Chapter Text
On a late sunny afternoon, Off had just finished his solo photo shoot and was now allowed ten minutes off while the staff adjusted the setting for the next part. Immediately, his eyes wandered over the group of people sitting on makeshift seats under the shade of a row of trees. It took him only a couple of seconds to spot the man he had been looking for and quickly headed over towards him. The other had made himself comfortable at the far left, his face buried in his phone while he was slowly scrolling down, it appeared.
For a second, a smile of anticipation flickered over Off’s expression at the chance of startling the other and being able to tease him about it afterwards. He quickly calmed down as not to blow his quiet approach though, hoping in his head that Gun wouldn’t pick that exact moment to look up.
Apparently, he was in luck, for Gun seemed so preoccupied with whatever he was reading that he didn’t even react when some people a few meters next to him burst out into loud laughter after some kind of joke.
With his curiousity picked, Off carefully walked a wider circle until he could approach unbothered from the back. Taking the last couple of steps, he crouched down, his eyes firmly fixed on the other man. It was almost sweet how unaware of his surroundings Gun was.
“Gotcha! What are you reading about?”
“Papi!!” Gun almost jumped out of his seat, stumbling over his words as his whole body jerked around to come face to face with Off.
“So?” Off prompted as he leaned forward, way closer than necessary because he had come to love fighting Gun with his own weapons – teasing and flirting.
But Gun, still a little wide-eyed, kept his lips shut, his phone now pressed tightly to his chest with the display towards himself.
Unperturbed, Off pressed him further. “Why are you so secretive now? What was it about?” While asking, he backed away to give Gun his space to sit down properly before coming to kneel down next to him, draping his arms over Gun’s lap to keep him from escaping.
Gun still kept silent, although his expression had relaxed somewhat and his eyes were now flickering over everyone and everything around him, as if he was concerned of other people listening in. Or was he looking for an excuse?`Or trying to avoid answering altogether?
Off couldn’t have that. So he gleefully continued, with his voice raised slightly to provoke the other into answering. “Or was it porn?”
“Papi, shut up. It’s not porn,” Gun immediately replied deadpan.
“What is it then?” Off asked, still eager to know since Gun usually wasn’t so reluctant to share whatever he was doing on his phone with him. But no matter how many times he let his eyes roam over Gun’s face for any clues, the other man’s expression remained closed off.
“Uh, it’s nothing.”
Off’s eyebrows rose for a moment before he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure.”
This time, it was Gun trying to discern Off’s mimic. The other was still patiently watching him back. Eventually, the younger man came to the conclusion that his best friend wasn’t actually mad at him. His expression softened, his eyes dropping to somewhere between them. He was contemplating something, Off noticed. It made him wonder if there was more to what Gun had been reading about or looking at than Off had first realized.
Finally, after almost a minute of waiting, Gun relented and spoke up, although he averted the question anyway. “Do you sometimes wish you weren’t in the public eye so you could attend stuff others can?”
Off was listening closely, but he still ended up confused the more he thought about it, unsure what Gun was even talking about. “You mean visiting festivals? Going out dancing?” It was possible to go there for them, but it was at least very difficult to plan beforehand.
Gun was hesitating for a few seconds, his eyes coming up to meet Off’s before drifting somewhere to his left. Nonetheless, he slowly answered. “I meant… more critical stuff.”
“What? Critical?”
“Mn.” At first, it looked like Gun was about to say more, perhaps explain himself properly, when all of a sudden, he sat up in his seat. “I think we…,” he started to mumble before falling silent at the approach of one of the assistants who informed them that the next part of the shooting was starting soon.
A part of Off was disappointed his conversation with his best friend had been cut short. But Gun seemed to have shaken whatever he had been so absorbed by by the time the photographer ordered them into position, so Off forgot about it soon afterwards as well.
---
A sigh of satisfaction left Off’s lips as he reached for his beer. His eyes were slowly wandering over all the faces around him, friends he was allowed to relax around, ones he had spent hours with in front of the camera. But this time, they were all meeting up at Tay’s place without having the eyes of the whole world on them. New, Arm,…
“No! I remember that clearly. It was Gun!” New declared, emphatically shaking his finger towards the other man amidst loud laughter of their friends.
“It wasn’t me!” Gun immediately denied. “Papi, protect me!” He didn’t even give Off time to pick up on what they were arguing about in the first place before he had flung himself into Off’s lap, tightly securing the older man’s arms around him.
Off went along with it, letting the other make himself comfortable. It definitely stopped New from going after Gun as well. Instead, he was simply glaring at Gun in mock anger.
“It’s always the same with you two,” Tay commented dryly. Then, his attention wandered back to New as he took a swig of his own beer. “Is this about that girl from last week?”
This, finally, did gain Off’s undivided attention. A girl? Last week, he had been too busy with his own projects that he hadn’t heard about any girl yet. This was bound to get interesting, especially since ’girls’ was something he and Gun were talking surprisingly little about. In fact, now that Off thought about it some more, he couldn’t remember the last time Gun had mentioned having any kind of interest in one. Usually, he brushed conversations about them off, but in such a vague manner that Off only now realized that he didn’t even know into what kind of women his best friend was. With all their long years of friendship, this seemed like a disgrace and total failure on his own part, Off slowly concluded.
So now, he was even more curious to hear more about that girl Tay had mentioned, especially when New confirmed Tay’s assumption. “I saw them hanging over Gun’s phone for hours last Monday. The same as he does with Off,” he added with a grin and a nod into his direction.
“Gun! I didn’t expect that of you!” Arm chimed in with even louder laughter. Then he turned to ask Tay, “Didn’t you say she was there because of someone special?”
“Guys, okay, stop, please,” Gun finally cut in, waving his hands exasperatedly towards them all. Nonetheless, Off noted, Gun looked almost shy as his eyes flickered to the ground.
Absentmindedly, Off reached for his beer as his thoughts were running wild with what the incident could have been about. Though, a moment later and almost angrily, he forced his mind to return to the conversation at hand, not wanting to miss out on any details while recognizing that speculating wouldn’t bring him any further to any kind of answers either.
“Gun, come on. Cards on the table!”
“Right. I think we deserve to know. I even helped you out and brought her to you!” Tay reminded.
When Gun didn’t open his lips to reply, apparently still trying to avoid the topic altogether, Off at last addressed the younger man in front of him in hopes of getting him to react. “Gun, what is this I’m hearing about? Are you cheating on me?!” He tried going for a dramatized shocked expression, even lifting his hand in front of his open mouth to show his deep hurt, but he couldn’t keep his own laughter from escaping immediately afterwards. It wasn’t like they were actually dating, so it wouldn’t matter either way, but Off found the idea still ridiculous. Even if, and that was a very big if, Gun was seeing someone – a woman, he was sure Gun wouldn’t intentionally keep it from him. And it wouldn’t change anything about their friendship either. Nonetheless, the possibility still left a small, but heavy feeling in his stomach, a strange tug that he couldn’t place.
His words did, however, cause Gun to finally speak up. “Papi, not you, too. It’s not what you’re all thinking it is.”
“Then what is it?” New pressed him once more for a further explanation. “You two seemed quite comfortable with each other.”
Off couldn’t help a skeptical frown finding its way to his face. Gun was comfortable around a lot of people, no matter their gender, but he doubted a girl he hadn’t even heard about before this conversation had become as comfortable with Gun as Off himself. Those things took time.
“What’s her name anyway?” Arm asked curiously.
It was Tay who gave him an answer, though. “She introduced herself as Aum.”
Aum. Off hadn’t heard of any close friend of Gun’s with such a name. He wanted to ask more, find out if there was actually something going on between the two, but Gun didn’t look particularly happy that the topic hadn’t yet been changed. In the meantime, he had shifted in Off’s lap, getting more comfortable with his back pressed to Off’s chest, and craddled his beer while a small pout had formed on his lips.
As a small distraction and to earn his attention, Off lifted his legs for a second slightly off the ground, just a small movement that wasn’t getting noticed by anyone else other than Gun who immediately turned to glance at him expectantly.
Off didn’t bother hiding the teasing glint in his eyes as he asked with a lowered voice, “What is this about? You didn’t tell me about any Aum.”
Gun rolled his eyes, but a small smile flickered over his lips. He took a glance at their friends who had continued the conversation parallel to Off and Gun on their own. Apparently, the topic hadn’t changed though. Then, he adjusted his position, letting himself slip off of the older man’s lap and onto the ground beside him. One of his hands was still holding onto Off’s arm for balance as he lifted his beer to his lips.
Perhaps, he needed another moment to organize his thoughts, Off contemplated, since he was definitely going to ask until he would receive his answers. He deserved to know what his best friend had been up to after all, right?
Finally, Gun’s eyes found his and held the gaze. He seemed to be searching for something in them, but Off wasn’t sure what he was looking for, or whether he found it or not. It made him feel a little unsteady though, as if he was worried he might not be able to offer Gun what the other needed right now to trust him with it.
In the end, Gun just shook his head and mumbled a “Later,” with another quick glance towards their friends who were still deeply lost in their own conversation.
Off could wait. He was a patient man when he needed to be. And he wanted Gun to be able to open up to him about everything and anything, so he simply nodded. “Okay.”
The rest of the evening went by quite joyfully. They were drinking and laughing so much that by midnight, Off’s face was starting to hurt and his head felt light and bleary. Gun had moved around throughout the whole time, sometimes sitting next to New, then lying somewhere around Arm, then back to Off. Right now, he was comfortably resting his head in Off’s lap, eagerly taking part in the group conversation, even though some of his words were slurred and indistinct due to the alcohol.
Silently, Off watched his face, his expression changing while listening and his dimples showing whenever his wide smile grazed his lips. It was actually adorable to see him so animated while being relaxed and carefree at the same time. Off loved Gun’s smile. It was breathtaking. It even made his own heart skip a beat, blinded by its beauty whenever it was directed at himself. It made him crave the feeling again and again, wanting to have Gun by his side and smiling for as long as that was possible.
Only when he heard his own name coming from Gun’s lips did his attention wander back to what was actually being said around him. “Papi will.”
“Sure he will. He’s always spoiling you,” shot Tay back with laughter.
“What?” Off looked rather helplessly at Gun. The confusion made Gun laugh and he reached out to cup Off’s cheek before stating matter of factly, “Buy me the shoes.”
Oh. The shoes. They had talked about it a few weeks ago, but somehow hadn’t come back to it. Off had remembered it just yesterday, but presumed by now, Gun must have bought them himself. Apparently, that wasn’t the case though. “You haven’t yet-?”
“I thought we would together…,” Gun slurred with a shrug, at least Off thought it was a shrug. It wasn’t easy to interpret given Gun’s position lying half on his back, half on his side.
“Oh. Sure. Let’s do that. Tomorrow,” Off quickly suggested, already imagining spending the next day at Gun’s place. Depending on if he were to get a shower there, he might even accompany him straight from Tay’s tomorrow morning. For tonight, they had agreed on staying here, crammed into the few rooms to sleep through the alcohol without having to make their way home first.
Gun happily agreed, his hand slipping back to his own side and leaving Off’s heated cheek in stark contrast to the air around him. Or perhaps it was just the alcohol making him feel hot all around. He shifted his body, accidentally disturbing Gun as he tried to find some room to move. He received a curious glance in return, but didn’t react to it. In this moment, he felt more aware of his surroundings, of his friends’ laughter, of the bright light coming from the ceiling above them and of his own slowed down brain. As if in slow-motion, his eyes wandered over the opposite wall, his heart beating loudly in his ears, his thoughts drifting somewhere, away. He might be more drunk than expected.
Absentmindedly, his right hand had started combing through Gun’s hair, slowly moving the strands between his fingers. It helped him stay in the moment and not let his thoughts carry him too far off.
All of a sudden, he felt arms wrap around his waist and tighten, followed by Gun’s face being buried into his stomach. Surprised, his eyes trailed down his body. “What are you doing?” he asked in wonder, partly startled, partly amused. But against his will, his heart was unexpectedly back to racing inside his ribcage.
It was difficult understanding Gun when he drunkenly mumbled something into Off’s shirt, but the older was still pretty sure that his ears picked up, “Giving you some love.”
Man, his best friend was even more clingy when drunk than when he was sober. But Off couldn’t bring himself to ruin Gun’s current happiness. So, without thinking much about it, the words escaped his lips before he could stop them, “Then why are you kissing my belly and not my face?”
As soon as those words left his mouth, his entire body froze up. Apparently, his own filter had gone missing along with his sobriety. But before he had a chance to worry any further or even start to regret his words, the thoughts were already forgotten because a moment later, he had Gun fully in his lap and pushing into him strongly enough to crash them both into the ground. Now, with Off lying on his back, Gun sprawled his whole body over Off’s and pressed a handful of kisses to his cheek before he eventually settled for his neck instead.
The noise and flailing bodies had earned them the attention of their friends, too, who immediately started teasing them. Though to Off’s dismay, his ears picked up on a joking comment about how Gun should finally choose between him and Aum as well. A trace of anger rushed through him and in response, he tightened his own arms around Gun to hold him close. He was his. His best friend. His partner. His confident.
---
They hadn’t talked about Aum again. Off had forgotten about it around the time they had gone to bed that one night. And since then, neither Off nor Gun had mentioned her another time.
Off had mostly forgotten about her altogether. That was, until one workday, a week later, he went to meet Gun for lunch and found him already sitting at a table with another woman. He hadn’t known who she had been then, but as soon as he had come close enough, Gun had excitedly introduced them to each other.
To Off’s surprise, she was blunt and quick-witted, which made her actually charming and he found himself liking her more than he had first expected. Curiously, and maybe a little skeptically, he observed her interactions with Gun, how they talked with each other as if they knew each other quite well, to see what might be true to their friend’s suspicions.
“Papi, Aum’s going to Europe for her next vacation, too,” Gun told him with an excited smile. “She can give us good suggestions on where to go and what to visit.”
“Bro, I’m going with Pim,” Aum said dryly as if that would somehow change Gun’s statement. And maybe it did, because, while Off didn’t understand the relevance of Aum going with someone else, Gun burst out into laughter. “Yeah, maybe your suggestions might not be the right ones for Papi,” he eventually agreed after he found his voice again. When he noticed Off’s confusion, he added, “Your interests are just not matching up with her’s,” as if that would explain anything.
Thankfully, Aum took pity on him. “Don’t listen to him. He is just-” She turned to glare at Gun, who had fallen back into another laughing fit. “Imagining. Stuff. Again.” With the last three words, she hit him on his shoulder, but she was smiling as well. “Pervert.”
Off’s eyes widened slightly, not having expected them to talk to each other like that. And even Gun gasped, although he quickly relented and switched to denying while a wide smile was brightly visible on his face. “Aum! I’m not!”
“I still remember how you were staring the last time you were over at my place,” Aum reminded him, but her eyes gave away that she enjoyed teasing Gun just as much.
“It was the first time I was there while Pim was there, too!” Gun quickly explained to Off, before addressing Aum again. A knowing smirk was playing on his lips, his brows slightly raised, when he spoke, “And I never saw you so sweet and caring for someone else.”
“You dare say that to me?! Look at your own self, Mister,” she shot back amidst her own laughter.
“Alright, alright, you won,” Gun finally relented before she could say anything else. After taking a deep breath to calm himself and a last playful glare at Aum, he turned his focus to Off. “I’m sorry. Aum is a handful,” he stated with a shrug and another quick smirk towards her direction.
Frankly, Off was similarly surprised as well as confused at their bickering. On one hand, he hadn’t seen Gun so flirty and open with any other woman outside of work-related reasons, but on the other hand, she appeared to be a good friend to him who Gun seemed to respect. It left a weird taste on Off’s tongue, a queasy feeling settling in his stomach that he couldn’t discern far enough to understand.
“By the way,” Aum suddenly began, her eyes attentively watching Off now, “before you arrived, Gun and I were just talking about this British movie, called Pride. Have you heard about it?”
“No. What is it about?” Off asked, his eyes flickering over towards Gun in wonder. He hadn’t known Gun watched British movies.
Meanwhile, Aum’s observant mustering of him went unnoticed by Off. “Uhm, about-” she eventually started, but was soon interrupted by Gun, who quickly finished for her, “Activism during the 80s. Aum is politically interested.”
“Oh, okay. And- and that movie…,” Off trailed off, not knowing how to finish the question – or what exactly he wanted to ask in the first place. He himself had neither seen any movies about activism nor ones about politics in the 80s in Britain yet, causing him to feel strangely out of place.
“It’s a very good movie, one of my favorite ones. Watch it if you have some free time for it,” Aum encouraged with a gentle smile. “I’m sure, Gun would be willing to watch it with you.”
---
“Gun?”
“Hm?” Gun looked up from his phone, a small smile playing on his lips as his eyes found Off’s.
“Would you like to come over for some beers later on? We could order some food and spend the evening together playing games or watching a movie or something. We have the next day off after all,” Off began as he came to sit down next to Gun who was just getting his make up done for a the mini series he was currently filming. Absentmindedly, Off’s eyes fell down on Gun’s shoes, the ones they had ordered together. Off had paid for both Gun’s and his own pair and it made his heart flutter seeing the younger one wearing them now.
When he looked back up, he noticed Gun’s smile turning even wider, his dimples clearly visible. For a brief second, Off thought about letting his finger run over the soft skin there just to feel it beneath the tip.
“How could I say no to spending quality time with Papi?” asked Gun back with a playful twinkle in his eyes, entirely ignoring the woman trying to do her job getting him ready.
“That’s right. You can’t,” Off shot back with a self-satisfied grin.
Gun didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he let his eyes flicker up to meet Off’s, his smirk turning bashful. “Will you sleep over?”
“If you will have me.”
With his smirk still in place, Gun simply reacted by wriggling his eyebrows and leaving any implications and innuendos hanging in the air between them.
Off could only laugh it off with good-natured humor, firmly ignoring where else his mind suddenly started running off to.
“So, are we inviting anyone else? I could ask Aum,” Gun suggested after another brief moment passed in silence between them.
Off hesitated. His first reaction was to object, but then, another thought crossed his mind. Swallowing down his own uncertainty, he asked, “Do you want her to come?” Then, he waited with his breath held.
It took the younger one a moment before he had organized his thoughts, it seemed. At last, he gave a small shrug. “She would surely bring Pim with her. Both of them have become good friends of mine. I think it would be cool if you get along, wouldn’t it?”
Usually, Off liked to meet Gun’s friends, those that he didn’t already know yet. Those friendships always helped him discover new parts about Gun, they always helped him eventually understand the younger man even more in depth. So being offered the chance to meet these two, get to know Aum better as well in the process since he hadn’t met her again after that one time a few weeks ago, might not be a bad idea.
Meanwhile, Gun went on, seemingly thinking that Off was rather inclined to reject the offer. “And you already know Aum. She was nice, right? I think you two really would get along well. And Pim, well, I actually don’t know her that well yet either, but since she and Aum started dating, Aum has brought her along most of the time when we met up.”
Off blinked, his brain taking unusually long to process what Gun had just told him. Aum and Pim… were dating? Off hadn’t expected that. It obviously disproved their friends’ speculations about Gun and Aum being an item. All this time, Off had been admittedly too afraid to ask directly. And now, he might be even more curious to actually meet Pim than he ever had thought.
In the end, he easily agreed. “Okay. Invite them. I’m buying beer for us four before coming over in the evening.”