"And then I blocked you," his friend says slowly and he nods, because no matter how much he doesn't want Jisung to feel that guilt, that is what happened. 

"It hit me pretty hard," he admits, because he thinks that needs saying too if they're being honest now. "Chan was a lifesaver. I couldn't fathom why, what I did wrong, how I messed up. Had I not contacted you enough? I hadn't wanted to just bombard you with my great college stories while you were still suffering another year of highschool, but…" He shrugs again. "There was no way to figure it out, so I just focused on my music. It's all I did for a while there, which is probably the only reason why I got as far as I did."

Jisung looks guilty. He doesn't like it, but he figures they both need their space to feel what they need to feel and say what they need to say about this thing between them. 

"It wasn't your fault," he's told softly. "I hope you know that now? That one's on me and I wish I would've handled it differently, but I didn't." There's a pause, so he nods, and lifts his hand from around Jisung's middle to run it over his hair instead. His friend's eyes close briefly before they fix on him again. 

He doesn't ask why Jisung never said anything because he knows. Anxiety would have wrapped his friend's throat up so tight no words would've come out anyway, and there'd have been no space to say it in any other way either. Whatever doubts he'd had about ruining their friendship would've been multiplied tenfold in Jisung's mind. And Changbin was leaving for a different country at the end of highschool. Perhaps, in Jisung's mind, Changbin was even leaving him behind, not caring in the slightest. 

"Maybe it's alright," he says softly, letting his arm rest back around Jisung's middle. "Maybe we're better off having grown up a little, finding out more of who we are as people."

There's a brief, regretful smile on Jisung's face at that. 

"Or maybe it could've been the best thing in our lives if we'd just said something."

He doesn't think as he replies to that, his mouth speaking before his brain has a chance to catch up. "You already were the best thing in my life, whether we were kissing or not."

Jisung's cheeks flush, his eyes growing wider, his lips parting slightly, and Changbin curses his roommate in his mind because yes , it really is those doe eyes doing him in. 

"You too," Jisung says eventually, a little hesitant but he knows that has nothing to do with his friend being unsure. It’s the truth for Jisung as well. There's a hand on his arm then, fingers toying with his sleeve before they come up to touch his face briefly, ever so briefly. The touch of those fingertips to his lips will burn there for days to come, no doubt. "I'm sorry," Jisung sighs and he instantly lifts his hand to run it over his friend's arm this time, shaking his head. 

"It's okay. I know you are. There's nothing to forgive, it's in the past. Let's not dwell on it anymore." He breathes out a smile and then motions his friend closer. "Come here."

Jisung instantly scoots forward, settling against him once more and he moves both his arms around his friend again to hold him close. It's comfortable as it's ever been, and within moments of settling against his chest, he feels Jisung relax as well. There's comfort in that, but pride, too.That even after all this time, all it took was just meeting and Jisung felt at ease around him again. No adjustment time necessary. As if no time passed at all.

“You were the most important thing in my life,” Jisung mumbles against his chest. “It was really hard when you were gone. I’m surprised I even managed to graduate at all. I think if I hadn’t met Felix at university I might have ended up a lot worse.”

All he can do is run his hand gently up and down his friend’s back, soft motions that are meant to soothe and reassure. He can imagine it fine, and he hates it, too.

“From now on, tell me if you’re feeling bad,” he says softly, gathering his friend a little better in his arms. “Just tell me anytime you want me to be around, because there’s very little I wouldn’t do for you, Sungie.”

There's a pause, Jisung momentarily not even breathing , but then he feels the tiniest nod where Jisung's head rests against his chest. 

"I love you, Bin."

Breathless, timeless shock renders him speechless as well, and it takes him a while to get past that. In the end, though, there's only one thing to say to that as well. 

"I love you too, Ji."

Chapter Text

.

Felix comes shuffling out of his room later that night with the tiniest, sleepiest eyes but some colour back on his cheeks as well. The soup Jisung made is only good because Changbin videocalled Minho and asked him how the fuck they were supposed to make soup for someone suffering from food poisoning. He's pretty sure that Minho's willingness and patience talking them through the process to help a total stranger brought his roommate up in Jisung's opinion again. 

When he finally hangs up the phone with Minho, there's a text or five from Chan waiting for him. 

Are you ditching pizza night?

Seriously dude you could've texted if something came up. 

Seo Changbin!

Who have you been calling for the past three hours I've been trying to get through to you?

Text me the second you see this or I'm calling the police.

Ope, sorry, Minho was teaching Jisung and me how to make a good soup.
Jisung's roommate Felix got an upset stomach so we wanted to do something nice. 

We napped before that and I sort of confessed my feelings
so pizza night was far from my brain, man, I'm sorry. 

Felix? Lee Felix? Kindergarten teacher?

Yeah… You know him?

Remember that guy I said I was sleeping with? Yeah…

He's sick though?

Uh yeah.

Food poisoning.

Well he's got delicious homemade soup to save him now. 

And he already looks a lot better. 

He's being cooed over by Jisung, no need to worry. 

Unless you're at the worrying stage of sleeping together in which case I'll tell him
you're out of your mind with worry and could he please call you asap. 

Can't believe my tinder match rooms with your Han Jisung and we never knew. 

Can't believe I'm wingmaning you even in times like this. 

You're welcome by the way. 

"Hey Felix," he says, and watches the two roommates' heads lift to look his way. "Chan says hi and hopes you're not feeling too bad, though he's kind of worried."

Jisung's expression goes confused, but Felix's lights up much like Jisung's had done for him earlier. 

"You know Chris?" He asks, the Australian accent so obnoxious that he almost laughs.

"Yeah, just a little." He decides to stick to Korean so Jisung can follow the conversation too. "We usually have pizza nights on Fridays."

"Oh you're pizza friend? That's so cool! The world is such a tiny place, honestly! Tell him I'm fine, I've got the best roommate ever and I'll call him in twenty minutes so he doesn't have to be alone on pizza night."

He grins, but dutifully turns back to his phone to reply to Chan again. He vaguely hears Jisung ask Felix how he knows Chan, and the casual 'dating app' that the blond answers in return. 

He said to tell you he's fine, that he's got the best roommate ever and that he'll call you in twenty minutes.
But Jisung's grilling him about you now so make that thirty. 

Ugh you didn't!

(You're the best.)

Still hate you for forgetting about pizza night. 

But !!!!! What did Jisung say ?????

Um he's asking where Felix knows you from and how long you guys have known each other. 

Not about me, idiot. What did he say to you confessing???

Oh.

Uh. 

He's not uninterested. 

And he used to be in love with me too. 

He stopped talking because he was jealous. 

Of you. 

So in order to preserve my newly budding friendship I guess I'll have to let you go. 

It was nice knowing you. 

Take care

ㅠㅠ

What about pizza nights?

Pizza and I will have to go on without you.

Stabbed in the back… by pizza…

F in the chat

Fuck you. 

I thought you were sleeping with the freckled blond boy?

True. 

Guess I'll be fine after all. 

Goodbye pizza and you. 

(We're having coffee tomorrow. You need to tell Minho and me all about what happened today.)

11am?

Yep. 

When he looks back up from his phone, Felix is halfway through his bowl of soup and Jisung has taken one for himself as well. He tucks his phone into his back pocket so he can walk over to the pot of soup and check if there's some left for him as well. 

Plenty, it turns out, and by the time he lifts his head, Jisung's already handing him an empty bowl and going for another spoon. They share a smile before he takes a seat with his own food as well. 

"So you must be great at cooking for this soup to exist because Hanji's shit," Felix says, causing Jisung to make a face at him. 

"Hey, I'm not that bad!"

"You burned an egg, babe," Felix says, shaking his head, and his friend promptly flushes. 

"That was one time!"

"Because I've never let you near the eggs again after!"

"Actually I'm shit at it too," he decides to speak up between two spoonfuls. "We called my roommate who's the absolute best cook I know and he talked us through it."

"For three hours straight," Jisung admits, a little awed and a lot amused all at once. "I met him this morning and I thought he was a bit rude but he's not so bad. He owns a cat cafe five stops from here, by the way, we should go there once."

"You mean Minho?"

"You know Minho?"

Felix nods his head. "Yeah, Chan took me to the cafe once. I told you about it, didn't I? I said I should take you there too, but we haven't found the time yet. I showed you pictures of Sunny, the cat!"

"Oh. I remember that. I didn't see her when I went there this time, I think. I saw the one that always greets everyone at the door and then a black bear claimed Bin's lap and I had a red tabby. I have no idea what they're called."

Felix is beaming the entire time he's listening and spooning soup into his mouth, and Changbin thinks he'll be just fine if his face is anything to go by. Jisung’s roommate turns to look at him not much later.

"I can't believe I knew like all of your friends and none of them ever mentioned you. You could've met months ago! If anyone would've mentioned your name I would've known!"

He laughs at that. "Minho and I are not in the habit of name dropping each other. We have a strictly business relationship. Meanwhile Chan's used to keeping my name to himself. If he did mention me he probably used my artist name."

"You're an artist?"

"Yeah. I make music."

"Oh that's so cool. Anything I'd know?"

"Oh my god, Felix, he's SpearB!" Jisung cuts in, like he still can’t fully believe it himself. “He helped with BQ’s newest group.”

"SpearB?" This time Felix's eyes are wide as saucers and there's nothing he can do other than laugh at the absolute shock they're both looking at him with. 

"Guys, I'm still just me. I made some music. I've always made music. It just so happens to be doing quite well right now. Can we move on?"

Jisung breathes out a huff, but the both of them nod their agreement anyway. He has no doubt they'll be talking about it together later, but for now at least he gets to finish the rest of his soup in peace. 

"I should go," he says when he's finished his bowl and has tried to help put the dishes away but has been refused several times over. "I did sort of promise Minho hyung that I'd help close up the cafe in return for him helping us with the soup."

"Oh." Jisung's expression is like an open book; disappointment and hesitation so visible in it.

"I made plans with Chan tomorrow over lunch, but if you want to do something together after?" He suggests. It doesn't diminish the disappointment. On the contrary. 

"I've got afternoon plans," Jisung sounds quite dejected by it, which makes his heart hurt and yet sing with joy at the same time. "Dinner probably too. And Sunday I need to do laundry or else I have to go to work in dirty underwear on Monday."

He can't help snorting at that. "Just stop going in. You sent in your resignation and it's not like you need their recommendation for a future job."

"Wow," Felix says with slightly wider eyes, looking over at Jisung. "You weren't kidding when you said he was a bad influence on you, babe."

Jisung laughs and even Changbin grins a little at that, shrugging his shoulders. "What can I say? I've never been a fan of staying in a place that doesn't make you happy."

Felix beams him a happy smile and then glances up at Jisung again. "It's a good thing I don't make you unhappy then or he'd tell you to move as well."

"You could never make me unhappy, baby," Jisung counters almost instantly, wrapping arms around Felix's neck and going in for a kiss. Changbin watches Felix grin and lean in as well, which promptly makes Jisung pull away, laughing and swatting at Felix's shoulder.

He watches the two friends for a moment longer and then breathes out a smile as he pushes himself to stand. "Anyway, I should really go," he says. "We'll text later, Sung. I'm sure we'll find some time to spend together."

Jisung nods and smiles at him. At the same time Felix starts into motion. "Oh! Thank Minho hyung for the soup from me? Tell him I'll make some brownies for him later. It was really nice to see you again too, hyung!" 

The next moment Felix is hugging him so warmly he's temporarily confused about whether they maybe met months ago rather than just a couple of days. He pats Jisung's roommate's back for a moment before he's released again. 

"I hope you feel better soon," he hums, smiling and then turning to Jisung. His friend's already moving to walk back to the door with him. They go by Jisung's room once more to make sure he didn't forget anything there and then he's putting on his shoes at the door. 

"Take care," he tells Jisung when he straightens, smiling and opening his arms again. Jisung steps into them automatically, burying his face against his shoulder briefly. "Text me."

Jisung nods against him and squeezes him tight before he's released and allowed to go home. He can't help running his hand through Jisung's hair once more before he really leaves the apartment. 

When he makes it to the cat cafe twenty minutes later, Minho's putting chairs on the tables to mop the floor. He looks up briefly when he hears the doorbell, Kong already running from wherever to come say hello. 

"Oh it's you," his roommate says, putting the chair he's holding down and then turning to him fully, a knowing smirk on his face. He instantly shoots a look right back. 

"Don't even start. I hate you. Felix said thanks for the soup. Chan apparently brought him here before so he knows you?"

"Oh, Yongbokie? Yeah, he was here." Minho's smiling almost warmly at first but then the other part of his sentence seems to go through to his friend. "Wait, Yongbok's Jisung's roommate?"

Minho starts laughing and he rolls his eyes even though he can't help that he's grinning too. 

"Shut up," he grunts, and walks over to pick up one of the other chairs. "Yes he is. Chan's sleeping with the guy who's roommates with the guy I've been pining after for years. It's all very funny. Can we not talk about it today? I'm meeting you and Chan about it tomorrow already."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, at eleven. Is Jeongin making chocolate cake for tomorrow?"

"Hmm."

"Cool, I'm reserving a piece. Jisung likes you more because you helped with the soup for Felix."

"Hmm?"

"You didn't really make a great first impression on him with all the yelling and making fun of him."

"Hm."

He rolls his eyes but when he passes by his roommate, he wraps his arms around him anyway, watching Minho's face shift to one of disgust as he leans in to rest his chin on his friend's shoulder. 

"I'm very happy, hyung," he says, squeezing for a moment even as Minho's already shrugging him off, grumbling at him. 

"Ugh, don't rub it off on me," his roommate says, but as he lets go to move on to the next table, he catches the soft smile that briefly flits over his friend's features. 

.

"No, but seriously?"

Chan is grinning way too brightly and Minho's smirking in great amusement, but there's not much he can do other than undergo it. 

"Just like that? Ten years of pining of which six when he wasn't even around and then you said it just like that?"

He grimaces, but shrugs his shoulders anyway. "Look, he was calling Felix baby and I could see the future unfold in which I was going to suddenly realise further down the line that he wasn't single and I just couldn't."

"Jesus."

Chan shakes his head in disbelief. Minho sips his tea quietly without comment, holding the cup in both hands. Jeongin walks up to the table with three plates with slices of cake on them. 

"Here you go," he says brightly, with that same happy smile he always has. "I'll take my break at one, hyung," he tells Minho before he's off again to get around to other people's orders as well. 

"He's such a star," Chan hums, before his gaze returns to Changbin. "So he said he wasn't uninterested. Are you going on a date then?"

He makes a face at the mere thought. "I think we're still just… acclimatising. But now we know that that is there so we can, uh, take it into account?"

Chan's nodding in great understanding but Minho huffs out a laugh.

"I've literally never heard you be so careful about anything. Usually you're like a bull, just barging in head first, ask questions later. I didn't even know you knew the words 'take into account'."

The smirk on his roommate's face is even more amused than before, but this time he laughs, and Chan follows right along. It's too true not to be funny, after all. 

"Shit, man, I don't know. It feels too soon to be dating when I literally met him again less than a week ago. We're different people than we used to be, I feel like we should get to know each other a little better first at least."

"Hmm."

"He seemed really nice. Much more shy than you described him as, though."

"Well, I mean, he's shy with people he doesn't know but we'd known each other for six years already so I didn't get to see that side often anymore."

"It's kinda cute."

"It's so cute," he agrees with a groan, hiding his face in his hands. 

"I didn't notice him being shy. I thought he was pretty outspoken," Minho offers just then and Changbin can only laugh at the memory. 

"That's true," he says, looking back up to grin at Chan. "He said he hoped Minho would find someone to get him off the market soon because he looked like he could use someone who loves him."

Chan's eyes widen, his gaze going to Minho and then back to Changbin. "Ouch." He turns to Minho again next. "And you just let him say that?"

"He gave me a big tip, I wasn't going to cuss him out."

Minho just blinks at them, completely unaffected, and Changbin huffs out a laugh as he picks up his plate. 

"Looks like the good chocolate's back in stock, this looks heavenly," he says as he takes it in. "Which reminds me; Felix said he'd make you brownies sometime as thanks for the soup."

"Oh," Chan nearly moans. "His brownies are so good you're in for a treat, Min."

Minho's eyebrows rise ever so slightly as he takes in their friend, but rather than comment, he simply hums again and then picks up his own plate with a slice of this or the other latest of Jeongin's cake experiments on it. 

"Anyway, Chan," Changbin says when he's swallowed his first bite. "What's this with you and Felix anyway. Is it serious?"

"Uh, I don't know? I don't think so? We've just been hanging out here and there and things just tend to happen when we do, but uh… We didn't put a name on it or anything."

"I can put a name on it for you," Minho says calmly, not even looking up from his cake. "Infatuation. You're an absolute goner. If heart eyes were a person, it'd be you looking at Felix. Even Changbin was less obvious with his decade long crush, honestly, it's embarrassing hyung."

By the end of it, Minho's chuckling already, Changbin grinning along with him happily while Chan's unimpressed gaze lingers on his roommate. 

"That's an unfair comparison, Bin had ten years to practice looking unaffected!"

"He didn't look unaffected, though. More constipated?"

It's Chan's turn to laugh, but really Changbin's still grinning as well, too amused by all of this.

"Honestly, hyung, the day you fall in love, Chan and I are going to enjoy it so much."

"I fall in love every single day," Minho counters easily with a little shrug. "The cats are just too cute."

He groans and rolls his eyes, Chan just smiles. Then Minho's gaze lifts to look at him first and Chan next. 

"My boyfriend's literally here every week, though, I don't know what you two are on about." He delivers it so deadpan they're both just staring at him for a full five seconds without words. 

"You're pulling our leg," Chan eventually says. Minho shakes his head. 

"No, hyung, really," Changbin insists as well. 

"I'm serious!" Minho frowns at them, and upon seeing their clearly still disbelieving expressions, he turns around in his chair. 

"Jeongin-ah?" He calls to his parttime worker. "My boyfriend visits the cafe every week, doesn't he?"

Jeongin's expression brightens at the question and he nods his head once, twice. "Yeah. He's very nice!" Jeongin chimes brightly. "Is he coming by tomorrow?"

"Hm, no, not tomorrow. Maybe next weekend, though."

Jeongin beams a bright smile and Minho turns back to the front, continuing to eat his cake like nothing's off. 

"What the fuck?" Chan suddenly says a moment of total silence later. "You have a boyfriend? Since when?"

Minho's gaze comes up again, going between Chan and him before settling on Chan. 

"Uh, like four years now?"

"What?!"

He nearly throws the cake off his lap in his shock and Chan about backhands their friend in the face flailing in his chair. 

"You're telling me I've lived with you for three years, you've had a boyfriend all this time and you never told me?"

"Well you never asked."

"Does he never stay over at your place, how does this work?" Chan asks, just as incredulous as he is as well. 

"Changbin's almost never home, so…" Minho shrugs again. "He usually stays over on Fridays when you guys have pizza night."

"Hyung!" Changbin says, still shook. "Four years? What? I'm… what the fuck?"

"What's his name?" Chan picks in again. "Don't tell me we met before and just never noticed you guys were dating?"

Minho's smile suddenly turns utterly amused again as he looks up at Chan. "Actually…" he starts, and then both Chan and him are just groaning in disbelief. 

"You're kidding? Tell me you're kidding," he says, exasperated. 

"Well, I'm not sure if you met him yet, Bin, but hyung definitely has. I think you even talked to him for a bit on several occasions."

Minho's smile turns impossibly sweeter and more evil at the same time. "I'll keep his name to myself for a bit longer, I think. It'll be fun to see you guys trying to uncover him." Before either of them can speak, Minho sends them a glare. "And don't bully Jeongin into telling or I'll spit in every single coffee you order from me from now on. Every. Single. One."

It takes only one look at Minho and one look at each other for Chan and him to decide they'll take that threat seriously. The next moment they've both already shifted closer together, discussing every single memorable customer they've ever seen at the cat cafe while Minho looks on with ever increasing amusement. 

.

"Three whole years! I've been living with this man for three whole years and I never knew! I'm still not even certain he's not pulling our leg, but Jeongin would never go along with that so smoothly if it weren't true."

Jisung is laughing so hard on the other side of the phone call that Changbin can hear him having to gasp for air, desperately trying to calm down enough to get a proper breath in. He grins ahead of himself, chuckling a little as well and shaking his head in amusement. 

"Baby, are you okay?" He hears Felix ask in the background. 

"Babe!" Jisung sputters in reply, but there's too much laughter for him to get any more words out. Eventually he seems to manage to calm down, because there's some wheezing before he finally takes in a proper breath. "Oh my god, that's so funny, what the fuck, hyung?" Another breath. "Changbin's been roommates with Minho for three years, right? Apparently he found out yesterday that Minho's had a boyfriend that entire time."

Jisung's chuckling again already by the end of his explanation, and he can hear Felix laughing as well. 

"What? How do you do that? How do you not notice your roommate's got someone over?"

"Because he literally never did! Apparently the guy always stays over on pizza nights? He's also at the cafe every week, or so Minho claims. He also says Chan's met him before but Chan had no clue either!" Changbin explains, and he must have been on speaker because there's more laughter, the two roommates just giggling together at his expense. He doesn't mind as he shared this for a reason and he's still grinning as well himself. 

"Fuck, I'm crying," Jisung says after a moment. "Literal tears in my eyes I'm weeping. That is so fucking hilarious, hyung! Do you guys just not talk? How can you not know? I heard about Chan literally the day Lix had a match."

"I told you we've got more of a business relationship! We both pay rent, we each have our chores, in return we get a clean place to live and a roof above our heads. Sometimes we hang out, but I'm honestly not home all that often."

Jisung and Felix laugh even harder at him and he can only grin ahead of himself, amused, warm, happy, content. 

"Hyung that's honestly so bad it's good. Please tell me we're going to talk more than that?"

"Of course! You're my friend!"

The distinction only causes more laughter and he grins ahead of himself a bit wider still just at hearing the sound of his friend's happiness. 

"Ugh, fuck," Jisung says eventually. "I need to go empty the dryer and put on another machine. I'll be back in like ten minutes, okay?"

"Sure thing," he agrees easily, settling back in his couch a little better. 

"Here I'll help, it'll go faster," he hears Felix suggest in the background as the two of them leave whatever room they were in, and he smiles ahead of himself fondly. 

This is definitely one of the better ways to spend a lazy Sunday. 

.

"B?"

He lifts his head to look over at the others. 

"Hm?"

"Opinion?"

"Oh, uh, it sounds good. I don't really have much to add to it."

He lets his gaze go around the room and then sighs. "If you don't need me for anything else, I think I'm going to go."

Chan briefly checks his papers but then nods and waves him off. He gives a polite little bow to the other people present and then walks out of the meeting room. He pulls his phone from his pocket as he walks, checking his messages and then checking the time. Perhaps if he hurries a little he can make it to the cafe in time to help Minho out with the afternoon rush, he decides. 

It's a series of subway lines he needs to take, but in the end he pushes open the door of the cat cafe quite easily and walks inside, heading straight for the counter and on into the back. 

"Min, you here?" He asks as he steps into the back room, only to come to a halt when there's clearly no one there. He walks back out to the counter, glances at the outside area, then shrugs and washes his hands before grabbing an apron. He's just about in time for the next customer entering, taking their order and telling them to sit down. 

When his friend still hasn't arrived by the time he's done making their drinks, he decides to pull out his phone and give him a call. It just keeps ringing until it goes to voicemail. Again the second time he tries. Then there's more customers, so he takes orders again, though he has to politely apologise and say the special drink can't be made for them today.

He calls a third time. Voicemail again. Fourth time. Fifth. The doorbell chimes and he looks up, and suddenly he realises what else is missing: no white shape rushing up to the door to greet the new people coming in. He's out from behind the counter instantly, looking around and frowning deeply. 

"Has anyone seen a white cat?" He asks the few people present. "She doesn't like being picked up but she's always saying hi at the door."

There's murmured apologies and some of the customers looking around as well but absolutely no Kong to be found. Dread starts building in his chest at this point and he goes back to the counter to make the new people's order. He's in the middle of fixing up a coffee when he decides to try and call Minho again. After three rings, the line suddenly connects. 

"Hey, I don't have time right now I'll call you back later okay?" Minho's voice is a little rushed, but he doesn't care. 

"Hyung, I'm at your cafe but you're not here."

"No, I know, like I said, I'm busy, Bin, I'll-"

"Hyung," he interrupts. "I'm inside. Your cafe's open. People are ordering drinks. Where are you? Also I can't find Kong."

"Oh fuck, I forgot to lock up. Look, uh, I'm at the vet with Kong, she's in bad shape. Can you just close up or something? I'll be back later I need to talk to the vet now okay? Just hang a paper on the door or whatever. Alright? Bye."

He blinks down at the coffee, letting his phone slip from between his face and shoulder back into his hand. "Seriously?" He mutters to himself, but then he quickly finishes the coffees, to go and bring them over to the latest customers. Once he's back at the counter, he texts Chan 

Do you have Jeongin's number and if yes, can you call him and ask if he's free to come to the cafe right now?

Yep. Something wrong?

Explain later busy rn. If Jeongin can come it's all good. 

Okay. 

He puts his phone aside, clearing up some of the stuff he thinks Minho must have left lying around in his haste to leave and then running a wet cloth over the counters. 

He's on his way. 

Thanks man.

It takes all of ten minutes for Jeongin to walk in, and then he's looking around with a frown. "Where's Kong?" He asks when he steps behind the counter and then one look before: "Where's hyung?"

"He's apparently at the vet with Kong, something was up with her. He forgot to lock up properly so when I came over the place was still open. He told me to close it but I figured if you're free we can just keep it open and help get some more revenue?"

Jeongin's nod is instant, his expression worried. "Yeah, of course. Do you know what's wrong with Kong?"

He shakes his head. "No clue, Min didn't have time to talk. Hey, do you know his boyfriend? Can you send him a message to let him know? I don't know if Min did and maybe he's not replying to anyone's messages."

"Oh. Yeah, I'll give him a call."

Jeongin disappears into the back and he goes back to making sure everything is stocked well since that's something he's definitely good at. He can technically make the drinks as well, but it's been a long time and if Jeongin hadn't shown up he would've just closed the cafe for the day. Like this, though, they can work together to make sure the cakes get sold and don't have to be thrown out entirely. 

Jeongin comes back out about five minutes later. "Hyung was apparently here when it happened so he's aware," he explains. "He'll tell Minho hyung we're keeping the place open and he can take his time to make sure Kong is fine. Have you counted the cats to make sure no one else got out?"

"Uh," he says very smartly. "I don't even know what all the cats look like, sorry. How many are there supposed to be?"

Jeongin laughs at that, shaking his head. "It's okay, hyung, I'll count them. Can you check the outside area for any leftover dishes?"

He nods and walks off. Three minutes later Jeongin announces everyone's accounted for and another five minutes later the customers start trickling in.

For the rest of the afternoon, it's just the two of them working hard to keep up with the rush. By the time he has five minutes to go to the bathroom, there's twenty texts from Jisung, five from Chan and a missed call from Minho. He calls his friend back first. 

"Yeah?"

"Hey hyung, it's me. You called?"

"Just wanted to check how you were doing. Jeongin said you guys were keeping it open?"

"Yeah. The rush was killer, man, how do you do that alone?"

He hears Minho breathe out a smile but there's no actual response given. 

"I'm on my way back now. I'll be there in about twenty minutes. Will you manage until then?"

"Sure. It just calmed down, I think we got the worst of it. No worries."

"I should give Jeongin a raise for this."

"You should give me a raise!" He protests, but the next moment he's already asking: "How's Kong?"

"She's alright. Had to leave her with the vet overnight, they said it was probably a flu since she had a fever. They gave her some medicine, if she gets better tomorrow I can go get her again and she'll be fine. If not, we have to keep looking."

He hums. "Try to lock your place up properly when you leave tomorrow, yeah? Anyway I'm gonna take a piss and I'm sure you don't want to listen in, so…"

"Ew," is the only response he gets, and then the call ends. It has him laughing, tucking his phone away briefly to use the bathroom. Once his hands are washed, he pulls it back out to check his texts. 

He lets Chan know what's going on with Minho and then reads through Jisung's barrage of update texts about his day. They bring a smile to his face and he's texting back soon enough to let his friend know about his own day, informing him about Kong's health and how he'd been helping out in the shop. 

When Jisung's reply comes through just five seconds later, it nearly freezes him in place. 

You know how to make coffee? That's hot

He's still wondering what he's supposed to reply to that when another message already comes through. 

How much time do I have left to make it there and see you in action?

Hyung will be back in about 15 mins but I can stick around and make you your coffee special if you want?

Hot. 

I can be there in 30.

I'll see you then.

Lix is coming too but you don't have to make his coffee. 

Alright lol

He shakes his head as he heads back to the cafe, taking over the slotting away of dishes so Jeongin can take a break as well. He turns on the dishwasher and then heads back to the counter to get back to restocking everything. He's still in the middle of that when the door opens. 

He looks up to greet the new customer, but it's Minho walking in, car keys in hand and a dark haired male following after him in whose hand he presses said keys a moment later. 

"Yo," is all he says, already getting to work on making his friend a cup of tea, putting his favourite teabag in it, too. "You want anything?" He asks the unfamiliar man that he can only assume is Minho's boyfriend. 

"Yes, thanks, I'll have the same."

Minho steps behind the counter as he grabs another cup and adds another teabag. "Where's Jeongin?"

"Taking his break. He made so many coffees I think he's still doing the motions in the bathroom as well." He mimes handling the coffee machine and the boyfriend laughs. Minho shakes his head, but there's a small smile on his face as well.

"Thanks for helping out, Bin," he says softly when they're standing side by side. "Appreciate it."

He shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head. "'s Fine. Felix and Han are coming over in a bit. If you're good to work, maybe let Jeongin go home, though. He's exhausted."

Minho nods his head, already shifting to go get an apron, but he grabs hold of his friend's wrist. "Sit down and drink your tea first, Min. The place won't break down if he stays fifteen more minutes."

Minho's face tells him his roommate thinks differently, but he stops trying to leave anyway, and instead reaches to put cookies, honey and spoons on a platter, adding the cups of tea to it and then picking up the water to pour it into the cups. He picks up the platter when he's done, and walks it over to a table, where he's automatically joined by the dark haired unfamiliar man, who briefly puts a hand on Minho's before focusing on his tea and adding some honey to it.

Changbin stops paying attention to them after that, continuing to bring the counter back to its usual glory. Jeongin joins him a moment later, already getting back to work before suddenly doing a double take at the people sitting at the table across from the counter. 

"Hyung!" He chimes brightly, and then he's slipping out from behind the counter to head over to the table. Both Minho and the dark haired man greet him with smiles, and Jeongin's soon enough sitting on a chair next to Minho's supposed boyfriend, with one of the man's hands on his thigh and Minho reaching over the table to gently ruffle his hair. There's so much fondness there that he can't help but smile at the sight of it, before he heads into the storage to get bags of coffee beans to stock the counter with again and fill up the machine again too. 

When he returns with about ten bags of coffee beans, there's a fourth person at the table, sitting next to Minho and beaming the sunniest smile at everyone present. There's a cat in Felix's lap already, enjoying the thorough petting and chin scratches it's being given. He drops the bags down on the counter, opening up the cupboards and storing them away. He fills the coffee machine up again too, pouring the leftovers of the beans onto the grill so they can be eaten as roasted snacks later. 

He's wiping down the counter again when the bell at the door chimes. He glances up, expecting the customers to look around and find a table first, but Jisung lets the door fall closed on its own behind him, gaze fixed on no one but him as he walks over. 

"Hyung," he's greeted, and Jisung has eyes for nothing else, not even Felix beaming at him, when he steps right up behind the counter and comes in for the hug. He drops the cloth on the counter so he can put his arms around Jisung's frame, pulling him in and looking down in great confusion. 

"Ji? What's up? Something happen? You okay?"

There's a hum that he supposes is supposed to be reassuring and a nod against his shoulder, his friend just squeezing extra close instead of replying. He glances over the counter automatically to look at his friends and see if maybe they have an explanation but Felix is frowning in confusion just the same and shrugging while shaking his head.

"Sungie?" He tries again, and the next moment Jisung lifts his head, chin coming to rest on his shoulder as he's squeezed even closer. 

"I got fired, hyung," he says, but the wide grin becomes audible in his voice as he does. "I don't need to stay until the end of my two weeks. I'm free!"

There's a soft chuckle and then Jisung's letting go and pulling back, grinning up at him brightly. He instantly smiles back at his friend, relieved and happy all at once. 

"That's great news, Sung! You can do what you want now!"

Jisung grins as he nods, but then suddenly seems to realise where he is because he suddenly looks around. "Oh, am I even allowed to be here?" He asks shocked, and then he's already slipping back out from behind the counter. His gaze falls on Felix the next moment, and he instantly grins widely as he heads over to his roommate. 

"Baby I got fired! I'm free!" He calls out happily and Felix is on his feet instantly to hug him as well, the both of them bouncing up and down in excitement. "Hello hyung!" Jisung brightly chimes when he catches sight of Minho, and then he dips into a bow towards Jeongin and the fourth man at the table. Changbin grins as he shakes his head, turning towards the coffee machine. 

"What do you want to drink, Ji?" He asks so he can get to that. "And you, Lix?" Instantly he's got both roommates' attention fully again, their eyes skimming the menu before making and passing on their decisions.

"You can go behind the counter as long as you don't break anything," Minho tells Jisung with a small smile, nodding him off. In no time his friend's standing by his side again, closely following the process of grinding beans and making the coffee happen. 

"You're staring," Changbin hums after a moment or two, which has Jisung grinning at him guiltily but without any shame. 

"But it's so cool that you know how to do this, hyung."

"Cool? I thought you said it was hot?"

"That too."

He laughs, shaking his head as he focuses on his work again to not mess up when he's being looked at so closely. Jeongin comes over to help with making Felix's order and a moment later Felix comes to stand at the counter as well, the cat apparently having left him again. 

He finishes up Jisung's drink, putting it on a tray and then patting it lightly when he's done. "There you go," he says. "Your order, made special by yours truly."

Jisung's beaming a grin at him widely, nodding his head and coming closer to pick up his drink. Jeongin meanwhile reaches Felix's drink over the counter to him. "Sorry," he says teasingly. "Yours has been made regularly by me."

Felix laughs, quick to reassure him that that will do just fine as well, and then he's walking off to go take a seat at a table of his own. Minho's gotten up from his chair by then, as has the dark haired man. They talk quietly next to their table for a moment, before the man briefly squeezes Minho's shoulder and then turns away. 

"Jeonginnie, I'll see you this weekend, yeah?" He asks, to which Jeongin nods enthusiastically. He's given a warm smile next. "It was nice to meet you, Changbin." He bows in return to the bow he's given and then watches the man leave while Minho walks over to the counter. 

"Get out from behind my counter, Han Jisung," he says as he slips behind it. "And don't drop that drink. Jeongin, Bin, thanks for keeping the place open today, but you can leave now. I'll be fine from here. Jeonginnie, don't forget to write your hours down at the computer." He glances over to the clock which reads twenty minutes to six. "Make it until six. Go home and have dinner before you sleep, I want no protests."

Jeongin closes his already opened mouth again, glowering halfheartedly before he disappears into the back. Changbin takes the platter with the empty cups of tea from Minho's hand and walks to the back with them, putting the cups and spoons ready to be put in the dishwasher when it's done before pouring the trash away and then running a cloth over the tray. 

Minho comes to lean against the counter next to him a moment later. "I'm surprised you didn't ask about him," his roommate says, a hint of a smirk on his face. He looks up incredulously. 

"Seriously? I may be competitive but I'm not an ass. What? You want me to have gone 'oh hey, hyung, sorry about your favourite cat, anyway, who's tall, dark and handsome?'" He rolls his eyes and then turns to put the tray with the clean ones. 

"His name's Hyunjin," Minho says when he's got his back turned, and he turns back around instantly, taking in his unnaturally gentle roommate for a moment.

"She'll be fine," he says then, because that's the only cause he can find for it. "Don't worry too much, Min. And maybe actually introduce your boyfriend to me sometime, oh my god." He rolls his eyes, seeing how Minho's expression shifts into an amused little smile. 

"Alright. I'll ask when he's free."

"Just don't make it Friday, I already missed last week's pizza night, Chan's going to think we've really abandoned him if I ditch him for dinner with your boyfriend next."

Minho tuts, and shakes his head. "We can't have that indeed. When we abandon him, he will have to know there's absolutely no reason for it and we just really don't want to hang out with him."

He stares at his roommate for a few moments in complete silence, before huffing out a laugh and shaking his head. 

"I'll never even pretend to understand you, man," he decides, patting Minho's shoulder and then moving to take off his apron. 

"You don't have to," Minho agrees, before briefly bumping their legs together. He almost thinks it's an accident, except Minho's very studiously not looking at him. "Thank you. For today. All of it. Helping. Understanding. Asking Jeongin to let Hyunjin know."

There's a moment of silence as he stares at Minho and Minho stares at the floor before he clears his throat. "Yeah, man, it's- It's whatever. Don't mention it." He waves his friend off and quickly deposits his apron on the counter. "Like, seriously, don't mention it," he stresses then, and manages to pull an actual laugh from his friend. "I'm going to sit with the roommates. If it gets busy just yell, okay? I planned to go home with you today anyway."

Minho takes a long look at him before nodding. "Sure. I'll be fine, but I'll make sure to wait for you to go home so you can hold my hand to cross the street."

He snorts, and casually throws up a middle finger at his roommate as he walks back into the cafe. His friend's laughter is clear and bright, so he doesn't worry too much as he heads over to the table Jisung and Felix are seated at. 

"Got a free seat for a thirsty man?" He asks with a grin, and is gratified to see Jisung instantly scooting over to allow him to take a seat as well. "I'm staying here until hyung closes up and then I'm headed home with him," he says before any misunderstandings can arise. "But I've got until then to hang out with you guys."

Felix nods, Jisung beams him a smile and reaches out to temporarily take hold of his hand. The touch sends lightning up his arm and he barely manages to keep himself from jerking at the feeling. Instead he smiles back at his friend, and lets himself be drawn in to join the conversation. 

Jisung and Felix end up helping with the cafe cleanup as well, putting chairs under tables and wiping every flat surface down, until eventually the door closes behind the four of them when they step outside and Minho doesn't forget to lock up this time. They walk over to the subway station together, but then it's different directions they have to go. 

He automatically moves closer to Jisung to say goodbye, and soon finds himself sharing another hug. Then Felix is hugging him as well, before going over to hug Minho too. Promises about brownies are made, goodnight greetings exchanged and then they eventually part ways. 

He tucks his hands into his pockets as he walks with Minho to the right platform. There's silence between them like there usually is, a comfortable sort of quiet where neither of them really need to speak to fill it. He enjoys it thoroughly, and it's probably the biggest reason why they're still living together after three years. 

"So hyung…" he starts as they're waiting for the subway to arrive. "About your boyfriend…" He looks up to see Minho roll his eyes already, but he plows on anyway. "Why didn't he move in with you?"

There's a moment in which Minho's just looking at him and then he shrugs. "He was still in university at the time and he liked his dorms."

"Then after…?"

He's given a frown for that question. "After I was already living with you. We're fine like this. He likes his alone time so he can have that but we can also still see each other whenever we want. Don't worry, I'm not kicking you out."

He huffs, but it had been a stray thought somewhere. He is living in Minho's apartment, after all. If his friend ever gets tired of him he'll have to start looking for his own place and rent will be twice as high. He definitely doesn't look forward to that . 

"How did you meet?"

Again Minho's gaze settles on him briefly in total quiet, as if his friend is trying to figure out whether he thinks Changbin deserves to know these kinds of things, but then he shrugs his shoulders. He wonders if it's helping out at the cafe that's giving him so many easy answers today. 

"We took a dance class together when I was still in school as well."

"You dance?"

"Yes, Changbin, I dance. I also breathe, this must seem very shocking to you as well."

"Hyung," he protests the sarcastic tone. "I've literally never seen you dance. I thought you hated music!"

"Just because I don't want your wailing playing around the house twenty-four seven doesn't mean I hate music. Write me a pretty song I can play at the cafe and I'll like it. Some piano, maybe a bit of guitar." Minho motions a hand as if that's all there is to a good song, shrugs and walks over to the line on the platform. 

The subway arrives, so they get on, and it signals the end of their conversation, because he knows Minho doesn't like to talk while riding one. 

By the time they get off at their own stop, his mind is on different things entirely, and he's been texting Jisung the whole ride long. He wonders how they haven't run out of things to say yet, but he also wonders how they have managed to live six years without each other now that he's got him back in his life. 

He takes a shower that evening, and makes another cup of tea for Minho while his roommate takes a turn as well. They settle down on the couch together after, watching whatever's on the television just then, sharing the same couch for once. Something tells him Minho doesn't want to be alone, no matter how little conversation they have, and so he stays right there until his eyes nearly close of their own accord. 

Until Minho looks over at him, scoffs, smiles and pats his thigh. "Go to bed before you fall over, idiot," he's told in way too fond a tone to truly be annoyed. "Stop texting your boyfriend and go to sleep."

Jisung went to bed a while ago and he's been texting only Chan since, talking about music ideas and the likes, but he doesn't say that. Instead he sighs deeply as if he’s been tasked with the most impossible thing in the world. "Alright hyung." He heaves himself up from the couch slowly, and watches Minho stand with him, turning off the television. He nods his head, about to say goodnight and walk off, when his friend's fingers curl around his wrist. 

"You're a good friend," Minho tells him, and this time they're not avoiding each other's gaze. There's a moment of silence as he stands there taking it in and Minho stands there seemingly making sure he heard it. 

"You too," he manages to say then, and promptly turns his hand to take hold of Minho's wrist before he can let go and walk away. "Are you okay, hyung?"

There's a small smile then, amusement and warmth both, he thinks. Something is definitely gentler about his friend today. He has no doubt it'll be gone again in the morning. "I'm okay now, Bin. Thanks."

He can see the extent of the gratitude spreading out unspoken; not just for the question but for the time he gave his friend today, for the lack of questions, for the silent support. For sitting with him the entire evening just to make sure he wouldn't have to be alone. He nods his head to indicate it's fine. Minho takes it exactly the way it was meant and nods back. 

Then his wrist is let go of. He lets go as well. Their arms drop to their sides. Minho nods towards the hand in which he's holding his phone. 

"You can invite your friend over, you know? It's your home as well, you're allowed to bring other people than just Chan around."

He looks down at his phone, back up at Minho. "I know. I just never did because… well, you never did." He grins. Minho's smile turns a little more amused. 

"If you let me know long enough in advance I'll make dinner for all of us." There's a pause then, the smile turning into a smirk and he already knows what type of comment is going to follow. "Also let me know in advance if you have other plans, I will make sure to sleep elsewhere then."

He snorts, rolls his eyes, Minho grins and winks at him, a sort of slow blink thing that he can't help but laugh at. They both turn away almost at the same time, heading to their own rooms. 

"Goodnight, hyung."

"Goodnight, Bin."

He's still smiling when he pulls his bedroom door closed behind himself. 

.

Chan sits on the couch with his legs pulled up and a pillow resting atop them, a napkin in one hand and a piece of pizza in the other. He's in sweatpants and an oversized hoodie - what else is new - and looks every bit as comfortable as a person can look. Seven years of close friendship can look like that, he thinks. Especially when the other person is Chan. 

"No, I'm serious, tell me," Chan is saying. "I know your feelings for him were bigger than anything else and I've seen the few people you went on dates with but that it never really worked out with. Have you guys talked about it?"

He rolls his eyes, but then complies anyway, because this is Chan, and unlike with Minho, he doesn't mind talking about these things with Chan. It's not as awkward. 

"When would we have done that? We had the whole thing with Kong and then he went to visit his parents so he can start fresh at your company on Monday. There's already so many changes in his life and he's not good with those. I don't want to overwhelm him. He'll bring it up when he's ready, he knows he can talk to me."

Chan gives him a look that he knows means he's got some choice words to say about that, only he's chewing a mouthful of pizza so they can't be said just yet. He makes use of the opportunity to grab another slice for himself and eat quietly while he waits for his friend to speak again. 

"Did you ever stop to consider that he's changed?" Chan asks eventually, and instantly lifts a hand to stop him from replying right away. "It's been six years, Bin. He's grown up, just like you. You didn't use to be able to talk about your feelings like this. You got better at putting your mind to words. Maybe Jisung got better at change."

He blinks, swallows his bite of pizza to say something, but Chan continues talking before he can. "And maybe he doesn't feel like he can talk to you, at least not about this. Because he's the one who stopped talking to you. I know you told him it's fine and it's behind you, but the way you described him to me, wouldn't he still be worried? Just talk to him. Make talking to each other about everything your go-to so that you can never end up with that kind of miscommunication again."

He stares balefully at his friend, his pizza forgotten in hand as he pouts his way through his inner thought process. "I hate when you talk serious sense," he grumbles, and Chan starts laughing. "Fine! I'll talk to him when he gets back from his parents."

"Good," Chan decides, taking another bite of his pizza. He gets back to his own as well, just in time to save the cheese from sliding off and so for a little while it's just silence. 

"How's Minho?" Chan asks him next. 

"Fine. He got to pick Kong up the next day and she was back to normal, so it’s all good. Hyunjin's probably over right now doing whatever they do when I'm not home."

Chan frowns. "Who?"

"Hyunjin. His boyf- Oh. Right. You don't know."

Chan's eyes go wide and round. "You met his boyfriend?"

"Yeah, well, he was with Minho when the Kong thing happened."

"You didn't think to tell me!?"

"It slipped my mind, honestly."

"What does he look like!"

"Uh… Slightly taller than Minho, dark hair. Why don't you ask Felix? He actually talked to him. He and Jisung came by just as Minho returned from the vet.”

Chan promptly sits up straighter, his expression almost wounded. “You’re kidding? My Tinder date met Minho’s boyfriend before I did? The guy you didn’t talk to for six years met Minho’s boyfriend before I did!? What am I? A stranger? Someone he's never talked to before? Is he ashamed of me? Where’s my phone? I’m going to text him right now!”

He watches Chan scramble to find his phone among the pillows and then furiously type away. It makes him laugh, shaking his head as he watches his friend furiously lament his broken heart via text. He focuses back on the pizza a moment later, and on the movie they've got playing on the television. 

"That's it," Chan declares after some more furious typing, pushing himself up from the couch. "I'm going over." Changbin looks up in surprise, then back down at his pizza before looking back up at Chan. His friend motions for him to get up. "He said he would've introduced us tonight if it weren't pizza night so pizza night is now officially cancelled. Let's go."

"But hyung," he protests a little forlorn, motioning the slice of pizza in his hand at the television screen. "The movie. Our double chicken pizza!"

"Close the lid and bring it with you if you want," Chan says, motioning him to stand again. "Let's go, we're meeting Minho's boyfriend tonight."

He can tell that there’s no point in arguing.

He opens the door to the apartment with his own key, figuring there's no point in announcing their arrival by ringing the doorbell because he's quite certain Chan has been texting Minho nonstop since they got into the car - meaning he's has to drive and couldn't enjoy the rest of his pizza, of course. 

"I swear one day I'm going to ditch you for a better friend," he grumbles as he pushes the door open, balancing the pizza boxes in one hand while he pulls his key out again and walks inside. "Honey, we're home!" He calls into the apartment, just because he can, and then kicks off his shoes and steps into his slippers. He leaves Chan to fend for himself as he walks further into the living space, heading straight for the kitchen to reheat his pizza. 

He finds Minho and his boyfriend at the table, so he makes sure to give his roommate a pointed glare before smiling at Hyunjin and nodding his head in greeting. 

"Evening guys. I'm reheating my pizza and I'm going to continue watching my movie here, so you'll just have to deal with that."

"Which movie?" The boyfriend asks, pushing himself up from his chair and walking over to help Changbin with the oven like he lives there or something. He's not about to complain when life is made easier for him, however. 

"Something something about someone dying and having to get his life judged by different gods?"

"Oh, that's a good one. Mind if we join you?"

He looks up properly at the man for the first time since meeting him, and puts down his pizza boxes just so he can pat Hyunjin's arm and give him a pitying look. "Sorry, man, but I'm afraid you're going to be stuck answering Chan's questions for the next five hours. If you do manage to get out from underneath that, though, you're always welcome." He pats the arm again and then turns back to the pizza boxes, right as Chan walks into the kitchen. 

"Lee Minho, I can't believe you!" His friend exclaims, walking over so he can wrap his arms around Minho's neck in a fake chokehold. The threatening nature of his hold disappears by the way he runs his cheek fondly against the side of Minho's head, however, though his roommate definitely looks more put off by that than by violence. "Hello, Minho's boyfriend, I'm Chan. I'm sure you've heard about me even though I was never told about you until last week." The smile Chan beams up at the tall male is warm and amused, his voice as friendly as it gets, despite the way he's still smothering Minho in unwanted affection. 

"I'm Hyunjin," tall boyfriend replies, laughing lightly at the scene and making absolutely no moves to try and help Minho out. "It's nice to finally meet the both of you as well." There's a smile directed his way, which he nods at, and then another little giggle follows when Minho starts to wrestle himself out of Chan's hold by prodding his fingers into his friend's ticklish stomach. 

"Pizza?" Changbin offers as he pulls a piece from the box while he waits for the oven to be warm enough. 

"Oh, gladly," Hyunjin agrees. "What's on it?"

"Chicken. Onions. Peppers. Cheese. More chicken."

"Spicy peppers?" Hyunjin inquires. "I'm really bad with those."

"Nah, Chan is too so this is not spicy at all."

"Cool."

Hyunjin grabs a slice of pizza as well and they both lean back against the counter, following the power struggle that's unfolding at the kitchen table. After a good half a minute of that, he turns to look up at the tall man by his side, who's smiling in fond amusement at the sight of his boyfriend. 

"Hey, man, I have just one question," he starts, and Hyunjin's attention instantly comes fully to him. "You're tall and handsome, you know that right?" There's a bashful chuckle and a little half-shrug half-nod of acceptance alongside a clearly curious gaze. "So then why Minho? You could get anyone." Hyunjin's laugh is instant this time, his eyes going back to the two wrestling friends. They've moved away from the table, at least, but that just means they won't be done anytime soon probably. 

"Why anyone else when I could get him?"

He looks back up at Hyunjin at those soft words, taking in the man's profile, the soft expression at the sight of his boyfriend, the gentle curve of those lips. He thinks of how, for the last six years, he never made it past one date with anyone, no matter how compatible they may have sounded or seemed. He turns his gaze back to his two friends and breathes out a smile. 

"No, yeah, I get that."

Hyunjin turns to look at him, so he glances up again as well, and they share a smile over what he presumes is them being stupid idiots in love. At least they're not stupid about the same person, which would really be a disaster waiting to happen. But he can't for the life of him even so much as imagine liking his roommate romantically, so that's a relief. 

"I think the oven's ready for the pizza now," Hyunjin comments offhandedly after another moment of silence between them, and Changbin turns around instantly to put it in. 

In the end, it's pizza night with four people and at Changbin's place instead of Chan's. They all watch the movie together, and afterwards Chan does ask his questions, but he does it pleasantly enough that it seems like a regular conversation.

He makes sure to throw in a quip here and there to help Hyunjin not die of boredom, and before long Minho's phone chimes its midnight alarm to indicate he should go to sleep. 

Chan decides to go home as well then, stating he has a date the next day and Minho's off to the bathroom to get ready for bed, so that leaves Hyunjin and him with the cleanup. They work together silently, until everything's put away and the house looks like it could pass Minho's inspection again. 

"Hey, I'm, uh, not sure why it didn't happen before but I'm totally cool with you hanging out here when I'm around too, you know?" Changbin decides to speak up then, and Hyunjin breathes out a grin. 

"Actually it just naturally didn't happen for the first few months and when we realised we got curious how long it'd take for you to figure it out so we just didn't plan things here when you were home. You're gone a lot so that helps, of course."

He snorts, but nods his head anyway, because it's true and there's no point in denying it. "Well from now on then, just… I don't mind people in the house, so you don't have to worry about me. If you guys want some privacy, though, just keep planning as you have so far, I guess." He grins and Hyunjin smiles back at him. There's something soft and easygoing about the taller man that he already appreciates greatly, even after only having interacted with him for such a short time. 

"It is truly nice to finally meet you, Changbin," he's told a moment later. "Minho speaks so fondly of you both that I honestly already felt like I knew you before."

He huffs out a laugh at that. "Minho? Speak fondly? You mean he speaks less like he wants to murder us than usual?" His joke has Hyunjin chuckling along as well, but then he shakes his head. 

"No, I like to think that, being his boyfriend and everything, Minho occasionally shows some actual emotion around me," the tall male counters, and Changbin can't help but try to imagine it. 

"I'll believe that when I see it," he decides after a mere uncomfortable moment, shaking his head lightly and flashing Hyunjin an easy grin. It's returned instantly. 

"Sounds like today is your lucky day then," Minho declares where he walks into the kitchen, and the next moment Changbin gets to watch his roommate put an all too gentle hand in the back of his boyfriend's neck and lean up just that tad bit to press a kiss to his lips. "I put some towels on the side of the sink for you," Minho tells his boyfriend in the softest voice he's possibly ever heard him use. "Go get ready so we can sleep, I'm tired."

They exchange a smile, soft on both ends, as Hyunjin settles a hand on Minho's hip briefly, and Changbin thinks this is exactly what he must look like when faced with Jisung. The moment ends when Hyunjin steps aside and both men let go of each other so each can go their own way. 

Minho watches his boyfriend leave the kitchen before turning to look at Changbin. He looks back in utter silence for a few beats. Then he pretends to shudder, and kicks a socked foot at Minho's shin.

"Horrible," he says, though he's grinning too wide to really sound disgusted, he thinks. "Who are you and what have you done to my roommate?"

Minho snorts, but then kicks back at his leg with a bare foot anyway, aiming much better than he did before. "I'll make sure to loudly proclaim my disgust when you bring your loverboy around, too," his roommate threatens next and he mock-gasps, putting a hand to his chest. 

"And here I made sure to be quiet and inconspicuous about it," he protests, which has Minho suddenly grinning, warm and filled with that almost boyish charm his roommate exudes sometimes. 

"I'm sure Jin appreciates your discretion."

"It would be nicer if you also appreciated me sometimes," he huffs, and Minho laughs.

"What are you talking about? I appreciate you every day. I appreciate you when you're quiet, I appreciate you when you're gone,..."

They're both laughing then, and he pretends to punch his friend's shoulder but really it's just a light fistbump. 

"Go to bed, hyung," he says then, nudging Minho towards the kitchen door. "Another early day tomorrow feeding the cats and being out of the house so I can blissfully imagine I live alone."

It earns him another laugh, and Minho swatting in his general direction. "You'd die without me making you dinner most nights."

"I'd survive," he proclaims with a frown, before grinning again. "But it'd be on takeout and ramen."

Minho shoves at his chest once more before leaving the kitchen. After grabbing a bottle of water, he follows suit, heading to his room to get changed first so he can use the bathroom after, when Hyunjin's hopefully done with it. 

Chapter Text

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Opening the door to find Jisung standing on the other side, holding up a bag of takeout food and grinning at him brightly is a punch to the gut. The breath is stolen from him in all the best ways as his friend beams and lifts his free hand to do a little wave. He steps aside so Jisung can enter, and then allows the door to fall closed behind him. Jisung's already taking off his shoes, so he quickly grabs him a pair of slippers to use. 

"Hyung already had a prior engagement or he would've made us dinner," he explains Minho's absence, and Jisung waves it off like he knew he would.

"That's fine. Takeout is good too and this gave me an excuse to try the newest seafood place near us. No clams for you, right?"

He nods his head, trying his very best not to show how warm this small piece of remembered information makes him feel. He quickly moves to precede his friend to the kitchen so they can sit down and get right on with dinner. 

"So, how were your first days at the new company?" He asks and Jisung lifts his head from where he'd been focused on the food to beam at him all over again. His heart, his poor heart, misses a beat because of it.

" So good, hyung! It's so much fun I've been introduced to so many new people and then they just let me mess around in the studio for a bit before introducing me to the other producers. Chan hyung also spent some time with me today, it was really great. We made a few good beats happen. I can't wait for you to join us as well! I haven't made music with you in so long!"

His gravestone will read 'Cause of death: Han Jisung's happiness' and he will die having absolutely zero regrets. 

Jisung is clueless about his plight, smiling and looking at him with those wide, soft brown eyes full of stars and wonder. "When are you joining the company, hyung?"

"Not sure yet. Probably next week? Though officially only in a month or so."

His friend nods, and then continues unpacking the food, spacing it out on the table and taking the lids off all the boxes. When he's done, Jisung puts the bag aside and takes a seat, grabbing a pair of chopsticks and expertly breaking them. 

With an enthusiastic wish for them to eat well, he then instantly gets right to it, and Changbin's left to just watch him for the first few moments. That is, until Jisung catches him looking and motions for him to eat as well. 

They share the meal comfortably, chatting about their days. He tells Jisung about pizza night and meeting Minho's boyfriend while Jisung talks about his parents and MCE. They're still talking long after all the food is gone, until Jisung eventually sits up a little. 

"Hyung, do you have your music stuff here?" He asks, a hint of tension in his shoulders. "There's this melody that's been itching at me since earlier and I think I won't be able to sleep until I get it out of my system."

He laughs at how relatable that is, and nods his head instantly. "Yeah, it's in my room. Let's clean this up and then we can get right to it."

Jisung's already up and gathering empty boxes before he's fully finished talking. 

The melody in Jisung's head turns out to be more complicated than he thought, but extremely catchy as well. He asks Chan for a few sound samples they just can't seem to find, until eventually the beat is almost near perfection. He pops a usb into his computer to copy it onto so Jisung can take it to work the next day and finish it there. When he hands it over, Jisung is looking at the picture on his desk of the first official album mentioning his name in the producing credits. 

"Hyung," Jisung says after a moment, and he's pretty certain he knows what's coming without having heard it. "Where did you get the name from?"

He closes the music program first, and shuts down his computer before looking at the picture as well.

"SpearB?" He asks, which is answered by a single nod. He licks his lips and leans back in his chair comfortably. "I don't know if you remember," he starts then, looking over at his friend. "But two weeks after we met you came and spent time at my house. We were messing around in my room and I was showing you my instruments."

Jisung's smile is amused but fond as he nods his head. "Yeah I remember. I was absolutely floored by your guitar it was so beautiful."

"And I was jealous that your dad was part of a rock band," he adds, making Jisung laugh. "Anyway, we actually spent some time thinking up possible artist names for ourselves later on." He lifts a hand to rub the back of his neck and then shrugs lightly. "You came up with it. SpearB. I liked it so much I wrote it down."

Jisung's expression goes blank, his doe eyes wide and full of blank surprise. There's seemingly not a single thought behind them right then, only shock.

"That's, like, thirteen years ago, hyung," he's told in disbelief then, but he can only shrug lightly. How to explain that it had felt almost like being given a priceless gift? How to explain that when he needed to use an artist name that very first time, his brain had automatically gone to Jisung and the name his friend had chosen for him? How to explain…

His brain short circuits entirely in the next moment when his friend is suddenly kissing him.

Kissing. 

Him.

It's his turn to stare wide-eyed at Jisung, who pulls back just enough to open his eyes and look at him. For a moment there is complete silence, but then his friend seems to snap out of something because he grins sheepishly and moves even further back, straightening up a little. 

"Ah, I'm sorry, that just- sort of happened. Apologies, I'll-"

He pushes himself up from his chair, hand coming up to move to the side of Jisung's face, who's moving backwards and letting go of the armrests of his chair to straighten up with him. He doesn't let his friend move away any further, however, lifting up his second hand as well and cupping Jisung's face as he leans in himself this time to kiss him. 

There's only the briefest hint of hesitation before Jisung's kissing him back. It's nothing like the one kiss they shared all those years ago, which had been messy yet intense, in that there seems to be a certainty now within both of them that this is exactly what they want. Jisung's hand settles on his elbow, the other one moving up into his hair, and it's just them pressing as close together as they can get, kissing like they might die. 

When he pulls away, it's for a lack of air more than anything, and also for wanting to look at his friend, to make sure this is really okay. Jisung's eyes only open after another moment, and he watches the way he wets his lips and lightly sets teeth in his lower lip, seemingly processing what just happened. Liking it, maybe? Probably. Hopefully. 

"Hyung," Jisung breathes, and he hums softly as he moves to brush his thumb over the skin of Jisung's cheek, his jaw, his chin. "I-" Jisung's breath catches, those lips part slightly. Changbin's eyes follow every single movement of his friend's face. "Changbin hyung."

He swallows hard at the way the soft calling of his name makes him feel, as well as at the absolute vulnerability Jisung's looking at him with.

"Sungie," he replies softly, brushing fingertips over his friend's skin gently. "I am so in love with you." He breathes out a self-deprecating smile at the words. "I need you to know that I will literally let you do anything to me and I'd be fine with it. I don't care what happened in the past, I just- I don't want to waste another chance."

Doe eyes look back at him, Jisung's fingers curling into the fabric of his hoodie slowly, the other hand still tangled up in his hair. The world consists of nothing but anticipation. Breathless anticipation. Jisung looks from his one eye to the other. Everything moves as if in slow motion, that's how hyper aware he is of every single detail. 

"Hyung," Jisung repeats again, and he hums inquisitively. "I just really want to kiss you right now."

His heart at this point doesn't even know what a regular pulse is, he thinks, racing as it does. 

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes."

He's not sure who leans in again first, but they meet in the middle, and they stay there, too. Kissing Jisung is almost as easy as talking with him, as spending time with him. Kissing Jisung is the best thing he's ever done in his entire life. His hands move, pulling his friend closer, roaming over his body, face, hair. There's a pull to just keep going, keep kissing, keep exploring the proximity between him and his friend until he's got it all mapped out.

Kissing Jisung eventually ends too soon, when they both run out of breath again. They rest their foreheads together, eyes closed, just breathing and letting their heartbeats settle. When eventually he manages to move, he shifts his head ever so slightly, moving it past Jisung’s and letting his arms slide around his friend’s shoulders so he can pull him into a hug. He feels his friend’s arms instantly slip around his middle, hands settling on his back.

“We should probably talk about this,” he decides after another moment of just basking in that closeness. “I was advised to make talking about things our new normal so we don’t end up misunderstanding each other again.” There’s no response at all for a moment, but Jisung’s still hugging him, body entirely relaxed, nearly all of his friend’s weight resting against him, so he doesn’t think there’s a problem. He waits a moment before prompting: “Ji?”

“Yes. Yeah. I’m listening. Sorta.” There’s a sudden laugh then, and Jisung squeezing him a little closer. “I’m just processing the fact that about sixty percent of my dreams over the last eight years are coming true. Give me a minute.”

“Sixty percent?” He echoes, smiling in amusement, feeling the adrenaline suddenly rush in and make his body feel like his blood is buzzing under his skin. At the same time, though, there's no more comfortable place for him to be than right here. 

“Hmm,” Jisung agrees softly. “Twenty percent of them were about music and the other twenty not fit for recounting aloud.” His friend lets out a sudden chuckle, that turns into some absolutely delightful giggling and he chuckles along because there’s nothing else he can do.

“Ji…” He starts, chuckling more still as the meaning of those words trickles through to him. “Sungie, you can’t do that to me.” Jisung only giggles more, and he’s absolutely certain then that they’re both just as lost, because they dissolve into laughter helplessly, holding on to each other like that’s going to somehow save them and keep them from falling over.

In the end, it’s Jisung who manages to get a hold of himself again first, fingers curling into the fabric of his hoodie again as he straightens and leans back just enough so they can look at each other. Jisung’s eyes are shining, full of light, his smile wide and bright and so happy there’s nothing else Changbin could want in the world than to see it like that always.

“No, hyung,” Jisung says, leaning back further, and he realises he was leaning in again, so he quickly straightens. Jisung grins at him, though, so he can’t even feel bad about what he was doing, and then his friend pats his side. “Talking. We should talk… about it. You’re right.”

He clears his throat, lifting a hand and running it over his friend’s upper arm, trying very hard not to get distracted by the sight of his lips again.

“I forgot what we should talk about,” he says, and Jisung promptly collapses against his chest in a heap of giggles all over, holding on tightly to his sweater in order not to lose his balance. He grins as he wraps his arms around his friend a little better again, just hugging him as tight as he can without hurting him. 

"This," Jisung tells him when the laughter has subsided a little again, though they're both still grinning widely when their eyes meet again. "Us."

"Right. Us. Yeah.” He pauses briefly and then grins wider. “I've got many intelligent things to say about the subject but they're escaping me for the moment." Jisung's grin also widens at his words, laughter bubbling right underneath the surface and it’s horrible and wonderful all at the same time.

“Hyung,” Jisung prompts, tugging on his hoodie. “Do you want to say…” There’s some hesitation then, before Jisung restarts his sentence. “Are you really okay? With this? With- With me?”

He instantly moves his hands to cup his friend’s face again, cradling it ever so gently as he runs his thumbs over Jisung’s cheeks.

“Absolutely, yes. No one else-” He stops and all the laughter is gone now as he looks from one eye to the other, as if trying to read all of the possible outcomes of this evening in Jisung’s face. There’s insecurity there, still, and he knows his friend needs to hear him say these things aloud, so he gathers himself, gathers his mind, and tries to put it into words the way Chan reminded him he is much more capable of these days.

“I know we only started talking again recently and we’ve probably changed a lot from who we used to be, so we should take our time getting to know each other again and to discover how we work together as we are now, but…” He can’t help breathing out another stupid grin, because standing here looking at Jisung all he can think about is what it would be like to kiss him again. “But I wouldn’t mind kissing you while we do that.”

Jisung’s expression grows soft, his eyes shining with a million stars. He notices his friend’s hand moving up but has no reason to pull away, so it’s not long before Jisung’s fingers touch his lips again, fingertips brushing gently over them. His friend’s eyes are fixed on his mouth as well, before they flicker up to meet his, and then suddenly Jisung is grinning again.

“The entire time?” There’s nothing but utter mischief and delight in those eyes then, and Jisung's already giggling at his own joke even as he’s still talking. “Will we be able to get to know each other at all if we’re just kissing all the time?”

He doesn’t deign the words worthy of a verbal response, going for a tickle attack instead that has Jisung screeching and trying to escape his hold. He chases his friend around the room, then out into the hallway and living room. Jisung barely manages to escape his grip the entire time, until he finally corners him against the dresser in the living room. 

The collision nearly topples over one of Minho's cat statues, but he catches it and puts it straight before it can fall, and then focuses his full attention on his friend, who's grinning up at him guiltily but with absolutely zero remorse. 

"You're a little bastard," he says, laughter taking him over before he can even attempt to seem angry about anything. "I can't believe I'm trying to be serious and you make fun of me!" He pulls Jisung closer by his hips and simply leans in to kiss him again. There's no protest from his friend's side - on the contrary. 

When the door opens about twenty minutes later, that's still where they are, Jisung leaning comfortably back against the dresser and him standing between his friend's legs, hands resting on his hips still. Jisungs hands are resting in the back of his neck and they're just looking at each other, smiling but also seriously taking each other in. 

Minho appears from behind the corner not much later, and promptly steps aside when he spots them from the corner of his eyes. He takes them in with wide eyes for a moment, before sighing deeply and shaking his head.

"Really?" His roommate asks with intense judgement. "Against my dresser? Really?" Changbin looks up only then, grinning brightly. He probably looks like an idiot but he doesn't care. He'll gladly look like an idiot every second of every day if it means he'll feel as happy as he does right then. He feels Jisung's hands loosen around his neck, though, and quickly lifts a hand to keep them right where they are. 

"We're trying to figure out whether we're still compatible, hyung," he meanwhile tells his roommate, who rolls his eyes almost audibly. 

"Anyone needs to just look at you two to know. You're an idiot," he's told very decisively, before Minho suddenly smiles warmly, his gaze shifting to the other person present. "Hello, Jisung, it's nice to see you again. I hope Bin got you something decent to eat."

Changbin can almost feel Jisung's tense body relax again as he realises there's no actual annoyance on Minho's side, and a soft little smile reappears on his features. "I brought seafood," Jisung says lightly. "There's a good new place near us. Did you eat, hyung?"

"At half an hour to midnight I'd sure hope so," his roommate replies like it's obvious, and then Minho's in motion again, walking over towards his bedroom. "Don't mind me, I'm just going to get ready for bed and then I'll be out of your hair again. Continue your…" Another searching look is thrown their way as Minho pauses at the bathroom door. "Compatibility test."

A sudden absolutely shiteating grin breaks out on his roommate's face right after those words. "I think there's a spot you forgot to test right about here though," he adds, pointing it out on his own face by putting a finger on his lips. An amused little chuckle leaves him and then he disappears inside of the bathroom. 

Changbin looks after him a moment longer before looking back at Jisung. They share an incredulous look for a brief moment before they once again dissolve into laughter.

"Pretty sure that was permission," he says lightly, to which Jisung nods his head as well. 

"Pretty sure, yeah."

He starts to grin, but Jisung leans in instead, and so it becomes an absolutely delightful combination of kissing and laughing that warms him to his very core, even as their noses bump and their teeth click together. He buries his face against Jisung's shoulder in the end, gathering his friend closer in his arms once more, until they stand pressed flush together, Jisung's hands tangling in his hair. 

"I still can't believe you used the name I came up with when I was, like, twelve."

He snorts at the sudden change of topic and lifts his head again so he can actually look at his friend's face. "Why not?"

"I was twelve!"

"And my best friend."

"You were so much cooler than me. Didn't you come up with any cooler names?"

"You mean 'Seo Charming'?"

To his credit, Jisung manages to keep a straight face for all of two seconds before he starts to grin and then laugh. "Oh my god, I remember that! Why do I remember that? That is horrible! Hyung!"

He laughs as well, and shrugs his shoulders. "I really wasn't all that cool, you're just biased."

Jisung pouts up at him for a moment, but then starts to smile and eventually grin all over again. "I am biased," he agrees smugly. 

He hears the bathroom door open again behind him, then the soft padding of Minho's feet on the floor. "We should probably declog the shower drain one of these days," he's told matter-of-factly and it only makes him laugh again. 

"Sure thing, hyung." He does manage to look away from Jisung long enough to glance at his roommate. "Tell me when and I'll put on a pair of gloves to help you out."

Minho takes him in and then seems to take in the entirety of the scene in front of him, before shaking his head with a small smile. "I'll make breakfast for three in the morning. Do you eat pancakes, Jisung?"

"I do, hyung, love them," his friend chimes brightly, and he doesn't have to look to know he's beaming that winning smile again. It seems to work just fine on Minho too, because his roommate smiles a bit wider and nods.

"That's settled, then. Goodnight, children, make sure to go to sleep on time if you have work in the morning." With those playful words, Minho disappears into his bedroom, closing the door behind himself.

When he turns back to Jisung, his friend is already grinning up at him. "Guess I'm staying over, hyung," he's told all smugly once more, so he laughs softly and taps a finger to the tip of his friend's nose. 

"Let's get ready for bed, then. You do have work in the morning and we wouldn't want you to be late."

Jisung nods his acceptance, but also leans in to steal another kiss from him first. 

It's a good half hour before they're washed, both dressed in a shirt and sweatpants from his closet, and sequestered away in his bedroom. He  made sure they both have a bottle of water, so that they can just get cosy in the bed. Which is exactly what he watches Jisung do from where he's still standing near his desk. 

"Your bed's so big," his friend says with great awe as he drops down on it comfortably, sighing deeply as if he can't imagine a more wonderful place to be. "I wish I could fit a double bed into my room alongside my equipment, but we're definitely not rich enough to afford that kind of apartment."

He shakes his head as he watches Jisung settle, wiggle around a bit and then settle again. He flicks off the big light and walks over to the bed to get in as well. 

"Hyung," Jisung says right before he can, and he looks up to make sure he's fine. His friend is looking up at him from where he's already adorably cuddled up under the duvet, fabric tucked up to his chin and those large eyes taking him in earnestly. "Changbin hyung."

He feels that same warmth rise up in his chest again, heating up his insides as something flips in his stomach as well. Jisung looks serious again now, like something important is coming, and he can't help but feel nervous about what it might be exactly. 

"Bin." The nickname makes his stomach flip again, makes his heart speed up. He hears it all the time, really, because it's what Minho calls him, and what Chan calls him often as well, but when Jisung uses it, it's something different entirely. 

"What?" He asks with bated breath, and Jisung moves a hand out from underneath the blanket to reach for him. He reaches out his own hand to take hold of it and sits down on the edge of the bed so he can listen seriously to what his friend is trying to tell him.

"Do you remember when you kissed me back in high school? Because Heejin dared you to?"

"Of course."

"I was so shocked when you did. I'd never as much as considered it. Kissing in general was far from my thoughts, but kissing you…" Jisung shakes his head a little. "But then you kissed me and I…" The fingers around his hand hold on a little tighter. "I responded on instinct alone. Then when I realised, I thought you'd push me away for sure, but you didn't." 

Jisung's smile is still a little disbelieving even now. "I thought about that for so long after it happened. I just couldn't figure out why, if it was only done on a dare, we kept kissing for so long. It took me forever to realise that from my side it was because I wanted to."

There's something raw in those words, like a truth that's been unspoken for nearly a decade. He doesn't ruin it by speaking, but simply runs his thumb over the back of his friend's hand and waits for Jisung's thoughts to run their course. 

"But you were so casual about it, and you didn't act any different at all, so I could only assume it was because it had only been a dare you didn't want to back out of. But then last time you said- Did you really want to do that, hyung?"

He smiles softly at the earnest question, and the wide, inquisitive gaze he's being looked at with. Instead of replying straight away, he gets up first so he can get under the blanket as well and lie down properly, though he makes sure to take hold of Jisung's hand again once he's settled. 

"Do you remember the butterfly?" He asks his own question then, and watches the way Jisung's expression shifts as he thinks back.

"Oh the sugar water?"

"Yes." He smiles and carefully tangles their fingers together, relieved when there's no weird looks given for it. In fact, Jisung seems pretty comfortable with almost everything they've been doing all evening, not a hint of tension in his friend other than briefly when Minho came home. He can only be happy about that. 

"I was watching you crouching next to it with a spoon of sugar water trying to coax it into drinking so it could fly again, and I just… Suddenly wanted to kiss you. Like; I realised that if you got up and walked over, I could just grab your face and kiss you. That was a thing I wouldn't mind doing." He huffs out a little laugh, and gently squeezes Jisung's fingers. His friend's looking at him with the softest, most incredulous look. 

"That… Wasn't that… a year before?"

"Mhm," he agrees, nodding. "It was about a year and a half before Heejin dared me and I actually kissed you."

Jisung's eyes grow wider still, and his friend shifts to face him more properly, clearly invested in this conversation now. 

"A year and a half?"

"That's probably why I was so good at pretending nothing crazy happened, because I'd been pretending for over a year already that I didn't want to kiss you," he jokes lightly, and Jisung laughs but uses his free hand to hit his shoulder anyway. 

"That's not funny, hyung! Why didn't you tell me? I'm anxious and shitty at talking but you're really not! You could've just told me."

He smiles but shrugs, because it never felt that simple. "Like I said; I didn't want to make you uncomfortable and I didn't want anything to change for the worse between us. I didn't think me confessing those feelings would be received well."

Jisung looks at him quietly for a long time, and he just lies there and returns his friend's gaze. He couldn't imagine anywhere else he'd want to be, happy just holding his friend's hand and knowing that, whatever happens, they're being honest with each other now. 

"Hyung," he's told softly then, and he hums in question. "I'm so in love with you. I don't know what to do with these feelings. I love you so much, I just want to… I want to spend every moment I have with you. Like if we don't, it's just wasted time. I never thought I'd see you again and it was honestly eating me up inside. I was really considering trying to hunt you down on social media after all, and then you just… appeared in front of me like it was destiny somehow and I'm- I-" Jisung stumbles over whatever he's trying to put to words, growing quiet when he doesn't seem to find the right ones.

"Hey, it's okay," he says softly, squeezing his friend's hand again and then gently tugging him closer. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. We can figure this out slowly, okay?"

Jisung's expression melts back into a soft smile. "While kissing?"

He huffs out a laugh at that, but nods anyway. "While kissing. Holding hands, too, if you want. Hugging. Sleeping together like this. Sending absolutely mushy texts every day. We can do all of those things while we figure it out. Whatever you want."

Jisung sighs softly, but he's smiling as he does so, and the next moment he nods. "That sounds nice," his friend agrees in a soft voice. "I'd like all of that."

He smiles back, and casually moves to flick off his bedside lamp before tugging Jisung all the way up against his chest and wrapping his arms fully around him so they can just cuddle for a while until they fall asleep. There's plenty of time to talk about the rest of it, after all. For now he thinks proximity and a good night's sleep are probably the best things they can give themselves. 

Morning finds him almost exactly the way he fell asleep, like Jisung's body is an anchor he is tied to and could never really move away from. He blinks tired eyes open even as he's nuzzling closer into Jisung's hair, and spots the reason he's awake almost straight away over his friend's shoulder: Jisung's phone buzzing and lighting up while his ringtone sounds through the room. It's a melody he'd recognise anywhere, because it's one they wrote , though at least seven years ago by now. 

Groaning, he shifts so he can take hold of Jisung's shoulder and shake it. Three attempts later he realises his friend didn't get better at waking up at all and so he simply bodily rolls him over and onto the cold side of the mattress. There's a sound of displeasure and then Jisung blinking open his own weary eyes. 

"Someone's calling you, sleeping beauty," he says before pointedly closing his own eyes again and letting Jisung deal with it by himself. He stays awake, though barely, in order to be able to hear lest there's really an issue. 

"Mhmwhat?" Jisung mumbles into his phone and then there's a brief amount of silence. "That's great, Seungmin, but why are you calling me out of bed for that?"

More silence, and then the sound and motions of Jisung shooting upright. "What!?"

He cranks an eye open to try and see what the issue is, but Jisung looks at his phone screen before putting it back to his ear, relaxing again as he does so.

"Yah, Kim Seungmin, don't scare me like that! I don't have to be at work for another two hours. … What? No, I changed jobs recently. I work for MCE now."

He closes his eyes again after spotting the small smile on Jisung's face, certain that there's no big issue. He's about to drift off again when his friend says his name and instantly all of his attention is pulled. 

"No, Changbin helped get me in. … Yeah, Seo Changbin. … Hm, yeah, we're talking again. … Yeah, it's recent."

His interest is piqued, and so he reaches out a hand to ask for the phone. Jisung only looks at his hand once, before happily putting the phone in it and promptly flopping back down to get a few more moments of shuteye in. 

"...remember you guys used to be thick as thieves. You should bring him along this year," Seungmin is saying and he breathes out a smile. 

"Bring me along to what exactly?"

There's a brief silence, but Seungmin seems to regain his composure rather quickly. "Changbin hyung, I presume?" He hums an affirmation. "I was just telling Jisung about the class reunion this year. You should come too. Half our class knows you anyway with how often you and Jisung used to hang out together. It'll be nice to catch up."

He sighs deeply, briefly pulls the phone away from his ear to check the time as well and then puts it back to his ear. "My number's zero one zero three five nine five eight four six. Text me about this at a more decent hour of the day, I was having a great nap."

There's a sigh from Seungmin's side this time. "Why doesn't it surprise me in the slightest that you guys were sleeping together? 

"I'm hanging up."

"Hyung! Your number…"

"Ask Jisung about it." He's about to hang up when he adds: "Some other time!" Kim Seungmin can't be trusted not to just call back, after all. 

He drops the phone on Jisung's other side, and is about to go right back to sleep when there's a knock on the door. A moment later, Minho pops his head inside. Alongside him, a waft of delicious smells enters the room as well. 

"Breakfast will be ready in about twenty minutes if you guys want it fresh."

He groans, but it's more out of appreciation than annoyance. "Hyung, I love you so much, you know that?" He manages to get out and promptly feels an arm flop over his middle and a chin come to rest on his chest. 

"I love you more, hyung," Jisung chimes from his new position, beaming the brightest smile at his roommate. "Save me the best pieces, please?"

Minho merely rolls his eyes and pulls the door closed again behind himself, leaving them to it. 

"What is this?" He instantly asks his friend. "Are you committing… I was going to say roommateicide but that's the wrong term. What's it called when you steal someone away from someone else?"

Jisung glances at his face and starts to grin so widely already that he knows nothing good is going to follow. And indeed; "That's just called being better than you in every way, hyung," is what he's told next. He barks out a laugh and moves his hand to rest the back of it against his forehead.

"I can't believe you went for straight up murder this early in the morning," he protests, but he's laughing, and even more so when Jisung laughs as well, burying his face in Changbin's chest. It tickles a little, but not so much that it makes him want to pull away from this easy affection. "The pancakes aren't even cold yet but my lifeless body is."

Jisung laughs harder, and then crawls closer until he can curl up into a tiny ball against Changbin's side, an arm over his middle and face tucked away in the crook of his neck. 

"I'll keep you warm," he says in a silly voice, and Changbin snorts so hard he starts coughing and falls right out of bed because of it. They spend the next five minutes laughing too hard to do anything other than gasp for air and desperately try not to look at each other because that just sets them off again. 

When they finally make it into the kitchen, Minho glances up from where he's eating already, reading the news on his phone as well. 

"Good morning," he says slowly. "What was the ruckus all about?"

Changbin shares a look with Jisung before smiling at his roommate. "Jisung being better than me in every way," he explains, though he knows it's no explanation at all. Minho looks at the both of them for a long, judging second, and then just shakes his head and goes back to reading the news. When they take a seat at the table, though, he automatically gets up to serve them a portion of pancakes as well, and Jisung's smile is bright when he thanks him for it. 

Five seconds later Jisung is moaning in their kitchen and clearly having an entire foodgasm at the kitchen table. He drums the heels of his feet on the floor, swallowing his bite and turning the most adoring gaze ever on Minho when he’s done.

“Hyung!” He exclaims, and then again with more feeling: “Hyung!!” Changbin’s grinning already, but Minho is looking at Jisung with a fearfully expectant expression, as if he isn’t sure whether he wants to know what will follow. “Oh my god, will you marry me?”

There’s a moment of absolutely nothing happening other than Jisung gazing hopefully at Minho, before his roommate suddenly huffs out a smile and shakes his head lightly as he turns back to the news on his phone and his morning cup of tea.

“I’m glad you like it, Jisung,” Minho says softly, something absolutely gentle in his voice that Changbin thinks must be reserved for cats, his boyfriend, and people complimenting his cooking or enjoying his food. Jisung is only one out of those three, but he does it so sincerely and with great enthusiasm that it would be impossible for Minho to ignore it. Changbin knows this, because he knows his roommate, and he knows his friend.

They continue eating in silence, Jisung too busy devouring about six pancakes while Changbin leisurely eats three of his own. Somewhere in the middle of that, Minho gets up to head to work, but Changbin sees him running a hand over Jisung’s hair when he passes by behind him. A hand that briefly comes to a rest on his own shoulder as well right before his roommate walks out of the kitchen.

“Good luck at work today. Give Kong a pet from me,” he calls after his friend, hearing a sound of confirmation from where Minho’s putting his shoes on by the door.

They continue eating in silence until their plates are empty and he leans back in his chair comfortably, sighing in great contentment. “What a great morning,” he decides, stretching out briefly and then settling his elbows on the table so he can look at Jisung with his face resting in his hands, smiling softly. It takes only a few moments for his friend to start grinning at the attention.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just like looking at you.”

Jisung’s neck promptly flushes an absolutely adorable darker colour. He watches his friend tilt his face down to break the eye contact, but it only makes him smile wider, feeling so soft and warm and goddamn in love it’s almost impossible to contain it.

“Do you want to go out sometime? I want to sit in a restaurant with you and hold your hand like a dumb idiot in love. Because I am.” He grins then, and Jisung lifts his head to look at him. The almost disbelieving but adoring look on his friend’s face is enough to make him forget about absolutely anything else he might have been thinking. “You’re so good looking, Sung, it shouldn’t be allowed.”

Jisung’s face heats up even more, but this time he keeps up the eye contact, seemingly searching for something in his face.

“Oh,” his friend eventually says softly, but somehow sounding and looking very pleased as well. “You really like me, don’t you?”

“I like you so much , it’s really embarrassing,” he agrees easily, not a single hint of hesitation to it, and not really any embarrassment either. The words only make Jisung look more pained and pleased at the same time, though it seems like the latter emotion wins out more, because his friend keeps looking at him.

“You know I tried to date a few times,” Jisung eventually admits, speaking ever so softly, but he simply sits silently and listens. “But every time I thought about kissing them, I just kept thinking of you and how I wished we would’ve done that again before you left.” There’s a self-deprecating smile on his friend’s face then, that he wishes he could wipe right off again, but he doesn’t move just yet.

“I somehow always ended up going on dates with people who resembled you,” he confesses instead, and grins after. “The second Chan met you he said that I have a clear type and it’s you. I never kissed any of the others because after every first date I’d get uncomfortable and dipped. There was one guy who tried to kiss me and I really just pushed his face away with my entire hand, walked away and never spoke to him again. I literally blocked his number, deleted the app, everything. It’s still hilariously awkward when I think back on it now. I feel so bad towards him but I hope I never meet him again.”

Jisung is laughing, like he intended him to, but his friend is also looking at him with something burning behind his eyes. When the laughter settles, Jisung reaches out his hand, fingers brushing over his wrist, running up his lower arm and to the inside of it, settling on the soft skin near his elbow.

“Bin… I know you said it’s fine and that I shouldn’t apologise, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I took away the opportunity we could’ve had.” He opens his mouth to speak, but Jisung’s fingers press against his skin a little more solidly so he closes it again. “I’ve had so many regrets about that for such a long time, I just need you to know that I wish I’d done it differently. There were nights I couldn’t sleep when my anxiety was keeping me awake and all I could think about was the fact that I pushed you out of my life and I regretted it so much .”

He swallows thickly, gently pulling his arm out from under his friend’s touch until he can take hold of Jisung’s hand, tangling their fingers together and running his thumb gently over his friend’s skin. He moves his other hand to put it over their clasped hands, never once breaking the eye contact. Jisung looks so sad just then, but at the same time he thinks his friend is happy. Happy to be here, now. Relieved that his regrets don’t have to follow him any longer.

“I don’t have any fancy words for you, Ji,” he says softly after a moment of silence. “But we’re here right now. We’ve got a new opportunity and I’m taking it with both hands.” He lifts their hands as if to prove his words, and manages to bring a small smile to Jisung’s face. “I regret the time we didn’t have, but I don’t regret not telling you and I don’t regret going to Australia. I wouldn’t be who and where I am without that, and though I’m pretty sure I would’ve given it all up for you if you’d asked me to, I’m kind of glad I didn’t?”

Jisung nods his head almost instantly. “No, yeah, definitely. I’m so proud of what you’ve achieved, hyung. I mean, you’re SpearB! I’m still trying to wrap my head around that.” They share a smile and Jisung moves his second hand to join the rest, putting it over the back of Changbin’s hand, stroking it softly.

“I would love to go out sometime,” his friend says softly then, looking up at him and smiling so gently that he thinks he might just be able to lie down in the softness of how that makes him feel and fall asleep in it. “And I’ll even let you hold my hand like dumb idiots in love. Because we both are.”

He huffs out a laugh, and then pushes himself up from his chair, letting go of their hands in order to be able to put one on the side of Jisung’s face and lean in to kiss him briefly.

“I already can’t wait,” he admits when he pulls away, and Jisung beams a smile up at him so bright he can’t do anything but lean in for another kiss. “Stop looking at me like that or I won’t be able to stop kissing you,” he says after, to which Jisung promptly beams at him all over again, but it’s the glint of mischief in it that tells him it’s on purpose. He doesn’t disappoint, leaning right back in and kissing him again.

Jisung kisses him back for a moment before he feels his friend’s lips part in a grin and then he’s chuckling, hands coming up to take hold of his shirt. “You taste like pancake,” he’s told with a grin, before Jisung hides his face in the crook of his neck, nuzzling against his skin and then lifting his head right back up to ask for another kiss.

“Stop kissing me, you have to go to work,” he warns in between the little kisses they share for a while, but he doesn’t make any move to pull away despite it. Jisung smiles against his lips.

“Do you think Chan would fire me if I called in sick? I’ll call it Bin-fever,” his friend jokes and he has to tilt his head away when the laugh is pulled from him so easily.

“ I would fire you if you called it Bin-fever,” he says, which earns him a slap on his chest.

“Hey!” Jisung protests. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

But he’s grinning, and Changbin is grinning right back when their eyes meet again. He runs the pad of his thumb gently over Jisung’s chin, glancing down at his lips and leaning in for one last kiss before he finally straightens.

“Come on, let’s get you ready for work,” he says more seriously. “Chan still needs to hire me, so I have to make sure to stay in his good graces. Go ahead and use the bathroom while I clear this away.”

There’s arms wrapped around his middle the next moment, and then a kiss pressed to his cheek that he absolutely melts from.

“Let’s go on that date soon. This weekend? Take me out somewhere.”

With that, Jisung’s letting go of him, walking out of the kitchen and disappearing around the corner to do as he’s been told. Changbin watches him go for a moment, still unable to fully process that this is all real.

.

Tell me why Jisung’s been smiling like an idiot since he came into work this morning?

He spent the night at my place after Minho promised him breakfast.

So is he smiling like an idiot because of spending the night or because of Minho’s breakfast?

He’s smiling like an idiot because I kissed him right after he spent the night and had Minho’s breakfast.

Would you like the details?

Forget I asked.

Hyung

… yes?

We’re going on a date this weekend

That’s not what you wanted to say, was it?

No

…

I’m so in love with him, Chan

I’m so fucking happy

:)

Good.

I’m glad.

Also happy that you’re going on a date

When, however, are you going to come to work?

What are you talking about?

What work?

You said you were going to help me with some songs

I’m not employed at your company, hyung

What are you talking about

I’ll work when I get a paycheck

Enough of free labour!

You’re literally living off the royalties of songs I helped you make.

…

Details.

Yeah

So when are you coming in?

Give me an hour?

See you in 45 minutes

:*

.

He sits down in the desk chair that’s become his over the years and casually rolls over until he’s right next to Chan, putting his chin on his friend’s shoulder to look at the screen.

“What are we working on?”

“Lily’s debut songs.”

"Lily's debuting?" His eyes grow wide and interested as he straightens up a bit better to look at the screen more properly. The next moment he picks up the second pair of headphones, popping one side over his ear and listening along to what Chan's working on. "What's the vibe we're going with?"

"It's something like 'fuck you I'm a kickass vocalist'."

He snorts and then laughs, but he doesn't contradict it, because Lily is good, so they'll just have to make sure to get that across over the space of the set of songs she's debuting with. 

"Are you throwing in an English song as well?"

"Mhm maybe, we'll see, first let's try and find some good beats among this mess."

The folder Chan opens is more than familiar, with a million different sub folders and their joint musical efforts from the last six years. He looks at it briefly and then bites his lip. 

"Not to be biased but I think you should get Jisung on this, too. The samples I asked you were for a beat he wanted to make, it was really cool. And he'd probably be able to sing the demo for you straight away too."

Chan's gaze comes up to him, as if checking whether he's serious or just stupidly in love, but he knows the line between work and personal life, and he also knows his friend, so he's not worried. There's a moment's pause and then Chan looking back at his screen. 

"Huh. Do you have it with you?"

"Ji's got it on a usb. It's not my beat."

There's a huffed out smile, and then Chan's hand comes up to settle on his shoulder, squeezing it for a moment. 

"I'm really happy you came across him again. It's not like you were unhappy before, but you're extra happy now, does that make sense?"

He breathes out a smile, grateful and amused at the same time. "Hyung, I'm basically vibrating out of my skin with happiness, it makes perfect sense to me."

Chan laughs, running a hand over his hair and then turning his entire desk chair to pull him into a hug. He allows it briefly, before he's shoving at his friend's chest, going through all the usual protests. 

"What? No hugs for me?" His friend asks in a hurt tone and he makes a face at him in return.

"Hugs are only for special occasions or the person I'm kissing. Since this is not a special occasion, do you want to be the person I'm kissing, hyung?" He looks up at his friend questioningly, and promptly finds that was a bad idea because Chan's gaze is full of mischief. 

"What if I do? Would you leave Jisung for me, Bin? I, who have been with you for the last six years…" He knows it's a joke, but Chan's too good at it, at looking like he means it, at acting like this truly matters , and so his face falls and his hand automatically settles on his friend's bicep. 

"Hyung," he pleads, because the thought alone is terrible and he doesn't ever want to even think about what would happen if they'd make him choose. Luckily the laughter is quick to overtake his friend again, and then he is pulled into another hug, which he lets happen this time.

"No, Bin, I don't want to be someone you're kissing, but you're letting me hug you right now. It's not that bad, is it?"

"It's horrible," he groans, shifting his head to the side so he isn't smothered against Chan's chest and can actually breathe. "I can feel every day you went to the gym without me and it's taking my breath away. Literally."

His joke earns him more laughter, Chan squeezing him a little tighter still before letting go. "I see how it is," he says, playfully scorned, but when he motions a hand, his face is serious again as he says: "Text your loverboy. Let's make some music happen." A pause and then: "But work attitudes, please."

Jisung shows up about ten minutes later, following the directions Changbin sent him over text. He doesn't know what his own face looks like, but when the door opens and they make eye contact, Jisung's face absolutely brightens . 

"I thought you said you were coming in next week?" His friend asks like this is the most delightful surprise of his life and he shrugs as he points a thumb over his shoulder at Chan. 

"Boss's orders," he explains in two words, before grinning. Jisung's gaze flicks over to Chan and he automatically dips into a greeting bow, which has Chan groaning and waving off the gesture with his hands. 

"No bowing in my studio, please! Bow all you want in the hallways but in here we're friends." He shoots them both a suspicious look before adding: " Work friends."

Changbin smirks, turning a knowing gaze to his friend. "He thinks if he puts the word 'work' in front of everything today it'll keep us from kissing."

"Oh," Jisung says, frowning briefly before nodding, though he looks distinctly uncomfortable still when he fixes his gaze back on Chan. "Is it because you're lonely, hyung?" He asks then, and the sudden grin doesn't come unexpected to Changbin, but he thinks it might take Chan by surprise. "Do you want us to be kissing you?"

Chan groans loudly, dropping his head back against his chair for a moment. "How did you two meet again only two weeks ago but are somehow already the same person ?"

"It's because we're soulmates, hyung," he hums all seriously, nodding his head as well. "We've been connected through time and space all this time."

"And we grew up together," Jisung adds with a nod that's just as serious. "We spent all our formative years together so we formed the same way." Another nod and then Jisung is reaching out his hands to Chan. "Kisses, hyung?"

"Oh my lord, just give me the usb and kiss your boyfriend what the hell," Chan says exasperated, but there's a smile threatening to break through on his face, so Changbin glances up at Jisung, who's already looking back at him. 

"That sounds like permission," they chime in unison, which has them laughing almost instantly. Jisung digs into his bag, however, pulling out the usb and handing it to Chan. He does lean in then, but it's just for a quick kiss before he's straightening up and looking at the screen. 

"Oh, that's impressive," he says the second his gaze falls on the open folder full of music files. "Is this what you guys have already."

"This is everything we've ever made together," Chan corrects him while plugging in the usb. "Well, it's the biggest part, but the harddrive ran out of space so the rest is on the other one."

Jisung blinks at the screen in clear surprise, and then turns his gaze to look at Chan slowly, as if hesitant of what will come next. "How big is the drive?"

"Two terra? I'm pretty sure. Maybe just one. No wait, that was the old one. Two." There's a decisive nod of his head and then Chan's opening the usb and the music file inside. It takes a moment to load, but the second it does, Chan simply hits play, no further preparation to it. 

Jisung stands quietly behind their chairs as they listen to the song and says nothing, just watching the line move over the screen as the song plays. Chan also says nothing, but it's not long before he's nodding his head along to the rhythm, and when the hook drops, he makes the face of complete approval. 

They continue listening, though, and with every new facial expression, Changbin knows Chan's sold. Jisung still just stands there, waiting, one hand on the back of each of their chairs as he watches the lines move on the screen and says nothing.

When the song ends, Chan pops the headphones off one ear again, looking over at him. "I didn't think that's what you'd do with the footsteps," is the first thing he says and Changbin grins. 

"It was all Sung's idea," he says simply, giving a shrug of his shoulders. "I only worked on it because it was my computer."

Chan tilts his head back to look at Jisung, taking a moment or two to just look at him. When his usually so anxious friend doesn't even budge once and just waits for the judgement to fall, he knows two things at once. One is that Jisung's confidence in his music may have taken a hit at JC, but it's definitely still there. The other is that despite whatever he may have felt in the past; Jisung trusts Chan's opinion. At least where music's concerned. He smiles automatically at the realisation. 

"It's really good," Chan tells Jisung simply. "I love the way it flows. And the bass in there is insane. Did you have lyrics for it already?"

"I was actually playing with that on the subway to work this morning," Jisung affirms, pulling his phone out of his pocket and opening his notes app. "Can you play from a little bit before the hook?" He only glances up at the screen briefly, as if he has no doubt that he'll be listened to, and wow, why is that so attractive ?

It's not like he's wrong, though, because Chan switches the audio to his boxes, turns the volume down a little and starts playing the song from somewhere in the middle of the first verse part. Jisung nods his head as he catches the rhythm, clearing his throat and trying the tone a few times before he seems to decide he got it right.

And then the hook starts and Jisung starts a lazy rap that smoothly flows with the music. It's a few seconds of that before the beat picks up and his friend shifts to singing easily. So easily it takes him a full moment to realise the high notes his friend is singing like it's no big deal. And he'd known Jisung could sing, of course, but not like this . 

It's Chan and him who exchange a look this time, before both looking up at Jisung again to follow the entire process. His friend takes a breath after singing the chorus and shifts easily back into a more upbeat rap. Somewhere halfway the verse, he stops. 

"That's all I got for here, but then I thought at the next hook I could…" Jisung looks up at the screen, one and all focus, and waits for the music to get to the next hook again, humming the rhythm of his earlier rap and then suddenly adding some addlibs to further carry the melody. 

"I was thinking about maybe changing around the chorus this time but I didn't get to that yet because I arrived at the station."

"What have you been working on since you arrived?" Chan asks as he resets the song to the beginning. 

"Oh, uh, someone asked me to help them out with a beat they were working on. I… Forgot his name, I think? He was the room over from mine so I went to introduce myself and then we just…" He motions at the screen and shrugs, and Chan breathes out a laugh. 

"I know how that goes. Did you like what he'd come up with?"

"Yeah it was really cool. Very different from what I usually make but I loved his style. Is he a producer too?"

"Idol, actually. He used to be a JC trainee but he left there to join this company almost as soon as I founded it. He brought a couple of his friends along too. They trained here for a few more months before we managed to fix their debut. He works on all of their songs himself, he does really well."

Jisung's gaze on Chan has suddenly grown almost terrified. "Hold up, I was talking to Hongjoong !? I sat in a studio with Hongjoong and made a track with him ?" Jisung sits down so promptly that both Chan and him are reaching out to keep him from falling, but his friend aimed for the floor from the very start and just looks up at them with an almost blank expression. 

Changbin's laughing the next moment. Chan is a little more polite and just smiles in amusement. "I take it you've heard of him?"

" Heard of him? He's famous! What the fuck!" Jisung's gaze fixes on him then. "Hyung! Why didn't you tell me!"

Changbin only laughs harder. "Because I figured you were well aware he worked for MCE?"

"I mean I was , but I wasn't prepared for the reality of it. What the fuck. I need to call my mum tonight or something. Do I go up to the rooftop and shout it out to the world? How do I cope?"

At this point Chan is laughing as well. "I feel like he didn't have this kind of reaction at all when he met me, should I be offended?"

"What are you talking about, hyung?!" Jisung instantly protests, grabbing hold of Chan's arm. "I spent an entire evening talking Felix's ear off about you when I got asked over to do my interview. I mean, I didn't know yet that CB97 Chris and Chan were the same person then, but-" Suddenly Jisung makes a face and promptly lets go of Chan entirely again. "Oh my god," he says, seemingly coming to a sudden and disturbing realisation. "Felix told me about you." His gaze goes up at Chan wide-eyed and horrified. "Felix… told me about you," he repeats, and something seems to click on Chan's side as well because he suddenly flushes so hard even his earlobes are on fire and busies himself with the computer again. 

"What am I missing here?" Changbin decides to ask, since he clearly is missing something even though he doesn't know what. Jisung looks over at him and takes hold of his arm instead now. 

"Okay so you know how Felix and Chan have been going out, right?" He nods his head and Jisung mirrors the motion like that already explains everything. He luckily also explains for Changbin's slow brain. "Well Felix is my bestie, right? So of course he told me about the handsome man he met and went out with, right? And, like, you know how Felix and I have no secrets? So he told me about everything they got up to…"

It clicks suddenly for Changbin as well and he looks up at Chan instantly, who's popped the headphones over both his ears again and is furiously opening up music files and playing something so loud he doesn't hear what else is being said. One look at his absolutely mortified friend is enough to make him burst out laughing. 

"Oh that is gold !" He says, laughing loudly, hitting the armrest of his chair and grinning brightly at Jisung. "So how does Felix speak about him, hm?" He asks, still chuckling happily at this unexpected turn of events. "Have you heard every compliment for his prowess?"

Jisung shakes his head. "No, Lix is more like-" His friend suddenly glares up at him. "Hey, how do you know it's prowess?"

He only laughs harder at that. "Sungie, please, I don't know anything, I'm just being a supportive friend!" Jisung's gaze is still suspicious as it goes between Chan and him, so he reaches out and pulls one side of the headphones off Chan's ear. 

"Chris, stop hiding away for a moment and tell my boyfriend we never slept together, please."

The physical signs of repulsion are so clear that he doesn't think any words are necessary at all, Chan nearly launching sideways out of his chair in an effort to get away from him, a disgusted tilt to his lips as he looks down at Jisung. 

"Why would I do that with Changbin?" He asks, so clearly against the mere thought that Changbin instantly makes a face at him. 

"Hey! What's wrong with me?" He protests loudly. 

"Nothing!" Chan instantly counters, matching the level of his voice. "You're perfect! You're also like a brother to me! The only way to make you more my brother would be adoption! What? I'd be more likely to sleep with Minho than with you!"

"Oh, there you have it then," Changbin says at a regular level again, turning to beam a smile at Jisung, who's sitting on the floor staring up at him still. "The chances of Minho ever sleeping with him are below zero, so there's absolutely no way we would!"

He grins brightly even as Chan's the one now protesting, but Jisung is still looking up at him with wide doe eyes and he realises something is actually going on there. Or not going on, more likely. 

"Sungie? What's wrong?"

There's a moment of silence as Jisung blinks, seems to try to get back to himself again. Then he reaches out and gently takes hold of a tiny corner of Changbin's pants, without ever looking away from him. "You called me your boyfriend," he says ever so softly, and suddenly his eyes are pooling with tears, face contorting with it. 

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" He's out of his chair instantly, while Chan casually pops the headphones back on properly to give them some privacy. He crouches down next to his friend, instantly pulling Jisung into his arms and pulling him in close. 

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine," Jisung says, but he's suddenly crying fully and Changbin knows this is the moment where it's truly kicked in, where everything from the past two weeks and the last seven years suddenly hits his friend full in the chest. He sits down right alongside him then, pulling Jisung into his embrace and just holding him while he cries.

It doesn't take long, exactly, but it's a big cry nonetheless, a lot of emotions coming together and he gets it, so he makes absolutely no comments and only mutters some encouraging bits of nonsense. When Jisung regains some control over himself, he makes sure to pat Chan's leg and motion for some tissues, which he hands to his friend instantly. 

"You know if you hate being called my boyfriend that much you could've just said so," he jokes lightly when Jisung eventually glances up at him again and the laughter that pulls from his friend is still a little brittle but genuine nonetheless. 

"Shut up, I don't hate it," he's told with a halfhearted smack to his chest, before Jisung sighs deeply. "Well, that came out of nowhere," his friend says with the amused dryness of someone who just had a very big emotional discharge. "I promise I'm not usually this much of a crier."

Jisung grins and then reaches out himself to pat Chan's leg again. Upon seeing that he's more okay again, Chan pops the headphones off one ear. "Coast is clear," Jisung jokes at him. "You can stop pretending you have no idea who we are."

Chan breathes out a chuckle, but does reach out a hand to rest it on Jisung's shoulder. "I just wanted to give you a moment of privacy. You good, though?"

Jisung nods. "Yeah, I just fully processed how big of an idiot I am, but it's all good now. I've accepted it. Time to move on. Did you work on a track?"

Jisung bounces back like nothing big happened, getting back up on his feet and dragging another chair over so he can sit down. Changbin watches him for a moment longer from his position on the floor before shaking his head with a smile and getting up as well. 

"Let's make Lily's debut album then," he says as he rolls his own chair closer to the desk once more and takes a seat. "I've already got the nearest restaurant on speed dial in case we forget the time again."

Chan grins at him, Jisung huffs out a laugh from his friend's other side, and then the headphones go on and the work begins for real. 

Chapter Text

.

The twilight lends a whole new feeling to the scene. He's been walking around the city with Jisung by his side for half the day already after grabbing lunch together - which had been more like late breakfast to both of them - but it seems like it's way prettier now that the sunlight is slowly leaving them behind. Or maybe that's because they're now walking along a path with a beautiful view of the river.

"Hey Ji?" He calls and Jisung turns around to look at him, eyes bright, smile warm, cheeks a little flushed with the cold. He snaps a picture of him just like that and then lowers his phone. Jisung makes a face at him, waiting for him to catch up. 

"What was that for?"

"I wanted to remember this. You. Us."

Jisung flushes a little, his smile turning pleased regardless of his shyness. He reaches out still and takes hold of Changbin's arm when he's close enough. "How can you remember us when you're not in it?" His friend protests, and promptly puts his chin on his shoulder, nudging him to lift the phone again. He does as is expected of him, turning it so they're both in the frame and snapping a few pictures.

Right before he takes the last one, Jisung turns his head and kisses his cheek and he melts . He turns to look at his friend, who chuckles upon seeing his face and then leans in to press a lightning quick kiss to his lips as well. That one makes a swarm of butterflies migrate to his belly, but he doesn't get very long to think on that either because Jisung smiles at him, slipping arms around his middle. 

"Sometimes you look at me like I just hung the stars up in the sky," his friend says softly, pressing closer, his voice warm and appreciative. "I really like the way you look at me. I've always liked the way you look at me. It makes me feel so appreciated and respected. You always look at me like you're really listening to what I'm saying, too."

He smiles a bit wider at the words, turning a little in his friend's hold so he can look at him. "It's because I am listening. And you are appreciated and respected. Loved, as well, do you see that too?"

Jisung's smile widens, pleased and flattered as he nods his head a little. "I'm starting to recognise it, yes. You make it very easy for me to feel loved."

He rests his free hand on Jisung's hands around his middle as he glances at his face.

"Do I make it easy for you too?" Jisung asks him as their cheeks press together. 

"I don't know. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether you like me when you constantly break out into wide smiles when you see me, send me a barrage of happy texts everyday and video call me every night before you go to sleep just because you want to hear me say goodnight. I'm not sure what that means… I wonder if it means that you're tired of being friends with me again."

Jisung laughs, but also lets go with one arm to smack his shoulder, before just cuddling close against his back again.

"You're mean," his friend half-pouts, but the smile breaks through on his face too much to really be taken seriously. "Should I tell you more? That I love you? Do you want me to say it out loud every time? I love you, hyung. Will you feel more loved if I say it every time I think it? I'm so in love with you. Does that help? Huh? Hyung? Do you feel it yet? That I absolutely adore you?"

Jisung's grinning widely and he's laughing, turning around in his friend's hold while he's still talking. He puts his phone in his pocket as he does so, so that he has his hands free to take hold of Jisung's face and lean in to kiss him. It effectively stops the stream of words and a moment later he feels Jisung's fingers grabbing hold of his shirt at his sides, as if trying to make sure he doesn't move away. 

"Idiot," he says when he pulls away, making Jisung laugh even as he's clearly still reeling a little from the kiss. "I love you. And I know you love me too."

"But are you sure?" Jisung teases and he huffs, though he really can't help the wide, pleased, infatuated smile on his face.

"If you keep questioning it like that I might start wondering if it's really true," he threatens, and Jisung promptly presses his lips together, making a locking motion and throwing away the imaginary key. He laughs again at it, leaning in and pressing his face against the side of his friend's.

Jisung's chuckling again as well, hands settling on his back as he leans into the hug some more, until they're just hugging each other close and he's smiling dumbly but happily ahead of himself. 

After some silence, Jisung sighs deeply, relaxing against him completely as he does so and nuzzling into the crook of his neck. He allows him to do just that, running a hand up and down his friend’s back. 

"I recognised your voice straight away in the subway, do you know that?" Jisung softly speaks up after some silence. "For a second I thought I imagined it, but then I turned around and you were actually standing there. I was so terrified at that moment, but now I'm so glad about it. I think Felix heard me say this a hundred times, but I'm so glad, Bin. That you were there. That you recognised the hoodie. That you wanted to talk to me. That you looked happy to see me."

"Honestly I wasn't sure how I felt at first but since I couldn't stop smiling I just assumed I was happy until I got over the shock and realised that I really was happy," he admits, smiling again at the memory. Jisung huffs out a laugh, the breath tickling his neck.

Rather than more heartfelt words, however, Jisung suddenly leans in with his full weight. "I'm cold, hyung. Carry me to the restaurant?"

"I can't carry you all the way to the restaurant, Ji."

"Then what are you working out for?"

"I can carry you into a taxi that will take us to the restaurant?" He offers. "Bump your head on the door as I throw you onto the back seat?"

Jisung laughs again, and he's grinning as his friend pulls away just to hit his shoulder once more. "You'd hurt me like that? Me? I, who climbed the school wall with you? What is this betrayal, hyung?"

"Oh my god, Jisung, is that you?!" He instantly exclaims. "I almost didn't recognise you now that you have shoulders!"

Jisung gasps, and instantly shoves at his middle. "Oh, you didn't!" He says with great offence. "Look who's talking! I think there's twice as much of you as there used to be with all those muscles!"

He laughs, because he's too happy, because this is too funny, because Jisung's eyes are sparkling and his shoulders relaxed and a smile is threatening to pull up his lips the entire time. 

"I love you," he says, reaching down so he can take hold of his friend's hands and squeeze them with an infinite amount of gentleness. Instantly all of Jisung's posturing is gone, his friend mellowing out entirely and smiling the softest, warmest smile at him. "Date me?" He adds. 

That makes Jisung laugh again. "Isn't that what we're doing?"

"I mean we're on a date, but I want to be actively dating you."

"Okay." Jisung's eyes sparkle when he says it, like he knows perfectly well what he's doing, and Changbin, as always, indulges him. 

"Okay?"

"Yes."

"That means you can't date anyone else, though. No more ogling Minho hyung when you visit the cafe, either."

Jisung laughs, and smoothly presses up against his side, intertwining the fingers of their hands and putting his other hand on his arm.. "I have eyes for no one but you, hyung. Who is this Minho you speak of? I bet he's hideously ugly and makes horrible coffee. But I wouldn't know because I've never noticed him before." He snorts, but Jisung isn't done yet. "Changbin, darling, my one and only hyung, the only man I'll ever notice, light of my life, fire of my loins, are we going to the restaurant? I'm cold and hungry."

"Fire- What!?" He sputters and Jisung cackles at his successful attack, darting away and dragging him along by the hand he's still holding on to.

"Come on! The food is waiting!"

The restaurant he booked for them is a bit more upscale, which is why they're both not in oversized hoodies for a change. He's enjoying the wool sort of polo shirt thing Jisung's got going on, though, mainly because it's making his friend look sophisticated and grown up in all the best of ways. It's also showing off a large expanse of neck that he's considering maybe covering with kisses at some point in the future. 

The near future if he's lucky.

But for the time being they're in public, and in a restaurant at that, meaning there will be food for them soon and other things for him to do with his mouth. Until it arrives, though, he's doing what he said he would: holding Jisung's hand and smiling at him stupidly the entire time, just taking him in. Jisung's doing much the same in return, except he gets shy under Changbin's gaze every so often, glancing away with a smile when it happens, sometimes briefly checking his phone before he eventually looks back up and the eye contact resumes. 

In the end, though, shyness wins as it always does, and he smiles when Jisung blushes a distinct red colour and nudges their intertwined hands. 

"I didn't think you meant it so literally, hyung," his friend finally protests, causing him to smile even wider. 

"Well I did. Do you want me to stop?"

"Does it matter?" Jisung asks, and he's grinning again even as he's still blushing. "Do you think you can?"

He tries, he actually tries really hard to stop smiling, but even as he manages to school his features the smile already breaks through on his face again at the sight of Jisung's smile, and so in the end he just laughs. 

"Clearly not," he admits defeat easily. "I'm too happy. And too dumb. And too in love." He squeezes Jisung's fingers. "With you."

"Hyung!" Jisung whines, but he's still smiling as well. They both take better hold of each other's hand at the same time and then they're looking at each other again with warm smiles. He sees something shift in Jisung's gaze a moment later, an emotion uncovering in the depths of his eyes. 

"This is everything I ever imagined it to be and more," his friend says a moment later. "Sitting with you, holding your hand, smiling, knowing you feel the same…" There's a smile, but he can also see some old emotions breaching the surface, so he runs his thumb soothingly over the back of Jisung's hand, receiving a gentle squeeze in return.

They sit in silence for a bit again and this time Jisung is the one looking most intently at him, so he lets his friend do all the looking he wants. In the end, the food arrives before either of them feel inclined to speak and so they let go and allow the server to place everything on the table. With a nod and some words of thanks, they watch her go before focusing on their food. 

"Hyung," Jisung says before he can properly dig in, and he looks up. "She was checking you out." He frowns lightly, looking after the server before looking back at his friend. "I can't blame her, though," Jisung hums when he does. "You've become very attractive."

There's no joke in Jisung's words, even if his friend is smiling, and he feels the heat creep up his neck for the first time in a while. Not because he's embarrassed, but because he's pleased. Happy that Jisung thinks he looks good. Happy that Jisung doesn't seem insecure about other people apparently thinking it, too. Happy to be complimented so sincerely. 

"You always used to be handsome, of course,” Jisung continues without shame. “That's why you were so popular in high school. But you grew up… so well. Wow."

He's blushing now, pleased and preening a little, but he also doesn't miss the chance to give his friend a very particular look. 

"Have you seen yourself?" He asks, completely serious as well. "You don't even know how attractive you look in that shirt right now, Ji. It's taking everything I have to survive right now, okay?"

Jisung's lips part in surprise. Then he's given a brief, searching look, before suddenly a much too smug little smile appears on his friend's face. He thinks two things in that moment of silence before Jisung speaks. One is fuck because it's the most attractive thing he's ever seen. The other is fuck because his friend has gotten so comfortable with him again that he no longer gets shy because of the compliments and that means Changbin is going to lose his mind. In the best way, of course. 

"Actually I put the shirt on for that purpose alone," Jisung says calmly, confidently, that smug little smile turning into a smirk and Changbin is lost. Lost . Absolutely smitten. Absolutely infatuated. Absolutely happy, too, because Jisung has eyes for only him. "I also vaguely recalled you told me I look better with glasses so I didn't wear my contacts today."

As if on cue, his friend rummages in his bag and pulls out his glasses, unfolding them and putting them on. For a moment he looks down at his plate like he's going to start eating like that, but then he glances up from behind the silver specs, biting his lip and smiling Changbin's way and his heart stops. Restarts. Runs off at breakneck speed. 

Whatever his expression did must be much the same, because Jisung laughs, though his cheeks do also colour a little again. "Penny for your thoughts?"

He looks down to pick up his own chopsticks, shaking his head a little as he does so. Both to clear it as to deny the request. "Later," he says softly. "I'll tell you later. When we're alone."

The flush in his friend's cheeks darkens, the smile slipping away as Jisung seems to catch on to his meaning and apparently has a select few thoughts about being alone himself. There's a small nod, then, and a suddenly soft smile. 

"Alright. I'll keep you to that."

He returns Jisung’s smile with one of his own. They both simultaneously start on the food then, as if reaching some unspoken agreement that they'll focus on that for now. It's delicious, after all, and after the first bite, Jisung's already humming his approval. Soon enough, they're putting food on each other's plates to try, and discussing the superiority of different soy sauce brands while devouring the delicious meal. 

It's hours later by the time they reach Jisung's apartment, giggling together again because of the drunk man at the subway station who'd mistaken Jisung for someone famous and had insisted on getting his autograph before letting them go. Jisung had signed the piece of cardboard he'd been given with a flourish, shook hands, even posed for a picture. Changbin had been the one told to take the picture. This, of course, is the part that amuses Jisung the most. 

"Oh," Jisung says when he checks his phone after ringing the doorbell and getting no response. "Felix is out with Chan, apparently. Let me find my key."

He rummages around in his bag, then rummages around some more. After a moment he takes it off his shoulder and squats down to go through it properly. After another moment he mutters what sounds like a curse and then starts to pull some things out.

"Hyung, hold this," he's told, so he complies, though he uses his free hand to take his phone from his pocket. A quick call to Chan's number takes him to voicemail instantly and so he looks back down at Jisung, who has procured a series of objects from his bag - all kinds of things except the key he was looking for. "I forgot my key," he's told, and so he laughs, because it's a little funny, but he also dials his roommate's number instead. 

"Hmm?" Is the only sound made when Minho picks up, just like it always is. 

"Hyung, Jisung forgot his key and Felix is out. Do you mind if he stays over?"

"I'm at Hyunjin's today," Minho says after a brief silence. "Do whatever you want." Before he can even reply, Minho adds: "Within reason."

He huffs out a laugh, but nods his head anyway even though his friend can't see him. "Alright, cool, I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Hmm."

"Goodnight, hyung."

"Night."

The call ends before he can even reach the button and then he looks down at Jisung, who's looking up at him from where he's still squatting. "Well, pack all of this up again, we're having a sleepover," he says lightly, putting his phone away and then pulling his keys from his pocket. "Unlike someone, I can get into my house."

Jisung smacks at his leg but starts to put everything into his bag again anyway, reaching out in the end to take back what he'd given Changbin at the start. When he's all packed, he pushes himself to stand again, and promptly reaches out to take hold of Changbin's hand, sliding their fingers together and holding on as he walks away from his house again. 

Back to the same subway station they go, where the drunk man has luckily left so they can head to the right platform without interruptions. They take the subway in the opposite direction, to where Changbin's apartment is situated. It's a short walk from the station to his apartment building, during which Jisung once again reaches out to tangle their fingers together like it's no big deal. 

It's a relief to head inside, but only because it had started to get quite cold outside, so when Jisung comes to lean against his chest in the elevator, he wraps his arms around him gratefully and lets their heads rest together. They stand like that until the doors open, which is when Jisung shifts to move and Changbin lets him go so he can pick out the right key and open up his apartment door. 

Once inside, he's taking off his coat, stepping out of his shoes and into slippers. He hangs the coat up, then puts his shoes neatly aside and checks to make sure Jisung has a pair of slippers as well. As he looks up from his friend's slipper-clad feet, their eyes meet and he's rendered motionless by the look he's given. 

"What?" He asks after a moment, straightening up properly and turning to look at his friend. In the soft light coming from the one lamp still burning in the living room, Jisung looks ever so good, the rim of his glasses reflect the light and his eyes are full of something determined. His friend steps closer at his words, hand twitching as if he wants to reach out but never actually doing so. He stops again a small step away from Changbin. 

"You said you'd tell me your thoughts when we were alone," Jisung says softly, and Changbin realises his friend’s bag is sitting next to his shoes, his coat hanging off the hanger, Jisung standing in his home like he belongs. Jisung standing opposite him like he’s got purpose.

"Oh." He has to actually make an effort to remember which thoughts he'd been talking about until he remembers and then promptly realises he's having almost the same ones right at that very moment. He does reach out then, taking hold of Jisung's hand, drawing him a little closer until he can put his arms around his friend's middle again.

"You," he says as he gets to look at Jisung a moment later, "look so good like this. I want to just…" He leans in, but rather than kissing Jisung on his lips, he dips his head lower and presses lips to the side of his friend's neck, to the spot where neck turns to shoulder, to the soft skin at the base of his throat as Jisung's head tilts away to give him easier access, to the adam's apple bobbing when Jisung swallows thickly. He lifts his head again slowly after, and smiles at his friend, who's looking at him with slightly wider eyes, pulse racing under Changbin's fingers where they've settled on the side of his friend's neck. 

"That's what I was thinking of," he says softly, brushing fingertips gently over the soft skin, and Jisung swallows again. His eyes are drawn to the movement, before he looks back up. "Hmm," he adds as he moves his hand up, gently moving the glasses until he can take them off without getting the temples stuck anywhere. He folds them neatly, even turns away to put them safely aside on the small table near the door, and then turns back to his friend. “And this…”

He leans in again, this time to press his lips to Jisung’s, to set his teeth lightly in his friend’s lower lip, tug softly, lean in closer and kiss him again. There’s a soft sound from Jisung’s throat, and then there’s hands in his hair, tugging him closer, pulling him along until Jisung’s back hits the wall and his hand settles on it as well. But when he keeps his distance, Jisung’s hands move from his hair down to his hips, pulling him all the way in until they’re pressed as closely together as they can get.

It’s addictive, to feel every single shift of his friend’s body, to feel the warmth building between them. The little noises Jisung makes are addictive too, soft and wanting, hummed into his mouth or gasped out between kisses. For a while, it’s all he can focus on, mind emptied of any other thoughts, hands moving over Jisung’s sides, arms, up into his hair.

When it ends, it’s because Jisung pulls away, just a little, just enough to let him know it’s a temporary pause, but a pause nonetheless. He turns his head to the side, resting his forehead against the wall next to his friend’s head. Jisung leans against him and they’re both just breathing for a while, as if trying to calm their racing hearts and minds down.

It's not entirely effective, but that's mainly because they're still standing flush together, not a hair's width between them, and their hands are still resting in each other's sides. So in the end, he straightens again even when his heart hasn't entirely settled yet. As he does, Jisung's eyes open again and they lock gazes. There's a smile on his face again almost automatically, but he also leans in to get another kiss. Jisung doesn't protest, even smiles again as well after, and moves his hands up, running fingers through his hair. 

"I liked what you were thinking of," he's told softly, but Jisung's eyes are focused on his mouth. Or the general area of his mouth, because he knows his friend is farsighted and probably just sees a very blurry blob where his face is right now.

"That's good news, because my thoughts keep straying in that general direction," he hums, and watches the smile spread on Jisung's features. 

"Where's my glasses?"

He turns his head away to check the table, and then moves away to get them. When he returns, Jisung takes the glasses from him, putting them back on, looking up into his face after. 

"Hm," he's told. "You look good like this. Well-kissed." There's that grin he loves so much again, and then Jisung's hands settle in his sides, pulling him in again until they're standing as close together as before. "I got cold," is the excuse he's given, which has him breathing out a small smirk as well. 

"Ji, if you wanted me to push you up against the wall you could've just told me," he jokes, but his friend picks in instantly. 

"Oh, in that case… this is me telling you."

He huffs out a laugh, but Jisung's too close, still looking at him too intently, and so he settles down again soon enough. "Okay," he says, when he realises his friend is being serious. "Alright. Duly noted."

He smiles, putting his hands on his friend's hips again and then leaning in to kiss him once more. He has to tilt his head a little more than before because of the silver frame, but it's a small adjustment to make. When he leans in further and pulls yet another little sound from his friend's throat, there's really no way he could have resisted.

He didn't intend to still be in the hallway thirty minutes after coming home, but that's still where they are by then. His hands are in Jisung's side, fingers brushing over bare skin where his friend's shirt has been pushed up. Jisung's hands are loosely resting at the back of his neck, fingers toying with the strands of his hair. 

Their heads are resting gently together, their breathing slow and steady, their proximity almost a necessity at this point. His lips are a little sensitive, but that, too, seems to be the only way things could be. As if all of this is right , as if it's the only possible outcome for this entire afternoon and evening that makes any sense at all. 

"My legs are tired," Jisung tells him with a half-laugh, and he breathes out a smile of his own at that, nuzzling his friend's cheek before straightening up just a little.

"Should we move to the couch?" He asks, as he takes in the state of disarray his friend is in, hair tousled, glasses a little crooked, shirt still pushed halfway up his chest. He looks comfortable at the same time, not at all upset over the way his stomach is on full display, or Changbin's hands are still right there as well.

The realisation of the trust that requires temporarily robs him of his breath.

"The bed?" Jisung offers, hand moving from the back of his neck to his cheek, thumb brushing over his cheekbone before the fingers smooth his hair back again. "The rest of me is a little tired as well."

He hums, nods, puts on the most understanding expression. "Ah, yes, all that excitement…" Jisung's expression instantly contorts with playful offence, fingers flicking his cheek before there's laughter. 

"Fuck you," he's told, so fondly that he thinks he might just be a pile of goo on two legs at this point, willing and pliant when Jisung leans in for a brief kiss. "From how much you're leaning on me I don't think you're faring any better, Bin."

"Oh, not at all. I'm exhausted from all the excitement. My old bones…" He grins as Jisung laughs, but then slowly pushes himself up from against his friend and the wall both. A shiver trembles through Jisung's frame. 

"Tired," is the explanation he's given when he frowns slightly in concern. Then there's a cheeky little grin and: "You're also just so hot ." He huffs out a smile, reaching up to gently tug the shirt down so that it can preserve some of his friend's body warmth. He takes hold of Jisung's hand next, to pull him along towards his room.

He opens up his wardrobe and steps aside. "Grab whatever you want to wear to bed," he says, permission for Jisung to go through his stuff. He's got nothing to hide, after all, and least of all from Jisung of all people. He leaves his friend to the selection process, grabbing his own sleeping clothes off the back of the chair and heading over to the bathroom already. It's easy work to slip out of his clothes and into the comfortable shirt and sweatpants he sleeps in. A little after he's started washing up, Jisung walks in as well.

He's exchanged his own clothes for a very similar combination of shirt and pants, but he's commandeered an oversized hoodie as well that he's absolutely drowning in. It brings a smile to Changbin's face and makes him reach out to run his hand fondly over his friend's hair. Jisung smiles at him, a soft and sleepy thing that he treasures more than any of the other ones he's gotten so far, especially when his friend nuzzles into his side and just stays there for a moment or two. 

"Here, I got you your toothbrush from last time," he says softly after a moment, picking it from the cup and handing it to his friend. Jisung takes it quietly, accepting the dollop of toothpaste as well without any comment. He doesn't look upset, though, rather extremely content and happy with the way things are right then. 

For a while there's only the sound of bristles on teeth, then they're spitting and rinsing, towel drying their faces. He turns to head back to his room, but Jisung turns towards him, reaching arms up to wrap them around his neck. 

"Hyung," he utters softly. "'m tired. Carry me?" And what can he do but agree? So when Jisung hops up, he catches him, arms around his middle as his friend wraps his legs around him and buries his face into his neck.

"You want some water?" He asks softly, pressing a kiss to his friend's cheek. Jisung hums and nods against him, so he runs a hand over his back as he walks over to the kitchen. They emerge again a few moments later with a bottle of water each, Jisung still clinging to him like a little monkey.

He makes sure they didn't leave anything lying around just in case Minho returns before they're awake, though it seems unlikely. It's habit to leave the apartment clean, and he's not going to break that habit if he can help it, after all. This is why when he makes it to the bed, he eases Jisung down on it, pressing a kiss to his temple. "I'll be right back," he says, "get comfortable already I'll come warm you up in a second."

He leaves his bottle on the bedside table and then quickly heads back into the bathroom to go get his clothes as well as Jisung's bag in the hallway. He leaves them on the chair in his room, flicking off the big light and then joining his friend in the bed. 

Jisung has wrestled himself out of the hoodie by now, and instantly moves over to him, tangling up their legs and slipping an arm around his middle as if he can't bear to be any less close together than that. He automatically reciprocates, wrapping both arms around Jisung's frame until they're cuddled together completely. 

"Sweet dreams," he tells his friend, running a hand up and down Jisung's back for a while just because he's not fully ready to let go yet. Jisung's fingers do much the same on his side so it's mutual. In the end, though, exhaustion wins out over any wish to prolong their time together and the world of dreams soon comes to claim them. 

He wakes slowly, because he's a little cold, and realises why when he opens his eyes to find the bed empty. It takes him a few moments to wake up further, but right when he manages to turn his head, the door opens. He looks over to it, only to see Jisung rushing back to him, and quickly slipping beneath the covers and into his waiting arms once more. 

"Ugh," is the only explanation he's given as his friend buries closer into his chest again, hiding away his face for a few moments before sighing deeply. It's a sigh of great contentment, he can tell. It brings a smile to his face as he leans down to press a kiss to his friend's hair. 

"Sleep some more," he mumbles, and a vague hum is the only reply, so he allows his own eyes to close again as well so he can go back to sleep again. 

It's the smell of delicious food that wakes him the second time, and his half asleep brain wonders if Jisung somehow made food before he realises his friend is still cuddled closely against him. Once he's fully processed that, he leans in to press his face into Jisung's hair and just exist like that for a while. 

Until Jisung stirs, shifts and promptly says: "I smell food."

There's no staying in bed after that, so it's not long before Jisung's back in the hoodie and out of the room to head towards the kitchen. He follows about ten minutes later, having grabbed another hoodie. Minho smiles at him from where he's already putting all the food on the table, spreading it out like it's a fancy hotel's breakfast buffet, and when he takes a seat next to Jisung, there's a hand smoothing down his hair. 

"Weren't you at your boyfriend's?" He asks in lieu of a greeting, which has Minho breathing out a huff and shaking his head. 

"I was. We passed by the cafe to feed the cats and then came here."

Certain he must have completely overlooked the tall man somehow, he looks around the kitchen again with a frown, but before he can ask, Hyunjin walks in through the kitchen door. Minho still chuckles over the face he just made, but Hyunjin is one and all smiles. 

"Jisungie," he greets them, "Changbin hyung. I hope you two slept well. It's nice to see you again."

"Amazing," Jisung promptly replies from where he's already got a mouthful of food. He chews and swallows before continuing, luckily. "It's great to see you again, too! Hey, we should go on a double date sometime!" In front of their eyes, Jisung has a whole lightbulb moment before he adds: "Triple date, with Lix and Chan hyung, too."

Minho laughs, Hyunjin smiles, Changbin makes a face at it but mainly because for some reason the idea sounds highly appealing. 

"We can do that," Minho is surprisingly the one to say first. "I bet Chan won't mind us usurping pizza night if it means he gets to see his best friends and his crush all at once." His roommate throws him a grin after those words and so he can't help laughing. 

"As long as they can keep their hands to themselves in public. I've not seen them together yet, how bad is it?"

"Horrible," Minho deadpans, but Hyunjin shakes his head, smiling fondly at his boyfriend. 

"They're cute. Not horrible at all. I think it could be fun if we all went out together. You three should make that happen, babe."

He sees Jisung's eyes light up across the table, his friend's gaze going between the two men before coming to him, something incredibly warm and mischievous both in those eyes. Before the thought can be fully formed or voiced, however, Hyunjin speaks again. 

"I really like those glasses. Where'd you get them from?"

The conversation shifts, and he gladly lets it happen around him while he enjoys breakfast. It takes him a while to realise neither Hyunjin nor Minho have anything other than their mug of tea, meaning the food was made for Jisung and him alone. He makes a mental note to thank his roommate for this later, when they're alone so he won't be too embarrassed about it. 

Eventually, when their bellies are filled and it's getting closer to noon than it is morning, Jisung decides to head home so he can clean up a little before the work week starts again. They spend some time just standing around hugging each other before he truly does leave, but it still feels like a loss to have to let him go.

Watching Jisung get on the subway wearing another one of his hoodies makes it slightly more bearable, though. 

.

"So, I know you've all probably seen my friend around plenty of times before and wondered why he's not employed here yet when he spends so much time in the building, but we're changing that today."

Chan's looking mightily pleased with himself. There's a room full of people, most of them producers and people who work on the songs before they're released. Jisung is there, trying his hardest not to beam at him, and next to his boyfriend sits Hongjoong, who smiles at him lightly. 

"So everyone, this is Seo Changbin, he's going to be working for MCE starting today. And because of that I am now allowed to tell you that Changbin is also known as SpearB."

This is why Chan looked so smug to start with, he thinks, and he can understand it because the room has gone completely quiet for a few seconds, as if everyone is trying to figure out whether this is a joke.

"Does this mean Ateez gets to collaborate with SpearB on our next album?" Hongjoong asks lightly, eyebrows raised a little, his smile amused. 

"Hey!" Jisung protests. "I thought Ateez was going to collaborate with me on the next album?!"

The band leader laughs, and then nods his head. "Well yes, but hopefully there will be more than three songs on it?" The teasing quality to his voice makes it clear that he's just joking around with a friend, and Changbin is glad they have already made it to this level of ease with each other. 

Jisung huffs in response, like he would've done with him too. "The day has only just started. We can make it six by tonight."

This has Hongjoong laughing again, and Changbin grinning lightly. "I would not dream of intervening in an ongoing project without explicit permission," he says easily. "But I'd love to sit together and create some tracks with both of you." He nods his head, before looking around the room. "Well, all of you," he amends, casually lifting a hand and putting it on Chan's shoulder. "Except this guy."

Chan pretends to be offended, there's laughter around the room. He makes sure to dip into a polite bow then, smiling warmly. 

"I hope you'll all treat me well."

He has no doubt they will. 

.

"Changbin, tell me honestly…" Minho looks at him all seriously from the other couch, eyebrows drawn together a little. He looks over at his friend expectantly, wondering what he'll be asked about. Hyunjin sits against his roommate's side with a book in hand that he's been quietly reading while they've been watching some television and he has mainly been texting. "You're not sending questionable pictures to your boyfriend right now, are you?"

Hyunjin throws his head back and laughs, a surprisingly high-pitched thing that always makes Minho glance at him and smile that soft, almost secret smile that's definitely reserved for the tall man alone. The first time he heard it, Changbin definitely stared. At this point, though, it's so normal he merely makes a face at his roommate and manages not to take the teasing to heart. 

"You probably think every picture without a crazy snow filter is questionable, hyung," he counters, pouting a little. "But no, if you must know, I'm actually texting Chan about music. Jisung's out watching a movie with his roommate."

"Oh, Yongbokie?" Hyunjin asks, lifting his head a little to look at him properly. "Are they coming to the cat cafe again soon? I'd love to see him again. He's so warm."

"I'll ask. Jisung and I've got a class reunion to go to this weekend, though, so it'll be a while."

"He wanted to see Yongbokie, not you," Minho deadpans and Changbin pouts even harder at his roommate.

"He said they! I assumed that included Jisung!"

"I did mean Yongbok and Jisung, babe," Hyunjin agrees, tilting his head back to look up at Minho, sending him a smile. Minho promptly leans in and Changbin casually looks back down at his phone, not exactly interested in becoming the third wheel to their private moment. 

When he glances back up, the scene opposite him has gone back to normal, Minho focused on the television once more, though Hyunjin's looking at him again.

"Were you two in the same class?" He asks. "Jisung and you."

Changbin shakes his head. "No, I was a year ahead. But we hung out together so often I think both of our classes knew both of us." He breathes out a smile and shrugs. "His classmate told him to bring me along, that's why I'm going as well."

"Sounds good." Hyunjin nods, and after another moment, lets his head roll backwards until he can look up at Minho again. "Babe," he says, and Changbin would call it a whine except there's too much of a smile in it and Hyunjin's voice is too low. But Minho glances over anyway, and then does a double take at whatever he sees in his boyfriend's face, starting to smile already. 

It must be an inside joke, he thinks, because Hyunjin's just grinning back for a moment before he speaks again. "What about McDonald's?" He asks, and then the both of them laugh softly. Yet after a nod of Minho's head, they're also both moving to get up. 

"We're going out," Minho says casually as he straightens his shirt and Hyunjin puts his book on the coffee table. "No need to wait up. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, hyung. Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Hear that, darling?" Minho chimes easily as he's walking off to follow Hyunjin to the door. "All options are still open."

Changbin huffs out a laugh but he doesn't try to argue, simply turning back to his phone to continue his conversation with Chan. 

.

"How was the movie?"

Jisung looks up from his lunch to blink at him in confusion before suddenly realising what he's talking about. "Oh! Good. Yeah. It was really good, actually. We went out and got pizza after. Sorry I didn't text you anymore."

He breathes out a smile. "Don't worry about it, you don't have to be glued to your phone for me. You let me know you got home safe when you did and that's good enough for me. Even though I was already passed out cold at the time."

Jisung grins at him, eyes bright and full of mischief and he knows he will hate what follows. 

"Ah, yes, old men need their beauty sleep."

He kicks Jisung's leg under the table, making his friend start in surprise, before he's laughing. 

"Hey guys," Hongjoong says as he comes to take a seat near them. "Try not to be so obvious about flirting with each other, would you? All this love is getting uncomfortable to witness." The surprising part is not his words but the irony with which he says them, grinning at them like he's making a great joke. "How are you still able to walk with all this abuse, Sungie?"

"Tell him, hyung!" Jisung states smugly, grabbing the opportunity with both hands like Changbin knew he would. 

"Technically Jisung is your senior at this company, Bin," Hongjoong makes sure not to disappoint and Jisung's expression looks triumphant, until the words fully sink in and his friend goes blank with surprise. He can only laugh. 

"Jisung can think he is whatever he wants, but this just happens to be how I flirt and I'm pretty sure he likes it," he counters without looking away from his friend, who's blank for a few more seconds, until he seems to realise two pairs of eyes are on him now. 

"What? Uh… Oh, yeah, that is how he flirts," Jisung agrees with a quick nod of his head when he catches up. "That and being in love with me for years without telling me."

Right as he's about to protest at this utterly low blow, Jisung's expression brightens with a dazzling smile full of warmth, before he looks over at Hongjoong again.

"We have the exact same flirting style, it turns out."

The response is slow in coming, mainly because Hongjoong seems to be processing for a hot second there, looking between Jisung and him a few times before the realisation follows. 

"Oh, wait, what? For real? I was joking, I didn't think you guys… Really? Since when?"

"Since Saturday," Jisung proclaims proudly, like it's one of his biggest achievements in life, right up there with being one of the most awesome songwriters being employed at MCE. Hongjoong somehow manages to show the exact amount of amazement and happiness to go with a similar announcement as well and Changbin rolls his eyes a little, but fondly . 

"Chan said no dating at work, though, so for all intents and purposes that was me abusing you, Sung, just remember that."

"Right, right," Jisung chimes, nodding all seriously again and getting back to his food. "Anyway, hyung, when are we going to continue working on that track?"

He's about to ask which track Jisung's talking about when he glances up and realises Jisung hadn't even been talking to him. 

"Hm, I'm swamped this afternoon, but tomorrow, though?" Hongjoong suggests and Changbin makes sure to sigh deeply when Jisung agrees easily. 

"Replaced so easily by a different hyung," he laments, putting a hand to his heart. "All it took was meeting the great Hongjoong once and now I could just as well be a nobody."

Hongjoong looks shocked only until Jisung laughs heartily, reaching out and squeezing his wrist. 

"Don't be sad, Bin," his friend says lightly. "I’ll plan in a few hours with him here and there, but you still have all the rest of my time." A brief pause that he knows is just temporary before: "Except when I'm sleeping. Or working. Or with Felix. Or eating. So like… I have about twenty minutes for you later?"

He laughs, reaching out and messing up Jisung's hair, who's giggling like he just managed the greatest victory of all. Hongjoong's looking at them with a grin, clearly enjoying the banter from the sidelines. 

"No, but seriously," Jisung says as he gathers the last of his food together on his spoon to eat it. "You want to work together this afternoon? I have crazy ideas and I want to make them into awesome things with you."

He nods his head, because there's really no other answer he can give. They made that one song, of course, but it was mostly just him doing what Jisung wanted. To actually work on music together again… He'll be delighted to see what they can come up with. So when Jisung gets up before he's even finished chewing and motions for him to go along, he obliges with a polite little bow Hongjoong's way - who is both his hyung and his senior at the company, though he's always been treated like he was the senior instead due to his close friendship with Chan. 

Working on songs with Jisung, it turns out, is no different from how it was eight to ten years ago. They put together a few basic beats just to have something to go off of and then they're just working tirelessly on lyrics like they've got pages of them lying around to choose from. 

Jisung's lyrics are still as witty and quick flowing as ever, his own layered with his tendency to rap strongly. Every time so much as a single bar is tried out on the music they're just jamming to each other's creations, hyping each other up and being absolutely comfortable with showing off their own ideas. 

As always when they get lost in the music, time escapes them and it's not until Jisung's stomach growls loudly five seconds before Chan sticks his head inside the room that they realise how late it's gotten. 

"Thought I'd find you here," Chan says easily, as he walks further into the room once he realises he's not interrupting anything. "I could use your input on one of the Lily songs, so let's sit together tomorrow morning, alright?" He nods, Chan returns the nod and then turns to look at Jisung next. "Jisung, the guide you recorded yesterday sounds really good. I'd like it if you would sit in on the recording session as well to give some pointers on how to sing it?"

Jisung's eyes temporarily widen a little, but professionalism wins out over excitement, because he nods a few times. "No, yeah, sure, definitely," his friend agrees and Chan smiles at him warmly. 

"Awesome. In that case the only thing I have left to say is go home, guys. It's weird when other people are here later than I am."

The words make Changbin laugh and he shakes his head as he gets up from his chair already, moving to shut down the computer before he straightens to pat Chan's shoulder. "Shouldn't you work a little less and socialise a little more, hyung?" He suggests playfully and Chan grimaces at him in reply. 

"If only there wasn't so much work to do!"

"You should hire an assistant," he suggests. "Someone who's good at telling people when to stop working and start playtime. This reminds me of kindergarten somehow. A kindergarten teacher would be the best assistant for you." Chan's expression is already doing the thing that it does when he realises what exactly is going to follow but Changbin only grins wider as he continues. "Oh, Jisung just so happens to know a really great kindergarten teacher, should we give you his number?'

Jisung, as always instantly in on the joke and more than happy to help him out, quickly nods his head as he faces Chan again as well. "Yeah, he's really good at making sure you live healthily; he's been doing the same thing for me for years! I would highly recommend him!"

Chan tries to look angrily at them but fails miserably when he starts laughing. 

"You guys are joking but Felix literally sent me a message just before telling me to stop working and to stop keeping my employees hostage as well. He said you should check your phone, Jisung."

At this, Jisung promptly pats every single pocket on his body before realising his phone is in his hands still from when he was writing lyrics on it and then promptly laughs at himself even as he quickly checks his messages. 

"Oh, Felix invited you all over for dinner if you want?" His friend hums a moment later, looking up to see their reaction. It's only years of friendship that help him catch the tail-end of the utter surprise that flashes across Chan's face, and he grins easily as he nods his head. "Sounds good. Is he ordering or making food?"

"He made food," Jisung replies after verifying. "We should wrap up and go. You want to come too, hyung?"

Chan looks down at Jisung's earnest inquiring expression for only a few seconds before he nods his head just the once. "Sure. I'll go get my stuff. Meet you guys downstairs?"

"Cool," Changbin makes sure to say, and that's all there is to it, really, as Jisung texts Felix they're coming and they all start gathering their things to leave work for the day. 

Felix is the same sunshine as ever when they make it to their apartment. Jisung is given a great big hug, Changbin is given an even greater hug and then he gets to witness the two Australians together for the first time. The hug given to Chan is perhaps even greater and bigger than the previous two, but it's also infinitely softer, he thinks, as Felix also presses a kiss to Chan's cheek and Chan murmurs something to him in English that is given an equally soft reply. He looks away at about that moment, only to catch Jisung's gaze who grins at him and motions him into the kitchen. 

He follows willingly, and uses the opportunity of finally being in a private space and temporarily alone to wrap his arms around his friend's middle and press a kiss to his jaw. Jisung breathes out a smile, turning around in his grip just so they can kiss properly. A few lingering pecks follow each other until eventually Jisung smiles against his lips and lifts a hand to put it on the side of his neck. 

"Hyung." As always Jisung has his full attention with just the one word, and they're both smiling when they realise it. "I had such a great time working with you today. Let's do it a lot more, okay?"

"I'd love to. We'll put a reminder for food and the end of the workday next time, though," he agrees easily. As if on cue, Jisung's stomach protests its emptiness loudly, just about when Felix and Chan walk into the kitchen as well. 

"Sounds like it's time for dinner, baby!" Felix grins as he walks over to the containers of food on the counter, while Chan walks over to take a seat at the table like he's been here a million times before. Changbin wonders if that’s the case. He also wonders if the two tinder matches have slept together at the apartment while Jisung was out before. From how comfortable Chan looks he’d say yes - maybe Chan even spent the night once, but then he figures Jisung must have been gone since the two hadn’t met before.

His thoughts are interrupted when he realises his friend is looking back at him from his seat at the table, raising an eyebrow in question. He shoots back an easy grin and then walks over to go bother him, letting his arms fall around Chan’s neck loosely from behind and leaning down until his chin rests solidly on Chan’s head, carrying most of his weight.

“Yah,” his friend scolds, but it’s done fondly and a hand comes up to pat his arm nonetheless so he stays right where he is.

“You look comfortable here, hyung,” he says while the other two are busy reheating the food and chatting to each other about their days. It’s always nice to see the ease with which Jisung moves around Felix; to know that he made a good friend like that while Changbin was away. “Been here more often, have you?”

When he glances down with a cheeky smile, he sees Chan’s cheeks have flushed a little and there’s another smack on his arm, though his friend is giggling a little, shy under the sudden interrogation like Changbin knew he would be.

“Stop it,” Chan scolds again, but he looks too cute to take him seriously anyway and so Changbin just continues grinning, patting his friend’s stomach.

“I’ll take Jisung home with me tonight, shall I? Give you free run of the premises?” He chuckles lightly as Chan squirms and twists around to look up at him with an absolutely scandalised look.

“Oh, no, you can stay too,” Felix says from his spot at the counter and when Changbin looks up he sees both roommates looking over at them with the same shit-eating grin on both their faces. “We’ll just turn on the music loud enough to drown out any other sounds.”

Felix is positively beaming, Jisung is laughing and Chan is groaning, hiding his face in his hands. Changbin can only laugh as well. “Sounds good,” he agrees with the freckled male, winking at him lightly while Chan is still trying his very best to unexist right where he’s sitting. “We’ll turn on our own music as well then, just in case you make more noise than expected. I have it on good authority that Chan forgets to pay attention to the noise he makes sometimes, you see once-”

“Yah!” This time it’s not playful scolding, Chan shooting up from his seated position to smother the rest of his words with a hand over his mouth, pulling him into a headlock. He’s laughing the entire way through, squirming at the fingers poking into his side. Eventually his friend lets go of him because he’s laughing too hard and clearly needs his mouth for breathing, but Chan’s eyes are still narrowed when they take him in as he finally calms down and straightens a little.

“I was going to say; he got the police called on him once because he didn’t realise his headphones weren’t plugged in while he was working on his music, but I guess Chan has more interesting stories to tell us about times when he made too much noise?” He adds just as teasingly, and gets to watch his friend flush with embarrassment, glancing at the other two present and then just turning bodily away from all of them.

“Oh my god, I’m leaving!” His friend exclaims, mortified, but it’s a laughing Felix who goes over this time, wrapping arms around him and muttering something that he thinks sounds suspiciously like ‘I like it when you make noise’ . He decides that is absolutely none of his business right there, and quickly turns away to grin over at Jisung instead, who was looking at the other two as well but instantly turns his attention to him. When two arms are held out to him, he walks over easily, wriggling himself between Jisung and the counter so he can wrap him up from behind and rest his chin on Jisung’s cheek to still be able to see the other two as well.

Felix is just pressing a kiss to Chan’s cheek, holding on to his hands and gently pulling him along back towards the counter as well. Chan’s gaze finds him briefly, still scathing, though he knows his friend could never be actually angry at him for the teasing. He purposefully makes a cute face at his friend and soon enough Chan is smiling again, shaking his head like he can’t believe Changbin’s audacity. Then he focuses on Felix again, to help him with the containers of food.

He spends the next ten minutes before they can sit down to eat just holding on to Jisung, cuddling him close and following the way their two friends work together seamlessly to make sure all of the food is warm at the same time. There’s a familiarity between them already that Changbin honestly hadn’t expected from how casually Chan spoke of his tinder match before, but it seems like Minho was right when he called it infatuation. Chan is clearly absolutely gone, and he doesn’t really know Felix well enough yet to make any comments about his behaviour, but he thinks it’s safe to say he’s pretty gone as well, tenderness in every single one of his touches.

He makes a mental note to ask Jisung about it later, right as they’re told to take a seat because dinner is ready. He takes a seat next to Jisung, opposite Felix, who’s sitting next to Chan. Since Felix already ate, it’s just the three of them stuffing their faces, but Felix eyes them with the same sort of warm, content gaze he figures Minho would have as well, just happy to see people he cares for enjoying his food.

One of Felix’s hands stays beneath the table, and he figures it must be resting on Chan’s thigh comfortably. Every now and again his friend looks over at Felix and they share a smile, and Changbin decides he should buy a new pair of fancy shoes to attend their wedding in, probably.

When Jisung’s hand settles on his thigh a moment later and he looks up just to share a smile with his boyfriend as well, he realises maybe he’s in exactly the same boat as Chan is. Probably. Actually, he might even be worse. Meaning better, because he wouldn’t mind looking like a complete idiot to everyone else as long as Jisung’s smiling back at him exactly like that.

Yeah, he’s definitely a lost cause.

“This is really good,” he says as he looks over at Felix again, who promptly blushes yet preens at the compliment. “Where did you learn to cook like this?”

“Oh, my mom taught me,” Felix says with a quick few nods, and then glances over at Chan to share another smile with him, as if Chan has personal experience with the teachings of Felix’s mother. Or maybe they’re just sharing their shared experiences of living in Australia. Or maybe they’re just head over heels in love with each other. He wonders if it would be rude to point it out.

“You guys are so cute,” Jisung says from next to him; absolutely no filter on that mouth for sure, and it has him laughing softly at how much he adores his friend for it, too. “I almost feel like I should stop calling you baby.” Felix’s shocked expression is enough to make Jisung lift a finger and repeat: “Almost. I said almost. I’m obviously not going to stop calling you that.”

“You better not,” Felix pouts, before lifting his hand from wherever it had been to sneak it around Chan’s arm and flop his head down on the older male’s shoulder. “But you think we’re cute?”

“Adorable,” he decides to agree and solidify Jisung’s point. “I was just wondering whether it’d be rude to tell you that you look like you just got married.”

Chan’s ears are once again burning red with shyness, but his friend simply looks over at Felix briefly, who is beaming the brightest, happiest expression at that. “You think so? You hear that, Chan?” Felix looks up, Chan’s smile only widening at it, and Changbin thinks yes, Minho was definitely right. Chan is as smitten with the blond male as he’s ever been, and Felix seems to be content enough being on the receiving end of all that warmth without it being put into words because he laughs happily at the look he’s given and then leans in to press another kiss to Chan’s cheek.

“I guess we’ll have to have our wedding night tonight then,” are the next words out of Felix’s mouth when he turns back to the front, however, and Chan promptly chokes on whatever food he was about to swallow.

It’s to the sound of Changbin’s and Jisung’s laughter - and a little bit his own as well - that Felix helpfully pats Chan’s back and offers him a glass of water. After seeing Chan’s absolutely uncomfortable expression afterwards, though, they seem to all collectively decide to stop teasing him now, and Felix cuddles up to Chan’s side right after as if in apology.

The rest of dinner they just share stories of their day, Felix chattering away about the children at kindergarten and the three of them talking about their music and the other people at the company.

When the chairs get too uncomfortable, they clear up the table, putting away the dirty dishes and gathering the leftover food in a few containers again before they move to the couch. There’s only one, but they make it work when Felix climbs in Chan’s lap, curling up against his friend’s chest entirely. Jisung gives them one look, grins and then does the exact same thing with him. He gets an elbow in the stomach in the process, which has them all laughing as he doubles over with a grunt.

Several hasty apologies and Jisung hiding his face in his neck later, they’ve completely settled, and he runs his hand softly over Jisung’s back for the rest of the evening, even when Jisung has long recovered from his embarrassment and is an active part of the conversation again about two minutes in.

When it’s eventually time to go to sleep, he can’t keep himself from turning on some music the second Felix and Chan walk into Felix’s room, which leads to Chan immediately walking back out to chase him around the living room a few times before he yields and turns the music off again. Before Chan can leave again, though, he makes sure to get a quick hug in, and that inevitably leads to a group hug, as Jisung and Felix join them within seconds, squishing them even closer together.

He groans and complains loudly about being in the middle of all the embraces, but when they’re finally let go of again, he still makes sure to squeeze Chan’s wrist and catch his eye to smile at him. The return smile he’s given is warm and grateful, after which they part ways to each walk into their rooms for the night respectively.

Chapter Text

.

"So…"

Seungmin eyes the distance between Jisung and him with a meaningful look. Or rather; Seungmin eyes the lack of distance between Jisung and him. Jisung is seated on his right thigh, their fingers are loosely intertwined where his hand rests on his friend's leg, even now when they're both engaged in a different conversation. He's not sure who the girl Jisung is talking to is, but she must have grown up well because he doesn't recall anyone that pretty being in Jisung's class back when. 

Seungmin is still easily recognisable, though he's definitely grown up as well. He seems even more responsible than he'd always been, but somehow also like someone Changbin thinks he could really be friends with. 

Except right now he's more into the idea of toying with him a little than of any sort of friendliness. 

"Hmm?" He performs his best imitation of Minho and Seungmin rolls his eyes at him very gratifyingly so. 

"Are you guys dating, then?"

"Minnie! Don't tell me you called us awake, caught us sleeping together and weren't already aware of this?" He counters, causing the younger male to cough and then huff. 

"Hyung! You're even worse than you used to be!" He protests, and Changbin realises that Seungmin still shows his embarrassment through annoyance. He flashes the younger male an easy grin, lifting his free hand to poke his own cheek and make a cute face. This leads to actual annoyance for a moment, and Seungmin hitting his leg. 

"We're dating, then," he decides to agree very dryly when their eyes meet again, and Seungmin nods. 

"Always seemed a little inevitable," the former class president hums and he raises a single eyebrow. 

"Inevitable sounds like it's a bad thing."

"Isn't it, though?"

"Excuse me?"

Seungmin grins, seeming rather proud to have riled him up, if only enough to make him frown lightly. He relaxes again at that grin, though, and huffs out a laugh. 

"You fiend."

"Anyway, how long has it been?'

"Shouldn't you be interrogating your former classmate instead of me?" He counters, and Seungmin makes a face, before leaning a bit closer. 

"I always liked you better, hyung," the young man mutters as if it's a secret, though far too loud for it to really be one, and Jisung's head whips around within the same breath. 

"I heard that," he warns, swatting at Seungmin's shoulder who grins triumphantly despite getting hit. 

"So how long has it been?" He asks again now that he's got both their attention.

"Since last weekend," Jisung says proudly. 

"Technically since ten years ago we just didn't really get the memo," he decides to add to his friend's words with an easy grin. Seungmin's eyebrows rise but he doesn't comment on it, instead nods his head once. 

"Well, I'm glad you figured it out. You two look cute together. I wish you all the best."

He smiles, and reaches out his hand to pat Seungmin's hair. There's another annoyed glare because of it, which he simply beams a smile back at. "Thank you, Seungminnie, we'll make sure to send you a card each year to let you know we're still going strong thanks to your support."

He laughs when Seungmin makes a face at him, and Jisung chuckles as well, though his friend turns back to the girl again after, apologising for interrupting their conversation. Changbin follows their side briefly, learning that the girl is talking about her current living situation with a roommate and Jisung nods in perfect understanding. 

"What do you do these days, hyung?" Seungmin asks him a moment later, so he turns his head back to him and smiles. 

"I still make music. I made it my profession."

"Oh, like Jisung? That's cool."

He hums his agreement and nods, before another thought strikes. "Do you still sing?"

"Oh, sure, but not professionally."

"What kind of work do you do?"

"I'm a photographer."

He watches the sparkle in those eyes for a moment in silence, smiling at the clear passion that is so visible.

"Like for a paper or magazine, or do you do photoshoots for regular people?"

"I do the latter, but I've been working on getting some of my stuff published here and there. I'm currently applying for a special spread in Dazed and I'm in the last five candidates but nothing's certain yet. However, if it doesn't work out for me this time at least they'll know my name already."

He nods, smiling wider. "That sounds really cool, Min. I hope you get the spread, but if not, definitely a next time. Top five for Dazed sounds very impressive already."

"It is," Seungmin agrees, not in a smug way, but like he can't hardly believe it himself. "What about you, hyung? Ji said you got him into MCE so I presume you work there?"

"Well I work there now but I didn't yet when he applied. All I did was add his resume to the handful of resumes I was bringing over. He got in on his own skill and experience."

Seungmin nods, like he understands the importance of specifying that. And he really might; Seungmin's not one to take other people's feelings lightly after all. 

"So you didn't work on any of the songs from their groups yet?"

He shakes his head. "Nah, I'm working on some right now both for the existing groups and the debuting ones. If you ever feel like singing as a career, give me a call, yeah?" He grins and Seungmin laughs, shaking his head a little.

"I'll keep it in mind. Look forward to hearing your stuff, hyung. Let me know when something is out?"

"Sure," he says, immediately followed by: "Something is already out, though." He can feel Jisung tuning back into their conversation fully, his friend turning his upper body around and then leaning against his chest with his side. He simply readjusts his arm around Jisung's middle, putting his other arm around him too and settling his intertwined hands on his friend's side. 

"Oh?" Is all Seungmin inquires, so he nods his head. 

"I made some stuff for BQ's latest group called OneUs. Their debut song's been on the radio a lot lately, maybe you heard it before."

Seungmin shrugs, but pulls out his phone to just look it up on Spotify, and he thinks that's the kind of friend everyone needs in their life. No fake interest, no doing things by halves. He makes a mental note to buy the Dazed magazine if Seungmin gets the chance to work with them and make sure his first official gig never gets lost.

When the first notes of the song start playing, the girl Jisung had been talking to suddenly gasps and they all turn to look at her. 

"You worked with SpearB?" She asks, incredulous, and Jisung laughs happily at not being the only one to make that comment, before leaning closer to her with bright eyes, a gummy smile and saying: "He is SpearB! Isn't that insane!?"

The girl's eyes widen even further, and then Seungmin smacks his arm. "Oh my god, why didn't you just say that, hyung?" He complains cutely. "My roommate in college would listen to your Soundcloud all the time ! I can't believe I never knew it was you! Apology was my favourite song for years ."

Seungmin's eyes are wide but his expression is delighted and full of warm interest. It's maybe a little flattering. Even more so to know that someone had been listening to his stuff even in his Soundcloud days. That Seungmin had one of his songs as a favourite. 

"Who was the singer? I really loved his voice."

"Oh, he's a friend of mine called Chris."

There's a temporary silence as he purposefully doesn't say that Chris is none other than the MCE founder. To reveal such things to Jisung is one thing. To tell them to a whole class of people he doesn't really know is another altogether. He has no doubt the girl will tell her friends about this and an internet rumour about his identity will start in no time. So it's a good thing his identity wasn't supposed to remain a secret any longer, but still.

"Changbin oppa," the girl to his right speaks up so he turns his attention back to her. She blushes a little, ducking her head a little, and suddenly he can recall seeing her like that in high school as well. He still has no idea about her name, though. "Can I get an autograph? My little sister is a big fan."

"Oh…" A pause, the realisation that this is the last thing he expected to happen at this reunion. The realisation that if his identity gets out it might start happening more often. He smiles at her warmly. "Sure. I don't really have anything to sign on or with, though. But if you tell me her name and your address I can sign something and have it sent there?"

She nods her head enthusiastically and he shifts a little to try and get to his phone, but Jisung's already offering his for her to put her address into. 

When he turns to look back at Seungmin, the younger male is also tapping away on his phone, but he glances up a second later. "I'm telling my old roommate I met you," he says with an easy grin. "He's never gonna believe me but when he does he'll be so jealous."

He laughs at the utter delight on Seungmin's features. "I'll sign something for him too, if you want. What's his name?"

Seungmin looks at him for a moment, then down at his phone, then back up at him. "Hyunjin," he says, and Changbin freezes in place. Jisung glances at him with some worry from where he's still interacting with the girl, but he quickly pats his friend's leg to let him know it's fine, relaxing again. 

"Does he happen to be dating a man?" He asks instead and Seungmin's eyes grow wide as well.

"Uh… Yeah. I think so? If they still are… The last time we spoke is a while ago but he was still dating the guy he met while we were in university then. Minho, I think?"

The shiteating grin on Changbin's face must already be saying a lot, but Jisung also turns back to Seungmin now at that name. "Minho hyung?" He inquires curiously and Changbin nods before motioning a hand at Seungmin's phone. 

"Can you call him? Video call?" He asks, and Seungmin seems to have caught on to at least part of it all, because he shrugs and nods, proceeding to do exactly that. He's smart enough to keep the phone turned away from them as the line connects. 

"Yah, Kim Seungmin," Hyunjin's voice filters through. "I can't believe we don't talk for over a year and then you roll in with this kind of news? When, where, how, what the fuck?"

He doesn't think he's ever heard Hyunjin this animated, so it's quite the interesting side of him to come across. Instead of letting Seungmin try and explain, though, he leans over and the younger male easily catches on, moving the phone to let him see Hyunjin and then add him into the frame as well. 

"Yah, Hwang Hyunjin, are you in my couch again?" He inquires sternly, but he's grinning, and more so when Hyunjin's expression turns a little bewildered. Even more when Minho's delighted cackling sounds up in the background. 

"Is that Changbin?" He hears his roommate call over questioningly and Hyunjin nodding in agreement, though his eyes are still glued to the phone. Jisung gets off his lap just then to walk around the chair so he can pop into frame as well. 

"Hi Hyunjin!" He chimes happily and moments later Minho's face appears next to Hyunjin. 

"Jisungie!" His roommate chimes with a bright smile, a grin and a wave. "Oh and Seungminnie, hello!" There's another wave and then Minho disappears from view again, leaving the still clearly shaken Hyunjin. 

"The world is so fucking small," Jisung says promptly just then. "Can't believe we were connected through like five different people and still took six years to talk to each other again, hyung."

He huffs out a laugh, lifting his hand behind him to pull Jisung closer by his neck so he can press their cheeks together. "They were necessary years," he decides, before focusing back on the little phone screen.

"Hyung!" Hyunjin finally manages to get out. "Seungmin! What?"

"I heard you were a big fan of my music back in university, Hyunjinnie?" He asks in a sugary sweet tone of voice and Hyunjin's eyebrows shoot up to his hairline, before his gaze goes off screen to what is probably Minho. 

"Your roommate is SpearB and you never told me?!" Hyunjin nearly shrieks, and Changbin's just laughing then, feeling Jisung do much the same behind him. Minho must be saying something in the background but their laughter's too loud to hear him as Hyunjin makes a completely betrayed face at the man beyond his camera. They're laughing still when Minho briefly reappears in view to press a kiss against his temple, mutters something for only Hyunjin to hear and then disappears again.

"Yah, Kim Seungmin, we need to grab lunch together some time, text me your schedule!" Hyunjin says then, and it's still with so much flair that Changbin truly feels like he's discovering a whole new side to his roommate's boyfriend. Always so at ease and peaceful with Minho, it seems like he's an entirely different person around his former college roommate.

"Also Changbin hyung! Hi! I really loved your old music! I am absolutely staying over tonight and interrogating you tomorrow morning over breakfast so you better prepare!"

He laughs but nods his head, saluting the younger man like he's taking orders from a superior. Hyunjin promptly huffs but he's starting to smile as well now, apparently having gotten over the initial surprise of it all. 

"Oh my god, babe!" He exclaims then, eyes shifting to something beyond his screen once more and Changbin grins. "Min, I'll talk to you soon but I need to go grill my deceitful boyfriend right now." There's a wave and then the camera cuts out as the call is ended, leaving the three of them to straighten up again, grinning with great delight. 

"You live with Hyunjin?"

"Nah, I live with Minho but Hyunjin's been over a few times. Though Minho only told me about him like… a few weeks ago?"

"Wait; are you the roommate he didn't meet for over a year and a half?"

Jisung cackles, Changbin's grin turns a little sour. "Three wholeass years in the end," he admits, shaking his head like he still can't believe it. "My roommate is a sociopath, I think. I didn't even know he had a boyfriend at all!"

Seungmin's also laughing then, shaking his head. "Damn, hyung. Guess you really are not home a lot, huh?"

"That's right. I'm always out creating super tracks," he agrees smoothly. Seungmin laughs.

"Um, I hope you're going to be out with your boyfriend from now on, too," Jisung protests with a finger poking his stomach and he grins as he looks up at him. 

"Always out creating super tracks with my boyfriend?" He offers, which has both his friends laughing, before Jisung briefly leans in to kiss his cheek. Nothing more than that, no kissing in front of the old classmates, he did get the memo. 

"I'll take it," Jisung hums. 

"Hey!" Some guys to the left of the table try and get everyone's attention. "We're gonna go out for some more drinks, who wants to come?"

He turns his attention to Jisung, who's looking at Seungmin first and then at him. When given an inquiring look, he merely shrugs. 

"Is it okay if we go along?" Jisung asks him out loud the next moment and he smiles when he remembers communication and making sure no more misunderstandings arise. 

"Sure. If you guys want to get drunk just tell me where you live now, Min, and I'll make sure you both get home okay. I'm not that big of a drinker." 

Jisung's eyes widen briefly, and then there's a hand on his chest. "Are you still going to drive home after this?"

He shrugs. "I'll see how late it is. We'll figure something out, no worries. If I don't feel like it anymore I'll just find us a hotel." He runs fingers through Jisung's hair briefly, showing him a reassuring smile. "Just have fun, Ji, I'm good if you're good."

There's a smile, and a look that tells him if they weren't surrounded by people they'd be kissing right now, but Jisung restrains himself and instead gets up from his lap. 

"Alright, guys, we're in!" His friend tells the people who asked, already reaching for his jacket, and so Changbin just follows along. 

The bar they go to is clearly one that some of these people frequent, because the lady keeping it open instantly comes over with warm greetings and a few plates of snacks. Once the drinks are ordered, everyone goes back to talking and about one glass in, Jisung moves to sit on his leg again after verifying the chair can handle it. 

They have separate conversations again for a while, Changbin more than happy to just chat up anyone who sits next to him, while Jisung is having an animated discussion with about half the people present about what their old teachers would be up to by now. He occasionally gives his input as well when it's teachers he had too, but only listens with half an ear to the rest. 

Seungmin is sitting across from them, drinking only when he's offered a glass, but as the former class president and perhaps the most well-liked person at the table, that happens often. Which means the younger male is quite drunk already, he'd say. Still, he's not going to comment on it, especially not when he already said he'd get them home safe, so it's only to make sure nothing bad happens that he keeps an eye on his two friends. 

Which is why, by the time it's actually much too late to still be awake and he's had nothing but water to drink for the last few hours, he's one of the few people sober enough to think the drunk people at the table are a mix of hilarious and annoying all in one. There's one girl who has also refrained from drinking too much. She'd taken a seat next to him after a while, seemingly unbothered by the occasional moments when Jisung would wrap himself around his neck like a boa constrictor and nuzzle into the crook of his neck mumbling about wanting cuddles. 

Over the past hour, they've just been talking to each other. He learned her name is Yuna, she's married with two young children which is why she's staying mostly sober because she doesn't want to care for them with a hangover tomorrow. She used to work at a publishing firm, but she's taken time off to care for her children. Occasionally she'll still attend an online meeting or give some advice, but her main focus are her kids. 

Her husband, she told him, is a very nice man who works hard at his own job, and spends time with the kids after work so she can have a break while they play. Listening to her talk about it, he found himself almost yearning for a life like that. But there'd be no room in it for his music production, or any of the late nights he pulls and the random schedule he keeps. So he only speaks up to admire her and occasionally apologises when a drunk Jisung interrupts their conversation just to get some attention. 

It's after one of these instances that Yuna shakes her head with a little laugh as he apologises again, watching the way Jisung has curled up on his lap completely by now and tucked himself away in the crook of his neck, looking nothing short of utterly content. 

"You're so cute together," she says softly, a warm smile on her face as she looks at Jisung's completely trusting lump of a body. "There was always so much comfort and trust between you two, I used to be envious of it. It was such a turbulent time, and to have someone you could be so certain of wouldn't judge you for anything and would support you through it all?" She shakes her head a little. Then she laughs. "Of course I also had a crush on him, but he only cared about you, so that made me a bit jealous, too."

She grins again then, gentle and warm as she watches Jisung, almost with the gaze of someone watching a precious child. He has gone quiet, not sure what to say to these confessions, because it feels like his opinion is the one that matters the absolute least in this situation. When Yuna looks up from Jisung's content face tucked against his neck, she suddenly laughs, a little awkwardly, flapping a hand at him.  

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, I was just reminiscing about the past." He shakes his head to indicate it's fine, and she seems to relax a little again. "You know my sister made you guys do that so I'd realise it was pointless."

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean. She probably would've done it anyway, but she made sure I was near, because she was convinced Jisung was into boys, you know?"

He doesn't know. In fact, he has to admit he has no idea who she's talking about. 

"Your sister?" 

"Oh." Yuna seems to realise only then that he has absolutely no idea who she is. "Heejin. I'm Heejin's sister. I thought you knew, sorry."

He blinks, temporarily stunned, then he opens his mouth, pauses, tries again. "Heejin dared me to kiss him to prove to you that Jisung was gay?" He asks, a little incredulous and perhaps a little too harshly because of it because he sees Yuna wince a little. 

"Yeah, it sounds pretty shitty when I say it like that, doesn't it?" She grins sheepishly, twirling an elastic in her fingers. "But I mean, she was convinced you were into him and wanted to give you an opportunity as well."

He huffs out a smile, shaking his head a little as he thinks of Heejin. Possibly the best and worst friend in his high school days. "Of course she was convinced of that," he says somewhat amused. "I told her."

"You told Heejin but not me?" Jisung mumbles against his neck and he shifts a bit to glance down at his friend with one eye. Jisung looks about ready to pass out, but also interested in this fact at the same time, so he smiles and moves his hand up from his friend's back to gently run it over his hair. 

"Mhm, she just happened to be there when I was really drunk and convinced I had to tell someone, I guess. Though she only told me that after she dared me to kiss you. I'd forgotten all about it."

He chuckles softly and then looks back over at Yuna. "Sorry to be the one to break your heart, though," he jokes and she laughs softly at him. 

"No, don't worry about it. I ended up together with my children's father in the last year of high school. I found my person in the end."

He hums and nods, tilting his head until his cheek rests on Jisung's hair, who has gone back to nuzzling away into the crook of his neck. 

"That's good," he says, and he means it. She seems to understand because she nods, and then smiles a soft smile as she looks at him. 

"Looks like so did you," she says, smiling a bit wider. "Also looks like maybe you should take him home now?" He glances down at Jisung again, and then glances over at Seungmin. His friend is still animatedly talking to some of the others, so he shrugs a little. 

"Nah, I think we're good for a little bit longer. As long as the chair holds our weight, that is." He grins as Yuna laughs, and then runs his hand up and down Jisung's back a bit more. "Hey, do you think you could give me your sister's number?" He asks after some silence. "I haven't really talked to anyone for years, sorta lost contact while I was in Australia, but I'd like to maybe get in touch again."

"Oh, yeah, of course!" Yuna instantly says, beaming him a warm smile. "She'll be happy to hear from you! Let me look it up." She pulls out her phone so he does the same, and when she dictates him her sister's number, he puts it in under Heejin's name, more than happy with the idea of speaking to an old friend again. Especially after seeing some old faces reappear again today, he thinks it'll be nice. 

"Thanks a lot," he tells Yuna, who smiles at him warmly all over again. 

"No problem. I think I'm going to go home now, though. It'll be an early morning no matter what with two young kids. I'm sure their father will do what he can but they'll be in the bedroom jumping on the bed before long, no doubt."

He chuckles, but nods his head. "Definitely. It was nice talking to you, though. I hope you'll get home safe."

She nods her head, bowing at him in greeting and then quickly making her rounds to say goodbye to everyone else as well. When she gets to Seungmin, he sees the younger man glance over at them, but he waves him off lightly, even giving him a little thumbs up to indicate they're still good. 

"Yah, Kim Seungmin, put some weight on your own two feet. I can't carry both of you!" He complains loudly when he's trying to manoeuvre both of his friends to the door of the apartment. Jisung is as good as asleep, but at least had the decency of once again wrapping around him like a little monkey, so he has to only support the other with an arm around his middle and occasionally hop him back up a little higher. Seungmin is stumbling along with him drunkenly, not particularly good at walking it appears. 

At least Seungmin lives in the city as well, so he doesn't still have to make a several hours drive in order to get home after this. Why did he suggest he'd make sure they get home safely again? Right, because he's the oldest. He's heavily considering calling Chan or Minho to come help him out. Chan would probably still be awake anyway, but Minho would be closer. 

Yet by the time he's decided Minho would be the better person to call, they're already at the building and from there hopefully it won't be too hard. The elevator will take them up so he won't have to do the carrying and hopefully the apartment's front door is not too far from there. He'll put Jisung down for a bit while taking care of Seungmin and then they can go home. 

It sounds like the best plan, and so that's exactly what he does. Using Seungmin's keys to get in the building - at least his friend had showed him which one is for which door - he somehow manages to get them all to the elevator in one piece. Then it's just waiting until it arrives before he makes Seungmin stumble in and walks in with Jisung himself. 

Did he not tell his boyfriend he'd not be able to carry him to the restaurant on their date? Now what is he doing if not almost exactly that type of carrying? He rolls his eyes affectionately as he runs a hand up and down Jisung's back, who stirs in his hold, mumbled something intangible and nuzzles closer to his neck again. 

"Hey baby, can you wake up a little? I need to put you down and help Seungmin for a minute, yeah?"

He's pretty sure the next thing his friend mumbles is "Fuck Seungmin," which makes him laugh softly, but Jisung does make an effort to wake up. Clearly groggy as he gets down on his own two feet again, his friend stumbles to the side of the elevator and holds himself up there. Changbin's chest is suddenly cold with the absence of Jisung's body warmth. He reaches out automatically to run his hand through his boyfriend's hair. 

"We're going home once I put him to bed, okay?" He says softly. "You want to go to your place or mine?"

Jisung peeks up at him through squinting eyes, clearly disagreeing with the harsh light in the elevator, and with being awake in general. "Yours," he does say. "Your bed's big."

He laughs softly at that, but nods regardless. "Alright, sweetheart. My bed it is."

The elevator doors open again not much later and he leans down to pull Seungmin back up on his feet. "Come on, Minnie Min," he says lightly, like speaking to a brainless fool, because that's how drunk the man is anyway. "Let's get you inside and ready to sleep this off, huh? Big glass of water, bucket next to your bed just in case. We'll make it work."

He puts one of Seungmin's arms around his shoulders, his own arm around the man's middle and walks him out of the elevator like that. At the right door, he comes to a stop to get the keys out of his pocket again and find the one meant for the front door. He tries to open it but the key seems to get stuck a little so he turns it back and tries again. Two more failed attempts later he pulls the key out to look at it when there's suddenly the sound of the lock clicking open and then the door opens. 

None other than Jeongin stands on the other side, gaze catching automatically on Seungmin before coming up to meet his. The smell of cake and pies drifts out from the apartment as the younger man's mouth has already opened to speak what he presumes must have been a greeting that dies on his lips again. 

"Bin hyung?" 

"Hello Jeongin. Did I get the wrong apartment? Is this not where Seungmin lives?"

"Oh, no, it is! I thought he said someone from his class reunion was taking him home, though."

He grins at that. "Ah yes. It's me. I'm someone from his class reunion. Jisung used to be in the same class as him."

For a moment Jeongin's eyes go past him, probably to find Jisung, and Changbin checks to see if he's still there. He is; though with his eyes half closed and looking more asleep than awake, but as long as he's keeping up that's fine. 

"Oh," Jeongin says, which seemingly holds all of his understanding in a single syllable. "That makes sense. I didn't know Min's Jisung was your Jisung, though."

He chuckles at that. "Definitely my Jisung," he jokes, but then nods at the apartment behind Jeongin. "Mind if I come in? He's starting to weigh on me a little."

"Oh, no, yes, sure! I'll take him! Thanks for getting him home. Usually I go pick him up at the subway if it gets too bad but it sucks when I'm in the middle of decorating a cake." Jeongin steps forward, effortlessly taking over the weight of a sleepy Seungmin. Two seconds into being carried by this new person, a sudden burst of life seems to return to Seungmin, because he suddenly curls into Jeongin's side, wrapping arms around his middle and nuzzling into his shoulder. 

Jeongin makes a displeased face, but seems to think better of shoving his friend off because it'll just mean having to pick him up from the floor. 

"You want me to help?"

"Nah, it's cool, hyung, I can handle it. You should go home with Jisung hyung, he looks like he'll fall over any second."

There's a bright smile after those words and he laughs softly. "Alright. I'll leave Seungmin's keys and his bag inside the door here. See you at the cafe tomorrow?"

"Yes! Have a good night, hyung. Good luck with your burden. I hope he's easier to handle than mine."

"If all else fails I can just throw him over my shoulder and dump him on the bed, it'll be fine," he counters with a shrug, making Jeongin laugh. "Goodnight, Innie, save me a piece of the chocolate cake tomorrow, yeah?"

Jeongin nods, attempts a polite little bow as well but Changbin waves it off as he puts Seungmin's stuff inside of the apartment and then pulls the door of it closed again as well to save Jeongin the effort. He can hear the mumble of the youngest's voice inside, but he doesn't wait to listen, simply turns back around and looks at his boyfriend. 

"Let's go home, Ji," he says with a soft smile, feeling his chest warm at the adorable sight of Jisung lifting hands to rub sleepily at his eyes and then peering up at him and returning his smile. 

When his boyfriend steps closer, he reaches out an arm automatically, and Jisung steps into the curve of it, slipping arms around his middle and leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek and just linger there. 

"Bin," his friend says quietly into little space between them, and he hums to indicate he's listening. "I'm so glad you're here." A pause and then: "I don't know how I lived without you. You're so important to me."

He tightens the hold of his arm around Jisung's middle, drawing him in and turning his head to press a kiss to his friend's temple. Suddenly there's tears burning behind his eyes, emotions threatening to overwhelm him. He takes a moment to swallow them down, to regain his composure. Then he presses his lips to Jisung's forehead briefly. 

"You're all the best parts of me, Sung. I'm so happy you're here."

There's silence as they just hold on to each other for a while and he finds himself basking in the simple joy of this; of holding Jisung in his arms and breathing in his scent and knowing that there's no other place he'd rather be, no one else he'd rather be with.

And oh, it's way too soon and he doesn't think it's appropriate, but the words slip out of him before he even manages to think it through properly. 

"Marry me?"

To his credit, or maybe because he's too sleepy, Jisung's not even surprised, doesn't hesitate even once before he replies.

"Just tell me when and where, handsome." There's a shift, lips pressed to his cheek, Jisung nuzzling into his neck and breathing out a smile. "I'd marry you in a heartbeat."

All he can do is hold him a little tighter, breathe through the sudden overwhelming rush of feelings, and smile like an idiot. When Jisung pulls back, still sleepy-faced and drunk - but not wasted, luckily - their eyes meet and they gravitate together like magnets, kissing each other tentatively at first and then deeply. 

Jisung's hands tug his shirt out of his pants just so they can roam over his back and he tucks his hands into his friend's back pockets, just so he won't use them in inappropriate ways while they're in public. They still stand there far longer than is appropriate, kissing far less chaste than they should be doing in public, until he wishes he could drag Jisung over to the wall and push him against it again. 

It's that thought that snaps him out of it, makes him pull away slowly, leaving a few more kisses on Jisung's lips and cheeks before eventually extracting himself fully from the embrace, reaching out to take hold of Jisung's hand. 

"Let's go home," he says softly, squeezing those fingers and smiling at his boyfriend's well-kissed face. "You're tired and drunk and I don't want to be taking advantage of you in some random apartment's hallway."

Jisung smiles, before tugging himself closer by their intertwined hands and wrapping an arm around Changbin's as well. "You have my permission to take advantage of me anywhere, though," he says flirtily, but allows himself to be guided to the elevator and out of the building anyway. 

He drives with one hand almost permanently on Jisung's thigh, only moving it to shift gears. When they make it to the apartment, he goes up with one hand curled around Jisung’s as well, helps him through drinking a tall glass of water, changing into sleeping clothes and brushing his teeth. When they make it into his bedroom, the door closed behind them, however, Jisung suddenly turns around and pushes him up against the wall.

“You’re sober,” he’s told very seriously, his friend throwing the water bottle in his hand backwards onto the bed without even looking. “Does that mean I’m allowed to take advantage of you?”

He can’t help grinning at the question, at Jisung’s face so close to his, at the long look Jisung gives his lips, at the way his friend wets his lips as if preparing for a kiss.

“Ji,” he says softly, letting his hands slowly settle on his boyfriend’s waist, tugging him a little closer still so that Jisung’s standing between his legs and they’re as close together as they’ll probably ever be. “Jisung, darling,” he says again, and he’s the one now intently looking at Jisung’s lips, at his eyes, at his cheeks, at the million stars shining in his boyfriend’s gaze. “Always.”

There’s only the tiniest pause after that word before Jisung leans in, closing the distance between their faces and kissing him.

.

“No, but you don’t understand!” Hyunjin’s motioning wildly with his chopsticks as he speaks. He watches Minho reach out slowly, patiently taking hold of his boyfriend’s wrist and moving the chopsticks to his face. Hyunjin seems to open his mouth for the food automatically, chewing and swallowing as quickly as he can. Minho lets go of his hand again and leans in to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s temple, before letting him continue as he pleases.

When he catches Changbin’s amused gaze, Minho’s expression temporarily softens into a smile of his own as well. “Food has been known to fly across the room when he gets like this,” he’s told softly, but there’s an extreme sort of fondness in Minho’s eyes that he thinks must be very similar to what he looks like when talking about Jisung.

The next moment, Hyunjin continues like there hadn’t been a single interruption whatsoever. “I was such a big fan of your work! I even made some of my official choreographies to your songs! Honey, do you remember ‘Piece’? That was one of his!”

“Ah,” Minho says, seemingly coming to a sudden realisation as well when he lifts his head and looks over to Changbin again. “You made that with Chan, didn’t you? I didn’t realise but thinking back now it sounds like his voice.”

He simply nods, and lets the memory of the time when he created that song sink deeply into his chest for a moment. How different life is now. Chan was right; he’d gotten happy again over time, had been happy again even without Jisung in his life. But he was right as well that having Jisung in his life again adds something that could never have been there without him. Like an old wound finally healing, like an old ache finally put to rest.

He glances over towards the kitchen door subconsciously, but Jisung is still fast asleep, cocooned away in his blanket on his bed, sleeping off the alcohol he’d been drinking the night before, no doubt. 

“Hyunjin made a really beautiful choreography for that one,” Minho continues, drawing his attention back to the present moment around him. “Do you still have a video of it, Jin? You should watch it sometime, Bin.”

He looks over at Hyunjin just in time to see shyness colour his cheeks and make him suddenly peer down at his plate like it’s the most interesting thing at the table. As if completely aware of the reaction that would follow his words, Minho’s hand is already on its way to rest in the back of his boyfriend’s neck, gently squeezing. Hyunjin glances over at Minho at the touch, sharing a smile together before both their gazes come back to him.

“I’d love to see if you don’t mind,” he tells Hyunjin. “I think it’s always cool when people create things based on my songs.” It’s happened more often in the later years, especially now that he made music for a debuting boy group, so there’s choreography and music videos for almost every song on the album, but sometimes it feels more personal when it’s just people at home doing this for no one but themselves. Everyone interprets things differently, too.

“I got the best grades I ever had for that one,” Hyunjin says, somewhat proud and somewhat amused at the declaration, and Changbin grins at him.

“Glad I could help further your education,” he jokes, which has Hyunjin laughing again.

“So,” Minho hums pensively after a moment in which they’ve all just been chewing. Changbin looks up at him and instantly knows what’s going to follow is going to be as teasing as it has ever been. “Chan’s tinder date is his roommate and Hyunjin’s college roommate used to be in his class…"

He groans instantly, dropping his head before lifting it again to frown at Minho again moments later. “Nevermind ‘Hyunjin’s college roommate’ considering I didn’t even know Hyunjin existed until, what? Two weeks ago? Let’s call him Jeongin’s roommate and why do none of us apparently ever communicate because since when does Jeongin live together with a roommate and not, I don't know, still at home with his parents?"

Minho cackles and Hyunjin grins. Changbin isn't sure if Hyunjin has loosened up around him or if he just didn't realise how expressive the man's face is before, because he definitely hasn't seen this much smug amusement in it until now. 

"Two years ago, I think?" Hyunjin says lightly. "Jeongin wanted to move out and I knew Seungmin was looking for a roommate so I suggested them to each other. They hit it off pretty easily and by now Seungmin's girlfriend dotes on Jeongin like he's their baby and Jeongin's parents treat Seungmin like a second son."

"Wait, Seungmin has a girlfriend?" He instantly asks, completely blindsided. "I spent like eight hours in a group full of people talking to him and no one even mentioned her once?"

"Oh," Hyunjin says, pressing his lips together and making a guilty face. He glances over to Minho, who is just grinning mercilessly, before looking back to him. "She's, uh, she's kind of a well-known name so he keeps it on the down-low. Pretend you never heard me mention her."

"That's not hard. I'll just pretend she's you and you're Minho hyung. Haven't heard a blip out of you about any significant others for the past three years." He glares at his roommate but Minho just laughs happily, looking mightily pleased with himself.

Just as he's about to make another scathing comment about it, Jisung comes shuffling into the kitchen, looking every bit like he's still fully asleep.

"Mhmhyung?" He mutters sleepily and three pairs of eyes take him in inquiringly. 

"Yes, darling?" Minho decides to reply before Changbin can and though he makes a face at it, the utter confusion taking over Jisung's features is definitely impeccable. His boyfriend slowly lowers the hand he was rubbing his face with and blinks open tired, sleepy eyes to look blearily at Minho. 

"I would come over and kiss you good morning but your boyfriend might not like me much for it and I have a feeling you'd just let me, too," he mutters darkly after a moment, but then does proceed to shuffle over to Minho anyway. In all of his morning glory, he wraps his arms around Minho's neck, rubbing his cheek against Minho's temple and just smothering him in affection, even pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

For all Minho makes a lot of complaining noises and pretends to push Jisung off of him, he undergoes all of it and even comes out of it smiling fondly, patting Jisung's shoulder with gentle affection. 

"I'm pleasantly surprised that you brushed your teeth already," Minho states calmly and Jisung mutters something intangible before walking over to Hyunjin next. The taller male gives him a look of hesitant surprise, perhaps wondering if he's going to be given the same treatment. 

"I don't want you to think I'm seducing your boyfriend," Jisung says, leaning down and wrapping arms around Hyunjin's shoulders just the same, though he does none of the nuzzling or kissing. Hyunjin laughs regardless, and lifts a hand to gently pet Jisung's hair. 

"So, what?" Changbin decides to speak up right then, "you're going to let me think you're seducing both of them instead?" He pouts and Jisung lifts his head to look at him, pouting right back.

"Hyung," his boyfriend protests in a little whine. "I'm hungover and barely awake and trying really hard to make sure your friends don't hate me. You can't expect too much of me. If I had such nefarious plans I would have kissed Hyunjin too or something."

"I wouldn't mind," Hyunjin says with the shittiest grin in existence, eyes fixed on Changbin's disgruntled face, and Jisung starts to grin right along, already dipping his head back down to deliver a popping kiss to Hyunjin's cheek. 

"That's it," Changbin says. "I'm breaking up with both of you."

"I wasn't aware you and Hyunjin were dating," Minho dryly adds to the conversation and he sputters.

"I was doing you a favour and broke up with him in your stead, hyung," he pouts. Minho glances slowly to his side where Jisung is still backhugging a grinning Hyunjin. When Minho's gaze comes back to Changbin, it's almost reverent. Minho is too fucking good of an actor, really, because the adoration in his roommate's eyes nearly takes his breath away. 

"You're saying we're finally going to admit to our feelings for each other?" Minho asks with bated breath. Hyunjin's grin only grows wider, and it seems that Jisung is taking that at his cue to just watch it all go on with a smile on his face as well. 

"Hyung," Changbin decides to say, quite dramatically enacting his desperate love alongside his friend, and puts a hand to his chest. "Your kimchi fried rice has always felt like a love confession to me."

"It has always been one, Changbin-ah," Minho says in a very soft tone of voice, sending him one of those gentle smiles that tend to only come out when he's talking to Hyunjin or allowing himself a moment of softness with Chan or Changbin. Minho even reaches a hand out across the table for him to take, but before he can reciprocate, Jisung speaks up again.

"Okay," his boyfriend says, straightening up and letting go of Hyunjin, walking around the table immediately after. "I changed my mind." He doesn't bother with hugs this time, sitting right down on Changbin's lap and nuzzling into the crook of his neck. "You're mine."

Minho cackles, Hyunjin laughs, Changbin grins but puts an arm around Jisung's middle to pull him better onto his lap, moving his chair a little further away from the table to make it easier for them both to fit. 

"Remember when we were like that, honey?" Hyunjin asks and Minho huffs out a smile. 

"You mean when you were? I have never stopped being possessive."

Hyunjin's expression turns into an almost adoring sort of smugness, his smile tight-lipped and private as he looks over at Minho, a hand reaching out to land on Minho's leg. At least Changbin hopes it's his leg. He stops paying attention at that point, though, shifting and leaning away from Jisung a little to be able to look down and see how he's doing. 

"Did you sleep well, Ji?" He asks softly and there's a soft hum and a gentle nod. 

"Thanks for the painkiller," he's told, Jisung nuzzling against his shoulder almost like a cat. Maybe this type of behaviour is why Minho likes him so much, Changbin ponders, but then stops pondering at all because Jisung leaves the softest kiss at the base of his neck and holds him a little tighter. "Love you," he's told ever so softly, just for him to hear, and then: "I'm sober now and I'd still marry you in a heartbeat, just so you know."

He breathes out a laugh, tugging Jisung even closer against his chest and leaning down to kiss the spot of skin behind his ear, which is the closest part he can reach.

"Do you want to eat?" He changes the topic in favour of replying, the warmth bubbling up in his chest something he doesn’t think he can put into words anyway. "Or later?"

"Later is too soon," Jisung groans, burying even further away and he can only laugh - endeared, enamoured, ensnared - running a hand up and down his boyfriend's back. 

"Okay. I love you too," he mumbles back softly. When he looks back up, Hyunjin's leaning his head on Minho's shoulder and Minho's arm is around Hyunjin's frame, but they're both smiling at him, at them , and Changbin can only smile back. 

.

"Sorry it's so last minute," he says yet again when Jisung clambers onto the passenger seat of his car after throwing his backpack on the backseat. 

"No, it's fine. Don't worry. You couldn't have known your sister's baby was going to be two weeks early," Jisung instantly excuses him and promptly grabs hold of the seatbelt to fasten it. Before he does, though, he leans in, and Changbin easily indulges his puckered lips by leaning in the rest of the way and kissing them. 

"I'm glad you could get time off to come with me," he admits as he straightens, and Jisung's wide, cocky grin makes him laugh already before his boyfriend has said anything. 

"I mean you know me, right? I can do anything," Jisung still says and he laughs a little more. 

"Can you drive?"

"Your fancy, expensive ass car? Hell no! What if I damage it? The only time I'll drive this thing is when you're physically incapable but really need to get to the hospital and every ambulance in existence is spoken for!"

He only laughs harder, and then leans in for another kiss, this time to Jisung's cheek. 

"I love you, and I hope you'll never drive my car if those are the conditions for it. But I'm still glad you could make it."

Jisung beams him the warmest smile, nodding. "Me too. I just hope your family doesn't shoot you for announcing your boyfriend when you're supposed to celebrate your nephew’s birth."

"I'm not announcing you, they've long been told about you. I'm just bringing you so you can reestablish your position as my sister's favourite younger brother and my mom's most beloved son."

Jisung's grin grows wider at first, but then it softens down to something infinitely warm. "I'm going to love seeing your family again," he admits softly, sincerely. "My parents are going to love seeing you again, too."

"Do they know about me , though?" He fakes a concerned frown and Jisung laughs and swats his arm.

"Shut up, I told them when I went to visit them and they're very happy we're talking again. They consider you the best thing since red pepper paste because you helped me get a better job. Dad's been asking when he can come over and get a tour of the MCE building before they hire him, too."

"You know if your dad wanted to release or write music again, Chan totally would," he says. 

"I know," Jisung instantly stresses. "But I haven't told him that. My mom would kill me if she had to move to the city for dad's music again."

He laughs, and Jisung laughs as well, and then his boyfriend's hand comes to rest on his leg as he pulls back onto the street to start driving to their hometown. 

The several hours in the car are easily filled with conversation, music, comfortable silences and the occasional bout of affection that has Jisung trying to press kisses to his cheek without distracting him from driving. Kisses almost always distract him, however, so in the end he always pulls over at the next resting area, so they can stretch their legs and spend some time hugging and kissing.

They may also make out for a bit against a beautiful tree near one of the resting areas he stops at, his hands slipping into Jisung's back pockets again and Jisung's hands settling on his chest, under his shirt. Afterwards, they stand with their foreheads pressed together just breathing for a long time, until Jisung slowly moves his hands back to his hips and says: "Bin, I don't know if we were still considering us as taking it slow, but just in case, I'd like to stop that now."

He breathes out a soft laugh, amused and interested both, and manages to hum in question. "Oh?"

"If I don't get to take off your clothes and feel up all of you in the next week I might physically combust, is what I'm trying to say."

"Oh, well, we can't have that," he hums playfully once more and Jisung snorts. 

"No, indeed, we really can't," his boyfriend agrees, pulling his head back and looking up at him with shining eyes. He instantly leans in for another kiss. 

"I'll schedule in some much needed undressing and feeling each other up time this weekend, alright? Hyunjin also wanted to go on a triple date with all of us, so maybe we can hit two birds with one stone."

"You want to undress and feel each other up on a triple date?" Jisung looks so sceptical he can't help but laugh loudly, shaking his head. 

"No, but I'm just saying if we convince Minho to go home with Hyunjin or Felix with Chan we'll have an apartment to ourselves."

This idea clearly wins much more of Jisung's approval, and he's given another kiss for his efforts before Jisung pulls him back towards the car. "I'm texting Lix right now to make this happen. Let's go! The sooner we get there the sooner it'll be the weekend!"

He laughs again, but lets himself get dragged to the car and nudged over to the driver's side without protest. Before long, they're back on the road, and this time he puts his hand on Jisung's leg again, so that his boyfriend has both hands available for texting.

When they make it to his parents' place, it's a little after three, so they have some time to unwind from the long drive before it’s dinner time. He likes it best this way, and is extremely relieved when he can get out of the car and stretch his legs. The car door hasn’t properly closed behind him yet before the front door of the house is opened and his mother comes walking out, a wide smile on her face and her hands already reaching out towards him. He looks up at her, breathing out a warm smile as he watches her come towards him.

He reaches out his own hands as well to reach for her in return when she nears, but rather than take them, she goes right for Jisung, taking his hands in hers and squeezing them with great warmth.

“Oh, Jisungie!” She chimes with great warmth and extreme delight. “It’s so good to see you again! You’ve grown so much, look at you!” She takes a moment really taking Jisung in, and in return Jisung blushes furiously, ducking his head away just a little, but beaming a wide smile all the same.

“It’s so good to see you again as well, mom,” he breathes out almost reverently after a moment, and Changbin watches his mother absolutely shine with happiness at being addressed so casually and warmly still. “You haven’t changed at all,” Jisung makes sure to add and Changbin knows his mother is sold once again, just like she had been all those years ago.

Indeed, she does turn to him then, letting go of one of Jisung’s hands only so she can cup his cheek, running her thumb over his face and smiling at him warmly. “You bring home the sweetest friends, baby,” she tells him with amusement and appreciation both. “You look much more well-rested this time, too, I’m glad you’re getting enough sleep.”

She leans in to kiss his cheek and then lets go of both of them again, taking a step back. “Come on, come inside. We’ve got some refreshments ready for you, unless you’d like to take a nap, baby?” Her worried gaze comes to him and he smiles at her gratefully.

“A nap would be great, honestly, but I’m also not going to reject refreshments.” He smiles and then reaches a hand towards Jisung. When his boyfriend steps close enough to touch again, he easily slips his arm around his middle, so he can guide Jisung up the steps to the door and inside of his house. It’s a relief, almost, that Jisung knows more than well enough what his house looks like, because he really doesn’t enjoy letting people into his house and having to undergo the jokes about how loaded his parents must be and would he marry them? He’d have no issue hearing that joke from Jisung, actually, but his boyfriend merely looks around with a warm smile, mainly just looking happy to be there.

They’re brought over to the living room, where his father looks up from the magazine he's reading and instantly brightens at the sight of them. 

"Look what we have here. Decided to finally show your face in the house again, son?" He pushes himself up from the couch and instantly walks over to embrace Jisung, who is stunned into silent acceptance of the hug, looking every bit like he can't fully believe this is happening to him. It has Changbin grinning as he walks over to wriggle himself underneath one of his father's arms as well. 

"I finally managed to bring your stray son home, father, aren't you proud of me?" He asks cheekily, causing his father to chuckle. 

"Look who's talking, I'm sure if your sister didn't build a whole baby we wouldn't have seen you for another six months at the very least." He rests a hand on each of their shoulders and gives them a light squeeze. "Come, sit," he adds as he motions them over to the couches and Changbin goes to take a seat.

Jisung sits down next to him a moment later, leaving more space than usual. He doesn't hesitate to reach over, putting his arm around his boyfriend's shoulders and pulling him a bit closer. Jisung nearly melts into his side when all his father does is smile while his mother is already offering Jisung a piece of apple on a fork. 

They spend a bit of time sitting and chatting with his parents. They ask Jisung about the time in which they hadn't seen him and tell him several times over how happy they are to see him again. After a small hour, his mother suggests visiting his sister in the hospital before dinner, and so they all get into his father's car. 

When they enter the hospital room, his sister's face brightens just as much as his parents' had at the sight of Jisung, and she instantly reaches out a hand to him. Jisung melts into her embrace even more than he had with his mother, and makes the most sparkling heart eyes when she proudly shows him her child. 

Changbin is nearly forgotten until a full ten minutes later, when she suddenly looks up as if remembering she'd forgotten another brother. He doesn't mind, though, as he had been chatting casually with his brother-in-law. When the attention turns to him, however, he makes sure to instantly step closer to the bed as well, giving his sister a careful hug and whispering his congratulations to her. 

He gladly takes the baby over from Jisung, carefully adjusting his arms the way he's told to do and then just staring down lovingly at the tiny baby for the next ten minutes himself. The babe opens its eyes after some time, blinking dumbly up at the world before smacking its lips, and when Changbin gently nudges his finger against the tiny baby hand, he's absolutely smitten. 

"Nuna, you made a perfect little human," he says, almost breathless with it. His sister looks over at him with laughter in her face, but whatever she sees in his must speak volumes because the expression softens down to a soft, glimmering, loving pride . 

"He's beautiful, isn't he?" She asks, and Jisung, without hesitation says from right beside her: "Just like his mother."

This is why he's her favourite brother, Changbin has no doubt. 

It's also why Jisung's his favourite everything. 

They drive over to Jisung's parents for dinner, because there's no saying if they'll be able to spend another full day before having to head home and he doesn't want to not give them the opportunity to have a meal with their son. He finds a parking space for his car somewhere down the street and they walk over to the still familiar house hand in hand. 

Jisung pulls out his keys to let them inside, and it's while they're exchanging their shoes for slippers and hanging their coats up that his mother finds them. Her expression brightens into delight instantly as Changbin promptly bows to her, and then her hands are on his face and he's undergoing the same sort of loving scrutiny that Jisung got from his mother before. 

"You grew up so well ," Jisung's mother decides only two seconds in, though. "Look at how handsome you've become. As expected from the Seo family's son!" She smiles and squeezes his arms in warm affection, and blinks when she realises the width of them. "Oh my, have you been working out? Honey! Come down, Jisung and Changbin are here!"

She focuses on him again right after, taking his hands in hers and just smiling at him fondly for a moment longer than feels entirely comfortable. Then she squeezes his hands and lets go to pull her son into a tight embrace, fussing over him just the same. "You're so skinny, Jisung," he hears her mutter. "It's good you came home to eat so I can make sure you eat enough. I packed you some things to take home, make sure you eat them well!"

Jisung proudly holds out the bag to her. "I brought you back the empty containers from last time, mom. I ate everything!" She takes it over from him, laughing and fussing and loving. Changbin watches it all with a smile, until the sound of someone else approaching pulls his attention away. 

"Oh wow, son, look at you!" Jisung's father chimes in that warm, deep voice of his, instantly reaching out to pull him into an almost smothering hug. He's used to them, however, even after all these years, and the scent of the man's aftershave is achingly familiar. They both seem to hold on longer than necessary, and neither of them mention it when they let go. 

"I'm so glad Jisung managed to bring you back home, kid. Save the home number in your phone so next time you get lost I can come pick you up, yeah?"

There's a warmth in that that goes beyond anything imaginable, an invitation to be part of this family regardless of his connection to their son, even though he doesn't think he'll ever be disconnected from Jisung again. He can only nod his head, smile up at the man and then smile over at Jisung, who untangles himself from his mother's care just long enough to come over and steal a quick kiss from him. 

"Let's have dinner, mom," his friend says then like he did nothing out of the ordinary, like he didn't just lay out the entirety of their dynamic in front of his parents in the most undeniable way. "I'm starving, probably because I'm so skinny. It's all dad's genes don't you know?"

Jisung's father laughs, puts an arm around Changbin's shoulders and pulls him along to follow the other two family members to the kitchen table, where dinner is quickly spread out for them to enjoy.

Chapter Text

.

I’m in love with Felix.

Chan’s text comes as a surprise. Not the contents of it, that much had been glaringly obvious the first time he saw the both of them together, but the fact that it’s sent at three in the afternoon on a Friday. They have pizza night later, which would have been a perfectly good time to tell him this as well. Clearly something must have happened to bring his friend to this conclusion at this very moment, though.

He pulls the headphones off his ears and glances around the studio to make sure no one else is around before typing out his reply.

What brought you to this groundbreaking revelation?

Instead of a reply in words, he’s sent a screenshot of Chan’s message history with Felix. The younger asked about their gathering on Saturday, and whether they would spend the night together after. Immediately following is a whole paragraph of Felix describing how much he loves the oven at Chan’s flat and how he wants to make brownies and pancakes on Sunday morning for them to enjoy together while having a lazy morning.

There’s no reply from Chan’s side, which Changbin presumes is because his friend had been in the process of coming to the revelation that he is, in fact, smitten, like the rest of the world was already well aware of. Except perhaps Felix, because five minutes after his paragraph follows a clearly backtracking ‘If that’s okay with you? I don’t want to impose.’

Oh my god.

Tell the man it’s fine.

I can already clearly imagine his uncertain pouty face.

How can you do this to him?

Fuck

Now I’m imagining it too :(

He’s so cute.

So then tell him

“Of course you can stay over. Saturday night, Sunday night, every night for the rest of your life if you want because I’m in love with you”

There I wrote the whole text for you, no need to try and stumble over your feelings

Ever since you met Jisung again you’ve become an even more insufferable little shit

Love you too, Channie

:*

Ugh

Yeah

Love you

The next thing he’s sent is another screenshot, this time of Chan’s reply. ‘No, it’s fine! I’d love it if you stayed over.’ Then another message from Chan’s side a minute later. ‘You don’t have to ask beforehand, by the way, you can stay over whenever you want.’

He grins at his screen and is about to text Jisung about this when he gets another image from Chan, this time of Felix’s reply. ‘I don’t want to impose or show up if you have someone else over.’

Someone else?

Beats me.

Maybe ask him what he means?

He’s invested in this now, so he stares down at his phone in expectant impatience, waiting to get either a message back from his friend or another screenshot of their conversation, but a minute passes in silence, and then another one. He’s not even aware he’s just staring at his phone until another image finally comes through and the timestamp on it is five minutes after he sent his last message. It’s a series of images, really, and he bites his lower lip as he opens up the first one.

What do you mean someone else over?

I got Changbin for Friday pizza nights but you know that.

No, yeah, I mean…

When you’re bringing someone else home?

The message from Felix is in English this time, and Changbin praises the fact that he was forced to learn enough of it while in Australia that he can at least understand this, because it’s clear that he really wants to know what this conversation is going to turn out to be. Needs to know as well to be able to support his friend, he thinks.

I’m sorry, I don’t understand?

Well we’re just sleeping together, right?

So if you’re sleeping with someone else…

Are you sleeping with someone else?

I

No

Haven’t really met anyone new lately

You’re, uh

Good.

I’m not sleeping with someone else, Lix

I don’t want to sleep with someone else

I would hate to find out you’re sleeping with someone else

Are you done at work?

Yes

Why?

I’m coming over to tell you I’m in love with you don’t go home yet

Oh

Okay

I’ll, uh, I’ll be here waiting to tell you I’m in love with you too if that’s okay

Sounds perfect I’ll be there in twenty

Hold that thought.

He snorts at the message, but he’s grinning widely as well, shaking his head at the ridiculousness of his friends. Then he reads the last few messages again and he’s just laughing, closing the image so he can type a reply to Chan again.

Oh my god

You two are the worst

How did neither of you even think to talk about this before?

Anyway pizza night is cancelled spend the evening with your boyfriend

You absolute idiot

I’d say good luck with confessing but something tells me you’ll be fine

Drive safe, though!

There’s no reply, but he doesn’t expect one either, considering Chan is no doubt already in his car and pulling out of the parking lot at this very moment. He’s almost sad that he can’t actually be there at the kindergarten to see this whole thing unfold, but he presumes it’s good that it’s happening. At least he can poke fun at them for the text message exchange he’s been witness to. He opens up his messages with Jisung to relay the events to his boyfriend, but right as he does so, a new message from him appears.

Oh my god Chan just said he loved Felix and Felix is now looking much like a stressed chicken walking around the parking lot

Are you with Felix?

Yes.

Fuck you have to film what happens when Chan gets there

I physically need to know what happens

Chan just sent me screenshots of their conversation

Ohhhh! Can I see? Felix is too busy flailing around and trying to make sure he looks alright for when Chan shows up when obviously he looks perfect already.

Changbin laughs at the mental image of a stressed Felix, when he can at the same time perfectly imagine a stressed Chan in his car trying his very best to adhere to speed limits right now. He casually forwards all of the screenshots he’s been sent to Jisung and then adds a screenshot of his last series of messages to Chan as well.

Anyway so pizza night is cancelled, wanna hang out tonight?

I’m pretty sure  your roommate is going to be busy too anyway…

Fuck

They’re??????

I want to say stupid but we literally took ten years so can I really say that…

Absolutely yes

Oh my god now I know why Lix made that choking sound

And then looked all strangled and elated at the same time

They’re so cute and dumb what the fuck

I thought they’d been dating since that time Chan came over when you were there too?

But no…

They thought

They were

Wow

I’m having a whole proud moment where I feel like we’re really good at communicating

…

You’re not sleeping with someone else right?

I’d be very upset

Obviously I am sleeping with someone else

He’s in my bed very often, sometimes I’m in his

It’s not as much fun anymore to sleep alone since I started dating

What the fuck I hate you

I thought you were serious for a second there

The only person you can sleep with is me, you got that?

Aye aye sir

So tonight? Your place? My place?

Mine

Your bed’s too big

Gives me no excuses to cuddle up real close

Wasn’t aware you needed an excuse?

I like to pretend

Come pick me up from this kindergarten?

I don’t think Lix is coming home with me somehow

Anyway I gotta go calm him down and then do some sneaky filming

Love you

Kisses

Will send you the blackmail video material when it’s over

Love you too

Can’t wait

Be there in 30 but I’ll wait on the side until they’re done

He shakes his head with a laugh as he’s already pulling the headphones from around his neck and starts clearing his things away so he can do as he promised.

He makes it to the kindergarten twenty-five minutes after sending his last text. The only reason he even knows where it is is because Chan and him still share their location, and his friend hasn’t moved from the same spot since arriving there. When he pulls into the parking lot, he receives a new message from Jisung with a video attached and he grins brightly as he gets out of the car, tucking his phone into his pocket for now. There’ll be plenty of time to watch the video later, for now he decides to walk over to the real people.

“So I heard my friends are idiots?” He says casually as he approaches the trio, which has all of them turning to look at him. Jisung grins brightly and instantly comes running over to hug him. He wraps his arms around his boyfriend, greeting him with a kiss, but then looks up at the two others again. Felix is flushed and embarrassed but also looks high strung on delighted adrenaline. Meanwhile Chan makes a face at him that comes close to utter happiness.

“You’re a menace,” Chan says when they approach each other, but there’s no heat in the words anyway and he grins lightly in return. He reaches out his free arm then to put it around Felix’s shoulders, rubbing his upper arm briefly.

“You alright, Lix? I hope he didn’t overwhelm you with his enthusiasm?”

The blond titters out a laugh, looking up at Chan and then quickly looking away again. A moment later his gaze comes up to meet Changbin’s. “I’m alright,” he says. “I’m good.” There’s a nod as if to accentuate those words, before he looks away again. Chan looks at his embarrassment with heart eyes bigger than the sun. He wonders how oblivious they must have been. Then he remembers how oblivious he had been to Jisung as well, and maybe people only see what they’re capable of believing, right?

“Anyway, Chan, I don’t know if you read my messages yet but I cancelled pizza night because I think you two should spend it together instead. We’re taking up Jisung’s bed tonight so take your loverboy to your own place, alright? We’ll see each other tomorrow evening. Glad you two sorted your shit out before going on a triple date with us. Now it’s truly official.”

Chan makes a face. Felix flushes an even brighter red. Jisung snickers next to him, letting go so he can go hug his roommate. In the spirit of solidarity, Changbin decides to do the same with Chan.

“You’re an idiot,” he says as he pulls his friend into a tight hug, patting his back. “Can’t believe you’re the one who told me about communicating better. Step up your game, man.”

Chan sputters out some sounds before relaxing into his embrace and sighing deeply. “Can’t believe you’re the one who said you don’t like hugs,” he’s told weakly in return and he laughs at it. 

“I figured you needed one.”

"I did, thanks."

The admission is muttered into his shoulder and he laughs at it, running a hand through Chan's hair briefly to give him a bit more comfort before letting go of his friend again completely. "Go have fun with your boyfriend," he repeats, fond and warm, reaching out a hand towards Jisung. When their fingers touch, he smiles automatically, and gives Felix a little wave. The blond man still looks a little dazed when he lifts a hand in return, but at least it's the happy kind of dazed.

"Right," he states once the other two have walked out of hearing range to Chan's car, turning to face his own boyfriend. "Time for that video you sent me. How bad was it?"

Jisung instantly beams him the widest smile. "It was so bad, they're so whipped for each other. Chan barely parked his car or he was already striding over, then he grabbed Felix's face, got all up in it and said 'I'm not sleeping with anyone else because I love you, you wonderful man, let's be exclusive'." 

Jisung's voice is hilariously unlike Chan's, but he's got the facial expression down to a T and it has Changbin laughing loudly as they walk over to his own car.

"Then Felix was like 'I'd like that, yes, I love you too.'" Jisung's imitation of his roommate's deep voice is a lot more on point, but equally as hilarious because of the face he makes to get that deep. "Anyway, they kissed after that so I kindly turned off my recording before it became unsafe for work, you know?"

Jisung looks over at him with sparkling eyes and he grins back easily, leaning in to kiss those soft lips briefly. "I know," he agrees without thought. "I'm glad they figured that out before it could lead to issues. I can't believe Felix assumed this whole time that Chan was sleeping with other people as well."

"Me neither," Jisung agrees, shaking his head. "I kept talking to him about all the times Chan was still at work at like three in the morning and still back in at nine, when did he think Chan would've had the time for another lover?"

Jisung's cheeky grin makes him laugh again, and he squeezes his boyfriend's hand as they reach the car, casually walking around with him to open the passenger door. He's given a peculiar look when he does, but then Jisung's smiling and getting in, and the second he takes his own seat on the driver's side, Jisung's hand finds its way to his leg. 

The drive to Jisung's apartment isn't all too long, but even if it were he doesn't think he would've minded much. Jisung's hand rests on his thigh the entire time and the second they're both out of the car at his apartment, their hands come together again automatically. 

They don't let go until they're inside of the apartment so they can take off their shoes and outerwear. Jisung walks a few steps into the apartment before looking back at him. 

"I was going to eat out with Felix because there's nothing in the house, but let's just stay in and order in tonight?" 

He nods his head easily. "I was going to have pizza night, so ordering in sounds like nothing changes," he admits with an easy grin. "Except the company is far more enjoyable, I'd say."

Jisung preens under his words, and then comes walking back the few steps he walked away. There's arms around his middle, hands under his shirt and then Jisung's kissing him, sweet little pecks in between slightly longer kisses until eventually he brings his hands up to cup his boyfriend's face and pull him in for a lingering kiss. 

When they break apart, Jisung looks at him with slightly parted lips, breathing slowly in a clearly controlled way. "Remember how you said we'd figure out an empty apartment tomorrow?" He's asked after a moment, Jisung's eyes never leaving his lips, and he thinks he knows where his words might be going. "We have one now. Seems a shame to waste the opportunity."

He chuckles, even when he knew it was coming. He looks at the way his boyfriend's eyes cling to his lips before dipping down to where Jisung's hands have disappeared under his shirt and then coming back up to finally meet his gaze. 

"You're absolutely right," he agrees only then, in response to the question he sees there. He moves his hands down to Jisung's hips, squeezing once and then just lifting him up. Jisung jumps easily with the motion, legs wrapping around his middle so Changbin can use his hands to support Jisung's thighs as he casually walks them further into the apartment. 

"Let's go to my bedroom," Jisung says lightly, his boyfriend's hands now running through his hair. He does as told, walking over to the right door and manoeuvring them both inside. He pats Jisung's butt lightly once they're inside, letting him back down to the ground and then reaching up to kiss him again.

The response is instant. Jisung's hands are under his shirt again in no time, pushing it up and up until he realises the idea is to get it off straight away. It makes him laugh as he pulls away from the kiss to lift his arms and help with the process, discarding his shirt on the edge of Jisung's bed.

"Impatient, aren't we?" He teases, but Jisung makes an exasperated face at him, not shy at all. 

"I had to wait a decade for that, literally, you can't blame me." And then, with all the subtlety of a neon sign, Jisung's gaze drops down to his chest and he's simply… admired. He can tell it's admiring and not something less good from the soft look in Jisung's eyes, and when his boyfriend steps closer to touch him again, he feels it in the gentle caresses as well.

"God, I'm so fucking attracted to you," Jisung near-whispers when his head tilts up to meet him in another kiss and Changbin smiles into it, moving his hands to be able to slip them under Jisung's shirt as well and run his fingers over the bare skin of his sides. 

"Likewise," he breathes back once the kiss ends, and starts to gently tug his boyfriend's shirt up, until Jisung does him the same courtesy he did before and lifts his arms. He eases the fabric over his boyfriend's head himself, though, gently slipping it up his arms and then discarding it with his own shirt. 

Then it's his turn to look; to take in the new and yet still familiar shape of his friend, to reach out and let his hand run down one of his arms, before taking hold of his hand and giving it a squeeze. When he lifts his gaze back up to meet Jisung's, his friend is a little flushed, somewhat embarrassed as well as he turns his gaze away briefly. He smiles in return and gently draws his friend closer by the hand he's holding. 

"You," he says softly, pressing a kiss into Jisung's hair and then moving his free hand to tilt his boyfriend's head up to face him. Ever gentle. Always gentle. "I love you, Han Jisung."

He leans in slowly, to give his friend enough time to move away should he wish to, but Jisung only smiles, warm and happy, and leans in to meet him halfway.

They kiss slowly, taking their time with it. His hands settle in Jisung's sides while he focuses on just the kissing at first. After a while they seem to mutually decide to head towards the bed and he lies down on it first, Jisung settling atop him as they get back to kissing.

There's nothing else on his mind then, just the way Jisung feels against him, with him, wrapped up in his arms and slowly melting ever more into him as they continue kissing. When eventually their hands start to roam again that, too, seems like a mutual decision, as he runs his fingers over the toned lines of Jisung's back and Jisung shifts away to run hands over his chest and abdomen. 

They break away from the kiss after a while and he's more than happy to leave a series of kisses on Jisung's neck and shoulders, receiving some in his hair and on his face in return.

Every motion is done with incredible softness, their fondness for each other unmistakable in the looks they share and the way they touch each other. They spend a few moments just lying their, fingers tracing absentminded patterns on each other's skin while he admires Jisung's face and Jisung seems to do the exact same thing in return. 

It's not even clear which one of them leans in first after, because it once again seems to come from both of them at once and they meet in the middle like it was premeditated. He smiles into the kiss in return to which Jisung eventually pulls away to press his own smile against his cheek, then his shoulder, where he decides to just lay his head down for a while instead. 

The silence is more comfortable than anything, he thinks as he traces lines and patterns on Jisung's lower back. After a while, though, the warmth of their bodies becomes so much that the air of the room feels cold on his skin, goosebumps appearing on Jisung's arms as well. 

It's a mutual decision once more to slowly crawl up from the bed, quietly take off their pants to leave them aside and then crawl back in but under the blanket. He turns half on his side, one arm providing a pillow for his friend while the other wraps around his middle. Jisung cuddles so close he's lying half on top of him, pressing sweet kisses to his cheek and chin in between tiny little bites that only make him laugh. 

"If you keep going like that you won't have to order any food anymore," he teases, just so he can hear Jisung muffle his laugh against his arm before coming right back in with more kisses and playful little nips. 

"Hyung," his friend eventually says, voice soft and so all he does is hum inquiringly. Jisung's fingers are tracing the lines of his stomach, his cheek is squished slightly against Changbin's arm, his eyes are looking up at him with such softness that he feels like he would do anything for his friend right now. "I love you."

The words make him smile, the expression stretching his cheeks as he can't do anything but gaze down at his friend and probably look very pleased and happy doing so. It makes Jisung laugh, but softly, the way he's being looked at filled with warmth and that just-proclaimed love. 

"I'll never tire of hearing that," he admits, leaning down to kiss the tip of his boyfriend's nose. "I'll never tire of saying it, either, so I hope you won't get bored of me repeating endlessly how much I love you."

Jisung chuckles, shaking his head while simultaneously wriggling one of his feet between his legs, proceeding to tangle them up completely. "Maybe at some point I'll wish you'd shut up but not quite yet," he's told more honestly than he might perhaps have wanted, but the smile he's shown is too warm, and Jisung's hand on his stomach too soft for any words to be hurtful. 

"In that case; I love you, Ji. Can I kiss you again?"

The only response is his boyfriend already leaning in again, which is a clearer answer than any words would be anyway. 

.

"Changbin?! Mister goodie-two-shoes over here?" Minho sounds incredulous, pointing a thumb right at where he's sitting next to his roommate and Felix chuckles deeply from across the table. Jisung's been grinning ever since he started telling the story, so he knows not to try and add his own side, letting his boyfriend do the talking. 

"Babe, don't forget he's SpearB. Every cool rapper needs some questionable decisions in his life," Hyunjin interjects, putting a hand on Minho's arm and Chan snorts loudly. 

"Oh no you don't, Chris," he instantly interjects before his friend can say anything. "You open that mouth of yours and I'm digging out my folder with embarrassing dirt on you, and that includes your crush on Amanda."

Chan very pointedly closes his mouth, but both Minho's and Felix's curiosity is clearly piqued. He shakes his head to their questions, however, smirking at Chan who is attempting to look betrayed but is smiling too wide to make it look real. 

"Anyway, back to Changbin hyung climbing over the school wall to make it to class on time every day back in high school," Hyunjin interrupts the impasse and Jisung grins at the man before nodding and launching into the continuation of his story. 

"So there I was; late for my first official day of school, gate closed and no way to get inside because the man at the gate looked way too intimidating for me to ever talk to. Now, you must understand, back in the day, Bin here didn't have such tree trunks of arms yet, so he was just slinking around all lanky looking."

"Hey!" He protests, but the rest of the table is laughing. 

"How was he lanky looking when he's this vertically challenged or did he already shrink since then?" Minho asks curiously and Changbin pouts over at him right after. 

"Yah!" He protests again and Jisung, giggling like he's having the best day of his life, wraps both arms around his neck and pulls him into a hug to soothe him. 

"It's because he wasn't so widely built yet that he seemed taller, I'm sure," his boyfriend says while supposedly comforting him, and he lets out a noise of betrayal, but Jisung sounds too happy to really be upset with him. So in the end he just puts an arm around Jisung's middle, pulling his head out of the hold so he can look at him. 

"Tell the story properly!" He complains through a grin of his own. 

"Something tells me this is the most realistic recounting of this story that's ever been given," Chan chimes lightly and Changbin shoots a look his friend's way which melts into a grin again moments later. He can't be upset, not when his friends are all looking so happy. 

"Exactly!" Jisung is delighted as well, and he sits up a little straighter, though he never pulls away from his arm around his middle. "So as I was saying, Changbin was always slinking around with that skeleton frame of his…"

"Says the one who had no shoulders," he shoots back and Jisung laughs, pressing his face to hide away against Changbin's neck. 

"I really didn't have any shoulders back then," he agrees easily when he comes back up for air. "So you can imagine it already; we were two scrawny boys standing next to this bigass tree next to the school wall. He was in a school uniform that looked like it'd been bought that very same day and mine was secondhand with a few already patched holes and looked like it should've been thrown out that very same day."

Jisung's dynamic way of storytelling entertains everyone at the table, their friends laughing as they listen to the story unfold. He still remembers the day well himself. The tree had been his usual road over the school wall, mainly because the grass on the other side of the wall had been the softest landing spot on the entire premises. 

Jisung had been a little less used to climbing than him, however, so he'd had to help him up into the tree and then over the outreached branch of the tree to the point where they could jump from the branch to the wall. From there it was an easy jump down that Changbin had perfected already, but Jisung had been more hesitant to jump from that height. 

"So I saw no other option," Jisung recounts when he gets to that point, Hyunjin holding a tissue to wipe the tears of laughter from his eyes, Felix clutching on to Chan's arm like that's going to make it easier to get air into his lungs, "than to sort of sit down and try to lower my feet down first, so that I'd be closer to the ground by the time I'd have to jump. I turned myself around so I could cling on to the wall for support, but as I had never done a single workout in my life at that point, you can imagine how well it was going."

Minho's looking at Jisung with a grin while Hyunjin buries away against his arm trying hard to not cackle so loudly the rest of the restaurant might complain. Felix is flapping his arms around like a seal while desperately trying to get some air in and even Chan is laughing softly. At least Jisung gives them a bit of time to regain their composure - and a chance to breathe - by reaching for his glass to take a sip of his drink. 

"So what happened?" Hyunjin eventually asks, dabbing a tissue under his eyes and making a breathless sound before refocusing on Jisung properly. Felix seems to know exactly what will come next because he's quickly putting his glass back down, already grinning widely. 

"Well, as I was dangling off the school wall, one leg still sorta on top of it, trying to find footing with the other, I made eye contact with this old man across the street who had apparently been watching the whole thing go on. I didn't find any better idea than to lift a hand to give him a little wave, you know; because I was raised politely. But just as I did, my foot slipped on the bricks and my other leg slipped off the wall." 

Jisung grins as he sort of half makes the motions to go with what he's saying. "Obviously my poor, untrained arms were in no way equipped to handle the sudden influx of weight, so as I was still mid-wave at this kind, old man with his walker, I just went straight down to the ground. I bet the last he saw was the hand I waved with still sort of sticking up before that, too, disappeared behind the wall."

Now Jisung is laughing as well, as is literally every single one of them, even Minho entirely sold on the image Jisung has painted for them. 

"Did it hurt a lot?" His roommate asks a moment later. "That can't have been a good way to land."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I would've smacked my face right into the wall on the way down if it hadn't been for this guy with his lanky arms dragging me backwards by my backpack. I ended up landing on top of him, which was a lot more bony and less soft than the grass, but definitely preferable to losing four teeth in a facefight with the wall. My arms were a bit scraped up, but luckily not enough to bleed."

Jisung grins brightly at the table and then reaches over to take hold of his hand where it rests on his boyfriend's hip. "And that is how I made my first friend at my new school," he declares proudly, turning to look at him. "My best friend, too."

"Hey," he comments lightly. "You forgot the part where I had to go straight to the school nurse because you elbowed me in the spleen when you fell on top of me and we thought I'd maybe ruptured my appendix."

"They're not even remotely in the same place," Minho comments dryly and he grins over at his roommate easily. 

"Did the entire story you just heard not convince you of how we were two dumbasses yet?"

Minho cackles at that, and reaches up to tug at his earlobe. "Point taken, scrawny man. Jisungie, you must show me pictures of Bin and you during your early high school years. I bet they'll be beautiful."

"Obviously," Jisung agrees easily. "Me with my nerd glasses, Bin hyung with his glasses that somehow still attracted all the girls anyway. Me with my hand-me-down uniform, Bin hyung with his one fresh from drycleaning daily. I swear I would've been bullied so hard if I didn't somehow manage to bag the most popular guy in the school as my best friend on day one."

"That's nonsense," he tries to say, but Jisung is already waving him off and even Felix is making head motions of agreement. "Well then at least tell me you were the popular guy yourself in university," he counters instead, and looks intently at his boyfriend. 

It seems to be a difficult question to answer because Jisung actually glances over at Felix again as if to get his opinion and Felix needs a long moment to seriously consider it. 

"I mean; once you started to DJ at parties you became quite popular," the freckled man eventually says and Changbin instantly sits up a little straighter. 

"You deejayed at parties?!"

"Yeah, like, here and there. It was an easy way to get some extra money in and also a good way to throw in a few beats of my own here and there. After doing that a few times, people started asking about them and I sort of just became well-known for my great party beats. But that's all I was known for, I wasn't really popular."

The noise of amused derision Felix makes seems very unlike him because it makes Jisung look over to his roommate with a surprised frown. 

"What?" He asks, seemingly too shocked to be offended but unsure of what the noise is for. 

"Ji, you were super popular but no one dared to come up and talk to you because you were always so focused on your deejaying and then when you were done you would always come straight to our group of friends. Everyone was too intimidated to talk to you."

"Intimidated?" Changbin asks, now surprised as well. "By this guy?" He ruffles a hand through Jisung's hair, who protests with a pouty glare and brings up his own hands to fix it again. 

"One day a girl in class came to ask for his number and he basically said they didn't have group work together so he didn't see why she'd need it," Felix deadpans. Jisung flushes a dark red and instantly goes into the defensive. 

"I'm gay! I didn't see any other reason for her to want my number!" He protests in a little whine that has the rest of the table laughing. 

"Which would've been valid reasoning if anyone other than you was aware of that fact as well!" Felix counters with a laugh. "Even I only found out like a year and a half into being best friends and roommates when we played truth or dare once and he offhandedly decided to tell me about his high school best friend slash crush that he'd stopped talking to when he left for university. Took him another four months to tell me said best friend went to Australia. I had to drag the details out of him then and there or I might never even have known how in love he'd been."

Jisung groans where he's pressing the heel of his palms against his eyes. "I'm a private person, okay!" He exclaims in defeat, which has the rest of them laughing some more. Changbin casually pulls his boyfriend in a little closer to press a kiss to his temple and then allows him to bury away against him in embarrassed shyness. 

"Love you," he mumbles against his boyfriend's shoulder, and all of Jisung's tense discomfort melts away instantly, replaced with a warm smile when he straightens again. There's no vocal response but it's not always necessary, so he just pats his friend's hip and then returns his attention to the table. 

"If this is how you guys acted in high school as well I have no idea how anyone ever thought you weren't in love," Chan decides to say, to which he instantly raises his eyebrows lightly as he looks over at his friend. 

"Get off your high horse mister 'I thought we were dating exclusively but my boyfriend thought I was still sleeping around'."

Chan makes a face at him, Felix promptly turns into a tomato and Minho cackles by his side.

"I only got the big lines of what happened there," his roommate says with great glee, "but I figured I'd be hearing the rest of it today. What exactly happened?"

"Just a moment of miscommunication," Chan offers, clearly trying to save Felix from further embarrassment, but Jisung seems to not hold such qualms at all. 

"What he's trying to say is that after like half a year of dating and sleeping together, Felix found out just yesterday afternoon that Chan wasn't actually meeting up with other people aside from him and his little well-guarded supposedly unrequited love was not all that unrequited at all," he details the issue, and Felix colours even further, but doesn't look entirely reluctant to have his affairs laid out in front of the table. 

"I just didn't want to get ahead of myself!" He protests, but he does lean into the arm Chan puts around his shoulders. 

"Get ahead of yourself after like six months of which a whole month in which I kept relaying to you how busy your loverboy was at work and only made time specifically to see you , but sure," Jisung counters, grinning at his roommate. "Guess all my efforts were wasted on you."

"Hey, you can't blame me for being cautious! I didn't want to get my hopes up and then have them crushed!"

"So instead you got your hopes down and nearly single handedly ended the entire thing!" 

"It wasn't that bad!"

"I would never end things because of bad communication from both our sides?" Chan chimes in, and Felix gives him a grateful look that two seconds later morphs into a kiss to his cheek, which has Chan smiling softly down at him. 

"I guess you have to be Australian to get into a mess like that," Hyunjin decides, shaking his head before looking over at Minho. "I'm glad we don't have unnecessary pining stories. It seems like all your friends are prone to them."

"I have to admit these four are extremely bad," Minho agrees without hesitation, nodding at the four other people at the table. 

"Oh my god," Jisung says, instantly leaning in closer to the table so he can look at them. "How did you two get together anyway? How did you meet?"

He sees Chan sit up a little straighter and realises he's done the exact same thing, instantly zoned in on Minho, wondering if this is the moment when they'll finally be told of how this four year long boyfriend thing even came to be to begin with. 

Hyunjin bursts out into laughter instantly, though, and the attention quickly moves to him. 

"Now I know why you didn't want to tell them anything, babe, those faces are priceless," the man says with a giggle, easily leaning further into Minho to rest his head on his shoulder. He's about to call the man a bad influence when Hyunjin continues: "But we should tell them, they look so eager to know."

Minho chuckles, then shrugs his shoulders. "We met at university where we had the same dance class. The teacher often paired us up together because our levels were similar." He lifts his hand then to run his fingers briefly over Hyunjin's hair and it's only when he does that Changbin realises they'd been holding hands the entire time so far and Hyunjin wasn't just clinging on to his arm onesidedly. 

"It just happened naturally from there," Minho says with a shrug and Hyunjin laughs instantly. 

"You're the worst storyteller, babe," he complains but it's clearly done with affection. "We did spend a lot of time together for our dance classes and practising outside of them, but you all know how he can be, right? He was constantly threatening me that he would bake me in the airfryer whenever I did anything wrong. For some weird reason that I still haven't figured out, I must've thought it was charming because at one point I realised I wanted to kiss him."

Hyunjin makes a face that has the rest of them laughing and Minho pretending to frown at him when in reality he's smiling as well.

"Anyway, I luckily am a very straight to the point kind of guy, so one day when he threatened me again, I just said 'why do you only threaten me when I do it wrong why don't you reward me when I do it right?' He gave me this look, you know the look he does when he thinks you're talking absolute horseshit?" 

Minho gives his boyfriend a look right at that moment and without missing a beat, Hyunjin glances at him, points and adds: "Exactly like this, yes. Then he asked me how I wanted to be rewarded, to which I very proudly claimed I wanted a kiss. Clearly I watched too many dramas when I was younger."

Hyunjin rolls his eyes at himself a little with a chuckle that they're all echoing.

"I wanted to suggest something he might have done next," Jisung pipes up, glancing at Minho, "but I feel like literally anything would've been possible. He could've kissed you right there or he could've pretended to find it disgusting. Both seem equally plausible."

Hyunjin cackles at the words, leaning in to beam the brightest grin in existence up at Minho. "He already knows you so well, babe," the man teases, Minho just shaking his head, but there's a smile on his roommate's face as well anyway. Hyunjin smiles lovingly up at him for a moment longer before returning his attention to the rest of the table again.

"He laughed at me," he says with a smile. "He laughed very loudly, clutching his stomach and everything, and then when I felt properly ridiculed and entirely hopeless, he caught his breath and said 'Sure'. Just that. Nothing else, just 'sure'."

Minho is just grinning lightly, seeming rather smug about it all, but the rest of the table is responding with the appropriate sympathy, Felix even looking like he might cry at the mere thought of having that be the response to such a daring venture. 

"Why the hell did you laugh at him, Min?" Chan is the only one who apparently feels brave enough to inquire from Minho, perhaps because he's the only one who's older than him. 

"It was just so funny!" Minho insists. "This guy almost never made mistakes in his dancing and he started talking about a reward if he did well. He did well more often than he didn't. I figured he was attempting to get free meals out of me or something, but then all he so proudly asked for was a kiss. It was honestly just hilarious. I could tell he wasn't asking for a little peck either, so I was just imagining us making out after literally every dance practice. It was funny!"

Minho shakes his head like he still can't believe it, and Changbin grins at his roommate before looking over at Hyunjin. "So how long did it take before you got your kiss?" He asks, a little curious now. Hyunjin glances up at Minho again at the question, and both their expressions shift into grins over what is clearly a shared inside joke. 

"Twenty minutes at hundred eighty degrees," Minho states, teasing, and Hyunjin laughs, but nods anyway. 

"I fucked up a few times first because I was so nervous, but then I took a deep breath and got it right start to finish." Hyunjin's smile grows wider, filled with warmth but also clear amusement. All of this is a wonderful memory to both of them, clearly. Changbin thinks the time he confessed to Jisung will probably also be a wonderful memory to him too. It already is.

"When we were done I turned to him all proud," Hyunjin continues. "About to do that smug thing where I'd tell him how I did well so I should be rewarded, but he was already kissing me before I could so much as take a breath to speak."

"Ohh!" Jisung cheers, whereas Felix claps in delight and Chan laughs. Changbin shakes his head at his roommate with a grin and then reaches over to pat his shoulder. Minho's gaze meets his for a moment, and the thing is; his roommate doesn't look flustered at all. 

"He was very attractive," Minho says simply as a way of explanation. "Of course I kissed him the first chance I got."

"It probably bears saying that we'd already established before that moment that we were both into guys," Hyunjin adds after a moment. "So it's not like we found that out only then."

"Imagine that," Jisung picks in with a laugh. "First you ask for a kiss, he gives you one and you go 'Ew, dude, no homo'."

They're all laughing again at that, shaking their heads at the mere idea. Changbin reaches for his drink and, upon realising it's almost empty, looks around at the others. 

"Do we want to get another round?" He asks, just to check how everyone else feels about the evening. The response is positive on all sides, however, so he makes sure to wave a waiter over once he catches one's eye. The company of his friends is something he definitely doesn't mind, after all; especially not when he can keep an arm loosely wrapped around Jisung's middle the entire time. So to spend some more time drinking and chatting with them really does sound like a great way for his evening to go. 

When eventually they decide to head home, it's technically not even Saturday anymore, all of them piling into three different cars to get home. Hyunjin and Minho are going back to Hyunjin's place together, driven by Minho because he had to be at the cat cafe the next morning anyway so he hardly drank any alcohol. Felix and Chan head over to Chan's place, driven by Chan because Felix doesn't have a driver's licence, and so Jisung and him decide to head back to his place this time, driven by him because Jisung still refuses to drive his 'expensive ass car'. 

Though they've not built up to it at all throughout the evening, it takes them about five minutes inside of the apartment before they're locked in a kiss again, Jisung dragging him over to the wall once more. He can't help breathing out a laugh into their kiss and briefly pulling away to look at his boyfriend. 

"Something about this hallway light makes you very demanding," he teases lightly, and watches Jisung grin back at him instantly, something deep and dark swirling in the gaze he's looked at with. Something endlessly interesting. 

"Something about this hallway light just makes you look very attractive," he's told in reply and it has him laughing. 

"You're a menace," he decides, even though he's utterly flattered by the words and more than happy to indulge Jisung's needs.

"You love me anyway," his boyfriend replies, quite smugly, but it's the truth so he can't really contradict it. He doesn't want to, either. 

"So much," he agrees instead, leaning back in to continue their kiss.

With the knowledge that they're not just home alone for now, but that Minho won't be coming home at all until perhaps tomorrow evening, he decides to not care at all where they're at but just enjoy the moment. So he lets himself get lost in the kissing, allows himself the gentle warmth of Jisung's hands in his side and the absolute delight of his own hands in his boyfriend's hair. 

When they eventually move apart, it's only because Jisung glances off to the side, frowns, shifts away from the wall and then very determinedly takes hold of his hand to pull him along. He follows willingly, of course, through the apartment and into his bedroom, where Jisung makes sure to close the door behind them before turning around and briefly looking at him. 

"The bedroom light makes you even more attractive," his boyfriend says without even so much as a blush, and the words make something unfurl in his stomach. He keeps their gazes locked for a moment, as if trying to find the tease but not finding any joke in those depths whatsoever.

So he does his holy boyfriend duty by leaning in to kiss Jisung again and then moving them around until Jisung's back hits the wall. It brings a small, needy whimper of sound from Jisung's throat, and when he pulls back just enough to check on him, his boyfriend's eyes open with intent, zoning in on his lips and pulling him right back in with their gaze alone. 

Gentleness is no longer part of their dynamic as Jisung's fingers curl into his clothes and pull him in, as their lips move together and their bodies press so close against each other he can feel every twitch of muscle. They kiss deeply, hands roaming freely, and it's not really a surprise when Jisung ends up tugging his shirt out of his pants so those hands can run over his sides and chest again. 

He pulls away from the kiss after another moment, hands moving to take hold of his boyfriend's, temporarily stilling their movement so that he can get Jisung's full attention. 

"Just to be sure," he says softly, spacing kisses out over his boyfriend's temple and cheek because it feels almost like a waste not to be kissing him at all even when he’s talking. "We stopped taking it slow, right?"

There's a brief silence. He nips at Jisung's earlobe and then a shuddering sigh escapes his boyfriend's lips. "Yes, please," is the response he's given and it's more than enough for him. 

He traces Jisung's sides with his fingers, running his fingertips just above the line of his boyfriend's jeans and then casually dipping down so he can push up Jisung's shirt and place a path of kisses on the newly revealed skin. He feels the muscles tense up when he kisses them, and then Jisung's hands tangling in his hair, a soft sound of approval breathed into the air above him.

It’s quite easy then to continue his almost teasing little touches, except he has every intention to give Jisung whatever he wants, so can it really be called teasing then? The little, almost breathless sounds Jisung is making are more than enough to spur him to keep going, pushing the shirt up bit by bit while he treats every bit of uncovered skin to its own series of kisses.

Eventually he settles his hands on Jisung's hips, pulling him away from the wall and over to the bed, where he urges his boyfriend to lie down. The new position makes it much easier to continue his earlier actions, pushing the shirt up completely so he can cover every inch of skin with his lips, mapping out Jisung's body with his mouth alone. 

"Bin." The hushed whisper is full of meaning, so he glances up to be able to catch every detail of it. Jisung's eyes open at his movement, and then he's smiled at quite suddenly; a warm and loving thing. He leans back in for another kiss, letting his fingers trace the bare skin he can no longer press his lips to.

When his hands move down to Jisung's pants, though, the response is instant.

"Fuck," Jisung growls against his lips, surging up suddenly and pulling his shirt over his head in one fluid motion. He pulls back to give his boyfriend the space to do as he wishes, but that turns out to be ridding him of his shirt as well and then reaching for his pants to get rid of them straight away as well. 

He complies easily, with being undressed as well as with doing the undressing, until they're only in their boxers on the bed and Jisung is looking at him while biting his lip.

"Hmm?" He inquires as he reaches up to brush the back of his fingers over Jisung's cheek, a gentle gesture that seems to take his boyfriend by surprise, because Jisung startles at it and then laughs at his concerned expression. 

"I was thinking so hard about your dick I forgot you had other body parts you could touch me with," is the explanation he's given, which has him laughing instantly as well.

"Sungie…" he starts playfully, still grinning, but Jisung swats his shoulder before he can even say anything else, probably tipped off by the smugness in his eyes.

"Shut up and kiss me."

He complies, of course, making sure to kiss Jisung so thoroughly When they it’s not long before his boyfriend is rendered breathless and panting beneath him, lips glistening from their kisses and eyes seeing nothing but him. Not that he sees anything other than Jisung at that point either.

For a while kissing is all they do, but eventually Jisung hums into the kiss and then slowly pulls away. He opens his eyes to see what the reason is, only to find Jisung looking at him like he’s the most precious thing he’s ever laid eyes on. The look in his boyfriend’s eyes hits him like a punch to the throat, successfully cutting off his air supply in that initial moment so that when he speaks, he sounds more breathless than he has done so far.

“What is it?”

Jisung’s gaze catches on his mouth as he speaks, but then he starts to smile.

“Thinking about your dick again,” his friend jokes, which has him actually huffing out a laugh this time, shoving lightly at Jisung’s hip.

“Dude.”

“Bro.”

He makes a face, and is rewarded with Jisung leaning in to kiss him again.

“I was just thinking how I’ve never been more attracted to anyone in my life than I am to you right now.”

He’s rendered speechless again, and Jisung smiles at him like he knows exactly what the words he just said are doing to him. Then the smile warps into a shiteating little grin and he already knows something cheeky is going to follow.

“Guess this bedroom lighting is really working miracles, huh?”

“Shut up before I make you see stars instead,” he threatens halfheartedly, moving his hands to Jisung’s sides as if to tickle him, but never actually doing so. In the end he’s just holding on to his boyfriend’s sides.

“I would let you, though,” Jisung says after a moment of silence in which they’ve just been looking at each other. “Make me see stars. Preferably because I’m or-”

He decides that’s all the invitation he needs, leaning in and silencing his boyfriend with another kiss, allowing his hands to start roaming again.

Some time later - and he didn’t stop to check how much exactly - he lies comfortably sprawled across his mattress with Jisung mostly collapsed atop him, his boyfriend’s head tucked under his chin, soft lips leaving kisses on his chest that he can’t help but smile because of. When the trail of kisses finds its end right atop his heart, he breathes out a soft chuckle, and then urges Jisung to tilt his head up to face him with a single hand only.

The kiss they share is sweet, soft, something he thinks he could become used to having for the rest of his life quite easily. There is no better place in the world for him to be than right here, either. No one he would’ve wanted to share this moment with. Jisung seems to be thinking very similar thoughts, because he settles right back down atop Changbin’s chest when they break apart.

“Hyung,” he’s called for softly, almost breathlessly, as if Jisung is shy of saying his next words aloud. “Where’d you get that thing you did with your fingers, it was absolutely…” The sentence doesn’t get finished, but the dreamy look in Jisung’s eyes tells him all he needs to know.

“Honestly? I learned that from porn,” he says bluntly, and it earns him a laugh. Jisung actually moves up a little again to look down at him, grinning cheekily.

“Is that so? Which production company? I should send them a thank you note for teaching my boyfriend so well,” his friend teases and he huffs out a laugh, but doesn’t even comment on it. He feels too content and warm to comment.

“I should’ve known you’re even chattier post-nut,” he sighs deeply instead, and is rewarded with Jisung spluttering first and then laughing after.

“Wow,” his boyfriend says playfully, moving a hand from around him to put it on his own heart instead. “Right in the chest, Bin. Right in my feels. Are you saying I annoy you? Are you saying I should be quiet and just lay here atop you? Is that what you want?”

“I mean…” He raises his eyebrows and watches Jisung press his lips together and wait for what he’ll say next. “You do look absolutely handsome laying here atop me, so… I can’t say I want you to go.” He grins as Jisung’s expression temporarily goes blank with surprise and adds: “But your talking doesn’t really take away from your handsomeness, so I guess you can keep doing that too.”

It earns him a light smack on his chest, and then Jisung nuzzling against the side of his neck and giggling against his skin.

“Stop it! You’re making me blush!” He’s accused of it in a slightly whiny voice that is cuter than anything he’s ever heard, and he wonders if that is exclusive to post-nut Jisung as well, or if that’s something he’ll get more often now that he’s been upgraded from friend to boyfriend.

“That only adds to the visual, not gonna lie,” he comments offhandedly, bringing up his hand to run his fingers through Jisung’s hair, just showering him with these little affections.

“Hyuuung!” Jisung whines, but he’s smiling too widely to really take his complaints seriously. He indulges him anyway.

“What? What is it? Should I not say that? Is that too homo?” He motions his free hand vaguely at all of them, naked as they are under the sheet covering them. “Am I supposed to keep it platonic in this situation? Just touched your dick but we’re keeping it friendly, bro.”

At this point, Jisung is cackling, hiding his face against his collarbone and the combination of the laughter against his skin and Jisung’s hand swatting at his arm in retaliation has him grinning widely, more than happy with the reaction he managed to get.

“That’s horrible,” he’s told after a moment. “You’re horrible.” Jisung’s eyes are sparkling, grin bright and he mirrors it easily as he tugs on a strand of the dark hair.

“Horribly amazing?” He suggests, which has his boyfriend groaning loudly.

“Just horrible.”

There’s a pause as they’re looking at each other, Jisung pretending to look like he’s serious about those words and him using his facial expression to try and convince Jisung to add a compliment. In the end they’re both laughing again, before his boyfriend scoots up to kiss him quickly.

“And handsome.”

The words are spoken softly, full of warmth, absolutely no playfulness in them anymore. This is Jisung telling him a truth, and so he retaliates with one of his own.

“I love you.”

The expression on his boyfriend’s face melts into something even softer, a soft kiss left right atop his heart before Jisung rests his chin there instead and smiles up at him.

“I love you more, hyung.”

He runs his fingers through Jisung’s hair again, then shifts down so he can press a little kiss to his boyfriend’s nose.

“And doesn’t that make me the luckiest man alive.”

He watches with great delight how the blush colours the back of Jisung’s neck first, then his ears and eventually even his cheeks.

“Changed my mind,” Jisung says a moment later, when he is capable of talking again without trying to squirm with shyness. “Clearly you’re more besotted than I am. Absolutely gone for me. We can’t blame you, of course, I’m quite enamouring.”

Jisung’s blustering, but he’s keeping the absolute straightest face he can pull when he replies in a very matter-of-fact type of way.

“Definitely.” 

“It’s hardly your fault that you’ve fallen for someone as charming as me.”

“Indeed.”

“So now that you’re officially the one who simps the hardest in this relationship, what would you like to say?”

“I love you.”

“Hyung!”

“I do, though.”

“Ugh.” Jisung squirms some more, but also preens a little and promptly snuggles a little closer against his chest as if there was any space left between them that still needed bridging.

“Me too.”

Chapter Text

.

“I literally still can’t believe it,” Jisung sighs for probably the tenth time since they’ve arrived at the cat cafe. On the other side of the table, Seungmin smirks at his friend with great smugness.

“What’s not to believe, Sung?” The photographer asks, eyes full of innocence, making Jisung scoff and reach out to try and smother his friend with a pillow.

Changbin watches the interaction between the two friends with a slight grin on his face. Admittedly he’d been just as surprised as Jisung was when hearing that Seungmin had been dating, and equally as shocked when they arrived to realise the object of their friends affections was none other than Gahyeon; one of the most famous models currently around. Any product accompanied by her face will sell out in no time.

He’s heard some of his acquaintances and colleagues wax poetic about their love for her more than once, and today she’s sitting at one of the tables in the cat cafe, petting a black kitten that has taken up residence on her shoulders while talking animatedly with Jeongin. It’s a bit surprising to take in, but then he figures this is how other people might feel about his presence too. His name has only grown bigger since he revealed his true identity to the world and started working at MCE officially.

Lily’s debut was only the start and there are already about fifty new songs to his name even when it has only been a couple of months. He shares credits with Chan on most of them, and with Jisung on a big part of them too. But Jisung has a few solo credits to his name by now too, as well as a few collaborations with Hongjoong. Truly, they’re both doing well.

Not so well that being greeted with a bright smile by the nation’s favourite while Seungmin introduces her as his girlfriend didn’t stun them into complete silence, though.

Which is why Seungmin is laughing and Jisung is basically climbing atop him in an effort to try and take revenge by smothering him. It’s not working out very well, mainly because Seungmin’s grip on Jisung’s wrists is too solid, and also because Jisung isn't really upset, he just likes to act like he is.

The bell to the cat cafe jingles a moment later, announcing the arrival of another one of their friends. It’s Hyunjin who walks in this time, instantly greeted by a loudly meowing Kong. He barely pays the cat any attention, though, eyes fixed on the table Gahyeon is sitting at as he strides into the cafe with a bright smile on his face.

“There’s our superstar!” The man chimes loudly, completely unabashed in his delight as he comes to a stop at the edge of the table next to Gahyeon and reaches out his hand while leaning forward. His fingers find Jeongin’s hair in no time, messing it up comfortably while Jeongin groans and slides over to the side to get out of his reach, grumbling about being treated like a baby.

Hyunjin doesn’t let the annoyed exterior deter him from leaning in until he’s nearly lying on top of the table so he can pinch Jeongin’s cheek. “Look at you being so adorable! Happy birthday you absolute angel! How are you still this cute when you’re turning twenty-two already?”

Jeongin glares at him, and Hyunjin beams him a wide smile in return. Then the youngest's gaze goes over to the laughing model still gently scratching the black cat’s chin. “Noona, do you see what I have to put up with all the time?” He complains, before pushing Hyunjin away from him with a single finger to the man’s forehead.

The doorbell jingles again and this time Changbin looks over to see Chan and Felix entering the place. The blond instantly lets go of Chan’s hand when they’re inside to crouch down and pet the once again loudly meowing Kong, whereas Chan makes his way over to the table Hyunjin is still lying on top of.

“Hyungnim!” His friend instantly exclaims and Changbin is already laughing, even as Jeongin promptly redirects his attention to the oldest in the group.

“Ah, there you are my boy!” Jeongin takes up his role of the oldest easily, a dynamic he’s seen him fall into with Chan quite often. “Please remove this youth from my vicinity, he’s being very clingy and not showing any manners.”

Chan promptly grabs the back of Hyunjin’s sweater, pulling the tall male towards him by the fabric, though he’s gentle and makes sure Hyunjin doesn’t get hurt by it. Right as Hyunjin's standing straight again, Minho returns from the back room with a tray of glasses. 

"Help me with this, darling," he says to the general room, and to nobody's surprise it's Jisung who promptly abandons his murder plans while Hyunjin continues pouting down at Jeongin while making grabby hands at him. Changbin chuckles lightly as he watches Seungmin sit up properly again and attempt to style his hair back to normal. 

"Come here," he says, motioning for Seungmin to come closer. As he runs a gentle hand through his friend's hair and fixes it up properly, he smiles at him. "It's good to see you happy," he says offhandedly when he lets go and Seungmin beams at him. 

"Likewise, hyung," he's told softly, before being nodded over to the big table. "Let's go and celebrate what's really important today… The cake."

He laughs but can't deny that's a very good thing to celebrate, nodding as he gets up from his seat. Gahyeon joins them as they're walking over, slipping her hand into Seungmin's and smiling at Changbin warmly. He nods his head in a return greeting before his eyes are drawn to where Hyunjin is wrapping his arms around Jeongin's shoulders and attacking him with kisses to his cheeks. The youngest is wriggling in an attempt to escape, making disgusted faces but never once actually shoving the taller male off, which is enough of a sign that he doesn't really mind. 

That Hyunjin's bothering of Jeongin is all a ruse to distract him becomes clear when Minho, Jisung and Felix reappear from the back just then, carrying a gigantic birthday cake, plates, forks and plenty of bottles of soda and juice. Everything gets placed on the table while Changbin, Seungmin and Gahyeon form another hedge between that and Jeongin, so that by the time he escapes Hyunjin's clutches and comes running over, his expression breaks into one of complete surprise. 

As if it was prearranged, they all start singing the happy birthday song loudly and Minho puts an arm around Jeongin's shoulders, being the only one in the room the youngest most likely wouldn't run away from. Although from the conversation he's seen them have before, Changbin thinks maybe he'd allow Gahyeon some more liberties as well. They look to be great friends, which makes sense considering Jeongin's roommates with her boyfriend.

Minho's great friends with Jisung too, and he is… Well, Hyunjin and him get along. They're not calling each other darling and using each other as substitute cuddlers when their boyfriends aren't around, but they're friendly. He likes Hyunjin. A bit dramatic sometimes, but it somehow works well with Minho's tendency to be underwhelmed by literally everything. So they're all friends, and somehow nobody's planned on moving yet.

Though that does seem to be subject to change in the near future, he thinks, because in all fairness Chan and Felix as well as Jisung and him have been hanging out at each other’s places more often than not, and the thought of getting to wake up and go to sleep with his boyfriend by his side every single day in their own apartment? He can't say he hates it. He does know he'll miss Minho, though, and Jisung definitely will, so he's been thinking about it . 

Right now, however, thinking takes a backburner to enjoying the moment and the time spent with his friends. Once the song is sung and Jeongin has been appropriately squished from all sides - to his great horror - Minho cuts up the cake and hands out a piece to everyone present. Felix helps by holding out empty plates every time he needs one, whereas Seungmin gets around to refilling everyone's glasses. 

The cake gets devoured in no time, which really shouldn't be a surprise considering there's nine of them and they're all at the cafe almost weekly to get some cake as well. At some point, however, Jeongin loudly laments to Minho how he can't believe he made his own birthday cake. Minho simply makes a face at him, but then shrugs. 

"I could've bought a cake elsewhere, but then it would never have been as good as the ones you make. Besides, it's not like you knew you were making your own birthday cake so it was still a surprise."

Jeongin huffs. "Whatever you're still paying me for today."

"What, the whole party with friends and gifts isn't enough payment?"

"Of course not, hyung, I have rent to pay! Especially now that Seungmin has officially denied my request to pay full rent going forward."

There's gasps of mock offence around the table, eight sets of eyes going to the perpetrator in question, who looks around the circle and then sits up to lift his hands in front of himself like a shield. "Guys, full rent on that apartment is insane !" He protests, but they're not having it. "I'm not rich or anything!"

"Last I heard that magazine spread went through for you and you've got your photoshoot schedule booked full for the rest of the year, Seungminnie," Changbin decides to speak up, smile sugary sweet but unyielding. 

"Aren't you almost as famous as your girlfriend by now?" Hyunjin pipes up as well. "I heard you're known in the model world as the Seungster!"

That part of the accusations is almost too ridiculous, which is proven by the way Gahyeon suddenly laughs loudly, and Jeongin promptly nearly chokes on his birthday cake when he snorts loudly. 

"Jeongin-ah!" Everyone instantly yells all through each other. 

"Don't die over cheap birthday cake, Innie!" Jisung calls out, which has Jeongin recovering long enough to glare at him. 

"Hyungnim!" Chan says as he reaches around Felix's frame to rub between Jeongin's shoulders, patting gently as if to make sure he doesn't hurt his friend while trying to help out. Luckily it only takes a few more coughs and a careful sip of water for the youngest to regain his composure. Once he does, though, it's war. 

" Cheap birthday cake?!" Jeongin demands, and Jisung grins easily. 

"I figured saying that would make you pull through just so you could make my life hell for that comment," his boyfriend replies sweetly. "And I was right! Look at that, Innie, I chose hell over watching you die!"

Jisung, master of making the sweetest, most innocent faces, uses his power for evil, and Jeongin relents after only a few more seconds.

"I’d choose watching you die over hell,” the youngest utters with a frown, but it’s clear from the lack of bite in his words that it’s just something he’s saying to get the last word in. Jisung doesn’t seem to mind it at all, beaming a bright smile over at his friend and throwing up a few consecutive finger hearts to further disgruntle their younger friend.

The next moment, Jeongin looks over at Changbin with a displeased little frown and his lips pressed together in distaste. “Train your boyfriend better, Changbin hyung,” he complains, and Changbin grins and throws up his hands in apology.

“My deepest apologies, hyungnim,” he decides to take the Chan-route with this one. “I’ll make sure that by the next time you find yourself in one room with him, he’ll be properly trained and taught how to shake on command.”

Jeongin clearly has a hard time repressing his smile this time, but he still manages to put on the haughty expression that goes with his appointed status. “I suggest you have him neutered as well.”

Changbin grins at the words, laughing when Jisung lets out an offended yell and all eyes turn to their conversation fully. He still simply shakes his head lightly. “I’m afraid that’s not in the cards for us. I like him fine the way he is, you see. It would be hard to do all the things I enjoy with him if I take him to be neutered.”

Jeongin promptly decides to fake-gag while Minho bursts out into loud cackling. Hyunjin is giggling like a little child moments later, and even Seungmin is grinning widely at it all. From Jeongin's other side, Felix suddenly pipes up with an “Ohhhhh get it, babe!” aimed at Jisung and Chan laughs at that, putting an arm around Felix’s shoulders to muffle any further encouragement behind his hand.

“I’m going to have nightmares about Jisung’s dick for the rest of my life,” Jeongin says with great distaste and Jisung instantly puts his hands up along his jawline in a flower pose as he smiles sweetly at his friend.

“All I’m hearing is that you’ll be thinking of me for the rest of your life, Jeonginnie,” he chimes, which makes it Changbin’s turn to laugh, especially when Jeongin’s final sliver of patience falls away and he picks up the rest of his cake with his hand just to smash it into Jisung’s face.

Surprised silence falls around the table. Jisung wipes cream and cake from his eyes, blinking them open to become two brown orbs in a colourful array of condiments. Jeongin looks like even he didn’t see his own actions coming. Felix snorts loudly and then bursts out into loud laughter, and a brief moment later Jisung joins him.

Jeongin still looks a little uncomfortable, like he can’t quite believe he really did that. “I, uh…” He says, staring. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Fuck you!” Jisung replies, words filled with laughter and absolutely zero anger as he grabs a napkin to try and wipe most of the cake off his face. “Isn’t the birthday boy the one who’s supposed to get caked?” He inquires while he’s in the middle of doing so, which has Jeongin instantly glaring at everyone else at the table lest they get any ideas.

Unbothered, Jisung hands a clean napkin to Jeongin as well so he can clear the cream off his hand and then gets up from his chair. 

"I'm going to wash this off," he says. "Using the big sink, darling." Minho waves him off to do as he pleases without even looking up from where he's cutting a new piece of cake for Jeongin to eat. Before Changbin can offer to help his boyfriend get clean, Felix is already getting up to do just that and they disappear into the back. 

"So," he decides to say as he refocuses his attention on Jeongin. "You want to tell me something about your opinion on my boyfriend?" He grins lightly and Jeongin’s cheeks colour an almost imperceptible pink. Compared to his usual unbothered exterior, this must mean he’s extremely embarrassed.

“I swear my brain just clocked out and my body acted without thought,” the birthday boy mutters a half-apology, but Changbin easily waves him off, and Chan scoots a seat over to be able to put an arm around Jeongin’s shoulders.

“I guess all that birthday excitement got to you,” his friend jokes lightly, and Jeongin makes a face but doesn’t actually comment on it. Just then, Minho hands Jeongin his new plate of cake and Chan promptly slides back over to his own chair. “Just to be sure,” he jokes, which has Jeongin groaning as he hides his face from them.

“Oh, stop teasing him!” Gahyeon says, picking up her own plate of cake and taking the seat next to Jeongin. “I’ll sit with you, Jeonginnie,” she says lightly, beaming at him before looking over at Seungmin and motioning him closer as well. For the first time since he arrived, Changbin gets to see Seungmin reach for Gahyeon’s hand and lean in to briefly kiss her. Not even Jeongin pretends to be disgusted by it, which means he must like Gahyeon a whole lot.

“Who wants Minho hyung to make them coffee?” Jisung calls out from behind the counter loudly just then, and Changbin looks over just to see him with his face still dripping wet, reaching for a towel. Before he even moves to dry himself off, he answers his own question first. “Me! Darling, I want the choco-caramel-something Bin hyung always gets.”

Minho rolls his eyes at the request, but gets up from his chair anyway. “More tea, love?” He asks Hyunjin, who nods his head and tilts his head up for a kiss as well. This time, Jeongin does voice out his displeasure.

“Stop kissing in front of my face already! It’s my birthday, you’re all supposed to be nice to me!”

“But we are nice!” Jisung immediately counters. “We’re making sure you’re not missing out by showing you the joys of dating so you don’t have to do it yourself!” Jisung beams at the youngest over the counter, and Jeongin glares right back at him.

“I hope you get pimples from the whipped cream,” Changbin hears him mutter, and he laughs loudly at the ridiculous threat. When given a strange look by the others, though, he just shakes his head and shoves another bite of the delicious cake into his mouth.

They manage somehow to devour the entire cake with the nine of them, sitting around the tables talking and petting the cats leisurely almost the entire afternoon. Hyunjin convinces them to head out for a walk somewhere around four thirty, and then Chan decides he’s ordering dinner for all of them as well. Changbin and Felix clear away the plates, cutlery, mugs and glasses they’ve used so far when they get back to the cafe, turning on the dishwasher to take care of it all, while Hyunjin and Jisung get out a few bottles of soju and a bunch of glasses to go with the dinner.

He’s convinced the cafe has never offered soju on its menu, so he’s quite curious how the drinks came to be there, but if Jisung’s cheeky grin is anything to go by, the culprit isn’t that hard to find.

It turns out to be a good addition to their day, however, because with the swiftly delivered dinner and the perfect company, the drinks taste like the sweetest juice. He makes sure to drink moderately, however, and follows it up with glasses of water because he knows all nine of these people will still have to get home somehow and they’re likely to be too inebriated to manage to take the subway properly.

Chan doesn’t drink in general, so that already secures two drivers, and it looks like Gahyeon isn’t going to be getting drunk either. He’s not sure if she knows how to drive, but when he casually asks her a little while later when they’re both behind the counter to find something they can drink that isn’t water, she reassures him that she already promised she would be the designated driver for the birthday boy and his roommate. That explains the nonchalant way Jeongin has been pouring copious amounts of alcohol down his throat.

Hyunjin looks determined to floor himself before the clock strikes midnight as well, whereas Minho cast him a questioning look before smiling brightly and joining his boyfriend the second Changbin nodded his agreement to being the driver for his roommate as well. Felix and Jisung are two peas in a pod the way they drink glasses of water in between the alcohol, though they’re still giggling among themselves about little things and also giggling at almost everything the others talk about.

It’s adorable, and Changbin soon finds himself sitting with Chan and Gahyeon, smiling at the sight of their friends and sharing their love for the six drunk idiots around the table. He learns a little bit more about Gahyeon as well then, like how she was actually born the same year as him and that she met Seungmin at university before her modelling career took off. She talks about the younger male with great fondness and warmth, which is very nice to hear.

When she asks about Felix next and Chan proceeds to speak the exact same way about his boyfriend, Changbin ends up laughing. He’s given a curious glance by both of the others, and quickly waves his hand as if to wave it off, though he does explain himself a moment later.

“We’re so whipped for our boyfriends.” His comment is followed by a grin, while Chan sheepishly rubs the back of his neck and Gahyeon lets out a fond laugh as well.

“That’s not our fault,” she says brightly. “If they didn’t want us to be whipped they shouldn’t have been so wonderful.” He can definitely only agree with that sentiment, especially when he looks over at Jisung only for their gazes to lock and his boyfriend to give him a fond smile, crescent eyes, chubby cheeks and everything adorable all in one.

When the next thing that happens is Jisung nearly falling off his chair because his boyfriend miscalculated how far he could slide over to lean against Felix’s side, he can only snort and then empty his glass of soda.

“I think it’s getting time to head home,” he hums softly. “I’m going to clean this up a bit and then we’ll have to convince the others to head home as well.”

“I can handle the birthday boy and my boyfriend,” Gahyeon says easily. “I think you’ll be having the hardest time with Hyunjin and his man. I’ve not seen Minho oppa drunk before, but I know Hyunjin’s a menace. My condolences in advance.”

He laughs, but shrugs, figures it can’t be that hard to get his friends into the car if he pulls it up in front of the cafe first. “Chan will help,” he decides without even asking. “He got himself the easiest job of the evening. He can probably just pick Felix up, throw him over his shoulder and carry him home without any protest.”

He rolls his eyes, but Chan laughs at his comment and pushes himself up to help with clearing the empty glasses and bottles off the table. Since Changbin knows where everything is supposed to go, he stays behind the counter while Gahyeon and Chan bring everything to him. He can see Gahyeon quietly pick up a few still full bottles alongside the empty ones, until eventually only the open one is left. 

When Minho picks it up to fill his glass again a moment later, he empties it out. Seungmin gasps, Jisung and Felix giggle, Hyunjin is too busy making kissy faces at Minho's shoulder to realise and Jeongin whines so loudly that eventually Minho gives the birthday boy the last glass of soju. It's gone within seconds, and Gahyeon promptly moves in to start coaxing both Jeongin and Seungmin into going home. 

Chan simply puts a hand on Minho and Hyunjin's shoulders, patting them lightly and saying something suspiciously like "welp, guess it's time to go home," like the true oldest he is. Felix giggles up at him from across the table, but Jisung is looking around in confusion with a big pout on his face. 

"Where's hyung?" He demands, so Changbin straightens and looks at him from behind the counter, wondering how long it'll take for him to be noticed by his boyfriend. "Bin hyung?"

After not finding him around the table, Jisung actually leans down to check underneath the table and, when that obviously proves futile, starts looking around more frantically. 

"Hyung?" He asks a little louder, and Chan looks over as well as Hyunjin and Minho, but Jisung's not paying them any attention, pushing his chair back to (attempt to) get up. "Changbin?" His voice is suddenly so stressed that Changbin decides to have mercy on him. 

"I'm here, Sungie." He lifts his hand to give a little wave, and Jisung's gaze fixes on him instantly, like a hound to its prey. Except it's relief that brightens his features and then his boyfriend is stumbling around the table to get to him. He steps out from behind the counter to meet him halfway, instantly squished in a hug that he returns without question. "It's all good," he says soothingly. "I'm right here. No worries."

"I thought I lost you," Jisung mumbles back very softly. "I thought you were gone." It's said with so much sadness, tugging at his heartstrings and making him feel oh so fond. 

"I'm right here, baby," he whispers back reassuringly, and leaves a kiss in Jisung's hair. "I'm right here with you. Let's go home, yeah? We're taking Minho hyung and Hyunjin along, alright? Go get our jackets, I'll finish up here and then we can go get the car."

Jisung nods in compliance, nuzzling a bit closer to him and pressing a kiss to his neck before sighing softly and relaxing into his hold. He can almost feel his boyfriend getting ready to drift off, so he nudges him gently with a soft chuckle. 

"Coats and car first, Sungie, then you can sleep," he admonishes. He gets a tiny whine in reply, but Jisung also straightens up a bit better and reluctantly lets go. 

"Promise you won't leave?" He's asked a moment later and he breathes out a smile. 

"Promise."

He presses another kiss to Jisung's temple, which seems to be enough to satisfy his boyfriend, who trudges off to go find their jackets. He watches him for a moment longer, but then heads back behind the counter to clear away the last few things so they can start heading home. 

Gahyeon gets Jeongin and Seungmin into Seungmin's car without a single hitch, just like she promised. Chan helps him manhandle the drunk and clingy boyfriends into his car once he pulls it up in front of the cafe. Felix is hugging Jisung in a booth, but lets go easily when Chan calls for him, and Jisung himself also comes up to Changbin the second he's able to slide out of the booth as well, proudly brandishing their coats at him. 

He rewards his boyfriend with a kiss and a seat in the front of the car. After that he says goodbye to Gahyeon with a warm smile and a little bow, and then steps in to embrace Chan briefly as well. 

"See you at work Monday," his friend says brightly, which has him smile and nod. 

"Enjoy the weekend. I'm not giving Jisung back until Sunday evening, just so you know." He winks, Chan laughs but nods, and then they're all heading to their own cars.

The drive home is uneventful aside from the fact that Hyunjin and Minho start drunkenly making out in his backseat, but luckily they're too far gone to really manage anything truly inappropriate, especially when every speed bump causes them to knock their heads together and then spend at least five minutes loudly complaining about it before collapsing together in giggles again. 

Somehow he makes it to the parking garage at their apartment in one piece, and though Jisung's hand had been resting on his arm almost possessively the entire way, his boyfriend is firmly asleep when he glances over after turning off the engine. The sight of him makes him smile, and he reaches over to pick Jisung's phone up from his lap so he can get a call going for them. Once that's done, he tucks his phone (on speaker) into his pocket and turns the little light inside the car on permanently. Only after taking care of that does he get out of the car so he can deal with the other two first. 

When he opens the door to the backseat, they come sprawling out almost instantly, but they're a laughing, clingy mess of a duo, clearly intent on making his life living hell all the way up to the apartment door. He sighs deeply, but puts himself in between them anyway so he can guide them over to the elevator without having them engage in more making out. What a relief, he thinks, that he doesn't have to try and get them to climb any stairs. 

He manages to get them up to the apartment quite well, but then it's getting them into bed that's the issue. Hyunjin complains about every single thing Changbin is asking him to do, and once he tries to soothe his troubles, the man starts trying to kiss every inch of his face. Meanwhile Minho keeps wanting to go into the kitchen to make food, but he really doesn't trust his roommate near any fire right now. 

He desperately attempts to get them both to drink some water but they refuse with equally loud insistence, so in the end he brings them straight to the bedroom. Washing up will be their own problem the following morning, he's not going to deal with that. Getting them to strip is easier than expected. It's getting them to stop at their underwear that's the real issue, but luckily he manages to distract them with pictures of cats until they've forgotten what they were supposedly doing. 

Then it's getting them into clean shirts he pulled from Minho's wardrobe, which isn't as easy as he'd imagined either. After a good ten minutes of struggling ("Hyunjin, please stop trying to kiss Minho's chin and put this shirt on." - "Hyung put your arms in here. No, the other way! Ugh, fine, whatever.") he ends up with Hyunjin in just the shirt - he'd continued undressing entirely in the end - and Minho wearing his shirt inside out, but that's good enough for him. 

Somehow both of them then decide they need to pee, so he lets them do their thing in the bathroom (together, for some reason) only to decide to go in to check up on them after ten minutes. He finds Hyunjin asleep in the tub and Minho diligently brushing his teeth while singing a children's song, which is too good to pass up so he pulls out his phone to make a quick video for blackmail purposes.

He checks the call with Jisung is still ongoing before tucking his phone away again and then waking Hyunjin up first to guide him back to Minho's bedroom and into the bed. He stops by the kitchen for water and painkillers after, leaving them on each bedside table before going to check on his roommate. Right as he gets to the bathroom, Minho walks out, giving him such a scathing look he almost feels offended, but then his roommate shakes his head unsteadily.

"You're not my boyfriend, go away," he says, with all the haughtiness of the drunk, and then bypasses him to go to his bedroom. He waits long enough to make sure his roommate closes the door behind himself and no further kitchen escapades are forthcoming, smiling in great amusement the entire time.

Just as he's about to go back down, his phone suddenly crackles with the sound of movement and a moment later he hears a faint "hyung?"

He instantly pulls his phone from his pocket again, turning off the speaker and putting it to his ear. "Hey Sungie," he says, loud enough so Jisung will hopefully hear him. "I'm on the phone with you. I got the other two upstairs but I'm headed back down now."

There's more sounds of shuffling and then what he presumes is the phone being picked up. "Hyung?" Is asked again and he smiles automatically at the sleepy sound of his boyfriend's voice. 

"Hey baby," he says in a warm but quiet tone as he walks over to the door, stepping into his shoes again and then heading out to get back into the elevator and head downstairs. "I'm on my way back to you, I just dealt with the adult children." He can hear Jisung breathe out a smile, though there's not more energy in it now than there was before. "How are you feeling?"

"Hmm sleepy. I really want to cuddle up to you right now."

The softness of his boyfriend's voice, as well as the easy confession have him mellowing out and he sighs out a smile of his own. "I'm getting in the elevator now, I'll be there in a minute, baby." He realises a moment later how soft his own voice is, and how gentle and loving his tone. It's a sudden realisation as well as acceptance at the same time of all the emotions that sit behind it. "Love you," he adds, summarising them. 

He can hear Jisung breathe out a smile, contentment in every part of the sound, and he can clearly imagine the way his boyfriend is curling up in the car, smiling ahead of himself. It's a special kind of warmth all by itself, really. 

"Love you too," Jisung utters after a moment, soft but genuine. "Love you so much. I'm really so lucky to have you. Every time I wake up next to you I'm just so happy."

He mellows out even further. If it happens any more he'll be nothing but a pile of goo, probably. As it is he's just leaning uselessly against the elevator wall, trying to will the number to go down faster. 

"You're my joy, Ji," he replies softly, staring at his reflection in the mirror wall opposite himself. "I was already happy before but now I have so much extra joy in my life because I get to spend it with you."

It's silent on the other side of the line for a moment, but he can hear the careful intake of breath that means Jisung is attempting to control his emotions and it makes him smile automatically. 

"It's okay, you can squeal, I won't tell anyone," he teases, making Jisung groan loudly within seconds. 

"Shut up. What gives you the right to know me so well?"

He laughs just as the elevator doors ping open. He steps outside, eyes already searching for his car, and he sees Jisung squinting against the sudden light in the parking lot, phone pressed to his ear. The sight makes his smile widen instantly. "I love you, even with your ridiculous squinty face," he decides to tease some more, which instantly has Jisung whipping his head around so quickly he hits it against the window. He can hear the thud through the phone, and then Jisung's cursing as he rubs his hand over the painful spot. 

"Fuck. This is your fault, Bin, I hate you so much."

But when Changbin makes it to the passenger side of the car and pulls open the door carefully, Jisung still leans up to get a kiss. He indulges his boyfriend while turning off the call and tucking his phone away. 

"Let's go," he says then as he pulls away, leaning in further so he can unbuckle Jisung's seatbelt.

"Oh, are we not going to my place?" His boyfriend asks, surprised. 

"I… wasn't planning to. Do you want to?"

"Didn't you just help Minho and Hyunjin up?"

He shrugs. "They're passed out in Minho's bed by now, most likely. Too drunk to get up to anything much else. I kind of told Chan I was stealing you away for the rest of the weekend."

"Oh." Jisung's smile suddenly turns very pleased and he leans back against his seat, looking much like a cat who got the cream. "In that case; steal away."

And Changbin does exactly that: putting an arm under Jisung's legs, one behind his back and literally lifting him out of the car, careful not to hit his boyfriend's head against any part of the car as he does. Jisung's arms come around his neck instantly, clinging on to him in surprise, but relaxing into it once he's safely out of the car. Changbin closes the door with his hip and then casually walks back towards the elevator. 

It hasn't been called away yet so when he presses the button with his elbow, the doors open instantly and he walks inside, hitting the button of his floor with his elbow once more. 

"Hyung," Jisung says when the doors are closed again and Changbin's leaning against the wall once more with his boyfriend in his arms. He looks over at him, only to see Jisung's looking at him with strangely glimmering eyes. Except a moment later he realises it's not such a strange look after all. "You're so sexy when you strongarm me."

He chokes on a strangled cough at the words, which has Jisung laughing in glee, but then his boyfriend's lips are pressed against the line of his jaw and he knows the words weren't an entire lie. 

"Something about you being able to just throw me across the room onto the bed, or something," Jisung continues saying then, and he decides the only way he's surviving the night is if he kisses Jisung silent. There seems to be no protest to that turn of events at all, so that's what he's still doing by the time the elevator dings their arrival to their floor. 

He breaks away so he can walk them safely to the apartment, but Jisung decides nuzzling his neck and leaving the softest little kisses there is the way to go. He can't complain about that either, not really, though it does make him miss a step somewhere in the middle of the hallway, sending them both stumbling before he rights himself again. Jisung giggles into the crook of his neck as he pretends nothing happened while furiously blushing.

"Can you open the door?" He asks when they get to the apartment, and Jisung dutifully does the bare minimum. It's only when they're inside that he puts his boyfriend down, so they can take off their shoes and properly lock the door behind them. 

"You want to wash up?" He asks, giving Jisung an inquiring look. It seems to be the right thing to ask because Jisung sighs more deeply than he thought was possible and groans lightly on top of it.

“I would kill for a hot bath right now,” his boyfriend utters with his whole chest, and it has Changbin laughing softly, reaching up to run his fingers through Jisung’s soft brown hair.

“No need for murder, I’ll draw you a bath. Go find something in my closet to wear to bed, alright?” He leans in to press a quick kiss to Jisung’s lips, but the way his boyfriend’s fingers tighten in his shirt keeps him from moving away again as intended. They kiss for a bit longer, though eventually he moves away again, despite Jisung’s whine and the way he chases after his lips. “Hot bath, baby,” he reminds him. “I’ll give you plenty of kisses once you’re in there, okay?”

That last part does the trick, because Jisung pads off on socked feet instantly, disappearing into his bedroom so easily Changbin wonders if perhaps his boyfriend didn’t get drunk at all tonight. He looks a little tipsy at most, but nothing very bad. Smiling at the thoughts of his boyfriend, he walks over to the bathroom himself to get the water running. He might not have wanted to put in the effort for Minho or Hyunjin, but he’s more than happy to spend another three hours in the bathroom before he gets to go to bed if it means making Jisung happy.

He’s only just adding some bubbles when Jisung reappears again already, a bundle of clothes in his arms that he drops on the edge of the sink.

“I got you something to wear too,” he says brightly, like he’s infinitely proud of his achievement and Changbin can’t help but smile warmly back at him. 

“Brush our teeth while the tub fills?” He suggests as he pushes himself up to stand. Jisung’s already grabbing both their toothbrushes before he can take a single step so he laughs, but takes it from him gratefully. They add a dollop of toothpaste to their brushes and then there’s nothing but the sound of bristles on teeth and steadily running water for the next few minutes.

After that, Jisung makes quick work of his clothes, dumping them all in a heap at his feet before he’s already stepping into the bath - and then hissing and pulling his foot back out, complaining about how hot it is. There’s nothing he can do but laugh when faced with the sight of a pouting, frowning, naked Jisung who seems to feel like the entire world has turned against him.

“Hold on, I’ll fix it for you,” he says when he manages to recompose himself. “Can you fold your clothes meanwhile, Sungie?” He doesn’t wait to see if Jisung does as told, but simply kneels down next to the bath again so he can turn the tap to colder water to help even out the temperature. He’s still in the middle of fixing it when suddenly there’s arms slipping around his middle and then Jisung presses up against his back, head coming to a rest on his shoulder, nose nuzzling away into his hair. He breathes out a smile and simply lifts his dry hand to gently scratch his boyfriend’s scalp.

“Hyung,” Jisung breathes out with great impatience a moment later, even though he can feel his boyfriend relax against his back at the same time. “How long until the water’s okay to get in? I want to get my kisses from you but I have to be in the bath first.”

He laughs again at the words, and tilts his head a little so he can glance at Jisung’s face. He looks more serious than he’s ever been, so he moves his hand to feel the water again, running his hand through it to mix it up a little better.

“It should be fine now, you can get i-” He doesn’t even have to finish his sentence, because Jisung is already detached from him and slipping into the tub, trusting his words without second guessing. It seems he was right anyway, because all that comes out of his friend’s mouth now is a deep, content sigh as his eyes slip closed and he sinks down into the water and the bubbles. Shaking his head with a smile, Changbin reaches out to turn the tap to slightly warmer water again, so that the rest of the tub can fill up at whatever temperature Jisung wants.

Before he can do anything else, Jisung’s eyes reopen and he’s faced with a very intense look. “Kisses, hyung,” is all his boyfriend says, which has him laughing again, but also shifting in his position so he can lean in and kiss Jisung as requested, moving his still dry hand to cup the side of his boyfriend’s neck and keep him close.

Even after months of being able to do this whenever he wants, he’s still not anywhere close to feeling like he’s getting as much of it as he needs. Every time their lips touch, it’s like his body ignites all over again, and if it’s Jisung setting him on fire he thinks he’s willing to burn over and over, just as long as it gets him the sound of Jisung’s content humming as they kiss, and all the other little sounds he makes.

Every time again, Jisung sounds and acts like kissing him is the best thing he’s ever done in his life, too, which definitely works miracles on his self-confidence, he can’t lie. And when Jisung’s fingers tighten in his shirt and try to pull him even closer than he already is, he feels so loved and so wanted that sometimes it’s hard to wrap his head around. But nothing beats those times when they break apart briefly just to breathe and when he opens his eyes, it’s to find Jisung already looking at him, taking him in like he still can’t quite believe this is all real.

Sometimes, Changbin can’t quite believe it yet himself either.

This time when they have to take a break, their foreheads resting together and their eyes still closed, he can feel Jisung’s breath on his face, can feel the way Jisung’s fingers flex before taking better hold of his collar, smoothing over it and then gripping it all over again. 

When he opens his eyes, tilting his head away just enough so he can look at Jisung’s face, he gets to see the way Jisung pouts briefly at the sudden loss of contact before his eyes slowly open as well. It’s with complete trust and love that he’s being looked at, Jisung so utterly relaxed even though he’s naked in the bath and Changbin’s fully clothed - something he knows Jisung used to feel uncomfortable with. The realisation fills him with so much warmth and love that he can barely contain it all. He moves his hand up to Jisung’s cheek, cupping it and leaning in for a brief kiss even as he’s already shifting in his position.

“I’ll be right back,” he says, suddenly breathless with the rush of adrenaline running through him. He can see Jisung’s expression shift to surprise and a hint of worry, but he smiles so widely his cheeks hurt and leans in once more when he’s standing to kiss his boyfriend again. “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll literally be right back, okay?”

Jisung nods at him even though his boyfriend is clearly confused by his sudden behaviour. He makes sure to run his hand through the soft brown locks again and drops another kiss in Jisung’s hair before he finally strides out of the room. It’s with quick steps that he makes it over to the living room, unearthing his surprise from the back of the cupboard where it’s been hidden for a while now, and then he’s already striding back to the bathroom.

Jisung’s twisted around to be able to keep an eye on the door, relaxing a lot already at the mere sight of him. He pulls the door closed behind him again and walks back to his spot next to the bath, sitting down cross-legged this time and just smiling at his boyfriend for a few long moments, too distracted by the sight of him looking so soft and comfortable and gentle with the bubbles all around him and his half-sleepy eyes.

“Hyung, what…?” Jisung asks and he promptly remembers what he’d run off for, instantly lifting his hands to bring them and the thing he’s holding into Jisung’s view.

“Sungie,” he says, fully serious even though he knows he’s still smiling widely. He takes hold of one of his boyfriend’s hands and turns it over so he can put the ring in it. “Will you marry me?”

Jisung’s eyes focus on the ring only briefly, widening a little, but then his boyfriend’s gaze returns to him instantly, searching his face as if to figure out whether this is for real. He doesn’t move, just waits, and is rewarded for it by Jisung’s realisation, shock and then sudden tearful eyes. Good tears, he knows, he doesn’t even have to worry about that.

“Bin…” Jisung starts, having to swallow after because he’s clearly having some trouble trying not to lose his cool. “I…” His boyfriend tries again then, lifting his free hand to put it on the side of his cheek. He can feel the thumb brushing over his cheek and watches as Jisung lifts the ring up a little with his other hand to look at it once more before looking back at him. “In a heartbeat, Bin. I’d marry you in a heartbeat. Of course. I can’t believe you got me a ring.”

And then Jisung is crying a little, but it’s okay because Changbin surges forward, wrapping arms around Jisung’s shoulders, not giving a flying fuck that his shirt is getting wet because of the water and the bubbles as he pulls his boyfriend into a tight hug, pressing stupid kisses all over his face and laughing lightly at the way Jisung’s fists curl into the fabric of his shirt as well.

“What the fuck, hyung. I’m naked, tipsy and sleepy in the bath, why would you do this to me now?”

“Because I was looking at you naked, tipsy and sleepy in the bath and I realised I love you so much and I don’t ever want to not be the one who gets to sit with you when you are like this,” he replies without hesitation. For a moment, Jisung freezes against him, but then he’s being pushed away slightly.

“Fuck,” Jisung says with feeling, looking into his eyes before looking down to try and take proper hold of the ring again. “What the fuck. Put this ring on me and then get naked and in the bath with me, Bin. If I’m not kissing you until we’re both bruised with it you won’t know how much I love you back and how much you saying these things fucks me up in all the best ways sometimes.”

The words make him laugh in that sort of overwhelmed and stupidly happy way, and who is he to deny his fiancé anything? No one, obviously, so he carefully takes the ring back and then slides it onto Jisung’s ring finger. He pushes himself up a moment later, so he can take off his own clothes as well and get into the bath alongside his boyfriend.

Later, when they’ve kissed in the bath until their lips felt bruised, cuddled in the cooling water, dried themselves off and finally made their way to the bed, Jisung lies cuddled up with him, half atop his chest, with his hand lifted so he can continue to admire the ring newly sitting on his finger.

“It’s so beautiful, hyung. When did you buy it?”

“Couple months ago? I met Hyunjin at the mall and he wanted to go into this jewellery store. It caught my eye so I just…” He shrugs a little, because what more is there to explain?

“So you just thought ‘well I’m planning on proposing to Jisung anyway so I’ll just buy this one’?” Jisung finishes his sentence teasingly and he huffs in playful offence.

“Don’t act like you hate it, you haven’t stopped staring since we made it to the bed.”

Jisung chuckles, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek before settling against him a bit better, resting his cheek against his chest and sighing softly.

“It’s beautiful. It looks absolutely perfect. No ring could’ve been better because this is the one you chose while thinking of me and of wanting to spend the rest of your life with me. How could anything else be better?”

It’s his turn to be speechless and overwhelmed with emotions, and he wraps his arms around Jisung’s middle a little better to communicate that to his boyfriend without speaking.

“No one else seemed worthy of that position,” he admits after some silence, leaving a kiss in Jisung’s hair. It earns him a groan and Jisung wriggling a bit without ever really leaving his comfortable spot.

“Oh my god, Bin, I already said yes, you don’t have to ply me with the most romantic things I’ve ever heard anymore,” he’s told, the embarrassed shyness clearly audible in Jisung’s voice. It makes him smile even as he nuzzles his boyfriend’s hair.

“But I love plying you with all my love,” he protests sofly, which has Jisung sighing deeply and curling a bit closer against him.

“Alright, fine. You can, then. But only because it’s you. I’ll have you know that no one else would’ve gotten away with this!”

He laughs, warmth pooling in his chest and spreading to the tips of his fingers where they run gently over Jisung’s back and through his hair.

“I’ll consider myself privileged,” he decides solemnly, to which Jisung nods just as solemnly, before shifting and relaxing further into him, almost melting against him, it feels like. He bears the weight gladly, for it makes him feel safe and loved like nothing before.

“Privileged by being my fiancé,” Jisung mumbles into the fabric of his shirt a moment later, causing that warm feeling to increase tenfold.

“So privileged,” he agrees softly. “Privileged by knowing you, loving you and being loved by you.”

He expects Jisung to throw some big words back at him, but it seems sleep is finally catching up to him, because all he does is hum an agreement, only nuzzling even closer as he mumbles his own declaration that settles straight in Changbin’s heart all over again.

“I am just as blessed in return for loving you and being loved by you, hyung. Can’t wait to wake up to see your face first thing in the morning.”

It’s a very nice thing to look forward to indeed, he thinks. Waking up with Jisung in the bed with him, seeing his face first thing as he wakes up tomorrow, and so many of the days that’ll come after that, too.

He can hardly wait.